The War of Five Crowns began with a Prince deciding it was not worth it to wait for his father to die or abdicate before taking the thrown. This prince made some sort of pact with an ancient, deadly, and dark power to the west-- and with it, brought an army of undead into the Kingdom.
The Three ArchDukes, Myrkan, Veritas, and Stellan, each recieved word of the Prince's actions. First through rumor, and then with confirmation from spies who were sent in to investigate. Fearing a major Necromantic War, if not the awakening of the Necromancer himself from the Prince's actions, the Arch Dukes began raising armies for themselves.
Myrkan began marching first, when word of the attack on the capital reached him. The Prince had managed to bring a significant army into the city itself, beaten back by the legendary efforts of Sir Myers and Duke Velamir. But Myrkan's intellegence informed him that there were far more undead than that available to the Prince, and so sent his army towards the capital to support the King.
The King, paranoid of his throne and jealous of his power, distracted himself from feelings of betrayal from his son (of which he was half proud of anyway, despite the betrayal) by demanding that Archduke Myrkan retreat at once, suggesting that the Archduke had royal aspirations. The King's intellegence falsly reported to him that Archduke Myrkan had already participated in weakening the defenses of Bellas (the Capital). A standoff between the King's forces and Archduke Myrkan's forces ensued on the plains.
This might have gone nowhere if Archduke Stellan had not pulled strings with the Thorncrest College of Magic to start interferring with Teleportation Circles throughout the Kingdom, thinking to disrupt the Prince's efforts more than anyone else's. This caused Sir Myers, already on the hunt for traitors, to denounce Archduke Stellan publically, pulling strong support from the population to unseat him.
In the meantime, Archduke Veritas sailed a small fleet towards Bellas in order to formally discuss the situation. Half the fleet was sunk via catapults held by forces flying Royal colors. That it was the Prince mattered not. The Royal Family had insulted the Archduke for the last time. The remaining fleet brought a ground army, and broke the stalemate of King and Archduke Myrkan by storming Bellas directly.
The King retreated, and again, with Sir Myers and Duke Velamir's help, recaptured the capital, but now Archduke Myrkan and Archduke Veritas were each eyeing the capital for deadly insults... and each eyeing each other. The King could no longer remain on the throne... both Archdukes agreed on that. But neither Archduke could allow the other to sit on the throne. There were bad feeling between the two families from long ago. And the prospect of either one of them taking the capital infuriated Archduke Stellan.
All this was a mere month after the Prince's initial attack on the capital.
The war began in earnest.
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This will be a play-by-post game, with my players taking up the role of one of the Archdukes. Brady claimed Vertias, David claimed Stellan, and we figure Carl will either want to join in with his own side (Northolt) or grab Myrkan. If my other players want in, they have a choice... the King, forign interests (Sea Traders, Dwarves, etc), or a Religion. The Prince is mine. Play in this thread is not mandatory for all my players, but I do expect those that play to be reasonably active. If you are not one of my players, but have read the Valacia Capaign Notes thread and feel like you have enough of a grip on the lore that you want to give this a shot, let me know.
This is not a pure wargame, and I hope that there be plenty of politics and backroom deals and such going on. Players can define their Archduke... personality, goals, dreams, first name, etc. The only restrictions are that they must have motivation to be involved in the war, given the opening above. Even the reasons and motivations for the actions above can be yours. There could be more subtlties going on. Family pressures, perhaps? Who knows! You do!
Territory breakdown...
King Baltes VIII
Territory Population: ~500,000
Draftable Population: ~190,000
Paragon Population: ~200
Epic Population: 2
Major Assets: Loyal Epics
Initial army: 250 Heroics + 2 Epics. Heroic Breakdown: (125 / 62 / 30 / 16 / 8 / 4 / 2 / 1 / 0 / 2)
Prince Baltes IX
Territory Population: 0?
Draftable Population: 0?
Paragon Population: ???
Epic Population: ???
Major Assets: Deal with the Necromaner
Initial army: ???? undead
Archduke Myrkan
Territory Population: ~5,200,000
Draftable Population: ~1,900,000
Paragon Population: ~500
Major Assets: Produces 90% of the food supply of the Kingdom
Initial Army: 5,000 Heroics, Heroic Breakdown: (1250 / 625 / 310 / 160 / 80 / 40 / 20 / 10 / 5)
Archduke Stellan
Territory Population: ~1,700,000
Draftable Population: ~600,000
Paragon Population: ~1,700
Epic Population: 2
Major Assets: Mage's Guild
Initial Army: 1,000 Heroics, Heroic Breakdown: (500 / 250 / 125 / 62 / 32 / 16 / 8 / 4 / 2 / 1)
Archduke Veritas
Territory Population: ~3,200,000
Draftable Population: ~1,200,000
Paragon Population: ~900
Major Assets: Sea Trade
Initial Army: 3,000 Heroics, Heroic Breakdown: (1500 / 750 / 375 / 186 / 96 / 48 / 24 / 12 / 6 / 3)
Northolt
Territory Population: ~350,000
Draftable Population: ~130,000
Paragon Population: ~50
Epic Population: 1?
Major Assets: Contact details for Greymist
Initial Army: 125 Heroics, Heroic Breakdown: (50 / 30 / 15 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 2)