#lorenzen

The Nohrian Civil War (2581-2585)

Two brothers, Prince Hugo and Prince Garon, once walked the halls of Castle Krakenburg as mere boys, one of them destined to become King of Nohr. Their father, King Rembrandt, proudly watched their growth into respectable men and foresaw the ushering of a new age of prosperity for their great kingdom, often weathered by harsh rains and winters but still steadfast and strong. But Prince Oswald, the king’s younger brother, had grown in resentment for his brother’s successes and had his own ideas to advance the prosperity of the kingdom. Overcome with greed to experience such successes for himself, the unfortunate uncle was set down a dangerous path.

In the dead of night, Rembrandt and his consort Ginevra of Durand were slain by Oswald’s men, while consort Calanthe of Lovell died securing an escape route for her dear sons and allies. Stealing the great Siegfried for himself, Oswald claimed the uncontested throne for himself, while Hugo and Garon built an army of their own to take back their birthright.

The brothers rallied the loyal noble houses to come forth and defended themselves against their traitorous uncle. House Lovell, who gave shelter to the brothers in their escape from Oswald, easily sided with them. House Durand wholeheartedly threw their lot behind the princes who inherited their blood. The Vandali were unsure about joining in a potentially dangerous cause, but after Garon stole back the Siegfried, they, too swore loyalty to the rightful rulers. The Buelens were unsure about joining the newly formed alliance, seeing Oswald’s position as a nonissue, but once Oswald’s hold on the stolen throne began to crumble from poor decisions, they quickly changed alleigiance. Meanwhile, House Albrand, who was woefully split in two over who was most worthy of the throne. Failure to secure support from House Albrand would diminish their claim to the throne, but the brothers carried on nonetheless.

After the great battle on the plains of Westerstede, Prince Hugo drove out the false king from the capital and was welcomed by the people as the rightful king, but his reign was short lived. Betrayed by a presumably close ally in his ranks, Hugo was killed by assassins, throwing the capital into chaos once more, a perfect opportunity for Oswald to come back with a vengeance. Only by sheer luck did Hugo’s faction maintained claim of Windmire, giving them time to mourn their fallen king and prepare for the next counterattack. And so responsibility fell upon young Garon, who ascended to the throne.

Driven to end the long, bloody war once and for all, Garon ordered no compromise on Oswald’s faction. By the influence of House Durand and the cunning of his allies, Garon destroyed the opposing members of the Albrand family persuaded the remainder to return under his banner. As Garon took back more land and cornered his enemy, his desperate uncle called for one last, failing charge and one last confrontation with his nephew. Calling upon the power of Siegfried, Garon drove the blade of the royal family’s blade into his uncle’s breast.

“To think I would end up like this, for thinking only of myself,” Oswald spoke a final time. “Remember this moment, well, young prince, for we are cut from the same cloth.”

“I will not walk the path you took,” Garon denied. “I would never turn against my people for reasons so base as yours.”

“I wouldn’t think too soon….” Oswald rasped. “It only takes… one mistake.”

And so, the false king was slain, thus ending the great civil war and beginning a period of reconstruction. Despite victory, the nation of Nohr struggles to this day to recover from the losses suffered in those years. Instability had placed a heavy strain on various agricultural regions, especially Esterlyn and Morbank. The royal house of Lorenzen, who had been all but wiped out except for Garon and his future children, continued with diminished power, unable to stop any lingering conflicts among the noble houses and their people. House Durand fell to ruin and were forced to cede half of their lands to the up and coming House Minett. Disruption in Buelen’s magical society by the war made room for more polarizing figures to gain power and potentially go unchecked. King Garon, embattled by unfortunate circumstances, would be haunted by his uncle’s warning for the next years to come.

Might as well write this an entry about it rather than just pussyfooting around it in other characters’ bios. I should try to be more authentic by doing some sort of proper year labeling instead of doing “negative 40 years ago”, give stuff like this more polish, but I hate tracking numbers. So I slapped numbers together from the Archanean calendar.

That’s okay! I’ve answered both those questions a while ago, so here are the links:

Classes of all Nohrian royal siblings

Classes of all Nohrian consorts (married to Garon)

Might as well add the classes of Xander’s potential consorts:

Nyx (Sorcerer)

Claudia of Lovell (Strategist)

Charlotte (Berserker)

Layla (Maid/Spymaster)

Peri of Albrand (Great Knight)

Hinoka Yamato (Falcon Knight)

And King Rembrandt’s (Garon and Hugo’s dad) two consorts:

Calanthe of Lovell (Paladin)

Ginevra of Durand (Strategist)