[b]February 5th, 4901 YDC (Yllendyr Dynastic Calendar)[/b] [i]Vermillion Citadel, Ylleria, Capital of the Imperial Yllendyr Sovereignty[/i] [img]https://i.pinimg.com/474x/4d/cb/16/4dcb16b4db4a603ebc7aa0aa2a9d3749--dark-elf-my-character.jpg[/img] [i]Portrait of 76th Emperor Ecruir Vyalviur of the Yllendyr, First of His Name, Bane of the Barbarians, Sovereign and Protector of the Fifteen Dominions of V'landriel, clad in the traditional vermillion garb of the Vyalviur Dynasty[/i] Ecruir paced back and forth alongside an intricate, table-carved map of the Fifteen Dominions: Vershellen, Kitagawa, Fibor, Endaria, Tokushima, Vaspen, Lierin, Aurelia, Kyrennos, Ot-Skodat, Zeeborg-Fallia, Old Forest, Vaurgemyr, Illlamel, and Avalia. He traced his fingers along its curves, recalling his coronation a few days ago. The Keeper of Ylleria speaking all these words. Just a few days, and already that number had in reality fallen to twelve, if that, not even counting those that had defected to his brother. The Vaspen, Kitagawans and Avalians were in open rebellion. Disorganized Yllendyr [i]auxilia[/i], genuine shames to the glory of the Imperium, defecting or worse, turning to petty banditry like the filthy unwashed barbarians that most of them were, despite the discipline the Yllendyr had tried to beat into them. Such disgrace only reinforced Ecruir's dismissive attitude of his father's policies towards integration. Sixty years of that had gotten him nowhere. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the Imperial Conclave. These were the group of advisors that managed each of the critical sectors of the Imperium's government. They were all selected by his father, but he had taken the liberty of replacing a few of them upon his ascension. Leading the procession into the room was the Minister of War, by almost any measure the man of the moment. His name was Ludrami Diesriniel, and he was first and foremost among the batch of new recruits. A man whose reputation well preceded him, the famed general of the campaign to suppress a dangerous revolt in the Kitagawa Shogunate. His legendary military tactics annihilated troops that many in the Imperium government felt were impossible to defeat from their suicidal courage. Now was the time in which his military experience was more relevant than ever. He had replaced the ineffectual woman who had been in charge for the last forty years, whose achievements seemed to amount to no more than putting ever more ornate designs and ceremonial dresses on Imperium troops. Ludrami was a real warrior in an age which had begun to forget war, who took seriously the grave threat the Imperium faced in this fatal hour and knew best how to crush it in its infancy. Moving up to the right hand side of the table, he briefly bowed. "Your Imperial Majesty." The others followed him in this, assembling on both sides of the table, ten in all. War, Agriculture, Commerce, Securitate, Treasury, Judiciary, Health, Transportation, Education, and Colonial Affairs. The Minister of the Securitate was also new, as the one for the last twenty years, who had somehow proven so grossly incompetent as to not only prevent a state of general unrest and rebellion, but also miss a coup movement, a massive mountain resistance base, and an army posing as police forces, was quickly tried and executed for treason against the Imperium. Ecruir couldn’t be bothered to actually follow the formal order of reporting in to the Emperor, so when the Minister of Agriculture opened his mouth to speak he just dismissively cut in. “Ludrami, I presented all the relevant information on the rebellions in the three provinces and unrest elsewhere to you yesterday. I have some ideas, but I would first like to hear your impressions on the state of the Imperium, and how best we can address these… problems.” The slight hesitation and tone of the last word packed an almost tangible amount of menace and disgust. Ludrami took it in stride. The old man thought for a moment, then began, “Unfortunately, you must go to war with the army you have, not the army you want. There is simply no better way to put this situation than to describe it as a disaster. Three dominions have declared independence, and six more seem to be sitting on the fence, ready to pounce like vultures on our corpse if we show weakness.” Ecruir nodded. “We must move swiftly to crush the rebellions in these provinces to knock such foolish notions out of their heads.” “With all due respect, Your Imperial Majesty,” the Minister of War reluctantly began raising his head, “that is a suicidal idea. If you try to keep every dominion, you will lose every dominion, save the stupid and especially loyal.” Ecruir looked slightly browbeaten at this, but he was still listening. “So, then, what do you suggest?” “We keep what we have. Start at the center. We should pull as many forces from the loyal dominions we can afford without endangering our hold over them to crush the pretender Olarth in the south. This will render you the sole Emperor, and so the Imperial Sentinels will pledge loyalty to you. This [i]is[/i] the army you want. Once we have reunited the Crownlands, we then turn to the remaining loyal dominions. We reinforce them and ensure that they will not fall to native unrest. When that is done, finally we can turn to the rebellious dominions, place our full force upon them, and complete their resubjugation. There is no reason we should push to retake these places immediately with our current position so untenable.” “While I am sure this is sound military advice, politically, this makes no sense. Leaving the rebellious provinces alone, with no penalties for their insolence, is something I cannot stand, and will encourage the others to revolt just as swiftly. We cannot wait for the Sentinels to decide they finally want to help crush the rebellions, the traitors.” Ecruir spat on the ground. There was an evil twinkle in Ludrami’s eye, despite the vitriolic words Ecruir had just spouted at him. “I never suggested we leave the rebellious provinces alone entirely. Rather, we should teach them a powerful lesson. One they will never forget.” --- Recommended music for the next section: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1QL-zXqmhU [b]February 13th, 4901 YDC (Yllendyr Dynastic Calendar)[/b] [i]Offshore, Treaty Port of Nilrandell, Imperial Dominion of Kitagawa[/i] While elsewhere in the country the fate of the Imperial [i]auxilia[/i] was not a pleasant one, often surrounded from all sides in hostile territory, forced to fight to the last man, the situation of the remainders of the two legions stationed in Nilrandell was relatively pleasant, save the occasional naval shell bringing random, arbitrary death from the sky. The Kitagawan revolutionaries had laid siege to the city, but hadn’t yet stormed the walls for fear of casualties, it seems, hoping they would surrender. The city’s lack of resistance certainly seemed to indicate that. The city suffered intermittent shelling, yet hadn’t bothered to use its artillery to fight back against the encroaching savage rebels, a considerable mystery. Or so it was until the night of the 13th. That night, the periodically flickering guns of the Kitagawan heavy cruisers served as perfect targeting markers for the silently approaching Northern Fleet, fresh from Moon Harbour on the island of Aiqua. The defecting cities of the south had no claws in the Imperial Navy, and so this fleet arrived upon the orders of the 76th Emperor, Ecruir, for one primary purpose: revenge. [img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/ab/09/a6/ab09a66f73b6310023509359991f2a5e.jpg[/img] The thunder of a hundred sets of guns rung out all at once. The 27th and 58th Imperial Auxiliary Legions’ Artillery Corps finally drew upon their supplies of ammunition, setting out to compete against this barrage of sound, laying down fire from the opposite side upon the hapless Kitagawan ships, caught in what could only be described as a perfect pincer attack. The city cheered as arcs of fire raced across the heavens and showered upon its enemies. On two specially commissioned ships, there stood great circles of a hundred mages each. The liquid alignment of the Yllendyr, while not the most overtly menacing, only truly came into its element in naval warfare… or what was close enough to it. Their chants rose into the air, as they held hands and stretched their arms together towards the heavens. [i]“Uiscí na farraige mór, ardú chun do dhaoine a chosaint! Uiscí na farraige mór, ardú chun do dhaoine a chosaint! Uiscí na farraige mór, ardú chun do dhaoine a chosaint!”[/i] With every cry, the waves grew stronger and stronger still, until finally upon the thirteenth cry, the great waves of the Northern Sea crashed upon the shore on both sides of the city. An artificial tsunami raced alongside the walls into the assembled sieging troops of the Kitagawa. The wails of the damned, of those who saw the raging waves crashing ever farther inland towards them, rose up and joined the beating drums of war in the symphony of death that was played this night, lit only by the stars and the crescent smile of the moon. All those who saw it, all those who told tales of that day, spoke of the might of the world’s greatest empire unleashed upon those who might defy it. Though it might be but a small battle in an impossible war, though the tide might yet be turned again the next day, there was no doubt that this was the wrath of the Imperium of the Yllendyr given form. In fire, in water, and in the weight of solid steel. Its guns reverberating into the cold winter air, its soldiers cheering for their rescue, and its mages chanting into the aether in invocation of their magicks alike spoke with one clear voice to the world: that the Yllendyr would fight on, and that their light [i]would not[/i] simply fade quietly into the night. Across the sea, on the main continent, those set against the legions in Avalia would meet the same fate at the hands of the Southern Fleet. Both fleets’ secondary objective was also clear: to ensure the safe escape of all Imperial forces and Yllendyr citizens in the two countries. The Kitagawan forces would be delivered back to Moon Harbour, and the Avalian forces would be delivered to an Avalian city just north of the continent’s central mountain range, where a couple of others had managed to regroup. These rescue attempts, however successful they might be, could only draw some attention away from the brutal truth: the overwhelming loss of Yllendyr forces in both countries to the revolutionaries, however many of the opposing side they had managed to take with them. --- [i]Letter from the True 76th Emperor of the Imperial Yllendyr Sovereignty, His Imperial Majesty Olarth Vyalviur, Sovereign and Protector of the Fifteen Dominions of V’landriel, to the Noble Nations of this World[/i] I write to you today with grave news, though you may have already heard it. Upon the death of my father, the Emperor Naerzo, and my brother Vomlur, the Crown Prince, this Imperium was thrown into chaos. My twin brother, Ecruir, has killed the Fourth Prince, has locked down his grip over the capital and the northern cities, and plans even now to kill me and resubjugate the nations of this world under his iron, dictatorial grip. I write to ask you to lend me your aid. For too long, Yllendyr has been a force for more evil than good upon the world. The time is right for us to rediscover our mission, our purpose in this world. We are the protectors of the realm, not the conquerors and slavedrivers of the realm. I ask for your aid in deposing this evil traitor who would see you all cast once again in chains and whipped yet harder. I ask those who are sworn to Yllendyr, and I ask those who would not see its tyranny reinforced over them again. As Emperor, I will end the practice of tribute but for what is required simply to pay the maintenance of the [i]Auxilia[/i], and I will grant all vassal nations the right to autonomous self-government in the framework of a federation. Furthermore, I will grant total independence to the five Dominions of the Isles, the Vershellen, the Kitagawa, the Fibor, Tokushima and Endaria. I ask all nations to help in spite of our differences to build a brighter future for all our peoples. Sincerely, Emperor Olarth