Odon 'the Naive'

King Odon Blakfort (a.k.a. the Naive)

Lived: 1000 - 1059
Ruled: 1040 - 1059

Overview

He was an Honest man, like his predecessors, a Trusting friend and a Callous ruler.
First and foremost however, he fancied himself as a Skilled Tactician and a cunning Logistician.

Early Reign

On his coronation day in 1040, the Duke of Avadell refused to swear fealty to the new king, as they thought that the Blakfort dynasty had become weak throughout the years.

First War with Atacodia

Shortly after his coronation, he was called to war against the Atacodian Kingdom. He answered the call and raised his army. He marched his army from Austium and a day after they passed Magnulacus, they met the Atacodian army, which pushed into Lacager. The Atacodian army was 3 times larger than Odon's forces. Upon the start of the battle, the Avadellian Duke, who was supposed to lead the right flank of the army fled the battle. Seeing this, the entire right flank routed, followed by the left flank. The army center, which was led by Odon himself, stood its ground, but Odon retreated upon seeing the rest of his army retreat. Unfortunately, the Atacodian army consisted of many knights, who could easily chase the routing foot soldiers of the Blakfort army. The losses were horrendous and completely shattered the morale of Odon's forces. This event later became known as the Magnulacus Rout and rendered the kingdom basically harmless for the remainder of the war.
Seeing that this huge defeat could destabilize the kingdom, especially with the danger of an Avadellian noble taking control, Odon decided to ally himself with the Duke of Avadell through a political marriage in 1041.
Despite the horrible losses suffered by his army, Odon managed to besiege and sack the castle of Jinteburg. During the same year, the war was won by Odon's allies, who managed to capture many of the Atacodian cities while their army was preoccupied in Blakfort.

Interwar Period

Following the war, Odon gathered his generals to write the Book of War, a book detailing strategies and tactics that would be passed down from ruler to ruler, allowing them to inherit the tactics of their ancestors.
In the beginning of 1042, the Duke of Brica died of old age, leaving his titles to his heir, the Duke of Palager. The king immediately attacked all Brican lords that got their independence due to the inheritance, and easily forced them into his kingdom in a year.
During the same year, his youngest son started showing symptoms of Jacob's Curse. Odon immediately started searching for a cure. While no one was able to cure the affliction, a famous elven mage, named Strunitor Braidbeard found a way to ease the symptoms. With his aid, Odon's son recovered from the effects of the the ailment in 1045, but he has become dependent on the healing potions produced by the mage.

Second War with Atacodia

At the end of the year of 1045, Odon was called to war against the Atacodian Kingdom once again. Odon was prepared this time and decided to make a detour in an attempt to outmaneuver the Atacodian army. Unfortunately, thanks to a traitor amongst the generals under Odon, the Atacodian king anticipated the move and set up an ambush. The Blakfort army fought valiantly, but the knights of Atacodia proved to be too strong for them and the battle was lost.
Thankfully, due to the valiant efforts by the rear guard of the army led by Odon's son, its losses were minimal at the cost of their lives. After retreating and reorganizing the army, Odon decided to lead its forces on his own and managed to win multiple battles throughout 1046. He even managed to lay siege to the Atacodian capital. In the middle of 1047, the Atacodian capital was close to falling, when the Atacodian army suddenly appeared near the city thanks to their mages, who used teleportation to surprise the besieging army. In the midst of the battle, Odon's second son dies at the hands of the Atacodians, but Odon managed to escape via teleportation, before the enemy reached his tent.
His army, left leaderless, retreated and found their way back to Austium in a year. Similarly to Blakfort's war efforts, Odon's allies suffered heavy losses by the Atacodian army, but they still had the upper hand. Unfortunately, Merendell declared war on the allied kingdom. They called Odon to war against the new threat, but he didn't answer the call, as he didn't want to draw his people into war against an other, much larger kingdom. Additionally, Odon decided to disband his army and leave the Atacodian Kingdom alone.

War with Krovia

The war with Atacodia ended in 1049 with a white peace, which allowed Odon to act on his own ambitions. He immediately declared a war on the Krovian Kingdom for South Thurukya. His army, weakened by the war with Atacodia was the equal of the Krovian army.
The war raged on for years, with Blakfort's army capturing several castles. In 1052, the Krovian King died, but his heir, Queen Dohnota II continued the war. Rebellious peasants demanded lower taxation due to the near-constant war and the extra taxes that came along with it. Odon was forced to accept their demands as his armies were in Krovia and he knew that he wouldn't be able to fight a rebellion at the same time.

The Krovian Crossing

As a bittersweet turn of events, the Krovian Queen also faced unruly serfs, but she decided to face the rebels. She actually used them to her advantage and performed a 'Krovian Crossing' as it later became known as. She hired the Third Tenet in 1053, like her predecessor and tricked them into attacking the armies of Blakfort. As this move was not unheard of, Odon quickly retreated into the Blakfort homeland to evade their forces.
By the end of 1054, the Krovian rebellion was crushed and the Third Tenet left the Krovian Kingdom. While the Third Tenet fought the rebels the Krovian army quickly fell apart as the Krovian Queen ran out of money, to pay for them. A year later, the war was won by Odon.

End of his Reign

As he returned from his campaign, he was surprised to hear that an Atacodian Duke laid claim on Magnulacus. Seeing as this duke had a bigger army and an even bigger treasury, Odon allied himself with a Scovonian duke.
In 1056, Odon's spymaster found out, that the traitor in the second war against Atacodia was the Duke of Avadell himself, who has since died of old age. Odon still wanted to punish the man, so he stripped his heir of his title of Baron of Kirkwall.

War in Scovonia

His new, Scovonian ally saw the opportunity to leverage their alliance and called Odon to war against a rival Scovonian Duke.
Unfortunately, Odon emptied the royal treasury in the last war and was unable to raise an army, but sent his steward to try and remedy the situation. In 1057, his steward returned to him successfully, which allowed him to march his army into the lands of Scovonia.
As an ironic turn of events, the new Duke of Avadell, angered by the unjust stripping of his title betrayed Odon and told the opposing Scovonian Duke of the incoming army. Odon's forces were ambushed and a great many of his men were slain upon their arrival in 1058. He led his army throughout the Scovonian Duke's territory for the next year, until his ally surrendered.

He returned to Austium and a few days later was found dead in his chambers, having ended his own life.

Legacy

• Book of War
• Name of the Krovian Crossing

Major Events

• 1040 - Magnulacus Rout

Territory Gained

South Thurukya

Fort Volcas

Species

Humans

Ethnicity

Lacrian

Previously Held Ranks & Titles

• Blakfort King

Life

1000 AU 1059 AU

Family

Blakfort Dynasty

Parents

Baraton III 'the Possessed'

Children

• Oto Blakfort
• Zachariah 'the Black Sheep'
• Roland Blakfort