Toffee

Mikes Rhino for lotc ombudsman

Of all the cardinals Erika Kortrevich had appealed to, bringing forth her concerns on the operation of Canon Law, the legality and morality of posthumous excommunication, and a plea to serve penance in Karl’s stead should her arguments fall on deaf ears, it was only Godfrey Cardinal Casica who listened with any sense of compassion and thoughtfulness. Her own Patriarch Jorenus pontificated to her with all the patronising sympathy of a man thrice his age, while the Lector-Cardinal had met her with pure hostility bordering on the unhinged. King Anorhil himself had seemed a reasonable enough man… But he had already made up his mind and charted his course long before Erika appeared, distraught, in the cavernous halls of Minas Aranath. She would continue to set her thoughts to paper, but as this missive from the former Cardinal passed her attention, the biting sense of urgency eased. She could now take her ponderous time, weaving her analysis of the laws and scriptures into her wider narrative of the war coming to be known as the Clash of Crown and Crozier.

Erika Kortrevich read over the announcement of war from the confines of ve Karodur, the palatinal tower. Princess Milena may have passed away, but it was as if her spirit lingered there, and brought her a sense of peace. It was a surprisingly eloquent announcement, considering it had sprung from the pen of a man who could not contain his own emotions, nor read the Canon Law with any sense of scholarly nuance. If he had even read them at all. As Erika's pleas to the Curia, and her offer to do penance, were ignored, she had no choice but to publish her own findings. On the legality of excommunication, the dangers of blending the secular with the spiritual, and, indeed, the Lector-Cardinal's own wrongdoings. She poured herself a measure of Carrion Black and set to writing.

THE OF FREDERIK OTTO KORTREVICH CREATED BY ERIKA KORTREVICH 573 E.S. ⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯ WHILE TRAVELLING THROUGH THE LANDS OF BA’AS, I developed a system for reading the skies and interpreting the placement of celestial bodies and constellations to gain greater insight into our personalities, expanding on the work performed by the Court Astronomers of old. I will publish a detailed description of this system at a later date—for now, I wish to make public the natal chart of my dear nephew, Frederik Otto Kortrevich, born on the 20th of Vzmey & Hyff, 572 E.S, and my interpretations of the sky at the moment of his birth. Many of these phrases will be unfamiliar or make little sense until I publicise the astrological system, so readers should focus instead on the interpretations and what they mean for Frederik’s personality. Celestial Body Zodiac House ☉ Sun ☄ Ybis the Comet II ☽ Moon ☄ Ybis the Comet II ⥔ Tova ⊰ Kostana the Wind III ⥾ Druka ≈ Pisktro the Sea VI ↯ Ybis ◌ Nikul the Moon VII Celestial Body Aspect Celestial Body ↯ Ybis △ Trine ⥾ Druka ⥾ Druka △ Trine ⥔ Tova ☽ Moon □ Square ⥔ Tova ↯ Ybis □ Square ☽ Moon ⥾ Druka ☍ Opposition ☽ Moon ↯ Ybis ☍ Opposition ⥔ Tova ⥾ Druka ☍ Opposition ☉ Sun ⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯ I Frederik’s natal chart, drawn by Erika Kortrevich. THE OVERALL PATTERN OF FREDERIK’S CHART has an even distribution of celestial bodies from north to south and east to west, suggesting a rare, balanced personality. With the northern sky representing personal focus on the home and family life and the southern sky representing external focus such as one’s career, Frederik is likely to pay equal attention to both areas of his life. The eastern sky is the area of independence and self-motivation while the western sky is the area of receptivity and collaboration. Because the celestial bodies at the time of Frederik’s birth were evenly distributed between east and west, he is likely to be independent and self-driven while also being able to collaborate with others—a rare, coveted trait. As for elemental distribution, Frederik’s chart showed two fire signs, two water signs, and one air sign. This suggests that Frederik will be passionate and creative with a sense of intellectual curiosity and strong communication skills. Tempered by the air sign, he will also have a moderate amount of emotional depth and empathy. However, his lack of an earth sign suggests he will lack grounding and practicality, and may find that he has grandiose ideas unable to be put into practice. He will require others around him to tether him to reality. In terms of modalities, Frederik’s chart expresses three fixed and two mutable modalities. This means Frederik is likely to be traditional and stubborn in some areas of his life, while receptive to change in others. Hr will be determined, enduring, and focused. The lack of any cardinal signs would suggest that he is unlikely to be impulsive, but this also means he will not tend to take initiative, potentially making him ill-suited to positions of leadership. He will maintain the course and shift with changes that come his way rather than forging new paths. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ II THE THE ANGLES REFER TO THE FOUR POINTS of the natal chart, those being the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven, and Nadir. The Ascendant (otherwise known as the rising sign because it is the constellation visible on the eastern horizon at the time of birth) represents one’s outward personality and approach to life. Frederik has an Ascendant Queen, meaning he is seen externally as a leader. However, when paired with his lack of cardinal signs, this suggests that although he may be seen as a leader, it is in the sense that he is able to preserve tradition rather than march forwards to new horizons. The Descendant is associated with relationships and partnerships, revealing qualities sought in a partner and how one relates to others. Frederik’s Descendant Wanderer suggests that his approach to relationships is amicable, and that he would seek a charismatic and fun-loving partner. This is logical, considering his strong fire and water signs, meaning he will be personable and empathetic, while also desiring someone who can reflect this same energy. The Midheaven relates to career, public life, and long-term goals, and is also linked with social standing and reputation. Considering Frederik has a Midheaven Sea, this would suggest that he will be regarded as a wise and calm figure. He could potentially seek a life of scholarship, or fall into the role of a mentor. Although Frederik displays an equal number of fire and water signs, which may suggest a contradiction in his personality, a lack of cardinal signs would show that he is unlikely to be hot headed and impulsive, allowing the qualities associated with the element of water to shine through more prominently in his personality. Finally, the Nadir represents the home, family, and private life—one’s roots, foundations, and inner world. Frederik has a Nadir Comet, which means his home life is one that will potentially be tumultuous. There is a high possibility of tension and stubbornness, perhaps between his parents or with his siblings. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ III THE THE PRIMAL TRIAD, otherwise known as the “Big Three”, refers to the Sun sign, Moon sign, and Ascendant. The Sun sign is what most people are already familiar with; it is also known as their zodiac sign, as it is the constellation the sun was passing through at the time of birth. Frederik’s Ascendant has already been discussed above, but it is also important to analyse it in reference to the Sun and Moon. Frederik’s Sun sign, or zodiac, is Ybis the Comet. From The Haeseni Zodiac: Those born under his sign are known for their ruthless and stubborn nature. It is not often that one born under The Comet will relinquish any of their beliefs or duties until it is seen through—for better or for worse. When looked at in consideration of Frederik’s Ascendant, the Queen, and his strong array of fixed signs, this does suggest that he will grow up to be stubborn and headstrong. While not necessarily an innovative leader, he will stay the course, leading House Kortrevich in line with long held traditions rather than making new ones. The Moon sign shows how one processes emotions and seeks comfort. Frederik’s Moon sign is also the Comet, which amplifies the Comet’s traits. Frederik’s Descendant Wanderer suggests he will have an amicable approach to relationships, while his Moon in Comet shows that he will be fiercely loyal. Because Frederik only displays one air sign, this might mean only a moderate amount of emotional depth, and the stubbornness of the Comet suggests that, while loyal, he will hold his friends to high standards and lash out if he feels as though his emotional means are not being met. On the other hand, his Ascendant Queen would suggest he shows altruism, putting the needs of others before himself. This is a trait that will likely evolve over his lifetime and change significantly, given the clear contradictions in his natal chart. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ IV WHEN THE CELESTIAL BODIES OF the Sun, Moon, and the three comets Tova, Druka, and Ybis pass through the sky, they pass through the seven zodiac constellations and seven houses. By assessing the exact positions of the celestial bodies at the time of birth, we can gain insight into Frederik’s personality, life experiences, and potential future events. SUN AND MOON IN COMET IN THE SECOND HOUSE We have already looked at Frederik’s Sun and Moon sign, which is Ybis the Comet. Now we must examine the Sun and Moon’s placement in the second house, which is the House of Riches. This house governs financial wealth, such as the ability to accrue gold and material possessions, but it can also be interpreted as the less tangible self-worth and earning potential. The Comet’s ruthless and stubborn nature fused with the Sun’s symbolism as being core to an individual’s identity means that Frederik’s self-worth may be deeply tied to his ability to accumulate and control wealth. He is likely to pursue financial goals with relentless drive, refusing to compromise in his methods. Because the Comet is a fire sign, this amplifies the passion and impulsivity with which he pursues these goals, perhaps suggesting a high-risk approach to accruing wealth such as gambling. He is also likely to be highly protective over material resources, hoarding his wealth and aggressively defending financial interests. With the influence of the Moon, Frederik’s approach to finances will not only be logical, but intuitive, listening to his instincts. Having financial security will also likely contribute to Frederik’s emotional stability, making him feel safe. The House of Riches is a succedent house, meaning that it is stable and secure. The Comet, being a fixed sign, intensifies the stubborn and determined nature of Frederik’s approach to wealth and possessions. Because both succedent houses and fixed signs resist change, this could make Frederik highly reluctant to alter his financial strategies and beliefs about money, and the influence of the Sun and Moon makes this even more pronounced, considering wealth is tied with Frederik’s core identity and his emotional wellbeing. TOVA IN WIND IN THE THIRD HOUSE Tova, being a comet associated with prosperity, luck, and growth, brings its benevolent energies to the constellation of Kostana the Wind. The Wind is known for its beauty, captivation, vanity, and outspokenness, meaning this alignment may enhance Frederik’s ability to communicate charismatically, increasing his social influence and personal magnetism. With its placement in the third house, the House of Kin, this means that this form of communication will be particularly beneficial for Frederik’s interactions with family and friends. This may help to offset the tumultuous home life suggested by Frederik’s Nadir being the Comet, as discussed above. The third house is a cadent house, meaning it is prone to adaptability. The Wind is also a mutable sign, which enhances Frederik’s ability to adapt to changing circumstances. He is likely able to express himself to family and friends in an eloquent way and adapt to changing situations in his social circle. He is also likely able to bring luck and prosperity to his family unit, perhaps by means of material wealth as suggested by his strong Sun and Moon in the House of Riches. DRUKA IN SEA IN THE SIXTH HOUSE When Druka, a comet representing wisdom, innovation, and intuition, is placed in the sixth house, the House of Philosophy, it amplifies Frederik’s intuitive problem-solving capabilities. This placement suggests that Frederik will wish to refine his belief systems in a potentially unconventional way. He will have a natural ability to parse complex ideas and philosophies, bringing logic and intelligence to his interactions with spirituality. As a water-aligned sign that is linked to serene composure and insightful discernment, Pisktro emphasises emotional intelligence and fluid adaptability, suggesting that Frederik will be able to gracefully navigate any ideological shifts he may encounter throughout its life. The Sea’s mutable quality encourages openness to revising his belief systems as new insights emerge. He will be able to calmly reflect upon philosophical and spiritual challenges, avoiding dogma in favour of a nuanced understanding of faith. Furthermore, because the sixth house is a cadent house, this means that Frederik is likely to emphasise the process of refining his beliefs rather than the fixed outcome of what his belief system is. It suggests ongoing adaptation and learning through daily practices. This might look like viewing daily, mundane rituals as spiritual acts. YBIS IN MOON IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE This celestial alignment is particularly interesting and complex, because it pairs Ybis, associated with courage, action and drive, with Nikul the Moon, which is a fixed, water-aligned constellation linked to people-pleasing tendencies. Placed in the seventh house, the House of Vocation, this creates a dynamic interplay for Frederik’s life path and future career, careening between ambition and adaptability, self-assertion and external influence. Ybis (the comet itself, not the constellation), instills boldness in career choices but also risks impulsive decisions if unchecked by Nikul’s accommodating nature. This comet’s energy pushes for visible achievements, yet the Moon’s innate trait of desiring to please may redirect Frederik’s drive towards fulfilling others’ expectations of him rather than his own personal goals. As a fixed water sign, Nikul emphasises emotional loyalty and resistance to change, creating a tension between career stability and Ybis’ urge for action. This could lead to Frederik choosing career paths to gain approval rather than going with his authentic passions. For example, following in the path laid out for him by his family. The cadent nature of the House of Vocation suggests a need for adaptability in professional pursuits, contrasting with Nikul’s fixed resistance to change. Ybis may therefore manifest as bursts of ambition followed by periods of indecision and inaction. Frederik risks overcommitting to the demands of the others at the expense of his own happiness. Even if he goes into a stable career, he will be plagued by restlessness, wishing to enter a more dangerous or unstable life path but not necessarily having the courage to do so. He risks being exploited by others due to the influence of Nikul’s compliant nature, and Ybis’ presence could either exacerbate this by Frederik over working to prove his worth, or mitigate it by having the courage to assert boundaries. This could change as he grows older. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ V Celestial Body Aspect Celestial Body ↯ Ybis △ Trine ⥾ Druka ⥾ Druka △ Trine ⥔ Tova ☽ Moon □ Square ⥔ Tova ↯ Ybis □ Square ☽ Moon ⥾ Druka ☍ Opposition ☽ Moon ↯ Ybis ☍ Opposition ⥔ Tova ⥾ Druka ☍ Opposition ☉ Sun WHEN THE CELESTIAL BODIES ARE charted, there are aspects that can be drawn between them, each of which denotes certain relationships and potential challenges. For example, a trine indicates ease, flow, and natural talent. A square, on the other hand, denotes tension, challenges, and conflict. There is friction that forces growth through effort and confrontation of obstacles. And opposition can either represent tension between opposing forces or a push-pull dynamic that creates balance and compromise. TRINES There were two main trines noted in Frederik’s chart, between Ybis and Druka and Druka and Tova. The Ybis-Druka trine suggests a harmonious flow of energy between career ambitions and philosophical beliefs. Frederik is likely to align his life path with the deeper wisdom afforded to him by his belief system. Because of this, he is likely to integrate philosophy into his work, pursuing meaningful goals with emotional intelligence. Success will come naturally when he pairs his drive for achievement with his deeper held values, but will be severely limited if these do not overlap. The Druka-Tova trine, on the other hand, represents a natural flow between his philosophy and his approach to family. His beliefs will naturally influence his communication style with his family and close friends, but this could also lead to him preaching to others who do not necessarily wish to be preached to. He is likely to have meaningful conversations that inspire growth rather than focusing on idle small talk. SQUARES Two squares made themselves known in Frederik’s chart. Firstly, between the Moon (the celestial body, not the constellation) and Tova. We have already discussed how the Moon represents emotions, instincts, and subconscious needs. It governs how we feel nurtured, safe, and emotionally fulfilled. Meanwhile, Tova is associated with prosperity, luck, and growth. The Moon is inner facing whereas Tova is outward facing, focusing on material success. The Moon and Tova being in a square therefore indicates tension between Frederik’s emotional needs and the drive for prosperity or external success. We have already seen that wealth is something that is likely to be deeply tied with his emotional wellbeing. This suggests that, while wealth and prosperity is linked with his emotions, he could struggle with balancing personal fulfillment in other areas of his life with this expectation of achievement, likely coming from his close friends and family. Another square is between the Moon and Ybis. This suggests an internal struggle between courageously asserting himself in his career and fear of disrupting close relationships. Overcoming this tension would require Frederik developing emotional resilience so that he can align his actions with his authentic emotional needs rather than external pressures. OPPOSITION The three main oppositions in Frederik’s chart were the Druka-Moon, Druka-Sun, and Ybis-Tova oppositions. An opposition represents tension, but it can also symbolise balance. For example, a Druka-Sun opposition suggests a significant tension between Frederik’s core identity and the energy of wisdom, innovation, and intuition. There could be a struggle between the conscious self and deeper held wisdom, potentially leading to indecision or self doubt. This becomes more pronounced if Frederik’s philosophy were to be challenged by his desire and need to amass material wealth or vice versa. He might have innovative ideas but find himself unable to pursue them or integrate them into his core identity and life path. The Druka-Moon opposition is more complex in the sense that there is an internal struggle between conscious desires and subconscious needs, amplified by Druka’s intellectual and philosophical focus. There is potentially friction between logic-driven thinking and emotionally driven instincts. Frederik may overanalyse his feelings instead of feeling them, or suppress intuition to prioritise practicality. He will need to work hard to honour his emotional needs. Many lunar oppositions result in individuals seeking partners who can balance them; if Frederik leans into his rational side, he may seek a partnership with a highly emotional person, or if he pursues his emotional side, he may seek someone grounded in practicality (perhaps someone with a strong alignment with earth and fixed signs and succedent houses). There is also the possibility that this position represents conflicting influences from Frederik’s parents or upbringing. However, the influence of Pisktro the Sea and her mutable water energy softens the opposition, meaning Frederik should be able to navigate these tensions with grace and composure. Finally, the Ybis-Tova opposition represents a significant tension between the energies of courage, action, and drive flowing from Ybis and the energies of prosperity, luck, and growth flowing from Tova. Frederik is likely to experience conflict between taking immediate, bold action and waiting for or recognising fortunate circumstances. This will likely manifest itself as being unable to balance assertiveness with patience. Frederik may struggle to decide when to push forward and when to let things unfold naturally. With Ybis living in the House of Vocation and Tova being in the House of Kin, this could also represent a struggle between pursuing ambitious career goals and maintaining harmonious personal relationships. ⌯──────────────────────◃⟐▹──────────────────────⌯ Her Ladyship, ERIKA KORTREVICH,

I also don't think recruiting off server is a problem in and of itself. Imo it becomes a problem when the off server recruiting is specifically for war. Because war on LOTC is pvp, players who join specifically for war are joining for pvp, not for RP. So while some may have stuck around after the fact, there are plenty more who don't. If there are people you meet on a pvp/factions server who you think would genuinely enjoy RP, by all means invite them along! It just speaks to bad intentions when these people are only invited at the inception of a conflict, and that this recruiting is done en masse, quantity over quality. I don't want to back and forth in forum replies anymore, so if you did want to talk about this further my discord dms are open :) If not, we can just settle on having a fundamental difference of opinion, which is also okay

A big part of the recent wave of metaplay bans was mass recruiting pvpers from other servers and writing their whitelist applications for them. This very clearly violates the spirit of lotc as a roleplay server and overall dilutes the quality of storytelling. It's also just bad sportsmanship. I do sympathise with having to advocate for new players on the very chaotic day-of, but I think if you keep good records of when the player joined, where they joined from, and a brief description of their RP to date, this "case by case" basis thing they're talking about shouldn't be too difficult to pass. What will make it difficult is if your guy joined from xyz pvp server the week before and can barely string a coherent sentence together. In which case, them not getting through the filter means it's working as intended

It's pretty obviously been upped to make it more difficult to harvest people from factions/pvp servers. If it's a genuine noob I'm sure it'll be fine

As news of her nephew's birth reached her, Erika stood upon the walls of Emsgrad with her astrolable and ephemeris tables and charted the night sky at the exact moment of Frederik Otto's birth. The first natal chart of her creation, using the method she had developed during those long, grieving months in Ba'as. As she carefully sketched the aspects and positions of celestial bodies, she smiled faintly to herself. This boy had great things in store for him and for their House.

Hundreds of candles sent a smoky haze to the ceiling of the basilica. The Basilica of Saint Joren and the Broken Chains. The King of Edel, kept in iron shackles by his own brother for years until he was finally freed. His wife, too, Saint Tara of Paradisus, imprisoned and chained but never wavering in her faith. It came that Joren Son of Horen found a wife of virtue and dignity… Would Erika warm the halls of the Kastell Lesanov as Tara had warmed the halls of Joren’s keep with her kindness? Did her destiny even lie in those towering red walls? I would have your duties play to your many, endearing talents, Karl said. The library, her ballroom; alchemical knowledge, her throne. I truly do believe you have a brilliant mind, Eri. I would be sad to see your mind and creativity captured by the stressors of queenhood. “Eri?” Primrose’s soft voice broke her from her reverie. The candles sharpened into focus, no longer a single blaze of light but individual pillars, wax dripping in excruciatingly detailed rivulets. “What are you thinking about so deeply?” Something you once said to me. “Nothing.” Erika smiled weakly, running a hand down the front of her wedding gown. The intricate swirls and spirals picked out in diamonds and pearls scraped against her palm, rough, grounding her. “Only how you used to braid flowers into my hair when we were girls. How could we know that you would one day be fashioning my bridal crown?” Primrose laughed in that quiet, chiming way of hers, filled with endless joy. “We should have known from the petals. The petals never lie, you said. Do you remember?” Erika remembered. That day they cast the petals with Duncan Baruch, hers had floated on the surface of the pond, still and serene, symbolising stability, peace, and contentment. Happy to be exactly where she was, no more and no less. Despite Lord Duncan’s thoughtful gifts, bushels upon bushels of her favourite blue flowers, his easy smiles, the way his eyes lit up when she complimented his tartan… He was not her future, even if she could see it clear and sparkling in her mind’s eye as if through the facets of a pristine gem. Long days in Ayr where the River Dules split in twain, a modest garden by the water’s edge, the sounds of the Crothstadt a constant song in the background. And yet, her petals remained still, barely stirring even as the brook feeding into the pond cast ripples across its surface. Not like her second casting, when the petals clustered together even when the fierce current of the Lahy threatened to tear them apart. She would never forget her mother’s gasp, hands flying to cover her mouth. “What does it mean?” Princess Milena demanded. For a woman of Oracle blood, she put little stock in peasant divination, but to Erika and her mother, there could be no clearer augury. Her mother rallied herself, hands slowly lowering. “Floating together, the petals indicate a forthcoming union or the deepening of an existing relationship.” “I could have told you that without the petals.” Princess Milena scoffed, the rubies on her bracelet flashing in the evening light as she waved a dismissive hand. Still, her eyes, usually stormy and dour, gleamed with a rare happiness. “I have never seen him come alive as he does with you, child.” You would still have us pursue this bond we share even on the risk I might be unworthy of you and undeserving of something so pure? I am a hard man to love, even without the crown. Air and earth, the Wind and the Wanderer. No life without death, no freezing without burning, no agility without impediment. In all things, equivalent exchange. Even this. That was what she told him, that together they found balance. There was another she could have balanced, born under the sign of the Hero, the other air-aligned zodiac. The Duke of Vidaus. Dmitry. She had diagnosed him with an excess of yellow bile resulting in a choleric demeanour and prescribed a thorough leeching and regular doses of lavender-infused tea. Of course, as she grew older and more learned, she realised that what he truly needed was an emetic to induce vomiting and purge all the yellow bile from his system. Perhaps that would render him more phlegmatic and less angry all the time. His terrible smoking habit did not help. “All your teeth will fall out,” Erika clucked disapprovingly, nodding to the cigarette drooping from the duke’s lips. He pulled it away slowly, blowing out a long stream of smoke. Frowning down at it between his fingers, he sucked in a thoughtful breath through his teeth before flicking it onto the tavern floor and dashing it out with the heel of his boot. “And will you not age as well? You will lose your beauty.” He looked up at her, folding his arms across his chest. A broad chest, and strong, but his eyes were so flinty, the set to his mouth hard and cruel. “For your sake, and my own, I hope we end up with somebody who loves us for who we are.” Somehow, Erika’s feet carried her up the aisle. The long train of her wedding gown dragged behind, heavy from her shoulders. Primrose would have held it aloft, were it not for the matrimonial blade resting across her palms. Erika’s heart thudded, heavy and dull behind her ribcage, the rising rhythm of it pulsating through her ears, louder and louder. Gone were the subtle mutters of the crowd, the rustle of fabric as people shifted. There was only her and her racing heart. Loves us for who we are. She had lamented to Lady Manon, once, that Karl would never be able to love her wholly, because his first love would always be, should always be, the kingdom. Some may have thought the life of a king was that of rulership and glory, but it was really that of servitude. Karl was shackled as surely as Saint Joren had been. I do not want to hurt you but neither do I think I might be happy without you. How could Erika deny him his happiness? To deny him would be to deny herself. The first time he had smiled at her—truly smiled, not the bland, vacant twitch of courtly politeness—her breath had caught in her throat. Snatched from her, captivated by the way his entire face could change. His smile lightened the deep purple shadows under his eyes and brought warmth and levity to a usually serious expression. Karl the man smiled at her. King Karl the Fourth bore the weight of his crown with solemn grace. The crown, the armour, the rigid etiquette… All for appearances, though not with her. With her, he needn’t pretend. Closer, closer, the dais crept. She didn’t have Andrei with her, chaperoning her as he had countless times. After today, she would need no chaperone. He would be her brother, the Knight Paramount, protector of her body and life, not her honour. The basilica stood still and silent, drenched in gemdrop colour, sunlight streaming through the stained glass high above and casting softly shifting patterns across the back of Karl’s red cloak. A shaft of bright light glittered golden off his crown. The crown he had torn off his head to kiss her, so that she might see him, and only him. Erika smiled at the memory. A flush of heat rose to her face; she would surely be incandescent, glowing as if with inner light, such was the fierceness of her joy. Even the thin, shivering guilt at the sight of Irena vas Ruthern in the crowd couldn’t dim this sparkling in her chest. Irena wants to be Queen, Dima’s voice whispered at the back of her mind. You want to marry Karl. Erika didn’t believe that. If Irena had seen even a glimpse of the real Karl, she would be just as helpless as Erika. Helpless, but happy for it. I want for both of us to emerge from this without a broken heart. Sound returned in a sudden rush when she reached the altar, clamorous until the Patriarch’s voice cut through, clear and steady. “Light Everlasting; bear witness to your faithful gathered beneath your grace. Illumine Erika and Karl, for on this day they profess unto you and your flock. Grant them your audience; grant them your blessing. Amin.” Amin. Karl took her hands, his touch warm and familiar, the promise of forever shining in his eyes. So close, the scent of him enveloped her, a sharp, clean fragrance softened by the warmth of skin, and underneath it all, blood and damp earth. Rot. The decay spread quickly. His hands turned to brittle twigs in her grasp, the skin flaking away like dead leaves. His arms, his chest, his face. Once flush with life, his flesh paled and tightened. His cheeks hollowed, eyes sinking into darkening sockets. No, no… Taut and dry, his skin clung to the outline of his skull, cracking. Parched earth under a merciless sun. His form withered and wilted until he was naught but a skeleton draped in the remnants of his finery and then, with a sound like a mournful sigh, he crumbled completely. The crown slipped from his brow and struck the floor with a resonant clang. It rolled down the aisle, the metallic song of it horrifically cold and empty in the vastness of the basilica, coming to rest against Prince Joren’s boots. Erika stood alone at the altar, hands still outstretched, grasping at nothing but the cruel wisps of a future turned to ash. It took a moment to realise the high-pitched ringing in her ears was the echo of her screams. “Erika, Erika!” A firm hand shook her awake. The pressure around her neck and shoulders was not the weight of a wedding gown but the bed sheets strangling her. She threw them aside and bolted upright, gasping for air. The velvet darkness of her bedroom splintered around the striking of a match, her father’s face coming into flickering focus. When had his beard become so flecked with white? Her nightgown clung to sweat-drenched skin, a poor imitation of the pristine wedding dress. Familiar shapes loomed at the edges of the circle of candlelight—her vanity, the armoire, the ticking clock on the nightstand. Mockingly mundane. The phantom scent of decaying flowers lingered in her nostrils, even as the racing of her heart gradually slowed, its frantic rhythm giving way to a dull, aching throb. “It hurts,” she whispered. “I know, little heart.” I would not be able to stay composed if anything were ever to happen to you, and the kingdom needs me. It needs us. One of the last things Karl had ever said to her. How were either of them to know that it would be Erika who needed to cling to her composure? The kingdom would have to wait. With a sudden, violent motion, she lunged towards her vanity. Her fist connected with the mirror, the glass exploding out in a glittering cascade. The brief satisfaction abruptly gave way to a sharp, searing pain. Erika stared at her bloodied knuckles, watching with detached fascination as crimson droplets rolled down her wrist. Her father gently, but firmly, grasped her wrist before she could break anything else. He guided her to sit on the edge of the bed, struggling down to one knee in front of her with the help of his cane, as he had done when she was a little girl with scraped knees and tear-stained cheeks. With the carefulness of someone tending to a baby bird, he cradled her injured hand, examining the damage with a soft sigh through his nose. “You are forged from the same steel as the great queens of our House,” he said without looking up at her. “Your pain, this anguish you feel—it is not weakness, my heart. It is proof of your capacity to feel deeply, to love fiercely.” He looked up at her at last, reaching up to brush her tears with the back of his knuckle. “You are stronger than you know, stronger than any nightmare or heartache.” “I do not feel strong,” she said with a cracking whisper. “I feel like I am breaking.” Her father, her namesake, reached for the gold locket on her nightstand, its pendant wrought in the shape of a heart. Even in the dim light, the ruby at its centre flashed a deep red. He carefully pried it open with his fingernail, revealing the miniature painting of a white bull beneath an open night sky. “Dearest Erika, may your heart always be yours and free,” he read from the inner inscription. “My sister gave this to you.” Erika nodded. “For my Hauchmetvas.” Karl had given her an entire crate of herbs, knowing her love for alchemy and botany. Plucking a leaf from a stem of amberiddle, she had pinned it over his heart in a small, girlish token of her affection. He had worn it every day. “Your heart is still yours.” Her father clasped the locket around her neck, where it sat, comfortable and familiar, against her sternum, the metal still warm from his touch. “It will heal, just like your hand.” The pain in her knuckles bleated. The skin was split, leaking blood, but it was a sweet pain. Nothing like the gaping chasm in her ribcage. Was this the Alkahest? Disassembling, separation. Collapse. The breaking of her flesh, bliss, her nerves burning up, a delicacy. The first step towards the Azoth, if she could ever put herself back together again. “The alchemical lens is supposed to be our way of understanding the world and our place in it. Isn’t everything a reagent, to be analysed, extracted, and made anew? Even ourselves?” “No, my darling. Everything is the fragmentary touches of God, to be loved, understood, and nurtured. If you experience the world with only your head, you will not experience it at all.” “But experiencing everything with your heart… That will just lead to hurt, won’t it?” “It will just lead to hurt. It will just lead to joy. It will just lead to everything in between.”

Princess Milena. A force of nature, as everpresent and inevitable as the sun and moon and storms. A monolith. Immoveable, unshakeable, eternal. It was easy for Erika to forget that she was mortal. Just a woman. A formidable woman, but one not impervious to grief, to illness, and to death. So close on the heels of Karl’s demise, Erika heard the news and felt only a strange numbness. This was a loss that would not find her at first, that would settle over her shoulders like fresh snowfall but she would not feel the biting sting of the cold. Not yet. Erika had learned much from the Princess-Palatine during the years of her wardship, but one conversation caught in her mind, and she ruminated on it during the long nights in Ba’as in between her calculation of the stars. “Sit.” Erika dutifully followed after the Lady Palatine, imitating her by picking up her skirts before sitting on the stone garden bench, smoothing down her skirts so that they fell just so, their floral embroidery intricate and spotless. A gift from the woman beside her. “Tell me of your experience,” Princess Milena went on. “With the event of the King’s passing.” A different time, a different king. Karl’s father, King Marius. “It was horrible, to hear the cries of Princess Isabel. I felt like an intruder. It’s easy to forget that the castle is not just the castle… It’s their home. The only one they've ever known.” “Such is the cost of royalty, child. Our lives are not ever private… the least of any other.” Erika nodded her understanding, mute and solemn. There was nothing she could say, so she lapsed into silence and ran her fingertips over the raised embroidery of blooms and leaves and summer fruits. Princess Milena only watched her. “…Does it make you fear the prospect of a royal life?” Erika’s head snapped towards the princess then, so quickly she cricked her neck. “Royal life, Your Highness? I am your ward, but am not royal, even if I do live in the castle.” “But you could be, under the right circumstances.” “Marriage,” Erika said simply, folding her hands in her lap and staring across at the rose gardens off to her right. Averting her gaze from the Lady Palatine’s and looking instead into the stone eye of Queen Viktoria of Metterden. “To a prince, like you did.” Prince Sigmar, perhaps. The Lady Palatine’s son, and one of Erika’s closest friends. Perhaps her only friend, aside from Dima. “Or a king,” Princess Milena said quietly. That had been the beginning. Years of careful prodding, weaving the threads of fate that the princess had first seen when Erika walked in on her conversation with the Grand Lady. A seating arrangement here, a word there, a sprinkling of suggestions and pointed looks. Many would view her as a plotter, a schemer of vast proportions, pulling the strings from her palatial tower, dragging two unwilling souls together. It was not until much later that Erika came to realise the unseen forces Princess Milena had been acting upon. That she and Karl brought peace and balance to one another, and that the Lady Palatine sought only what was best for the kingdom, as the golden bulava of her office bid her to do. Yet even her careful calculations could not waylay fate or heal Karl of his childhood illness. What a cruel jape. There were not enough statues or paintings in the world that could do the late Princess Milena justice, so Erika set to work honouring her the only way she know how. With her pen.

You treat death like it is evil; that his fate is a punishment. Death is transition. His better remain untainted by foolishness. The silvered tips of Zofiya’s hair blew around her face, her dark, stormy eyes—the same as her mother’s—fixed on Erika, stern and unblinking. Wind creaked through the broken spires of the Hexicanum at Erika’s back. It is easy for you to say. For you and those of your oracle blood, death is not an ending. One day, if you ever fall in love, you will be just as helpless. Just as prone to foolishness, and I will be there, not to scorn you, but to tell you I understand. That very night she had sailed for Ba’as. If she could not stymie Karl’s fate, the least she could do was be there when he… When he… By the time her ship finally arrived, he was already gone. — Erika lay on her back in an open field, the air balmy and filled with the spicy-sweet scent of foreign flowers. It reminded her of the red flower Karl had gifted her, the one from Hyspia with long, tube-like petals and the subtle scent of cedarwood. The night sky rotated above her but she barely saw the constellations, barely remembered their names. Was he up there among those stars? In the Noendeu, the space between the realms of the ancient gods? Or in the Second Sky, the Byzenbor, the Holy Realm of the Virtuous? She had hoped, one day, to lie on her back in the terrace garden where they often spoke and tell him of the constellations she loved so dearly, all of their names and their meanings. To do the same with their children, pointing out the Wind and the Wanderer. No doubt on the mainland they would be making funeral arrangements, planning for the coronation… A stabbing pain went through her stomach. Guilt. All would fall upon Nadya and Joren’s shoulders now, but instead of being there with them, instead of giving comfort to Princess Milena who would no doubt be sick with grief, Erika was only capable of lying in this field in a distant land staring at the stars. To return to New Valdev and see shadows of Karl in all the forever-empty places he had once walked would be nothing less than torture. Better to lie here and hope the Rhenyari earth swallowed her whole. Through the darkness of the infinite void, four twinkling lights began to form. Faint at first, imaginary, until they blazed red and blue and yellow, a strong asterism pointing for her distant homeland. The brightest of them all warmed Erika’s skin with a strange prickling of yellow-gold starlight, like the sun shining through a chip of citrine. Since the regency ended, I am a colder sort of person. I find the kindness I used to offer freely is less forthcoming and I am increasingly cynical. I do not want to subject you to that if I continue to grow… Stony-hearted. I could not hurt you like that. Karolus, she would call it. One star for each King Karl of Hanseti-Ruska, the brightest and warmest reserved for Karl the Fourth. Karoli Quartus. Never cold, nor stony-hearted. One day, she would follow him home to Haense. One day. For now, she would stare up at the stars, studying and charting them, lamenting a life and love that could have been.

Even in the throes of worry and uncertainty, Erika could take the time to appreciate all that her parents had done for her, her siblings, and their great and venerable house. The Great was a fitting moniker for them both. All the Kortrevich siblings had much to live up to, even if all their parents had ever wanted for them was for them to be happy.

Once upon a time, Erika had diagnosed Dmitry with an excess of yellow bile. This resulted in a choleric demeanour, so she prescribed a thorough leeching and regular doses of lavender-infused tea. Of course, as she grew older and more learned, she realised that what he truly needed was an emetic to induce vomiting and purge all the yellow bile from his system. Perhaps that would render him more phlegmatic and less angry all the time. His terrible smoking habit did not help. “All your teeth will fall out,” Erika clucked disapprovingly, nodding to the cigarette drooping from the duke’s lips. He pulled it away slowly, blowing out a long stream of smoke. Frowning down at it between his fingers, he sucked in a thoughtful breath through his teeth before flicking it onto the tavern floor and dashing it out with the heel of his boot. “And will you not age as well? You will lose your beauty.” He looked up at her, folding his arms across his chest. A broad chest, and strong, but his eyes were so flinty, the set to his mouth hard and cruel. “For your sake, and my own, I hope we end up with somebody who loves us for who we are.” Had he ever found someone to love him as he was, or did he die angry and bitter at the softhearted people who had never had to endure the harshness of the world? Erika gazed up at the snow blowing white off the mountains behind Morteskvan. Soft and sheltered as she was, she was the one still alive to feel the wind's chill.

THE A HAESENI PERSPECTIVE PUBLISHED BY ERIKA KORTREVICH 569 E.S. THE PETRAN CIVIL WAR, sometimes pejoratively called the Cuckold’s War due to the affair between Archduchess Renilde I and Prince Marius Audemar of Haense, was a year-long internal conflict in the Commonwealth of the Petra. The Archduke-Consort, Constanz Novellen, launched a coup d’état against his sovereign wife and successfully seized the capital city of Valfleur with the support of the Sons of Petra Resistance Movement. After a full year of occupation and martial law, the Partisan Loyalists on the side of Renilde I reclaimed Valfleur and put an end to the conflict. This period of history is particularly compelling for several reasons. Unlike prior civil conflicts such as the War of the Two Emperors, Brothers’ War, Acre Rebellion, or Savoyard Succession Crisis—each resulting in catastrophic changes to their nations—the Commonwealth remained intact, showcasing the resilience of its political structure. The strength of the Petran Constitution played a crucial role in this stability, underlining its importance in preserving order during times of turmoil. Additionally, the war highlighted the power dynamics between a female sovereign and her consort, especially when contrasted with other female monarchs like Anne I, Holy Orenian Empress, and Queen Johanna I of Savoy whose spouses were elevated to equal regnal status upon marriage. Lastly, the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska’s involvement in this foreign civil war stands out, as no other external powers intervened—an unusual scenario given Constanz’s origins as a Prince of Balian, which might have suggested potential support from that Kingdom. I THE Archduke Constanz shortly after his marriage. CONSTANZ ANTON NOVELLEN, Archduke-Consort of the Petra, was born as Prince Constantine Anthony in 419 E.S. to John I, King of Balian, and Queen Gwyneth of Karosgrad. Although a fourthborn child and secondborn son, he was the leader of a strong faction during his father’s reign, a faction that rejected the neo-Akritian cultural direction John I had taken upon the formation of the Grand Duchy of Balian. THE FORMATION OF BALIAN To understand Empire-descended states such as the Kingdom of Balian, we must first understand how the Holy Orenian Empire met its end, and to understand this, we must know the impact of the Brother’s War of 421 E.S. This conflict was between Emperor Peter IV and King Frederick I over the succession of the Holy Orenian Empire. Peter IV, supported by the Imperialists, claimed his right of succession by being the firstborn son of Philip III and Anastasia I. Frederick I, though a younger son, claimed to have been the last to see his parents alive. On their deathbeds, Frederick I asserted that the Emperor and Empress bade him to take the throne and formally dissolve the Empire in favour of the Kingdom of Oren. His supporting faction was known as the Royalists.1 The Brothers’ War was a short but violent civil war ending in Royalist victory when Frederick I stormed the capital of New Providence. Peter IV and his wife, Empress Lucia of Azor, were publicly executed in the throne room of the Aster Palace. Prince John Casimir, brother to Philip III, supported the Imperialist faction during the Brothers’ War. He famously duelled Frederick I during the Battle for New Providence but was severely wounded.2 Bleeding and broken, the battle all but lost, Prince John fled the city with a handful of surviving soldiers. They travelled south, as far from the lands of the now-Kingdom of Oren as they could, coming to settle in the southern deserts of Almaris, separated from the main continent by a narrow sea. It was there that Prince John founded the Grand Duchy of Balian. Named for Saint Lothar of Balian, it had been the Star of Saint Lothar that led Prince John to the lifesaving natural spring atop the Mont Monterosa, the spot where he and his wife would later construct the city of Atrus.3 Rather than wholly adopting the Petrine identity of the fallen Empire, Prince John had the opportunity to forge a new identity, one influenced by his own personal interests, the indigenous Qalasheen, and the Rhenyari traders who came by ship to the seaside city of Atrus. Prince John had a fascination with Akritian culture—an ancient culture from the island of Akritos that had more modern roots in the Archduchy of Lorraine (later the Kingdom of Lotharingia). He therefore adopted many Akritian customs, including style of dress and stargazing traditions. He reigned as Grand Duke of Balian for twenty years before adopting the title of King of Balian in 441 E.S.4 AS A PRINCE OF BALIAN Two factions began to form in the latter half of John I’s reign, dividing support between his two sons, the Princes Alexander and Constantine. Prince Alexander, as the heir, would follow in his father’s footsteps of neo-Akritian customs, while Prince Constantine rejected what he perceived to be an emulation of an archaic civilisation with no real connections to the Balian people beyond his father’s fascination with it.5 Perhaps as a way to put an end to these squabbles, and ensure that Balian would follow in the culture he had designed rather than be swayed by the faction of Prince Constantine, John I agreed to an arranged marriage between Prince Constantine and the young Archduchess of the Petra, Renilde I.6 An old map of the Holy Orenian Empire. When Prince Constantine departed north into the lands of the old country to marry, he was accompanied by many bureaucrats and government minds who had served in the Empire of Oren before its collapse. The quality of Balian’s leadership suffered in the wake of this exodus, as did the nation as a whole. Under the reign of Alexander I, Prince Constantine’s brother, Balian pursued the Alexandrine Reforms (known to the Balianese as the Renovatio).7 This was spurred in part by the discovery of the Stones of Saint Lothar, a series of ancient tablets detailing the ancient and extinct Balthalite civilisation, which Balian then began to emulate, deeming itself a modern-day successor. The Renovatio helped to stabilise and revitalise the nation, which had suffered from the departure of Prince Constantine with his retinue of political minds. There was also a push to adopt more of the Rhenyari culture due to increased diplomatic ties with the distant realm of Ba’as, solidified by a union between Prince Hadrian, the heir to Balian, and Princess Andromeda of Ba’as. They reigned side by side as Adrian I and Queen Andromeda after Alexander I’s death in 474 E.S. 1] HL Justinian Nafis and HL Adolphus Gloriana, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume X; The Song of the Furnestocks, 452 E.S. 2] HL Justinian Nafis and HL Adolphus Gloriana, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume XI; The Plight of the Novellens, 457 E.S. 3] HL Luis Francesc Martin and HL Rupert Napier, The Balianese: The Heartlanders of the Terra del Sur, 468 E.S. 4] HL Casimir Vilac, The Monarchs of Balian, first published 525 E.S. 5] HL Luis Francesc Martin and HL Rupert Napier, The Balianese: The Heartlanders of the Terra del Sur, 468 E.S. 6] HRH Sibyl Novellen, Princess of Balian, The History of the Kingdom of Balian, 493 E.S. 7] HE Sarson Halgrim, Principal Secretary of the Kingdom of Balian, Renovatio, 459 E.S. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ II THE BETWEEN RENILDE AND CONSTANZ THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN RENILDE I, ARCHDUCHESS OF THE PETRA, and Prince Constantine of Balian was a significant political union orchestrated by Dame Catherine of Furnestock, the Regent and Chancellor of the Petra. While King John I of Balian may have agreed to the marriage, it was Dame Catherine who played the pivotal role in arranging it. Dame Catherine was the firstborn child of Philip III and Anastasia I, making her the Princess Imperial of the Holy Orenian Empire and the elder sister of Peter IV, Holy Orenian Emperor, and Frederick I, King of Oren. She was one of the founders of the Commonwealth alongside Archduke Paul I and a signatory to the Petran Constitution.8 Following the untimely death of Archduke Paul I, Dame Catherine was called out of retirement to serve as Regent to his young daughter, Renilde.9 She worked tirelessly to cement the union between Renilde and Prince Constantine because, to her, this marriage was not merely a political manoeuvre but held deeper spiritual significance. Her motivation for arranging this marriage stemmed from a profound spiritual experience. Dame Catherine claimed to have been visited by Saint Julia in a vision many years before.10 This vision, she believed, tasked her with the holy mission of reuniting her family through the unification of the Novellen lines from both the Kingdom of Oren and the Kingdom of Balian. Although the Kingdom of Oren had since fallen due to the Harvest Revolution (also known as the Acre Rebellion),11 this marriage provided an opportunity to reconcile the disparate bloodlines. Dame Catherine viewed the union as a means to end the cycle of destruction that had plagued the history of House Novellen. The union was also a cornerstone of the preparations Dame Catherine made as regent in order for Renilde to start her reign as Archduchess on steady footing.12 For King John I, this marriage represented a strong alliance with the new Archduchy of Petra.13 By having his son marry Renilde I, he sought to solidify the bond between their nations. This political strategy aligned with Dame Catherine’s more personal motivations, and the pair were married in 448 E.S. Even in the formal invitations to the wedding, the marriage was explicitly matrilineal, meaning any children born of their union would belong to their mother’s dynasty; all power Constanz had as Archduke-Consort derived from his sovereign wife.14 The very same year of their marriage, Archduke Constanz began signing international pacts on behalf of the Commonwealth alongside Renilde I. This suggests a high degree of involvement in international and diplomatic affairs for the Petra, considering there are at least eight treaties, trade agreements, and pacts bearing the Archduke-Consort’s signature.15-22 He was also involved in many domestic matters including issuing edicts for mayoral elections,23 the formation of the Chancellery,24 and the creation of an exports company.25 It was also during those early years that the Sons of Petra—a military group that famously aligned itself with Constanz during the Civil War—was formed. They held a feast in 449 E.S. to celebrate the Archducal wedding.26 A young Archduchess Renilde I, attended by her sister, Charlotte, and her ladies-in-waiting. According to an exclusive interview with Queen-Emeritus Renilde I, she described her marriage with Archduke Constanz in those early years as more of an acquaintanceship. He had been much older when they wed, and would “act as though he was humouring me when I would tend to the matters of the realm. As if he was in charge, and he was simply letting me have my little dream.” It is the Queen-Emeritus’ belief that Archduke Constanz was already solidifying power for himself in the earliest years of their marriage, and that a coup d’état was an inevitability. REBUKE OF THE HOLY MOTHER CHURCH Indeed, the Archduke-Consort had already embroiled himself in a matter of some controversy two years before the Civil War broke out, overstepping the bounds of his power as consort. Against the Archduchess’ wishes, he committed the Commonwealth to a series of demands against the Church for the attempted assassination of Prince Frederick II of Sedan.27 These demands included the redrawing and creation of dioceses, the introduction of secular investiture whereby Canonist Princes would be allowed to appoint their realm’s Primate Bishop of Archbishop, a requirement that the Holy Inquisition seek permission from Canonist Princes before using force in their lands, and the immediate dismissal of Viktor Cardinal Nescia, who had led the attack on Sedan. In a later petition to venerate King Charles I of Aaun and King Alexander I of Balian, the Archduke-Consort’s involvement was described thusly: “The ink had barely dried on the traitorous document as had war erupted in [the] Petra. Constanz, the Archduke of [the] Petra, was immediately outed as a subversive figure, and revealed to have been mongering for war against nations and institutions (such as the Church) which ought to have been her friends. The Archduchess rebuked him, begged God for forgiveness, and crushed that degenerate wormtongue in holy combat.”28 The rebuke mentioned in this missive came in the form of a statement from Renilde I after the Archduke-Consort had launched his coup d’état, where she claimed that Constanz had overreached his station by inciting hostile relations against fellow Canonist Princes as well as opposing the Church and making demands for unfathomable privileges.29 We turn, now, to the inciting incident of the coup d’état that devolved into civil war. 8] The Riverbook, Chapter I: The Republic’s Founders, 481 E.S. 9] HG Renilde I, Archduchess of the Petra, and HE Dame Catherine of Furnestock, Princess-Regent of the Petra, A Declaration of Succession and Regency, 447 E.S. 10] HL Elizabeth Brae, Lady of Du Loc, President of the Northern Geographical Society, On the Covenant of Casica, 522 E.S. 11] HL Justinian Nafis and HL Adolphus Gloriana, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume XII; The Fall of Oren & Epilogue, 464 E.S. 12] HRH Paul Alexander of the Petra, Prince of Valfleur, Centennial de le Petrére, 508 E.S. 13] HRH Sibyl Novellen, Princess of Balian, The History of the Kingdom of Balian, 493 E.S. 14] HG Renilde I, Archduchess of the Petra, and HIH Constantine Anton Novellen, Prince of Balian, The Laurel Union, 448 E.S. 15] The Treaty of Atrus, 448 E.S. 16] The Treaty of Spilt Blood, 451 E.S. 17] The Petrine-Dwarven Free Trade Agreement, 451 E.S. 18] The Petran-Urguani Concordat, 458 E.S. 19] The Song of the River, 459 E.S. 20] A River of Stars, 461 E.S. 21] In the Mountain the River Forms, 461 E.S. 22] The Atrus Covenant, 461 E.S. 23] HG Renilde I, Archduchess of the Petra, and HG Constanz Anton, Archduke-Consort of the Petra, The First Mayoral Election of Valfleur, 450 E.S. 24] Louis Valencour d’Azor, Lord Chancellor of the Petra, The Azor Administration, 451 E.S. 25] The Petran Export Company, 452 E.S. 26] Lambert Lawrence, Commander of the Sons of Petra, and Laurens Henri Halcourt d'Artois, Sergeant of the Sons of Petra, The Feast of New Beginnings, 449 E.S. 27] HSH Frederick II, Prince of Sedan, and others, The Blood of the Goat, 460 E.S. 28] Anonymous, To Recognise the Standard Bearers of Canonism, 478 E.S. 29] HG Renilde I, Archduchess of the Petra, A Cuckold’s Ire, 462 E.S. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ III RENILDE’S ARCHDUKE PAUL I HAD BEEN CLOSE FRIENDS WITH King Karl III of Hanseti-Ruska, meaning that Renilde grew up alongside the princes Georg and Marius. After Karl III passed away and Georg I ascended the throne, it was Prince Marius who would frequently visit the city of Valfleur to attend the Petran Court, as a means to continue fostering the relationship between Hanseti-Ruska and the Commonwealth. His visits became more frequent, no longer coinciding with sessions of court but rather to enjoy the company of the Archduchess. It is during these visits that the romance between Renilde I and Prince Marius blossomed, and continued in secret for close to a decade. They exchanged a number of letters in their times apart and met covertly whenever they could. Their love for one another was true, and they even intended to marry, but first, Renilde I had to end her marriage to Archduke Constanz. A few short weeks before she could carry out her plan to seek a dissolution of her marriage, a man loyal to the Archduke-Consort broke into the Archduchess’ writing desk and discovered the letters from Prince Marius. War was declared against her the next day. Renilde I engaged in a game of chess against one of her ladies, observed by Prince Marius of Haense. There is no doubt that Renilde I committed the sin of adultery—a sin she has since confessed to and done penance for. Yet the immediate declaration of war speaks to the suspicions that the Archduke-Consort had already been intending to take power for himself, and that this revelation was merely a convenient excuse for him to do so. We need only look to the pages of history to realise that never before had a sovereign’s nation been taken from them due to infidelity. Male rulers do not face the same level of scrutiny or consequences for their behaviour. While a man’s infidelities might be gossiped about, as they were for Emperor Peter III and King Andrik III,30 they rarely form the basis for challenging his right to rule or his capabilities as a leader. Instead, evaluations of male leaders tend to focus on their political decisions and military prowess. This disparity reflects deeply ingrained societal biases that have not shifted even with historical movements like the Rosemoor Convention and Karenina Accord. Women in power are held to impossibly high moral standards, with any perceived transgression used as evidence of their unsuitability for leadership. Many of the condemnations of Renilde I stemmed from her infidelity, not her ability to lead, even extending to claims that she had flirted with a dwarf while visiting the Grand Kingdom of Urguan for diplomacy.31 Parallels can be drawn with the slander and mockery of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Aldersberg, with allegations that she had become the mistress of the Grand King of Urguan.32 For women in power, their personal lives and conduct become targets for criticism. Rumours, regardless of their veracity, are used to paint women as morally corrupt and unfit to rule. Implying affairs with dwarves adds an element of the grotesque, further attempting to demean and ridicule these women. It is also offensive to dwarfkind, who are longtime and staunch allies of Hanseti-Ruska. The use of slander as a political tool reveals a persistent undercurrent of misogyny. By focusing on alleged affairs or other misconduct rather than their actual capabilities or accomplishments, these tactics serve to reduce powerful women to their private lives, denying them the same consideration of their leadership qualities that men receive. 30] Father Blackwater, On Infidelity, 462 E.S. 31] Garedyn the Green, High Prophet of The Brathmordakin, High Chief of Hefrumm, Grand Steward of the Grand Kingdom of Urguan, The Cuckory Continues, 462 E.S. 32] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Empress Who Never Was: The Legacy of Princess Charlotte of Aldersberg, 558 E.S. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ IV SONS OF PETRA The city of Valfleur and the River Petra. ARCHDUKE CONSTANZ’S BEHAVIOUR REFLECTS the pattern of an ambitious man seeking to assert dominance and power through his marriage to a ruling woman. By consistently referring to himself as the “Archduke” rather than “Archduke-Consort,” Constanz attempted to elevate his status and reduce Renilde’s position as the true ruler of the Petra. This specific linguistic choice reveals his desire to be seen as an equal or even superior authority figure. It also mirrors his earlier ambitions in Balian, where he had sought to implement his own vision of governance. The Commonwealth of the Petra presented him with a second chance to realise his imperialistic goals in the lands of the old country and reshape the political landscape according to his own ideals and that of his Imperial bureaucrat advisors, disregarding the established traditions and constitutional framework of the Petra. No doubt Constanz assumed the unions between Anne I and Joseph II of Oren and Johanna I and Georg I of Sutica set a precedent. However, the decision to elevate Joseph Clement de Sarkozy and Georg Barclay to equal regnal status alongside their respective wives hinged on a complex array of factors that were simply not present in his marriage to Renilde I. While Anne I and Johanna I undoubtedly possessed the dynastic claims through their bloodlines, their husbands brought unique strengths and resources to the table that were deemed essential for effective governance and stability of the Holy Orenian Empire and throne of Sutica respectively. In the case of Anne I and Joseph II, their deep affection and partnership played a significant role, with most decisions made with the input of the other.33 Joseph II was a scholar with exceptional skills in statecraft and policy, having benefited from the tutelage of the previous Lord Protector of Oren, his father, Adrian de Sarkozy. Though not a military man, his wisdom allowed him to delegate effectively to competent generals. Beyond these personal attributes, Joseph was appointed the Duke of Adria and used his oratory skills to rise in station. These qualifications made him a wise choice of co-monarch alongside Anne I. The elevation of Joseph II was a testament to a new age of the Empire, where competency and partnership were valued alongside dynastic lineage, especially considering the years of instability in the wake of the War of Two Emperors and the subsequent periods of unrest and interregnum. The elevation of Georg I alongside Johanna I was driven by strategic considerations. While Johanna I, as the daughter of King Corwin I, held the bloodline claim to the throne of Sutica, the nation had to be reclaimed from the hands of pagans before she could assume the throne. The success of the Canonist Reclamation of 374 E.S. was largely due to the resources and support provided by House Barclay, to which Georg I was born.34 The decision to crown Georg I as co-ruler, therefore, acknowledged his crucial contribution to restoring Canonist rule. In contrast, Constanz came to the Petra to wed an Archduchess who already held her titles and ruled over a stable nation. There were no extenuating circumstances which suggested he should share equal status with his wife. THE COUP D’ÉTAT Upon hearing word of his wife’s infidelity, the Archduke-Consort acted quickly. While Renilde I was in Karosgrad on a diplomatic visit, the Sons of Petra seized the city of Valfleur and declared martial law. This left the Archduchess at the borders of her own realm, calling her loyal commanders to her side, securing the services of mercenary companies, and convincing King Georg I of Haense to commit the Brotherhood of Saint Karl to her cause. As news of the affair spread, a wave of denunciations swept through the Commonwealth of Petra. One particularly scathing declaration branded the Archduchess a parasite, asserting that the people of the Petra held unwavering loyalty to Archduke Constanz.35 This missive claimed that the city had been desolate during the reign of Renilde I, emphasising that the citizens had chosen Constanz as their rightful ruler, even though he was but a consort. Lord Albert, the eldest son of Renilde I and Constanz, issued his own statement. He implored his mother to surrender and called upon the people of the Petra to rally behind his father, the Archduke-Consort.36 These declarations further intensified an already volatile situation, deepening the rift between the Loyalist Partisans and the Sons of Petra Resistance Movement as battle lines began to be drawn. For her part, Renilde I responded to the allegations and her husband’s coup.37 She accused Constanz of attempting to overthrow her rule and fabricating allegations of infidelity, as well as asserting that his actions threatened the republican traditions of the Petra as established by her father, Archduke Paul I. In particular, the recognised line of succession was limited to those born of the blood of Paul I, who carried the name of his House.38 Invoking her constitutional rights, Renilde I dismissed Constanz as the Archduke-Consort and exiled him from the Petra. While this document was well propagated, it was not heeded. Constanz continued his occupation, even gaining the support of the Petra Post, which published articles urging the Petran people to turn against the Archduchess and provide materials, weapons, and armour for the war effort.39 One of the earliest casualties of the Civil War was Lady Bianka Jazlowiecki. She was executed by men under the Archduke-Consort’s banner, an event which was investigated by Father Blackwater.40 He reached the conclusion that Lady Bianka had been a non-combatant supporter of Renilde I, and that the claims that she was a practitioner of dark magic were both untrue and not the leading motive for her murder.41 Lady Bianka, who was the Lady Chamberlain of the Commonwealth, had been married to Lord Louis d’Azor, the Chancellor, some four years before her death.42 Lord Louis supported Archduke Constanz during the Civil War and, according to his own mother in a writ of disownment, allowed the gruesome murder of his wife.43 At the conclusion of the war, he was stripped of his title as heir and exiled from the Commonwealth. THE BATTLE FOR CASTLE MOERE A Knightly Tribunal was called so that the knights of the Petrine Laurel could bring Renilde I to trial for her adultery.44 Rather than attend in person, she sent forth Sir Paul Montalt, the leader of her Loyalist forces. Sir Paul had served as a general within the Petrine army during the reign of her father and had been the head of her own household guard before being exiled in the power struggles that followed the death of Grand Master Thomas of Balamena.45 He nevertheless returned from abroad to lead the Archduchess’ armies, leading a raiding party that stormed Castle Moere during the tribunal. It was there that Sir Arthur de Lyons, Knight Paramount of the Petrine Laurel, was slain, allegedly by Azdrazi in the service of Renilde I.46 Constanz was captured and brought to Courteis Hale for peace talks, which will be discussed in more detail in the next section. The attack on Castle Moere was met with outrage by the Petran people who stood in support of Constanz. There were calls for Renilde I to be excommunicated by the Church and declared anathema, not only for her adultery, but also for her slaughter of the Petran people with the blades of the Ferrymen mercenary company and the Haeseni.47 Her daughter, Lady Elowyn, penned a letter lamenting the attack on Petrans by foreign swords.48 A similar sentiment was shared by Dame Livia d'Anpalais, who wrote, “There was no coup to dethrone Renilde over some sordid affair. There was only a response to the forces she brought to our doorstep, threatening many lives.”49 Sir Laurens Halcourt’s actions to disband the Sons of Petra and form the Petrine Regiment,50 along with his reaffirmation of fealty,51 came as a belated attempt to rectify a critical oversight in Renilde’s governance. It was a grave error on her part to have allowed Constanz control over the Sons of Petra, effectively giving him command of the Commonwealth’s main military force beyond household guards. This misstep forced her to rely on the Ferrymen and seek assistance from foreign powers like Haense when the Civil War erupted, placing her in a precarious position post-war of having to justify these actions to her people. 33] HL Justinian Nafis and HL Adolphus Gloriana, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume VI; Anne & Joseph, 442 E.S. 34] HL Ulrich Lothar von Alstreim, Monarchs of Sutica, 411 E.S. 35] Anonymous, The Parasite of the River Petra, 462 E.S. 36] HL Albert Temesch et Moere, For the Commonwealth, 462 E.S. 37] HG Renilde I, Archduchess of the Petra, A Cuckold’s Ire, 462 E.S. 38] HG Paul I, Archduke of the Petra, The Edict of 1893, 446 E.S. 39] The Petra Post, Vol I, No VII, 462 E.S. 40] Fr Blackwater, An Inquiry into the Death of Bianka Ophelia Jazlowiecki, 462 E.S. 41] Fr Blackwater, The Blackwater Dossier, 463 E.S. 42] HE, Sir Louis Valencour d’Azor, Challencor of the Commonwealth, and HE Bianka Jazlowiecki, Lady Chamberlain of the Commonwealth, On the Banks of the River Petra, 458 E.S. 43] TMH Mariana Antoinette d’Azor, Countess of Azor, Writ of Disownment, 465 E.S. 44] Sir Arthur de Lyons, Knight Paramount, and others, A Call to Trial, 462 E.S. 45] The Riverbook, Chapter I: The Republic’s Founders, 481 E.S. 46] TRH Robert Joseph de Lyons, Viscount of Enderoca, From River to Desert to Shore, 540 E.S. 47] Anonymous, Blood Within the River, 462 E.S. 48] HL Elowyn Temesch et Moere, To Renilde I, 462 E.S. 49] Dame Livia Elena d'Anpalais, One Last Chance, 462 E.S. 50] HE, Sir Laurens Henri Halcourt d’Artois, Marshal of the Commonwealth of the Petra, General of the Petrine Regiment, Baron of Artois, Dissolution of the Sons, 462 E.S. 51] HE, Sir Laurens Henri Halcourt d’Artois, Marshal of the Commonwealth of the Petra, General of the Petrine Regiment, Baron of Artois, Reaffirmation of Fealty 1909, 462 E.S. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ V LOYALIST Brother fights against brother in the Battle for Valfleur. AT THE BATTLE FOR CASTLE MOERE, Constanz was not slain outright but rather captured and brought to Courteis Hale to engage in peace talks at the urging of Father Blackwater, a preeminent priest.52 Dame Catherine of Furnestock, wrought with despair at witnessing a third civil war break out within the heartlands during her lifetime, attempted to negotiate an accord between the Sons of Petra and the Loyalists.53 The talks seemed promising at first, until Constanz abruptly withdrew from negotiations at the eleventh hour. Sir Paul Montalt gouged out Constanz’s eye in retribution and sent him and his commanders on their way.54 They did not kill him outright at the urging of Father Blackwater, preferring instead to beat him and the rebel forces in righteous battle rather than when they had already been defeated at Castle Moere. Preparations for the Battle of Valfleur then began in earnest, for the Archduchess and her Loyalist forces knew that Constanz would never surrender the city—it would have to be reclaimed to put an end to the civil war. The Ferrymen began rigorous training of the Petran Loyalists in preparation for battle, for the Sons of Petra greatly outnumbered them.55 Constanz, meanwhile, consolidated his power in Valfleur. He named the experienced Sir Edmond de Rouen as his field marshal and gathered an army of some twenty-four hundred men.56 The Sons of Petra had a numerical advantage, but they lacked the seasoned leadership of the Loyalist faction and the training of the Ferrymen. The Loyalist forces, numbering nineteen hundred, took up positions on the hills overlooking the city. The battle began with a hail of arrows, but few fell in this initial exchange. Seizing the initiative, Prince Marius and Joseph Vasile, a former Petran squire, led a daring flanking manoeuvre through the streets of the city. In the fierce fighting that followed, they managed to wound and capture one of Constanz’s principal commanders, Gregor Malinov.57 Realising the precariousness of his position, Constanz ordered a full charge, hoping to overwhelm the Loyalist lines with sheer numbers. The fighting was intense and costly for both sides. Sir Paul Montalt took a spear to the leg but fought on, while Sir Valentin Mareno suffered an axe blow to the chest yet remained at the front. Even Archduchess Renilde I herself was unhorsed multiple times but refused to retreat. As the battle hung in the balance, it was Prince Marius who turned the tide. Taking charge of a group of Loyalist knights, he led a fierce counterattack that began to push back the rebel lines. In the chaos, Dame Charlotte Roberta, Renilde’s sister, struck Constanz from behind, forcing him from the field. With their leader fallen, the rebel army began to crumble. A last-ditch effort by Sir ‘Wings’ von Draco to salvage the day was thwarted in a whirling duel with Joseph Vasile. Victorious, Renilde I and her Loyalists entered Valfleur to the cheers of a populace relieved that a prolonged siege had been averted. The civil war, though brief, had exacted a heavy toll on the Commonwealth. In the days that followed, both Renilde I and Prince Marius undertook penances for their adultery and fornication, seeking to make amends for the sin that had sparked the conflict. The surviving members of Constanz’s Round Table formally recognised the legitimacy of Renilde I and renounced any future rebellious activities.58 Sir Edmond de Rouen, who had fought valiantly for the losing side, was stripped of his lands and titles and sent into exile. It was a bitter end for a knight who had served Petra faithfully for so long.59 DUEL BETWEEN MARIUS AND CONSTANZ The Petran Civil War was effectively over, with the Loyalist forces emerging victorious, and the defeated Archduke-Consort found himself in a desperate situation. As a final, dramatic gesture, Constanz issued a challenge to Prince Marius—a duel to the death.60 This last-ditch effort was likely motivated by personal vengeance rather than a hope of altering the war’s outcome. The duel, which occurred in the arena of Karosgrad, represented a climactic end to the conflict, pitting the disgraced Constanz against the man he believed had caused his downfall. Prince Marius emerged victorious from the duel, ending Constanz’s life with a blow to the neck. After he and Renilde I had carried out their penances, they were wed on the shore of the River Petra in 464 E.S. with the blessing of Prince Marius’ brother, King Georg I.61-62 Archduchess Renilde I and her new consort, Prince Marius, at a session of the Petran Court. 52] Fr Blackwater, A Requested Mediation of the War in Petra, 462 E.S. 53] HL Elizabeth Brae, Lady of Du Loc, President of the Northern Geographical Society, On the Covenant of Casica, 522 E.S. 54] Sir Paul Montalt, There Is But One Archduchess, 462 E.S. 55] Ferrymen History, 504 E.S. 56] Fr Blackwater, The Life of Sir Edmond de Rouen, 467 E.S. 57] Sir Paul Montalt, The Battle for the Commonwealth, 462 E.S. 58] HE Louis d’Azor, Chancellor of the Commonwealth, and others, Writ of Dissolution, 463 E.S. 59] Fr Blackwater, The Life of Sir Edmond de Rouen, 467 E.S. 60] HIH Constantin Novellen, Prince of Balian, The Fate of the Second Sons, 462 E.S. 61] HG Renilde I, Archduchess of the Petra, HRH Marius Barbanov-Bihar, Duke of Markev, Rendezvous by the River, 464 E.S. 62] Patriarch Iosif, Lord Palatine, Patriarch of Jorenus, The Palatial Post: Seventh Edition, 466 E.S. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ IV THE RECLAMATION OF VALFLEUR marked a turning point for the Commonwealth. Renilde I, chastened by the near-loss of her throne, recommitted herself to ruling justly and wisely. As she recognised in her own retirement address some decades later, “I owe everything to my people and their enduring spirit. To the Heroes of the Petra, without which my reign would have come to an abrupt and humiliating end during the Petran Civil War.”63 The loyalty of figures like Sir Paul and Sir Valentin was rewarded, and they became key advisors in the rebuilt government. The Civil War, however, left its scars. HANSO-PETRAN RELATIONS The Haeseni were brought into the conflict because of Prince Marius’ part in the affair, but also because some Haeseni had been present in Valfleur at the beginning of Constanz’s coup. The Lord Palatine at the time, Patriarch Iosif, stated, “It must be stressed that, while a sin had been committed, the false Archduke used it as a chance for opportunistic gain to try and usurp the title for himself in violation of God’s mandation despite having no dynastic claim and without any consultation with the Church.”64 This shows an ideological support for Renilde I, aligning with her views that Constanz had been attempting to amass power for himself. King Georg I was apparently very angry with Renilde I and his brother, Prince Marius, for causing such an ordeal, but after they had gotten back into his good graces, Hanseti-Ruska and the Commonwealth signed an alliance what was to last until the end of the King and Archduchess’ reigns, whichever should end first. In Queen-Emeritus Renilde I’s words, Haense coming to her aid in the Civil War “forged an unbreakable bond.” It is a bond we enjoy to this day, with close diplomatic ties with our friends in the Petra. PUBLIC OPINION OF RENILDE I The involvement of the Ferrymen in the Petran Civil War was a particularly controversial alliance for Renilde I. Having allowed Constanz control over the Sons of Petra, the Archduchess was forced to seek external support, most notably from Haeseni knights and mercenary companies like the Ferrymen. However, not so very long ago had the Ferrymen launched raids against the Petran people—aligning with a group that previously attacked the Commonwealth had the potential to damage the Archduchess’ credibility among her subjects. The context of this is that Sir Valentin Mareno, a former Ferryman who had become a loyal Petran knight, left the Commonwealth due to the growing influence of Imperial supporters under Archduke Constanz’s leadership. Unable to maintain influence within the Commonwealth, Sir Valentin turned to his former comrades in the Ferrymen for assistance. This led to a series of raids against the Petra, culminating in a full-scale battle. It was here that Sir Valentin came across Sir Paul Montalt, a former friend within the Commonwealth who also opposed the increase of Imperial sympathisers brought by the Archduke-Consort’s. They agreed that, were there to ever be a coup d’état launched by Constanz against Renilde I, the Ferrymen would support the side of the Petran Loyalists.65 Although the Archduchess was able to reclaim her throne and bring stability to her nation, these lingering sentiments would rise again in her later life, particularly with the controversies of the Marnan Brigade, a subject that will be discussed in a future publication.66 There also remained lingering support for Constanz even decades following his death, for example the existence of the River Constanz, a tributary of the River Petra, which was mentioned in a pact between the Commonwealth and the League of Veletz.67 That the river bore his name shows that he held remnant support, although the river has since been renamed to the River Leitha following the fall of Aaun. A current map of the Commonwealth. PETRAN STABILITY The Commonwealth’s constitution and governmental structures provided stability during a potentially destructive civil war. The institutions of the Petra, rooted in Petrine Liberalism and reimagined under the Round Table, garnered support from sympathetic liberals not just in the Heartlands, but abroad.68 Renilde I, as the successor of Paul Salvian, embodied the Republic’s ideals, positioning the Commonwealth as a bastion of elected, accountable government. Through the strength of these institutions, the Petra has been able to survive not only the Civil War, but also the formation and dissolution of the Heartlander Confederation. The formation of the Heartlander Confederation during the reign of Queen Catherine I aimed to unite the Apostolic Kingdom of Aaun and the Commonwealth of the Petra, addressing shared histories of conflict and foreign interference. The Confederation’s structure maintained separate monarchies initially, with plans for eventual unification through marriage. It established a national government, including the Heartlandic Council and the Garmont Assembly, while preserving provincial autonomy.69 However, the merger proved challenging. Despite the vision of unity, the sudden passing of the original monarchs left their successors without the same close relationship. Diverging identities and institutional divisions emerged between the Petran and Aaunic components.70 Recognising these challenges, the Exit Clause (Article VII) was invoked, dissolving the Heartlander Confederation.71 This dissolution returned sovereignty to the Commonwealth of the Petra and the Apostolic United Kingdom of Aaun, releasing them from previous obligations while maintaining a defensive alliance. That the Commonwealth persists to this day is a testament to the constitution’s strength and endurance. BALIAN Finally we come to the Kingdom of Balian, Constanz’ homeland. King Alexander I had not sent any aid to his brother during the Civil War, remaining neutral in recognition of the legitimate rule of Renilde I. However, once the conflict was done, he opened his arms to Petran refugees, particularly those who had sided with Constanz.72 The wife and children of Sir Arthur de Lyons, who had been killed at the battle for Castle Moere, fled to Balian, where the House continues to flourish to this day.73 63] HRM Renilde I, Queen of the Petra, The Lioness Rests, 501 E.S. 64] Patriarch Iosif, Lord Palatine, Patriarch of Jorenus, The Palatial Post: Seventh Edition, 466 E.S. 65] Ferrymen History, 504 E.S. 66] Ser Stefan af Don af Petra, Knight of the Petrine Laurel, Lament for the Commonwealth, 539 E.S. 67] Pactus Pontis, 496 E.S. 68] Davide of Furnestock, Adrians in Petra’s Civil War, 510 E.S. 69] HRM Catherine I, Queen of the Petra, and HRM John I, Apostolic King of Aaun, To Unite the Heartlands, 525 E.S. 70] HRM Adalia I, Queen of the Petra, The Queen’s Address, 541 E.S. 71] HRM Adalia I, Queen of the Petra, HRM Charles II, Apostolic King of Aaun, HH Deunoro I, High Pontiff of the Church of the Canon, Two Roads, 540 E.S. 72] HRM Alexander I, King of Balian, To Those Who Are Lost, 462 E.S. 73] The Catalogus Baronum: Balian's Archive of Peers, 463 E.S. ⌯◃⟐▹⌯ IV It has been my pleasure and my duty to serve you all, of the Petran realm, and to prove to the onlooking world that we are more than what was left behind in the ashes of the Petran Civil War. We are more than just a standing of a few people, being pushed around by the politics that surround us. We have risen, like a phoenix from her ashes, born again into a prosperous, bustling metropolis belonging to the bosom of the Heartlands. Queen Renilde I of the Petra THE PETRAN CIVIL WAR stands as a pivotal moment in the Commonwealth’s history, underscoring the enduring strength of its foundations even in the face of internal strife. It is a particularly compelling chapter in history because, unlike previous civil wars that led to fragmentation, the Commonwealth of the Petra demonstrated remarkable resilience. It emerged intact; a testament to the strength of its institutions and the will of its people. Perhaps the dream of Dame Catherine of Furnestock really did come to fruition; a strong, stable, and flourishing Heartlands. PETRA, FLOWING WATER! AVE! AVE! Her Ladyship, ERIKA KORTREVICH,

Erika returned from her year abroad in the Petra, conducting research for her latest publication. Her last long trip for a while, for she knew, upon arriving back in the city, that her world would change. I will be here waiting when you journey back, and then we will move forward, together. She could still feel the warmth of his hand in hers, the ghost of a touch. How frail he had looked on that cot in Kazan, without the crown and the armour. No number of amberiddle tokens, no balancing of the humours, could cure him of this. Erika could only pray the healers in Ba’as could do what northern medicine could not. Make him whole, and return him to her.

Princess Milena had long since earned her rest. Erika could scarcely remember a time when she was not at the top of ve Karodur, the crows shifting above, croaking mournfully, stacks upon stacks of papers in front of her. Mountains of work, ones that could never be surmounted, but that was the job. To live for others more than any knight, to dream and work for others more than any priest, to fight for others more than any soldier. To sacrifice oneself, neglect one's family, neglect one's own personal dreams. Everything, for the kingdom.

Erika Kortrevich read yet another of her sister's publications, fondly glancing at a pair of Koravian leather riding gloves left discarded on the desk. She added this work next to On Haeseni Agriculture and An Agricultural Revolution, which had pride of place on her bookshelf.

Andrei had always wanted to be a knight. From when he was old enough to talk, and Erika was old enough to understand, he would profess that he was going to be the finest knight Hanseti-Ruska had ever seen. Then came the unexpected heirship. Dreams crushed, Andrei had gone through life angry and bitter, but he was never one to stay that way for long. Erika should have known that Andrei, of all people, would find a way where others before him had not. A way to do both; a way to have it all.

Erika's earliest memories involved her mother teaching her how to harvest herbs, how to dry them, and how to make medicines from them. As she grew older, her mother's duties drew her from the clinic to the Aulic chamber. Visits to Reinmar, to Celia'nor, endless nights burning the candle till it was naught but a stub of pale wax, yet Emma Kortrevich still always found the time for her children. It's a well deserved rest, mamej.

Erika Kortrevich caught wind of the news and lapsed into a brief moment of silence. She had met the Grand Wick all but twice, but on that first meeting, she had taken Fionn Wick by the ear and given him a stiff education his head would be ringing from forever, in this life, the next life, and the one after that. Erika was not likely to forget that anytime soon, even if she could not recall the woman's face.

Honesty... That had been a lesson hard learned for one Adalfriede of Hexenwald, but once she learned it, she was nigh unstoppable. Perhaps Adelmar the Skald had had some wisdom to impart upon her... Even if she had been reluctant to receive it.

THE DUCHESS OF ALBAN PUBLISHED BY ERIKA KORTREVICH 564 E.S. ≺──────────────────────˒❃˓──────────────────────≻ PRINCESS HENRIETTA OF CATHALON is among the most tragic figures in our nation’s long and storied history. Born into Orenian nobility as the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Cathalon, she defied her father’s wishes by marrying into the royal family of Barbanov-Bihar. This rebellious act set in motion a series of events that would lead to her estrangement from her family, her friends, and her homeland, and ultimately lead to her tragic and violent death in 409 E.S. Although Orenian by birth, none can deny that Princess Henrietta was possessed of a wholly Haeseni spirit. Not only did she quickly conform to the fashion of the Late Ruskan period, but she also fought for Hanseti-Ruska in the Sinners’ War, turning against her own blood on the battlefield in favour of her new family and nation. The tragedy of her life and her death is a stark reminder that, even amongst royalty, war produces no real victors. ≺──────────────────────˒❃˓──────────────────────≻ I The sigil of the Duchy of Cathalon. AS THE ELDEST OF EIGHT CHILDREN, with seventeen years between her and her youngest sibling Laurentina, Princess Henrietta was often expected to act as a third parental figure within the Helvets family, an expectation that led to much friction between Henrietta and her mother. This was not so in her early childhood, which was marked by frequent visits to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska where she formed lasting friendships, most notably with Kaustantin Baruch (later the Lord Palatine to Sigismund III), Prince Marus, and Grand Prince Sigismund. It must be noted that, at this point in history, Haense and the Holy Orenian Empire enjoyed a friendly relationship, bound by the Treaty of Helena signed in 339 E.S.1 Merchants, citizens, and nobility alike travelled between the cities of Karosgrad and Providence in great numbers. The first of these visits came during a period of unrest in Providence. Henrietta’s mother, Lady Leopoldine, made the decision to send her daughter to Haense for her safety. Under the guise of a friendly visit, Leopoldine left Henrietta in the care of Lord Ailred var Ruthern, the Duke of Vidaus. Henrietta’s younger sister Francesca (her only sibling at the time) was supposed to accompany her, but she came down with an illness, so remained at home. Henrietta lived in Castle Druzstra for at least a year, during which time she forged close friendships with the children of Haeseni nobility; friendships she maintained even after returning to her family’s estate in the Lower Petra, the manor known as Cheval Hall. Upon her return to the Holy Orenian Empire, Henrietta struck up a close friendship with Princess Amelia of Renzfeld, the daughter of Prince Philip Aurelian and Princess Amadea of Pompourelia. Along with Kaustantin Baruch, the three became an inseparable trio, their bond only deepening as they grew into their majority. Princess Amelia and Kaustantin grew particularly close, developing a secret romantic relationship in their adolescent years. Kaustantin, however, began courting a Haeseni noblewoman, none other than Lady Mathea vas Ruthern, the daughter of the Duke of Vidaus. Torn three ways between her friendships with Kaustantin, Mathea, and Princess Amelia, Henrietta felt she had no choice but to tell the truth. When Princess Amelia learned of Kaustantin’s courtship, she confronted him at a ball in Vidaus, supported by Claude, Laurène, and Eugénie Ashford de Savoie. Together, they publicly humiliated Kaustantin. This resulted in a heated argument between Henrietta and Princess Amelia when Henrietta came to Kaustantin’s defence, and both groups reportedly departed from the ball and went their separate ways. This shows that, even during her childhood, Henrietta navigated complex relationships and political intrigues. She maintained a connection with Kaustantin, even considering him a potential marriage prospect if she failed to secure a more advantageous match, and despite their argument, continued to be friends with Princess Amelia until the latter’s departure to Pompourelia in approximately 392 E.S. This period of her life set the stage for the tumultuous events that would shape her adult years, including her controversial marriage and involvement in the Sinners’ War. 1] The Treaty of Helena, 1786, 339 E.S. The Duchess of Cathalon, circa 390 E.S. MURDER OF THE DUCHESS OF CATHALON TWO SHORT YEARS BEFORE HENRIETTA’S DEBUT, her mother, the Duchess of Cathalon, was brutally murdered during a visit to San Luciano, the capital city of the Principality of Savoy. Henrietta released a public letter denouncing the Savoyard bystanders, describing the state of her mother’s corpse—which was delivered to the front steps of Cheval Hall—in gruesome detail. She condemned them because, in her words, “They had watched, while my mother was being murdered, they stood there and did absolutely nothing to help her… She might have been able to help me on my wedding day, to have watched her younger children grow up, to have met her grandchildren. Your negligence stole that from us.”2 Lady Leopoldine appeared to have been visiting her estranged father, Vladislav, the bastard-born son of Lord Ostromir Carrion-Tuvyic. In this author’s previous research on Lady Moliana, the Baroness of Woldzmir, it was noted that Ostromir had brought his sons Sigismund and Vladislav back to life through necromantic means.3 However, the description of Lady Leopoldine’s death wounds put her attack more in line with that of a vampiric assailant. Whatever Vladislav’s true nature, it was clearly one of darkness, and one that brought Lady Leopoldine to her unfortunate demise at the young age of thirty-eight. The citizens of the Empire widely mourned the duchess’ death, suggesting she was popular amongst the nobility and citizenry.4 Following her mother’s death, Henrietta expressed that she needed to step into a maternal role for her younger siblings, something that caused her great pressure and strife.5 2] HL Henrietta Helvets, The Demands of the Bereaved, 395 E.S. 3] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Witch of Dobrov, 559 E.S. 4] Imperial Ministry of Civil Affairs, The Providence Post, 1843, 396 E.S. 5] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: The Opening of the Season 1844, 397 E.S. ≺───˒❃˓───≻ II MARRIAGE TO THE Lady Henrietta attended to by ladies’ maids for her wedding ceremony. WHILE LIVING IN CASTLE DRUZSTRA, Henrietta met her future husband, Prince Marus, the Duke of Alban. Prince Marus was five to six years her junior, and she reportedly hated him at first, finding him annoying and childish. This hatred evidently softened into fondness, most likely when Prince Marus attended the Orenian Social Season for her sake. SOCIAL SEASON OF 1844 EVEN THOUGH HER MOTHER HAD died only two years previously, Henrietta participated in the Imperial Social Season in 397 E.S. She was one of the older debutantes, well into her twenties. The only other debutante similar to her in age was Lady Josephine Tuvyic, daughter of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Aldersberg. Henrietta was described by the Petite Potins as being elegant and perfect, not a hair out of place, yet she was not chosen as one of the three contenders for the Ruby, a tradition begun by Princess Charlotte at the previous Social Season. Instead, her choices were Lady Theodosia O’ Rourke, Lady Lorina Othaman, and Lady Josephine, her own daughter, who she ultimately chose as the Ruby.6 This choice dismayed some—Henrietta’s youngest sister, Lady Laurentina, is said to have been very vocal that Henrietta should have been the Ruby, and Prince Marus openly jeered at the announcement. As discussed in The Empress Who Never Was, the famed jeweller Lady Vespira de Selm produced a piece in her 398 E.S. catalogue called ‘Adria’s Favoured’, otherwise known as ‘Nepotism.’7 In that same catalogue, she displayed a piece called ‘Debutante’s Perfection’, bearing a likeness of Lady Henrietta.8 We can clearly see who Lady Vespira favoured as the Ruby of the Season. While Lady Josephine danced with Lord Helton, the heir to Cathalon and Henrietta’s younger brother, Henrietta allegedly scowled at her the entire time. When approached by Princess Charlotte, Henrietta explained her behaviour as being a product of her mother’s recent death. She and Lady Josephine were, however, seen speaking in the Augustine Gardens during a celebration for Maiden’s Day later in the Social Season, suggesting that Henrietta’s animosity did not run deep.9 COURTSHIP WITH EDMUND D’AZOR HENRIETTA’S FATHER, the Duke of Cathalon, was an endlessly prideful man. Not only was he obsessed with blood purity and status, but he also sought to bolster the position of the House of Helvets through various political machinations. He had designs to wed his eldest daughter, Henrietta, to Lord Edmund d’Azor, the heir to the Duchy of Azor. To that end, Henrietta was seen conversing with Lord Edmund at various functions in the Augustine Palace.10 With his daughter as the Duchess of Azor, and the daughter-in-law of Lord Joseph Ledicort, who had proven himself to be a statesman rising quickly through the ranks of Imperial politics, House Helvets would be in a stable position to further its ambitions in the Lower Petra and Arentanian regions. However, Henrietta is said to have found Lord Edmund painfully dull, their conversations a stiff and awkward affair. One day, while promenading with Lord Edmund through the Augustine gardens, Henrietta came across Prince Marus. In a show of great discourteousness, the gossip of the Augustine says that she abandoned Lord Edmund in favour of Prince Marus, joining the latter in a pavilion where they spoke from midmorning until well after nightfall. Some more scandalous rumours suggested they continued speaking even after that. A rendezvous between Lady Henrietta and Prince Marus during the Social Season. COURTSHIP WITH PRINCE MARUS THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN HENRIETTA AND PRINCE MARUS began during Henrietta’s time in Hanseti-Ruska as a girl, but their romance truly began and flourished during the Social Season. Prince Marus was seen visiting the Cathalon apartments in the Augustine Palace frequently, paying Henrietta house calls with bushels of red roses.11 And yet, during the previous Social Season, Prince Marus was seen dancing with Lady Francesca, Henrietta’s younger sister.12 Francesca apparently developed feelings for him, even though she had been sent to the Society of Saint James II to train as a deacon, per the Emperor’s decree that all noble Houses send one of their children to the seminary.13 The strife between sisters, however, was nothing compared to the familial uproar that came after Prince Marus proposed to Henrietta at the final masquerade ball of her Social Season in late 398 E.S. Prince Marus had not sought the Duke of Cathalon’s blessing prior to his proposal. When Henrietta asked for her father’s approval, he flew into a rage, claiming that the line of Barbanov had fallen into squalor, with the blood tainted by that of an Adunian. It is unclear from where these claims originated. When Henrietta told her future brother-in-law what her father had said, the King was furious. With a small army at his back, Sigismund III marched upon Cheval Hall and challenged the Duke of Cathalon to an honour duel for his words—a duel that would become the stuff of legend. Due to the disparity in their ranks, Sigismund III instead sent forth a knight of his Marian Retinue, Ser Flemius, to fight the Duke of Cathalon.14 Ser Flemius emerged victorious, adding another tale to a long litany of accomplishments that earned him the moniker ‘the Unwavering’. In a show of great dishonour and cowardice, Lord Thomas attacked Ser Flemius at the conclusion of the duel, once the knight’s back was turned. This feeble attempt at killing the great Unwavering Knight was quickly rebuffed, and the Haeseni retinue left Cheval Hall while Lord Thomas remained lying in the dust, disgraced and humiliated. The Duke of Cathalon refused to allow Henrietta inside Cheval Hall to collect her belongings or say farewell to her mother, whose cremated remains were kept in an urn. She was also unable to wish any of her siblings farewell. She travelled to Karosgrad with the Haeseni retinue with nothing but the clothes on her back. In a letter in 399 E.S., Lady Daphne Helvets made mention of attending Henrietta’s betrothal dinner but pretending to faint as a means to get away, and also wrote that “Mother would have hated you for this.”15 Henrietta later visited Cathalon, perhaps to confront her younger sister about this letter. During the visit, Daphne died under strange circumstances, falling from a balcony to her death.16 Henrietta and Prince Marus were wed in Saint Heinrik’s Basilica in Karosgrad in late 399 E.S. with none of her family in attendance. POLITICAL AFTERMATH Although Sigismund III and his retinue had, technically, been guests of Lady Henrietta in her own home and therefore breached no formal treaties, marching into a ducal vassal at the head of a column of knights did not come without its consequences. Princess Josephine Augusta, eldest daughter of Philip II, Princess Imperial and Archchancellor of the Holy Orenian Empire, paid a visit to the Nikirala Prikaz along with her advisors. In a show of power, Sigismund III received the Archchancellor in his throne room, attended by the entirety of the Haeseni court. The Orenians had levied their own insult against him by including in their retinue his own estranged mother, Queen Mariya of Aurveldt, who had faked her death some years prior and later served as the Foreign Minister of the Holy Orenian Empire. The Archchancellor left unsatisfied, without the apology she sought. The Sinners’ War originally began as an honour war—a conflict between the Grand Kingdom of Urguan and the Holy Orenian Empire without the aid of allies or mercenaries—but the terms of this conflict quickly changed upon the ousting of Philip II by his grandson Philip III in the Aster Revolution.17 When Philip III needlessly continued the war of his grandsire, the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska joined its Dwarven allies, who it had long enjoyed an alliance with ever since the signing of the Iron Accord in 351 E.S. alongside the Kingdom of Norland.18 Although the Kingdom was honourbound to come to Urguan’s military defence, the increase in tensions between Haense and Oren in recent years transformed the conflict into a more personal affair. The war became an opportunity for Haense to air historical grievances on the battlefield. The incident involving the Duke of Cathalon and the Archchancellor’s subsequent visit to Karosgrad further strained relations between the two nations. This political backdrop meant that Haense’s involvement in the Sinners’ War was not merely a fulfillment of alliance obligations, but a chance to settle long-standing disputes with the Empire. The battles to come thus became a stage for both military confrontations and the resolution of deep-seated political tensions that had been simmering between the two powers for years. 6] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: The Opening of the Season 1844, 397 E.S. 7] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Empress Who Never Was, 558 E.S. 8] HL Vespira L. de Selm, Catalogue of 1845, 398 E.S. 9] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Shaky Journey, 398 E.S. 10] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Shaky Journey, 398 E.S. 11] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Shaky Journey, 398 E.S. 12] The Augustine Court, Petite Potins: A Generation’s End, 389 E.S. 13] HIM Philip II, His Imperial Majesty's Most Holy Seminary & Society of Saint James II of Korvassa and the Argenate Star, 395 E.S. 14] HSH Karl Barbanov-Bihar, Grand Prince of Kusoraev, To Seek Satisfaction: A Modern Treatise for the Principles on Offering, Receiving, and Partaking in Duelling, 434 E.S. 15] HL Daphne Helvets, A Letter to Henrietta, 399 E.S. 16] The House of Helvets, The Demise of Daphne Helvets, 399 E.S. 17] HL Justinian Nafis and HRH Adolphus of Sutica, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE HOLY ORENIAN EMPIRE: Volume VIII; The Turmoil, 445 E.S. 18] The Iron Accord, 351 E.S. ≺───˒❃˓───≻ III LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF Princess Henrietta as the Duchess of Alban. ADJUSTING TO LIFE IN THE HAESENI COURT was difficult, even though Princess Henrietta had lived in the Duchy of Vidaus for a time as a child and befriended many Haeseni noble children. She had some support from her mother-in-law, Queen Annika, who had also been disowned by her family upon her marriage to Heinrik II. Queen Annika’s brother, the Baron of Astfield, had been close personal friends with Queen Mariya, who had died under mysterious circumstances (the world later came to learn that she had, in fact, faked her own death). He sternly forbade Queen Annika from wedding the King, but she disobeyed her brother’s wishes and was subsequently cast out of House Vyronov. Princess Henrietta was also relatively friendly with her sisters-in-law, Queen Emma, Princess Nikoleta, and Princess Anastasya, though she later had a falling out with Princess Nikoleta over unsavoury comments made about her daughter. Prince Marus and Princess Henrietta welcomed their first child in 400 E.S., a boy named Matyas Isaak.19 During her pregnancy, Prince Marus grew distant, and even attempted to begin an affair with Lady Josephine Tuvyic when she and her family were on a visit to Karosgrad, as outlined in The Witch of Dobrov.20 Considering this was the very same woman who had beaten her at the race for Ruby, this only added poison to the wound. Prince Marus’ distance worsened when Princess Henrietta gave birth to their second child, Elizaveta Ulyana, in 403 E.S. Little Elizaveta had been born with a horrifying birth defect, earning her the moniker ‘the Cyclops of Alban’ due to her singular eye, the other being nothing but an empty, puckered eye socket.21 Prince Marus refused to acknowledge his daughter, and retreated from the capital more and more frequently on fishing expeditions, though Princess Henrietta came to suspect that this was a ruse so that Prince Marus could visit various mistresses. Her falling out with Princess Nikoleta came when Princess Nikoleta made comments about Elizaveta’s birth defect, calling her a monster and that her deformity was somehow Princess Henrietta’s fault. Princess Henrietta struck her in the stomach without realising that she was with child, and the whole affair resulted in an irreparable splintering of their friendship. Although initially disgusted by Elizaveta’s appearance, Princess Henrietta slowly began to dote on her daughter. When Elizaveta was only three years old, she went missing, leaving Princess Henrietta distraught. She begged for help from the kingdoms of Almaris to help her find her daughter.22 This soon formalised into the Ulyana Effort when the initial searches proved fruitless.23 By this time, Princess Henrietta had come to suspect that her daughter had not merely gone missing, but had in fact been kidnapped. The expanded search yielded some results; a lock of Elizaveta’s hair and one of her small shoes was found within Dobrov in 406 E.S., four months after her disappearance.24 The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska published a vile column about the disappearance, calling Elizaveta a one-eyed monster, blaming the Duke and Duchess of Alban for their negligence, and accusing Princess Henrietta of being a treacherous Orenian puppet seeking to sow chaos in Hanseti-Ruska.25 Elizaveta was finally found after four years and the Alban family was reunited, but tragedy struck when Prince Marus passed away in his sleep that very same night, to be discovered by his wife and children in the morning. Princess Henrietta was left bereft, her screams echoing around the castle. She spent only a few years in the Haeseni court as Duchess of Alban before she became Duchess-Dowager, leaving her even more alone. By this time, her childhood friend Lord Kaustantin Baruch had become the Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska. Although they had previously enjoyed a close friendship, palace courtiers said that Lord Kaustantin would frequently make comments to Princess Henrietta to the tune that ‘he had kept her little secret’. This author does not know what this secret was. Princess Henrietta’s ladies’ maids gossiped that she had eyes for her protector from the Marian Retinue, Ser Walton ‘the Wall’, while others suggested that she had been in love with Princess Amelia and harboured feelings for her still. Whatever the secret, Princess Henrietta and Lord Kaustantin were not said to be particularly close once she had moved to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska. 19] HRH Marus and HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duke and Duchess of Alban, The Solidification of an Unwanted Union, 400 E.S. 20] HL Erika Kortrevich, The Witch of Dobrov, 559 E.S. 21] HRH Marus and HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duke and Duchess of Alban, The Cyclops of Alban, 403 E.S. 22] HRH Marus and HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duke and Duchess of Alban, A Forceful Departure, 405 E.S. 23] HRH Henrietta Barbanov-Bihar, Duchess of Alban, The Ulyana Effort, 406 E.S. 24] HSH Klara Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, Princess Royal, A Letter to Almaris, 406 E.S. 25] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume VIII, 406 E.S. ≺───˒❃˓───≻ IV BY THE TIME OF HER DEATH IN 409 E.S., Princess Henrietta had participated in at least thirteen battles of the Sinners’ War on the side of the Tripartite Accord, fighting against her former homeland and her family. It is unclear if she served as a soldier or in a supporting role, but many records confirm her presence and involvement. During the Orenian Astercalia—a celebration in the vein of the Social Season—Princess Henrietta visited her youngest sister, Laurentina, in Cheval Hall. It was there that Princess Henrietta was allegedly beset upon by an unknown assailant and killed. A statement from Cathalon said that the commotion drew Lord Helton, Princess Henrietta’s brother and the heir to Cathalon, with his weapon drawn.26 This author wonders if this detail was to cover the fact that Lord Helton was seen standing over the fallen Princess Henrietta with a sword in his hand. In the months following her death, courtiers in the Nikirala Prikaz reported seeing the shadow of a woman moving around the halls and reflected back at them in mirrors. A mournful woman, weeping for her lost daughter, who resembled the late Duchess of Alban. Why else would a ghost come to haunt the palace, if not for dying in a horribly tragic way with business left untended to? 26] HL Laurentina Helvets, A Missive from Cathalon, 409 E.S. ≺───˒❃˓───≻ V An artist’s depiction of Lady Elizaveta soon after her marriage to Barley Wick. BY THE TIME OF PRINCESS HENRIETTA’S DEATH, her children were nine and six respectively. Orphaned, they came under the guidance and protection of the Royal family, though Lady Elizaveta was soon taken on as a ward by Lady Moliana, the subject of The Witch of Dobrov. Lady Elizaveta and Lady Moliana shared many traits; they were both the daughters of princesses and had both been kidnapped as children, an experience that left them embroiled in the arcane. As a ward of Lady Moliana, Elizaveta wrote the Creature Compendium, compiling her knowledge of creatures of the Kingdom both great and small.27 She also participated in the Nikirala Fae Mission, a collection of Haeseni children prone to the whimsical and magical.28 Elizaveta married Barley Wick in 429 E.S.29 Matyas Isaak led a much more mundane life, though not without its dramas. The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska wrote a vicious column on Lady Adele titled ‘The Otistadt Snake’ which alleged that Lord Matyas was guilty of fornication.30 According to the Law of Crime in ve Haurul Caezk, chapter II.III, fornication is the act of laying with another outside of marriage.31 This was in reference to the rumour that Lord Matyas had had an affair with Lady Angelika vas Ruthern before he and Lady Adele were married.32 33 Before his marriage, Lord Matyas helped to update the rules and regulations of Snailula One, a popular snail-racing sport still seen in the Kingdom today.34 At the wedding between Lord Matyas and Lady Adele in 425 E.S., they hosted a Snailula One Grand Prix, racing under HR Alban-Ludovar with Snailbastian Snettel.35 He and his wife named their first child Emma Henrietta, for Her Highness Emma I, the Princess of Ulgaard, and Lord Matyas’ mother, Princess Henrietta.36 Lord Matyas served as the Count-Regent of Otistadt from 434 E.S. while his wife recovered from an illness that had plagued her since childhood.37 After many years as a diligent consort and husband, he passed away in 454 E.S.38 DESCENDANTS The modern House of Ludovar is descended from Princess Henrietta due to her son’s marriage to Lady Adele, the Countess of Otistadt. 27] HL Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, Creature Compendium, Vol I, 427 E.S. 28] HL Sorina Luceafăru, HL Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, Magda Weiszcz, Barley Wick, The Nikirala Fae Mission, 416 E.S. 29] HL Elizaveta Barbanov-Bihar, The Fantastical Weddingpalooza, 429 E.S. 30] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume XVI, 445 E.S. 31] The Crown of Hanseti Ruska, Ve Haurul Caezk, 525 E.S. edition. 32] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume XIII, 421 E.S. 33] The Hearsay of Hanseti-Ruska, Volume XIV, 431 E.S. 34] HL Matyas Isaak Barbanov-Bihar, Lord of Alban, 425 HFSR Snailula One Rules and Regulations, 425 E.S. 35] The Haeseni Federation of Snail Racing, 425 Haeseni Snailula One Championship: Matyas and Adele’s Wedding Grand Prix Race Summary, 426 E.S. 36] TRH Adele Emma and TRH Matyas Isaak, Countess and Count-Consort of Otistadt, The Golden Blessing of a Daughter, 427 E.S. 37] TRH Adele Emma and TRH Matyas Isaak, Countess and Count-Consort of Otistadt, A Brief Period of Regency in Otistadt, 434 E.S. 38] TRH Adele Emma Ludovar, Countess of Otistadt, Announcement of Passing, 454 E.S. ≺──────────────────────˒❃˓──────────────────────≻ Her Ladyship, ERIKA KORTREVICH

ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS ON 12th OF JOMA AG UMUND, 564 E.S. ㅤIN 409 E.S., THE COUNCIL OF KOENAS EMMA OF JEROVITZ gathered for what was, by all accounts, an extraordinary meeting. It was at this meeting that they formed the Karenina Accord, a push to attain absolute primogeniture throughout the Kingdom; the first child, regardless of gender, would be able to inherit the titles of their forebears. Spearheaded by Koenas Emma, the Karenina Accord gained much traction and came to be supported by many prominent noble and political figures of the time, not least being the Lord Palatine Eirik Baruch, who was famously called ‘Lacksons’ for his brood of five daughters. The Karenina Accord became the Karenina Law in 414 E.S., granting daughters of noble Houses the same rights of inheritance as sons. Many years later, in 481 E.S., the Karenina Edict granted this same right of equal primogeniture to the children of the mainline Royal Family. ╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ㅤON THE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY of the passing of the Karenina Law, the people of Hanseti-Ruska are invited to attend the unveiling of the Statue of Karenina following the conclusion of His Majesty’s Royal Court. HER EXCELLENCY, Mahaut van Leuven, Grand Lady of Hanseti-Ruska, Crow Warden of the Royal Court HER LADYSHIP, Erika Kortrevich