The Succession Wars 223 AE to 250 AE

Queen Iselda was dead.

A few had been heard commenting that it was about time. She was 97 after all and no one rightly lived that long…She had a few firsts to her name. The first Queen to have succeeded the throne, not simply as herbirthright, but by strength of will as well. She was the first person known to have lived as long as she had. Under her reign, the first settlements in the northern wastes (turns out they were not so wasted) had been established… In fact, her reign was considered, by almost any standards, a golden age of sorts for Ashnoor. But all things must die, even the great Queen Iselda.

Upon Iselda’s death the crown was passed onto her son, Girardus. Girardus, however, was sickly, tired and old and his reign lasted less than a year before he too passed on. Girardus had left siring children to quite late in his life and as a result, at the time of his death, his children were either young adults or still in their adolescent years.   His two eldest were twins, a son (Daldon) and a daughter (Essanda). By most standards, the next to wear the crown should simply have been one of them. Daldon and Essandra were close, it is believed that between them they resolved the issue with Essandra having chosen to stand aside.   This was not an agreement however that their younger siblings supported. One brother demanding Essandra’s claim be recognized, another two brothers made their own claims (although clearly not eligible for succession under traditional rules), and the youngest two (a brother and sister) initially sided with Daldon (later they would go their own ways, disastrously).   Within weeks The Kingdom of Geldheim was plunged into an outrageous civil war.   Neighbouring towns that had thrived for generations by working together now fought each other. Families were torn apart in a bitter fight to the death, that would see many casualties. Insanity seemingly prevailed.   Eventually, Essandra gathered her people and moved south to Mirthstone. This did not save her from war however, it inadvertently became the first stumbling steps of a new Hadovean Empire. So it was, with a murderous civil war as the backdrop, Empress Essandra (The reluctant ruler) established a new realm along with a new way of establishing leadership. She was patently aware that her people chose to follow her – this became the basis for succession within the Empire – bloodlines were irrelevant, having the people’s support was all that mattered in Essandra’s view.   Some of the siblings found time to raise families – perhaps it may have been better for all had they not. Ten years into what was dubbed the Succession War, Daldon was assassinated. The next oldest sibling, Kennod at the age of 27, claimed the Crown through surviving the Monarch Rose tea ceremony.   It is said he did so unopposed – yet the backdrop of civil war demonstrated the untruth to this claim. Kennod was however, a gifted war time leader though and held the throne until his death in his 53rd year.   During this time, the children of his siblings had taken the reigns of leadership (as siblings died off or were killedone way or another) … The Kingdom of Geldheim was by this time in a deplorable state. Despite the citizens being war weary – the war raged on.   Essandra was made aware of forces massing in her old home land. She gathered her forces, called in her bannermen and allies preparing to meet the enemy. Rather than wait and have her own citizens placed at risk, she marched her army hundreds of miles in quick time to the fields of Ashnoor. The armies that gathered near Bardaga Lake on the first day of hostilities appeared to spread from horizon to horizon, it was as if every able-bodied person from the entire continent had amassed here this day.When the battle began, both massive forces crashed together like titans shaking the heavens. The smells of blood, sweat, fear and death hung heavily over the land from day one of the fighting. The fighting simply did not stop, even throughout the night the battle raged.   Days into fighting, storms hit, this didn’t stop the fighting either. The only pauses in battle were to clear the field, seemingly not so much out of respect for the dead, simply to make fighting easier… The war was bitter and vicious.   Empress Essandra was mortally wounded at the beginning of the third week of battle.   After making a daring stand against seemingly insurmountable odds and that was after having fought through the enemy lines. The battle raged. A new leader rose up seemingly from nowhere. An initially obscure general, Ordan Callingber, lead a defensive action on the right flank and broke the enemy line. He was unanimously supported as the new emperor – at the time he grimly shared with his first officer he had doubts as to how long his reign may last. As it happened, he survived. Many others did not. There were no clear victors, battle simply petered out due to the massive death toll. It was estimated that the weeks of constant fighting had decimated an entire generation, or almost at least.   Then, without warning, The Erayax struck from the northern reaches, led by a ruthless and malevolent Orc by the name of Vorbroth. All those that shared his malevolent vision joined his cause, regardless of race. Those that opposed where pushed south – or simply killed. And then the Erayax simply stopped.   Both of the depleted armies of Ashnoor limped to their new homes, while The Erayax Horde withdrew slightly to consolidate their newly acquired territory. It would take several generations to recover. Meanwhile, the once revered land of Ashnoor, now in disrepair, was now annexed by The Erayax.   Very few knew for sure what went on in the lands to the north, Old Ashnoor, and those who did were loath to speak of their adventures. It was known that the place was deadly and only the foolish or those intent on finding their own death ventured there…