Burterinii-Bloodtusk War

For centuries, the Burterinii of eastern Ma'Ohari, and Bloodtusk with holdings along the western coasts, were at odds. This began after the rise of the Kingdom of Bloodtusk in 1465. This was an empire ruled by a ghoul king named Jairall Bloodtusk. His connection with the Black Tide, and old friends in the Dead Council, was well known. In 1465, reports coming out of Hells Womb were showing the success of the dark forces prosecuting the Black Tide War (1465 - 1504), the neutrality of Paradomea, and heinous depredations being visited on the land. As a result of all of this, Burterinii's leaders were cautious. They sent diplomatic missions to the new king without success. Small battles and full-blown wars followed over the next three centuries. They never established any sort of peace. During this time, pirating the Buccaneer Archipelago became a serious profession. These pirates preyed upon both sides, profiting greatly, sometimes even joining them if mercenary pay exceeded booty looted from pirating.

By 1795, the Burterinii empire, had grown to be of great military might and wealth. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Bloodtusk had stagnated from internal conflict and continual fighting with not only their nearest neighbors, but also those further away, Ba'lith to the south, Ivory Asylum to the west, and with Paradomea, the Council of Bile, and Malacost of the Brucrumus mainland.

Burterinii formed an alliance with a dozen or so pirate groups of the Buccaneer Archipelago. This military pact become known as the Burterinii-Buccaneer Alliance. Together, they mobilized their fleets for an attack on the Kingdom of Bloodtusk. With over 700 ships, the armada that went against Bloodtusk was the largest mobilized since the Demon Spawn War. It was a diverse force, a quarter of it, mercenary forces out of Ivory Asylum, Paradomea, and the Council of Bile. The Ghul Armada was no match for the sheer size of the navy that came against them. In the Battle of Cape Tarik, the Ghul Armada was all but destroyed. The Armada of the Damned and the remnants of the battered fleet fled west to protect Salandirik.

Ren-Jorusk was battered by ship cannons for twelve days. The defenders replied in kind with shore batteries. Their mortars and cannons fell silent on the fourth day of bombardment. The troop ships of the Burterinii-Buccaneer Alliance came ashore and commenced a lengthy siege that lasted seven months. Even after the city fell, the attackers had to deal with guerrilla fighting in the hills and jungles around Ren-Jorusk. Secured in the last months of 1796, Burterinii put a garrison in it. A six-month lull in the conflict. This was caused by disease outbreaks in the city and in the fleet. Sanagar-Umlâs, a strife spreading cult with penchant for such things, and ally to neither side, was proved responsible.

In 1797, the allies captured Raci-Tuc. They then planned an overland march towards the enemy city Salandirik. The interior of Anutoth, known for disease and hostiles, was too far and risky to make a beeline to the target, so they took an even bolder risk. They deployed barges and other craft at the mouth of the Bangasûza fjord. It was learned after the war, the scrag of the area were convinced by a powerful druid to not attack the trespassers. Interestingly enough, a year later, the druid Beldirothe, herself a scrag, was made the Nature Protectorate of the Ma'Ohari region.

The allies left Bangasûza and made their way to the Yaram river. There a great battle was fought. Bloodtusk's forces were entrenched on the river's south defending the overland approach to Salandirik. They were behind extensive fortifications, built over centuries to quell the area's scrag. The Battle of Yaram River was a bloody conflict requiring transport by barges under withering fire by the defenders in well-prepared defenses. The battle turned in favor of the attackers when another army was deployed south of the defenders. This only came after a naval action that saw fifty ships go down in Calban's Cove. The Alliance's navy bombarded the defenders while they were attacked by the disembarked Anvil Group; an army of pirates, mercenaries, marines, and infantry. The two armies north of the defenders, codenamed First Hammer, and Second Hammer, pressed the defenders. After a week of fighting, Bloodtusk's forces were defeated. Thousands of bodies floated along Yaram's gentle flow towards the Sea of Mourning, along the way many taken into the deeps by hungry sahuagin or by the hundreds of ghouls that escaped Bloodtusk masters.

The Alliance moved against Salandirik. The siege lasted five months with the city falling late in 1798. War journals of that time say the defenders catapulted disease-infested corpses and ceramic jars containing green slime and black puddings against their foes. The city also took private merchant ships and turned these into fire ships which they sent out with undead "suicide crews". These fire ships caused more losses to the blockading fleet than cannon-fire and ship-to-ship combat. When the walls of the city were breached, the living were spared, but no quarter was given to the undead. Thousands of undead soldiers and their leaders escaped through tunnels leading into the Khâl-Rakhs hills. These troops then went overland to join those at Ivory Ward.

In 1800, a great naval battle was fought in Bloodtusk Bay. In this action, Admiral Bloodtusk commanded from Godheads Revenge. This death ship and its Armada of the Damned inflicted heavy damage on the Alliance fleet. Any one of this death fleet's lesser ships could handle a four on one battle, but the Battle of Bloodtusk Bay was a 20:1 battle. Late in the day long battle, Bloodtusk's fleet was joined by minotaur mercenary ships sponsored by Ba'lith. Even with this additional help, Bloodtusk's navy was destroyed, its admiral and king, going down with his flagship. After this naval battle, the Alliance fleet bombarded Ivory Ward, then stormed the city. The Siege of Ivory Ward lasted four months, Bloodtusk's capital city falling on 19 Lunar 1800; and with it the four century reign of the Kingdom of Bloodtusk.