The Dynasty (Di-nas-tee)
The Dynasty remembered today is mostly the all powerful entity that ocupied almost the entirety of Ecoth, but how did it come to be such a powerful organisation with influance over everything on the continent, and why did this contribute to its inevitable downfall?
Dynastal Empire
Before the Dynasty there was the Dynastal Empire, an imperial power led by an Emperor, centred around the city of Casp, which would later become Capswold.
Rise of the Dynastals
The Dynastal Empire began as a proposed alliance. Several cities along the river Tarvuk wanted to join forces so they could regulate the cost of passage accross the river and hence make more profit. However, several cities in the region refused to join and charged lower prices, undermining the efforts of the alliance. Outraged by this, the alliance sent its armies to take these cities by force, successfully occupying them and imlementing them into their union.
It was around this time the term Dynastals began to be used to describe the peoples of the north Tarvuk however the organisation was far from an empire at this point. The cities were still independent and held a council to collectivly decide on their actions. However other aspects were combined, such as their economies and armies. It was in this environment that a man named Chovin began to gain influance.
Chovin was a military leader for the Dynastals and led their army on a successful campaign to expand westwards in -5444. He managed to gain a significant following from his troops and so in -5439 he stormed Casp, the capital of the alliance. There he overthrew the council and proclaimed himself the first Emperor of the Dynastals.
His rein was almost immidiatly interrupted by the arrival of the Tarvali from the east. They had seen a change in the Dynastal leadership and hoped the chaos would allow them to swipe a portion of the Dynastal's holdings on the Tarvuk. Frustrated with this interruption, Chovin rode to meet them beginning the First Tarvuk War in -4435. He defeated the Tarvali but was forced to head north to defend another border from the norther tribes. Whilst the northern tribes were pushed back, Chovin died in the fighting.
The crown passed to his son, setting in motion the idea that Dynastal and later Dynal leadership was passed down through the family.
The Dynastals Continue to Grow
After a another war with the tribes to its north in -5389, Emperor Clouse IV expanded the Dynastal Empire's teritories up to the northern mountains, to prevent an invasion from the north from ever occuring again.
In the year -5334 the Dynastal Empire fought in the Tarvuk Wars with the Buus Empire and the Tarvali Empire for control over more sothern parts of the Tarvuk river which it won, gaining teritories further over the river. This helped bring about a prosporus age for the empire where it enjoyed much expansion and trade with neighboring powers.
Dynastal Civil War (-5296-90)
In the year -5296, Emperor Clouse VI was assassinated by his elite legionaries who had staged a coup against him and his government. Clouse's son, Iswold III fled to Kurth, outside the Dynastal's teritories for safety. The elite legionaries and the rich lords who had supported the coup then began a two year rule of the Dynastal Empire, surpressing and overtaxing the poorer classes. However the elite legionaries had told the lords that they had the Dynastal army on their side in the coup to sound as if they were going to be more sucsesful. But, in reality, the army had taken neither side. This meant many soldiers began supporting the exiled Prince Iswold III which allowed him to raise an army in -5295.
At the start of -5294 Iswold III began marching his army into Dynastal lands, aiming to retake the capital and restore his lineage on the throne. Whilst the elite legionaries were much better fighters than Iswold's soldiers, they did not have the same numbers and so were defeated in -5290 when Iswold III of the Dynastal Empire marched into the capital.
His father's betrayal and the Civil War had made Iswold paranoid however, and he began implamenting drastic reforms to ensure it did not happen again. His reforms are often seen as the moment the Dynastal Empire was transitioned to the Dynasty however both terms were used interchangeably at the time. Iswold is considered the starting point when counting Dynal Emperors as Iswold the First, rulling over a new organisation with less coruption and more stability. He also reformed religion, turning the beliefs of Old Dynastalism (which was prominant in the Dynastal Empire) into New Dynalism, which focused more on abmiration and obediance to the Emperor, not the state. He also removed the position of elite legionary and swaped many regional lords for allies who had helped him in the Civil War whilst also limiting their power to prevent further uprisings.
Golden Age of the Dynasty
After reforming his empire Iswold I went on many conquests, starting with the teritories which had supported his enemies during the Dynastal Civil War, but he also started campains to the south and the east. Whilst fighting in the east Iswold I was hit by an arow and fell into a deep coma. He was rushed back to Capswold where, three days later he miracurasly recovered. The doctors treating him were unawere he had been in a coma and immidiatly began claiming that Iswold I had risen from the dead. After recovering Iswold used this to convince people that the Being of Emperors, Yavuch, had saved him from death. This led to much more widespread adoption of New Dynalism across the Dynasty and when Iswold I died of dysentery three years later his body was displayed for months in the capital as devoted followers awaited for him to rise again before them. His son, Sovin even held back the corrination for a year in the chance that his father may not have fully perrished, but when the body began to rot, and it became clear that Iswold the 1st was dead for good, he was sealed in a stone tomb, lined with small breathing holes (should he feel the urge to live again), and was buried in the royal palace.
Emperor Sovin I who succeeded him began the Dynasty's golden age, where culture, religion and trade blossomed as new trade routes were opened with the Captirian Empire and Wenstyr which allowed the Dynasty to become a wealthy empire. New Dynalism was really taking off and the art form of Dynal painting was first created. In -4922 gold was discovered in Dhily's swamps, a lot of which had to be transported through the Dynasty to get to Capti where it was most commonly sold which made the Dynasty even wealthier.
Emperor Nivshnot VII assended the throne around this time, implimenting a policy of Veripun, which meant expanding the Dynasty's teritories in all directions so it could. In practice it held no sucsess beyond a small advancement in the Eastern Wars but many of its principals for rule of a large area would be used by future Emperors when the Dynasty later expanded.
Great South War (-4761-59)
In the year -4761 Emperor Ivonia IV was killed on the road back from Capti by unknown attackers. His son, Emperor Solvin VI blamed the Captirian Empire which he had been visiting, arguing that they were upset about the Dynasty's wars to the east and so Solvin declared war on Capti. Capti had assumed Solvin wouldn't have done this as the Captirian Empire was on the other side of the continent from the Dynasty but Solvin allied with Notach Buuhach IV of Buzhana for help. The Buzhanan Empire bordered both the Dynasty and Capti meaning Solvin could now march his troops south to Capti and get the assistance of Buzhana's troops.
Buuhach IV agreed to Solvin's terms because Buzhana had recently taken the port city of Carvuuk from Capti in the First South War and wanted to expand further into their teritories. Buuhach knew that since the Dynasty was so far away from the Captirian Empire, most captured teritories would go to him.
The Captirians were a mostly naval power and excellent sailers so decided to begin the conflict by removing Buzhana's maratine capability by attacking its only port city of Carvuuk and destroying their only ships before Buzhana had even mobalised its army. The Dynasty was landlocked so had no ships meaning Capti had now limted the war to being purley land based. This meant whilst the Battle of Carvuuk Bay had been a victory, now meant Capti's famous fleet would lay redundant for the rest of the conflict and many of its skilled sailers would be wasted as soldiers on the battlefield, not at sea where they held the biggest advantage.
Buzhana began its first offensive shortly after the Battle of Carvuuk Bay, pushing in on Capti from the east and north-east and eventually slowing to meet resistance at the end of the mountain range. Capti tried to move north to provide a flanking maneuver but the Dynasty forces showed up just in time, forming a line across the north of the Captirian Empire and cutting it from the southern trade route. It was at this point that the war hit a stalemate as neither side made much progress over the next few months and Capti began trading with Wenstar by sea instead of the trade routes blocked by the Dynasty's forces. The stalemate was eventually broken when Buzhanan troops finally made it through the costal mountains which divided Capti from Buzhana and attempted to flank the Captirian force. They were unsuccsesful but Capti had to pull soldiers from other lines allowing the Dynasty to break through Capti's lines in the north and move towards its capital .In -4759, Dynasty troops marched into Capti's capital ending the Great South War
Solvin VI deliberately held the surrender negotiations in the Captirian Empire's old capital, further into their teritory, to ensure everyone knew that the Dynasty had won. This was the first time Capti had faced a majour defeat and it lost significant teritory to Buzhana and the Dynasty and whilst it was allowed to continue to exist, Solvin split it into its kingdoms with no centeral government to unite them, which caused the Captiri Civil Wars which would be centeries of conflict that prevented the Captirian Empire from ever uniting again. Solvin knew that the Dynasty would never be able to hold teritories so far from its capital and so decided that causing the collapse of the ancient empire was the next best thing.
Dynasty Buzhanan War (-4757-51)
Despite his victory in The Great South War, Emperor Solvin VI was still spiteful that he was unable to gain any teritory from the conflict so instead decided to turn on his ally, Buzhana. Solvin's plan was to launch a surprise attack on Buzhana whilst marching his troops back up through it. Whilst these initial offencives from within Buzhana itself were succsessfull, Solvin had overlooked the fact that by using his main army, which was already exausted from the Great South War, to attack from within Buzhana, he was leaving the Dynasty itself vulnrable to attack. Notach Buuhach IV of Buzhana realised this pretty quickly however, and so Solvin was forced to abandon his offensive from within Buzhana's teritories and flee back to the Dynasty before the Buzhanan's made it to Capswold. Thankfully for Solvin he did have soldiers on the Dynasty's eastern side fighting in the Eastern Wars which he was able to redirect to defend it from Buzhana in the south but this did lose years of progress in the east. When Solvin finally made it back to the Dynasty, he found that Buzhana was halfway to Capswold and showing no signs of slowing down.
However Buzhana's advance was stopped, not by the Dynasty but by a bacteria called Bacuru. Bacuru was a regular microbe which would stike the Dynasty every few years, brought down in spring by the River Tarvuc. The average person only had mild symptoms, but to the Buzhanans who lived in a climate too hot for Bacuru to exist, the symptoms were much more extreme. Since the Buzhanans had no immunity to Bacuru, it spread through their camps like crazy. Local towns and cities would claim to be in the middle of a Bacuru epidemic to prevent occupation and would often exadurate its effects. Whilst the disease was nly waterborne, many civilians would claim Bacuru could be communicated through contact, to prevent theft from captured towns. Some would even convince the Buzhanans that the bacteria could spread through the air which led to many paranoid commanders moving their camps in the middle of the night because the wind had changed direction to be blowing towards them from the city. Defenders in castles would also use something called 'Bacuru Buckets' which were buckets of riverwater thrown over an attacker so that they would be more likely to get the illness. This outbreak and the Buzhnanans paranoia allowed the Dynasty to start pushing the Buzhanans back and over the next four years they managed to push the Buzhanans back to their capital, Vlorich.
After successfully laying siege to Vlorich, and later capturing Notach Buuhach IV, the Dynasty managed to win the war. The peace talks were held in Vlorich in -4751 where it was agreed that Buzhana would become a state within the Dynasty in exchange for Notach Buuhach IV remaining in charge of it. This set up a unique system where the Dynasty had full control over another empire but that empire was still self governing. The result of the Buzhanan War shocked Ecoth as the Dynasty had just won two major wars and absorbed an entire empire into its grasp.
Nivshnot the Mad and the Dynal Civil War (-4735-30)
Nivshnot VII was the third son of Solvin VI and therefore not prepared for a likelyhood of becoming Emperor of the Dynasty. When Solvin VI died ten years after the Buzhanan War his second son took the throne, however he only lasted a year before he died of unknown causes. With no older brothers, Nivshnot assended to the Dynal throne in -4741.
Nivshnot was not like many of his predicesors though as in his earlier years he had developed a close relationship with an isolated group called The Order of Cyconkight who inhabited the Dynasty's northern teritories. The order had been fairly isolated from the Dynasty, as many prievious Emperors had disapproved of them since they didn't follow the empire's religion of New Dynalism. Nivshnot however had spent time with them in his teenage years and began making changes which made it easier for them to intergrate into the Dynasty. Whereas many former rulers had reffered to them as barbarians and witches, Nivshnot treated them as a people and made them feel more welcome in the Dynasty. This upset a lot of people as they had been lead to believe that The Order of Cyconkight was a corrupt religious extreemist group, who lived in old caves and abandoned castles to the north who were rejected by society. Many did not agree with Nivshnot's treatment of them, especially the more religious people who did not like that the order didn't follow New Dynalism.
Many argued that Nivshnot had taken things too far however when in -4736 he denounced New Dynalism competly, calling it 'Outdated' and 'A way of the past.' This was met by outrage and devided the Dynasty into two belief systems. The Loyalists were the people who supported Nivshnot because New Dynalism says that the most important thing is to obay your Emperor, or because they saw opportunities in aligning themselves with Nivshnot. The Dynalists were the people who stuck to their religion and denounced Nivshnot, often arguing that he was illegitimate because he was the third born son or that he was possessed by the witches from The Order of Cyconkight. These were often priests and heavy believers from all classes in society, though enemies of the emperor also became Dynalists so they could act against him more openly. As time went on, Nivshnot began removing Dynalists from his court of advisors and lords, replacing them with loyalists which angered many Dynalists as they claimed Nivshnot was executing pregedice based on their religious beliefs (which was a very hypocritical statement as many of them believed New Dynalism was the only religion that mattered).
One such Dynalist who was cast out by Nivshnot was Lord Yaverson who fled south to his mansion and began verbaly opposing the Emperor and gained may followers. In -4735, he declared war on Nivshnot VII, begining the Dynal Civil War.
The first acts of both sides was to establish thier teritories as there were both Loyalists and Dynalists in the north and south but after some fighting, the Dynalists took the south and the Loyalists took the north with the edge of the forrest acting as an early divider. Nivshnot ordered the destruction of many Cahuruphas (places of New Dynal worship) across his ocupied teritories and many Dynalist peasents were forced to flee south. In one incident a group of Loyalist soldiers serving the Emperor saw the destruction and decided to help smuggle priests and other Dynalists out of the north. They would call themselves the Northern Hope and grew as the war went on.
The Dynalist made their first move against the north by laying siege to many cities close to the forrest, and managing to capture a few. Around this time Nivshnot headed further north to try an recruit The Order of Cyconkight to help him, leaving Lord Valack in charge of the Loyalist army. Shortly after, the Dynalists lay siege to Capswold, the capital of the North, slowly drainig it of supplies.
Desperate to halt the advance of the Dynalists, Lord Valack sent a note to Notach Vigu I of Buzhana, asking them to join the conflict in exchange for their independence if the Loyalists won. The letter was almost certanly not approved by Nivshnot by since Vigu's father had been the Notach that had lost Buzhana to the Dynasty, Vigu was keen to make it independent again so accepted. Notach Vigu I attacked the Dynals from the south east poening up a new front which they had to deal with. This did cause the Dynastals to pull troops away from Capswold but, six months later thay captured the city with help from the Norther Hope. Lord Valack was hung, and the south continued moving up through the North. As the Dynalists reached the northern tundras they were slowed by the more guerrilla warfare style tactics adopted by the Loyalists but ultimatly, thanks to Buzhana backing out of the war, made it to Fort Cryis where The Order of Cyconkight and Nivshnot were hiding. A six day siege followed where eventually the Fort fell and Nivshnot was taken back to Capswold for trial. Fort Cryis was reduced to ruins and The Order of Cyconkight fled underground.
The Dynalists were divided on if Emperor Nivshnot VII should be executed or not. Whilst some argued he had betrayed New Dynalism, others stated that executing an Emperor directly went against the ideas of New Dynalism. Eventually it was decided that Nivshnot was to be exiled on the island of Volavo, just like the mischievious being Meluvas. In -4729, a single ship carried Nivshnot out to the hostile island where he was dumped and never heard from again. Nivshnot's uncle was placed on the throne as the new Emperor.
Succsession Crisis
After Emperor Nivshnot VII was exiled to the island of Volavo, his uncle, Paravous I inherited the throne and most of the Dynasty's problems. The Dynasty was economically unstable from having three major conflicts in the last thirty years. It was also being pushed back in the Eastern Wars and being exploited by barbarians in the north who already saw the cracks in its power. Notach Vigu I of Buzhana also looked to be making moves to revolt as he was still frustrated that Buzhana had not gained independence in the Dynal Civil War (-4735-30). To make matters worse, the regional lords had limited the power of the Emperor and given more power to themselves after winning the Dynal Civil War which meant that the Emperor was more a figurehead rather than a true leader. All of Paravous' decisions had to go through the Council of Lords which was often indecisive and corrupt. The Council of Lords would also pass laws without the Emperor's approval and if they went badly (which wasn't uncommon) they would blame it on Paravous. Paravous had little means to resist as he was just a weak old man and did not have the support of the people like prievious emperors because of the decline of New Dynalism after Nivshnot VII.
In the year -4725 Paravous died and the throne was inherited by his fifteen year old grandson, Tolvus. This caused some commotion as Paravous did have an older grandaughter but the Council of Lords denyed her the throne because she was a woman. A woman had never been in a position to inherit the Dynal throne before so there was no standard situation, allowing the lords to instead crown young Tolvus II as Emperor. After becoming Emperor, Tolvus also became a puppet for the Court of Lords and held practically no power. They did very little to help the Dynasty as it was still in economic ruin and losing wars in the east. They barely held off an attack from Notach Vigu I of Buzhana who was trying to take advantage of the Dynasty's weakened leadership. The Dynasty was able to push him back but any time they made meaningful process, the Court's attention was required elsewhere and Vigu pushed into the Dynasty again. Barbarians in the north were also taking the opportunity to raid towns and villages in the north with little to no resistance which led to even more economic problems in the north and a short revolution in -4922 which the Lords quickly squashed with brutal force. This was only a temporary solution though as the people were still unhapy and many were still capable of revolt.
As Tolvus grew up he began to fight and argue with the Court of Lords and, after a particually bad row, in -4722 he died in 'a mysterious riding accident' meaning that his sister Catarphra I became empress. The Court was split on whether to appoint her but in the end it was decided she would inherit the throne as they thought a woman would be easy to manipulate, just like Tolvus had been in his earlier years. However this was not quite the case.
Catarphra knew how much she could get from the Court of Lords without going too far and managed to restore some of the Emperor's power. She helped push Buzhana back ending the Buzhanan Independence Conflict and managed to restore the Dynasty's economy. Of course, most of the credit went to the Court of Lords since many regarded a female emperor as a joke, showing truely how far the mighty title of Emperor had fallen with the last few individuals. Many people had also stopped believing in New Dynalism so had much less respect for the Empress. Catarphra was hesitant to marry as since there wasn't a document describing how the sucsession of female emperors worked she feard by marrying she would lose all her power to her husband. However on the other hand if she did not marry she would not have an heir so there was pressure for her to get married to one of the Lords on the Court of Lords, an idea she reportedly was disgusted by.
In the year -4714 Catarphra led a campain in the north to try and help fend off attacking barbarian tribes. Unlike in the conflict with Buzhana, she decided to physically go north and help the soldiers fight, as the ancient Emperors of the Dynasty had once done. This earned her the respect of the men who fought beside her but also led to her getting kidnapped by one of the tribes. Upon hearing this the Court of Lords was quick to declare her dead and appointed one of their own as the new emperor as Catarphra had no heirs. However, six months later she returned to Capswold alongside the barbarians to reclaim her title as Empress. When the new emperor refused, she demanded he be arrested which led to a short skermish between the Elite Legionaries (who were the emeror's guard) as some fought for her and some fought for the new emperor. Ultimatly with the help of the barbarian tribe she had brought back with her Catarphra secured her position as Empress once more and had the 'false emperor' executed. She then explained that she had made an alliance with the Bavocs (tribe af barbarians) to marry the chief's son (Hecves) in exchange for them helping to stop other barbarians from raiding Dynasty towns and villages.
Catarphra and Hecves then established a joint rule where they would coordinate decisions which worked effectively untill Catarphra's death in -4702. After that Hecves ruled for another two years before dying himself and leaving behind his five year old son, Murchous I who was titled Emperor. However, as Murchous was only a child, the Court of Lords once agin held all the power. This time they estabished the Court's Gaurd, an elite section of the Dynal army loyal exlusively to them. The Court's Gaurd were to protect the Lords in the Court of Lords but also frequently sacked Cahuruphas across the Dynasty. The Lords who had originally been standing up for New Dynalism in the Dynal Civil War now saw it as a limitation of their power. They believed that if everyone worshiped the Emperor then more people would question their heavy involvement in the running of the Dynasty. However, the Court's agression to New Dynalism did not go unchallenged and once again riots were held in the streets against the government, which the Court only used to justify the introduction of the Court's Gaurd which broke up the protests, often violently.
By the year -4696 the Bavocs decided that the system was too chaotic and a small group of them broke into the royal palace and took the young emperor. They justifyed this by saying that since his father had been of their tribe, they had as much right to raise Murchous as the Dynasty. Instead of persuing the Barvocs, the Court of Lords decided instead to appoint one of their own as the new emperor, crowning Lord Vhercy as Emperor Vhercy I in -4696.
However, the Lords were often indecisive and conflictive and Emperor Vhercy struggled to control the other lords, frequently having to deal with plots against his life. One such Lord, Lord Drokes, decided that the best way to overturn the new emperor was to bring back the old one. Drokes aproached the Barvoc tribe and made a deal that if they helped him overthrow Vhercy, he would remove the Court of Lords and give the throne back to Murchous. They launched their attack one morning in the year -4689 assisted by some of the elite legionaries and some of Drokes' men. Drokes was able to defeat Vhercy and sentenced him to be executed. He also disolved the court of Lords as he promiced, stripping them of their titles and land and giving it to his allies and friends.
The Court of Lords and the Court's Guard had been defeated but Murchous was still only a child so Lord Drokes was the person who was actually in charge of the Dynasty. Lord Drokes died in -4684 and his son tried to fill his place. However he was much more authoritative on the now older emperor which led to Murchous having him removed after only a few months. Finally the power of the Emperor had been restored without the influance of corupt lords and officials.
Murchous was well aware of the events that had led to his rule and the chaos that had taken hold of the Dynasty since the Civil War and so decided to write a document to prevent it from happening again. 'The Laws to Succession' was a document that outlined who had the right to the throne of the Dynasty and it could not be changed or manipulated by anyone other than the legitimate Emperor. It outlined many situations where multiple people held claim to the throne and denoted which person was the rightful ruler. The Laws to Succession was the first written order to how succession it the Dynasty worked and was kept in practice right until the end of the Dynasty in -30.
War of the Triumvirate (4538-35)
From -4541 the Fith Boarder war had worn down both the Traiphotian Empire and the Suhuvan Empire. By -4537 both sides were looking for a way out of the conflict, and it was there that Emperor Nivshnot IX saw an opportunity. Early that year Emperor Valodinie of the Suhuvans approached the Dynasty requesting that they stopped trade with Traiphotia but Nivshnot instead proposed that Valodine was allowed to move his troops through the Dynasty's teritories to launch a surprise assult on Traiphotia's eastern flank which boardered with the Dynasty. Valodine agreed under the terms that no fighting would occur on the Dynasty's land and prepared an army to attack. However Nivshnot had no intention of letting Valodine take Traiphotia and approached General Rorchack of the Traiphotian Empire and offered him the same deal. Both sides of the war now had access to the Dynasty's teritory without the other knowing.
In the summer of -4536 both the Traiphotians and Suhuvans began marching massive armies into the Dynasty's teritory with the plan to ambush the other. Similtaniously Nivshnot gathered an army at Capswold, waiting to make his move. The Suhuvans were the first to spot their enemy within Dynasty teritory but soon both parties were aware of each other's presence. Both knew that if they fought they would violate the Dynasty's agreement but confusion and desperation ran throughout the Traiphotian ranks as some members believed that they had gone off course. After 11 days of debating General Rorchack ordered an attack on the Suhuvan troops, violating his agreement with the Dynasty. This started the Battle of Richard Hill which lasted for over two months and was some of the most brutal fighting of the conflict. Both sides had taken their best men and largest armies for the ambush and was the first time that Valodine and Rorchack, the leaders of the two opposing sides, had fought on the same battlefield, though they never met.
As soon as the Traiphotians violated their agreement and attacked the Suhuvans on Dynal soil, Nivshnot ordered his army outside Capswold to start marching into Traiphotia. The Dynal army encountered less resistance than expected as most of the Traiphotian force was either at the Battle of Richard Hill or defending Traiphotia's sothern boarder. Also many Traiphotians did not know that the Dynasty was invading and assumed that they were an allied force so let them pass without any problems. However, once the Dynal forces reached Traitin, the capital of the Traiphotian Empire, they forced the Traiphotian Royal Council to surender and burned the city to the ground. The night which became known as 'The Great Fire' destroyed much of the historic city, and sent a clear message to the Traiphotians. Once General Rorchack tried to retreat back to his empire but was killed by Suhuvan archers in the process, ending the battle of Richard Hill.
The Traiphotian Empire had officially collapsed but Nivshnot was not satisfied. He committed a further two armies, one from Capswold and another from Vlorich, to take the Suhuvan Capital and punish them for also violating their agreement. Valodine realised this and feared that the Dynasty would sack his empire just like they had done to Traitin. However, instead of retreating back and defending his empire, Valodine began to march towards the Dynal capital of Capswold. Valodine was already within the Dynasty's teritory with a large army so thought it would be easier to take out the Dynasty rather than just push them out of Suhuva.
Three armies marched on Suhuva from both north and east. One army was a Buzhanan devision from Vlorich who were more experienced in the hot desert conditions than Dynal or Traiphotian troops which quickened their advance. Whilst Valodine did reach Capswold before the Dynasty got far into Suhuva, he faced many more problems as his supplies were depleating and he was surrounded by Dynal armies. He managed to secure an alliance with a corrupted local lord to assist him in laying siege to Capswold but saw little success. The Dynasty on the other hand swept through Suhuva in six months and Valodine was forced to surender to Nivshnot in -4534, ending the War of the Triumvirate.
After the conflict the Traiphotian Empire was completly dissolved but the Suhuvan Empire was allowed to continue existing with some independence if it acted as a sub-state of the Dynasty, similar to Dyno-Buzhana. Many Ecothnic historians consider the War of the Triumvirate as the major turning point in the Dynasty gaining full control over the entirety of Ecoth. In only two years, the Dynasty had absorbed the teritory of two major empires and although it took another centery for the Dynasty to crush all resistance to its rule in Traiphotia, -4534 was the year that the Dynasty became the unstoppable force we consider it today.
The Generalas Movement
After the Dynal Civil War (-4735-30) the Dynal military began to move away from its old traditions. A new president was set by Nivshnot the Mad and the weaker Emperors that followed him. No longer was it expected for an Emperor to serve on the frontline with their troops as had been the case beforehand. Instead the high ranking command was given to the lords who took control of the Dynal Army. Once the emperors regained their influance this command was transitioned to generals, giving the army more independence and freedom from the Emperor's direct control on the battlefield. However the full extent and effectiveness of this system would not be developed untill the War of the Triumvirate (-4541-34) when three Dynal generals worked together to take down both the Traiphotian Empire and the Suhuvan Empire.
Nivshnot IX was the Emperor at the time but spent the entire conflict in Capswold, planning out the larger picture but leaving battlefield tactics and logistics to individual generals. This meant that the Dynal armies were much more flexible to new situations and could move faster than before making them a much more versitile fighting force. Many generals would use their own unique tactics, making the Dynasty less predictable than the traditional approach it had taken to warfare previously. Nivshnot still planned the overall conflict however and decided to have each of his main generals acting independently, marching three separte armies into Suhuva under three separate generals from three separate directions which led to three versitile and effective fighting forces all closing in on the enemy at once.
However the true extent of the Generalas system, as it became known, was not reached though until the reforms of General Ceretos in his battles against the northern Cana tribes and Tossic people.
Conquest of the Cana and Tosse
When the Traiphotian Empire collapsed at the end of the War of the Triumvirate only a portion of Traiphotia actually fell into the hands of the Dynasty. Emperor Nivshnot IX focused most of his efforts on securing and stabilising the eastern regions of Traiphotia which had been directly invaded by the Dynasty and Kurth during the war. However, he was convinced to send a small force to see if an invasion of the northern Cana Tribes was possible. The region had fallen into heavy instability after the collapse of Traiphotia and contained many different tribes who wouldn't neccesarily launch a unified resistance. The general picked to lead the invasion was General Ceretos, a captain during the War of the Triumvirate who had shown potential. Nivshnot had disregarded an invasion of Cana as unlikely to succeed due to the Dynasty's unstable grip on eastern Traiphotia but Ceretos proved this to be incorrect.
Ceretos set out from Traitin in the summer of -4511 with a small Dynal army supported by a company of Garlacocian mercenaries as cavalry and heavy infantry support. He quickly learned that many of the Cana tribes had united to oppose the Dynal threat, however their armies were still isolated. Ceretos knew he had to act fast to prevent the Cana forces from uniting and so developed a numer of stratagies to increase the speed of his advance. This stratagy gained him multiple victories in the beggining as he engaged smaller, isolated Cana armies, slowly wittling down the enemy. He even managed to convince the Emperor to send him more reinforcements in a letter where he described how smoothly the invasion was going compared to his expectations.
Ceretos' success was partially due to the disorganised nature of the Cana but was majoritively due to his unconventional and revolutionary outlook on war. Ceretos did not follow the conventional Dynal style of combat, instead often adapting his tactics and formations to the terrain, style of battle and what he thought the enemy would be expecting him to do. He was an expert in psychological and abstract warfare which frequently confused his enemies making it much easier for him to defeat them.
Some of the bigest things he did to revolutionise the Dynal army were:
- Use skilled mercenaries to fill specialised roles (e.g. Garlacocians for cavalry).
- Use Cytonknic to carry supplies, build equipment, etc. instead of humans. (This technically didn't go against the Treaty of Vlorich since the Cytonknic were not being used in direct combat).
- Increased control of units by their commanders which led to a more versatile army and allowed the units to act more independently.
- Befriending and treating captured/defeated enemies well which led to less rebellion in teritory he had already conqured.
- Installing failsafes and backups which every unit commander was to be aware of before battle.
- Leading from the front to maintain the loyalty of the soldiers under his command.
- Deliberatly using unconventional tactics to confuse the enemy.
- A variety of reforms to the structure and system of the Dynal army itself (e.g. making the distance between columns smaller when marching to detur ambushes).
Ceretos essentually tailored his army to better fit the new Dynal army model, insetead of rely so much on traditional Dynal methods, as many still had in the war of the Triumvirate and before. His reforms meant he quickly defeated the Cana and by -4498 he had won over many of the remaining Cana tribes to his side with his generous treatment and respect for their customs and culture. His success came as a shock to many in the Dynasty and kickstarted a movemnet known as Generalas which saw major reforms in the style of Ceretos implemented across the entire Dynal army.
Ceretos' famous artwork known as the twelve pannels of victory was produced at this time and hung in the capital, as a visual reminder to the Cana of the Dynal victory. Each pannel showed one of the battles Ceretos had won, often prominantly featuring the general himself, or one of his close friends in a heroic stance, mid-battle.
After his success against the Cana, Ceretos had managed to rise significantly in popularity. Fearing Ceretos could get some power hungery ideas, the new emperor, Yanavous II, decided to task Ceretos with the conquest of the Tosse, a group of ex-Traiphotian kingdoms just south of the Cana. Once again Ceretos proved himself a capible conqueror, integrating the Tosse into the Dynasty in just 11 years.
Read More About Ceretos' Campaign in Cana
Departure from Tratin
Ceretos had been a captain in the War of the Triumvirate during which he had seen the beggining of an age where the Dynal armies had been commanded by a general, as oppose to an emperor which had been the case for hundreds of years. During this time Ceretos was said to be a curious man, likely obserivng the successes of his superiors and thinking of ways to imporve upon their stratagies.
By -4511 the Emperor was looking for someone to lead a campaign into the teritories occuped by the Cana people. The Cana had been a part of the Traiphotian Empire but were not encorparated into the Dynasty after its collapse like Eastern Traiphotia. The teritory was important due to its large concentration of metal ores but the Emperor didn't want to take one of his current generals away from his efforts in Eastern Traiphotia so Ceretos was promoted and given an army to invade the Cana instead.
Ceretos was considered an odd option for this task. Whilst he did have experiance as an officer he had no experiance as a general and so many believed sending him to invade the lands of the Cana was not the best choice. Emperor Nivshnot had already regarded the invasion of Cana as a waste of time before Ceretos even set off. Ceretos was also a devout New Dynalist, a religion which had been on the decline since the Dynal Civil War and one which was unpopular amoung much of the Dynal nobility. However the young general did manage to convince the emperor to provide him with the funding to employ a company of Garlacocian mercenaries to fill out his cavalry and heavy infantry.
Ceretos set out from Tratin with his army at the start of the campaign season in -4511. Before he even arrived Ceretos recieved news that the various Cana tribes had decided to unify their forces to repel the Dynal threat. Learning of this, Ceretos decided his best stratagy was to move quickly and engage each Cana army before they had the opportunity to unify.
The Battle of Inlif Valey
1) Ceretos set his first objective as the capture of Inlif D'sac, a large Cana town where the forces of the Curacari tribe were gathering. However on route his column was ambushed in the Inlif valley. He managed to organise a rapid retreat to the south side of the valley, whilst the Cana force set up camp on the north side.
2) Both sides were now on top of each side of the valley. Ceretos was not willing to budge from his advantageous position and neither were the Cana. After several days of the two sides staring at each other across the valley the Cana made a move. Several hundred warriors crept up the valley towards what they thought was the Dynal camp. However Ceretos had expected another ambush. As the Cana crept up the side of the valley they woke the Dynal cattle which Ceretos had ordered to be placed to graze and sleep there. Alarmed by the Cana, the cattle began to make noise, alerting the Dynals to the Cana's approach. When the Cana got to the top, not only did they discover that the Dynal camp as a fake, they also realised the whole Dynal army was upon them. Ceretos had organised his archers into small, manoverable formations which quickly darted around the hilltop picking off the Cana, ultimatly forcing them to retreat back to their camp.
3) Knowing the enemy was weakened, Ceretos ordered an assult on their camp the next morning. A small Dynal force moved through the valley and found that the Cana had let their cattle graze on the slope of their side of the vally, mimicking the Dynal's stratagy. The small Dynal contingent provoked the cattle, causing them to make a lot of noise and alerting the Cana to an attack. The Cana came out to the front of their camp in formation facing the direction of the noise, however could not see the numbers of the Dynal force due to the trees in the valley. This distracted them whilst Ceretos led his cavalry and the Garlacosian mercenaries around the flanks of the Cana camp, allowing them to attack the Cana from behind and ultimatly defeat them.
Battle of Beuen Lif
Shortly after his first vicoty, Ceretos learned of another Cana tribe who's army was on route to unite with the Curacari at Inlif D'sac. Having delt with the majority of the Curacari forces already, Ceretos decided to delay his assult on Inlif D'sac and focus on the new threat. He sent a letter to Nivshnot IX on his progress and requesting reinforcements, since he did not believe he could conquer the whole region with the numbers he had been provided.
Ceretos marched his army along the valley with incredible speed for the day. This was mostly thanks to his use of Cytonknic slaves to carry the supplies and equipment. This meant Ceretos reached the river Beuen three days before the Cana and so had time to set up his defence behind the river, with the hills to his back where he positioned archers.
1) The enemy Chief suspected he was engaging Ceretos' flank so immidiatly attacked the Dynal position, using rafts to try and get his army across the river. This made them easy picking for Ceretos' hidden archers hidden in the trees and at the tops of the cliffs. The Garlacocian infantry was also highly effective at preventing the rafts from landing and so the Cana were forced to retreat.
2) Believing his enemy to be weakened like before Ceretos launched an attack on the Canan camp on the other side of the river which was ultimatly unsuccessful and cost the Dynasty heavy casualties. However the enemy chieftain now believed Ceretos was desperate and weakened.
3) Ceretos tried to reinforce the idea that his position was weak by opening negotiations with the Cana chief. The enemy took the bait and the Cana launched another attack on the Dynal position. Ceretos employed similar tactics as before, ultimatly killing the Cana chief, casuing his army to panic and rout.
Battle of Inlif D'sac
Having delt with the threat from the west Ceretos made tracks back to Inlif D'sac however was alarmed when he learned the Caracari had been reinforced by another army from the north. Knowing he was unprepared from a long siege, Ceretos ordered that a handful of his Garlacocian mercenaries dress up in the clothing and armour of the Cana defeated at the Battle of Beuen lif. They would ride to Inlif D'sac and pretend to be survivors of the battle, allowing them to get inside the town.
1) When Ceretos' main force arived at Inlif D'sac the Cana had already fortified and so he alloed his army three days rest before preparing an assult. During this period Ceretos noticed that the Cana were having no issues sneaking supplies past the Dynal lines and so, after several failed assults, Ceretos ordered his Cytonknic to construct a wooden palisade around the town which would be manned around the clock.
2) For the next two weeks Ceretos tried to tempt the Cana out of the town by sending small attack forces at their wooden walls and trying to set them alight. However the Cana sat tight, knowing that Ceretos did not have forever to sit outside their gates. Indeed, Ceretos' time was limited as he recieved word of another Cana force from even further north was on route. He could not afford a long siege or his stratagy to prevent the Cana from uniting would be unsuccessfull. He knew he would have to force their hand.
3) Desperate for results, Ceretos ordered his Cytonknic construct massive trebuchets which he used to bombard the town's walls. Eventually, the Cana broke, charging out at the Dynal fortifications from a hole in their wall. This was the moment Ceretos had been waiting for. As the Cana fell upon the Dynal palisade the more disoplined Dynal army had no trouble holding them back. And then as the Cana turned around they realized their town was alight. During the chaos, the undercover Garlacoscians had set fire to as much of the wooden town as possible, causing mass confusion. Thinking the Dynasty had already breached their walls, the Cana surendered, allowing Ceretos to take Inlif D'sac.
Battle of The Newfound Way
With Inlif D'sac no longer a threat Ceretos began marching his army north towards the city of Jhlop D'D'sac, the largest settlement participating in the rebellion and where many of the Cana armies were looking to meet. However on route he encountered the Cana army from the north which had originally been sent to reinforce the Curacari. This army was much larger than the other Cana armies Ceretos had faced and with a dewpleated force he doubted he stood much chance in open combat. However just as he was beggining to lose hope Ceretos recieved word that his reinforcements fromTratin were near, and began hatching a plan.
1) As the Cana positioned themselves atop a hill Ceretos ordered his heavy infantry to attack their centre, but not to engage, merely taunt the enemy and pick them off where possible.
2) With the majority of enemy forces distracted Ceretos took his cavalry and reinfocements and drove them into the enemy flank. In the chaos which followed Ceretos was able to make it behind the enemy centre, taking pressure off his front army and allowing them to trap the Cana forces and ultimatly massacre them.
Ambush on the Road
The previous battle had taken a heavy moral toll on the Dynal army and so Ceretos allowed music to be played as the soldiers marched at night, choosing to rest them during the day. However as his forces drew closer to Jhlop D'D'sac ambushes by the Cana becme more frequent as they began to adopt a more guerilla style of warefare.
Due to the frequency of these attacks Ceretos made several reforms to the Dynal marching formation to make his troops feel safer when on the move. He began creating Garlacoscian his squads, which would scout ahead and exterminate any potential ambushers.
Ceretos' reforms to Dynal mobility are amoung his greates and most unrecognised. This series of reforms to army structure allowed Ceretos' force to move around inside enemy teritory almost entriely unharassed by the Cana, minimising his casualties on the road.
Siege of Jhlop D'D'sac
Battle of One Hundred Bridges
Collapse of the Garlacocian Empire
In -4484 the Garlacoscian Emperor began a policy of imperialization which heavily upset his sothern states of Pinthor. No longer worried about the threat of Suhuva and backed by the Selutian Empire, the pinthorian sataes revolted, beggining the Garlacoscian civil war.
By -4481 the Garlacoscian Emperor was losing badly, and having heard of Ceretos' campaingns in both Cana and the Tosselands he invited the Dynasty to assist him in exchange for Garlacoscian loyalty and trade. The Dynal Emperor, Yanavous II, was keen to keep Ceretos occupied and so sent him to assist the Garlacoscian Emperor in his conquest of the south.
The war in Garlacose was distinclty different from Cretos' previous two campaigns since instead of fighting mobile primative tribes, the pinthorian kingdoms were ex-Captirian colanies and so empolyed a more Captirian style of stratagy. A series of well fortified, well supplied, walled coastal cities and castles lined the seafront, from which the enemy launched attacks to maintain control over the land around them. The Captirian statagy was to avoid large pitched battles in the open, which were what Ceretos had mostly experianced when facing the Cana and Tosse.
However, Ceretos still knew the weakness to this statagy. When inside their fortresses the defenders still relied on food and supplies from their farms further south, island colonies and allies, the Selutian Empire. Ceretos knew if he removed these then the defenders would either starve, or surrender.
Ceretos called on the Dynasty's then allies, the Suhuvan Empire who had a naval presence in Aratachu to the south. He suggested they invade the Selutian Empire, on their border in an attempt to weaken Pinthorian supplies. Suhuva had been eger to retake Yavar for centruries and so with Dynal backing launched an attack on Selutia. They also supplied Ceretos with a fleet to combat the Pinthorian dominance of the sea, however after a disasterous first battle, this fleet was reserved mostly for hit and run tactics against the superior Pinthorian fleet.
Ceretos left the siege of the Pinthorian capital in the trusted hands of his captain and friend Sigerbond whilst he ventured south on a two year campaign to disrupt Pinthorian supplies. Ceretos knew that the garisons in the cities were still supplied by crops and farms furhter inland and so between -4481 and -4480 he and his army toured the Pinthorian countryside, taking or burning as much agriculture as possible in a attempt to deprive the defenders of supplies. The Pinthorians attempted to defeat Ceretos twice in battle, but failed, allowing him to continue his destruction.
Meanwhile, Sigerbond had used the Cytonknic slaves to create a new type of siege weapon, the Ceresian Trebuchet. The strength enhancements of the Cytonknic meant much larger weapons could be constructed than before and by the time Ceretos returned at the beggining of -4479 the city was on the brink of breaking.
Despite the relative ineffectiveness of Ceretos' campaigns aginst the Selutians and the Pinthorian fleet, the pressure on the city and the decimation of the Pinthorian countryside pressured the Pinthors into a surender in -4479, ending the war.
The Creation of Celequia
In the aftermath of the Garlacoscian Civil War, Ceretos demanded payment and land from Garlacose in exchange for his services. However Garlacose was not in a good position finatually or structurally and so gave Ceretos far less money than he had asked for and a small expance of land in sothern Pinthor which was hardley useful to the Dynasty on its own. Outraged, Ceretos demanded a better deal, but was called back to Tratin in the middle of negotiations by the new Emperor Emperor Tolvus III. However, when taking a detour through the independent kingdom of Gatog the army was ambushed and Ceretos was killed by a spear to his side.
This sent his army into an outrage. Led by Ceretos' old captain, Sigerbond, it pillaged the Gatogese countryside. As the enraged Dynal force aproached the Gatogese capital, the king opened the gates and welcomed them in, however this did not spare it the sacking. After months of uprooting Gatog in seemingly blind rage, Sigerbond turned his attention back to Garlacose. He resumed negotiations with the Garlacoscian Emperor but when he got no further than Ceretos had he decided invasion was the only option.
Without even seeking the aproval of the new Dynal Emperor, Sigerbond marched his army back into the kingdoms of Pinthor. Still upset with their Garlacoscian overlords, the Pinthorians quickly alligned themselves with Sigerbond. With teritory to base out of and his numbers regenerated, Sigerbond began his assult on Garlacose itself. After several months of fighting in Vacana, he successfully made it to the Garlacoscian capital, forced the Emperor to abdicate and absorbed the Garlacoscian teritory into the Dynasty.
After this Sigerbond consolidated his new teritories and created a new Dynal provence, Celequia, named in honour of his fallen general, Ceretos.
However Sigerbond's unsanctioned actions terified the new Emperor Tolvus III. He quickly demoted Sigerbond from his self declared generalship and reassigned many of his loyal captains to other frontiers so they couldn't unite against the throne. This spread the Ceretosian mentality and tactics across the entire Dynasty and saw them implemented across the majority of the Dynal army, changing warefare in Ecoth forever.
Surendering of the Wenstyri Union
With the end of the conquests in the west under Ceretos and Sigerbond, many captains and other officers which had served under these generals were reassigned to the eastern frontier of the empire. The East Wars had been a slow ongoing conflict between the Dynasty and the kingdoms to its east, but now as these officers brought their Ceretosian tactics and structure to the frontier the Dynasty finally began to make progress. As the generalas movement saw greater and greater success against kingdoms the Dynasty had spent centuries trying to conquer, Tolvus III warmed to the new structure, allowing its implementation into the greater Dynal Army stucture. A handful of officers were promoted to generals and given their own armies which would act semi-autonomously to spread out and conquer the east. These small armies, known as sagas, defyed conventional warfare and acted independently behind enemy lines, living off the land and outmaneuvering the enemy.
This dramatic leap forwards reignighted the East Wars and began to involve kingdoms which had not previously had any beef with the Dynasty. One such power was the Wenstyri Union. The Union had fallen on hard times with the Dynal conquests of Traiphotia flooding the market with cheaper raw metals, devaluing the ones mined in the far east. With very few markets left to sell to the Wenstyri Union could only really sell to the states who opposed the Dynasty, such as the eastern kingdoms. This led to a luse alliance between the two which put the union in the crosshairs of one Dynal general.
Gerserous was a general assigned to fight on the eastern frontier, however he felt that focusing on conquring the near-eastern kingdoms like his colleagues was no way to win glory. He decided to instead to focus his attention on the much larger Wenstyri Union which he felt the conquest of would certainly win him the respect of the Emperor. Using the large amount of independence the generals possessed he took two Sagas south into Dyno-Buzhana where he aquired even more troops from the Notach and then began to march east.
The Union was not expecting an attack from Gerserous and so in -4451 when he burst into Tibil they were woefully unprepared. Gerserous managed to capture Corvlu, the capital of Tibil, and the next year tried to march on Fort Star, the capital of the whole union, but by this point the Styrians were more prepared and managed to repel the attack. However as a result of the war, the Wenstyri Union still lost Tibil, a vital trade hub of the east.
In -4446 the a man called Kurserui came to power in the Wenstyri Union. He offered to become a semi autonomous state under the Dynasty if the region around Tibil was returned to him. Initially Gerserous was hesitant however as Kurserui became less popular in the Union the Dynasty managed to capture him and force him to less favourable terms, surrendering the entire Union to the Dynasty. Kurserui was allowed to stay in charge but was assasinated only a year later.
With Gerserous' conquest of the Wenstyri Union complete, the near eastern kingdoms were surrounded and quickly fell to the Dynasty over the subsequent decades.
Invasion of Capti
With the invasion of the Wensyri Union and the eastern kingdoms the only major regions of Ecoth which remained outside Dynal control were the far north and the far south, Capti. Ever since the collapse of the Captirian Empire in -4757, the region of Capti had been divided between small warring states. These kingdoms and cities had experianced a period of prospeity however by this point were fairly weak compared to the growing power of the Dynasty.
Emperor Tolvus III had ambitions to gain Capti however it was his brother, Caswold III, who laid the groundwork for the invasion. In -4420, Caswold dispatched ultimatums to all the Capterian states, demanding they surrender to the Dynasty or face invasion. To his surprise, many refused, despite the Dynastys growing power and influance over Ecothnic affairs. Throughout -4419 Caswold assembled his armies, led by two generals each commanding nine sagas. General Cargh was a veteran of the wars in the east whereas General Coleguloquina was a much younger, more ambitious general, seeking glory. The semi-autonomous atates of Dyno-Buzhana and Dyno-Suhuva were also recriuted to invade the states which neighbored their borders. Including the allied of the Dynasty, the invasion of Capti was the largest mobilization of troops during the Generalus movement and for a long time after.
In early -4418, Suhuva invaded the Ahumid League and the Selutian Empire, whilst Buzhana took over Dishdoni and Ranudi. Later, the Dynal forced marched down through Hivoni and made it to the Tevar kingdoms at the coast with incredible speed and efficeincy. Due to Suhuva's dificulty tackling the Selutian Empire, Cargh took a portion of his army west to assist in the invasion whilst Coleguloquina took the majority of the Dynal force south down the Shoronic Coast. Aware of the oncomming threat many of the sothern states around the Shoronic Sea united to form the Ciltarsian League. This alliance was short lived as the Dynasty stormed through Trichria, defeating the allied armies on five seperate occasions however the seabound fortresses of the League members proved to be more difficult to crack.
As in Pinthor, the Captirians mostly retreated to their walled coastal cities where they held out, supplied by ships from their island holdings. Without naval superiority the Dynasty was unable to starve out the inhabitants and so was forced to breach each city individually which dramatically stalled their progress down the peninsula. This meant that when a city did fall after a long and exauting siege, it was often heavily sacked and pillaged by the frustrated Dynals. This destructive tactic flattened many of the classical Capterian cities but also discoraged others from resisting Dynal control. Coleguloquina eventually made it to the Cranic Sea, conquring his way all the way to Purrn.
By -4408 much of the mainland was under Dynal control however several island strongholds still held strong. The Chiton Republic was a successor state to the Selutian Empire, based off their island holdings. The Great Sothern League was the largest organisation remaining. A union of states accross Tharn, Blongia, Gartuna and other smaller islands aswell as some small mainland holdings. The Dynasty originally had no navy, but now reinforcements from Celequia and captured Captirian ships meant they had a reasonable fleet.
So in -4408 General Cargh took a fleet from the south of Capti in a attempt to cross the Tharnic Strait in an attempt to invade the island of Tharn. He engaged the Great Sothern League at sea and lost. He then lost what remained of his fleet and his own life in a strom when attempting to retreat back to the mainland.
General Coleguloquina assessed Cargh's failure and attempted again to invade Tharn. He got Capterian architects to create ships more siuted to the Sea of Tharn. He attempted a landing on the other side of the island in -4407 and managed to take control of it over the next year.
The second invasion of Tharn is often considered the end of the Dynal invasion of Capti though small states and cities held out longer and the Dynasty spent the next few decades mopping up the pockets of resistance accross the region.
Captirian Uprising (-4398)
Whilst the majority of Capti was conqured by -4407 several regions remained outside Dynal hands. To counter this, the newly appointed Supreme Govener of Capti made Eisere the capital of the province to base his opperations whilst he subjugated the rest of the region. Over the next decade the Dynasty managd to bring many of the smaller island holdouts into their empire, including the notoriously persistent Chiton Republic. However, whilst many of these teritories were brought into the Dynasty, many of their inhabitants were unhappy with the new management.
In early -4398, the Supreme Governer of Capti set off on a campaign to conquer the Inlands, the last holdout against the Dynasty in Capti. However, once he had left Eisere, the main fortress at the centre of the city was stormed by an organised rebel army, taking the Dynast's capital for the region. The rebels locked themselves inside the city's citadel and organised their operations to take several fortresses along the nothern Shoronic Coast before the Supreme Governer's return.
However, fate turned against the Captirian fighters as they faced a naval defeat and failed to capture their next target, a naval fort just north of Eisere. By the time the Supreme Governer had returned they still only held onto the citadel at the centre of Eisere. And hence began along siege.
The Dynals had picked Eisere as their capital because of it's nearly impenetrable citadel. The irony was the Dynasty had anticipated being on the other side of the walls during a siege. But the Dynals did hold dominion over the sea after the Capterian fleet's earlier defeat, preventing the rebels from being able to recieve supplies.
Ultimatly, after only two months, the Dynals were able to break into the citadel and take back their seat of power. The Ceresian style of warfare had leant itself to an encounter of this type, and with superior numbers and advanced siege machinary it was only a atter of time before they broke through.
The rebellion of -4398 had posed very little threat to the Dynal occupation, however it was a clear sign that the people of Capti would not simply submit to the Dynasty once they had been conqured, such as in Cana. The storming of suc a well defended site also demonstrated a certain level of weakness and disorder in the Dynasty which later rebel groups, like the Dundell, would exploit.
Nonan Invasion and End of the Generalas
Many emperors at the begining of the Genralus had feared the power and influance that individuals like Ceretos or Sigerbond held over large portions of the military, however with the success of the system, many Emperors had put their fears aside to reach the rewards provided by the system. But after the conquest of Capti, few regions of Ecoth remained unconqured. Without new lands to invade, the Imperial Sagas began to roam the Dynal countryside, in search of new purpose. For some this was putting down rebellions or invading smaller kingdoms, but others began to get ideas.
On one cold morning in early -4383 an army led by General Vike Nou arrived at the gates of Capswold. This was the first attempt by any member of the Generalus to overthrow the Emperor. Vike Nou's coup was poorly planned and ultimatly he and his collaborators were arrested and executed but it did set a precedent for future attempts. This scared Emperor Carchanous III and began the motion for the dispanding of the Generalus.
Vike Nou's successor, Murchous, was given the rebellios general's saga. Hoping to prove himself and the use of the Generalus he decided to try and conquer new land for the Dynasty. His choice for this new campaign was Nona.
Nona was a highly isolationist region of Ecoth to the far north. Rumours circulated that they were simple people who worshiped forrest spirits and deer whilst still living is small wooden huts and treehouses. They were supposedly a primative people who Murchous hoped to gain an easy vicory against.
And so, in the summer of -4379 a column of two Sagas marched into the Nonan forrests. Reports say it took weeks for them to find the Nonans who had been trailing them the whole way. The Nonans did not engage the Dynals in traditional battle, instead prefering ambush tactics. This meant the Ceretosian methods used by the Dynasty had little to no advantage and they took heavy casualties.
Ultimatly the Nonan campaign was a complete embarrassment for the Dynasty and Murchous was forced to retreat in discrace. The Emperor made a formal apology to the leaders of Nona before deciding to dismiss the Generalas.
The Generalus had been the perfect system for conquest, however now the Dynasty had expanded to almost the entire supercontinent, they were trapped inside and caused more trouble than they were worth. Emperor Carchanous III had already been concerned about another coup attempt, but the Nonan campaign showed how impulsive the Generalus had become in their need for constant conquest.
In late -4371 Carchanous signed document 17, formally stripping the Generalas of their power and dispanding the Saga system. Many ex-generals were offered governerships of newly conqured territories in an effort to prevent backlash as the Dynasty transitioned back to a conventional military.
Whilst the dispandment of the Generalas did make the Dynasty more stable internally, it also weakened it. Without the Generalas, rebellions could not be as easily surpressed and the Dynasty struggled to hold onto its vast teritories. And so ultimatly, as soon as the Generalas ended, the Dynasty began to fall into decline.
Fall of the Dynal Empire
Eastern Dynal Civil War
The Summer of Revolt
First Ecothnic War
The Dynasty started out as an unchallenged power in Ecoth. It ruled with fear, making example of its enemies and constantly reminding its citizens to behave with a lingering military presence.
Over time though people began standing up for themselves and after the capital massacre a series of uprisings took place. These were quickly put down by the Dynasty and the leaders were brutally executed to make examples to the rest of Ecoth. But this had the opposite effect to what the Dynasty had thought...
Fed up with the constant executions an organisation formed called The Dundell which swore to overthrow the Dynasty and replace it with a more democratic system. Unlike previous uprisings the Dundell was organised and uprisings across Ecoth were coordinated to cause maximum dammage to the Dynasty. This started the conflict known as the First Ecothnic War
Initially the Dynasty thought they could crush the Dundell in the same way they had stopped uprisings before but as the scale of the uprisings increased the Dynasty was forced to commit more troops. Despite this the Dynasty saw relative success in stopping the Dundell until one fateful event.
In the year -50 The Dundell broke into and stormed the Dynasty's centeral palace in Capswold, brutally stabbing its Emperor. What followed was chaos which the Dundell used to overthrow the Dynasty and take control for themselves. Many of the Dynasty's leadership were executed, just as they had executed protesters before. Others were imprisoned and the survivors were exiled to the north where they were locked into the icy mountains to freeze to death. Little did the Dundell know, this group would become The Second Dynasty that would one day overthrow them.
-5490 - -50
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