War of Succession

The House of Subversion

In 9,152 A.W., the budding nation of the Valgaartiran saw its first civil conflict. The war of succession had been decades in the making at the hands of House Pihvähriss. Pihvähriss had embedded their family into the three original counsels; the body of the mirkh, the body of the spirit, and the body of the houses. Pihvähriss found support among their allied Houses, all of which were quietly absorbed into their House over the decades or had already existed within. Pihvähriss had taken advantage of the young nation and its naivety to gain control of the Valgaaren by planting their family members in various positions, especially in the counsels.
None were suspicious of House as all appeared well on the surface. Ties between Pihváhriss and their supporting houses was never a public affair until Videhsteya Remäns publicized numerous conflicts of interests and corruption stemming from the family. Within a week Pihvähriss became a divisive topic in the empire. Yet, this House was not immediately ousted thanks to their supporters. Remäns was publicly humiliated from propaganda that sought to tarnish her reputation. Her ties to Pihvähriss was questioned as well since she was appointed Videhsteya by the very House she sought to take down. Arguments evolved and the narrative quickly changed to claim Remäns's House Indehgirr was waging a war against Pihvähriss. This circus would last months despite the evidence Remäns had disclosed to the entirety of the Valgaartiran.
Unaffiliated citizens were reasonably concerned with the direction of their nation. Many occupied the capital within the legality of the established to pressure the Valgaaren. Those in the government who were not associated with Pihvähriss did not side with either Remäns or Pihvärihss and instead opted to a trial to validate or invalidate Remäns's evidence.

The Trial of Facades

Deciding on a trial was a difficult task. Typically counselors would vote if they sought to determine the validity and transparency of one of their own, yet an encroaching half of the body of the houses and body of the mirkh was made up of Pihvähriss and their allied Houses. The body of the spirit was the only governing body with no house affiliation as they were meant to be made of only priests and priestess from respective temples. Because of this, the body of the spirit determined a trial must take place and would be back by the temple of Dïbe. All counselors agreed. To do otherwise may suggest guilt.
The trial itself would last nearly a month. During this time, a good majority of the mirkh returned to the capital. This would add to Pihvähriss's campaign to smear Remäns and framed it as a possibly military coup. Remäns denounced this and claimed they returned of their own volition. While four of nine counselors in the Mirkh were tied to Pihvärhriss, the mirkh itself refused to respond to anyone other than Remäns after she went public. The Valgaaren's concern grew and so did that of their citizens. From both sides, it began to look like either group sought control. Remäns wasted no time urging her legions to disperse where needed and not to give cause for alarm.
During the final days of the trial, tensions began to come to blow. Despite their Videhsteya's orders, two legions sat within the city's walls. They made no threats and merely sought to be present in the city. Pihvähriss and their allies refuse to move from their station at the Valgaaren or relinquish information requested by the body of the spirit. A third faction had sprung up amidst the fear. This was a civilian militia that had already decided both parties were guilty of attempting to seize power. The city's guard, being apart of the mirkh, but also sworn to protect citizens, was put in an odd situation. They were determined to keep the capital peaceful, but had their own fears of being forced to fight citizens as well as fellow soldiers. In an attempt to conserve the citizens of the Valgaartiran, but also remain neutral in relation to the mirkh, they assisted with barricading certain parts of the city and refusing any active soldier entry. This was met with critism of course, but the occupying legions remained silent. The Videhsteya repeatedly urged the mirkhanenath Sheddïa and Gerrihsoth to remove their legions, but neither would accept.
On the 5th of Dïbe, breaking news reported the Videhsteya had been poisoned. The trial was paused while investigations turned towards the source of the Videhsteya's poisoning. For a grueling week, the capital held its breath. Many assumed Pihvähriss while they adamantly denied responsibility. The mirkhanen of the mirkh refused to accept this and the Videhsteya's first, Allesyeth openly assumed control while Remäns was hospitalized at her family home. A third legion moved into the city to guard the Videhsteya's home. Pihvähriss grew increasingly uncomfortable with the presence of the mirkh in the city, but aside from their established allies, they had no real defense.
The evening of the 7th of Dïbe, Allesyeth ordered the House and allies of Pihvärhiss be imprisoned and captured. The body of the spirit and the temple of Dïbe condemned this and refused to allow entrance to the Valgaaren. Dithyärr of both temples of Dïbe and Fesäd deployed to the capital to protect the Valgaaren and resulted in a 3 day stand-off. Allesyeth waited with her forces outside the Valgaaren. They did not allow any supplies to make their way into the Valgaaren nor anyone to leave. Allesyeth carefully skirted the holy crime of outright attacking the dithyärr, which would provoke the high priestesses of Mazarath as well as raise the ire of other nations to swoop and seize control of the Valgaartiran entirely.

The Illuminated Truth

The morning of the 11th of Dïbe, Videhsteya Remäns marched to the Valgaaren to the surprise of the entire mirkh. None had expected her to survive. She ordered every legion to evacuate the capital immediately and for Allesyeth to stand down. Allesyeth was reluctant and tried to convince Remäns that Pihvähriss must be removed or they risk the future of the Valgaartiran. Remäns quickly silence her first with the accusation of being her attempted-assassin. With the attention of the dithyärr and the occupants in the Valgaaren, Remäns refuted her accusation and ordered Allesyeth to stand down or be executed for treason. Allesyeth declared Remäns delusional and not yet recovered from being poisoned. The witnessing Legions stood still, unsure who to respond to.
Despite her weakened state, Remäns drew her weapon, ignored Allesyeth's words and ordered her again to submit or be executed. Allesyeth refused. Their fight was short and even though she stood on the brink of death, Remäns executed her first. She turned to her soldiers scattered across the gardens and plazas of the Valgaaren and gave her famous, poignant speech, "If you refuse to evacuate the capital immediately, then I assume you stand with the traitorous usurper. If you assume I wont fight every one of you until I die you will be taken by the abyssal king and I will have earned my honorable death protecting the sanctity of the principles this nation was founded on."
The standing legions obeyed her orders and left immediately including Sheddïa and Gerrihsoth. Remäns continued to the Valgaaren and insisted the trial continue. The remainder of the trial lasted three days. Remäns revealed Allesyeth sought to take advantage of the chaos knowing she would be Videhsteya if Remäns had died. Once she was Videhsteya, she would command the mirkh to seize the capital and then she could get rid of her competition, Pihvähriss in particular. Mirkhanenath Sheddïa and Gerrihsoth were confirmed to be acting alone, but in the interests of the people, however they would not be with reprimand.

Aftermath

The temple of Dïbe found Pihvährihss and all six of their allied Houses to be guilty of conspiracy to seize control of the Valgaartiran. The counsels were purged of their influence and a new body was formed, the body of the people. The body of the people was given the directive to restrain the reach of the other counsels as well investigative into the other counseling bodies.
The 12th of Dïbe became a day of observance and reflection of the political atmosphere within the empire. This observance and coupled with growing awareness of how some Houses may want to seize control of the empire for their own gain, sparked a new though that would permeate the generations of Andeamer to come.
On the 12th of Dïbe in 9.155 A.W. counselors of the body of the people agreed to add a new phrase to the steps leading up to the Valgaaren. The first one being, "the House of One", the motto of the Valgaartiran. Now, "Always be suspicious of those in power," accompanies this phrase as the next step.
Unsurprisingly, some counselors we not entirely open to this addition and wish for the motto of the empire to be the only thing engraved upon the steps, but ultimately failed to convince their peers to do so otherwise. This began a tradition of adding phrases upon these steps for every significant event that changed the empire.

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

2nd of Älëas, 9,152 A.W.

Ending Date

12th of Dïbe, 9,152 A.W.