The Wars between the Iron Valley and Bailite Kingdoms
As requested by High Historian Wenche Vanatoure in Summer 224AE, completed in Autumn 225AE by a variety of scholars.
The mountains, hills, and valleys of Esterra are unbreakable. They will remain long after we have gone and will be largely unchanged for it, despite our hopes, our failures, and our wars. For more than three hundred years the Valleyfolk of the High Places and their empire warred and fought with the Bailites of the low forests and now that the empire is gone and the Bailites are replaced with pretenders, the land looks much the same.
This research, as is fitting with any research into the Iron Valley and its affairs, has come from a variety of sources. Early details are held sparsely in the musty archives of Deorling’s Citadel, Brakkenloh, and the other settlements of Windholme. Unfortunately we will lack much of the specific details of the wars in the East, but this is to be expected given current misfortunes. But thankfully we have also been able to draw from our allies in Lerona Mere, particularly to close out this story.
It is our hope that these words are not a precursor to repetition, but as the Bailite Kingdoms regrow to the south, I cannot help but feel they might be.
We stand together. On and on.
- Vali Truehaven, Sagite
The Peoples Before
The Valleyfolk have always had iron in our blood, swords in our hands, and our eyes on the horizon. Our history is long and we have always warred and quarreled. As with many people, our first enemies are our brothers, with internal Valleyfolk wars running from before there were written histories through until the the Mercenary Wars. But we also fought our neighbours. But the nature of this war changes with time and I believe it is important to place these wars into periods of time.
From 500BE and before, we can call this pre-history. Not only are our sources sparse, but it details a time well before the great mountain kings and the founding of their empire. These wars are petty things between tribes and individuals, a well suited form of war for the Bailites, but I get ahead of myself.
From 500BE to 250BE I would call this time the Old Empire. This was the time partially of the Mountain Kings, of the great conquests in every direction of the compass. The time of the old gods and their brutal worship. This was the greatest war of the Iron Valley, only fitting that it contains within it the greatest war of our story here.
250BE to 0AE was the time of the New Empire, or the Weak Empire as we have taken to calling it between scholars. The Mountain Kings are dead and the Valley enters a time of introspection and belly-button staring. But they were the inheritors of a great empire, which needed to be maintained. It is only through the grace of Panoply and Cervitas that our enemies were unable to undo this great empire immediately.
Finally, 0AE to 100AE was the time of the New Valley. This same weakness from the New Empire slowly pulled back into the core Lees and the Thralls of the Bailes, which would eventually be broken as a newer, more virile empire took hold of Southern Esterra. But it is also in this crucible that the Valley would be remade. This would also be the time that the Bailites would be unmade, after a brief teasing window into what it meant to be free once more.
For now, I will speak briefly on things as they were before The Axeman’s War, such is the weight of that conflict that it will largely define matters after it occurs.
In the time of pre-history our people were unrecognisable over such a great breadth of history and time. It was the time when many great fortresses were first built, or at least their predecessors' stones were laid. We know that there were many petty Mountain Kings during this time, and judging by the vast undertakings that these fortresses would have been, that they could rally large numbers of subservient workers (be they thralls or free peoples is hard to know). We know that at least some of the construction of Hjorvaths Rampart was done by Bailite peoples, and that those peoples were somewhere between slaves, thralls, and second folk, as the great Bailite cairn south of Hjorvarths is said to hold the bones of hundreds of dead Bailite workers. It is easy to imagine a world where petty mountain kings fought wars against their rivals within the Valley while their raiding parties travelled down from the High Valley into the Bailes and lands of the Bayfolk to take slaves, thralls, and tribute.
These same Mountain Kings would not change their ways as their power increased. This resource of manpower and wealth that surrounded the Valley in the form of the Bayfolk to the west, the Endemani to the North, the Bailites to the South, and Anderslings to the East, were a constant boon. As the Old Empire grew, these peoples provided a poorly organised foe to cut the teeth of new Iron Valley warriors and formed the bloody mortar that held our fortresses together. The wars of the Endemani are better written about in the works of Brother Michael, ‘The Conquered; History and Faith of the Endemani of Central Esterra’.
But in all circumstances there is a constant; while the Old Empire had no issues raising armies both large and small, and striking out in every direction, it failed to strike far over two hundred and fifty years. Pothus the Gold and his successors of the Endemani would fight back against the Iron Valley invaders throughout this period, and the Bailites would do the same. It is only the Anderslings who would be driven from the world and records of such things, likely becoming the first true ‘Low Valleyfolk’.
For the Bailites, we have two records from the times of the Old Empire, that show us a vision of what did occur in this time, and how they were able to stand strong against the storming violence of the Valleyfolk.
The first is the tale of King Falgred the Owl-in-Branches. Falgred was the King of Baile Abhainne (what would become Bolsterlee) during some time in the 400’s BE. A rising warlord in Windholme known as Brikka the Beheading was agitating against the Mountain King of the time. She was too popular and too feared to exist within the shadow of the Mountain King, but she was too young and from a bloodline of no great power, and so lacked the widespread support to challenge for the throne. So she cast her eyes West into the lands of King Falgred and his weak Bailites.
The tale presents King Falgred as the weakest of the Bailite kingdoms. It places this weakness at the failings of his forests, for during this time the great forests of Baile Abhainne only encompassed the South East of the region and some sparse areas along the River Bolsterlee. The tale directly links this failing together, as if King Falgred had less power since he had less trees. Given that the Bailite faith is deeply intertwined with their great woods, this is remotely possible from an arcane perspective, but far more likely is that the lack of close in forests that the Bailite style of warfare preferred made it harder for Falgred to project power and weakened his ability to resist the heavily armoured sledgehammer of Iron Valley aggression.
But Brikka would never bring her army of raiders down the hillside into the sparse woods of Baile Abhainne. As the tale tells it, when an assassin came from the Mountain King to slay this upstart, he found Brikka dead in her bed, two other assassins standing awkwardly in the tent. Cowering in a meagre cave after fleeing the war camp, the three assassins conversed. One had come from Brikka’s son, who had discovered that Brikka planned to send him in the Vanguard against the Bailites so that he would die and no longer oppose her. One had come from a rival warlord in the East by the name of Vakk the Fat, feared that Brikka intended to travel east and defeat him in battle, so he had dispatched an assassin to kill her before this could come to pass. However all described the same messenger coming from far away to inform their lords of the danger that Brikka posed. All described a slim and pale male with tattoos of Thorns and scars on his face; a Bailite.
King Falgred’s willingness to use Iron Valley rivalries and instability to great advantage, particularly when coupled with great and terrible violence, allowed his ‘weak’ Baile to survive. This tells us that it is likely that Iron Valley internal disunity was at least partially to blame for the Old Empire’s inability to conquer the Bailites during this period.
The other clear record we have of conflict between the Valleyfolk is the Saga of Aedric Gurr, a Valleyfolk warrior who lead a warparty into Baile Fein shortly before the Axeman’s War. Aedric’s saga shows an example of what happens when the Valleyfolk and the Bailites clashed. It appears that when the Bailites forests were threatened, the response was bloody and violent. The tale of Aedric is one of warning, but must not have been entirely representative, as the Bailites were regularly preyed upon for workers. Although that relationship does explain somewhat the bloody response experienced by Aedirc and his warriors.
This was the state of things before The Axeman’s War. Before Iron Valley victories changed the entire history of the Bailite peoples.
- Ulf of Alfwen’s Wall
The Saga of Aedric Gurr
| Steel came south on a windless dawn,
Ironfolk men with hammer-song drawn. From crags of the Valley where the white snows fall, Down into pine where the mists would call. Helms like hills, blades like breath, They marched to wrestle secrets from death. “Glory,” cried Aedric of the Men of Gurr, “To seize the shadow, to make it stir! Let no tree hide a coward’s kin Let no druid pass with unblooded skin!” Thus down they strode through Hjorvaths Pass, Into woods as old as the elder grass. The sky grew dim where the branches met, Like teeth above, with the earth all wet. A hundred Ironfolk, proud and straight, Spoke oath of steel, and mocked their fate. But in Baile Fein, the roots run deep And none who wake them leave with sleep. At first the woods were quiet, tame Only bird-song bore the Bailites' name. Then came the first: a child’s cry, That led them where no path drew nigh. And when they found the voice’s grace, It hung from pine with no more face. One man gone, then three, then five The dark grew thick, the trees alive. No call to charge, no clash of line, Only black-flint blades through armored spine. Thorn-pit traps drank valley blood, And ash-feathered shafts struck in silent flood. From branch to ground, they flickered past A shadow, a wound, then death at last. Valleyfolk swung in rage and roar, But struck only trees and mossy floor. |
Aedric rallied, with shield held high,
He carved through bark where whispers lie. Three druids fell to his iron kiss, But his brother died in a pool of mist. At stream’s crossing, they formed a ring, And made the forest burn and sing. Fire, the tongue no Bailite knew, Made ash the home where foxes flew. And in that blaze, the skirmish broke The woods themselves began to choke. For one night long, the Valley held And in the dawn, the dead were smelled. Of one hundred men, came twenty-three, Staggered and torn through the blackened lea. Their steel still gleamed, their honor clung, But from their lips no triumph sung. For what they found, none dared keep A whispering skull and a crown of teeth. They left the woods with sagging pride, The pine-stink clung, though blood had dried. And none who walked through Baile’s gloom Would speak of riches, only tomb. Let this be known by kin and son: In Baile’s dark, no war is won. The blade may take, the fire may kill, But the root remains beneath the hill. And those who seek to break the wild Must count each tree a vengeful child. So go not bold through shadowed glen Without ten lives for every ten. For though the Bailites fall and fade, Their woods still whisper where they laid. |
The Axemans War
281BE - 253BE
The Axemans War was a miracle of the strong and a misfortune of the weak. As my respected brethren Ulf has detailed, the Bailites kept our kin at arms reach through treachery and extreme violence when they could not. In this it was our own failings that saved their Kingdoms, not any great strength of the Bailites themselves. So when a truly powerful Mountain King rose (in this case, Baelag the Ninth) and the close kings of Baile Abhainne and Baile Fein (being King Huldrod the Ash-in-Embers and King Travian the Fox-in-Waves respectively) were weak, matters were prepared for this rivalry to come to a head.
In 281BE, Baelag the Ninth (whose tale would be one worthy of a High Historians research in its own right), would have been a young man. We know he came to the Kingship in this year due to inscriptions on Baelag’s Holdfast that read as such. Recollections of those who have walked in the halls of the Mountain King before they were lost to the Severed Lords can tell us as much. His method of rising to the lofty heights of Mountain King are lost, save for acknowledgement of the Ash Viper being prevalent in doing so.
Shortly after rising to Kingship, Baelag began the largest invasion of the Bailes ever seen. There was no distraction among the Endemani, and the Bayfolk were seemingly a non-issue. This focus, coupled with King Baelag’s popularity allowed him to raise an immense army. Records have it as ‘a thousand hundreds strong’, which is unlikely. Considering the Iron Valley’s greatest extent of strength, it is likely that this force was between thirty and fifty thousand fighting souls, with supporting troops, split into a great army under King Baelag in the west and another in the east. These two great hosts would strike out at the same time, pressing the Bailites south until they were thrown into the sea.
The army in the east would be forever mired in misfortune. Baile Fein is known to be the most treacherous of the Bailes by terrain, with rocky craglands of The Husk making logistics difficult, some of the darkest and most inhospitable forests at the base of the Cildfrau’s and even a minor coastal mountain range to the east. Baile Fein was also supposedly the heart of the Bailite ‘Treefaith’, where their Druids would come to learn the ways of their elders within the Starwinter before returning elsewhere. Importantly, this demonstrates the separation between their faith and their kings, something lacking in the Valley at the time.
The first Warlord of the East was listed as Vikmir Crackhand. Crackhand launched his invasion to coincide with King Baelag’s western thrust with a novel method. Allying with the fiercely independent Jarls of Anderlee, Crackhand’s elite vanguard climbed the cliffs of the Drifting Coast and took Stormfiend and the Bailite cave-citadel of Avuun’Maal. Crackhand would use this citadel as a base from which to launch his attacks into Masa Sirisse and then onto Starwinter, however so warlike was Crackhand that he mismanaged manners in his rearline. In particular, he failed to keep the Jarls of Anderslee on side with ample pay and glory, particularly as the campaign moved inland and they were seen as ‘less essential’. The Jarls answered this by simply leaving Crackhand unsupplied over the winter of 278BE. It is said that Vikmir Crackhand’s frozen corpse still remains in the deep caves of Avuun’Maal, where he became known as Vikmir Bone-cracker for breaking the bones of his perished warriors and feasting on the marrow.
Meanwhile in the West, the Mountain King was having more luck. There were no badlands to worsen King Baelag’s logistics and so the matter of defeating King Huldrod was a war in two parts. First, King Baelag burned the winding central forests that clutched to the Bolsterlee River. The flaming army of the King marched from north to south, burning the great pines of the Bailites and leaving the people fleeing south towards the hall of King Huldrod in the foothills of the Cildfrau. At no point did they give the Bailites battle in their woods, using ash, smoke, and ember to force the ambushers out onto open fields where they were cut down by superior Valleyfolk steel. After two year's campaigning, King Huldrod was penned up in the deepest woods, places where fire would not take, through no amount of trying. The ‘Bailite Woods’ as they became known, were the heart of King Huldrod’s power, and now they were overflowing with the weight of his displaced people. While there was ample water and supplies within these woods, there simply was not space. Not eager to enter this darkness and end up like Aedric of Gurr, King Baelag laid siege to the entire forest. Any Bailite who left was cut down, be they warrior or weak.
What transpired within those woods is largely unknown to us, Baelag’s chroniclers were not overly interested in penning it down. What is known is that Huldrod’s people eventually turned on him, expecting that slaying the weak King and surrendering would end the siege. When King Huldrod’s beaten and broken corpse was brought out to the fields to the south, the pall bearers were cut down as any other Bailite would have been. Baelag’s army would continue the siege for another two years before simply departing. What remained in those woods (who had not starved or fled south into the Kingdom of King Siigensul the Moon-in-Darkness) were broken and beaten, never emerging from their woods again.
King Baelag named Baile Abhainne as Bolsterlee, proclaiming that this new land would forever bolster the defences of the High Valley, raising strong blood and stronger stone. Such was the extermination of the Bailites in Baile Abhainne that it took a great migration of settlers from the High Valley to see the land regrown, an act that took more than twenty years to see any success.
Following the capture of Bolsterlee, there would be a time of quiet as the Mountain King decided his next course of action. Baile Fein needed to be taken, but Crackhand had squandered his eastern army. King Siigensul could be left alone, as word had reached Baelag that the Moon-in-Darkness had already met with the High King of Baile Lochra, Jutan the Storm-in-Thrones. But by 272BE he was ready again.
This time, King Baelag would cut out the middleman, this time naming Jarl Troggt the Harpoon, warlord of the East. Despite Crackhand’s failure, his assault into the Stormfiend had been successful and there was no reason to think a second elite attack would fail. Warlord Troggt would prepare for his assault throughout the year of 271BE, before departing in the following year. Foul weather and a reinforced Bailite garrison at Avuun’Maal would slow matters, requiring constant resupply as supply ships were lost along the Drifting Coast, as is its want. The Mountain King was constantly assailed by requests for funds and weapons to replace lost armaments, but the next victory over the Bailites was always near to hand, so the matters were settled. It wasn’t until 268BE that it was discovered that Warlord Troggt had never departed for Baile Fein and had instead been selling the army's weapons and supplies to smugglers to grow his own coffers. Jarl Troggt would flee east in the footsteps of Nori the Narwal, never to be seen again.
While this was occurring, King Baelag was continuing his campaign of hack and burn across the ‘Masas’ of Baile Fealtoiri. The term for the cold, rolling grasslands of this region. The King and his army burned what forests they could find, but found that the Bailites retreated in good order, returning to the deep forests of Thunderhall and Tallheart. The campaign was harried at steps by Bailite ambushers clad in cloaks of grass and turf, supply wagons burning, and healer tents descended upon in the night, but not enough to overly stall matters. In a year's time both Masa Vuul and Masa Niam had been taken in the name of the High Places. But such had been the preparations of King Siigensul, that the people in Thunderhall and Tallheart could remain for years, with ample room and a burning hatred for the Ironfolk.
The Mountain Kings response was twofold; The Hammermarch and the Black Feast.
The Hammermarch was a strategy and tactic both. The most elite and hardy of the King’s warriors, led by the King himself, would launch a spearhead thrust through Thunderhall. As they went they burned what they could and lopped what they could not. It was a campaign of environmental destruction that did not seek out Bailite settlements or strongpoints, but instead sought to bisect Thunderhall from Tallheart. As they went the great hammers of the Valleyfolk vanguard drove iron stakes into the ground which supported the walls of palisade forts. It took more than a year and thousands of lives, but eventually the Mountain King stood at the foothills of the Cildfrau Mountains. Now was the time for the Black Feast.
Taking harsh poisons from the High Valley discovered by skilled Summiters, and worked by imprisoned druids, King Baelag poisoned the Shivek and Wattenstill rivers that flow out into Baile Fealtoiri. This was accomplished by climbing into the mountains and fouling the rivers at their source. If the Mountain King could not have those forests, then those within them would perish.
And perish they did. Over the next two years the forces of the Mountain King swept Thunderhall and Tallheart until there was no opposition left.
When all was victory there was one last gasp of opposition from the Bailites. The High King Jutan the Storm-in-Thrones faced the Mountain King on the fields of Masa Niam, the vast army of Baile Lochra and Baile Fein at his back. There would be no ambushes this time, no great deceit, no Black Feast. Just the might of the Valley against the might of the Bailes.
The Battle of Masa Niam must have been immense, with nearly fifty thousand warriors taking to the field that day. Such was the size of it that it defined the lives of a whole generation of Valleyfolk. But we know vanishingly little. I imagine that like I will do, it was such a scale that it warranted its own history outside of the scale of a history of the Axemans War. What we do know is that it was a close fought victory that ended when the Bailite army quit the field in good order. The army of the Mountain King was mauled and would be unable to continue its march into Baile Lochra. Matching the wounds of his army, it is said that King Baelag was wounded when his left hand was lopped off by the champion of King Jutan, Gray Morgan. However in response, King Jutan himself was killed by Summiter scouts the evening after the battle, reportedly led by the first scouts of Bolsterlee, who were themselves half-blood Bailites, their leader known as Isgerd the Halfblade.
But Baile Fealtoiri was conquered, the High King’s army was as broken as the Mountain King’s and Baelag was of foul mood. Baile Fealtoiri was named a Thrallic Kingdom under a False King (the actual title). Every Bailite homestead would give a third of their produce (whatever that may be) to the High Valley or the remaining summiters remaining in their lodge high in the Cildfrau’s would bring the Black Feast again. There was no resistance.
It took nearly ten years before the Mountain King, now a man in his fifties and missing a left hand, would continue his war. But lessons had been learned and he would not entrust the third and final invasion of Baile Fein to another, and he would not strike from the East, but rather simply march South through the Husk, be damned with the difficulty, be damned with the Jarls.
The Mountain King’s invasion of Baile Fein in 259 was the start of a seven year conflict that would end after his death. The wealth of conquest, carefully hoarded and tended over the ten years of the once-great warrior's recovery, funded an army as big as his first from 281, but unbroken in focus. Again the records explain that the King rallied eighty thousand warriors to his dragon banner, and again this is likely an exaggeration, the closer number likely being in the mid thirty thousands, plus supporting troops. But certainly larger than any Valleyfolk army that had attacked the region before.
The war was a slow, grinding affair. King Baelag’s forces built a chain of forts through The Husk to help protect and shepherd supply wagons from the Valley, before splitting Baile Fein apart by taking Masa Sirisse. Every step forward was harried by the Bailite warriors of the Stormfiend and the citadel of Avuun’Maal. Every chance to hold ground was cursed by the Druid-priests within The Depths and Starwinter. But there was no give left in the Iron Valley army. With the weight of thousands of bootshod feet, and the wealth of an empire behind it, they would not be turned aside.
It was the arcane magic of the Farseers that bound the Druidpriests. The great forests of The Depths and Starwinter were felled back, all of their saplings crushed underfoot and great stones quarried in the Rumwold Vastness were brought down and erected. Foul runes were carved within and without these stones. No tree would grow beyond these markers. The records state that there was a second purpose to these great Shield-Stones, but speaking of such a thing is forbidden, and as such it was not recorded.
The conquering of Stormfiend, which had become replete with cave fortresses was left to King Baelag’s only remaining Warlord, a warrior known as Daggr Stonehide. Half the Mountain King’s army would remain to besiege the Stormfiend while Baelag would take the remainder to march south and face the new High King of the Bailites, Nidae the King-in-Thunder. But the High King did not rally. There was no great host of the Bailites, for they had remained in Baile Lochra, hiding away in the Forest of Blades, where the Mountain King was happy to let them remain.
When defeat was finally had in the Stormfiends, there was another betrayal at hand, although it was from an old source.
Looting of the chambers of Avuun’Maal and its matching fortress of Avuun’Crax revealed Iron Valley arms and armour, as well as hidden sea caves that would enable ships to offload goods and supplies. It was said by a chronicler at the time that ‘The King stormed with the wrath of a thousand shattering waves’ at the obvious proof of the Jarls of Anderslee’s continued defiance. King Baelag took his vanguard of elite troops and marched north to Anderslee to bring these Jarls into line once and for all. The story of King Baelag the Ninth and Calreda Seacaller is well known, seeing as it ends in the death of the last Mountain King, and in this way, the end of the Axemans War.
King Baelag the Ninth, was the Axeman whose war this was. The story of the Axemans War is a story of his reign. It is a story of his downfall. And it is the story of the last great Mountain King. I am thankful that such records were kept that enabled me to write such a thorough treatise on this matter. Particularly the ‘Tomes of the Kings’ held in the Brakkenloh Archives and ‘The Black Feast and the Stormfiend’ held in the collection of Iago Van Indremettchi.
- Lord Hans Credanti of House Credanti “Side by Side”
The Rebellion of The High King
201BE - 194BE
The Rebellion of the High King, while pertaining to the times between 201BE and 194BE primarily, was in fact set in motion but a few years after the end of The Axemans War. The greater context and details of such events are lost to us, seeing as the finest and most minute of planning would have occurred within the region of Baile Lochra, but we are blessed by our ancestral Sagites and able to infer much from the records within Windholme and Bolsterlee.
To paint the tale of The Rebellion, we must first look to the last High King of The Axemans War. A King of many kingdoms, now stolen from under their influence by the might of The Valley. There would be little Nidae the King-in-Thunder could do to regain the now Thrallic Kingdoms of Baile Fealtoiri and Baile Abhainne, soon to be Bolsterlee. According to words spoken and written during a Reeves Council of the Lowlands, “The Foolish High King of Nowhere would need more than an army of Thralls to covet these lands”.
A clear insult against the remaining forces of Bailites, likely poorly received by Nidae the King-in-Thunder. Still, from 253BE to 239BE, there would be no meaningful or large-scale incursions into Baile Fealtoiri by the Bailites. Both Nations were likely busy licking their wounds, recovering their forces and consolidating their territories; old or new. While there are no scrolls, tablets or other artifacts that could reveal the nature of ‘post-Axemans War’ Baile Lochra that are currently accessible to us, many agree that the people would not have looked kindly upon their ruler that had failed to maintain control of their greater kingdoms.
Around 238BE, it is believed that the next High King of the Bailes was crowned. It appears that there was some dissent by the people of The Valley in regards to whether the new High King was of blood relation or not, however it is difficult to determine whether this was primarily insult rather than genuine question. With such lengths of time between us and our ancestors, we can simply attempt to infer their meaning, rather than know it as truth.
Still, the actions of High King Heav Eye-Of-Steel, newly crowned and prepared to rule Baile Lochra and Baile Fein, alongside the King of Baile Fein at the time, were notable. While there would be no greater conflicts, many minor skirmishes between the particularly ferocious and vengeful of The Bailites were quite common over a roughly twenty year span, particularly over the borders of Baile Fealtoiri and Baile Lochra. While The Valley forces in Fealtoiri never truly lost much notable ground, there are certainly records of notable warriors being interred in their ancestral graves in Windholme as a result.
Some further research into these ancestral graves brought little to light for the grander events of the time, but did spark a jolt of surprise when we discovered one of our fellow researchers of this time period to be related to one such ancestor. A small, but positive discovery that I believe has encouraged them to seek out the path of a Huscarl. An excellent result, worth mentioning.
The most notable actions of High King Heav were not these battles and skirmishes, however. Instead, they were notably responsible for the creation and initial management of a spy network that would go unnoticed by The Valley until it became far too late, around the year 201BE. This initial management and creation is expected to have been so prolific throughout Valley territories due to the simple fact that The Valley did not think it possible or probable to happen. While certainly there must have been wise counsel in regards to such a topic, the nature of Thrallic Kingdoms, in the way they must have been overseen and the presence of minor skirmishes in tandem, such counsel must have landed on disbelieving, or more likely uncaring, ears.
It is rather simple to assume that this network of spies and informants primarily consisted of Thralls. While it is possible that there were Bailite sympathisers amongst their numbers, such a thing seems unlikely and improbable to those of us that are committing to this research. Perhaps that is our bias speaking through us, but nonetheless we wish to comment on such a fact so as to allow the reader themselves to form their own opinion. At the very least, we have found no true fact to support such an ideal, at least not in the territories of Bolsterlee nor Windholme.
In 212BE, High King Thassern Storm-In-Blood would come into power in Baile Lochra, taking the crown from High King Heav in what has been recorded in Bolsterlee as “an event that even The High Valley would hear”. What this means has seen no further explanation, but certainly set The Valley to caution, albeit with the maintained swagger of a conqueror.
In 201BE, but a short decade later, the culmination of the network of spies would crystallise into a full fledged rebellion. This rebellion, pushed by the new High King of Baile Lochra, would see Baile Fealtoiri erupt into flame for the next seven or so years. Thralls would trade shackles for blades and axes, subservience for impassioned revenge. Those who had been kept under thumb would find a chance provided for them to take back their kingdom, and rejoin The Bailes.
The spy network would erupt, focusing all of its powers under the order of High King Thassern to see Baile Fealtoiri retaken. The standing army of The Bailes would march over the border of Baile Lochra, while the working Thralls of Baile Fealtoiri would be given weaponry and cause to fight from within. A sound tactic by the High King, and one that would become known as The Rebellion even now.
In the time between 201BE and 194BE, Baile Fealtoiri would become a land of death. Sagites of Windholme and Bolsterlee both would present many tales during this time, providing saga upon saga over the many years, triumphs and losses of The Valley and Bailites both. Of particular note was The Saga of Shorn Leaves, short yet heartfelt, which we have included at the end of this section of research. The Saga tells of a great and bloody occurrence, one in which The Valley claimed victory against the rebelling Thralls, but at great personal sacrifice.
In the year 194BE, the fate of the rebellion would be firmly sealed. By this period of time, the armies of The Valley had already rallied, cutting through pockets of Thralls as they marched to once again fight the armies of Baile Lochra. While there would be few to no veterans of The Axemans War fighting, there would be a great feeling of reconnection to the great War. One that would carry The Valley through, once more seeing them victorious against their foe of the Bailites, and once more crashing over the border into Baile Lochra.
Late into the year 194BE, High King Thassern would stand alongside the Bailite army, known to The Valley of the time as The Thunder of Lochra, according to a variety of discovered sagas. This would represent the final stand of a losing force, a final chance to opus back the conquering Valley and pressure the opposing nation to give up that which they had claimed during The Axemans War. Many great tales of this battle stand to this day, and many more likely can be found in Baile Lochra, the site at which it was fought.
Regardless, The Thunder of Lochra would falter against The Valley’s might, and Thassern would be slain amidst the chaos. There is no record of a great duel, or direct combat between the High King and the Valley’s General, Havermaer. It is simply known that when the battle begun, The Bailite Ruler stepped into the fray alongside their allies, and at the end of the battle their corpse was amidst the piles of dead.
This would signal the end of the rebellion, but not the end of Baile Lochra. The remaining fighters within The Thunder of Lochra would resist further incursion into their lands, fighting tooth and nail to lose no more than they had already lost, and Havermaer would be unable to truly claim Baile Lochra. In 193BE, The Valley would return to their homes, and Baile Lochra would stand defiant, though now without a High King to lead them.
This would be the last gasp of the High Kings. From here on, they were only to be simple kings.
- Aliine of Strivington, first Chronicles of a Sagite
The Saga of Shorn Leaves
There upon the field of wheat, now barren, salted and burnt, once stood one I called friend. They were Thrall to all, but to me they were a bond. A closeness that I could share with no other nor would I wish to.
I curse that fateful day, that twist of time and knowing that placed him so distant from me. I curse that I, blade in hand, had to meet him in that field once more, blade in his.
I stood alongside my brothers, forged in iron and blood against those who were our enemy. But He was not my enemy, not until now. Not until he stood before me with blade in hand, and malice in his eyes.
Where once there was love, I could see only the crimson of hate. I could see only the steel of death. I could see only an enemy, that I had been trained to slay.
I wish I could forget.
I wish it was one of my Brothers, Jaals, Maeruth or even Gurtoer, that He had chosen to run towards. But it was me. Of course, it was me.
I had no time, nor choice. I had no reason nor ability. I simply had to bring my blade through his skull, lest he do the same to me.
I wish I did not see him hesitate at the last moment.
I wish that instead I had hesitated.
But he was my foe. My blood is the blood of conquerors. My heart is that of Iron. My life runs through my Valley, and now, so does his.
He, who is now nothing but blood, a Thrall that chose to die.
I loved you.
And I am no longer sorry.
The Shattering War
160BE - 151BE
The end of The Rebellion would crush the spirits of The Bailities for decades to come. It would take them a full Thirty Three years before they would try once again to instill rebellion within The Valley. Such a thing would come at the hands and wealth of Bailite loyalists in Baile Fein, the furthest of territories from the fighting experienced over the last hundred years, but would not be fought directly by these loyalists.
It is likely that the King of Baile Fein, at the time known as Hirlaed Shadow-in-Blade, had been planning on hiring foreign mercenaries to raid Bolsterlee and Baile Fealtoiri for quite some time. All that is truly known by those in Windholme and Bolsterlee, is that mercenaries would arrive and attempt to foster rebellion in the hearts of Thralls and Valleyfolk loyalists alike. This would be difficult work, but not impossible.
These foreign mercenaries were described by sagites of the time as either wearing bronzed armour in the shape of muscles, flattened steel and heavy helms, and strange captains of large vessels. While these captains are unknown to us, but referred to as Astranan by sagites of the time, it is easy enough to recognise now that the others would be in reference to Dendarri warriors and Drummondite mercenary knights. A strange thing to think, given where we stand with such nations now, so many years later. Perhaps, should further research into The Shattering War be desired, our Ambassadors could set their envoys to task to learn more within the homelands of our possible allies.
These mercenaries would spend their times in the coastal settlements of The Valley, ingratiating themselves with the populace by performing paid work between 160BE and 154BE. While at the time, the locals could not know their goal, it would be revealed between the years 153BE and 151BE that this was all for the purpose of instilling rebellion in Bailitie Thralls, sympathisers and remnants.
In particular, there is reference to a massive event during 152BE in Bolsterlee, just south of The Cildfrau Mountains in The Bailite Woods. Our researchers were able to find a well preserved wood carving that spoke of a notably powerful warrior of bronze slaying the vestige of The Ashen Viper.
A bold and outrageous claim, but one that poses many questions. This was a time of weakness for The Old Gods of The Valley. Their power and hold was waning. Whatever the truth of the matter, this is a well known fact amongst our people. As such, it is not out of the question to consider that a powerful warrior of The Dendarr, perhaps a Vandekotos if our reading of The Chrisma is correct, could have slain ‘a god’.
This would be an act that would certainly work to great effect in creating rebellious sentiment within a downtrodden populace of conquered Bailites.
In 151BE, despite the success in creating rebellious spirit within Bolsterlee and Baile Fealtoiri, the mercenaries would be discovered in their actions and quickly expelled from Valley lands. This year would be violent, with records of Valley warriors fighting Drummondite Knight Mercenaries, Dendarri and these Astranan Captains all the same. It would be bloody, but short.
Primarily, this time would be one that leads into The Thrallic Rebellions, giving context to its primary rise rather than seeing each vicious fight recorded in detail. While it is possible to look deeper into these conflicts and battles within Bolsterlee, it was deemed that such a thing was outside of the scope of this research, as it pertained more to fighting between The Valley, Dendarr, Drummond and whoever the Astranan are.
Regardless, the work of King Hirlaed Shadow-in-Blade would be overwhelmingly successful, striking dissent and conflict within The Valley. Despite this, it would appear it granted no boons to the King of Baile Fein, though perhaps it provided some amount of political power and influence within the remaining Bailite loyalists.
The Thrallic Rebellions
150BE - 10AE
Immediately following the year 151BE would be The Thrallic Rebellions. A period of time that lasted just under one hundred and fifty years. A truly massive period of time, covering so much history that there is no conceivable way to truly note it all down within a simple historian report. With this said, we are certainly able to find and summarise records of particularly notable rebellions, of which there were around three.
The first, naturally occurring around 150BE and marking the beginning of this time period, would be known as ‘The Kingless Rebellion’ by the Valleyfolk of the time. This was the largest of the three that occurred within Bolsterlee and Baile Fealtoiri, and carried with it the full weight of actions and sentiment laid by the mercenaries hired by King Hirlaed.
The rebellion itself seemed to spark from within The Bailite Woods, likely due to the reported slaying of The Ashen Viper. Camps of Thralls, escaped from their servitude but gathered in enough numbers to repel the earliest of Valley punishments, would gain support until they reached a few hundred. At this stage, it had become a true rebellion. A force large enough to cause damage to Valley territory while presenting a genuine danger to armed forces ill-prepared to handle the fervent nature of The Bailite Thralls.
However, The Kingless Rebellion would falter in its earliest stages, despite having the groundwork for success. It would fail to capitalise quickly and impactfully, losing the element of surprise granted by its sudden and timely forming. It would, in due time, fail from the simple failed steps taken during this period of time, from roughly the middle of the year until the end of the year in 150BE. This failure would be largely attributed to the lack of initial and solid leadership, having no figure to truly guide them, hence the name it was eventually given.
Still, despite the lack of leadership, The Kingless Rebellion would still prove to be a thorn in the side of The Valley between the years 150BE and 139BE. While there is some confusion on what may have occurred to prevent Valley forces from marshalling on this Rebellion in greater numbers, this nonetheless gave leeway for the rebels to commit acts of sabotage, terrorism and brutality within Bolsterlee.
In 139BE, they would finally be laid to rest by the iron boot of a Valley army, headed by a General by the name of Plaemin Howlsbane, calling Brakkenloh home.
The next of the most notable of Thrallic rebellions would occur in 115BE, focused primarily in Baile Fealtoiri. We are only aware of this particular Rebellion due to stories and tales passed down within a particularly notable family of surgeons living in Bolsterlee, who had found refuge in Windholme as time progressed. This family was able to preserve through all this time, the records of their ancestors. Despite this beyond admirable task, there is little to note within them save for a few scant excerpts around 115BE to 113BE about treating warriors who had “Gone to put down rebel Thralls in Fealtoiri”.
The only information that can be pulled from these excerpts are details around how these warriors were treated and the nature of their wounds. Many are described as having wounds caused “Not by sharp blades, but by splintered wood.” A difficult concept to understand by writing alone, but further excerpts seem to describe that the Thralls fought not with weapons but with enchanted pieces of Thunderoak. The Thralls were also described as fighting alongside strange creatures of the wood, with the scent of death ripe in the air.
There must surely be a greater story to tell here, but there is only so much that can be learned from medical reports. This would be worthy of further research, should Baile Fealtoiri come under Concordian control.
The final notable Thrallic Rebellion would not occur until approximately 35BE. With such a large gap of time between the nameless Rebellion and this one, commonly known as ‘The Star Eyed Falter’, one can readily assume that there were many minor conflicts. These conflicts would be consistent, but small in scale and nowhere near as impactful as any of the Rebellions before them.
The Star Eyed Falter is notable for a few reasons, and relatively well recorded by sagites and the folk of Bolsterlee. The first reason that it is well known, at least now after the fact, is that it represents the last of the large-scaled Thrallic Rebellions post The Axemans War and prior to the First Mercenary War. The second, and more primary reason, is that this Rebellion was clearly orchestrated, but to this day not a single soul can identify who by.
The Thralls of Bolsterlee would once again take up arms in the year 35BE, slaying those few Valleyfolk that watched over them and few more that worked alongside them. As this was certainly not the first, The Valley would be somewhat well prepared for this eventuality, and it did not take long for the marshalled forces to stamp down the rebels within a few weeks.
However, the warriors of this Valley force would note that the Thralls seemed possessed, magically or otherwise. They were not present, they were not themselves and they were certainly not conscious of their actions. Some were defined as having stars behind their eyes, their white sclera instead a deep black. They numbered in the dozens, a notable amount for the time period, and as such even more worrying.
Something had occurred that had turned the minds of these Thralls, willing or otherwise.
Regardless, this would be the last of the Thrallic Rebellions before the period of Empty Thralls begins in 10AE. Unfortunately, two of these three Rebellions have only raised more questions, many of which may never see their answers brought into the light of today. Still, it is worth knowing, and it can tell of the fate of those of our history, regardless of whether such events were good, bad or otherwise.
The Empty Thralls
10AE - 90AE
Both the Thralls of the Bailites and the people of The Iron Valley would find themselves, after a near three hundred years of war and rebellion, exhausted.
With The Star Eyed Falter dealt with by the end of 35BE, a suitable yet uncomfortable peace would finally fall upon the held regions of Bolsterlee and Baile Fealtoiri around 10AE. The Kings of the Bailites in Baile Lochra and Baile Fein would certainly, or at least assumedly, continue to work towards upsetting the balance within the Thrallic Kingdoms, but they would see little to no effect. At least, not nearly as dramatic as the effects of previous decades.
In a cruel twist of fate for the people of The Iron Valley, they simply wouldn’t need to.
The peace of The Empty Thralls, between 10AE and 90AE, would see a near hundred years of less than minor conflicts. Conflicts would focus more around the lack of taxation paid by Thrall settlements or the lack of food and resources produced. Such conflicts would be resolved regularly in the early years, but as the iron-fisted empire of The Valley began to wane at its outer edges, such conflicts would become more common.
This is not to say that the Thralls were becoming more bold in their lack of payments, simply that there would be no desire or need to enforce them. The martial forces of The Iron Valley were tired, and any true rebellious spirit was long since squashed out from the Bailite Thralls. This was a time of simple domesticity, where neither side was truly willing to take up true arms against the other, no matter the cause.
By 90AE, the Thralls were little more than vassals to be ruled, rather than territories to be watched. There are likely many sorrowful, beautiful and awe inspiring tales that could be found within this period, but as with all things they are likely lost to time and the people that were present to enjoy them. It would be wrong to say there is nothing to find here, but there is simply no need to dig further in the time of Empty Thralls.
This time period is notable most of all for its implicit implication that The Valley were unable to conquer beyond their borders. Our people were tired, and a simple Eighty Years of rest would be barely enough. The First Mercenary War would be the next horizon, and with it, the greatest loss The Valley would experience for the first time in hundreds of years.
The First Mercenary War
90AE -92AE
While the First Mercenary War, its great defeat of the Iron Valley, which in turn perhaps set the Valley on the path towards the great retreat, is not particularly pertinent to the history of warfare between the Iron Valley and the Bailites. However, it was a war that included both the Valleyfolk and the Bailites. It is also the conflict that broke the ties between the Valley and the Bailes that had been forged during The Axeman’s War and tested so many times. It is these facts that bring it into existence upon this page.
The great attacks by the Artebazzani Legions and their mercenary auxiliaries were the largest risk that had face the Iron Valley since the Battle of Masa Niam and the wars of King Pothus the Golden. At least, the largest risks that had not originated from within the Iron Valley. Three full Artebazzani Legions, each numbering between five and seven thousand strong, supported by a full two armies of mercenary forces, one from Posta Lerona, and the other from Vidania. To face them, the Iron Valley was only able to rally three armies of its own: The Iron Guard who marched down from the High Valley, the Vale Brigands who were raised in Bolsterlee as the enemy approached, and the Tithe of the Bailes. It is this third army that warrants our attention.
The Tithe of the Bailes was a large army of six and a half thousand fighting troops. Primarily lightly armed and armoured, the bulk of the force was Bailite thralls ordered into service by the False King of Baile Fealtoiri, bolstered by additional warriors from Baile Fein and led by Iron Valley commanders and officers. The forces chronically low morale and lack of experience lead to it being predominantly used as a holding force that would rally to the centre of the field and stall enemy advances while the Iron Guard and Vale Brigands sought to win the day.
The tithe fought two notable actions, although it undoubtedly fought many skirmishes and defenses, those being the Battle of Bastard Vale and the Defense of Highward.
The Battle of Bastard Vale (so named for the proliferation of ‘Bolsterlee Bastards’, a species of large biting lizards endemic to the area) saw the Tithe of the Bailes being drawn up against the advancing army from Lerona Mere (known as ‘The Ox of War’). It appears that the Tithe was resupplying in the Vale on the borders of the Bailite Woods when it was attacked uphill by the more experienced force. Records hold that the Tithe held the hilltops during a battle that lasted most of an afternoon and repulsed the enemy. While of little drama, this battle tells us that the Valleyfolk not only brought the Bailites into the war, but largely trusted their forces to battle on their own (albeit with Valleyfolk commanders), rather than being concerned that the Bailites may betray them or flee the field.
The Defense of Highward was a large scale field battle, the kind of which there were many of, during the process to construct Deorlings Citadel. The first of such battles, the Defense of Highward saw all three Valleyfolk armies (or at least what remained of them at this stage) taking the field against a larger Artebazzani Legion (the 61st) and the mercenary force from Vidania (The Banners of Vidania). While details are sparse, the Tithe of the Bailes was said to have been ‘badly broken upon the field, with many commanders slain and many levy in disarray and retreat’). Artebazzani assessments that the staying power of the Tithe was found in its commanders, without which the Bailite forces will eagerly retreat, is a compliment to their battlefield skill and awareness.
The Tithe of the Bailes is not mentioned again after the Defense of Highward and while it is likely that they were simply too depleted following this battle to be of use, it is far more likely that the growing rebellions in Baile Fein and Baile Fealtoiri raised concerns about the loyalty of the Bailite forces the Valley still had, and certainly stopped their abilities to raise new light infantry from their Thrall Kingdoms.
What exactly was given to the Bailite kingdoms, what promises, and what aid is unknown. The Bailites are no longer present to answer our questions and the Artebazzani are hardly forthcoming. What is known is that the Artebazzan supported rebellions in both Baile Fein and Baile Fealtoiri. These rebellions threw off what small garrisons remained in both regions and cast down their False Kings.
This is hardly surprising as whatever garrisons remained in both Thrall Kingdoms must have been minimal before the assaults of Artebazzan, and were certainly nearly empty once the conflict began. It is likely that all that was required was the arming and return of aggrieved Bailite soldiers (easily collected from war prisoners and returned using the vast resources of the Imperial Fleet).
With this in mind the collapse of the Thrallic binding between the Iron Valley and the Bailites is far more a matter of Valleyfolk defeat and weakness rather than particular Bailite independence, aggression, or skill. Rather, it should be seen as a political pressure point pushed by Artebazzan in an attempt to force a defeat at Deorling’s Citadel. This perspective is supported by the swift betrayal of the free Bailite Kingdoms shortly after this conflict concludes.
- Ritter Ostien Valdreig, Eisen College of War, from the lecture series ‘War in other Chambers’.
The Second Mercenary War
94AE - 102AE
A short two years of peace is enjoyed by The Bailites after The First Mercenary War before Artebazzan betrays any idea of such peace remaining. The forces of Artebazzan, still consolidating within the territory they had only just claimed, would proceed to crush the entirety of the Bailite Kingdoms over a short eight years, leaving only Baile Fein remaining.
While much of the direct fighting would have occurred within Baile Fealtoiri, Baile Lochra and parts of Baile Fein, we are blessed to have access to some remaining records within both Bolsterlee and Lerona Mere. Although there is much that has gone missing since The Revolution of Lerona Mere, there were still some historic artifacts that held value to this period of time, revealing some small pieces of information.
It is important to note that while The Second Mercenary War is notable enough to be listed here, this is not due to its inherent nature of conflict between The Valley and Bailites. The Valley were certainly involved, present as mercenaries aiding Artebazzani forces rather than leading armies of their own, however it is not this involvement that makes it notable.
The Second Mercenary War is notable simply because it sees the destruction of two thirds of The Bailite peoples in naught but eight years.
There is, frankly, not a great deal to cover here. While those of us assisting in this research have attempted to scour for whatever information we can, all we have managed to find are vague hints at battles that were far from the territories that we now hold as The Concord. This is not to say that this information may be useless, but it is unfortunately rather short. It is the recommendation of the research team that, if more wishes to be known about the battles between Artebazzan and the Bailites, that another set of research be commissioned when more relevant territories are accessible to us.
Regardless, the team has listed the most notable pieces of history that has assisted this research so as to provide a more simple viewing and summary;
- First, the last will of a Legionnaire. This will, while showing signs of being burnt, was actually saved before it had incinerated the final page, in which details the Legionnaire’s participation in one of the Battles of Baile Fein.
- Second, an excerpt from a sagite’s tome that speaks to the initial forays into Baile Fealtoiri, primarily speaking from the perspective of a Valleyfolk mercenary fighting alongside Artebazzani forces.
- Third, a ceremonial blade safeguarded within a museum in Legend City. The blade was undamaged, but showed signs of rust and disrepair expected for the length of time it had likely been kept. The blade has an inscription on it that refers to slaying an important Bailite figure.
- Finally, a written report from a Bailite general that had clearly been intercepted by Artebazzani forces. This was a miraculous find, and provided some greater details to the conquering of Baile Lochra in roughly 98AE.
While the above summary is useful, we thought it best to provide more detailed explanations and scribes of each of the above particular discoveries. For the most part, the below will simply annotate which of the above pieces it represents, and will be left for the reader to infer context and information as appropriate.
First, Scribed Excerpt from the Final Will of a Legionnaire;
In addition, I wish to leave my lands to my son, Gavius. Should he return from his first war, he will have earned the right to own them. In the meantime, I leave their management and care to my wife, should she survive me.
These lands were earned by right in war, chosen by my General for my valiant efforts during our campaign in Baile Fein. While I did not bring victory, it was my actions that ensured our defeat was one that did not cascade. Further loss was restrained, thanks to my timely tactics and care for my men. I pray that Gavius shall inherit these traits, when he proves himself.
If you are reading this before you leave for your first war, my son, then know that you must listen carefully to orders given. Baile Fein could have been conquered, as I have told you many times, but it was the foolish actions of a lesser commander, eager to earn glory, that failed thousands. One man, was enough to almost doom the lives of many thousands more.
Learn from this, son, and be the best you can be.
The remaining text trails off, assigning further elements of his life to his remaining family and notables.
Second, Scribed Excerpt from Sagite Laeverthor’s Tome;
There we stood, magic and blade, hand in hand, atop the hill on the leftmost flank of The Bailite forces. They were strong, enough to fight us and our band should we charge in recklessly and send us to meet our ancestors in death, but we were not reckless.
We had orders, given by the wise and generous General Caetronious, to await the first charge of his Legion. We would not dispute this command, paid by his purse so we were, but it certainly felt strange. We stood on that hill and watched as Artebazzani fought Bailites in territory that should have been ours. We stood and watched as men and women died for the sake of a cause that we had fought and died for for over a hundred years.
It was strange, but then it was time. The clashing of blades and the screams of death called us to our duty. Their flank was exposed now, and we were to make them pay for it.
And so they did.
This excerpt was particularly notable for its interaction and naming of a General Caetronious. This is perhaps the only notable mention to an Artebazzani General fighting in The Second Mercenary War that we could find.
Third, Inscription upon a Ceremonial Blade;
Blood-Drinker, Consuming The Thunderous Roar of The Woods
A rather vague inscription, but one that is assumed to refer to a powerful Bailite figure. Perhaps a King, perhaps a heroic warrior. Unfortunately, no further details on the blade could be found.
Fourth and Finally, Excerpts from a Report by a Bailite General, specifically in regards to the fall of Baile Lochra;
Allker was no help at all. They led their people right into a clear trap by the Legion and now we have lost yet another fifty to their blade. I have tried, again and again, to find a weakness in their shiny metal Legion, but have still had no luck.
At this point, I am worried that I will have no warriors left to claim victory.
I have received word from Drolfenn that she is taking her archers up to Baile Fein, to reinforce the border there in case we cannot hold Lochra against this foe. But I will not give up. That is not in my blood, and I know it is not in yours.
Take this letter, take my words, and relay them to the larger force led by Morenn. If you can, then I know that we will have a good chance at luring the Legion into a trap of our own. We can crush them under the weight of wood and oak, and harass them from all sides while they cannot do anything to fight us back.
Victory is direly needed. Please, get this to Morenn, as fast you can.
The report starts and finishes with received and given orders, however by the tiny stain of blood we found at the end, we can heavily assume that this report never got to Morenn. This would have been a key piece of information that inevitably hamstrung Bailite forces and allowed the Artebazzani to continue conquering Baile Lochra.
While it is truly our wish that we could obtain more information, we are still satisfied with what we were able to uncover. Again, should we be blessed by the capturing of The Bailes in the future, then perhaps we will be able to uncover yet more. In the meantime, we believe that there is little more to say in regards to The Second Mercenary War.
Hadthor of Heinsgraf, the last rememberer.
Conclusion
Baile Fein would exist as an independent Kingdom for just less than fifty years following the Second Mercenary War. During this time they were rarely seen beyond the borders of the The Depths or the Star Winter, as if they were restrained by the Shield Stones of King Baelag as much as their forest was. The year 151AE is given commonly as the year the Bailites disappeared from the world. But in truth it could have been sooner, or perhaps later. It is simply a reasonable date, divorced from what may be the last sighting of a Bailite. In the times that followed some sparse Valleyfolk and enterprising Lerona Mere travelled south towards the Cape of the Bailes, settling farmsteads and other such hopeful steps. But none ever did venture into those woods again until the Illsevir came, and they have not shared what they found.
Now, the Bailites have returned, or at least a shadow of them. Long distant kin returned from far to the west claiming a lost bloodline and walking again in shadowed halls. Is this a chance for us to do something different? To be better? Or is this a foolish pup who is unaware of the beast that resides to its north?
I truly do not know. But I have my hopes.
- Vali Truehaven, Sagite