| Campaign against the Anathema-Voivode |
| Date |
RY764 AA to RY768 DWa |
| Location |
Azerban, Madura, Ceben (Northeastern Threshold) |
| Result |
Decisive victory for the Realm |
|
| Belligerents |
| Scarlet Empire (House Sesus) |
Azerban |
| Commanders |
Sesus Abiesha (until RY764)
Sesus Dochao |
Anathema-Voivode of Azerban |
| Strength |
5,000 Realm Legionnaires
5,000 Realm Legion auxiliaries
1,250+ Maduran auxiliaries
2,500 Cebenite auxiliaries
125 Dragonblooded |
14,000+ Azerbani soldiers
2,500+ Maduran auxiliaries
1 Solar Anathema
1+ Dragonblooded |
| Casualties and losses |
600 Realm Legionnaires
2,100 Realm Legion auxiliaries
800+ Maduran auxiliaries
2,400+ Cebenite auxiliaries
21 Dragonblooded |
12,000+ Azerbani soldiers
2,000+ Maduran auxiliaries
1 Solar Anathema
1 Dragonblooded |
|
Overview
The Campaign against the Anathema-Voivode was a conflict between the Realm (represented by the 4th Imperial Legion) and an Anathema arisen in the northeastern Threshold, widely celebrated for being a victory in a time of many defeats for Imperial Forces. Fighting took place across the realms of Azerban and Madura, with consequences rippling through Ceben and Valis as well.
RY764
Ascending Air – The Voivode of Azerban, a House Sesus satrapy, dies under mysterious circumstances. His only child, a girl of fifteen years, is accused by her uncle of having carried out an assassination... the uncle, backed by the local Realm garrison, lays claim to the Throne. An attempt is made to put the girl to death, but she is revealed as an Anathema and slays her uncle.
Resplendent Air – The 4th Legion garrison in Azerban faces a popular uprising in support of the Anathema. Within a week, the officers flee the satrapy and independence is openly declared.
Ascending Water – 4th Legion forces and auxiliaries establish a defensive line on the border between Azerban and Madura. A stalemate ensues, neither side willing to engage in more than skirmishes.
Ascending Wood – House Sesus takes direct control of the 4th Legion.
RY765
Ascending Earth – Hunt for the Great Bear: While the bulk of the 4th Legion is stationed along the border, Master of the Northern Wyld Hunt Peleps Deled requisitions a corps of reserve troops to assist in slaying the rebel god known as the Great Bear of the Laran Moor, whose bandit forces pose a threat behind Realm lines in Madura.
Resplendent Earth – Azerbani forces cross into Madura in a surprise attack, penetrating 4th Legion lines and pushing directly on to engage Legion command as Maduran auxiliaries defect to the Azerbani side en-masse. General Sesus Abiesha goes missing, presumed dead, and the 4th falls back westward before it is able to consolidate new lines along the borders of Ceben, a coastal satrapy.
Ascending Wood – Despite resistance from established Sesus officers, the leaders of the Magel branch family choose former outcaste dragonlord Sesus Dochao to assume command of the 4th Legion. Dochao immediately begins to re-organize the Legion, promoting younger, less-traditionalist officers to command posts and adding mounted formations to the order of battle.
Most voices in the Realm predict the Legion will soon suffer the same fate as the Tepet Legions sent against the Bull.
Resplendent Fire – The 4th Legion marks the Festival of Hesiesh by launching a series of attacks against Azerbani lines, probing for weaknesses and testing newly-mobile formations.
RY766
Resplendent Earth – As the winter snows begin to melt, the 4th Legion launches a full offensive against the Azerbani armies in Madura, taking advantage of speed to disrupt and demoralize an encamped foe. Fighting is fierce, but the Realm gains ground at a steady pace.
RY768
Ascending Air – As fighting pauses for the winter season, at the border between Madura and Azerban, there is great concern... new reinforcements have risen to join the armies of the Anathema, supported by sorceries of power beyond the ken of Legion savants.
Descending Water – Fresh Azerbani forces, led by the Anathema herself, begin a slow march towards Madura despite the winter snows. General Dochao orders a retreat, finally arranging the 4th to await them in the hills overlooking the Cloven Valley.
- Battle on the Wall of Ice: As the Azerbani cross the valley, a mounted talon under Sesus Septimus is dispatched to the head of the valley, to sabotage the First Age dam restricting the flow of the river there... destruction of the dam sends a flood of ice and water pouring through the valley, devastating the Azerbani.
- Battle of the Drowned: The main body of the 4th then moved to engage the survivors, with General Dochao and a cadre of Immaculate monks seeking out and slaying the Anathema herself.
Resplendent & Descending Earth – The 4th’s victory is loudly celebrated in a Realm in need of a morale boost. The Deliberative honours Dochao and winglord Septimus as heroes of the Realm, and replaces the 1st Imperial Legion with the 4th as garrison force in the Imperial City.
“
My soldiers, we have done what they said was impossible. While others faltered and held back against the mightiest of foes, we strode forth and laid our enemies low. The whole of Creation stands in awe of our achievement, the streets of the Blessed Isle are filled with adulation for our victory, our enemies quake and know that there is no force in Creation which can overcome us.
Our time in the Threshold now comes to an end. Others shall stand forth to take our positions in the field, for there are greater things that await us. We go now to take our place as the finest soldiers of the Realm, guardians of the Imperial City in which rests the Scarlet Throne. There we shall enjoy the honours we have rightly earned, and face new challenges we must overcome, but in all Creation there are no men and women I would rather have at my back than you, the soldiers of the Fourth Legion.”
-
Speech of General Dochao to the assembled ranks of the 4th Legion, before departure from Cherak to Vatamu, RY768.
