William's Submission

William's Submission was a controversial treaty put out by William Artuen that ended the War of the Sands and brought about the Vregan Annex.

Heavy Pressure
General Spencer Jarvis's Free Army had taken up the defense network neglected by the Imperials during the Third Sadriellan Uprising. They'd been fighting a losing battle, with fortresses falling and lines being abandoned. General Jarvis had already withdrawn most of his men to defend the Artuen Coastline from Zatlin naval sieges. William was busy tying up the Imperial forces in Everwinter, and knew that a Pollev invasion would end Sadriel. He ordered General Jarvis to make one final desperate attack on the Holy Rocks Oasis Temple. This area had been serving as a staging point for the Pollev forces, and a victory would sever their supply lines and force them to draw back to more populated areas, thus relieving the pressure from the Vregan and Artuen borders, at least until Yoren reinforcements could arrive.

The Battle of Holy Rocks
Pollev scouts alerted the Fire Mages at Holy Rocks that a Sadrielan host was incoming. Spencer had moved his forces via Portaling to the Marwind front and began moving across the desert. Around this time Jared Williams arrived and took Tiranus, Spencer's highest Lieutenant, to help him with an operation against the New Cult in Car'af'fel. Angry that his army was less functional than ever, with both Will and Jared superseding his command, Spencer made camp ten miles from Holy Rocks, demanding that he have an audience with Will.

Spencer's camp was attacked seven times by Pollev light cavalry that had been left to guard Holy Rocks before Will arrived. During those seven attacks, Spencer took heavy losses. Near the end, he invented a new technique to combat Dah'ril, so called Sah'ril. It involved setting heavy pikes to face the charge so the cavalry had to move off or take heavy casualties. The size of Pollev's army didn't allow for them to take many casualties, so they would break the charge every time. Then Spencer would mount a counter charge of heavy cavalry to break the out of formation Pollev. By this method he managed to turn the last three battles into great successes.

When Will arrived, Spencer had changed his view. Instead of trying to break from Will's authority, he instead demanded more soldiers and supplies. Will explained that at the Weirther Massacre, most of their Portaling Mages had been destroyed, so it was now impossible to move around a large army. Spencer finally attacked Holy Rocks, and found it reinforced and fortified.

About the time of the start of the Battle of Holy Rocks, the Car'af'fel Crisis began with the death of the elderly Rah Aliyan by Tiranus's hands. His heir, Prince Suma, had disappeared. Without leadership, several Pollev warlords attempted to take control which caused them to fight each other and lock down the city and all forces within. Pollev soldiers were called back from the front to reinforce their warlord. Holy Rocks didn't receive news of it while under siege, and so they expected reinforcements throughout the battle.

The battle itself was long and uneventful. For the first three days, Dah'ril met Sah'ril and Pollev forces suffered. Eventually the Dah'ril strategy was abandoned and focus was put more on magical attacks, which the Pollev thought Spencer's Free Army wouldn't expect. Spencer had only three Mages, one of Fire, two of Water, and they were put under heavy strain to defend the camp against dozens of Fire Mages.

Spencer decided to retaliate immediately after a Fire attack, and sent his full forces to breach the weakened south palisade. The Fire Mages accidentally set fire to their fortifications, causing their defenders to have to abandon them. As Spencer's men entered the Oasis, they were fought amongst the trees and buildings by the Mages and remaining Pollev soldiers. Spencer's force vastly outnumbered the Pollev combatants at this point, and the next morning Archmage Rian surrendered and turned over the oasis. Spencer let the remaining soldiers leave back to Car'af'fel, much to the chagrin of his soldiers.

The remaining lines of Pollev found both the Western and Southern fronts undefended, and advanced into Sadriel. Will realized his tactical error too late, for now Pollev were burning and pillaging Sadrielan villages.

Meeting at Verin
Will called for a summit to be held at Verin between head Sadrielan leaders and top Pollev warlords. By this time, the Car'af'fel Crisis had ended and Prince Suma had been found and named Rah. Samuel, Will, Keagan, Spencer, Drake, and Nephi all attended on Sadriel's behalf. Suma stayed quiet for most of the meeting, with his warlords speaking for him.

The William's Submission treaty was drafted at that meeting. It began with a conclusion of hostilities between Pollev and Sadriel. Spencer was to withdraw his army immediately and restore Holy Rocks and all territory taken back to Pollev. Sadriel would supply the Pollev with workers to help destroy the fortresses and trenches that remained. Pollev, in return, would pay a large sum of money to the Sadrielan government as reparations for damages caused by the pillaging that had followed the Battle of Holy Rocks.

Pollev insisted that they would be required to return to a violent lifestyle unless they were given fertile territory. Will immediately turned over Marwind’s border up to ten miles outside Verin. With Sadriel acting as a Protectorate Government, they had the authority to make land transactions from Marwind. Then Will promised over Vregan’s Hold up to Temujen’s Wall and a slice of Artuen Hold. This caused the Sadrielan side of the meeting to begin fighting amongst themselves, but Will managed to convince them this would permanently appease the Pollev. The agreement was signed and put into place immediately.

Repercussions
What followed the signing of the treaty was a mass emigration of Sadrielan citizens from Vregan’s Hold into central Sadriel. Pollev moved in and took over the farms, though they were not sure how they worked. Will insisted they offer no more help, and let the Pollev be distracted by the task of establishing a food supply. Other aspects of Pollev life suffered as they diverted all resources to getting the farms going.

Spencer’s Free Army was moved to Everwinter to reinforce the soldiers holding Fanren Pass. Upon Jared’s return from Talamon, Spencer’s forces were moved yet again back to Marwind as a guarding force. Though untrue, the assassination of the Queen of Yoren is often blamed on disillusioned farmers from Sadriel. This opened up a rift between Yoren and Sadriel, which was widened by the ascension of Karelia Blackonias.

The biggest effect that William’s Submission had on The Second War of Time was it allowed the Pollev army to be supplied enough to send a large host to Don Daldor. Though the Pollev didn’t have much effect on the outcome of the battle, their cavalry were positioned on the Forces of Eliandor’s flanks, preventing them from retreating and fighting somewhere else. Had High General Faldor had the option to fight further southward, at Fort Hawkins or Fenwick, he would have taken it, thus breaking the Prophecy of Don Daldor and ultimately causing Talamon’s victory.