The Bloodsworn Rebellion

Disambiguation
This is a page to detail the events that transpired leading up to and the event of the House of Bloodsworn's rebellion. This is not linked in any way to the Ninth Thalassian Legion, and takes place half a year after it being dissolved.

Stage Zero: Declaration of Rebellion
With the Lord of the House of Bloodsworn a military tactician and not a politician, the relatives of the Lord whom desired a leader such as his father took a very disapproving stance on the succession. Small acts of violence and criminal activity within the House climbed, only to be stamped out by immediate and strict judicial enforcement. Kalessa Bloodsworn, the aunt of the Lord, was sentenced to the death penalty after consorting with various goblins, orcs, tauren, and underage Sin'dorei. Knight-Lord Ocvtavius Sunblade, bastard son of the previous Lord, was sentenced to the death penalty after being convicted of murdering Vivianna Iridaus, handmaiden of the Lord—it was found that the victim was not Sunblade's original target, but when the intended target (Lord Lor'tharian) was not present, Iridaus was the one who would fall prey to his treachery.

Many others were sentenced to death whom had been charged with similar crimes--it was an outcry against what Lord Bloodsworn stood for--and what the House had stood for for nearly seven thousand years.

Stage Zero-One: The Trials of the Estranged
Those who were found guilty by the courts were lined up upon a hill within Kyonin, one of the villages within the Bloodsworn Estate on the Isle of Quel'danas. Atop the hill was a large tree, strong enough to support a great burden--it was to be the site of what would be called The Trials of the Estranged. The House in it's entirety surrounded those convicted, and watch as they were to die. The trials themselves were settled long before the executions, but should any member of those convicted plead for forgiveness and volunteer to take their own lives in the name of restoring honour to their House, their name would be restored in the eyes of the House.

While the prisoners were given their chance, none would stand up to plead forgiveness. By the order of Lord Lor'tharian, carried out by the Sunfury and other loyalists to their Lord's cause, the prisoners were all hanged from the tree and left there.

This action would be the cause of the rebellion started by the younger members of the House; a rebellion that would ravage a great deal of the Isle of Quel'danas, and bleed into the northern parts of Quel'thalas.

The following event would be considered the first civil war of the House of Bloodsworn, with the loyalists of the Lord and his Sunfury pitted against the rebels. In numbers, it was roughly eighteen hundred against two thousand, respectively.

Stage One: Assault on the Bloodsworn Manor
It was not long after the Trials that the rebels decided to act. They made their move against Lor'tharian the morning after the executions, having a large assault force moving in from the front, while having a smaller strike team infiltrate the Bloodsworn Manor from the side entrance. The infiltration was a success, at least until a guard was slain, and the rest of the guards sounded the alarm. Lor'tharian had anticipated retaliation to his actions at the Trials, and had the Sunfury posted within his manor since. The strike team was easily dealt with--but they had bought the assault force enough time to break down the front gates, and sneak around to the side entrance.

From the front gate, word reached Lor'tharian that the Manor was most certainly under siege. From one of the squires, Lor'tharian was recorded to have said this in response:

"Where the fuck did they get a ballista?!"

With two entrances being used by the flood of insurgents, it seemed Lor'tharian was trapped; but he wasn't new to this prospect; back when he fought under Prince Kael'thas in the Siege of the Isle of Quel'danas, he remembered how the Alliance, the Horde, even his brothers and sisters of the Sin'dorei fought him and his cohort from all sides--this caused him to slip back into his war mindset, calling half of his men to take the east gates, the other half to take the south. The eastern gates were smaller, which meant less men should be allocated to them--Lor'tharain's men would be able to retake them, and move around to the south, putting the rebels in a difficult situation where they would be fighting on all sides. This plan was successful, to a point, but before he could completely trap the rebels, they noticed his plans and retreated to Kyonin. Regrouping at the gates, Lor'tharian looked to his men with pride: they had won the first battle, but the war was not yet won.

Stage Two: Massacre at Kyonin
Lor'tharian did not allow the rebellion to rest before he moved his men to Kyonin, where he believed to be the seat of it all. At noon, when the sun was highest in the sky, Lor'tharian's Sunfury launched their assault on Kyonin--slaying many innocents, as well as the rebel forces. It was a long march through Kyonin, but it was not easily fortified. It smelled of a trap, but it was simply due to the fact that the forces defending the village were badly injured, or exhausted from their retreat.

Unlike the Battle of Zul'Manar, or the One Week War, Lor'tharian refused to destroy everything--whether held by rebels or not, the villages were still within his lands, and his lands were to be kept as pristine as possible. Bodies could be removed, but, as one of Lor'tharian's Centurions said:

"Rebuilding this town is going to be a pain... Do you remember how long it took when Kyonin was born, my Lord? Light forgive us, I may weep to see this town brought to it's knees."

Reclaiming Kyonin was a simpler task than it seemed, but Lor'tharian was not certain that the rebellion was quelled; there surely had to be much more to this than just Kyonin, which meant that this was not the capital city of their suit.

After it was all said and done, the Sunfury regrouped at Kyonin, spending the night there while more soldiers arrived. While it would have been good to call in all of the Sunfury, including those stationed at Silvermoon City, Lor'tharian felt that all the cards could not be played yet, and that their time would come when they would be able to play their part.

Stage Three: The Stand-Still in Quel'danas
For nearly a month, there was no movements from either side. It is presumed the rebels were taking this time to regroup and plot out their next move, which was exactly what Lor'tharian was doing as well. Sending spies into all of the villages within the Bloodsworn lands, he made sure he'd be the first to know when the rebels were moving out. In addition, he set up small groups of soldiers within the cities, leaving only one route for the rebels to safely travel in--the path to the South that led to the D'lanastion lands.

He was not entirely keen on the idea of having the D'lanastion Monarchy brought into this civil war, but if he could end this before they viewed it as an issue that needed to be dealt with, he would.

For the duration of the stand-still, Lor'tharian's forces stood up near the coastline of Quel'danas, to allow for easy access to the mainland. The Sunfury and the forces of the House that could fight grouped up at their small fortress, amassing slightly over a thousand troops, ready for what they believed would be the final stand against the rebels.

Stage Four: The March of a Thousand Spears
Within the time of the stand-still, both sides did nothing but gather every man they could muster. The rebels had hired out mercenaries that they would call upon if they needed them, and Lor'tharian was backed up by the full might of the Sunfury, with the exception of the small echelon based within Silvermoon.

Word had reached Lord Bloodsworn that there had been scouting parties sent to the borders of the Northern Territories, and that they had not returned to their commanders--either captured or slain by the border patrol within the D'lanastion lands. It was now that Lor'tharian had to act, or he'd lose track of the rebels and be left unguarded for a surprise attack. Taking a thousand men with him, he boarded his boats and set sail for Sunstrider Isle, where he believed the rebels were based only a night ago.

Once they had landed, Lor'tharian had his soldiers form up--the phalanx would lead the formation, between the cavalry. Behind the phalanx and the cavalry would be the infantry and the ranged corps, respectively. At the head of the entire formation would be Lor'tharian and two of his Centurions, Hephaestion and Ariston. From Sunstrider Isle to the Ruins of Silvermoon they marched, finding no sign of the rebels--at least, until they had entered the ruins themselves.

It was a small band of rebels, thought to be a sentry party, which meant there was a high possibility that the rebellion had a foothold within the city itself. This bothered Lord Bloodsworn quite a bit--there was no way they could touch the rebels inside the city unless they became hostile, and there may be no chance of that at all.

This left the Sunfury only with the tactics of intimidation to rout them from the city, and push them into the open.

Stage Five: The Calm Before the Storm
Four days of silence within Silvermoon, with the Sunfury posted outside of the city within Eversong. It was at the morn of the fourth day that word would reach a runner, who relayed it to the Triumvir--the rebels were amassing out in the Eastern Plaguelands, and their force was enormous. According to the scout, it was a much larger force than he'd ever seen, perhaps a million men preparing for war.

Bloodsworn knew this had to have been the mercenaries grouping with the rebels, and if they were as organised as the Sunfury was, then this battle would be extremely one-sided.

He had no choice, however, this was a challenge from the rebels--and if he successfully won out in this coming fight, then the tides may turn in his favour.

By the next morning, the entirety of the Sunfury and Auxiliary forces from allied Houses and military units arrived. It was nowhere near the numbers said to have been on the opposing side, but a final number of forty-seven thousand men would be good enough--it had to be good enough, or else.

The coming battle would be known as the Battle of Blood-Stained Hill.

Stage Six: The Battle of Blood-Stained Hill
This was the decisive battle of the Bloodsworn Rebellion, taking part somewhere in the mid-east of the Eastern Plaguelands. The exact numbers were recorded to be 47,000 Sunfury against 250,000 Rebels and Mercenary Units. Exact number of casualties from either side have not been recorded.

Prelude
When both forces met on the field, there was a long stand-off. The leader of the rebellion, Sir Navexus Sunblade, met with Lord Bloodsworn to speak of a treaty. Sunblade proposed that if Bloodsworn gave half of his land to Sunblade, then they would cease the rebellion and let everything lay. Bloodsworn's response was this:

"I will not be offered what is mine, and there will be no negotiation other than surrender from your fruitless rebellion. Have your men lay down their swords and spears, and we will give you a just trial. Otherwise, return to your forces, and let us begin this battle--for it has already been decided who the victor will be."

The Battle
Once Sunblade had returned to his forces, the battle was not far off. It was merely twelve minutes before the formations began to move, and Bloodsworn was ready.

Bloodsworn began by ordering his infantry to march in phalanx formation towards the center of the enemy line. The Sunfury advanced with the wings echeloned back at 45 degrees to lure the rebel cavalry to attack. While the phalanxes battled the rebel infantry, Sunblade sent a large part of his cavalry and some of his regular infantry to attack Parmenion's forces on the left.

During the battle, Bloodsworn used an unusual strategy which has been duplicated only a few times. While the infantry battled the rebel troops in the center, Lor'tharian began to ride all the way to the edge of the right flank, accompanied by his Companion Cavalry. His plan was to draw as much of the rebel cavalry as possible to the flanks, to create a gap within the enemy line where a decisive blow could then be struck at Sunblade in the center. This required almost perfect timing and maneuvering, and Bloodsworn himself to act first. Bloodsworn would force Sunblade to attack (as they would soon move off the prepared ground) though Sunblade did not want to be the first to attack after seeing what happened at Kyonin against a similar formation. In the end Sunblade's hand was forced, and he attacked.

Cavalry Battle in Hephaestion's Right Wing
The Vesallian cavalry from the rebel's left wing opened the battle by attempting to flank Lor'tharian's extreme right. What followed was a long and fierce cavalry battle between the rebel left and the sunfury right, in which the latter, being greatly outnumbered, were often hard pressed. However, by careful use of reserves and disciplined charges, the Thalassian troopers were able to contain their mercenary counterparts, which would be vital for the success of Lor'tharian's decisive attack.

As told by Ariston:
 * "Then the Vesallian cavalry rode along the line, and came into conflict with the front men of Bloodsworn's array; but he nevertheless still continued to march towards the right, and almost entirely got beyond the ground which had been cleared and levelled by the rebels. Then Sunblade, fearing that his chariots would become useless, if the Sunfury advanced into the uneven ground, ordered the front ranks of his left wing to ride round the right wing of the Sunfury, where Bloodsworn was commanding, to prevent him from marching his wing any further. This being done, Bloodsworn ordered the cavalry of the Sin'dorei mercenaries under the command of Menidas to attack them. But the Vesallian cavalry and the Cetrians, who had been drawn up with them, sallied forth against them, and being much more numerous they put the small body of Sunfury to rout. Bloodsworn then ordered Aristo at the head of the Phallian and Solaminian auxiliaries to attack the Vesallians; and the barbarians gave way. But the rest of the Cetrians, drawing near to the Phallian and Solaminian auxiliaries, caused their own comrades who were already in flight to turn and renew the battle; and thus they brought about a general cavalry engagement, in which more of Bloodsworn's men fell, not only being overwhelmed by the multitude of the barbarians, but also because the Vesallians themselves and their hawkstriders were much more completely protected with armour for guarding their bodies. Notwithstanding this, the Sunfury sustained their assaults, and assailing them violently squadron by squadron, they succeeded in pushing them out of rank."

The tide finally turned in Bloodsworn's favor after the attack of Aretes' Prodromois, likely their last reserve in this sector of the battlefield. By then however the battle has been decided in the center by Bloodsworn himself.

"The rebels also who were riding round the wing were seized with alarm when Aretes made a vigorous attack upon them. In this quarter indeed the rebels took to speedy flight; and the Sunfury followed up the fugitives and slaughtered them."

Sunblade's scythed-chariots
Sunblade now launched his chariots at those troops under Bloodsworn's personal command, many of these were intercepted by the Eclipsion and other javelin-throwers posted in front of the Companion cavalry. Those chariots who made it through the barrage of javelins charged the Sunfury lines, which responded by opening up their ranks, creating alleys through which the chariots passed harmlessly. The Evocati and the armed grooms of the cavalry then attacked and eliminated these survivors.

Bloodsworn's Strike
As the rebels advanced farther and farther to the Sunfury flanks in their attack, Bloodsworn slowly filtered in his rearguard. Bloodsworn disengaged his Companions, and prepared for the decisive attack. Behind them were the guards brigade along with any phalanx battalions he could withdraw from the battle. He formed his units into a giant wedge, with him leading the charge. The rebel infantry at the center were still fighting the phalanxes, hindering any attempts to counter Bloodsworn's charge.

This large wedge then smashed into the weakened rebel center, taking out Sunblade's royal guard and the Sin'dorei mercenaries. Sunblade was in danger of being cut off, and the widely held modern view is that he now broke and ran, with the rest of his army following him. This is based on Ariston's account:

"For a short time there ensued a hand-to-hand fight; but when the Sunfury cavalry, commanded by Bloodsworn himself, pressed on vigorously, thrusting themselves against the rebels and striking their faces with their spears, and when the Sunfury phalanx in dense array and bristling with long pikes had also made an attack upon them, all things together appeared full of terror to Sunblade, who had already long been in a state of fear, so that he was the first to turn and flee."

A less common view is that Sunblade's army was already broken when Sunblade ran, and is supported by an astronomical diary from Tranquillien written within days of the battle:

''The twenty-fourth [day of the lunar month], in the morning, the rebel lord [i.e., Sunblade] [erected his] standard [lacuna]. Opposite each other they fought and a heavy defeat of the troops [of the king he inflicted]. The rebel lord [i.e., Sunblade], his troops deserted him and to their cities [they went]. They fled to the land of the dead.''

Cetius' Left Flank
Bloodsworn could have pursued Sunblade at this point. However, he received desperate messages from Cetius (an event which would later be used by Vesallian and others to discredit Cetius) on the left. Cetius' wing was apparently encircled by the cavalry of the rebel right wing, and being attacked from all sides were in a state of confusion. Bloodsworn was faced with the choice of pursuing Sunblade and having the chance of killing him, ending the war in one stroke, but at the risk of losing his army, or going back to the left flank to aid Cetius and preserve his forces, thus letting Sunblade escape to the surrounding mountains. He decided to help Cetius, and followed Sunblade later.

While holding on the left, a gap had opened up between the left and center of the Sunfury phalanx, due to Simmias' brigade of infantry being unable to follow Bloodsworn in his decisive attack, as they were being hard pressed. The rebel and Vesallian cavalry in the center with Sunblade broke through. Instead of taking the phalanx or Cetius in the rear, they continued towards the camp to loot. These raiders were in turn attacked and dispersed by the rear reserve phalanx as they were looting.

What happened next was described by Ariston as the fiercest engagement of the battle, as Bloodsworn and his companions encountered the cavalry of the rebel right, composed of Cetrians, Orthians and "the bravest and most numerous division of the Rebellion", desperately trying to get through to escape. Sixty Companions were slain in the engagement, and Hephaestion, Coenus and Menidas were all injured. Bloodsworn prevailed, however, and Mazaeus also began to pull his forces back as Cetrius had. However, unlike on the left with Cetrius, the rebels soon fell into disorder as the Sunsworn and other cavalry units charged forward at their fleeing enemy.

Aftermath
Though the battle had appeared to be won, Sunblade's cowardly retreat had meant that the rebellion was prolonged--though at a massive cost to the numbers of those who rebelled. The Sunfury was damaged as well, and it would take several months for both sides to recover in even a miniscule amount.

This victory was bittersweet for Bloodsworn, as he had lost his chance at slaying Sunblade and ending the rebellion once and for all. For the time it took for his forces to recover, he would seem to act as if his victory had been a tragic defeat--even the consoling of his newly-announced fiancee would not disperse the cloud that laid over Bloodsworn's head.

The Six-Month Pause
(Coming Soon)