The Northern Wars, Volume II

Contents

 * The Empire and the North crossed swords again in 1267 to 1268. Following an eruption of mage treachery on Thanedd Island, Nilfgaard could not sit idly by while the North let magic sow destruction freely. The Imperial Army took Lyria at lightning speed, meeting with little resistance. After short sieges, our forces marched into Rivia and Vengerberg, greeted each time by jubilant crowds thirsty for peace and civilization. We then moved against Aedirn.


 * (…) King Demavend’s attempt to stop the Golden Sun’s triumphant march failed, and his forces were pushed back to the Pontar Valley and Dol Blathanna.


 * (…) Queen Meve began to format guerilla bands made up of bandits and outlaws, of which the North has never been short.


 * (…) In a display of typical Nordling treachery, King Henselt signed a truce with the Empire behind his allies’ backs, resulting in Aedirn being promptly partitioned.


 * (…) His Imperial Majesty, in an act of supreme benevolence, created an elven state in Dol Blathanna, thus forging a bulwark of tolerance against the abhorrent racist laws of the Nordlings.


 * (…) King Foltest of Temeria signed a truce with the Empire. Yet this Nordling’s word proved to have as much value as the snow melting in the fields that spring. The truce held a mere sixteen days before it was violated. Foltest’s stupidity led to the Slaughter of Brugge, and then to a number of bloody battles in the Yaruga Valley. Faced with senseless and uncontrolled violence, the Imperial Army's leadership took it upon itself to tamp the bloodshed and ordered a retreat to Sodden.


 * Sadly, Foltest’s greed meant that hostilities resumed with the coming of spring. They culminated with the Battle of Brenna, where our heroic regiments faced a combined Temerian-Redanian force. To this day the North considers said battle a turning point in the war. There is no point debating this conviction. Far more important is the fact that this battle saw two strategies confronted: an honorable one, presented by the Imperial Army’s leadership, and one of trickery and subterfuge, conducted by the Nordlings.


 * (…) His Imperial Majesty realized the direction the conflict had taken. The Northern armies employed scorched-earth tactics, caring not at all for the pain they inflicted on civilian populations. Disgusted and unwilling to take part in this type of war, Nilfgaard withdrew its armies south. The Nordlings mistakenly saw this as an admission of defeat.


 * (…) Through the Emperor’s mediation, an armistice was drawn up and eventually signed in Cintra, putting an end to the Second Northern War.