Charali Conflict

According to Lithmorran reckoning, the Charali Conflict was essentially a border dispute between the Duchy of Vavard and several tribes of nomadic plainsmen. It began when the tribesmen retaliated violently against Vavardi caravans, who were traveling to supply nearby Davite missionaries with food and other necessary supplies. Facing a perceived threat, the tribes closest to the border banded together under a female matron and ransacked any caravan that crossed into the border. Goods were lost; many Vavardi merchants and caravan drivers were lucky to escape with their lives.

The Vavardi regent, Tirella dul Efsteyn, appealed to the Knights Lithmorran to intervene; they mobilized to assist, amassing a force of over 1,000 knights, divided into cavalry, infantry, and bowmen. The Crown Princess, Richael ab Harmon, granted Lorne Blackmoore, Baron of Casterlay, temporary military authority to command the mission; and the knights shipped out for Nimrock in late 301.

After gathering their supplies in foreign territory, a scouting force of roughly 150 knights donned Vavardi livery, borrowed caravans, and prepared to face the plainsmen across the border. The singular battle of the Charali Conflict began with arrows lit afire landing upon the flammable portions of the caravans. The first to see the arrows, Jermein ab Azadar, trumpeted the alarm at the cost of his own life, perishing to the enemy's arrows - but not before rousing his fellow knights.

The commander of the scouting force, Sir Conlan Dackombe, now called Horsebane throughout the plains, immediately perceived his tactical disadvantage and ordered his cavalry to rout the archers while personally taking a band of infantry behind enemy lines. Choosing a small molehill from which to make his stand, Dackombe beckoned the Charali near, felling a score of them without breaking a sweat; his axe carved into flesh of all sorts, unable to distinguish between Charalin and horse.

With the melee at a breaking point, Dackombe's squire, Aldan Bannick, previously wounded by arrows but unwilling to abandon his master, bellowed an order to cease fire - in the Charalins' own language - and the confused horsemen abandoned their weapons and turned to retreat. Victory assured, Bannick accepted the surrender of the Charali chieftain and traveled to her yurt to demand, and eventually receive, favorable terms for Vavard. Back in Vavard, Baron Blackmoore himself foiled an attempt on the life of the Vavardi Duke, but the Vavardi were as eager as the Charali to find peace rather than prolonged war.