The Akkyshan Offensive¶

"Only the forgotten heirs of the Dogs of War, who were scornfully called 'the shrews,' rose to protect the city."

The Great Akkyshan Raid of 983 — the largest assault the dark elves ever launched against Cadwallon, and the crucible in which the modern Free Leagues were forged. Before 983, the leagues were forgotten beggars called "shrews." After it, they were the city's defenders. The entire current doctrine and prestige of the free leaguers dates from this single year.

Background¶

Since Cadwallon's founding, the Akkyshan elves had harassed the city with small-scale lightning raids launched from the forest of Ashinân — quick, vicious, but never an existential threat. The Cadwës grew complacent.

In 983, that changed. The Akkyshans launched a vast offensive — a full-scale assault, not a raid. The Free City "suddenly grew fearful." The militia alone could not hold.

The Rise of the Shrews¶

The people who rose to defend the city were not the guilds or the nobles. They were "the shrews" — the scorned, impoverished heirs of the Dogs of War who, too poor to settle, had kept exploring the ruins for generations. They were mocked, marginal, and forgotten.

These shrews "made the Cadwës understand that achieving prosperity wasn't everything — they had to be able to secure it, as General Ghiéron had 40 years earlier" (in the [[The Magical Invasion|956 invasion]]).

The population organized behind the shrews and the city's Militia and pushed the Akkyshans back to the sea. It was a great success — at a very high cost.

The Rebirth of the Leagues¶

The victory transformed the shrews into the Free Leagues:

They reclaimed the legacy of the Dogs of War as Cadwallon's defenders
Over the following 20 years they rebuilt their prestige, mixing martial tradition, free enterprise, and the taste for adventure
The term "free leaguer" replaced the scornful "shrew"
This is the doctrine Duke Den Azhir (himself a former leaguer) later formalized with the birthright and free-duty reforms of 996

The modern leagues — the institution the player characters belong to — are the 983 generation's legacy.

The Dark Truth of Bloody Creek¶

The raid that failed on purpose

One Akkyshan raid (twenty years before 1003, i.e. circa 983) ended in apparent rout at Bloody Creek in Darkshore — thousands of warriors of the web of Ashinân slaughtered on the beach. The legend says the coast is still red and haunted.

The truth is worse: the witches of the Widow who organized the raid made it fail deliberately. They sacrificed their own troops to (a) test Cadwallon's defenses and (b) perform a major ritual feeding on the suffering and death of their own soldiers. The ritual bound the Dark-tainted souls of the dead to the creek and shrouded it in permanent mist. The second phase — controlling those spirits to attack the city — has stalled, because Conscience's influence over Cadwallon disrupts the dark working. The Akkyshan witches are still patiently maintaining the design, sacrificing slaves at the creek on the massacre's anniversary. (see The Outskirts)

So the "great victory" of 983 may have been, in part, a deliberate Akkyshan probe — and the dead of Bloody Creek are a weapon still being forged.

Significance¶

Forged the modern Free Leagues — the institution and its doctrine date from here
One of the three great defenses — with the founding war and the [[The Magical Invasion|956 invasion]]
Set up the 996 reforms — Den Azhir's expansion of league rights flows directly from 983
Left an active Akkyshan threat — the Widow's witches, Bloody Creek, and the ongoing ritual

Relations¶

Free Leagues — reborn in this offensive; the central legacy
Akkyshan — the attackers; the Widow's witches; the forest of Ashinân
Militia — fought alongside the shrews
Duke Den Azhir — formalized the leagues' modern status (996)
The Outskirts — Bloody Creek and the ongoing ritual
Xär-Lilith — the Akkyshan matriarch in the city; her relationship to the Widow's witches is worth exploring

Bloody Creek's anniversary

The anniversary of the Bloody Creek massacre approaches. Slaves have gone missing from the Darkshore smuggling dens. A free league that investigates finds the Akkyshan witches mid-ritual — and learns that the "great victory" of 983 was a sacrifice, and that the weapon it forged is nearly ready.