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Regalian Eronidas History is lengthy and has a strong emphasis on the military events that inform how the Eronidas in Regalia look back on their role in its founding, and expansion as they always acted both as the vanguard and spearhead of such expansion campaigns. This Page will discuss the historical narrative beginning at the Cataclysm and Five Family Rebellion, and as such technically chronologically picks up after the Eronidas-Anglian Relations page, though that page is not required reading to understand this page. This page is so-called Expanded Lore, meaning it is not required reading for a roleplay experience on MassiveCraft, but can be used to add additional depth and content to Roleplay.
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Background
By the era of the Cataclysm, the Eronidas in the Regalian Archipelago were heavily integrated into the Anglian populace but had also firmly established their own thriving cities in the once-barren wastes they had initially landed in. However, while there was peace within Anglia, and eventually most of its neighboring regions, the southeast remained a place of fear and hatred for the Eronidas. At the mouth of the Shoenn River leading to the Inner Corontium Sea was the Teledden Kingdom known as Amelore, a kingdom founded and ruled by Methenwyäal Teledden. The Methenwyäal were extreme, even for Allorn-era Teledden, and saw all forms of life except their own blood as fodder for enslavement and experimentation. Whereas Solleria had long ago ceased their slave raids into Anglia (there was still an unease among the Anglians and Eronidas about Solvaan regardless), the rulers of Amelore never stopped their activities, with a ratio of 1 Teledden for every 100 or so enslaved people. Also near their territory, on what is now called the Crown Isle, was the Kingdom of Regalia, a small state of Ailor ruled by Teledden who existed in some form of bond with Amelore. What this bond was exactly is unclear, with theories ranging from a puppet state that was given the barest cloak of legitimacy as a petty kingdom to being the same state as Amelore itself, simply divided for the purpose of administration, or by the cultural makeup of the area.
The Five Family Rebellion
It is important to note that despite its name, the Five Family Rebellion was not a rebellion, nor was it five Ailor families that did most of the work. It is called the Five Family Rebellion because in the aftermath, five families who took on leading roles in the Ailor component of the fight, rose to prominence and would take up the highest political offices in the Regalian Empire. The Five Families also did not make up the bulk of the fighting forces that marched against these small states, as instead, it was the Solvaan, the Breizh, and most importantly for this page, the Eronidas. The Houses Kade, Ivraan (later renamed Ivrae), Vermeer, Cadar, and van Sherburne would mobilize the Anglian-Eronidas forces home in Anglia, while also at the same time courting Solvaan and Breizh mercenaries, aided by the religious figures of each group insisting that they should assist the endeavor to overthrow the corruptive Teledden element in the Archipelago, and create peace for all Ailor from slave-raids. The Allorn Empire had collapsed thanks to the Wildering, so it could not send reinforcements, and destroying Amelore meant ridding the Archipelago of the last vestiges of Allorn influence once and for all.
The Eronidas elected a war leader, Grishald the Great (that suffix was added by Ailor decades later) to command their forces, and they marched out toward Amelore alongside the various mobilized forces of the Anglian peasants. From Solleria itself marched the Solvaan Spellswords, alongside their Breizh counterparts from Kintyr, and all these fell on Amelore in 5 AC. The conflict that followed was swift, as robbed of most of their magical powers in prior years, the Teledden proved no match. The Cataclysm had caused not only natural destruction but also disabled much of the world’s Magic due to its disruptive influences, resulting in the Mages holding onto power with merely the threat of it. Once the slaves realized the attackers were not interested in a raid, and the knowledge of just how weak their masters were spread, a mass revolt also helped to speed the progress of the conflict. The Eronidas were the shock troops, sent to raid ahead where most of the fighting occurred against the corrupted beasts produced with Dark Magic experiments by the Methenwÿaal. Amelore fell to the rebels as even these monstrosities could not face up against the combined Eronidas-Anglian-Breizh-Solvaan army, and hundreds of thousands of slaves were set free, many of whom joined the army. Soon after this, the Kingdom of Regalia fell thanks to a crumbling of support for The Last Regalian King, and the actions of the Narim, who flung open the City of Regalia’s gates as the attackers approached, thus letting the coalition enter the city without much bloodshed
The Early Empire
In the immediate aftermath of the Rebellion, there was a lull in Eronidas involvement. Those who had been levied, raised from the crafts and agriculture, went home and back to work, but a small, diehard contingent of warriors remained in and around the capital with their leader. Grishald the Great who had skillfully commanded the Eronidas was one of the voices who called for immediate expansion of the fledgling Empire, to help shore up their borders. Other regions of Corontium, he said, were sure to now fear and plot against the newly declared Emperor, and their new southern borders were not often against rivers or mountains, but huge open forests and lands with easy traversal. While he was not ignored, now Emperor Theomar I and the heads of the other now ascended families had more pressing concerns for the immediate moment in the realm of crafting their new state, and they deferred such ideas for later discussion. Grishald’s host shrunk with time, more returning back home, but he remained in the capital and was thus present when Theomar authorized the first of what became many small campaigns to capture territory at the edges of the Regalian Empire’s southern border. It should be noted that Grishald was not only referred to as “The Great” because of his war-time talents, but he was also a close ally of Theomar and one of the first Eronidas to convert to the message of Unionism when Theomar proclaimed his gospel. Grishald is specifically remembered among the Eronidas and Ailor living in Regalia for both being a skilled warrior, commander, and philosopher who led the way for many of his people to join the Great Way.
One in the modern day might imagine that Gishald was declared a general, given a force, and sent marching off, but those mechanisms of logistics, government, and even status, were still two centuries away. Instead, he became a “Warcaptain,” a term taken from the Anglian Eronidas, and rallied levies from his homeland. As they marched south, obeying the will of the Emperor, they supplied how they could, and were once again the shock troops of the Empire, raiding enemies swiftly, and softening up targets before the hordes of peasant levies brought by other fiefs could swarm into the breaches they created. This is not to say they had no victories all on their own, as when the Regalians came against the Hecarian Kingdom, the Eronidas were key in breaking many fortresses that guarded that realm’s borders against attacks. Many battles were also fought not independently, but through mixed arms tactics, using the Eronidas as melee fighters, and the softer Ailor as skirmishers and supporting levies. Gishald eventually retired home, but the coming decades saw others take up his role, and it is believed that at any one time, a solid third of the Regalian levies in this age were made up of Eronidas troops (this includes Half, Quarter, and otherwise some-Eronidas-blood Ailor). However, these conquests also solidified the Eronidas’ fearsome reputation in the rest of Corontium. Where the Ailor could relate to each other easily, the regions that fell under the control of the Empire often had to endure assaults by Eronidas contingents whose aggressive combat, and supreme effectiveness, both spread fear of their people, but also jealousy and bruised egos. While Anglia had a thousand years to adapt to the Eronidas, many of the other regions were forcibly introduced to them by the sword and had to adapt to them as an occupying force within months, thus providing the Eronidas with the strong bigoted contract to their acceptance in Anglia and resentful perception outside of it.
As time passed, the prestige and status of the Imperial Military machine became more important than home-grown competence. While there wasn’t an exact intention to remove the Eronidas from military leadership, this sometimes occurred by happenstance as the Viridian Order became more and more powerful in the capital, and was assigned military commands. Several Eronidas joined the Viridian Order in its early creation, but few had the stomach for what they often considered arbitrary rules, as while Eronidas were disciplined and honor-bound, they also felt that winning a battle through whatever means was worth the cost. Proportionally more Eronidas were cycled out of military service than into it, because of this higher replenishment rate of Viridian Knights as Ailor. The Eronidas levy numbers waned during this period too, as House Kade, which had at this point created a near monopoly on the loyalty of the Eronidas, started acting more self-interested in the defense of Anglia. The Eronidas thus played little role in the First Skagger War, beyond defending ports from Velheim raids and sacking attempts. This stale state of affairs finally broke under Emperor Henri III, who ripped out the corrupt heart of the Viridian Order and breathed new life back into the Empire. He relieved dozens of incompetent Viridian Knights of their military positions and replaced them with skilled Eronidas, which began a quick rise to the top for the Eronidas of Corontium. It is also worth noting that the Tyrian Order and Violet Orders created to de-power the Viridian from their City Guard and Royal Guard duty, proportionally had many Eronidas. The latter in fact was made up of almost 70% Eronidas during its first creation, but this number equalized over time as Elves and other peoples of Aloria also became Imperial Guards.
The Eronidas Imperials
In the wake of Henri III's rise, House Kade also returned to glory, with Arch Chancellor Nicholas I ultimately living for over a century, and spending most of those decades in his position as leader. He oversaw the dramatic increase in Eronidas in the military, urging Henri III to make use of their expertise, and also turned toward Eronidas innovations of engineering and more to help improve realms of the Empire. It was ultimately a turnaround of the previous decades of decay in an essential relationship, and under subsequent Emperors (but still the same Arch Chancellor), Eronidas warriors participated in finishing the conquest of Corontium, helping defeat the Skagger Horde, and engage in conflicts elsewhere in Aloria, bringing the Corontium Eronidas into greater conflict and contact with their cousin-populations in the lands of Westwynd. However, it was also at this time that the Imperial Court began to brush up against the Eronidas outside of the military sphere.
While the Eronidas present at the Imperial Court had never been much of a problem, their proximity as Imperial Family members was always scoffed at because of the bigotry the Eronidas still faced outside of Anglia, and the need for the Emperor and his family to represent the whole of the Archipelago spiritually, which was deemed more difficult if one of them was an Eronidas. The second son of Henri III, Crown Prince Almar, was a wild youth and had many romantic entanglements, but also manipulated the diverse laws across the Empire to escape punishment for petty crimes, and breaches of social etiquette. He eventually fell for an Eronidas gladiator whose name was unfortunately lost to history, or through blatant attempts from Henri III to erase what he thought was bad publicity, and little is known about them beyond that they sired a child from Almar, one he fully legalized upon his ascension to the throne while ensuring they were given a proper education and inclusion into the family. This child, the future Handorien I who was a Half-Eronidas, soon became a Crown Prince himself, for while Almar married an Ailor noblewoman who became his empress when he ascended Emperor as Allamaria I and had children with her, these were all a decade younger than Handorien, and Allamaria loved his first born so much he would not pass him over. In the end, the Imperial Court accepted Handorien I as perhaps an oddity, the first Half-Eronidas to sit on the Imperial Throne, and looked to the future. Handorien I however never felt at ease among Ailor women despite the close relation between them in Anglia, and chose a full Eronidas consort as Empress. Their son, Emperor Allestrain I would turn out to be a very competent Emperor, as the formal Regalian Military and its Marshalry was declared under him. While the leadership was under (the Ailor) House Cadar, and many Wirtem formed the military hierarchy, so too did the Eronidas, forming a powerful military interest lobby at court.
Emperor Allestrain I, the Arch Chancellor Alexander I, and their military allies in the Wirtem-led, and Eronidas supported, Marshalry, sought to expand the Empire by warfare, seeing prizes in nearby regions that men like Nicholas I had largely ignored when diplomacy stalled, in favor of other regions who were more immediately receptive. Southwynd, for instance, called to these warriors, and within months of his coronation, Allestrain I had begun his conquests. Marching with him was perhaps the largest legion of Eronidas seen in decades in the east, numbering some 50,000, and drawn from Anglia. The campaign progressed as if by lightning, sweeping through Southwynd, defeating their regional cousins based out of Ashaven, and then marching elsewhere. The army felt invincible, led by Allestrain who himself had never lost a fight, and aided by holy Unionist relics. But it all came to such a cataclysmic end in the snow of Nordskag. Emperor Allestrain I was slain on the battlefield against the Nordskaggers, through methods unknown, leaving the army in a dire state of low morale, and forcing a retreat. Back in Regalia, Allestrain’s successor, his nephew Handorien II (as Allestrain and his Empress had no children), took the throne as a full-blooded Ailor, but he was more a philosopher, poet, and creative soul than the warriors who had come before. He was ultimately weak in the face of the militarists, who desired to push on with conquest despite the growing burden to the state, and he signed the edict that began the Purple Bleeding. During the Purple Bleeding, Regalia’s armies had less the appeal of a glorious campaign and more of a terrorizing band of soldiers who were grieving the death of their leader by attacking other nations and causing war losses wherever they went. When Arch Chancellor Alexander I died, the army properly disbanded, and all wars came to an abrupt end as political winds shifted drastically in Regalia under Arch Chancellor Morgann I, and the weak Emperors that would follow.
The Years of Decay
The decades that followed under Morgann Kade’s rule saw the Eronidas influence at court and the military almost completely broken down. The bloated Regalian Military now favored Ailor in the common levies. This was largely because the peasants on average were more zealous than disciplined, and could be goaded into destructive military actions that the Eronidas would mutineer at, scoffing at the idea of pillaging for the sake of it, and refusing to fight in battles where they were obviously sent in to die for no real cause. And so, the military only kept a small legion of Eronidas to serve as shock troops as needed in backup. While Morgann couldn’t tear out the Eronidas integration with Anglians, there are indications he was working on laws to heavily limit Eronidas marriage and property rights when he was abruptly executed by Emperor Vilgemar I. Despite good hopes for Vess to restore some of the military privileges of the Eronidas, Vilgemar was occupied with internal politics which at this point had become messy, and the Eronidas eventually became woefully underrepresented in the Regalian Senate that arose in the reign of Vilgemar’s son, Justinian II.
Recent Conflicts
This section will discuss conflicts that occurred between the Years of Decay, and the present day, along with year counts on each that allow players to consider if their Roleplay Character was an active participant in the military conflict. Each will also shortly discuss the role of the Eronidas in the conflict, and in what manner an Eronidas might have participated.
- The Chrysant War of 286 - 291 AC: The Chrysant War was a massive military conflict between the Regalian Empire and the Essa Empire of Hadar. The Eronidas played an important role in this conflict, as their strength was an even match for the alchemically enhanced Allar warriors that used all kinds of manipulation of their biology to become stronger and bigger and became a troublesome foe to deal with for the Ailor levies. This war was somewhat unconventional in that most of the fighting happened between the decks of ships that exchanged volleys and boarded one another. Marine warfare is unusual for the Eronidas, but they proved to be competent warriors when called upon to jump onto the enemy deck and start a melee with the Allar sailors. Eronidas were also often the first to charge the enemy defenses in the few instances that Regalia set soldiers onto soil and assaulted coastal cities through landing craft.
- The Ranger Crisis of 295 AC: The Ranger Crisis is not officially called a war, but it was a major military conflict which pitted the Eronidas against their own once again. Regalia supported mostly by Kissim Eronidas, faced off in a three-way conflict with the Zaharu Eronidas of Kezzeret Sabu, and the Elven Princedoms further to the south over a region nowadays called The Contested Land. This conflict featured heavy jungle fighting where small task groups of mixed soldiers would venture to patrol the jungles and eject any Eronidas and Elven raiding parties doing the same. The conflict was immensely asymmetrical, and many soldiers who participated in this conflict earned a decent amount of trauma from the wretches of fighting in jungles, along with the diseases and wild monsters that inhabited it. The conflict officially never ended but open hostilities between Kezzeret Sabu and the Regalian Empire ceased, which forced the Elves to retreat to avoid being crushed by the Azahu Eronidas and Regalians teaming up. Eronidas proved to be crucial in this fight against their cultural cousins on the other side, as the Ailor levies alone were hopelessly overpowered if they were to face them alone. Many Eronidas Viridians and the beginnings of a standing Regalian army were deployed here.
- The First Songaskian War of 302 - 303 AC: The First Songaskian War was a punitive war in which Regalia started to punish the Songaskians for invading and occupying Regalia for a few months. The war mostly played out on the northwest coast of the Songaskia Masaya in Ard-al Nur (also called Farahdeen). This war was very difficult for Regalia because Regalia had no experience fighting wars in deserts, and was mostly still a naval Empire at this time. Eronidas fought in this war, though they were used less as frontline shock troops and more as regular soldiers, while the Tenpenny armies had not yet fully formed and military theory was yet to catch up to the pragmatism of the battlefield for each people of Aloria. The war ended abruptly when Crown Prince Cedromar I was captured by the Songaskians, leading to a ceasefire and an end of the invasion.
- The Second Songaskian War of 305 AC: The Second Songaskian War was not exactly a continuation of the First Songaskian War, but rather an unofficial Coup d’Etat supported by the Regalian Military. Emperor Cedromar I (who had previously been captured to end the war and released) assisted the legal claimant of the throne, whom he had befriended in captivity, from the current holder of the Masaya’s throne, the uncle who had usurped him. The War was a success but it was exceptionally bloody, with Emperor Cedromar commanding large civilian populations be put to the sword to speed up the surrender of the Songaskian nobility. Surrender they did, but for all the love the Eronidas soldiers might have had for the soldier Emperor Cedromar I who ate gruel with them in the barracks and fought on the front lines with him, a stain on their honor and bad aftertaste was left because of the attacks on the defenseless civilian populations of the enemy.
- The Altaleï-Regalian War of 305 - 306 AC: The Altaleï-Regalian War ,sometimes called the Second Elven War, focused on a number of Elven principalities in what would nowadays become the Allorn Empire. This war turned into a massive waste of resources and Regalian lives as no real meaningful geo-political power was gained from it, and it showcased some of the worst excesses of the incompetence of noble leadership the Empire had ever seen. Eronidas who were part of the Tenpenny Legions would act as shock troops in this war and were often over-committed to bad battle positions, resulting in huge casualties among the Eronidas proportionally to all other people of the Empire. This war in particular is a reason why many Eronidas have a chip on their shoulder to any Ailor noble who claims to be a well-trained and instructed general but has no actual boots-on-the-ground experience and would toss away the lives of their soldiers. The Altaleï-Regalian War flows directly into the Dread War, which is considered a continuation of this conflict.
- The Drixagh Rebellion of 307 - 308 AC: The Drixagh Rebellion was an active rebellion of the Velheim people in Drixagh against the Regalian Empire due to cultural tensions and political missteps by the Regalian government in terms of dealing with the faith and customs of the Velheim people. While this event is sometimes also called the Burning of the North, this term has since come into ill repute because it emphasizes the hysterics of the event while in reality very few people actually died, and fewer places yet were burned. Eronidas acted again as shock troops in this conflict, but saw very little actual conflict, with most of them committed to sitting in camps while the siege engines tried to besiege forts which was never completed before the rebellion ended.
- The Dread War of 307 AC: The Dread War is a conflict that continued from the Altaleï-Regalian War, as the Kathar invaded the besieged Elven principalities, resulting in a quick truce with the Elves, and a combined effort to beat back the Kathar Dread Empire was deemed a far worse enemy than the Regalian Empire or the Elven Principalities respectively. This conflict was also exceptionally bloody, as constant reorganization and shuffling of the military staff resulted in mistakes and over-commitments that resulted in higher numbers of casualties. The Kathar also used Dark Magics which the Eronidas had little defenses against, sparing no horrible death on the battlefield. Veterans of this conflict tend to be particularly sour against Kathar, as well as those who worship Evolism as a whole due to their powers being used to incinerate and obliterate the Eronidas frontlines. The War was eventually won when it dragged into a stalemate, and the Dread Empire retreated.
- The Sendrassian War of 308 - 309 AC: The Sendrassian War is also called the Defense of Hadar, as there wasn’t actually any invading by the Regalians, but rather Regalian subjects being invaded by the Sendrassian Allar. This War was a complete disaster, and Regalia effectively lost the war with the Marshal Cabinet not only handing military plans to the enemy but also letting them take tens of thousands of Allar citizens as prisoners and sacrificing them back in Sendrass. Regalia lost territory as a result of this war, and its savagery left a strong impact again on those fighting the Marshal Cabinet had no idea what it was doing, and was willing to lose the war to save one of their own, but couldn't care less about the thousands of soldiers dying gruesome deaths in the jungles of Hadar.
- Smaller Conflicts: Smaller Conflicts since have occurred, like the Rutgher War and the fight over Tryllelande, however these are not classified as official wars, and Eronidas involvement in them was often minimal, as these were fought by nobles of regions which have very low Eronidas populations, and the state armies were not officially called in. The only major conflict that is worth noting here is the Kade Campaign in Ellador in 310 AC, which led to a relative stalemate. The Kade forces traveled to Jorrhildr first, where they obviously dragged along a large portion of their Anglian-Eronidas soldiers. In Ellador, they convinced the Urlan to aid them, with many Throngs boarding the ships to join them in Ellador. When arriving in Ellador, the Kade armies joined the Bene Vixit Isldar in their civil war against the Bene Rexit. Eronidas fought in the frozen glades against the Ordial empowered Death Isldar, allowing Eronidas battle shamans to truly shine in their expertise against Ordial powers. The war eventually drew to a stalemate as both Isldar sides agreed to a truce to deal with the more alarming resurgence of Vampires from Dorkarth. Generally speaking, the Kades considered this micro conflict a success, as the Bene Vixit were saved from destruction by the Bene Rexit, and stabilized.
Present Day
The dismissal of the Eronidas finally swiveled in the opposite direction when the Imperial dynasty of House Ivrae died out with Justinian II and passed to Alexander II of House Kade. While Ivrae had a long and tumultuous relationship with the Eronidas, House Kade’s support for their integration had never wavered. While House Ivrae concerned itself with the size of the tusks of their relatives, many House Kade family members readily agreed to Eronidas marriages, and members of their family were estimated to be almost a third full-blood Eronidas through marriage. When House Kade rose to power, the Eronidas were immediately re-appointed to high military office, and a large influx of Kade-loyal Eronidas joined the Tyrian Order, and muscled their way into high offices to secure a distinctly Anglian mindset to governance. While their presence has certainly had ups and downs, the Eronidas have been a cornerstone fixture in the Regalian military ever since, ranging from the much-expected frontline shock troops in very heavy armor, to the commanders, and even some generals. There are several Eronidas Barons, Counts, and Dukes, the most infamous of which is the Half-Eronidas Iron Duke of Vultaro, who commands large sections of the Regalian military.
Trivia
- The word “legion” is more commonly used to refer to the Urlan legions nowadays, but it was once a common term for the Eronidas armies which have mostly merged with the Regalian standard.
- Older Eronidas are very common as army instructors in Tenpenny armies, especially because they are considered more disciplined than Ailor, and more physically capable at advanced ages.
- Eronidas nobility in Regalia is very much split between the Anglian-cultured Eronidas, and those who are migrants from the Kezzeret States, and even Ashaven. This is why Eronidas Nobility is very varied, just like Ailor nobility is. Most hold their fiefs in the Polonia area, and north Anglia.
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