Battle of the Shadefields

Location of the Shadefields.

See also: Shadefields

The Battle of the Shadefields was one of the fiercest battles between the Shoanti people from Varisia, and the orcs of Belkzen. It took place in 4519 AR in Belkzen, where the southern foothills of the Kodar Mountains meet the Storval Plateau.

History

Background

In 4518 AR, the Broken Spine orcs embarked on an aggressive campaign, prompted by the success of the Black Sun tribe's conquest of Lastwall's Hordeline. Expanding their dominion westward, they assimilated the Goatkillers, a tribe residing in the northern Mindspin Mountains, before setting their sights on the city of Urglin.

At that time, the Shoanti clans dwelling in the area, including the Sklar-Quah and Lyrune-Quah, were recovering from the expulsion inflicted by Korvosa's Chelaxian forces in 4507 AR. Unfortunately, this vulnerability made them an easy target for the advancing orc army, resulting in significant casualties. Subsequently, the orcs directed their attention towards Urglin, overpowering the city within a few days. Although the Broken Spines pillaged the slave markets in Urglin's Scabtown district, their interest in governance waned, prompting a swift retreat back to Belkzen.

The battle

Adventurers flee an emberstorm.

In the following year, 4519 AR, the Sklar-Quah and Lyrune-Quah warriors launched a counterattack as the Broken Spines attempted to re-enter Shoanti lands. Being heavily outnumbered, the Shoanti fighters recognized the futility of direct confrontation. So, they employed a strategic ambush in the treacherous Urglin Gap, where the Shoanti trapped the invaders between a seasonal riverbed and a formidable cliff.

In a desperate bid to safeguard their ancestral territories from future orc incursion, the shamans of the Lyrune-Quah made a courageous sacrifice. Through a solemn ceremony, they willingly relinquished their lives, joined by twenty of their bravest warriors, forging an everlasting spiritual bond between their essence and the land itself. As the orcs surged forward, they were met with an awe-inspiring emberstorm, resounding with the furious voices of the Shoanti. This ferocious tempest ravaged the invaders, reduced them to charred remnants, and compelled any survivors to hastily retreat back towards the Hold of Belkzen to the east.

The aftermath

Since that fateful day, the Shadefields have remained a hallowed site, instilling trepidation in any army that ventures within a 20-mile radius, as the spirits of the fallen Shoanti warriors stir from their slumber.