02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

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48 Iron Kingdoms
The Onset of War
In the winter of 604 AR, a generations-spanning
social mobilization by Khadorans culminated when
Queen Ayn Vanar XI ordered a full assault against Llael.
Her mind was set on fulfilling the legacy of the Vanar
dynasty, her grandfather Ivad’s dream, which is nothing
less than the total renewal of the Khardic Empire.
Leading up to the onset of war, skirmishes along the
Khador-Cygnar border were common.
A military campaign several years in the planning,
it was made easier through the cooperation of Llael’s
Prime Minister Deyar Glabryn who had been in league
with agents of Queen Ayn’s High Kommand since
at least 600 AR if not sooner. Glabryn had reduced
Llael’s border garrisons over a period of years,
instead populating the western boundary with ill-paid
mercenaries and turning away the presence of allied
Cygnaran troops. It is no secret that he and King Leto
had been at odds, especially when Leto had spoken
against Glabryn’s policies at the last meeting of the
Court of Nobles.
That ill-fated gentry likely wished that they had
listened—though it was already far too late—when
a few short months later Winter Guard and warjacks
occupied the cities of Laedry, Elsinberg, Merywyn,
and Leryn, the Proud City and home of the Golden
Crucible, the latter of which capitulated without a shot
fired. By early 605 AR most of the nobility’s detached
skulls decorated the battlements of these towns.
Although some managed to flee south or east—most
of them into hiding—a few of them organized a
resistance effort with the last of their wealth.
By summer of that same year, Hierarch Voyle called
upon the Menite faithful to launch a great crusade to
subjugate all of Immoren and instill Menoth’s law as
the ultimate decree. The Menites’ first targets were