The first major conflict following the High Council that established the Dukedoms was rooted in piety. Lord Maynard was the young duke of Larelle. Even in his youth, he was an accomplished swordsman, but he considered his greatest weapon to be his uncompromising faith in the Triarchy. If he had not been the duke, many believed he would have joined the priesthood. There were even rumors that he considered abdicating his title, but since he had no brothers, many skeptics reasoned that such an action would cause turmoil as to who would rule Larelle.
At a young age he watched with disgust as the popularity of necromancy grew within the nobility and commonfolk. He felt necromancy was a forbidden craft that threatened to undermine the Triarchy. He first tried to instill laws within his domain, but this only drove practitioners deeper underground to conceal their craft. Those he caught violating his laws were nothing more than petty conjurers who practiced their art more as a religion than an application of sorcery.
Duke Maynard then focused his effort toward finding the origin of necromancy. Between his council of scribes and Triarchy priests, along with his own research of ancient texts, Lord Maynard surmised that it was the Shadowfey of Khorboron that had infected the lands of Lyshoria with this abomination.
The duke then turned to the counsel of his most prominent vassals. Many felt Khorboron was plagued with political strife from millennia-old rivalries. The vassals encouraged the duke that any attack made against them would send a clear message. But in truth, the vassal's main motivation was the opportunity to claim more land in a region untapped by the Lords of Lyshoria. Some of his vassals dissented, believing the practice of necromancy was nothing more than a temporary interest among the youth that would pass in time. To them, the practice of this craft was not worth going to war. Duke Maynard embraced the former opinion.
Duke Maynard declared a crusade. Despite receiving no support from other Dukedoms in Lyshoria, he continued with his war plans, and within three months rallied a large army. Maynard's strategy was to strike Biseldith; the eastern region of Khorboron that was ruled by Prince Noshru. Though his nobles were correct about the political divisions among the Shadowfey, what he was not prepared for was the military prowess the Shadowfey possessed after countless centuries of infighting. Between their marshal skills and their familiarity of the landscape, the Shadowfey repeatedly outmaneuvered the invading force, creating traps and ambushes that threw entire Larelle armies into disarray. Within the first year of the campaign, Duke Maynard was killed in battle, but the vassals that supported the war continued to press the attack.
For five years the armies of Larelle fought in Khorboron with no success. After losing so many men and squandering most of their resources, the Larelle army retreated back to Lyshoria, defeated and broken. In the annals of the History of Lyshoria, Duke Maynard would be known as Duke Maynard "The Rash", and the Dukedom of Larelle would suffer the impact of his war for many following years.
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