In Fire Season of 1626, King Pharandros of Tarsh makes his play to reconquer Dragon Pass. Pharandros has spent his treasure and the last two seasons rebuilding the Provincial Lunar Army.
By the end of Sea Season, he manages to put together a core of professional soldiers, of some 4000 infantry, 1000 cavalry, and 50 Lunar magicians. More than half of the infantry are Tarsh Native Corps militia from Furthest and Slavewall, but the Silver Shields and Granite Phalanx managed to be rebuilt and are led by Jomes Wulf.
The cavalry are built around the Veterans Horse, which are raised from the Lunar nobility of Tarsh. They are supplemented by Antelope Lancers who survived the Battle of Moonbroth.
Alda-Chur is garrisoned by Lunar soldiers and serves as the beachhead.
The plan is simple – follow the Red Emperor’s 1602 invasion route and march down the River to the edge of the Marsh and cross the Creek at Two Sisters. Exploit dissension between the Sartarite leaders to quickly defeat the Colymar tribe and then march around to Wilmskirk and then on to Boldhome. Pharandros knows all about Kallyr’s failure to perform the Lightbringers Quest and he and his spies have bought neutrality from the Sun Dome Temple.
This is within Pharandros’ resources to achieve. If it fails to achieve its goal (Boldhome), he can always withdraw, and still possesses the resources to try again the next campaigning season.
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So as we all know, this campaign gets stopped at the Battle of Queens, and Pharandros is forced to retreat back to Alda-Chur. The King is forced to retreat back to Furthest, along with his Tarshite veterans, leaving the Lunar units to hold the Far Point beachhead.
Pharandros needs time and money to rebuild his army. And to be fair, with Kallyr dead, things look better for him – he may have lost the battle, but it is looking like he will win the war. His agents encourage tribal dissension, and things look pretty grim in Boldhome. By Darkness season, many Sartarites assume that they need to prepare for the inevitable Lunar reconquest.
And then a curveball gets thrown – over winter, Argrath shows up in the Far Point with a small army of Praxians and manages to get the Lunar Army in the Far Point to force him into a set battle. Beneath Sword Hill, the imperials are overwhelmed, and Argrath begins his march on Boldhome. By Fire Season 1627, there is a new Prince, and once with more considerable military resources than the last. Meanwhile, the Dart Wars within the Lunar Tarsh dynasty becomes more serious. And so 1627 passes by without a follow-up from Furthest.