LONES: Dawn over a New World

[ZeletDude]

I think it should be upgraded.. It will make it more fun and interesting

 

[Omega124]

To: Aragland (sp?), Confederacy
From: Salvonic

It saddens us that two civilized countries like you are still going at it for this long. We are more than willing to accept diplomats from both of you to meet at Riga (Which is far away from the battlefields in the war between us and the uncivilized horde) to work out a peace that both of you can agree on.

 

[Lord of Elves]

To: Aragland (sp?), Confederacy
From: Salvonic

It saddens us that two civilized countries like you are still going at it for this long. We are more than willing to accept diplomats from both of you to meet at Riga (Which is far away from the battlefields in the war between us and the uncivilized horde) to work out a peace that both of you can agree on.

From: The Argulic Confederacy
To: Kingdom of Salvonic
You cannot possibly understand our quarrel. Argulum is rightfully a member of the Confederation, and refuses to be party to it. It is effectively in violation of the laws of Argulic society and philosophy and as a separate state, an abomination. What do you know of our problems, foreigner?

OOC: What about the changes do you object to, Omega?

 

[Omega124]

From: The Argulic Confederacy
To: Kingdom of Salvonic
You cannot possibly understand our quarrel. Argulum is rightfully a member of the Confederation, and refuses to be party to it. It is effectively in violation of the laws of Argulic society and philosophy and as a separate state, an abomination. What do you know of our problems, foreigner?

OOC: What about the changes do you object to, Omega?

To: Confederacy
From: Salvonic

We fail to see why Argulum is "rightfully" a member. Not only do they show they don't want to be of it, but they're not of a Scavidavian decent. Instead, they are of Celtic descent (correct me if I'm wrong OOC, not IC). The only thing going in your favor is religion, and even then, the Queen just radically changed it to the point that it is unlike your version. However, they are not in the right, either. They outright enslaved many cultures throughout the war, and have occupied lands rightfully yours. Its a Grey and Grey mortality.

We believe that, in order to ensure peace, you should give up claims of Argulum proper, and they are to cede their land in the east.

OOC: I don't like the specific units thing. Its getting way too technical, limits story freedom, and if you don't have enough in one place, it will kill you.

 

[Lord of Elves]

To: Confederacy
From: Salvonic

We fail to see why Argulum is "rightfully" a member. Not only do they show they don't want to be of it, but they're not of a Scavidavian decent. Instead, they are of Celtic descent (correct me if I'm wrong OOC, not IC). The only thing going in your favor is religion, and even then, the Queen just radically changed it to the point that it is unlike your version. However, they are not in the right, either. They outright enslaved many cultures throughout the war, and have occupied lands rightfully yours. Its a Grey and Grey mortality.

We believe that, in order to ensure peace, you should give up claims of Argulum proper, and they are to cede their land in the east.

OOC: I don't like the specific units thing. Its getting way too technical, limits story freedom, and if you don't have enough in one place, it will kill you.

OOC: Argulum "Argu"-lum has a very large Celtic population, but they are an essential slave class. The Argulumics to which the Confederacy refers are Argulics of the same Scandinavian/Germanic descent of the Argulics of the Confederacy. They are Argulumics only by nationality, and the Argulumic Isles is their name for the island chain. The native inhabitants have a different name for it altogether. If you read back into several updates, you'll see the Confederacy colonized the islands, and the colonists formed their own nations and broke off. Regarding the rule changes, is there any sort of compromise that we might be capable of reaching? I don't want to lose any players for what I do believe will improve the overall experience of NES.

IC
You are clearly misinformed. The inhabitants, at least the Argulumics in question here, are of the same blood as we. If you look at any of your historical scrolls, you should see that not too long ago the Kingdoms of Norbria and Sudbria were part of the Confederacy before extremists and subversives, aiming to bring rightful government and law down to its knees, declared these kingdoms separate from the Confederacy and created this moral abomination, the "Kingdom of Argulum". You have no stake in this matter. For what reason do you dictate terms to us?

 

[Menanish]

OOC: Uhh, so I'm way busy this week, and probably (MAYBE. I might have time tomorrow morning. If not by tomorrow afternoon, no orders. LOVE ME.) won't get orders in this turn, even for this glorious BT update. Don't do anything Octeny wouldn't do, man. Or, maybe, split the kingdom to her three sons, who are all divine still. Huzzah, pull a Charlemagne. That'd be awesome. I am leaning towards liking the changes, though am saddened at Omega's extreme disapproval :'( Don't leave us maaan.

IC:
To: Salvonic
From: Octeny Strong Bear, High Queen of Argulum and the Organikists

Keep your elongated eastern noses to your own affairs. Haven't you a war to lose?

We have occupied no Confederate lands, period, let alone unjustly, and who are you to say we are in the wrong? Those cultures and people were unable to effectively unite to defend against us, the clearly superior race, and were therefore taken under our wing. We treat them as well as any Kingdom treats their second class citizens. At least we do not spread vicious propaganda to our people that our enemies worship Devils and Vandals. Argulic and Argulum religions are closely tied still. We are brothers, yet disagreeing ones. Turn your attentions to your own troubled affairs, please.

OOC: No offense meant to the player, totally IC. And it sounded more snide than i intended it to at first, but maybe Octeny is a snide leader. Dunno. It was meant to be racist though

 

[Menanish]

Screw it, I'mma stay up late and write a cool-ass general (cool ass-general?) outline that will let you write to your frickin heart's content, my Lord.

EDIT: OKAY ORDERS SENT. You should be proud of me.

 

[Terrance888]

General outline

Missionaries and Merchants travel EVERYWHERE, I mean as much as possible, as far as possible, to every single piece of land reachable, than more.

EVERYWHERE! Get it!

Expand into India up Indus, make it a true Conevant. Holy Wars only if Nessessary. No Huge Bueracracy, holy book forbids epotism the favoring of one's family for the luks or whatever. Expand and assimilate!

Innovators galor will be accepted. No such witch hunts of Cathlicism. WE don't shun other religions, but just put a religion tax on them. Watever, better stuff later.

 

[Lord of Elves]

Many thanks to those of you who have sent guidelines as of yet, thanks in advance to those of you who will in the future. Your guidelines may not always be followed to a "T", or be executed exactly as you might hope due to the "flow of history", and outside events, but in general I shall do my best to keep the faith with your guidelines while creating a three-hundred year era which shall lead us to the "next step", in this NES.

 

[ZeletDude]

Orders have been sent

 

[badunoff]

Where stats updated?

 

[Lord of Elves]

Where stats updated?

Stats will not be updated, as with the BT they will become irrelevant. BT guidelines should not require knowledge of your stats in any case, as they should only be a list of goals you want accomplished in some shape or form.

 

[badunoff]

orders sent

 

[The Loser]

Calli Guidelines:

Spoiler :

* Expand to the south, take over the west-coast
* Massive investments in city's and science
* Cultural buildings shall be linked to our scientific projects
* Friendly neighbours will be persuaded to join our culture, or to have friendly trade-relations

 

[Lord of Elves]

Just a little preview, plans for the BT are currently underway, but all things counted, it will most likely not be posted for a few more days. Expect to see it by Monday or shortly thereafter.

 

[Omega124]

To: Confederacy, Aragulum
From: Salvonic

Alright, fine than. But when all of your men die in the pointless conflict, and your population goes down the drain, we'll let you know a diplomatic solution in Riga will be available.

OOC: I'm sorry guys, but I really liked the NES because it was simple, fun, easy to write orders, and Lord is one of the best mods ever (And that's a lot, seeing my bad experience with many mods over my orders). After the BT rules, I'll still have Lord, but that's it. I just find you want to complicate something that shouldn't.

However, one thing lacking even the current stats is technology. I'd love a tech age added in this game. Also army and navy quality, along with quantity.

 

[Lord of Elves]

To: Confederacy, Aragulum
From: Salvonic

Alright, fine than. But when all of your men die in the pointless conflict, and your population goes down the drain, we'll let you know a diplomatic solution in Riga will be available.

OOC: I'm sorry guys, but I really liked the NES because it was simple, fun, easy to write orders, and Lord is one of the best mods ever (And that's a lot, seeing my bad experience with many mods over my orders). After the BT rules, I'll still have Lord, but that's it. I just find you want to complicate something that shouldn't.

However, one thing lacking even the current stats is technology. I'd love a tech age added in this game. Also army and navy quality, along with quantity.

Thank you, I really appreciate your support , and would hate to lose a player over what will be very simple rule changes. This game is not going to become a complicated NES, the rule changes will merely be instituted to move the NES into the "next stage", and make this a better game overall.

Give it a try, I'm sure it'll continue to be the same NES, only better. (Bigger, faster, stronger, but wait! There's more!...)

 

[Eltain]

Update. NAAAAAOUUGH.

 

[Lord of Elves]

"The lights are going out across Europe. I fear we shall not see them lit again in our lifetimes." - Sir Edward Grey

The Great Europan War, First Age 60-81​

The decade began with the death of High Queen Octeny in 61 from unknown causes, purportedly some sort of illness. Regardless, with her death she summoned her presumed illegitimate children to her bedside, to divide the Realm she had ruled since adolescence between them, much to the dismay of her magisterial council. Originally intending to divide the kingdom into provinces, the children made it clear that they would if necessary invoke the “rite of the High Queen”, on the populace and entice them to overthrow the assembly that their purported mother had labored many years to create. Reluctantly, and with not a little duress, the council assented. The Three Kingdoms of the Isles, Argulaica, and Argulack were born. Varick the Wolf, eldest son of the late High Queen, would rule the Isles. Kelsay the Shark, middle-child and only daughter of the High Queen would rule Argulack, and youngest son, Norace the Wolverine would rule Argulaica. Varick's reign began with the societal and economic tribulations of a Waldic (native peoples of the Argulumic Isles), revolt, forever burning hatred for the Waldics in the mind of the Wolf. Kelsay's reign began with the accidental creation of a military nobility which proceeded to divide her young kingdom into fiefs, backed up by their own military power. By contrast, it appeared Norace the Wolverine was off to a great start with his subjugation of the Confederation, and endearment to his people as a military hero.

The people of Argulum had every intention to remain one people, indeed, the saying of the times was “Three Kings, one Realm!” Unfortunately, these hopes would be dashed by events outside the control of the Argulumics. Kivorian territories in Iberila were plagued by the incompetence of riled, backwater provincial soldiers and officials, that committed their final failure in the misinterpretation of orders from Kivoria proper, proceeding to invade Jenetian territory. With a quick and relatively bloodless defeat of the Kivorians, the Jenetian soldiers responded with the siege and massacre of the Kivorian Iberilican “Holy City”. Killing nearly everyone within the broken walls of the city, the Jenetians were reported to have sent back in galleys several hundred mutilated, blinded and maimed women and children to bring word of Jenetia's displeasure to Kivoria. It is said that the blind rode, while the deaf steered. This, obviously, could lead to nothing but war. In a retaliatory move, the Kivorians put to siege the Malakhanic port-city of Constantinopel, attempting to starve out the Jenetian forces within.

“Liberating”, in 65, the city of Constantinopel from Jenetian hands, the Kivorians incited the already-boiling Malakhanic insurgency to begin the assault on the remainder of the Jenetian occupational government. They garnered this support by the drawing and quartering of surviving Jenetian soldiers and the enslavement of their spouses and children. It is important to note at this time that Norace the Wolverine of Argulaica had entered warfare with Salvonic over Warmia, which had caved into a Salvonic invasion in 64. Fighting a war of stalemate with the Salvonicans, both sides attempted to garner support from the natives, which was slow in forthcoming, and for obvious reasons far more centered toward Argulaica which made itself popular hero de facto for its “goal of liberation”, for the people of Warmia.

Varick the Wolf, had by now proved his incompetence as a governmental official. Still smarting from the hard-won victory over the Waldics, he dedicated most of his reign to causing as much discomfort for the native peoples as possible, much to the chagrin to the magisterial assembly that already resented and were disgusted by him for his unapproved ascension to government. He desired to enter war with the Salvonicans to aid his younger brother, but due to the pacifist and mercantile policy of the assembly, was denied this desire. What makes this notable beyond the simple assessment of Varick's character is that in 66, Jenetian and Kivorian emissaries were dispatched to make friends with the Argulumic Kingdoms, and curry their favor in the growing Jenetian-Kivorian War.

Kelsay the Shark, Queen-Protector of Argulack, was having her own problems. Arguably the least-successful of the Three, Kelsay had allowed a military aristocracy she herself created in a single-minded attempt to make herself the militarily dominate power of the Argulumic Kingdoms, to steer the course of her reign. These nobles, ever fond of Jenetian coin, quickly moved to ensure that Argulack was an ally towards Jenetia in the war, and committed Kelsay's beautiful, “Army of the Commonwealth”, to the ignominious role of cannon fodder for Jenetian generals. When news of this reached the Isles, Varick is said to have mocked his sister's failure in government, though this is not a little hypocritical to the modern reader.

By 67 and the beginning of the Second Siege of Constantinopel (technically the Third, but in the mists of time the First is forgotten due to the Jenetian assimilation of the Malakhanics), what remained of the Makadic Horde was in the throes of civil war. Two years prior, Ravane II, progeny of the glorious Ravane and god-monarch to the Makadic people, had died of unknown causes. Immediately after his death, a great philosophical rift had opened in the Horde, between Ravane II's greatest lieutenants, Annon the Cunning and Geddreth the Warborn. Geddreth, a veteran of the First Makadic-Salvonican War, was set on a return to Salvonic to set the record straight on who was the gods' chosen people, while Annon rightly recognized that the attempt of such an assault would likely be the death of the already-fragile Horde. The two, inconsolable, made war against each other, gathering their followers, and bathing the “homeland of the wanderers”, in blood.

This war would be brought to a quick end, however, by Argulumic and Kivorian intervention. Kivoria, having by now lost the Second Siege of Constantinopel, was desperate for foreign aid, its green and untrained military forces straining under the combined weight of the drilled Argulumic and Jenetian armies. The Makadi of Annon accepted this offer, and marched south, to wrath, ruin and a red dawn, as the Makadic saying goes. The Horde of Geddreth was approached by the Argulaics with a similar offer, to aid in the destruction of the Salvonican forces. Both Hordes going their separate ways, events in the War continued to transpire.

The Highlord of the Isles, Varick the Wolf awoke in winter 67 to discover that his government had embargoed his brother to maintain ties with Jenetia, and for moral reasons, not wishing to be in any way allied by proxy with the horrible and ruthless Horde. Attempting to blackmail his council again into acquiescence to his will, he was met with an ultimatum. The council would much prefer civil war by death of the monarch, than the displeasure of Jenetia, or any alliance of any kind to the Makadi Horde, who were the enemies of the gods. Valuing his life more than his high honor, Varick the Wolf assented.

Makadic assistance in the Third Siege of Constantinopel proved invaluable, and the city was again captured by the Kivorians, who in their moment of triumph, were more than a little dismayed to discover that the reputation of the Horde was by no means exaggerated. The Makadics, participating in the conquering parade the Kivorians put on as a show for the Malakhanics, turned their horses into the crowd, trampling hundreds, and proceeded to set fire to the city. Pushing out Kivorian forces, they proclaimed the Second Ascendance, the spiritual successor to the brief-lived Empire of Ravane I. The Horde of Geddreth pulled the same trick on the Argulaics, who were just as enraged and beaten by the sudden betrayal of their Makadic “allies”.

Salvonic, taking advantage of the chaos, pushed into northern Argulaica, crushing resistance and taking no prisoners. Kivoria proceeded to approach Salvonic for aid, who were willing to send soldiers to fight for Kivoria, should the Kivorians agree to declare war upon Argulaica, and fund the Salvonican war effort. By this chain of events, Varick the Wolf was finally allowed to enter the war, and the Jenetian-Kivorian War ended. In spring of 68, the Great War of Europa began.

The pact of the Argulumic Kingdoms and Jenetia came to be referred to as the Imperial Alliance, while the Kivorian-Salvonic alliance became known as simply, the Coalition. Though the Argulumic Kingdoms as a whole contributed a vast amount of manpower to the Jenetian war effort, Jenetia discovered that while this manpower aws under the control of Argulumic generals, it was almost always wasted. Argulum, not seeing a major conflict in three generations, was plagued by the presence of an officer corps that had no military experience, save for the Argulaic and Argulackan armies.

Jenetia had been previously able to dissuade a Kivorian attack on the Hanuppan Canal by making it their major military and naval staging center. However, with the beginning of the Fourth Siege of Constantinopel in mid-68, by both the Imperial Alliance and the Coalition against Annon's Horde, Jenetian forces were strung so thin that slack had to be picked up by Argulumic forces from the Isles, much to the chagrin of the Jenetian tacticians.

The Battle of Hanuppa, fought between Kivorian and Argulumic forces, guaranteed victory in the Fourth Siege of Constantinopel for the Imperial Alliance. Paltry, untrained Argulumic soldiers defended the Hanuppan Canal from an army of a thousand Kivorian professionals, fresh from the Malakhanic In-Land Campaign. It was a horrible defeat, but the Argulumics managed to distract the forces of the Kivorians for enough days that the Kivorian divisions maintaining the siege at Constantinopel would not receive reinforcements.

The Fourth and final Siege of Constantinopel ended in the spring of 69 when Jenetian and Argulumic forces finally broke the defenses of the Makadics, and took the city. Meeting Kivorian forces within the streets, the carnage was terrible, but eventually Alliance forces prevailed, flying the Jenetian flag over the minarets of the port, or their ruins, yet again. Annon's Horde, ruined, dispersed. Annon the Cunning was not undone by a failure of wisdom, but by the luck of the gods, or so said the Jenetian soothsayers. And so it remains in the memory of Europa.

To the north, the Horde of Geddreth of the Warborn consolidated its position, resisting both Argulaic and Salvonican attempts to push back his forces, establishing himself in Warmia and introducing reforms to the structure of the Horde to facilitate its creation as a “power”, in the words of Geddreth. The remainder of the Great Europan War was several battles in the Europan Sea and in the Argulaic northlands. The Great Europan War ended in 81 with the signing of the Treaty of Corsuss at the feet of the Corsuss Mountains in north-eastern Malakhan. By the term of the Treaty of Corsuss, Kivoria, summarily defeated by the Imperial Alliance though hardly beaten as an economic power, was to cede all its Europan holdings save for the Kivorian homeland. Thanks to the efforts of the Salvonican emissaries, however, Salvonic maintained its hold over what had once been north-eastern Argulaica. Geddreth's Horde would over the next few years be challenged in a series of minor conflicts known as the Warmiak Wars, but would not be uprooted.

"I should very much like to see a Waldic state. It sounds like a comedy worthy of the greatest playwrights." - Varick the Wolf, Highlord of the Isles

The Waldic Revival, First Age 100-130​

During the later years of the reign of Varick the Wolf, the aging Highlord of the Isles is purported to have become mentally unstable, senility waring away at his mental capacities. In 100 of First Age, the sixty-year-old monarch had several hundred Waldic slaves shipped away in a boat, along with several Argulic overseers to report back on their progress. Supposedly, the Highlord had entered a bet with one of his magistrates that the Waldics could never manage without Argulumic overlordship. Sailing far west, past the isle of New Argulum, the Waldics landed on the shores of a large island, purportedly the size of Europa. Promptly overpowering their Argulic overseers and disposing of them, or so reason must think, the Waldics set out into the wilderness...

In 110, Varick the Wolf died heir-less, and a grateful council elected Aetheldas of Dunlandde as Magistrate-Regent. In times to come, he would simply be referred to as Highlord of the Isles, despite his lack of royal blood. By this time, Waldics had come into contact with the native inhabitants of the island they had unintentionally colonized. The natives, calling themselves the Citians, told of the wonders of the continent to the west, and for a time a peaceful relationship of trade existed between the people of “Waldia Cambrigon”, (the name of the new Waldic nation, essentially, the Commonwealth of Waldia). However, in 114 an altercation involving Waldic regulars and Citian soldiers sparked into a skirmish, which eventually resulted in a full-scale battle. Escalation, continually proving itself to be a natural principle of human life, began the Waldic-Citian War in 114, lasting to 121. The war marked the expulsion of Citians from the “Isle of Cambrigon”, and the beginning of what would later be called Waldic nationalism. This would not be the end of the Waldic-Citian relationship...

By 130, Waldia Cambrigon had established itself as a full-fledged nation, with a burgeoning population, and the formation of a standing army. Representative government headed by a Consulate-Major proved itself to be the form of regulation, and the Waldics spread far and wide throughout the island, though discovering to their dismay that not all of it was exactly fit for habitation...

“Kivorians ruled the world, on the tip of a gold coin. No longer; but the world turns! What was, may come again. Perhaps Vorthon wills his people be great again. Perhaps a new king of Kivoria shall take up the sword. Perhaps...” - Epilogue, Horns in the Desert

The Kivorian Wars of Colonialism, First Age 130-160​

It took several generations for Kivoria to truly recover from the Great Europan War. It would not be until 130 that Yared Hassim, a poet and scholar serving at the Temple of Vorthon near in Sinailiga wrote his Horns in the Desert, which arguably served to midwife the rebirth of the Kivorian nationalist spirit, and propel the Kivorian people on to their colonialist exploits of the mid-2nd century. Yared's saga, the tale of a survivor of the Second Siege of Constantinopel and his exploits throughout and after the Great War of Europa, inspired a great fire in the breasts of a Kivorian people desperate for self-affirmation in the “winter of their discontent”. Yared Hassim quickly moved up in the priesthood, gathering accolades of followers.

The cultural re-definition that followed Horns in the Desert gave birth to the Kivorian colonialist movement which was midwifed by the need for Kivorian merchants to reclaim the merchant marine they were to inherit from their forebears, the mercantile superiority that had been robbed of them by the Jenetian menace. The Kivorian government, taking example of this new commercial and expeditionary spirit, began to recruit citizens for colonization in the east, along the Asthurian subcontinent of Blellone. Spreading throughout the subcontinent, the Kivorians discovered that despite the humidity of the land, it was extremely fertile thanks to the presence of several rivers from which they could with little effort at all irrigate their farms. More government-sanctioned expeditions began, and more and more Kivorians arrived in Blellone. By 132, the subcontinent had been almost entirely absorbed.

Kivorian eyes turned to the north-east, but were surprised to discover that someone else had beaten them to the exploitation of the land. The people of Dymaea were alarmed by the sudden presence of a people they had never before had communications with appearing in their midst, not to mention the fact that they came armed and in large numbers. Informed by the leader of this first of many expeditions that the Kivorian people came in peace, they allowed themselves to enter a trading relationship with Kivoria. Vorthonism demanded that the Kivorian colonials bring the word of their god to the indigenous inhabitants of any new-found land.

And so the already tense relationship between Kivoria and Dymaea was increasingly ruined by the belligerent actions of Vorthonist priests, such as kidnapping small children for indoctrination into the order as clerics, or stealing food from fields and leaving the Book of Vorthon in its place. Kivoria, hardly the only theocratic society in the world, but certainly the most zealous, would not be stopped. Vorthon's word would spread far and wide, no matter the cost.

Enter Angkola; an island nation with holdings in the mainland of Asthur, the Angkolans were related to the Dymaeans, but were in culture and practice an entirely different beast. Dymaea, which did not maintain an overly large standing army or navy was in the past a great trading power, while Angkola had dedicated itself to mustering thousands upon thousands of men in the name of warfare. As of yet, these forces had not been used in an actual conflict. However, the Angkola were not at all as accepting of the Kivorians as their Dymaean cousins were...

The Kivorian Wars of Colonialism began in 135 when an expedition of Kivorian colonials and regulars landed on a peninsula that they would later discover was most-decidedly not open for colonization, but was in fact Angkolan territory. Pushing through the jungle, the Kivorian soldiers who were used to using their armor to impress villagers discovered that the natives were armed themselves. The battle occurring between provincials of the Angkolan army and Kivorian regulars was fought on the Peninsula of Adalon. When news of its events spread to the rest of Asthur, Dymaea immediately embargoed the Kivorians.

Dymaean and Angkolan officials signed the Pact of Cooperation in early 136, and began what could be called the First War of Kivorian Colonialism within the series. The First War was characterized by pitched battles along the rivers of Blellone, with an attempt on the part of Dymaea and Angkola to disrupt the young infrastructure the colonies had only just assembled.

The First War was a victory of sorts for Kivoria who ultimately did absorb the peninsula they first attacked, as well as some territory in the mainland. Ending in 141 with the signing of the Treaty of Edahar by Kivorian generals and the provincial magistrate, as well as representatives of the Pact of Cooperation from Dymaea and Angkola.

The Second War was arguably bound to begin at any time, though the actions of Dymaea did much to bring that time closer than it may have needed to be. In the border town of Ongolra, drunk Dymaean soldiers began to throw rocks at the town's walls. Priests within the towns attempted to shoo the soldiers away, but with no success. In fact, finally having enough of the priests' harrying, one of the soldiers unsheathed his sword and gored the priest in question. The news of this altercation spread quickly, and led to violence between Kivorian and Dymaean civilians. Eventually, by spring of 145, there was a riot large enough to incite a battle of sorts between Kivorian and Dymaean forces. Outside of Edahar, Dymaean citizens became so enraged by the continued presence of the Kivorian colonials, that several thousand slogan-shouting, pitchfork-wielding hotheads marched out of the gates of their own city and to the gates of the Kivorian provincial center of Edahar, where the Treaty which ended the First War had been signed only four years ago.

Inciting the soldiers there to fight them, this began the Battle of Edahar. The Second War was off to a start. Battles in the wilderness between Kivorian soldiers and their Pact counterparts ultimately ended in stalemate, and this continued up until 152, when the Second Treaty of Edahar was signed after seven years of conflict. The Second War was not by any means a victory for Kivoria, but it was not quite a defeat, either. Losing parts of their mainland conquests by term of the treaty, Kivorians were forced to relocate further west, but ultimately the war did little to impede the Kivorian colonialist movement.

The next few years of peace would set the stage for Kivoria's role in Europan events, as well as Asthurian ones...

 

[Lord of Elves]

“... And so we live in evil times. The free men of Jenetia turn against each other, instead of their true enemies. Kivorians, Makadics, false priests of gold and ill-gotten gains! Deceivers of men, deniers of Ja'Net. But, we free men. The world belongs to us; and we can remake it to a better plan.” - Addelon Lonenas, High General of the Army of the West

The Jenetian Civil War, First Age 160-200​

At the end of the Great Europan War, there was much question as to what to do with the newly-acquired territory from the remnants of the Kivorian Europan empire. Only for a short time ruled by occupational forces, the territories were eventually turned over to the Church of Ja'Net, much to the consternation of the various provincial dominions of the empire which had hoped to expand their own boundaries. By First Age 160, a hundred years after the beginning of the war and eight years after its end, competition between the various provinces of the empire over territory and economical power was reaching a peak. Derision for the Church, which had made the former Kivorian territories essentially giant temple districts, was growing. The hold Ja'Netism had once maintained over Jenetian culture was crumbling down, and along with it the unity of the empire, which was stagnating and over-extending itself. The Kivorian east-empire increased nationalist sentiments that the great days of Jenetia were past it, and that a new order had to be established to maintain the imperium of Ja'Net.

Addelon Lonenas, an Iberilican by ethnicity but a Jenetian by nationality and spirit was one of these disgruntled nationalists. A student of history, Addelon enthralled his countrymen with tales of the founding of Jenetia. He, and others like him, would hold rallies. A rather tame word for events that were decidedly the antithesis of tame, Lonenas and his ilk were known to beat Malakhanic and Kivorian citizens of the empire, and to take over bars, brow-beating the owners into feeding their thirst for as long as the guards would allow them to. The overall movement of Jenetian nationalism was referred to as Jeneticism, and was characterized by a belief of Jenetian racial superiority, and a desire to return to the imperial glory and commercial success of the pre-Great War empire.

While Addelon and like-minded folk rallied for the return of the idealized empire and the genocide of such undesirables as Malakhanics and Kivorians, the Church of Ja'Net was constantly attempting to establish and engorge its political capital. To put it simply, in the period immediately after the Great War towards First Age 160, approximately eighty years, the empire had largely deteriorated into warring factions all seeking to be the dominant force within the empire's bounds. Merchant guilds, religious movements, nationalists and politicians, and of course the Church. The days of the Church defining the empire were long over, not remembered, but chronicled in the libraries of the War Academy of Ja'Net, which was a ruin itself. The Academy, a wonder of architecture and of military strategy, had long become defunct in favor of more secular provincial training centers. War and religion , it was decided, would no longer have a direct link between each other in the empire.

How the Church, then, managed to become faction-imperator of the Kivorian territories is an entirely different story that has relevance only as the catalyst of the events of First Age 160 and those that followed it, and will therefore not be gone over in much detail here. Suffice it to say that money changed hands, and perhaps a few daggers were drawn. Even in the “golden age”, of the empire, there was strife, both political and ethnic.

But the rally of 160 in the town of Gellondia was different, for several reasons. Held by Addelon and his fellows, members of a particular nationalist sect known as the Jenetian Revivalist Coalition, the provincial governor of the Iberilican territories, one Nennas Doren attended this meeting in an attempt to appease the protestors, and assure them that the empire was as strong as ever. This was brought on by orders from Tobohr to all the provinces, to deal with their more outspoken and violent political sects.

Nennas was invited on stage by Addelon, and obliged, accepted. The governor was brought on stage, and treated to a speech. Calling for the end of negative elements, tearing apart the empire, when the speech ended, Addelon unsheathed a dagger from his belt, and plunged it into the heart of the governor. Pushing his limp, lifeless body to the ground and standing upon it, Addelon shouted to the enthralled crowds, “Thus dies a coward!”

Though no one quite knew it yet, the war had begun. Addelon, his fellow organizers, and many of the attendants of the rally were incarcerated, pending execution. However, this involuntary martyrdom on the part of the governor served to light the spark of the already-simmering rebellion. In fall of 160, a riotous crowd of several hundred armed civilians stormed the prisons of Gellondia, killing the guards and rescuing Addelon from his execution, only hours away from the chopping block.

Addelon and his followers, calling themselves the Army of the West representing the Iberilican and Ronentian regions of the empire, then marched. Arriving at the gates of towns, the guards would instead of repelling them, throw down their arms and join the mob. Eventually, all of Iberila was under the thrall of the “Army of the West”.

In Tobohr, several thousand regulars were dispatched to crush this rebellion and restore order. This was quite possibly the worst response the Jenetian government could have conceived. Sending the countrymen of the rebels to fight against them served as a message of war towards the various nationalist movements throughout the empire. The massacre of the rebels martyred them for their movement, and despite attempts to capture Addelon and his advisers, the forces were unsuccessful. Sailing back to Tobohr, beaten and worn, some of their own number having joined the rebels, the regulars voluntarily disbanded and dispersed. The empire as a whole was aghast.

Rebellions sprung up in Hanuppa and Malakhan, loyalist forces either powerless to repudiate the greater numbers of the nationalists, or joining themselves in rebellion. By 164 there was hardly a part of the empire that was not being clashed over. The Army of the West was followed by the Jenetian Liberation Army and others. In the former Kivorian territories, both the priesthood and the ethnic Kivorian inhabitants of the territories were rounded up in town squares and publicly executed.

In 165, an army of two-thousand Jenetian regulars sailed to Iberila, under the command of General Ordas Vellol. The first of many loyalist attempts to put down the nationalist rebellions, the army marched through nearly unimpeded to the provincial capital of Gellondia wherein the revolt began, and put the city to siege. The Siege of Gellondia was fought for several months, and ended ultimately in early 166 when Addelon and his more trusted advisers sneaked out of the city in the middle of the siege. Despite the city's capture, Addelon had evaded justice yet again.

Campaigns by the military to relieve the stressed and worn priesthood regulator regiments which had up until the rebellion maintained the peace in what had once been northern Kivoria were equally hollow victories. By contrast, the war in this part of Jenetia was an entirely different animal. While the Army of the West was the baby of Lonenas, rebellion in Hanuppa and the former-Kivorian regions was a hydra. Killing one nationalist leader would only result in the take over or birth of another.

By 170, perhaps the only region in the empire still under control was Tobohria itself. There were little to no nationalist elements, as Tobohria was almost entirely the domain of the mercantile upper class which was birthed during the pre-Great War years, and midwifed by the destruction of the Kivorian economic engine. These merchant families, clans if you will, were entirely loyal to the government and the priesthood, both whose actions guaranteed their commercial success and continued luxury. But by the same coin, these families had little to offer the military, which was almost entirely supplied by the provinces, and crumbling under the dearth of manpower and the resignation of many military commanders, who were either too old to serve, too mentally unfit, or had joined up with the rebellion. Things were indeed grim for Jenetia, finally facing the consequences of its publicly-alienating and caste-operated society and government.

The break that the loyalists needed came in 172 when the Argulumic Kingdoms noticed that the rebellion severely hampered their ability to trade with Jenetia, or benefit from Jenetian luxuries and supplies. Argulum, Argulack and Argulaica promptly donated soldiers and fleets to the loyalist effort. Over the next eighteen years, the Argulumic Kingdoms and the Jenetian loyalists would fight a four-front brush war in for what the Jenetians was their own home territory.

Ultimately, peace came in First Age 200 with the Second Battle of Hanuppa, in which Argulumic and Jenetian loyalist forces crushed the rebel beachhead and ultimately destroyed the accumulated navy of the various rebel factions. Having no true army, the rebellion was forced to surrender in fall of that year. Though, for many, it was not at all the victory they would have hoped for...

“For a thousand-thousand years, let this pact bind us...” - The Pact of Magnatum

The Jenetian Magnate, First Age 200-210​

Following the Jenetian Civil War, the representatives of the new provincial governments, helpfully propped up by the combined armies of the Argulumic Kingdoms, met in Tobohr to decide the fate of the empire. Over the next ten years, a series of debates created the Magnates. A confederation of what had been the empire, the Magnates were their own nations of sorts, bound by law not to attack their fellows.

The Pact of Magnatum was signed in 210, creating the nations of Iberila, Ronentica, Tobohria and Lonon, and is cited today by many historians as the end of the “age of empires”, within the First Age.

“Gods... I hate Waldics. I hate those northmen, too. Hate is the builder of empires, friends. When this war is over, I shall rule an empire.” - Eddenon Quoros, Highlord of the Isles

The Argulumic-Jenetian War, First Age 230-235​

Pressure from the Argulumic Kingdoms was building on the Jenetian Magnates, to return the favor of the Argulumic aid in the Jenetian Civil War. Into this tempest of geopolitical instability enter Eddenon Quoros, heir to the throne of the Highlord, many times great grandson of Aetheldas of Dunlandde. Unlike his forebear, Eddenon had instead inherited or borrowed Varick the Wolf's legendary hatred for Waldics. Not to mention competition with Argulaica for trade and control of the seas. Eddenon was simply a very hateful man. His sadistic personality and leanings made him unpopular among his council, a pity compared to the past line of sane and prude rulers. But if crude, deceptive and perhaps even evil, Eddenon Quoros was cunning.

The catalyst for the Argulumic-Jenetian War is debatable, but is generally agreed that it began with Eddenon Quoros refused to continue to provide military and economic aid to the struggling Magnates, and withdrew his forces, in effect snubbing Jenetia and breaking the terms of the treaty the previous Highlord had signed. The other Argulumic Kingdoms denounced his actions, Argulaica going so far to embargo the Isles, a move which was admittedly long in coming.

The flurry of alliances and embargoes that followed among the major powers of Europe lit the coals of the fire, and by 232, the Isles were at war. Argulaica and Argulack continued to acknowledge the treaty and provide support to the Magnates, making them natural allies for Jenetia. Salvonic, still attempting to crush New Warmiak, otherwise known as the Horde Remnants, proved itself to be Argulum's ally, due to its enmity for and competition with Argulaica. For five years, these powers battled each other in various skirmishes both on land and at sea.

It did not seem that the cycle of stalemate would be broken, until Argulum awoke the slumbering Kivoria to affairs in Europe by way of emissary. Kivoria, still smarting from its defeat by Jenetia, pledged to aid Argulum in its war against the Jenetian Magnates. By 235, the Argulumic-Jenetian War had ended. The Second Great War of Europa, had begun.

“I see Death among us, a wolf among sheep. He walks every which way, spreading discord and displeasure, famine and war. His name is Eddenon.” - Argulaican Poet

The Second Great War of Europa, First Age 236-241​

The Second Great War of Europa was the defining moment of the First Age. Its events would determine the course of post-Magnate history, and the shape of Europa and perhaps of the entire world. Peoples across Europa, Asthur and Ammeron could not guess it yet, but in these short few years their lives would be determined by the actions of only a dozen few men.

Predictably, the Second Great War began the same way the First did. Kivoria sieged Constantinopel, the Fifth (Sixth) Siege in its history. Argulum invaded Argulack in the same year. This period was arguably the second wave of Kivorian nationalism, and a great sentiment arose that in this war, Kivoria would reclaim its Europan empire, and reclaim its rightful place among the nations of Europa.

The goals of Eddenon Quoros were demonstrably less noble, seeking to take only key territories in Argulack, and free himself of the burden of funding the Magnates. The deaths of thousands of innocents were pithy in comparison to this self-aggrandizing goal. Whether or not it would better serve Argulum was a thought that one is led to believe never crossed the erstwhile Highlord's mind.

The two sides of the conflict, the Co-Axial Alliance containing Argulum, Salvonic and Kivoria, and the Second Imperial Alliance, containing Argulack, Argulaica, the Jenetian Magnates, and New Warmiak as a proxy ally.

The Fifth Siege of Constantinopel ended when Kivoria captured the city. Kivorian troops, moving east and west, crushed the country-side with ruthless efficiency. Moving towards Tobohr, the city was valiantly and futilely defended by Jenetian levees alongside Argulackan regulars. The carnage was terrible, but the city was ultimately captured.

In the north, Salvonican forces crushed several Argulaican towns before being driven back into northern Salvonic. In Argulack, the Army of the Isles managed to take the north-eastern regions of the kingdom, but only just. The channel, plagued by battle between Argulumic and Argulaican naval forces, was not the most practical of places to resupply the invasion force, and so they were unable to push further into the Argulackan midlands.

Of course, it is needless to say that the magistrates back in the Isles were terrified. The Highlord had gone over their heads, and was on the path to the destruction. Seven magistrates, names unknown to this day, gathered together as conspirators in a plot to assassinate the Highlord and replace him with his cousin, Seddel Fongarre...

By 238, the war was a stalemate on all fronts, no forces making any major progress whatsoever. A multitude of battles had been fought, almost always ending in mutual withdraw to recoup losses. Neither side had any particular advantage other than that of surprise. The capture of Tobohr and its subsequent siege by the Magnate of Ronentica to return it to the forces of the Magnate of Tobohria came to simplify the state of the war, which was that of no progress on either side. Hope was that eventually the walls of the city would break, but siege weapons were slow in forthcoming or not at all from Argulack, thanks to the fact that the western coast of Tobohria was blockaded by the Kivorian navy.

The advantage needed came in mid-238, when the conspirators now simply known as the Council of Dunlandde assassinated the Highlord of the Isles, and threw his body from the Tower of the Palace of Argula. This sparked a very quickly ended civil war in the Isles, which was ultimately concluded with the crowning of Seddel Fongarre in early 239. Over the next two years, the Second Imperial Alliance would end the war with Kivoria and Salvonic, with Argulum now providing what arms they could to its sister kingdoms.

The war officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Constantinopel in 241. Kivoria did not reclaim its Europan empire, but it did not suffer an ignominious defeat, either. There was little at all the Magnates could do to force Kivoria to turn over its eastern empire, Ja'Net knowing what they would do with the territory should they get their hands on it in any case. Ultimately, the political map of Europa was unchanged by the bloody conflict, though the economic and social one most certainly was. The Second Great Europan War midwifed the Europan Reforms that were inevitably on the horizon following the Jenetian Magnates...

History is on our side. We will bury you!” - Nikita Kruschev

The Europan Reforms, First Age 241-300​

The Europan Reforms were not so much an event, but the story of a generation. Following the fallout of the Second Great War of Europa, the public had become disenchanted with life under the rule of kings. A new movement was beginning, calling for representative government. The world was changing. New ideas were sweeping the world, both in Europa, and in Asthur. Not only Europa was effected by these reforms. New nations were rising in Ammeron, thanks to Waldic interference in the Ammeronic political situation. New leaders rose, and the fate of the world was put in new hands. A new story.

A dawn over a new world