Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Martinus_XIV t1_j6j4v9z wrote

The Battle of Argentshade, sometimes poëtically referred to as the Last March of the Black Tower or the Day of Stone Terror, is the final battle of the Alavonic Campaign, as well as the first and only time the superweapon known as the Doïnmarna or "Black Tower" was ever used. Through the use of the roughly 1500-kil tall Dwarven golem, Alavon Felsenkind was able to force the capitulation of the Five Kingdoms of the West.

On the 16th of Neverrime, 44 a.Al., the Fellenaren forces of Alavon, strengthened by Dwarven mercenaries from the confederacy of Kormos and Desraen swords for hire met the Artanen legion, which had been stationed at the city of Argentshade at the northern border of Artan to await them. Queen Fiora of Artan had correctly predicted that Alavon's forces would swing north and use the shadow of the overhanging Capriconen plateau to hide their approach from the east, hoping to launch a surprise attack. The armies appeared evenly matched until the late morning, when Alavon himself arrived piloting the Doïnmarna. Aiming the stone colossus' lumenic weapon at the city of Argentshade, which had been evacuated prior to the battle, he obliterated the heart of the city in a single blast. An hour later, Artan announced its unconditional surrender. Queen Fiora stepped down as ruler of Artan in the evening.

Though Alavon is typically said to have made his vow of nonviolence at his coronation as emperor of the Five Kingdoms, some sources state he made it, or a version of it, at queen Fiora's abdication, being horrified by the potential of the ancient Dwarven weapon he wielded. This account is considered dubious, however, as Alavon is noted as having made "grand threats in the name of peace" during the Conference of Everfall later that year.

1