The River War

The River War was an unsuccessful attempt by hard-line Cedrists and Elwynnese ultra-nationalists to mount a quick decapitation strike on the Monarchy of Elwynn which was led by Princess Margana, the daughter of Brrapa VII and sponsored by the patricians of Shirekeep and the Court within Raynor's Keep.

In spite of being well resourced and brutally executed, the attempted takeover of Elwynn by a combination of a coup and 'hybrid warfare' failed spectacularly and rebounded upon the heads of the plotters. Not only were they unsuccessful in their efforts to exterminate the Royal Family of Elwynn but the war ended with the King's father entering Shirekeep as a conqueror.

Timeline

Reire 9 Vixaslaa, 1623 - The Abdication of the Prince Jonathan. Storjarl Hallbjörn Haraldsson appointed Steward for Prince Thorstein Noah. Courtiers in Shirekeep alarmed. Republicans, Communists, Nationalists & Humanists in Elwynn furious.
23 Vixaslaa, 1623 - Concordat of Avaldsnes. Cedrist outraged at the introduction of 'yet more foreign demons'. Church of Elwynn notably unhappy at
Amnure 19 Gevrader, 1629 - Prince Noah is elevated to kingship, the first in Elwynn's history and a break with tradition and precedent that infuriates Ayreonists.
Izillare 8 Vixaslaa, 1629 - The Union Defence Force re-established.
23 Vixaslaa 1630: Constitution amended to further criminalise discrimination against non-human 'Sentinent Beings'. Perceived by Humanists as undermining the Human Supremacy in Elwynn for the benefit of the Vanafolk.
Reire 9 Fasmas, 1633 - Brrapa VII ascends Mango Throne. Hallbjörn Haraldsson appointed steward.
Reire 21 Araroqpinu, 1633 - Father Dominus, Master of the Order of the Final Days granted royal patronage to defend the Cedrist Faith. Originally intended to target Sighvat the Yardistani.
18 Araroqpinu 1635 - al-Zaraqi Cell organises a medical kidnapping and stages an attempt on the life of heavily pregnant Queen Noor.
24 Araroqpinu, 1635 - Attack on Eliria.
Reire 15 Elroqpinu, 1635 - Siege of Shirekeep begins.
Izillare 20 Elroqpinu, 1635 - UDF enters Shirekeep. Death of Brrapa VII. Hallbjörn acclaimed as Kaiser Hjalmar.

Battle of Eliria

Bombs detonated along the route of the King's traditional morning procession. Mass civilian casualties ensue. Hallbjörn Haraldsson rushed to the scene at the head of a security detail under his personal command to ensure the safety of the King and to extract him from harms way. Gunmen ambush the first-responders arriving at the scene, including Hallbjörn's detachment, killing most and wounding Hallbjörn who is cut off and pursued by a death-squad as a high priority target. In the meantime Noah, although encumbered by ceremonial armour and thrown from his eviscerated horse, had managed to stagger clear of the kill zone, although dazed and bloodied as he did so. He remained however, singularly conspicuous and his attackers quickly set to work trying to bring him down. The King however was not one for yielding. After hacking to death one assailant who foolishly had defied orders and tried to capture him alive, Noah was saved by loyalist civilians who, by acting as human shields, sacrificed their lives buying him time to escape. The King was then rescued by a detachment of Guardsmen, who delivered him to the police barracks on Cho'Gall Avenue.

Under the cover of this carnage the plotters launched a devastating surprise attack on Eliria utilising mercenaries and rebel militants smuggled into the city during the days prior to the attack. Prince Nathaniel International Airport stormed by terrorists disembarking from a specially chartered flight.

UDF Aerodrome and main depot in Eliria hit by 'shock and awe' air strikes organised by elements of the Imperial Shirerithian Air Forces in league with the coup plotters.

The Palace of Krull and Eliria Castle was locked down by the palace guards and suicide car bombers where thwarted by a combination of automatically raised steel barriers on the approach roads to the palaces and accurate sniper fire from the turrets and battlements of Eliria Castle. The chaos however meant that both Noah and Hallbjörn were, for the moment, effectively incommunicado, leaving the task of organising a response in the hands of Fjǫrleif Hallbjörnsdóttir and the slightly improbable character of Yumi Zotrasdóttir.

Hallbjörn, trapped out on the streets and forced to engage in a battle of wits with his pursuers, began to turn the tables on them by leaving false trails causing the assailants to split up, allowing him to double back and begin to pick them off, one at a time, whittling down their numbers and undermining their morale and resolve at a time when they needed to be brutal and decisive in order to achieve their objectives before the authorities were able to re-establish their command structures and bring overwhelming firepower to bear.

Controversy

It was said by some that Brrapa VII was conveniently ill at the start of the war and conveniently dead at its end.