War of the Dozen Queens
| War of the Dozen Queens | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Nictores Clan | Vecintrex | Elictres | Assorted Warladies | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Kaimara Nictores | Queen Suryara | Queen Siyrani | Numerous unaffiliated forces | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
The War of the Dozen Queens was a significant period of large scale clashes between the myriad of ruling Warladies of what was then Rintyar between 1445 and 1456. Once nominally kept in check by both the increasing worry of foreign Thalassian invasion and the political and military dominance of Queen Nestara, her sudden death and the violent massacre of most of Clan Nictores by their political and religious rivals, as well as underground Drow mercenaries and landless Chosen from the underdark hiring out their services to all factions, led to a sudden war between multiple former allies, each now vying to either simply expand their power or remove their rivals to establish their own dominance over Rintyar and the surrounding islands.
The period would be defined by brutal fighting on all sides for a decade, fueled by ambition, religious fervor, and severe distrust between most combatants. War would be conducted over land and sea, the naval power of the Clans used to significant effect to bring famine and destruction to the ports of their enemies, raiding parties and pirate fleets operating alongside warships and converted merchant ships raising their Clan’s flag.On land, a mixture of lightly equipped levies and veteran mercenaries and nobility fought with relatively little success, most battles ending indecisively and sieges difficult to break through. Only rarely did any serious advances manage to go through without either overwhelming manpower and even more overwhelming losses.
Before long however, Kaimara Nictores would slowly but surely begin to turn the tide, a mixture of excellent tactics, a deep understanding of logistics, and a promise of liberation for the downtrodden slaves of Ranstreimos in exchange for their loyalty helping her maintain a strong hold on the Rintyari mainland.
By the end of the war, Kaimara was now the last remaining queen on the mainland, the surviving enemy queens having retreated to the surrounding Islands in the sea or simply surrendering to her in exchange for retaining their holds and a position of power in her newly established empire, crowning herself Empress of all Rintyar and establishing her Clan, and ultimately herself, as the ruler of Rintyar to the present day.
The Downfall of the Great Clans
The Death of Nestara was a significant cause in the initial flaring of conflicts. Nestara, while always a controversial figure, had been the product of an alliance between Clans Elictres and Vercintrex, fueled greatly by the clans’ successful endeavors that brought thousands of slaves, Thalassian or otherwise, to fuel their economy, most of their mines now relying almost entirely on foreign slaves instead of local prisoners as in prior centuries.
However, the alliance between the two clans was always strained, only tempered by their desire to keep order in Rintyar and to not weaken themselves for another foreign invasion. The vassals of the two clans played a very cutthroat game against each other however, influenced by different beliefs on the then dominant Makari belief as well as significant competition for tithes and land. Queen Nestara’s seeming reference for the Vercintrex’ much more radical beliefs, her devoutness to the very caste-like concepts of the Clan’s predominant Vira Makari faith, which considered punishment of nobility that refused to convert as a justified action, further helped strain relationships.
Nestara’s death would almost immediately be followed by a rather heated standoff over who would rule after her, with both clans having had their most significant ties shattered with her death. Further shattering the peace was Lady Jekana’s attack and subsequent siege on Duchess Itava’s demense, already bringing the two largest Clans into conflict with one another.
At the same time, the Nictores clan, never particularly seen as a powerful household, would finally accomplish their goals of finally conquering what was left of Thalassium’s former domains along the southeast coast of Rintyar. Long considered a lesser clan, their success against a seemingly insurmountable Thalasso-Rintyari hold and acquisition of all its riches nonetheless came as a surprise to all, and a bitter awakening for the rivals of the Nictores. Technically independent from the Great Clans, they refused the ensuing calls to action from either faction, only further straining their relations while empowering other lesser Clans into either neutrality or opportunism, as they now prepared for war against their former masters. Most of the immediate Nictores family would not live to see most of the war however, as the Vecintrex’ hatred of the libertine escalated into a full invasion of the lands they had held for several hundred years, their assassins cutting down most of the household in a few scant nights and the ruling Matriarch killed in the Battle of Fort Draia.
While this ultimately did nearly destroy the Nictores household in one fell swoop, it also immediately estranged much of the vassals of the Vecintrex, now wary about their own futures in the clan. This would culminate in the Night of the Warladies, where multiple Clan Matriarchs would amass forces together and ambush the army of Lady Jekana, promptly capturing, torturing, and executing the powerful clan member and massacring much of her army.
Were it not for the then young Kaimara Nictores’ visit to Dyste and the sudden fracturing of many alliances over the violent annihilation of the Nictores family, their legacy would have likely ended there. Kaimara’s return with several ships and mercenaries would keep the Clan alive however, their new capital of Bokrai serving as a temporary stronghold and massive port from which to finance her campaign.
Before long, the Vecintrex’ and Elictres’ lands would shrink in size as more Warladies would effectively declare themselves independent, no longer taking orders from any higher authority than themselves as they crowned themselves the true queens of Rintyar. All raised thousands of warriors to their defense and conquest of one another, and all focused their military might against one another. The biggest fears of the Clans became true, and Rintyar was now wholly divided as it tore itself apart.
Adding to the increasingly violent and fractured battles, the wholesale domination of the Underground by Queen Lagoron would finally put to end the great many conflicts of the Drow, thousands of warriors now left jobless or without purpose. The Chosen in particular, individuals trained by birth by a Drow Household to become elite warriors, found themselves with little meaningful gain from the conflict, and completely rendered irrelevant by the seeming end of the Crisis, receiving little to no compensation for their services from the now impoverished Queen, as little land was left to give to all of the Chosen warriors.
Those that didn’t rebel in the aftermath would travel outside the Underground, offering their services to the many Warladies and Queens above. Their seemingly antiquated armor, small frames, and relative tolerance for male warriors was often a source of amusement for the Raizari, but their impressive skills in combat were nonetheless used to great effect by several clans.
Waging War
Tactics and strategies would evolve greatly through the war. At the start of the conflict, the Rintyari would primarily rely on a mixture of mercenaries, levies, and the nobility itself, much of the armies having changed only slightly from earlier periods. Armies were heavily focused around infantry, largely made up of cheap levies with leather and padded armors, followed by significantly better equipped and armored but still largely footbound mercenaries and lowlier nobles. Their weaponry varied between clans, though initially often armed with thick kite shields. These faded away in favor of a longer spear called a Sathi as the armor of the common soldier and the overall professionalism of most armies increased. Cavalry largely was initially limited to the Nobility and came in many forms, from Howdah equipped beasts of war to lighter War-Horses. Almost all held a heavy emphasis on ranged warfare, with noble cavalry having equal skill with the bow, the lance, and the blade.
By the war’s end, armor had improved such that shields had become a rarity, firearms had largely replaced bows as the choice of weapon for many newly levied peasant, and cavalry was now sharply divided between the heaviest, plate armored nobility designed to break through an enemy line through pure force and lightly armored cavalry armed with guns, spears or swords, meant to flank and wreak havoc on enemy lines. Enchanted Plate armor became highly valued for its protective properties and its ability to deflect musket fire, an invaluable aid in a battlefield with heavy firearms proliferation, while newly introduced Drow Munition Plate became more and more widespread amongst elite and wealthy warriors.
Cannons, once neglected at the war's start, became one of the most important tools in the Nictores arsenal, being used to crack open once impenetrable defenses and fortifications. Wooden cannons fashioned from ironwood were the most common weapons for the initial conflict.