The Orc Wars - 1371-1409 DR
The Orc Wars were not a single battle, but a grinding, decades-long struggle that defined life in the North for two generations. From the Rise of Many-Arrows in 1371 DR to its final collapse in 1409 DR, the conflict was a slow war of attrition, raids, and shattered peace.
The Stalemate (1370s - 1390s DR)
After the initial shock of Obould’s invasion, the North settled into a bleak stalemate.
The Kingdom of Many-Arrows solidified its hold on the Spine of the World. Orc engineers (often with enslaved dwarf laborers) improved their fortresses. They weren’t just raiders anymore—they were a nation with territory, supply lines, and a fearsome reputation.
The Northern Cities adapted to a state of perpetual war. Life moved behind walls. Militias were permanently mobilized. Trade caravans traveled with heavy guards. The wilderness between cities became a no-man’s-land, where only the brave or foolish traveled lightly.
Key Features of the War:
- The Raid Cycle: Orc warbands would strike without warning at mines, farms, and smaller settlements, then melt back into the mountains. Retaliation was difficult and costly.
- Economic Strangulation: Safe trade was nearly impossible. Luxuries vanished. Prices for basic goods—especially metal and grain—skyrocketed.
- Cultural Militarization: Every able-bodied person learned to hold a weapon. Stories of orc cruelty were told to children to enforce vigilance.
The Turning Tide (1390s - early 1400s DR)
Two major shifts began to turn the long war in favor of the Northern allies.
1. The Death of Obould (c. 1400 DR): The brilliant, unifying force behind the orc kingdom died—some say in battle, others from illness or assassination. Without his iron will, his chieftains began to squabble. The disciplined machine of Many-Arrows started to rust from within.
2. The Alliance of Necessity: Old grudges between dwarves, humans, and elves were set aside. Mithral Hall, Neverwinter, Luskan, and the elf clans of the High Forest began to coordinate. They shared intelligence, planned simultaneous offensives, and stopped the orcs from playing them against each other.
The Great Push (1407-1409 DR)
In what later chroniclers called the Great Push, the allied forces launched a coordinated, multi-front campaign to break the orc kingdom for good.
The Dwarven Hammer: Armies from Mithral Hall, led by battle-hardened commanders, struck at the orcs’ mountain strongholds from below, using ancient tunnels and sheer engineering grit.
The Human Anvil: Forces from Neverwinter and Luskan attacked from the west and north, pinning orc armies in place and cutting off their retreat to the lowlands.
The Elf’s Arrow: Elven scouts and archers harried orc supply lines and picked off chieftains, spreading chaos and confusion behind enemy lines.
One by one, the fortresses of Many-Arrows fell. The orcs, now leaderless and divided, could not hold. Their kingdom shattered, not with a single dramatic battle, but through relentless pressure and fractured morale.
Aftermath & Legacy
By 1409 DR, the Kingdom of Many-Arrows was gone. What remained were scattered tribes, a scarred landscape, and a traumatized population.
- The Wilderness Remains Dangerous: Orcs still raid, but now as disconnected tribes, not as a unified army. The wilds of the North are still not safe, but they are no longer held by an organized enemy state.
- A Generation of Veterans: Nearly every family had someone who fought. The returned soldiers brought home not just glory, but bitterness, nightmares, and a hardened prejudice against all things orcish.
- Economic Recovery Was Slow: Rebuilding trade routes, reclaiming farmland, and reopening mines took decades. Many never returned to their ancestral homes.
- The Half-Orc Dilemma: Children born of orc and human unions during the wars—whether through violence or rare peace—faced a world that hated one side of their blood. Their struggle for acceptance began here.
The Orc Wars did not end with a clean victory. They ended with exhaustion, ruins, and a memory of fear so deep it became part of the culture. To understand the North today—its fortified towns, its suspicion of strangers, its tense relationship with the wilderness—you must understand these long, bitter decades of war.
Next: Read about the pivotal event that followed: 1451 DR - The Ruining of Neverwinter, or return to the main Timeline.