The Second Uluk War

Military: War

With growing discontent amongst the populace, and numerous plots beginning within The Palantine Court to strip him of his titles, Emperor-Elect Vahalian sought a distraction from his misrule and poor governance.   The Uluk Empire, the crowning achievment of his mother's rule, seemed perfect to the addled Vahalian, for they appeared distracted by the Vokai and Thenian dissenters to their south. An attempt to convince the member-nations, however, proved fruitless and so he staged a false raid upon Thedor, funding mercenaries from Mordain to provide justification for the attack.   Suspicious of the coincidence but helpless in the face of aggression by an enraged public, The Palantine Court sanctioned a war against The Uluk Empire. Unfortunately, what appeared to be a distracted nation was merely one unwilling to invest heavily into a foregone conflict, and threatened by The Brazen Empire, their true might unveiled itself in a brutal series of battles that left wasteland and carrion in their wake.   It was during this conflict that The Order Cognis first revealed itself, The Church of the Cog Beneficent a long ally of the Emperor-Elect. Their gear-powered armour proved emminently effective, their role as shock trooper more than capable of splintering even the thickest Uluk shield-wall. Despite this, the Uluks were determined, for they fought not for a parcel of land contested by prines and kings, but for their very home.   Though The Brazen Empire pushed deeper and deeper, the Uluks left nothing to chance, rigging the mountains to collapse, poisoning the wells and planning countless ambushes that saw countless slain in needless slaughter. The death toll was truly staggering and finally, during The Battle of Drázan Pass, was Vahalian slain in battle. The annals speak of a heroic last stand by himself and his guard, a redemptive moment of glory against an entire Stíatan before finally falling.   Witnesses from the battle, however, state that the Emperor-Elect was struck down by a shadow moving through the chaos, a blade of Hanzer steel cleaving through the beautiful plate that warded him. Regardless of the truth, The Brazen Empire immediately sued for peace, offering reperations and, finally, a small strip of the Waymarch that connected the Empire to Glymgol as recompense.   The Uluks would accept, recognising the truth of the conflict and willing to seek peace with a chastised and humiliated Empire that sought to bury its past. Strangely, in the wake of this conflict, relationships between the two nations thawed considerably, and the Empire was granted leave to travel through Uluk territory for the purpose of trade.