732-738 HK.

Prelude

The impetus for the Illyri Campaign is believed to have been two-fold. The High Queen had argued for years that a stagnant Empire was doomed, and with the last city-state having been admitted over 300 years before (i.e., Oð), there were plenty that supported her in this belief. Detractors argued that disrupting the status quo of ten city-states and their dedicated pantheon would stray from the Covenant of King Anðus, although no such plan had surfaced before the 8th century HK. The Council of Lanàdus insisted that an eleventh city-state would be impossible without a patron deity, and until one “appeared” there was no reason to seek additional lands. Alternatively, a separate cohort of priests, theologians, and other self-appointed Defenders of the faith, argued that the godless Vulmùryr were a threat to the Empire. They agitated that the Cult of the Five Rings was an anathema to Dekàli pantheism, and its existence brought divinity itself into question. Defenders’ rhetoric argued that the only way to settle the matter was by engaging the heretics in holy war.

“The people of ancient Andùl Illyra will welcome the motherly embrace of the High Queen. For 400 years, their states have teetered on the brink of collapse, without the protection, wisdom, and vision of a gifted and magnanimous ruler. They are like orphans surrounded by wolves, hopeless against the predations of rapacious and inhumane neighbors. Without our assistance, these lands and their people will surely fall into Immortal hands, whose eternal purpose remains the destruction of Yrūn-kind. It is our belief that the first role of the High Throne must be as champion to our race, for only we have the power and resources to stand against the tyranny of the Immortals. Forever is the Crown of Anðus a beacon that calls to all good people of Teréth End, so that we might stand against those that would enslave us, and worse. Additionally, this council does not only recommend the General’s proposal, but encourages these actions, borne as they are by the weight of responsibility handed from one great empire to the next.”

In 732 HK, Dekàli warships sailed into the Mar Celésā to claim the Isle of Rallàūn for the High Crown. This action precipitated a string of conflicts which would ultimately bring the Dekàli Empire face-to-face with the immortal Eylfāe of Tahrya Anahl. That chapter however, would not reveal itself for another 500 years.

Campaign

• Battle of Rallàūn. 732 HK.
• Battle of Ciril. 734 HK.
• First Battle of Diráni. 734 HK.
• Battle of Dizmas (Naval). 736 HK.
• Second Battle of Diráni. 738 HK.
• Battle of Fivèndam. 738 HK.
• Battle of Viríllis. 738 HK.

Resolution

The Illyri Campaign created ripples throughout Vulmùra and farther abroad that the Dekàli Empire was a growing global threat. Though the Mar Dekàli states had lain quietly for centuries, the Empire’s thirst for conquest was unslaked. The surrender of Wyrmmurd in 738 HK and establishment of the eleventh state, Viríllis, two years later supported this view. The Yrūni states of Vulmùra, waiting for the next hammer to fall, began forging alliances between themselves and with external entities.