Lutoborian Exiles

The Lutoborian Exiles were a host of Lutoborian Sirian High Nobles who fled into the steppe with their families and retainers starting in 1632 at the conclusion of the Great War of Enlightenment, an attempt to remove Bronimir the Young from the Lutoborian throne that ended in disarray and failure. The initial party led by Volodimir the Last formed a group of about 2,000 to 3,000 people, including women and children. Volodimir's abortive comeback in the 1636 First War of the Exiles added more sympathetic Sirians to the Exiles' numbers. The Exiles were principally from the Horobetsovid and Orelovid houses, but had members from every major noble house in the country; one of their first leaders, Domarad Moroz Semovitovych, a son of the Knyaz of Kothynska, was from the Morozovid house.

Integration in the steppe

The Exiles adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle in the steppe, integrating themselves into the framework of Carassic Mandrivnik tribes. They were hosted by the Polcovode of the Orlovid Confederacy, a Mandrivnik tribal confederation that was the dominant power in the north-central steppe within that time-frame, and which had previous familial ties to the Lutoborian High Nobility; the Exiles' leaders became close advisers to the Polcovode. In 1657 the Polcovode granted the Exiles the right to found several fortified homesteads (similar to the forts built by Messenians in the north-western parts of the steppe) within his dependencies; their main foundation and centre of operation was Novobiysk (at the modern border between Lutoborsk and the Rastovid Confederacy) on the Sluch River. Over the course of the next twenty years, they became significant players in the affairs of the steppe in the service of the Orlovids. They frequently clashed with Joghic tribes from the east, and participated in several pillaging expedition in Vaestic Chuzastrana. They remained staunchly Sirian, and continued the practice of Secotic elective monarchy within their group.

Invasion of Lutoborsk

In 1672, after more than thirty years in exile, the Exiles assembled their forces and invaded the Lutoborian territories, intent on retaking what they considered to be rightfully theirs and engaging in a holy war against the Vesnites. They had the full support of the Orlovid Confederacy, having been promised new territory and significant loot; thus, the Exiles' army was overwhelmingly composed of Carassic tribesmen. This began the Second War of the Exiles.

At first, the invasion met with overwhelming success. Crossing into the Dovhyi Tableland they ravaged Mazyr and Mejirsk in 1672, and even took Zhytomir in the midst of the winter of 1672-73. The Exiles almost completely razed the centre of Lutoborian Vaestism, burning down the Mokykla of the Magnification; although this was a major symbolic victory, the physical standard of the banner had been evacuated in time, and remained in safe hands. At this point, many nobles from the western knyazivstvos started to convert back to Siriash. In 1673 the Exiles campaigned in Anjirska and Doyotia, then turned around and crossed Plysoveska, which they left mostly unscathed, to focus on Hremelska and the vozhd's stronghold in Hremel.

After failing to defeat the Exiles in battle, Vozhd Svorad found himself besieged in his capital over the winter of 1673-74. The winter was harsher than usual, and the Exiles took enough attrition that they suffered their first significant defeat when Knyaz Sobiebor of Plysoveska arrived with his forces in Floridy 1674 to relieve the siege. This marked a first turning point; the Exiles withdrew to Anjirska while the Agamari pièche Silver Column disembarked in Kothyn in late Estion to assist the Lutoborians. The final turning point was the Battle of Yarove in western Plysoveska on 29 Sation 1674, in which the Agamari and Lutoborian forces inflicted a decisive defeat on the Exiles, notably capturing their leader Kasimir Orel Bogdanovych. With him in enemy hands and their forces seriously weakened, the Exiles retreated back into the steppe, allowing the Lutoborians to retake all of the lost territory. The noble Sirian converts were purged, and a large land redistribution took place (although the relative balance of power between the High Noble houses was not affected).

Aftermath

Following their defeat, the Exiles were never again able to gather enough strength to threaten the Vesnite establishment. They remained in service of the Orlovid Confederacy, but, following the defeat their influence collapsed to almost nothing; the Exiles eventually fully assimilated with the Mandrivniks, forming one tribe among the others. They remained in control of Novobiysk, which became an important stop on the eastern branch of the trans-Joriscian Steppe Route. The former Exile tribe was subjugated to the Lutoborian realm by Vladibor VII in the 1840s, and converted to Vaestism like many other Mandrivniks.