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THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume II; The Fall of the Pertinaxi


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THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume II;

The Fall of the Pertinaxi

Written by Justinian Nafis, heir to the County of Susa

 

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and

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Adolphus Gloriana, Earl of Suffolk, Prince of Sutica

 


The Fall of the Pertinaxi

 

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“A sea of flames engulfs the Empire. It will be the ruin for many, but for us it shall be our fortune. We ride for Ves at dawn. Our new kingdom awaits.”

- King Adrian I of Kaedrin to the Caer Bann Company

Despite their victory in the War of the Two Emperors, the Pertinaxi Dynasty would not live for much longer. Led by two boy-Emperors, serving as mere puppets, the Empire from 1721-1725 experienced a quick and severe breakdown of Imperial authority, giving room for several ambitious actors to stake their own claim within the fracturing Empire. The power struggles that emerged between the central Imperial government and its subjects would further divide humanity, inviting in schemes, plots, and betrayals at nearly every corner. By the time of Emperor John VII’s downfall (and likely death) in 1725, the Empire had been pushed to the brink of civil war, having seemingly learned nothing from the bloodshed of the cataclysmic War of the Two Emperors that had ended only four years earlier. 

The Empire of Godfrey II was the undisputed power of Arcas in the aftermath of the War of the Two Emperors. Although no corner of the human realms was left untouched, either directly or indirectly, by the war, the defeated parties undoubtedly suffered the worst. Ves had undergone a government overhaul; Leuven, Guise, and other smaller rebel holdings had been laid to waste, Haense had seen its countryside burned; and Curon’s power had broken at the Great Siege of Helena. Despite the Empire’s relatively weak status, no competition remained. The Emperor’s regency council would have to meet the task of restoring the Empire to its position of prominence and ensure that the roving Marnan bands still plaguing the roads were put down. Before any action could be taken, the council was dealt a serious blow with the departure of Edvard Edvardsson, who had reigned as King of Norland in the aftermath of the deaths of King Alvar I and his son. Dissolving the Kingdom of Norland, Edvard departed from the Empire, setting out north. His departure was soon followed by that of the Sohaer, Dimaethor Visaj, who had a realm of his own to care for now that the war had ended. For similar reasons, Pierce Devereaux, who had ascended to the Curonian throne as Peter I in 1720 after the deposition of his cousin, Alfred II, also left. With the regency council disbanded, the Emperor’s father, Romulus, Duke of Cascadia, was invested with the sole regency of the Empire.

According to rumors obtained by Sasha of Helena, who miraculously survived the Great Siege of Helena by hiding in a bathtub, the regency of the Duke of Cascadia was marked by extreme vice and extravagance, with the regent exercising his full powers to enrich his own coffers and entertain his personal wants. However, archives from the period suggest that he played an active role in the reconstruction and restoration of Helena and the surrounding Crownlands, and that he oversaw the restoration of the Canonist Church, which had split down factional lines during the war. In an acolyte’s report, the regent frequently visited the Pontifical Council of Ves as they discussed the terms of the church’s reunification. Eventually, a candidate believed to appeal to both the Pertinaxi and Marnan factions within the church was raised, Guy Haas, a local Vesian priest who was well-respected throughout the Empire. Taking the name Daniel VI, the new Pontiff set about repairing the church's fractures while also laying the groundwork for a series of radical reforms aimed at modernizing the church.

Despite the regent’s diligence, or perhaps due to his lack thereof, the sources vary wildly, the Empire’s instability only grew. In 1723, bread riots in Ves broke out, eventually leading to an attempt to overthrow the city government, forcing the Pertinaxi-backed Prince Ide Haraccus to flee the city. In the power vacuum left behind, Prince-Procurator Helton Helvets and Richard de Reden, captain of the Caer Bann company, seized control of the city. While both men had been staunch Marnans, they assured the Imperial regent that they had no grievance against the Empire and wished to serve as leal subjects. Sufficiently placated, the Duke of Cascadia approved of the elections that made Helton Helvets the Prince of Ves.

In the summer of 1723, two clerics, Msgr. Simon Basrid and Sinjin, Cardinal St.-John, appeared at the Imperial court, offering their services to the regent. Both men had been active in the local politics of Ves, and enjoyed a healthy reputation within the city. In dire need of officials at almost every level of government, the regent readily accepted their services. Basrid moved up the ranks swiftly, with a variety of sources remarking on his wisdom, foresight, diligence, humility, and patience. However, other sources contend with this assertion, chief among them Stepan de Rosieres, author of The Truth of the Devil from the Sands: The Life of the Wretched Villain Simon Basrid. De Rosieres writes: "His ugly scowl frightened the court children, for it was said that even a devil would fear to look upon his face. His tongue forked, his eyes were more snake than human, and he flaunted his dark magics wantonly, often protruding flames from his eyes and allowing dark wisps to coil about his arms like a viper." Whatever the case, Simon Basrid’s ascent would only continue, though for his idolized status today, he must first thank his initial posting in the Cascadia Regency.

Also emerging to the forefront of Imperial politics was the young Adrian de Sarkozy, the future Lord Protector of the Empire, and ancestor of the Novellen Dynasty. However, during the reign of Emperor Godfrey II, he was merely a minor noble under the watchful eye of the Imperial government. Born a bastard son of Josip ‘the Mad’, Duke of Adria in 1693, Adrian is first recorded in history as a bannerman and minor commander under the Marnan cause during the War of the Two Emperors. He had been captured during a skirmish outside of Leuven and subsequently had his hand removed (some sources report that he had taken the name ‘Beren de Renzfeld’ as a way to avoid death if he were captured). As part of the terms of his release, he agreed to not raise arms against the Pertinaxi again. While he had been an enemy of the Empire mere years before, by 1721 there was a dire need for competent, able lords, as many had been killed during the war. Adrian de Sarkozy was given a plot of land to an Imperial colony far to the northeast, named Temesch, where he and his retinue established a fort. However, after a series of devastating skirmishes with tribal elves in the area, Sarkozy requested lands in a more inhabitable locationarea. His request was granted, and in 1722 he was rewardedgranted the Barony of Renzfeld, a small tract of land just outside of Helena.

Crucial to many of Sarkozy’s initial successes was his connections with former veterans of the Marnan cause. These veterans were drawn mostly from the gentry, peasantry, and minor nobility, and due to their low status, they had mostly avoided reprisal after the end of the war, and now, with much of the core of the Imperial nobility having been killed, there was plenty of room for upwards mobility for ambitious young men and women. Among his supporters was the de Ruyter family, a gentry house that enjoyed some renown for the knights it produced. It was this crowd of hedge knights, minor courtiers, bureaucratic middlemen, and wealthy peasants that flooded into his settlement at Renzfeld, eager for opportunities that could not be found in the major cities of Ves, Reza, and Helena. Soon, the city of Renzfeld was growing at a rapid rate, and many in the Imperial capital feared it would soon rival Helena itself.

The city of Renzfeld, in the year of 1723, began the custom of holding the festival of "Tischgesellschaft''. Translated from Waldenian, the meaning of the name is "Dinner Party'' which already shows the euphoric nature of the practice. Strange to even the Pertinaxi of the time, Renzfeld incorporated many foreign neo-Waldenian and even elven rituals within this festival. While parts of the festival are lost to us, the druidic historian, poet, and playwright Kaia Faust (a disowned Basrid of great renown) attempted to organize a chronological order of events and details pertaining to them therein. When the festival started, the men would go around the city with whips to find women, both married and unmarried, and whip them to increase their fertility. Despite the rather aggressive nature of the practice, Faust notes that the women of Renzfeld heavily endorsed the fertility ritual and were ostracized by the nobility of the capital for such barbaric acts. 

After the fertility ritual was finished, nobles of all statuses partook in a great tournament with jousting and melee beneath statues of a wolf and a boar. According to Faust, she believes a connection to the Ithelanens and Renzfeld was made dutifully obvious by these statue depictions being clearly the wolf and boar mani respectively. Though no other historians have noted an equivalence, King Kairn Ithelanen remarked that Adrian’s mother "was a woman of his own breed". The true meaning of the statement is as open to debate as most took the statements as literal at the time of the quote. No retractions from the king were ever made either. We may never know if Adrian's mother was an Ithelanen or if the statues were mani, but we do know that King Kairn was present at the first Tischgesellschaft.

After the day of the joust was completed, a week-long banquet was held in which every food and pleasure was endorsed. Nothing taboo was declared, and women of the night were frequently seen in the halls and dinner tables. There was a clear lack of information purposefully provided by on-goers. One dubious source mentioned by Faust is that there was an affair between a Helvetii woman and Adrian at the first Tischgesellschaft, while another more reliable source mentions that Adrian publicly rebuked any attempts by the Helvetii woman and other women of the night. The latter was more likely to be true.

 

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An artist depiction of the only recorded joust of the first Tischgesellschaft, between Andrik III and Adrian de Sarkozy.

The first Tischgesellschaft of 1723 was by far the greatest of them all. Faust notes that almost every person of renown attended the great tournament of the day: Emperor Godfrey II, High Pontiff Daniel VI, King Andrik III of Haense, King Peter I of Curon, King Kairn Ithelanen, Shōgun Genjiro of the Ishikawa, and Sohaer Dimaethor Visaj, among many other figures. It was a sight to truly behold, and all wanted to partake in such a magnificent event. 

While sources are rather light on details regarding the tournament, one of the duels is recorded in The Truth of the Devil from the Sands: The Life of the Wretched Villain Simon Basrid. De Rosieres remarks about the renowned samurai of the Shōgun, Goro of the Hirano, who was ranked against Simon Basrid in melee. Simon Basrid reportedly snuck poison into Goro’s drink before the tournament to kill the man, and then bribed a servant to give the samurai a frail, broken sword instead of a real one. During the melee, Goro discovered the betrayal and threw the broken sword to the side, much to the shock of everyone present, especially Simon Basrid. Goro of the Hirano then proceeded to feel the true pain of the poison and fell on his knees. Simon Basrid, seeing his opening, proceeded to charge forth and attempt to stab Goro in the chest. While none could have expected it at the time, Goro managed to gain the upper hand by rolling and then toppling Simon to the floor. Here, he proceeded to disarm Simon and hold the sword to his throat. Adrian, who was overseeing the duel at the time, declared a win on Goro’s part and investigated the servant who provided the sword. However, Simon Basrid had killed the servant beforehand to avoid being implicated. 

Another duel, as recorded by Kaia Faust once more, was between Baron Adrian de Sarkozy and a Irongrinder dwarf, versus King Peter I of Curonia and a Curonian woman dressed as a man. Unlike the duel between Simon Basrid and Goro of the Hirano, this duel was less elaborate. What we do know, however, is that the teamwork on display was phenomenal between Adrian and the Frostbeard. While some note this in passing as an irrelevant fact, during the future war, Adrian de Sarkozy and the dwarves would ally against the Kingdom of Curonia and win. And like in the war as well, Adrian de Sarkozy and the Frostbeard won the duel. King Peter I was rumored to have cried over his humiliating defeat and fled back to the safety of the Kingdom of Curonia, though these rumors were likely overexaggerated. Once the duel was completed, though, the weeklong banquet occurred. The final peace before the storm unveiled itself once more.

By 1724, the Cascadia Regency’s grasp upon the Empire had begun to slip. The King of Haense, Andrik III, had come of age. Even in his youth, King Andrik was said to be a fearless, energetic youth that took easily to the arts of war. Now, as his regency had ended, he set to work restoring and reforming the Haenseti military, a clear violation of the Treaty of Reza. In the south, Prince Helton of Ves had consolidated his hold on the Golden City and began to staff key government posts with his own supporters. Just outside of Helena, the Baron of Renzfeld began to raise a levy of his own, which soon swelled to number four thousand men, a count that seems impossible, given the young age of the settlement, but is generally attested to in most available sources. Conversely, the Renatian Legion’s ranks began to plummet as officers retired to collect their war pensions and new recruits became difficult to find, as most able-bodied men in the Crownlands had either joined the Baron of Renzfeld’s levy or had enlisted with their own local lords. Even within the court at Helena, an influx of clergy, a movement spearheaded by Simon Basrid and Cardinal St-John, alleged to be at the express wishes of the High Pontiff, had eroded the Duke of Cascadia’s influence among the palace courtiers. 

Another great blow was struck to the Empire later that year with the disappearance of Emperor Godfrey II. Once again, the popular narrative has the young Emperor abdicating the throne to his brother, departing from his realm, and traveling to Aeldin. As is the case with all previous disappearances being attributed to a flight to Aeldin, this can safely be assumed to be the work of mythical, fantastical creations. In truth, it is almost certain that Emperor Godfrey was killed by his own father, the Duke of Cascadia, in order to extend his regency, as the boy had just reached the age of majority. It must be noted, though, that while this rumor is the predominant theory, many of the sources come from the same courtiers who were being flipped to the cause of Simon Basrid and the High Pontiff. Nevertheless, by the end of 1724, the younger brother of Godfrey II, Achilius, ascended to the throne as Emperor John VII at the tender age of ten.

The coming civil disruption within the Empire, and the myriad of follies leading up to it, have been placed solely on the shoulders of Emperor John VII, who has been given the scathing epithets of "The Unable" and "The Weak-Minded". Although the boy was alleged to be rather timid and dull, displaying few of the traits demonstrating an aptitude for rulership, the true power in the Empire at that point was divided between the hands of the High Pontiff, the Simon Basrid-led Imperial court, the vassal realms of Haense, Ves, and Renzfeld, and the Cascadia Regency. In this tumultuous time, blame cannot be laid at the feet of a boy-Emperor who, by all accounts, had virtually no say in the events of the coming year.

During the reign of Emperor John VII, two additional figures came into prominence within the Cascadia Regency. The first was Adeline Alstion, the Empress-dowager and wife of the late Godfrey II. Although quite young herself, being only fifteen years of age, her reputation had soared to unprecedented heights during the War of the Two Emperors, where her prowess and fortitude were put on display as she vigorously defended the Pertinaxi cause. A zealous, unwavering, and ruthless Empress, Adeline had personally ordered and overseen the executions of several Marnans, and had frequently clashed with her brother-in-law, believing him to be weak and an unsuitable heir for her husband. After the end of the war, Empress Adeline played an active role in the restoration of the church, often constructing new temples and encouraging young women to join nunneries. Although her husband’s death brought grief to her heart, for she loved him greatly, the now-former Empress was never an idle woman, and vigorously sought to gain control of the Regency so that she could restore her beloved country and reverse the failings of the past few years.

The second figure was William Jrent, a cousin of the former Empress. Although he was of poor relation to the Pertinaxi, he was a brilliant penman and architect. It was he who was called upon to write official government responses to Joseph Marna during the War of the Two Emperors, and the defenses at the Great Siege of Helena were primarily designed by him. After the war, he quickly ascended the ranks, no doubt due to his friendship with the Empress Adeline, eventually rising to become the Lord Justicar of the Empire. From here, he entered into the close confidence of the Imperial Regent, who believed that he had the full loyalties of Jrent. However, correspondence between Jrent and the former Empress Adeline has recently been found by the preeminent scholar Peter Reeves. These letters, written from 1724-1725, reveal a plot between the two to place Adeline atop the Imperial throne to reign as Empress-regnant, replacing both the ineffectual Emperor John and the Cascadian Regency that ruled him. With tensions between the Empress-dowager and the Duke of Cascadia further threatening the stability of the Empire, William Jrent played the role of dealmaker, and thus brokered an agreement to have the powers of the regency split between the three of them.

While scholars dispute the veracity of these letters, with some claiming that Reeves simply wrote them himself and soaked the parchment in tea to give it an aged look, the actions of the Cascadia Regency suggest either deliberate undermining or incompetence. On the 28th of the Sun’s Smile, 1725, the dwarves of Urguan, perhaps the only race with the strength to contest the Empire, given their neutrality in the War of the Two Emperors, grew emboldened by the state of affairs inside the realm of their longstanding enemy. Underking Atandt Irongrinder, claiming that illegal human settlements were being constructed inside their borders (a baseless accusation with no evidence), demanded that the Empire prevent migrants from flocking into dwarven territory. While the Duke of Cascadia wished to send his personal household guard to fulfill the demands of the Underking, the Empress-dowager and the Lord Justicar overruled him, and issued a declaration of war against the Underrealm of Urguan on the 5th of Sigismund’s End, 1725. Overall command of the war effort was given to Sir Donald Horen, the esteemed veteran commander of the War of the Two Emperors, and orders were sent to the vassals of the Empire to call upon them to field their armies in support of their liege. This was a grave mistake, as news of the war was met with universal outrage throughout all of the Empire, and the powerful vassals realms of Renzfeld, Curon, Ves, and Haense met these commands with silence. Only a handful of lords near the Urguani border sent soldiers to reinforce the local garrisons, but their contributions were far from sufficient to hold the incoming horde at bay. Even less luck was had with the Imperial Legion, for upon being ordered to the front by Sir Donald, the soldiers began to desert in droves. No evidence has emerged to suggest that this was a coordinated action, though this has not stopped amateur historians from making their speculations.

Sir Donald Horen, unable to field an army, rode with a small band of loyal soldiers in order to support the undermanned defenses at the Urguani border. However, when he arrived, he found that the territories had been overrun by the dwarven hordes, and the few garrisons that had not fled or been massacred were now put under siege. Sir Donald attempted to ride back to Helena in order to attempt to organize another relief army, but was intercepted by a dwarven scouting party and killed in the skirmish. When his head was presented to the few remaining garrisons still holding out, they promptly surrendered to the Urguani invaders. 

The following events are perhaps the most hotly-debated in the entire field of study of the Pertinaxi Dynasty, and there are three main theories for the disappearance of Emperor John VII, all of which shall be explained in detail here. What facts are undisputed are that on the 15th of Horen’s Calling, 1725, an edict was published in the name of Emperor John VII, declaring his abdication, the dissolution of the Empire, and the creation of a democracy in Oren to replace it.

The first theory is, once again, tainted by popular myth, yet is unfortunately commonly accepted. It alleges that Emperor John VII went mad upon hearing of his army’s defeat along the Urguani border, personally drafted and published the edict, and then fled to Aeldin. It is said that he then returned to the Empire twenty five years later, in 1750, and lived the rest of his life as a palace courtier during the reign of Emperor Peter III before going missing in 1752. Once again, tales such as these are mythical at best. He was only eleven when he first disappeared: for a boy of that age, especially a dull one, to reconstitute Oren as a democracy, abdicate, then flee undetected to a false continent, is utterly impossible and cannot be considered a serious theory.

The second, a theory mostly derived from sources from within the Imperial court, is that it was the Duke of Cascadia who killed his younger son in the same manner he did his elder son. They allege that, not wishing to be removed from the regency council by the Empress-dowager and the Lord Jusitcar, he orchestrated the assassination of his son and authored the infamous edict himself in order to provide the necessary space for him to claim the Imperial throne. 

The third and final theory, given to us by Stepan de Rosieres, states that it was Simon Basrid who orchestrated the death of the Emperor. De Rosieres claims that Basrid loathed both the monarchy and the Horen Dynasty, wishing to replace both with a democracy that he could sit atop of himself. The edict announcing the establishment of the democracy, written by Basrid himself, was not the work of a mad boy-Emperor, but instead the cunning authorship of a genuine believer in an institution as wretched as democracy.

The day after the disappearance (i.e., death) of Emperor John VII was no less disastrous for the state of the Empire. Numerous candidates laid their claim to the Imperial through, though the authors of this history shall only cover the most prominent of these. 

The first recorded claimant, although contemporary sources are sharply divided, was the Duke of Cascadia himself. He asserted that, as the father of the previous two Emperors, it was his right to the throne. By the accounts of some citizens of Helena (though, importantly, none of them were firsthand witnesses to this event), he is said to have walked into the throne room during an emergency session of court to press his claim. Against his predictions, none in the room supported him, for they believed the catastrophes of both the war and the past few years had been caused by his misrule and negligence just as much as the weak character of the late Emperor. Then the Empress-dowager Adeline strode up to her stunned, speechless father-in-law, driving a dagger into his heart and leaving him to die (the sources that contest this claim say that the Empress-dowager killed her father-in-law unprompted, and that he had no intentions of pressing his claim upon the throne at all). 

While, again, the popular account alleges that the Empress-dowager immediately departed to Aeldin, the authors of this paper shall not even give this crackpot work of fiction the dignity of being further discussed. The truth, as attested to by all sources during the time, is that despite their alleged plan to raise the Empress-dowager to the Imperial throne in her own right, the two remaining regents dithered. In this moment of indecisiveness, a great debate broke out among the palace courtiers, though it must be noted that the Simon Basrid-aligned faction stayed mostly silent. A number of candidates were named as possible successors, but, after hours of debate, the Empress-dowager silenced the crowd and announced her decision to name her elder brother, Charles Edward Alstion, as the rightful Holy Orenian Emperor, and raised him to the throne as Emperor Charles I. While the Basrid camp’s disagreement with the decision is attested to by all sources, there is no consensus as to whether they departed to Renzfeld or remained within Helena. What is known, though, is that while the debate about who would next lead the Empire raged throughout the Imperial court, the elite Imperial Dragon Knights had already pledged their fealty to another claimant an hour earlier: Tiberius Horen.

The two claimants, Tiberius Horen and Charles Alstion, were odd choices in retrospect. Both men were young (around the age of twenty), distant cousins of the late Emperor. Neither enjoyed any substantial position in court nor in the government, though Tiberius was a promising young officer in the Imperial Legion and Charles was known for his temperate demeanor. The two men are often depicted as pawns of more competent players: with Tiberius being thrust into his role by the Dragon Knights and Charles being a puppet of his sister. However, the two men were, if not extraordinarily capable, at least not incompetent, and were it not for the utter state of ruin that both the Imperial Legion and the city of Helena found themselves in, not to mention the machinations of the Imperial vassals, then it can be assumed that both had an equal chance of obtaining the throne. History would not see it that way.

Marching to the Imperial palace, Tiberius Horen demanded that Charles surrender himself and allow the former to take his place as Emperor. Charles, though not backed by the Dragon Knights, still had some palace guards at his disposal. Additionally, a company of the Imperial Legion that had yet to desert was stationed just outside the city, so when the respective forces of Charles and Tiberius came to blows, they were able to decisively assist the former. The fight between the two was brief, but bloody, and saw Tiberius’s force, outnumbered almost two to one, pushed out of the city. Despite his victory over Tiberius, Charles had not escaped disaster. Among the dead in the palace court was his own sister, the Empress-dowager Adeline, who had taken a morning star to the head. Lacking his sister’s charisma, Charles Alstion would find himself unable to hold his cause together, and over the coming months he would suffer desertions both among the Legion and his court. William Jrent would be one of these figures, retiring to his country estate to live the rest of his life in seclusion. 

Watching these events unfold from just outside the city was the Baron of Renzfeld himself. Although he saw smoke rising from the city, and could hear the church bells clanging, Adrian de Sarkozy was reluctant to march his army of four thousand into the capital. It was not until that evening, when refugees escaping the chaos arrived at Renzfeld (with Simon Basrid and his followers possibly being among them), that he learned of the events that transpired. Despite his clear military superiority, Helena could withstand a siege, even poorly-manned, for months. Haense, Curon, and Ves all boasted armies far more powerful than his own, and if he made his push for the throne too prematurely, it could end up backfiring. Instead, the Baron of Renzfeld opted to send emissaries to the major vassals of the Empire in order to ascertain what his next move should be. 

Even had these letters reached their intended recipients before de Sarkozy changed his mind merely a week later, there is likely little that would have changed, for as word of the events in Helena reached the provinces, unrest gripped each of them. In Ves, Prince Helton Helvets used this opportunity to dissolve the republican city government and name himself Duke of Cathalon, declaring Ves and its surrounding lands his feudal fiefs. An uprising broke out immediately, and Richard de Reden and the Caer Bann company had to be called in to quell the protests. In Curon, though King Peter I would have almost certainly contested the actions of his rival in Renzfeld, a series of bread riots had broken out across the Kingdom, forcing him to address the situation before he could coordinate a response against the Baron of Renzfeld. In Haense, King Andrik III, who, according to a court clerk named Artur von Steuben, demanded that his letters be translated to him in the Raev tongue, was given a hastily-made and poorly-transcribed copy. Believing the entirety of the Empire was marching on his kingdom, Andrik III immediately called for his vassals to brace themselves for an invasion and began to prepare Reza for a siege.

During this confused time, it is reported, also by Artur von Steuben, that a peasant by the name of Stanimar tried to press his own claim upon the Empire. To an anxious, worried crowd of hundreds, the man’s speech is recorded as such:

"Can you believe they call it the Holy Orenian Empire? I tell ye’ all, our human realm is neither Holy, nor Orenian, nor an Empire. We follow a false, liberal Pontiff who’s changing everything good about the church. I saw an elf walking freely in Reza the other day- NOT ORENIAN. And, finally, we only have FOUR vassal kingdoms, when five is a far more suitable number. It is because of this, that I- '' It was at this point that he was hit by a stray oxen that had gotten loose and was promptly trampled to death.

 

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"The Change of Letters in the Hands of Fate: the Emperor Adrian's March."

By the Princess Imperial, Duchess Catherine Anastasia of Westmarch

As mentioned above, only a week after he had dispatched his letters, Adrian de Sarkozy’s mind was changed. While some historians attribute this to his natural ambition and rather erratic decision making, others say that his decision to lay his claim to the Empire was reasoned and only done after a careful calculation of the capital’s defenses. Stepan de Rosieres claims that it was Simon Basrid who influenced the Baron of Renzfeld to lay claim to the Empire, wishing to exact his revenge after his plot to install a democracy crafted in the image of Iblees had been foiled. No matter the cause, on the 2nd of Owyn’s Flame, 1725, Adrian de Sarkozy declared himself the rightful Holy Orenian Empire (not Emperor, as most would think. Either he misspoke, or was intentionally implying something more), styling himself Adrian I. Despite having virtually no claim to the throne, citing some distant lineage to the Carrions, Sarkozy found a great deal of support among the vassals of the Crownlands. Wasting no time, he sent his close advisor Ludolf de Ruyter to negotiate a ceasefire and alliance with the Underrealm of Urguan. A few weeks later, Underking Irongrinder and Adrian de Sarkozy signed a formal alliance, with the Urguani horde recognizing Adrian as Holy Orenian Emperor and pledging their support to his cause as he marched against Charles Alstion in Helena. Only King Peter I of Curonia directly stood against Adrian’s claim, believing that the next Emperor must be chosen via an assembled council of the vassal lords of the Empire. For this insult, and perhaps due to their contentious rivalry, Adrian and his dwarven allies declared war on Curonia as well.

Knowing that it was imperative to take Helena before the other vassals either joined King Peter or staked their own claims, Adrian wasted no time preparing for a siege. The Imperial Legion was effectively defunct, Charles Alstion’s hold on the capital was weakening by the day, and soon reinforcements from the dwarves would arrive to bolster his army. Adrian presumed that the siege would take a few weeks at most, but he was wrong. Charles had not been idle since his coronation, and he immediately set to work bolstering the city’s defenses. Furthermore, while the garrison in the city was severely undermanned, he still had enough soldiers in his service to make any incoming siege difficult. With Tiberius Horen and his Dragon Knights also scouring the roads, supplies and foraging would be difficult. Finally, it was nearing winter, which would force Adrian and his army to either brave through it and suffer heavy casualties, or pull back to their winter quarters and give Charles time to bolster his position.

Over in the city of Ves, which was now officially the capital of the Duchy of Cathalon, ruled by Helton Helvets, High Pontiff Daniel VI looked upon the coming civil war with great concern. The Empire could ill-afford to be embroiled in another internal conflict, but it was clear that neither Adrian nor Charles would cede the throne to the other, and that Tiberius Horen had no interest in renouncing his claim for anyone. However, the High Pontiff had an ace up his sleeve: Alexander Stephan de Joannes. Alexander Stephan was born the son of Alexander Frederick Horen and Cesarina Louise Marna, sister of the late Emperor Joseph I, in 1711, making him the uncle of Charles Alstion, though he was actually six years younger. According to correspondence between Daniel VI and Simon Basrid, the boy was born in seclusion within Ves and given to the church at the age of five. Sinjin, Cardinal St.-John and Simon Basrid oversaw his education and upbringing. The boy was both pious and bright, but, mostly confined to the grounds of Varoche Palace, he was lonely and far from sociable. When he finally reached the age of majority, he took his place in the personal court of Daniel VI, where he served in obscurity. While the letters exchanged between Basrid and the High Pontiff would have one believe that they simply saw Alexander Stephan as a promising young cleric, the amount of time and resources they invested in his upbringing suggests that they had Imperial ambitions for the boy from an early age.

Believing Alexander was an ideal candidate for compromise, the High Pontiff called for peace and invited all of the claimants to Varoche Palace in order to negotiate peace and avoid war. Only Adrian and Charles agreed, albeit reluctantly, and the two ventured to Ves together, though their interactions were understandably frigid. When they arrived, the High Pontiff revealed the young Alexander Stepan. As this meeting was behind closed doors, it is unknown what exactly was said among the four. However, it is said that Damien de Ruyter, a close confidant and household knight of Adrian de Sarkozy, had a dream of the conversation, which he relayed to a ‘lady of the night’ working under Sasha of Helena, who took advantage of the fluctuating value of the Imperial mark in order to purchase almost half of the taverns, theaters, and brothels in Helena. Damien de Ruyter claimed that, in his dream, he saw the High Pontiff convincing the two claimants that if they did not lay their arms aside, they would destroy each other. A fair compromise, he said, was to allow Alexander Stepan to ascend to the throne and unite the rest of the Empire. In return for their humility, goodwill, and cooperation, Adrian and Charles would be named the Duke of Adria and the Prince of Alstion, respectively. After much thought, the two claimants, wishing neither to bring down themselves nor the Empire, agreed to the terms. Charles Alstion returned to the capital in order to ensure the gates were opened for Alexander, and Adrian de Sarkozy joined the Pontifical retinue in their procession to Helena.

When the procession arrived, they found that the gates had not been opened, but this was no treachery from Charles Alstion. Tiberius Horen, not to be denied his rightful claim, he had surrounded the city with his Dragon Knights and hired mercenaries from the Phoenix Company, who had previously been under contract with the horde of Urguan. Although the Pontifical retinue, now joined with the army of Adrian de Sarkozy, greatly outnumbered Tiberius’s forces, the fearsome reputation of the Dragon Knights and the Phoenix Company forced the High Pontiff to handle the situation cautiously. He sent a delegate forth to meet with Tiberius, but the negotiations went nowhere. The two sides prepared to do battle, but as Tiberius gave a speech before his men, a great crowd of peasants was drawn to him. As he spoke, the crowd grew larger, and larger, and larger, but this gathering was far from supportive of his fiery, violent words. Helena had seen war and bloodshed for years, and the city’s denizens were repulsed at the thought of another war breaking out, a war that would inevitably ruin the city once again. In the middle of Tiberius’s speech, the increasingly-enraged mob reached a boiling point. They rushed the stage, grabbing the claimant and ripping him limb from limb. The Phoenix Band and the Dragon Knights, far too outnumbered, did not run to their liege’s screams. Instead, they attempted to retreat south, towards Urguani territory, but in their haste to escape, they were ambushed by a sortie led by Charles Alstion and subsequently massacred. 

Many rumors exist today that Tiberius was not killed, and that he escaped to a secluded island off the coast of Arcas, where he found a fountain that granted him immortal life. From here, he was supposedly propped up throughout the ages, and a number of figures are alleged to actually be Tiberius Horen, still plotting to make himself Emperor. These rumors seem to be borrowed from a children’s legend dating back to 1549, but it has not stopped certain ambitious scholars from trying to link Tiberius Horen to other men throughout history, insisting that he lives on. Well and truly dead, though, no matter what fantasies may be believed, the last opposition to Alexander Stepan’s claim had been dealt with, and the boy faced no further opposition in his ascent to the throne.

On the 9th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1725, Alexander Stepan was raised to the Imperial throne as Alexander II before the assembled vassals of the Empire. His ascension was greeted with thunderous applause, and the ensuing festivities were legendary, as, even more importantly than their splendor (paid for from the Pontifical coffers), they represented an end to the threat of civil war. In minor ceremonies that same day, Adrian de Sarkozy and Charles Edward Alstion were granted the respective titles of Duke of Adria and Prince of Alstion. It is even said that the two men put aside their grievances and reveled in the day’s festivities together as loyal brother-vassals of the Empire. Peace, goodwill, and fraternity had won the day, and it was assumed by all that the coming years would bring sorely-needed stability to the Empire, which it could then use to strengthen itself and return humanity to its undisputed prominence on the world stage. In just a year, all those hopes would be dashed, and the Empire would enter the now-infamous ‘Time of Troubles’.

The much-maligned end of the Pertinaxi Dynasty cannot truly be blamed on any perceived incompetency of Emperor Godfrey II or Emperor John VII. Both were boys, whose rule was entirely nominal. Factional disputes between partisan actors prevented any sort of reconciliation and internal strengthening of the Empire. While the Duke of Cascadia can certainly be blamed for his many blunders during the end of the Pertinaxi, the Cascadia Regency as a whole was undermined by individuals with their own agendas- Simon Basrid, Empress-dowager Adeline, High Pontiff Daniel VI, Helton Helvets, King Andrik III, and Adrian de Sarkozy. In an attempt to address the various plots of these powerful players, the Cascadia Regency ended up attempting to balance the power of the Empire. Titles were given to former enemies, powers were ceded to disloyal vassals, duties were given to ambitious, treacherous courtiers, and the attempts by the Duke of Cascadia to expand the powers of the central Imperial government typically resulted in the death of the Emperor and the further erosion of his authority. 

Had the focus of the Imperial court, the Imperial vassals, and the Church been focused on strengthening the Empire by backing the Cascadia Regency and the boy-Emperors it governed for, then perhaps the Time of Troubles could have been avoided. If the Cascadia Regency had the ability to adequately deal with the myriad of genuine problems facing the Empire at the time, chief among them the deterioration of the Legion and the death of Emperor Godfrey II, then perhaps the Pertinaxi Dynasty may have been able to keep its hold on the throne. However, neither was the case, and the Empire was plunged into another twelve years of uncertainty.

 

Vale, Godfrey II ‘the Gambler’

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11th of Sigismund’s End, 1709-14th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1724)

(r. 4th of Horen’s Calling, 1715-14th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1724


 

Vale, John VII ‘the Feeble’

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13th of Owyn’s Flame, 1714-15th of Horen’s Calling, 1725

(r. 14th of Tobias’s Bounty, 1724-15th of Horen’s Calling, 1725)

 

 


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.


The Times of Troubles shall be covered in our next volume of The Decline and Fall of the Holy Orenian Empire.

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"Haters will say this was revisionist," harrumphed one Heloise Pontmercy, a humble farm woman from the Darkwold of Mardon. 

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