Quest for the Crown: Northern Vengeance
Everybody in part one should read the whole OP again.
Derria
Introduction
Derria is an ancient land with histories that go back thousands of years. In days of old the land was composed of a patchwork of kingdoms, counties, and even tribes that warred among each other constantly. It is referred to as the Age of Darkness, where there was no respite against the blood lust of men. Yet all it took was one great man to unite the land. Vedrion the Great, who marched and conquered all one by one and established the great House of Wallstryn which has ruled over Derria ever since from the great city of Avantine. Hundreds of years later and every man from beggar to noble still knows his name. His descendant, King Telvion III sits on the throne. But gone is the great king's of old. Telvion III is mad. Once he gathered a small army and declared war on the ocean. Ordering his troops to attack the water. Now he believes himself to be made of glass and easily shattered. Ever fearing for his life, the King is excessively paranoid. He has put many to death to try and ease his fear.
The Wallstryns have always been a formidable house with great Kings to good Kings. The old Kings have always been able to keep the realm from falling apart and kept the intrigues of the court at bay. Whether through cunning or sheer brutality. This was until the reign of Telvion II, a weakling who did much to wear away the realms stability. With his son Telvion III no longer partaking in matters of state this deterioration has only magnified. Across the realm a mockery is made of the King's madness. The members of the court and the great houses grow ambitious. The scheming of crown's subjects is now greater than ever. The peace is fragile at best.
Yet the Kingdom is not without hope. Telvion III's first son and heir to the throne, Prince Galvion, dubbed Galvion the Gallant by the people is the very symbol of chivalry in Derria. The young handsome prince is a tournament champion and extremely popular among the very people who gave him his name. Troubadours sing his praises and the women of the realm moon over his very appearance. Some even say he is Vedrion the Great reborn. The young prince has proven himself as a battlefield commander and an administrator. As soon as he was old enough he began participating in the governing of the Kingdom making monumental strides to keep the peace and undoing the damage done by his father and grandfather. As well as easing his father's madness which is no small task.
Princess Charlia, his sister, is held as one of the most beautiful women in Derria and assists her brother with the administration of the kingdom. She has proven herself to be an excellent diplomat even without her stunning appearance.
Finally Prince Jestrion, the Prince's young brother is yet a teenager but already has the markings of his older brother.
This RP is like ASOIAF in that you will be controlling a noble house and its members in the realm of Derria. The setting is medieval in a made up world created by the players. Politics, intrigue, diplomacy, war and romance are major themes of the RP. There are Great Houses and lesser houses as well as positions of court that need to be filled. Court is a rats nest of intrigue and scheming. I also mention that like in GoT and this being a low fantasy RP magic does exist but is extremely uncommon and many don't believe in it. We probably won't be utilizing magic.
To determine climate, North is colder and south is hotter. If you look at the map, Derria is the center continent where this RP is centered around. It is Europe/Westeros like. Houses you make should be predominantly European/Westeros like. In the East you have the Dellitan City States which are like the Italian City States and the Free Cities in ASOIAF. They are big trading partners with Derria it won't really be explored. Further east you have the Gaitanen Empire, a oriental like civilization. ICly, very little is known about the Gaitanen Empire to Derrians and what is known is shrouded in myth and legend. To the west you have Agrasca, a middle eastern like civilization. The far south of the Derrian continent is desert and is populated with a people with a completely different culture. They are nomadic desert tribes which Derrians consider barbarian and uncivilized. Kind of like the Wildlings in ASOIAF but in the desert. These desert tribes are prone to raiding along the southern border of Derria. The City of the Paragon is the seat of power of the Church. It is a pristine city built in the middle of a lake, ruled directly by the church and is virtually impregnable. Attacking the City of the Paragon is considered a great sacrilege.
This RP is actually part 2 of an already running RP. You did not have to participate in part one to join now. In fact I want/need new players. But you should be aware of what happened. It is described below.
Events of Part One
King Telvion's rule had left the great houses of Derria discontent with Wallstryn rule. In the spring 300 years after Vedrion's Conquest they moved for independence. The northern kingdoms Vorzov and Kursturm are lands steeped in tradition. Their peoples fierce and hardened by the unforgiving cold of the North. Their rulers, House Kazanowski and House Thorn created the first spark of rebellion by orchestrating the death of Prince Galvion, heir to the Crown and the largest obstacle to their plans or so they thought. When the desert tribes united under Akmal the Vicious and invaded Derria, Prince Galvion led an army composed of all the realms forces to thwart their advance. On the plain of Ahkour, Akmal's army was completely routed but not before Lord Balthazar Thorn stabbed the beloved Prince in the back. Unbeknownst to the rest of Derria Galvion survived the attempt but was taken prisoner by the routing forces of Akmal. Kursturm and Vorzov declared their independence soon after. They formed the Commonwealth of Two Nations and Mikhail Kazanowski, the once Lord of Vorzov declared himself High King of the North. Mikhail was able to do so with the support of one of House Thorn's more powerful bannermen, Bulgovad Yusupova. As word got back to Avantine (seat of House Wallstryn, largest city in Derria) the Wallstryns were struck with grief and outrage. Prince Jestrion, Galvion's younger brother was declared the new heir and given command of the royal army. His purpose, crush the northern rebellion and find justice for his brother.
Prince Jestrion, along with his commanders such as Ser Gillam Averril and Ser Karl Aurenstein set out with a host to serve the North fire and steel. The first battle occurred at Krieger's Pass where royal forces routed those of Lord Balthazar opening the road for Sturmwall, the capital of Kursturm. This was the battle that Jestrion was given the title, the Jester Prince for his humorously and lighthearted. A term of endearment for his men and one of derision for his enemies. The royal forces arrived at Sturmwall to find a city starving as it was being blockaded by the Illionae-Aenaean armada. But the walls of the city were strong and the defenders staunch. Two bloody assaults broke like waves upon the rocks. Jestrion knew he could not break the city and decided to abandon his original plan. Instead, he conjured a new scheme. Go west, through Vorzov, burning and plundering along the way to draw the rebels inland. All the while a Wallstryn fleet would sail around Derria to take an undefended Visegrad (capital of Vorzov).
While Jestrion plundered his way through the North things were developing in the capital as well. Princess Charlia, now serving as regent had to deal with the political schemes of the court. She found an ally, friend and secret lover in Loran Gneiss, the Earl of the Clere Marches. When tensions between the Crown and the Church grew on the question of succession in another of the realm's kingdoms it was Loran who drafted the Merchant Banking Charter. The charter allowed merchants to begin banking businesses themselves and take away the Church's power as Derria's predominant banking institution. The Church itself seems to be making moves as well. High Priest Mariak has declared himself Patriarch of the Church, an ancient title that has not been used for ages.
Jestrion's plan for the North worked all too well. His army lost many men to disease, cold and hunger. Under the direction of Mikhail Kazanowski and his daughter Beata, the swift Vorzovian cavalry harassed his marching column as the royal army journeyed through Vorzov. In an effort to save his army from starvation, Jestrion laid siege to the city of Cyron in order to acquire supplies. While Jestrion besieged the city the royal army's rear was attacked by those of the Northerner forces. Ser Gillam Averril was able to repulse the attack. During the fighting one of Jestrion's bannermen, Ser Jekyll Stain, the most infamous knight in Derria known for his brutality and responsible for the massacre of the Kuznetsk village was slain by Ser Draco Lollard.
Meanwhile, Balthazar Thorn now deranged with madness and drug abuse won a duel against his adversarial bannerman, Bulgovad Yusupova and broke his agreement with Mikhail Kazanowski to declare himself, King of Kursturm, taking his loyal knights Draco and Jeffrey Lollard with him. Once back in Sturmwall he then began conducting a ruthless inquisition killing many of the nobles in Kursturm. Though Kursturm and Vorzov are in rebellion it is yet to be seen just how allied these two kingdoms are.
Far south in the uncharted deserts Galvion remained a prisoner in Akmal's camp. The due developed a sort of mutual respect and Galvion was able to recover his strength. At one point, Elendil Helyanwe, the Mistress of Daggers attempted a rescue but was captured herself. The two friends await to be free.
Jestrion's plan to take Kursturm came into full swing. The Wallstryn fleet had sailed around Derria and was now on the shores of Visegrad along with the Illionae-Aenaean Armada under the command of Sir Yohn Llancol. A steadfast Kazanowski bannerman and commander of the Vorzovian fleet, Jerzy Swirski sailed out to meet the massive loyalist armada in battle. The Kazanowski fleet put up a valiant fight but their efforts were futile against the combined Wallstryn and Illionae-Aenaean ships. Once the Kazanowski fleet was sunk, loyalist troops landed on Vorzovian shores and immediately assaulted the lightly defended city of Visegrad. It should have been a crushing defeat for the Northmen of the city who were forced to resort to conscripts of peasants, laborers, tradesmen and even women to man the city walls. The hubris of the loyalist commander, Edward Fastolf resulted in a disorganized attack. Visegrad's defenders under the command of Drogodar Kazanowski, Mikhail's brother, cut down wave after wave of loyalist attackers and eventually Fastolf himself. The army that had sailed around Derria soon bordered their ships and headed home, defeated.
Seeing that he had lost this campaign season Jestrion decided to flee home with his bedraggled and depleted army. Mikhail and Beata with a massive host chased him after he left Cyron. Knowing they could not outrun the Northerners in his army's poor state, Jestrion decided to make a stand in Sakier Valley. Before the battle, word had reached Jestrion that his father, King Telvion had passed away. A few Silver Guards traveled in secret to bring him Vedrion's battle crown. In the moments before the fighting with his knees in the mud, Jestrion was crowned King of Derria. The Jester Prince had become the Jester King.
The desperate and weary loyalists troops, enlivened by their King's crowning staunchly held their ground against the massive Northern host that had been set upon them. Crownland's archers wielding yew longbows rained down storms of arrows against the advancing Northerners then drew their weapons to fight when the enemy was upon them. Jestrion himself had a fleuret chipped from his crown and emeralds encrusted on his armor knocked off. The loyalists fought the Northerners fiercely and in the end, achieved arguably the most stunning victory in the history of Derria.
Both armies, one defeated and one victorious returned home for the winter months. The war is far from over and come spring, blood shall be shed in the lands of Derria once again.
The title of this RP is Northern Vengeance because we are going to see a Northern Invasion of the South. Much of the last RP's major events took place in Vorzov and Kursturm. This part it will be the Crownlands and the other Southern Kingdoms.
Before you apply you should know this is not a typical RP. It's more a joint story telling effort. All significant events such as who wins a battle are planned out by the players and what happens is decided on the basis of what is best for the story. You may not try to "pull a fast one" on other players to get the upper hand. We also work on a fluid timeline. There is a general "present" but players are allowed to do flashback posts. Finally, this is a heavy character RP. You would control multiple characters that you develop. Exploring your character's thoughts, feelings, fears and motivations is a requirement. If any of these isn't your thing then don't apply.
Those applying to be Great Houses (Lords):
If you look at the map, you must choose a territory on the map marked by numbers. There are numbers 1 through 5. Depending on which territory you choose, I will give you certain limitations and strengths. I may also dictate in the end which side you join to keep the balance of power. As of right now, or Great House positions have been claimed. You are welcome to make a vassal/minor house.
1: Must have a small army but will have the largest and most formidable navy out of all the Kingdoms. 100+ ships. Kingdom 1 has been claimed.
2: Smaller army around 15k. Though one of the daughters of your house may be engaged to marry Jestrion Wallstryn which will grant a lot of power in itself. Kingdom 2 has been claimed.
3: Second largest army in Derria. Around 27k though less well equipped than most. Also a breadbasket kingdom. Must also be Crown loyalists. Kingdom 3 has been claimed.
4: More desert like, lower population, smaller army around 12-14k. Though has the ability to utilize horse archers and eastern tactics. Would have a history of contending with the desert tribes. Kingdom 4 has been claimed.
5: Would have a small army, navy and be the "weakest" great house in the RP.Kingdom 5 has been claimed.
Application: Don't worry about describing your military yet. There's another app for that. If you are new, you have not participated in the war yet. You will also start off not in rebellion. If you were in part 1, include a brief description of what your house did in that time. If you do not create a great house you must be a vassal to one of the existing great houses or wait until I accept other great house applicants. Please delete everything in parenthesis.
My app and example.
