Asendavia: Difference between revisions

Beginning in 931 AA and ending in 1479 AA, Asendavia's Unification Period covered the War of the Kingdoms and the early years of the Kingdom of Asendavia. In 931 AA, the newly-crowned King of Stromharad, Ademar Harstad, declared war against the weaker Kingdom of Tungrad, seeing an opportunity to benefit from their decline. Threatened by this, and wanting the Kingdom of Tungrad for himself, the king of Zhelelovka declared war against the Kingdom of Stromharad and the Kingdom of Tungrad. This would be the start of the war now known as the War of the Kingdoms, which would last for almost all of the Asendavian medieval period. However, it was more of a series of wars than one single war. Notable battles of the war include the Battle of Fagergrund, which was fought in the town of the same between all three kingdoms and is known as the most deadly battle in early Asendavian history, the Battle of Brekstrand, where the Kingdom of Zhelelovka attempted to invade Yoria and failed, and the Battle of Skoggrund, where the king of Stromharad at the time slew the king of Tungrad and his heir. <br />

<br />The turning point of the war was the Battle of Skoggrund in 1381 AA, which resulted in the destruction of the ruling dynasty of Tungrad. After the battle ended, a peace was signed between the two remaining kingdoms which resulted in the Kingdom of Tungrad being split between Stromharad and Zhelelovka. The peace lasted for 50 years, before the Kingdom of Zhelelovka invaded and the war started up again. However, the Kingdom of Zhelelovka had severely underestimated the Kingdom of Stromharad. During the peace, wary of Zhelelovka, the Kingdom of Stromharad spent it's time expanding the army. The war went quickly, with the army of Stromharad crushing the army of Zhelelovka in the Battle of Helsingsund. With the Kingdom of Stromharad's army quickly approaching, the King of Zhelelovka realized he couldn't win the war and he bent the knee to the King of Stromharad at the time, Jon II, in 1432 AA. With all three kingdoms united, King Jon II proclaimed himself the King of Asendavia on May 6th, 1432. His coronation as King of Asendavia was held two days later on May 8th. During the last 47 years of the medieval Asendavian period, the Kingdom of Asendavia expanded northeast to the island of Khiyev, east to the Halmkil island chain, and northwest to the Finlanda archipelago.

After the end of the Unification Period in 1479 AA, Asendavia would stagnate for the next few centuries, with no major wars or events taking place. However, in 2076 AA, the Kingdom of Asendavia would erupt into civil war upon the death of King Terje IX. Despite having 7 adult sons, with 4 more who weren't of age yet, Terje IX never designated an heir to the throne. This caused a succession crisis which would last for 9 years. Upon his father's death, Prince Viktor, Terje's 4th son, claimed the throne, crowning himself as Viktor V. This outraged the rest of his siblings though, who soon raised their own armies and began fighting among each other. Within two months of claiming the throne, Viktor V was dead, having been captured in battle and summarily executed by his older brother, Prince Hjalmar, Terje's first son. Prince Hjalmar would later crown himself as King Hjalmar VIII, and he ruled for 3 years until dying of tuberculosis. For the remaining 6 years of the civil war, the throne remained empty. With one of the child princes having died before coming of age and the remaining three coming of age, there were now 8 princes fighting for the throne. The climax of the war would occur with the Battle of Haldal in 2084 AA, when four of the princes met in battle. Twin Princes Adelar and Gunnar's army first engaged battle with Prince Halvor's army outside the village of Haldal, with Prince Reidar's army joining the battle 3 hours after the initial engagement. In total, the battle lasted 9 hours and ended with the victory of Princes Adelar and Gunnar. Prince Halvor's army, having been the smallest of the three armies and engaged from two sides, was utterly destroyed, with the survivors pledging allegiance to the Twin Princes. Prince Halvor himself lost a hand during the battle, and would die a few weeks later after his wounds grew infected. As for Prince Reidar, he and his army managed to escape with moderate losses, but Prince Reidar would later be assassinated by one of his commanders, who then swore fealty to the Twin Princes. <br />

<br />During the last year of the war, the Twin Prince's armies scoured the country for their 4 remaining brothers. Prince Askr was captured in the Battle of Staheim and forced to join a monastery in the Finlanda Archipelago, Prince Brynjar was killed by a mob of peasants after his guards abandoned him, Prince Erling and his two sons drowned when their ship sank in a storm while trying to invade Yoria, and Prince Vidar jumped from a tower in Tungrad as Adelar and Gunnar's forces rushed to capture him. With all of their siblings dealt with and the end of the civil war, Princes Gunnar and Adelar were crowned co-rulers of Asendavia by the High Patriarch in 2085 AA.

In 2093 AA, eight years after the end of the First Asendavian War Over Succession, the Principality of Skeosia on Asendavia's western border was also facing internal strife. The heir to Skeosia, Prince Asmund, fled the country after his father, Prince Einar, had ordered his arrest for Asmund's supposed role in the failed attempt on Einar's life. Having originally fled to the Duchy of Zhelelovka within Asendavia, he petitioned Duke Gulbrand to give him an army and gold to depose his father, but was denied his request and cast out, where he proceeded to make his way to Stromharad. Once in Stromharad, he petitioned the Twin Kings, Gunnar and Adelar, to help him take what was rightfully his, and that in return, he would swear fealty to them. Although hesitant at first, Adelar was convinced by Gunnar, the more militarily-minded of the two, to accept the petition. Thus, two months later, war was declared upon Skeosia. <br />

<br />With little resistance, the Asendavian Army marched into Skeosia and quickly laid siege to its capital, Trondstrand. Unbeknownst to the Asendavians though, Prince Einar had sent out messages to many of the other principalities, asking for help against Asendavia. The Principalities of Khekantis, Ibrintis, and Ikelon responded to Skeosia's cry for help, mustering their armies together and marching towards Trondstrand to relieve the beleaguered city. Kings Gunnar and Adelar only received news of the Coalition Army a few days before it would arrive to relieve the besieged city. With the Coalition Army larger than their own, Kings Adelar and Gunnar ordered a retreat into the mountains on the Skeosian-Asendavian border. Hesitant to chase after the Asendavians, the Coalition Army stayed at Trondstrand for a few days before giving chase. During this time, King Gunnar had fortifications built in the mountain passes that connected Asendavia to Skeosia while King Adelar went back to Stromharad with Prince Asmund in order to muster more men to fend off the Coalition. A week later, the Coalition Army arrived. Having to march 16,000 men through the mountains, the Coalition Army chose to march through Vernar Pass, the largest pass in the area. Despite having only 10,000 men to the Coalition's 16,000, King Gunnar had half of his men disperse into the mountains to harass the approaching army every step of the way. His remaining 5,000 men took up position at the narrowest part of the pass behind fortifications and waited for the Coalition Army to meet them.