View source for Morytania Campaign

{{External|rs=Morytania campaign}}
{{Infobox War
|name = Morytania campaign
|begin = Invasion of Morytania over the [[River Salve]]
|end = Battle outside the walls of [[Darkmeyer]]
|place = All of [[Morytania]]
|outcome = Decisive [[Vampyre|vampyric]] victory
|battles =
|combatant1 = [[Saradominist]] forces
|combatant2 = [[Vampyre]]s, undead
|commander1 = [[Ahrim]], [[Dharok]], [[Verac]], [[Karil]], [[Guthan]], [[Torag]]
|commander2 = [[Lord Lowerniel Vergidiyad Drakan]] and [[House Drakan|family]]
|casualties1 = Heavy, many deaths including each of the [[Barrows brothers]]
|casualties2 = Heavy, many of Drakan's forces throughout [[Mort Myre Swamp]]
|concurrent = [[God Wars]]
|next = [[Misthalin - Morytania War]]
}}
The '''Morytania campaign''' was an event in the late [[Third Age]]{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=A Stranger Watches|quote=in this age of the God Wars, there were many opportunities for such men to earn renown.}} in the [[vampyre]]-controlled region of [[Morytania]]. Six brothers (now known as the [[Barrows Brothers]]) named Ahrim, Dharok, Verac, Karil, Guthan and Torag, led a crusade consisting of several thousand Saradominist forces.{{CiteNPC|npc=Strange Old Man|loc=His Faithful Servants|quote=Dutiful servants of Saradomin... At least, that's what they'd tell you! Ha! Not so. Not so.}} The aim of the campaign was to reverse the damage done by [[Lord Drakan]], who had conquered the then Saradominist city [[Hallowvale]].{{CiteNPC|npc=Vanescula Drakan|quote=Long ago, the land of Morytania was known as Hallowvale and it was ruled over by a race of Saradominists called the icyene.}}{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=they were first seen when the legions of evil were pressing their hardest into civilised lands.|page=1}}

After Hallowvale had fallen to Drakan's continued raids, the Saradominists west{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=A Stranger Watches|quote=The stranger had watched the campaign from its first footfall into the lands east of the river|name=footfall}} of Morytania formed an army of the strongest warriors they could muster, including six young and promising brothers who had been provided power, weapons and armour by the [[Zaros]]ian Mahjarrat [[Sliske]].{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=A Stranger Watches|quote=it was those very weapons and armours he had given them, that they now wielded, which granted them their desire.}}

[[File:Meiyerditch.png|thumb|left|Meiyerditch, the city at which the campaign ended.]]

Over the course of many years,{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=For years these brothers fought hard against the enemy|page=3}} the forces of Saradomin pushed their way through Morytania with strength and valour. The Saradominist forces adopted a simple but effective strategy: their warriors would engage with the rank and file soldiers of the enemy, while the brothers would engage with the enemy champions.{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=A Stranger Watches|quote=The phalanxes engaged the rank and file, spurred on by the brothers’ fearlessness and courage, while the brothers themselves squared up to the enemy champions.}} The battles that were fought were some of the most decisive Saradominist victories in the whole of the [[God Wars]], and Drakan's losses were considerable.[[File:Lowerniel_Drakan.png|thumb|142px|Lord Drakan, one of the most important participants.]]

As the campaign pressed on through the swamps, and neared its end, Sliske, who had followed the campaign from its beginning,{{NamedRef|footfall}} decided to finally relinquish his "blessing". As the Saradominists reached the walls of Drakan's city of [[Darkmeyer]], the Mahjarrat appeared to them:

{{cquote2|The time has come, my warriors. The gifts I bestowed upon you have served you well, and you, in turn, have served your god. Now, it is time to begin your servitude to me... to my god. You shall stand ever vigilant for His return, and then you will be champions in His glorious army - we shall have victory against the usurper. But first, you must die...|[[Sliske]]{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=The Pact, Fulfilled}}}}

After this meeting, the brothers continued their campaign; however, they no longer fought with the same strength and skill,{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=Ruination|quote=Yet more battles followed that fated night ... The brothers continued to fight, as heroes among men, yet they slowed, they erred. ... They bruised and bled, requiring tending from their medics after each skirmish.}} and Sliske's continued presence at every battle seemed to be the cause of the brothers' missteps.{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=The most disturbing thing was how his presence started to affect the brothers, they became distracted and on occasion even received injuries that required attention.|page=6}} Soon, Lord Drakan's forces launched a powerful assault against the brothers and their soldiers while they were camped deep inside Morytania.{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=It was deep in the heart of the enemies' territory, in the failing light of dusk, that the enemy struck back.|page=6-7}} Many of the Saradominist forces were killed, but Lord Drakan's army was eventually forced to retreat.{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=Ruination|quote=Many men fell around them, yet, despite their losses, together they managed to set the enemy to retreat, striking a heavy blow in return.}} The brothers were mortally wounded in this battle,{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=Ruination|quote=All morn and eve, they were tended upon once more, but this time they did not recover. Muttering feverishly, their wounds did not close and their breathing weakened.}} and by the evening of the following day, they all had died.{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=As if on cue all the six brothers sighed one last breath and died|page=9}}

The brothers were buried in six [[Barrows]] at the site where their camp had stood.{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=On the last day the assembled troops buried the brothers inside their stone tombs, then with great reverence, but little ceremony, they covered the tombs with earth.|page=12}} During the construction of the tombs, Lord Drakan's forces refrained from attacking and instead taunted the surviving soldiers incessantly every night.{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=Ruination|quote=for six nights, their enemies surrounded the camp, chiding and braying, mocking the loss of their leaders, breaking their spirit but not attacking.}} 

After the burial was complete, the remaining officers recognized that the campaign was doomed to fail without its leaders, and the surviving soldiers soon retreated back across the [[River Salve]].{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=Ruination|quote=The remaining officers came to the realisation that without their leaders they were lost and must now turn back if there were to be any hope of survival}}{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=the army broke camp and turned to march back to their lands}} Many of these soldiers would perish on the journey back to Misthalin.{{CiteText|text=Crumbling tome|quote=Not many of the original army made it back to these lands, many more had perished on the journey home|page=13}} As the Saradominist army retreated, Sliske returned to the Barrows and transformed the six dead brothers into [[wight]]s.{{CiteLore|title=The Fall of Six|sectitle=Ruination|quote=Arms outstretched atop the central mound, the stranger chanted in some foul, ancient language, casting his old magic. A vulgar purple light formed in front of him, fell to the earth, and bled into each of the barrows.}} He then tasked them with guarding the [[strange icon]].{{CiteNPC|npc=Strange Old Man|loc=His Faithful Servants|quote=They guard it for him! That was their purpose}} 

Ultimately, the campaign of the brothers was a failure. While they had destroyed much of Lord Drakan's army, they nevertheless failed to reclaim Morytania for the Saradominist forces.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{The Fall of Six}}
{{Battles}}
[[Category:Morytania]]