Battle of Meteora

The Battle of Meteora, also known as the Second Battle of Illerya or the Night of Flames (not to be confused with the Battle of the Flames at Illerya), was the most important battle of the Helmian Civil war, fought between the Helmian Federation and the Banners of Domus and their respective allies. The battle was mostly fought at the city of Illerya, which saw much devestation, and secondarily at the fortified city of Meteora. It resulted in a landslide win for the Banners of Domus, devestating the forces of the Helmian Federation and their morale.

Background
The political climate in the north had changed and it was time for the Helmian Federation and the Domus Insurgency to come to blows. The proclaimed Dominus Murad Demus had returned to his homeland to find it occupied by the Helmian Federation, it is here he decided to call the banners of domus in order to restore his homeland to its former glory. The Helmian Federation a relatively young country saw this as an act of rebellion and declared war in order to drive Murad Demus from the sub-continent of Helmia. Tensions rose dramatically and it was clear that battle would be imminent. Delegations and letters were sent out to various allies of both factions and many answered both sides call to arms. The warriors of Domus and its allies decided to use the fortress city of Meteora as their rallying point. A great walled city situated in Kastollia currently ruled by Verigan Trimarch and founded by the former King Jayhawk of Kastollia. Coordinating with several commanders it was decided that the city of Illerya should be besieged.

Siege of Illerya
Having rallied at Meteora the attacking army decided to march towards illerya, a garrison was left at meteora in order to defend it from potential attacks due to the reputation of Alamayni Elite soldiers digging tunnels under enemy fortifications therefore leaving the attacking army without a rallying point. In charge of the 17 man strong garrison was Only100gamer and J2da. Their mission to repel any potential attack on Meteora. Undye and Inverse led the remaining bulk of the army to assault Illerya. Illerya had been heavily fortified using bushes, it had erected giant walls in order to make the city of Illerya impenetrable. Noticing the enemies gathering at the southern wall the bulk of the Federations army was sent to pelt the enemies with arrows to hinder their advance. According to combatants the attackers took extremely light if no casualties at all during this phase. The attackers managed to plant explosives and breach into the inner walls, a skirmish ensued in which some defenders descended from their walls and engaged the attackers in melee combat. The attacking army being much more proficient in hand to hand combat quickly proved too capable and the defenders took significant losses. As discovered during the battle a spy had dug several tunnels into the city but by the time the passages were uncovered it was already too late. The attackers used these tunnels and gained access to the city itself. This took the defenders by great surprise and the bulk of the defending army took critical losses and fell in combat as the attackers climbed up unto the walls. As pointed out by several high ranking defenders it was here it became evident the battle was lost and so the priority was to relocate any armor and potions to another secondary location. So began the sack of Illerya, soldiers and mercenaries alike saw the treasures of Illerya and opted for claiming them instead of sweeping the streets and tactically asserting dominance (place capture blocks). Some equipment managed to be relocated by the defenders but a great deal of the war supplies were taken. The attackers were unhindered in their sacking although small teams of scavengers were sent to retrieve armor with mixed results. Victory was proclaimed.

Battle of Meteora
Predicting that the soldiers of the Second Kingdom of Alamayn would attack Meteora a garrison of 17 was left in order to secure the city. The Alamayni plan was to infiltrate the city using natural cave systems and tunnels they themselves dug. The Alamaynis began the assault by sending invisible soldiers to claim the walls that protect Meteora. One scout reported seeing 20 Alamayni soldiers. The initial stages of the battle consisted of faint skirmishing along the walls. The defenders tried in vain to nail the attackers with arrows but it was proving futile. A soldier by the name of Pyze then took lead and led a small team of elite warriors into the caverns to fight the Alamaynis in the caves they were occupying. The defenders of the surface then adjusted their strategy and sent teams to skirmish with the Alamaynis on the outside of the walls and to remove their capture blocks. It was done with partial success. The enemy still managed to unclaim certain parts of the eastern wall. After several skirmishes and tactical retreats the Alamayni force began to commit to a full scale assault on the main gate. The Alamayni attacking force was well equipped and found success in breaching the main gate. A bloody battle at the front gate ensued which saw the Defender Regiment take casualties. But it stood strong, eventually the skrimishing units outside were recalled back into the main gate and the Alamaynis got encircled. On top of that returning levies from Illerya had arrived and immediately started engaging the Alamaynis. This phase of the battle was devastating for the Alamayni Elite detachment and many were utterly slaughtered. The leaders of the Alamayni soldiers ordered a general retreat when all of their supplies and gear ran out. Some remnant elite soldiers tried in vain to still continue to capture the city but their capture blocks were quickly disposed off. After no more Alamyni were sighted the Meteora Defense Regiment proclaimed victory.

Aftermath
The aftermath of the battle saw the city of Illerya having taken heavy damage, walls bombarded, buildings and armories broken into and the city generally sacked. Meteora itself saw minimal damages such as remnants of Alamayni redstone scaffolding and some broken arrow slits. The main gate also took structural damage due to the Alamayni frontal assault. Many experts agree that this battle was a decisive victory for the Banners of Domus whilst some federationalists argue that it was indeed a tactical stalemate due to the attackers not actually having wiped the city of illerya clean. In anyway the war saw massive equipment loss on the Federations side and also loss of political legitimacy. It. It can be argued that this defeat has caused the political destabilization of the Helmian Federation. Despite difference of opinion regarding who won, it can be observed that the Banners of Domus gained more than it lost in this battle and the Helmian Federation lost significantly more than what it gained.