Sack of Highdrilian

Sack of Highdrilian
Gates of Highdrilian Palace after the Sack
Date 15 - 16 August, 1887 Location Highdrilian, Aikthudr'zhur Result Cryrian Victory, Second Treaty of Highdrilian
Belligerents
Kingdom of Aikthudr'zhur	Kingdom of Cryria
Commanders and leaders
King Håkan of House Ny'thudr'zhan	King Albert of of House Leidensen Governor-General Melker Öberg Rear-Admiral Geraldine Tarva
Units involved
Royal Guard Ny'Sænuri Clans Local militia	Norsian Sea Squadron
Strength
2,800 soldiers 4 artillery pieces 1 shore battery 3 improvised gunboats	150 Naval Infantry 900 Foreign Legionnaires 1 Kraskne-class coastal battleship 1 Bränna-class unprotected cruiser 3 Mielka-class gunboats
Casualties and losses
500+ combatants killed 4 artillery pieces destroyed 1 shore battery destroyed 3 improvised gunboats sunk 400 - 1,000 civilian deaths 1,500+ civilians wounded	60 killed or injured

The Sack of Highdrilian, also known in Aikthudr'zhur as The Desecration, was undertaken by the Kingdom of Cryria on 15 - 16 August, 1887, in the Aikkian capital of Highdrilian. The sack took place over two days and was the bloodiest incident in the 150-year long Cryrian presence in Aikthudr'zhur.

Background

First Treaty of Highdrilian

The Kingdom of Aikthudr'zhur is a small, mountainous state in northern Novaris. Throughout the second millennium, it has been visited by Cryrian vessels which often stopped at the capital city of Highdrilian on their way in and out of the Norsian Sea. While contacts have been recorded as early as the 10th-century, Cryrian involvement in Aikkian affairs began in earnest nearly eight hundred years later with the founding of the Norsian Concern. This venture began as a conglomerate of Cryrian merchants operating within the Norsian Sea, who quickly became Aikthudr'zhur's primary point of access to foreign markets due to the Kingdom's own lack of shipbuilding expertise and the local predominance of the Cryrian Navy. The Concern went on to gain considerable influence in the Kingdom through the construction and purchase of port infrastructure in Highdrilian and Evalrod as well as the backing of the Cryrian government in Leidenstad.

In 1776, the Aikkian population was devastated by a plague outbreak which decimated the royal family. The subsequent political dysfunction undermined the legitimacy of the House of Ny'thudr'zhan, while the plague's arrival on foreign vessels created an atmosphere of mistrust and xenophobia among the Aikkian population. This resulted in the Evralrod Uprising which sought to displace the newly enshrined Queen Aiuevoupu in favor of her isolationist half-brother, Prince Hiro. The rebellion quickly became a source of worry for the Norsian Concern as it threatened to upend their investments.

The Concern moved to secure the services of Cryrian mercenaries led by Captain Ottilia Syren, a Talveri naval officer turned privateer. Under pressure from both the Uprising as the Concern, Aiuevoupu agreed to accept Syren's forces on Aikkian soil to put down the rebellion. The Uprising was crushed after Syren's fleet bombarded Evralrod and seized the city. The Captain later presented the Queen with Hiro's head.

The Norsian Concern was further authorized by the Cryrian government to negotiate the First Treaty of Highdrilian. The Treaty effectively granted the Concern near-total extraterritoriality and perpetual control over port enclaves in the Kingdom in exchange for its financial support during the Uprising. The Treaty quickly became a source of outrage in the Aikkian court as it effectively granted the Concern a monopoly over the Kingdom's trade. However, the fiercest detractors were among the Ny'Sænuri clans and were discounted due to their failure to support the Queen's cause against the rebellion, and heavy Cryrian pressure ensured the signing of the Treaty.