| Battle of Varad |
| Date |
RY765 Resplendent Earth |
| Location |
Varad, Madura |
| Result |
Decisive victory for Azerban |
|
| Belligerents |
| Scarlet Empire (4th Imperial Legion) |
Azerban |
| Commanders |
| Sesus Abeisha |
The Anathema-Voivode
Laerus Wolfborn |
| Strength |
495 Realm Legion heavy infantry
125 Legion artillerists
500 Maduran auxiliaries
7 Dragonblooded |
3,000+ Azerbani soldiers
58+ Maduran auxiliaries
1 Solar Anathema
1+ Dragonblooded |
| Casualties and losses |
450 Realm Legion Heavy Infantry
50 Legion artillerists
500 Maduran auxiliaries (defected)
4+ Dragonblooded |
300+ Azerbani soldiers
225+ Maduran defectors |
|
Varad
Varad was a township in Madura, on the lower slopes of the Cloven Valley as it ascends up from the Thousand Rushes River, south of Birch Temple. It has long been known for its rich clay pits, the clay used in Medicine and playing a small role in the Maduran diet, said to have great benefits when consumed or applied to the skin, rejuvenating it and restoring youthful vigour. To take advantage of that reputation, the town was home to the Varad Baths, a resort home to marble baths where warmed liquid clay was mixed with bear bile and herbs. Wealthy aristocrats from around the region, along with successful merchants and passing Dynasts, could take time at the Varad Baths if they required convalescence or sought to preserve the beauty of youth.
Preceding Events
At the beginning of Resplendent Wood, while the 4th Legion's staff officers remained ensconced in Isesu, the 4th's strategoi Sesus Abeisha was in residence at Varad, ending an inspection tour of troops on the border for the Campaign against the Anathema-Voivode by taking the baths. Accompanying the strategoi was the 4th Legion's 1st Dragon, an elite force of Heavy Infantry, though one talon had been deployed north to Birch Temple on the banks of the Thousand Rushes River, and dragonlord Sesus Hsung had remained behind in Isesu to oversee the Legion in the strategoi's absence.
Awareness of an impending Azerbani attack was not widespread in the 4th Legion's high command... while the dragonlord of the 10th Dragon, Sesus Dochao, had warned that skirmishes with Azerban troops prefaced an invasion to come at some point along the river, Abeisha and most dragonlords held that any assault would have to come at the stable crossing of the Ford of Chumo-Sheh, and Azerbani action elsewhere was merely raiding and banditry in hopes of loot to satisfy the greed of their barbaric soldiery.
Just prior to the battle, the bulk of the forces deployed to Birch Temple, including a talon of attached artillerists, were called back to Varad for 'resupply and inspection'.
Azerbani Crossing
A large force of troops from Azerban launched an assault across the Thousand Rushes on the morning of the first day of Resplendent Earth, in the Battle of Birch Temple. This battle was a complete victory, occuring effectively unopposed, and a lack of Dragonblooded officers at Birch Temple meant no warning reached Imperial forces elsewhere in Madura for several days. When rumours finally reached Varad on the 3rd of Resplendent Earth, they were given little credence, and even those who favoured caution thought that it would take several more days for any invaders to organize themselves, after which they would advance west en-mass to secure the ford. Thus, the Imperial troops at Varad were allowed leave for relaxation in the town's taverns and brothels, the expectation that the muster would be called on the 5th or 6th and they would sweep in behind what could only be a particularly large force of raiders, breaking them asunder. In fact, the Azerbani force numbered many thousands, and divided its troops to send half towards the ford, and half directly southwards towards Varad.
Given the town is not of strategic note, nor had it been home to an Imperial garrison previously, this decision seems to show that the armies of the Anathema knew where they might find the strategoi of the 4th... amongst the Madurans or the merchants of The Guild, some treacherous soul had been responsible for betraying this vital knowledge to the Anathema.
The Battle
On the 3rd day of Resplendent Earth, Azerbani soldiers encountered Maduran auxiliaries, who had been posted as scouts on the outskirts of Varad. These soldiers reported back to their commanders on the strength of the enemy, and the Madurans declined to inform their Imperial overseers, instead quietly defecting to the armies of the Anathema. These treacherous soldiers, on the evening of the third, opened gates and doors for the Azerbani forces, and joined them in a massacre of the Imperial troops. Given many soldiers were out of their armour and away from their weapons, the conflict was brutal and deadly for the Legionnaires... and yet, they were the finest of Legion troops, and with empty tankard and short blade they resisted the treason and, it is said, inflicted a most bloody cost on their treacherous attackers. Those few on duty, or close to their armoury tents, reportedly organized into fang and scale to engage the foe in proper battle, but even this was too little to stem the tide.
It is said that the Anathema herself led the charge against the bathhouse where strategoi Abeisha was resting, stopped amidst the mud baths by the winglord of the 1st Dragon 2nd Wing and his two talonlords, who perished bravely attempting to fell her and her demonic retinue. Strategoi Abeisha's death was never witnessed, her body and panoply never recovered... stories circulate that she fled while her officers fought and died, though official accounts state that she perished at the hands of the Anathema in personal combat. Certainly, several nearby units received Wind-Carried Words orders as the battle unfolded, to redeploy to save Varad.
Newly arrived and of a different unit, the artillerists of the 4th Legion in Varad were consigned to quarters outside of town, where they raised a traditional camp palisade at the instruction of their commander, talonlord Orchid Explosion. This spared them from dying en-masse in the initial assault, and though casualties were heavy and they lacked their artillery weapons, they manned their palisade and held even as the 1st Dragon lay dead.
Aftermath
The continued holdout of Legion artillerist troops prompted the unsuccessful Western Slope Withdrawal.
The defeat at Varad was devastating for Imperial morale, and was the first battle in a long series of retreats and defeats until the 4th Legion had fallen back to the borders of Ceben. The death or dissapearance of strategoi Abeisha, and the failures the defeat laid bare amongst the Legion's ranking sponsors, allowed the Sesus Magel sponsors of the 4th to push Sesus Dochao to the fore as new strategoi, and the obliteration of the 1st Dragon permitted him to promote young officers and troops from his own 10th Dragon to fill the open posts.
With the flooding at the close of the war, Varad and its population were swept away.
