Post by Rabite on Dec 13, 2020 0:36:37 GMT -6
[Year 221 of the Zalborian Calendar]
The Paemir region, the Eastern ranges of the Kingdom of Zalboria, and is well known to be the most unstable region within the Kingdom. It was mere three years ago that the control of the region had returned to the hands of the claimants of the land and title of Marquess of Paemir, not nearly enough time to see any major improvements, or even recover the damages that was caused by the chaos that had spread within its borders.
Thanks to the swift actions of a loose coalition of emerging famed leaders across the Kingdom, Asher of the Cuillinn-Rorke-Bachelet clan was able to return to his family's traditional domain, and through some political ploy, was able to temporarily hold the title of the Duke of Paemir, if only for a short amount of time until the return of her rightful holder within a few years.
While the young commander and his followers have good intentions, and received great deal of support from Princess Keiana of Zalboria, it was not anywhere as easy as he may have hoped. With the duchy in rabbles from years of corruption and neglect, the Duchy of Paemir is in such a shape that it would barely be able to feed itself, let alone enacting the type of improvements that Asher had hoped to carry out.
He was received help from a less welcoming individual, James of Gransela, one of the Marquess that had participated in the liberation of Paemir. The former Marquess did not have the burden of a razed Duchy to deal with, and was able to grow to a new height of power through his completed marriage with the daughter of the Duke. By the year 221, James is known as the Duke of Gransela, one of the youngest of his colleagues but among the most powerful ones in the Kingdom. Gransela and Paemir had a strong rivalry, especially after the Great Plunder of Paemir in the year 207 was carried out by someone with strong Granselian roots and training. Duke Gransela had acted as well as he is known as, 'the Magnanimous'. The Duke seems to want to improve the rigid relationship of the two regions, so he had provided large supplies of food, building materials, and pretty much anything that Paemirians might need to survive, for a reasonable price.
While Granselians have viewed this humanitarian to be much under-priced according to their own economy, it was considered quite expensive for the poor and weakened region of Paemir. After several negotiations, James have promised to further lower the price, and provide another long term loan to the Rorke clan, in the condition that these loans have to be used for purchasing of goods from Gransela.
Finally by the year 221, the region's economic situation have somewhat stabilized, something close to a miracle for their standing when it was freed three years ago, and the success had brought Marquess much fame among not just his people, but through out the nation as well. Asher himself was not nearly as happy, as he knows how many things important to him had be pledged for these support, and how high and mighty that darned Duke must have felt as he provided advice to the Marquess.
All have changed starting just a month after the New Years with the start of the Baladoraxian invasion of Paemir. The Empire of Baladorax is a long rival to the Kingdom of Zalboria that had been waiting for opportunities to bring the sword back to the negotiations table. The Empire's original plan was to wait until Paemir is further weakened by their internal conflicts, but Asher's success had made them reconsider their plans. Through bribery and blackmailing, the Empire was able to 'produce' a weak point in the mountain ranges, and breakthrough using a concentrated assault before anyone could respond to the attack.
By the time the news had reach the ears of the powerful in Zalboria, the Empire had already got a footing in the region, and are ready to push forward at any moment. Paemir did not simply sit and wait for their doom, and immediately called up on both its standing army, along with the steady supply of peasant levies that have always been a notable part of the Paemirian culture. In the three years since the liberation, Asher had spent quite a bit of effort into rebuilding not just the economic, but military sector of the Duchy as well. While Gransela provided loans mainly for economic purposes, the Rorke clan carried out deals under the table to recover and strengthen their military. The Gransela seems to have noticed this from the start, but the Duke have not spoke about this, even when his trusted Steward have personally brought up the issue to him.
The royal family was highly alerted by the news of this sudden invasion, and have immediately responded in their own ways. The Crown Prince immediately summons his own retinue, and personally lead them as reinforcements to the region. The older princess brings the news up to her father, who spoke nothing during the conversation, but gives her permissions to utilize supplies from the capital. The younger princess however, summons her trusted servant, Duke Gransela, and had a lone conversation from him. Little knew of what was discussed, and those that do are not willing to reveal it. The bed ridden King was the last act, and summons the Duke over before he could leave after his meeting. Most of the conversation was bland chatter, but the close servant of the King have strong memories of a short part in it.
-
“For years, the Granselians have lend the royal family their strength, their wealth, and their wisdom. Can I still count on you for one last wish from a dying old man?”
“With honor and caliber, as we have always done.”
“Mm... my young daughter, if only she is born a man, then I will not hesitate to give her what is rightfully hers... But, I do not wish to see with my own eyes for my children to cross swords, no matter how futile this wish may be. I could guess what Isabelle have said to you, but ould my loyal ally, Duke James of Gransela, fulfill this wish for me?”
“.....I could not promise my success, but with all my powers. Your highness.”
-
The Granselian forces was among the first to arrive in the Kingdom, and brought along a large amount of not only men and supplies, but well needed heavy artillery and armored units as well. Along with several other minor nobles, the forces met by mid-Paemir, and with Prince Kylan Lamont as the top commander. The young prince may hold a title that is suitable for position, but he lacks the experience to command his own retinue, let alone a large combined forces such as the Zalboria coalition. As such, most of the burden has fallen to Marquess Rorke, who owns the land that they are defending, and Duke Gransela who offers the largest force and provides much of the coalition with food and ammunition.
James suggested to retreat to the Southwest where they could handle the Empire in a more favorable terrain, and obtain artillery support from the navy, but Asher believes that it will lead to devastating damages to the region of Paemir to not combat the Empire immediately. The two argues over the plan, but in the end, the Prince sides with Asher in order to retain the trust of the Paemir people. This decision results in a less than ready Zalborian force, without the assistant from her powerful vassals in the Northern and Western region, and dealing with a powerful opponent in an unfavorable terrain.
At first, James agrees to let Asher do his thing, as the Marquess will have more knowledge of this land, and that produced several small victory, but it was soon evident that even the experienced Marquess have not commanded a war of this level. With the King bedridden and the Duke of Paemir dead, there really is no one with such experience, and the commanding style of Paemir is more down to Earth for smaller scale combat. As more and more forces join on both sides, Asher finds himself overrun by the extra duties, and finds himself fallen into several well planned traps that cuts him off with parts of his army.
Having a disadvantage in numbers, even the prince's own retinue would have be send out to combat. While the royal retinues are well trained and are an effective combat unit, their commander is still the young prince, and he was not ready for a combat intensity such as this. Eventually he had suffered a crushing defeat, losing over a third of his men in combat and many more in the rout, and was only rescued by the Granselian forces that have arrived on time. The Empire forces seems to have backed off at the moment from the new reinforcements, and drawing some suspicions from the Prince if the Duke had been secretly working with the enemies. Kylan didn't have much time to think about it, because the Empire soon came back with a stronger force, one that is large enough to overcome both his own retinue, and those that the Duke has brought with him.
James asked the Prince to retreat, while his own forces hold back the enemies to buy sometime. The Prince seems to have wanted to continue the fighting, but was convinced by the duke that it'll be better to inform the Marquess of their situation, and collect more men for battle. Guided by James' espionage units, the Prince and his remaining men tries to avoids enemy forces, while retreating back to the main forces. On the way, the Prince is wary about the decision that the Duke had made, what if the Duke had betrayed the Kingdom, and was planning to have him assassinated? He remembers hearing from his older sister about the rumored conversations behind closed doors between the Duke with Isebelle, and then with the King. If these people were planning to install a new heir then now will be the perfect moment. The last thing that made up his mind was something that Asher had told him when they were back at the main camp.
“Be careful of that man. You don't know what the Granselians are thinking, but they are not to be trusted.”
The Prince suddenly gave off orders to turn towards a different direction, and he did have a fair reason, so that he could launch a surprised attack while the enemies are focused on the Duke. He told the Granselian spies to head on to pass the message to Asher, while he leads the remaining royal retinue to strike at the enemy's flank.
Ultimately, the royal retinue did not fail their reputation of being an elite force of the Kingdom,
-
The battle between the Granselian forces and those of the Empire were fierce and bloody, where the Empire had their numbers, the Granselians were skilled and experienced at fortifying their positions, and lay down devastation with their artillery. Waves after waves of attacks were held off, with Gransela trying to buy time for reinforcements from the main forces, and the Empire failing to defeat their tough opponent. Even when the Empire planned to sacrifice a chunk of their levies and exposed large sides of their formation, it was unable to lure James into launching an attack, as he knew even if he wins it would result in a high price for his own men.
That was when an unexpected group joins the fray, where the Prince launched a bold charge into the exposed ranks of the Empire forces. At first, the Prince was successful in the attack, but soon found his forces surrounded as according to the Empire's plans. By the time James have realized what had happened, the royal retinue had been completely trapped by the enemies. Seeing no other choices, the Granselian forces left their solid fortifications, and actively launch a bloody assault on the invaders. Personally led by their ruler and his sister, the Granselian forces delivered a level of offense that was able to overcome the numerical superiority of the Empire, and emerge as the winner of this battle; but that had not come without cost, with much of the Granselian forces dead or injured, even the Duke himself had taken multiple gunshot wounds, and had to be taken in for emergency treatment, then comes the bad news from one of the survivors of the royal retinue, that the young Prince had fallen.
The Prince had not died alone, as he went down with plenty of both allied and enemy soldiers, and could be viewed as one of the bravest member of the royal family, but those are all for naught when his own young life had gone with these men.
The main forces have arrived soon after, just in time to catch and annihilate the retreating Empire forces, but they were just a bit too late for what they had came here for. Asher was taken to a temporary tent where he comes to face with the Prince's remains, and received a punch from the injured Duke Gransela.
“If you would even try to work with your allies, and not waste your efforts fighting them, then maybe it wouldn't have come to this!!”
It was not a strong strike, considering the other man is suffering from wounds that is enough to cause him to pass out after the punch, and is a miracle in itself that he is still alive, but for the young Marquess the blow felt like he was struck with a heavy artillery shell. He can't help but think if that was just the Duke trying to hide his ploys, or evade his failure to defend the Prince... or, maybe could it be that he himself is the cause of all this?
While the Prince and the Duke are both out of the picture thanks to this surprised battle, the Zalborian forces were able to push out the weakened Empire invaders after retaking the mountain fortress, and gives the Marquess a great deal of fame, but he doesn't feel like he deserved it. The Duke's words rings in his mind, along with the last image he had of the dead prince.
-
A few days later, the King receives news of the death of his son, and the report of what had happened during the battle. After months of combating with the diseases that plagued his body, he got up from his bed, and returned to his office to read the report as if he had fully recovered. For once, the King had received a fairly neutral report, without any personal opinion that often came from reports from the East. He was informed of the rationale argued from the three major parties, how the battle had carried out, and how the Prince had died bravely on the battlefield.
He took the Prince's sword that had came with the report, personally cleaned it himself, and summoning Isabelle to his office. One there, the two stood quietly after exchanging their greetings, until the King finally finished preparing the sword. Kylan hands the weapon over to Isabelle, before picking up the Prince's ring, and throwing it into the furnace. The two watches in silent until the ring is burnt to an unrecognizable state, and finally, the King speaks with tired tones.
“The ring will go along with him, but you can have the sword as my gratitude to the Duke for his service. Now, there's no more chains to stop you. I just hope that you will remember our times together as family when you stand before you sister in future.”
“Not for me to help her?”
“We all know of our personalities, and we are more alike than we'd think when it comes to stubbornness.”
“....Good bye, Father.”
The young princess leaves the office, with full understanding of the situation from that short exchange between the father and daughter, and while she did not say anything about it, she did shed a single silent tear as she leaves.
-
That night, Dylan VI of Zalboria passes away in his sleep, leaving behind a throne without claimant, and a political situation that no one could calm.
The Paemir region, the Eastern ranges of the Kingdom of Zalboria, and is well known to be the most unstable region within the Kingdom. It was mere three years ago that the control of the region had returned to the hands of the claimants of the land and title of Marquess of Paemir, not nearly enough time to see any major improvements, or even recover the damages that was caused by the chaos that had spread within its borders.
Thanks to the swift actions of a loose coalition of emerging famed leaders across the Kingdom, Asher of the Cuillinn-Rorke-Bachelet clan was able to return to his family's traditional domain, and through some political ploy, was able to temporarily hold the title of the Duke of Paemir, if only for a short amount of time until the return of her rightful holder within a few years.
While the young commander and his followers have good intentions, and received great deal of support from Princess Keiana of Zalboria, it was not anywhere as easy as he may have hoped. With the duchy in rabbles from years of corruption and neglect, the Duchy of Paemir is in such a shape that it would barely be able to feed itself, let alone enacting the type of improvements that Asher had hoped to carry out.
He was received help from a less welcoming individual, James of Gransela, one of the Marquess that had participated in the liberation of Paemir. The former Marquess did not have the burden of a razed Duchy to deal with, and was able to grow to a new height of power through his completed marriage with the daughter of the Duke. By the year 221, James is known as the Duke of Gransela, one of the youngest of his colleagues but among the most powerful ones in the Kingdom. Gransela and Paemir had a strong rivalry, especially after the Great Plunder of Paemir in the year 207 was carried out by someone with strong Granselian roots and training. Duke Gransela had acted as well as he is known as, 'the Magnanimous'. The Duke seems to want to improve the rigid relationship of the two regions, so he had provided large supplies of food, building materials, and pretty much anything that Paemirians might need to survive, for a reasonable price.
While Granselians have viewed this humanitarian to be much under-priced according to their own economy, it was considered quite expensive for the poor and weakened region of Paemir. After several negotiations, James have promised to further lower the price, and provide another long term loan to the Rorke clan, in the condition that these loans have to be used for purchasing of goods from Gransela.
Finally by the year 221, the region's economic situation have somewhat stabilized, something close to a miracle for their standing when it was freed three years ago, and the success had brought Marquess much fame among not just his people, but through out the nation as well. Asher himself was not nearly as happy, as he knows how many things important to him had be pledged for these support, and how high and mighty that darned Duke must have felt as he provided advice to the Marquess.
All have changed starting just a month after the New Years with the start of the Baladoraxian invasion of Paemir. The Empire of Baladorax is a long rival to the Kingdom of Zalboria that had been waiting for opportunities to bring the sword back to the negotiations table. The Empire's original plan was to wait until Paemir is further weakened by their internal conflicts, but Asher's success had made them reconsider their plans. Through bribery and blackmailing, the Empire was able to 'produce' a weak point in the mountain ranges, and breakthrough using a concentrated assault before anyone could respond to the attack.
By the time the news had reach the ears of the powerful in Zalboria, the Empire had already got a footing in the region, and are ready to push forward at any moment. Paemir did not simply sit and wait for their doom, and immediately called up on both its standing army, along with the steady supply of peasant levies that have always been a notable part of the Paemirian culture. In the three years since the liberation, Asher had spent quite a bit of effort into rebuilding not just the economic, but military sector of the Duchy as well. While Gransela provided loans mainly for economic purposes, the Rorke clan carried out deals under the table to recover and strengthen their military. The Gransela seems to have noticed this from the start, but the Duke have not spoke about this, even when his trusted Steward have personally brought up the issue to him.
The royal family was highly alerted by the news of this sudden invasion, and have immediately responded in their own ways. The Crown Prince immediately summons his own retinue, and personally lead them as reinforcements to the region. The older princess brings the news up to her father, who spoke nothing during the conversation, but gives her permissions to utilize supplies from the capital. The younger princess however, summons her trusted servant, Duke Gransela, and had a lone conversation from him. Little knew of what was discussed, and those that do are not willing to reveal it. The bed ridden King was the last act, and summons the Duke over before he could leave after his meeting. Most of the conversation was bland chatter, but the close servant of the King have strong memories of a short part in it.
-
“For years, the Granselians have lend the royal family their strength, their wealth, and their wisdom. Can I still count on you for one last wish from a dying old man?”
“With honor and caliber, as we have always done.”
“Mm... my young daughter, if only she is born a man, then I will not hesitate to give her what is rightfully hers... But, I do not wish to see with my own eyes for my children to cross swords, no matter how futile this wish may be. I could guess what Isabelle have said to you, but ould my loyal ally, Duke James of Gransela, fulfill this wish for me?”
“.....I could not promise my success, but with all my powers. Your highness.”
-
The Granselian forces was among the first to arrive in the Kingdom, and brought along a large amount of not only men and supplies, but well needed heavy artillery and armored units as well. Along with several other minor nobles, the forces met by mid-Paemir, and with Prince Kylan Lamont as the top commander. The young prince may hold a title that is suitable for position, but he lacks the experience to command his own retinue, let alone a large combined forces such as the Zalboria coalition. As such, most of the burden has fallen to Marquess Rorke, who owns the land that they are defending, and Duke Gransela who offers the largest force and provides much of the coalition with food and ammunition.
James suggested to retreat to the Southwest where they could handle the Empire in a more favorable terrain, and obtain artillery support from the navy, but Asher believes that it will lead to devastating damages to the region of Paemir to not combat the Empire immediately. The two argues over the plan, but in the end, the Prince sides with Asher in order to retain the trust of the Paemir people. This decision results in a less than ready Zalborian force, without the assistant from her powerful vassals in the Northern and Western region, and dealing with a powerful opponent in an unfavorable terrain.
At first, James agrees to let Asher do his thing, as the Marquess will have more knowledge of this land, and that produced several small victory, but it was soon evident that even the experienced Marquess have not commanded a war of this level. With the King bedridden and the Duke of Paemir dead, there really is no one with such experience, and the commanding style of Paemir is more down to Earth for smaller scale combat. As more and more forces join on both sides, Asher finds himself overrun by the extra duties, and finds himself fallen into several well planned traps that cuts him off with parts of his army.
Having a disadvantage in numbers, even the prince's own retinue would have be send out to combat. While the royal retinues are well trained and are an effective combat unit, their commander is still the young prince, and he was not ready for a combat intensity such as this. Eventually he had suffered a crushing defeat, losing over a third of his men in combat and many more in the rout, and was only rescued by the Granselian forces that have arrived on time. The Empire forces seems to have backed off at the moment from the new reinforcements, and drawing some suspicions from the Prince if the Duke had been secretly working with the enemies. Kylan didn't have much time to think about it, because the Empire soon came back with a stronger force, one that is large enough to overcome both his own retinue, and those that the Duke has brought with him.
James asked the Prince to retreat, while his own forces hold back the enemies to buy sometime. The Prince seems to have wanted to continue the fighting, but was convinced by the duke that it'll be better to inform the Marquess of their situation, and collect more men for battle. Guided by James' espionage units, the Prince and his remaining men tries to avoids enemy forces, while retreating back to the main forces. On the way, the Prince is wary about the decision that the Duke had made, what if the Duke had betrayed the Kingdom, and was planning to have him assassinated? He remembers hearing from his older sister about the rumored conversations behind closed doors between the Duke with Isebelle, and then with the King. If these people were planning to install a new heir then now will be the perfect moment. The last thing that made up his mind was something that Asher had told him when they were back at the main camp.
“Be careful of that man. You don't know what the Granselians are thinking, but they are not to be trusted.”
The Prince suddenly gave off orders to turn towards a different direction, and he did have a fair reason, so that he could launch a surprised attack while the enemies are focused on the Duke. He told the Granselian spies to head on to pass the message to Asher, while he leads the remaining royal retinue to strike at the enemy's flank.
Ultimately, the royal retinue did not fail their reputation of being an elite force of the Kingdom,
-
The battle between the Granselian forces and those of the Empire were fierce and bloody, where the Empire had their numbers, the Granselians were skilled and experienced at fortifying their positions, and lay down devastation with their artillery. Waves after waves of attacks were held off, with Gransela trying to buy time for reinforcements from the main forces, and the Empire failing to defeat their tough opponent. Even when the Empire planned to sacrifice a chunk of their levies and exposed large sides of their formation, it was unable to lure James into launching an attack, as he knew even if he wins it would result in a high price for his own men.
That was when an unexpected group joins the fray, where the Prince launched a bold charge into the exposed ranks of the Empire forces. At first, the Prince was successful in the attack, but soon found his forces surrounded as according to the Empire's plans. By the time James have realized what had happened, the royal retinue had been completely trapped by the enemies. Seeing no other choices, the Granselian forces left their solid fortifications, and actively launch a bloody assault on the invaders. Personally led by their ruler and his sister, the Granselian forces delivered a level of offense that was able to overcome the numerical superiority of the Empire, and emerge as the winner of this battle; but that had not come without cost, with much of the Granselian forces dead or injured, even the Duke himself had taken multiple gunshot wounds, and had to be taken in for emergency treatment, then comes the bad news from one of the survivors of the royal retinue, that the young Prince had fallen.
The Prince had not died alone, as he went down with plenty of both allied and enemy soldiers, and could be viewed as one of the bravest member of the royal family, but those are all for naught when his own young life had gone with these men.
The main forces have arrived soon after, just in time to catch and annihilate the retreating Empire forces, but they were just a bit too late for what they had came here for. Asher was taken to a temporary tent where he comes to face with the Prince's remains, and received a punch from the injured Duke Gransela.
“If you would even try to work with your allies, and not waste your efforts fighting them, then maybe it wouldn't have come to this!!”
It was not a strong strike, considering the other man is suffering from wounds that is enough to cause him to pass out after the punch, and is a miracle in itself that he is still alive, but for the young Marquess the blow felt like he was struck with a heavy artillery shell. He can't help but think if that was just the Duke trying to hide his ploys, or evade his failure to defend the Prince... or, maybe could it be that he himself is the cause of all this?
While the Prince and the Duke are both out of the picture thanks to this surprised battle, the Zalborian forces were able to push out the weakened Empire invaders after retaking the mountain fortress, and gives the Marquess a great deal of fame, but he doesn't feel like he deserved it. The Duke's words rings in his mind, along with the last image he had of the dead prince.
-
A few days later, the King receives news of the death of his son, and the report of what had happened during the battle. After months of combating with the diseases that plagued his body, he got up from his bed, and returned to his office to read the report as if he had fully recovered. For once, the King had received a fairly neutral report, without any personal opinion that often came from reports from the East. He was informed of the rationale argued from the three major parties, how the battle had carried out, and how the Prince had died bravely on the battlefield.
He took the Prince's sword that had came with the report, personally cleaned it himself, and summoning Isabelle to his office. One there, the two stood quietly after exchanging their greetings, until the King finally finished preparing the sword. Kylan hands the weapon over to Isabelle, before picking up the Prince's ring, and throwing it into the furnace. The two watches in silent until the ring is burnt to an unrecognizable state, and finally, the King speaks with tired tones.
“The ring will go along with him, but you can have the sword as my gratitude to the Duke for his service. Now, there's no more chains to stop you. I just hope that you will remember our times together as family when you stand before you sister in future.”
“Not for me to help her?”
“We all know of our personalities, and we are more alike than we'd think when it comes to stubbornness.”
“....Good bye, Father.”
The young princess leaves the office, with full understanding of the situation from that short exchange between the father and daughter, and while she did not say anything about it, she did shed a single silent tear as she leaves.
-
That night, Dylan VI of Zalboria passes away in his sleep, leaving behind a throne without claimant, and a political situation that no one could calm.