Adrians in Petra's Civil War

[Nectorist 12869]

Entries from the Adrian Contingent that Fought in the Civil Conflict in Petra, 1908-1909

Compiled by Davide of Furnestock

Utilizing the writings of:

Sir Joseph Vasile

Huug Slaar

Anne-Marie of Velec

 

On the 13th of Sigismund’s End, 1957

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The Petran Civil War, spanning from 1908-1909, was notable for the extensive foreign involvement despite nominal neutrality from all other countries in the Canonist sphere. While Haense’s role in the conflict, driven by Marius Barbanov who joined his future wife’s cause with his own retinue, was doubtless the most important, the comparatively minor Adrian presence is rich in literature where it is poor in manifestation. In studying some of the Adrian perspective of the war, we can understand some of Petra’s place in the world and why all of Canondom froze while Renilde and Constanz battled for the future of the Republic.

 

Sir Joseph Vasile: Diary entry, 3rd of Sun’s Smile, 1909 (The Importance of Shared Ties)

Spoiler

"3rd sun’s smile, 1909,

 

In meer days we will do batle with the Armees of Constantz. Theye are holed up in Valfluur and hide beehind walls that we have brocken before. I feel some gilte, for Constantz was once my leige. To him I servd with Faith and Grace, but what gilte I have is overwashed by Duty. I am thank full to Duke Hinenrik be-cause he knew the great Importance it was that I serve Her grace once moere. Ever sinc I was a Boy, Her grace, the Archduchess, had earned my Knight’s Love. Even though my highest Service and Devotien is owed to His grace, Renilde has allways done Right by Me. Others of us- Watt, Leufroie, and Phillippee, are all old Petrans too. Renilde is a good Leadere and Woman and she has prooved her worthy-ness for our swords. On the feelde of batle, I will do all I can to win her victorie. For what She has done for Me, It is what She deserves.

 

Joey”

 

Renilde of the Petra was loved by many, as were the lands of the fair country. Many former Petrans, and simple admirers of the people there, were eager supporters. There was a novelty to Petra and its simple ways, but there was also a wide, influential reach that far outmatched the size of this petty Republic. The early Petrans could enjoy support from the outside because they diligently established and maintained contacts across Almaris.

 

 

Huug Slaar: Excerpt from Liberale Passies (The Importance of Ideology)

Spoiler

From Chapter 10: “Petran Republicanism”

 

"Having joined several others to fight for Renilde in the Petra, talk was often made as to why we had chosen to back the seemingly-weaker party of the war. Some went for glory, yes, that much was inevitable, but many more had genuine admiration for the methods of government of the Petrans. The Liberal Ethos, which had been quashed throughout much of the prior century, burned brightly in two places: Adria and the Petra. Quite often, comparisons were made between the Petran Knight’s Table and the Adrian Duma. With boy enjoying the authority to elect a ruler, the kinship between our two peoples was evident. While Constanz was no bad man, so said they, he was a bureaucratic despot, and with his ascension to flame of liberalism in the Petra would be extinguished. To fight for Renilde was to fight for a political dream that we all shared.”

 

The Petra’s institutions, novel at the time, were indeed one of the last holdouts of old Petrine Liberalism. Given a new coat under the institution of the Round Table, the ways of government of the early Petrans drew much support from fellow sympathetic liberals. Few defined this ethos as much as Renilde herself, who, as Paul-Salvian Temesch’s successor, was seen as the natural inheritor of the Republic and its ideals. Petra was created with a vision that was paramount in obtaining both foreign and domestic support during the civil war from those who saw the Republic as one of the last places for elected, accountable government. 

 

 

Anne-Marie of Velec: Letter #10 to His Grace, the Duke of Adria (The Importance of Strategy)

Spoiler

"DATED: 4th of GRAND HARVEST, 1908,

 

TO HIS GRACE, THE DUKE OF ADRIA,

 

As instructed, I have accompanied Sir Joseph and his men to the Petra. We number seventy eight in total and are within days of arrival at Castle Moere, the stronghold of the Archduchess and her supporters. Our supplies have lasted, but resupply was required two days ago at Fremont. The soldiers are in high spirits and believe that we will be able to assist the Petrans within the coming weeks. My assessment is that this will be feasible and that within the month Valfleur and its surrounding suburbs will be retaken. 

 

After the war is over, we will be able to secure more favor from the successor government than any other. We do not threaten the Petra, as we are small and lack our own independence. Petra is also threatened by two larger powers: Haense in the north and Aaun in the south. They will wish to draw support from a faction that does not immediately endanger their sovereignty and interests, which is conducive to our aims. If given authority by Your Grace, I will negotiate a series of favorable trade deals to secure access to Petran grapes and wine so that we are not forced to bear the costs of importing from Celia’nor. A separate, second deal that is possible is securing the services of carpenters, which we lack despite our abundant lumber resources. There is a low chance that Petra will decline the opportunity to expand relations with another “third power”.

 

YOUR SERVANT"

 

In the period immediately before and after the civil war, Petra’s strategic position drew many suitors. While Haense eventually accrued the most influence, with Veletz briefly challenging this for a time later, many other powers, such as Adria, Aaun, Balian, Sedan, and Celia’nor, all tried to impose their own respective wills. Part of this was due to trade, as the wine of the Upper Petra was said to be the greatest in all of Almaris, but other strategic considerations were also factored. Petra was a buffer between Haense and Aaun, giving both of them reasons to win its favor. The Republic could also be an important voice at the many diplomatic and ecclesiastical conferences that dominated the era, as humanity’s disunity at the time required plenty of allies at the negotiating table.

 

[tilly 5115]

"The Adrians of that time were not the Veletzers of this time. Heinrik was my friend, and we had alike minds full of mutual thoughts. There is nothing similar to what Adria was then and what the League's tyranny has turned it into. This is not what Heinrik wanted, and not what his Adria was intended to be." Renilde pondered over the snippets of history laid in her lap, bouncing her leg as the memories played before blank eyes.

[creamynoteblock 3256]

22 minutes ago, tilly said:

"The Adrians of that time were not the Veletzers of this time. Heinrik was my friend, and we had alike minds full of mutual thoughts. There is nothing similar to what Adria was then and what the League's tyranny has turned it into. This is not what Heinrik wanted, and not what his Adria was intended to be." Renilde pondered over the snippets of history laid in her lap, bouncing her leg as the memories played before blank eyes.

"This wasn't what Petra should have been, either. We made a mistake!" Petran loyalist war-fighter Clyff Montagne, the Renatian Dragon Knight, spoke into Renilde's mind posthumously. 

[Rig 17580]

The Montalts, the proud victors of the Petran Civil War, hoist their auburn insignia high in Veletz. All of Sir Paul Montalt's descendants are said to have moved there after a betrayal by the Dowager Duchess Renilde had ostracized them from The Petra for a second time. Though Sir Paul Montalt is long dead, his children all moved to Veletz after the Dowager Duchess had given their castle away to the Kingdom of Aaun beneath their noses, and had acted quickly and with wickedness against her former allies once she had no use for them any longer. Her dried tears, fear, and palpable anxiety about the deed are often noted by some historians, though reparations were never made to the Montalt family in the intervening period of over fifty years.

Nevertheless, Sir Paul Montalt and his ally Sir Valentin Mareno go down in history for their utter destruction of the Sons of Petra Rebel Forces. Motivated by an oath of loyalty to the Duke of the Petra, Paul I, the father of Renilde. It is thanks to both the patriotism of these Knights and the help of the brave noble women who took up arms against the grizzled Petran rebels who sought to not only depose Renilde; but to drive away the Petrans who did not comply with their Balianite Imperialist ambitions. These Rebels had been soldiers for many years, but alas they were in poor shape by comparison to the forces that had been trained by famed fighters such as Montalt, Mareno, and the foreign mercenary Vyllaenen.

 

Renilde had always meekly allowed her people to be oppressed whilst meekly prostrating herself before their enemies to support her clandestine political ambitions. In the present day, her granddaughter Catherine I fights alongside the Balianese who had once sought to dismantle Petra from the inside. So too does she fight alongside Aaun, a kingdom which by all historical accounts has historically expressed hostility towards the Petrans, resulting in a feud between the Pennyduke Constanz and the deceased King of Aaun, Charles Alstion.

 

The decadent politics of the Round Table have festered for too long. The resounding hope of House Montalt, the heirs to the legacy of Maude Montalt, the Countess of Mardon, is that Catherine I institutes more Republican reforms that consequently lead to a return of the Knightly Republic and the utter disavowal of the policies that lead to the Civil War in the first place. Maude had gifted the land Petra was founded on to the first Duke with the hope that something would emerge from the carnage of the Harvest Revolution. Despite this, our legacy is having our steps dogged by pretenders who make a preponderance of preposterous claims to our legacy.

 

Thus, we shall make the following apparent. The majority of soldiers who fought in the Civil War fought at the behest of House Montalt. The Count of Mardon, Paul, made use of contacts from his day as the Knight Marshal to conduct the war. Furthermore, Haeseni Auxiliary support was sparse during the Battle of Valfleur, but it was not insignificant. Haeseni support was present from the get-go due to the affair between Marius Audemar and Renilde which culminated in the conflict which went on to claim thousands of Petran lives. Just because these lives were not on the winning side does not make them insignificant. These Petrans no matter how ignoble their intent were led to this new land by Renilde and Constanz, and died due to petty Round Table politics in a crisis that could have been averted had it not been for the cuckoldry that had transpired. The Haeseni-Petran relations are the only longstanding positive effect of the war, but it should go without saying that both the Founding Fathers and the victors of the Civil War would condemn any effort to fight alongside Haense in its attempt to expand its imperialism across the Continent.

 

These loyal men and women are now long since dead, and many of them left Petra after the war due to the continuation of the foul policies continued by Renilde, who prioritized instead bastardizing what little remained of the Republican institutions to name herself a Queen of Nothing. The fervent Nationalism that exists now in the Petran Realm is grounded in their Coalition, which increasingly loses steam every day. The Petrans are known as a peace-loving people, not unlike the Halflings, and they turned over a child they had kidnapped from Veletz this past Elven Day. We are greatly appreciative that despite past errors on the part of the Old Regime and their Aristocracy, at the very least the Petrans have not resorted to the barbarism tht is so often found in their clandestine Coalition cousins.

 

I intend to set the record clear. I, Alexander Dmitry Montalt, condemn the past Petran Regime. My family fights for Veletz. However, despite our condemnation of the politics of the Dowager Duchess, Count Philip Montalt and I make it clear that we bear no animosity towards the current Petran people, and we shall spare any who come across us who relinquish their arms.

 

The Host of Mardon endeavors always to spare the lives of innocents. We encourage a return to Knighthood and Republicanism as well as the preservation of a secular state that serves the People fervently. Until that day happens, we shall continue to exist in exile, and we shall make every nobleman rue the day that they betrayed the Commonfolk to preserve their rancid political order stratified on the bones of enumerable dead, acts of poor conscious, and the betrayal of all their internal and international allies.

 

Signed,

 

The Montalt Family

 

[amongus 816]

15 minutes ago, RIGOR said:

 

 

"Real," said Phil Montalt, looking at the paper on his desk after giving it his stamp of approval.

[Coronate 5519]

"My family may bare no ill will towards the Petran people, but let it be known that I, Radmir Montalt, son of Philip, son of Paul, will forever hold Petra among the cowardly ilk that form the Coalition. Bastard Vassal State of the Haenseti Empire. I will claim their city for the Montalt. And Valdev."

 

-Radmir Montalt, Warrior Poet, Gaspard's #1 guy.

[ChaoticRoller 635]

Spoiler

The past is in the past, it all has happened, and already gone in the past. Even fighting on the Petra side I too cannot keep lingering in the past. This would have been better to display when the warclaim had happened. Not nearly one year later. Though I do believe in the concept "Better late than never." But in all, this is too late to have any actions be taken against anyone even though I'd really still side with Petran side in that civil war rather than on the Petra/Haense/Adrian side. I thank those that would admit to this and will say that they have honor in doing such, but again the past is in the past nothing we can do. In all I hope all have fun and have an enjoyable time on LOTC! <3

 

[Nectorist 12869]

19 minutes ago, ChaoticRoller said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The past is in the past, it all has happened, and already gone in the past. Even fighting on the Petra side I too cannot keep lingering in the past. This would have been better to display when the warclaim had happened. Not nearly one year later. Though I do believe in the concept "Better late than never." But in all, this is too late to have any actions be taken against anyone even though I'd really still side with Petran side in that civil war rather than on the Petra/Haense/Adrian side. I thank those that would admit to this and will say that they have honor in doing such, but again the past is in the past nothing we can do. In all I hope all have fun and have an enjoyable time on LOTC! <3

 

(( As with most of my posts, this is an in-character historical piece made for my character’s current rp that has little to do with my out of character thoughts or feelings.