LEXICON


This message was last edited by the GM at 21:14, Sat 05 Aug 2023.

Belrandir and the Death of the Blackveiled
The nation of Belrandir was created early in the First Age. The Dragon-Lord who founded it has been lost to time, but their name continues to exist in Belrand's history as the "Founder". At the time, Belrandir was relatively small, and shared borders with several other Dragon-Lords. That changed with the death of the Founder, at the hands of Baal Shax, who took over the land as his own.

Baal Shax was one of the most powerful Elder Dragons of the First Age, and was as strong as he was terrible. A tyrant of a lord who enslaved the people of Belrandir and forced them to create great monuments to his glory. The crowning jewel being the City of Carthus, where the Blackveiled dwelled in his Lair at the center of the city.

The people of Belrandir were divided into two castes, the Helots and the Archons. The Helots were a slave class that was completely subservient to the Archons, and outnumbered them a hundred to one. The Archons were Baal Shax's Dragon-Blooded servants, and acted as both soldiers and administrators. Because of this, there was a lot of hostility between the Helots and Archons, and many rebellions were constant throughout Belrandir's history.

When the Age of Fire came, Baal Shax refused to act for many years, and the lands of Belrandir were greatly reduced. It wasn't until he was approached by several other Elder Dragons personally that he decided to lead his armies into battle against the Archdragons. The fighting cost him greatly, but Baal Shax was one of the few Elder Dragons to survive the conflict. When he returned to his territory, he was forced to retreat into his Lair to heal from his wounds. He entrusted the rule of Belrandir to his Archons, as he had done many times over the centuries, but times were different.

Many of the Archons had not returned from the battles with the Archdragons, and Baal Shax was too weak to increase their number through his Gifts. Dragon-Blooded could pass their abilities to their offspring, but this power greatly weakened after a single generation. He had taken most of the first generation Archons with him to war, and the ones that remained were mostly second and third generation. This issue compounded with the Helots being overworked to repair the damage created by the Age of Fire. Belrandir began to boil over with conflict, and rebellion was imminent.

It started when among the Helots, a Prophet emerged with the ability to perform miracles. They spoke of beings greater then the Elder Dragons who existed beyond the stars. As their words resonated with the oppressed people, many began to follow the Faith of the New Gods. Receiving information directly from the Gods, the Prophet knew that they had to act swiftly before Baal Shax regained his strength. The rebellion began in Carthus, and quickly the Archons who ruled the city fell in matter of days. The Faithful, now in a frenzy after taking the city, tore their way into the Blackveiled's massive palace. The Elder Dragon killed thousands of them, but in his weakened state he could not stop all of them. The Tyrant of Belrandir was impaled by ten spears, each tipped with Mythril smuggled from the dwarven mines of the East. His skeleton still sits within the Halls of Judgement, which the Belrand nobles use as neutral ground to settle disputes amongst themselves.


The Last King
As the carnage from the battle with Baal Shax subsided, one of the first men to attack the Dragon-Lord was miraculously found alive. He had awakened as a Saint in the middle of battle, which had given him the strength to survive. In some retellings of the story, he is also the man who landed the final blow that ended the Blackveiled. His name was Sigmund of Belmarc, and a week after Carthus was liberated he would be crowned as the First Holy King.

Sigmund would spend the rest of his reign liberating the rest of Belrand from the Archons. In many cases the Archons were destroyed, but in some they peacefully bent the knee to the new King. It was the dawn of a new era, as there had never been a human Nation ruled by humans. Thus it was in Belrand that the Second Age was truly born.

For several centuries House Bismarc ruled Belrand, a direct line of King and Queens that ended during the reign King Henri III. Henri had been a young boy, raised to the Ivory Throne when a Great Plague wiped out all his relatives and a large chunk of Belrand's population. The boy miraculously survived, and the Archbishop at the time claimed the Gods favored the boy. The young Kings fortune was ended when assassins attacked his litter while touring Carthus. The boys assassination was so ostentatious that conspiracies of who the true culprits were, exist to this day.

The Faith claimed it was the Forest Witches who had long been a scapegoat for all troubles in Belrand. Over the last two centuries, several "crusades" have been called to cull the forests of the heathen dragon worshippers. Most failed to even make it very far into the Forest of Ulfrin, let alone the Mandragora Wilds that the Witches called home.

Without any heirs of House Bismarc alive, the country faced a period of turmoil. Many nobles had grown powerful in the time since the Holy Kingdoms birth, but the commoners still had a distrust for them from the days of the First Age. Accusations that a noble house descended from the Archons carried a lot of weight in Belrand, and many Houses have fallen due to anger from the populace. The Faith knew they still needed the nobles to administer the lands, so the Archbishop presented a new system of governance.

The Faith claimed that the Holy King's right to rule was not based in blood, but based by their favor with the Gods. He explained that many noble houses had given birth to Saints over the years, and that all of them were equally blessed. This of course ignored the fact that many Saints were born from commoners who were then adopted into powerful families, but the nobility of the time were willing to ignore that. The Archbishop presented them a way to choose amongst themselves who would rule as Holy King, as they were all equally worthy, and that the Faith would bless whoever they chose.

While this managed to calm tension between rival houses, it turned the Ivory Throne into something that could be bought. The first Holy King that was not from House Bismarc, was simply the richest noble of the time. A man who not only bought his votes, but also spent a fortune to create a new Palace for the Monarch. When he perished, his House had spent so much of their wealth to keep the peace, that his heir didn't have enough to bribe the nobles, and another family took prominence.

This tradition would get Belrand through the next 200 years, with the Throne passing back & forth between three major Houses. It wasn't until the present day that this would be challenged, when a fourth House grew in prominence. The House of Leutrec.


The Civil War
House Leutrec is an old noble house from Western Belrand. Cutoff from the lucrative trade from the Lir, House Leutrec was considered a minor house by many, although it controlled vast swathes of productive land. Holding the title of Landgrave for many generations, after the Great Plague they were upgraded to the title of Duke when their lands went mostly untouched. Over the last few centuries, as the forest of Ulfrin continues to reclaim more farmland in the East, House Leutrec became more prominent. Until they finally were able to put a valid bid for the Ivory Throne.

The last Holy King, Grand Duke Aramis de Arsne, had been deeply in debt. His attempts to turn the wetlands in the southeast into new farms was met with failure when a feral Dragon was found roosting there. With his investors backing away from the venture, the Holy King found himself unable to pay off the principal he owed them. He was almost prepared to beg the Archbishop for aid when Duke Henri Leutrec stepped in to offer aid.

After this fateful meeting, Duke Leutrec became an unofficial advisor to the King. For the next two decades, many other nobles were brought to House Leutrec's faction, which began to supersede the House Arsne. This would go on until a freak hunting accident took the King's life. With House Arsne's next heir a boy of 13, it was Henri Leutrec who stood up for nomination when the voting began to choose the next Holy King.

At this time the rivalry between Duke Leutrec and the Archbishop became more well known. The presence of the Faith had always been less prevalent in the West. Archbishop Laurence had attempted to find common ground with Duke Henri, but quickly found that the man had no patience for the Faith or their Doctrine. Duke Leutrec had seen the corruption of the East as something that needed to be cleansed, and he considered the Faith a big part of that corruption. He had been outspoken many times that the Faith took more then they gave, and that a lot of land they owned would be better off in the hands of tax paying citizens.

Despite having such a radical viewpoint, many of the nobles who would normally take his words as ammo to criticize him couldn't say a word. Too many were in debt to House Leutrec, and the grain from the West was too important to Belrand's economy. As the vote grew near, many knew which way the votes were gonna go, and the Faith feared the outcome. When Henri Leutrec was found dead in his home, many breathed a sigh of relief. Without the focal point of the radical Henri, the other faction would surely be able to sweep the votes.

Everyone was surprised when Elizabeth Leutrec, Henri's eldest daughter, arrived in Carthus, and presented her nomination to the Diet. A few nobles laughed at the situation, the idea that this twenty year old maiden could win was audacious. The Faith was also unconcerned, but had prepared one last weapon against House Leutrec should the unthinkable happen.

As the voters entered the Hall of Judgement, the jovial attitude that had started when Elizabeth had arrived in Carthus came to an immediate halt. Elizabeth had evidentially been privy to her father's strategy, and had been quietly reminding other Nobles of their previous oaths. She had also brought blackmail to bring the rival faction back into line. The Archbishop knew something was wrong when the first three votes cast were all for House Leutrec.

Laurence turned to Elizabeth, who gave him a demure smile, and in that moment he knew battle was his only recourse. Interrupting the vote count, the Archbishop presented evidence that House Leutrec was descended from Archons, and thus was ineligible to receive the blessing of the Gods. Despite the fact that she had won the vote, Grand Duchess Elizabeth would not be Holy Queen.



The Faithful and the Ducal Army
The Civil War in Belrand has been going on for over a year now. It is divided into two major factions. The Forces of the Faithful, and the Ducal Army.

The Faithful include forces of several Lords, the Order of Templars, and the Ten Saints. The Faith is outnumbered at the start of the war, but the power of the Saints has given them an edge.

The Lords loyal to the Faithful are the ones that weren't loyal to House Leutrec when the vote was cast. They represent about 1/3rd of the nobility, but they aren't necessarily loyal to the Archbishop out of Faith. Many support the Archbishop by simply not participating in the war at all, and only a few that were still in debt to the Church have provided soldiers. This is cuz Duke Leutrec spent many years paying of noble debts to the Church, to remove a lot of their leverage. Many hope that the no side really wins, so that they can gain more power in the chaos.

The Order of Templars is an organization designed to protect sites holy to the Faith. They are relatively small, only numbering a few thousand, but they are highly trained, and are lead by three Saints. They are the force that has been defeating the Ducal Army in the last few major battles. The Templars use Divine Instruments in combat, making them far more powerful then their numbers.

The Ten Saints are the current Saints active in Belrand in this War. One of them is Archbishop Laurence, who is the successor of a long line of Saints originating with the unnamed Prophet during the Age of Fire.

The Ten Saints

The Ducal Army is lead by Grand Duchess Elizabeth, and with an army of levies loyal to the Nobility. It is a coalition noble houses that owe allegiance to House Leutrec either through debt or oath. Many assumed the Ducal Army would quickly win the War, as they vastly outnumbered the Faithful forces, and had way more wealth. A year into the war it has become apparent that is not the case, and the last several battles have ended in disaster for the Ducal Army.

They still outnumber the Faithful, but everyday more Lords are withdrawing their support. They managed to take the Royal Palace early in the War, but a recent assassination attempt has caused Elizabeth's advisors to suggest they relocated further West. This would basically give up their territory in the East and allow the Faith to create a foothold splitting Belrand in half.

The Ducal Army consists of several different armies joined together under one tent, which makes their movement slow and unwieldy. They are technically lead by Prince Lucien Gancanagh, a Grey Elf mercenary hired by Elizabeth for the battles he fought in the Free Cities, but he can only act as her voice on a council of many.

The other major voice on her side is Lord Roland Maxwell, a Landgrave who helped her secure the nomination from the Arsne Faction. This coincided with her agreement to marry the 13 year old Augustus de Arsne once the war was finished.

A great issue within the Ducal Army camp is what to do with the Faithful at this point. Many nobles assumed the Archbishop would sue for peace early, and negotiations could start. As the war drags on, many are beginning to have cold feet as the Archbishop is claiming this is a Holy War and not a factional dispute. As the days continue, peace becomes less likely an outcome, and many do not wish to see the Faith destroyed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:05, Sun 30 July 2023.

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