A History of the Clovis Wars

The Clovis War was the most savage and brutal war in recorded Imperial history upon the small continent of Moraessia. The Clovis War is at times called the Clovis Wars; this is because that the war itself was so lengthy and involved so many political affairs, that many believe that the twenty-six year period, which it lasted, could not be considered a single war. However, despite this, the Clovis War costed over 19 million lives, over a forty four percent of the continent’s population at that time.

The war started in the most bizarre way, in the region west of the great river Erae two lords were strolling together through the countryside. When one of the lords, Lord Eadrin, picked up a Clovis stone, a sharp flint-like stone, he handed it to his companion, Lord Draiman. But upon handing the stone to him, the stone cut Lord Draiman’s thumb, though at that time neither Lord Eadrin nor Lord Draiman took that matter seriously. Till, afterwards, the cut became infected and “amazingly” caused the Lord Draiman to die. Shortly afterwards, Lord Draiman’s son, Prince Talbert, took the seat of power and believing that Lord Eadrin had assassinated his father, declared war.

This declaration of war then caused a political chain reaction, as allies of both Eadrin and Talbert declared war and their allies joined them as well. Eventually by the time all declarations were done, almost all kingdoms and provinces both West and East of the river Erae had declared war. Amongst these, the most powerful were Eadrin, his allies Lord Davin, Manquén, Fredrick, Phillip, Bernard and Odsvard, and with Talbert there were his allies Lord Fen, McLeod, Tomas, Ivan, Marcus, Olaf, Devin and Luodsben.

Together both the forces of Eadrin and Talbert numbered well beyond two million soldiers, though these numbers were not on the field of battle at all, it was within the first two years that over four hundred thousand of these men died in 15 major battles, 17 failed sieges and 21 skirmishes. There were then multiple ceasefires and skirmishes that went on for over 3 more years. The first battle recorded by the Imperials, was the battle at Eric’s Hold, a major battle on the Western side of the river Erae. Here a coalition force of 372,983 under Eadrin fought against a coalition force of 473,871 of Talbert’s. The battle lasted over a day and a half, leaving only a stalemate when both Eadrin and Talbert died in single combat against one another.

With their deaths, one would expect that the war would end but no, because of the political affairs left unattended many Lords kept fighting the war, forming and breaking alliances at numerous times. This warring states period lasted another seven years, until the Imperial Army, under the command of Emperor Draco, stepped in to enforce a peace amongst the hundreds of lords. Prior to the Imperial’s involvement in the war, the Imperial Army was fighting neighboring lords who, though not fighting amongst the warring states, allied with one another to combat the Imperial’s control over them.

However, the Imperials and rebel lord’s war did not last long and it was only until the Imperial’s involvement, that the Imperial Army presented its full might. For the next twelve years, the whole of the Imperial army was seen fighting amassed coalitions of lords who had found a common enemy. Though being fiercely outnumbered in most battles, the Emperor Draco won many of his battles by inflicting the heavier casualties, him relying upon tactics and the many individual fighters who spear headed the turns in favor in the battles. Though at first allying with many lords to gain numeric advantage, Draco eventually found himself, near the end of the war, with only a small remaining force and confronted by a vast army of well over 500, 000 against his army of 31,678.

Emperor Draco’s army was caught on the edge of the river Erae, at what would now be known as the battle of the River’s Edge. The enemy was split in twos, with 200,000 thousand against him on land, while the remainder were across the river, attacking the rear of his troops. Prior to the battle, Draco ordered his men to dig wide trenches and setup fortifications around a large, steep hill. There Draco positioned his troops and within days of unending battle remained the victor. The emperor’s victory was due greatly to his tactical thinking and the skill of his individual troops. The battle at the River’s Edge cost the enemy lord’s over seventy percent of their troops and only half of Draco’s. Though this battle did not end the war, it did end the Imperial’s involvement in the war. And to the 16,783 surviving Imperial soldiers, Emperor Draco rewarded the first commissioned Medal of Honor.

The war eventually ended two years after the battle of the River’s Edge, but prior to its ending two major historical events occurred. The provinces west of the river Erae had nearly destroyed themselves in the conflict, many of the people not ravaged by war, moved south into what now is known as the Bandit Lord’s territory. The second event, which ended the Clovis Wars, was the Soldier’s Exodus. After the Imperials ceased fighting, many mercenaries appeared to fight for the Eastern lords. However, near the end, many of the mercenary bands united under the mercenary leader Gorge, and under him defeated the lords. After uniting with the rest of their brethren, the mercenary army and over 100,000 peasants left to the north east where they created what is no known as the Mercenary city.