The Traitors' War

Summary

A brief but horrific war, and one of the most recent major conflicts in memory for Aerthen. The Traitors' War rocked the continent and threatened the geopolitical power balance of its major players. It also stands as a reminder of what happens when the honorable rules of war are not obeyed, for evil will always follow.    

Prelude to War

Nearly a century ago, the Empress of the Aerthen Imperial Federation at the time, Arveni Durand, pushed for a new campaign of expansion. Her principle issue was the Federation's traditional neighbors to the north, east, and south were heavily entrenched against them. The calculus for invasion upon them would simply cost too much, even if they did win. Her gaze turned westward instead, past central Aerthen.   The three most prominent lands to the west belonged to Argen, Froda, and Sella. They were collectively the 'Ladies of Fornaldom', denoting the open plains between the northern and southern great mountains. If anyone wanted to go toward Lophern, or enter central/eastern Aerthen, they had to traverse that region. Such an incredibly valuable position was also contentious, and the three had long, storied histories of defending their territories.   While the Federation has had on-and-off dreams of a coastal port to the open oceans, Empress Arveni had a much more particular goal. By dominating Fornaldom, she would control the single viable land route of trade that went east or west. In other words, the Federation would bisect the economic world, solidifying its trade stranglehold. It would place them in a position of authority over all their rivals across Aerthen.   Two main problems awaited her: the farthest staging grounds the Federation had was the trade-city of Jalken. Nominally a member of the Federation, Jalken was its farthest western frontier, and the Federation had not built infrastructure to support a massive invasion. Secondly, Fornaldom was a formidable territory, and though they fought amongst themselves, outside invaders always caused them to rally together. It was also very likely the western coastal queendoms and city-states would intervene to prevent Federation dominance.   Still, the opportunity proved too valuable to pass up, and the expansionist members of the Federation Senate successfully pushed for the campaign to begin.   The undertaking began slowly at first, as the Federation lacked critical supply routes for their armies. The trade city-state of Jalken became their main staging grounds, turning into a vital organ in the federal military apparatus. As their preparations began, Fornaldom learned of the impending invasion, and so prepared as well. Western aide began flooding into Fornaldom, further bolstering them. The Federation could only escalate in response, and soon enormous armies were assembled on both sides.   Their war, deserving of its own recounting, ultimately ended up with Federation victory. However, because of that costly engagement and the time it took, the states beyond them fortified in anticipation of invasion. The Federation didn't have the fighting power to continue, not without losing everything they'd gained. So, Empress Arveni consolidated her winnings and focused on laying the groundwork for stronger federal power in the region. Hence forth, it collectively became referred to as the Western Bulwark.    

The Western Bulwark Rebels

Seven decades later, Fornaldom had almost completely changed. Beneath Federal rule, they were rebuilt and bolstered to the standards of the Federation. As far as ruling powers went, the Federation emphasized inclusivity as part of its meritocratic ideals. Their hands-on approach to native cultures also meant most cultural identities survived, minus obvious modifications to fit Federal ideals. It is a playbook the Federation had designed for centuries, and was proficient at wielding time and again.   However, the complete loss of Fornaldom was an existential threat to the civilizations of western Aerthen. It meant the expansionist Federation was on their front doorstep, and they could all be facing invasion at any moment. Not to mention the extreme power the Federation wielded in controlling such a vital trade artery. No one could defy their demands without losing access.   In such a light, they spent great effort sowing discontent and rebellious ideals in Fornaldom's population. Unwilling to directly confront the Federation, a vast array of instigators conspired to start a civil war within the Western Bulwark. A campaign of both incredible size and effort, it built a powder keg in Fornaldom throughout the entire time the Federation ruled. Though the Federation spent considerable time itself in trying to quell the situation, Fornaldom's remoteness was always a problem.   Foreign agents set about assaulting Federal troops and citizens, kick starting the rebellion on a wave of bloodshed. Some native populations were also targeted to foster anti-Federation sentiments. The rest took care of itself, and Fornaldom blew up into civil war.   From the start, the rebellion struggled with its own agendas. Many different factions had been propped up and armed, and each vied for dominance. As Fornaldom itself descended into chaos, trade halted entirely, causing everyone else to suddenly start paying attention. The Federation was swift to respond, dispatching its main garrison army from Jalken toward the Western Bulwark.   As numerous and problematic as the rebels were, anyone could see the Federation easily routing and crushing them. The real problems began when Hailar, a city to the north, joined the rebels. Largely a mining city, Hailar spent years bolstering their military forces. Their ostensible purpose was to impress their neighbors, and consider them worthwhile allies and not just a resource mine to tap. Hailar itself had been cordial with Jalken, their nearest neighbor, and so the Federation paid them little attention as a result.   Queen Mahnyer Rocker of Hailar ambushed the Federation army, almost completely wiping them out in a surprise attack. Fashioning herself as a person of Fornaldom (despite Hailar never being considered part of them), she charismatically won over much of the native rebels. Those who didn't buy in were forced to play along, or simply replaced outright. Adorned with a massive new army, Queen Mahnyer sought to sweeping up the entirety of Fornaldom and the neighboring eastern territories.   The Federation, blindsided, could only dig in as they dispatched armies from farther away. Jalken, led by Duchess Amelia Louva, fortified extensively for a massive invasion and siege.    

Famine of Froda

Before the rebellion itself fully kicked off, the fanning flames arose in the cities of Argen, Froda, and Sella. While her two sister states embraced the uprising, Froda had different ideas. The most northern of the three, and situated on the least hospitable terrain, Froda struggled to make ends meet year-after-year throughout her life. Although they were a hardy and capable people, they never had the luxuries and riches of those in the south.   The Federation, recognizing enormous mineral wealth, invested heavily Froda. Its companies came en-masse, creating vast job opportunities and bolstering their ranks from within off native Froda citizens. Newer, modern innovations were rolled in, and hardy Froda for once enjoyed more than her two sisters did.   The Federation's multi-decade planning paid off, as Froda's upper echelons became almost entirely loyal to Federal interests. The people themselves were more in between enjoying all the foreign investment, or angered over their way of life being changed. It became the defining issue of its time for Froda, and a frequent source of minor squabbles and simmering tensions. The longer time went on and the generations changed, the more secure Federal rule became.   When the rebellion started, Froda tore in half between loyalists and rebels. The loyalists succeeded in pushing the rebels out of the city proper, buying themselves vital time. Fortifying their city for a prolonged siege, Froda was surrounded almost immediately and cut off from all outside supply. A move that shocked its inhabitants, as the rebels even forbade civilians from entering or leaving. Such a violation of honorable warfare angered the stubborn people of Froda, galvanizing them into a 'do or die' readiness.   Too entrenched for anyone sane to ever try attacking, the rebels elected to simply starve Froda out. Their hopes were, in some respects, to force Froda to surrender quickly and then move on. Froda, however, bet on the Federation coming to their aide. Months dragged by, and Froda's reserves began emptying out, no sign of help from the Federation. Worse, Queen Mahnyer's attack on the Jalken's federal garrison army meant aide would be delayed even longer.   Faced with the grim prospect of running out of supplies completely and surrendering, Froda's leaders debated heavily on what to do. A year after the rebellion started and the city-state neared collapse, someone else decided their fate instead.    

Vorhein

As starvation took lives, the Forsaken Undead began rising up. It would be a losing battle as time went on and the people of Froda grew weaker and weaker. No one knows where exactly she came from, or who she'd been in life, but the emergence of a Grave Queen named Vorhein, Of the Endless Hunger, would spell the end of Froda. Armed with sinister cunning and a ravenous appetite, Vorhein tore through Froda with her undead, massacring the inhabitants in days. The rebels besieging the city had no clue what they'd just helped birth, not until the undead spilled out in a murderous tide.   They consumed everything in their path: people, animals, fruits, vegetables, and even some things not strictly edible. Not even the tiniest of vermin survived in their wake, leaving a desolate, empty land behind them. Vorhein guided her undead forth, her slavering maw set on the nearest place with a new meal to offer: Sella.   Sella and Argen both committed most of their fighting power to Queen Mahnyer's designs farther eastward. With allies on their western front, they hadn't any expectation of an attack, and so left the most basic garrisons behind. It would be these doomed souls who first saw Vorhein's massive swarm sprinting toward them. Guided by their queen's heinous intellect, the undead threw themselves upon Sella's storm walls.   Less than a week later, the city had been devoured utterly, and Vorhein continued on to Argen. In the span of less than a month from Froda to Argen, Vorhein wiped out Fornaldom utterly. Her ranks swelled with ravenous dead, engendering newer and more horrific kinds of unlife. Most valuable of all were the nekrokin, the lieutenants to their queen's court. Vorhein sent them eastward, while she herself traveled west, taking aim at the peoples of western Aerthen.    

Federal Reprisal

The complete annihilation of a Federal Army by Queen Mahnyer became an inciting escalation. The Federation sent not only two nearby armies toward Jalken, an Imperial Army itself had been ordered to the west. The latter led by Corentine Durand, Crown Princess of the Federation, she was sent as a show of overwhelming force to both rebels and opportunistic parasites.   Some in the Federation Senate argued sending three entire armies, an Imperial one especially, was completely unnecessary. Emperor Josora Durand, however, insisted it be done. Not only had member states dare rebel, an entire army had already been lost. It would be a black-eye like no other in the Emperor's reign thus far. A showing of Federal and Imperial power was a necessity for the Federation's cohesion.   Logistics and travel ultimately meant each army would arrive after the other. The Wolf Huntresses army arrived first, bolstering Jalken's military garrison as Queen Mahnyer raided with impunity. The two forces collided, forming new battle lines just as the Flaming Axes army followed up, securing Jalken's surrounding territory. While they'd been ordered to establish a foothold and wait for Princess Corentine, the acting head general, Milula Tree-Clover, marched the armies forward.   General Milula pushed against Queen Mahnyer's forces, shoving them westward toward Fornaldom proper. Although capable raiders and proficient at small unit tactics, Queen Mahnyer's ragtag rebels didn't have the discipline to match a properly trained army. Only those from Hailar proper managed to hold their ground to any respectable degree. Still, against such overwhelming odds, Queen Mahnyer could only retreat and favor attrition tactics.   It might've worked to some degree, if it werent for the undead suddenly showing up.    

Heartkill Fleshtearer

An overgrown ghoul, first among the nekrokin to emerge, led her fellows at Vorhein's order. Once a federal officer in life, Heartkill Fleshtearer (as she called herself) had some inkling of tactics and subterfuge, making her a favorite of Vorhein's. Knowing that many villages, towns, and other ill-defended places would flee to cities, Heartkill spread her swarm out to devour all these places first. It bolstered her ranks and fed unbelievable amounts of flesh, spurring countless returned into becoming ghouls proper. The likes of raveners soon followed as well.   Armed with not only formidable numbers, but heinous power as well, Heartkill collided headfirst with Queen Mahnyer's retreating rebels. Completely blindsided by the undead, the rebels immediately reversed direction, retreating toward the Federation armies instead. It would be then that General Milula first saw the swarms of undead running people down as they fled for their lives. Nothing quite turns enemies to friends like both sides realizing a third, different side was going to eat them all.   The rebels swiftly begged for amnesty, and General Milula demanded they help her armies fight the undead. As Queen Mahnyer had, apparently, died in the retreat, there was no central authority for them to rally around. Many of the rebels ultimately decided to listen to General Milula, at least for the time being. With the rebels among their ranks, the Wolf Huntresses and Flame Axes collided with Heartkill's swarms over the following days.   Realizing the seriousness of the opposition, Heartkill withdrew her swarms. Instead, she sent out marauding groups that would, sporadically and without warning, flank the federal armies. When forces pivoted to answer these attacks, she sent stronger assaults onto exposed weak points. Ordinarily, such suicidal tactics weren't something any sane army would use. Heartkill, however, didn't care if her forces died or not.   She only needed to whittle away her opposition.   A self-destructive loop formed the longer things dragged on. As people died to the undead, they were liable to return as undead themselves. Sanctifying and properly burying them took time, and Heartkill had no reservations about interfering in these efforts. The more the Federation entrenched to defend against her, the more she ransacked and destroyed their supplies. Heartkill couldn't win a direct confrontation, but she proved more than capable of ripping and goring the armies into bleeding messes.   General Milula, unwilling to concede defeat and retreat, stubbornly kept trying to meet Heartkill's attacks. A decision that, as the days and weeks dragged on, did far more damage to the troops under her command than Heartkill. As morale worsened and supplies ran out, the armies eventually forced General Milula to retreat to Jalken. Winded and exhausted, they became easy pickings for Heartkill, who soon replenished all her losses off their fresh dead.   By the time General Milula reached Jalken, only a third of her total force remained, and Heartkill's swarms soon battered upon the city itself. Duchess Amelia Louva of Jalken, utterly disgusted by such incompetence, summarily discharged General Milula, and assumed command over the surviving armies and rebels. It was not a proper transition in the chain of command, but the Duchess didn't care. They would all be put to service defending Jalken, or die with the city.    

Fool Me Once ...

Having received word of the undead situation, Princess Corentine faced a dilemma. As capable as her Imperial Army, the Storm Lances, were, undead of such a nature and magnitude would stress even their formidable capability. Having stationed at Applegrove, the last major city before going to Jalken proper, she had little in the way of Federation assistance. At least, not anything that wouldn't take months to arrive and let Jalken fall in the interim. Worse, if the undead spread throughout the lands, the great plains of western Aerthen would become killing fields.   Unexpected help came in the form of an adventurer by the name of Alexandre, leader of the Fearless Ananpae group. Somehow, word of the western situation spread throughout Applegrove, and he wanted to volunteer his group of six to help, how ever they could. The act inspired Princess Corentine, who realized Applegrove's adventurer population as a whole could possibly be enlisted. Such people weren't part of the federal regulars, but she needed any hands she could get.   Intense, but brief negotiation unfolded into a workable solution: the Storm Lances would continue on and confront the bulk of the undead. The adventurers would go upon the flanks, hunting down isolated undead groups and preventing them from spreading. With their help in hand, Princess Corentine marched toward the besieged Jalken. Arriving in time, the Storm Lances tore into the undead and finally broke the siege.   Heartkill retreated, and much like before, sought to harassing and tearing apart the Imperial Army. To her surprise, marauding adventurers intercepted her flanking attacks again and again, handily crushing them. Worse, the Storm Lances sent out devastating patrols, cutting through her nesting grounds and hidden forces repeatedly. Increasingly frustrated at the situation, Heartkill herself went out on the prowl, hunting down the adventurers.   She even had some success, up until she met the Fearless Ananpae and was finally beheaded.   The death of their leader threw the ravenous dead into confusion. Although lesser nekrokin accompanied her, they lacked the same gripping command and reach. Without a reason to hold back, the ravenous went to the nearest meal they could find, to eat or be killed. The Storm Lances resoundingly routed and cleared away the undead, laying rest to Heartkill's vicious swarms.    

The Ravenous Tide

In the following weeks, the dead were laid to rest, nearly all incinerated in huge burn pits overseen by Volapaws priestesses. What remained of the rebels were tried and judged by Princess Corentine, who, ultimately chose to execute any authoritative figures that had led the rebellion. The rest, particularly 'young' folk, posed a dilemma to her. Not all of them avowed faith in the rebellion, forced by circumstance or friends to join in. She had no way of adequately judging them, and a lacking punishment or justification would cause no end of problems for her.   In lieu of something proper, she stayed her official judgements, taking care of more pressing matters. They were, in the interim, sentenced to penal labor for Jalken, and overseen by Duchess Louva. Hailar natives were released to return home, with an understanding that Hailar itself would be getting visited by the Federation soon. The heavily damaged Wolf Huntresses and Flame Axes were discharged and sent home to recuperate, and given a decade to bolster their forces again. General Milula herself was sent back to Fleursowurm to be tried for military incompetence.   Amidst all the cleanup and paperwork to be done, Princess Corentine heard news she'd never forget. Her scouts reported that not only were Argen, Froda, and Sella completely gone, an enormous swarm was approaching Jalken; one that eclipsed the swarm she'd just fought off. The abominable undead that Alexandre slew was not, in fact, the Grave Queen they thought her to be. A collective tightening of the pants followed, and plans were drafted up.   Duchess Louva, and the people of Jalken at large, refused to evacuate. Prideful to a fault, they would stay with their city to the bitter end. Princess Corentine couldn't abide abandoning them to certain doom, nor did her officers in the Storm Lances suggest it. While many adventurers, valuing their own lives, left, some did stay, most notably Alexandre and his Fearless Ananpae. So it would be, they would all give everything they had to defend Jalken.   It would be Duchess Louva and Princess Corentine that fortified Jalken itself. The adventurers, led by Alexandre, had the more daunting proposition of flanking the swarm. Knowing how much Heartkill's death shattered the undead's cohesion, their job was to assassinate the Grave Queen herself. Jalken would bear the brunt of the assault, and try to overcome it in its own way. Neither knew which method would work, or who would fail if things came to the worst.   In the coming days, the tide beset Jalken, an endless sea of bodies stretching from the storm walls to the horizon. Raveners battered the gates, returned climbed up each other in living ladders upon the walls, necromages unleashed horrific magics, and ghouls snuck into the city, slaughtering innocents where they could. Day and night the dead came, unrelenting, unending.   Alexandre's adventurers fared no better, constantly beset by roaming dead drawn to the presence of life. The more they slew, the more that followed after, sensing resistance that needed crushing. Were it not for their formidable experience and capable skills, they would've been overwhelmed on the first night. When nekrokin came to handle the problem finally, they slew those as well. Only then did Vorhein's vast gaze narrow, turning upon them singularly.   In a battle far and beyond the hardest of their lives, they collided with Vorhein and her ravenous tide. By the end of it, Alexandre slew Vorhein, putting the Grave Queen and most of her nekrokin lieutenants down. The tide soon fell apart, turning upon each other in lieu of anything else to eat. Those farther away sprinted off, seeking easier prey away from the battlefields.   So it was, the adventurers triumphed. Although Jalken's gates were broken in, every inch the dead took was met by walls of weapons and magic. A quarter of the city was razed in the process, but its people survived, and so the war finally came to an end.    

Aftermath and Legacy

As reinforcements arrived to Jalken, Princess Corentine and Duchess Louva scoured the surrounding territories of undead. While they managed to catch and destroy an incredible amount, there was no true accounting of how many ravenous escaped. They left to tend to their own business, leaving the clean up to the federal armies coming to station in Jalken temporarily.   The body count, at the end of it all, would be summarized as:  

The city-states of Argen, Froda, and Sella.

Queen Mahnyer Rocker and most of Hailar's military forces.

The west Aerthen city-states of Imenia, Roulau, Bendu, and Coral Port.

Most of the Wolf Huntresses and Flame Axes Federal armies.

The entire first federal garrison of Jalken.

Half of Jalken's armed forces.

The complete depopulation of Fornaldom, both people and animal life.

  It would only be afterward that evidence of foreign instigation was uncovered and what led toward the rebellion in the first place. As most of the perpetrators involved, however, were slaughtered by Vorhein, the Federation considered the matter 'resolved'. It remains a mystery why she split her forces, pursuing an attack on two fronts, instead of concentrating everything at once. Some consider it a simple strategic mistake; others that the nature of the Forsaken is to disregard sane and conventional wisdom in favor of madness.   Ultimately, Fornaldom itself would lose its name as the horrid tales of its fate spread. Many more soon simply called it a 'haunted land', and official records henceforth refer to it as 'The Haunted Land'. While wildlife was somewhat quick to return, it would take many years before anything resembling a normal population would appear. The Federation, until the veltron is sanctified properly, officially banned any settlement or people habitation past Jalken. It is a ban echoed in part by the far western city-states, and so the whole region has turned into a no woman's land.   Because of the necessity for trade, however, certain protected and heavily patrolled routes would be established. These corridors are the only civilized ways through the Haunted Land, with waystations dotting the routes. Pilgrimaging priestesses, shamankas, necromancers, and anyone with a profession dealing with the dead often pay visits. The massive slaughter and unease permeating the grounds means unrest, and undead emergence, are far more common than normal.   The nature of Vorhein's ravenous tide, however, means few actual bodies were left behind to become undead. It is an unusual, but ironically helpful, distinction her breed of undead helped bring about. Those who die upon the grounds of the Haunted Land, however, are far more likely to return. Whether as ravenous or some other kind of undead, it is a place of clear and certain spiritual danger.     Ultimately, the rebellion itself would later come to be called the Traitors' War, and it stands as one of the most horrific conflicts in recent decades. Its impact has rattled the Federation, particularly its leadership, spurring on massive internal evaluation and loyalty checking. The fear of another Vorhein emerging became quite potent, for it was something no one would dream of letting happen again.   In the span of less than a year, she single-handedly destroyed seven fortified city-states, their surrounding territories, and the entire region of Fornaldom. An accomplishment of speed, ferocity, and staggering destruction that even drew the attention of nearby dragon lineages. Which, in itself, has become a headache for the Federation.    

Duchess Amelia Louva

As the Duchess of Jalken, and in no uncertain terms a capable powerhouse, Amelia Louva would receive commendable honors by the Federation Senate. Immense financial and material support followed after, bolstering Jalken and helping it toward a speedy recovery. Once again the farthest western city of the Federation, Jalken remained its gateway to the west. Whether for incoming trade, or as a military garrison, its strategic value was almost without compare.   The surviving people of Fornaldom were, ultimately, consigned to Jalken, and left to the Duchess' discretion as to their fate. As Princess Corentine had executed all of the leadership, Duchess Louva swept the survivors' crimes under the rug, painting them as conscripted or drafted against their will. It made them sympathetic enough that much of the blame of the rebellion fell to the dead.   For they who survived, they would forever be haunted by the destruction of their homeland, and the evil their actions brought into the world.    

Princess Corentine Durand

Thanks to her effective leadership, organization, and command of the situation, Princess Corentine earned great honors and acclaim. It solidified her position as the Crown Princess, and made it clear to the Federation's military she would be a respectable Empress. Her dutiful and punctual aide to the common people, as well as ensuring proper relief was dispensed, massively shot up her popularity in the western frontier.   All in all, it became an utter nightmare for her critics and rivals, who couldn't hope to besmirch or lessen her accomplishments.    

Alexandre, the Hero of Aerthen

In due recognition of being the ones that slayed Vorhein, Emperor Josora bestowed great acclaim upon Alexandre and his allies. However, when people heard of Alexandre's impending recognition, the Federation Senate received a shocking amount of endorsements. It became apparent Alexandre had been to every corner of Aerthen in his life as an adventurer.   It would be that, to honor such an incredible service to Aerthen, its people, and the defense of the innocent, Emperor Josora bestowed him the title Hero of Aerthen.   He would later get hired by Princess Corentine as her unofficial-official right hand man. While ostensibly an adventurer, he did so on the payroll of the Imperial State, which served to help their public image, and particularly Princess Corentine's, quite a lot.