Last Battle for Sarda

The flag of Lugar.

The flag of Vemrok.

The Last Battle for Sarda took place on Soldes 4-9 in the year 7000 [10:964]. It began with a surprise assault by the Huvudets and ended with the defeat of the Dark Wizard Voth by King Belgrave and his wife Naiya'Nal and an army of Barbidons commanded by Lugar.

Because the final stage of the battle, the Barbidon attack on Voth's fortress had been long anticipated, the surprise attack was intended to weaken their resistance and potentially surround and annihilate them. Fortunately for the Barbidons, this did not work.

Also of interest, is that the woman chosen by Voth to replace the Dark Witch Naiya'Nal, the twin sister of Vemrok, Marla'Su, also turned against him and aided the Barbidons planning their final attack. She also attempted to save her sister but was unsuccessful.

Initial Preparations

The initial setup for the battle. Blue represents Barbidon armies. Red represents the Dark Wizard's armies.

The original strategy of the Barbidons was a simple plan to wait for King Belgrave to arrive at Nazval and to attack the Dark Wizard's fortress from there with the idea that the Dark Wizard would probably have nothing more than a small army waiting for them at the fortress.

However, a messanger went to Latholish, Holich, Hovarwish, and Wegorish and said that the attack on the Dark Wizard's fortress was happening very soon and that all the Barbidon armies were to immediately assemble at Nazval. It was King Belgrave when he was still at Wegorish that suggested the message was a ruse by the Dark Wizard to force the Barbidons to leave their lands unprotected. Shughult, the Barbidon Captain in Wegorish realized King Belgrave was right because the messanger spoke of events two days proir, and with the road between Wegorish and Shigorich blocked by a landslide, he would have arrived a day later with the message if he had truly come from Nazval.

The Barbidons at Wegorish were able to prepare their defense against the Dark Wizard's secret attack, but the armies in the other three cities had left them undefended. Messangers were sent from Wegorish to warn the others and this enabled them to eventually turn and counter the attack.

The Dark Wizard struck first with the same Huvudet soldiers that had fought at Nasad and captured the Dragon's Teeth. This gave him control of a tunnel which lead into the heart of the city.

Soldes 4

The first stage of the battle. Green represents King Belgrave's movemtents. Blue represents Barbidon armies. Red represents the Dark Wizard's armies. Black X's represent destroyed armies or cities.

Because they had realized the attack was coming, they were able to defend their city. The tunnel from the Dragon's Teeth was blocked by a great fire and they were able to concentrate their defense along the shore. Both of the Dark Wizard's armies attacking Wegorish were destroyed and the Barbidons along with King Belgrave marched north to reinforce Hovarwish.

Meanwhile, the army of Hovarwish recieved the message from Wegorish and turned back to their city. Unfortunately, the Dark Wizard's army had already landed and the city was destroyed by the time they attacked the Dark Wizard's troops.

A runner sent to inform Nazval of King Belgrave's arrival on Sarda two days before the start of the battle arrived at Nazval and told Lugar, the Barbidon Commander that he had passed the armies of Holich and Lawartholish on the way. Lugar, noting that he had not given the order to march realized the trickery and sent out runners to have them turn back. A runner also informed Latholish and Shigorich to reinforce the army of Holich and then turn north.

It is widely believed that if Lugar had not realized the error, the Dark Wizard would have completely annihilated the Barbidons and King Belgrave would have never gotten to Nazval.

Soldes 5-6

The second phase of the battle. Green represents King Belgrave's movement. Blue represents Barbidon armies. Red represents the Dark Wizard's armies. Black X's represent destroyed armies or cities.

With the Dark Wizard's troops at Hovarwish trapped between two armies of Barbidons, they were quickly destroyed. The combined forces of Holich, Lawartholish, and Shigorish also destroyed the enemy that had ransacked Holich. These armies then returned to their cities to search for survivors and rebuild. There was also debate about whether or not the Dark Wizard had more troops ready to commit to the attack so they needed to be ready to defend their cities against any secondary assaults.

However, the army of Latholish was overwhelmed and destroyed, leaving a clear path for the enemy to march to Nazval. They would have marched to Nazval, but the Dark Wizard, realizing he had underestimated the Barbidons, had them turn south to try flanking the armies at Holich.

King Belgrave continued north to Nazval. At Holich he was informed that the army of Latholish had been defeated and that even if they were defeated, the armies of Lawartholish and Shigorich would keep the enemy at bay long enough for King Belgrave to get to Nazval. He arrived safely two days later.

A beacon was also lit in Nazval to signal Vethlish and Vinzh of the attack and that they should be prepared to defend themselves. Fortunately, no attacks ever came from the Gulf of Odium or the western shore.

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The final stage of the battle. Green represents King Belgrave's movement. Blue represents Barbidon armies. Red represents the Dark Wizard's armies. X represents destroyed armies or cities

The enemy at Latholish was destroyed and King Belgrave along with the soldiers at Nazval marched north across the Dark Wasteland to the Dark Wizard's fortress in the center of the frozen Lake Corpiscus.

A number of small enemy units were stationed around the base of the fortress. The Barbidon army spread out and rushed at them across the lake while King Belgrave and another group of Barbidons fought against the Dark Witch Vemrok on the long causeway that led to the fortress gate. It was here that King Belgrave killed the poorly trained Dark Witch.

Once inside the fortress, the Barbidons took the remaining Huvudet soldiers as prisoners and King Belgrave gave their Commander, Huvttiug, the option of denouncing the Dark Wizard. Huvttiug, having also talked briefly with King Belgrave at the Battle of Nasad and realizing he was right, ordered the Huvudets to stand down. King Belgrave then proceeded alone through the mostly empty fortress. At the top of the highest tower of the fortress, King Belgrave rescued his captured wife and together they defeated the Dark Wizard. Unconfirmed rumors say they pulled the Dark Wizard from the tower and fell to their deaths with him.

Aftermath

The Last Battle for Sarda is most memorable as fulfilling the final prophecy. The Barbidons also say that if it hadn't been for some quick thinking, their race could have been extinct. While it was a Barbidon victory and the Dark Wizard was defeated, King Belgrave and Naiya'Nal were never seen again and their remains were never found. Huvttiug led the Huvudets back to Etnyben and the world was peaceful once again.

On Panei, with the people stuck on the Island of Kimb and surrounded by the Ozo and Tahist Mountains, the first announcement of the victory, or even that the battle had happened, was when the dark cloud of the Dark Wizard's magic disappeared and they saw the sun for the first time in a long while. Interestingly, a comet meteors fell on the Fortress of Nasad a few hours later, breaking down the doors to the tunnel, and providing them an exit back to the rest of the world.

In the long run, this battle caused the Barbidons to develop quicker long range communications to avoid the errors that pulled them from their cities.