The Kamtavarian Gambit

The Kamtavarian Gambit: An Accounting of the War between Cormyr and Sembia, Flamerule 26 1377 DR to Alturiak 1 1378 DR

By Swordcaptain Lady Kori Asen, Royal Corps of Monster Hunters

The conflict with Sembia began, at least officially, on the twenty-sixth of Flamerule, 1377 DR. This is an accounting of the war from before then until the official peace the following year. While a relatively short conflict in the string of Cormyr's past campaigns, the war was vicious and claimed thousands or tens of thousands of lives on both sides. As many fights with Sembia, the war was sparked at first by the age-old conflict around border claims between the two nations. The ambassadors were meeting to work out some point or other. They were Lord Giogioni Wyvernspur, Skyla Kamtavarian, and Etriel (title) Ghwaevian Miratar, an elven ambassador from Myth Drannor who attended to mediate. The meeting was to take place at High Horn, and the Royal Corps of Monster Hunters was ordered to escort the group there and back to Tyrluk. The journey out was uneventful and no real opposition was found. However, on the return trip the Corps and their charges were assaulted by large forces of mixed constructs; shield guardians, animated armors, and others. While fighting the golems, an unknown assailant cast darkness on the ambassadors and managed to abduct two of the three with further magics and haste, before countermeasures were taken. We returned Lord Wyvernspur as we had no magic to track teleportation at the time. Sembia was furious about the kidnap of their ambassador on Cormyrian soil, and to make matters worse more of these constructs began attacks on the Sembian forces along the border.

Tension began to mount much faster, and shortly the Corps was ordered to move into Thunder Gap with other units of the Dragons and some aid from the Wardens of the Hullack, due to a large Sembian force assembling on the other side. The Sembian forces consisted mainly of mercenaries, from Chessanta, Hillsfar, and a number of Tempuran forces. The first battle of the war was met there; the Sembians advanced on the Dragons and the Corps and was stonewalled for a time. Numbers ran in their favor however, particularly after a number of drow assassins attacked the Dragon commander and killed him with foul magics that preventing his return to life. The Dragons were slowly pushed back until able to cross the nearby bridge. There the Sembians were held still until the Dragons burned the bridge, despite waves of mercenaries and captured beasts, including a black dragon-like creature. The Sembians won the pass, but paid for every pace of it in blood. The Corps pulled back from the conflict and were met by a force of elves from Myth Drannor who offered their aid in covering the retreat. They had come to discover the fate of their ambassador, but were willing to help Cormyr at the time.

There was a cessation as the Royal Corps led another mission of goodwill. Lord Giogi Wyvernspur had offered to turn himself over to Sembian custody as a sign of good faith, and the unit was to escort him to a Sembian company that would escort him through their territory. This mission was led by Swordmajor Nadie Davis, and went smoothly on the Corps end. Later it was revealed that the Sembian forces were attacked after the unit had transferred our charge. They were slain and there was no sign of Lord Wyvernspur. This led Sembia to accuse Cormyr of treachery and resume hostilities. They had been attacked by the same constructs that assaulted the unit during the first kidnapping, though that was not discovered until later.

After this the conflict became official- there was a declaration of hostilities between Cormyr and Sembia. Ships from either nation were denied at the ports, and it is rumored that a dragon turtle had a hand in destabilizing any water-based actions. Battlerise and Azoun's Hold (a Cormyte castle) were both overrun by Sembian forces.

A short time passed between actions as both the Dragons and Sembians took stock of their situation. The Royal Corps was then sent to defend the town of Monksblade as the Sembians advanced once more. There the unit met a group of Lord Wyvernspur's house militia who offered their assistance in guarding the town. Also in attendance were the Red Raven mercenaries. The ships that had taken the unit to Monksblade were readied to remove the remaining refugees, though some had to remain in the town due to a lack of time. They were housed with the command staff in the middle of town to offer the best protection. As with Thunder Gap, the Sembians advanced with a hideous numerical advantage, but much less skill. This time the mercenaries were aided by Sembia's own, the Silver Ravens. The battle went similarly; the Dragons fought hard and made every strike count, but with so many flanking forces and mages, they were slowly ground down. When the attacks seemed to finally slacken, it was called that one gate had been overrun on the flank. That led to the defense breaking, as the Red Ravens had betrayed the town and Cormyr under orders of captain Rikhaus, their second in command. They let the Sembian forces into the town and barricaded the command building as the remaining forces fought to get through both a renewed outer assault and the Red Ravens alike. By the time they were beaten back, the command structure had been fired- with all civilians and commanders still inside. Men, women, children, neither the betrayers nor Sembians gave them mercy. Rayanna the Rose, the commander of all the Red Ravens, was also targeted by the betrayers but managed to escape with the Corps as more forces began to enter the town. The unit was forced to retreat, at which point Rayanna left us. The unit had to dodge patrols and found that the ships had also been destroyed, before heading into the nearby forest. There the Corps had a short time to rest, but were contacted by an elf named Starbrow, who informed us that prisoners, children and commanders from the conflicts so far, had been taken to Azoun's Hold. Our commander, Kyra Greytower, left with Firstsword Boru to return and report on the happenings at Monksblade as the rest of the unit prepared to assault the Hold. Firstsword Fiona resigned and left the unit in the forest before the assault on Azoun's Hold.

The rest of the Corps moved through the forest as possible, occasionally battling Silver Ravens or avoiding their patrols. We had to move past Monksblade again, and noted that the Sembian forces had destroyed most of the remaining buildings. Eventually we closed on Azoun's Hold. Squire Perselli used magic to dig us under the battlements and allow the unit access to the castle, at which point stealth was abandoned. The Corps gave battle to the invaders, notably only members of the Wolf's Head, and managed to locate a number of prisoners, who were guarded by squires Gunnvor and Perselli. The prisoners were mostly normal people however, not the children and commanders we had been told about. The rest of the unit advanced up to the outer battlements, where we found a number of constructs and a man- the Black Wolf, leader of the Wolf's Head mercenaries. There were no other mercenaries located within the keep. The Black Wolf managed to barely escape with the aid of a portal that closed behind him. Upon the roof was an altar that was saturated with some dark magic, a letter from the Wolf's employer, and a tent. Within the tent was a man, horribly burned- when healed he revealed himself to be our commander from Monksblade. He had been pulled from the flames and brought there, barely alive. He told us that the men and Dragons had been tortured and sacrificed on the altar in front of himself and the children captives. Then the children were taken away, he knew not where. After dealing with that, we returned to the freed prisoners and escorted them away from the hold. We were met by Starbrow once again, who escorted us away and back into familiar territory- the Hullack forest. We returned to Thunderstone and our barracks for a short while. There we rejoined the commander and Kian.

We learned that in our absence a group had been acting up in Cormyr, the Sons of Sembia. Loyalists to our foe through blood or trade, they attacked caravans and travelers. They also assaulted banks and stole (or bought) a great deal of armor and arms donated to Arabel by adventurers that were not watched over closely. Funded by their stolen goods and led by a few men in a compartmentalized fashion, some were very hard to hunt down. One leader went by the name 'Ambrose.' There were a number of groups in the Hullack, and in the Mistwood. Those in the Mistwood had begun to build fortifications and were driven out by a number of adventurers. It was thought that they were attempting to build up to an attack on Valkur's Roar or the other nearby towns. Three men were captured by the Corps and questioned- two in the Hullack and one near Immersea.

Heyward, a smith of Arabel, believed that his city should be free of Cormyr's rule. He was one of a number of disgruntled merchants who funded many of the Sons. The second, who told us nothing, was a Cormaeril. The third was a misguided young man who was tempted by the prospect of high pay, Terrence Piers of Hutail. All three were executed for treason against the Crown as winter fell, after the assaults upon Immersea on the fourteenth of Nightal.

Some short time after, the Sons and Sembian mercenaries assaulted Immersea twice, notably the bank and Wyvernspur estate were targeted. The bank was robbed, though the attackers were repelled with reinforcements from Suzail. The Corps was sent in to stop the attack on the estate and rescue Lady Cat Wyvernspur, which was successful, partially due to her extensive mastery of magics. From this assault we learned that the Sembians had been attacked as well, and Lord Wyvernspur was missing from both nations. The battles continued, with a couple of small assaults on Marsember and Suzail by water.

On the 13th of Nightal, Skull Crag was attacked by the Sons. The Greatgaunt Volunteers were credited with the victory; after a long march they beat the Sons out of the mountain village. They discovered that the Sons of Sembia had been hiring allies in the Bramblewood and elsewhere, as the orcish tribes fell upon the village after the Sons' initial attack and were barely repelled by the arriving forces and emerging soldiers from the hold of the Oghrann. The Volunteers extended their assault into the surrounding mountains until they destroyed the Sons' base of operations. The Volunteers also defended Valkur's Roar from an attack by the Sons of Sembia, with the aid of the Valkur's Roar militia.

As the new year approached, Immersea lacked funds but did have enough food for all of the refugees stationed there. Supplies were escorted from Immersea to Marsember to aid in the plight there, courtesy of the temple of Selune. Others aided the dispossessed refugees in Marsember and Immersea directly.

On the twentieth of Nightal began an assault upon Marsember. In this battle the adventuring populace at large was called upon to aid the Dragons in their defense of the city. One group, led by Swordcaptain Kasur Rumnahek, defended against the first of the attacks as the Sembian forces attempted to land on the coast behind the Cormyrian front. The attack was broken after a number of Silver Ravens formed up in the hills around the city. However, this was something of a ruse and more forces attacked the militia and harbor defenses from hiding places within the city. These forces managed to break through to the docksides and allow more Sembian troops to land. More adventurers aided in the defense of the inner city, led by Swordcaptain Kyra Greytower. They fought street to street in a desperate action to save the innocents that hid in their homes and anywhere that could be considered safe. The Cormyrian forces reached Morningmist Hall just as the Sembian forces began to batter at the doors. The battle continued to rage as the Sembians were beaten back slowly to the harbor and the King's tower. By day's end the Sembian forces were driven out of the city, most of their fleet in shambles. The price was high; most of the remaining forces within the city, adventurers and Dragons, militia and the innocent, were either wounded, dead, or crushed by exhaustion. There were Sembian forces remaining, but they chose to entrench themselves on the far side of the Starwater and wait for the Cormyrian forces to dig them out. A final group of adventurers gathered to help the Dragons drive the Sembian forces out and leave the rest of the army at Wheloon relatively safe. This group was led by myself, and set out on the third of Hammer in the new year. Our forces were arrayed on 'battle barges,' floating rafts originally created to clear wreckage from the Starwater harbor. We split into several groups for each barge and made our way across the river despite battering by Sembian archers and mages. After gaining a foothold on the far side, our forces began a hunt through the woods. There we killed a number of commanders of the Silver Ravens, mercenaries including two dragon turtles, and a pirate admiral in pay of Sembia. At least of the Silver Dragon magi was captured and brought back as well. The far banks of the Starwater were cleared, leaving the remaining Sembian forces in disarray.

Marsember had a chance to begin to rebuild and repair their battered defenses. In a lull of the fighting, Morninglord Chansobal Dreen held a vigil for relief and support in Morningmist Hall. There a great many congregated and prayed together, for those fallen and the future of those still in danger.

On the eighth of Hammer winter truly struck, freezing the Starwater and Wyvernflow rivers entirely. The Sembians advanced on Wheloon, where they were met by the Dragons. Slowly and with great losses they began to win the fight for the town, being embattled street to street. On the fifteenth of Hammer, fighting in Wheloon abruptly ceased, with both forces catching their breath. Between the fifteenth and twenty-first of Hammer, the cease continued and Lord Dauneth Marliir sent out a summons for those Cormyte adventurers who were forced into the trade by the war. On the twenty-first of Hammer, a Sembian ship rumored to carry Rayanna the Rose returned to Cormyr. At some point during this period a number of undead attacked Daerlun, past the Vast Swamp.

Seventeen days after the cease of battle, on Alturiak 1, 1378 DR, a peace was declared between Sembia and Cormyr. The Sembian forces withdrew, and the battered Dragons followed to reclaim the lands that had been taken from them. Dreamer's Rock, Smuggler's Stone, Monksblade, Kirinwood, Wyrmtower, Dawngleam, Battlerise, Mum's Ford, and Azoun's Hold are recovered. Some holds are found to have weathered the war well, having been secured and garrisoned by Sembian forces. Others such as Monksblade, Mum's Ford, and Azoun's Hold are ruin and ash. On Alturiak 8, an audience to formalize the peace was held. Here the Royal Corps of Monster Hunters was returned to their countrymen. For their actions during the war, Firstswords Asen, Krisdove, and Boru, as well as Swordcaptain Greytower, were promoted and knighted. Swordcaptain Arnder and Blade Gunnvor were promoted.

While that was the end of the war by public accounts, the exact reasons for the declaration of peace is not stated. This is because the end did not come publicly, and Sembia found as much of a loss as Cormyr did. The Royal Corps of Monster Hunters was dispatched on a secret mission into the heart of the Vast Swamp just after the Morningmist Vigil. There was a large area warded entirely from scrying, and the unit was to march in and investigate. And there was the war truly ended.

The RCMH had been ordered to Immersea to be teleported into the Vast, at the edge of this 'blank spot.' Orders were given to find Giogi Wyvernspur and find whatever was at the heart of the area. The Corps was successfully teleported as close as possible, but had to pass by both Azoun's Hold and Battlerise. Upon entering the swamp we encountered a great number of Wolf's Head mercenaries. No other mercenary forces were present after entering the Vast. At one point across a bridge we encountered a Sembian scout, Starlucky, who told us more of the Wolves- they were all veterans of the Arabellian defection. They were the remnants of Gondegal's forces, older but all the more deadly for their experience. Their leader, the Black Wolf, had been one of Gondegal's generals. From there we continued to fight. It was a merciless slog of days to get through the Vast.

As the unit got closer to the center of the swamp, the sky began to change. The sky was blackened, with no moon or stars visible. It affected my spellcasting and state of mind greatly. There we encountered a tribe of lizardfolk, unfortunately hostile. Beyond them were yet more mercenaries, wreaking havoc with bow and arrow at range. We continued, and encountered odd constructs with exceptionally powerful weapons of dark magic. We fought, and continued to fight, for a long time. It took a toll on the entire unit, as we grew short on magic and supplies. We found another letter with the lizardfolk pointing to the person behind everything.

Finally we found a break from the swamps. But it was short-lived, as we found ancient undead guarding a massive keep. We had to fight our way through them, and were forced to retreat to a barrow with the aid of Starlucky. There we took stock of our situation, as it seemed safe; the tomb was a holy place of both human and elven gods. The undead we encountered were old. Very old, from the War of the Witch Lords five hundred years ago. And in there we found artifacts from the war then, weapons and armor that would serve us in good stead against these undead. We rested for a time, and prepared what we could. My own magics were not as strong as usual due to the darkness obscuring the moon.

We exited the barrow and made ready to assault the keep. Rather than use the front door, we summoned a water elemental to aid us in scaling the side of the keep to a balcony over a body of water. From there we went up and fought along the ramparts until we found an entrance to move down through the walls. Some of the graves of the undead indicated that they served Myrkul. We fought through the undead troops and moved into the keep's interior. There we began to search more thoroughly.

Within were a great many more undead. Banshees, famine spirits, shades of all varieties. We encountered two liches as well, possibly remnant Witch Lords or descendants from that time. Within their study we found a scrying orb of immense power and many other objects of power. One of the liches kept a journal that taught us much and confirmed more.

The keep we had assaulted belonged to the Kamtavarian family. They retreated to the keep at the end of the conflict five hundred years ago, turning their human and elven captives into new guardians. Then, they waited. More recently, Skyla Kamtavarian began to deal with the lich, who grew infatuated with her. She convinced him to teach her of the dark arts of Myrkul. They planned and plotted until they set the two nations, Cormyr and Sembia, against each other. When everything was set into motion, Skyla betrayed everyone. The Myrkulites, the liches, the Sons of Sembia, and the Black Wolf. She left every force to fight among themselves and took all the power she could for the Nightsinger. The lich swore vengeance on her with his final entry.

From there we continued to hunt through the keep, fighting more undead and Wolves. We finally found a stairwell to move up the keep, but we encountered the Black Wolf at the base. He knew that he had been betrayed, most of his loyal troops slain. Still he chose to fight rather than surrender to us. The Black Wolf died there, and we moved up the stairs.

At the top of the keep we entered a scene from a nightmare. Rayanna was chained to the roof and exposed to the elements. Shades floated all around, as the sky was pitch black. Ahead of us stood a raised platform, atop it a vortex of shadow and darkness. In front of that stood an old foe, one of the Dark Maiden's handmaids. These handmaidens appear to be the opposite of Selune's own Shards, dark where they are light and eternally fighting for their mistress. Beside her stood Skyla. Spread across the rest of the keep's roof were the others who had gone missing, chained as Rayanna was. Another vortex stood opposite the first on the far side of the roof. As the shades attacked us, the handmaiden killed Skyla and came after us. Skyla followed after; she had been transformed into the same kind of outsider. That seemed to have been the purpose of the portals and the people chained to the roof: to create the conditions for her transformation. Both attacked us until I used a sunbeam scroll on one of the portal-things to disrupt it, at which point both fled. They had achieved their purpose.

We destroyed the other portal with more light magic, which began to unravel the darkness overhead. Then we freed the prisoners, who had all been left up to the elements, underfed, and drained by magic. They had been kept alive and left up there to fuel the portals. We carried them out of the keep as we could, after patching them up with the very few supplies we had left. Outside we were surrounded by Silver Ravens and forced to surrender. None of us had the strength to both fight them off and keep the former prisoners safe.

They took us to Yhaunn in eastern Sembia, and placed us in cells until such time as the ambassadors could negotiate our release. We were returned to Cormyr at the end of the war after indifferent attentions in our prison. We were in Yhaunn for two rides, left with our thoughts. We gathered that the shades atop the tower were likely children that had been stolen throughout the campaign. Even more undead were released with our destruction of the liches, and they attacked the Sembians in their hunger. It was clear the entire war was orchestrated by Skyla Kamtavarian, who desired to become a Handmaid of the Dark Maiden. Countless lives were sacrificed for the sake of her ambition, her greed and evil. Though for one such as her, only the power mattered, and no cost was too great.

The Corps was returned to Cormyr at the beginning of Alturiak. All of the captured were returned, and the Sembian ambassador shook hands with Giogi Wyvernspur to end the war.