Cambrecia and the Derlic War

This is an article on the History of Feyworld
Years: 800 NC to 1473 NC
Age: The Third Age of Man
Continent: Duria
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The History of Cambrecia
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Imperial Cambrecia	The Cambrecian Civil Wars

Under Legate Cyricus Isidorus of House Livius, Legion III Cambrecia moved into the trackless wilds of what had even then become known as the Cambrecian Mountains, chasing rumors of wealthy dwarven miners high in the peaks. In a mistake that would resonate for decades to come and permanently alter the political landscape of southern Duria, the Legion slaughtered an ostensibly peaceful dwarven ambassadorial party from the Kingdom of Derlos, which initiated what would become known as the Derlic War in the Empire with the express intention of conquering the subterranean Kingdom. The Legion spent the first few months of the "War" failing to even locate the entrance to the underground mountain kingdom. The dwarves were shocked by the behavior of humans they thought were friendly and prepared themselves for battle, but cooler heads prevailed and an envoy was sent to Neptaris, who had allied with the dwarves of Derlos some six centuries prior during the War of the Dark Rider. After brief deliberations, the Triumvirate of Neptaris secretly decided to maintain their alliance with Derlos and prepare for war against this new Empire. In 55 IC, Neptaris formally declared war on Zeth and immediately took one of their key military outposts in the foothills of the Cambrecian Mountains, Fort Pagulium.

What began as an exploratory expedition against Derlos quickly grew into a war Cambrecia had not prepared for. Neptaran Marshal Marshal Aador Manx, moving in concert with dwarven irregulars from Derlos, exploited the fall of Fort Pagulium to seize five more Imperial supply depots before the year was out, and for two years Legate Isidorus found himself fighting a war on ground he had not chosen. The tide turned only when the Imperial fleet broke Neptaris's navy at the Battle of Nimble Point in 57 IC and sealed Krios Bay, cutting the rebellious Freecity off from the sea it depended on. Any relief the victory brought was short-lived: a plague swept along the Cambrecian coast the following winter, and among its dead was Isidorus himself, the very Legate whose slaughter of the Derlic envoys had started the war in the first place. Command passed to Legate Valerius Lucius, who spent the next several years rebuilding the Legion's strength even as Neptaris, unbeknownst to the Empire, was doing the same in secret shipyards along its own coast. Marshal Manx fought on until his death at Fort Pagulium, and his successor, Marshall Greor Alcyon of House Markos, briefly seized command of the Maroshan Sea with a fleet of thirty warships, but Imperial spies located and burned Neptaris's hidden shipyards in the winter of 65 IC, and with reinforcement from the fleets of Paladinium in Imperial Simmeria, Valerius Lucius laid siege to Neptaris itself. The city fell within a fortnight when an Imperial sympathizer inside its walls opened the gates, and Marshal Alcyon, upon hearing the news, took his own life rather than witness Neptaris's surrender. With their human allies defeated, the dwarves of Derlos sealed off the entrances to their subterranean kingdom and disappeared into the roots of the mountains.

Over the next two centuries, Cambrecia saw many rebellions as its citizens tried to found a new Senate in the capital city of Septarium. The Imperial response was heavy-handed at first, but in 149 IC, the Emperor Metius the Elder decided on a more surreptitious approach to quelling the Cambrecians. In his role as Pontifex Maximus of the Imperial pantheon, he sent the Pontifex of Zelos, god of the State, to Septarium to build a great cathedral and begin the conversion of the populous to Zelos. The Pontifex of the time, Ionnanes II, was a persuasive man, and was able to quickly convert most of the local leadership to his banner. Over the next few centuries, as the power of the Empire waned in its northern territories, the Pontifex of Zelos was able to secure greater and greater power within Cambrecia, often without the Emperor's knowledge or consent. By 534 IC, Cambrecia had become a monarchy, independent in most of its internal affairs.