Second Araxian War¶
Contested
Named in the open question Dates of the Fifth Age periods (SM and AL): the Proturas timeline (S107) fights this war in the 720s AL, the Fifth Age Timeline (S016) records the fall of Lorsythe in 1210.
"The northern kingdoms fell one after another despite having numerically superior forces and generally having a significant advantage on the battlefield." — Proturas Timeline (S107)
The Second Araxian War, or Second Araxian invasion, destroyed the northern kingdoms of the Broken Sea. The Araxians, beaten in the first war, had reorganized and "taken many subversive measures to weaken their enemies from within," and when they came again the kingdoms fell despite their numbers. Lorsythe held for nearly twenty years and then collapsed in two; Droburg lasted two more; the Rift colonies of Lyrspire and Uthein were wiped out. The war ended with the scorching of the south, when Proturas's brigades left the lost lands "cursed and blighted" so that the Araxians could not hold them. The Proturas timeline fights it in the 720s AL, in the Rift Period.
The first war, and the Araxians' earlier conquest of Sanctorum, are on Araxian Wars.
The fall of the northern kingdoms¶
"The war started in the northern kingdoms. Despite a mutual defensive alliance between them, the northern kingdoms continuously lost ground to the Araxians." The Araxians' subversion "seems to have paid off" (S107). The campaign setting notes record the result from the outside: "most of the northern kingdoms were destroyed by the Araxians and Proturas is the last bastion of the Kalari races in the north-eastern part of Astia" (S077), and "large scale invasions from the Araxian Empire have led to the fall of every human kingdom on the north side of the Broken Sea" (S076). Trade and communication dried up "with the Araxian Empire sprawling across the north and eastern edges of the Broken Sea."
The Araxian expansion "was halted for nearly 20 years at Lorsythe, which benefited from strong natural borders and the consolidated alliance army." Lorsythe and Proturas, enemies since the Lorsythian War, normalized relations, and Proturas began accepting refugees from the north. "About 5 years before the end of the war the front lines had mostly stabilized in the east at the falls of Dalmarond and in the south along the borders of Lorsythe and Droburg. The Lorsythe lines broke unexpectedly and the entire kingdom fell within two years. Droburg held on for an additional two" (S107). In the chaos of Lorsythe's fall a prison was abandoned with its prisoners inside (S074).
The Rift suffered with the Material. The Ruins of Lyrspire in the Sunaram Cluster were once "the site of an experiment for a full time settlement of Kalari races in the rift," a qualified success that "led to the development of the Terra Runestones"; "the city was destroyed during the second Araxian War along with a Terrun-side outpost in the ruins of Floren. It is now home to remnants of cut off Araxian forces" (S066). The shipyard of Brimwall had sourced nearly all its material from the Uthein colony; "the colony was destroyed during the second Araxian War," and Proturan shipbuilding has been limited to civilian vessels since.
The Oesterkull front¶
In the east the war met Proturas's own Barbarian Wars against the Oesterkull. "The Second Araxian War caught up with the Oesterkull on their eastern flank. Caught between two foes, their western lines with the Proturans crumbled and the Great Khagan Council (Oesterkull chieftains) was forced into treaties ceding their land and effectively being annexed by the Proturans in exchange for their help against the Araxian threat. The Proturan army allied with the Oesterkull horde were able to push the Araxians back to the falls of Dalmarond" (S107).
The scorching of the south¶
"Refugees from the two kingdoms were absorbed by Proturas. The war ended with the scorching of the south. The Proturan brigades waged a successful counterattack and scorched earth strategy leaving many former territories of the northern kingdoms of Lorsythe and Drobur cursed and blighted. The Araxians found it difficult to project force through these barren, cursed wastelands and retreated back to their lands in the south" (S107). The cursed no-man's-land of Er'Turrak, forty miles from the farms of the High Vale, lies on that frontier (S077).
Aftermath¶
The refugees remade Proturas. The Divine Alliance, "originally enemies of Proturas and part of the remaining Sancturi Empire," were absorbed "when the southern lands were overrun," as were the Aegis of Lorsythe and the Wood Elves whose homeland was overrun (S078); the influx of Northern Refugees and the strain of the war put power in the hands of the Warmaster Harald Pallidine and ended the Proturan Federation (S107). The Araxians' "advance and expansion has been relentless, but have slowed recently" (S112). Dalmarond, Lorsythe and Droburg are Rift ruins now (S066), and the Divine Order's Baegor Monastery, built "during the early development of the Kingdom of Lorsythe," survives on a Rift island "although its population of monks is much diminished."
Gap
No source names an Araxian commander of this war, the year it began, or the northern kingdoms other than Lorsythe and Droburg that fell. The "subversive measures" are not described. What the first war's defeat of the Araxians consisted of is told only on the Araxian Wars page, so far as the sources allow.
Earlier accounts¶
The Fifth Age Timeline (S016) records "Fall of the Northern Kingdoms: Lorsythe, ?, ?" in the year 1210, as a single event late in the Rift Period; the Proturas timeline (S107) fights the war in the 720s AL. Both dates are kept on the Timeline. The campaign plans of 2022 (S076) wanted the war's architect to be "the Araxian High-General, Nicoleta," a servant of Seth'Arax, and asked whether to recycle Seth-Arax as the villain at all; the finished lore does not name a commander.