The Cloudreach Chapter is a term broadly used by historians to describe the Human Auxiliary forces assigned to the forested foothills and Cloudreach Mountains (as the Andans knew the Cloud Peaks).

Foothill Patrolling

Large parts of the territory south of Drummir-Fjor, in the Sevanoron Drummir Alluvium, were administered by an Andan spiritual mission since the late 900s. It was the shared duty of Sevanor, which owned the territory, as well as of its Andan patrons, to protect the lands.

The wild territory to the southeast, which was contested and hardly controlled by Sevanor and the Hill Orcs, was a constant source of annoyance, as lawless brigands and raiders from the Hills used it to attack holy land, as well as the river and roads that led south. Thus the Everekk and shamans of the mission appealed to the Emperor, and received his blessing in the form of a 20-woman Human Auxiliary force.

Its mission was to patrol the hills, tracking down problematic brigands and preventing raids.

Offensive against the Hill Orcs

The chapter was reinforced by 200 fighters in 876, as threats from the east grew more serious and Trensandor planned to deploy an army for the defense of the holy lands. The Human Auxiliary established a permanent convent as headquarters in a former holdfast in the foothills, near a village on one of the Drummir's tributaries. It initially focused on scouting and diplomatic operations with the nearby Hill tribes, but when the army arrived a year later, the Auxiliary began establishing outposts - little huts with provisions - in the high valleys and key passes of the lower Cloudreach, and marking out paths across the mountains.

Thus the chapter's focus turned into mountainous operations, hiking up to several days over the uninhabited mountains to then come down and raid Hill Orc villages in their safe heartland, drawing off some of the tribes' forces to weaken their offensives against the alluvium and Andan allies to the north. The Cloudreach became the usual deployment for the mountain fighters trained in Kyrdan's Ainnya Convent; it was "the" place where the Auxiliary did mountain fighting, rather than the skirmisher roles it usually embraced elsewhere.

Raiding operations slowed down after 870, but the Auxiliary continued to maintain its network in the northwestern Cloudreach, using the convent in the foothills mostly as a stepping point; since then, local militias under a Sevanoron clan's auspice had stepped up to police the foothills.

A 750-strong Human Auxiliary force protecting the holy lands to the north was withdrawn in 831, in accordance with Trensandor's decision not to deploy humans overseas anymore. The remaining Cloudreach numbers were also reduced, from 105 to 62, though their purpose remained.

Sevanoron Politics

Trensandor began involving itself more strongly in Sevanoron affairs already in the early 830s, and the Cloudreach Chapter was used to reach the shepherd peoples who lived near the Cloudreach Slopes, building influence with them. In 827, the chapter was massively reinforced to number 400 warriors, and it engaged in an extensive, mostly religious campaign to gain the allegiance of the Sevanoron foothills people. This was part of the kratpar's wider effort to join Sevanor to the People.

The campaign occasionally extended to violence, when the Auxiliary backed local rebels or one clan against the other, whenever it fit the greater purpose of sapping Sevanoron strength and promoting the pro-Andan factions. Sevanor successfully became a tynseg in 824.

The once again reduced chapter continued operating on both sides of the Cloudreach, keeping the peace in the Sevanoron and Hill Orc foothills. The Human Auxiliary presence served as a keystone of the broader Andan strategy of building fortified positions across Gruibos; their presence effectively denied the possibility for an enemy of Trensandor to gain support in the most independent and inaccessible foothills and mountain valleys.

Defensive Role

Trensandor lost much of its Gruiboson territory to the invasion of orcish clans in 815, and was on the back foot militarily. The alluvium, and the Cloudreach Chapter's zone of operations, were never directly threatened by an invading army; yet, the chapter maintained a presence of up to 200 sisters throughout the decade, playing the important role of keeping the area safe and preventing an army invading through the Sevanoron flatlands or the Hill roads any safe haven or easy resupply from the foothills.

The chapter participated in a minor role in the reconquest after 805 b. OW, notably guiding goblinoid formations across the mountains for some initial offensives.