Hârnview/1st Edition/18

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HÂRNVIEW - History
 


Ezar's War[edit | edit source]

King Nemiran of Rethem was assassinated on the steps of his palace in Golotha, on midsummer's day, 681. It is likely that the blows were struck at the order of Puril, the ambitious commander of the king's bodyguard. On Nemiran's sudden demise, Puril sent troops into the streets to maintain order and proclaimed himself regent until a proper successor could be found. Several candidates for the throne came forward; all died mysteriously before they could take the throne . After six months Puril "reluctantly" took the crown himself. In 682, the Order of the Copper Hook suddenly attacked the Kingdom of Kanday without provocation. Advancing northeast from their castle at Menekod, the "knights" of the order laid seige to Imiden but were forced to quit the field when the Order of the Checkered Shield sent a relief force. The Grandmaster of the Copper Hook, Ezar of Clan Zhirdoka, appealed to Puril for aid; thus began what came to be known as Ezar's War.

The armies of Rethem and Kanday engaged repeatedly, but without much effect, all along their border for the next six years while Puril hatched a scheme to win the war by less direct means. In 688, an army led by Puril himself, embarked by sea from Golotha and landed near Sarkum. Puril's plan was to sieze Sarkum and march east on Aleath, thereby flanking Kanday. Surprise was achieved. Puril quickly overwhelmed Sarkum and Hebon, both independent allies of Kanday, but Puril himself suffered a mortal wound at Sarkum early in 689.

Puril's son, Kabe, succeeded his father but the transfer of power gave Kanday time. The surviving petty states west of Aleath declared fealty to the Kandian king, Andasin III. When Kabe arrived at Sarkum by sea from Golotha, he found himself besieged by a fresh enemy force. Kanday recaptured Hebon in 690 although Andasin III was killed in the final assault. Kabe was still trapped in Sarkum. Any hopes he may have entertained that Kanday would loose heart with the death of their leader were dashed as the enemy r a llied to the young Queen Eriel. In 6 92, fire broke out in besieged Sarkum during which Kabe was killed. The castle surrendered, but Ezar's War went on.

Chafin I was Kabe's eldest surv1Vmg son. A competent strategist, he was able, except for the loss of Dunir in 693, to maintain the stalemate along the Kandian border. Determining that indirect methods could still win the war, he instructed the Order of the Crimson Dancer to assassinate Queen Eriel in 694. The murder did not, however, have the desired effect. The assassin was caught and when she confessed and implicated the Rethemi king, all Kanday was outraged.

Mirelael succeeded her elder sister in a storm of fury against the Rethem. Mirelael's armies siezed the fortresses of Selvos and Menekod in the swift campaigl! of 695. To this point, only lands held by the Order of the Copper Hook had been lost by Rethem. Fearing that some of his own lands might be conquered, Chafin sued for peace. The Peace of Selvos was signed in 697, ending a bitter 15 year war in which two monarchs from each side and many thousands of men had died. The peace eastablished, more or less, the present Rethem-Kanday border.

Kanday emerged stronger than ever from Ezar's War. The independent states west of Aleath, and lands taken from the Order of the Copper Hook, had been added to the kingdom. Rethem, on the other hand, verged on civil war. Chafin had the notorious Ezar, assassinated in 698. The Order of the Crimson Dancer enjoyed the disfavour of the king to the extent that they emigrated to Orbaal in 701. Chafin I was assassinated in 703; this time no one was caught. In the twenty three years since Ezar's War, the border between Kanday and Rethem has been the scene of almost contiunous skirmishing between the Order of the Checkered Shield and the Order of the Copper Hook, the latter of whom have yet to acknowledge the Peace of Selvos. The wounds of the war have yet to heal. Rethem's present king, Chafin III, is vigoursly trying to reunite his chronically rebellious kingdom. If he lives long enough, it is likely that he will again attack hated Kanday.

Kuseme War[edit | edit source]

Andasin IV, the current ruler of Kanday, succeeded his mother, Mirelael, in 707 at the age of 17. The first five years of his reign were as peaceful as the problems along the border with Rethem would allow. Andasin IV would have preferred to maintain the Kandian tradition of peace and was distressed when he became embroiled in a ~ war with the Thardic Republic in 712. The war started, . probably as a result of a misunderstanding, when the ..:r---/1 Kandian Earl of Kuseme sent a band of knights to assert his control over a few disputed villages east of Eidru. Kronas, the Marshal of Ramala Province, took exception and moved forces to challenge the Kandian earl.

Kuseme Castle is clearly visible from Coranan and linked to the city by the Kobar Bridge [hx]. The Thardic Senate was in a hawkish mood and anxious to recover Kuseme, lost during the Five Year War, it made this minor crisis a pretext for war. Kronas was ordered to attack and seize Kuseme and he did so with dispatch. After much manoeuvreing, the opposing armies met in the autumn of 712 and Kronas emerged the victor. Eidru Keep was seized by Kronas; Kuseme was beseiged.

The onset of winter prevented further conflict. The young Kandian king was not interested in war and offered peace. Before hostilities could resume in the spring, a peace was concluded which gave Kuseme and Eidru to the Thardic Republic. Kronas was furious, believing that he could have conquered all of Kanday. Privately, Kronas still believes that the senate acted out of jealousy and fear; the hero-worshipping masses are always fond of successful generals. In any event, the Senate was more than happy with the t erritorial gains; the former Earldom of Kuseme became Eidel Province [hx]. To placate Kronas and his followers, the general was rewarded by being made both Marshal and Magistrate of the new province. Kronas still holds both offices. Although a few senators have expressed unease, the senate has not yet challenged his considerable power.

Chybisa Under the Melderyni Kings[edit | edit source]

After her near destruction in the Migration Wars, Chybisa's monarchs built carefully. Her fortifications were respected by the surrounding tribes and the vigilance of her defenders was well known. But after a century of relative peace she had grown decadent and her ~ nobility had grown complacent and apathetic. At the beginning of the fifth century, renewed barbarian aggression (by the Hodiri and Pagaelin), and their harassment of caravans and traders , caused alarm in Chybisa. When Verlid VI died heirless in 409, the barons of the kingdom offered the vacant throne to Imadain I of Melderyn, in the hope that fear of the island realm would keep the tribes at bay. It did. The barbarians quieted almost immediately and Chybisa relaxed back into prosperity. Between 409 and 4 75 a council of Chybisan barons governed in the name of four Melderyni kings. A bastard succeeded to the Melderyni throne (under the island kingdom's ambiguous succession laws) in 475. The Chybisans were outraged. The barons of Chybisa seceded from the island realm and elected one of their number king Sharat I. Arabar II of Melderyn proclaimed that he did not recognise the legitimacy of the new king but took no further action. The succeeding Chybisan monarchs enjoyed almost 200 years of peace.

The House of Elendsa[edit | edit source]

In the years following the civil war, the Kaldoric rulers again gathered powers at the expense of the barons. Some kings and queens proved unable to wisely use those powers. With the death of king lema ld in 599 the lack of a clearly legitimate successor sparked a violent revolt among the barons. The baronial revolt (really another civil war) was waged sporadically by some fifteen claimants. By the time Haldan the Elder of clan Elendsa emerged the victor, the kingdom again faced long years of reconstruction. Both Haldan the Elder and Haldan the Younger, his son and successor, sponsored the sentimental movement towards "traditional" feudalism of present day Kaldor. Queen Chelbin III (651-669) was an incorrigible romantic and she encouraged and inspired what was contemporarily called a "new birth of chivalry".

The Salt War[edit | edit source]

Queen Chelbin's son, Torastra (669-693) was a born warrior. He cared little for the simple principles of