INTERREGNUM VOL I.: THE NOVELLEN TWILIGHT

[Xarkly 17299]

 

Spoiler

 

 

Interregnum.

‘Between Empires’.

 

A period when Humanity - and, consequently, all Descendantkind - are without a dominant hegemon. It is a time of chaos, of disunity, and of fracture. Yet, despite that, it is my belief that times of interregnum are a vital aspect of Humanity. A necessary contrast upon the Tapestry of Man. 

 

Without doubt, Humanity stands at its zenith when the Tribes of Horen are united under a common banner. But, as our mortal bodies age, so too do our empires wither with the passing of time. The feats of glory in which empires were forged fade, replaced with disillusions of what an empire should be, but is not; the memories of proud heroes worthy of service are supplanted with slothful inheritors; and once-mighty armies of united Tribes are reduced to parades, incapable of withstanding common marauders. 

 

This is, however, a natural thing.

 

Were it not for the harshness of winter, we would be strangers to the bliss of summer. So too is the same true of the rise and fall of Humanity’s great empires. It is only in the chaos of disunity that we, as a people, rediscover the calling of a greater cause, of Exalted Horen’s unified kingdom, and accept that great deeds can only be accomplished through Humanity’s collective strength. 

 

In the 19th century, the Holy Orenian Empire (the 8th Empire) fell. The Interregnum that followed was one in which Humanity languished for nearly 200 years, until the reformation of the Empire of Man.

 

I am Arrolt the Orphan, and this is the tale of how that interregnum began, endured, and ended.

 

This is the Chronicle of the Great Interregnum.

 

 

 

 

This is Interrengum: Volume I.

 

The beginning of this saga is the ending of another; in order to understand how the Great Interregnum came to an end, we must understand the circumstances of its birth. So it is that we turn to the downfall of the last Empire to reign over Humanity, and the Dynasties of House Novellen and House Helane that presided over it. 

 

This Volume of Interregnum records the series of events that led to the breakdown of the Holy Orenian Empire of House Novellen and Helane (otherwise known as the “Petrine Empire”, or simply “Oren”).

 

As a foreword, this work is, in part, a spiritual successor to the essays The Decline and Fall of the Holy Orenian Empire, a comprehensive series authored by the Lords Justinian Nafis and Adolphus Gloriana (both of Susa), with which any Human scholar ought to familiarise themselves with. Especially in this first Volume, there is some degree of overlap (as the fall of the Novellen Empire is a cornerstone of both works). 

 

 

 

 

---

 

 

The year was 1786 A.H.

The Holy Orenian Empire had stood for four generations.

 

In that time, the 8th Empire rose from the defeat of their progenitor, Joseph Marna, in the War of the Two Emperors to produce three Holy Orenian Emperors, one Holy Orenian Empress, and feats of monumental Human governance. Having inherited the husk of the Renatian Empire, the Novellen and Helane Emperors rejected the guiding principles of their predecessors, the Pertinaxi Dynasty, and, instead of ruling through sheer martial might, favoured law, diplomacy, and reason. 

 

This philosophy was chiefly manifested through robust civil institutions - for which some of the most accomplished statements in Human history, such as Simon Basrid, can be thanked. From the thriving metropolis of Helena, the elected legislature of the House of Commons, to the expansive laws of the Orenian Revised Code, the Petrine Empire defined itself with a level of sophistication that has yet to be seen since its fall. 

 

This iteration of Oren was not, of course, without its difficulties. Challenges were present from the outset as Emperor Alexander II - the first imperial sovereign of the 8th Empire - struggled to restore order in the post-Pertinaxi era, and later Emperor Peter III faced not one, but two mortal struggles against anti-imperial coalitions; first in the Rubern War of 1740-1760, and later in the Begrudged War of 1755-1780. Both coalitions may have spelled an early end for the Empire, were it not for severe winter storms frustrating the Alliance of Independent States from mustering their full army in the Rubern War, and a sweeping wheat crop failure in 1779 that forced both sides of the Begrudged War to stand down their armies.

 

So it was that the Novellen Empire persisted as the reigning hegemon.

Until 1786. 

__________________

 

“Though, I will confess there is one thing that worries me.

 

We have been too long without war. That is not to say I relish bloodshed, only that I fear when the time comes, we will not remember how to fight.”

 

Extract from the letters of Caspen Rhene,

an Imperial State Army sergeant stationed in the Lower Petra riverlands, to his wife c. 1795

__________________

 

In 1784, Joseph II and Anne I were crowned as joint Holy Orenian Emperor and Empress.

 

While both wise and capable rulers who had played major roles in building the Holy Orenian Empire to the goliath (as it then was), they inherited one particularly grating problem from their predecessor, Emperor Peter III: the Kingdom of Haense, the sole autonomous vassal nation in the Empire (as the Kingdom of Kaedrin had been absorbed into Oren proper in 1768). 

 

Peter III had legendarily clashed with the young, and equally temperamental, King Sigismund II of Haense on more than one occasion. Sigismund II had staunchly opposed the Empire’s policies of centralisation, which were cornerstones of the Novellen Empire, and while the Orenian government had successfully established the supremacy of imperial law and its legislatures, Haense chafed at attempts to centralise administration, taxation, and militaries across the Empire (all of which were ultimately unsuccessful).

 

These difficulties would have been far from fatal if not for the more ‘personal’ clashes between Peter III and Sigismund II, of which there were three. The first was the Storming of Ekaterinburg, where Peter III, in an apparent fit of madness, stormed the Haeseni palace after the death of Maya of Muldav - King Sigismund II’s mother - and set fire to her bedroom; the second was when Haeseni settlers had been induced to settle and invest in the newly colonised imperial lands of Suffonia, only for Peter III to levy extortionate taxes that drove out the settlers; and the third, and greatest, was when Peter III committed Haeseni forces to fighting in the Begrudged War without consultation.

 

So opposed had King Sigismund II become to the machinations of Peter III that he committed suicide in protest in 1762, an act which irreconcilably turned his subjects against cooperation with the Empire.

 

__________________

 

"It will be recalled that King Sigismund II once stowed away on an expedition to the continent of Athera at the age of seven.

 

It is little surprise that he would kill himself just to spite his Imperial Majesty."

 

Extract from an Orenian intelligence dossier,

Unknown author, c. 1762

__________________

 

This brings us back to that fateful date of 1786.

The year of the Edict of Separation.

 

In the two years since Joseph II and Anne I had taken the imperial throne as co-monarchs, they remained dealing with the largely-dissident Kingdom of Haense. After Sigismund II’s death, his infant son King Josef I was placed under an interim government of Lord Regent Konstantin Wick, who had a long history of serving in Oren. Konstantin Wick entered into long talks with the Orenian government both before and after the death of Peter III in 1784, the focus of which was securing guarantees for Haeseni’s autonomy as a vassal. While the Orenians agreed in principle, talks stalled over what form any privileges should take.

 

In the end, they took no form at all.

 

When King Josef I came of age and the regency government of Haense ended, the young king was not content with mere guarantees; he sought outright independence. But, instead of rebelling, he adopted a strategy of obstructionism -- he would, essentially, annoy his lieges to death. This strategy was surprisingly effective: Haeseni politicians elected to the House of Commons stalled and frustrated many bills, to the extent that the Orenian government was investing a great deal of effort to deal with the Haeseni for no gain at all. 

 

1786 was the year King Josef I’s efforts bore fruit, for that is when the young king was suddenly summoned to the imperial capital of Helena and, very abruptly, released of his oaths entirely. This made the Kingdom of Haense a wholly independent kingdom for the first time since 1669 (when King Sigmar I swore fealty to Emperor Aurelius of Renatus). 

 

Some scholars remark that the Edict was likely a result of fear that Haense would eventually resort to open rebellion, and, with the aid of the Empire’s enemies (such as the participants of the Begrudged Alliance), dismantle the Holy Orenian Empire in its entirety. While a plausible threat, I do not believe this was the determinative reason: instead, I believe the Edict of Separation was the result of sober political pragmatism. After all, the vision of the Holy Orenian Empire was to unite the Tribes of Horen in common cause, and the Novellen Empire had made a point to do so without tyranny nor bloodshed. If Haense had no desire to participate in that cause, then it was contrary to the vision of the Novellen Empire to force them.

 

While the ‘Holy Orenian Empire’ would persist as a state in its own right for several more decades, I submit that it is this exact moment when it ceased to be an ‘Empire’, and the Great Interregnum began.

 

__________________

 

"If there are no shared bonds of nationhood, how can you expect a Haenseman to be an Imperial?

 

You can’t force them, for it breeds resentment."

 

Extract from the interview of Archchancellor Jonah Stahl Elendih of Oren

in A Study on the Edict of Separation, by Alric, Irene & Maric Ruthern

__________________

 

That the Empire ended and the Great Interregnum began in 1786 is a bold claim, one which prudence demands I justify.

 

While scholars (such as the Lords Susa) date the cessation of the Empire as either with the deaths of Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I in 1868 or with the dissolution of the Kingdom of Oren following the Harvest Rebellion in 1884, I opine that Oren had long since stopped being an ‘empire’ by this point. For this, I will give three main reasons. 

 

The first is that Oren was no longer an ‘empire’ in the literal sense. With the Edict of Separation, it had released its only remaining vassal state, and therefore ceased to operate as any kind of feudal federation. All of Oren was now beholden to a single, central government. The second is that Oren could no longer call itself a true hegemon; while it remained a strong nation in its own right, there was little doubt it would be unable to contend were another anti-imperial coalition to arise, which had a domino-effect of impinging its foreign policies and alliances.

 

The third - and greatest - is one of symbology. An ‘empire’ that draws its descent from Exalted Horen must claim sovereignty over the majority of Human Tribes, and so, with the cessation of Haense, Oren could no longer do so. There were now many Human settlements outside of the Empire. 

 

It had no doubt been the hope of Joseph II and Anne I that the peaceful cessation of Haense would allow the two nations to maintain an alliance, and allow Oren to undergo overdue-reforms without Haeseni obstructionism. To this end, the co-monarchs were largely successful: although Haense quickly formed the ‘Iron Accord’ as a military alliance with the Kingdom of Norland and Dwarves of Urguan (both historic foes of Oren), this remained a purely defensive alliance to guarantee Haense’s newfound freedom (likely spurred by the fear that Joseph II and Anne I’s successor sought to undo the Edict). Meanwhile, Joseph II and Anne I tended to the rest of Oren with a renewed vigour, breathing another three generations of life into it.

 

An uneasy peace gripped Almaris for the next seven decades.

A peace that endured until the Aster Revolution of 1849.

 

 

---

 

 

As the decades passed, that peace became more and more tenuous.

 

By the middle of the 19th century, there was a distinct sense of anticipation upon the continent of Almaris. In Oren, the elderly Emperor Philip II (note I use ‘Emperor’ as a title of custom; as noted in Chapter I, it should be apparent that Oren was no longer an Empire from 1786) had succeeded his brother Emperor John VII in 1837. While John VII had alleviated some of Oren’s growing sense of stagnancy throughout his reign (chiefly through his victory over the Kingdom of Norland in the Tenth Nordling War), the Oren inherited by Philip II was a husk of what it had once been. Philip II himself was a clerical scholar with little affinity for governance, and he lacked competent retainers to make up for his shortcomings, save for his two children - Josephine Augusta (his Archchancellor), and Philip of Adria (his heir). 

 

Consequently, Philip II was deeply unpopular at home and abroad. 

 

In the north, the Kingdom of Haense had experienced the inverse under the reign of the young King Sigismund III. Relations between Sigismund III and Philip II were far from warm; early into his reign, Sigismund III had marched knights into Orenian territory to demand recompense from an Orenian duke who had insulted the king’s younger brother (the ‘March on Cathalon’), and relations went from bad to worse when Sigismund III rebuked a diplomatic delegation sent from Oren to resolve the dispute (as it was led by Sigismund III’s birth mother, who had faked her own death to flee to Oren). 

 

To the south, Philip II faced an even more pressing threat, as descendants of the ancient lineage of House de Savoie (once an imperial dynasty themselves, long ago) had established the reborn Principality of Savoy, led by Prince Olivier Renault (or, from his coronation, Prince Olivier I of Savoy) of House de Savoie, a former Orenian general in the Imperial State Army who had served under Emperor John VII in the Tenth Nordling War. Olivier I, disenfranchised with the decline of Oren, was both charismatic and ambitious, and made no secret he sought to expunge Philip II. 

 

To that end, Olivier I had forged fast friendships with King Sigismund III, and humiliated Philip II in a diplomatic meeting mediated by the Canonist Church, where he forced the Orenian Emperor to concede several important historic titles.

 

Despite these great waves in the world of men, it was not they who would incite the looming war.

It was the Dwarves of Urguan. 

__________________

 

"I did not know what to expect from meetings between sovereigns, until I accompanied King Sigismund III for his first meeting with Emperor Philip II in the city of Providence.

 

I certainly did not expect them to play chess to decide whether to renew their defensive alliance. I will never forget the look on the Emperor’s face when he was placed in check-mate."

 

Extract from the memoirs of Hademar of Jerovitz,

squire of the Marian Retinue, c.1844

__________________

 

In 1847, tensions sparked between the Holy Orenian Empire and the Dwarves of Urguan over an alleged assault on two Dwarven merchants by imperial soldiers.

 

While a relatively minor incident, both Emperor Philip II and Grand King Ulfric Frostbeard of Urguan were quick to muster troops along their shared border, near the coastal hills of Eastfleet. In an odd sense, it was a ‘cordial’ conflict; both monarchs agreed not to involve their allies, and both were glad to fight. For Urguan, it was a chance to fight an ancient enemy, while Philip II hoped to repeat what his brother, Emperor John VII, had done with the Tenth Nordling War and demonstrate to the world that Oren remained strong. A number of skirmishes broke out across Eastfleet, but none of note. 

 

Meanwhile, Olivier I had been attempting to convince King Sigismund III to join him in a war against Oren to oust Philip II. Depending on the source, Olivier I’s motives varied from altruism to opportunism, but it is common belief that Olivier I coveted the imperial throne for himself. Whatever the case, Sigismund III disappointed his Savoyard ally; the Haeseni king was only prepared to marshal his troops in the defence of his realm or his allies, and refused to invade Oren. 

 

Olivier I, however, soon found a much more suitable ally.

 

In 1848, as minor clashes continued to smoulder on the Orenian-Urguan border, a ship docked in the Savoyard capital of San Luciano. 

 

From this ship disembarked Philip Amadeus and Anastasya of Kozitz.

Today, they are known as Philip III and Anastasia I, Holy Orenian Emperors and Empress.

 

__________________

 

"General Othaman,

 

Reporting from the eastern front. I am pleased to inform you that, so far, we have managed to retain our height advantage over the Dwarves."

 

Extract from the report of an unknown ISA officer

stationed in Eastfleet, c. 1848

__________________

 

The circumstances of Philip and Anastasya’s arrival in San Luciano are an enigma.

 

The couple had been proclaimed dead in the imperial capital of Providence in 1836, shortly after their wedding. Sympathetic accounts chronicle that they ventured overseas to the land of ‘Ulyssa’, a story of which I am sceptical (as this land does not exist outside of stories associated with the pair), whereas other (and more fantastical) tales claim that they really had died and been reborn (either through divine intervention or dark magic, depending on the source), or that they had secretly followed Olivier I into exile and served the Savoyard court in disguise until now. 

 

My preferred legend is that they were visited by a wizard on their wedding, who promised to grant them great wit and cunning, in return for being transformed into frogs for ten years (with the frogs having been cared for by Prince Olivier I until the curse was lifted). In any case, it is largely accepted that - through whatever means - the pair were who they claimed to be, and from the moment they stepped foot in San Luciano, events transpired very quickly.

 

In Providence, Emperor Philip II denounced the pair as impostors, and instead tried to redirect public attention to the impending battle against Urguan. While most Orenians by this point despised their incumbent Emperor, those who had not defected to Savoy were content to wait for Philip II to die and for his son, Philip of Adria, to ascend. While Philip of Adria lacked great presence on the international stage, he was held in relatively high esteem, though his sister Josephine Augusta was regarded as the true backbone that kept their father’s Empire from collapse. 

 

But Philip of Adria’s reign would never come. 

 

In 1849, he was proclaimed dead in Providence. Much like with Philip Aurelian, stories of his death vary (though not with the same contention). Emperor Philip II’s court declared that the imperial prince had been stricken with sudden heart failure, but most other sources agree he had been assassinated by a courtesan in the service of Olivier I, Philip Aurelian (Philip of Adria’s own son), and Anastasya of Kositz. Not only did Philip of Adria’s death rob Oren of a future, but it signalled a very clear intent from the Savoyard camp that the time had come to make their move.

 

That move was made later in 1849, when, in the palace of San Luciano, Philip Aurelian declared himself Holy Orenian Empire, vowing to cast down his decrepit grandfather and restore Oren to its previous lustre.

__________________

 

"The most frustrating part of this tragic chapter of Imperial History is, without doubt, trying to navigate so many different ‘Philip’s’."

 

Extract from the memoirs of Eirik Baruch,

Lord Palatine of Haense, c. 1865.

__________________

 

The proclamation from San Luciano swept the continent like a gale.

 

In the Kingdom of Haense, the court of King Sigismund III watched uneasily. Although allied to the Savoyards, Philip Aurelian’s declaration had been couched in the language of ‘restoring Oren’ and ‘uniting mankind’, which planted the seed of suspicion in the minds of the Haeseni that this imperial claimant may be no friend to them. In the same vein, Grand King Ulfric of Urguan received puzzling reports of Orenian border garrisons in Eastfleet simply being abandoned.

 

Meanwhile, the court of Emperor Philip II cracked like an egg. 

 

In Philip Aurelian, many Orenians saw a worthy Emperor, one who could reverse the stagnancy that had slowly sapped Oren since the deaths of Joseph II and Anne I. Throughout the late-summer of 1849, nobles, soldiers, and commoners alike flocked to San Luciano in droves to pledge their fealty to this new Emperor. The minority of ISA soldiers who did not defect were withdrawn to Providence, only to find that Emperor Philip II had completely vanished in the wake of his grandson’s declaration. While there is no ‘official’ cause of death for Philip II, it is easy to accede to the belief that he was unceremoniously slain by someone in his court to allow Josephine Augusta to take the throne as Empress.

 

But there was to be no Empress Josephine.

 

Later in 1849, Philip Aurelian departed San Luciano with a massive army - which was a patchwork mob of soldiers, courtiers, and commoners - and marched on Providence. Josephine Augusta sought aide from whoever might give it, but there was none forthcoming; it is even said that she offered the imperial crown to King Sigismund III of Haense, though he refused to become embroiled in imperial affairs. Although a small garrison of soldiers under Generals Erik Othaman and Viktor var Ruthern remained in Providence to support Josephine, the Princess ultimately decided defence of the city was a lost cause, and she fled.

 

So it was that in the early days of autumn of 1849, General Erik Othaman opened the city gates.

Uncontested, Philip Aurelian marched through the streets, and sat upon the imperial throne. 

 

__________________

 

"I have seen my share of armies. Demons in the south, Nordlings in the north.

 

But not in sixty years had I seen an army like the one that marched on Providence that day. Actual soldiers were the minority among thousands of burghers, yeomen, courtiers, and peasants.

 

They were no soldiers, and yet it was the most terrifying army I had ever seen."

 

Extract from the account of Ensign Victor Hallen,

ISA Providence Garrison, c. 1849

 

---

 

 

Following their Aster Revolution, Philip Aurelian and Anastasya of Kositz were crowned as Emperor Philip III and Anastasia I, Holy Orenian Emperors, in 1849*.

 

The decades-long decline of the Holy Orenian Empire had been reversed practically overnight. Emperor Philip II had been both incapable and detested, alienating talented knights and courtiers away from Oren and into the courts of their rivals of Haense, Urguan, and (until the Aster Revolution) Savoy. Philip III seemed to be everything his grandfather was not: ambitious, capable, and someone who could unite all of Oren’s squabbling Houses and factions under his banner. He was, by all accounts, the saviour of Oren.

 

Not everyone, however, wanted Oren to be saved.

 

Since the Edict of Separation in 1786, the Kingdom of Haense had laboured to slowly eclipse Oren. Over the reigns of King Josef I, King Henrik II, and now King Sigismund III, it had built a flourishing kingdom with a strong army in its Brotherhood of Saint Karl and a powerful network of allies. While Orenian envoys had assured King Sigismund III that Philip III and Anastasia I bore him no ill will, the Haeseni struggled to dismiss the prominent rhetoric of a ‘united Humanity’ that Philip III had touted in Savoy. 

 

As for Savoy, Prince Olivier I had been instrumental in the Aster Revolution (and some even regard him as the orchestrator of it). Upon Philip III’s ascent, Olivier I abruptly swore the Principality of Savoy to him as a vassal, before immediately abdicating (in favour of his son, Olivier Laurene) to serve Philip III and Anastasia I as an advisor (taking his non-regnal name of Olivier Renault once more). The move came as an apparent surprise to the rest of Savoy, who, while steadfast supporters of the Aster Revolution, had seemingly not anticipated actually joining under Oren. For years after, it was unclear whether Savoy remained Oren’s vassal, or ally. 

 

It would prove unimportant, however.

Very soon, Humanity faced more pressing concerns. 

__________________

 

*Anastasia I was not elevated to the title of Empress-Regnant until Philip III issued the Edict of Kositz in 1853, upon which date Anastasia I became the second Empress-Regnant (following Anne I).

 

There has been no subsequent Empress in Human history to date.

__________________

 

The Dwarves of Urguan found themselves in the most uncomfortable straits of all in the wake of the Aster Revolution.

 

Grand King Ulfric Frostbeard had been eager to test his mettle against Emperor Philip II, but he was not so keen to provoke the considerably-stronger Philip III and Anastasia I. Grand King Ulfric declared a Dwarven ‘victory’ in his campaign (and very precisely attempted to characterise it as a feud against Philip II, and not against Philip III and Anastasia I) before withdrawing his troops back to Urguan.

 

Alas, this gambit fared poorly.

 

While the reborn Oren was awash with celebrations, Philip III and Anastasia I had their work cut out for them, as most Orenian institutions - most especially their military - had to be reformed from the ground up. What they did possess in abundance, however, was momentum and morale, both of which would be wasted if they quietly tended to statecraft. Perhaps in a bid to stoke imperial patriotism while these institutions were reforged, or perhaps out of sheer adrenaline, Philip III and Anastasia I resolved to capitalize on that momentum.

 

In late 1849, they released a formal declaration that they would not let the Dwarves of Urguan claim any kind of victory over Oren, irrespective of which Emperor they had fought. Philip III and Anastasia I’s issues were not just limited to the Eastfleet incursions, however, and they also called on Urguan to release all its Human vassals (many of which were Orenian exiles) and pay a huge sum in reparations. If they refused, then Philip III and Anastasia I vowed to attack Urguan with their full strength. 

 

Were it not for this brazen move, it is entirely possible that the Holy Orenian Empire might still be alive today, ruled by Philip III and Anastasia I’s descendants.

__________________

 

“It is the core of the Urguanite character, treacherous as you are, to declare victory in the face of an invasion that you have aborted. Lofty rhetoric of Dwarven honour and implacable valour gives way to the natural allure of preying on the lame calf straying from the herd.”

 

Emperor Philip III, ‘Excoriation of the Urguanites’,

c. 1849

__________________

 

A cold war of sorts followed.

 

While Grand King Ulfric was quick to reject the Orenian demands, and both sides began to muster their armies, no one was keen to actually march, and that was owed to the Kingdom of Haense. While King Sigismund III had a defensive alliance with the Dwarves of Urguan, no one in Philip III and Anastasia I’s court had actually expected him to honour it - not only were the Dwarves pagans and historical enemies of Humanity, but Haense had a chequered history of abandoning its allies in the past (most notably in the War of the Two Emperors and the Burning of Ves). 

 

The question that weighed on the Haeseni was whether Philip III and Anastasia I could be trusted; if it turned out that their rhetoric of ‘united Humanity’ held any truth in their hearts, then Haense could not afford to abandon Urguan, less it be left defenceless if Oren decided to subjugate Haense in future. Some diplomacy followed over 1849, but the course of history would be determined down south, in Savoy. 

 

In 1850, Olivier Laurene de Savoie was coronated as Prince Olivier II of Savoy in San Luciano. He was crowned by High Pontiff Everard VI of the Canonist Church, which had taken a passive role in events to date. Everard VI was cast in the role as a disinterested father overseeing squabbling children, though he had fomented a powerful enemy in the form of Olivier Renault, with whom he had rebuked for raiding the pagan settlements of Yong Ping and Rozania, which Everard VI had been attempting to convert to Canonism. 

 

While he had crowned Philip III and Anastasia I following the Aster Revolution, they were also distrustful of him - they regarded Everard VI as having been a sympathiser to Emperor Philip II (a view for which I can find little evidence), and was Haeseni by birth. Aside from the Pontiff himself, Philip III also considered the Canonist Church as an archaic institution in desperate need of reform.

 

It was these sentiments that led to the Michaelite Schism. During the coronation of Olivier II, Bishop Christoff of San Luciano stood up and denounced Everard VI.

 

Bishop Christoff claimed the title of Pontiff for himself - taking the name Michael I - and was immediately supported by Prince Olivier II and Emperor Philip III.

__________________

 

"All government employees are hereby directed to attend mandatory confession to request penance in this matter, and I accept full responsibility for believing this deception as the government’s Archchancellor. Any statement from the Crown in this matter was informed by lies."

 

Orenian Archancellor Minuvas Melphestaus,

apologising for the Michaelite Schism, c. 1851

__________________

 

The Michaelite Schism was, however, an utter disaster.

 

It quickly became apparent how poorly planned this Schism was. After a frenzied parishioner brandished a weapon at Everard VI moments after the denouncement, the Haeseni delegation in attendance (under the orders of Lord Palatine Eirik Baruch) extracted Everard VI to Haense, where King Sigismund III called an emergency sitting of his court, who raucously declared Everard VI to be the true High Pontiff. In turn, Everard VI excommunicated the instigators of the Schism (Michael I, Olivier Renault, Olivier II, Philip III, Anastasia I, and many of their council), and named Sigismund III as ‘Fidei Defensor’, or Defender of the Faith, which was a title normally held by the Orenian Emperor.

 

The Michaelite Schism found little purchase even in Savoy and Oren. Most of the Church’s clergy disparaged Michael I (for he had elected himself contrary to ecumenical law) and, under heavy internal pressure from their own subjects, both Olivier II, Philip III, and Anastasia I later renounced their efforts, disavowed Michael I (who promptly disappeared), and reaffirmed Everard VI as High Pontiff. The move came as a significant blow to the prestige they had been building as Oren’s saviours, and severely soured public opinion (most notably Haeseni, who were still debating whether or not to aid the Dwarves if Oren attacked). 

 

Oren’s religious woes were not yet over, however. As punishment, Emperor Philip III and Anastasia I agreed to undergo a ‘walk of penance’, whereby they dressed in rags and walked barefoot from Providence to the Basilica of Saint Henrik in Karosgrad (Olivier II later performed a similar penance). Everard VI lifted their excommunications, but only for a matter of weeks. A Savoyard interloper (believed by some to be a turncoat of Savoyard Royal House) furnished an old letter to Pontiff Everard VI, purported to have been written by Anastasia I.

 

This fabled letter contained instructions for a hired Dragonkin to slay Philip of Adria, the act which had cleared Philip III’s succession to the imperial throne right before the Aster Revolution. 

__________________

 

"Your Holiness,

Please, hear my plea, for the Orenian people cannot languish under interdict eternally. It is known that there is a duty to expunge the Anathema, but, in doing so, you force our hand to great bloodshed on behalf of Haeseni and Dwarven conspirators.

 

I pray you do not make it so."

 

Petition by Deacon Brenimar of Sunholdt

to High Pontiff Everard VI, c. 1851

__________________

 

This letter was enormously controversial.

 

It was long believed by most on the continent (Oren included) that Philip III had ordered the death of his father to facilitate the Aster Revolution, but, with ‘hard proof’ in hand, High Pontiff Everard VI excommunicated Philip III and Anastasia I for the second time (which is, by all accounts, a record). 

 

Whether this letter was authentic or not is, however, hotly disputed. Some surviving records of the Haeseni archive, plundered after Haense fell in the War of the Crozier, appear to suggest that the letter had indeed been fabricated by conspirators. In any case, the importance of the letter is overstated: as I have opined, most people already knew Philip III to be guilty of patricide.

 

The second excommunication did not fare as well as the first. It could be said that Everard VI and Sigismund III of Haense might have hoped this would spur the Orenian people to simply overthrow Philip III and Anastasia I, but it had the opposite effect. Most Orenians became suspicious of the Church’s motives and the timing of the letter’s production, especially since the excommunication effectively left the entire Orenian population as collateral to their monarch’s excommunication. Instead of turning the Orenian subjects against them, it stoked support for Philip III and Anastasia I. New religious movements arose in Oren, variously decrying Everard VI, though no official second schism followed. 

 

By 1851, the die had been cast for the looming war. Some minor raids had already been fought between Urguan and Oren, but now, following the double-excommunication, Haense’s role in the upcoming conflict was sealed - for better or worse. In 1851, the formation of the Tripartite Accord was declared: an alliance composed of the Kingdom of Haense, Dwarves of Urguan, Kingdom of Norland, the Ferrymen Band. 

 

They did not wait for Oren’s armies to cross the border into Urguan first.

In 1852, the Tripartite army of 15,000 marched into the Holy Orenian Empire.

 

The Sinners’ War had begun. 

__________________

 

"My lords Ailred and Johann, 

 

It is as we discussed. The time for waiting has passed.

Let us go and see if we are villain or hero."

 

Recovered missive, believed to by King Sigismund III,

to Field Marshal Ailred var Ruthern and Lord Marshal Johann Barclay, c. 1852

 

---

 

This concludes Interregnum: Volume I.

 

Volume II shall chronicle the events of the Sinners’ War, the bloodiest conflict to plague Descendantkind since the War of the Two Emperors some 130 years earlier, and marks Humanity’s descent into the chaos of the Great Interregnum.

 

[Nectorist 12869]

In 1846, Franz de Sarkozy, who had been one of the most vigorous proponents of the Edict of Separation, spoke to his son, the future historian Adolphus von Alstreim, of that momentous day.

 

”We believed that, without the support of the Empire, Haense would wither, as does a branch robbed of its nutrients eventually fall from the strong tree that provides for it. It would only be a matter of a few years before their imminent collapse justified our choice. The Empire was eternal: it would come before, during, and after the time of Haense.

 

My late wife, Irene, who had sat on the Haeseni councils, told me that it was their hypothesis that Oren, without the roots of its strongest vassal, would collapse upon the next strong wave from the riverbank of a world aligned against it. It would only be a matter of a few years before our imminent collapse justified their choice. Haense was resilient: it had seen Empires come and go, while it remained resolute.

 

Over half a century has passed since then, and so shall I before either of them. The only thing that has withstood the test of time is our willingness to speak in firm absolutes. Our clear-sightedness of the past allows us to believe that we are not blind to the future.

 

Regardless! I give them ten to fifteen years before they go under! I hear the they’re having some trouble with the Barclays: surely that will do them in now!

 

Spoiler

Magnificent post. I am SO glad that we have someone doing the recent Interregnum

 

[JoshBright 3014]

1 hour ago, Xarkly said:

The minority of ISA soldiers who did not defect were withdrawn to Providence, only to find that Emperor Philip II had completely vanished in the wake of his grandson’s declaration. While there is no ‘official’ cause of death for Philip II, it is easy to accede to the belief that he was unceremoniously slain by someone in his court to allow Josephine Augusta to take the throne as Empress.

Spoiler

IIRC the canon for this was that duncan Vuiller pushed his wheelchair into the river with Philip II still in it, tho correct me if i am wrong @HIGH_FIRE

 

[Rig 17580]

Sophocles Derfey pens the author and opines that the Derfey Schism and the subsequent attempt of the Derfeyists to assassinate Emperor Philip III is an essential lesson in Orenian history.

Alas, he wrote the letter entirely in Hyspian, and the chickenscratch was so illegible that the author could only make out one thing:

 

Dervfs. Ey!

[LazyBacon220 600]

A silver-haired knight combed through the austere halls of the Iron Tower, his white cloak trailing behind him, crowned with the golden star of the man's patron. He still wore a circlet, though much simpler than those of his youth, silvery hairs cascading down his shoulders in a tumble of curls. Ser Nathannenel, once a prince of the South, climbed the rungs of the ladder that led him to his training grounds. Atop the tower of Angrenost, the man turned his gaze south toward his homeland. For while he no longer clung to the past, strung between two realms, the life of Prince Hadrian Constantine was still his. He drew his onyx sword, preparing for the day's cleaning. The templar did not command the white flames of Malchediael to rush onto the blade, and so it remained mundane and humble. A reminder for the once Novellen. He no longer carried such a name, dropping it in exchange for an eternity with his beloved. But the blood of the ancient emperors still ran in his veins. At his hip, he took a small glass vial of oil. Slowly and methodically, it was poured over the blade, the thick liquid running down the fuller and dripping from the guard. The ritual brought peace for the knight, as had the daily trainings that began so many decades ago. As he completed the process of cleaning the blade, he looked toward the sun as it crossed its zenith in the heavens. Its light still shines down upon his sun-kissed skin despite the darkening of the horizons these past years. Nathan closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the day and hearing the crashing of waves. And there, the last Novellen found peace in his day before he continued to walk his chosen path.