Battle of a Thousand Banners
The Battle of a Thousand Banners was a significant military battle in 447 CY, with a siege of the city of Irongate by forces of the Great Kingdom during the rebellion of much of the South Province by the Iron League.
The South Province erupted in rebellion in 446 CY after Overking Ivid I executed the lord mayor of Irongate and his party when they attended Zelradton to petition Herzog Damalinor.[1] The Herzog summoned a force of hundreds of vassals and kin (mostly landless errant princes), and offered a bounty of land in the rebellious southern lands. The Herzog targeted Irongate as a key member of the Iron League that was formed by the rebels. The "privateers" and their men-at-arms gathred by the Herzog were so numerous at the ensuing siege of Irongate that it earned the name the Battle of a Thousand Banners. The fortress-city was impregnable to the besieging force, designed as it was to withstand siege. The Herzog's force was unable to quickly penetrate the city upon besieging it, and the siege lasted several months. The siege was lifted when a ruse panicked the Aerdi forces, and a combined force of humans, gray elves and dwarves of the Iron League slaughtered great numbers of the Provincial Expeditionary Force. The surviving elements were hunted down and slain in the surrounding hills in the following weeks.[2][1]
Three Knights of the Chase took the field in the Battle.[3]
King Dunstan I of Nyrond sent weapons and warships (but no troops) to aid Irongate, as privately pledged the previous year when the Iron League was formed at a conference in Chathold.[4]
The successful defense of Irongate encouraged the rebels of the Iron League.[1]
Notes
The World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting boxed set gives both 446 CY[5] and 447 CY[2] the year of founding of the Iron League. The Living Greyhawk Gazetteer uses 447 CY as the founding date, following the Battle of a Thousand Banners[1]. However, the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer also has ambiguous wording for the foundation of the Iron League saying Dunstan suuported Irongate "at the Battle of a Thousand Banners, the following year," though it is unclear whether that refers to the year following the "conference in Chathold that resulted in the formation of the Iron League" or the year following the implied date "within nine years" of 437 CY (446 CY), which immediately precedes the reference to the conference.[4].
The salient information from both seems to be the formation of the Iron League was followed by the siege of the Battle.
References
Citations
- ↑ a b c d Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.57.
- ↑ a b World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), p.30.
- ↑ "Knights of the Chase"". Dragon #297 (Jul 2002), p.93.
- ↑ a b Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.77.
- ↑ World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting (1983), p.9.
Bibliography
- Gygax, Gary. World of Greyhawk Fantasy Game Setting. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1983.
- Holian, Gary, Erik Mona, Sean K. Reynolds, and Frederick Weining. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer. Renton, WA: Wizards of the Coast, 2000.
- Broadhurst, Creighton. "Knights of the Chase". Dragon #297. Renton, WA. Wizards of the Coast, July 2002.
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle of a Thousand Banners | Adventure | Dragon magazine #297 | 93 | |
| Battle of a Thousand Banners | Adventure | Dragon magazine #302 | 98 | |
| Battle of a Thousand Banners | Adventure | Living Greyhawk, Living Onnwal Gazetteer, D&D 3.5e | 8, 10, 17, 33, 34, 74, 92, 97, 112 | |
| Battle of a Thousand Banners | Adventure | Living Greyhawk Gazetteer | 57, 77 | |
| Battle of a Thousand Banners | Adventure | The World of Greyhawk Fantasy World Setting (Folio) | 13 | |
| Battle of a Thousand Banners | Adventure | World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983) | 30 |