INTERREGNUM VOL. IV: SCYTHES & SILVER

[Xarkly 17299]

 

Spoiler

 

 

Previous Volumes

Volume I: The Novellen Twilight

Volume II: The Sinners’ War

Volume III: The Brothers’ War

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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.

____________________________

 

This is Interregnum: Volume IV.

 

Volume I chronicled the decline of the Holy Orenian Empire, the hegemon under which Humanity had been united for over a century, stemming from the Edict of Separation in 1786 A.H. which saw the Kingdom of Haense separate from the Empire, marking an end to the consolidation of Humanity under one polity. 

 

Volumes II-III then explored the Sinners’ War that followed between Oren and and the Tripartite Accord as the Empire tried to reclaim its mantle, and then the subsequent Brothers’ War, where the brothers Frederick Charles Novellen and Peter Augustus Novellen waged civil war for the Orenian throne, and their vision of what Oren ought to be, with King Frederick I prevailing and reforming the Empire as the ‘Kingdom of Oren’. 

 

The Sinners’ War and Brothers’ War comprise two wars out of a series of four that forever changed the landscape of Humanity. This Volume of Interregnum shall explore the remaining two wars - the Successors’ War, and the Harvest Revolution.

 

---

 

 

Karosgrad, capital of the Kingdom of Haense

c. 1879

 

The year was 1879 A.H.

Ten years had passed since the end of the Brothers’ War.

 

In those ten years, a great upheaval had swept the nations of Almaris. In Oren, King Frederick I had defeated his brother Emperor Peter IV in the Orenian succession crisis that was the Brothers’ War, and formally rechristened the ‘Holy Orenian Empire’ as the ‘Kingdom of Oren’. Although Peter IV had been executed after his seminal defeat at the Battle of New Providence, his surviving supporters fled Oren under the banner of Prince John Casimir Novellen, uncle to both Peter IV and Frederick I (though a supporter of the former). Fearing persecution from the victorious Frederick I, Prince John led his faction south across the Strait of Savoy onto Almaris’ southern landmass, where they carved a refuge in the arid clayhills and called it ‘Balian’. 

 

Balian briefly shared the south with the Principality of Savoy. However, after a Thanhium bombardment had destroyed the Savoyard capital, Princess Renata I had struggled to consolidate her scattered people, and eventually resolved to dissolve the Principality in 1875. Most of her subjects migrated to the Kingdom of Oren, which had opportunities aplenty after the defeat of Peter IV and the exodus of his supporters. 

 

In the north, King Sigismund III of Haense had died in 1873 in a duel against one of his knights, Ser Walton the Wall (his death was intentional; the King had fallen ill with a cancer of the lungs). In the wake of his death, his son and heir ascended to the Haeseni throne as King Karl III, who was cunning, decisive, and ambitious -- not unlike King Frederick I of Oren. The two monarchs had an unlikely kinship: they were both capable young men, they had been raised in the throes of the Sinners’ War (which was a beneficial adversity; most princes learned of war merely from books), and both burned with an ambition to restore order to the war-torn continent -- their order. 

 

At international functions (such as weddings and tourneys), both Kings were amicable and friendly, but their rivalry could not have been clearer: the role of hegemon of Humanity was for the taking. 

 

This decade of upheaval was not limited to just Humanity.

 

In the west, the Elven tribes of Celia’nor, Nor’aseth, Fenn, and Elvenesse had joined together to form the ‘Principality of Malinor’, the first Elven hegemon in centuries. Under the leadership of High Prince Vytrek Tundrak, a bellicose Snow Elf, the Malinorians set their sights on unifying all Elfkind; by 1879, their remaining targets were the Kingdom of Elysium (which was not exclusively an Elven state), the Wood Elves of Nevaehlen and the High Elves of Haelun’or, both of whom staunchly opposed the High Prince’s mandate. Their current focus lay on Elysium, which had been invaded by the Orcs of Krugmar under Rex Ar-Borok. Asserting their sovereignty over Elfkind, Malinor had joined the war, which now waged across the western hinterlands of Almaris. 

 

So it was that not a corner of the continent was untouched by war.

And with war, comes change.

 

_________________________

 

“It is as the old saying goes.

 

When two men are alike in prowess and ambition, their intentions matter not.

 

Almaris was simply not big enough for both Karl III and Frederick I.”

 

Extract from the memoirs of Eirik Baruch,

Lord Palatine of Haense 1849-1873

_________________________

 

The only nation to escape this wave of change was the Dwarven realm of Urguan.

That, however, was much to the disdain of its leader.

 

Grand King Bakir Ireheart had been celebrated among the Dwarves as a hero of the Sinners’ War; his election to the throne by the Dwarven Clans in 1863 had brought a second-wind to the war effort, and was a vital factor in the Tripartite Accord’s decisive victory over the Holy Orenian Empire at the Battle of Eastfleet in 1868. However, Grand King Bakir was the very embodiment of a war-time leader; with the Sinners’ War over, he grew bored and restless. He was only barely restrained by his allies from inserting himself into the war in Elysium, and he was an extremely poor diplomat -- many of Urguan’s alliances (namely the Wood Elves of Nevaehlen and the Kingdom of Norland) were soured by his belligerence. 

 

Unlike Almaris’ other prominent monarchs, Grand King Bakir did not harbour some grand ambition nor ideal; he simply craved a good fight. That would soon spell trouble for his closest ally, King Karl III of Haense. 

 

The onset of the Successors’ War was a product of the machinations of Humanity and non-Humans colliding in 1879. With the inception of Malinor, the High Elves of Haelun’or, under Sohaer Alaion Miravaris, were deeply concerned that the armies of High Prince Vytrek might attempt a full conquest of their island of Karinah’siol. For now, they were protected only by their geographic position: most of the Elven tribes inhabited the western woods and plains, whereas Karinah’siol was an island off Almaris’ east coast. When Malinor concluded its war with Krugmar in Elysium, however, Sohaer Alaion worried they would be next. Diplomatically, the High Elves were somewhat of a pariah, as most of Almaris’ large nations had pacts with Malinor. 

 

Before the outbreak of the Elysium war, the Orcs of Krugmar - who had been enjoying an uncommon period of power and influence under Rex Ar-Borok - had offered the High Elves protection from Malinor, who were his rivals for dominion of western Almaris, and the High Elves accepted, becoming a protectorate of Krugmar in 1871. However, Rex Ar-Borok found himself in a bind after he invaded the Kingdom of Elysium; although his Orcs were initially triumphant in the Sacking of Elysium in 1873, Malinor’s entry into the conflict locked the Orcs into a war which they were slowly losing.

 

With the Orcs of Krugmar occupied, Haelun’or was vulnerable.

That was where King Karl III of Haense and King Frederick I saw an opportunity.

 

_________________________

 

“The two nations will become one, under the Horde’s banner. Under the will of the Rex of the Iron’Uzg, and by the will of the Spirits, they will thrive and grow strong.

 

They are now one army, one nation, one Horde.

 

As the two nations are now one, an attack on either Haelun’or - a citystate of the Horde - or any other territories of the Iron’Uzg, will be met with extreme violence.”

Rex Ar-Borok, The Expansion,

on the unification of the Orcs and High Elves, c. 1871

_________________________

 

King Karl III and King Frederick I were not so interested in the High Elves themselves, but rather the island which they inhabited.

 

Karinah’siol lay off Almaris’ eastern coast and had a dominant position over the continent’s eastern sea corridor. In the hands of a militarised nation, the island’s strategic positioning could not be understated. While the High Elves had lived on Karinah’siol for centuries, however, Humanity had been content to let things lie; conquering the island - and the fortified Silver City - would be a very costly endeavour, and, so long as no rivals held the island, it was no great threat. 

 

Against the backdrop of the war between Krugmar and Malinor, however, both Karl III and Frederick I saw a means of obtaining the island for themselves without any war at all. Rex Ar-Borok of Krugmar was losing his war against High Prince Vytrek of Malinor, and was in dire need of both manpower and money. While the former was out of the question - neither Karl III nor Frederick I dared upset the delicate balance of power between them by driving Malinor into an alliance with their rival - the latter certainly was not. 

 

Both monarchs entered negotiations with Ar-Borok to buy the island of Karinah’siol from him (much to the woe of the High Elves themselves; they appear to have been utterly powerless). Karl III evidently gained the upper-hand (likely due to the Kingdom of Haense being simply of greater means; Oren’s treasuries were still stunted from the Sinners’ War and the Brothers’ War), but his negotiations with Rex Ar-Borok hit a major snag in their eleventh hour -- a snag named Grand King Bakir Ireheart of Urguan. 

 

Eager for battle, Grand King Bakir leapt at the opportunity to do so when one arose in early 1879;  his kin, Balor Ireheart, had become embroiled in a dispute while visiting Krugmar, and was slain in an honour-duel against an Olog. However, all of Balor Ireheart’s Dwarven companions were put to the sword, too (the reasons for this are not known), and Grand King Bakir did not waste a moment -- as soon as word reached the Dwarven capital of Kal’Darakaan, the Grand King set out to Krugmar with an army of 2,700 Dwarves. 

 

They reached Krugmar on the 3rd of Owyn’s Light 1879, but the Orcs did not rush to do battle. In fact, they were eager to make amends (this was probably not in the spirit of justice; Rex Ar-Borok had recently suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Malinor at the Battle of Mount Karimir, and simply could not afford another enemy). Grand King Bakir demanded reparations in the sum of 11,000 minas, which the Orcs simply could not afford. The Grand King did not care, and did not budge one coin from his demands.

 

The Orcs could not pay reparations in gold.

Grand King Bakir was happy to collect the debt in blood instead.

 

_________________________

 

“It was assumed after Krug refused the temptations of Iblees and helped defeat the Archdaemon, his descendants would be the strongest, and most honourable. But, as history has demonstrated, the Orcs of Krug have lost their way, dishonoured their great ancestor, and dishonoured what he stood for.”

Excerpt from Grand King Bakir Ireheart’s

ransom demands to the Orcs of Krugmar, c.1879

_________________________

 

In the Battle of the Light Purse, Grand King Bakir killed as many Orcs as he could before Rex Ar-Borok withdrew to his stronghold.

,

Without the means nor patience for a siege, Grand King Bakir marched back to Urguan, leaving Orcish heads as road markers en-route. Upon his return to Kal’Darakaan, he issued fresh demands to Krugmar: 7,500 coins, the heads of Balor Ireheart’s killers, and a tribute of Orcish leather. Rex Ar-Borok appealed for aid from his allies of the Tripartite Accord, but of all the nations in the alliance, only the Kingdom of Haense could rein in Grand King Bakir. 

 

King Karl III was left in an unenviable position. 

 

He was on the precipice of finalising the sale of the island of Karinah’siol, but the Dwarves were his closest ally. His fear was that without Grand King Bakir, King Frederick I of Oren might gain supremacy over him (a worry that was fuelled by Frederick I’s growing bond with the Elves of Malinor). If there was any backroom diplomacy between Karl III and Grand King Bakir, it bore no fruit. While Karl III evidently felt he could not alienate his closest ally, he instead arranged a peace summit in the Haeseni capital of Karosgrad between the Dwarves of Urguan and the Orcs of Krugmar in the hopes of resolving the feud without jeopardising his efforts to secure Karinah’siol.

 

The stakes for King Karl III were particularly high at this point. The ‘box’ that was Karinah’siol had already been opened; if Karl III failed to resolve with Urguan to Rex Ar-Borok’s satisfaction, then the Rex would almost certainly sell the island to King Frederick I of Oren instead. With the island in his rival’s hands, Haense’s naval power would be severely impeded. Karl III vested his hopes in the Conference of Karosgrad, held on the 8th of Tobias’ Bounty 1879.

 

Today, the Conference is not remembered as a peaceful conclave, but as the moment when the kindling of the Successors’ War was lit. 

 

When King Karl III and Grand King Bakir met in the Haeseni capital, only a single goblin from Krugmar attended, carrying a message from Rex Ar-Borok: “suck mi toez”. 

 

That same day, alarming reports reached Karl III: King Frederick I had met Rex Ar-Borok in Oren, and they appeared to be on the cusp of a deal to cede Karinah’siol to Oren. Karl III and Grand King Bakir immediately switched tactics.

 

They had to do something to keep Karinah’siol out of Oren’s hand.

And so, they declared war on the Orcs of Krugmar -- and named  Karinah’siol as their target.

 

---

 

 

The Silver City of Haelun’or,

c. 1880

 

The Successors’ War began with the declaration of the Kingdom of Haense and the Dwarves of Urguan against the Orcs of Krugmar on the 10th of Harren’s Folley 1879.

 

King Karl III and Grand King Bakir Ireheart’s plan was to force King Frederick I’s hand away from Haelun’or and its island of Karinah’siol -- if Haelun’or, as a protectorate of Krugmar, had now become the target of war, then they hoped that King Frederick I would be deterred from interfering, lest he become embroiled in the war himself. On the part of Karl III and Grand King Bakir, it was a daring but dangerous bluff.

 

To this end, they called on their allies to appear as daunting as possible. While the Tripartite Accord from the Sinners’ War had fallen defunct (Savoy was dissolved, and neither the Elves of Nevaehlen nor the Norlanders wished join on account of Grand King Bakir), they found a new ally in the south - the Duchy of Balian. It had been ten years since the Orenian exiles from the Brothers’ War established their refuge, and they had steadily grown under Duke John I. Now, they wished to make their military debut on the continent. Together, they called themselves the ‘Eastern Treaty’. 

 

Alas, despite their efforts, the Eastern Treaty would soon learn that King Frederick I of Oren was not so easily deterred. 

 

On the 15th of the Sun’s Smile 1879, the King of Oren played his hand when the Peace of Vienne was signed in the Orenian capital of Vienne. In exchange for the island of Karinah’siol, Oren would not only pay Rex Ar-Borok 10,000 coins, but King Frederick I had also arranged a peace treaty between the Orcs of Krugmar and the Elves of Malinor. It was an exponentially better deal than King Karl III had ever offered. The war in Elysium ended, and Haelun’or - which was renamed as the ‘Enclave of Fi’Halen’ - remained on Karinah’siol, only now as vassals to the Kingdom of Oren. 

 

King Frederick I had engaged Karl III and Bakir Ireheart in a game of deadly chicken; now, he espoused that Karinah’siol was Canonist, Orenian land, the invasion of which would be wanton aggression on the part of the Eastern Treaty. To compound Frederick I’s gambit, the Canonist Church favoured his position: towards the end of 1879, High Pontiff Tylos III warned the Eastern Treaty to dispense with any plans of attacking the now-Orenian territory of Karinah’siol. Instead, he bid King Karl III turn his forces west, and to bring the light of Canonism to the Orcs’ home territories. 

 

In diplomatic terms, King Frederick I had pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

The question became whether the Eastern Treaty would fold.

 

_________________________

 

“Before, We had endorsed the efforts of Haense, Urguan, and now Balian to seize the island of Haelun’or from the misguided Orcs of Krugmar. Now, however, the situation has changed with the King of Oren acquiring the land in the Peace of Vienne.

 

With the island of Haelun’or now under the protection of a Canonist Prince, We no longer endorse the eastward push of the Treaty forces.”

High Pontiff Tylos III,

Confusionem Purgare, c. 1879

_________________________

 

The snows came, heralding the new year of 1880.

With winter’s reprieve, King Karl III deliberated.

 

King Frederick I had made an excellent gamble with the Peace of Vienne, and left the King of Haense and the Eastern Treaty with precious few options. If King Karl III dispensed with his efforts, then not only would King Frederick I secure the strategically-important Karinah’siol for good, but standing down would be a momentous blow to Haense’s prestige and serve to cement King Frederick I as the continent’s premier monarch. No Human blood had been shed, but the two kings were already entrenched in a battle.

 

At the turn of 1880, the King of Oren seemed to be winning that battle.

 

Haense and Urguan had defeated Oren before in the Sinners’ War - when it was at its apex under Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I - but things now were not quite the same. While the Haeseni and Dwarven armies were strong, they were missing their allies of Norland, Nevaehlen, Savoy (which was now dissolved), and Krugmar itself. While the Duchy of Balian was a welcome boost to the East Treaty’s troop-count, King Frederick I was far from weak: Oren had mostly recovered from the Brothers’ War (and the Sinners’ War before that), and he was capable of raising a substantial army of his own. Frederick I also had a powerful vassal in the Barony of Acre, ruled by Baron Gustaf de Vilain, who had replaced Arichsdorf as Oren’s breakbasket, and was home to a powerful militia. 

 

King Frederick I had also built a stalwart network of allies, as he proved in the Peace of Vienne. The High Elves themselves would bolster his army (though, contemporarily, High Elves made for poor soldiers), and now Rex Ar-Borok of Krugmar was also indebted to him. Most concerning of all for the Eastern Treaty, however, were the Elves of Malinor: it was well known Frederick I had some ties to High Price Vytrek Tundrak, but it was not known how deep those ties ran until Frederick I had arranged an end to the war in Elysium, a feat which many did not think him capable of. 

 

As spring neared, the time came for King Karl III to decide. 

 

The story goes that he marched into the chambers of his wife, Queen Amadea of Susa, and asked her if she was pregnant; when she answered no, Karl III summoned his war council. 

_________________________

 

“Herzen Ruthern,

 

It is by this Writ that I bid you take command of the ‘Majid’ warship with your levymen, with which I shall bolster with 200 Brotherhood soldiers, and sail for the island of Karinah’siol. There, you are to occupy the Haelun’orian port and fortify it against Orenian ships.

 

Our friends in Urguan have arranged to meet you on the island. 

Krusae Zwy Kongzem.”

Official orders of King Karl III to

Duke Aleksandr var Ruthern to occupy Karinah’siol, c. 1880

_________________________

 

King Karl III decided to test King Frederick I’s mettle.

However, logistically, the Successors’ War would prove to be a complicated affair.

 

The Eastern Treaty ratified their intention to conquer the High Elven island of Karinah’siol when, on the morning of the 11th of the Sun’s Smile 1880, the Majid (a Haeseni warship named after an elephant owned by the late King Sigismund III) departed from the docks of Karosgrad with 600 Brother of Saint Karl and House Ruthern levymen soldiers aboard under the command of Duke Aleksandr var Ruthern. The Majid’s voyage was coordinated with the Iron Arboretum, an armoured Dwarven steamship which sailed from Kal’Darakaan on Grand King Bakir’s orders with 500 Dwarven troops. Both ships were bound for the island of the High Elves. 

 

The forces dispatched were, evidently, modest; while the target of the conflict may have been Karinah’siol, the island lay off Almaris’ eastern coast. Therefore, both King Frederick I and the monarchs of the Eastern Treaty had to be cautious not to send too much of their armies to the island, lest they leave their own mainland territories vulnerable. Shortly after noon, an Orenian fishing trawler reported sighting the Mejid crossing Orenian waters, and reported it to garrison at Fort Tioess. Two hours later, King Frederick I learned of his rival’s persistence, and he acted swiftly. 

 

Frederick I immediately claimed that the Eastern Treaty was attacking Orenian land, and to counter them he revealed an alliance network of his own that same evening -- the ‘Sovereign States’, consisting of the Kingdom of Oren, the Orcs of Krugmar, the High Elves of Fi’Halen (otherwise known as Haelun’or), and, somewhat surprisingly, the Kingdom of Elysium. While Elysium was an unexpected foe, they were not a daunting one. Despite Frederick I’s strong showing with the Sovereign States, it actually uplifted the morale of the Eastern Treaty for one simple reason: the alliance did not include the Elves of Malinor, the only real third-party force on the continent capable of disrupting the balance between King Karl III and King Frederick I. 

 

At first light the next morning, Frederick I deployed his own warship, the Owynsfire, with 500 Orenian legionnaires to rendezvous with the High Elves on Karinah’siol. Like the Eastern Treaty, Frederick I only sent a small force to the island; it was clear both the Eastern Treaty and the Sovereign States intended to fight the bulk of the war on the continental mainland. The Owynsfire arrived at Karinah’siol that afternoon to find that the Mejid and the Iron Arboretum had already made landfall, and the Eastern Treaty soldiers had occupied the main Haelunorian port while the High Elves themselves had retreated to the Silver City. The Owynsfire docked at a natural harbour on the opposite end of the island that night, and, over the next few weeks, the two forces exchanged in skirmishes throughout the island. 

 

On the mainland, things moved a little slower as both alliances gathered their forces and exchanged political barbs (with the Sovereign States accusing the Eastern Treaty of attacking Orenian land unprovoked, and the Eastern Treaty accusing the Sovereign States of ‘hijacking’ their war with the Orcs). King Karl III and King Frederick I once again competed in deal-making as they tried to secure contracts with Almaris’ two main mercenary groups, the Ferrymen Band and the Hounds of Blackvale. A bidding war ensued, but the result was quite unsurprising: the Ferrymen Band, who had fought against Oren at the Battle of Eastfleet in 1868, joined the Karl III’s Eastern Treaty, and the Blackvale Vrijkorps (also known as the Hounds of, or the County of, Blackvale), who had lived in Oren since 1856, joined Frederick I’s Sovereign States.

 

By the end of summer, both alliances had marshalled their forces throughout their respective nations, and awaited the looming confrontation. 

_________________________

 

“Since time immemorial, the days in which Horen’s tribes first roamed the plains of ancient Aegis, there has been warfare. But every war worth fighting for must have behind it a just cause. Pray tell, what is the cause which you seek to truly fight for? The natives of Fi’Halen have done no wrong, and His Holiness has withdrawn his blessing for the invasion that you had so desperately sought.

 

We now stand at a crossroads. Our King offers you the chance to turn back, to break this ghoulish cycle. Once again, he has offered you his hand in this pursuit. Turn away his hand, and dread it as we may, we will have no other choice.”

 

Archancellor Conrad de Falstaff

to King Karl III, c. 1880

_________________________

 

As small-scale fighting continued across the island of Karinah’siol, so too did skirmishes flare up across mainland Almaris.

 

Spearheaded by the Ferrymen Band, the Eastern Treaty engaged in a brutal raiding campaign across the territories of the Sovereign States (such as the Storming of Daeland, when the Daelish piastdom was crushed for aligning with Oren). While Oren was well-accustomed to Ferrymen raiding from the Sinners’ War, the same could not be said for some of the other nations of the Sovereign States, namely the Kingdom of Elysium. The mixed-race nation in the west was largely non-militant, and were especially vulnerable to Eastern Treaty raiders, which placed Queen Leika de Astrea of Elysium under internal pressure over her decision to join the war. 

 

It was one of these raids that set the stage for the climax of the Successors’ War. 

 

On the 21st of Harren’s Folley 1880, House Romstun - bannermen of the Haeseni House of Baruch - went marauding into Oren and captured an Orenian noble of the House of Komnenos, whom they brought back to Karosgrad, where Ser Grigori Vyronov (Haense’s field commander) issued a ransom demand of 3,000 mina to King Frederick I. Keen to gain a victory after weeks of harrying raids, Frederick I summoned the armies of the Sovereign States to Vienne and prepared to march into Haense, and so the Eastern Treaty assembled themselves in Karosgrad. 

 

At noon on the 24th of Harren’s Folley 1880, the 5,500-strong Sovereign States army marched from Vienne under the command of Hannes de Vilain (the father of Baron Gustaf de Vilain of Acre, who was his father’s lieutenant of the army) and Sir Edmond de Rouen, a distinguished Savoyard who had served as an Orenian commander since the Sinners’ War. That same day, 6,700 Eastern Treaty troops left Karosgrad under the banners of Prince Sergei Bihar (King Karl III’s twin brother), Ser Grigori Vyronov, Sigrun Ireheart (marshal of the Dwarven Legion), and Andronikas Mareno of the Ferrymen Band. 

 

As both forces marched towards the Haeseni-Orenian border (which was near the Barony of Acre), an Orenian scout hailed a Haeseni scout when they crossed in the woods near Dobrov. The scout, carrying a message from Hannes de Vilain, invited the Eastern Treaty to meet them near Acre to do battle, and so the two sides agreed. Night fell as the Eastern Treaty and the Sovereign States approached the wheatfields of Acre, and manoeuvred back and forth between strategic positions; each time one side moved, the other side moved to counter them in the hopes of holding the advantageous position by the time the sun rose and the fighting could begin.

 

Andronikos Mareno, however, caught Hannes de Vilain by surprise: he ordered an attack before sunrise, in the grey of the morning, beginning the Battle of Acre. Ser Grigori and Andrikos Mareno led the Eastern Treaty cavalry in a sundering charge against the Sovereign States, and caught them while Hannes de Vilain was shifting his formations. Whether it was sheer luck or tactical brilliance, Andronikos Mareno could not have chosen a better chance to strike -- the Sovereign States cavalry was moving over a cliff (to a better position, unaware that the Eastern Treaty was attacking), briefly isolating them from the main infantry. That ‘brief’ window was all that was needed for Eastern Treaty cavalry to strike discord into the Sovereign States’ ranks, before the infantry of Prince Sergei Bihar and Sigrun Ireheart crashed into them. Worse, the difference in numbers between the two alliances was exacerbated by the fact that a sizable portion of the 5,500 Sovereign States troops were High Elves and Elysians, who were poorly trained and unaccustomed to battle (unlike Haense, Oren, Urguan, Balian, and Krugmar, all of whom had fought in the Sinners’ War). 

 

The Eastern Treaty cavalry encircled the Sovereign States infantry, biting at their rear and preventing the Orenian cavalry from coming to their aid. By mid-morning, the Blackvale Vrijkorps - unable to penetrate the Eastern Treaty encirclement - left the battlefield entirely. Shortly before midday, the ragged Southern States’ formation collapsed completely; Prince Sergei and Ser Grigori pincered Hannes de Vilain’s command unit, while Sir Edmond withdrew what Southern States troops he could back towards Vienne. 

 

By noon of the 25th of Harren’s Folley 1880, the Battle of Acre had ended.

It was a disaster for the Sovereign States alliance.

 

---

 

 

The Barony of Acre,

c. 1881

 

In many respects, the Battle of Acre was disappointing.

It would be the only climax of the Successors’ War.

 

In the aftermath, the Blackvale Vrijkorps retreated to the ruins of Arichsdorf and, on the 13th of Godfrey’s Triumph 1880, rescinded their contract with the Kingdom of Oren. Both Hannes de Vilain and Gustaf de Vilain were captured in the Battle and taken back to Karosgrad. From his new ‘guests’, King Karl III learned something very interesting: the Barony of Acre opposed the war. They saw King Frederick I’s intervention in the conflict as reckless, a belief largely fostered by the fact that the Acremen were either migrants or descendants of Arichsdorf, who had spent the past generation fighting for the ambitions of Orenian monarchs that they did not share. 

 

Karl III reached an agreement with the Acremen; Hannes de Vilain would remain under house arrest in Karosgrad, while Baron Gustaf was released. Not only had Frederick I lost a swathe of troops, morale, and his mercenary corps, but he had also lost his best general. Fortunately for him, the Eastern Treaty did not occupy Acre itself (likely by agreement with Baron Gustaf), and withdrew to Karosgrad after the Battle, leaving Frederick I with some breathing room to regroup and recover. In the interim, he still had some diplomatic cards to play, and so he appealed to High Pontiff Tylos III. 

 

Since his warning to deter the Eastern Treaty from attacking Haelun’or, the High Pontiff had gone rather silent; in all likelihood, there was little the Church could do other than excommunicate the Canonist leaders of the Eastern Treaty (namely Karl III and Duke John Casimir of Balian), but Tylos III was very reluctant to do that. In the Sinners’ War, High Pontiff Everard VI’s excommunication of Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I had placed the Canonist Church in a predicament whereby they stood at an impasse with the excommunicated monarchs, who would not abdicate, and the Orenian people, who were now alienated from the Church. If he were to excommunicate the King of Haense and Duke of Balian, Tylos III faced a real risk of instigating a schism that would leave the Church with just the support of the Kingdom of Oren, who had just suffered a major defeat at Acre. 

 

What Tylos III could do, however, was to push for peace between the Canonist nations of Haense, Balian, and Oren. At the High Pontiff’s behest, those three nations met in Karosgrad that winter (on the 12th of Sigismund’s End 1880) to negotiate an end to the war, though it bore little fruit -- to end the war now would be a victory for the Sovereign States (since Karinah’siol was still held by Frederick I’s High Elven vassals), and so the Eastern Treaty could not agree to peace without concessions from Frederick I, which were not forthcoming. 

 

Eventually, it was agreed that while the Eastern Treaty would not abandon their invasion of Haelun’or, they would refrain from attacking Oren proper (essentially limiting the war to just the Haelun’orian island of Karinah’siol). 

 

This was an enormous diplomatic blunder on the part of Haense and Balian, and one that almost truly did see King Karl III excommunicated.

_________________________

 

It is worth noting that the rhetoric surrounding the Eastern Treaty’s casus belli for attacking Haelun’or was grounded in a hunt for ‘Azdrazi’ -- the Dragonkin cultists of Azdromoth who were rumoured to inhabit both Haelun’or and the karstlands near Krugmar.

 

Originally, the Eastern Treaty claimed they wished to scour the Dragonkin from Haelun’or, which was, most clearly, a fabrication.

 

Author’s note.

_________________________

 

How the Church summit of the 12th of Sigismund’s End 1880 ended in such a diplomatic farce for the Eastern Treaty is somewhat of an enigma.

 

At the outset, it ought to be stated why the commitment to avoid fighting on the mainland was so controversial. The Eastern Treaty had placed enormous pressure on King Frederick I in the war in their raiding campaigns, which were not only used to undermine and weaken his allies in the Sovereign States, but were used as a tactic to lure the Sovereign States into disadvantageous clashes (as had been the case with the Battle of Acre). By pledging to stop those raids, the Eastern States surrendered that upper-hand and gave the Sovereign States the time and focus to rebuild their army to defend Karinah’siol. Consequently, the Ferrymen Band and the Dwarves of Urguan were outraged at Haense and Balian (as were many within their own nations).

 

It is unclear how this agreement came about. One version of events is that King Karl III left the summit before its conclusion, and his Palatine Isabelle Baruch had assented to the High Pontiff’s request. Another telling of the story is that High Pontiff Tylos III mischaracterised what he was asking the Eastern Treaty’s Canonist monarchs to agree to. 

 

In any case, the ‘why’ is not of great importance. Facing dissent from their allies and the loss of their advantage in the war effort, Karl III and Duke John I responded in a most bizarre fashion: they publicly rebuked the High Pontiff, and claimed that he was lying -- according to them, the agreement was simply not to attack clergymen of the Church (which appears to be a thinly-veiled deception; there are no records of attacks on clergymen throughout the war, and so it is inexplicable why a pact to that effect would suddenly be made now). 

 

While the proclamation firmed the resolve of the Eastern Treaty once more, it was not without consequences for Karl III and Duke John. While High Pontiff Tylos III ultimately did not excommunicate the duo despite their accusations that he had deceived them (for the reasons opined above), he did revoke the title of ‘Fidei Defensor’ from King Karl III. The title - meaning ‘Defender of the Faith’ - was of symbolic importance; it had been granted to King Sigismund III of Haense after High Pontiff Everard VI had been rescued from the ill-fated Michaelite Schism sponsored by Emperor Philip III and Empress Anastasia I right before the outbreak of the Sinners’ War, and had come to represent the Kingdom of Haense’s gradual triumph over Oren.

 

Though certainly a prestigious loss for Karl III, it did little to affect the war as a whole. Later in 1881, however, the Eastern Treaty would suffer a second, and much more grievous, blow.

 

On the 29th of Horen’s Calling 1881, Grand King Bakir Ireheart strolled the roads of Urguan, alone.

There, he was set upon and captured by Acremen.

_________________________

 

“You have masked the political expansion onto the sovereign soil of High Elves due to a disagreement and grudge with the Blood Rex of the Iron’Uzg. The rights to your grudge may be facilitated through an honour war with the Iron’Uzg, but we will not entertain the conquest of a sovereign people, nor their genocide. The mandate of my forbearing ancestors was peace, and it is peace I will fight to maintain through compromise.”

 

King Frederick I, To the Senate of Hammers,

following the Grand King’s capture, c. 1881

_________________________

 

In the same vein as the Canonist summit, it is a mystery of baffling proportions as to why Grand King Bakir took to the wilderness on his lonesome during wartime.

 

Perhaps he had thought Oren did not dare launch any raids after their defeat at Acre. Whatever his logic may have been, he was captured and imprisoned by King Frederick I in Vienne. Grand King Bakir’s capture was a sorely-needed morale boost for the Sovereign States, who remained in disarray after their defeat Acre last winter. In his captive, Frederick I saw a renewed chance at victory: if he could levy the Grand King as a hostage to force the Dwarves of Urguan to withdraw from the war, then he might equal the playing field between himself and Karl III. In fact, once the Sovereign States army had fully regrouped, they might even outnumber a Dwarf-less Eastern Treaty. 

 

On the 3rd of Owyn’s Light 1881, Frederick I issued his demands to Urguan in those terms. The Dwarven Senate urgently convened, and soon responded to the King of Oren later that month in no uncertain terms -- “this changes nothing”. Either the Dwarves would see Grand King Bakir made a martyr, or they were content to let him die for his folly of being captured. Either way, the Dwarves exhibited their infamous stubbornness, and would not bow to Orenian demands. The Dwarves did, however, offer an exchange of hostages (they held a number of Orenian nobles), though Frederick I declined to trade. 

 

This was not to say that Grand King Bakir became a worthless hostage. It must be recalled that while Grand King Bakir lacked an affinity for governance (a consequence of which the Successors’ War came about in the first place), he was an excellent military leader. His loss would absolutely be felt by the Dwarven legion, who lacked any other warrior capable of filling the Grand King’s role. Still, that was a far cry from what Frederick I hoped to achieve with his capture. He kept the Grand King as prisoner, and hoped the Dwarves would reconsider his demands.

 

The Sovereign States’ short-lived optimism ended later in 1881 when Rex Ar-Borok began marauding in Haense with 2,500 Orcs. They did not get far before they were intercepted by a 4,000-strong Eastern Treaty army, who massacred the Orcs in the Battle of Redsnows. As 1881 progressed, upsets continued to mount for the Sovereign States when raiders of House Romstun began pillaging across the Kingdom of Elysium, and captured Lord Commander Ellathor Vanari, general of Elysium’s forces. After extracting the Lord Commander back to Karosgrad, a ransom demand was issued. Mirroring King Frederick I’s efforts, Argus Romstun called on Elysium’s surrender.

 

Queen Amadea of Haense convened with Queen Leika de Astrea on the 5th of Tobias’ Bounty 1881.

The result was the Kingdom of Elysium’s complete withdrawal from the Sovereign States.

_________________________

 

“I do not suspect the King of Oren had ill-motives when he adjoined the Kingdom of Elysium to this war, but they are tragic victims nonetheless.

 

The likes of the Ferrymen Band and the Marian Knights, unleashed upon the likes of the Elysian? 

It is a cruel joke.”

Queen Amadea of Haense

on the Treaty of Crow and Fox, c. 1881

_________________________

 

The Kingdom of Elysium had never been a great threat to the Eastern Treaty, but their cessation from the war was demoralising for the rest of the Sovereign States.

 

It must have been a vexing thing for King Frederick I; he had captured the Grand King of Urguan, and yet the Dwarven Senate remained steadfast, then later that year his own ally abandoned him when the Eastern Treaty captured a mere general, rather than the monarch themselves. Alas, it ought not to have been greatly surprising -- the Elysians were, as I have already opined, unskilled and unsuited for battle. Queen Leika de Astrea had no doubt joined the Sovereign States in the first place as a security guarantee to protect them from Rex Ar-Borok of Krugmar, who had invaded them not so long ago. With losses accumulating in Elysium and the constant incursions of raiders, it seemed much safer for Queen Leika to accept the guarantees offered by the Eastern Treaty instead. 

 

Compounding the Orcish defeat the Battle of Redsnows and the cessation of Elysium, the Sovereign States were visited by misfortune yet again later in 1881. On the night of the 19th of the Sun’s Smile 1881, the House of Romstun joined a small cadre of Dwarven warriors and rode to Vienne, where they planned to free Grand King Bakir from captivity. This was not a pipe-dream; while it would have been impossible to infiltrate the Orenian capital and the gaol beneath the palace, they had an ally -- a turncloak of King Frederick I’s court, Primrose Gendik (an Orenian doctor). Her motives were not known; her involvement in the gaolbreak was only revealed decades later, after letters were recovered from the manor of House Romstun in Valwyck (after they had migrated from Haense to the Duchy of Adria). It appears safe to presume she, similar to Gustaf de Vilain and his father, disagreed with her King’s propagation of the war. 

 

Freed from Vienne thanks to Primrose Gendik, Grand King Bakir Ireheart returned to Kal’Darakaan on the morning of the 21st of the Sun’s Smile 1881, much to the elation of the Eastern Treaty. 

 

King Frederick I’s difficulties continued to accumulate. At the War’s outset in 1879, he had held all the cards: he had peacefully vassalized Haelun’or, he held great sway within Malinor, he had the services of the Blackvale Vrijkorps, he had a comprehensive network of allies, he had the favour of High Pontiff Tylos III, and he had a powerful vassal in Acre to supplement his army. 

 

By the midsummer of 1881, however, the Elves of Malinor remained steadfastly neutral (likely a product of their ties with the Ferrymen Band); the Blackvale Vrijkorps had abandoned the war; Tylos III and the Church had gone as far as they could; and the Sovereign States teetered on the verge of collapse (Elysium had withdrawn from the War, and the strength of Rex Ar-Borok’s Orcs was utterly spent from years of fighting Malinor, followed by the successive defeats at the Battle of Acre and the Battle of Redsnows).

 

Of Oren’s advantages, only two remained. Frederick I still held the island of Karinah’siol -- since the war began, the 900 Eastern Treaty troops under Duke Aleksandr Ruthern had intermittently skirmished with the 500 Orenians sent to assist the High Elven garrison, whose mages pelted the Haeseni and Dwarven invaders from atop the walls of the Silver City with spells. Their fighting had mostly fizzled out as they awaited the conclusion of the war on the mainland -- both forces remained on the island purely to prevent the other from fortifying it, leaving the fate of the island in stasis. The Haeseni had suffered a blow, however, when a High Elven mage sundered the Majid with a fireball. 

 

That just left King Frederick I with his most critical asset - the Barony of Acre.

And, that winter, he lost that asset. 

 

---

 

The Kingdom of Elysium,

c. 1881

 

King Frederick I was not unreasonable in his belief that the Successors’ War could still be his to win (a belief strongly shared by his Archchancellor, Conrad de Falstaff).

 

At the Battle of New Providence - the climax of the Brothers’ War, where Frederick I had defeated his brother to secure the Orenian throne - Frederick I had fielded an army of almost 10,000, and that had been with Oren divided by civil war. It was not inconceivable that he could raise an army of that strength again and stand his ground against the Eastern Treaty, even without most of the Sovereign States. That was the end towards Frederick I began to work towards in the latter half of 1881. 

 

In Acre, however, Baron Gustaf de Vilain had had enough. 

 

In a move that shocked the world and determined the fate of the Successors’ War (and the fate of the Kingdom of Oren as a whole), the Baron of Acre declared the withdrawal of Acre from the War on the 30th of Harren’s Folley 1881. Given the substantial Orenian losses (primarily stemming from the Battle of Acre), Baron Gustaf felt as if he could no longer justify sending his militiamen to die for the sake of the Haelun’orian island. In the immediate aftermath, King Karl III released Hannes de Vilain, who had remained as a hostage in Karosgrad since his defeat at the Battle of Acre. 

 

King Frederick I had deftly managed all of the upsets suffered since the Sovereign States were defeated at the Battle of Acre, but his losses had finally escalated beyond his control. With Acre’s withdrawal, the other nobles of the Grenz region followed suit, styling themselves as the ‘Harvest Lords’ -- King Frederick I was facing open rebellion. 

 

The writing was on the wall for the Kingdom of Oren; Frederick I could not hope to wage a war without Acre and the rest of the Harvest Lords. The King of Oren called upon High Pontiff Tylos III to facilitate a meeting one last time, and so it was that the leaders of the Sovereign States (excepting Sohaer Alaion Miravaris of Haelun’or) met with King Karl III, Grand King Bakir Ireheart, and Duke John I of the Eastern Treaty in the Duchy of Reinmar (which, despite being a Haeseni vassal, was Tylos III’s birthplace) on the 12th of the Sun’s Smile 1881. 

 

Bereft of bargaining power, King Frederick I had no choice but to formally cede the Haelun’orian island of Karinah’sol to the Kingdom of Haense and dissolve the Sovereign States alliance. Though the High Elves were unrepresented at the meeting (and obviously opposed the cessation of their homeland), King Karl III agreed to pay 5,000 minas to Sohaer Alaion Miravaris to fund the relocation of the High Elves off Karinah’siol. 

 

Just like that, the Successors’ War had ended.

Yet, King Frederick I’s troubles were far from over.

_________________________

 

“As of this document being penned and signed, all Acrean levymen are withdrawn from any major conflict pertaining to the war for Elvish lands. The conflict is not in the interest of our people, and thus it is fruitless to risk the lives of GOD-fearing men and women from the Barony. 

 

Any man who finds it in his heart to set off and fight on behalf of Oren and its foreign goals is free to do so; however, no strife may be brought back to the homefront.”

Baron Gustaf de Vilain,

The Withdrawal of Acre, c. 1881

_________________________

 

King Frederick I could not permit the insubordination of Acre and the Harvest Lords, lest he forfeit any semblance of authority he held over his nobles.

 

The Harvest Revolution was sparked when the King of Oren issued a decree to strip Acre of its rights and title, requisition its land, and place a bounty on the heads of Baron Gustaf de Vilain and his father, Hannes de Vilain. When Acre rebuked the decree and began to raise its militia, the escalation was too much for Frederick I, who was said to have suffered a heart attack in Vienne. The King survived under the care of his wife - Queen Vivienne of Savoy - but it was clear he would be incapacitated for some time. With the crisis with Acre ongoing, Elric Castille - the captain of King Frederick I’s royal guard - was named as Regent and ‘Lord Protector’ of Oren. 

 

Lord Protector Elric Castille was a competent and level-headed militant, one whom Frederick I’s court was confident could sensibly navigate the standoff with Acre, even despite his apparent lack of political experience (in the same decree that appointed the Lord Protector, Archchancellor Conrad de Falstaff mysteriously resigned). Lord Protector Elric began by summoning Baron Gustaf de Vilain to Vienne under a truce in the hopes of resolving the rebellion diplomatically, but the Baron of Acre did not attend. 

 

In the aftermath of the failed diplomacy, the Harvest Lords’ militias clashed with Orenian troops in outposts along the Grenz, all of which were relatively minor, but ceased after the Lord Protector withdrew soldiers in the area to Fort Tioess, where he began assembling an army to subjugate the rebellion. With the Successors’ War over a mere few weeks, however, the Orenian central army was undermanned, disordered, and demoralised; as a result, Lord Protector Elric called on the loyalist noble Houses to raise their levies.

 

As the year 1882 began, the Harvest Lords struck at some of the key vassals that had pledged support to the Lord Protector’s mandate. On the 11th of Owyn’s Light 1882, Hannes de Vilain led the Acre militia against the Margravate of Grodno, swiftly overwhelmed the garrison, and captured Margrave Maciej Jazloviecki, who agrees to withdraw from any conflict against Acre in exchange for his safe release. Other nobles worth reckoning, namely the Viscounty of Minitz and the County of Temesch, soon declared their cessation too. Confident in the strength of his militia, the righteousness of his cause, and the evident decay of Oren, Baron Gustaf de Vilain decided to turn his rebellion into a revolution.

 

No longer was Acre’s goal to merely withstand the Orenian army.

Now, they endeavoured to tear down the Orenian throne entirely.

_________________________

 

“In observing the graveness of this treason, Hannes and Gustaf de Vilain shall be henceforth declared an enemy of the state, their right to hold Our peerage defunct, and inherited by their legal successor, to be held in regency by the Lord Protector.

 

The Crown reaffirms that this gripe is not held with the people of Acre, but the treasonous terrorists, that of Hannes and Gustaf who have sacrificed their loyalty to their motherland for selfish greed. Their honour, replaced with the gluttonous hunger for power. The Crown’s government offers  those who wish to escape their terror clemency and refuge, but those who aid them will be guaranteed death.”

Lord Protector Elric Castille,

The Resolution of Acre, 1881

_________________________

 

As Acre bolstered its militia in anticipation of marching on Vienne itself, its leaders continued to target Lord Protector Elric’s supporters.

 

On the 9th of Godfrey’s Triumph 1882, Baron Gustaf travelled to the Viscounty of Rivia, the largest remaining vassal who stood with Lord Protector Elric, in the hopes of convincing Viscount Charles Galbraith to declare neutrality. Not only were the Baron’s efforts in vain, but it is recorded that the Viscount tried to kill Gustaf de Vilain within his keep with a potion of Alchemist’s Fire. Baron Gustaf survived the explosion relatively unscathed, and, when Viscount Charles called for his armsmen, none came -- they had already been dispatched by the Baron’s retinue, led by Darius Romstun, who proceeded to kill the Viscount himself. 

 

Rivia was sacked, and the surviving Galbraith armsmen either scattered to the wind or fled to Vienne. When Baron Gustaf returned to Acre, he summoned his council. Upon assessment, the culling of Rivia and Grodno (unbeknownst to them at the time, Margrave Maciej had broken his word and marched with his armsmen to Vienne to join Lord Protector Elric) left the Lord Protector with precious few forces. As the Acremen debated whether they ought to begin their march to Vienne, a surprising report reached them from the capital: King Frederick I appeared to have recovered from his heart attack, and he had called for a sitting of the royal court later that month.

 

While Elric Castille was a study commander, he lacked the charisma - and, more importantly, the legitimacy - of the King; if the people of Oren saw Frederick I stand strong again, they might be convinced there was a hopeful future yet for Oren. With that in mind, Baron Gustaf realised he had to strike as soon as possible before Frederick I could remoralise and remobilise his subjects. On the 31st of the Sun’s Smile 1882, the Acre militia of 4,500 began their march south to Vienne. Even in such dire straits, the Orenian capital was not defenceless. What remained of the royal army had marshalled there under Elric Castille (who was still Lord Protector, given Frederick I was still not back to full health), together with Vienne’s own garrison and a patchwork of noble Houses that remained loyal to the crown. 

 

Acre planned to strike at the sitting of the royal court Frederick I was to convene. Initially, that might appear to be a foolish decision; all of Frederick I’s remaining supporters would be gathered in one place, together with most of their military strength. The logic of Baron Gustaf was, however, much the same as King Frederick I’s had been in the lead-up to his victory in the Brothers’ War at the Battle of New Providence -- if he could defeat all his foes in one spot at the same time, then the Revolution could be ended quickly and decisively.

 

And so, they marched, and Oren waited.

Their fate was to be decided at the royal court of the 8th of Harren’s Folley 1882. 

_________________________

 

“Old chum,

 

It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Listen; I’ll be in the neighbourhood with a few of the lads for the royal court, and I’m thinking of popping in to see you.

 

With all this talk of rebellion, I wouldn’t want to be held up at the gatehouse when we arrive. You might be a dear and arrange for a set of keys for me and the pals.

 

See you on the 10th.”

 

A letter obtained from the belongings of Sgt. Dennard Reath of the Orenian Legion,

signed by ‘O’ (believed to be Bailiff Otto of Acre), c. 1882

_________________________

 

The Acre militia reached the outskirts of Vienne on the 5th of Harren’s Folley 1882.

On their march, their 4,500 militiamen had swelled to 6,400.

 

They camped in the woods north of the capital, awaiting the royal court in two day’s time. It was unclear whether Lord Protector Elric Castille or King Frederick I knew the revolutionaries lurked just beyond the city -- they surely suspected, but whether they knew Gustaf de Vilain had the gall to strike at the royal court itself was unclear. In any case, every soldier that could be relied on in Oren was now in Vienne, totalling at around 5,200. 

 

Finally, the 8th of Harren’s Folley came -- the day of the royal court, and the day of the Battle of Vienne.

 

After King Frederick I ascended to the dais with a walking cane and the aid of Queen Vivienne, the court applauded when he sat on his throne. That would be their only cause for joy that day. Within twenty-minutes of the court commencing, the watchtowers on Vienne’s northern and eastern walls lit their distress signal-fires as they spotted the column of Acremen marching towards the city. Ten minutes later, the city alarm bells tolled, and the townsfolk rushed to take shelter in their cellars. Initially, Lord Protector Elric Castille (who had evidently drafted some provisional plans in the event of an attack) prepared to hold the city gates and drive off the revolutionaries with volleys of arrows and burning pitch from the walls, but the Acremen were one step ahead of him.

 

A spy in the service of Bailiff Otto of Acre had provided him with keys to the Vienne gatehouse, and so he simply walked in, killed the gatekeepers, and opened the portcullis for Baron Gustaf and his forces. 

 

Lord Protector Elric was forced to withdraw all Orenian forces to the royal palace, which was far less suited for a protracted defence than the gatehouse. He was also pressed for time; the Acremen did not, as he initially hoped, waste time sacking any houses and instead stormed directly towards the palace, where the royal court remained in panicked session. The Lord Protector focused his defence on the front of the palace and rained arrows down on the Acremen, who swept around to the palace’s rear and infiltrated the great hall by propping lightweight siege ladders through a window. 

 

Right before the Acreman swarmed the great hall, courtiers and noblewomen armed themselves with candlesticks and dinner plates. The Battle of Vienne was over quickly; the Orenians formed dense ranks within the great hall under the Lord Protector, and King Frederick I watched from atop his throne as the Acremen slowly whittled the Orenian lines down. Elric Castille’s defence did, at least, buy enough time for many of the courtiers to flee, but not King Frederick I.

 

There are three conflicting versions of the tale of how King Frederick I died. 

 

The first, favoured by the Acremen, is that the King remained on his throne until Elric Castille’s lines finally broke at sunset, and he was slain by a mob of militiamen. The second, favoured by the Orenians, is that King Frederick I did flee the great hall, but only to ascend to his personal quarters in the upper palace, ingest a lethal dose of ponderlot, and die with Queen Vivienne in his arms. The third is that a malignant sorcerer to whom Frederick I had pledged his soul in exchange for victory in the Brothers’ War came to collect his debt and turned the King into a wheel of blue cheese right before the Orenian formations broke. 

 

Whatever the tale, the outcome was the same.

Frederick I, King of Oren, died on the 8th of Harren’s Folley 1882.  

 

---

 

After the Harvest Revolution, Vienne was gradually torn down and its stone used for construction by Harvest Lords.

By 1920, all that remained was a church.

 

King Frederick I was dead.

The Battle of Vienne was lost. The Orenian capital was sacked.

 

Elric Castille survived the Battle, and fled from the capital shortly before smokestacks appeared above the city. He regrouped with a smattering of survivors in the Ebonwood - to the west of Vienne - and retreated to Grodno with a few hundred Orenian courtiers and soldiers. He arrived at Grodno to find that Margrave Maciej had also survived Acre’s attack, and took shelter inside. With King Frederick I dead - and the fate of his young son Prince Frederick the Younger unknown - Elric Castille was now the sole leader in Oren yet living. 

 

While Acre had decisively won at Vienne, they did incur casualties -- chief among them was their own leader, Baron Gustaf de Vilain. It is said that the Baron was grazed by an Orenian spear during the fighting, but infection beset him the next day. With Vienne in chaos, there was no doctor to be found nearby, and so Gustaf de Vilain died of his wounds sometime in the week following the Battle of Vienne. Hannes de Vilain buried his son back at his fields in Acre, and stoically assumed the title of Baron of Acre himself. 

 

Though the Kingdom of Oren had been irreparably broken, it still drew breath in the form of Elric Castille. In memory of his son, Baron Hannes vowed to see the Harvest Revolution through and ensure that Oren was dismantled. No Orenian lord nor general had the strength to oppose Acre anymore, and so people prayed that the cavalry of Hannes de Vilain simply passed them by as he fanned throughout Oren, searching for any trace of Elric Castille. 

 

It was not until the new year of 1883 that the two had their final confrontation.

 

In Arentania, western Oren, Elric Castille was attempting to rebuild a force of loyalists (an ironic term, in the context of King Frederick I’s Oren) to strike back at Acre, but his numbers remained meagre. After another of Bailiff Otto’s spies had reported a sighting of Elric Castille, Hannes de Vilain rode at the head of a warband towards Arentania. He soon tracked the Lord Protector to Grodno Castle and encircled it. 

 

When Baron Hannes promised safety to those inside if Elric Castille surrendered, the Lord Protector acquiesced, and was taken back to Acre as a captive. 

_________________________

 

“As it stands, the Crown, its government, and Kingdom is hereby dissolved.

 

In its place, Acre shall take control of the Kingdom’s lands, treasury demesne, and all that entails, to form the Harvest Confederacy; a league of independent states made up of the Harvest Lords.”

 

Hannes de Vilain,

The Kingdom of Oren is Destroyed, c. 1884

_________________________

 

The negotiations at Acre were short.

Elric Castille had nothing to barter with.

 

Though he had distinguished himself with exemplary resilience in the face of the Harvest Revolution’s prowess, he had lost his King, his capital, and nearly any possible soldier he could muster. Now, the only thing he had left to lose was his Kingdom -- in the circumstances, though, the Kingdom of Oren was already largely dead.

 

On the 13th of Tobias’ Bounty 1883, in Acre, the Kingdom of Oren was formally dissolved by Lord Protector Elric Castille. Unlike when King Frederick I had won the Brother’s War, this was no mere rechristening or a change of name: the polity that was Oren was simply undone -- it’s titles were stricken, and its name buried. 

 

The land and people of Oren, however, remained. 

 

Acre harboured no political ambitions, and desired nothing more than to live as peaceful farmers, unfettered by the demands of any overlords. And yet, someone needed to provide leadership for those Orenian lands and people, lest the heartlands be overrun with brigands and monsters -- or worse, another nation. Therefore, Hannes de Vilain did not establish a new kingdom, but a union: the ‘Harvest Confederacy’, consisting of Oren’s main surviving vassals, namely Acre, Minitz, Petra, Corwinsberg, and, though it had not been a vassal, House Alstion. For their transgressions in the Harvest Revolution, Grodno and Rivia were exiled; their lords were forced to abandon their castles, and leave the heartlands. 

 

The dissolution of Oren was no doubt a surreal moment for Humanity.

 

Even if Oren no longer lay claim to the status of an Empire (and, as I posit, had ceased being a true Empire following the Edict of Separation in 1786), it had still been viewed as the world’s foremost and strongest power, around which the affairs of all other lands and nations revolved, until its strength was well and truly broken by the Eastern Treaty at the Battle of Acre.

 

Some mourned the death of Oren.

Most cheered it.

_________________________

 

“The reign of Frederick I is a great enigma. Having risen to the throne on the back of the popular will of the people and nobility of Oren, much of the king’s reign was well-regarded and without significant issue. One would think that this popularity, and the ability he demonstrated in his initial days, would allow him to overcome his significant first failures. 

 

Both Peter III and Philip III had fared far worse during the outset of their respective reigns, but both were able to effectively rebound from initial disasters. King Frederick I had no such success, in large part due to his lack of either a strong central support base or a more diversified web of factions that he could play off of one another.”

 

Justinian Nafis & Adolphus Gloriana,

The Decline & Fall of the Holy Orenian Empire, Volume XI: The Plight of the Novellens

_________________________

 

More than anything else, the end of Oren represented a great and gaping unknown for all Descendantkind, the likes of which had never been seen before.

 

In the former Orenian lands, the Harvest Confederacy was a new type of Human government, one which was vastly decentralised and with zero interest in international affairs and military prestige. How the Confederacy would fare, especially when the outside world intruded on its rural utopia, was a looming question that would be answered in the years to come.

 

In the south, Duke John I of Balian muttered a silent prayer for his nephew, Emperor Peter IV. His supporters - the people of Balian - had finally avenged their mortal defeat at the hands of King Frederick I in the Brothers’ War, but it had come at the cost of their own homeland, one that they had hoped to restore one day. For a time, rumours circulated that Balian would end their refuge in the south and attempt to inhabit their old homes in former Oren, but those plans never materialised. Either Duke John I was convinced by his allies of the danger of invoking the Orenian identity, or he never intended to do so in the first place. His people had a new home in the south now, and it was still young. The rest of his life would be spent nurturing Balian from a wayward Duchy into a Kingdom in its own right.

 

Grand King Bakir Ireheart had gotten the fight he had so desperately craved since the end of the Sinners’ War in 1868. He prided himself on having felled yet another Orenian monarch, and returned to Kal’Darakaan contented. With Oren now truly gone, however, there was no real foe left for Bakir Ireheart on Almaris anymore -- he was allied with Haense and Balian, who would not allow him to instigate a war with the Elves of Malinor nor the Harvest Confederacy. For now, Grand King Bakir stomached his boredom, but it would eventually lead to his abdication as Grand King in 1901.

 

The most unfortunate victims of the Successors’ War, and the events that followed, were undoubtedly the High Elves of Haelun’or. Fearing Malinorian invasion, they had subjugated themselves as a protectorate to Krugmar, only to be bartered around like a cut of meat. They had welcomed King Frederick I’s patronage when he acquired their island in the Peace of Vienne, and then decried him when he ceded that same island to the Kingdom of Haense. Now, they were driven from their homeland by the Haeseni, and followed Sohaer Alaion Miravaris into exile across the continent. 

 

Yet, none of these sovereigns were the ultimate victor of these four years of turmoil.

That title, of course, went to King Karl III of Haense.

_________________________

 

“In one sense, it is a tragedy.

 

Through the Peace of Vienne, King Frederick I had largely set the continents to rights: he had ended the war in the Elysium between the Orcs of Krugmar and the Elves of Malinor, and he had offered the High Elves of Haelun’or a guarantee of safety that did not compromise their culture nor their land.

 

Had King Karl III and Grand King Bakir dispensed with their ambition, then Almaris may have known peace a while longer, and the King of Oren may never have faced that fatal dissent from his vassals when war went awry.”

 

Excerpt from The Last Orenian,

a N.G.S. study on the fall of the Kingdom of Oren, c. 1908

_________________________

 

King Karl III’s ambition had been to overshadow King Frederick I and become the new hegemon of Humanity, and he had achieved exactly that.

 

Karinah’siol was his, and not only was King Frederick I dead, but his Kingdom died with him. Haense retained its close relationship with the Dwarves of Urguan, even in spite of the difficulties Grand King Bakir had caused at the start of the Successors’ War, and now it had a new friend in the Duchy of Balian. King Karl III had also ingratiated himself with the Acremen; not only had the late Baron Gustaf and Hannes de Vilain been treated well in their captivity in Haense, but it is a near certainty that Karl III had encouraged the Harvest Revolution. After he attended Acre to sign the dissolution of Oren, Elric Castille claimed he had seen a workshop of blacksmiths speaking fluent New Marian. 

 

The de facto head of Humanity was now, for the first time in history, the Kingdom of Haense. 

 

King Karl III would continue to propagate what we can today call the Haeseni ‘anti-Empire’; throughout the rest of his reign, he would use his considerable political capital and military force to sponsor the disunity of the rest of Humanity, while expanding the power and influence of Haense. Though a force of disunity in Humanity, the Kingdom of Haense would go on to fulfill the same historical role as Oren had: it was loved, and feared; it was admired, and hated; but, most of all, it was indomitable, and its influence was felt in every major event in Humanity over the coming decades. 

 

The world was the oyster of the Kingdom of Haense.

It was just a question of what it would do with it.

 

---

 

This concludes Interregnum: Volume IV.

 

Volume V shall record the events of the ‘Adrian Interlude’, spanning the period in which the Great Interregnum saw the rebirth of the ancient Kingdom of Aaun, and Humanity’s next feud over the Duchy of Adria.

 

---

 

[Coronate 5519]

Spoiler

Crazy good post as always.

 

“we were just farmers and shit.” @SplitTheG

 

[Cheese 8883]

An ancient woman, born in Elysium and raised later in Oren, looked over the report, as she did with most of them. This had been her childhood, and while now she no longer missed Oren or the damage it brought, she did recall the people she knew there with great fondness.

 

One of those people, whom she held the greatest fondness for, still stood at her side. So now, over a century and a half later, she handed him the report and pointed out some of the names. "Maciej was mentioned. And Primrose, and Hannes of course." She sighed then, though she bore a smile nonetheless. "God, what a time to have been alive. Who do you think we know that will end up in the history books when the next Empire falls?"

[GMRO 6187]

Spoiler

Crazy to see some of this post and then completely forget that some of it happened and how, it definitely stirs up emotions from the past both good and bad. Definitely makes me appreciate my old mineman ‘rivals’ and the like for what they did too. It makes me appreciate even more those that helped me along the way. :)

 

Another excellent post @Xarkly