The Tard Civil War

The Tard Civil war was a brutal and rare pre-year Zero conflict lasting from 9 before Zero to 1 before Zero, that saw the Tard monarchy overthrown and the Council of Tards established. It lasted 8 years and brought Sulla to power.

Background
The Tard monarchy had been reigning for hundreds of years when Caesarian II died. The elder king had distanced himself from the military and court intrigue and corruption were running an all time high. Upon his death his son Gabianus was crowned king. As was tradition he committed fratricide, killing all of his 5 siblings, something which took a toll on Gabianus as a person. He soon turned out to have no interest in ruling whatsoever and he cared not for his people, giving extravagant parties and gifts to the nobility whilst his people suffered from bad harvests. Discontent amongst his people grew ever higher, eventually leading to revolts all across the provinces, especially in the southern province of Sumela. Gabianus ordered his army to crack down on the rebels and thousands died in brutal campaigns against civilians. The massacre at Sumela, led by Sulla, would turn large amounts of the military against him, previously being kept in check by the many parties and gifts from Gabianus.

Labienus palace coup
A year after the massacre of Sumela, Sulla had become a symbol of anti-monarchial feelings and was immensely popular within the military. Overthrowing Gabianus was impossible however as he had locked himself up in the palace with the palace guard, led by a man called Labienus. As long as Labienus' guard remained loyal the monarchy would exist, and loyal Labienus was. This changed when a year later, in 9 b.Z., Labienus proposed to Gabianus' daughter, Servilla. The king refused to let his daughter marry with Labienus and as a result he became bitter and secretly he contacted Sulla. The two became friends and started plotting a palace coup that would bring down Gabianus and replace him with a council of generals. At the beginning of spring the coup started. Labienus and his palace guard arrested Gabianus as Sulla's troops came marching into the capital, enforcing a curfew and advancing on the palace. A group of loyalists managed to break through to the dungeons just before the army arrived and freed Gabianus. Fighting broke out and in the chaos the palace caught fire. In the following confusion the monarchists fetched Servilla and the crown jewels and escaped from the capital. This was a sever hit to Sulla, not only did the jewels bring power, Servilla had been his secret lover for over a year. Although now being in complete control of the capital the coup had failed as Gabianus now fled in the rural countryside where he enjoyed some support still. Ownership of the crown jewels brought him legitimacy, especially the enormous Alexandrite stone which had been the symbol of divine right to rule for over a hundred years. A quick victory had slipped through the conspirators hands and a brutal civil war would follow.

Battle of Izmer
Gabianus knew that the Alexandrite stone gave him men to fight with and thus he created the Alexandrite banner, a flag symbolizing the Alexandrite stone as a reminder that he still owned it and was the rightful ruler of the Tards. In the meanwhile Sulla and Labienus gathered their followers, mostly oriented around the coast. Their first objective was to secure the capital as losing it would mean losing the war, owning the palace and the jewels would give him enough legitimacy to make the rebel cause wonder. Gabianus knew this and rushed towards the capital with a rapidly assembled army. He arrived in front of the gates of Izmer a week later, the rebel army standing in front of him. The king outnumbered his opponents almost 2-to-1 but his army consisted almost entirely out of levies whereas the rebel army consisted of experienced troops and the elite palace guard, being renamed the Silver Guard. Gabianus was being confident however and remained relaxed as he expected to be the one making the moves. He was surprised to find out that Sulla, leading the rebel army, charged his army with his trademark speed. The monarchist army was quickly thrown into chaos and many fled, forcing Gabianus to retreat back to the interior. The battle was a decisive victory for the rebels and Gabianus army was scattered and destroyed. He now fled to Sumela to gather support there.

The Sumela Campaign
Gabianus was extremely impopular in Sumela but since the massacre at Sumela two years earlier they hated the military more and thus Gabianus could gather quite a following here. In contrast with Izmer winning one battle would not be enough to pacify the region and a brutal campaign lasting for 4 years would commence. Gabianus seized the Sumela gold mines, gaining a grand source of income and weakening the rebel military effort. Sulla's first objective would be to regain the goldmine and counter-attack from there. The first attack would fail due to constant harassing of the rebel supply lines by the Sumela people. Rebel reprisals would kill many but this would only antagonize the people more, bringing more problems to logistics. Winter then arrived and fighting would continue the next year.

The start of the new season began with Sulla's decision to expand the Silver Guard to consist of 300 men, doubling its size. Labienus section was now ordered to protect the supply lines and this enabled Sulla to march upon the goldmines. After a short battle they were taken and now the hilly rural regions were left to be taken. Progress was slow however as the Sumelans fought to the last man in hill-forts. Every fort had to be taken before being able to advance on the other. 2 years passed until every strategic point was taken. Winter had now arrived and the last year of the campaign commenced.

Sumela was almost completely occupied by Sulla's forces when Gabianus hired Speratoi mercenaries. These warlike people halted Sulla's advance and even won a minor victory in the battle of Hill 391. Without proper supplies they had to withdraw though and they fell back, through the Izmer region and into Attia, the last stronghold of Monarchist power.

The Attia Stalemate
With the Speratoi being in the war the Monarchists now had proper troops that could counter the Tard military forces. Attia still had many able-bodied men who flocked to the Alexandrite banner and thus Gabianus' ranked got filled. Minor skirmishers and battles were fought throughout the border of Attia but all were indecisive. Negotiations were opened between the two fighting parties but neither side wanted to make concessions and thus after a year of fruitless talks, accompanied with even more indecisive battles and skirmishers the war continued to be a stalemate.

Sulla saw some minor successes in the east of the region where he managed to take the silvermines, the major source of income for the region. A monarchist counter-attack almost succeeded in taking it back but the Silver Guard stood strong and secured victory. Sulla's losses were so severe he had to pull back however but he would be back the next year, and finally forced a pull-through.

The Speratoi now in charge of maintaining control over the silver mines were an extremely powerful force, this made them formidable foes but also arrogant and feeling secure. Their ability to halt Sulla's advances and even beat him on a few occasions had made them careless and they forsook their guard duties at night. When Sulla noticed this he did not immediately capitalize. The by now experienced commander waited for two more weeks, making the Speratoi more and more confident that Sulla was not going to attack. Then one night Sulla advanced with miraculous speed and overran the enemy camp even before many could wake up. The few Speratoi who did fight back fought hard and to the last man but there could be no victory. Sulla had triumphed over his powerful adversaries in the battle of the Sharp Night.

The final years
Sulla had beaten the main Speratoi force but many still remained within Gabianus' main army and these generals advised the King to adapt a scorched earth policy. Retreating back in the mainland whilst burning and destroying everything they left behind. This way Sulla's army could not follow him whilst they regroup and gain their strength back. Gabianus was easily swayed, the many losses weighing heavy on his mental health, making him more compliable. Entire villages were levelled, people displaced and fields burned after their crops were taken. Attia was almost completely scorned and support for the Alexandrite banner began to waver. Even more unpopular were the foreign Speratoi generals. They were a bad influence on the king, according to the people which was proven by the fact they burned his entire country to the ground. The final straw came when Speratoi generals gave Attian troops orders to burn down a village whereas the inhabitants had refused to leave. The Speratoi leaders were lynched and the remaining Speratoi withdrew from the army, bringing an end to the scorched earth retreat which had lasted for a couple of weeks. Gabianus had by now given up all hope and leadership of the army came to a lesser noble known as Marcus.

Sulla's pursuit of Gabianus had been rough due to the Speratoi's tactics but with secure logistic lines he managed to slowly catch up with the enemy army. A month later the two enemies stood against each other once again but Marcus sacrificed one of his units so his army could escape. Marcus was no fool and he knew that beating Sulla's armies in open battle would not be possible. Thus he split up his army in multiple groups, each harassing the enemy whilst living of the land. This frustrated the rebel war-effort and brutalities were their answer. Villages that had supported the monarchists were destroyed and many civilians were displaced as both sides committed horrible atrocities. It was a war the Monarchs could not win however, support for the Alexandrite banner waned even further as in the eyes of the people the monarchists with their actions were responsible for the atrocities. Slowly but surely Sulla and Labienus gained more and more control over the country. Marcus, seeing which direction the war was going, fled to Tabard where he would write a book on his tactics, only to be murdered at the start of year Zero, 2 years later. The last major resistance group surrendered a year later in Attia and Gabianus and those who still followed him fled taking the crown jewels, including the Alexandrite stone, with them. The war was practically over.

Aftermath
When Gabianus had fled the many Tard generals came together in a council and amongst them they chose the strongest leader. Sulla won this election but Labienus had gained a considerable amount of votes as well, which scared Sulla and created a small rift between the two leaders. The outcome of the election did confirm that Sulla was the most popular amongst the generals though and he quickly set out to secure this power. Uneasy about Gabianus and more importantly his possession of the Tard crown jewels he sent out agents and spies to quell insurgency abroad, one of these agents killing Marcus as earlier mentioned. Sulla's desperateness to get hold over the jewels would lead to war with the kingdom of Laurelorn and Council of the Horselords in the Alexandrite war in year Zero. Gabianus would be assassinated the same year in Trinsulae, something Sulla responded firmly too but was delighted to hear. Now Sulla was firmly in control with the jewels in his hands and Gabianus dead, converting his spy-network to search for his lover and daughter of Gabianus: Servilla.

Although the war was won it had been so devastating that the population was not content. All over 1 b.Z. small revolts and pockets of resistance remained to be, being cracked down by Sulla as he consolidated power. The country was in ruins and Sulla now had the task to repair the damage done by 8 years of civil war and a year of instability. Many farmers and craftsmen were displaced or lost their lands and equipment. Sulla began economic recovery by making a deal with the Council of the Horselords where income from controlling the Salamander Strait would be shared between the both of them. With advisors from Trinsulae trade was conducted and the silver and gold mines were once again productive, bringing back the economy slowly but surely.