Valley of Keltia Campaign
| Valley of Keltia Campaign | |||||||||
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| Part of War League Foreign Stabilization and Security Operations | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Council of Kings Division 2nd Brigade, 25th Division of the Imperial Marines, Imperial Federation Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path
|  Greater Morovian Independence Initiative remnants Order of Rochefort revivalistsDark-cult cells and insurgent cultists |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Council of Kings Command Staff Senior Officers, 2nd Brigade, 25th Division High Auditors, Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path
| Various Valley Syndicate commanders Fugitive cultic hierarchs Insurgent ritual practitioners |
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| Units involved | |||||||||
| Tonar (61/2/51 – ongoing) – Aerial & Containment 2 × Centuria (≈ 746) – corridor security (Tonar–Bashkim, Tonar–Ourid) | Valley Syndicate insurgents | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| ≈ ≈ 1,119 Council ground forces 1,000 rotating Imperial Marines Total Fed garrison: ≈ 4,000 (Haifa) Missionaries deployed: 12+ cult cadres Shrine Watch academies active in Bashkim & Ourid | ~ 400–600 active insurgents; dozens of fortified shrine complexes & enclaves | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| KIA: 42 War League; WIA: 103 Marines KIA: 2; WIA: 6 Captured: 20 (Bashkim), 9 (Ourid) Missionaries: 1 fatality, 3 wounded | Killed: ~ 190 confirmed; Wounded/captured: ~ 80 rendered combat-ineffective | ||||||||
| First foreign campaign by Council of Kings Division; first joint expedition with Imperial Federation since Southern Lake Morovia Campaign | |||||||||
The Valley of Keltia Campaign was a multinational military campaign initiated on 61/2/51 PSSC by the Council of Kings Division of the Bassaridian War League, with operational support from the Imperial Federation’s 2nd Brigade, 25th Division of the Imperial Marines. The campaign was the first foreign war waged under the direct command of the Council of Kings, marking a structural departure from the regionally driven command model that had previously defined Bassaridia Vaeringheim’s external military engagements. For the first time, a War League division reported directly to the national executive body, coordinating transnational strategy, force distribution, and mission objectives without mediation from regional Investor Commands.
The Valley of Keltia, encompassing the cities of Tonar, Bashkim, and Ourid, had become a sanctuary for insurgent remnants fleeing from previous defeats in the Southern Lake Morovia Campaign and the Morovian Frontier Campaign. These cities formed a loosely governed highland corridor that became home to exiled officers of the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative, surviving cells of claiming to represent the long disbanded Order of Rochefort, and an assortment of dark-cult practitioners unaffiliated with any formal doctrine. Though they differed in ideology, these actors had aligned tactically against Bassaridia Vaeringheim, and were implicated through audit trails in the conditions leading to the summoning of the Somniant Eidolan during Operation Somniant.
The Imperial Federation, a key ally of Bassaridia Vaeringheim, contributed to the operation through the deployment of the 2nd Brigade, 25th Division of the Imperial Marines—a mechanized, mixed-capability brigade comprising approximately 4,000 soldiers. The 2nd Brigade entered the campaign immediately following its successful participation in stabilization efforts in Matamoros, in a contested coastal city on the eastern shores of the Strait of Haifa. Drawing on its experience in fragmented, semi-urbanized environments, the brigade contributed to the Valley campaign by rotating one battalion at a time—roughly 1,000 soldiers—into the operational zone. While Bassaridian War League forces concentrated on the seizure and pacification of urban and peri-urban strongholds, the Imperial Marines took responsibility for rural interdiction, route security, and community liaison across the sparsely populated corridors that connected the primary combat theaters.
Timeline of the Valley of Keltia Campaign
| Date (PSSC) | Event | Description | Domestic Reactions |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61/2/51 | Operation Bebéakáus Ski launched against Tonar | The Council of Kings Division initiates the campaign with a precision airstrike on Tonar, targeting ritual supply sites tied to the Somniant Eidolan. Eight strategic sites are destroyed; no ground incursion is authorized. | Widespread support in urban centers. Commentators praised the precision of the strike and its restraint. Some religious scholars raised early concerns about Tonar’s continued status outside Port governance. |
| 3/3/51 | Ground offensive begins in Bashkim | War League forces enter Bashkim to clear insurgents embedded in merchant zones and shrines. Imperial Marines assist with exfiltration interdiction and civil protection. | Public sentiment is divided. Security-focused cults and shrine forums supported the operation; others expressed concern over military action in a culturally affiliated city. Initial praise for limited collateral damage. |
| 8/3/51 | Operation Oceanic begins in Ourid | Full-scale assault begins on Ourid, the spiritual command node of the insurgency. Forces fight through ridgeline complexes and shrine tunnels. Air support targets cliff sanctuaries and broadcast beacons. | Mixed but hopeful reactions. Media emphasized the scale and complexity of the offensive. Public worry emerged around prolonged conflict, but morale rose as success appeared imminent. |
| 11/3/51 | End of Phase One: Urban control established | With Bashkim and Ourid secured, Phase One ends. Shrine routes reopened, command lattice disrupted. Planning begins for stabilization. | Strong approval from most cult leadership. Public sentiment favors the transition to peacekeeping. Minor calls for clearer end goals from academic and merchant sectors. |
| 11–17/3/51 | Phase Two: Stabilization and civic reactivation | Shrine Watch begins patrol duties. Civil councils reformed. Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative restored under General Port regulation. | Highly positive. Media coverage focused on shrine restoration and economic revival. Culinary guilds celebrated the return of Valley produce and fish. Some legal forums raised concerns over fast-tracked dependency protocols. |
| 14/3/51 | Annexation petition and constitutional reform | War League submits request to annex the Valley as a Dependency. Constitution of 50.43 amended to authorize dependency status under Article VI. | Broad institutional support. Public discourse focused on long-term integration. Some editorial voices expressed caution over precedent, but approval remained high. |
| 16/3/51 | Shrine bombing in Ourid | Coordinated explosions at the Sanctum of Returning Waters kill 66, including Temple and War League personnel. Attack claimed by Tonar-based insurgents. | National mourning declared. Public outrage widespread. Support for retaliation overwhelming across all cults and political factions. Ritual silence observed in major cities. |
| 16–18/3/51 | Operation Bebéakáus Ski II: Retaliation against Tonar | Aerial saturation strikes hit Tonar’s ritual broadcast infrastructure and shrine-linked seminaries. The city is placed under Article X quarantine. | Praised as righteous retribution by Temple-aligned cults. Minor concern raised in legal forums about escalation. Majority of public and media narratives framed the strikes as just and divinely sanctioned. |
| 17–21/3/51 | Phase Three: Shrine clearance and civil transfer | Insurgent cells eliminated in Bashkim and Ourid. Shrine Watch assumes full urban patrols. Dependency Councils take over governance. Missionaries begin civic and ritual programs. | Strong public approval. Civil confidence rose as missionary involvement increased. Cults praised for restoring public order. Watch academies reported record recruitment. |
| 22–24/3/51 | Missionary surge and economic reintegration | Major cults deploy full cadres. Keltian Steppe Caravan Company is chartered to connect Valley trade to the national market. | Celebrated nationwide. Media described the caravan system as “a bridge of dust and devotion.” Temple festivals and public rites honored caravan teams and cult emissaries. |
| 24–26/3/51 | Shrine registry audits and final compliance confirmed | Shrine calendars, custodians, and territory maps finalized in all zones outside Tonar. Trade convoys certified. Liturgical attendance surpasses thresholds. | Widely seen as proof of successful pacification. Some Temple circles began calling for full reintegration of Tonar. National unity events featured Valley-themed blessings and processions. |
| 26/3/51 | End of Phase Four: Formal stabilization declared | All seven strategic objectives met. Shrine Watch in full control. Missionary cadres embedded. Tonar remains sealed under Article X. Phase Five authorized to begin. | Approval exceeds 80% in national polling. Public consensus frames the campaign as a “model of conquest through covenant.” Minor debates continue about the long-term fate of Tonar, but no unrest reported. |
Phase One Operational Details
The first phase of the Valley of Keltia Campaign unfolded as a coordinated, three-pronged assault designed to dislodge a newly exposed insurgent coalition entrenched across the highland cities of Tonar, Bashkim, and Ourid. Intelligence gathered during the closing operations of Operation Somniant revealed that these cities—long regarded as spiritually distinct and politically neutral—had been quietly subsumed into a clandestine resistance framework comprised of interlinked cells from the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative, doctrinal revivalists of the Order of Rochefort, and fragmented but dangerously adaptive insurgent cultist networks. While their methods and mythologies diverged, these groups had converged in mutual sanctuary across the Valley, creating a spiritual and logistical beltway hostile to Bassaridian order.
The campaign began on 61/2/51 PSSC with Operation Bebéakáus Ski, a high-precision airstrike against Tonar’s artisan complexes and depots, targeting critical nodes in the ritual material supply chain that had supported the conjuration of the Somniant Eidolan. As the fog-shrouded sorties concluded, ground elements moved swiftly to isolate Bashkim, where insurgent command echelons had embedded themselves in merchant districts, shrine halls, and ritual communication centers. Here, Imperial Marines supported Bassaridian Centuriae in containing sabotage networks while preserving civilian infrastructure and shrine integrity.
By 8/3/51 PSSC, the War League launched Operation Oceanic, the most ambitious maneuver of the campaign, targeting Ourid—now confirmed as the highland citadel of insurgent doctrine and command. Combined-arms teams confronted entrenched resistance from fortified complexes embedded in ridgelines and canyon sanctuaries, where Rochefort war-preachers and Morovian logisticians coordinated arms trafficking and sacrificial broadcasting beneath the cover of geomantic camouflage.
Despite delays caused by weather anomalies, terrain disruption, and complex-centered fighting doctrines, Phase One achieved its primary strategic goals. Air and ground forces disrupted insurgent ritual logistics, fractured multi-faction command cohesion, and reclaimed corridors and mountain passes long held by hostile forces. The campaign’s opening act not only restored mobility and fire superiority to Bassaridian forces in the Valley but also redefined the cultural and theological map of the region. What had once been sanctuaries of quiet autonomy had now been forcibly reconsecrated under Bassaridian law, and the insurgency’s inner sanctums were laid bare for systematic dismantling in the phases to follow.
Operation Bebéakáus Ski - Tonar (61/2/51 PSSC)
The Valley of Keltia Campaign commenced on 61/2/51 PSSC with a high-precision airstrike against the independent city-state of Tonar, launched under the codename Operation Bebéakáus Ski. Tonar—long regarded as a regional outlier with deep artisanal and ritualist traditions—had increasingly drawn scrutiny from War League intelligence after a series of intercepted communiqués and audits linked the city’s academic and religious sectors to the transfer of restricted ritual schemata and mnemonic catalysts. Investigative summaries compiled during the final weeks of Operation Somniant concluded that several key components involved in the conjuration of the Somniant Eidolan had transited through Tonar’s shrine archives and lithurgical dispensaries. More significantly, follow-up assessments identified Tonar as a covert node in a broader insurgent logistics web that spanned the Valley’s western periphery, with overlapping ties to cultic insurgents, Order of Rochefort revivalists, and dormant cells affiliated with the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative.
The operation’s launch was briefly delayed due to unseasonal fogbanks along the Morovian Meridian, which grounded the initial sortie window and forced War League planners to recalibrate timing and altitude vectors to preserve tactical surprise. IFF systems encountered brief disruptions caused by a localized atmospheric interference zone, requiring air crews to temporarily switch to manual beacon authentication to avoid misidentification between high-speed intercepts and bomber escorts.
Despite these complications, the Council of Kings Division proceeded with the planned assault. A full Moira squadron was deployed—comprising six Misttalon Class Heavy Bombers and six Abeis-Minerva Class Littoral Strike Aircraft, escorted by four Symphonara Class Compound Intercepts. The formation was guided by a secondary Ventiflor Eye AWACS relay and executed its attack run within twenty-seven minutes of entering the target envelope.
The strike focused on six carefully selected sites: three shrine nodes identified as ritual synthesis and distribution points; two chemical synthesis facilities believed to be producing catalyst compounds for mnemonic disruption; and one subterranean archive linked to the smuggling of forbidden Rochefort texts. All targets were confirmed destroyed through post-strike surveillance. One Misttalon briefly diverted off-course due to a radar ghost signature but was successfully reoriented mid-flight, preserving strike cohesion. The precision of the operation minimized collateral damage while maximizing disruption of insurgent spiritual infrastructure.
Tonar issued a formal diplomatic protest through its merchant-religious council but refrained from any retaliatory response. The city’s leadership characterized the strike as “unprovoked” but notably avoided invoking war or invoking mutual-defense clauses with neighboring city-states—an ambiguity that War League analysts interpreted as evidence of Tonar’s compromised position and internal uncertainty. No ground forces were committed during the operation, which was declared tactically complete within the day. However, War League high command left the door open for further interdictions pending additional intelligence, particularly regarding the city’s residual connections to insurgent financing, ritual dissemination, and cultist safe haven activity.
Subsequent surveillance in the weeks following the strike confirmed that while direct retaliation had been avoided, activity in Tonar’s outer shrine districts remained suspiciously elevated—particularly among clerical circles later revealed to have connections to Rochefort revivalists. These findings would later inform the War League’s strategic decision to withhold further escalation during Phase Two, allowing intelligence operatives and Temple auditors to monitor Tonar under a cloak of diplomatic ambiguity, while reinforcing containment measures without triggering renewed open hostilities.
Operation Bashkim (3/3/51 – 11/3/51 PSSC)
Prior to the launch of Operation Somniant, relations between Bassaridia Vaeringheim and the independent city-state of Bashkim were defined by a precarious equilibrium. Located along Bassaridia’s eastern flank, Bashkim functioned for decades as a neutral frontier polity—economically integrated but politically unaligned. Merchants from both sides moved freely between districts, and Bassaridian shrines operated openly in the city, even as Bashkim maintained its civic autonomy. The city’s position as a conduit of spiritual exchange and trade made it a linchpin of regional stability—until its neutrality was compromised in the closing months of Operation Somniant.
By early 51 PSSC, intercepted communiqués and post-raid intelligence compiled by the Council of Kings Division revealed that Bashkim had become a refuge and operational hub for insurgent actors fleeing the Odiferian Wetlands and western lakeshore cities. Confirmed visual identifications and shrine registry matches indicated that fugitives from the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative had taken shelter in warehouse tenements, while agents of the Order of Rochefort had quietly reactivated long-defunct guild halls and temple archives. More disturbingly, a series of encrypted ritual broadcasts traced to subdistrict loudspeakers revealed the presence of dark-cult operatives performing veiled rites under the guise of local civic worship. Bashkim’s autonomy, once a symbol of pragmatic coexistence, had been co-opted as a mask for insurgent consolidation.
On 3/3/51 PSSC, the War League initiated a limited, high-priority intervention. A full Centuria—approximately 373 personnel—was dispatched into the city, supported by a rotating battalion from the 2nd Brigade, 25th Division of the Imperial Marines. The operation aimed to disrupt embedded command networks while minimizing civilian disruption. However, heavy rainfall across the approach corridors triggered mudslides and minor flooding, severely affecting outer logistics. Several vehicle routes were rendered impassable, and one Icaria-class mine-clearing vehicle was lost after triggering a buried device laced with shrine incense bundles—likely a signature trap laid by cultist cells. Pathfinding for armored convoys had to be reengineered under combat conditions.
Despite these challenges, War League forces maintained operational tempo. Gargani quadwalkers and Cathartes hoverbikes proved especially effective in maneuvering through Bashkim’s dense alleyways, many of which had been altered by insurgents to create dead ends and false tunnels. Thalassa and Laya tanks provided overwatch near reinforced safehouses suspected of hosting G.M.I.I. communication nodes, while Syrinx IFVs deployed Kalithros-equipped infantry for sweep-and-clear operations through mixed-use districts. UAV overwatch and AEW&C relays provided thermal scans of shrine interiors, which had been converted into insurgent coordination sites.
The urban insurgents—aware of the War League’s intent to avoid shrine desecration—exploited civilian and sacred zones for cover. Order of Rochefort operatives disseminated forged Temple Bank communiqués declaring the War League heretical, and cultist cells attempted to sanctify weapon stockpiles with sacrificial emblems to discourage strikes. War League commanders responded by implementing adaptive targeting protocols and issuing binding proclamations of ritual authority from Temple auditors embedded with forward units, which sanctioned tactical intervention in compromised spiritual zones.
The Imperial Marines played a pivotal role in stabilizing the city’s periphery. Tasked with closing exfiltration routes into the highlands, Marine units established perimeter checkpoints and deployed into adjacent villages to deliver aid and prevent retaliatory rites from taking hold. One detachment was temporarily isolated after a stone bridge collapsed—an event later determined to be the result of a delayed explosive charge embedded in the mortar during shrine renovations. Airborne reinforcement quickly reestablished contact.
From 5/3 to 9/3, isolated civic unrest surfaced in several inner wards. Rumors of shrine desecration—amplified by Rochefort orators and cultist trance-runners—triggered flash protests, some of which devolved into targeted arson attempts on Bassaridian-affiliated temples. These disturbances were rapidly de-escalated through non-lethal dispersion, localized curfews, and the deployment of Temple Bank emissaries, who issued public assurances that spiritual sites remained protected under wartime guardianship.
By 11/3/51 PSSC, Bassaridian forces had secured Bashkim’s central plaza, merchant hubs, and the inner shrine belt. The eastern warehouse corridors, however, remained partially contested. Intelligence assets confirmed that while many insurgent operatives had either been killed or displaced, certain command elements—particularly those tied to the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative—continued to operate in fragmented cells. Cultic graffiti and remnant sigil networks discovered during sweep operations suggested that portions of the insurgent cult hierarchy remained underground, possibly awaiting the resumption of rites timed to celestial events.
Nonetheless, War League planners declared the operation’s core objectives fulfilled. Bashkim’s civil order had been reestablished in key zones, shrine governance was reinforced under the watch of the Temple Bank, and trade corridors had been reconnected with Bassaridian logistics routes. Continued cooperation with the Imperial Federation ensured resupply lanes and population security, laying the groundwork for Phase Two’s gradual transformation from urban conflict to stabilization and economic reconstitution.
Operation Oceanic - Ourid (8/3/51 PSSC - 11/3/51 PSSC)
On 8/3/51 PSSC, the Council of Kings Division initiated a decisive highland assault against the city of Ourid, marking the official commencement of the primary offensive phase of the Valley of Keltia Campaign. Located in a secluded basin of the Eastern Caledonian Highlands, Ourid had by that time evolved into the central operational node for the region’s most entrenched resistance forces. Intelligence drawn from captured operatives, shrine audits, and aerial signal intercepts identified the city not merely as a sanctuary, but as the administrative and spiritual redoubt of a consolidated insurgent bloc composed of Greater Morovian Independence Initiative remnants, Order of Rochefort revivalist cadres, and a network of insurgent cultist hierarchies. These groups, while doctrinally distinct, had embedded themselves into Ourid’s layered shrine systems and ridgeline tunnels, leveraging the city’s religious architecture and mountainous terrain to establish a fortress of both ideology and insurgency.
Two full Centuriae—totaling approximately 746 Bassaridian War League personnel—were deployed in coordination with two Moirai strike squadrons and two Ptiseis escort wings. The approach was hampered by seasonal freeze-thaw instability, which transformed key mountain passes into unpredictable mudflows and landslide-prone switchbacks. Forward engineer units were tasked with rerouting heavy armor and stabilizing compromised slopes, while Arachne Class Light Tanks and Corythia Transport Trucks demonstrated exceptional adaptability in traversing washed-out lowlands and unstable fordways. Amphibious configurations were field-tested in frost-choked river corridors to establish alternate supply chains.
The assault package included a diverse suite of War League combat platforms: Cathartes-class hoverbike interdiction teams, Khamsin-class desert skirmishers adapted for highland operations, Gargani and other quadwalker variants, and a full complement of Thalassa and Laya tanks operating in overwatch and pressure roles. Syrinx IFVs deployed Kalithros-equipped infantry along shrine corridors and across ridge-linked transit routes identified as critical for shrine-to-shrine insurgent mobility. These high-altitude causeways were frequently used for arms trafficking, ritual transport, and encrypted communiqués between enclaves.
Air dominance was central to the early stages of the assault. Misttalon bombers and Abeis-Minerva strike craft conducted deep-penetration sorties against fortified shrine enclaves and elevated ritual batteries believed to host Order of Rochefort commanders. Several sorties were delayed by unexpected thermal updrafts near the canyon mouths, forcing real-time vector recalibration. Chrysos Sea Bombers, reconfigured for low-altitude inland saturation, engaged cliffside redoubts and tunnel mouth positions, while Aurantius UAVs maintained persistent ISR coverage. On 10/3, a dense fog front severed the link between Ventiflor Eye AWACS and forward command, prompting a fallback to manual telemetry relays via Symphonara Intercepts to preserve target-lock continuity.
The Imperial Marines maintained their rotational presence in the eastern corridor between Bashkim and Ourid, primarily tasked with securing agricultural nodes, shrine-linked hamlets, and courier channels used for ritual document smuggling. Their rapid-response units suppressed ambush attempts on supply convoys and interdicted insurgent emissaries attempting to escape south. On the operation’s fourth day, a Marine logistics convoy was attacked in a narrow saddle pass; quick reaction hoverbike scouts neutralized the assault, supported by UAV-guided air cover. Intelligence recovered from the attackers confirmed the ambush had been coordinated jointly by Morovian and Rochefort-aligned operatives—signaling an increasingly synchronized insurgent defense.
By 11/3/51 PSSC, Bassaridian assault teams had seized control of all outer passes, elevated shrine belts, and canyon entry nodes. Combat engineers began audit-and-clearing operations in shrine districts rigged with explosive charges, some of which were still active at the time of entry. Bunkers and observation galleries embedded into the rock faces served as firing positions and spiritual relay nodes for cultic insurgents, who had weaponized the sacred topography of the region to resist conventional breach protocols. Biometrics enabled forward units to identify and eliminate or detain multiple high-value targets, including mid-level Rochefort preachers and a G.M.I.I. courier cell transmitting encrypted orders via ritual altar inscriptions.
Doctrinal documents, encoded codices, and spiritual detonators were recovered in large quantities, many bearing cross-symbolic motifs indicating collaboration between the Order of Rochefort and cultist factions. A number of shrine complexes had been repurposed as sanctified armories, with weapon stockpiles fused to ritual altars and laced with sacrificial deterrents. Temple auditors embedded with the operation cataloged, neutralized, and formally deconsecrated compromised holy sites in real time.
By the close of Phase One, Ourid remained partially in insurgent hands, particularly in the central sanctum and elevated gallery wards. Still, the War League had seized every key ingress route, severed the enemy’s outer supply grid, and collapsed their inter-shrine communication lattice. Forward commanders reported a marked increase in resistance density toward the core and authorized a brief operational pause to reevaluate breach trajectories ahead of Phase Two. The city, once a sanctuary of spiritual syncretism and resistance, now stood fractured—its sacred spaces contested, its insurgent backbone weakened, and its logistical arteries firmly under Bassaridian control.
Phase One Assessment
The first phase of the Valley of Keltia Campaign marked a watershed in the military, doctrinal, and spiritual posture of Bassaridia Vaeringheim. For the first time, operational command authority was concentrated in the newly empowered Council of Kings Division, bypassing the traditional regional Investor Command structure in favor of direct executive oversight. This reorganization enabled agile multi-theater coordination and reflected a national shift toward centralized, integrated warfighting doctrine. It also inaugurated a new operational era for the Bassaridian War League—one in which cultic containment, spiritual reclamation, and frontier integration were seen as inseparable objectives.
Phase One also represented the most extensive collaboration between Bassaridia Vaeringheim and the Imperial Federation since the post-restructuring alignment of War League doctrine in the early 50s. The 2nd Brigade, 25th Division of the Imperial Marines, operating under a rotating battalion system, contributed critical depth to the campaign through rural interdiction, perimeter stabilization, and security coordination. War League forces conducted shrine-targeted kinetic operations and doctrinal sanctum clearances, while Imperial elements ensured uninterrupted logistical flows and rear-area civic continuity through liaison work and population management.
Three cities—Tonar, Bashkim, and Ourid—were selected as primary operational targets based on layered intelligence linking each to a regional insurgent triad. Each had become, in different ways, a node within an emerging resistance alliance composed of exiled elements of the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative, embedded revivalists of the Order of Rochefort, and decentralized but increasingly networked insurgent cultist cells. Together, these actors had created a subterranean shrine economy, a fragmented political narrative, and a common doctrine of resistance through spiritual ambiguity and ritual subversion.
In Tonar, the campaign opened with Operation Bebéakáus Ski, a surgical strike aimed at the ritual production and memory-encoding centers responsible for transiting Eidolic components during Operation Somniant. Despite delays caused by dense fog and IFF interference, all designated targets were destroyed, including encrypted shrine archives and chemical mnemonic synthesis sites. The operation revealed Tonar’s dual role as a logistical hub and doctrinal incubator for resistance factions—a revelation that would shape Phase Two surveillance and containment strategy.
In Bashkim, War League ground units engaged a city in the process of spiritual and political subversion. What had once been a neutral city-state hosting open Bassaridian shrines had become a covert sanctuary for insurgent leadership. Flooded roads, sacrificial booby traps, and protected insurgent redoubts complicated forward momentum, but engineers cleared approach routes and Kalithros-equipped infantry executed controlled, district-by-district clearance. Imperial Marines contained exfiltration paths and distributed civilian aid, while Temple Bank emissaries reaffirmed the legitimacy of shrine protection, countering Rochefort propaganda and cultic fear spells with public audits. By 11/3/51 PSSC, insurgent cohesion in the city had shattered, with only residual cells maintaining influence in the contested eastern quarter.
In Ourid, Phase One culminated in a fully integrated combined-arms assault against one of the most fortified spiritual strongholds in eastern Keltia. Situated among natural ridgelines and ritual sanctums, Ourid had been transformed into a shrine-fortress shared by Morovian logisticians, Rochefort priests, and cultic doctrinaires. The terrain posed major challenges: unseasonal ice flows, unstable passes, and ritual saboteurs slowed the advance, while air operations were hampered by thermal anomalies and sacred geomancy. Nevertheless, Bassaridian forces captured the outer shrine belts and ridgeline command platforms, identifying and neutralizing multiple mid-level commanders and recovering encrypted ritual texts and spiritual detonators. Imperial elements secured the outer supply corridor linking Bashkim to Ourid, ensuring forward momentum and logistical continuity.
Taken as a whole, Phase One succeeded in dismantling the insurgent bloc’s front-facing logistics, splintering its intercity command lattice, and reconsecrating shrine terrain under Bassaridian authority. While elements of the resistance remained embedded in inner sanctums and rural peripheries, their collective ability to act as a unified front had been broken. Sacred geography—once manipulated through ambiguity and doctrinal plurality—was recharted in Bassaridian terms.
As planning for Phase Two commenced, updated terrain maps, shrine assessments, and insurgent doctrinal profiles were synthesized into new operational models. The campaign was no longer simply a military operation—it had become a spiritual war of restoration and containment. In this, Bassaridia Vaeringheim emerged not only as a conquering force, but as the executor of a new frontier order across the contested highlands of central Keltia.
Phase Two Operational Details
Phase Two of the Valley of Keltia Campaign began on 11/3/51 PSSC as War League forces initiated a formal transition from high-intensity combat operations to a phase of stabilization, infrastructure reconstruction, and the reestablishment of provisional civic authority across the contested central corridor. Under the leadership of the Council of Kings Division and supported by the Imperial Federation, this phase followed the disintegration of enemy battlefield cohesion achieved in Phase One and aimed to confront the more insidious challenges posed by residual insurgency, spiritual disorder, and political fragmentation.
Unlike the clear combat formations encountered earlier, Phase Two revealed the complexity of opposition in the Valley: remnants of the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative continued to operate as autonomous sabotage cells; revivalist elements aligned with the Order of Rochefort reemerged within shrine institutions and civil guilds; and insurgent cultists, fractured but deeply entrenched, maintained control over clandestine ritual sites, flood channels, and segments of the symbolic terrain. These three actors, though organizationally distinct, exploited overlapping smuggling routes, subverted shrine governance structures, and coordinated indirectly through spiritual networks and encrypted broadcasts.
While no new combat operations were initiated in Tonar, surveillance assets remained highly active in the city and its outlying shrine districts. Intelligence reports indicated a resurgence of cult activity in abandoned sanctuaries, as well as possible Order of Rochefort gatherings in academic compounds. Despite calls from domestic security councils and Temple factions for proactive interdiction, War League command, in consultation with spiritual auditors and shrine liaisons, elected to maintain a posture of containment. The decision was widely interpreted as a strategic effort to preserve resources and avoid reigniting instability in a city that had not openly resisted during Phase One.
In Bashkim, Phase Two focused on the restoration of municipal order through rolling clearance operations, particularly in the heavily contested eastern warehouse corridors. These districts remained the site of overlapping insurgent activity: G.M.I.I. agents deployed IEDs beneath freight corridors, Rochefort loyalists circulated counterfeit edicts challenging the Temple Bank’s spiritual legitimacy, and cultic cells embedded explosive charms into collapsed shrine structures. Despite these threats, engineering teams reactivated major transit routes, while civil-military liaison offices reestablished shrine authority through joint reconstruction protocols. Among the most notable developments was the formal registration of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, a highland agrarian syndicate specializing in cold-steppe grains, legumes, and herbal infusions. The Association’s addition to the rolls of the General Port of Lake Morovia marked a turning point in Bashkim’s economic revitalization, reconnecting mountain communities to shrine provisioning systems and restoring the rhythms of regulated highland commerce.
In parallel, reconstruction initiatives extended to the river corridor. The Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative, a syndicate of cold-water fishers whose operations had been blocked since the insurgency's onset, was formally reactivated under War League protection. Operating along the upper tributaries of the Ouriana River as they descend from the southern slopes of the Eastern Caledonian Highlands, the Cooperative resumed the harvesting and processing of grayling, whitefish, and ritual-grade lamprey. With their inclusion into the General Port system, a key portion of the valley’s aquatic supply chain was restored—linking riverside temples, municipal kitchens, and shrine markets to one of the region’s oldest spiritual and economic traditions. The Cooperative’s return was framed by state media and Temple authorities alike as both a logistical success and a sign of restored divine favor.
The most dynamic and militarized front of Phase Two unfolded in Ourid, where efforts centered on seizing and holding the Ouriana Riverfront. This logistics artery had long been exploited by insurgent logisticians, cult sappers, and Rochefort operatives who used its channels to transport supplies, personnel, and encrypted communiqués between the city’s shrine sectors. Under difficult weather conditions and amidst a fortified enemy presence, War League forces emplaced bridging units under fire, neutralized tunnel access points with coordinated aerial strikes, and deployed combat divers from the Imperial Marines to intercept submerged demolition teams. The urbanized riverfront, marked by submerged strongpoints and weaponized sanctuaries, demanded a fully integrated approach: forward infantry patrols worked alongside engineers, military police, and cultural liaisons to stabilize newly reclaimed wards while ensuring the preservation of shrine artifacts and sacred spaces.
Throughout the Valley, strategic overwatch and force mobility were maintained through continuous aerial and naval operations. Littoral strike aircraft, interceptors, and drones patrolled the major junctions of insurgent movement, while marine detachments and Bijarian Ballistic Missile Submarines asserted strategic control over Lake Morovia, thereby cutting off retreat and resupply corridors. These forces enabled a sustained operational tempo while protecting critical flanks and allowing civil operations to resume with minimal interference.
By the conclusion of Phase Two, the War League and its Imperial partners had not only secured their territorial gains but had begun to construct the legal, spiritual, and economic infrastructure necessary for long-term consolidation. The reactivation of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative marked a twin milestone in restoring both the agrarian and riverine lifelines of the Valley. Together, these institutions served as tangible expressions of Bassaridian civil doctrine—unifying material security with sacred practice. With governance frameworks reestablished in Bashkim and Ourid, and insurgent command structures fractured, Phase Two marked the transformation of the campaign from an offensive military conquest into a deep-rooted stabilization initiative. The Valley of Keltia, long contested and fractured, now stood on the cusp of structured reintegration under Bassaridian spiritual and civil order.
Operation Bashkim Phase II (11/3/51 – 17/3/51 PSSC)
Following the seizure of Bashkim’s central districts by 11 Opsithiel, the Council of Kings Division initiated Phase Two of the operation—an integrated stabilization and clearance campaign aimed at rooting out fragmented resistance, restoring essential infrastructure, and reestablishing municipal governance under Bassaridian oversight. Whereas Phase One had shattered the operational cohesion of entrenched enemy formations, Phase Two was shaped by a more diffuse and layered threat environment. Three interrelated opposition networks—remnants of the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative, revivalist agents of the Order of Rochefort, and insurgent cultists aligned with dark-cult doctrine—emerged as the dominant adversaries. Though not unified by command, these groups leveraged overlapping safehouses, propaganda channels, and urban terrain to frustrate War League efforts.
A Civil Affairs Company and a Provincial Reconstruction Team were embedded alongside frontline forces and military police elements in the city’s core. Their responsibilities included reopening vital transport corridors, reactivating shrine governance, and establishing dialogue with surviving merchant guilds, township magistrates, and shrine elders. These outreach efforts were repeatedly delayed by active threats in Bashkim’s eastern quarters. There, Independence Initiative operatives conducted sabotage operations against utility grids, Order of Rochefort provocateurs infiltrated shrine bureaucracies and issued false edicts to delegitimize Temple authority, and cultist cells executed ritualized bombings at major chokepoints and shrine junctions. Improvised explosives were found wired into collapsed water conduits, historical statuary, and ceremonial gateways, reflecting a calculated attempt to weaponize both infrastructure and cultural memory.
Despite these obstacles, material progress was visible by 14 Opsithiel. Engineering units successfully reactivated two corridors linking the inner market basin to the western transport arc, and a provisional charter was granted for a regulated street market in Bashkim’s central plaza. As commercial activity resumed, the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, a syndicate of highland agricultural producers, was formally incorporated into the city’s post-conflict economy. Headquartered in Bashkim and specializing in cold-steppe crops such as buckwheat, rye, and highland lentils, the Association was added to the rolls of the General Port of Lake Morovia following a series of negotiations between municipal magistrates, port administrators, and emissaries from the Reformed Bassaridian Guild of Golden Shadows. Their inclusion introduced vital agricultural capital, bolstered food security, and signaled a broader reawakening of regulated economic life along the central Ouriana corridor.
To reassert public order, a full Military Police Battalion was deployed to operate in tandem with the resident Centuria. These forces faced ambushes near the warehouse belt, sniper activity from rooftops controlled by G.M.I.I. remnants, and firebomb attacks near shrine precincts believed to be instigated by Rochefort-aligned agitators. In response, MP units established randomized presence patrols alongside local shrine watchmen who had undergone expedited loyalty audits. These patrols conducted mobile checkpoints, shrine inspections, and household registry enforcement to disrupt communication between hostile cells and to demonstrate visible authority within contested neighborhoods. Civil Affairs detachments followed closely, distributing potable water, amnesty registration forms, and notices regarding reopened civic services.
In parallel, War League planners rebalanced the visible military footprint within the urban grid. Thalassa and Laya class tanks were repositioned to western and southern arterial roads, maintaining overwatch while minimizing the presence of tracked vehicles within residential zones. Agile forces—composed of Syrinx IFVs, Cathartes hoverbikes, and quadwalker scouts—executed reconnaissance missions, enforced curfews, and provided mobile escorts for shrine custodians and rebuilding crews. These mobile formations proved especially effective in mapping high-risk alley networks and locating underground shrines repurposed as cultist bunkers.
In the eastern warehouse corridor, hostilities persisted with renewed intensity. G.M.I.I. cells exploited freight tunnels and container stacks to move weapons and personnel, while Rochefort partisans circulated incendiary sermons and subverted temple rituals to challenge the legitimacy of Bassaridian governance. Dark-cult operatives were found performing rites beneath flooded sub-foundries and wiring explosive charges into sanctified plumbing networks. Static cordon tactics were deemed ineffective in this labyrinthine environment, prompting the deployment of combined-arms clearance teams. These groups, typically composed of a hoverbike scout, IFV-mounted fireteam, and dismounted MP unit, advanced block-by-block using thermal imaging, drone relays, and intelligence from captured insurgents. One major breakthrough occurred when a concealed shrine cellar was breached during a midnight raid, revealing a command cell coordinating cross-faction insurgent logistics with encrypted foreign communications.
By 17 Opsithiel, the primary objectives of Phase Two had been met. Hostile activity was reduced to isolated cells, road infrastructure resumed limited function, and interim governance was reestablished through a hybrid War League–municipal council with oversight from the Temple Bank. The reintegration of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association proved a decisive milestone, restoring both material supply chains and a sense of civilian legitimacy. While ritual sabotage and political subversion remained active threats, the city entered a period of guarded recovery. Bashkim’s transformation from battlefield to semi-autonomous provisioning hub under Bassaridian stewardship emerged as a fragile but instructive model for post-conflict integration across the Valley of Keltia.
Operation Oceanic Phase II (11/3/51 PSSC – 17/3/51 PSSC)
Phase Two of the Ourid offensive commenced on 11 Opsithiel 51 PSSC with a coordinated effort to seize control of the Ouriana Riverfront—a geostrategic terrain feature whose capture would sever insurgent lines of communication, split the city’s remaining defensive zones, and enable a multi-axis advance into the insurgent-controlled northern sectors. The riverfront, long exploited by hostile elements, had been fortified by cultic factions, repurposed by Order of Rochefort operatives, and intermittently patrolled by Greater Morovian Independence Initiative remnants, who used it to shuttle supplies, agents, and illicit sacraments between zones of resistance. The resulting battlespace was dense and unstable, marked by barricaded flood channels, collapsed infrastructure, and shrine complexes converted into fortified spiritual redoubts.
At first light, two Bassaridian Centuriae launched a coordinated pincer assault along both banks of the river under sustained aerial cover. Misttalon heavy bombers and Abeis-Minerva strike aircraft opened the engagement with precision strikes on pontoon crossings, dockyard gun nests, and suspected ritual structures containing cult ordnance. Crosswinds over the canyon basin complicated targeting trajectories, forcing multiple aircraft to recalculate approach angles with guidance from Ventiflor Eye AEW&C relays. Symphonara interceptors and Aurantius UAVs maintained persistent overwatch, identifying insurgent fallback corridors and interdicting cultist attempts to flood the southern warehouse district in a scorched-earth maneuver.
Ground resistance was intense. Bassaridian units advancing along the southern wharves encountered a labyrinth of wrecked vehicles, barricaded cranes, and submerged sanctums rigged with explosive wards. Dismounted Syrinx infantry, operating in bounding formations behind Gargani quadwalkers, were repeatedly delayed by hidden IEDs and altar-fused traps. Sacrificial pyres—both symbolic and tactical—were positioned along key approach lines, forcing units to balance spiritual protocols with explosive ordnance disposal procedures. Northern tenements housed recoilless rifles and ritual sharpshooters aligned with the Order of Rochefort, whose doctrine emphasized purification through collapse. Bassaridian armor was temporarily withdrawn from direct urban exposure, repositioned to overwatch near the river silos to minimize material losses.
Despite these obstacles, a critical milestone was achieved when War League engineers successfully emplaced Penthia bridge-layers across the swollen river under covering fire. Unseasonal flooding, suspected to be the result of insurgent dam sabotage upstream, nearly derailed the operation when bank silt destabilized a key support column. A team of Ampelos recovery vehicles rapidly reinforced the structure using retrofitted shipping containers. Throughout the process, AEW&C relays vectored aerial assets onto suspected mortar positions targeting the bridging teams.
Simultaneously, fresh Imperial Marine battalions entered the Ourid–Bashkim corridor, reinforcing riverine logistics and assisting in the evacuation of displaced civilians hiding in mountain terrace compounds. One forward-deployed combat diver team was dispatched after drone footage detected turbulence beneath a crossing—successfully neutralizing two enemy swimmers carrying submersible charges intended to cripple the eastern span. Imperial field medics and Temple Bank liaisons established triage shelters in reclaimed shrine schools, bolstering confidence among recently liberated civilian zones and blunting the reach of insurgent disinformation campaigns.
In tandem with kinetic operations, Provincial Reconstruction Teams and Civil Affairs Companies embedded with forward infantry elements to reestablish dialogue with shrine elders, market councils, and city magistrates. These efforts met resistance in neighborhoods that had functioned as Order of Rochefort enclaves, where religious loyalties and civic narratives had been rewritten to frame the War League as spiritual desecrators. Temple auditors and cultural liaisons responded with joint circuit tours, military police escorts, and the immediate reissuance of spiritual legitimacy scrolls for shrine caretakers who aligned themselves with the Reformed Path.
One of the most symbolically resonant developments of the phase was the restoration of river access for the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative, a syndicate of upland fishers whose livelihoods and spiritual traditions are rooted in the highland-fed arteries of the Ouriana and its tributaries. Having endured months of commercial isolation due to insurgent interdiction and cultist blockade, the Cooperative began resuming operations as crossings stabilized and warehouse zones came under War League control. Civil-military coordination enabled the reinstallation of drying racks, net sheds, and market barges along the southern bank. The Cooperative's return was marked not merely by the resumption of fish deliveries—smoked burbot, spawning-run whitefish, and ritual-grade lamprey—but by its restoration of an ancient spiritual rhythm. Their offerings were immediately routed through Temple kitchens, municipal provisioning centers, and highland shrine markets. In a widely broadcast blessing ceremony held at Dock 7, a Temple auditor declared the Cooperative’s first catch a divine sign of restoration and purity returned.
By 15 Opsithiel, key crossings were functional and defended by layered combined-arms assets. Light armor and military police patrols replaced assault formations in stabilized sectors, while newly vetted Ouridian watchmen joined joint patrols in a visible shift toward civilian normalization. Civil Affairs officers initiated property restitution hearings and reviewed merchant licensing petitions, reactivating cross-river trade between shrine districts and agricultural distribution depots.
In the northern sectors, insurgent activity persisted in crypt complexes and granary catacombs, where G.M.I.I. operatives and Rochefort ritualists entrenched themselves in hardened tunnel positions. These redoubts were systematically targeted by Chrysos sea bombers—retrofitted for inland saturation runs. One such strike successfully neutralized a ritual ordnance vault without civilian casualties, triggering a localized insurgent collapse.
With the riverfront secured, key logistics routes reopened, and enemy cohesion disrupted, Phase Three was staged to begin under conditions of sustained momentum. The Bassaridian War League, supported by Imperial Marine detachments, now held dominant terrain, spiritual initiative, and psychological ascendancy in the Ourid theater. The reemergence of the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative stood as both a logistical victory and a cultural reclamation—evidence that even amid destruction, the rhythms of sacred life along the river endured.
Phase Two Assessment
Emerging from the momentum of battlefield dominance achieved in Phase One, the second phase of the Valley of Keltia Campaign represented a strategic evolution—one defined less by decisive clashes than by the layered complexities of insurgency containment, civil restoration, and institutional reconstruction in Bashkim and Ourid. Commanded by the Council of Kings Division and supported by the Imperial Federation, Phase Two aimed not merely to defend newly gained territory, but to transform military success into durable administrative order, under a framework of semi-autonomous municipal governance sanctioned by the Temple Bank.
Across the Valley, War League planners confronted the entangled remains of three distinct but overlapping opposition movements: decentralized cells of the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative operating as saboteurs in subterranean corridors and freight tunnels; revivalist cadres aligned with the Order of Rochefort, who leveraged shrine institutions and spiritual doctrine to foment ideological resistance; and fragmented networks of insurgent cultists, whose influence persisted in hidden sanctuaries, sacrificial tunnels, and the ritual economy of spiritual subversion. Though these factions lacked a unified command structure, their cumulative impact demanded a civil-military strategy grounded in both force and spiritual legitimacy.
In Tonar, active combat was deliberately withheld. Surveillance confirmed the presence of cultic ritual clusters and Rochefort-aligned propaganda cells in outer shrine districts, but War League command, in consultation with Temple auditors, refrained from immediate escalation. The restraint was interpreted as a doctrinal choice—prioritizing sustainability and spiritual optics over kinetic force projection in a city that had not openly resisted the War League’s advance.
In Bashkim, the transition from clearance to stabilization was marked by both tactical friction and incremental progress. Although direct insurgent formations were dismantled in Phase One, the city’s eastern corridors remained an active zone of subversion and resistance. Military Police battalions engaged in continuous rolling clearance operations, countering ambushes, incendiary sermons, and IED-laced infrastructure. Engineers and civil affairs officers restored vital arterial routes and reopened shrine compounds under Bassaridian stewardship. One of the most symbolically and materially significant milestones was the formal integration of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, a syndicate of cold-steppe agricultural producers headquartered in the city. Their admission into the General Port of Lake Morovia—facilitated through a tripartite agreement with municipal officials, Temple emissaries, and representatives of the Guild of Golden Shadows—provided the city’s recovering population with essential cereals, legumes, and sacred herbals. More importantly, it reestablished a regulated market economy across the highland corridor and strengthened the spiritual link between land, law, and livelihood.
Complementing this development was the reactivation of the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative, a river-based provisioning syndicate whose spiritual and economic role had been disrupted by cultist interdiction and ritual sabotage along the Ouriana River. With river access restored under War League protection, members of the Cooperative resumed fishing and curing operations in newly reclaimed riverfront districts. Deliveries of whitefish, grayling, smoked burbot, and ritual-grade lamprey began flowing into Temple kitchens and shrine markets in both Bashkim and Ourid. Their return was more than economic: it restored the spiritual rhythms of the highland-fed river system, long regarded as the arterial lifeblood of the Valley’s sacred ecology.
In Ourid, Phase Two operations focused on the seizure and stabilization of the Ouriana Riverfront, a tactical and spiritual stronghold long held by insurgent factions. Resistance was fierce. Cultist engineers attempted to sabotage bridges and flood access channels. Rochefort sharpshooters embedded in fortified shrines launched coordinated ambushes. Morovian dissidents used the river’s industrial zones to coordinate encrypted logistical transfers. These threats were countered with precision air support, underwater combat divers, and synchronized civil affairs patrols. Imperial Marines played a vital role in interdicting submerged explosives and escorting displaced civilians to newly established triage centers. Through a blend of kinetic efficiency and spiritual outreach, the riverfront was restored to operational control.
The achievements of Phase Two extended beyond battlefield gains. On 14/3/51 PSSC, the Commander General of the Bassaridian War League formally submitted a petition to the Micras Cartography Society (MCS) proposing the annexation of the Valley as a Dependency of Bassaridia Vaeringheim. The petition was followed by a constitutional amendment to Article VI of the Bassaridian Constitution of 50.43, authorizing dependency status for regions meeting defined criteria. The amendment passed with overwhelming support from the Council of Kings and the Temple Bank, laying the legal foundation for the Valley’s long-term integration into the national framework.
Taken in full, Phase Two revealed the maturity of Bassaridia Vaeringheim’s postwar doctrine—an operational philosophy that wove together hard power, legal restructuring, economic provisioning, and sacred restoration. The decision to withhold immediate action in Tonar, the incorporation of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative into the General Port system, and the legal annexation of the Valley as a Dependency all reflected a campaign increasingly defined not by conquest, but by covenant. As the War League prepared to initiate Phase Three, its forces stood positioned not only as conquerors, but as custodians of a new political and spiritual order across central Keltia.
The Ourid Shrine Bombing and Retaliatory Strikes on Tonar (16/3/51 PSSC)
At 08:42 on 16/3/51 PSSC, the city of Ourid was struck by a coordinated terrorist attack targeting both spiritual and civil-military nodes in the eastern shrine district. The first explosion detonated within the Sanctum of Returning Waters, a recently restored complex that had, since the end of Phase Two, served as a symbol of reconciliation and divine order. The blast occurred during a morning ritual attended by Temple clergy, shrine stewards, and market guild representatives. Less than two minutes later, a secondary explosion targeted a civil-military coordination checkpoint at the outer shrine gate, killing War League personnel and Temple Bank officials in the middle of merchant reauthorization proceedings.
Casualties were severe. Forty-seven civilians were confirmed dead at the scene, alongside nineteen personnel affiliated with the Council of Kings Division, including members of the Shrine Watch, Civil Affairs staff, and one senior Temple Auditor. Among the dead was High Custodian Varos-Mihan, a figure of growing public reverence who had recently presided over the reopening of trade routes into the northern districts. Panic swept through the surrounding wards, and all activity across the city was suspended pending a formal audit by Temple authorities.
Forensic reconstruction teams dispatched from the Ourid command node immediately began spiritual residue analysis. Within hours, a broadcast signal pulsed from an encrypted communication-node in Tonar, delivering a pre-recorded statement from Avenah of the Circle—a known Rochefort-revivalist insurgent who evidently managed to flee from Bashkim during Phase One. Claiming responsibility for the bombing, Avenah described the attack as an act of spiritual retaliation for the earlier destruction of Tonar’s sacred compounds during Operation Bebéakáus Ski. The statement declared the Ourid shrine complex a site of “occupational heresy” and promised further violence in defense of spiritual independence.
The Council of Kings Division immediately responded. By mid-afternoon, full authorization was granted for a retaliatory strike operation against Tonar. Operation Bebéakáus Ski II commenced at 14:30 local time, led exclusively by Council of Kings Division aerial assets. Two full Moira bomber squadrons composed of Misttalon Heavy Bombers and Abeis-Minerva Strike Aircraft were dispatched under continuous cover from Ptiseis-class Symphonara Intercepts. Targeting telemetry was relayed by Ventiflor Eye AWACS platforms positioned over the Morovian Meridian, with precision adjustments made in real time through the Aurantius UAV network.
The first wave of airstrikes struck just before sunset. Ritual complexes in Tonar’s eastern shrine quarter were obliterated within minutes. The initial target was the Liturgical Guild Compound, believed to house encrypted Rochefort doctrines and mnemonic ordnance blueprints. Successive strikes leveled a monastic dormitory affiliated with the Tonar Shrine-Seminary, as well as a concealed ritual kiln embedded within the artisan district. A series of secondary detonations, their cause presently unclear, ignited multiple sacramental caches along the North Liturgical Belt. Firebomb payloads and low-altitude disruption passes from Chrysos Sea Bombers saturated the academic and broadcast districts, silencing Tonar’s encoded communications for the first time since the opening of the campaign.
In Ourid, emergency response protocols were activated in full. The Council of Kings Division deployed an additional Maniupulus to the city in order to prevent further insurgent movement and to reinforce the newly reclaimed sanctum galleries. Two Shrine Watch Battalions were redirected from garrison posts near Bashkim to provide perimeter security, assist in mourning rites, and maintain civil order under the temporary curfew imposed by Temple decree. Civil Affairs detachments established trauma reporting centers and resumed reconstruction efforts under armed escort. All shrine activity in the eastern quarter was suspended for forty-eight hours pending complete spiritual sanitation and forensic audit.
The Ourid bombing marked the single deadliest insurgent attack since the beginning of the Valley of Keltia Campaign. It ended any lingering debate over the nature of Tonar’s role in the insurgency. While civilian life in Ourid remained under protection, the spiritual foundation of the city had been shaken. Plans for Phase III, already forming in the wake of Phase Two’s completion, were now expedited
Phase Three Operational Details
Phase Three of the Valley of Keltia Campaign commenced on 16/3/51 PSSC, following the coordinated terrorist bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters in Ourid. The attack, which resulted in the highest single-day casualty count of the campaign, signaled a strategic shift in insurgent operations and triggered an immediate escalation in posture by the Council of Kings Division. Where Phase Two had emphasized civil-military coordination and incremental stabilization, Phase Three initiated retaliatory strikes, territorial consolidation, and the acceleration of political and spiritual integration under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter.
The phase opened with Operation Bebéakáus Ski II, a sustained aerial campaign against Tonar, which was identified through ritual telemetry and insurgent broadcast monitoring as the command node behind the Ourid bombing. Moira bomber squadrons deployed by the Council of Kings Division initiated saturation strikes on shrine-linked infrastructure, ritual synthesis sites, and encrypted doctrinal distribution nodes. Though no ground forces entered the city during the opening days of the operation, a Forward Garrison was established along Tonar’s southern corridor, with forward interdiction teams dispatched to control escape routes and prepare for long-term containment and doctrinal audits.
In Bashkim, Phase Three focused on finalizing military control of the eastern warehouse sectors, culminating in the storming of the insurgent coordination shrine on 20/3/51 PSSC. This operation secured the last remaining insurgent command cell and brought the city under full spatial and doctrinal control. In Ourid, a reinforced Maniupulus launched a high-intensity multi-axis assault on the northern shrine galleries, achieving operational victory by 21/3/51 PSSC. These advances were accompanied by increased internal security measures, including expanded shrine access protocols, checkpoint integration, and deployment of Civil Affairs teams.
Phase Three also saw the formal deployment of missionary cadres representing the major Mysteries of the Reformed Stripping Path, coordinated under the direction of the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path. In both Ourid and Bashkim, cults such as the Harmony Sanctum (worshiping Micras), the Order of Aurora Mystica (Eos), the Mystery of the Verdant Embrace (Opsithe), and the Guild of Golden Shadows (Chrysos) assumed active roles in the reconstruction and civic normalization process. These cults not only reconsecrated shrines and sacred sites, but also took on broader responsibilities in humanitarian relief, legal mediation, public education, and economic coordination. Missionaries from the Sanctum Vitalis and Ordo Amicitia established mobile clinics and food aid stations, while the Accord Concordia and Temple Illuminata supported municipal reconciliation and bureaucratic revitalization through forums and workshops.
Municipal governance was restructured across the three cities. Civic councils were expanded to include shrine custodians and cult-affiliated representatives, Shrine Watch academies began regional recruitment, and ritual law enforcement was placed under joint War League–Temple Bank administration. Cult-sponsored public outreach campaigns emphasized spiritual harmony, economic self-reliance, and ritual compliance as pillars of the emerging dependency order. In this environment, missionary cadres became indispensable components of the campaign’s consolidation strategy, acting as ideological vanguards and civic stewards within newly pacified urban centers.
Though insurgent activity persisted in outlying rural districts, the completion of Phase Three marked a decisive step in the political, spiritual, and logistical integration of the Valley of Keltia. War League officials emphasized the dual success of military retaliation and infrastructural stabilization, while Temple authorities underscored the restoration of divine order and ritual continuity. With shrine districts secured, civil structures operational, and missionary networks established, conditions were declared favorable for the transition to Phase Four, which would focus on rural interdiction, shrine network harmonization, and full implementation of dependency governance statutes across the valley.
Operation Bebéakáus Ski II – Tonar (16/3/51 PSSC – 20/3/51 PSSC)
Operation Bebéakáus Ski II marked the opening engagement of Phase Three of the Valley of Keltia Campaign, launched in direct response to the terrorist bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters in Ourid on 16/3/51 PSSC. The attack, publicly claimed by Rochefort-aligned insurgents operating from within the city of Tonar, resulted in mass civilian and War League casualties and was interpreted by Bassaridian authorities as a deliberate challenge to the ongoing post-conflict stabilization effort in the Valley. Authorization for the retaliatory operation was granted by the Council of Kings Division within hours of the bombing, under the framework of spiritual reprisal permitted by Article X of the Reformed Ritual Code.
Tonar, located in the western corridor of the Valley of Keltia, had remained under a containment posture throughout Phases One and Two of the campaign. Although no direct War League incursions had occurred in the city during this period, surveillance intelligence and ritual telemetry had confirmed the continued operation of cultic broadcast networks, encrypted spiritual instruction centers, and underground Rochefort seminaries. Following the Ourid bombing, Temple auditors and Council of Kings analysts assessed that Tonar had transitioned from a sanctuary to an active command node, with responsibility for strategic coordination across the insurgent triad: the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative, the Order of Rochefort, and affiliated insurgent cults.
The operation commenced on the evening of 16/3/51 PSSC with a wave of retaliatory airstrikes executed by Council of Kings Division Moira bomber squadrons. Assets included Misttalon Heavy Bombers, Abeis-Minerva Strike Aircraft, and Ptiseis-class Symphonara Intercepts operating under full AWACS coordination through the Ventiflor Eye relay system. Target packages focused on shrine-linked infrastructure believed to house command cells, ritual synthesis labs, and doctrinal distribution centers. Key sites struck in the opening sortie included the North Liturgical Belt, Tonar's Academic Conjuration District, the Eastern Shrine Quarter, and the municipal antennae grid used for encrypted Rochefort broadcasts.
The opening bombardment employed a combination of high-yield spiritual disruption munitions and low-altitude saturation strikes, targeting subterranean sanctums and sealed ritual caches. Aurantius UAVs maintained persistent surveillance throughout the operation, tracking insurgent fallback positions and providing post-strike assessments of blast zone efficacy. Visual confirmation of secondary detonations within two key target sites—identified as sigil storage vaults and mnemonic refineries—was reported by forward surveillance teams stationed along the outer perimeter of the Tonar basin.
No ground forces were committed to the city center during the opening stage of the operation. However, two Centuriae were redeployed to the Tonar–Bashkim and Tonar-Ourid corridors to establish forward interdiction zones and prevent the escape of high-value insurgent operatives. These units also conducted limited incursion missions against outlying shrine compounds believed to be operating as safehouses or spiritual logistics nodes. A temporary Forward Garrison (FG) was established outside the city's southern boundary to serve as a staging point for future operations, including potential doctrinal audits, extraction missions, and artifact recovery.
In public communications, the Temple Bank framed the operation as both a military and ritual necessity. A formal Decree of Reproval was issued from the Temple Archive in Vaeringheim, citing Tonar’s continued refusal to submit to Port governance and its documented role in spiritual subversion throughout the Valley. Media coverage emphasized the precision of the airstrikes and the legality of the reprisal under existing temple law. Civilian displacement warnings were disseminated through sacramental pulse broadcasts and coordinated leaflet drops prior to the initial bombing, although post-strike imagery confirmed significant urban damage in the city’s eastern and academic sectors.
As of 18/3/51 PSSC, air operations remained ongoing. No formal cessation order had been issued by the Council of Kings Division. While insurgent broadcasts from Tonar decreased significantly in the hours following the strikes, intermittent spiritual residue signals continued to emanate from the city’s inner sanctum, indicating ongoing resistance activity. War League planners confirmed that further operations were under review and would be conducted as necessary to ensure Tonar’s full neutralization as an active insurgent node. The status of the city remained officially classified as spiritually compromised, with full reintegration measures suspended pending further assessment.
Operation Bashkim Phase III (18/3/51 – 20/3/51 PSSC)
Phase III of the Bashkim operation commenced on 17/3/51 PSSC, in the aftermath of the Ourid Shrine Bombing. While the attack occurred in another city, its strategic implications for Bashkim were immediate. Temple security directives were elevated across all shrine-administered municipalities, and Council of Kings Division planners issued a revised clearance and stabilization directive for Bashkim’s remaining contested zones. The focus of this new phase centered on the complete military consolidation of the eastern warehouse district, elimination of residual insurgent sanctums, and implementation of long-term security infrastructure consistent with Bassaridian dependency policy.
The opening stage of Phase III began with an aggressive, multi-axis advance into the final unrecovered blocks of the eastern industrial grid. Intelligence gathered during late Phase II operations—including biometric data, intercepted ritual transmissions, and spatial heat maps from Aurantius UAVs—enabled Council of Kings forces to coordinate precise block-entry rotations and breach operations. Urban maneuver teams composed of Cathartes-class hoverbikes, Syrinx IFVs, and dismounted Kalithros-equipped fireteams executed simultaneous entry patterns along previously mapped underground corridors. Combat engineers from the shrine-clearance detachment employed spiritual containment barriers in suspected ritual zones prior to entry, limiting the potential for sacrificial traps and doctrine-triggered glyph events.
The remaining insurgent presence in the district was highly fragmented but operationally complex. Cells associated with the Greater Morovian Independence Initiative had fortified several freight distribution nodes, repurposing container stacks into firing positions and munition caches. Order of Rochefort operatives had embedded themselves within shrine sub-offices and shrine-administered trade councils, using counterfeit Temple seals to redirect civil traffic and create false evacuation corridors. Cultist elements remained active in the sub-foundries and flood drains, continuing to conduct isolated rites designed to disrupt shrine resonance fields and channel discordant liturgical emissions across the district.
The final clearance was executed over a seventy-two hour period, culminating in the coordinated storming of the eastern axle shrine—a structure that had served as a clandestine coordination center since Phase One. The breach operation, conducted at 03:40 on 20/3/51 PSSC, resulted in the capture or elimination of several mid-tier Rochefort tacticians, the recovery of encrypted communication codices, and the seizure of a partial archive of sacramental fabrication diagrams. These documents were transferred to Temple Bank archivists for doctrinal analysis. Remaining defenders were flushed from tunnel systems using thermal sweep drones and non-lethal chemical dispersal protocols. No civilian casualties were reported during the operation.
In the days that followed, the War League expanded its public-facing security posture in Bashkim to address growing national concern following the events in Ourid. A second Military Police Battalion was deployed from reserve to assist with checkpoint management, shrine entry security, and municipal patrol rotation. Joint MP-shrine patrols began operating on a continuous cycle in eastern neighborhoods, supported by Temple emissaries who conducted spiritual health audits and administered reconsacration rites in affected areas. Shrine Watch cadets from the central district were rotated into the east for mentorship training under War League supervision, signaling a shift toward permanent civic-military spiritual governance.
Civic stabilization measures advanced in parallel. The municipal council, previously composed of provisional appointees from shrine guilds and Temple-sponsored merchant boards, was expanded to include representatives from the eastern market zones and shrine custodial associations. Shrine infrastructure damaged during the clearance was repaired using a combination of War League engineering detachments and artisan teams supplied by the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association under a joint Temple-funded contract. Several cooperative warehouses reopened within ten days of clearance, and controlled trade began to flow eastward under the direct supervision of shrine-tax auditors and civil affairs monitors.
By the end of the first week of Phase III operations, the Council of Kings Division formally declared total spatial control of Bashkim's urban grid. Though ritual monitoring and surveillance operations would remain ongoing, the city was considered fully reintegrated. The Temple Bank issued a directive authorizing the transition from martial oversight to civic-spiritual integration, placing Bashkim under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter. With shrine corridors stabilized, civilian life normalized, and insurgent command eliminated within the city’s perimeter, Bashkim was officially designated as the first urban center within the Valley of Keltia to complete post-conflict consolidation under Bassaridian law.
The conclusion of active combat in Bashkim did not mark the end of War League activity within the city. Instead, Phase III introduced a long-term operational presence calibrated for dependency governance, shrine security, and civic resilience. While the regional situation remained volatile, Bashkim’s transformation into a stable provisioning hub and regional trade node stood as a primary case study for the War League’s broader campaign goals across the Valley.
Operation Oceanic Phase III – Ourid (17/3/51 – 20/3/51 PSSC)
Phase III operations in Ourid were launched on 17/3/51 PSSC in direct response to the terrorist bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters two days prior. The attack, which resulted in high civilian and War League casualties, was viewed as both a tactical escalation and a symbolic challenge to the city’s emerging post-conflict civic structure. In its aftermath, the Council of Kings Division initiated a dual-pronged strategy aimed at improving internal security, eliminating insurgent presence in the city’s northern shrine districts, and accelerating the administrative transition of Ourid into a functioning Bassaridian dependency.
The first priority was the immediate reinforcement of shrine corridors, public sanctums, and civil-military coordination nodes across the eastern and central wards. A new Maniupulus from the Council of Kings Division was deployed to supplement the two Centuriae already operating in the city. These additional forces were tasked with executing rolling shrine protection patrols, overseeing the enforcement of ritual emergency protocols, and interdicting suspected secondary attack cells. All shrine access was temporarily suspended in the eastern quarter, and reauthorization of shrine activity was made contingent upon direct audit and reconsecration by Temple Bank liaisons operating under the authority of Article X spiritual security law.
While security stabilization proceeded in the reclaimed sectors, preparations accelerated for a final offensive targeting the insurgent-controlled northern districts—an area long recognized as the doctrinal and logistical core of resistance activity within Ourid. The terrain, composed of elevated sanctum halls, granary vaults, and cliffside tunnel galleries, had proven resistant to conventional clearance during Phase II. Intelligence gathered following the bombing, however, revealed new access points into the ridge networks and indicated that insurgent coordination had weakened following the elimination of key mid-level tacticians earlier in the campaign.
At 04:20 on 19/3/51 PSSC, Council of Kings Division forces launched a high-intensity, multi-axis assault on the northern district. The operation began with a five-minute saturation strike by Chrysos Sea Bombers and Abeis-Minerva strike craft, targeting identified ritual vaults, beacon towers, and spiritual resistance nodes. Simultaneously, two armored thrusts—supported by Syrinx IFVs, quadwalker scouts, and dismounted Kalithros-equipped infantry—moved through the lower ridge corridors in bounding formation. These ground elements encountered heavy but disorganized resistance, with several strongpoints collapsing following the destruction of a central relay sanctum believed to have housed the district’s ritual communication network.
Combat engineers were deployed in close coordination with advance infantry to dismantle glyph-wired trap networks and to safely extract doctrinal artifacts from compromised shrine sites. Resistance decreased markedly by the second day of the assault. By 21/3/51 PSSC, all known tunnel sanctuaries and ridge galleries had been cleared or neutralized, and forward observers declared the area under complete operational control. Civil Affairs teams and Temple auditors were deployed within hours to begin formal reclamation, initiate infrastructure restoration protocols, and conduct legal codification of shrine boundary lines under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter.
Missionary Deployment in Phase Three
The full military consolidation of Ourid and Bashkim during Phase Three of the Valley of Keltia Campaign allowed for the systematic deployment of missionaries representing the major Mysteries of the Reformed Stripping Path. With shrine districts stabilized and municipal governance reestablished under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter, the Temple Bank authorized the integration of missionary cadres into both cities to reinforce spiritual authority, provide humanitarian relief, and promote ideological alignment with Bassaridian norms.
In Ourid, a Kleisthenes from the Harmony Sanctum—a cult devoted to Micras, Lady Divine of balance and wisdom—was embedded within the northern shrine corridors. These missionaries conducted ritual audits of reconsecrated temples, led public seminars on civic reconciliation, and provided trauma counseling for shrine custodians and local officials affected by the bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters. They also partnered with regional peace councils to mediate disputes among displaced shrine communities and former insurgent collaborators seeking amnesty.
Simultaneously, a Dodekas from the Order of Aurora Mystica, aligned with Eos, Lady Divine of dawn and renewal, organized public processions and sermons emphasizing spiritual recovery and the redemptive power of civic duty. Their dawn invocations and ritualized cleanings of war-damaged sanctuaries symbolized a metaphysical restoration of Ourid’s spiritual order. These efforts were complemented by a Hetairos from the Temple Illuminata, a cult devoted to Nikolaj, Divine of epiphanies, who led educational campaigns encouraging public reflection on the city’s spiritual trajectory.
In Bashkim, a Kleisthenes from the Mystery of the Verdant Embrace, who worship Opsithe, Lady Divine of fertility and the natural cycle, coordinated the distribution of agricultural resources and helped oversee the reactivation of shrine-linked irrigation channels. Working in partnership with the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, Verdant missionaries administered crop-seeding rites, hosted soil restoration clinics, and provided spiritual guidance to returning farmers. Their presence also ensured that resettled agricultural communities aligned their production schedules with traditional harvest festivals sanctioned by the Temple Bank.
Further humanitarian support was delivered by Lampades of the Sanctum Vitalis, a cult devoted to Plateau, Lady Divine of health and medicine. These missionaries set up temporary field clinics near former combat zones, administered herbal treatments, and coordinated water purification efforts in shrine-adjacent districts. Their involvement extended to rebuilding damaged infirmaries and training local shrine custodians in basic health protocols to prevent disease outbreaks.
The Guild of Golden Shadows, loyal to Chrysos, Divine of prosperity and abundance, dispatched a Stoa of economic missionaries to audit market guilds, inventory shrine-linked mercantile houses, and oversee the resumption of regulated trade. In Ourid, Golden Shadows missionaries supervised the reopening of shrine-endorsed stalls along the western promenade, while in Bashkim they restructured ritual lending schemes to support merchant families displaced during the insurgency. These missions were conducted in coordination with the Temple Bank, with emphasis placed on ethical commerce, financial transparency, and spiritual legitimacy in market transactions.
Specialized cults undertook targeted interventions to secure long-term ideological order. A Stoai from the Mystery of the Stygian Veil, a cult devoted to Styx, Lady Divine of transformation and rebirth, was embedded in Ourid’s northern tunnel sanctums to oversee the disposal of ritual remnants and to initiate rebirth rites for former shrine sites tainted by heretical use. These rites were intended to spiritually cleanse and reintegrate contaminated spaces, rendering them safe for future worship and public access.
In Bashkim, a Hetairos from the Order of the Umbral Oracle, who revere Noctis, Lady Divine of introspection and hidden truth, conducted doctrinal reviews of confiscated shrine manuscripts, aided in the reconstitution of shrine libraries, and helped reestablish the local municipal archive by integrating recovered texts into public collections. Their mission also included the development of civic memory initiatives designed to help the populace reconcile insurgent atrocities with the ideals of the Reformed Path.
Civic infrastructure was further supported by the arrival of missionaries from the Accord Concordia, devoted to Lukedu, Divine of harmony and unity. These emissaries facilitated joint planning sessions between shrine authorities, military police, and civil administrators. In both cities, they drafted proposals for shrine-integrated councils that would guide spiritual and civil life during the transitional period. Their public forums emphasized collective healing and were accompanied by community feasts aligned with Harmony Sanctum calendrical festivals.
Public education efforts were bolstered by Ordo Amicitia, worshippers of Erasmus, Divine of charity. Their missionaries administered open-air schooling for children, civic reeducation programs for shrine initiates, and refugee support workshops for displaced families. They also partnered with temple kitchens to oversee food distribution in recently pacified quarters, ensuring that aid was tied to clear expectations of civic participation and moral stewardship.
By 23/3/51 PSSC, over two dozen missionary formations—including Lampades, Hetairoi, Dodekades, and full Kleisthenes—were operating in Ourid and Bashkim. Their presence marked a turning point in the campaign’s ideological and humanitarian dimensions. No longer confined to ritual enforcement, these cults functioned as fully integrated agents of post-conflict recovery. Acting under the direction of the Temple Bank and the Council of Kings Division, their combined efforts ensured not only the spiritual restoration of the Valley but also the functional stabilization of its political and civil order.
Phase Three Assessment
Phase Three of the Valley of Keltia Campaign marked the most expansive and integrated stage of operations to date, combining retaliatory military actions, systematic urban clearance, and accelerated civic and spiritual integration across the central corridor. Triggered by the coordinated terrorist bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters in Ourid on 16/3/51 PSSC, the phase initiated a strategic shift by the Council of Kings Division from stabilization and containment to doctrinal enforcement, political absorption, and religious normalization under the framework of the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter.
The phase commenced with the execution of Operation Bebéakáus Ski II, a sustained aerial campaign targeting insurgent infrastructure and spiritual command nodes within Tonar. Shrine-linked ritual synthesis labs, mnemonic weapon facilities, and encrypted doctrinal relay stations affiliated with the Order of Rochefort were struck by high-yield saturation munitions launched from Council of Kings Division bomber assets. Though no ground forces entered Tonar during this stage, a Forward Garrison was established outside the southern perimeter, and interdiction corridors were enforced along the Tonar–Ourid and Tonar–Bashkim routes. Forward surveillance and persistent UAV overflight confirmed a significant degradation of insurgent transmission capacity in the immediate aftermath of the strikes.
In Bashkim, War League units launched a concentrated offensive into the remaining eastern warehouse and industrial zones. Over seventy-two hours, combined mechanized and infantry teams executed a block-by-block clearance campaign, culminating in the seizure of a major insurgent coordination shrine and the recovery of encrypted ritual records and insurgent communications logs. These assets were transferred to Temple Bank analysts for decoding and doctrinal classification. By 20/3/51 PSSC, the city was declared under full War League control, and the transition to civic administration was formally initiated. Shrine Watch patrols replaced frontline security forces, and provisional civil offices were restructured under the terms of the Dependency Charter.
In Ourid, Phase Three was defined by a high-intensity push into the northern shrine districts. The operation—launched at dawn on 19/3/51 PSSC—incorporated saturation bombing, coordinated armored thrusts, and dismounted infantry maneuvers into cliffside gallery sanctums and fortified granary catacombs. Resistance was fragmented but doctrinally entrenched, requiring the use of spiritual barrier breaching teams and recovery crews to secure shrines housing volatile relics. By 21/3/51 PSSC, all known insurgent sanctuaries had been cleared, and the city was placed under a full governance transition.
Simultaneously, missionary deployments representing the major cults of the Reformed Stripping Path were activated across all three urban centers. Units from the Harmony Sanctum, Order of Aurora Mystica, Mystery of the Verdant Embrace, and Conclave Illuminara—among others—were tasked with roles extending beyond shrine reconsecration. Missionary detachments organized by the Ordo Amicitia and Sanctum Vitalis led food and medical relief operations, while the Guild of Golden Shadows reestablished trade markets under spiritual oversight and brokered new merchant guild compacts. The Eon Fellowship and Sanctum Delphica coordinated trauma healing rituals, introspective forums, and local reconciliation efforts, particularly in districts destabilized by cultist propaganda or internecine violence.
The War League’s role shifted from martial enforcement to infrastructural coordination and administrative oversight. Licensing bureaus, spiritual audit offices, and municipal assemblies resumed operation under Temple Bank supervision. Shrine Watch recruitment accelerated, with new academies established in Bashkim and Ourid. In tandem, civic cooperatives such as the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative were reactivated and incorporated into local governance, bolstering food security and economic revitalization. These activities were supported by civil-military liaison teams and missionary cohorts operating under Temple Bank authorization.
By 22/3/51 PSSC, the Council of Kings Division formally concluded Phase Three, declaring the cities of Bashkim and Ourid stabilized and transitioned to dependency governance status. Strategic control over the Valley’s shrine network, urban logistics corridors, and civil institutions was consolidated under the Bassaridian framework, marking a comprehensive victory in both military and spiritual terms. The integration of missionary organizations into the civic transition process reinforced the perception of divine endorsement for Bassaridian sovereignty, bolstering popular support and minimizing resistance in newly pacified zones. Planning for Phase Four—focused on shrine network auditing, rural insurgent interdiction, and region-wide cultural harmonization—was authorized to proceed under joint War League and Temple Bank leadership.
Phase Four Operational Details
Phase Four of the Valley of Keltia Campaign commenced on 20/3/51 PSSC, following the successful consolidation of Bashkim and Ourid and the establishment of containment protocols around the spiritually compromised city of Tonar. With major combat operations concluded, shrine districts secured, and dependency governance councils activated across the region’s principal cities, the Council of Kings Division transitioned into a comprehensive stabilization phase. This stage of the campaign emphasized shrine harmonization, rural interdiction, and economic normalization under the framework of the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter, laying the foundation for permanent civil integration and the initiation of Phase Five.
The opening movements of Phase Four were defined by the deployment of the Model V-99 Thunderguard Citadel Train to the Ourid corridor. Originally designed for mobile command operations in armored conflict zones, the V-99 was repurposed to serve as a forward civil-military governance platform. From its base along the southern rail junction, it functioned as a rolling coordination hub for shrine audit registrars, Shrine Watch training cadres, and Temple emissaries tasked with finalizing doctrinal surveys and administrative resynchronization in newly stabilized shrine districts. Through continuous deployment of UAV relays and doctrinal enforcement teams, the V-99 enabled real-time ritual tracking, secure registry uploads, and rapid interdiction response across a wide territorial envelope, ensuring that the restored civil authorities operated in full alignment with both spiritual law and dependency governance statutes.
Parallel efforts intensified across rural regions in the northern and western hinterlands of the valley. Shrine Watch auxiliaries, supported by quadwalker reconnaissance teams and missionary cadres from the Harmony Sanctum and Order of Aurora Mystica, initiated coordinated sweeps targeting unregistered shrine nodes, encrypted broadcast caches, and sacramental vaults used by insurgent remnants and doctrinal outlaws. Under the provisions of the Shrine Mandates, Temple Bank surveyors completed a formal classification of all sites encountered. Compliant communities were issued provisional shrine charters and offered full reintegration pathways through educational and humanitarian programming. Sites deemed ritually unsafe or doctrinally unstable were sealed or referred to Article X classification review. By the end of the second week of Phase Four, no new insurgent networks had been detected, and shrine registry operations were active in all surveyed districts outside Tonar’s exclusion perimeter.
The full integration of trade systems into the national Bassaridian framework was achieved with the formal registration of the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company on 24/3/51 PSSC. Headquartered in Bashkim, the company was founded to facilitate structured, shrine-sanctioned overland commerce between Bassaridia Vaeringheim and the Valley of Keltia. Its caravans, staffed by shrine-cleared personnel and operating along certified dependency corridors, transported agricultural surpluses, civil documentation, and sacramental cargo from inland communities to coastal trade hubs connected to the General Port of Lake Morovia. The company’s inclusion in the General Port registry was heralded as a milestone in the reconstitution of Bassaridian inland logistics, symbolizing both the economic viability and ritual coherence of the newly integrated dependency. Temple Bank auditors overseeing the charter process emphasized the company’s dual spiritual-commercial function, noting that its regulated operations served as both an economic artery and a mechanism for reinforcing shrine compliance along highland trade routes.
The economic expansion of Phase Four continued on 26/3/51 PSSC with the formal inclusion of the Caspazani Livestock Company into the General Port registry. Based west of Bashkim, the company is the Valley’s primary supplier of working horses and livestock logistics, operating independently of shrine institutions. Caspazani specializes in the breeding and overland management of steppe-adapted horses and is renowned for its use of trained bat colonies to herd and guide livestock across difficult terrain. The company’s registration signaled a major advancement in dependency-phase infrastructure, providing a steady stream of cavalry stock, courier mounts, and agricultural transport animals to both local councils and inland commercial depots. Its non-spiritual framework and practical contributions to Valley logistics were cited by Temple Bank auditors as evidence of a maturing and diversified dependency economy.
Tonar, however, remained outside the process of reintegration. As part of Phase Four operations, War League aerial assets executed a coordinated strike campaign targeting critical infrastructure believed to facilitate insurgent logistics and potential foreign reinforcement. On 22/3/51 PSSC, Bassaridian aircraft destroyed the western rail corridors connecting Tonar to the territories west of the Lacaran Mountains. This action severed Tonar’s last viable overland connection to foreign-aligned insurgent backers, eliminating the possibility of large-scale spiritual or material reinforcement. The destruction of the rail lines was described by Temple and military officials as a preemptive measure to ensure Tonar’s full isolation from potential ideological sanctuaries or logistical pipelines beyond the Valley. With its supply chain cut and outer sanctums contained, Tonar was rendered strategically inert, further justifying its exclusion from civil normalization efforts.
Concurrently, civil institutions were expanded and reinforced across all stabilized territories. Licensing bureaus, taxation councils, and municipal guild registries were activated under Shrine Watch supervision and Temple Bank legal oversight. Trade compacts established with the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative ensured the continuous flow of sacramental provisions into shrine markets and temple kitchens. Civic workshops and vocational training centers operated by missionary cadres introduced standardized programs in ritual law, economic literacy, and dependency citizenship across shrine-administered communities. The reactivation of these networks signaled the return of regularized civil life throughout the valley, and by 28/3/51 PSSC, all functional zones outside Tonar’s perimeter were in full doctrinal compliance with Phase Four directives.
Tonar, while excluded from active reintegration during this phase, remained under total containment in accordance with the Order of Containment and Reclassification. Its shrine districts were sealed, its ritual emissions neutralized through precision air strikes and telemetry jamming, and its core districts subjected to perimeter surveillance and doctrinal quarantine. With the additional destruction of its western rail lines, the city was rendered fully isolated from external influence and internal reorganization. This containment, carried out under Article X, was deemed sufficient to satisfy the operational parameters of Phase Four. Shrine registry operations, civil governance mechanisms, and economic flows were routed entirely around Tonar without interruption. Its formal reintegration, if pursued, would be determined in a later phase pending doctrinal tribunal review and the fulfillment of spiritual security benchmarks.
By the conclusion of Phase Four, shrine registry operations were complete across all compliant districts; urban civil authority had been fully transferred to dependency councils under Temple Bank oversight; missionary cadres had assumed public service and instructional duties; and secure inland trade routes were in operation. With shrine harmonization complete, frontier interdiction secure, and civil institutions normalized, the Council of Kings Division declared the Valley of Keltia stabilized in accordance with Dependency Charter law. Final assessments were submitted to Vaeringheim for legal ratification, and preparations commenced for Phase Five, which would inaugurate the Valley’s full political and spiritual incorporation into the Bassaridian national order.
Operation Bebéakáus Ski II – Tonar (Phase Four Operations)
During Phase Four of the Valley of Keltia Campaign, the city of Tonar remained a primary focus of strategic vigilance and containment. Having been identified as the ideological and operational node behind the 16/3/51 PSSC bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters in Ourid, Tonar had already been subjected to four days of sustained bombardment during Phase Three. Though that campaign significantly degraded the city’s spiritual infrastructure and eliminated key doctrinal relay centers, residual activity within Tonar’s shrine districts and ritual communication nodes continued to present a clear threat to the broader stabilization and harmonization effort across the Valley.
Beginning on 20/3/51 PSSC, the Council of Kings Division established an active and continuous containment regime along the Tonar Basin. Two previously committed Centuriae were redeployed to the southern and eastern perimeter of the city, where they conducted coordinated interdiction patrols, shrine corridor surveillance, and broadcast disruption. These forces established a system of rolling checkpoints and deployed signal-jamming towers calibrated to neutralize encrypted ritual transmissions. The region’s ritual telemetry grid was saturated with Aurantius UAV coverage, supported from a newly commissioned Forward Logistics and Audit Compound (FLAC), located eight kilometers to the south. This facility served as the logistical and doctrinal command node for the Tonar containment mission, housing shrine audit teams, doctrinal surveyors, and military police auxiliaries under the supervision of Temple Bank liaisons.
Intermittent aerial operations continued throughout Phase Four. On 21/3/51 and 24/3/51 PSSC, Abeis-Minerva strike aircraft conducted targeted bombardment runs against reactivated shrine-broadcast vaults and spiritual signal bunkers detected within the city’s Academic Conjuration District and the North Liturgical Belt. These sorties followed persistent UAV surveillance, which identified a series of mnemonic signal pulses radiating from shrine sub-basements and vault sanctums. Post-strike spectral surveys indicated a sharp drop in residual emissions, suggesting that insurgent ritual capability had been reduced to highly localized, underground operations with limited external broadcast capacity.
In a related operation conducted on 22/3/51 PSSC, War League bombers destroyed the major western rail lines connecting Tonar to territories beyond the Lacaran Mountains. This deliberate targeting of key transport infrastructure was designed to sever potential logistical and spiritual support from hostile foreign actors believed to be operating west of the Valley. Misttalon Heavy Bombers and interceptors struck bridge viaducts, switching yards, and shrine-blessed rail spurs along the Tonar–Westland corridor, resulting in the total severance of Tonar’s overland rail access to external supply networks. Temple analysts described the strikes as a preventative measure against cultic reinforcement from extraterritorial insurgent patrons, ensuring that Tonar’s continued resistance would be isolated and unsustainable without external doctrinal reinforcement.
While no formal ground incursion into the city’s core was authorized during Phase Four, select breach operations were conducted against outer perimeter sanctums believed to house rogue ritual practitioners or doctrinal stockpiles. These breach missions, carried out under Article X special authority, resulted in the recovery of encrypted Rochefort codices, sacramental paraphernalia, and curated caches of ritual components tied to cultic insurgent networks. Several of these items bore glyphic signatures associated with the insurgent seminary networks linked to the shrine bombings in Ourid. All recovered materials were transferred to the Doctrinal Analysis Bureau in Vaeringheim for spiritual indexing and classification. Despite these operations, no effort was made to occupy or resettle the core of the city, which remained under doctrinal quarantine for the duration of Phase Four.
The Temple Bank, in consultation with War League command, issued a formal Order of Containment and Reclassification, placing Tonar under suspended reintegration status. Under this designation, all shrine activity within the city was proscribed, civil contracts annulled, and pilgrimage traffic indefinitely suspended. Sacramental broadcast blockers were emplaced at elevated ridgelines surrounding the city to prevent unauthorized doctrinal emissions. Movement into and out of Tonar was restricted under Article X emergency provisions, and all displacement corridors were monitored by mixed Temple–War League security detachments trained in ritual triage and spiritual health audits. No unauthorized civilian passage was recorded through the quarantine perimeter after the designation took effect.
Public communications regarding the Tonar containment emphasized the necessity of total isolation in response to the city’s confirmed role in spiritual sabotage and anti-state incitement. Temple Bank emissaries and state-sanctioned cult representatives described Tonar as an unresolved epicenter of mnemonic heresy and encrypted doctrinal subversion. State media reaffirmed the spiritual danger posed by the city’s refusal to submit to General Port regulatory codes and its continued function as an ideological sanctuary for cultic revivalist groups, specifically the Order of Rochefort and affiliated insurgent factions. While a date for reintegration was not announced, Temple authorities confirmed that any future action would be contingent upon the successful completion of shrine audits across the remainder of the Valley, followed by a doctrinal tribunal to determine the city’s spiritual rehabilitation status.
Despite Tonar’s unresolved condition, the Council of Kings Division affirmed that its ongoing containment fulfilled all legal and doctrinal requirements for Phase Four’s completion. The shrine registry sweep excluded Tonar only under a formal exemption permitted by the Order of Containment; interdiction corridors remained operational; and the dependency trade network bypassed the city entirely, routing through Bashkim and Ourid along secured corridors certified by the Temple Bank. The destruction of Tonar’s western rail link further guaranteed the city’s strategic isolation from potential foreign conspirators. While Tonar remained under ecclesiastical quarantine, its separation was presented as a matter of spiritual and national security, rather than operational deficiency. In this way, Phase Four was declared complete, with Tonar relegated to the status of a spiritually compromised zone pending future adjudication under the laws of the Reformed Stripping Path and the governing statutes of the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter.
Operation Bashkim Phase IV – Post-Consolidation Security and Governance (20/3/51 PSSC – ongoing)
Following the full territorial and doctrinal consolidation of Bashkim at the conclusion of Phase Three, operations in Phase Four shifted toward the implementation of permanent civil governance, shrine harmonization, and long-term preventative security. The Council of Kings Division restructured its presence in the city, transitioning from active clearance operations to a mentorship-oriented occupation posture designed to entrench institutional norms in alignment with the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter. This phase marked the formal passage from conquest to integration, as shrine systems, trade logistics, and dependency councils began to operate under standardized frameworks directed by the Temple Bank and Shrine Watch authorities.
Throughout the initial period of Phase Four, Military Police battalions remained stationed across Bashkim in a supervisory capacity. Their responsibilities emphasized static checkpoint enforcement, ritual compliance auditing, and support for Shrine Watch patrol rotations, rather than direct enforcement. These units oversaw the final wave of biometric registration for shrine custodians and ritual functionaries, and they maintained oversight of doctrinal reviews for public sermons, cultic declarations, and ceremonial appointments. In the eastern districts—previously home to the city’s most concentrated insurgent resistance—drones and thermal scanners continued routine surveillance of freight corridors and warehouse sanctuaries. No credible insurgent activity was recorded after 23/3/51 PSSC, and all sacred zones previously held under audit quarantine were cleared for civic reintegration.
Simultaneously, the administrative organs of dependency governance were brought fully online. Civil Affairs officers worked in coordination with cult emissaries and Temple auditors to finalize the structure and composition of the Bashkim Dependency Council. This body, consisting of shrine elders, merchant guild leaders, doctrinal arbiters, and municipal magistrates, assumed full oversight of internal civil and economic governance. Under its jurisdiction, shrine taxation codes were issued, land charters were revalidated, and infrastructure provisioning schedules were synchronized with the fiscal calendar of the General Port. The final three sanctuaries requiring reconsacration were ritually purified on 22/3/51 PSSC, completing the city’s spiritual harmonization under the Reformed Path. All shrine records were digitized and uploaded to the regional Temple Bank registry, with doctrine compliance audits confirming the successful reintegration of shrine functionaries across all administrative wards.
The city’s role as a regional training hub expanded during this period through coordinated initiatives led by the Order of Aurora Mystica and the Guild of Golden Shadows. Temple-sponsored education workshops and shrine-based certification programs were launched across eastern Bashkim, offering instruction in dependency citizenship, ritual law, economic stewardship, and administrative procedure. Graduates of these programs received provisional civic certification, qualifying them for employment in shrine archives, tax bureaus, cult registries, and Shrine Watch administrative posts. These initiatives were framed not only as educational programs, but as instruments of spiritual realignment and civic reconciliation, designed to ensure that every cult actor and municipal clerk operated in accordance with the sacred laws of dependency governance.
Concurrently, trade infrastructure was restored to full operational capacity. The central plaza and warehouse belt resumed commercial activity under new shrine inspection protocols, while agricultural syndicates and supply cooperatives entered structured export agreements under Temple guidance. The Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, headquartered in Bashkim, expanded its quotas following the reactivation of sacred irrigation channels and shrine-adjacent grain depots. Their products—buckwheat, lentils, herbal tinctures, and ritual grains—were routed through new shrine taxation lanes for sacramental certification. Inspectors from the Harmony Sanctum oversaw all product flow, ensuring that temple calendars and shrine dietary codes were observed in full. As part of the broader integration effort, the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company was formally chartered on 24/3/51 PSSC. Headquartered in Bashkim and staffed by shrine-cleared personnel, the company operated camel-drawn caravans, highland courier dispatches, and ritual cargo convoys across the secure corridor linking Bashkim, Tonar, and Ourid. Its rapid certification by Temple auditors and Shrine Watch logistics bureaus signaled the successful reactivation of inland trade capacity and the restoration of structured overland commerce under dependency law.
In parallel, the Caspazani Livestock Company was formally registered with the General Port on 26/3/51 PSSC. Headquartered west of Bashkim and operating independently of shrine oversight, the company specialized in the breeding, training, and inland deployment of working horses across the Valley of Keltia. Caspazani was noted for its use of trained bat colonies to guide and control livestock herds across long-range trade corridors and rugged terrain. Its animals were frequently contracted for courier service, agricultural transport, and cavalry provisioning in both dependency and frontier zones. Temple auditors overseeing the company’s integration cited its logistical reliability and non-doctrinal administrative model as evidence of a maturing regional economy with increasing secular participation. With its registration, Caspazani became the first livestock-focused enterprise from the Valley to be formally added to the General Port framework.
As trade resumed, the Council of Kings Division introduced regulatory measures to prevent the reemergence of black-market cult paraphernalia and unauthorized spiritual texts—a phenomenon briefly observed during the vacuum left in the wake of Phase Three clearance. Market enforcement units patrolled ritual stalls and freight terminals, conducting audits of merchant licenses and sacramental permits. No major violations were recorded following the institution of these controls, and by 25/3/51 PSSC, all shrine-linked markets had been brought into full conformity with Dependency Council and Temple Bank standards.
By 24/3/51 PSSC, the Council of Kings Division certified Bashkim as operating in a condition of sustained dependency-phase normalization. Military forces began strategic drawdown procedures, with one Centuria redeployed to frontier reserve duty and the remainder converted to ritual enforcement advisory roles under Shrine Watch command. Shrine Watch officers assumed full internal patrol authority, and civil-military coordination transitioned to Temple-led governance with Shrine Watch liaison oversight. Shrine participation rates exceeded three consecutive observance benchmarks, the missionary Concord of Restoration was ratified in the presence of Temple auditors, and liturgical jurisdictional boundaries were finalized and submitted to the doctrinal archive in Vaeringheim.
Bashkim’s transformation from a contested urban battlefield into a regulated spiritual and economic center was widely recognized by Temple Bank authorities and War League command as the clearest model of the campaign’s intended outcomes. With ritual life restored, civic order stabilized, and commercial lanes secured, the city now operates as both a cultural anchor and a logistical intermediary between the highland periphery and the Lake Morovia basin. Shrine Watch academies remain active, missionary emissaries continue civic training, and all channels of sacred and material exchange operate under full audit compliance. With the integration of the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company and the completion of dependency administrative mandates, Bashkim stands not merely as a city under control, but as a model dependency—one fully aligned with the moral, doctrinal, and legal order of Bassaridia Vaeringheim.
Operation Oceanic Phase IV – Post-Offensive Integration and Perimeter Security (20/3/51 PSSC – ongoing)
Phase Four operations in Ourid began on 20/3/51 PSSC, following the successful clearance of the northern shrine districts and the formal transition of the city into structured governance under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter. While major combat operations had concluded by the end of Phase Three, the Council of Kings Division adopted an intensive stabilization posture in response to recent trauma, the region’s proximity to sensitive frontier territory, and the city’s central role in cultic, logistical, and civil integration efforts across the Valley.
The operational emphasis in Ourid during Phase Four centered on shrine registry completion, outer perimeter interdiction, and the legal and infrastructural consolidation required for advancement into Phase Five. A new Maniupulus was embedded within the city’s civic boundary and tasked with conducting rotational patrols through shrine corridors, tunnel galleries, and transportation chokepoints. These forces oversaw ritual compliance audits, shrine access control, and the supervision of displaced clergy registries. Forward sensor grids and thermal surveillance systems were installed at highland entry points and within the industrial sectors near the former bombing site at the Sanctum of Returning Waters, providing continuous interdiction capability and enforcing spiritual quarantine procedures mandated under Article X. Although no major insurgent activity was detected, War League command maintained a ready posture, authorizing breach drills and perimeter compression exercises to ensure preparedness against any resurgence.
The deployment of the Model V-99 Thunderguard Citadel Train marked a major milestone in this phase. Positioned at the southern rail junction, the V-99 served as a mobile coordination platform for shrine audits, cult registry integration, and logistical operations across the Ourid basin. The train housed administrative personnel from the Temple Bank, instructors from the Shrine Watch, and emissaries from key cult organizations, enabling synchronized civil-military operations across all sectors. The V-99’s systems were integrated into the broader Ourid surveillance grid, allowing real-time ritual audit tracking, shrine district mapping, and interdiction logistics. Its presence provided not only tactical oversight, but also a visible emblem of centralized authority and ritual governance during the final phase of dependency normalization.
As the campaign’s doctrinal and administrative framework expanded, missionary cadres assumed new responsibilities in the reconstitution of shrine society. The Order of Aurora Mystica led reconciliation forums and shrine-based education programs in formerly insurgent-held districts, while the Sanctum Vitalis extended medical services, water purification assistance, and trauma aid in the riverside wards. The Guild of Golden Shadows formalized a dependency-wide licensing protocol, linking shrine markets with the General Port tithe network and regulating post-conflict economic activity. Simultaneously, the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative resumed full provisioning operations from Dock 7, restoring a vital component of the region’s sacred economy and enabling the delivery of whitefish, burbot, and ritual-grade lamprey to temple kitchens across the dependency.
Civic stabilization progressed at pace alongside military drawdown procedures. On 23/3/51 PSSC, the Shrine Watch formally assumed full internal patrol authority, replacing frontline military police detachments in all shrine, industrial, and residential districts. Watch cadets, trained in the V-99’s mobile academy and certified under the Temple Bank’s civil doctrine framework, began patrolling alongside civil affairs liaisons and cultic representatives. With shrine participation rates exceeding pre-insurgency benchmarks and public compliance steadily rising, the Temple Bank authorized the resumption of full civic and ritual calendrical functions. Licensing bureaus, taxation offices, and ritual land courts resumed operation under joint Temple–municipal oversight, while Shrine Watch units conducted biometric registration of shrine custodians and administered civic certification protocols across affected quarters.
A secondary focus of Phase Four was the certification of ritual trade corridors, essential for the transition to a self-sustaining dependency economy. The Keltian Steppe Caravan Company, operating from newly constructed logistics yards in Bashkim and Ourid, completed two successive unescorted convoys along the interior route connecting the Valley to the General Port of Lake Morovia. These convoys carried shrine-sanctioned agricultural goods, sacramental cargo, and dependency charter documentation, confirming the operational viability of overland trade under Temple Bank spiritual oversight. In response, the Temple’s tithe regulators issued updated sacramental schedules and tariff codices to shrine markets and storage enclaves throughout the dependency. Shrine-linked merchant associations were formally enrolled in the General Port registry, and tax revenue was documented in full by the end of the cycle.
By 26/3/51 PSSC, the Council of Kings Division reported that all strategic objectives outlined for Phase Four had been met within Ourid. The shrine registry network was fully restored and cross-referenced against pre-conflict archive records; the Shrine Watch had assumed complete internal security responsibilities in cooperation with municipal officials; and the administrative systems necessary for long-term dependency status had been formally enacted. Concurrently, missionary Concords of Restoration were ratified by the Harmony Sanctum and the Order of Aurora Mystica, confirming ritual reconsacration of all shrine sites, public compliance in three consecutive calendrical observances, and the conclusion of trauma triage among shrine stewards and shrine-linked households. Shrine Watch recruitment continued to expand throughout the period, and all pilgrimage routes leading into the city were reopened following confirmation of corridor sanctity by Temple auditors.
While limited interdiction operations continued in the highland periphery, no formal combat activity occurred during the phase. Doctrinal surveillance units operating under the V-99’s authority registered and mapped a number of unmanned shrines and unclassified sanctuaries near the western fringe of the dependency, all of which were logged, indexed, and placed under Article X review pending reclassification. The Council of Kings emphasized that the containment of unlicensed cult infrastructure remained a priority and that no ritual site would be exempt from future audit or corrective rites as long as the Dependency Charter remained in effect.
On 25/3/51 PSSC, the final liturgical boundary maps were submitted to the Temple Bank’s central archive in Vaeringheim. With all known cultic and civic institutions brought under registry control, and with trade, security, and spiritual harmonization achieved, the War League declared Ourid to be in a condition of sustained dependency-phase normalization. Shrine oversight, civil recordkeeping, trade arbitration, and ritual instruction now proceed uninterrupted. As such, Phase Four was judged to be complete, and the Council of Kings Division submitted a formal resolution to begin the legal ratification process under Phase Five, initiating the city’s permanent integration into the national framework of Bassaridia Vaeringheim.
Phase Four Assessment
Phase Four of the Valley of Keltia Campaign marked the formal transition from tactical consolidation to regional integration, as the Council of Kings Division and the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path moved in concert to entrench civil authority, harmonize shrine jurisdictions, and restore structured economic life across the Valley. With shrine districts secured in both Bashkim and Ourid, and containment procedures fully operational around Tonar, the campaign entered a new doctrinal phase—one focused not on battlefield supremacy, but on the spiritual and legal architecture required for durable dependency governance.
The reconstitution of civic-spiritual order in Bashkim and Ourid was the centerpiece of this phase. Shrine registries were completed, doctrinal boundaries redrawn, and all liturgical and economic activity brought into conformity with the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter. Shrine Watch forces assumed full internal patrol responsibilities, municipal institutions were reestablished under Temple Bank oversight, and the successful ratification of missionary Concords of Restoration affirmed that cultic life within both cities had returned to the rhythms of regulated faith. The deployment of the Model V-99 Thunderguard Citadel Train to the Ourid corridor allowed for real-time coordination of shrine audits, security enforcement, and civil logistics. Its presence stood as both a practical solution to regional command integration and a public symbol of the Reformed Path’s living authority.
Across the wider valley, missionary cadres expanded their mandates far beyond shrine rehabilitation. Cults such as the Harmony Sanctum, Order of Aurora Mystica, Sanctum Vitalis, and Guild of Golden Shadows took on increasingly complex roles in regional recovery, including vocational education, humanitarian relief, administrative mentoring, and ritual arbitration. Their leadership in these sectors ensured that shrine compliance was not only enforced, but understood and internalized by the newly integrated populations. Missionary cadres functioned as cultural stewards and doctrinal interpreters, reinforcing civil obedience and communal resilience while cultivating the spiritual legitimacy of Bassaridian rule.
The successful formation and activation of the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company on 24/3/51 PSSC served as the economic capstone of the phase. From its operational base in Bashkim, the company began conducting regulated, shrine-sanctioned caravan operations along certified overland corridors linking the Valley’s major cities with the broader trade lattice of Bassaridia Vaeringheim. Its immediate registration with the General Port of Lake Morovia underscored the campaign’s economic coherence, and its dual mandate—ritual convoy supervision and commercial logistics—provided the structural bridge between sacred law and material prosperity. The reopening of trade with the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative further strengthened this integration, ensuring that both shrine provisioning and civic supply lines remained uninterrupted under Dependency Council oversight.
On 26/3/51 PSSC, the Caspazani Livestock Company was likewise added to the General Port registry. Headquartered west of Bashkim, the company serves as the Valley’s primary supplier of working horses and overland livestock management. Best known for its use of trained bat colonies to herd animals across remote and rugged terrain, the company operates independently of shrine supervision and has become a vital logistical asset for agricultural transport, cavalry provisioning, and frontier deployment. Temple auditors cited the company's efficient, non-doctrinal model and contribution to civil supply routes as evidence of an increasingly mature and diversified dependency economy. Its integration marked a pivotal moment in the normalization of non-spiritual commercial frameworks within the General Port system.
In the rural zones beyond Bashkim and Ourid, interdiction efforts continued with precision and minimal resistance. Shrine Watch reconnaissance units, supported by embedded cult emissaries and Temple Bank surveyors, successfully dismantled dozens of unlicensed shrines, encrypted broadcast caches, and sacramental caches. In compliant communities, reintegration was achieved through vocational aid, shrine audits, and the issuance of provisional civic charters. In areas requiring spiritual isolation, sites were sealed and marked for doctrinal tribunal review. By the operation's end, all surveyed territory outside of Tonar had been logged, indexed, and harmonized with the central shrine calendar and tithe registry, allowing for full administrative oversight and legal enforcement under Temple law.
The city of Tonar, while not formally reintegrated, remained under strict doctrinal quarantine throughout Phase Four. The Council of Kings Division, supported by Temple auditors and Shrine Watch assets, maintained a stable interdiction perimeter enforced through signal jamming, drone surveillance, and selective breach operations targeting outer sanctums and relic transmission vaults. Under the Order of Containment and Reclassification, Tonar’s shrine emissions were neutralized, its registry suspended, and all civil functions annulled. On 22/3/51 PSSC, War League aerial forces executed precision strikes to destroy the western rail lines connecting Tonar to territories beyond the Lacaran Mountains, severing the city’s last overland logistical and spiritual links to suspected foreign-aligned insurgent support networks. This action ensured that Tonar could not be reinforced by external cultic actors, further solidifying its isolation. Temple and War League authorities jointly affirmed that this decisive infrastructure strike transformed Tonar from a doctrinal threat with regional reach into a contained and inert node of spiritual disorder. As such, its exclusion from Phase Four shrine registry operations was judged legally valid and doctrinally necessary by Temple authorities in Vaeringheim.
By 26/3/51 PSSC, the Council of Kings Division issued its final report for Phase Four, confirming that all principal objectives had been met. The Valley’s shrine registry network had been fully reestablished; Shrine Watch forces had assumed sole internal enforcement authority in stabilized urban zones; civil governance had been restored under Temple supervision; missionary cadres had achieved measurable stabilization in both doctrinal and economic sectors; two fully unescorted trade convoys had been completed along secure overland routes; and shrine participation rates had surpassed the required benchmarks to declare ritual normalization under the Charter. The ongoing containment of Tonar—enforced through infrastructural interdiction, doctrinal quarantine, and shrine emission suppression—was recognized as a permissible and effective deviation under dependency governance protocol.
Temple Bank officials and War League commanders jointly praised Phase Four as the definitive model for post-conflict consolidation within the Reformed Stripping Path. Rather than merely extinguishing rebellion, the campaign had established a new order—one rooted in doctrine, administered by law, and sustained through calibrated trade and cult governance. The completion of shrine harmonization, the operationalization of the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company, the registration of the Caspazani Livestock Company, and the full mobilization of civil-military infrastructure demonstrated the Bassaridian state’s ability not only to conquer and contain, but to cultivate and incorporate. With the Valley stabilized, shrine oversight institutionalized, and missionary cadres embedded throughout the dependency’s civic life, the War League and Temple Bank jointly declared Phase Four complete and recommended the formal commencement of Phase Five: the ratification of dependency status, the codification of canon law, and the final integration of the Valley of Keltia into the sacred and sovereign domain of Bassaridia Vaeringheim.
Phase Five Operational Details
Phase Five of the Valley of Keltia Campaign began on 28/3/51 PSSC, following the completion of shrine registry operations, civic stabilization, and regional trade reintegration under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter. With the cities of Ourid and Bashkim operating under full dependency governance, and with containment measures around Tonar deemed doctrinally sufficient, the Council of Kings Division and the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path entered the final phase of the campaign. Phase Five focused on the legal ratification of the Valley as a Dependency of Bassaridia Vaeringheim, the codification of harmonized canon law, and the formal induction of the Valley’s cultic and civil institutions into the national order.
The phase opened with the deployment of Dependency Integration Commissions to Ourid and Bashkim. These commissions were composed of Temple Bank auditors, civil affairs magistrates, cult representatives, and Shrine Watch liaison officers. Their primary mandate was to oversee the formal transfer of ritual and civil sovereignty to Bassaridia Vaeringheim in accordance with the amended provisions of Article VI of the Bassaridian Constitution of 50.43 PSSC. Ritual oaths of dependency were administered in shrine ceremonies broadcast across the region. Shrine archives were sealed, digitized, and relabeled under the Reformed Path’s central registry. Dependency Council members were issued sovereign charters of office, and municipal temples were re-designated as Dependency Sanctums under Temple jurisdiction.
In tandem, the Codex of Harmonized Rites and Civic Concord was finalized by a joint commission of doctrinal archivists, Shrine Watch jurists, and representatives from cults including the Order of Aurora Mystica, Harmony Sanctum, and Guild of Golden Shadows. This codex served as the canonical framework for shrine operations, cultic governance, and civic compliance within the dependency. It outlined recognized rites, festival calendars, economic regulations, and cult entitlements, and it standardized spiritual doctrine across all registry-certified sanctums. Cults operating in good standing under the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter were issued full legal accreditation under the Bassaridian Codified Cultic Statute and formally inducted into the Temple Bank’s national organizational roll.
Missionary cadres that had participated in reconstruction and relief efforts were reassigned to permanent offices. The Harmony Sanctum established a dependency-wide Ritual Oversight Collegium, while the Order of Aurora Mystica opened a Shrine Instruction Institute in northern Ourid. The Sanctum Vitalis converted its mobile health stations into temple-sponsored clinics, and the Guild of Golden Shadows assumed responsibility for shrine tax coordination and dependency tithe regulation. These institutions received fixed Temple Bank endowments and permanent Shrine Watch escort authority, reflecting their new status as foundational components of the Valley’s spiritual administration.
Shrine Watch forces remained deployed in a civic security capacity but ceded primary enforcement authority to locally trained officers operating under regional Dependency Command posts. Patrol scheduling, licensing enforcement, and ritual compliance audits were transferred to fully inducted Shrine Watch District Cadres, who operated from sanctified precinct houses in both Ourid and Bashkim. In the hinterlands, newly harmonized shrine circuits were patrolled by Shrine Watch auxiliaries supported by missionary advisors and quadwalker scout elements operating under Temple security jurisdiction.
Tonar, while still classified as a spiritually quarantined zone, was addressed through a series of high-level legal decrees. The city was officially designated a “Doctrinal Null Zone” under Article X. Its shrine assets were frozen under Temple Bank fiscal law, its civil charter was annulled by the Dependency Tribunal, and its boundaries were redrawn as an exclusionary buffer. Any future reintegration would be contingent on a full doctrinal tribunal review, the appointment of a Concord Magistrate, and the completion of spiritual reclamation benchmarks as outlined in the Harmonized Canon Law. Until then, the city remained under indefinite doctrinal lockdown.
By 31/3/51 PSSC, all dependency institutions had been certified, cultic registries harmonized, and the shrine economy fully absorbed into the General Port system. Missionary Concords of Completion were signed by all active cults operating in the Valley, and a formal notification of closure was submitted to the Temple Council in Vaeringheim. The Council of Kings Division released its final operational bulletin for the campaign, declaring the Valley of Keltia fully stabilized, legally ratified, and spiritually incorporated into the sovereign domain of Bassaridia Vaeringheim. The campaign was thus declared complete.
Legal Ratification and Constitutional Decree
The legal ratification of the Valley of Keltia as a Dependency of Bassaridia Vaeringheim was formally enacted on 29/3/51 PSSC following the completion of all shrine audits, municipal charter registrations, and tithe harmonization procedures carried out under the authority of the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter. The process was initiated with the presentation of the Final Stability Docket by the Council of Kings Division to the Temple Council of Vaeringheim, which included full compliance reports from both Bashkim and Ourid, registry logs from all missionary cadres, and surveillance documentation confirming the continued containment of Tonar.
On 30/3/51 PSSC, the High Chamber of the Temple Bank convened a ceremonial hearing in the Hall of Concords, during which the Valley’s candidacy for dependency status was reviewed in accordance with Section III of the amended Bassaridian Constitution of 50.43. Presiding over the proceedings was the Grand Auditor of Shrine Transitions, accompanied by cultic emissaries from the Harmony Sanctum, Order of Aurora Mystica, and Temple Illuminata. Following the reading of the compliance scrolls and ritual validation of the missionary Concords of Restoration, the Temple Council voted unanimously in favor of formal ratification.
The decree was finalized in a joint proclamation signed by the Archon of the Temple Bank, the Commander General of the War League, and the full Council of Kings. The proclamation codified the Valley of Keltia as a full territorial Dependency of Bassaridia Vaeringheim, placed its civic and spiritual institutions under the permanent oversight of the Temple Bank, and confirmed its cultic registry as subordinate to the national Codex of Canonical Cults. The names of Bashkim and Ourid were inscribed onto the scroll of sanctified dependencies held in the Central Archive of Vaeringheim.
Concurrent with the ratification ceremony, the cities of Bashkim and Ourid were granted Sovereign Dependency Charters, which recognized their local Dependency Councils as permanent municipal organs under Bassaridian civil law. These charters granted authority over local shrine maintenance, ritual court operations, economic licensing, and cultic dispute arbitration, provided all activities remained in conformity with national canon and fiscal expectations. Dependency Council members swore oaths of spiritual loyalty and civic fidelity before emissaries of the Shrine Watch and Temple Bank, sealing their cities’ formal alignment with the sovereign state.
As a concluding gesture, the Temple Bell of Ephyra tolled twelve times during the midday watch on 30/3/51 PSSC, marking the canonical finalization of the ratification. Each toll corresponded to one of the principal Divines of the Reformed Path and was followed by the sounding of ancestral horns across the highlands and shrine districts of the Valley. Pilgrims, shrine custodians, and local cult adherents gathered across public sanctums in Ourid and Bashkim to witness the live transmission of the decree, which was broadcast through ritual pulse channels and read aloud in both civic and sacred dialects.
The legal ratification marked the first successful invocation of the amended Section III of Article VI, and it set precedent for future dependency integrations under the Reformed Stripping Path. From this point forward, the Valley of Keltia was no longer a contested region or transitional zone—it had become a legally recognized, spiritually sanctified, and economically integrated arm of the Bassaridian state.
Final Doctrinal Tribunal of Tonar
On 1/4/51 PSSC, the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path, in cooperation with the Council of Kings Division, convened the Final Doctrinal Tribunal of Tonar to determine the spiritual and legal fate of the city following its prolonged containment under Article X. The tribunal was held in Vaeringheim’s Hall of Ecclesiastical Judgments and presided over by a quorum of twelve senior auditors, three cult emissaries, and a panel of doctrinal historians drawn from the archives of the Temple Illuminata and the Mystery of the Stygian Veil.
Proceedings opened with the reading of the Order of Containment and Reclassification, followed by forensic briefings detailing the bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters in Ourid, the ritual emissions recorded in Tonar between 16/3 and 24/3/51 PSSC, and the recovery of Rochefort-affiliated relics and encrypted mnemonic glyphs during Phase Four breach operations. The Tribunal reviewed the spiritual telemetry logs, UAV emission scans, and recovered doctrinal fragments—each item cross-indexed with the forbidden texts catalogued during Operation Somniant and the shrine purge of the Western Lakeshore.
Testimony was offered by surviving witnesses of the Ourid bombing, Temple auditors embedded in the Tonar containment ring, and field missionaries who had engaged with Tonar’s displaced religious communities in the exclusion zone. Emissaries from the Guild of Golden Shadows and the Order of Aurora Mystica submitted public memoranda emphasizing the city’s past economic and spiritual contributions, while the Harmony Sanctum submitted a neutral report urging that “the decision reflect not merely past transgressions, but the potential for reconfiguration of worship and intent.”
After deliberations lasting one full liturgical cycle, the tribunal rendered its verdict: Tonar would not be reintegrated as a municipal dependency under the current Charter cycle. Instead, the city was formally designated a Ritual Containment Zone (RCZ) under indefinite ecclesiastical quarantine. This designation affirmed that Tonar’s shrine corridors, broadcast nodes, and doctrinal infrastructure remained “incompatible with re-sanctification under current ritual and constitutional norms.” All civil privileges were revoked, and shrine charters suspended until such time as a future tribunal found the city spiritually compliant.
However, the Tribunal authorized the continuation of Containment Concordance Protocols, allowing missionary emissaries to continue limited cultural engagement, ritual cleansing rites along the perimeter, and long-term doctrinal study within the city’s outer sanctums. The Temple Bank established a permanent Custodial Shrine Garrison at the Forward Logistics and Audit Compound (FLAC), responsible for monitoring shrine emissions, coordinating future breach audits, and administering containment enforcement under Article X authority. No timetable was provided for reassessment.
The Tribunal’s decision was disseminated via spiritual pulse across all major cities of Bassaridia Vaeringheim, accompanied by a decree of mourning for the unrecovered sanctity of Tonar and a prayer of clarity from the Conclave Illuminara. While controversial among cults advocating full reabsorption, the ruling was largely seen as a just resolution by the public and reaffirmed the sanctity of ritual law in national governance.
Tonar remains a closed zone: spiritually latent, legally suspended, and doctrinally quarantined—its future bound to a deeper question of repentance, restitution, and divine clarity.
Civic Integration Metrics
The ratification of the Valley of Keltia as a formal Dependency of Bassaridia Vaeringheim on 29/3/51 PSSC allowed the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path and the Council of Kings Division to begin the evaluation of civil performance indicators across the newly integrated territory. Civic integration metrics were compiled to assess the long-term viability of dependency governance, the effectiveness of shrine-led administrative structures, and the readiness of each urban and rural zone for full participation in the spiritual and legal apparatus of the Bassaridian state.
The civic integration process relied on data gathered from five primary instruments:
- Municipal Licensing Compliance Logs, overseen by Shrine Watch offices and civil registrars.
- Shrine Attendance and Ritual Participation Benchmarks, maintained by Temple auditors and cult missionaries.
- Trade and Taxation Records, compiled under the General Port’s tithe harmonization bureau.
- Cult-Concord Service Reports, submitted by missionary cadres embedded in administrative circuits.
- Population Audit Forms, gathered during biometric and doctrinal registration campaigns.
Bashkim demonstrated the highest level of integration across all categories. Civic licensing compliance exceeded 97%, with all shrine-linked institutions certified under the revised charter by 25/3/51 PSSC. Shrine Watch cadet graduation rates from the Bashkim Academy surpassed pre-conflict benchmarks, and shrine attendance averaged 91% across all calendar observances during the month of Opsithiel. Public participation in Dependency Council hearings was consistent, and no audit violations were reported in trade zones following the establishment of the new sacramental markets and caravan licensing centers. The inclusion of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, Keltian Steppe Caravan Company, and Caspazani Livestock Company created a dense administrative and economic framework, widely viewed as the template for future dependency transition models.
Ourid, while slower to normalize in the immediate aftermath of the 16/3/51 bombing, exhibited steady growth in compliance metrics. Licensing recovery stood at 91%, with 100% biometric registration of shrine personnel and civil officers achieved by 26/3/51 PSSC. Daily shrine participation rates surpassed 86% in most districts, and market taxation recovered to full tithe levels with the return of the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative. The integration of the Model V-99 Thunderguard Citadel Train provided both logistical and symbolic cohesion, allowing mobile registration nodes and shrine arbitration forums to reach every ward within the city. Shrine Watch patrols fully replaced military police functions by 25/3/51, and missionary evaluations submitted by the Order of Aurora Mystica and the Sanctum Vitalis described public morale as “ritually stable and structurally confident.”
In rural districts surrounding the valley, civic metrics were assessed through field surveys conducted by Shrine Watch auxiliaries and cult emissaries. Of the 48 shrine-linked villages audited between 20/3 and 28/3/51 PSSC, 44 received full civic certification. The remaining four were placed under Article X probationary review due to inconsistencies in tithe reporting or unresolved shrine registration anomalies. Educational outreach by the Ordo Amicitia, economic training programs facilitated by the Guild of Golden Shadows, and reconciliation rites led by the Harmony Sanctum proved critical in raising compliance in these areas. Shrine attendance in rural sanctuaries averaged 78%, and initial licensing bureaus in each certified village reported functional registry rollouts, with an average processing time of three days per household.
Tonar remained excluded from civic evaluation due to its standing under the Order of Containment and Reclassification. Its metrics were formally marked as “inapplicable” pending doctrinal tribunal review.
By 1/4/51 PSSC, the Temple Bank’s Dependency Review Board concluded that the Valley of Keltia had surpassed the minimum thresholds necessary to qualify for long-term dependency status under the Bassaridian Constitution. Average civic compliance stood at 89.6%, shrine participation across all functional districts exceeded 84%, and tithe integration across trade guilds reached 95.2%. These figures were cited in the final registry codex submitted to Vaeringheim, where they were archived in the Temple Ledger as evidence of “successful dependency-phase convergence.”
Post-Ratification Annexation Petitions (52 PSSC)
On 54/1/52 PSSC, the cities of Bashkim and Ourid formally applied for full annexation to Bassaridia Vaeringheim under the newly authorized Regional Investor of the Ouriana, proceeding in accordance with Article VI procedures of the Bassaridian Constitution of 50.43 PSSC. Tonar, identified throughout the Valley of Keltia Campaign as a zone of relative instability, was not included in the application. Although the door remained open for Tonar’s eventual full annexation pending doctrinal and civic benchmarks, the city—for the present Charter cycle—retained its dependency status.
Final Assessment
The Valley of Keltia Campaign, initiated on 61/2/51 PSSC by the Council of Kings Division of the Bassaridian War League in coordination with the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path and supported by allied elements of the Imperial Federation, concluded as the most comprehensive military, civil, and doctrinal operation undertaken by Bassaridia Vaeringheim since the Lower Jangsong Campaign. What began as a tripartite offensive against insurgent enclaves in Tonar, Bashkim, and Ourid evolved into a five-phase integration and spiritual harmonization program that redefined the relationship between Bassaridia and its frontier territories.
The campaign’s success was defined by its ability to adapt from kinetic warfare to complex civil reconstruction. Following decisive strikes in Tonar and clearance operations in Bashkim and Ourid, the War League achieved near-total spatial control of the region by the conclusion of Phase Three. In Phases Four and Five, attention shifted to doctrinal restoration, civic normalization, and shrine harmonization, guided by the principles outlined in the Dependency Governance Transitional Charter.
Central to this transformation was the establishment of robust dependency institutions in both Bashkim and Ourid. Shrine registries were completed; civil licensing and taxation frameworks were activated; Shrine Watch academies assumed full patrol and ritual enforcement duties; and missionary cadres embedded with civic officials to deliver education, public services, and doctrinal guidance. Cults such as the Harmony Sanctum, Order of Aurora Mystica, and Guild of Golden Shadows emerged as critical actors in this transition, integrating ritual life with economic recovery and community cohesion.
Economically, the integration of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association, Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative, Keltian Steppe Caravan Company, and Caspazani Livestock Company into the General Port of Lake Morovia provided the logistical backbone for long-term regional stability. Shrine-sanctioned trade convoys, ritual provisioning networks, and tithe documentation protocols reestablished the Valley as a productive and spiritually aligned economic zone. The mobile governance operations conducted from the Model V-99 Thunderguard Citadel Train ensured uninterrupted oversight during the transitional period, reinforcing the visibility and functionality of the Bassaridian state across even the most remote corridors.
Though Tonar remained excluded from full reintegration, its containment—maintained through aerial surveillance, doctrinal quarantine, and infrastructure interdiction—was judged by both military and Temple authorities as a permissible deviation under Article X. Its spiritual reclassification and continued exclusion did not materially disrupt dependency logistics or shrine participation metrics, and its fate was deferred to future doctrinal tribunal review.
On 27/3/51 PSSC, the Micras Cartography Society (MCS) formally recognized Bassaridia’s claim to the Valley of Keltia, expanding the nation’s mapped borders by roughly thirty percent. The claim had originally been submitted for approval on 14/3/51, during the transitional period between Phases Two and Three. The MCS decision served as international confirmation of the campaign’s strategic and territorial success, legitimizing the new dependency within the broader cartographic order of Micras.
By 29/3/51 PSSC, the Valley of Keltia had met all legal, logistical, spiritual, and administrative criteria for full dependency ratification. Shrine attendance surpassed target thresholds, civil licensing reached saturation in all certified zones, and cult observance was reestablished under the unified calendrical and tithe systems of Bassaridia Vaeringheim. The campaign's progression—from armed intervention to spiritual stewardship—demonstrated the War League’s capacity not only to impose order, but to instill lasting cultural, legal, and divine authority.
In total, the Valley of Keltia Campaign was declared a decisive success. It accomplished the disruption of insurgent command networks, the reclamation and harmonization of contested shrine districts, the stabilization of critical trade and food supply infrastructure, and the full establishment of Bassaridian law and spiritual governance in two major cities and their surrounding hinterlands. Its final phase saw the valley transformed from a fragmented frontier into a sanctified dependency—ritually aligned, economically linked, and politically subordinated to the central authority of Bassaridia Vaeringheim.
Reactions
Domestic Reactions
Initial Domestic Reactions
The formal announcement of Operation Oceanica on 8/3/51 PSSC generated a wide spectrum of public responses within Bassaridia Vaeringheim. Many citizens and commentators expressed support for the operation, viewing it as a necessary continuation of containment policies initiated during Operation Somniant. In particular, the move to secure the western highlands and eliminate residual cult infrastructure in Ourid was interpreted by supporters as a proactive measure intended to prevent future Eidolic manifestations and secure the state's border regions from further destabilization.
Public approval was strongest in urban centers such as Somniumpolis and Lewisburg, where memories of prior incursions and internal unrest remained prominent in political discourse. Within these circles, the deployment of a large combined-arms force—two full Centuriae, multiple strike squadrons, and forward support units—was viewed as an appropriate and proportional response to the emergence of transnational cultic networks across the Central Keltian highlands.
However, segments of the public expressed concern about the scale and timing of the operation. Critics, primarily from civil society forums and independent scholarly institutions, voiced apprehension about the expanding scope of foreign campaigns undertaken by the War League in recent years. Others expressed concerns regarding the ability of the Council of Kings to wield its own military power. In these circles, the Valley of Keltia Campaign was perceived as part of a broader trend of prolonged external deployments that risked overextending military resources and increasing dependence on continuous conflict to justify institutional growth. Additional concern was raised regarding the rapid approach of seasonal weather in the Ourid region, with some questioning whether operational goals could be achieved before the onset of freezing conditions and highland snows.
These debates occurred in parallel with military contingency preparations. In the early hours of the operation, two Bijarian Ballistic Missile Submarines were stationed offshore near Somniumpolis, prepared to conduct long-range precision strikes against deep cult command sites should resistance prove more entrenched than expected. While these assets were not initially utilized, their deployment contributed to speculation regarding the operation’s strategic depth and the extent of anticipated resistance.
Domestic Reactions to Phase One
Following the first ten days of combat, domestic responses to Phase One of the campaign were shaped by a combination of visible tactical achievements and public acknowledgment of the real-world challenges encountered on the ground. Coverage of the precision airstrike on Tonar dominated state and religious media outlets in the opening days. While the operation was ultimately successful, initial reports also noted delays caused by adverse weather conditions and communication anomalies, which were subsequently praised by commentators as a testament to the War League's flexibility and professionalism under pressure. Images of destroyed ritual synthesis complexes and recovered cult schemata were widely circulated across state-backed outlets, including the Bassaridian Broadcasting Corporation, reinforcing the strike’s legitimacy.
The operation in Bashkim elicited a more complex public response. While many citizens, particularly in security and Temple-affiliated circles, supported the intervention on the grounds of known insurgent activity, others expressed unease due to the city’s longstanding cultural and economic ties with Bassaridia Vaeringheim. Editorials in cities like Lunalis Sancta and Delphica emphasized the need to balance military necessity with diplomatic foresight. Reports of natural obstacles—such as flooding and terrain instability—compounded these concerns, though they were tempered by firsthand accounts of the War League’s restraint in targeting, its avoidance of civilian areas, and the rapid deployment of engineering assets to mitigate disruption. Public confidence was further bolstered by a formal declaration from the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path confirming that Bashkim’s shrine complexes remained structurally intact and spiritually uncontaminated.
Coverage of the Ourid offensive was defined by both awe and anxiety. Media outlets highlighted the scale of the operation, the formidable geography of the Eastern Caledonian Highlands, and the difficult weather conditions that War League forces had to overcome. Special reports emphasized the recovery of cultic archives and the neutralization of high-value insurgent positions, while acknowledging the increased operational friction caused by fog, disrupted supply corridors, and temporary delays in armored movement. Commentators praised the professionalism shown by Bassaridian forces in navigating these conditions without forfeiting momentum or resorting to broad escalation.
While public sentiment remained broadly supportive, especially in major urban centers, signs of strategic fatigue persisted—echoing discourse from the later stages of Operation Somniant. Civil society groups in both coastal and highland regions called for greater clarity regarding the long-term objectives of the campaign, as well as post-conflict integration efforts for contested cities like Bashkim and Ourid.
Nonetheless, the visible discipline exercised by the War League and the limited number of casualties sustained contributed to a general perception that Phase One had achieved its core goals without compromising the state’s spiritual or humanitarian standards. The campaign was widely seen as a credible demonstration of national resolve—one that had not only degraded insurgent capability, but reinforced the viability of direct executive command in foreign operations.
Domestic Reactions to Phase Two
Public response to Phase Two of the Valley of Keltia Campaign was shaped by a growing awareness of the campaign’s shift from high-intensity combat to stabilization, recovery, and civil administration. In contrast to the dramatic tempo of the early strikes and urban sieges, the second phase unfolded at a slower and more complex pace—one marked by political deliberation, logistical obstacles, and measured restraint. Media coverage emphasized not just battlefield gains, but the long-term challenges of holding and rehabilitating fractured urban zones.
In Somniumpolis, Lewisburg, and other major coastal cities, government spokespeople and Temple emissaries framed the transition as a sign of institutional maturity: proof that Bassaridia Vaeringheim was capable not only of defeating its enemies in battle, but of restoring peace, order, and sacred law in the aftermath. National broadcasts focused heavily on the reactivation of major transportation corridors in Bashkim, the restoration of shrine councils under military stewardship, and images of Military Police patrols working alongside local watchmen and Civil Affairs teams to distribute aid. These images bolstered a narrative of progress, particularly among urban viewers who had grown wary of prolonged conflict since the final stages of Operation Somniant.
One of the most celebrated developments during this phase was the formal addition of the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association to the General Port of Lake Morovia. The syndicate’s inclusion was widely praised by both culinary guilds and household provisioning networks, as it reintroduced long-absent cold-steppe agricultural goods into the national market. Citizens in cities across the central and eastern coasts began reporting the availability of rare grains, lentil-millet blends, and highland herbal infusions once common before the insurgency took root. Restaurants, shrine kitchens, and civic granaries released new menus and seasonal dishes based on these reintroduced staples, with many Temple-run broadcasters highlighting the Association’s contribution to both physical nourishment and spiritual reconnection with the Valley.
Shortly after, the successful reactivation of the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative was met with equally enthusiastic response. Once cut off by insurgent control of the Ouriana Riverfront, the Cooperative resumed delivery of riverine staples—most notably grayling, whitefish, and ritual-grade lamprey—through restored transport lanes and shrine distribution hubs. National coverage emphasized both the practical and spiritual significance of their return: fish previously reserved for seasonal or ceremonial consumption began appearing again in marketplace stalls and sacred feasts across the highlands and lakeshore cities. In Delphica and Vaeringheim, Temple broadcasts featured purification rites using freshly caught lampreys, while culinary sects in Symphonara reintroduced smoked burbot into ancestral recipe cycles. For many, the return of these species symbolized not only a reconnected economy, but a healed spiritual artery of the nation—the Ouriana River brought back under divine and civic order.
Among the most politically significant developments of Phase Two was the formal proposal—submitted by the Commander General of the Bassaridian War League on 14/3/51 PSSC—to annex the Valley of Keltia region as a Dependency of Bassaridia Vaeringheim. The announcement coincided with growing optimism surrounding the successful stabilization of Bashkim and Ourid, and was met with general support across much of the country. Nonetheless, the decision sparked debate due to the constitutional implications of such an act. At the time, the Bassaridian Constitution of 50.43 did not explicitly allow for the absorption of dependencies under the terms of Article VI. The passage of an amendment adding a third section to Article VI—establishing the legal framework for such annexations—was ultimately approved by the Council of Kings and the Temple Bank with little formal resistance.
Still, pockets of civil and academic discourse expressed concern over the precedent being set. Editorials in Delphica and Lunalis Sancta raised questions about the long-term implications of dependency governance and the risks of central overreach. Others asked whether the constitutional amendment had been passed with sufficient public consultation. Yet even among skeptics, there was a recognition that the move reflected a broader strategic vision: that Bassaridia’s frontier was no longer a temporary occupation zone, but a space of permanent cultural and economic integration.
In Ourid, domestic reactions were more cautious but not unhopeful. The Ouriana Riverfront assault was widely commended for its coordination, particularly after footage of Imperial divers dismantling a demolition threat and the aerial strike on a ritual ordnance vault circulated through national and shrine media channels. However, reports of shrine-based misinformation in southern districts sparked debate over the pace of reintegration. Temple outreach teams and cultural liaisons redoubled their efforts to counter rumors and framed their work as spiritual triage—temporary but necessary to realign Ourid’s civic identity with the greater Bassaridian order. The reopening of riverside shrine kitchens using fresh fish provided by the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative helped strengthen this effort, offering both symbolic and material affirmation that the valley’s sacred flows had returned to their rightful purpose.
Domestic Reactions to the Ourid Shrine Bombing (16/3/51 PSSC)
The bombing of the Sanctum of Returning Waters in Ourid on 16/3/51 PSSC resulted in immediate and widespread domestic response across Bassaridia Vaeringheim. The attack, which killed 47 civilians and 19 personnel affiliated with the Council of Kings Division, was regarded by both state institutions and the general population as a significant escalation in the Valley of Keltia Campaign. The location of the attack—within a city undergoing post-conflict stabilization—and its timing, shortly after the completion of shrine restoration efforts in the area, contributed to its broad political and symbolic impact.
In the hours following the bombing, the Temple Bank issued a national directive suspending shrine activity for forty-eight hours, with the sole exception being Anagenesis Eirmos festivities planned for the 18th in Acheron and ordering emergency audits at all major sanctums in Ourid and Bashkim. Municipal governments in cities including Vaeringheim, Saluria, Ephyra, and Bashkim declared mourning periods, implemented ritual silence ordinances, and coordinated public commemorations under the oversight of Temple auditors. In Bashkim, where stabilization operations had only recently concluded in the eastern quarters, shrine elders and civil officials organized a reading of the names of the deceased in the central market square.
A formal statement from the Temple Bank condemned the attack as a targeted act of spiritual sabotage and confirmed full institutional support for retaliatory measures. Later that day, the Council of Kings Division initiated Operation Bebéakáus Ski II, a sustained aerial bombardment of shrine-linked insurgent infrastructure in Tonar, a city located within the Valley of Keltia but not yet fully integrated under Bassaridian administration. The strikes were publicly authorized under Article X of the Reformed Ritual Code and announced during a nationally broadcast Temple-War League joint communique.
Public reaction to the retaliatory strikes was generally supportive. In Vaeringheim and Ephyra, ritual offerings were placed at shrine complexes, and high attendance was reported at Temple-led services. State media coverage emphasized the precision of the airstrikes and the legitimacy of the War League’s response under Temple guidance. Independent guild-affiliated publications released statements in alignment with the Temple narrative and reiterated support for the ongoing dependency process in the Valley. In some quarters, commentary emerged advocating for the immediate formal annexation of Tonar, although no action to that effect was taken by the Council of Kings during this period.
Law enforcement and shrine watch deployments remained steady in all major cities. No major acts of civil disruption were reported. Information control remained centralized through official channels, and public order was maintained throughout the mourning period. The Ourid bombing and subsequent retaliatory strikes marked a turning point in public discourse, reinforcing national support for expanded intervention in the Valley and lending renewed legitimacy to the War League’s position in the campaign.
Domestic Reactions to Phase Three
Domestic responses to Phase Three of the Valley of Keltia Campaign were shaped by a combination of public affirmation, cult-led mobilization, and heightened national focus on dependency governance as a sacred and civil obligation. Launched in response to the Shrine Bombing in Ourid on 16/3/51 PSSC, the phase catalyzed widespread engagement from religious institutions, civic organizations, and missionary orders, all of which framed the operation as both a necessary act of divine justice and a pivotal milestone in the moral integration of the Valley.
Reaction to Operation Bebéakáus Ski II—the retaliatory bombardment of Tonar—was swift and supportive. Shrine forums across Vaeringheim, Ferrum Citadel, and Somniumpolis hosted public invocations led by cults such as the Azure Sentinel Sect, the Order of Aurora Mystica, and the Rex Catonis, emphasizing that the operation had been carried out under the spiritual authority of Article X of the Reformed Ritual Code. Missionaries representing the Conclave Illuminara and the Order of the Umbral Oracle delivered open-air sermons across major urban centers, describing the strike as a “ritual act of cosmic redress,” and reinforced this framing by distributing scroll-leaflets containing quotes from the Invocation of Atos and the Hymn of Reproval.
Across the country, missionary organizations intensified their domestic presence in the days following the attack. The Harmony Sanctum, backed by Temple Bank funding, dispatched reconciliation teams to shrine districts in cities like Saluria and Delphica, where they held forums on spiritual clarity, inter-cult harmony, and the moral responsibilities of dependency governance. In Serena, the Micrasian Harmony Fellows organized a week-long series of musical vigils and restorative dance rituals, emphasizing inner equilibrium as the foundation for outer peace. The Guild of Golden Shadows, operating in coordination with municipal guilds and Temple auditors, hosted closed-door meetings in Aurelia and Koinonía to discuss the ritual-economical implications of the campaign’s territorial gains, including anticipated market openings and ritual licensing reforms.
Shrines in Ourid and Bashkim saw a significant increase in civilian participation during Phase Three. In the newly secured precincts of Bashkim’s east and Ourid’s north, cults such as the Mystery of the Verdant Embrace, the Sanctum Vitalis, and the Mystery of the Red Mirth deployed mixed-purpose missionary teams to support rebuilding efforts, oversee street feasts, and lead communal reconsacration rituals. The Eon Fellowship, responding to calls for healing in Ourid, distributed sacred salts and led rites of seasonal renewal at recently restored shrine galleries.
In parallel, Shrine Watch academies across Bassaridia Vaeringheim reported record recruitment figures. The Rex Catonis cult expanded its training curriculum in Catonis Atrium to include cultural indoctrination for Shrine Watch officers intended to serve in the Valley. Meanwhile, Temple Bank officials launched a broadcast campaign across public squares and market shrines using pulse-ritual transmitters and spiritual audio channels, urging citizens to “prepare their hearts and minds for a future of shared devotion and governed grace.” Notably, the broadcasts featured endorsements from cult leaders across multiple Divines, including Atos, Micras, and Styx, reinforcing the message of cosmic convergence behind the campaign.
Public discourse was also shaped by scholarly commentary from urban academies and shrine-sponsored editorial boards. The Temple Illuminata in Aureum issued a reflective communique praising the restoration of order in the Valley as a sign of the “Host Spirit’s living contract made visible.” Commentaries from the Mystery of the Stygian Veil focused on the theological transformation occurring through dependency governance, while cults like the Accord Concordia published guidance on community cohesion in multi-cult civic environments. Among merchant guilds and policy councils, discussions centered around the expansion of the General Port’s licensing authority and the integration of Valley markets into the greater ritual economy.
Although isolated concerns emerged regarding the scale of the aerial campaign in Tonar, these were largely confined to legal commentary boards and academics affiliated with the Sanctum Delphica. There was no reported unrest, and Shrine Watch curfew protocols remained widely observed. Importantly, domestic reactions remained not only peaceful but actively participatory, with cults across the religious spectrum volunteering services ranging from trauma counseling and food distribution to spiritual arbitration and shrine network reinforcement.
Domestic Reactions to Phase Four
Domestic reactions to Phase Four of the Valley of Keltia Campaign were defined by widespread public approval, expanded cult participation, and a growing sense of institutional confidence in the Bassaridian state’s ability to convert military success into lasting spiritual and administrative order. As the campaign shifted decisively from active stabilization to regional harmonization, national discourse increasingly framed the Valley not as a contested frontier, but as a newly sanctified extension of the Bassaridian interior—governed, provisioned, and spiritually anchored under the shared authority of the Council of Kings Division and the Temple Bank of the Reformed Stripping Path.
In Vaeringheim, the declaration that both Bashkim and Ourid had entered sustained dependency-phase normalization prompted formal statements from the Temple Council and celebratory rites across public sanctums. Civic forums displayed shrine banners bearing the twin emblems of the Council of Kings and the Temple Bank, while high-attendance ceremonies commemorated the restoration of liturgical calendars and the certification of missionary Concords. Media coverage emphasized the doctrinal completeness of the registry surveys, the assumption of internal policing by the Shrine Watch, and the transition of civil administration to chartered Dependency Councils as signs of divine and institutional fulfillment. In these commemorations, the message was clear: Phase Four had not only achieved spiritual clarity, but restored the rhythms of law, labor, and liturgy throughout the valley.
Public sentiment reflected strong support for the campaign’s direction. Polling conducted by the Harmony Sanctum in coordination with Shrine Watch educational offices in Ephyra and Saluria indicated approval ratings exceeding eighty percent, with particularly strong affirmation from merchant guilds, cult administrators, and Shrine Watch auxiliaries. Cult emissaries were repeatedly credited for the humane and efficient nature of the campaign’s consolidation, with the Guild of Golden Shadows, Order of Aurora Mystica, and Sanctum Vitalis cited by name for their work in shrine arbitration, medical provisioning, vocational training, and shrine-based economic recovery. Their expanded public roles were widely interpreted as evidence of a spiritual campaign executed not by force alone, but through lawful stewardship and sacred order.
Among the most visible and widely praised developments was the formation of the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company, whose operations across newly certified trade corridors captured the imagination of a public eager to witness the conversion of insurgent roadways into sanctified arteries of commerce. News coverage from Somniumpolis, Delphica, and Luminaria featured images of camel-drawn caravans, shrine-certified freight seals, and courier riders dispatching ritual documentation along pilgrimage routes now connected directly to the General Port of Lake Morovia. In national editorials and shrine lectures alike, the company was described as a “consecrated bridge”—not merely of material goods, but of cultic trust, civic normalization, and sacred obligation.
The addition of the Caspazani Livestock Company to the General Port registry also drew public attention, especially among rural cooperatives and logistics planners. Headquartered west of Bashkim and operating as a secular enterprise, the company’s innovative use of trained bat colonies to herd working horses across remote steppe corridors was hailed as a practical breakthrough in livestock management. Footage of coordinated bat formations guiding herds across the Valley’s rugged terrain circulated widely in public forums and Temple-sponsored civic exhibitions. Praised for its efficiency, ecological suitability, and independence from shrine structures, Caspazani was presented as an example of how non-spiritual institutions could still serve the national interest with precision and discipline. Several civic commentators remarked that the company’s certification reflected the growing maturity of Bassaridian dependency economies, where both sacred and secular actors could thrive under a unified legal and logistical framework.
The return of shrine-linked provisioning institutions such as the Ouriana Lowlands Farmers’ Association and the Ouriad River Fisheries Cooperative received similarly broad acclaim. In Saluria, commemorative tokens were issued depicting shrine sanctuaries restored to operation, while in Ferrum Citadel and Delphica, merchants offered devotional wares crafted from pilgrimage tagua and Valley-grown grains. Festivals led by the Order of Aurora Mystica and the Accord Concordia drew large audiences in Vaeringheim and across interior provinces, focusing on civic blessings for Watch cadets, missionary liaisons, and caravan coordinators whose work was now inseparable from the divine project of national expansion.
Public discourse surrounding Tonar remained measured and doctrinally aligned. While scholarly forums convened by the Temple of Aprobelle and the Order of the Umbral Oracle opened inquiries into the long-term implications of spiritual quarantine, there was no widespread dissent from the containment policy itself. Commentators emphasized that Tonar’s continued isolation under Article X served both a spiritual and a legal necessity, and polls showed majority approval for the Council’s decision to delay reintegration until shrine conditions could be fully stabilized. War League bulletins reporting the elimination of residual transmissions and the absence of civilian escape incidents helped ease public concern and reinforced the perception that the containment was complete, secure, and justified.
During the final days of Phase Four, cult participation surged nationwide. Shrine attendance exceeded seasonal benchmarks in nearly every district, and public donations to reconstruction and cult-led civic programming in Bashkim and Ourid rose sharply. In Lunalis Sancta, a liturgical mural depicting the restored Valley was unveiled before an audience of over three thousand, while in Aurelia, the Temple Illuminata hosted a week of doctrinal panels reflecting on the symbolic meaning of dependency governance in the unfolding theological arc of the Reformed Path.
By 26/3/51 PSSC, the Valley of Keltia Campaign had become a reference point for civil institutions and cultic leaders alike. The successful certification of shrine calendars, the operationalization of missionary programs, the registration of both the Keltian Steppe Caravan Company and the Caspazani Livestock Company, and the seamless extension of General Port logistics through shrine-sanctioned and secular corridors affirmed to many that the campaign had surpassed its initial mandate. No longer viewed merely as a military victory, Phase Four was broadly understood as a demonstration of Bassaridia’s ability to translate conquest into covenant. In public statements, civic leaders and Temple authorities voiced unanimous support for the next stage of operations. As preparations for Phase Five began, national consensus coalesced around a single message: the Valley of Keltia now stood not as a borderland, but as an integral part of the sacred and sovereign order of Bassaridia Vaeringheim.
Foreign Reactions
Despite the scale, duration, and transformative scope of the Valley of Keltia Campaign, foreign reactions to the operation were minimal, diffuse, and largely symbolic. No major power, regional coalition, or international religious authority issued formal opposition or commentary during the course of the campaign’s five operational phases. This lack of engagement was widely interpreted by analysts within Bassaridia Vaeringheim as tacit acceptance of the campaign’s legitimacy, or at minimum, recognition of the Council of Kings Division’s capacity to unilaterally manage regional affairs without external interference.
Early expectations of international commentary—particularly following the initial bombardment of Tonar and the shrine bombing in Ourid—never materialized. Although several academic institutions and independent cult networks outside Bassaridia circulated limited internal memos or ritual communiqués expressing “concern” over shrine damage and doctrinal disruption, these reactions remained confined to internal guild fora and did not evolve into formal statements or diplomatic initiatives.
Likewise, no formal protest was submitted to the Micras Cartography Society in response to the March 14 petition filed by the Commander General of the War League seeking to annex the Valley of Keltia as a Dependency. The absence of contestation was notable given the campaign’s annexation of territories that had previously maintained varying degrees of ritual independence or ambiguous sovereignty. This silence reinforced perceptions that the region’s fragmented religious-political infrastructure, long neglected by foreign custodians, had been abandoned in practical terms and left open to Bassaridian spiritual stewardship.
The continued doctrinal quarantine of Tonar also failed to elicit a formal response. While some observers speculated that Tonar’s cultural prestige or academic heritage might provoke a statement from foreign shrine councils or liturgical orders, no such response occurred. Ritual broadcasts from Tonar were sporadically picked up and debated in fringe spiritual circuits, but these discussions were suppressed or dismissed as encrypted heresies by recognized Temple authorities.
In Vaeringheim, Temple Bank officials and cult emissaries pointed to this silence as evidence of Bassaridia’s emerging consensus authority in central Keltia. Commentators from the Guild of Golden Shadows and the Temple Illuminata described the lack of foreign response not as apathy, but as quiet acknowledgment of the Reformed Path’s spiritual jurisdiction and logistical supremacy. Editorials in the Temple Herald of Delphica concluded that “a campaign which redrew the map, stabilized an economy, restored shrine order, and did so without igniting protest, has proven the viability of the Reformed Doctrine as a basis for continental governance.”
As of the close of Phase Five, no state, cult, or institution beyond Bassaridia Vaeringheim had formally challenged the legal, military, or spiritual outcomes of the Valley of Keltia Campaign.
