Corpus Tamrielicum - The Imperial Library

[69] The War of Betony
[69] THE WAR OF BETONY
The War of Betony
by Vulper Newgate
The history of the Iliac Bay, if told in its entirety, would horrify readers more than the most
gruesome legend of the Underking. In comparison to the wars of the first and second era, our
most recent appeal to arms, the War of Betony pales.
The Siege of Orsinium lasted from 1E 950 until 1E 980 without a pause. A thousand years
later, the Thrassian Plague coupled with the War of Righteousness slayed over half the
population of the Iliac Bay. And yet, the War of Betony fascinates us, and not just because of
its immediacy.
Ironically, Lord Mogref of Betony was seeking peace when he asked for Daggerfall's
protection on the Isle of Betony. The island had long been independant, but as the piracy in
the Bay increased, Mogref truly realized Betony's vulnerability. King Lysandus agreed to be
Betony's liege, on advice of many, including his archpriest of Kynareth, Lord Vanech.
While Betony is a prosperous fishing island and well-placed strategically, the vassalage of
Betony was primarily an act of charity. Lysandus knew that if someone did not help Betony, it
would fall to the pirates, if not to someone worse. Unfortunately, King Camaron of Sentinel
did not agree. Citing a two hundred year old contract, obliquely if not illegally written to
suggest that Betony was a "traditional holding" of the Kingdom of Sentinel, Camaron
declared war. The majority of his advisors, being warlords in a traditionally bellicose country,
supported their king in this.
The Chief Counselor, a woman called The Oracle, foresaw death and defeat in the war, but
her wisdom was stifled and she was banished from court. Camaron should have listened to
her. A few scrimages of the War of Betony went to Sentinel, but the major battles were all
won by Daggerfall. King Lysandus, his heir Prince Gothryd, and the general of the army Lord
Bridwell were fine leaders and warriors as well, and the Battle of the Bluffs and the Siege of
Craghold both went to Daggerfall.
The war might have been won with one more victory, but for an unusual domestic incident in
King Lysandus' court. The king's mother, the dowager queen Nulfaga, had been uneasy about
the war since its beginning, but she now began to have visions of cataclysm. She saw the
death of her beloved son should the war continue. Ebullient by his success, King Lysandus
refused to listen to her fears until Nulfaga left court. Lysandus then realized how certain she
was about his impending death. He began to actively negotiate a peace treaty with Sentinel,
using the neutral lordship of Reich Gradkeep as facilitator. The Treaty of Reich Gradkeep was
never to be.
King Camaron was initially civil, as the losing side of a war is often civil, but when he
realized that the proposed treaty would have included a formal declaration that the kingdoms
of Sentinel and Daggerfall would share Betony, he flew into a rage. With no thought for the
protocol of attacking a neutral peaceable lordship, Camaron ordered his army to riot through
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