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Arthur sat and thought about his vision. Would Juniper have done the same for him that he was willing to do for her? The answer was clear, no. But he wasn't doing this for Juniper. He studied new magics in order to get back at that Cat. "Juniper isn't my problem anymore." Those words were the only ones spoke to his trusty student after being handed the missive.

[!] An Oyashiman nails a note to the Sakuragakure Notice Board for any would-be bounty hunter . . . Juniper Rose is an instigator incapable of taking accountability. She turned a blind eye to Scrisa Anarion and threatened my people with genocide. She is a national grifter who betrayed her allegiance to Lurin in favor of Kaethul. I am a victim blamer. Attempts to apprehend Kiyoshi Renge, retainer of the Ugokoyama Clan, will be met with hyper-violence. Such is the word of Ugokoyama Danzen, Samurai of Koyo-Kuni. Namu Myoho Kani Kyō UGOKOYAMA DANZEN the Oni Slayer, Jūshoku of Nichi-Jin Temple, Legendary Sanbushi, Buke-Toryo of the Ugokoyama Clan, Yobushidan of Machiman and Samurai of Koyo-Kuni.

Father Nerium, reclining casually in the direct middle of a busy tavern, drank small sips from what looked like a vertebrae as his suspecting eyes passed over the banter. Upon hearing Malik the Trustworthy speak, he cunningly pulled a little pocketbook out of his sleeve and wrote down the rumor. "John Augustus Galbraith is a necromancer! The pontifex must know!" he thought, scowling and shaking his head.

Verena rested peacefully in a grave near Haense. Her soul resided in the afterlife - perhaps her mother would never know, but some small part of Verena knew of Juniper's visitations to her burial place, and her soul was always gladdened for them. For the love she had borne for her mother till the very end was not loud. It had been hampered by conflict and disagreement, by misunderstanding, and by worldy things greater than them, beyond their control. The love Verena had for her mother was not loud. But it was deep, and it was unending.

Scattered notes eventually found their way into the creaking hand of an old form. Milky, feline pupils - scarred with death - flicked over the missive. Something gurgled in her throat, the creatures attempt at something almost akin to a laugh. The devil formerly known as Sermi slipped that paper away; and took her position oncemore. Snow, and wind battered her form. Ice clung to cloth with not a hint of warmth to dispel it. Amaya had lingered on her mind, recently. Was it remorse? No. Satisfaction? Neither. It was inevitable, death. She had always been pleased that, at least, she saw such a brilliant light come back to Aevos in those final fleeting moments. Were it that others understood. Were it that others would follow in her footsteps. Maybe then, there would be hope for them. Far away from home, and with a mission in mind; little heed was paid to it beyond that initial thought. This was, after all, hardly news to her. There might be a call for violence. But who would believe Juniper? And what did it matter? These were the trivial affairs of mortals, now. Something that had grown beneath her attention. Another buffet of cold crashed into her form, unfelt. Another step forward, and her head creaked up. The Infinite stood within her reach, and as she reached a hand out towards it again; she thought of that new pin-prick in her soul. They would come to regret the creature born of her corpse. All that she needed was time. And that was the one thing she had in abundance. Birds may come and go, caged or not. But she would always remain.

THE HISTORIA PERTINAXI: Volume II; The Conquests of Aurelius Written by Justinian Nafis, Count of Susa and Adolphus Gloriana, Earl of Suffolk, Prince of Sutica The Conquests of Aurelius "Now is our only chance to stop this Aurelius Horen. Each year his power grows. I fear that if he is allowed to retain his throne, he shall become unstoppable.” - Adalwulf Horen’s advice to King Javier of Norland during the Third Crusade It was almost midnight on the 12th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1638, and The King of Renatus had almost no time to savor his victory over the now-usurped Mardonic Emperors. It is written by Jimothy Trent, a palace serving boy who survived the massacre at Adelburg and eventually became a scribe for House Kastrovat, that the battle-worn, weary King Canonius sat atop his new throne for mere minutes. It would only have been enough time for those in the room to kneel. Adelburg was in flames, a Norlandic army could arrive at any moment, and news of the young John VI’s demise and the deposition of the Mardons would doubtless reach the other corners of the Empire within days. Although Canonius, during his time as Aurelius, would come to be charged by later historians with lethargy and over-delegation, these accusations hold little water when compared to the accounts of the man during his earliest days as a true ruler. In these dire times, where the existence of his fledgling Renatian state was under constant threat, there are few accounts of the king’s rest and retirement, which he had no doubt earned. Leitsieg Romstun was ordered to bring the rampaging army to heel. Although the handpicked Romstuns that stormed the palace had since stopped their slaughter, the rest of Canonius’s army still ran the streets red with blood. The Mardonic force had long-broken, and what was a desperate battle had become a massacre. The endeavor would take Leitsieg hours (although some accuse him of wasting away precious time plundering and pillaging himself), and by the end thousands lay dead, among them women, children, and clergy. Arpad Ivanovich was tasked with putting out the fires that engulfed the city. Alongside the wounded, of which there were a few hundred, an ad-hoc fire brigade was formed, and where the Mardons had given up their fight, the blaze refused to back down. Unable to fully contain it, Arpad and his men were forced to allow many neighborhoods of Adelburg to burn. Buildings around armories, food depots, guard posts, and hospitals were razed to prevent crucial infrastructure from being destroyed ahead of what was to be a Norlandic assault on the city. By the morning of the 13th, the fires had died down, leaving nearly seventy percent of the city in ashes. Thankfully, Canonius quickly restored order, and issued commands to stop any looting and killing. While terrible slaughter had occurred during the Coup of Adelburg, the King of Renatus was able to stop its worst excesses. He did not wish to enrage the people of the city, especially not with a Norlandic army just miles from the city. Mere hours after his men were brought in line, he ordered Arpad and Leitsieg to organize defenses for an attack from King Javier and his army, which would surely outnumber the Renatians and their few allies. The banners of the invading vanguard could be spotted early the next morning, and soon after Santegian knights had reached the outskirts of the city. With half-erected barricades and poorly-patched walls, Canonius and his officers prepared for a second fight. In what was deemed “the miracle of Adelburg” by contemporaries, what appeared to be an imminent storming of the city by King Javier and his far larger, better-rested army did not occur. While some Santegian knights rode around the city’s outskirts, certainly to scout the defenses, they did not so much as taunt or skirmish any of the beleaguered defenders. Within an hour they rode back to King Javier’s camp, certainly to report what they had seen, and mere hours after that the great Norlandic host turned back south. Hardly anyone understood King Javier’s decision, least of all Canonius himself, who in 1680 admitted to one of his generals that the city was at that point indefensible with the manpower he had. "Few had died, many had been injured, and others were assigned to guard the prisoners. Those from the Crownlands feudatories were unreliable. They would have fled or turned coat at the first advance, so we had them positioned far in reserve. No more than two thousand men were at my command, far inadequate to defend a city as large as Adelburg. Had King Javier attacked then, the seat of Oren would have been his by nightfall.” Most explanations around King Javier’s unexpected retreat center around the Santegian knights. Some scholars believe that they provided him poor information and misjudged the strength of Adelburg’s defenses, assessing them to be far more well-prepared than they were. Others have proposed that a concurrent rebellion in Santegia was proving far too difficult for King Leo to contain, and the knights that had accompanied King Javier intentionally exaggerated Adelburg’s defensive capabilities in order to convince him to direct the army to Santegia and deal with the uprising there (which he did, securing the region by early 1640). Following this scholarship, newer research has posited that these knights were secretly Canonists in rebellion against the pagan-friendly King Leo, and they deceived King Javier into thinking that Adelburg was impregnable so that the Canonist Crownlands would not be conquered by Fatherists. King Javier’s withdrawal on the 13th of the Grand Harvest, 1639, gave some time for Canonius to secure his base of power and navigate these turbulent political waters. While he was accepted, if not loved, by many of the lords of the Crownlands, the other Canonist princes were not so eager to follow. King Otto II of Haense removed himself from the chaos of the Heartlands and withdrew his armies to his realm. Lorraine and Mardon, both lacking a recognized leader, descended into civil war as factional rivalries split the respective realms apart. Prince Frederick Victor of Marna, the Archchancellor of the Empire, had rallied much of the Imperial bureaucracy and high nobility around the Westerlands and threatened to claim the Imperial Crown for himself. Only the High Pontiff Everard IV entertained any dialogue from Canonius, but, favoring both Prince Frederick and the King of Haense, he did not coronate Canonius, depriving his usurpation of the legitimacy it needed. While he had clearly desired the Imperial title, Canonius was now forced to temper his ambitions. He simply did not have the army, resources, or support to enforce his claim abroad. He issued several proclamations announcing that the Empire was in a state of interregnum, and that he would only use the title of King of Renatus until affirmed otherwise by the Pontiff. In the same stroke, he denounced Prince Frederick’s actions as endangering the stability of Canondom in the face of a pagan invasion. He demanded that the prince cease all plans to claim the Empire for himself and called for those that had fled to the Westerlands to surrender themselves and swear fealty to him. The demands were rejected, but Canonius had prevented Prince Frederick from making his claim to the Empire without looking even more power-hungry than the usurper of his former liege. The Westerlands would have to be brought to heel, but for now he could prevent any direct challenge to his authority in the Crownlands. In a series of courts hosted during the last weeks of 1639, Canonius accepted oaths of fealty and distributed land to some of his most prominent supporters. He also established a rudimentary administration in preparation for his coming campaign against the Westerlands, which began during the spring of 1640. Leitsieg Romstun and Arpad Ivanovich led Canonius’s armies west and are said to have won several small battles there. The destruction of Bastion in 1642 destroyed much of the Westerlandic-Marnan archives there, leaving us without many sources as to the brief war between Prince Frederick and King Canonius. Information from Church archives, mainly surrounding the peace agreements in 1640, gives us some insight as to what may have occurred. In mid-1640, peace was made between the warring factions in a meeting held at the behest of High Pontiff Everard IV. Everard IV, a pragmatic and capable man, knew that the threat to Canondom posed by Norland and its allies was still great, and further infighting over the remains of the Empire served only to prevent a united defense of the faith. At his demand, Canonius ceased his campaign against the Westerlands and agreed to join with them and Haense in a crusade against Norland and Santegia. At these negotiations, representing the Westerlands, was Prince Frederick Pius, son of Prince Frederick Victor. As a part of the agreements made, he was named King of Marna and coronated in a ceremony by the High Pontiff at Alban, where he was residing at that time. The fact that Frederick Pius, and not his father, was the one being crowned as King of Marna, and thus assuming leadership of many of the Orenian exiles, is proof to many scholars that Frederick Victor was slain during the brief war. Frederick Pius’s willingness to abandon any claims to the Empire might suggest that Canonius forced him into such a position, but it could just as easily be the case that the King of Marna had no wish to make his claim in such an environment. Concurrently, Canonius was formally recognized and crowned by the High Pontiff in a similar ceremony not long after Frederick Pius. Given the regnal name Aurelius, which history knows him as far better now, the once-upstart general had now been fully brought into the fold of Canondom. Doing his part as a Canonist, he agreed to support the crusade with whatever manpower he had available. Let it also be noted that from here on forward, these authors will be referring to him as Aurelius. Within months, Aurelius, Frederick Pius, and Otto II had assembled a combined host of eight thousand. While nominally allies in a crusade against Santegia and Norland, none of them trusted the other two, and so the majority of their forces were kept in defense. Fortunately for them, the winds had changed since the Battle of the Bloody Road. In the winter of 1939, riots from Canonists in San Adrian, the capital of Santegia, had forced King Leo to recall his army there to suppress them, a task that he found increasingly difficult. The next year, the King of Santegia returned to the Canonist faith and joined the crusade against Norland. With his coalition weakening and his enemies growing stronger, King Javier gambled on another offensive against Adelburg, where the crusade was rallying, in the hopes of dealing them an early defeat before they had gathered their full might. Encouraged by Adalwulf Horen, the mercenary commander that had turned coat after the Battle of the Bloody Road, he led a quick march from Vjorhelm back to the Crownlands. Unfortunately for him, the success he found two years earlier could never have been replicated. In 1638 he faced a poorly-supplied, demoralized Imperial Legion with a far larger host bolstered by his allies. The crusader army he marched against was in high spirits, outnumbered his own host, and was far better led. King Javier made camp at the small forest town of Rochdale, less than twenty miles from Adelburg. Confident that his lightning march had gone undetected, he failed to properly scout the area. Had he done so, they would have encountered the crusader army camped only a few miles away. Having learned from the mistakes of his predecessors, Aurelius had established an extensive intelligence network that informed him of the Norlandic army’s location, disposition, and size. With this information in hand he proposed an immediate attack on the King of Norland’s army, believing a decisive victory on Canonist soil to be the best chance at bringing a decisive end to the war. On the 10th of the Grand Harvest, 1640, the encamped Norlandic army awoke to the sounds of war horns and taunts from the trees surrounding Rochdale. They had only minutes to assemble a clumsy shield wall before crusaders bearing the sigils of Renatus, Marna, and Haense came bearing down from the woods. Led by Frederick Pius, by far the most gifted commander of the crusaders, the combined army dealt a shattering blow to the six thousand Norlanders. Assailed from all sides, the shield wall was quickly overwhelmed and broken, and King Javier ordered a retreat. Over half of his army was killed or captured in the brief melee and ensuing retreat, and the force that limped back to Vjorhelm was only a shadow of what had brought an end to the Empire two years earlier. For a Crownlands that had experienced nothing but war, famine, and humiliation for the past two decades, this avenging of the defeat brought utter jubilation. Days later, when news of the King of Santegia’s surrender to the Pontiff reached Adelburg, two days of feasting were held to celebrate the two great victories of the crusaders. Plans were made to march on Vjorhelm after the winter, and the kings of Haense and Marna agreed to remain in the south until the next year’s offensive. Even at the time, Adelburg’s celebrations for Aurelius’s victory at Rochdale were derided as plain and inexpensive, but even the brief, one-hour parade that was held had taxed the city of nearly all its remaining wealth. After hearing of the cost of the small festival, Aurelius forbade any of its kind that were not financed by spoils from the war. For Aurelius, the victory at Rochdale was critical in affirming the loyalty of the Crownlands nobility and of Adelburg. The brutal Coup of Adelburg, and the brief war against the well-liked Prince Frederick, had stoked fears in the populace that Aurelius was no more than a bloodthirsty warmonger. Avenging the humiliation at the Bloody Road was an important first step for Aurelius to build his reputation as a man who could defend the Crownlands from foreign invasion. During the winter, Aurelius spent what available time he had away from the war councils reestablishing a regular court and bureaucracy, both of which had been virtually absent from his realm for the past year. Despite not being a learned man himself, the King of Renatus was not so proud as to avoid seeking good advice when it was offered. Renatus had few intellectuals of its own, but with the Marnan and Haeseni armies wintering in Adelburg, he came into contact with many officials and nobles that had extensive experience in governing. It was from these men that he began to grasp many of the fundamental principles of statecraft. He would not refine his political talents for many years, but by the start of the spring campaign he had a simple, crude state and court apparatus to draw support from. While Aurelius’s strength and popularity had grown over the winter, King Javier’s had waned. Defeated in battle and abandoned by its allies, Norland was wholly unprepared to face the coming offensive. King Javier, seeing the inevitable, claimed that an old wound ailed him so greatly that he could not effectively lead his people in a time of war. He abdicated the throne to his son Jevan and promptly left the realm. A capable commander, though far from his father’s equal, King Jevan prepared Vjorhelm for a siege. Marching out in the spring of 1640, the crusader armies reached Vjorhelm by the month of Harren’s Folly and surrounded it. Numbering nine thousand to the Norlander’s two thousand, the crusaders were content to sit and wait for months while they starved the island fortress by cutting off its supply lines. Aurelius, inexperienced in siege warfare, once again deferred to the more experienced Frederick Pius, but he made sure to keep an active presence around the many artillery batteries and siege lines surrounding the city. By the month of Tobias’s Bounty, nearly half of the Norlandic garrison had succumbed to starvation and illness. Two assaults against the city on the 7th and the 10th were repulsed with heavy losses, but on the 12th the city was eventually stormed and conquered. Within a year, Norland, which had once threatened the Canonist world, had fallen. As the crusaders dispersed to attack the many pagan chieftains and petty kings in the region, the four crusader kings (King Leo of Santegia had joined in the campaign against Vjohelm) met in the ruins of the conquered city. They agreed to extend the alliance, though it played little purpose, for another five years so that peace could be kept among the realms of man and each could recover from the Empire’s collapse. The question of what to do with the lands of the Norlanders. Haense, being so far away, had no desire to occupy and govern the region. Santegia, a weak state and only recently having joined the crusade, could not have enforced their will if they tried. Mardon, nearest to the faith, disdained the followers of the Red Faith and would have sooner massacred the lands. Aurelius, not so religious as to have any scruples against having Red Faith subjects, not so far away as to be unable to govern the territory, and not so weak as to lack the forces needed to keep order, was the least worst of four poor candidates to govern the Norlanders. On the 18th of Tobias’s Bounty, Leitseig Romstun, still one of Aurelius’s senior commanders, met with Jory Ruric, the younger brother of King Jevan. Far more inclined to peace, Jory agreed to serve as King of Norland, subordinate to Renatus, in return for being allowed to keep to the Red Faith. His lands were reduced to Vjorhelm and a few towns outside of it, with the rest of the realm being given to a number of crusaders from across Canondom, yet another move that strengthened Aurelius’s support base. Sir Peter Reeves, a younger son of a minor noble in the Crownlands, was made governor of the region and given a small garrison to hold Vjorhelm as the rest of the Renatian army returned home. Over the course of 1641-1642 Aurelius used the peace wisely. His third and final son, Tiberius, was born on the 2nd of Harren’s Folly, 1641, and a feast was held in his honor. According to William McGonius, a chronicler in Aurelius’s court: "It was whispered by some near to the king’s circles that this feast had a dual-meaning. The celebrations for the birth of Prince Tiberius were well-held and expensive for the crown, but of greater note was the king’s insistence that every subject of noble stock in the realm attend. Throughout the day he met with each family, even during the festivities, and only once took a few minutes from this task so that he could enjoy two courses of spiced lamb, which was known to be his favorite dish. He asked them numerous questions about the state of their household, the number of soldiers they could field, their finances, and other such things, for which he had a scribe to record their answers. Though his son’s birth day celebrations were always at the forefront, King Aurelius would have felt it wasted if he did not accomplish anything during it.” As is known to history, a great calamity struck the lands of Axios in 1642, requiring all of its inhabitants to flee to a new land called Atlas. Unsettled in the way Axios was not, hundreds of petty dukes and hillbarons sprang up across the continent. Aurelius and his subjects found themselves in the gentle hills of the eastern part of Atlas, and it was there that they built a number of villages and castles, though the names of most have been lost to time. In fact, much of the history from 1642-1650 is poorly-known. The scant records from this time suggest that Aurelius could not exercise much control nor build a sophisticated state. Many of his vassals from the Crownlands most likely slipped away from his grasp at this time as they, like so many others on Atlas, ruled tiny, independent fiefs encompassing no more than a few hundred souls situated around a castle and its surrounding lands. Most disastrously, King Jory Ruric, who had sworn fealty to Aurelius after the Third Crusade, was able to build a great capital at Ruriksgrad in the swamps of the East Atlas Islands from which he reunited the tribes and clans of the Norlanders around his banner. The affairs of the Kingdom of Marna are better-attested at this time. In the central Heartlands of Atlas, Frederick Pius built his capital of Senntisten, one of the greater cities of the continent’s early days. From here he fought frequently with the nearby Santegians and Norlanders for control of the region. To complicate matters, a group of old Courlanders found leadership in Charles Staunton, the Duke of Curon and a younger son of Tobias ‘the Conqueror’, and they too bitterly established themselves in the region. In this backdrop of feuding and territorial fights, mercenary bands also often threw themselves in the fray so they could have a piece of the abundant land. One of these, the Black Reiters, who had fought with Aurelius long ago, joined with the old Reginald d’Amaury, a distant cousin of the Archdukes of Lorraine, and formed the Republic of Vrakrai centered around the town of Belvitz, posing one of the more serious challenges to Marnan control. While Frederick Pius, an able commander and administrator of higher degree than his peers, was able to maintain Marnan dominance over the region, by 1650 his position was untenable. He began a correspondence with Aurelius in the spring of that year, probing the King of Renatus’s interest in joining their resources together. With Marna’s infrastructure and administrators, mixed with Renatus’s military prowess, they could easily establish an impregnable power base at Senntisten and move outwards. These early letters are similarly lost, but it is generally believed by historians that Frederick Pius’s offer to the Pertinaxi was for an arrangement on these lines, with the finer details to be sorted out later. Aurelius did not budge. His position was far from enviable, yes, but he did not face the same external pressures to his rule that Frederick Pius did. Not deprived of his faculties as he had been of his nobility, the King of Renatus kept the Marnan on a thread: always appearing open to offers of unification but never agreeing to any specific course of action. Aurelius was a proud man. He had not forgotten that it was the King of Marna’s father who had stolen the garrison of the Westerlands and much of the old Imperial bureaucracy from him over a decade ago. Never so spiteful as to avoid good policy, he would certainly unify with Marna and put aside these grudges, but it would be on his own terms. In 1652 the waiting game paid off. Unable to replenish his ranks from constant raids and counter-raids, Frederick Pius finally acquiesced. Never the most ambitious man (it was a popular rumor that he never wanted the Crown of Marna), he willingly embraced what appeared to be quite lopsided terms in order to see through the unification of Renatus and Marna. In exchange for being made one of Aurelius’s first knights and an advisor at his table, and in allowing all Marnan subjects to retain their titles, posts, and properties, Frederick Pius gave all of his estates and titles, including Marna, to Aurelius. All terms were held to, and Aurelius and his court traveled to Senntisten to take the seat of their new capital. On the 13th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1652, an official Act of Union joined together the two realms, and in an extensive ceremony Aurelius declared himself King of Renatus-Marna. To rapturous applause throughout the streets of Senntisten, Aurelius had completed his victory over all of his foes from the early Coup of Adelburg. However, he was not prepared to let this be his last. Within a week he had created a number of individual councils, tasked with Renatians and Marnans alike, though that distinction was quickly fading into irrelevance, with addressing the problems that faced the floundering realm. By the year’s end, the King of Renatus-Marna had reformed the army, streamlined the bureaucracy, regularized tax codes, reorganized several land grants and issued several more, and cut expenses from the royal court. One of the more famous, or infamous, creations of this brief period was the Order of the Red Dragon, the highest knightly order in the realm that was to directly serve the king. Made up of a small and select, but elite, group of the realm’s foremost soldiers, the ‘Dragon Knights’, as they came to be known, served as both military officers and specialized agents. Credited for a number of battlefield victories, prevented assassination attempts, and anti-banditry campaigns (also accused of several coups, assassinations, and massacres), a Dragon Knight was an exemplar the quiet, lethal effectiveness that Aurelius sought to project of the Pertinaxi regime. Never more than fifty at a time, they would prove their worth almost immediately. There is almost no doubt that Aurelius would have liked more time to follow through with his reforms, but international affairs did not allow it. The unification of Renatus and Marna was frightening to those in and around the Heartlands. Separate they were powerful, yes, but not overbearingly so. Together they had the potential to unite the Heartlands. On the 13th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1653, precisely a year after the formal unification of Renatus and Marna, the Czena Confederation was formed between the Kingdom of Haense, the Kingdom of Santegia, and the Duchy of Curon, all states with power and influence in the Heartlands that could be lost. This was a challenge to Renatus-Marna, and it was met with fury. Details are sparse, but in the early spring months of 1654 a raiding party from Renatus scoured across much of northern Haense, even at one point sacking the outskirts of the capital Markev before turning back. It was a powerful opening salvo that set the course of this brief, indecisive conflict. Otto III of Haense, more a scholar than a warrior, did not wish to escalate the war, and instead focused on courting allies throughout humanity. Aiming to lock Aurelius out of the diplomatic circles, isolating him for when true war was needed, Otto III was willing to accept defeats in minor raids and skirmishes so long as Haense’s diplomatic position remained strong. With a strong assumption of his foe’s plan, Aurelius similarly did not test his strength in a large offensive. While his Dragon Knights scoured small towns and farms across Curon and Santegia, he set about establishing a robust diplomatic corps. If he was to be treated with mistrust and hostility across humanity, he would find allies elsewhere. Kairn Ithelanen and Belestram Sylvaeri, the two leaders of the Dominion of Malin, were among the first to agree to an alliance. The orcs of Krugmar, in exchange for yearly shipments of silk, soon followed. The dwarves of Kaz’Ulrah, never friends of Haense, rounded out a successful diplomatic mission by 1654. Otto III’s death the next year, which left the throne to his young son, only made Aurelius more assured of his position. The Czena Confederation, fragile, as coalitions built around a sole interest often are, finally broke in 1656. Duke Alfred of Curon feared that the boy-king of Haense, Karl II, and his corrupt government would not have the ability to manage a war, so he formed an alliance with Renatus-Marna. King Leo of Santegia, seeing his realm crumbling from the heavy costs incurred by this conflict, followed suit. He joined Aurelius’s expanding alliance and began extensive negotiations to sell the rights of the Santegian inheritance (some, like Casimiro of Santegia, believe this was done under duress from Aurelius). The Pertinaxi government was able to raise seventy thousand mina to purchase King Leo’s inheritance in the name of Achilius Horen, a second cousin of Aurelius who had shown promise in the court of Renatus-Marna. Upon King Leo’s death in 1657, Achilius ascended to the Santegian throne and would prove a reliable ally of the Pertinaxi for decades. Despite being short-lived and having failed in its aims, the Czena Confederation became a model for future coalitions to challenge the Pertinaxi. No fewer than six emerged from 1637-1714, and scholars have alleged the existence of possibly three more, though the evidence for these is less certain. With the Czena Confederation in tatters and his influence in the Heartlands unchallenged, Aurelius moved to expand his realm. To Renatus-Marna’s immediate north, the Republic of Vrakai was having difficulties defending its holdings. While Belvitz was a wealthy merchant’s city, well-situated along a central trade route, the Black Reiters were too few in number to defend it and the many farming communities that it supported. The old Reginald d’Amaury’s death in 1564 deprived the republic of a capable leader, so many of its leading bankers and merchants traveled to Senntisten to ask the King of Renatus-Marna to take control. Obliging, on the 17th of Horen’s Calling, 1656, Aurelius ordered Adelard von Brandt, the Duke of Blackmarsh, to bring order to Vrakrai and occupy it in the name of Renatus-Marna. Much like the unification of Renatus and Marna, occupying Vrakai and putting his cousin on the Santegian throne did much to improve Aurelius’s own fortunes, bringing him two of the more lucrative regions of Atlas at minimal expense, but it caused alarm with much of the rest of the world. The new King of Norland, Godden Ruric, a man far less friendly to Renatus than his father Jory had been, feared that his kingdom would be next. He began hiring mercenaries and joined into an alliance with Haense, which wished to avenge its diplomatic humiliation in the Czena Conflict, and Haelun’or, which opposed Aurelius’s alliance with the Dominion of Malin. In 1657 their alliance began to raid eastern Vrakai from the swamp forts of Norland. The First Atlas Coalition War, the first of three major coalition wars that Aurelius faced, saw a new generation of leaders arise from under him, mostly from within his own family. Leitsieg Romstun and Arpad Ivanovich, who had served him well in his early rise, were now old men who had retired to their countryside estates. Aurelius’s three sons, Constantine, Antonius, and Tiberius had risen to take their places. Crown Prince Constantine was no warrior but had a strong mind for politics: he was the architect behind much of Renatus-Marna’s diplomatic successes in the Czena Conflict and served his father as Archchancellor. While never meeting the same heights of fame as his two brothers- quite the opposite, as his life would soon be ridden with scandal- his legacy lived on in the good government that he brought to the realm, as he was often trusted by his father to manage many of the day-to-day affairs of state and govern the country in his absence. Prince Antonius, handsome, dashing, and brave, was the model prince. Adored by most of the realm, he was a famed swordsman and had military talent to share. He had first shown promise in the Czena Conflict, where his performance in a few skirmishes showed his aptitude for leadership at a young age, and by the time of the First Atlas Coalition War he had been given control of the whole army. Grand Marshal of Renatus-Marna at just twenty one, expectations for Prince Antonius could not have been greater going into 1657. Prince Tiberius, like Antonius, had also taken to military life, though his passion lay with artillery and siegecraft. A brilliant mathematician and engineer, he designed several different siege weapons for his father’s army and was given complete authority over all siege operations during the war. On the 7th of Harren’s Folly, 1657, war was declared by Aurelius, who had received commitments from his allies. Santegia, Curon, the orcish horde, the dwarves, and the Dominion of Malin would all fight beside their ally. Raiding parties from various members of this alliance scoured Haelun’or, Norland, and Haense, setting many villages ablaze. Within a month of the war’s beginning, a force of Black Reiters under the command of Louys de Bruyne had driven out all invaders from eastern Vrakai. The war had begun well for Aurelius, but his allies often bickered amongst each other over strategy. The wood elves and the orcs did not wish to see the other rise in strength, for each wished to take lands from the high elves. The Curonians, believing that Haense was the greater threat, advocated a campaign against them, but the Santegians felt that Norland should be dealt with first, as they were still officially a vassal of King Aurelius and were theoretically in open revolt. For three years it looked like the war was to go the course of the Czena Conflict, with small raids and skirmishes only serving as a backdrop for the real battles at the diplomatic table, but unlike in the previous war, this delay was intentional for Aurelius. While never a great warrior, nor anything more than a mediocre battlefield commander, Aurelius grasped higher strategy at a level unparalleled across history. Knowing that intelligence and logistics were paramount to winning any war, he prioritized making his armies among the best-trained, best-equipped, and best-informed on the whole of Atlas. Lester Crunk, the brother of a friend of a cousin of a junior officer on the King of Renatus-Marna’s staff writes this of the level of strategic detail that went into planning the operations throughout 1657-1660. "[Aurelius] had over a dozen maps of southern Norland, each more detailed than the last. The one that caught many eyes was a map detailing the various resources that each village produced. Intercrossing red lines marked where various goods were exchanged between villages and other centers of trade before making their way back to the capital. When planning each raid his army would undertake, [Aurelius] consulted this map more than any other, as he believed that such attacks were only worthwhile if the material lost was less than the material that our enemy would be deprived from.” Prolonging the war worked in the favor of Renatus-Marna and her allies, who already could field larger armies and draw on greater resources. As the strength of their enemies dwindled, the leaders of this alliance met in Senntisten during the Sun’s Smile, 1660 to plan their offensive into Norland. The armies of Norland, Haense, and Haelun’or, led by the mercenary leader Wydren Volaren, had gathered in the swamplands of the south of the country. It was inhospitable, sparsely-populated terrain that made the movement of large armies difficult. Undaunted, Prince Antonius, now comfortable in his position as Grand Marshal, divided the army in two for the coming campaign. The right wing, under his command, would follow along the eastern coast of Norland until it reached Ruriksgrad. The left wing, under the command of Prince Charles Horen, a son of Peter II who had recently found service under Aurelius as a capable diplomat and general in the Czena Conflict, was to similarly bypass the southern swamps and lure the main coalition army into a field battle by attacking the many towns and castles of western Norland. Aurelius, in nominal command of the army, joined Prince Charles’s force with his Dragon Knights. Beginning in the summer of 1660, a late campaign by all metrics, the invasion of Norland began disastrously. Unbeknownst to the Renatians and their allies, the plans of their upcoming invasion had been given to Wydren Volaren, who immediately moved his army further north to new defensive positions, preventing them from being outflanked. He then divided his army into multiple pieces and scattered them across the Norlandic swamplands and its outskirts. If one was attacked, the rest of the army would group and converge on that point. With the Renatian army divided, he would either be able to bring his whole host to bear on one half of their army, or they would suffer crippling logistical issues uniting their two hosts. Prince Antonius pressed forward with the campaign, but instead of a blitz towards the Ruriksgrad, he instead concentrated his efforts on attacking many of the chiefs and petty kings of southern Norland. Meanwhile, Prince Charles, keeping his army closer than originally planned, besieged the fortified town of Norvik. Drawing from his father’s insistence on patience in the face of pressure, Prince Antonius played cautiously as he relied on his army’s superior size, supplies, and the impetus that his attacks on King Godden’s subjects was creating for Norland and her allies. The gamble worked and by that autumn, King Godden ordered Wydren Volaren to consolidate the army and make a push through the swamplands to relieve Norvik. This played right into Prince Antonius’s hands. He and Prince Charles broke off their respective engagements and drove their wings of the army towards the swamplands at a breakneck pace. The two commanders met on the 19th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1660, almost at the end of the campaign season, and combined their hosts in preparation for the coming battle. Mere leagues away, dispersed across the swamp, was their enemy. Renatus-Marna and her allies had brought just under thirty thousand footmen, while Norland and her allies had half that at most. Wydren Volaren’s plan to defeat isolated wings of the Renatian alliance’s army had failed, and now he would be forced to fight their joined hosts. The Battle of the Sleeping Swamps, fought on the 20th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1660, began, much like the wider campaign, poorly. Although Prince Charles and Prince Antonius had both made it to the battlefield, their forces were still a few hours apart by the time that the fighting commenced. Prince Antonius, making a rare mistake, failed to communicate precisely when he was going to start the battle, and so it was that at 06:00, the right wing of the army was marching towards the enemy positions while the left wing was still having breakfast. Thankfully, the right wing was comprised of most of the Royal State Army of Renatus-Marna, the finest soldiers on the battlefield, and they still outnumbered their enemy some. As Prince Antonius advanced, he and his soldiers encountered many isolated pockets of Norlandic and Haeseni soldiers. Some had prepared for battle, but were few in number and easily surrounded. Others were still sleeping as they were set upon. Most, prepared or not, simply fled as the Royal State Army cleared much of the swamp. By 10:00, Prince Antonius had captured five hills and two villages deemed of strategic importance, and all without encountering any significant organized resistance. An hour later he sent word to Prince Charles of what had occurred so far and ordered him to also move north if he had not already. In a day defined by communication problems, the forces opposing Renatus had fared no better. King Godden, proud as they came but inexperienced in matters of war, had tried to wrestle command of the army from Wydren Volaren. The Haeseni and Haelunorian contingents, lacking any strong leadership themselves, were mere spectators to the arguing and infighting that ensued at the war tents between the King of Norland and his chiefs and the mercenary captains. Come the morning, the scattered elements of the army had yet to be recalled and there was very little battleplan to work with. Without orders from the central command, everything was organized between brigades, which led to the general disaster from the battle’s outset. At 12:00, Prince Antonius resumed his army’s march. By this point, many of the Norland and Haeseni officers had received word of the attack and were beginning to coalesce around a point called Mole’s Hill, a high hill that provided a good look over the foggy landscape and plenty of protection from direct assault. By the time that the first waves of Pertinaxi forces had met them, around five thousand soldiers had fortified the hill. Prince Antonius split his army in half again, giving one part to his lieutenant, Sir Conrad Nzech, while he took the other to lead repeated assaults against Mole’s Hill, all of which were repulsed with heavy losses. By 15:00, Prince Charles and his part of the army arrived on the battlefield and fell upon many of the Haelunorian units. They found much of the same success that the right wing had, and once they heard word of the action around the Mole’s Hill they began a quick march to this last point of enemy resistance. Aurelius, uncharacteristically wishing to get involved in the fighting, perhaps seeing that victory was well-secured and wishing to earn some glory, took his Dragon Knights and marched to the enemy camps, quickly dispatching the defenders who had not retreated and plundering the coffers there. The King of Norland, Wydren Volaren, and their chief officers were nowhere to be found: they had fled the battlefield hours before. At 17:00, the Mole’s Hill was completely surrounded and contained the final units of the Norlandic army, though a few Haeseni also numbered in their ranks. Prince Antonius and his soldiers charged seven times against the mass of shields and spears, but each time they were fiercely driven back. Not wishing to waste any more of his men’s lives, the prince ordered all available archers to be brought forth. For hours they covered the hill with arrows, drastically thinning the ranks of the poorly-armored Norlanders. With hundreds laying dead, an eighth charge from the Renatians proved to be the final one. Cut down to nearly a man, the defender’s at Mole’s Hill were the end of what was a shattering victory for Renatus-Marna and its allies. They suffered just over a thousand casualties, most of them Royal State Army soldiers at Mole’s Hill, compared to ten thousand killed, wounded, and missing Norlanders, Haseni, and high elves: two-thirds of their entire army. The Battle of the Sleeping Swamps was one of the most complete victories of Aurelius’s career. In one day, Prince Antonius, Prince Charles, and the Royal State Army had achieved a near-mythological status for battle prowess and brutal efficiency. The victory was celebrated across the realm as news trickled back from Norland. Nobles and towns that may have wavered in their support, or questioned the war council’s strategy in the war’s first three years, cast aside their doubts and affirmed their loyalties. If Aurelius still had lingering questions of loyalty among many of his subjects, any serious discussion of it ended after the battle. Compared to their enemies, the camps of the Royal State Army were well-guarded, healthy, and clean. Disease still claimed the lives of most on campaign, but proportionately it was far smaller than those from Norland, whose camps were filthy, disorganized, and isolated by clan, which played a role in their disaster at the Sleeping Swamps. Over the next few weeks, Aurelius personally traveled around southern Norland as he obtained the surrender and fealty of dozens of chieftains and towns. He showed mercy to most, allowing them to keep their lands, titles, and privileges so long as they supplied his armies with soldiers and supplies and sent regular tribute back to Senntisten. Even their faith was untouched, though priests were allowed to proselytize under state protection. A few clans and keeps resisted, but they were all put to siege and conquered by the spring of 1661, which brought Renatus-Marna full control of southern Norland. Although the Battle of the Sleeping Swamps may have cemented most of his subjects’ personal loyalty to him, Aurelius was still faced with domestic problems while on campaign. Back in Vrakai, riots had broken out in Belvitz against Duke Adelard of Blackmarsh’s governance. His obedience to the Pertinaxi could never be doubted, but to his people, a liberal sort used to loose governance under Vrakai, he was an iron-fisted tyrant. As Aurelius’s armies thrashed their foes in the Sleeping Swamps, a delegation from Belvitz went to the court of the capital to make their appeal. Crown Prince Constantine, managing domestic affairs from Senntisten, was the first to receive this audience. Despite serving in a similar capacity as a regent, the prince was not given the same ultimate authority, though 18th-century Pertinaxi historian Gebhard Reyes claims that “the instructions that Aurelius gave his son were vague, partially owing to the fact that he had written them in his own hand. Defend the country. Oversee the state. Deliver to the army what it needs. Constantine saw the first and extrapolated from it the power to act when he perceived any possible rebellion.” Eager to prove himself to his father, especially in light of his brother’s triumphs in the field, and wanting to avert a possible rebellion in Belvitz, Crown Prince Constantine decided to intervene directly into the dispute. Far more deft of a politician than either of his brothers, his lack of time in the army was made up for by his constant presence in the court. With a strong wit and a propensity for charming, the prince had especially endeared himself to a group of Adrians led by John Sarkozic, who had run many successful shops and taverns throughout Senntisten. Similarly inclined towards liberal pursuits, and with a sizable following of Adrians, John Sarkozic seemed the ideal man to rule Vrakai. John Sarkozic agreed, but on the condition that he be allowed to adopt the title ‘Duke of Adria’, his family’s ancestral title from before the days of the Johannian Empire. The Crown Prince, eager to have a loyal ally in charge of Renatus-Marna’s greatest trading hub, agreed. On the 13th of Harren’s Folly, 1661, the Adrian Proclamation was issued from Senntisten. While formally drafted by the Adrians, it came with the official backing of Crown Prince Constantine. It dispossessed Duke Adelard of Blackmarsh of his lands in favor of Duke John of Adria, who was to be given all of the lands of Vrakai. Within a day of the proclamation, the Duke of Adria was leading a small army down to Belvitz to conquer it and the surrounding lands. The Duke of Blackmarsh tried to organize a defense, but few came to his support and he was forced to flee his lands. He went east to join Aurelius, where he ably served as an infantry officer and ceaselessly pleaded with the king to be allowed to lead an army back to retake his lands. Displeased at his son’s overreach of authority, but not wishing to spark a war in a region crucial for his army’s supply lines, Aurelius made some vague promises but ultimately never gave permission. Duke Adelard would eventually die in the Siege of Ruriksgrad a year later, removing the need for such a decision. He had been a loyal governor for the King of Renatus-Marna, but loyalty was not enough. Competence was just as, if not more, important. Part of why Aurelius did not care to overrule his heir in the Belvitz matter was because of a coming offensive. The king wished to bring a quick end to the war and had duly planned a quick march through the Forkwoods, a heavily forested region in northern Norland, that stood between Ruriksgrad and the conquered south. With the enemy army heavily bruised after its defeat at the Sleeping Swamps, Aurelius believed that they posed virtually no threat to his own in a direct confrontation. That summer they marched north again, hoping to reach Ruriksgrad within a matter of weeks. Unfortunately for Renatus-Marna and her allies, the Norlandic-Haeseni-Haelunorian army had recovered some over the previous months. While Prince Antonius and Prince Charles had gone about subduing various tribes and towns, Wydren Volaren had won the power struggle in the high command and now had total control of the army. With only nine thousand soldiers compared to the twenty five thousand under Aurelius, he had come to a similar conclusion as those marching north: his army stood no chance of winning an open battle. The Reiver captain, not wanting to repeat the same mistake that King Godden Ruric had at the Sleeping Swamps, divided his units again, but this time ordered them to operate with relative independence and harass the enemy army. What was supposed to be a quick march to Ruriksgrad soon became a grueling trudge for the large, hulking army of Aurelius and her allies. While the elven contingent from the Dominion of Malin, led by Kairn Ithelanen, was used to this style of warfare, the regular soldiers of Renatus-Marna, Curon, and Santegia did not fare well against the quick, nighttime attacks that peppered their waltz north. Prince Antonius and Prince Charles, frustrated with the army’s slow progress and the harassing of their supply lines, turned their attention towards rooting out these roving guerilla bands. The Battle of the Forkwoods is, unlike the Battle of the Sleeping Swamps, which has a wealth of information, one of the most poorly-recorded fights of Aurelius’s rule. This can be explained by the fact that it is better-described as a long-scale campaign marked by quick attacks, skirmishes, and raids on numerous villages in the Forkwoods believed to be housing Norlandic soldiers. By the 15th of Godfrey’s Triumph, 1661, Aurelius’s army emerged from the Forkwoods and had an unopposed path to Ruriksgrad, but they had suffered close to two thousand dead, primarily among the human ranks, and they had spent months in a region that should have been cleared in weeks. No matter their losses, the Renatians had not fared nearly as poorly as their enemy. Five thousand of Wydren Volaren’s already-thin forces had been killed, wounded, or captured during the Battle of the Forkwoods, and there were no more reinforcements to draw. A stiff defense of the southern border of Renatus-Marna had prevented a second Haeseni army from making their way north, and the reserves of Haelun’or and Norland had been exhausted. Seeing the hopelessness of the war, many of the mercenaries that had originally been hired by King Godden Ruric began to desert in droves. The limping army that returned to Ruriksgrad had successfully delayed the coalition that opposed them, but only two and a half thousand remained to take solace in that. On the 1st of the Grand Harvest, 1661, Aurelius’s army surrounded the city, and the king ordered his son, Prince Tiberius, to draw up siege plans. Ruriksgrad was still a defensible city that boasted high, sturdy walls and a maze of trenches and barricades both inside and outside that had begun to be manned by conscripts drawn from the local population. Now taking charge, Prince Tiberius vigorously set about organizing siege camps and directing the construction of several trebuchets and siege towers. He predicted that, with no other delays, they would have the city by that spring. Unfortunately, there was no end of headaches for the King of Renatus-Marna, though now they came from within his own camps. In 1658, Duke Alfred of Curon, one of Aurelius’s more steadfast allies, had died during a skirmish outside of Arbor, the largest city in his realm. His heir, Wilhelm, was too young to rule, which left his wife, Duchess Linette Grifford, as regent. House Grifford, a petty family with shipping interests in Haense, came to inhabit the court of Curon, where they took a far less cooperative posture towards their alliance with Renatus-Marna. Where Duke Alfred had more or less committed the bulk of his army towards the war, Duchess Linette drew back all but a handful of knights and generally acted to bring as little risk to Curon as possible. This earned her the ire of her allies, but it was not worth it to pursue the issue. With the anti-Renatian faction in the Curonian court only growing over the course of the war, the Battle of the Forkwoods was the incident they needed to argue for their realm’s withdrawal from the war. Duchess Linette obliged and recalled the two hundred Curonians from the siege camps around Ruriksgrad in the first days of 1662. This was no great blow to the army there as a whole, but Aurelius was no less irate. To him, this act was a betrayal of their alliance, and it could be an example for others who were wavering, such as the orcs of Krugmar or the dwarves of Kaz’Ulrah. He dictated a brief letter for Crown Prince Constantine that ordered him to occupy Curon. Now with a far more legitimate directive than he had had when he ousted the Duke of Blackmarsh, the Crown Prince brought far more resources to bear against Curon. To handle the occupation he tapped Eimar var Burgandar, Count of Gotha, who was perhaps the one man in the realm who despised the Curonians more than Aurelius at that time. Eimar var Burgandar was one of the soldiers of fortune (though his enemies argued that ‘bandit’ was a more appropriate label) who had settled the tundras of southern Atlas during the colonization of the continent. Beginning with a small keep, he fought a number of dwarven and orcish tribes, as well as fellow settlers, to establish a sizable realm. In 1650 he founded the town of White Peak, which soon grew into a place of moderate wealth. With Haense to his west and Curon to his north, Eimar swore fealty to Aurelius in 1656, being granted the title Count of Gotha in exchange, and with the cover of Renatus-Marna’s protection he continued the expansion of his realm. With a reputation as one of Atlas’s finest commanders, second only to Prince Antonius, Count Eimar wished to join in the offensive against Norland, but being so far from the Heartlands, and strategically positioned near Haense, he was ordered instead to pressure the latter’s border and force them to divert soldiers away from defending Norland to protect their east. He did this for most of the war, and he was victorious in a number of small, indecisive battles there. He was also responsible for defending Curon, which frequently came under attack during the war from Haeseni raiders. Angered that he had to devote resources and manpower to defending a far larger, but inept realm, Count Eimar frequently mocked and taunted the Curonians and Duchess Linette, accusing their inability to defend themselves as a ploy to weaken his own army. As one of Atlas’s most ambitious players, he was only barely content with his current position, but Curon’s withdrawal from the war in 1662 gave him the opportunity he needed. At Crown Prince Constantine’s command, he marched his army, two thousand and four hundred strong, north to Cyrilsburg, the capital of Curon. The forces under Duchess Linette were far fewer, and while sources are scant most scholars have agreed that she had no fewer than five hundred in the Cyrilsburg militia. He arrived outside the city on the 4th of Horen’s Calling, 1662, and spent the next week constructing a battering ram and several ladders. With his men rested and well-prepared, he led a direct assault against the walls of the poorly-defended city on the 11th of Horen’s Calling. Within an hour the ramparts had been taken, and when the retreating Curonian militia forgot to close the gates of the central keep, Count Eimar and a handful of men were able to storm inside and capture Duchess Linette. Only twenty of his men had died during battle, and with this victory he was able to occupy Curon, aided by a small force sent by the Crown Prince. It was not long before Aurelius received word of the quick conquest of Curon. Not wishing for a repeat of the Blackmarsh fiasco, he sent more detailed instructions to Crown Prince Constantine. For his efforts, Count Eimar was to receive all of the lands of Curon, with House Devereux’s holdings reduced to Cyrilsburg, and House var Burgandar would be raised as the Margraves of Ostmark, owing to their new status as the invaluable defenders of Renatus-Marna’s southern border. With his conquest of Curon, Margrave Eimar had now become one of the most powerful men on Atlas, and he set about harassing Haense with an even greater zeal. By the war’s end he had assembled a small fleet with which he used to cut off trade along the Czena River. With the uncertainty in the south now made certain, Aurelius resumed the siege against Ruriksgrad. Over the summer months, Prince Tiberius and Prince Charles led a slow assault against the many trenches outside the city, and by the autumn the defenders had been forced behind the walls. Concurrently, Prince Antonius constructed a fleet and smashed the Norlandic navy in a battle under the walls or Ruriksgrad, allowing him to strangle any resupply of the city by sea. As winter approached, his food supplies dwindled, and his allies prevented from reinforcing him, King Godden Ruric eventually chose to surrender. On the 8th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1662, Aurelius led a procession of soldiers to the ash tree in the town’s center, where he formally accepted the surrender of the King of Norland. Pragmatically merciful in peace as he had always been, Aurelius allowed Godden Ruric to remain as Jarl of Ruriksgrad, but that was as far as his influence was to extend. The King of Renatus-Marna added Norland to his growing list of titles, something that, according to the monk Richard ‘Lemon’, Aurelius’s personal advisor on spiritual matters, was one of the king’s regrets from the Third Crusade, as in allowing the Rurics to keep the title he had made his own authority over them vague enough to shrug off. Prince Charles, who had made himself one of Aurelius’s most prized lieutenants with his conduct of the war, was made governor of Norland and trusted with pacifying the region and enforcing the law of the Pertinaxi. If Aurelius’s enemies had accomplished one thing, they had made the war a costly endeavor. The conquest of Norland had been long and bloody, and the Battle of the Forkwoods had drained more resources than expected. The conquest of Curon, though quick, had stretched the realm’s reserves to their limit. Haelun’or was weak but of little value. Haense was valuable but strong enough to put up an exhausting fight. Both seemed inclined towards peace, and by the year’s end peace had been signed. The First Atlas Coalition War, as expensive as it was, had removed any questions about Renatus-Marna’s status as the leading power on the continent. Norland and Curon had been brought into the realm, expanding the kingdom’s borders and tax base greatly. The alliance that Aurelius had built, though tested at times, had remained mostly intact. Any challenges to Renatian domination seemed to have been dismantled by the war’s end, as only Haense remained to pose any minor threat. By the time he returned to Senntisten in 1683, Aurelius’s advisors promised him that he could turn his attention to the governance of the realm, his attention undivided by external threat. While the following years would show how misguided a belief this was, later Pertinaxi historians would justify it. Despite his conquests, Aurelius had rarely been one to strike the first blow. This logic is not unsound, even if it is dubious, but it fails to understand just how different he was from his contemporaries. From the emergence of the Sixth Empire until its collapse, most of the wars that were fought were minor rebellions or territorial disputes. As great as the death toll could be at times, it was all a part of a regular, well-understood pattern of warfare that had been practiced throughout most of history. Aurelius’s ambition, therefore, was less evident in his warmaking than his peacemaking. Less content with border feuds than his peers, the Pertinaxi king desired to upend the global order and play the largest role in remaking the post-Imperial landscape, which ironically made him a closer figure to Tobias Staunton than any of the Orenian Emperors he compared himself to. Local power structures were typically kept in place during the wake of his conquests, but his realm retained the trappings of a unified state. Few overtures were made to his subjects for unity behind a shared vision, or anything resembling a shared ‘Renatian’ identity, but fear of the Legion and of the Pertinaxi’s strength could, for a time, replace these. It was in designing this peace that Aurelius could ensure that so long as he remained alive, the power he wielded was firmly his, and any challenges to it would be surmountable. It cultivated a hatred that even the historical loath towards the name ‘Empire’ could not muster, but half or more of this hatred came from the realization that little could be done against the Pertinaxi. Many challengers would still try, but these authors have not taken up this practice in the hopes of writing a suspenseful novel: there was almost never an occasion during which Aurelius was under any serious threat of losing his realm or his throne. So long as Aurelius had his army, and people believed that his army was invincible, he would win time and time again. O Ágioi Kristoff, Jude kai Pius. Dóste mas gnósi ópos sas ékane o Theós. Poté min afísoume na doúme to skotádi, allá as doúme móno to fos tis sofías kai tis alítheias. O Theós na se evlogeí. Aurelius’s creation of the Empire of Man shall be covered in our next volume of The Historia Pertinaxi.

Kiyoshi sat with his tea, thinking about the days events. He reflected on how Hael had tried to murder him by shoving him off into the drydock below. He thinks about how if Naya hadn't come along, he'd most likely be dead. The yosei was coming back from Sakura as a new man, a better man. His first talk with Juniper was how he could better co-exist with her. Improve their relationship. Even his first talk with Hael was to voice his pride for the child and explain how he wanted to be a better companion for the two of them. . . . . .a sudden, aggressive push was Hael's reply. Kiyoshi barely catching himself on the dry dock ladder, avoiding a smashed skull. Naya caught Hael with her blade, allowing the boy to meet with the consequences of his own actions, yet Kiyoshi and Naya were painted as the villains for this? Even after the boy tried to kill him, Kiyoshi still held Naya back and attended to Hael's wounds, likely saving his life. A simple conversation would have resolved all of this. But no, violence is always the answer, isn't it? Why were people so bloody dramatic? The man was tired of trying to do his best for everyone. To act selflessly. It was time to be selfish for a while. His heart once filled with Juniper's joy now falling empty once again. The fact that Hael had made an attempt on Kiyoshi's life felt on deaf ears. He was the son of Sermi, the hound. He had to be the bad guy. Nobody else could do wrong, of course. The White Cat swiftly attending didn't exactly do Kiyoshi any favours, either. A bitter tone, to end the day. The tea wasn't doing much to help, either. Kiyoshi was sure his mother had a bottle of carrion black stashed somewhere around here. . .

Renilde of the Petra smiles, feeling included. "Solland forever."

Godwin hoists up the letter and scans it with his eyes. Light like beacons emanates from them as he searches the deepest fathoms of his mind for answers, solutions... "Nobody tells me anything... nobody... eugh." Resigned to defeat, the aging bard cannot believe what he has read. Through thought alone he curses those involved in the besmirching of his sister's good name, and seeks consequences for such infractions.

Naya, the very same in the letter, nurses her broken bones in a somewhat discrete location. Her ribs hurt, a chill still sits in her chest now and again. When she reads the missive, she merely sighs. She forces herself up from her place of rest, dragging herself to a nearby desk to begin writing, slowly. A retort, letters, other things. Some to kind people, some to those she despises. Yet, despite the ache in her torso, there's a satisfaction. She hurt Juniper in some way, it seems. A goal she'd long had. The writing continues long into the night.

Dainn reads the letter, and tosses it to the desk. He yawns, his other pursuits leaving him quite the tired wreck - the hunts were yet to end. He lifted his axe from beside the oaken table, inspecting those razorbladed teeth that hungered for war. He spared a final glance to the message. He awaited his Overlord's command.

Cerberus flicks a pen around in his finger, loosely dragging ink across a blank piece of paper- thinking, debating. Humorous, is what he'd call the situation, pitiful too. He glances around the empty halls of the grand castle he resides in, previous feelings subsiding. After enough pondering, he continues forth, outside into the trembling cold to send a letter to his sister, the very name that was slandered, Naya.

Sydney grips the letter he found, reads it, then tears it to shreds, seething. Juniper really doesn't understand anything, does she? He thought highly of her for so long. There's so much he doesn't know, but he knows his damn sister. How could Juniper do this to her? Anger? Maybe? He doesn't know. But Naya never had a choice, that's what he knows. Naya knows what it is like to lose a child. She wouldn't do that to someone for no reason. And now, just when things were looking up, Juniper had to go and ruin everything. It's all ruined. Kiyoshi's involvement doesn't surprise him. But Naya's is complicated. He knows that- but not everyone does. Impulsively, he grabs a piece of paper himself, but before he can write he tears that up too. Damn it, damn it. Why shouldn't he? Because he could make things worse. Because Naya already didn't trust him with the full story, because she knows him. And he knows her. Naya may never be safe again. Maybe Juniper shouldn't be either.

"Hmm. ." The Hyspians gaze traveled over the handbook, before giving a decided nod. "It fits. Good work from the Baronesa," She slips the handbook away afterwards, and goes in search of her brother.

Ar-Malna looked down to the letter, immediately it was like her world had shifted ".... you were free... you had a chance.. why, why were you with her?" She could feel herself tearing up, but she just sighed, ripping the note up, looking around the estate she was hired to work at "... maybe I need a new chance."

A Handbook to Hyspian Court Etiquette Written and Published by Fleur Halcourt On the 7th of Francisco’s Resolve, 103 D.R. In cultivating a splendid Hyspian society and nurturing a culture of mutual respect, it is paramount to provide our young and new members with meticulous guidance in the art of courtesy and chivalry from their earliest days. Here, we offer a handbook that presents a compendium of revered traditions and indispensable rules governing propriety and decorum among the esteemed Señores and Damas of Hyspia. The Sovereign Crown The Sovereign Crown of Hyspia are the highest ranking members of the Royal court and Government of Hyspia, All are to be addressed Formally in both public and private unless deemed otherwise by the Royal member. The Sovereign - Su Alteza Real or “His/Her Royal Highness” The Sovereign Consort - Su Alteza Real or “His/Her Royal Highness” The Crown Prince/Princess - Su Alteza Real or “His/Her Royal Highness” The Princess Royal - Su Alteza Real or “Her Royal Highness” The Royal Family Underneath the Sovereign Crown is the Royal family, this includes the children, Siblings and Aunts/Uncles of the Sovereign. All members of the Royal Family are to be treated with the same respect as the Sovereign Crown. Children of a Sovereign (past or present) Principe and Princesa’s of Hyspia are to be addressed with Su Alteza or “His or Her Highness” Nieces and Nephews of the Sovereign that bear the de Pelear name are titled Infante or Infanta, if born under the second in line and are addressed by Su Alteza or “His or Her Highness” - and if born under those further in succession, they are addressed by Lord/Lady [First Name]. Bows or Curtseys are essential to both the Sovereign Crown and the Royal Family. The Nobility Duke - Su Gracia or “Duke [House name]” Duchess - Su Gracia or “Duchess [House name]” Conde - El mas honorable, His Lordship or “Conde [House name]” Condesa - La mas honorable, Her Ladyship or “Condesa [House name]” Vizconde - El honorable, His Lordship or “Vizconde [House name]” Vizcondesa - La honorable, Her Ladyship or “Vizcondesa [House name]” Baron - Su Señorio, His Lordship or “Baron [House name] Baronesa - Su Señoria, Her Ladyship or “Baronesa [House name] Children of the Nobility are Styled as His Lordship or Her Ladyship alongside any titles they hold or “Lord/Lady [First name]” The Sovereign Council All members of the Sovereign council are addressed as His/Her Excellency unless they hold a higher title. Gentry and Commoners Though not titled, all Gentry and Commoners are still to be treated with respect and are addressed with "Señor/Señorita/Señora" Tiaras, Circlets, Diadems and Flamenco’s Only those donning the titles of “Their Royal highness” may wear tiaras. This includes children, siblings of the Sovereign. When it comes to Diadems, Infanta’s and Infante’s may be included. Circlets are allowed to be worn by those of Mainline Duchies whilst Flamenco’s may be worn by the lower peerage such as Counts. When it comes to persons outside of the Royal Family, Tiara’s, Diadems, Circlets and Flamenco relics may only be worn on special occasions, such as weddings and the debuts. Signed, HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, Dimitri Otto of Koravia, Sovereign-Consort of Hyspia, Duke-Consort of Pacazu, Baron-Consort of Arenisca and Del’mar, and Montenno, Lord of La Dorada, Lord of Niseep, Gereon's Hold, and Ciudad de Plata, Gran Maestre of El Orden de Francisco, Protector of the Hyspian People, Protector of the Farfolk THE HONOURABLE, Fleur Angelique Halcourt Baroness du’Campagnon.

[This part is not public rp knowledge!] Inhale. Exhale. Juniper had it all planned out. She was going to talk to Kiyoshi, and the rest of her loved ones. She’d deny any allegations of abuse against him. They would live quietly; happily. Until she got home, that was. And she saw what may be perhaps the most horrific sight of her life. There was blood. Her child’s blood. Hael’s neck was bleeding. Surrounding him were Kiyoshi and Naya. They both held weapons, Though the blood was clearly on Naya’s blade. Juniper’s mind was racing. It was happening again. History was repeating itself. She saw Verena, whose throat similarly bled on that road to Haense. She saw red. “HAEL!” A guttural cry of anguish left her throat, one that could only come from a mother. “No no no.. oh my God- it’s going to be okay baby, just hang on!” Naya held no remorse. How could she? How could any of them? Of course, Juniper was angry. It was righteous; that was her son. The one she birthed and raised, loved and protected. The blood that was spilled was practically hers. Naya was approaching. Approaching with the same weapon that harmed her child. “At least you have something to bury. Be grateful for that.” Grateful? Grateful? How could she say that? How could anyone say that? Juniper thought of Verena, her daughter. Murdered in front of her, in a similar manner. Her throat cut by bandits on the road. Juniper never got her remains either. Her stomach churned. Tears blurred her vision, but her intent could not have been made more crystal clear. If Hael died, no one would be saved. There would be no stopping her wrath. Kiyoshi approached as well. Intents to disperse the violence went South. Gaslights and guilt trips went in one ear and out the other. “Can we all just walk away…?” Walk away? After watching such a wretched attempt on her son’s life? “She is always like this. Overactive, stupid, singularly minded.” What’s the correct reaction? How could Juniper stand by and do nothing? “Let’s just have a nice chat.” No. There would be no nice chats. Never again. It was baffling. Did they think Juniper would have chosen her boyfriend over her son? Her own child? Of course not, no. Never in a million years would anyone come before Hael and Silwyn. Of course, Juniper did not calm down. So, they tried to kill her too. Naya, and Juniper’s supposed boyfriend. Of course, they were no match. Two mundane fighters, against a voidstalker? It was almost laughable. Naya lay against the wall, ribs broken. Kiyoshi seemed reluctant to approach or strike further, seeing as Juniper had brisk stepped away from his last attempt. And as the fighting ceased, as Hael was treated and regained the color in his face, Juniper noted something most curious. Sarryn had been watching. The White Cat herself. She did not intervene; she did, however, assist Naya and Kiyoshi to the ampitheatre for medical treatment. And once Juniper too had assisted her boy to the safety of her home alongside the man who had healed him, Juniper penned several letters. Some of departure, some of refuge. But a final note was jotted and spread throughout Aevos. The bird had finally been set free. And never again would she allow this to happen. In every corner of Aevos, notes were scattered around, all stamped with the seal of a flower wreath in purple and black wax. Kiyoshi Renge. Naya. Yesterday, I had the horror of watching the latter attempt to slay my only son. She slit his throat, before my very eyes. The reason? My boy had found out I had been hit by my now ex-lover, Kiyoshi, and wished to prevent any further abuse. My anger was righteous. How could I allow my only son to be murdered in his own homeland? They said I overreacted; they told be to be grateful that I could bury my own child’s remains. They tried to kill me too. And once I, as a mother should, protected him and cast them out, They left with none other than The White Cat- Sarryn herself. Kiyoshi had spoken of how she did not reply to his letters, oh so casually To my friends across Aevos; to parents who could not fathom the sight I witnessed as my son bled out; to the Church who are in hunt of the Inferi: I ask that you think of your own children; think of associates of such devils attempting to slay your flesh and blood. Your anger is righteous too. Never let this happen again, to anyone; Queen, nor child. Signed, Juniper Rose

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Hey there. Well done on your application. To get started, The server IP is mc.lotc.co and the server version is 1.18.2 When you arrive in the cloud temple to the right of cloud temple I suggest going to tutorial island or do; /creq Can a Wilven come assist me? Here are some links to help you start out: Settlement Guides Nations & Major Settlements If you need any help feel free to contact me via the forums, discord or online in game. My tag is, @WhatASithuation LOTC's discord is here, I recommend going to the new players category if you feel you would like a rundown of the server and in the help chat ping @Community Lastly, here is the new player hub, I recommend you look over it! New player hub Another New Player Guide Have fun role playing!

Sat amidst walls on walls of bookshelves perched a crimson-eyed woman in a comfortable nook. Though attempting to scrawl upon the pages of the ashen tone in her lap it seemed as if she was unable to write more than a few words. With an agitated huff she re-capped the pen and slumped backwards in the plush cushions, speaking after a long moment to the two occupants in her room. "Something was odd about him." Hidden from the woman's view a small note of curiosity sounded from the Mage's husband-to-be, just audible over the sound of their babbling babe. "He was.. hypocritical. Mentioning all connections of the Naz, yet voiced clear disgust with any and all Darkspawn. Going far enough to try and collect the names of 'all living Darkspawn' -- even if trying such will be futile, it speaks volumes of his hatred." The redhead managed to yelp out a warning from behind the shelves. "Incoming!" Just as the woman cleared her lap, a miniature bullet all but collided into her with loud squeaky laughter. Thessalia brushed aside her frown as she hauled the little girl into her lap and pressed a kiss against her brow. "Spawn! Spawn!" Crowed the youngling, voice loud as she proudly repeated her new favorite word; the current word that she had been repeating to everyone, everywhere, and without caring of what was happening. "This is what you get for calling her that when she can hear." Lucis said tiredly as he poked his head out around one of the shelves. "She spilled her paints everywhere. I'm going to go get Ember to clean it all up.." Laughing to herself, the witch blew a kiss to her partner and looked down to her child. Methodically retrieving a handkerchief from a Voidal pocket and setting to clean up the splotches of paint littered Aska's skin. "Always causing chaos. You take after both your parents in that regard." The Elder snickered, eliciting another set of 'Spawn' spouting from the little one. "Hmm.. yes, you're right. Juniper did have a few Spawn herself didn't she? Mayhaps they will have more information.."