Duke Eastshare's Initiative

Duke Eastshare's Initiative was a massive undertaking by the Empire of Charis, to lead a large convoy of men and material from Chisholm to the further points in the Raven's Land, to support relief operations in the Republic of Siddarmark, which at the time was beleagued with its on-going Civil War.

Background
Instability in Siddarmark had become quite evident with the onset of winter in late YOG 895 and early YOG 896, with the Republic's inability to feed itself. With mass starvation and battles such as the Gray Wall Mountains Ambush over small amounts of food, a longer term solution than the Siddarmark Sea-Lift was needed. There was also the certain possiblity of invasion from the other mainland realms come spring, bringing with them further instability and chaos.

Ruhsyl Thairis, the Duke of Eastshare and commander of the Imperial Charisian Army, recognized this very quickly from Maikelberg, in the Kingdom of Chisholm. He knew that the request for soldiers, equipment, and support staff would be following once the immediate needs of the Republic were met by the Siddarmark Sea-Lift. He also knew that although transportation by sea was otfen faster then by land, the route was not direct and the ablilty to transport all of his troops at once was near impossible to do with on going Sea-Lift. He reasoned that if he were to move his troops overland, possibly through the Raven's Land, would cut the transit time considerably, and reduce the number of vessels required. 

Composition
The Duke of Eastshare was able to assemble 80,000 men, including 60,000 infantry, the remainder being mounted troops and support staff.