Rage is the only freedom left to me.
- Sark One-Eye
The Battle of the Bone Forest took place in the Bone Forest in 1120 SE, when an alliance of Orcish tribes ambushed and destroyed three Valorian legions and their auxiliaries, led by General Gaius Sentius Nerva. The alliance was led by Sark One-Eye, an orcish chief from the Sabrecat tribe. This battle enabled the orcish horde to strike out past the Goldenrim River and threaten the heart of the Empire.
Background
In the summer of 1119 CE Emperor Cestius Fabius ordered that eight of the twelve legions stationed in the Nordmark be redeployed to the Amarakian and Elven borders as he had received intelligence that both Amarak and the Elves were considering opening up hostilities with the empire. Both of these predictions proved to be inaccurate, but they set up the empire for a catastrophic defeat.
Since the annexation of the Nordmark in 1093 CE, the orc tribes had been violently pacified in a series of small conflicts as the individual tribes attempted to defeat Imperial forces. By 1110 CE, most tribes had devolved to constant inter-tribal warfare as the various chieftains jockeyed for power and the approval of Mok'Norgal.
Following the departure of the eight legions from the Nordmark, the chieftain of the Sabrecat tribe, Sark (then known as Redfist), began to quietly garner support and favor with the other tribes. He also began a complex campaign of planting false intelligence in the ears of various imperial informers who dutifully passed the information along to their handlers.
One rumor was that made its way to General Nerva, commander of the remaining Valorian forces in the region, was that a group of orcs was banding together to conduct raids south of the river. Those who reported this to Nerva presented it as an occasion which required his prompt intervention, while being unaware that it was part of a concerted organization and rising of the orcs.
Nerva decided that he had to quell this uprising immediately, and and departed from Fort Ironwood with only three legions, not waiting for the other two legions to be recalled from where they were garrisoned. Nerva directed his troops to follow a rough track north into the forest as it offered the most direct route to the spot of the fictitious rebellion. The rough road caused the army to make very slow progress and it allowed Sark to easily place the orc tribes in optimum positions.
Battle
The night before the attack a heavy rainstorm began. The weather, along with the rough path caused the line of march to be stretched out perilously long - around eight miles or so. The army was in this state when the combined forces of the orcs began their attack. The orcs surrounded the entire Valorian army and attacked with javelins and the traditional orcish axes.
Aftermath