The Battle of the Redflow

For the first one hundred twenty years of the Great Strife, small forces of those who honored the The Gods of Coercion made war upon their longterm rivals. The faithful of the Gods of Consent found themselves defending their homes more often than not. But there was little coordination among the factions that made up either side.

The Battle of the Redflow marked a turning point. Arranged by High Sovereign Caleran of the First Kingdom, a formal alliance among Humans, Halflings, Elves, and Dwarves was formed and a coordinated battle plan was implemented. The resounding success of the effort convinced the participants to preserve the alliance and use their combined forces to end the conflict. Other factions joined the alliance along the way until, eighty years later, the last of the minions of the Gods of Coercion were defeated and the conflich ended.

The Conflict

Prelude

High Sovereign Caleran of the First Kingdom of Humankind received reports of two distinct forces pouring out of the Iron Mountains in the extreme eastern portions of the kingdom. Giantkin forces were reported heading toward the Ironhills Delve to siege that Duagan stronghold, while Orok forces, bolstered by contingents of trolls and gnolls were starting to assail the northern edges of the Firsthome Forest. The Alev Firthome lay at the center of that forest.

Caleran's reports suggested numbers that would significantly threaten both the Dwarven and Elven enclaves. But his biggest fear was that once these two targets were defeated, these armies would continue westward into his kingdom. To prevent this, Caleran sent emissaries to both Dwarf and Elf cities proposing a formal alliance, and offering a battle strategy that would save them both and allow the new alliance to defeat the enemies.

Deployment

The opposing forces were coming out of the mountains in two distinct groups, with the giantkin to the north and the oroks to the south. The battle plan that Caleran proposed, and both Dwarves and Elves accepted, was as follows:

Caleran's Human forces, which he led personally, would hurry through the lands where the Redflow River flowed toward the west. At a point near the headwaters of the river, two detachments would be sent - one north and one south - to contact the two enemy forces. These detachments would engage, harass, and then strategically retreat while continuing to draw the attention of the enemy.

When the retreats made it back to Caleran and the remainder of his army, the entire army would continued their tactical withdrawal back west along the Redflow. During this time, they would "hold their punches" to make it appear that the Human army, though large, would be easily defeatable. In particular, Caleran's battle wizards and warpriests were not utilized at all.