A COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS

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A COLLECTION OF ACCOUNTS

ON ESHEVEURD HISTORY

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COLLECTED BY SER SÉBASTIEN ASHFORD DE SAVOIE

COMPILED BY OWYN HECTOR ASHFORD DE SAVOIE

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THESE ACCOUNTS stretch multiple generations of Savoyard men and women, as well as individuals around the Savoy world and sphere of influence, including accounts from Sohaers of the Silver State, and even an account from Life at the Imperial Court, by John of Hightower, dated 1399. The intent of this compilation is to continue the work of the late Sébastien de Savoie, who sought to unearth Esheveurd History so that the Savoyards of modern times may be in touch with their roots, and with those that came before them and conquered so many glories in times of yore. These accounts focus primarily on the Houses Ashford de Bar and Ashford de Savoie.

HOWEVER, ONE WILL ALSO find accounts of the Kingdom of Oren, and even the Empire of Oren; the reason for such is due to the influence of the Savoyards in both instances, be it as Kings of Oren or Dukes and Counts within the Empire. Savoies and Bars produced advisors, generals, knights and legendary figures of both Kingdom and Empire, and this collection of history includes these men, too.

 

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“The King of Oren sought to destroy his own Lord. He sought to destroy this Lord for power, for the King could not compete with the wealth and prosperity of dearest Savoie.”

AN EXCERPT FROM A PUBLIC SPEECH BY SOHAER KALENZ URADIR FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF KING VYDRA, DATED 1498.

 

“Bury me in the City of Adrian, take care to inform the men and my family.”

THE LAST RECORDED WORDS OF DUKE RICHARD DE BAR TO SASCHA DE SALTPANS, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Ah, you are a trusting man. I never had the leisure of becoming one.”

COUNT GUY DE BAR IN AN AUDIENCE WITH LORD GREGORY WINCHESTER, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Never before have I seen a diplomat of such consummate ability as His Grace, I do not doubt his ability to resolve this conflict brewing.”

THE WORDS OF BARON AUGUSTUS FOURNIER TO SOHAER KALENZ URADIR, IN AN AUDIENCE WITHIN ELCIHI’THILLN, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Savoy is no longer just Olivier de Savoie, it is Guy de Bar also.”

CREDITED TO JOACHIM VAR SARKOZ, UPON THE ASCENSION OF GUY DE BAR TO COUNT, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Last week did I have the pleasure of visiting the flowering City of Leuvaarden, a jewel of Humanity. Where the Doge Godfrey claimed such a pretentious title for his own city I consider it more apt to deliver it unto Leuvaarden. Twice the size and far busier it, far more than Aldersberg ever did, displays the stewardship found in the line of Ashford and the blood of Lucien I.”

FROM THE DIARY OF VANHEM ARDACIO, TRAVELLING MERCHANT, DATED 1476.

 

“The most powerful weapon Humanity possesses is its faith - use this weapon granted to you by The Lord and snuff out the heathen menace.”

AN UNNAMED OFFICER OF THE ORDER OF SAINT AMYAS, SHORTLY BEFORE THE SIEGE OF DRAKENBURG, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“The boy is more of a man that any I have met of his age, a statesman and tactician of clear ability. Merely discussing with him the matters of the County and Order make me disappointed in the meagre abilities of my own kinsmen and their petty attempts to administrate. I may not have met his father, nor does it seem has he much, but surely he must have been a man skilled in many areas. Perhaps within him is personified the future of our Duchy - we can only do so much with myself and the aging Duke-Elector. He bloodied his blade at the age of fourteen in the name of our Creator and the lineage of Ashford, and it is my opinion that that was the very moment from which he rose a man.”

BARON AUGUSTUS FOURNIER, TO AN UNKNOWN AUDIENCE, ON THE PERSON OF A YOUNG GUY DE BAR, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“There is no greater sin than to blot out humanity’s light.”

OLIVIER DE SAVOIE UPON KING VYDRA’S DEATH, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“In an age where vows and fealty bear no meaning amongst learned men it is vital to only entrust your kinsmen and brethren in the faith.”

OLIVIER DE SAVOIE TO HIS WARD, GUY DE BAR, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Fate leads him who follows it, and drags him who resists.”

GUY DE BAR TO THE LORDS OF DRAGONSPEAK, SHORTLY BEFORE THEIR VASSALIZATION UNDER THE DUCHY OF SAVOY, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“A captivating night. . .”

JAN DE SAVOIE, OBSERVING THE HOREN MASQUERADE, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Never before have me or my courtiers come across a house that blends its virtues so,

Their Northman ferocity and Southron wiles make them most useful and worthy,

But I fear all the same for their avarice and ambition.”

PRIVATE MUSINGS OF KING OWYN I OF ASHFORD, IN A LETTER TO HIS SECOND-BORN SON, UNKNOWN DATE.

 

“Both of the Chivay brothers, Baldir Toov, Velwyn Ashford, Hadrien de Sarkozy, Bran Volsung, Edmond Brunswick, Toveah Goldman, Siegmund Carrion, Adam Green - they are all those we have come to call ‘the Black Dragon’s Boys’, the young men in the direct service of Crown Prince Horen who have suddenly experienced meteoric ascents at court due to their influence over him. When the Emperor passes into the next life, and I do not anticipate that day, they will surely ascend to positions of power in the Council, the Conclave and the Nobility. We of old Oren will be forced to fight our earnest to prevent being pushed to the sides to make way for these proteges of the Black Dragon to bring about their regime - new Oren.”

LIFE AT THE IMPERIAL COURT, BY JOHN OF HIGHTOWER, COUSIN TO THE KINGS OF SALVUS, DATED 1399.

 

“The Baroness of Aldersberg, Lady Gisela, possesses of a wit and ambition exceeding all other noble ladies of these times. I have myself seldom encountered a woman quite like it - the Baron invited me to sup with him and his wife but one cycle ago. We dined on a pastry of swan, washed down with sweet Leuvaarden Noir - the Baron claimed that he had been given it as a gift by Rina Gaerhart, the pirate queen of the east, though his manner of speaking gave me the belief that the claim was his idea of a light-hearted jest. The topic of discussion at the table was the religious reformation which was brewing in my homeland of Kaedrin. Having already swept through the northern provinces of Savoie, Kralta and even Auvergne, the doctrines of Lucienism would find their greatest potential in Kaedrin. It was well-known by many at the Imperial court that it was the Baron who elucidated the foundations of this new protestant faith, and this was the topic that our conversation centred around. Despite his acclaim as the ‘founder of Lucienism’, the Baron spoke very little in actuality - instead the discussion was dominated by his wife, who argued fiercely and with great gusto as to the cultural and ecclesiastical merits of their new ideology. I am a man of the sword, not the pen, and regret to say that I could not hold my own against this woman. Sarkozy did nothing besides quietly listen to her, sipping his wine and smiling proudly.”

THE JOURNAL OF JASON CLAMEDEUS, BY JASON CLAMEDEUS, KNIGHT OF KAEDRIN, DATED 1407.

 

“In the service of the Comte de Norfolk is a most egregious diplomat, who labels himself as Ertugral Bayezid Osman. His chaperon is made of the whitest silk, and he dresses in gaudy orange, blue and gold. His skin is swarthy, much like the Comte’s, and he claims that he is from the lands far south of here - Al-Zafir and beyond, where the tribes exist nomadically on the hot sand. He undertakes many tasks for the Comte around the entirety of the Duchy, beyond even his own jurisdiction, whether it be tax collecting, construction or far off diplomacy. He styles himself the chancellor and even bears Sarkozy’s writ, and is almost always seen at the side of a similarly eccentric dwarf, who bears braided, ashen hair. This dwarf was introduced to the court as an exiled member of the Grandaxe clan who the Comte invited to take up residence in the city of Aldersberg, acting as a kind of burgomeister or mayor. He owns many properties around the metropolis, however resides mainly in the nonhuman ghetto, where he operates a tavern frequented by such people.”

ACCOUNTS OF A TROUBADOUR, BY LUDOVICO OF ARDVALE, TRAVELLING BARD, DATED 1411.

 

“I kneel to no man.”

THE WORDS OF LUCIEN, HIGH PONTIFF, UPON THE KAEDRENI COURT’S TRIBUTE TO THE NEWLY PROCLAIMED KING IN THE WEST, DATED 1413.

 

“O’ most Holy Emperor, you have called upon this humble servant of yours for his counsel, and he shall give it to you. For far too long have we remained idle in the face of the elven menace. We have done nothing except be moderate with them, destroying them on the field and making peace with them after two or three battles. I am not a military strategist, but even I may tell you that this is naught but folly - we must teach Malinor a lesson once and for all. They provoke us, harrying our borders and raiding our villages - do you forget that I have been to Malinor and seen their way of life, how they pray for their dark gods to strike us down? Your Imperial Majesty, if you will not subjugate Malinor, then I swear by God’s blood that Kaedrin and Savoy will. And when the bones of a hundred thousand elves crunch beneath our sabatons, you will sit upon your throne in Abresi in envy, for we will have conquered for ourselves a place in the sun, whereas you will have existed in naught but your father’s shadow.”

THE WORDS OF HADRIEN DE SARKOZY, COUNT OF NORFOLK, AT THE COURT OF ABRESI, UPON BEING CALLED TO GIVE EMPEROR HOREN V HIS COUNSEL ON THE TRIBULATIONS OF MALINOR, DATED 1414.

 

“The joint Aldersberger-Auvergnian forces in the battle were under the command of Bernard de Sarkozy, a thoroughly incompetent commander who is my brother-in-law’s nephew. The other half of the Auvergnian forces were under my own command. This marriage between Chrestienne and Sarkozy has caused us more trouble than the dowry it was worth - because of my wife’s sister’s claim on Auvergne as the former Duchess, her husband Hadrien demanded that half of the Auvergnian forces fall under his command in the battle, but because of his gout he was incapacitated before the siege even begun, command of his half of the troops falling to his lackwit nephew. Against my advice, this Bernard foolishly led a sally out of the Dreadfort and his column was almost entirely slain by the Teutons. Now Bernard de Sarkozy is a captive of the Hochmeister, and very wisely Hadrien is refusing to ransom him.”

AN EXTRACT FROM THE REPORT ON THE BATTLE OF THE DREADFORT, SECTION VI, WRITTEN BY BRAN VOLSUNG-VALOIS, DATED 1415.

 

“It is my belief that the struggle for world domination will be fought entirely between us, between Imperials and elves. All else...is facade and illusion. Behind the Kharajyr stands Malinor, and behind the Druidic Order, and behind the Arcane Delvers! Even when we have driven the elf out of Oren, he remains our world enemy.”

A POSSIBLE APOCRYPHAL QUOTATION OF HADRIEN DE SARKOZY, COUNT OF NORFOLK, IN A SPEECH TO THE IMPERIAL COURT IN A MEETING WITH AN ELVEN CLAIMANT OF THE THRONE OF MALINOR, DATED 1417.

 

“We do, unfortunately, have reason to believe that the Count of Norfolk has become unhinged. The cause of this instability we cannot say, though the court physician Doctor Johannes has ruled out demonic possession, given Sarkozy’s incessant piety and lack of response to religious stimulant. Every morning, at sunlight, the Count goes to St. Daniel’s Cathedral and rings the bell furiously, achieving some kind of ecstasy, then withdraws to his palace and sups on apricot dumplings. This ritual cannot be disturbed, and there are severe consequences for doing so. One day a valet informed Sarkozy that their stores were awaiting a shipment of apricots from Salvus and thus the Count would be forced to dine on another meal for breakfast - Sarkozy beat him about the arms and legs until he was black and blue with the head of his heavy cane, going without breakfast. The Count refuses to wear garments of any colour besides the deepest black, and keeps a knife underneath his pillow when he sleeps. He keeps another knife concealed in his boots at all times. Exactly a month ago, he had ranted to the court about how Your Holiness was planning to replace him with some fellow named Mosquera, and how the recent appearance of a camp of gypsies by the city’s border was part of your own ‘master plan’ to supplant him from his station. He immediately ordered a team to construct an immense stone wall encircling the western side of the city, fearful that these gypsies would encroach upon his town and infiltrate its citizenry. The construction was completed in three days, under his watchful eye. He does not visit the bed of his wife Chrestienne any longer, and it is my opinion that he has adopted celibacy, holding her in nothing but the most bitter contempt. Their only son, Stephen Dusan, was killed by smallpox mere days ago. He was seven years old. Sarkozy has shed not a single tear that I have seen. The burial is due to be held in a week’s time, and Your Holiness will be formally invited to officiate it.”

A LETTER FROM MARCUS AURELIUS BRIARWOOD TO LUCIEN I, HIGH PONTIFF, THE FORMER BEING INSTRUCTED TO ACT AS A PAPAL ATTACHÉ AND SPY TO THE SAVOYARD COURT, DATED 1417.

 

“You see a leaf fall, and you think you know which way the wind blows. Well, my Emperor, there is a wind coming, and it will sweep away your pride.”

EDMOND DE SAVOIE TO EMPEROR ROBERT, THE LAST CHIVAY, UPON BEING BANISHED FROM COURT JUST PRIOR TO BORIS’ REVOLUTION, DATED 1471.

 

“You break no laws by saving a nation.”

RICHARD DE BAR, GRANDMASTER OF THE ORDER OF ST. AMYAS, IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING BORIS’ REVOLUTION, DATED 1471.

 

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IN CONCLUSION, I pray this collection of history and accounts from several different individuals throughout history begins to shed light upon the history of Savoy and Savoyards, and the many accomplishments of the past, the highs and the lows, as well as history of humanity itself, in the time of Empires and Kingdoms aplenty, where mankind centered itself on unity and faith above all. In a time of such disunion, to recall a time where men could unite behind a common goal is refreshing to the mind.

 

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AD GLORIAM DEI ET FLAMMAM,

OWYN HECTOR ASHFORD DE SAVOIE.

Spoiler

This post was made possible by @tcs_tonsils_'s effort on collecting Savoyard history through outreach to older Savoy players as well as some deep forum diving, compiling them in documents that he gracefully handed over to me to be used. This is only the beginning of what I hope will be a big recollection of Savoyard history put into proper forum posts for people to read and reminisce - if they were there - or for people who are curious about the Ashfords to learn about them. Thank you to Alamo - your commitment to the Savoyards is commendable, and I can only hope to live up to your expectations!