Excerpt: Battle of Fortnight's Length

Hello Greyhawk armchair historians. I can't seem to ever get the bug to finish writing any of my "Battles of Greyhawk" articles. Just to dust off the old project and give it some air, I thought I'd share an excerpt of what I've written so far on the Battle of a Fortnight's Length:

Prelude

Most historians of the Flanaess consider the Battle of a Fortnight’s Length the most important engagement since the wars that brought on the Great Migrations. The largest and most powerful tribe of migrating Oerids, the Aerdi, was driven by divine inspiration and did not settle until they found the ocean from which the sun was born each day. From this foundation, the Grand Princes of the Aerdi stretched their principalities north and south then even turning back westward, absorbing the ancient Flannae realm of Ahlissa.

Another rival Oeridian tribe, the Nehron had followed the Aerdi progression across the Flanaess and came to create a kingdom around the eastern shores of the Nyr Dyv adjacent to the Suloise nation of Urnst. The Nehron gradually expanded further east to the Flinty Hills and southward into the fertile Harp River valley (present day Almor) where the Flannae tribe of Lathu had existed for years untold, fiercely turning aside Suel and Oerid alike. That is, until they ultimately relented to the incursions of the Nehron and their indomitable cavalry squadrons.

Not far away, the Noniz of the Flinty Hills had comfortably coexisted with their Olven and Flannae neighbors for centuries. With the ascendance of the Nehron and Aerdi kingdoms however, a division between the western Noniz and their eastern cousins became evident. The eastern Noniz remained distrustful and intensely secluded, refusing to trade or negotiate with either expansionist kingdom. As their cousins withdrew into isolation, the western Noniz were quick to avoid trouble like the Lathu and accepted an alliance with the Kingdom of Nehron, if only for protection against the Aerdi whose vast realm was now no longer buffered by Flannae lands around the nearby Adri Forest and Harp River.

 

It is speculated that Grand Prince Almor II of House Cranden, only six years into his ascendancy, was concerned about his legacy since his predecessor Dorran had barely ruled for two years. This coupled with intense political pressure from the other great houses, compelled Almor II to test his mettle against Nehron despite the fact that Aerdian armies had been held in check for decades since the reign of Almor I. Therefore, in attempt to catch the Nehron off guard, Almor II first sent several trade emissaries to delay their king while at the same time, calling upon all his vassals to muster near Rel Deven in the principality of Thalland*. As the host assembled, the Prince sent for additional forces from the frontiers of the still nascent Northern Province and more surprisingly, even withdrawing loyal Aerdian armies away from an ongoing war in the south with the Suel nation of Zelrad. By the time the Aerdians were on the march, the king of Nehron was meeting with the final envoy, this time carrying a declaration of war.

 

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That's all for now. I'm halfway through this epic account and I also plan on making accompanying maps of troop movements (using Anna's Meyer's Greyhawk maps as a base). So many Greyhawk projects, so little time.

Update 05/27/2021: This project is STILL unfinished. Don't hold your breath folks, but it's still my number one idea left to do.