"Do well to recall this young one; you are descended from men who struck the face of a mountain, and settled in its wounds. The blood of great men flows through you, but have you the heart to match theirs?"
Cassius Krupp to his heir Crispin, 187
The Stoney Coast of Opper Calem
Preamble
Disregarding the hinterlands of civilization is a long held tradition by those who live safely away from the reach of war and treachery. It is not oft that the people of Opper Calem are given much regard beyond their impressive siegeworks and excellent metallurgy, despite championing a history of conquest and settlement unparalleled by most lands today.
Quite a number of oral traditions have been maintained, and in recording them, I pray that my people rise in respect and recognition. Perhaps more tale than fact, nevertheless we preserve our identity by keeping it in recollection. It is with great pride that I now recount to you the conquest that began our history, and the downfall of the Nordskagger Horde.
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The Conquest of Jutland
A century had almost turned since the Cataclysm, and the Empire of Regalia had come to subjugate or vassalize the Southern Kingdoms. As the Honourable Henri I spun about face and looked north, a danger began to manifest in the periphery; the Nordskagger tribes.
Mighty was the fleet at his disposal though, choosing to sail north of the Holy City intent on reversing the gains the tribes had made since the first Skagger war. Occupied with the Vulminer Conflicts, the Emperor elected the vigorous Robert d'Vaud to secure the central channel moving north out of Regalia from the burgeoning pauper ports the Skaggers had established.
Most crucial among them though was the infamous Thumb of Hërzkap.
An Oppidum by the name of Lugdomoc was established on the east side of the Calem-Dorinn strait, rising to prominence amongst the Skaggerholds from both sea raiding and its warm water port. For hardly more than a year did these men go unchecked as the south was formally absorbed into our Empire before their capital of Lugdomoc was finally seized upon.
Northmen were wise to forfeit the sea to the oncoming fleet, but they still traded fire with those encroaching upon them. From the outlying lands around the town wealth poured into the city as they prepared to hold out from the oncoming wave, hoping not to see it swept away.
Swinging around to the northern portion of the Thumb, men disembarked in droves to slam down upon the heads of their enemies. Too comfortable were they in the thought that they would overpower the tribes though, and soon their lightly manned ships were fired upon by the much smaller Nordskagger navy, punching holes in some that were already grounded. Coupling this was a warband attacking from the south, hoping to trounce the disoriented Regalians.
Crashing into the men holding the area surrounding the landing, it looked as if it was all for naught. Fate demanded otherwise though, as Robert d'Vaud lead a skeleton crew to make the majority of the ships seem to ready for battle, elaborately preparing sails and making the much larger fleet seem more prepared than it was. Only the smallest ships even had their cannons manned, returning fire with much haste. Horrified that their reserved ships might be smashed, the Nordskaggers fled after only dealing only moderate damage to the beached fleet. Ashore though, Robert's younger brother Arminus held up the warband, daring to set up the siege equipment in the heat of battle.
Watching their seaborne brothers begin to break away, the warband had thought the fleet destroyed and pressed to eliminate the remaining men. Exchanges continued up and down the lines, until finally the cannonade was readied well enough to begin making short work of the warriors ashore. As the lines broke before cannon fire, the Regalian forces quickly forced the warband to route. Men rushed wildly over one another, but as they sought to hide on the horizon.
Lugdomoc's defenses stood coldly to face the men. The Oppidum was well built, and its terraced walls had 3 tiers to penetrate. Uneasy were those who peered up to the fortifications, as war drums pounded incessantly.
After only the first night, it was clear neither side could best the other; the equipment needed to siege Lugdomoc existed only in the prioritized armies south of Vulminer, but the Nordskaggers hadn't the men to drive the Regalian forces into the ocean. Robert was unwilling to disengage without a victory to return to the Emperor with, and incessantly tried to had the tribes sally back out. Gruesome scenes unfolded within sight of the city, as juxtified men were set on fire in droves, ironically making the men within the walls declare the necessity for reinforcements before setting back off to repel the invaders.
Arminus d'Vaud grew wary as he watched from a distance, the only effective path through the mountains seeming to pour out throngs of men into Lugdomoc. Aiming to shut it closed, all sorts of siege equipment fired upon the peaks around the pass, hoping to close it by crashing one into the entryway to the Thumb. After a few hours of fire and adjustment, they soon began to hit their marks, but the stones did not fall into the pass, but rather down to the hill. As the stones began to crash into town, screams could be heard, and Arminus commanded that the men only stop firing whence they had run out of ammo or he demanded otherwise.
Fatefully, Arminus took control of a trebuchet, helping the less experienced siege-workers hit their mark. It took only 3 shots before he struck true, but so critical was his shot that he initiated a landslide that took with it one of the low lying peaks. As it lurched over and rolled down, all watched with either horror or awe as the mountain crashed into the upper levels of the city, annihilating its inhabitants.
Within the hour, soot covered men and women flooded the lands towards the Regalian forces. Confusion reigned, but whence some of the Northmen struck at the invaders, they soon saw themselves put to the sword. A slaughter ensued.
The forces advanced until they beheld the might of a mountain, seeing nearly every building collapsed or crushed by the debris. Those who remained accepted subjugation, and soon Robert applauded his brother Arminus his innovative move. Taking a defensive position near where the landslide happened to control the pass, many said that the Krupp peak was simply replaced by one with more fortitude, Arminus d'Vaud not keen on allowing his tactic to be repeated.
Ominously sticking out of the town like a knife in one who was vanquished, people commented on how the peak jutted over the remaining buildings. The name stuck, and even in his correspondence, Robert declared that he had secured the Thumb of Hërzkap as Jutland for the Empire of Regalia.
Even the small Nordskagger navy was absorbed, its reservation all for naught.
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Epilogue
For the quick and fateful campaign in the Jut, d'Vaud established itself and the seniormost house on it. Even his younger brother and my ancestor, Arminus, was allowed to form his own house, adopting the name of the fabled peak he crashed down upon the Skagger hordes.
Where once the mighty peak stood, the Great Watchtower now looms over the pass. From the peak, a statue of Henri I was cut and placed in the center of Lugdomoc, and ever since has the Jut of Opper Calem remained in Regalian hands. Though this proved to be only the first of many battles the d'Vaud and Krupp lines would participate in, it marked the beginning of a proud and glorious history for our people to turn to for the many years to come.
This is just part of the series I'm writing on tales from Opper Calem, which are assumed to be semi fictional IRP. I might make a similar post in the future for the writing contest, but we'll see! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!
