Successors War

500,000-750,000 killed

The Successors War (SA 324-327) was fought between the Imperial Remnant and the Berskin Halmarian Kingdom in Langcaste, the Rottfold and Franchurst. The war represented the culmination of tensions between Emperor Mathieu II's rump-state and his Berskin proxies, who had begun to challenge Imperial authority and expand their sphere of influence.

The war was triggered by a Berskin campaign against the Langcastian League, which prompted Imperial intervention after Staffhalder Allen Lancercost pleaded for support. After defeating the Berskin field army at ..., the Imperials and their Westreachian allies invaded the Rottfold in SA 325, nearly overrunning the Berskin client before a series of costly reverses forced them to disengage. The Berskins then focused on subjacating the Emperor's Westreachian allies while the Imperial expedition conquered Franchrust. The Kingdom of the Rhuge joined the Imperial fold in late SA 327, but the war was abruptly concluded by a decisive Berskin victory at Calanbant.

The war had immense consequences for Westreach, ending three centuries of Imperial Arkyne supremacy and confirming the rise of the Halmarian Kingdom as the region's leading power. The War drained the Imperial Remnant's resources, crippling it's armies and creating an opening for the Kinnofoldian earls to revolt, resulting in the death of Emperor Mathieu II and the dismantlement of the Remnant, the last Imperial rump state. Berskin military power was also severely weakened by the War, resulting in a brief period of decline before King Thesodius the Great led it's recovery.

Background
The geo-political situation that existed in Westreach in SA 324 was the result of the Sack of Harerok and the fall of the Regency. King Harris I of the Berskins had marched on Harerok in late SA 319 as a proxy of Emperor Mathieu I, who from his base of Kinnofold was attempting to recover the Empire's influence on the Continent. After storming Harerok and murdering his opponent Staffhalder Galder Garrett of Trafehaken, King Harris I was granted the Imperial title of colacrat. Imperial authority in Westreach, nominally restored by the destruction of the Triumvirate government, was contested by most of the Staffhalders and delegated to Harris I, as Mathieu II lacked the resources and internal support to directly represent himself. Nevertheless, an effective central authority ceased to exist in Westreach following the Sack, as the now-autonomous Staffhalders and warlords, who had already begun to assert themselves during the long period of Imperial, and then Regential, decline, openly declared independence.

However, King Harris I had soon begun to violate his nominal status as Imperial vassal, issuing decrees and subjecting many of his neighbors in a series of aggressive military campaigns. A relationship of distrust and animosity developed between Harris I and the Emperor, and relations were further strained by Harris's conversion to Armantism in SA 323, a move intended to provoke the Paleanist Mathieu II.

Militaries
The Berskin army that invaded the Hearth in SA 332 was unrecognizable from the bands of tribals that had first crossed the Eisenfold in SA 295. Decades of close contact and fighting with the Empire had resulted in the adoption of many Imperial military techniques; the majority of Berskin infantry in SA 332 were pike armed, and most of the soldiers wore Imperial armor either looted from battlefields or provided by Emperor Saric. It is worth noting that at this time that, as a result of their status as Northern Line Army, many Berskins saw themselves as Imperial soldiers in the service of the late Emperor Saric. Additionaly, many Berskins had converted to Armantism and inter-marriage was becomly increasingly popular. Nevertheless, the Berskins had retained many of the military traditions that not only made them a unique but also an effective force on the battlefield. The majority of Berskin soldiers still campaigned on horse-back, thus giving them a degree of strategic mobility unmatched by other armies of the time.

First Phase (SA 326-328)
Emboldened by the success of his campaigns against Chambrante and Trafehaken, Ryder began to challenge the policies of Emperor Mathieu II. Ryder shared an amiable relationship with Grand Arch Jaryk, permitting him to retain the Vail and adopting a tolerant even sympathetic attitude towards Armantists, much to the contention of Emperor Mathieu II. Further, Ryder, in an effort to increase revenue, allowed his fleet to commit acts of piracy across the Stromsea, looting Kinnofoldian costal villages. This all meant that by SA 326 Mathieu saw Ryder more as a rival then as an vassal. Recognizing that legal measures alone were no longer sufficient in restraining Ryder as his subordinate, Mathieu II summoned the King to his court in late SA 326 to face charges of treason and piracy. Ryder responded by disavowing his status of vassal and declaring, in a speech at Cameldan, a minor Imperial official Emperor, not only challenging Mathieu's Westreachian hedgemony but undermining his rule at home.

Mathieu II responded with swift military action against his rebellious vassal. Through a combination of intimidation and coercion, he managed to induce Staffhalder Galder Garland of Trafehaken, who had been retained as a client by Ryder, to defect. Ryder responded by sending his commander Sulfric to depose Garland, but the Calamannic expedition disintegrated soon after landing near Burgain in March of SA 327. Ryder also began assembling a large fleet at Previs for an intended invasion of Kinnofold. Though with Saric's original division of the army the Heathan Line Army was delegated few naval capabilities, at some point during Ryder's tenure as Constable-General he and his command assumed responsibility for the defense of the Stromsea, thus gaining control over Saric's formidable naval forces and having these available at the start of the Successors War. A Imperial squadron struck Previs in late July, however, and in a surprise assault destroyed much of the unmanned Calamannic fleet while it was anchored in the harbor, crippling Ryder's naval capabilities and shifting the initiative in Mathieu's favor.

The Imperial invasion of the Hearth finally began in early September when the Imperial general Thesodius, who had been campaigning in Kirkland against the Redhakens, marched overland from the Redmotte valley with some 25,000 men, many of whom were Galeish mercenaries, and fell on the city of Chambrante, storming it after a lengthy siege. In an unexpected reversal, Ryder was able to force march south and soundly defeat Thesodius outside of Chambrante, but he was unable to maintain a blockade of the city and lifted the siege after three weeks. Thesodius led a spirited pursuit and caught the Calamanns at Cameldan three days later, destroying Ryder's host in a brief pitched battle. Ryder and many of his men were able to escape to Hornwall, where, after a month of investment, they surrendered under the condition that they would be well treated. Instead, after being disarmed, the Calamanns were set upon and slaughtered below the city walls in a three-day bloodbath known as the Hornwall Massacre. Following this massacre, the Imperials advanced with relative ease through the Hearth, sacking Hornwall, Rosshall and Previs in their drive north. In order to compensate his soldiers, whom Mathieu II was unable to pay due to the economic strain of the recent campaigns, Thesodius resorted to turning them loose on the countryside to loot and burn; much of the countryside was ravaged. Except for Dunkeld, which held out into SA 328, the Hearth had been all but conquered by the end of SA 327.

Second Phase (SA 328-330)
With the Calamanns largely defeated, the Imperial army's role in Westreach shifted from one of conquest to one of occupation. After rumors that Thesodius was planning to declare himself Emperor, Mathieu II recalled his lead general from Westreach and, in an effort to deter military rebellion, dispersed the army into several 'garrisons,' each of which was commanded by a military governor who assumed administrative responsibilities for a particular area. Additionally, many of the staffhalses who held local authority were stripped of their office and replaced with Paleanist magnates brought in from Kinnofold; those who retained their office were nonetheless disempowered by the imposition of the military governors. Though these policies was intended to ease the re-incorporation of the Hearth into the Empire and strengthen Mathieu's political grip on the region, they ultimately proved disastrous for the Remnant.

The war was prolonged by Werenic intervention in SA 328. In Ryder's place, the warlord Belirand assumed control over the disarrayed Calamann forces, the bulk of which had been besieged in Dunkeld in late December of SA 327. By the spring of SA 328, the state of the siege had become desperate that the city's garrison had resorted to eating their boots. Belirand, meanwhile, roamed the courts of Westreach in an effort to secure support for his dwindling cause. An ally was finally found in the Werenic low king Richter, who, seeking fresh plunder and permanent settlement for his displaced people, pledged 10,000 men to the Calamannic cause. This army crossed the Timberwood in early June of SA 328 and fell on the Imperial army besieging Dunkeld, routing them in a fierce two-day battle below the walls. The siege was broken, some four thousand men were lost, and the bulk of the Imperial siege train was seized by the Werens. Following this battle, however, the war settled into an attritional state of sieges and small battles, as the Imperial commanders were unable to raise a fresh field army and the Allies lacked the resources to properly invest the Imperial strongpoints. Nevertheless, Belirand conducted a skillful campaign which had by the summer of SA 329 recaptured the interior and reduced the Emperor's holdings to a string of isolated costal enclaves.

The resulting decrease in Imperial tax revenue, which had primarily been going towards paying the local army, meant that the Imperial garrisons had to live off the land. The resulting sorties, which began as simple foraging expeditions, escalated into full-scale raids intended to compensate the troops. Additionally, the Werens, who had been promised the right to plunder the land they captured, laid waste to much of Franchurst and Harehald, sacking and destroying the port-city of Previs in SA 329 despite it's submission. Thus much of the Hearth, once the wealthiest region in Westreach, was entirely desolated in the course of the war.

The stalemate that had begun to define the war was broken in SA 330 when Belirand's Werenic troops, dissatisfied with the lack of plunder and and hoping to participate in their peoples' recent invasion of Kirkland, deserted him en masse, depriving him of the bulk of his manpower. A month later, a fresh Imperial host under Prince Mathias, pay-rolled by the burghers of Canatal, marched from the Redmotte in July and finally relieved the beleaguered Imperial garrisons. The Calamanns were driven back into the interior, where, despite reinforcement by a band of Berskins, they were finally and conclusively defeated in the Battle of Mudmoor. Belirand was killed at the end of an Imperial lance, some seven thousand Calamanns troops were slain, and in the aftermath of the battle the Calamann reservations which had been established over a decade earlier were set upon and cleared. Not only did this battle end organized Calamann resistance to Imperial rule, but it effectively eliminated the Calamanns as a distinct ethno-political unit. The Hearth was re-occupied and Prince Mathieu was declared military-governor of the entire region, which remained stubbornly problematic as the devastation of the war precipitated a massive famine which further drained the Remnant's dwindling treasury.

Third Phase (SA 330-332)
Berskin involvement in the war had begun in SA 328 when, following the death of Ryder, whom they viewed as dis-favorable, King Harris I agreed to provide funds for Belirand's re-opening of the war. Berskin involvement gradually escalated until SA 330, when Meric Carelain equipped and led a small expedition south in support of the Calamanns. Meric and many of his men perished in the Battle of Mudmoor, but King Harris I, galvanized by the defeat of the Calamanns, openly intervened in the aftermath of this battle, marching an army across the Oxus and on Burgain. An Imperial host was routed outside of the city and Staffhalder Garland was forced to submit as a Berskin vassal before Harris returned with his army.

Several years of intermittent border warfare ensued. Eager to secure access to the Rottmotte river, the Imperials began a concentrated effort to capture Stromkrop in May of SA 331, investing the fortress for some seven months before the Berskins pierced the Harrendam and forced them to lift the siege. The towns surrounding Stromkrop, as well as wide swathes of Harehald, were destroyed by the resulting floods, and Harerok was soon spilling with refugees. King Harris I led a large raid beyond the Rottmotte the next year, plundering the water-logged countryside and firing two hundred villages before retiring back to Stromkrop.

The war entered it's final, decisive phase in SA 333 when Grand Arch Tyrus, after being imprisoned for a time by Prince Mathias, invited Harris to invade the Hearth and assume the Imperial crown. Harris assembled an army of some 30,000 Berskins and marched from Stromkrop in early July of SA 332; while previous campaign had been motivated by a desire to loot and plunder, this was a large-scale, formal invasion intended to wrest the Crown from Mathieu. Further, Staffhalder Wes Stormont and many of his Staffhalses, disillusioned with being displaced from the new political order, defected to the Berskins, mobolizing whatever remained of their fyrds. Cut off and under attack, the Imperials fell back along the coast, ceding an abandoned Harerok to the Halmarians in late May.

Imperial forces in the Hearthan at this time effectively acted as a permanent garrison army and numbered some 35,000 men, including both Imperial troops and large numbers of mercenaries primarily recruited from the Northmen tribes. By SA 322 the bulk of these troops were dispersed across the Hearth in isolated garrisons intended to maintain the crumbling civil order and keep the staffhalses in-line; hoping to take to the field against the Berskins, Mathias stripped many towns of their garrisons and concentrated them at Chambrante, while also ceding the key city of Dunkeld to the Rhugens in-exchange for some six thousand auxiliaries. The arrival of Emperor Mathieu II in late early October with a fresh detachment of Imperial troops finally emboldened the Imperials enough to march north against the Berskins, who, despite having linked-up with their Franchurstian allies, were tied-down by the network of Imperial strongpoints which spread across the countryside. The Imperial host marched to the relief of Caledon, where the bulk of the Berskin army was investing the fortress-town, meeting Harris I and his host outside of the castle on September 27th. The ensuing battle lasted some six hours and was the largest and bloodiest of the war; after breaking the Berskin's left flank the Imperial attack stalled due to the discipline of the Berskin infantry, who held-out long enough for the Berskin cavalry to reform and counterattack, annihilating the Imperial host in a double envelopment. This battle marked the effective end of the war; Emperor Mathieu II, unable to raise a new field army, retired from the region soon after the battle with the bulk of the Imperial garrisons. Those that remained had been all but subdued by mid-SA 334, and King Harris I was crowned Emperor in the Towering Keep on June 29th, SA 334.

Aftermath
The War proved to be the catalyst for the collapse of the Imperial Remnant. The Imperial armies, so successfully expanded in the previous decades, were effectively destroyed, and the Imperial government was bankrupted. Within months of the Battle of Caledon, Mathieu II's vassals were in-revolt and his holdings were under siege, beginning over six years of civil war and turmoil in the island-kingdoms which would end with Mathieu's death and the dismantlement of the Remnant.

In the Empire's place emerged the Halmarian Kingdom, which assumed the Remnant's former role as continental hedgemon. Returning to Harerok after the Battle of Caledon, King Harris I converted to Aramantism before Grand Arch Tyrus and was proclaimed, for his exertions during the war and his defeat of the Paleanist Empire, viser of the Church, a title last held by Emperor Sirius V. This proclamation completed the long and steady Berskin expansion, legitimizing King Harris I as the new leader of Westreach. Rather then place the Hearth under Berskin control, Harris I declared the Empirate of Harerok, a theocracy to be ruled by Grand Arch Tyrus which would encompase Harehald and Franchurst, while Chambrante would retain it's autonomy under Staffhalder Brendan Tyter. Harris pledged Berskin support for the Empirate whenever nessassary and then returned home with his army.

By the war's end much of Northern Westreach was devastated and depopulated. Most major towns in the Heathan had been pillaged at least once and the countryside of Franchurst and Harehald was widely despoiled. The belligerent's reliance on foraging in lieu of effective logistical systems was perhaps the most devastating aspect of the war, as the belligerent armies, deployed in the field for extended periods, resorted to pillaging and marauding in order to sustain themselves. The Imperial troops who were deployed throughout the region, many of whom were criminals and general undesirables, adopted the devastating of practice of 'reaving,' wherein parties of mounted soldiers would repeatedly harry and generally despoil the countryside surrounding castles. This practice serving the dual purpose of resupplying the garrison and punishing the populace, whom Imperials viewed with distrust and even outright hostility. This contributed to the breakdown of law and order that took place during the war as well as the severe depopulation of many rural areas, which by the end of the war had been left entirely desolate. The destruction of the Rottmotte dykes was disastrous, resulting in a humanitarian crisis on a immense scale and destroying much of Harehald's countryside. Harerok, which had once boasted a population of some 500,000, was now inhabitated by as few as 30,000; entering the city in August of SA 332, the Berskins found entire districts derelict and abandoned, with others burnt-out and destroyed.

Another major factor that contributed to the destruction across the region was the fact that many of the armies that participated in the war were driven more by a desire to loot then any tangible political or territorial goal. The Werens who served in the army of Belirand, the Berskin army of Meric Dondarrion, and the Imperial army of Thesodius, much of which was made up of Northmen mercenaries, all extracted a heavy toll from the countryside as they campaigned, often sacking towns and razing others.

The result of these devastating practices was a renewal of the famine that had first struck the region in SA 308 and the general depopulation of the entire Hearth. Though the wealth and population of the Hearth had been in-decline for over twenty years, between SA 326 and SA 330 the population of Franchurst and Harehald declined from an estimated 5,000,000 to barely 3,000,000, the most precipitous drop in the entire Herrenkrieg. The economic and agricultural capacity of the region was forever crippled, resulting in a steady shift of power north to the Middefold, which would be the center of the Berskin Empire. The Heathan would never again reassume it's former status as the economic and political heart of Westreach.