Second Pik Independence War (971-978)

Second Pik Independence War 

Also known as the Railtown War, Picketralian Revolutionary War, and the Fall of Railtown.

(971-978)

Railtown vs. The Piks

Context

Railtown was a old historic Kingdom located southeast of Moria and northwest of the Piks, who they had been occupying since 126 CE. Railtown had its own tangled, complicated history. They were never a part of Zorthenia’s empire and were an ally to the Zorthenians. 

The Piks were a collection of people that had been unified under several different kingdoms and occupations. Railtown noticed their potential and that sweet sweet copper in the Mollard Valley, the land inbetween the Sullivan River and a collection of lakes further east. Railtown invaded the Piks only a few years after they had gained independence from Zorthenia.

Fire of Stimpton (971)

On August 17, 971, paranoid Railtown had again done frequent fires in Stimpton to kill potential rebels. Fed up with this, Bartholomeu, a heir to the puppet king of the Piks, gathered a group of rebels that numbered somewhere around 27 and they built an encampment outside of Railtown’s sphere of influence near the Mordor ruins.

This group of rebels would attempt to take down Railtown.

Espionage Years (September 971-February 974)

The rebels kept a low profile for the early years of the war. In fact, many debate if we should even say the war started then. They mainly conducted recruiting efforts and espionage campaigns, such as some of Railtown’s weaknesses, like anything to do with water.

In March 973, one of its members betrayed the rebels and sold secrets to Railtown. The rebels barely escaped to Sand Dune City where they built a new headquarters and blended in as normal citizens. 

These rebels had made some changes to their appearance. Bartholomeu bleached his hair and turned his eyes from green to blue, and another rebel became a hunchback.

Eventually, on February 2, 974, the Railtonians, after a several month investigation, launched troops into Sand Dune City.

Battle of Sand Dune City:

Bartholomeu was not prepared for this attack. Their only defense was throwing hot sand at the soldiers, which surprisingly, had worked. Many soldiers went blind and one died from accidentally swallowing too much sand, breaking the digestive system. A surprise victory for the Piks, but it wouldn’t be over.

Battle of Conwin:

Just outside of present Llama Hill was a tiny city called Conwin. It is located in what is know Sullivan Lake. The Railtonians, embarrassed by the defeat at Sand Dune City, chose a place to retaliate. It would be a huge loss to the Piks if Conwin fell, because at the time, Conwin was one of the Agriculture Capitals of the World.

Remember though, Railtown is indeed blowing up their territory. They thought about this, and started sourcing their wheat from Terria Island in Moria.

On September 13, 974, the Railtonians marched into Conwin and set their crops on fire. The farmers had nothing but farm tools to retaliate, and many were killed. The rebels quickly made themselves apparent with fireballs, but it was no use. Within the week, Conwin was reduced to ruins, and the brittle mud homes have since decomposed.

Battle of Borus Hill:

The rebels after the victory of Sand Dune City for them decided to move their base to remote Borus Hill, in between Stimpton and Llama Hill. They dug what is now known as the “Rabbit Den” by historians. It is located at the halfway point between the two cities and you notice a large depression in the ground with a water filled cave. This cave was dug out by the rebels (it used to be more complete) and used as headquarters before it was blown up.

Unfortunately, another betrayal occurred. The Railtonians offered a rebel a generous cash sum plus payments for the rest of their life in return for the location of the headquarters.

The rebel said “Borus. The hill is where they are.” The next day, on July 7, 975,  the Railtonians came in and blew a huge hole in Borus Hill, exploding the base. The group lost many rebels, but miraculously, Bartholomeu made it out alive. 

Battle of the Stimpton Delta:

Bartholomeu had suffered too many losses then they could afford. They planned an attack on Railtown’s forces right where it hit them hard the most: the water.

Railtown had patrolled the Stimpton Delta for years, but was never very good if an attacker came in, which hadn’t happened since 899. 

Bartholomeu built some acacia boats and loaded up on fireballs, which were a bunch of pine cones adhered together. 

On October 28, 975, they carried their boats to a remote part of the Stimpton River and sailed up it. They arrived to find a very disorganized naval force.

They starting throwing fireballs at the bone-dry decks of the boats. The Railtonians noticed but had been completely unprepared, and quickly, the boats were on fire. Every Railtown sailor had died there.

Battle of the Birch River:

The Piks had noticed how bad the Railtonians were at naval battle. On December 22, 975, a lone Railtonian boat was seen sailing down the Birch River, so the Piks set it on fire. 

The sailor quickly called in for reinforcements with smoke signals, and the reinforcements quickly came. However, these reinforcements were bad sailors, and they quickly surrendered.

Attack on Llama Hill:

The Railtonians decided to not approach the Stimpton Delta anymore. So, they planned an attack for the Pik’s perch and residence, Llama Hill.

On March 13, 976, they flung several cannonballs towards Llama Hill, quickly destroying any encampment. Somehow, Sullivan Palace remained unscathed, minus cracked glass, but the watchtower was gone.

In the pandemonium, several Pik rebels believed it was the end and jumped off Llama Hill to their deaths. Bartholomeu and the surviving rebels escaped to Sullivan Palace, where they hid. 

The Railtonians mistakenly thought they had killed everyone and celebrated the end of the war.

Plans for the Fall of Railtown: 

Bartholomeu had been thinking, but had been drawing blanks for several weeks on how to retaliate. Since Railtown thought he and his rebels were dead, he didn’t have to worry too much.

Since Llama Hill was self-sustaining with farms and bees and everything, they never needed to venture out of Llama Hill.

He heard that a man in Pafalia, Moria, could use a concoction and render someone in a state of uselessness, similar to modern Laughing Gas.

He wanted to use this for Railtown. He had to get to Pafalia, but couldn’t take the quicker way, which involved going near Railtown. 

His plans were to sail up the Stimpton River, then to the Delta, then up the Birch River, then a few other river routes to Northern Moria, where he would travel by camel and mule to Pafalia.

Finally, he set this plan into motion. Since Railtown had given up any naval power, their boats weren’t in their river.

Bartholomeu made it to Pafalia. He wandered into the cave and found the old scrawny man. The man provided him with 3 bottles of the concoction and asked for some gold in return. Bartholomeu provided the gold.

Bartholomeu raced back to Llama Hill. He had heard from the old man that pretty much all of New Railtown, an old Railtown city that had become part of Moria in 655 had moved out in the event the Piks came in.

Bartholomeu waited for nearly a year for the perfect moment. That moment came on May 25, 978.

Battle of Savannah Tree (Fall of Railtown)

The rebels of the Piks had been at war with Railtown, the occupiers of the Piks since the 100’s, since 971. Bartholomeu knew this was it. He had visited a scrawny old man in Pafalia, Moria,  who claimed a concoction he had made could render someone useless, similar to laughing gas. The Pik rebels had kept this in their hiding place for a year now, ready for the perfect time to strike.

On the morning of May 25, 978, Bartholomeu and his team of rebels had a hearty breakfast consisting of rabbit, and marched onwards, approaching Railtown, wearing dead bush over their head to prevent the gas from getting to them They hid behind a hill, and at approximately 10:18 AM, they ran into Railtown.

Chaos ensued. They had opened the bottles of the concoction and poured it everywhere, releasing a toxic odor. The king had deserted his people and had ran out of there at first sight, leaving the citizens and soldiers to fall victim. After a few minutes, all the Railtonians were under the spell of the gas.

Bartholomeu and his army practically went on a rampage, killing everyone and setting the government HQ and King’s house on fire. Eventually, after 3 hours of what was easy war, as the Railtonians had no defense, they had done it. Railtown had fallen.

The King of Railtown, Muller Rayle-rail VI, had returned the following morning and reportedly broke down in tears. The Piks had become independent. From 126 to 978, they were a brutally treated puppet state of Railtown.

Post-War Agreements

Muller had no choice but to surrender. On May 29, the King of Moria, the new King Bartholomeu of Picketralia, and King Muller of Railtown met in Pafalia to sign the Treaty of Pafalia. May 29 is celebrated as Picketralian Independence Day.

It stated that Railtown would be ceded to Moria, all of Railtown’s money would go to the new country of Picketralia, and that King Muller would become Citizen Muller of New Railtown, the closest city. The man who had given the concoction to the Piks was hailed as a hero and paraded through the streets. He was given a hefty sum of money and died in Moria 4 years later.

After the War

Railtown fell into ruin and was not inhabited for a very long time. The Piks formed Picketralia and the country has been thriving ever since. The Piks likely couldn’t have survived more then a few years of they hadn’t gotten all of Railtown’s money, which was quite a lot. 

Unfortunately, the Piks nearly had been captured again in 1201, when Cardashia tried to become the New Railtown and invade Picketralia. Thankfully, the already strong Picketralia enlisted the military genius Edward Scott to kick Cardashia out. 

Cardashia wasn’t too smart with their money and put nearly all of it into the invasion. They went bankrupt and was absorbed into the neighboring nation of Flourtess

Notes

Moria had helped the Piks throughout the war.