The Ironveil War

The Ironveil War
Event Date: 50 AC

Overview:
The Ironveil War in 50 AC was the bloody schism that birthed Valthorne as an independent nation from Albion, the Aetherian Empire’s remnant. Amid post-Calamity reconstruction, Valthorne’s militaristic clans, weary of Albion’s arcane hubris, rebelled against King Thorne I’s rule. Led by General Korath Ironspike, Valthorne’s forces wielded early Ironclad Blades to shatter Albion’s rune-wards, securing northern territories. This steampunk horror conflict, marked by grinding sieges, eldritch-tainted battlefields, and Xulthar’s voids opening rifts, solidified Valthorne’s anti-magic doctrine but sowed lasting enmity with Albion. The war’s legacy endures in Valthorne’s mechanized armies and Albion’s suspicion, influencing the Ravensgate lockdown (290 AC) and the weakening Aetherian seal’s plagues.

Causes:
Fifty years after the Calamity (0 AC), Albion, heir to the Aetherian Empire, rebuilt Ravensgate with arcane runes and steam-tech, but its nobles hoarded resources, neglecting northern provinces like Valthorne. Valthorne’s clans, once the empire’s military backbone, forged firearms and explosives to guard against Xyraxis’s Witherplague, but Albion’s High Council demanded tribute, labeling their anti-magic stance as heresy. General Korath Ironspike, scarred by Vortulon’s Starveplague cannibals, rallied clans against Albion’s arcane dependency, blaming it for the seal’s leaks. Morgrath’s whispers fueled paranoia, and Nyrathos’s secrets revealed Albion’s relic hoarding, igniting rebellion. The war erupted when Albion’s envoys were ambushed in Ironspire Citadel, their rune-decrees burned in defiance.

Key Events:

  • Spark of Defiance: In Ironspire Citadel, Korath Ironspike rejected Albion’s tribute, forging the first Ironveil Manifesto from smelted Aetherian chains, declaring independence.

  • Siege of Stormforge: Valthorne’s forces besieged Albion’s northern outpost, using gunpowder bombs to shatter rune-wards, while Albion’s arcanists summoned void-beasts, opening Xulthar’s rifts that devoured soldiers.

  • Battle of Veilcrag: Korath’s Ironclad Blades clashed with Albion’s steam-knights in Veilcrag Gorge, where Zaladria’s illusions turned allies against each other, and Morgrath’s whispers drove madness amid the miasma.

  • Crownspire Accord: Albion’s defeat forced King Thorne I to cede northern lands, signing the Accord on a darkstone slab, but Valthorne’s victory left scars from Witherplague-tainted battlefields.

Consequences:
The war fractured Albion’s hold on northern territories, allowing Valthorne to emerge as a mechanized powerhouse shunning magic. Ironreach’s forges supplied both sides with darkstone, profiting amid the chaos, while Sylvaris’s druids aided Valthorne with herbal wards against Albion’s arcane assaults. The conflict spread Witherplague through battlefields, mutating survivors and leaving miasma-choked scars in the District of Desolation’s precursors. Albion’s Iron Quill tightened control over relics, fostering suspicion of Valthorne’s spies, while Ebon Star exploited the war’s rifts to recruit void-touched zealots. The Ironveil Accord ended hostilities but sowed lasting enmity, with Valthorne’s anti-magic doctrine clashing with Albion’s rune-lore.

Lasting Impact:
In 300 AC, the Ironveil War’s legacy defines Valthorne’s militarism and Albion’s paranoia. Valthorne’s firearms, refined from war prototypes, aid Ravensgate’s Plague Doctors against Ebon Star, while Albion’s rune-wards, strengthened post-war, maintain the lockdown (290 AC). The war’s rifts, opened by Xulthar’s voids, weakened the Aetherian seal, spreading plagues like Veilplague. Drenvar Steelrend’s opportunism echoes Ironreach’s war profiteering, and Sylvaris’s aid foreshadowed their Verdant Covenant’s role. The conflict’s horror—miasma-flooded battlefields and Morgrath’s madness—haunts Ecliptica, with Valthorne’s spies and Albion’s missives fueling tensions. The war’s scars in the District of Desolation remind all of the dread of eldritch resurgence, making its history a cautionary tale for Plague Doctors seeking to banish the gods.