Illalorei War of Rudoran Subjugation

Hadrick watched them from atop his watchtower, warning had already been sent to Arluck that the Aelves were starting their summer raids early, but this raid seemed different. It was larger by almost eight fold more than the previous raid only a few weeks ago. "What are you thinking Hadrick?" asked Watchman Bernet.
"For weeks now they've been sending the smallest numbers I've seen in the last twelve years now... They're trying something different this time. It shouldn't matter, we've beaten them back more times than I could remember."
"The Knife-Ears come out to die, the winds keep blowing, eh?" said Bernet
"The winds keep blowing." Hadrick replied
Far away at the advancing masses of horses, a banner blows in the wind, a burning hand on a red-orange field.

The Illalori War of Rudoran Subjugation was the first of Benalon I Ulanala's wars of conquests after his uniting the tribes of Illalon. The war saw the collapse and annexation of the The Kingdom of Rudora.

History

Lead Up to War

With the eruption of Gromzug in 516 and his campaign of unification among the scattered Aelven tribes completed, morale among those loyal to Benalon were ravenous. Lieutenants sent to villages to recruit men for upcoming raids would return with nearly entire villages wishing to take part in the summer raids. Unbeknownst to all but his most loyal commanders though, a greater invasion than the Illalorei had ever mustered was being planned.

Meanwhile in Rudora, still reeling from recent conflicts with the neighboring Kirshani Empire, could hardly divert the necessary men west towards the Rudoran Gaps to protect from the normal summer raids . Bands of the tribemen poured through the gaps, devastating villages and cities alike harassing the roads out of Arluck and towards Tyrrun. For the weeks leading up to the invasion, Aelven raids into Rudoran lands came earlier and lighter in force than was typical of their summer raids. To those of the Rudoran Court, this was seen, mistakenly, as a boon.

In the Summer months of 524, the two great hosts were mustered on the borders of Illalon and Rudora, coming from the united tribes of Illalor. When at last Benalon gave the call, a chain of signal fires were lit signalling for the horde of Aelven Horse Riders to pour past the Rudoran Gaps.

The Battles of Conteign & Arluck

The northern host, led by Dovere Ulanala, advanced toward Arluck, while the southern host, under Benalon Ulanala, swept south around Lake Rivan and into Conteign. In Arluck, the surprise attack was anticipated by Lord Denyll Forn, a veteran of countless Illalorei raids. His city, long fortified against cavalry, held firm under pressure. Conteign, however, was unprepared. Caught off guard by the deep Aelven incursion, the city’s defenders retreated after a rout at the southern bridge. Benalon, unintersted in a siege used his cavalry to devastating effect, he circled past the city, ravaging the countryside and vanishing into the eastern forests while the Lord of the city watched.

For days, the Lord of Conteign Sevrin Gormayne hesitated, suspecting a trap. The Aelven strategy was simple but effective: strike northern villages and drive the fleeing population south, overwhelming the city with panic and refugees. Eventually, the Conteignois army marched out. Scouts reported a small Aelven force in the forest. Seeing an opportunity, the Lord sent his marshal with 800 heavy infantry, 1,200 militia, and a contingent of light cavalry. The cavalry scouted the forest's edge and, finding nothing, assumed the Aelves were deep within—vulnerable. In reality, they had stumbled into a trap. The reported infantry were elite pyromancers of the Flames of Karaban. As the Conteignois marched into the woods, the pyromancers set the forest ablaze, incinerating the trapped soldiers. When the flames died down, Aelven cavalry charged, cutting down the fleeing survivors with ease. The scattered cavalry were caught off guard as a mounted spearhead surged from the woods, driving west. A general retreat was sounded. Survivors fled back to Conteign, while Aelven riders patrolled the roads and intercepted messengers bound for the capital city of Old Rudora.

The siege that followed was brief. Benalon offered clemency to the Lord Gormayne, who accepted vassalage under the condition that, when the capital had fallen, Arluck would be his dominion. Benalon agreed intention to reshape the continent under a new imperial order. Meanwhile, in Arluck, Dovere's siege dragged on, tense and uncertain, losses mounting.

Ending The Siege & Rudoran Counterattack

With Arluck holding firm and Conteign fallen, word had slipped from beyond the siege lines to the capital of Old Rudora. With winter nearing, the king took the time to raise levies and empty the kingdom’s coffers to hire mercenaries: the Bastard’s Bane from Amanora and The Sunshield Company from the Dhomrahm. Diplomatic appeals—to Amanora, The Confederacy of The Frensari and the The Kingdom of Khirinoff—were either fruitless or delayed.

It almost seemed to breathe when the soldier poked at it, the slowly turning green piece of bread he'd been given for todays rations...
"I thought watch duty got us the better food? The Guard said, frustration and desperation mixing together into a swirl
"This IS the better food you fool" His watchmate replied. A lick of light from the low burning torch cast a revealing light across the underside of the guard's face, it was growing surprisingly gaunt after only a few weeks of siege. The Harvest was still a long ways away when the Aelves appeared. "They're busy passing around bread that's more sawdust than grain down in the barracks you know? That's why I'm willing tor risk the occasional loosed arrow, at least I can eat this... most of the time at least"
Down below the parapets, across the siege lines a great fire burned, and with it the same smell they'd been taunted with all week.
"Roasted Mutton, eh? Must be from Farmer Garrum's Herd"
"Probably's Farmer Garrum himself I think." The other guard quipped.
"Probably is.." The night grew colder and more dreadful as the Aelves continued burning the provisions they had seized from the city's relief

The Rudoran marshal, seeing the unified Aelven host, attempted to retreat along Lake Rivan, sacrificing his vanguard to cover the movement. But as the humans halted to regroup, they were flanked. An envoy met Benalon, who offered two choices: surrender and serve, or burn. The vanguard surrendered without a fight. The Rudoran main force fell back to Eladstown to join the Bastard’s Bane. In response, Benalon led nearly his entire army from Tyrrun, leaving Dovere behind with a token garrison. Furious at both his brother’s missteps and his own earlier defeat—particularly on the symbolic day of Gromzug’s eruption—Benalon razed Eladstown. Few civilians survived.

Afterward, Benalon vanished alone into the northern forest to seek the Satyrs and offer penance for the destruction of the southern woods. What occurred there remains unknown.

The Winter of 525, The Battle of Old Rudora & The Spring of 526

As winter gripped the land, both the Aelven and Rudoran forces turned inward to tend their wounds and regroup. Supplies dwindled, morale frayed, and the once-mighty Kingdom of Rudora stood on the brink of collapse. In a final act of desperation, the Rudoran king reached out to the Kirshani Empire—their longstanding bitter rivals whom they had only recently concluded hostilities with—seeking aid. But the Kirshani offered no mercy. The Rudoran envoys were turned away at the gates of every city, denied even the dignity of a hearing.

When the snow finally began to thaw in the early months of 526, the Aelven host surged north along the eastern roads with renewed purpose. Their destination: Old Rudora itself. The final stand of the kingdom would be made at its ancient heart. The Battle of Old Rudora was a brutal, drawn-out siege that lasted four unrelenting days. From dusk until dawn, the clash of steel and the screams of the dying filled the air. The Aelven pyromancers—known as the Flames of Karaban—unleashed devastation upon the city's defenses, their firestorms turning night to day as they engulfed towers, granaries, and strongholds.

On the fourth day, the gates of the city fell. The Rudoran king, broken and defeated, offered his surrender. He renounced his claim to the throne in exchange for clemency, but even in capitulation, he would not allow his kingdom to be wholly taken. The Royal Fleet, moored in the eastern harbors, set sail under the cover of darkness. Whatever vessels they could not crew were scuttled to deny them to the enemy. Though the king had yielded the crown, he ensured his bloodline would not fall into Aelven hands.

Benalon, ever true to his threats and promises, kept to his word. The fallen kingdom was cleaved in two. The southern half, fertile and rich in resources, was handed to the newly submissive Sevrin Gormayne, now elevated to rule under Aelven oversight. The northern half—including Old Rudora—Benalon claimed for himself. It would be governed directly under his command, its people subject to the harsh laws of the Aelven victors.

Yet Benalon was not content to rest. With the conquest complete, he set his eyes westward, toward the fractured Confederacy of The Frensari. There was still much to conquer, and his ambition knew no borders. Behind him, he left Dovere Ulanala to govern what remained of Rudora. Tasked with enforcing the will of the new Aelven Order, Dovere’s rule began as the smoldering remnants of war still clung to the land—a cold peace born of fire and blood.

Throughout the winter of 526 and it's proceeding spring, despite no lords left to contest the reign of Benalon, peace did not immediately return to Rudora. A dogged insurgency was waged by a group calling themselves the Sons of Forn. lead by Arluck men who had never accepted either Aelven rule or the betrayal of Lord Gormayne, attacked Conteignois Soldiers they saw as complicit in their subjugation as well as any Aelves they could find. Their resistance would continue throughout 526 until they could no longer sustain the losses they had taken. The Sons of Forn would continue to exist in the shadows throughout Aelven rule over Rudora and would prove to be instrumental in the reformation of the Kingdom when the Empire at last collapsed.