The Valdevian Grant

[kaylacita 1317]

GODANI KRUSAE BURGUNDIYE

THE VALDEVIAN GRANT

 

 

“And the city was still alight in flame and fury, dancing upon the earth, and the wicked were cleansed and blown away. But Owyn ascended beyond the earth, and he was nowhere to be found. And so the torchbearer took upon his duties, and he preserved the sacred flame which danced on the rubble.”

The Confessions of Elreden (4:24-26)

 

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THE CITY OF NEW VALDEV ONCE SAT AT THE CENTRE OF MAN. It was raised in triumph by the Twin Crows during the years of peace won by the conquest of Aleksandr. A grand seat, from which generations of the Edlervik were to rule from the Westerwald to the edge of the Midden – yet this was not to be. The conquest is undone, and New Valdev shall soon be humbled by the fiery hand of the Living Saint. 

 

It is only through the mercy of Saint Raguel that New Valdev is spared the fate of old Hanseh. By his word, the seat of our rite, the Basilica of Saint Joren and the Broken Chains, shall stand untouched. So too shall the great walls and hold that protect it. All the rest is to be purged of its rot by holy flame.

 

This cleansing will be no great tragedy. There are few souls who still roam the streets of New Valdev, for it has been long abandoned by the lords and burghers of what was once Hanseti-Ruska. Many have fled in a great exodus to the north, where they raise longhouses in the Nordling style, and write in runes strange to our people. While these men have forsaken their homeland for idolatry and comfort, their ancestors remain. It is in Valdev that the honoured dead shall rest for all time. And it is in Valdev that we intend to stay.

 

We shall not abandon the ashes of Blessed King Sigismund III, by whose hand the tyranny of the Novellens was shattered. Nor shall we abandon Blessed King Robert, who led his banners in the reclamation of Ayr from pagan tribes. And so long as we live, none shall profane the tomb of Saint King Otto II, who brought together the squabbling realms of Canondom to conquer the godless kingdom of the Nordlings. 

 

As sons and daughters of the Tribe of Joren, we are duty-bound to defend the temple of our Prophet, and to revere our honoured dead. It is by their strength and wise-rule that our kingdom had once stood five hundred years – and though it has fallen, they shall not be left to rot. With the grace of King Tiberias of Burgundy, the city of Valdev and the former Crownlands of Hanseti-Ruska shall be incorporated into the demesne of my lord father, Josef of Galahar, Baron of Ghaestenwald, second son to the Twin Crows. He shall be made Warden of Valdev, to oversee these lands on behalf of the Burgundian Crown upon their cleansing by Saint Raguel, a duty that shall pass to his lawful heirs for so long as the ruin stands. May it serve well as a bastion of the Burgundian west, and forever remain the heart of our rite.

 

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HIS ROYAL MAJESTY,  Tiberias I of the House van Aert, King of Burgundy, Duke of Middelan, Baron of Pestilles, Protector of Grense, Patriarch-Dynast of the Pertinaxi, etcetera.

 

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, Josef Galahar, 

Baron of Ghaestenwald, Lord of the Isle of Maenvestiyaeo, Warden of Valdev

 

HER LADYSHIP, Vasilia Galahar

 

On this month of,

JOMA AG UMUND, 

579 EHR SIGMUNDA.

[ContestedSnow 1435]

Aleksandr Galahar trod slowly through the streets, his hands folded neatly behind his back. His gaze lingered on each headless statue of a figure of old, and he noted the crumbling edges of railings and old buildings. Overgrowth that had begun to cling to the sides of once-warm homes. His brows furrowed, faintly, as he thought on the notice of his young sister and father.

 

Perhaps this is what their old realm had brought upon itself, or perhaps it was the course of all great empires.

Wardens of the Great City, or what shall remain.

 

He signed the Hussariyan.

[indiana105 5126]

Jan knelt before the waters of the grotto of Saint Joren. Soon, Justice would bring ruin upon this place. He was sure of it. How could one trust the word of a daemon? A servant of the wyrm? All men had been forewarned of his coming – yet those of the south would sooner die than heed the wisdom of a Jorenite, let alone a Raev. 

 

They too would suffer, in time. It was written. But for now, the world was the possession of cruel men.