Theurgy: The Journey's Dawn (Book One)

Chapter 51 Not the Same

25 years ago

    It has only been a few months at most. Two short months of a war that James knows should not have started in the first place. 

     Altwin was at one point a rarely small country of the outlands. Just two hundred years ago, its prince, Prince Aluune the II, managed to barter freedom of his territory from the kingdom of Duurberg. This came about with much bloodshed, as the king constantly fought against other nations who saw a new piece of meat added to the lawless market of the Outlands' bizarre. So, they had to make allies. Unlikely allies. It is unclear how or when, but soon a prince of Aetos decided to take the prince's daughter as his wife, and that alone gave them the support they needed. So much support, in fact that they actually began to expand their borders. One by one, they began taking over more and more land from their surroundings, small princedom after small princedom falling under the raised flag of Altwin. They grew in size and wealth, became quite the player in the new hierarchy, and kept it's close ties to Aetos through the marriage of their royalty. They had grown so large that they, in fact, started calling themselves an empire. The Altwin Empire was to be the greatest nation in the history of the outlands.

     And yet, it was always destined to burn to the ground. 

     The motivation of the clans to start wars is often intricate, rarely simple. They are far from warmongering, but they will gladly fight any who threatens them. They see themselves as a larger beast of the plains, but they did not wish to slaughter their neighbors for what measly scraps they possess. In the past, The Empire started wars over broken treaties, murdered ambassadors, and unsavory acts committed towards their citizens. The Dulindar massacre is a perfect example of this, a knight slaughtering an entire village because an ambassador was assassinated in foreign lands. And while the clans shun such unnecessary cruelty, they are not above it. And the king of the Altwin empire had made sure that their ties be kept strong with such a monster to ensure their own safety above all else. And the clans appreciated this effort, celebrating in their halls and enjoying the small bastion of the outlands that could not be mistaken for boorish brutes.

      That was until king Tallimus ascended to the throne. In his time as a prince, he was a warrior above all else, above leadership, even. He was trained under Clan swordsmen, was schooled by a plethora of scholars, and generally beloved by his people for a symbol of prowess. But this was not enough for the king. Not by far. He simply wanted more, to ensure his empire's place in history as far more than the swill that surrounded them, the one gold amongst copper, who can sit beside the jewels of the western kingdoms. So, he launched his wars. More territory was added, princedoms being absorbed and transferred. But unlike before, where princedoms were only to be assimilated into their hierarchy, King Tallimus began killing the head of houses in the most brutal fashions. The armies of Altwin were far more ferocious under his rule and never surrendered a single fight. And any ruler who fell to them in his conquer met an end: them and their entire line. The rebellion was not tolerated, nor was descent among the people. They shall be a part of this empire or die fighting it. And he was not above some of the cruelest acts to get this point across. He would cut food for entire villages, exile men and women from their homes to live in the hills to battle the elements. Killing those who openly critiqued his savage rule and rebellions were met with the harshest of atrocities, not only on its participants but anywhere these beliefs could propagate.

      No better tale illustrates this to the Empire of Clans than the Sautrobar incident. Sautrobar was a small princedom that had recently been conquered by Altwin, and as practiced, the beloved royal family was slaughtered, executed. This sparked a fairly passionate rebellion. Their kingdom was settled in the middle of a great lake, only connected to the mainland through a few bridges that span the deep waters. King Tallimus wished to build more to make it easier for his soldiers to march through. The resistance came when rebellious groups began destroying these bridges.  They used merchant ships, burn them and breaking supports, and killing those who worked or protected these bridges. This, in turn, led to a few battles before the rebellion was brought into submission, and the princedom was firmly in Altwin hands.