ZNR-Ehrengard Conflict

Overview

The ZNR-Ehrengard Conflict was a pivotal war between the Zatrian National Republic (ZNR) and the Ehrengard Empire during the early days of Landfall-530 - Noble Blood. Sparked by territorial disputes and political differences, the conflict highlighted Ehrengard's expansionist ambitions and the ZNR's fierce resistance.

What the public account omits, and what was only acknowledged after the war ended, is that the conflict was substantially shaped before the first open engagement by two joint intelligence operations. Both were authorized at the highest levels of Ehrengard and run alongside the alliance with Despedidas. The first, Operation Naptime, was a joint Ehrengard-Despedidas effort to insert a controlled asset into ZNR leadership. The second, Operation Nightshrike, recruited a senior ZNR official directly. Together they bent the war into a shape Ehrengard could win before the campaign was ever fought.

Covert Operations

Operation Naptime

Operation Naptime was a joint Ehrengard-Despedidas intelligence operation authorized by Emperor Kieran Ehrveil and Secretary of Defense Porter Ehrveil in coordination with Despedidas High Command (Amlooi Alvaldi, Ing Eclipsis, and Giorgio GG. Eclipsis). The goal was to insert Despedidas asset Ing Eclipsis, code name Feather, into ZNR leadership as a false defector.

The operation proceeded in four phases:

• Controlled Separation. A public dispute between Ing and Despedidas High Command was staged during internal military exercises, framing Ing as a leader who felt Despedidas sovereignty was being compromised by deference to Ehrengard. Ing then declared an autonomous military protectorate adjacent to ZNR-controlled borders, hung ZNR propaganda at the new base, and ran visible recruitment to attract defectors and mercenaries.
• Initial Contact. Intelligence planted through neutral intermediaries hinted at Ing's independence and their inside knowledge of the Ehrengard-Despedidas alliance, prompting ZNR leadership to pursue Ing as a recruit on what they believed was their own initiative.
• Infiltration and Influence. Once inside, Ing supplied actionable but non-critical intelligence calibrated to build trust, while seeding false narratives about Ehrengard-Despedidas disunity and encouraging ZNR to commit resources to fabricated threats and dead-end objectives.
• Exit and Reintegration. Ing's departure from ZNR contact was staged as a refocus on their own protectorate. The intelligence gathered was later delivered to joint Ehrengard-Despedidas leadership in a classified debrief.

Handlers were Amlooi Alvaldi (Ing's direct contact) and Porter Ehrveil (operational coordination). The "autonomous protectorate" Ing established as part of Naptime would later be the seed of Cuidense after the Despedidas split.

Operation Nightshrike

Operation Nightshrike was an Ehrengard-only operation authorized by Emperor Kieran Ehrveil. It recruited Klein Moretti, at the time a senior official within the ZNR, as a covert Ehrengardian asset under the code name Nightshrike. Moretti's documented dissatisfaction with ZNR leadership made him a viable target, and his existing access to ZNR strategic discussions made him valuable.

Moretti's cover was an independent bakery in New Terranova, built on a modest plot and presented as the venture of an unaffiliated entrepreneur. The bakery's infrastructure was prepared with hidden communications equipment developed by DaemonWare Labs, allowing Moretti to transmit intelligence to his handlers (Kieran and Porter Ehrveil) without ever appearing to leave his civilian persona. He continued to maintain trusted standing within the ZNR throughout, seeding disinformation into their strategic discussions and gathering intelligence on their plans, alliances, and internal politics. Any intelligence Ehrengard then acted on was attributed to unrelated sources to protect his cover.

By the time of open hostilities, Moretti held trusted positions in both directions. The same access that let him feed the ZNR misleading intelligence was what allowed him to approach Avery Rosendahl, then a high-ranking ZNR officer, and negotiate her defection. His public elevation to Lord Commander after the war was the visible outcome of years of covert work.

Operation Nightshrike was declassified after the war by Empress Avery R. Ehrveil.

Key Events

• The Emberscar Campaign. Ehrengard's initial push into ZNR territory, led by Lord Commander Klein Moretti, aimed to secure the resource-rich Emberscar Basin. The ZNR's guerrilla tactics delayed the Empire's advance but came at great cost. The campaign benefited from years of strategic misdirection seeded by Naptime and Nightshrike, which had drawn ZNR resources toward fabricated priorities and away from defensible terrain.
• Avery Rosendahl's Defection. The turning point came when Avery R. Ehrveil, a high-ranking ZNR officer, defected to Ehrengard with her loyal division. The approach was made by Klein Moretti, drawing on his standing within ZNR leadership established under Nightshrike. Her defection brought trained Ehrengardian forces into the ZNR's interior structure and collapsed ZNR morale at a decisive moment.
• The Fall of the ZNR. After a series of decisive battles, the ZNR capitulated, and its lands were integrated into Ehrengard as the Duchy of Varenholde. Avery was later revealed to be Avery Ehrveil, heir to the Ehrveillian Dynasty, in what many saw as a calculated move by the Empire to consolidate power.

Propaganda

The conflict was initiated over anti-Ehrengard Empire propaganda posted by the Zatrian National Republic. A few such posters can be found below. Note the use of red and purple, as they are the heraldic colors of the ZNR and Ehrengard respectively.

Sources

• Operation Naptime
• Operation Nightshrike (declassified by Empress Avery R. Ehrveil)