Shadowgave War

The Shadowgave War, also called the Fall of Carcassone or the Conquista de Bretonnia, was the common name for the Brettonian Dukedoms of Carcassonne and Brionne's collapse and subsequent occupation by the First Estalian Empire. Often considered to be the conflict that cemented Sunscryer's Estalia as a legitimate military power in the Old World, the War was centered around Morghur Shadowgave's Beastmen invasions of southern Brettonia.

Background
The events of the early 2400s served to destabilize all the Southern Realms, as the Tilean Wars, Twenty Years' War, and War of Diamanterra's Sorrow wracked the economy and livelihood of the regions. The Dukes of Carcassonne and Brionne's economies at the time relied on stable trade and relations with the northern Kingdoms and duchies of Estalia, as well as the continued support of the Dukedoms of Quenelles and Aquitaine. The Greenskin Incursions in the Irrana Mountains and Estalian wars slowly eroded the twin Dukedom's economies, as Pajena fell and Serpicio was cut off. Disaster struck the already-faltering Bretonnian lands when the Parravonian War of 2462 broke out, splintering the neighboring Dukedoms and vastly weakening their armies. The events of the War of 2462 also broke trade relations between Brionne and its Estalian partners, sending the Dukedom into an economic spiral. By the war's end in 2468 IC, Brionne was penniless and crumbling, while Carcassonne was left with a fraction of its formerly intimidating army and a ravaged countryside. The situation in southern Bretonnia only worsened as rampaging Beastmen hordes roamed the land, killing peasants and raiding villages at will. Greenskin bands occasionally made their way out of the Irranas to harrass Carcassonne's southern borders, further dividing its scattered military. By the 2470s IC, Carcassonne's only reliable trade was coming through Aragonan Novareno, which itself was faltering under the weight of the Greenskin rampages. In 2473 IC, Duke Theodoric d'Brionne merged his near-defenseless Dukedom with Carcassonne, giving Duke Huebald ultimate authority in the region. Under Huebald, the remilitarization of Carcassonne intensified, but in December of 2476, the Beastmen warherds of Carcassonne became unified under the infamous banner of Morghur the Shadowgave.

Shadowgave's Conquests
The newly-unified Dukedom of Carcassonne was completely unprepared for the massive hordes of Chaos Morghur led throughout the countryside, destroying and killling at will. The already-weakened Dukedom, its fractured army desperately attempting to contain the Chaotic threats, was wholly unable to halt Morghur's rampage through southern Bretonnia. The Dukedoms of Parravon and Bordeleaux, also devastated by the War of 2462 and struggling to contain the threat of Massif Orcal, refused assistance to Carcassonne outside of protecting their own borders against the beastmen threat. The Kingdoms of Estalia were no help, engulfed in political turmoil following the Day of the Bloody Crown and coronation of Lupio Sunscryer as Imperator. To the east, the provinces of the Sigmate Empire squabbled among themselves, and so Duke Huebald was forced to stand alone as his domains fell into ruin.

Throughout 2477 IC, Morghur essentially held free reign in Carcassonne, raping and pillaging the land from the borders of Athel Loren to the River Brienne. Duke Huebald's knights raced to stop him, but no sizable field army of Carcassonne could be mustered, and every attempt by a minor lord to meet the Beastmen in battle resulted in the merciless slaughter of yet more Bretonnians. By 2478, the towns of Marguilles and Embrun had been sacked and destroyed, along with the fortress of Summersfall, essentially exposing eastern Carcassonne to the wrath of the Wood Elves and resulting in their sack of Salignac la Rouge. In late summer, Theodoric d’Brionne’s sizable levy army was defeated after three days of vicious resistance at the Battle of Sirthelle, his forces scattered. The failure of Theodoric’s brave attempt to defend the River Sirthelle allowed a fresh wave of bestial warriors led by Ungrol Stoneheart to cross into western Carcassonne, only furthering the destruction there.

The loss of Theodoric’s army of Brionne allowed the Beastmen to congregate in the former Dukedom, slaughtering the populace and sacking the towns of Muret and Ferignac. Duke Huebald, having finally raised an army large enough to contend with a warherd, marched out of Castle Carcassonne in August of 2478. The host of Carcassonne, led by a sizable contingent of knights, successfully defeated a small army of Beastmen in the Battle of the River Auder shortly after it set out. Encouraged and inspired by the victory, more peasants flocked to the Duke, and the army grew in size. Huebald’s Host arrived at the city of Sibourne to find it being sacked by the tail end of Morghur’s Warherd, most of its populace fled to Brionne with the Shadowgave at their heels or killed already. The Bretonnian troops killed what Beastmen remained before following Morghur north towards Brionne itself.