Blood Dragon Civil War
From FiranMUX
Contents |
The Beginning
Following Clan Leader Jalil’s wedding gift of Scirlut to his son Judanus on the occasion of his wedding to then-lady Luna, rioting broke out within the city. Gold Dragon separatists condemned Jalil as a ‘Traitor against Firgalas’ Memory’ and proclaimed that they would not give up their city.
The city of Skirlut (as the Gold Dragons called it, as opposed to the Griffon name of Scirlut) declared itself to be a new clan, the ‘Blood Dragons’, and offered the position of Clan Leader to Prince Lucas Elianik, with following offers to Lord Tyrsun Firgalik or Prince Argin.
Not content with simply proclaiming their own secession from the Gold Dragon clan, leaders of the Blood Dragons declared that the invasion of Sarkaran was illegal and that the city rightfully belonged to the Cockatrice Clan – a declaration that, unsurprisingly, saw them win favour from the Cockatrice clan and threatened to drag other clans into what was, at the time, simply a Griffon and Gold Dragon issue.
To the Griffon clan at the time, the revolt of the so-called Blood Dragons was a prize gift. By rebelling against Jalil, they gave the Griffon armies a politic excuse to attack the city and retake it without any reasonable Gold Dragon complaints. Griffon citizens began to drill in eager anticipation, realising that in fact, because the city had been given to Lord Judanus, and he was now a Griffon this meant that the Blood Dragons were now rebellious Griffon citizens.
The Breakdown
As Lady Leyla Firgalik made her way to the rebellious city to talk terms with them on behalf of Clan Leader Jalil, the name of a leader for the Blood Dragons emerged. Lord Kamen Manosik, recently having joined the city stepped forward as the first Gold Dragon noble to come out in support of the rebellion. Shockingly, it was after the arrival of Lady Leyla Firgalik that the most politically damning moment of the war occurred. She proclaimed that Lord Jalil was not his father’s choice for Clan Leader; that he had repeatedly dishonoured her marriage vows to Lord Aldrikos. Proclaiming him a usurper who had killed more Gold Dragons in his reign than the Shamibelians it was a sizeable hit to Gold Dragon Morale and a boost to the Blood Dragons claims of legitimacy. For the Bear clan, it was an outrage and ensured that the clan most likely to hold to the traditional value of loyalty to a Clan Leader would in no way support Jalil.
Lord Viceroy Taleo ruled that in light of the breakdown in civil law. Scirlut would be made a city of the Republic like Caldera City. For the Griffons this was an unacceptable move; ironically for the Blood Dragons it was likewise unacceptable and a speech by Lord Kamen proclaiming the move to be unconstitutional threw the Viceroy’s plan into disarray. Prince Sadin, long considered all but forgotten found himself appointed as an Ambassador from the Republic to the Blood Dragons, however as time went on he was believed to be acting more in his own interest or that of the Blood Dragons than for the good of the Republic.
Firuell's Defection
The defection of General Firuell Aurik was a more serious blow to Jalil and the Gold Dragon clan. Taking with him a great many members of his own family, and almost a quarter of all Gold Dragon troops, his leadership of the Blood Dragon military was to prove decisive in the upcoming war. The news of the Aurik’s support for the Blood Dragons caused yet another increase in the Griffon Clan’s thirst for war. The feud between the Istariniad Family and the Auriks had lasted for generations and been recently inflamed by the death of Garis Istariniad who had gone to the city to try and defend his fellow Griffons.
With the Griffon Clan armies still not yet mobilised for war, the Blood Dragons struck the first offensive blow. Whores were sent to Firalut to infiltrate and spy on the Griffon Clan’s intentions. This ruse, together with the poisoning of hundreds of Griffon soldiers by wolfsbane, led to the Griffon Clan executing the whores and sending their bodies back to Scirlut. While many deemed the Griffon Clan execution of the whores as extravagant, the Blood Dragons poisoning of Griffon Clan soldiers was deemed as the first act of war, moreover an act which many considered to be a dishonourable blow.
While debate raged in Clan Councils and on the streets of Anarinuell, the Royal Wedding of Princess Tia Elianik to Lord Ojitar Firgalik was horrifically brought into the conflict. Their wedding was attacked by assassins and, while suspicion flew in many directions, most remain convinced that it was yet another dishonourable strike by the Blood Dragons. Neither Tia nor Ojitar were hurt and the casualties did not interrupt the ceremony nor did they hurt the royal families. Tia spoke out after the wedding with a Speech: After the Arrows.
Blood Dragons and War
As spring turned to early summer, the Blood Dragons continued to act as if they were a formally recognised clan, sending ambassadors to other clans to try and curry favor and the upcoming war season against the Shamibelians caused many to believe that they would now be unassailable in Scirlut.
Despite the imminent summer campaign for Ellish, twenty thousand Griffon Clan Soldiers marched towards Scirlut, set on ousting the rebellious Blood Griffons and putting Griffon Soldiers into a city they had not held since Firgalas and Elianos captured it from them. With Scirlut having been heavily reinforced throughout the winter, even the most inexperienced soldier knew it would be a bitter campaign.
The Griffon forces were not directly impeded as they marched through Gold Dragon lands with a small escort of Republic troops. However, they received little succor and much animosity from the farmers that they encountered. As they neared Scirlut the animosity turned to raids and small skirmishes which led to the Griffons destroying farms that later turned out to have been Gold Dragon and not Blood Dragon in allegiance.
One of the more unusual events of the war concerned Lord Audentus Manosik. Lord Audentus left Anarinuell and hired himself a mercenary army, only to lose it when Blood Dragon troops kidnapped him and brought him into the city. During his stay within Scirlut he organised a javelin contest while the Blood Dragons were mourning their dead and was stoned and attacked by Blood Dragon civilians.
Another curiosity was that Lord Kamen proclaimed that he was the bastard son of Jalil, something later disproved, however, this combined with his earlier tactical blunders saw him removed from command, leaving General Firuell to control the military of the Blood Dragons.
The Battles
As the Griffon army reached Scirlut a number of aerial battles were fought before the Griffon army was forced to withdraw from the hills onto the plains outside the city, leaving many dead Griffon soldiers in their wake.
The battle itself for Scirlut was a desperate and hard-fought affair, with blunders on both sides. The Blood Dragons sacrificed much of their air force in an ill-thought attack whereas the Griffons overcommitted and did not make good use of their numbers. With the Griffons fighting to reclaim land their great-grandparents had likewise fought and died to defend and the Blood Dragons battling to defend their homes, neither side would give countenance to surrender or parlay. However, the Griffon numbers were so overwhelming that it became evident that they would eventually take the city, even if it was going to be a pyrrhic victory for them to do so.
Undoubtedly the greatest loss to the Griffons in their attack was that of Dame General Latta. During the initial charge to take the gates, Dame Latta was hit by an arrow and fell, moments later it’s said that a terrible wind was heard upon the battlefield, heralding the arrival of one hundred doves. According to those nearby the birds swooped over Dame Latta’s body, white feathers raining down upon her to make a monument of her corpse before many even knew she had fallen. The death of Latta had just as costly an effect for the defenders of the city, however, as the mighty wind blew open the gates of the city.
With cries of "Remember Ellish!" "Remember Firalut!" "Remember Scirlut!" "Butcher, Butcher!" the Griffon armies crashed against the gates of Scirlut, an audacious but ultimately costly plan by the Griffons seeing many of their best troops flown in by Griffons but with the birds landing on the walls of Scirlut to try and take the gates they were easy targets and among many others, the renowned pilot Jazayeri was captured by the Blood Dragons.
As the Griffon soldiers poured into the gates they finally had their breach to flood the city, but it looked as if every man would die before surrendering. With night fast approaching, Lord Judanus who was now in command with the death of Dame General Latta had not issued any orders for consolidation and, in the end, the junior officers took it upon themselves to pull the troops back, lest they be caught in unfamiliar and unfriendly streets at night.
Pia's Arrival
Lady Regent Pia, then the holder of the Griffon Clan Medallion arrived to take control over the Griffon forces as Lord Commander Razesh Didoron was sent to broker some sort of peace before the massacre of Scirlut would become a tragedy. General Firuell and Lady Regent Pia agreed to the Lord Commander’s suggestion of a truce and while Griffon blood was hot to sweep into the city and reclaim the land of their forefathers, Lady Regent Pia imposed an iron discipline on her troops and a rapid increase of morale with her arrival.
While many acts of bavery are retold by the Griffons who survived, one act in particular stood out and has become all-but legend:
The Griffon army had successfully taken the gates of the city, but were unable to consolidate before being pulled back to recoup. Darius Istariniad, leading a force of 600 men, was cut off at the same time as a ceasefire agreement was made between the two sides to allow talks. Darius Istariniad held and held and held, his men standing for hours in the baking heat and then through the night until the Blood Dragons finally broke the peace my attacking. Fleeing into the True Temple of Zutiv that lay nearby, he defended the temple and was finally escorted out, taking with him several captured Griffon soldiers as part of his terms to leave the temple, thus setting the legend of Darius’ 500.
Tenuous Peace and a Wall
While the Blood Dragons broke the peace accord to riot against Lord Commander Razesh, General Firuell managed to restore order. A short while later a peace settlement was finally made – a unique one in Firan history. The city was split into two, one half to be held by the Griffon Clan, the other half to be held by the ‘citizens’ of Scirlut. Republic peacekeepers were to guard the wall between the two parts of the city and keep the peace. Surprisingly, the peace accord has held, shocking many in the Republic though perhaps the scale of bloodshed that brought it about was enough to quiet both sides into order.
