| Category | Wars | |||||
| Period | 1475 - 1478 | |||||
| Theater | Ma'Ohari | |||||
| Belligerents |
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After several failed assassination attempts against King Bloodtusk, this infamous wight-king decided to put an end to the yuan-ti threat emerging from Gurutharni. The issue for the yuan-ti was that Bloodtusk refused to pay the tolls for passage of the Ralban River, a practice long honored by Tâchumâz's previous overlords. In addition to kill orders, the yuan-ti stirred up trouble on the frontier, poisoning water supplies and spreading disease in the garrisons.
In 1475, Bloodtusk dispatched five elite regiments, the Skull Brigadiers, eastward. They flanked the ships and barges ascending the Ralban River. Dax, the King's former adventuring partner, deployed his special forces - 45 dread guards, hullathoin, deathbringers, and 12 undead rhinoceros beetles with crews of 6 ju-ju archers. This formidable force encountered minimal resistance at first, steamrolling through yuan-ti outposts. At the Sinkforn Crossing, the advancing army faced stiff opposition from yuan-ti soldiers, wizards, and a herd of vicious, hardy quadrupeds called gathra, brought in from the distant world of Avernus. The staggering casualties, 12,000 dead, in this initial major conflict were merely a prelude to the guerrilla attacks, aerial battles between reptilian beasts, dragons, and maleraunts mounted atop giant vultures of Kilth that would follow over the next three months.
At the end of the third month of this conflict, Dax retreated to Tâchumâz with the remnants of his decimated force. All that remained were six dread guards, the hullathoin, and two undead rhinoceros beetles with no crews. Dax claimed the losses were far greater than anticipated due to poor intelligence. A breakthrough occurred when Bloodtusk's spies discovered a powerful yuan-ti abomination, the anathema Ursorehor, leading the typically tribal yuan-ti. Trained in the armies of Goth-Dyvermoir, she utilized cunning tactics, employing a "Fabian-styled" warfare, concentrating her forces at river crossings and other strategic chokepoints. After a near-death encounter with a trio of blood fiends, King Bloodtusk determined the push was too costly and withdrew his army towards his capital. In 1477, the war devolved into a series of skirmishes and acts of sabotage.
The overthrow of the Bloodtusk Regime culminated in the establishment of the Malshirk'iss Empire. On 23 Temporal 1478, the warring factions concluded their conflict with the ratification of the Ralban Treaty.