Tolball Wars
A series of military campaigns waged by the tortle Shogun Tolball to create a new kingdom from the ruins of the Kiri Remnant. Supported financially and militarily by Kyoko Hara, Tolball made alliances with sahuagin like William Fintuna and enforced a strict code of justice in all his conquered territories to ensure stability throughout the region. While considered controversial at the time, his strategy proved effective and by the time of the Siege of Nekutalin in 919 he had successfully conquered 60% of the Kiri Remnant. Conquering other 40% proved an uphill battle, but after another half-decade of fighting the last rival warlord was publicly hanged and flayed in 925.
The Conflict
Prelude
Oda Clan successfully toppled the elven Kiri Clan during the Oda-Kiri War, but Bucephalus the Rambunctious proved incapable of governing the territory beyond the Maguro River. A power vacuum formed, quickly filled by warlords and pirates eager to exploit the commoners and resources left behind by Kiri Clan. The Kiri Remnant, as it was soon to be called, became a land of lawlessness and fighting that affected all aspects of life in the Northern Territories. Merchants struggled to safely move merchandise throughout the region, neighboring kingdoms suffered from bandit raids, and the Remnant's chaos allowed for cults devoted to Gruumsh and Gray Hat to flourish.
Deployment
Tolball assembled forces on the coasts of the Gulf of Lotan, securing a handful of villages and promising them safety in return for their loyalty. A combined force of land and amphibious units began expanding throughout the Kiri Remnant, using the Shinju and Maguro Rivers as natural boundaries for their expansion.
The Engagement
- The Puddle Spreads (Summer 918 - Spring 919): Shogun Tolball's earliest victories were modest at best, annexing a handful of small towns and villages throughout the low-lying interior of the Kiri Remnant. In most places Tolball's forces were met with open arms and generous support, but hostility towards his sahuagin forces and taxing battles with more powerful warlords spread his forces thin. Tolball needed a large fortress or settlement to anchor his military operations.
- Siege of Nekutalin (Spring 919): Tolball and his second-in-command William Fintuna set up a weekslong siege of the coastal city of Nekutalin, currently held hostage by a ruthless warlord known only as Mr. Dynamite. The city would provide Tolball with a much-needed headquarters to orchestrate larger campaigns from, its ports providing a consistent stream of supplies and armaments. Tolball was bracing for a monthslong siege, but reinforcements from Kyoko Hara helped turn the tide of battle in a single day. The Fortunate Five broke through the Castle Nekutalin's walls with a single swing of an adamantine mace, racing through its halls and chambers before vanquishing the demonically-possessed Mr. Dynamite.
- The Long Journey West (Fall 919 - Spring 925): Shogun Tolball had a productive summer in 919, joining the newly-formed Northern Union and encouraging foreign powers to support his crusade against the Kiri Remnant's petty warlords. In good news for Kyoko Hara, Tolball styled himself as the antithesis of Paoli Piedmonte's trade empire and hoped to provide an alternative for nations sailing through the Karaga Sea. These plans were paused by Tolball's grueling campaigns in the Kiri Remnant's interior, warlords banding together out of a sheer need for survival that drew the Tolball Wars well into the mid-920's. Tolball had to spend more and more time away from his newly-established capital of Nekutalin, unable to counter Sardivelia's Avventuri when they started waging a brutal anti-piracy campaign against the privateers who called the city home. The campaign ended after six years of grueling fighting, but Shogun Tolball returned to Nekutalin tired and barely able to keep Sardivelian forces from decimating the region's pirate population. New Tolball became a formally recognized kingdom within the Northern Union, but its navy was unable to lift a finger against Sardivelia's naval dominance.
Conflict Type
Military Campaign
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
917, 4th Cycle
Ending Date
925, 4th Cycle
Conflict Result
Creation of New Tolball, Destruction of the Kiri Remnant
Location
Comments