INTERREGNUM VOL. III: THE BROTHERS' WAR

[Xarkly 17299]

 

 

Previous Volumes

Volume I: The Novellen Twilight

Volume II: The Sinners’ War

 

Spoiler

 

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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.

 

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This is Interregnum: Volume III.

 

Volume I explored the decline of the Holy Orenian Empire and the breakdown of Human unity, stemming from the Edict of Separation in 1786 A.H. when the Empire released its only remaining vassal-nation - the Kingdom of Haense - and ended its hegemony of mankind. While Oren slowly withered in the decades that followed, two scions of the Novellen Dynasty - Philip Aurelian and Anastasya of Kositz - were not contented to let Oren crumble, and so they seized the imperial throne in the Aster Revolution, stoking Oren’s dying embers into a blaze of potential.

 

Volume II then chronicled Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I’s fateful struggle with King Sigismund III of Haense and Grand Kings Ulfric Frostbeard & Bakir Ireheart of the Dwarves, who sought to smother that fire for reasons ranging from fear of conquest to a desire to establish their own world order. When the nineteen year-long Sinners’ War ended with Oren’s defeat in 1868, Humanity was left with the frailty of an eggshell. 

 

Volume III shall regale the events that followed when that eggshell inevitably shattered, and the depravity and chaos the Great Interregnum reigned supreme. For while the Tribes of Horen may have shed the blood of one another in the Sinners’ War, they would turn on themselves in the years that followed -- in the Brothers’ War. 

 

 

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The gates of New Providence,

c. 1868

 

The year was 1868.

 

For nineteen years, the Holy Orenian Empire had been at war with the coalition of the Tripartite Accord, composed of the Kingdom of Haense, the Dwarves of Urguan, and the Kingdom of Norland. Three great campaigns had been fought: Oren’s newfound strength, stoked by Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I’s rise to power in the Aster Revolution, had been doused by their crushing defeat at the Battle of Southbridge, only to flare tenfold after they triumphed in the Battle of Haverlock, before finally surrendering after the disastrous Battle of Eastfleet in 1866. 

 

Naturally, the effects of nearly two decades of war were profound. Across the Orenian heartlands, the lack of farm labourers (scores of whom had been enlisted and killed in the War) left harvests to rot, and many nobles and landowners teetered on the edge of bankruptcy from the cost of raising and armies their levies. Above all, every facet of Oren was weary from war -- that had been the case even before Emperor Philip III declared the Eastfleet offensive in 1865.

 

Despite that, Oren enjoyed a period of unexpected prosperity from 1866 to 1868.

 

The Sinners’ War might have ended in Orenian defeat - definitely quashing Philip III and Anastasia I’s ambition to re-establish the Empire as a true hegemon - but even that result  was met with relief rather than outrage. After all, the terms of the Peace of Eastfleet were, for the most part, lenient; while Oren had conceded large swathes of territory, most of it was inconsequential (excepting the Upper Grenz, which was ceded to the Kingdom of Haense), and while the casualties of the war left rural Oren decimated, urban centres - namely the capital of New Providence and the Barony of Arichsdorf (in the Grenz) - thrived in the wartime economy. 

 

All told, the people of Oren still looked to Philip III and Anastasia I with an undeniable - if somewhat tarnished - awe. To many, Oren was still in a far better position than it had been before the Aster Revolution, and the ideals of that Revolution - of rebirthing an old and decayed Oren into a revitalised and ambitious new one - remained a guiding philosophy. After all, in the course of the Sinners’ War, the once-fading Empire had proven itself capable of fielding an army of over 10,000, a feat no other nation could replicate (though the Kingdom of Haense was close), and, more importantly, Philip III and Anastasia I held their roles as unifiers who could keep order amongst the squabbling families, guilds, and factions of Oren.

 

Under their hand, Oren seemed poised to endure.

Alas, Philip III and Anastasia I were not long for the world. 

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“It is a rare thing: hope in the wake of defeat.

 

I was there when the Haensefolk marched into Cathalon, and I was on the curtain walls of Providence when the Aster Revolution came a-marching. In those days, I knew defeat.

 

Now, as an old fart, I know it again. But it is different. There was, and is, a sense of hope I have never felt before since Eastfleet. There is still a future; even in defeat, we’re moving towards it.”

 

Excerpt from an interview with I.S.A. veteran Casfer Vreyne,

New Providence Post, c. 1868

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On the 5th day of Owyn’s Flame of 1868, Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I died.

 

To this day, the circumstances of their death remain a great mystery. There are many theories as to how they met their ends, both tame and wild. The most reasonable story, and that preferred by prominent imperial scholars such as the Lords Susa, is that Philip III simply succumbed to the wounds he had sustained in Dwarven captivity after the New Providence Tea Party, and the bereaved Anastasia I either took or own life or died of her grief. A more colourful (but unsubstantiated story) is that the Emperor, Empress, and a number of their retainers - most notably Baron Manfred von Arichsdorf, their most powerful vassal who also died on that the same day - sailed into the bay of New Providence at night to observe migrating jellyfish, only to drown after their ship grazed a sandbank. 

 

I, however, am inclined towards a more sinister reality.

 

It may be a sound belief that Philip III perished of his injuries, but the same cannot be said for Anastasia I’s passing, nor Manfred of Arichsdorf. It is at this juncture that we ought to consider the politics at play within the Orenian court (the Aster Court), not only to understand the possible culprits behind the death of the Emperor and Empress, but also as essential context for the events that followed. While Philip III and Anastasia I enjoyed popularity amongst the Orenian commonfolk even after the Battle of Eastfleet, the same could not be said of Oren’s upper echelons. Within the Aster Court, deep divisions had long-since formed, but it was only after the Battle of Eastfleet that Philip III and Anastasia I’s influence diminished to the extent that these divisions gave way to feuding factions, of which there were three of note. 

 

The first was, of course, the Emperor and Empress’ own circle of loyalists, most importantly Manfred von Arichsdorf and Willem van Aert, and the Imperial Legion, which was under Philip III’s direct command (after he had dismissed General Anastasios Basrid after the Battle of Eastfleet). With the end of the Sinners’ War, their priority was consolidation and completing their government and social reforms that had begun with the Aster Revolution, nearly twenty years ago. The other factions within the Aster Court were those of the Emperor’s own sons: the heir to the Orenian throne, Prince Peter Augustus Novellen, and the younger Prince Frederick Charles Novellen. Though of the same blood, they were far from a shared mind -- Prince Peter was described as a patient and learned statesman, more aligned with the traditional philosophies of the Novellen Emperors of old, whereas Prince Frederick was charismatic, hot-blooded, and deeply ambitious. 

 

However, for all their differences, the princely brothers did have one thing in common besides their blood. 

They were both discontent with their parents’ rule of Oren. 

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“Our goodwill has been spent enough in satisfaction of Gaspard van Aert and the men of Blackvale.

 

Your lord father was a good man, and once, he was a good ruler. Alas, he made it abundantly clear at Eastfleet that he is content to cater to the whims of his hounds to the detriment of his people. How many were sent to die at Eastfleet, just to conquer a patch of land for the van Aert? And we did not even conquer it!

 

Your father is a hero, but his time has clearly passed. I urge you, my friend, to compel him to vacate his throne to you. It is your time now.”

 

A letter signed only with ‘Lord G.’; it is unknown whether it

was addressed to Prince Peter or Prince Frederick, c. 1868

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It is difficult to measure the extent to which Prince Peter and Prince Frederick diverged from their parents, or when that divergence began.

 

All that we can say is that the defeat at Eastfleet had stripped the Aster Court of its veneer of order. In the Battle of Eastfleet itself, both brothers had failed to answer their father’s call for reinforcements in his attack on King Sigismund III of Haense, an act with the Lords Susa (in Volume X of ‘The Decline and Fall of the Holy Orenian Empire’) attribute to either the brothers hoping their father would be slain in the charge (which very nearly came to pass), or that instead of fighting the Tripartite Accord, they were attacking one another (the motives for which will soon be made clear). Though there is no indication that Philip III ever acted on this failure, relations remained turbulent after Eastfleet; when Philip III was reorganising the defence of southern Oren, Prince Frederick had to be threatened with imprisonment in order to mobilise his retainers. 

 

The defeat at Eastfleet lent credence to many lords and courtiers whose loyalty in the Emperor and Empress wavered (many of whom remain soured by incidents such as the Michaelite Schism, the perpetuation of the Sinners’ War in the first place, and the fact that Philip III and Anastasia I were still excommunicated from the Canonist Church), and they in turn flocked to one of the two brothers. 

 

With this in mind, we return to the deaths of Philip III and Anastasia I (and Manfred von Arichsdorf) on the 5th of Owyn’s Flame 1868. 

 

For reasons that will soon be apparent, there was no real investigation into their deaths, and any foul play was easily concealed in the unbridled chaos that followed. Since that fateful day, however, records (in the form of interviews arranged by Anastasios Basrid some months after the Brothers’ War) recovered from the collection of Queen Amadea Basrid of Haense indicate that Philip III, Anastasia I, and Manfred von Arichsdorf had convened in the Aster Palace to draft plans to fortify Oren’s northern border against possible Haeseni incursions. Just two servants - an elderly man with a noted history of hallucinating, and a young woman - testified that they saw a red-cloaked stranger darting through the palace halls. Neither reported the sighting, prompting some to believe that the story is fabricated. Later that evening, the mourning bells tolled. 

 

That red cloak was later found abandoned in a rented room in the Happy Helene Tavern.

The only record of the assassin, who had vanished, is that he rented the room under the name ‘Alecz’.

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“Sgt. Bruddick: Do you recall his likeness?

Ms. Semaria: Well, he had a crop of reddish hair, and had a face suited to grimacing. You know, all frowny-like.

Sgr. Bruddick: And you said his given name was ‘Alecz’?

Ms. Semaria: So he said, sir.

Sgt. Bruddick: Alecz of where? Did you ask him for his family name?

Ms. Semaria: I - I did, aye.

Sgt. Bruddick: Well, damnit then, woman; what did he say?

Ms. Semaria: He only said, ‘it doesn’t matter’.”

 

Excerpt from an interview with Adelaine Semaria,

proprietress of the Happy Helane Tavern, c. 1868

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While the nature of the Emperor and Empress’ deaths are an enigma, the impact of those deaths certainly is not.

 

Abruptly stripped of its foundations, Oren virtually collapsed in the aftermath, and, in that chaos, Prince Frederick Charles played his hand. While the Aster Court gathered in mourning, Prince Frederick abruptly produced what he claimed to be the Last Will & Testament of his parents. This was suspicious to a very great extent. For one, it is rather unconvincing that Philip III and Anastasia I had prepared a joint will; Philip III’s passing may have been foreseeable, but certainly not Anastasia I’s. It must be recalled that Anastasia I was Empress-Regnant, and not Empress-Consort, meaning it had been intended for her to continue to reign as absolute sovereign if Philip III predeceased her. It is similarly incredulous that Prince Frederick, of all people, would be the guardian of the Will. 

 

The chief reason this Will is so controversial, however, is because of its contents.

 

Within the Will - a copy of which has, most strangely, never been recorded - was a post-mortem decree of Philip III and Anastasia I that Prince Frederick was to supersede his older brother, Prince Peter, to the Orenian throne, but not as Emperor. No; instead, the Will decreed that the Holy Orenian Empire was to be dissolved. In its place, the ‘Kingdom of Oren’ would be left to reign over most Orenian territories, with the exception of Arichsdorf and the surrounding Lower Grenz region, which was to become the new and entirely independent ‘Crown of Westfall’. Prince Frederick was to become ‘King of Oren’, while Willem van Aert was to wed Laurentina von Arichsdorf (widow of the late Manfred von Arichsdorf) and rule this new ‘Westfall’. 

 

The entire world watched events unfold in Oren with disbelief , including most people in Oren. The sheer audacity of this proclamation serves to paint Prince Frederick as the most likely culprit behind his parents’ deaths (if one is partial to the belief that they were assassinated), but there was no time to investigate. If nothing else, Prince Frederick was quick to act, and he seemed to accept for the outset that he was not going to silence dissenters (of which there were many) with mere words and assertions. Indeed, Prince Peter - the legitimate heir to Oren - was blindsided by his brother’s maneuver, and he made it clear he was not content to let Prince Frederick ride roughshod over him. He condemned the Will as fabricated, and asserted his own claim to the throne; there would be no ‘Westfall’, and no ‘Kingdom of Oren’ -- the Empire would persist, with him as Emperor.

 

Before Prince Peter could even find his footing, however, Prince Frederick resolved to strike.

On the 10th of Owyn’s Flame 1868, the Brothers’ War began.

 

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The ‘White Horseman’ of Providence,

a memorial to the fallen of the Sinners’ War, c. 1867

 

Less than five days after the deaths of Emperor Philip III and Anastasia I, a civil war had sparked in Oren.

 

To Prince Frederick’s credit, civil war did not appear to be his aim. That is not to say he had non-violent intentions; rather, he hoped to resolve matters swiftly and decisively before a war could foment -- the result was the Storming of New Providence on the 10th of Owyn’s Flame 1868. In the aftermath of Prince Frederick’s presentation of his parents’ controversial Will, the Aster Court and the Orenian nobility (all of whom had assembled in New Providence for the funerals of Philip III and Anastasia I) were left scrambling over whether to support the traditionalist Prince Peter or the innovative Prince Frederick. The debate between the two forming factions seemed unlikely to conclude any time soon, and the nobility was hardly eager to resort to violence.

 

The same could not be said for Prince Frederick.

 

Either immediately before or after his parents’ death, Prince Frederick appeared to have sent orders to his personal estates at Mardon (about a half-day’s ride north of New Providence), at which point a squadron of his men-at-arms set out to the capital. They were modest in number, but Prince Frederick had a critical ally in Willem van Aert, who led the ferocious ‘Hounds of Blackvale’ in the Sinners’ War (though now they went by the ‘County of Blackvale’). The House van Aert famously held little love for neither Prince Peter nor Prince Frederick, and - together with the people of Arichsdorf, who saw a bleak future for Oren without Philip III and Anastasia I - they were eager to separate from Oren and form their new ‘Crown of Westfall’ in the Lower Grenz.

 

While the House van Aert did not like Prince Frederick, they had little choice but to support him -- after all, Prince Peter opposed the Will which incepted Westfall. If Prince Peter ascended to the throne and dismissed the Will, there would be no Westfall. And so, with New Providence in disarray, Willem van Aert and Prince Frederick had little difficulty marching their troops inside the city at dusk on the 10th of Owyn’s Flame, where they quickly took control of the gatehouses, Imperial Legion barracks, and the Aster Palace itself.

 

The Storming of New Providence was not a violent affair, and there are no known deaths recorded from the incident. The city garrison and palace guard were as split as the nobility over who should actually ascend to the Orenian throne, and so, when the Blackvale and Mardon troops stormed their way inside, most of them simply watched. Those who had vocally opposed Prince Frederick and the Will were chased out of the city, and throughout all of that night, throngs of people hurried their way out of New Providence. Not all were supporters of Prince Peter; rather, most were commonfolk who simply feared open fighting in the city, though this never materialised.

 

There was only one person Prince Frederick actually sought to kill in the Storming of New Providence.

That person was, of course, Prince Peter -- who was nowhere to be found. 

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“Midnight: nothing to report.

1 a.m.: nothing to report.

2 a.m.: nothing to report.

3 a.m.: 1,000 Blackvale armsmen entered the gate.

4 a.m.: nothing to report.

5 a.m.: smoke break.

6 a.m.: nothing to report.”

 

New Providence back gate watchman’s logbook

on the night of the 10th of Owyn’s Flame 1868.

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In his haste, Prince Frederick had either made Prince Peter suspicious, or he had been betrayed by someone in his own camp.

 

Whatever the case, Prince Peter had fled New Providence on the morning of the 10th of Owyn’s Flame 1868, hours before Blackvale and Mardon troops stormed the capital. He reappeared the following day at Vuillermoz, seat of House Vuiller (though some sources place him at the Ruthern estates of Reutov), where he reasserted his claim to the Orenian throne and vowed to put an end to the dangerous ambitions of his younger brother. However, his flight from the capital had not been a coordinated effort; most of his supporters had been driven out the previous night by the Blackvale and Mardon men-at-arms. Those supporters might have scattered into the countryside, fearing persecution, were it not for a very valuable ally of Prince Peter -- his uncle, Prince John Casimir Novellen. 

 

Prince John was the younger brother of the late Philip III, who had been a quiet supporter of his brother throughout the Sinners’ War. Like many of Philip III’s allies, though, Prince John did not see the same potential to rule in Prince Frederick. When Prince Peter’s supporters were driven out of the city, it was Prince John who rallied them together, and regrouped them at Fort Tioess - a keep not far to the north of New Providence, and right on the doorstep of Prince Frederick’s personal estate of Mardon. Fort Tioess was recounted as a fairly formiddable bulwark, meant to deter raiders from getting close to New Providence, and so Prince John’s occupation with many of his nephew’s supporters cast a looming shadow over Prince Frederick (his other nephew) in the capital. It is unknown whether the Imperial Legionnaires garrisoning Fort Tioess were allies of Prince John, or whether they simply surrendered the keep. 

 

With most of his supporters intact under Prince John in Fort Tioess, and Prince Peter himself alive with his immediate retainers (namely Henry Penton, who had served as Philip III’s treasurer and had brokered the terms of the Peace of Eastfleet) alive in Vuillermoz, it was clear they stood a fighting chance against Prince Frederick’s attempted takeover of Oren. The evening after the Storming of New Providence, Prince Peter travelled to New Providence (where many of his supporters garrisoned in Fort Tioess joined him), where he formally proclaimed himself as Holy Orenian Emperor Peter IV. At his ‘coronation’ (there was no official crowning), the noble Houses of d’Azor, d’Arkent, Huntshill, Vuiller, and Darkwood swore fealty to him, forming the ‘Loyalist’ faction (for they were ‘loyal’ to Oren’s imperial identity). 

 

Meanwhile in New Providence, Prince Frederick had not been idle.

 

Immediately after the Storming of New Providence (when he became aware that his brother was missing, though he was yet unaware of where he had sequestered himself), Prince Frederick officially declared himself as King Frederick I of Oren, as ordained by the contested Will of his parents. The Houses of Aldserberg, Galbraith, Komnenos, Halcourt, Sarkozic, Othaman, Rosius, and Pruvia are the first to pledge to King Frederick I, forming the ‘Royalist’ cause. While a slim majority of the nobility appeared aligned with King Frederick I, this is not wholly accurate - after news broke of Emperor Peter IV’s cause, the House of Sarkozic absconded from New Providence to join the Loyalist movement instead, and nobles from the Houses of Rosius, Othaman, and Galbraith fought on both sides. 

 

Not only was Oren on the precipice of civil war, but even individual families were split and sundered.

Such is the depravity that comes with times of interregnum.

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It ought to be noted that as the noble Houses split one way or another, or both, there were some Houses who declared neutrality altogether.

 

These neutral Houses were mainly that of Munnel, who were newly enfeoffed, and the Elves of Ephesius under Lord Minuvas, who had served Philip III and Anastasia I as Archchancellor during the Sinners’ War.

 

While the Houses of Basrid, O’Rourke, and Keen did not remain neutral, they did not join until after the Raid on New Vuillermoz the following month.

 

Author’s note. 

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Despite the split nobility, King Frederick I possessed two distinct advantages.

 

The first was the support of the would-be constituents of the Crown of Westfall - the militia of Arichsdorf (with was larger than any noble retinue), and the elite warriors of House van Aert, the latter of which had already aided King Frederick I in the Storming of New Providence. The second ace of King Frederick I was his personal, and unlikely, friendship with Lucien de Savoie. This was a peculiar friendship; Lucien de Savoie had recently ruled as Prince of Savoy, and joined the Tripartite Accord to fight against Philip III (and therefore Frederick I) at the Battle of Eastfleet. After the end of the Sinners’ War, Lucien de Savoie had abdicated his role as Prince and served as a Marian Knight of King Sigismund III of Haense, before later taking leave to serve in King Frederick I’s court at the outbreak of the Sinners’ War. While the circumstances of how the two became close friends is unknown, Lucien de Savoie was a highly-skilled field commander, and made for a powerful ally for Frederick I. 

 

A difficulty facing both Loyalists and Royalists, however, was assembling the levies of the Houses that supported them. Their estates were scattered all over Oren, and it would take time to gather them in one place, a prospect that was hampered by outbreaks of minor skirmishes across the countryside as militias clashed with one another as they travelled to either New Providence, Reutov, or Fort Tiosse. Neither Loyalist or Royalist could form a proper army until the Houses had gathered their levies, but this state of affairs presented a detriment for Peter IV - whose amassing forces were split between Reutov, Fort Tioess, and also New Vuillermoz - and an opportunity for Frederick I, who had a deadly raiding force at his disposal in the form of the van Aert armsmen and his own from the Storming of New Providence. 

 

On the evening of the 23rd of Owny’s Flame, this strikeforce departed from New Providence and made for New Vuillermoz. They numbered somewhere in the region of 1,500 to 2,500, and were led by Andrezj Barrow, a hot-headed bastard of House Ruthern who had become a favoured retainer of Frederick I. They chose New Vuillermoz as their target based on reports that Peter IV had visited the estate to help rally the House Vuiller levies, though this proved to be false - Peter IV remained at Reutov. They were not deprived of a worthwhile prize, however -- in the ensuing Raid at Vuillermoz (some scribes term it a battle; a gross overstatement), the Royalists defeated the surprised Loyalist forces and captured Duke Ivan var Ruthern, a prominent Loyalist leader and - by some twist of fate - the father of Andrezj Barrow. 

 

Fatherly bonds did little to help Duke Ivan, who was brought back to New Providence, and promptly executed by his own son (on King Frederick I’s orders). This decisive victory not only demoralised the Loyalists, who had not expected Frederick I to move so quickly, but it even swayed some of the neutral Houses - namely the Houses of O’Rourke, Keen, and Basrid - to swear to Frederick I.

 

The first month of the Brothers’ War ended in the same way it had started.

With Peter IV scrambling against Frederick I’s dominant position.

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“It is said that cooler heads prevail, but that mantra has yet to ring true in this wretched war.

 

Since our rout from the capital, we have not been able to so much as find our footing. It is one thing after another; every time we try to mobilise, we find Royalist hounds baying at our heels. Their aggression is simply relentless.

 

Yet, despite that, they have yet to sink their teeth into our quarters. With time, we might yet outlast them, and finally strike back at False Frederick.”

 

Excerpt from personal correspondence between Count Erik Othaman at Reutov

and Prince John Casimir at Fort Tiosse, c. 1869 

____________________________

 

The following month of Godfrey’s Triumph was a slower one, but saw no real change in either brother’s position.

 

Minor clashes continued to flare across the countryside, primarily between marching militias. The only military escapade of note in Godfrey’s Triumph was when Royalist skirmishers under Princess Victoria Augusta (a knight, and sister to both Frederick I and Peter IV (who had obviously aligned with the former)) attempted to rush the Loyalist-held Fort Linnord while its gates were open to admit supply carts, though they were held off by the Loyalist garrison. While reasonably capable of defending his fortified holdings, Peter IV and his Loyalist faction failed to exhibit any offensive pressure against Frederick I and the Royalists; Loyalist leaders like Prince John Casimir and Count Erik Othaman were far more used to conventional warfare and coordinating large armies, and struggled to adapt to the blitzkrieg tactics of the Royalists. It was in recognition of those same tactics that led to King Frederick I enfeoffing Andrezj Barrow later that month as Baron Andrezj Ivanovich. 

 

As the spring dragged on and noble levies continued to assemble on both sides, Emperor Peter IV convened with his council (consisting of Prince John, Count Erik Othaman, Henry Penton, and Viktor Darkwood) in Reutov, and determined that they could not beat the Royalists with their current numbers. Even if they could triumph on the battlefield, they lacked the manpower to besiege New Providence and tear King Frederick I from his ill-gotten throne. Peter IV accepted that if he was to triumph, he would need help -- outside help. This was a considerable concession on Peter IV’s part, for it was an admission that he could not wrest control of Oren without outside help. 

 

Alas, he had little choice.

 

There was only one person Peter IV could look to for help. Most of the non-human nations on the continent of Almaris had been stalwart enemies of Oren, not only in the Sinners’ War, but historically. None would entertain aiding him, and, besides, enlisting the aid of Dwarves or Elves would be a step too far. The same was true of the Kingdom of Norland -- Humans they may have been, but they were pagan adherents of the Red Faith, and bitter nemeses of Oren. The Principality of Savoy was a palatable choice, but unlikely to answer any call from Peter IV: Princess Renata of Savoy was the sister of Lucien de Savoie, King Frederick I’s close ally, and she was preoccupied pressing domestic affairs after her capital of San Luciano had been decimated by a naval bombard. 

 

And so, Peter IV turned to King Sigismund III of Haense. Ultimately, he would be disappointed. 

 

The Haeseni had spent nearly twenty years fighting Oren in the Sinners’ War, and King Sigismund III could see no reason to commit his armies to war once again less than a year after the Sinners’ War had ended, and this time to aid Oren. Peter IV and Henry Penton pointed to King Frederick I’s reckless ambition and evident desire to restore Oren’s imperial status (which inevitably meant the conquest of Haense), and while Sigismund III accepted King Frederick I was likely no friend to Haense, he remained unwilling to come to Oren’s aid in any capacity. He was, in essence, more than content to watch Oren tear itself asunder. This was a time of interregnum, after all; the bonds of Humanity were broken. 

 

As the Brothers’ War entered its final two months, Emperor Peter IV and the Loyalists were still without the edge they desperately needed to defeat King Frederick I and the Royalists. 

 

---

 

The Battle of New Providence was fought in

the main plaza of the capital.

 

The Kingdom of Haense may have declined to aid Emperor Peter IV, but he did not enter the latter phase of the Brothers’ War empty-handed.

 

As summer bloomed with the month of Godfrey’s Triumph, Peter IV contracted a mercenary cadre who called themselves the ‘Hounds of Don’, who were largely of Haeseni descent (it is speculated that they may have been unofficially funded by the Kingdom of Haense). The Hounds of Don were not great in number, but they were experienced raiders from the Sinners’ War who offered the Loyalists a much-needed force of skirmishers. Count Erik Othaman also established the ‘Imperial Foreign Legion’ later that month, which recruited foreign volunteers to supplement the Loyalist forces, which enjoyed middling success. 

 

As the month Godfrey’s Triumph wound to a close, both Frederick I and Peter IV had finished assembling the levies and militias of their supporters across Oren. In New Providence, the Royalist forces numbered 9,500, while 6,500 Loyalist troops had gathered at Reutov. Even with their ranks bolstered by the Hounds of Don and the Foreign Legion, the Loyalists remained at a clear disadvantage. King Frederick I had not only marshalled more soldiers, but he had the expert commanders of Willem van Aert, Lucien de Savoie, and Anastasios Basrid. 

 

Peter IV resolved to play for time. With the counsel of Henry Penton, the Loyalists were well-resourced and well-managed. The cost levying troops - especially as winter neared - was exceptionally high, but the support of the older and larger Orenian Houses - such as d’Azor, d’Arkent, and Ruthern - Peter IV was far better poised to keep his army on standby for several more weeks. He even threw a lavish wedding feast that month when he married Lucia d’Azor, stoking Loyalist morale after a month of disappointment. 

 

King Frederick I, on the other hand, was bleeding money. While most of the warriors and militants of Philip III and Anastasia I’s regime had aligned with him, he had lost the majority of bureaucrats and administrators to his brother’s cause. Initially, this was only a trifling concern to Frederick I, but as the weeks passed, he faced exponential costs for the upkeep of his 9,500 Royalist troops. With Henry Penton in Peter IV’s camp, taxation in New Providence had severely declined, and Arichsdorf - the other major urban centre in Oren - was not paying tribute at all to New Providence since the inception of Westfall (which had yet to actually materialise in any respect; House van Aert remained aiding King Frederick I in New Providence). Like his brother, King Frederick I was a pariah to the rest of the continent, and so the prospects of borrowing money to fund his cause were slim 

 

Faced with bankruptcy, King Frederick I urgently needed to use his military advantage to bring the Brothers’ War to a conclusive end, while he could still afford to.

____________________________

 

“My King,

 

It is with regret that I inform you my contacts in Haense have terminated their interest in investing. I suspect they may have been disparaged by King Sigismund’s lackeys. The Haensemen would see both us and your brother’s forces bankrupt. 

 

The guild of moneylenders in Haelun’or we spoke of remains open to financing us on an interim basis; however, they are hesitant as regards our security. I must again advise that we ought to guarantee any loan against the assets of the Loyalist lords, which will be confiscated as means of refunding our borrowings.”

 

Excerpt from a report of Perrin of Aldersburg,

Economist in the court of King Frederick I, c. 1869

____________________________

 

From the Storming of New Providence to the Raid on New Vuillermoz, King Frederick I had never had a problem with acting quickly.

 

Still, crushing the Loyalist resistance would take time. While Frederick I controlled New Providence, the Loyalists still held some important defensive positions at Fort Tiosse, Fort Linnord, and various noble keeps, most notably Reutov, where Peter IV was headquartered. Even if Frederick I marched immediately and defeated the Loyalists in battle, his efforts might amount to little if Peter IV retreated to any other stronghold. Most of all, King Frederick I was desperate to avoid a castle siege -- the cost of siege engineers and artillery might have simply been too much.

 

As King Frederick I plotted his all-out assault in New Providence, Peter IV gained two more unlikely allies - the House of Alstion (the future Kings of Aaun), who had vanished from the public eye after they were unsuccessful in convincing King Sigismund III to sponsor them as claimants to the Orenian throne in the Sinners’ War, and the House of Romstun. The latter was an odd participant; the Romstuns were regarded as gentrified marauders who had originated as vassals of the Pertinaxi Emperors of Renatus. Peter IV was a bizarre choice for a faction like House Romstun to support; the most plausible explanation is that they were simply paid. Together, these two additions brought the Loyalist forces to 7,600. 

 

With two gains came one upset: Duke Joseph d’Azor was captured by Royalist raiders, and, in order to secure his release, declared that the House of d’Azor would remain neutral for the remainder of the conflict. While House d’Azor was one of the strongest Loyalist Houses, it is unclear whether this declaration was ever actually honoured. 

 

As the war entered its final weeks (unbeknownst to either faction), Peter IV began works to have Reutov fortified, which made it abundantly clear that he intended to wait out Frederick I until the Royalists became insolvent. When Frederick I was eventually forced to disband some of his armies to recover his finances, then Peter IV could strike at the capital. 

 

It was, by every metric, a good plan.

But it was a plan that would be undone by carelessness and sheer misfortune.

____________________________

 

“The Hounds of Don rise from their slumber - out of their kennels and into the fray.

 

They stand loyal to the righteous Empire of Oren, whom we fought alongside during the Norlandic-Orenian War. Our company swells in size to fight once more against the oppressor-tyrant who holds no true claim. Bound by oath and obligation, the Hounds ride to the bastion of Peter IV, defending his soil in vindictive defence.

 

It is now that the dogs are released in support of the Emperor.”

 

Declaration of Ratibor af Don,

Captain of the Hounds of Don

____________________________

 

The month of the Sun’s Smile arrived.

Unbeknownst to either side, it would be the final month of the Brothers’ War.

 

In New Providence, King Frederick I was growing restless. The upkeep of his 9,500 Royalist army and the administration of the capital were burning a hole in his treasury. His aide (and future Archchancellor) Conrad de Falstaff had implemented a number of band-aid solutions to the city’s taxation scheme - which was left dysfunctional after Henry Penton’s departure - but it would be months before any gains were realised. All throughout the war, Frederick I had retained the upper-hand over Peter IV, but that would all be for naught if he did not end the civil war soon. 

 

And so, the Royalists mobilised. A vanguard force consisting of 2,000 troops under Anastasios Basrid and Willem van Aert was dispatched to secure the villages and outposts near Reutov, with the intention that the rest of the Royalist army under Lucien de Savoie and Frederick I himself - along with the reserves of Andrezj Ivanovich - would join them to begin the siege within a week. As they marched from New Providence, everyone - both Loyalist and Royalist alike - anticipated a gruelling siege at Reutov. 

 

But this is not what happened. In fact, King Frederick I’s main army would never even leave the capital. 

 

The Royalist vanguard set up a broad encirclement of Reutov, and, when Anastasios Basrid sent out scouts to survey Reutov’s new fortifications, he learned something of interest: there appeared to be a span of the castle-town’s new curtain wall that had poor visibility from the wall’s watchtowers (Reutov had only just finished its reconstruction, and so it appears the blind-spot had yet to be noticed even by the architects). When the full Royalist army came, there was no doubt that Peter IV would shelter inside Reutov’s main keep, but an idea struck Anastasios Basrid - what if a small force could storm the walls through this weak point? 

 

There was little to lose by trying. The Royalist vanguard waited for two days, until the morning of the 20th of the Sun’s Smile. The morning was grey and misty, and, moreover, that day was the Feast of St. Arianne; with Peter IV holding celebrations inside the castle-town, there would only be a skeleton garrison on Reutov’s outer walls. A squad under Willem van Aert crept up to Reutov in the early hours of the morning with a siege ladder, and swept over the walls like a wave. The surprised garrison was bowled over, and the Royalists swept inside the town. The Loyalists, who were mostly busy preparing for the Feast of St. Arianne, were paralysed in the pandemonium. There was no organised defence; only sporadic bursts of fighting in the streets of Reutov’s castle-town. It did not take long for Willem van Aert’s troops to take control of the gatehouse, and open it for a Royalist cavalry squadron who lay in wait in the woods just beyond Reutov. 

 

Throughout the Brothers’ War, Emperor Peter IV had managed to stay one step ahead of his brother’s machinations -- he had fled from the capital right before the Storming of New Providence, and he had kept Royalist forces at bay with his defensive lines at Reutov and Fort Tiosse. 

 

But, on that day, his luck finally failed him. 

 

When the Royalists struck, Peter IV himself had been in the castle-town. As he tried to retreat to the safety of Reutov’s keep, the Royalist cavalry cut off his escape. It did not take long for the enemy infiltrators to recognise him, and he was soon cornered, and captured alongside one his chief military aides, Count Erik Othaman. 

 

Anastasios Basrid and Willem van Aert immediately withdrew. Reutov did not matter anymore. 

They had finally snared Peter IV. 

____________________________

 

“Captain Darkwood,

 

Basrid and van Aert attacked the feastgoers at Reutov this morning and captured his Imperial Majesty. They have taken him back to New Providence. 

 

Whether he lives or not, I do not intend to let Frederick have him so easily. Empty your garrison; arm every soldier, every goodwife, and every serf you find on the march. Come to Reutov immediately.

 

No matter who shall sit the Orenian throne, they will not do so until the blood price is paid.

We march on the capital.”

 

Message from Prince John Casimir to Viktor Darkwood,

Captain of the Fort Tiosse garrison, c. 1869

____________________________

 

The main Royalist army had been about to march from New Providence that afternoon when the messenger from the vanguard arrived.

 

It must have been a moment of ecstasy for King Frederick I: this cumbersome war could finally end, and Oren could chart its new course in peace. New Providence’s own tepid plans for the Feast of St. Arianne erupted into a momentous celebration as the Royalist vanguard returned to the city with the captured Emperor Peter IV in tow. It is not known if the two brothers had a conversation after they were ‘reunited’ in the capital; perhaps not, as it was clear King Frederick I had never been inclined to try to resolve the civil strife diplomatically.

 

True to that end, the celebrations in New Providence were abruptly cut short. As evening came, so too did another messenger.

 

Although the Royalist vanguard had captured Peter IV in their strike on Reutov, the Loyalist army itself was actually unscathed -- only a smattering had been slain in the attack. As soon as the dust had settled in Reutov, Prince John Casimir rallied every Loyalist troop that was to be found. Fort Tiosse, Fort Linnord, Reutov, and New Vuillermoz all emptied their halls, and formed a stream of soldiers marched under Prince John towards New Providence. While King Frederick I could kill Peter IV at any time, most Loyalists were of the same mind: they had come this far, and they were not willing to bend their knees to Frederick I. Whether their leader was alive or dead, they would fight in his name.

 

King Frederick I was glad to hear the news. In fact, he was delighted.

 

While the imprisonment of Peter IV might sound the death knell for the Loyalist cause, that death might still be a slow and painful one - for both them and Frederick I - if they bunkered down in Reutov. With the Loyalist army now marching to him, King Frederick I could finish all his enemies in one fell swoop. Utterly assured of victory, Frederick I stayed his brother’s execution -- he wanted to ensure the Loyalists marched on New Providence, and did not scarper back to Reutov if they learned of his demise. 

 

Prince John’s Loyalist army marched recklessly into the night, and only made a haphazard camp when the lights of New Providence appeared on the horizon. From Prince John, to Frederick I, to Peter IV, little sleep was had that night. Tomorrow, they knew the fate of all of Oren would be decided. 

 

Tomorrow soon came.

And, with it, came the Battle of New Providence.

____________________________

 

“I shall never forget that day.

 

I shall never forget the strained look on the soldiers’ faces as they rang their bells up and down the thoroughfare, telling us that we must barricade our doors and shelter in our cellars. ‘The Loyalists are coming! The Loyalists are coming!’, they proclaimed, some nervously, some raucously. 

 

We were most confused: just earlier that day, it was sung by every crier that Prince Peter had been taken prisoner by the King. It was only when I saw the King himself - grinning as he rode with his guardsmen through the square - that I understood his intent.

 

His brother had become mere bait, and he was to reel in the whole fish.”

 

Excerpt from the memoirs of the Etwin the Tailor,

New Providence, c. 1869

____________________________

 

Beneath a pale midsummer sky, King Frederick I stood atop the gatehouse of New Providence.

With a smile on his face, he ordered the gates to be opened.

 

Frederick I valued precious little more than reputation and glory; confident that the Royalists would triumph, he refused to be seen as taking shelter behind the walls of New Providence, and he simply invited the Loyalists inside to do battle in the streets of the capital (as for why he did not simply meet the Loyalists in the field outside the city, the prevailing belief is that King Frederick I wished for the townsfolk to witness his victory firsthand).

 

One hour after dawn, as soon as mass could be said, the Loyalist forces amassed in their formations, followed a stoic Prince John inside the city. 7,600 Loyalists marched through deserted city streets, and clashed with 9,500 Royalists in the city square in the Battle of New Providence. 

 

Within minutes of the fighting breaking out, the Loyalist frontlines suddenly erupted in deafening cheers: Emperor Peter IV himself had abruptly appeared with Erik Othaman at his side. It transpired that when King Frederick I joined the Royalist troops for battle earlier that morning, a turncloak in the Royalist army - whom the Lords Susa name ‘Floryan Tuvyic’, a Dobrov armsman - freed the Emperor and the Count, allowing them to abscond from their cells in the Aster Palace and join Prince John’s army right as it met with King Frederick I’s.

 

While the Loyalists could have disengaged there and then, Peter IV decided against it. The fighting had already begun (albeit only just), but, whether out of adrenaline or a desire to end the civil war one way or another, Peter IV wished to fight. 

 

And so, fight they did.

 

For three hours, the melee reigned over New Providence. The city streets did not allow for a great deal of tactics, and so the two armies simply fought head-on. It was unclear if Peter IV was aware of the Loyalists numerical disadvantage, but Prince John was certainly not -- he knew there was only one way through which the Loyalists could emerge victorious: to take King Frederick I’s head. The one advantage of fighting in the city was that the narrow streets acted as bottlenecks, preventing the superior Royalist numbers from simply overwhelming the Loyalists, and so Prince John launched a viscous onslaught to try and surround King Frederick I, who was prominently positioned in the main square and surrounded by Lucien de Savoie’s unit. 

 

With Prince John pressing the attack, Peter IV flanked to the west in the hopes of wrapping around his brother from the rear, while Erik Othaman endeavoured to do the same from the east. The Royalists were waiting; on , Peter IV found Anastasios Basrid waiting with his armsmen from Susa. As they charged one another, Peter IV crossed swords with the general who had served his father all throughout the Sinners’ War -- and killed him. From the east, Erik Othaman, with the aid of the Hounds of Don, broke through the Blackvale formation, and pressed hard towards the square to pincer Frederick I from Joseph’s Gate. They were halted by a detachment from the main Royalist army, led by Princess Victoria. From the attack on Reutov to breaking through the Blackvale lines, Erik Othaman was exhausted when Princess Victoria charged him. The two duelled for almost five minutes, before the Princess ultimately caved in the skull of the Loyalist commander, and dashed their hopes of pincering King Frederick I’s main unit from the east.

 

In the square, as noon neared, Andrezj Ivanovich was dispatched to halt Peter IV’s flank from Styrne Alley, at which point Prince John committed to an all-out assault on Frederick I with every Loyalist troop. Their momentum pushed the Royalists back, and, for a moment, it seemed like the Loyalists might actually clinch victory. With Lucien de Savoie at his side, however, Frederick I held firm: the Loyalists had proven a more tenacious foe than expected, but they had expended nearly all their manpower to get here. The Royalists, on the other hand, still had thousands of troops in reserve. If Frederick I could just withstand this final assault, he knew the Loyalists would be spent. 

 

The Royalist frontlines finally splintered, and Prince John personally charged Frederick I’s unit. While Lucien de Savoie’s troops met their advance, Frederick I, eager for glory, insisted on fighting his uncle personally. Had Prince John triumphed in that duel, then the course of Orenian history - and all of Humanity - may have turned out very differently. But triumph he did not; although not fatally, he was wounded several minutes into his bout with Frederick I, and his own retainers had to pull him back from leaping back into the fight. 

 

Prince John’s formations soon lost their momentum; they had failed to kill Frederick I when he was right in front of them, and Lucien de Savoie had stopped their advance dead in its tracks. Any gaps the Loyalists carved into the enemy formations were soon filled by the ample Royalist reserves. Erik Othaman was dead, and Peter IV - despite his initial success in killing Anastasios Basrid - found a tougher foe in the ruthless Andrezj Ivanovich. 

 

With most of their leaders dead and their strength exhausted, the Loyalists began to break. 

At one hour before noon, the Battle of New Providence had been decided.

 

---

House de Vilain were enfeoffed as Barons of Acre at the end of the Brothers’ War,

c. 1869

 

The Loyalists fled from New Providence.

At least, what was left of them did.

 

That seemed to include only Prince John Casimir, who was left wounded and incapacitated by his clash with King Frederick I. It is not known who, if anyone, assumed command of the Loyalist forces and gave the command to retreat. In doing so, however, they left their own leader - Emperor Peter IV - stranded in the west side of the city as he had been attempting to flank Frederick I’s position in the square.

 

Andrezj Ivanovich had been sent to halt the Emperor’s advance, and the two remained locked in battle when the rest of the Loyalist army broke. Cheers, mingled with panicked screams, washed over the city and heralded the arrival of Lucien de Savoie’s main forces to box Peter IV against Andrezj Ivanovich. The brief hope that had flared to life in the Emperor after he had been freed from captivity and rejoined Prince John’s army died as the banners of Frederick I appeared from every side.

 

He was out of allies, out of time, and out for luck -- this time, for good. 

 

Dejected, Peter IV surrendered, and was taken captive for the second time in twenty-four hours. Only, this time as he was dragged into the throne room of the Aster Palace, there was no Loyalist army preparing to rush to his rescue. No, that army had been smashed and shattered; in the immediate aftermath of the battle, the Royalist forces had advanced, apprehending as many of the Loyalist figureheads as they could. So it was that Peter IV was not the only prisoner brought before his brother’s throne that afternoon - he was joined by his wife, Empress Lucia d’Azor. 

 

With his army destroyed, Peter IV had only one value to the Royalists: fanfare. That moment represented the complete and utter victory of the Royalist cause, and cemented Frederick I’s claim as heir to Philip III and Anastasia I, and as King of Oren. Once that fanfare had run its course, Frederick I gave the order to finally do away with his older brother. Ioanna Basrid was given permission to execute Empress Lucia (with whom she had a longstanding rivalry; Ioanna had initially been the intended bride of Peter IV before the succession crisis), which she did so crudely with a crossbow bolt to the forehead. 

 

The corpse of Peter IV’s wife slumped at his side, her head split by the bolt, and she joined the thousands of other Loyalists who had died in Peter IV’s name that day. Evidently, he was content to join them. Everything he held dear was already in the Seven Skies. 

 

A few moments later, Andrezj Ivanovich bared his blade.

On the afternoon of the 21st of the Sun’s Smile 1869, Peter Augustus Novellen was executed. 

____________________________

 

“It has been hypothesised by numerous doctors before my time, and I have no doubt it will be said with more certainty long after I am gone.

 

The evils in every child can be traced to their parents, and the errors with which they were raised.”

 

Excerpt from the musings of Dr. Leonid of Carrington,

Court Physician to Frederick I, c. 1869

____________________________

 

 The moon rose and set. 

The next day, the sun rose on a different Humanity.

 

King Frederick I had cemented himself as the uncontested King of Oren. He embodied the ideals of the Aster Revolution that had made his parents so beloved: he believed in great change and upheaval to the stagnant world order, but he was also seen as far more reckless and guided by glory and legacy than his parents had arguably been, a detriment that would not become fully apparent until the outbreak of the Successors’ War nine years later. The courts of King Sigismund III of Haense and Grand King Bakir Ireheart of Urguan watched events unfold warily, and anticipated that King Frederick I would soon prove bothersome to their own plans.

 

While that was true, that day was yet far off. 

 

Of the Loyalist leaders, only Prince John Casimir survived. His personal unit was the only one to make it out of New Providence intact, and they sheltered in the ruins of Southbridge until the wounded Prince John was well enough to travel. Over the coming days, a few more survivors from the Battle of New Providence joined him, namely Loyalist lords who were preparing to flee Oren. They were right to: two days after his victory, King Frederick I sent out bands of Royalist soldiers to take and plunder the estates of the Loyalist nobility who had not since bent the knee to him. 

 

Prince John had become the sole inheritor of the ‘old’ Oren, and while that Oren no longer existed, its ideals of tradition and stability (which had been reviled by the revolutionary Royalists) endured in him. Atop the crumbled bulwarks of Southbridge, Prince John looked out in the direction of New Providence, and bid a silent farewell - and apology - to his homeland, and to Peter IV. 

 

At the head of a column of hundreds of Loyalists - men, women, and children alike who all feared Royalist persecution - Prince John set out from Southbridge, away from Oren. They crossed the the straits of central Almaris, and into the continents southern plains and deserts. The land here was humid and poor, but it was a place where Frederick I was unlikely to harry them. 

 

Here, they could rebuild what they had lost in the Brothers’ War.

So it was that the realm of Balian was born. 

____________________________

 

“Archchancellor,

 

We have followed the Loyalist diaspora past the Straits of Minitz. They have crossed beneath the ruins of San Luciano. At first, we anticipated they would fare even deeper into the arid wastelands, but they seem to have erected a camp on the clayhills across the Savoyard borders. 

 

I beheld construction with logs; it appears they intend to remain here.”

 

Scouting report of Captain Valyem of Arichsdorf,

Captain of the 2nd Free Company of the Lower Petra, c. 1870

____________________________

 

King Frederick I had won the Brothers’ War.

There remained a great deal for him to do, however.

 

By the end of 1869, he had re-established control over all of Oren once more. The garrisons in Fort Tiosse and Fort Linnord had surrendered, and Reutov and New Vuillermoz had been plundered and salted. King Frederick I even enacted substantial reconstructions to his capital of New Providence, which completed in 1871. The city was rechristened as ‘Vienne’, in honour of Frederick I’s betrothed, Vivienne of Savoy, whom he wed in his new city later that year. The opulent celebrations were attended by envoys and dignitaries from across the continent; any notion that Frederick I had usurped the Orenian throne or fabricated his parents’ will had been long since abandoned. 

 

An interesting footnote on this period of history is the fate of the Crown of Westfall.

 

It will be recalled that the Will of Philip III and Anastasia I had released Arichstorf and the surrounding Lower Grenz from Oren, granting them their own independent nation under Willem van Aert and his wife Laurentina Helvets (the widow of Baron Manfred von Arichsdorf). This new polity, however, never truly took shape: although King Frederick I had pledged to uphold his parents’ decree to secure the support of Arichsdorf and House van Aert in the Brothers’ War, Arichsdorf had withered in strength and number by the end of the War. Without Baron Manfred, Arichsdorf was no longer the urban powerhouse it had been during the Sinners’ War. What strength it possessed after his death was largely spent in the Brothers’ War, too. 

 

Westfall had been a stillborn concept, leaving Arichsdorf as a struggling commune. This was compounded by the fact that the town had been raided and its granaries burned by marauders shortly after the Battle of New Providence (believed to be the Hounds of Don or House Romstun, or both, as they retreated north), which led to the onset of famine in the winter of 1869. It is somewhat unclear as to how the idea of an independent Westfall was eventually abandoned: the Lords Susa believe King Frederick I deployed an army to retake Arichsdorf as an Orenian territory, which led to a number of small-scale skirmishes before Willem van Aert and Laurentina Helvets conceded to his demands. It is difficult to say whether this is actually what transpired.

 

Another view is that Arichsdorf’s decline, exacerbated by the Brothers’ War, simply became unfeasible to sustain as an independent territory. Willem van Aert may have been an adept commander, but he seemed to make a poor governor, and Laurentina Helvets seemed no better. No doubt the former was also tired from twenty years of war (with nineteen years spent fighting the Sinners’ War, and another half-year aiding King Frederick I). Ergo, I posit that Arichsdorf unceremoniously assented to rejoining Oren, whether under threat of force or not. As it was, most denizens of Arichsdorf would soon settle in the new townstead of Acre to the east, a new vassal of King Frederick I under the rule of House de Vilain, which had very recently been enfeoffed under Gustaf de Vilain, who had served as commander of the New Providence garrison throughout the civil war. 

 

All seemed well in the new Kingdom of Oren.

For a time, at least. 

____________________________

 

“The Haensemen of King Sigismund’s Aulic Court watch our struggle with glee.

 

It is no surprise; they had fought us for nearly twenty years, and now they see us fight each other. But be warned, my lord, that it is not just for sport that they observe.

 

No - it is more like a knight watching two rivals fight at a tourney.

He watches, because he knows soon he shall fight one of them himself.”

 

Report of Abelrich de Gannes,

an Orenian spy stationed in the Haeseni capital of Karosgrad, c. 1869

____________________________

 

Human nations had fought each other in the Sinners’ War, and now one of those nations - one that had once been the unifier of all Humanity - fought within itself.

 

It is interesting to think whether any of the great and crowned men of this era paused, and wondered if this was the natural state of things. In the Kingdom of Haense, King Sigismund III and his key role in the Sinners’ War had planted the seeds of what we can refer to as the ‘anti-Empire’; a powerful entity that sponsored disunity across the rest of Humanity -- it was the antithesis of what Oren had once stood for. No doubt Emperor Peter IV had sought to restore that status, and return Oren to a stable and benign unifier, but those values had become the symbol of decay and lethargy in the wake of the later Novellen Emperors prior to the Aster Revolution.

 

So it was that in the void left by the deaths of Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I, their children had fought for their competing views of what Oren ought to be. The cost of the Brothers’ War had been a bloody and terrible one, but perhaps it was a morbid necessity. As I submit in the foreword of this series of essays, for as tragic as periods of interregnum are, they are also a time in which Humankind undergoes the harsh and bitter lessons required to rediscover their strength as a united people.

 

At this moment in history, though, unity seemed further away than ever before. The Kingdom of Haense’s anti-Empire would prove unshakable for generations to come, and the remnants of Peter IV’s Loyalist cause had now created the Duchy of Balian - under Duke John Casimir - in the far south. 

 

The Brothers’ War, then, was just one of the many painful steps Humanity had to make to traverse through the darkness of the Great Interregnum.

 

With the civil war’s conclusion after the Battle of New Providence, a fragile peace returned to the continent, but no one was foolish enough to believe it would last. Indeed, as it would transpire, the Brothers’ War was just the second war in a series of four wars fought throughout 1849 to 1890 that would completely upheave the nations of Humanity (with the first having been the Sinners’ War). 

 

King Frederick I of the Kingdom of Oren sat comfortably atop his throne for now.

But the Successors’ War and the Harvest Revolution were just around history’s corner. 

 

---

 

 

This concludes Interregnum: Volume III.

 

Volume IV shall chronicle the events of the Successors’ War, a conflict that derives its name as the primary participants were the direct descendants of the main participants of the Sinners’ War.

 

---

 

 

 

[SplitTheG 7740]

Spoiler

 

 

Each morning, just before the mist lifted from the lake, the old man would cast his line into the still water. Beside him, a young child sat barefoot on the damp stones, her sleeves rolled and hair tied back with twine. She mimicked his every move, silent, steady, and watchful.

One morning, they caught a king mackerel larger than any eye had ever seen. The girl held it up, laughing softly. The weathered man took it from her hands before casting it back into the loch without a word.

“Why not keep it?” inquired the young girl.

With the old man replying, “What’s the use of feasting, when our hunger was never in the belly?”

The girl didn’t laugh then. She just looked out over the water, her eyes steady gazing upon the rising sun.

And so they returned, day after day, father and daughter, king and princess to no one but the lake. Where names were not spoken, and crowns were left where they belonged– at the bottom, with the rest of the past.

@Axelu

Spoiler

This is a great post xarkly! Was a bit of a memory lane for me, its so crazy how its almost been four years since the brothers war. When @Nectoristtold me you were doing this I was so excited to see this part. 

I cant wait to see @M1919smoke the royalist pack in the next episode 😎

 

[PrimnyaQuorum 3999]

Spoiler

What witchcraft is letting you upload images to the forums

 

[LoTC's Next Top Model 1626]

[Asutto 2452]

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Sunlight bled into the corners of New Providence, gilding terracotta walls and crowning stone towers, only to spill upon the square below - where the dead lay heaped in mounds that rose to a Hou-zi’s shoulders. It was not a sight the bards would sing about. The air was foul, the stench unbearable, and in Victoria’s hollow stomach churned a sickness deeper than any hunger she had felt before. Her blade still wept with the lifeblood of those she had once called companions - of Erik Othaman, her mentor, her guide.
 

From the shadowed doors of the Novellen Tavern, her squire emerged - armor untarnished, gleaming as though the world had not yet touched him, untested, unscarred, unbroken.
 

“Did we do it? Did we win?”
 

Her reply came soft, not crowned with triumph, but steeped in the quiet weight of loss.

“No,” whispered the Once-Princess, her gaze not upon the ruin below, but lifted to a lone gull from Henry's Wharf, wheeling far above, its pale wings cleaving the heavens as though the sky itself longed to turn away from what had been wrought.
 

The boy’s eyes wandered through the carnage, and at last they fixed upon the captive Emperor.

“But Peter lies in chains,” he said, voice catching. “And his commanders - dead.”
 

Victoria’s vision drifted from the gull and fell upon her squire. She raised her hand, laying it gently upon his shoulder - an anchor, or perhaps a farewell.
 

“If victory looks like this,” she murmured, “may you never live to see what defeat becomes.”

 

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Spoiler

Lovely post, Xarkly. These were crazy times and it's great to see a roleplay recounting of them. You're giving Nect a run for his money.

 

[GMRO 6186]

Spoiler

excellent as always

 

[MRCHENN 4741]

A small note would find itself to the historian. Attached with it, were a few excerpts of the Lord Chancellor and Baron of Guise: Conrad Armande de Falstaff. It is published posthumously, but undated, however it roughly is attributed to a few years after the fall of the Kingdom. It is addressed to one 'Arabella of Providence'.

 

 

---

 

"A powerful regime, one that sacrifices the liberty of extreme centralization for the prosperity of its landlords, levies, and development of its provincial culture, is no short of historically significant. No other Kingdom, not even Haense, had dared to do so, for a century, until Frederick. Nonetheless, inevitably, as powerful as its ascension, it has met an equivalent end.

 

Historians wonder what legislative changes Philip and Anastasia would have brought to the realm had their reign not been characterized by warfare and excommunication. I say: look to our government! Look to our Adriatic Court, and the bustling economy of Vienne. The Balianese and Haeseni politicians said that our Kingdom would never recover from a civil war. And yet, the counts of our census, I dare say, even exceeded in activity than the latter reign of the Emperor and Empress whom preceded us.

 

To this day, I wished I had spoken out against a few of Frederick's last actions, but our Kingdom, however short-lived it was, was a glimpse of what could have been.

 

This trend is representative of shifts in culture and will mark great chapters in the annals of Man. Men will build great kingdoms, and there will be those who rise to topple them. Nor is this something to be treated inconsequential. The mere fact that the actions and consequences of Orenian history, as a polity, had as much moderation on the outcomes of the realm, forcing other nations to merely follow suit, is a testament to its significance.

 

The Orenian spirit, when it rises and even falls, will always be triumphant in history over the stagnancy of which your foreign critics comment inwards, for they have none else to build. Men will remember Philip and Manfred. They will remember Frederick and Conrad. They will remember Gustaf and Hadrian. But they will not remember the men who sat in their chairs from the North who sought to spit from afar, or the men in the desert who pretended to be Imperial.

 

The Rt. Hon. Baron of Guise and Lord Chancellor,

 

Conrad."

[NovumChase 235]

Enwrapped in crisp winter air on a balcony in Grense, Rothwin Aldor shakes his head as his eyes cross the final lines, clearly already hungry for the next volume.

 

“Masterfully written.”

[Minuvas 3193]

The author wrote well, remarked Minuvas. "Yet somehow, the author failed to account for the actions of Orens largest vassal, not Mannfred and his farmlands which neighbored mine, but the Imperial levy raised under the banner of the Princeps of Ebonwood.

 

The author should note that the Imperial Princedom and it's levy of over 1800 Soldiers was rallied to the Loyalist cause after learning of Royalist intent to purge Elves from the Empire. This levy, and it's critical arrival to the Loyalists, was stymied by Elvenesse - which sent out assassin's to kill the Imperial Prince, the former ArchChancellor Melphestaus at the head of this Army. Debilitating the Prince and ambushing the Army, Elvenesse managed to contribute to the defeat of Loyalist forces. Despite the rumors, King Frederick did not bother to destroy the Principality of Ebonwood nor place it into abeyance. The Imperial Elves were left leaderless and scattered at this time. I do wish these authors did not forget the contributions of the entirety of the Empire and it's citizens, I was there at the death of both the Empress Anastasia and Philip, practically clutching their hands before they departed this world...and I knew both their sons when they were babes.

 

The matter of who was supposed to succeed Anastasia and Phillip was a settled matter from a legal standpoint. Their wishes were made clear on their death beds. I would be obliged to answer the question would the author ever offer to sit for an interview to clear the record. For it is an answer that deserves face to face attention. 

 

I hope that in the future records the author shall not forget the 8th Empires largest and wealthiest vassal. A legacy of Imperial Even loyalty which has its roots since the time or Godfrey and Johannesberg.