Nemoj 'the Damned'
King Nemoj Blakfort (a.k.a. the Damned)
Lived: 1136 - 1205
Ruled: 1187 - 1205
Ruled: 1187 - 1205
Overview
Nemoj was very similar to his father, Kirk II. He was an Honest and Forgiving ruler with a Generous heart. Despite his much shorter rule, he showed great skills as a Tactician and as a Gallant knight. His honesty knew no bounds as he regularly visited temples of the Order to confess his minute sins.Early Reign
In 1187, the Oathmen swore fealty as per the tradition. Seeing that the majority of his vassals were not Lacrians, he saw the flaw in the current practice dictated by the Elevalan age. A year later, he finished working on the next grand change in the way the kingdom worked and used several mages to publicly announce the start of a new age, called the Ostinatan Age. Similarly to the Elevalan Age, this new era was supposed to reflect the values of its namesake and encourage determination and loyalty. In 1191, the King of Ostatoras called Nemoj into a defensive war. He wanted to establish himself as a reliable ally and answered the call. Unbeknownst to him, one of his cousins, Robert Blakfort travelled west to seek help in his ambitious plans. The war in Ostatoras raged on for two years, when Nemoj received bad news.The Pet Dog
Robert 'the Pet Dog' Blakfort asked the Emperor of Westatoras to help him claim the Blakfort Kingdom in exchange for his loyalty. The "Endless Forces of Westatoras" began marching towards Austium in 1193. Nemoj became desperate. His armies were far from home and they were already exhausted by the current war. He retreated as quickly as he could, but even the mighty walls of Austium wouldn't be able to stop the armies of Westatoras. Nemoj began performing a big ritual found in his father's books that would allow him to raise the dead warriors of Blakfort. This was extremely heretical in the eyes of the Order, but their representative, the Primas of Blakfort was powerless to stop him. His army was intercepted by the Westatoran forces before they could leave Ostatoras and many of them died, worsening Nemoj's chances at stopping them. He performed the ritual which took the better half of the year to finish and the warriors of past battles rose from their graves to serve him. With his newly acquired army, he met the Westatoras army dead on (pun intended) and fought one of the biggest battles of the century. More than 20 thousand troops fought on both sides and the death toll was immense. The unrelenting dead killed thousands of Westatoras warriors, but suffered tons of losses themselves. The "Clash of Brica" was one of the most influential battles of the century and the history of the Blakfort dynasty. His "unorthodox" solution to the problem caused a lot of hostility towards him among his nobles however and they began organizing a coup to depose Nemoj and place his brother, Kirk on the throne. Trying to save his power, Nemoj imprisoned the Duke of Thurukya to keep the power of the rebellious nobles in check. This successfully broke their determination and allowed Nemoj to finish the war. In 1194, the war within Ostatoras ended, which allowed the Ostatoras King to return the favour and help Nemoj in his war against Westatoras. The undead army of Nemoj won battle after battle against the Westatoras soldiers and in a stroke of good luck, the Scovonian Kingdom attacked Westatoras as well, seeing that their war with Blakfort weakened them. This new threat drew the attention of Westatoras. In the following 3 years the battles of this war were fought ever farther from the borders of Blakfort, until the Westatoras Emperor was forced to surrender. This meant that "the Pet Dog's" claim became invalid and the external threat was over. The undead were released from their duty and would have been laid to rest if not for one thing. Upon their release, they didn't die, but remained undead. While their appearance was rotten and decayed, their souls were intact and bound to their bodies, so they were free to do as they sought. Some rejoined the army of Blakfort, some wanted a more peaceful life. Thousands of undead were released upon the continent that day.The Orc War
During the same year, the Probare gave a sermon regarding the orcs who have been quite a small danger in the past, but started to band together into bigger hordes and began conquering the North-Eastern parts of the continent. The Probare urged the nations of men to unite against them before they grew into a more serious threat. The Fourth Holy War in the name of The Order, or the Orc War began in 1198. The territory in question was between the borders of the Mountain Kingdom of Gannau and the Blakfort Kingdom, so their troops were the first to push the orcs back.The Pretender Rebellion
Despite their initial success, they had to retreat, because some of the nobles of Blakfort rebelled against their king to place his brother, Kirk on the throne. Similarly to the Merendellian Inheritance War, the kingdom was torn in half and skirmishes between loyalists and pretenders occurred all around the country. Nemoj called his allies to help him in the civil war, but they were slow to respond as the Orc War kept them busy. While Nemoj was preoccupied by the civil war, the Orc War ended in 1200 and the Probare - once again - appointed the Blakfort ruler to choose a new ruler for the newly conquered territories. He decided to give the title to one of his uncles - "Vladimir Blakfort" - and the Orderly Kingdom of Paladell was created on the border of Blakfort. Ironically, Palager, whose people shared a culture with the majority of Paladell's, remained part of Blakfort. With kings and queens around the continent, the Blakfort Dynasty became more renowned than the ruling dynasty of Westatoras, the largest house among the humans.End of his Reign
Despite the successful war, scouts heralded a gigantic orc horde in the making, but the rulers of the continent ignored their warning. Shortly after the end of the Orc War, Nemoj won a decisive battle at Silvorem and basically destroyed the morale of the rebel forces and two years later, the civil war ended with the imprisonment of the rebelling nobles. To anger the Krovian nobles, who led the rebellion, Nemoj decided to integrate Volitare and Lower Krovia into the kingdom. In 1203, his aid was requested by the King of Ostatoras against some rebellious peasants. With his help, the war was over within a year. In 1205, his wife died and he was struck with so much grief that he ended his own life a few weeks later.
Legacy
- Ostinatan Age
- The Nemojan Army of the Dead
- Orderly Kingdom of Paladell
Major Events
- 1193 - Clash of Brica
- 1198-1200 - The Fourth Holy War in the name of the Order (The Orc War)
Species
Ethnicity
Previously Held Ranks & Titles
Life
1136 AU
1205 AU
Family
Children
Comments