Thunderstride

The Thunderstride
Date 7271-7270 BR Location Western portions of The Dze Confederation Result Total dze victory
Belligerents
First Dze Confederation	Lûxari City States Amaghi Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Tsǫt'aan Quƚaq	Neris Lizanis † Durakh I †
Strength
~60,000	Unknown, but several times larger

The Thunderstride was a military campaign conducted by Tsǫt'aan Quƚaq against it's neighbouring states as a final response to the raids and conflicts that had occured since the start of The Invasions. The campaign was planned throughout his ascension to power as the singular leader of the Dze and it was the first instance of a planned military campaign.

Background

For around 5 centuries before the campaign the Dze had steadily been driven out of their western lands by waves of invading humans, which began a spiral effect leading to the formation of the First Dze Confederation, which sought to correct these grievances under the rule of Quƚaq, its first tsǫt'aan. The steady rise of human kingdoms after the original, small scale conflicts, led to a chain reaction where the Dze, feeling threatened and pressured, began to cooperate and join in more complex political structures, eventually leading to the Alẋtśaq Clan rising to rule the others by 7274 BR and the ascension of the title of Tsǫt'aan.

For the confederation's first years the Dze prepared to launch a campaign of reconquest centered around the Greater Southern Range and the Hammerfall Peninsula, gathering around 60,000 men by estimation of the tsǫt'aan as attested in the Tsǫḿywaq Stele and then launching a surprise full-on assault on the Amaghi Kingdom.

Early stages

With the beginning of the invasion, King Durakh I mustered an army to face them at the Battle of Ghita, which ended in the death of the King and the routing of the army, as well as the siege of the amaghi capital. With these early victories achieved the attention of the Dze would be focused on the total destruction of the amaghi, however reports of a lûxari army approaching, composed of soldiers from what the Dze called the Juunywnyyŋ or the nine peoples, would force them to temporarily soften the siege, with the tsǫt'aan defeating the lûxari army at the town of Ghahar and quickly ending the siege.

Scouring of lûxar

Having heard of the coalition formed by the amaghi and the lûxari after the battle of Ghita, an enraged tsǫt'aan would march his army to face the coalition at the battles of Lismea and the infamous Battle of Bones, which would bring about the end of military resistance to the Dze, allowing them to sack several cities before razing the lands previously belonging to the amaghi and turning them into pastures and forests.

Aftermath

Just like the invasions had the effect of pushing the Dze towards unification, this early ravage of iron age human societies led to the formation of several, more well-organized and powerful states, such as the Jhu'kan or Gharat, however it also gave the Dze a period of unprecedented peace for the remainder of Quƚaq's reign and most of his successor, tsǫt'aan Tẋeńat's reign.