First War of Veltrova

The First War of Veltrova was a conflict that raged on between 102 and 73 ydUC, where Lord Lanvýr tried to conquer Veltrova.

Humans had settled in Veltrova since around 350 ydUC. They had always lived in tribes, sometimes battling each other, but there simply weren't enough people to actively conquer the other tribes. By the end of the second century ydUC, the population had increased so that open war was possible. This, combined with an agressive Lord, meant the beginning of a horrible war.

Early war
The Early war was the part of the War before the Resistance in the Southeast began.

Battle of Cryg
The Battle of Cryg was the first battle of the War. It started on the dawn of 3 Thrimilce 102 ydUC. Lanvýr's army attacked Térys's army.

Dawn
The battle started with Lanvýr manoeuvring his army towards Térys's left flank. Térys was able to beat that back with his cavalry, with heavy losses on both sides.

Midday
Both armies then marched towards each other, with some slight skirmishes with few losses. Then the armies attacked. After an hour of battle, Térys was killed by an archer, and his army quickly surrendered.

Ambush of Tegó
The Ambush of Tegó was the second battle, and it took place during 16 Weod 100 ydUC. Lanvýr's army ambushed Lord Rýndy's army.

Rýndy's army was positioned defensively towards the east, as Lanvýr had already conquered the eastern part of Rýndy's country. This meant that the forest to the north was undefended. Lanvýr placed his main army there and a smaller decoy army to the east. Rýndy advanced, thinking he could easily defeat the army that was in front of him. However, once he reached the decoy army, Lanvýr attacked him in the back. As Rýndy was a bit of a coward, he was standing in the back of his army, and was one of the first casualties of the battle. His army immediately switched sides because nobody was loyal to Rýndy.

Ambush of the Cape
The third battle of the War was the Ambush of the Cape. It took place during 24 Afterra Litha 98 ydUC, during an exceptionally hot summer. Lanvýr ambushed Lord Írga on the western cape.

Írga's army was marching towards the northwest when Lanvýr suddenly attacked from the mountains. The initial casualties of Írga's army were horrific. About 35% of it was immediately annihilated, and the rest was quickly defeated. Lord Írga managed to escape towards the east with a few troops, where he quickly took command over 2 tribes whose leaders were involved in a brawl where they killed each other.

The retreating army was harassed by Lanvýr, but it managed to defend itself and mobilise the armies of the 2 tribes, so that they were ready.

Battle of Gryndelvá
At 10 Winterfylleth 94 ydUC, the two armies of Lord Lanvýr and Lord Írga met on the hills of Gryndelvá It was the fourth battle of the war.

Start of the battle
On 10 o'clock in the evening, the Battle began with several skirmishes on each side. There were few casualties until Lanvýr started manoeuvring his cavalry towards Írga's right flank, which was only lightly defended. Írga saw this coming and managed to crush Lanvýr's cavalry, which enabled him to attack Lanvýr's flank, while also advancing his main army.

End of the battle
Írga's men swiftly attacked across the whole line. Lanvýr had no hope of victory left. Only a miracle could save him and his army now.

A miracle happened. Írga's men were extremely superstitious and suddenly a comet was sighted heading towards the north. This meant bad luck and death if it happened during a battle according to them, and they immediately ran away and some surrendered. This meant the subjugation of the two tribes, but Lord Írga managed to escape yet again, towards the Lordship of Morcara, ruled by Lord Boris, who was monitoring the war very carefully.

The Battles of the North
The Battles of the North were a series of small battles fought in 90, 89 and 88 ydUC, where Lord Lanvýr managed to defeat the tribes of the North, behind the mountains. That was not very difficult to do, as they weren't that strong and usually submitted immediately. Still, it is worth noting that a small ambush of mountain people nearly managed to kill Lord Lanvýr, but the ambushers were quickly reckoned with and Lanvýr's injuries were treated. He, however, never managed to walk that well again after his injuries.

After the North was subjugated, the central part of the island submitted to the rule of Lord Lanvýr, who was already being called King by his troops.

Late war
After the central and northern parts of the island were conquered, Lord Boris and the remaining Lords were persuaded by Lord Írga and lots of refugees to enter into an alliance against Lord Lanvýr in 85 ydUC.

They knew that Lanvýr had a lot more troops than they had, so they were forced to give up the northern provinces, to the anger of their respective Lords. The next several years, nobody agreed upon what had to be done. Many people had given up hope and had joined Lanvýr's army, while others committed suicide and yet others started training extensively for war. Meanwhile, Lanvýr's army was enjoying a long period of peace, and they thought they had already won the war.

In 74 ydUC, Lord Boris's spies discovered some terrible news. Lanvýr had mobilised his entire army and was soon going to march to defeat Morcara. Immediately, Lord Boris set up his army in response, but he was outnumbered by far; 4 to 1. The next year, Lanvýr marched to war.

The Battle of Morcý
The final Battle of the War was fought during 13-15 Blot 73 ydUC. It was the last stand of Lord Boris against the tyranny of Lord Lanvýr. It was fought in the city & refuge camp of Mýrven.

The setup
Lord Boris had set up his army in the streets and houses of Mýrven, with strategic barricades and traps set up around the town, and strategic retreat points made.

The Battle
The Battle itself commenced during the midday of 13 Blot. While Lanvýr's army approached, they were shot by Boris's archers. By the time they came to the town, they had already lost several men. Boris's troops defended the city well, and after two days of horrific fighting in the streets, houses and sewers both sides had lost catastrophic amounts of men. Both had lost around 70% of their army by then. However, the final remnants of Boris's army, some mere hundreds, of which many were wounded, still fought on in the central keep. There Lord Írga and some other Lords were killed. Eventually, a small ceasefire was agreed upon, so that Lord Lanvýr could ask them to surrender. Boris's response was this: "'Nay, we shall not surrender. We shall fight to the death, until victory is ours. We shall not stop fighting until we kill thee, and thy family also. We shall fight to the death, and our families shall keep fighting thy horrid rule. Not until thy rule is forced off our nation shall we stop fighting thee!'"Lanvýr did not take this kindly and proceeded to torture Boris's brother Drág to death in front of his eyes. Boris then challenged Lanvýr to a duel, and that was agreed upon. The duel was held in the main square of Mýrven, which was burnt to the ground. After a few minutes of fighting, Lanvýr cut Boris's leg off, and was raising his axe to decapitate him, when a bird unloaded its load upon Lanvýr's face. This distracted him and Boris stabbed him straight in the heart. Lanvýr's last word was: "Shit"

After the death of Lanvýr, doctors tried to heal Boris while both armies watched in shock. Sadly, the doctors could not heal him and Lord Boris died, saying: "I have saved Veltrova. I have done my duty".

After both commanders died, the Northern and Central Lords switched sides, and Lanvýr's original army surrendered. Lanvýr's son managed to survive, and continued leading his tribe after that.

Aftermath
The War caused many, many casualties and deaths around the island. Approximately 50% of the island was killed, up to 70% in the northwest and southeast. It took many years to recover the population lost, and the effects of the war could still be seen all the way up until 1 yaUC. After that the Second War of Veltrova began, which was not nearly as disastrous, but more important to the island.