The Division War

The Division war was a conflict in the 2nd Era of Sargeroth from which began on 2.83.611 until 3.23.611. The war was fought between the Blumen clan, House Kessel, and the 1st generation Sargeroth Guardsmen. The conflict is remembered for its decisive move towards a more centralized and controlled city. The death toll is hard to calculate but scholars put it at more than 300 people who perished due directly to violence during the war. It was the City's only conflict which was referred to as a war until the War of the Councils of the early 3rd Era.

Reasonings for War
As stated on many other pages, the Blumen and Gloran clans despised each other. This led to generations of competition between the two ruling families. House Kessel was only brought into the conflict when they aligned themselves with the Glorans who promised lower prices for wood as well as other economic incentives. House Blumen also vied for support from the Kessels, lowering prices of wheat used to feed the Kessel cattle before the war but philosophical disagreements and scandal forged a divide between the two families which could not be bridged.

Violence Ensues
It is unknown as to what occurrence directly caused the cascade of increasing numbers of soldiers arming themselves and fighting in the streets but this scholar would posit that a food shortage, which some believe was artificially created by the Blumens. The food shortage caused riots in Greater Sargeroth, through which one particularly violent event resulted in the deaths of 3 Blumen officials.

The Blumen royalty took this as a direct affront to their sovereignty and demanded the Sargeroth Guard harshly punish the rioters. However, many of the guardsmen were, themselves, participants in the riot. The request was denied. Several more riots gave way to almost a dozen deaths of Blumen and Gloran House members. Rioters began setting up barricades and prepared for a fight before it had even begun. The Sargeroth Guard responsible for maintaining peace abandoned the order from their Lord of Affairs, Khal Menion, to stop the riots from escalating. Most fled their posts as they saw rioters approach.

Escalation
After a week of bloody riots, the Kessel Family met with Gloran and Sargerithian officials to form a loose coalition against the Blumens. At this time, the Blumens still pleaded with House Kessel to defend them; their words fell on deaf ears however.

The Battle of Brick
Fearing the alliance of Kessels and Glorans, the Blumens stockpiled supplies and armaments in their Brick fortress built upon the Neutral zone above Cliffside preparing for a siege. Though many Blumens died in the street battles, more than 100 of them had safely moved to the fortress. The Officers of the Alliance forces met to discuss plans for an assault on the Blumen position. They agreed that Kessel and Sargeroth soldiers would form the frontal assault. Meanwhile, the Gloran soldiers (who numbered under 40) would launch a surprise attack from the southeast to use primitive explosives upon the outer wall.

The Frontal assault began at dawn of the 30th day of War. Sargeroth soldiers plunged in first, led by their Captain of Imperial Guard, Düm Laniem. Kessels maintained a constant barrage of arrows from their walls not far away from the Blumen fort until moving in ground forces to relieve the embattled Sargeroth soldiers.

The siege would not have been successful from this frontal assault alone. While Sargeroth and Kessel soldiers took many casualties trying to break down the front gate, The Blumens had most of their soldier waiting in cover within the fortress. 3 Waves were successfully repelled from the front gate before the Glorans successfully blew a hole in the far side of the fort.

The Glorans, though small in number, were ravenous for revenge upon their worst foes and tore into the bewildered soldiers huddling within the walls. As the wall blew, Mynyp Blumen, the Blumen Head officer, sounded a horn from the Fortress's tower signaling the loss of the battle. This alerted remaining Blumen clanned sargerithians to flee the city as quickly as possible. She along with the rest of her soldiers fought to the death defending their Fortress to the last man to give as much time as possible for the rest of the clan to flee to safety. Mynyp was said to have slain 8 Glorans before succumbing to Glor Gloran's axe. In the end, the Glorans, Kessels and Guardsmen were successful, despite taking far more casualties than the Blumens.

Düm Laniem was praised for his determination and ability to lead in battle. The Glorans as well were held in much higher regard, many seeing them as heroes who Freed them from Blumen oppression. Mostly racist sentiments kept the Kessels from receiving much affection from the Sargerithian populace, many of whom saw the Kessels as worse than the Blumens.

The Purge
As the Blumen horn sounded, hundreds of Sargerithians took to the streets, bent on escape. As they went, all those, men and women, who could wield a sword, fought all those who stood in their way. It took hours for the Guardsmen to move back into the city, finding pockets of resistance along the way. While the guardsmen mobilized, the remaining Blumens, mostly the old, young, and women killed civilians including children in order to cause a panic, causing the reaction of soldiers to be even slower. The plan worked and over 200 Blumens escaped the city to the Western Desert. In all, the slaughter is thought to amount to over 150 sargerithians killed and hundreds injured.

Aftermath
After the violence ended, the city sat quiet for several days. The Sargeroth guard were charged with cleaning the dead from the streets. Slowly businesses started picking back up. The Glorans quickly filled the void the Blumens had left. Kessel also secured a larger market share, acquiring Blumen infrastructure for mining and farming.

Glor Gloran publicly announced himself, King of Sargeroth. The Glorans immediately began recruiting more fighters and woodcutters. Eventually this would lead to the first fracturing of House Gloran with the inception of the Woodcutters guild, which, demanding better pay and protection when in the forest, became more a hinderance than advantage. Although the Glorans would maintain a tight grip on power in Greater Sargeroth, it would be short-lived.

The Kessels used the massive profits of the war to expand the Kessel quarter and its military. After only a few decades, they numbered even higher than the Sargeroth Guard. Berric Kessel commanded all of Kessel led with an iron fist and refused to tolerate anything less than perfection from his people. This rigid determination would lay the ground work for the Kessel's intimidating reputation of the late 2nd era and early 3rd era.

The Sargeroth Guard had gained experience in a true battle and had cemented themselves as a fixture of Justice and strength for the unclanned people of Sargeroth. Though many still trusted more in the old Houses, this conflict had proven to the majority of Sargerithians that a city-wide army was viable at fighting a proper battle. Khal Menion subsequently gave more open Authority to the Captain of the Imperial guard, Allowing him to have complete control over the organization and utilization of the 500 some soldiers.