War of Ash and Light

The War of Ash and Light refers to the open conflict between the Dwendalian Empire and the Kryn Dynasty. The war took place between 835-836 PD and lasted for eight months and seven days. Underlying conflicts, however, began decades earlier.

Background
Virtually from the moment of its founding in 539 PD, the Dwendalian Empire sought to expand itself by absorbing or conquering its neighbors in Western Wynandir. Inevitably, its continued expansion brought it up against the neighboring Kryn Dynasty. Although the Ashkeeper Peaks formed a natural boundary between the two, the Kryn viewed the continuous expansion by the Empire with suspicion, while the Empire saw the Kryn as bestial remnants of a land devastated by the Calamity. Tensions grew between the two countries, with continuing skirmishes and sometimes open battles occurring starting around 815 PD. In approximately 822-823, a battle was fought near Nogvurot in which many soldiers on both sides were killed.

In the past few years, two of the precious Luxon Beacons of the Dynasty had disappeared and resurfaced within the Empire. The Kryn believed they had been stolen, while in reality they had been given to the Empire by a traitor within their own government, Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, who desired for the beacons to be studied rather than worshipped. This exacerbated tensions between the two countries, and the Kryn eventually sent in two infiltrators in an unsuccessful attempt to recover at least one of the beacons. This resulted in said beacon's disappearance, as it was recovered by the adventuring group known as the Mighty Nein.

Martinet Ludinus Da'leth listed the reasons for the tensions as: the Kryn belief in the Luxon, Kryn missionaries recently found in Nogvurot, skirmishes along the border and the Kryn capture and torture of Empire spies, rising numbers of Xhorhasian creatures crossing into the Empire, general mistrust of goblinoids, and a growing suspicion that the Kryn coveted the comparatively richer Empire lands.

On 3 Fessuran 835 PD, the simmering tensions boiled over into full-fledged war with a Kryn attack on the Ashguard Garrison in the Ashguard Mountains near the Brokenveil Marsh in which over a thousand Empire soldiers were killed. In response, King Bertrand Dwendal formally declared war.

Known Events
After the war was announced in the city of Zadash, there were immediate large troop movements by the Empire eastward. The city of Hupperdook was a center of production of war machines for the conflict, as well as explosive and black powder-based technologies. The Empire also began recruiting mercenaries from outside the country, with some coming as far as Shadycreek Run and Nicodranas.

While the Mighty Nein were at sea, they learned little of how the war was progressing. However, at Bisaft Isle, they learned that there had been recent battles between the warring nations and that Marquis Olesya Lapidus of Port Damali was calling many of the Clovis Concord's warships to the southern coast near the border with Xhorhas as a precaution. There had been very recent news of a Kryn attack on Felderwin, and that its fields had been set ablaze. When the Mighty Nein investigated the Felderwin attack, they learned that it had apparently been aimed at recovering one of the two Luxon Beacon in the Empire's possession. The Beacon had already been removed from Felderwin, but the Kryn captured the alchemist who had worked with it, Yeza Brenatto, taking him back to Rosohna, where the party eventually obtained his release and reunification with his wife, Veth. This release was facilitated by the Mighty Nein returning the beacon that they had recovered months earlier to Bright Queen Leylas Kryn.

On 25 Misuthar 836, Dairon shared with the party that she had heard rumors of a recent Kryn military push westward towards Urzin, one of their mobile swamp cities. Toward the end of Dualahei 836, there was a series of attacks by the Kryn on some of the military siege installations within the empire, including an assault on some of the weapon creation factories in Hupperdook. The city sustained quite a bit of damage. The Empire counter-assaulted within Xhorhas, retaking the Ashguard Garrison at the cost of many lives.

On 13 Thunsheer 836, the Dynasty launched an attack on the Imperial capital, Rexxentrum, via purple worms. Using the chaos of the battle as a distraction, the Angel of Irons Cult made an attempt to release one of the shackles of Tharizdun hidden underneath the Chantry of the Dawn. This attempt was thwarted by the Mighty Nein. It was during this time that Allura Vysoren, an ally of the Nein, parlayed with Bright Queen Leylas Kryn to make a ceasefire to allow the Nein to fight the Angel of Irons Cult unaccosted. Due to this, King Bertrand Dwendal called for a meeting with the Mighty Nein in Castle Ungebroch. After a long conversation, they successfully convinced the king to start considering peace talks between the Empire and the Dynasty.

Conclusion
The war was outwardly declared over on the eleventh of Unnidilar, after successful negotiations between the two nations occurring on ships in the Lucidian Ocean south of the Whitedawn Lagoon and east of Urukayxl.