War:Scyfling Invasion of Hanseti-Ruska

Scyfling Invasion of Hanseti-Ruska Siege of Valwyck, circa 1768 (Painted by UnBaed) Date: 1768 - 1771 Location: Northern Lands, Haense Result: Haense victory Bralt the Boar killed Scyflings flee from Arcas Belligerents Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska: Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska Scyflings: Scyflings Commanders and leaders Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska: King Sigismund II King Joseph I Queen Viktoria Prince Nikolas, Duke of Alban Duke Peter of Valwyck Duke Erwin of Reinmar Prince Otto, Duke of Galahar Grand Prince Godfric of Muldav ✝ Margrave Brandon of Vasiliand ✝ Count Alaric of Nenzing ✝ Ser Robin Kartyr, Knight Paramount ✝ Lazlo Korsakov, Governor of Johnstown ✝ Ser Erik Othaman Scyflings: Bralt the Boar ✝ Yva Stoneguard Luvir Ironrain ✝ The Vile Tooter (until 1769) Ago Stonespear ✝ Taro the Tower ✝

Prelude

Voyage of the Geltenkaros

When the Paladins of Xan declared they were to sail to Athera to hunt the Drakaar Gudour, most Descendant nations decided to journey with the Paladins to the ruined continent to visit their ancient capitals and retrieve lost relics. Haense was no exception; with the young King Sigismund II just a child, his Regent Tiberius Barrow assembled the crew of the Geltenkaros - the expedition ship - led by Prince Rupert Bihar, Godfric Alimar, and Alaric Stafyr. It was only once the ship had left that the crew discovered that their boy king Sigismund II had stolen away on board the ship.

Bralt the Boar

Once the Geltenkaros landed on Athera, the crew immediately set out for the ancient Haeseni capital of Siegrad. As they crossed over a ravine into northern Athera, the bridge suddenly collapsed, and it did not take much investigation for the crew to figure out it had been rigged to collapse. They proceeded with caution into the valleys leading to Old Ayr, but it was there that they were ambushed. Their ambushers - camouflaged skirmishers wielding bows and spears - called themselves Scyflings, and raucously proclaimed to the confused crew of the Geltenkaros that the Haeseni were their ancient enemies. Clueless as to what the Scyflings were talking about, the Haeseni fled deeper into the valley, pursued by the Scyflings. It was not long before they were cornered, though. The leader of the skirmishers identified himself as ‘Bralt the Boar’, and he seemed ecstatic at the notion of killing the young Sigismund to fulfill something he called ‘Crowslayer’s Vow’. Cornered, Prince Rupert challenged Bralt to a duel, and the warchief readily accepted. Rupert, however, was quickly overwhelmed. Before the Prince was dealt a mortal blow, young Sigismund II rushed forward and stabbed Bralt. As the surrounding Scyflings began to attack, another tribe of natives arrived in the valley, but these warriors fought off the attacking Scyflings. Lost in the chaos, the Haeseni accepted the offer of help from these friendly Scyflings and fled from the valley with them.

The Voliks

After their narrow escape, the friendly Scyflings introduced themselves as the Voliks -- a tribe of Scyflings who, in ancient times, had made a pact with the Barbanov lords of Siegrad to protect them, and they sought to honor this old oath. The Voliks explained that Bralt the Boar and the other Scyflings relished the arrival of the Haeseni on Athera so that they could fulfill a prophecy of their people called Crowslayer’s Vow. According to the prophecy, the Scyfling who kills the descendants of the Barbanov of Siegrad will be anointed by their people’s gods to unite and lead all Scyflings into peace and prosperity. The Haeseni proceeded to learn that for generations since the Descendants left Athera, the Scyflings have been locked in constant infighting for power and resources, and Bralt hopes to use Crowslayer’s Vow to unite them as a single, peaceful people.

Pursuit on Athera

Despite the danger, the crew of the Geltenkaros and their boy king continued their quest to reclaim lost Haeseni treasure on Siegrad, but this led to multiple deadly encounters with Bralt the Boar. When the Haeseni ventured deep into the lair of a Wyrm outside Siegrad in search of a key to the ancient city, they even dared to venture inside the sleeping Wyrm’s mouth where they found the corpse of Saint Karl. While in the lair, however, Bralt and his Scyflings dropped metal pots and pans down into the pit to wake the Wyrm. The great beast lashed out, killing Dame Primrose Kortrevich of the expedition, before the Haeseni narrowly escaped the onslaught of both the Wyrm and the Scyflings. They next met the Scyflings when they emerged from the ruins of Siegrad, and found Bralt waiting in ambush. If not for the aid of the Voliks - which led to most of that clan being slaughtered - the Haeseni would have undoubtedly perished. Their escape bought by Volik blood and Bralt badly wounded by Godfric Alimar, the Haeseni retreated back to the Geltenkaros with the surviving Voliks and sailed back to Arcas.

Aftermath

Upon their return to Arcas, Sigismund II honoured the sacrifice of the Voliks by allowing them to settle outside New Reza, but their people were gripped by despair from the slaughter at Siegrad. The Voliks did, however, warn that Bralt would likely seize the opportunity to follow the Haeseni ships back to Arcas.

Preparation for War

Ten years passed, and many Haeseni thought the threat of Bralt and the Scyflings attacking Arcas would never come to fruition. This sense of security, though, was soon shattered; after another expedition to Athera, Dame Celestine Herbert reported that the Scyfling clans appeared to be readying for battle - freshly-carved longships lined the shores, the clans were no longer raiding each other, and Dame Celestine discovered odd bone chimes hanging from trees that the Voliks later identified as ritual charms the Scyflings carved before war.

Haense remained divided on whether the Scyflings would really cross the sea to Arcas ten years later. King Sigismund II, however, chose to believe the warning signs, and began to erect several coastal defences, most prominently Fort Buck and Camp Rock, both of which guarded the Almanland in northern Haense.

Sigismund’s caution soon paid off.

The Struggle for Almanland 1767-1768

On a calm spring evening, a sitting of the Haeseni court was interrupted by HRA scouts claiming that fishing villages on the coast of Almanland - Haense’s rural northern province - had been raided. King Sigismund II immediately rallied a retinue of soldiers, and ventured north with the Hounds of Johnstown.

When the party arrived at Valwyck, at the northern edge of Haense overlooking the sea, they were greeted with a chilling sight: in the bay, dozens upon dozens of Scyfling longships have moored, carrying several thousand Scyfling warriors. As the bitter sea wind beat at them, the Haeseni watched as a lone longship approached the castle. A figure mounted the head of the longship, and, in a thunderous voice, declared himself to be Bralt the Boar.

Bralt announced that his fleet had come to fulfill the Crowslayer’s Vow prophecy, and the Scyfling warchief claimed he only sought a single life to do so -- King Sigismund’s. The Boar’s tone grew oddly solemn as he compelled the King to lay down his life and die so that both Scyflings and Haeseni could be spared from a war. King Sigismund II’s answer, though, was to order the archers to fire on Bralt’s ship, which promptly retreated to the fleet.

From that moment on, the Scyfling Invasion began.

The Fall of Camp Rock, 1767

• 150 Scyflings v. 200 Haeseni
• Scyfling Victory

In order to attack New Reza and corner King Sigismund II, the Scyflings needed a foothold on land before moving their ships south to Lake Milena, and they began their offensive by dispatching small bands of raiders into Wickwald - the thick forest that cloaked most of Almanland - where the HRA’s forward base of Camp Rock lay.

As the HRA began to fortify the camp, it came under attack by a Scyfling warlord known as the Vile Tooter. The sound of a flute echoed from within the Wickwald, much to the confusion of the Haeseni soldiers defending the Camp, before it turned out to be a distraction as Scyfling slingers attacked the other side of the fort. They first hurled small casks of oil onto Camp Rock’s palisade walls, and they lit it with fire arrows. The fort went up in flames.

The HRA scrambled to douse the fire as Scyfling archers began to fire from the woods - and lit several other fires on the walls with the same oil & fire tactic - before they quickly decided to retreat. Abandoning the burning fort, however, was the easy part, as they found Scyfling skirmishers waiting in the woods. As the Haeseni began to fall back towards Fort Buck, a detachment of HRA fought the Scyflings in the forest to buy their comrades enough time.

In the fighting that followed, Scyfling slingers lit more fires which quickly spread to the surrounding trees. Both Scyflings and Haeseni fell back as the fire spread quickly throughout the Wickwald, leading to a massive inferno that burnt down the entirety of the forest. The Haeseni Army repositioned itself at Fort Buck, while the Scyflings made small camps throughout Almanland’s hilltops.

The Siege of Valwyck, 1767

• 5,000 Scyflings v. 4,500 Haeseni
• Haeseni Victory

The first major battle of the war came when the Scyflings attempted an assault on the castle of Valwyck - seat of House Baruch. The attack was a three-pronged assault:

Assault on the Walls: Scyfling raiders who had encamped themselves in Almanland after the Fall of Camp Rock earlier that year led a direct assault on Valwyck’s walls with siege ladders.

March through the Wickwald: King Sigismund II led a large force of Haeseni soldiers through the burnt and smoking corpse of the Wickwald to fight off the Scyflings besieging Valwyck. In the Wickwald, however, Scyfling skirmishers laid traps beneath the ash and attacked from the burnt trees to slow their advance.

Naval Assault: In the bay of Valwyck was a Baruch warship which stood as Valwyck’s sole defence against naval assault from the many Scyfling longships. A contingency of both Haeseni soldiers and the Hounds of Johnstown manned the warship against several attacking longships.

The walls of Valwyck held as King Sigismund II’s force pushed through the Wickwald. It was only on the other side that they realized a group of Scyflings had flanked around the forest to attack Fort Buck at the same time. King Sigismund II split his host, sending half back through the Wickwald to defend Fort Buck while he advanced to Valwyck with the other half. The King’s retinue was successful in arriving at Valwyck in time, and fought off the castle’s attackers.

In the bay, Scyfling ships had rammed the Baruch warship to immobilize it. The naval defenders managed to destroy several of the longships, and captured one. Masquerading as Scyflings, they sailed back to the main Scyfling fleet before setting fire to several ships once they were close enough. The ship sailed off before the Scyflings could retaliate, and landed near Fort Buck right in time to assist the Haeseni in defeating the Scyflings there.

After a bloody and brutal clash at Fort Buck, the Scyflings were overpowered, and the Siege of Valwyck was hailed as a decisive Haeseni victory.

The Battle for the North Sea, 1768

• 2,000 Scyflings v. 1,800 Haeseni
• Scyfling Victory

Denied the land foothold he so desperately needed, Bralt the Boar then sought to use the strength of his fleet to establish total control of the sea. On a summer’s night of 1768, the Scyfling fleet sailed south where they were met by several Haeseni warships launched from the Vanir harbour of Vasiland.

The two fleets clashed in the semi-frozen water of northern Haense. Though many in number, most Scyfling longships were slender, agile vessels better suited for transport than naval warfare. The Haeseni ships, though fewer, were sturdier and equipped for combat on the water. As a result, only the stronger Scyfling warships met the Haeseni fleet in battle.

After hours of fighting, the battle reached a stalemate as several ships from both sides were lost. It was only after the fighting ended, though, that Margrave Brandon Vanir - commander of the Haeseni fleet - noticed that a swift Scyfling ship had sailed around the battle towards Vasiland.

The First Siege of Vasiland, 1768

Occurring immediately after the Battle of the North Sea, the First Siege of Vasiland was the first major Scyfling victory.

After flanking the Haeseni fleet to sail to Vasiland, a warband of Scyflings under the command of the Vile Tooter reached the harbour and stormed the undefended Vanir keep. Haeseni ships rushed back to defend, and, after a brief and failed negotiations with the Vile Tooter, proceeded to fight within the castle to retake it. The Haeseni were successful at first, and pushed the Vile Tooter into the castle’s attic, where a fire soon started. Before the Haeseni could finish off the invaders, they were abruptly attacked from outside.

As they rushed to the newly-retaken walls, the Haeseni found that Bralt the Boar had marched a unit of Scyflings through Almanland during the Battle of the North Sea, and now attacked Vasiland from outside while the Vile Tooter attacked from within. As fire spread through the keep, the Haeseni were left battered and weary from going straight from the Battle of the North Sea to fight at Vasiland -- they declared the castle lost, and began to retreat.

Fire consumed much of the keep, and the Vile Tooter’s forces reorganized to push the Haeseni outside of the castle where Bralt and his archers lay in wait. The Haeseni command collapsed, and soldiers fled blindly in a bid to escape the deathtrap that Vasiland had become.

Vasiland was lost, and Haense sustained several notable casualties -- Carolina Barclay perished inside the keep where a floor collapsed beneath her, Dame Arianne Helvets died while protecting Godfric Alimar with arrow fire, and Aleksandr Vanir was killed after being taken captive by Bralt, alongside the wife and son of Margrave Brandon Vanir.

Major Confrontations

• Siege of Valwyck - Haeseni Victory
• Battle of the North Sea - Stalemate
• First Siege of Vasiland - Scyfling Victory
• Storming of Fort Buck - Scyfling Victory
• Second Siege of Vasiland - Haeseni Victory
• Assault of Metterden - Haeseni Victory
• Battle for the North - Scyfling Victory
• Siege of New Reza - Haeseni Victory

Timeline

• 1753:
  • The Haeseni expedition returns from Athera, stories of their adventures spread throughout the Kingdom.
• 1765:
  • News of a Scyfling fleet arrives in Reza. King Sigismund II orders the construction of a defensive fort to guard the coasts of the Kingdom.
• 1768:
  • Bralt the Boar arrives at the Northeastern coast of Haense, and his siege of Valwyck is repulsed.
  • The Haeseni begin a counter attack, launching a naval attack to destroy the Scyfling fleet in the bay.
  • Scyfling survivors of the previous battle sneak through and capture Vasiland. Margrave Brandon escapes, but his wife, son, and kinsman Aleksandr are killed.
• 1769:
  • Bolstered by their victory at Vasiland, Scyflings turn to the North and occupy the lightly defended Fort Buck.
  • The evacuation of the North of the Kingdom begins, with all Haeseni urged to retreat to Reza for safety.
  • Scyfling scouts engage in small skirmishes with Haeseni patrols.
  • The Vile Tooter defects after secret negotiations with Princess Alexandria of Haense convincing him to turn sides; his betrayal is met with an assassination attempt by Luvir Ironrain. The Haeseni sent to protect him are forced back to Metterden, where they defeat Luvir with the help of the Hounds of Johnstown.
• 1770:
  • A joint Haeseni-Johnstown siege of Vasiland begins. Initial attempts to quickly assault and take the keep fail, and a Scyfling relief force arrives to join to defenders in the castle.
  • The Haeseni surround the fortress, deciding to perform a conventional siege of the castle.

• 1771:
  • A year long siege ends when the Haeseni assault the fortress again. Bombardment fails, but well placed siege ladders permit the Haeseni to climb onto the walls and retake the castle.
  • The Scyflings attempt a two-wave assault on Metterden, but are beaten off by Haeseni defenders.
  • The Haeseni launch an attack on a Scyfling camp to rescue Lauritz Christiansen, who had been captured during an earlier expedition. The attack is successful and the camp is destroyed.