Kalran: Tales of the four nations/White phosphorous bombardment

"I don't care if there are so called innocents in there! I want that city taken by today and I specifically order you to fire! Now be a good soldier and FIRE THOSE ROUNDS!"

-Recorded transmission between Bahlgram towards Reclaimer artillery crew to fire the newly made white phosphorus shell into the city of Yordres. Half of said artillery crew were then executed by Bahlgram after the battle for questioning him.

Even as the Reclaimers began to descend into monsters, under their new leader Bahlgram, it was said that they still had standards. Most of all was to never harm civilians, even at their darkest they never attacked population centers unless it was evacuated. That was until the siege of Yordres, an event which forever marks the Reclaimers as warmongering tyrants and Bahlgram as a repugnant, uncaring, bastard.

The day of blood and fire
The first recorded use of white phosphorus shells is also the most infamous.

In the city of Yordres, which holds a vital route towards Arcadia, many of the Tuathan soldiers had began to quickly fortify the city and evacuating its citizens and refugees, whose homes were lost by previous Reclaimer invasions, as Bahlgram army began to march towards Arcadia.

For the next few hours Bahlgram forces failed to make a breakthrough, the defenders hellbent of defending their people and their nation, with his advisors noting that they can simply outlast them, it'll take about a week at most but they can starve out the city. But Bahlgram didn't want that.

Fearing that Arcadia will fortify while his forces sieging, believing the civilians and refugees as soldiers, and wanting to get to Arcadia faster he ordered the unthinkable.

And in a flash artillery shells, streaking white, soon struck the city and explode, soon came horrid screams as the city light up in flames and turned to ash. It was said that out of 900000 people killed, 800000 were civilians.

Yordres dies screaming in agony, its streets littered with burned corpse and the air toxic with fumes from the flames and burnt bodies. And Bahlgram couldn't care less, as with the city gone the way to Arcadia is an easy one.

What was in the shell on that fateful day is now known as white phosphorus, a chemical that. once ignited, burns at well above 2500 degrees Fahrenheit, and will continue burning even while immersed in water, as it simply pulls oxygen from the water to maintain combustion. A chemical accidently created by Desmond, the Reclaimers first leader, who, upon discovering its effects, destroyed all records on how to make it and banned its use, seeing it as an inhumane weapon, but even so Bahlgram had managed to somehow salvage the plans, and began to create it once he took over the Reclaimers.

The use of these shells had also caused a great schism among the Reclaimers, where those who followed Desmond's ideals defect, not wanting to follow a murderous tyrant. Where it was said that this event, and his follow up order of having his soldier charge through the still burning city, was the final straw for many of the Reclaimers, who defected en masse to the empire, with only two of Desmond’s two closest friends Finn York and Yulia Cruz, and even then they defect upon the unveiling of the Hyperion, a weapon that spits in the face of Desmond’s pacifist ideals, with the former founding the ADF and the latter getting the code that allowed the remnants to hacked the satellite. And, in what could be called karma, further delayed Bahlgrams invasion to Arcadia.

Leave not but screams and ashes
In the modern time the Reclaimers still use such shells, mainly under the Hound cell, in warfare, where it flames slowly burns any soldier who is unfortunate to touch it, while fragments ignites the inside of most garrison to burn out stationed soldiers, and even if it doesn't many dies choking on the toxic fumes.

And worst of all these shells aren't just used against military.

Its also rather infamous for the cell to fire these shells into unsuspecting cities and town, often to sow confusion and distract the military, before they attack. Its said that many of the chosen even choose to fire such shell for no other reason then to hear the people scream.