Gildaerion

Barely a week after the order was given, and many villages are burnt to the ground, Marchmen attack Westingforth and being sacking the province. The brothers were forced to abandoned their assault upon Levon, and return to defend their own lands. When they return, they find the Marchmen entrenched and comfortable - only the Keep of Westingforth was still holding out - the city had been taken and broken.

They are lead by Yogrick Snake-eye, infamous cheif of Ravenscar, who after hearing of the news of the troubles in the south, decided to prepare an invasion with the help of the other chieftains.

The brothers, demanded help from the other nobles, but Lee was bitter, and the other houses were distrustful after news of the Bower reached them. So the fighting dragged on, with House Sterling slowly gaining the upper hand. However, in 392, both of the brothers were slain in brutal sea battle, and their sons fought on - eventually winning the war the next year after one of them, Gerard, managed to convince one of the cheif's to join his side, Skarling, in exchange for his life. His men became the Skarlingas, and swore their lives to Gerard's will.

However, this plunged stirling into a succession conflict between the eldest son of the dead King, and Gerard, the eldest son of his younger borther, Stefan. This matter was resolved when the Skarlingas overcame Stefans guards and slow him in full view of the court, while Gerard watched and smiled.

Bower - is devastated, but rebuilding. To refill the treasury, Jasen sells much of the burnt and broken lands to Argine, an emerging merchant family. Also is unaware of The powers of Ventim's son, the next court bard, and the position is ill treated. Nevertheless, the Bower had more time to recover than Abordale.

Arbordale was also ravished - but instead by the marchmen. To refill the treasury after such devastation, Gerard decides to invite D'lyle, a different merchant family with roots in Perne to make a new business for the shattered province.

In this time, no king sits upon the throne of the Vale.

The nobles could not delay electing the next king any longer. Gerard was ill-liked, as not only did he kill his brother, but the nobles feared that putting another Sterling on the throne would lead to another civil war. Jasen was well liked in comparison, but the other houses also feared that him becoming king would lead to another civil war.

So Jerrol Minster and Henrick Hallow put their votes together, and Talyn Karus became the next king of the Vale - much to embitter both Gerard and Jasen, whom wanted the title, and beleived it should be theirs.

Throughout his reign, Talyn was known as the 'absent'. Very little was he in Perne, and he passed on most of his duties to Jerrol Minster. And so in his absence, Sterling and Levon schemed against each other as much as always.

Talyn also perhaps may have not been the best choice, but choose him they did. As time passed Talyn grew more and more distant from the world, and for the last few years of his reign he did little more than lock himself in his bedchamber and play in his bathtub.

Tension builds up between Jasen and Gerard - and their bickerings become more and more violent. Talyn could not care less, and Jerrol is powerless to stop them.

One day, Jasen is found dead at his bedroom window, a crossbow bolt sticking through his eye. Theodore Levon succeeded him, and upon his first night as lord, he asked Asied, Ventim's son - the new court bard in training, "what can you do for me?". Asied simply replied - "I know who killed your father."

And so open war broke out between Sterling and Levon, leaving the Bower and Arbordale both burning.

When Talyn passes away - drowning in his bathtub.

Jerrol Minster, with Henrick Hallow's and Talyn's successor's support, proclaims himself king without calling for the nobles to meet, and demands for Gerrard and Jasen to stop their aggression.

With no reply from Gerrard or Jasen, Jerrol raises his own men, and that of Talyn's son - together they march upon Lee and Westingforth, defeating whats left of the two cities shattered forces, taking Jasen and Gerard captive, and finally bringing peace to the region. In their stead the merchants are given administration over the cities.

Gerrard passes away in his quarters in the Watery veil and is succeeded by William Sterling, and Theodore is released - but only on the condition he relinquishes his titles and passes them on to his son - Jon Levon. Theodore agrees, but to prevent his son from making the same mistakes that he did, he does not tell him the nature of the position of 'court bard', and Asied's skills and talents lie unused by Jon. However, luckily for the Calluga family, Asied, a few years older than Jon, was a childhood friend, and the Calluga family is well looked after.

For next thirteen years there is peace - but then Jerrol grows old and passes away. On that night, something happens which resparks war between Lee and Westingforth - next twenty years are of continuous fighting between them, and rise of the mad king...

Jerrol, the Iron King, passes away an old man in his sleep, and his son Nervon calls for the nobles to elect the next king. To the other nobles, William Sterling is the favourite - he is kind and charismatic, whereas Jon thought of himself as more a soldiering man, and could easily be set into rages.

And so, when it was proclaimed William was to be the next king - Jon sat up from his chair, and in view of all the court drew his sword and slew him - and left in great haste.

The other nobles stood aghast, and Nervon was the only one to move - he sat upon the watery veil, and Place Aed's leafwrought crown upon his own head - and none had the nerve to challenge him.

In that moment, Nervon's intentions were pure - he needed to be king, like his father had proclaimed himself to be, to settle peace onto these lands and stop the quarreling of Sterling and Levon.

Reign of Nervon.

So Jon returns to Levon, and Sterling is furious - William had no heirs, and so the throne passes onto his sister - Alliane. Though a lady, she was a lion at heart, and when she heard the news she swore she would not rest until every man woman and child who called themselves of Levon, lay dead.

And so it was that the men of Westingforth marched once again, to avenge the death of their liege. And Jon came out to meet them upon the field - but in these first two years, most engagements were minor, like two doves prodding for the other's weakness.

Nervon pleaded with Alliane, asking her to keep his peace - but no reply did he receive. He also sent word to Jon, whom simply replied he was defending his own lands. And so he tried to raise the support of House Karus and Hallow, House Hallow gave no word, and Darion Karus never arrived - a storm had caught them and all hands were lost in the sickly sea. Nervon waited and waited, and it was a year later that he heard the news.

Sterling and Levon finally clash at the battle of Boulden Bridge, and what looked to be a victory turned into a brutal defeat when Jon's forces pursued Alliane's routing army accross a bridge, and found themselves crushed between a river and the shieldwall of the Skarlingas - Jon flees with whats left of his forces back to the bower, and meeting with the coiners takes a loan of a thousand gold pieces, and takes his remaining forces into the North. Leaving some behind to defend his family at Lee.

And so Alliane's forces push into the bower, and begin to lay waste to it. After a year of sloughing through the mud of the countryside and burning villages, Alliane finally decides to lay seige to Lee - losing hope of catching Jon out in the field.

Nervon could only watch the fires burn upon the horizon, and feel the smoke dry his lungs as he sat, powerless to stop the slaughter in his kingdom. Again he sent envoys to Hallow and Karus - but again Hallow gave no reply, and Darion Karus had only left a child as his heir, and no army - and his regent gave his regrets for him.

Jon returns from his time in the North, where he gathered a second army of marchmen, hillclans and men of the Murrowwood. With them, he took Alliane's forces beseiging Lee by suprise, and crush them between his new force and the walls - the rest of the year they spend chasing Alliane back accross the Bower, and at Boulden Bridge, the site of his first defeat - Jon meets Alliane in battle, and there above the water he slays her himself, and with his army sets fire to Arbordale, as Alliane did to the Bower.

Sterling is then plunged into a succession crisis - no clear heir to their titles is left, and the minor families begin to squabble over who should become lord - and blood runs in the streets of Westingforth.

Nervon also begins to become overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness - and begins having night time terrors, and waking screaming. The only thing that helps him is the appearance of a woman in red - and for a few weeks he again tries to bring his country into order - and then the red woman dissapears, and a terrible madness descends upon him, and Aed's crown begins to burn him - for which he throws it upon the ground, and left to rest.

One of the branches of Sterling, lead by Garson Sterling, manages to gain the support of the others - but to do so they took out a loan with the coiners so that they could ensure the loyalty of the Skarlingas.

Jon returns to Lee, and a period of terse peace resumes - and the Bower and Arbordale slowly recover once again.

However, Nervon is not sane enough to see peace come to pass - his madness begins when a fight breaks out between merchants from Levon and Westingforth in the marketplace - he orders all men involved hanged, and decree that no man of westingforth or lee shall carry arms in his city. And from their a great paranoia descends upon him, and many of those with the slightest perpetrations are hanged without question.

In his final year, all reason left him - and he began to take from the city as he please, kill as he please, and rules over his people as a tyrant, all the while the crown of Aed lying on the stone floor beside him.

In the end, what lead to the merchants rising was the madness of one man. Peace had settled across the South - Jon had been sated of the rage of his youth, and Garson could see that the war between them would have no end - and so they were beggining to make up for past greivances, with trade began to open between Lee and Westingforth for the first time in over twenty years. Darion's son was growing into an able lad, now in his teens. But things were only going one way in Perne - and the mad king grew madder. People were being kidnapped from the city at whim - and during the day he liked to dream up new horrors to inflict upon his citizenry by night. His family watched on in horror, and some of them found themselves upon his receiving end - while many others fled.

The news of his horrors travelled to the other nobles, however they did little about it, fearing what would happen to their children at the university - Jon and Garson did not care so long as their children were unharmed, and neither did Karus's regent. For once they had peace, and everyone was sick of war.

But it was one fateful night which changed the course of the South forever. And it was the night he found himself with a senior merchant of the coiners, found wandering the red district. And while Nervon submitted him to his tortures, the man laughed and boasted of how he was a thousand times richer than the king, and had bought more pleasures than Nervon could ever afford - the man died screaming, but his boast had set the world in motion.

The next day, Nervon ordered the city to be sacked, and all the gold within it to be brought to him - he wished to see what pleasures all the money in the world could buy. But he did not live out the day - the merchants had too much to lose, and rather then let the mad king take it, they banded together and bought out his general - and with his own men stormed the watery veil, and it is told the leader of the coiners stabbed Nervon through where he stood. Though Aed's crown was never seen again.

With the seat of the king in their hands, the merchants saw fit to proclaim themselves the regents of the land - and sent messages out to all the nobles demanding that they come to Perne, to 'discuss' the new government.

Upon hearing the news, Jon sent envoys to Karus, Minster and Sterling, calling for an election for the next king, and expressing that "the merchants needed to be put back in their place".

But Jon forgot the debts that he owed, and as did Sterling - that was their mistake. The letter was intercepted, and upon reading it the coalition determined that they could not rule with the nobles present - so they ordered for them to be killed.

Karus's regent was bought off, and while going upon his first sail, Karus's heir mysteriously fell overboard, and when the ship returned the merchant guild of Severon - lead by the renowned shipbuilder whom constructed the Motlass, and made them rich, assumed control of the province. Similarly, the contracts of the Mortenguard and the Skarlingas found themselves renegotiated in secrets, and their patrons changed. The Coiners let out Sterling's loan to Argine, and with the Mortenguard on their side, Jon was killed by his gaurds in broad daylight, while he ate his breakfast, and then the rest of his family. The same thing happened in Westingforth, with D'lyle finding themselves employing the Skarlingas to remove all trace of Garson and Sterling.

And so over the period of a few weeks, the coalition and their elected baron found themselves the sole powers to rule in the South.