Guildtown Light Cavalry (Year 480) By Imperator-Zor Watch

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Refugee Continent, southern settlers.



As time went on, the Southern settlements grew from a smattering of agricultural enclaves to prominent kingdoms in their own right. Their rise has sometimes been romanticized as one free of war, in which refugees tilled the land rather than draw blades. In truth while the southwest was less rife with turmoil and war the north was during the late 4th and early 5th centuries there were still conflicts between the eight southern states that eventually emerged. There were several battles as well as conflicts with the natives as well as the predations of bandits and Pirates (some of which eventually settled the Corsair Islands around 400 After Landfall). This was enough to keep their martial skills honed until they became warranted as the Respitian League and the Kingdom of Haven began to turn their attentions to their lands in the 470s.



Both powers had been more concerned with their northern neighbors and colonization of The Boggy Mountains and the King Tellervan River during this time. The southern grassland settlements were not seen as worthwhile to attack during their nascent stages. However, as the Southern Settlements grew they became more tempting targets. It started with the invasion of the Timber Island by the league in 470, which prompted the Kingdom to launch an invasion in 472 as much to prevent the League from gobbling up the region uncontested as anything. Each side could only bring a comparatively small section of their army to bear on the region. Even so these two battle hardened forces were able to invade five of the seven states over the next three years. Eventually, however the tide turned. Part of that this was the First Battle of the Southern Seas in 475 which while technically won by the Royal Havenese Navy did inflict significant casualties on both side's naval forces. Ultimately, however what did them in was the fact that both their forces were overextended and a counter offensive lead by the Guildsman's Republic.



Over the previous century the Guildsman's Republic fighting forces had shifted from a general militia to a professional standing force. It had emerged as a center of local manufacturing and trade, in particular metalwork. It's pike blocks and musketeers were as well equipped as any northern states and it's foundry could (at the time) turn out capable cannons. It's cavalry were not up to the standards of Havense Chivalry, being drawn from herdsmen for the most part and mostly made use of matchlock pistols (supplemented with the occasional carbine, blunderbuss and wheellock), but they were generally quite well armored with cuirasses that were proofed against shot and generally considered to be quite capable. In 477 the forces of Guildtown launched their counter offensive against the forces of the Kingdom and aided by some rebel forces and some native mercenaries were able to beat them back over the next three years. After that they pushed back the Respitians back to the Timber Islands in half the time. In the aftermath of this war, the leaders of Guildtown established a defensive and economic hegemony over the region, which would ultimately prove to be the foundation of much greater things.

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