War of the Weeping Maple
The War of the Weeping Maple was a conflict from 216 to 218 AU which saw five of the greatest families in the Order of the Red Maple fight for the title of Deputy Knight. The Order, which had previously been at the height of its power, lost most of its manpower and political influence within the Empire as a result of the conflict. The war ended when Kirstan Teufel slew Jander der Verräter in the courtyard of Ahorn-Tor.
Early Stages
The war began when the leading members of the Order could not decide on who to elect as the next Deputy Knight in the wake of Tellot das Langlebige leaving the Order in 215 AU. Due to personal feelings and familial loyalties, the five great houses of Hongeäußert, Erstgeboren, Langtreu, Adlergeküsst, and Desbogen prevented them from making unbiased decisions of who should inherit the position. This build up of hostilities eventually led to open hostilities when the head of the Desbogen family was found dead in his own bed from poison, a clear assassination. The great families blamed one another until they began declaring war on each other for the title. At first the conflict was at a stalemate with each family gathering support and raising their armies, but after 6 months of fighting, the Erstgeboren family led by Jander der Verräter received aid and supplies from a mysterious party. Jander used these funds to buy foreign mercenaries which gave him the upper hand, and within months had all but defeated two of the great families in open battle, decimating their forces and supporters. He then met with another great house to discuss a truce, but instead slew the family head and had the rest of the family killed soon after in an act of treachery. Thus only the Hongeäußert family remained.The Short Peace
With only the Hongeäußert family remaining they retreated their depleted forces to Arnt Batin while Jander marched on Ahorn-Tor and took it without a fight. Peace seemed to have been achieved, with Jander declaring himself the new Deputy Knight of the Order. The Hongeäußert family and all who followed them were branded criminals, but were not hunted down. Jander was more interested with consolidating his power and forces on the Wythian mainland than to go after his defeated enemy. Bertold Hongeäußert, who was the new head of his family after the loss of his father in a previous battle, had gone to Arnt Batin to join forces with his family friend Kirstan Teufel. With Teufel's border guard forces, Bertold had new fresh troops, and after several months of resupplying and correspondences with allies within Ahorn-Tor, he and Kirstan set sail from Arnt Batin and landed their forces near Anselm.End of the conflict
With his new forces Bertold led his army straight towards Ahorn-Tor and sieged the fortress for three months until a fifth columnist betrayed Jander and opened up a secret way into the fortress. Bertold, Kirstan and some trusted men snuck into the fortress at nightfall and open the main gate allowing the forces of house Hongeäußert to pour inside. The fighting lasted until dawn, with Bertold and Kirstan dueling Jander in the courtyard where the Maple Tree of Sankt Johann, a direct descendent of the tree that he died under, grew. Bertold was mortally wounded in this fight, but Kirstan stabbed Jander through the throat, embedding his sword into the Mable tree, making it weep sap from its wound, signifying to all remaining Order members that this victory was shallow.Aftermath
The war which had lasted two years ended with all the great houses being destroyed or weakened and Kirstan Teufel being elected the new Deputy Knight for his deeds in the war. The Order, which had previously been at the height of its power, was now almost extinguished. In the rebuilding, Kirstan would pass reforms which forbade Order members from owning lands, or titles given from anyone except the Order or the Imperial dynasty. The Order would never again attain the same power they had held onto prior to the war.
Conflict Type
War
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
216
Ending Date
218
Belligerents
Erstgeboren family
Hongeäußert Family
Strength
200 Knights
3000 Order Footmen/Archers
1600 Foreign Mercenaries
80 Knights
6000 Footmen/Archers