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  1. #1
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    Hey if any one can give me a quick run down on the history of Diemed and its Duke it would be helpfull(or a link to a site that does). I have the ruins of empire book but that doesn't tell you very much. Thanks

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    This is the history info from the Diemed entry in the d20 Atlas of Cerilia. It hasn't been edited or anything, but still usable.

    HISTORY
    Even before the arrival of humans on Cerilia, the area that comprises modern-day Diemed was populated. In those ancient times, the elven kingdoms centred in the Erebannien reigned over this region in a golden era of culture, magic, and learning. Though elven scouts venturing across the Deismaar land bridge reported large tribes of humans far to the south in Aduria, the elves considered them of little threat, instead focusing on the immediate danger posed by the goblins. For it was these goblins, particularly the ones following the sorcerous Spider Lords, that waged a constant and brutal war with the elves. For a thousand years these wars raged, producing little result for either side.
    With the arrival of the humans on Cerilia in -515 HC, things began to change. One of the first Andu tribes to set foot in Cerilia was the Deretha, the Fifth House. A particularly warlike folk, the Deretha were quick to ally with the elves in exchange for open lands to the south of the Spiderfell. Within three generations, the Deretha broke the stalemate in the region by defeating the goblins and then began to settle in earnest, founding several kingdoms on the Southern Coast, building towns, villages, and clearing away forests for farmland - leading to war with the elves.
    Though the elves possessed superior skills at the sword and the arcane arts, the human’s bred far more quickly and were able to call upon their gods for aid. Slowly and inexorably, the elves were pushed back, though they did not go without a fight. The knights of the gheallie Sidhe slaughtered humans by the tens of thousands, reducing many Deretha settlements to ash.
    Finally, around -200 HC, the Deretha defeated Gwyngalyth, a powerful elven leader whose base of power was in modern-day Roesone. With the defeat of one of their greatest generals, the elves succumbed to defeat and abandoned the Erebannien, fleeing for the relative safety of the Aelvinnwode farther to the north.
    Victory against the elves, however, did not bring about peace. While the elves and humans were distracted with one another, the goblins of the Spiderfell, defeated but not destroyed, rebuilt their numbers and under the leadership of the fell sorcerer Tal-Qazar, surged out from the woods and laid waste to numerous Deretha villages and towns, forcing the Deretha into a genocidal war. Though Tal-Qazar’s initial invasions were repulsed, the goblins were always able to breed a new wave within a few short years.
    When Azrai began his campaign to enslave the peoples of Cerilia, the Deretha were on their last legs. Their resources and populations depleted from two centuries of war with the goblins, the Fifth House of the Andu collapsed. The last of the Deretha kings died in battle against the Spiderlord and the Deretha lands lapsed into civil war.
    During this time, Diem, last prince of the Deretha kingdoms, came to prominence. Fighting alongside Haelyn and Roele, Diem was a trusted ally and lieutenant of the brothers. Employing his tactical genius, Diem is said of have led men in hundreds of engagements, most of them victories.
    When the Deismaar cataclysm occurred, the Deretha were hit hard. Most of their armies were wiped out, their southern farmlands suddenly became nothing more than ocean, and their lands descended into further anarchy. Dozens of petty warlords, empowered by the cataclysm, made war upon each other; newly manifested awnsheghlien roamed the land, killing at will; and scattered goblin armies pillaged at their leisure.
    Meanwhile, great events took place west of the River Maesil. Gathering a host of allies, Roele rallied his house and prepared to create an empire. Diem, still at Roele’s side and now possessing one of the greatest of the new bloodlines, pledged his loyalty to the new empire. Wishing to first secure the lands closest to his own family’s ancestral hold, Roele led an army, with Diem serving as one of his generals, onto the Southern Coast in 1 HC. After pacifying the Coast and bringing order to the Deretha’s old lands, Roele left Diem in charge of the region, founding the Anuirean Empire’s first duchy. Naming it Diemed, after himself, Diem and his progeny would rule the duchy in unbroken succession to this very day.
    Enthusiastically following Haelyn, the new god of law and order, Diem funded the construction of the god’s first temples. Less than a year later, Haelyn’s divine Book of Laws appeared on an altar within the first of those temples. Rallying around the credo of the Book, Haelyn’s priests and paladins organized themselves into a temple allied with Roele’s vision of empire.
    With peace and stability finally achieved, the Dieman lands began to settle down. Cities grew up along the River Maesil and the Straits of Aerele. Even in those bygone years, the Dieman people concentrated mostly around the villages of Aerele, Moerel, Ilien, and Roele’s new imperial capital, while the lands to the east, in present day Roesone and Medoere, functioned mainly as agricultural lands, feeding the growing cities. Though the rural farmers somewhat resented their city dwelling cousins, that resentment never escalated into rebellion.
    Diemed thrived under the Anuirean Empire and its dukes and armies loyally supported the Emperors. The lands of House Diem were always at peace, save for the occasional war with the Spider or trouble with the rough and tumble adventurers on the eastern frontier. In fact, the situation was so stable that most of Diemed’s armies were in the Imperial legions stationed throughout Anuire or deployed abroad helping the Emperor to pacify conquered lands. More members of House Diem were appointed as governors and overlords than any other house, a point that Diemans remain proud of today.
    This long period of stability reached its end, like so many other things, during the reign of Michael Roele. Though initially slow to join Michael’s cause during the War of Succession, the duke, Harth Diem, eventually sided with the Emperor and loyally provided troops to his cause.
    Though none of its lands were on the frontlines in the war between Michael Roele and Arwyn Boeruine, Diemed suffered nonetheless. Abroad, Dieman troops took heavy casualties while the Spider raided and destroyed farms and towns at home. Further disaster struck when the Emperor was slain in the Gorgon’s Crown. Within a few decades of the Empire’s end, Diemed’s long and slow collapse would begin.
    Though the duchy actively participated in the post-Imperial civil wars, it husbanded its strength and followed a strategy of caution, ensuring that while other realms exhausted themselves, Diemed remained strong. Finally, in 94 MR, the duke, Havriel Diem, great-grandson of Harth, felt confident enough to begin making a play for the Iron Throne itself. Havriel began amassing large numbers of troops in eastern Diemed (modern day Roesone), intending to force Aerenwe and Bhalaene (now apart of Ghoere) to comply with his demands. Alarmed, these two duchies began their own troop build-up and refused to submit to Diemed’s demands. Constant skirmishing plagued the borders until the situation finally escalated into full-scale war in 96 MR.
    The Dieman Wars, as they are called now, waged on and off for the next two hundred years and left eastern Diemed depopulated. The wars at last came to an end in 270 MR at the Battle of Edlinsward when Daeryn Bhalaene, Duke of Bhalaene, slew Korbhan Diem, Duke of Diemed, in single combat. With the way now clear for Bhalaene to invade Ilien and central Diemed, the new Duke of Diemed, young Norvien Diem, signed the humiliating Treaty of Caercas, ending the Dieman Wars. The treaty forced Diemed to pay huge sums of money to the victors, to permanently withdraw its armies from eastern Diemed, required House Diem to forsake its claim to the Iron Throne, and perhaps most humiliatingly, forced the duke to take a demotion to baron. Though this treaty is no longer enforced today, it remains a sore point for Diemans.
    The post-war situation did not bring any kind of relief to Diemed. Norvien was an incompetent duke; a drunken tyrant and bully more concerned that history remember him as a great warlord rather than a rational ruler. Driven into heavy drinking by the Treaty of Caercas, Norvien may have been Diemed’s single worst regent.
    In 285 MR, Richard Endier, a minor Dieman noble approached Norvien and requested permission to settle the lands in the western portion of the Spiderfell. Though Roele had granted House Diem the rights to those lands, Diemed never braved the Spider to claim them. Norvien, in a drunken stupor and believing that Richard stood no chance, agreed to the bargain. Against all odds, Richard succeeded and three years later approached Norvien again, prepared to swear fealty to the duke in exchange for protection. However, Norvien had grown exceedingly jealous of Richard’s popularity and could not believe that this upstart had bested him and so refused the offer, reneging on the earlier agreement and stationing a garrison of troops in Richard’s lands. Ten years later, in 299 MR, Norvien’s heavy handed policies returned to bite him when Endier rebelled.
    Richard Endier, it seemed, had spent those ten years of Dieman occupation hiring mercenaries and accruing allies for his war. Surprisingly, one of these allies included the Spider. As the result of some unknown bargain with Richard, the Spider’s horde of goblins swept out of the Spiderfell down to the Straits of Aerele, burning, pillaging and raping, leaving eastern Diemed further bereft of population. With eastern Diemed in ruins, Richard Endier’s settlers in rebellion, and the threat of renewed war with Aerenwe and Bhalaene, Norvien was left with no choice but to acknowledge the independence of Richard’s lands, which soon came to be known as Endier, a land of prosperity and success (see Endier entry for further details).
    The collapse continued when in 305 MR, Ilien declared its independence. This left Diemed without a court wizard, a situation it has never been able to rectify (see Ilien entry for more details). Still exhausted and on the brink of collapse, Diemed recognized Ilien’s independence.
    Norvien Diem died in 324 MR a broken ruin of a man, leaving the throne to his son. Neither his son nor any of his other descendents ruled particularly well. The once great ducal treasury shrank drastically, the armies became soft, and the nobles plotted against each other and the regent. Further, the Imperial Temple of Haelyn, from which Diemed had derived so much of its prestige, splintered, mirroring the collapse of Diemed’s fortunes.
    The next 100 years were marked by failed experiments to rebuild the vastly weakened realm. Several attempts were made to invade the Spiderfell, use intrigue to re-take Endier, or connect House Diem to other great houses via marriage. In 418 MR, a particularly weak regent named Groebher Diem even attempted to invade Mieres in order to deflect attention from the situation at home. Within two years, Groebher lost control of Mieres, making the invasion one of the greatest military disasters in Anuirean history.
    Further struggle erupted along Diemed’s frontier with the new state of Ghoere. The Barons of Ghoere had long looked at the weakened Dieman state as a perfect place for expansion, leading to many wars. The most notable was in 431 MR, in which Ghoere invaded eastern Diemed and attempted to take control of Ilien. The Countess Axlea Aglondier of Ilien promptly destroyed the invasion force with her realm magic.
    In 458 MR, Vandiel Diem assumed the throne of Diemed. Though involved in many costly failures, Dieman histories record him as a great man for finally throwing off the shackles of the Treaty of Caercas. Almost immediately after becoming regent, Vandiel declared that since the duchies of Bhalaene and Aerenwe no longer existed, Bhalaene having merged with Ghieste to form Ghoere and Aerenwe having declared itself a sovereign kingdom, the treaty was simply no longer in effect. Vandiel assumed the mantle of duke and once more embraced his family’s claim to the Iron Throne. Though most people in Anuire today recognize Diemed as a duchy, there are those, especially the duchy’s enemies, who still refer to it as a barony.
    One of the greatest failures of Vandiel’s reign was the loss of nearly half his duchy to Daen Roesone. By 420 MR, eastern Diemed had begun to recover from the long years of warfare and become a frontier zone with freesteads, bandits, and almost no law. In 470 MR, Daen Roesone, a mercenary lord with considerable power in eastern Diemed, seized control of Caercas and in 474 MR petitioned Vandiel to rule the province as a vassal. Making the same mistake as his ancestor Norvien, Vandiel refused and instead named his cousin Uchaene the Count of Caercas. Daen flew into a rage upon hearing this and promptly defeated the small army that Uchaene had brought with him to Caercas. This incident precipitated a full-scale war.
    Over the next three years, Daen Roesone took control of the whole of eastern Diemed and repeatedly defeated the armies of the Diemans and their Aerenwean allies. In 477 MR, the war formally ended and the state of Roesone was born (see Roesone entry for more details).
    This loss was extremely humiliating for Vandiel, who almost lost his throne to a cabal of mutineers as a result. However, Vandiel, ever the consummate politician, was able to weather the difficulties and initiate a crack down on the disloyal elements of his realm. By 483 MR, Vandiel was even ready to wage war elsewhere in Anuire, aiding Mhoried against a Ghoerean invasion. Still, the loss of Roesone rankled Vandiel to no end and it was not until his death in 505 MR that Diemed finally recognized Roesone.
    Vandiel’s descendents ruled much as Norvien’s did - with little skill. The power of the Dieman state continued to erode, even to the point where nobles along the River Maesil began swearing loyalty to the Prince of Avanil.
    Further trouble was to fall upon the duchy in the form of sectarian strife. After the loss of Roesone, Diemed withdrew its forces from its eastern most provinces: Alamier, Braeme, and Caerwil. This small but wild land soon began to fill up with settlers devoted to the worship of Ruornil, the Moon God, apparently guided by the visions of Brun Szareh. In 500 MR, that land was well settled and Vandiel dispatched Mourten Enlien to rule the area as a count. Mourten ruled wisely and well, respecting the Ruornites despite his strong faith in Haelyn.
    However, in 520 MR, Mourten died and was replaced by his tyrannical son Dalien, who crushed the Ruornites beneath his boot. Despite Dalien’s efforts, the worship of Ruornil continued to thrive and in 543 MR, he petitioned the duke, Heirl Diem, recently ascended to the throne, to dispatch an army to crush the Ruornites. The people of the provinces rose up and under the leadership of Suris Enlien, Dalien’s young daughter, slew the tyrannical count and defeated the invading Dieman army. The state of Medoere was born.
    Heirl Diem, Diemed’s latest duke, ascended the throne in 541 MR, and spent the first few years of his reign consolidating his power. The once recalcitrant nobles were forced to tow the line, the army was reformed and increased in size, corruption was purged from the court, and Diemed’s diplomatic standing vastly improved. Before the events of 543 MR, Heirl had given little attention to the problems in Medoere, so consumed as he was with consolidating his own internal position. However, like Vandiel and Norvien before him, Heirl grates at this loss of territory and refuses to recognise the new realm or even receive Medoerean diplomats. In his eyes, the war with Medoere is still on. Now that the remains of Diemed are strong and stable once more, Heirl intends to reclaim Medoere very soon. After that, Roesone will follow.
    Let me claim your Birthright!!

  3. #3
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    The `Fall of a Duchy` is by no means official. It was purely my

    incarnation. If you want more I have another 20 pages or so to send you.

    Hope tihs helps.





    Mike Spehar





    history

    The lands known as Diemed have been inhabited for well over 2,000

    years. Before the Five Tribes came to Cerilia, all of Anuire was part of

    the great Aelvinwode. Unknown bands of barbaric humans may have lived along

    these shores even before the Flight from Shadow, but very little is known of

    these people – they left only a few crude campsites and odd carvings on

    standing stones in the wilderness.

    In ancient times, the Sidhelien (elven peoples) held these lands. Their

    courts and towers dotted the pristine forestlands. The forests of the lands

    later claimed by Diemed were part of the Spiderfell, ruled by the

    Spiderlord, Tal-Qazar, and a fierce goblin-lord. The goblins were a greater

    people then, with knowledge and wizardry that they’ve lost in the ages that

    have passed since.

    The clansmen warriors of Deretha, the Fifth house of Andu, cleared and

    settled much of the Southern Coast, from the mouth of the Maeil to the

    retreating borders of the Erebannien.

    In time, the native elves and humanoids were driven from the plains and

    hills deep into the forest. From time to time, the Deretha settlers clashed

    in fierce battles with the goblins of the Spiderlord or the elves of the

    Erebannian as their territory continued to expand.

    Then came the day that the Deretha were summoned by Roele, Prince of the

    First House, to stand against the armies of Azrai. His dark master summoned

    the Spiderlord as well. Almost all of Tal-Qazar’s goblin-host perished at

    Deismaar, while Diem, the prince of the Deretha, survived and led his

    warrior`s home.

    Following the battle at Mount Diesmar Diem was granted leave by Roele to

    annex the petty kingdoms and cites from the Masil to the Erebannien in the

    name of the Empire. Diem became fifth of the Twelve Archdukes, sworn to

    serve the Emperor Roele and the empire. The family Diem ruled the lands

    from the Maesil to the Erebannien for 1,100 years.

    Among the conquered territories was one of the oldest human settlements

    surviving the cataclysm. This city was renamed Ilien after the baron’s

    mother. Diem granted Ilien to his trusted wizard Karn Aglondier. The

    Aglondier line governed Ilien in the name of Diemed for centuries, applying

    their mystic skills to the benefit of the realm. The possession of Ilien

    gave Diemed a major port along the Straits of Aerele, something no other

    ruler of the southern coast had, and began her long tradition as a naval

    power. The years of empire were the golden years of Diemed.

    After the fall of the Empire, Diemed was engaged in wars on many fronts.

    Diemed came under repeated attacks from Ghoere and Aerenwe in a series of

    territorial wars lasting from about 96 to 270 MR. Eastern Diemed – the land

    that would become Roesone – was depopulated and laid to ruin.

    Though Roele had granted the Spiderfell to his faithful retainer Diem of the

    Fifth House of the Andu, the descendents of Diem have never braved the

    Spider to claim these lands. This situation changed in 285 Michaeline when

    a vassal named Richard Endier was granted permission to clear a tract of

    land from the woods. When Endier informed his Baron that his task was

    complete, the Baron sent a governor to rule Endier in his name.

    Unfortunately, no fewer than five corrupt governors came and went over a

    span of less than 10 years.

    Taking advantage of the territorial wars that were devastating eastern

    Diemed, Endier made a deal with the Spider and caused a wave of goblins and

    gnolls to sweep out across eastern Diemed to the sea. While Diemed was

    occupied with repelling the force of humanoids, Endier attacked the regional

    government and declared itself a free city.



    The final blow occurred in 299 MR, when a goblin-host emerged from the

    Spiderfell and pillaged their way all the way to the Straits of Aerele.



    These wars strained Endier’s resources, but did not cripple her. Diemed in

    general, however, was in chaos. Wishing to remain neutral in the affairs of

    the worn-torn country, Lehoene Aglondier took advantage of the circumstances

    and declared Ilien free of Diemed 305 MR.

    Fighting humanoids, Ghoere, Aerenwe, and Endier at the same time, Diemed

    stood little chance of victory. When the baron died soon thereafter, his

    heir sued for peace and agreed to recognize Endieri’s independence in

    exchange for its goodwill.

    Vandiel Diem ruled as a tyrant and internal strife caused many troubles

    which climaxed with Richard Endier’s deal with the Spider causing a host of

    goblins to rampage from the Spiderfell to the Straits of Aerele in 299 MR,

    leaving a wake of destruction and helping Endier declare independence from

    Diemed. The rest of Diemed, itself despoiled by the forces of Spiderfell,

    offered no help to Ilien. Recognizing Diemed as too weak to support the

    province, Lehoene Aglondier, proclaimed Ilien a free domain in 305 MR.

    Diemed’s troubles were not over, and with the additional chaos that resulted

    in Medoere’s and Roesone’s independence, none challenged Lehonene’s claim to

    Ilien.

    By 420 MR Eastern Diemed had become home to scattered villages, freeholds,

    and bands of outlaws. Diemed no longer had the strength to hold the lands,

    although they were still Diemian in name. A few self-titled counts, barons,

    and squires could be found here and there, but most were nothing more that

    bandit captains who commanded a few dozen thugs.

    Daen Roesone, a mercenary captain born in Caercas, returned home in 470 MR

    leading a hardened company of mercenaries. Roesone used his muscle to

    pacify the local lordlings of Caercas and over the next four years brought

    order to the lands at the point of a sword.

    In 474, Roesone petitioned Vandiel, Baron Diemed, for a title, seeking

    recognition as count of the lands he now ruled. Although such recognition

    would have provided Diemed with a powerful (if independent) vassal and

    control over lands it had long since abandoned the baron could not believe

    that a mercenary upstart was capable of holding conquered lands for any

    amount of time. Vandiel instead decided to appoint his cousin Uchaene as

    Count of Caercas. When Uchaene arrived, Roesone flew into a rage and called

    out his troops. Uchaene set about putting down an “armed revolt against the

    lawful ruler of Diemed” which precipitated a full-scale civil war. Roesone

    defeated Diemed’s attacks and won the war by 477 MR. Diemed didn’t

    acknowledge Roesone’s claims until Vandiel Diemed died in 505 MR.

    Still recovering from the long, battering civil war and not wanting to risk

    more conflict, Diemed, along with the majority of southern Anuirian rulers,

    recognized Ilien’s neutrality and signed the Pact of Ilien in 510 MR.









    fall of a duchy

    The rule of the Diem line has had many inept rulers. Its survival, and that

    of the nation, has been dependant on the sheer greatness of others of its

    line. It`s hard to clearly define when Diemed`s most drastic fall began,

    but the last straw occurred in 220 MR. Darnae Diem was one of the most

    ruthless rulers in Diemed`s history. She was the first of seven female

    children, her parents never successfully bearing a son, she always felt

    pressured as she was to be the first lady Diem to ever rule for any lengthy

    amount of time. Her father held his crown as long as possible, irritating

    Darnae as she continued to train long and hard for her inevitable

    succession.

    Darnae was a bright and brilliant woman. Her knowledge and skill at

    day-to-day affairs made her suspicious of her fathers most trusted advisors.

    There was great resentment among many of those advisors. A young, dainty

    woman would command them. There were numerous secret and illicit meetings to

    discuss matters of succession amongst many of the military and political

    leaders throughout the realm. Julian Agiere, Mayor of Aerele, would be the

    mastermind behind a coup.

    The peasantry loved Darnae. Lesser nobles swooned to her gentle grace. It

    was with this support base she became aware of plots of usurpation. With her

    father dying and her mother having already passed beyond, she could do

    nothing but gather information, plot, and wait.

    A year later, in the fall of 218 MR her father died. No time was wasted in

    striking the new Duchess. Military generals seized control over the armies,

    dispatching those thought to be loyal to Darnae. Politicians and magistrates

    in Aerele and other major cities accused Darnae and her supporters of crimes

    ranging from treason and murder to piracy and fraud. Despite her

    foreknowledge, the swiftness and precision the usurpers used where beyond

    what Darnae could control. Darnae defiantly remained in the castle and

    couldn`t look on a sole without questioning their loyalty.

    Her first of two crucial breaks came with an outbreak of a strange illness

    that struck the two hundred men that were tasked to take the castle, and

    Darnae, after the death of her father. The dazzling and nearly bloodless

    plan to storm of the castle ended the day the brilliant strategist and

    charismatic general who was to lead the assault and the most powerful wizard

    died of the illness. It would be months later, but every soldier who fell

    ill would later die. The illness was never identified, and was later named

    Darnae`s Blessing.

    Priests of the Orthodox Imperial Temple were not only weak, but they were

    divided in what action they should take. In indecisiveness and lack of

    responsibility, the state faith had abandoned the person who needed them

    most.

    Her second break was the arrival of an early winter. From beginning to end,

    the winter was harsh. Between the failures they had endured the first time

    and harshness of the weather, Darnae`s adversaries elected not try to storm

    the castle until spring. With much of her network of supporters and

    informants still in place, Darnae was able to increase her spy network and

    gain valuable information for four critical months.

    The Sword and Crown was further complicating matters, the festival to

    celebrate the last emperor of Anuire was nearing, and was scheduled to take

    place in Diemed in the year 220. Valuable resources that should have gone

    into the celebration were used to front a war. In the vast wilderness of

    eastern Diemed, armies loyal to the Duchess, despite bitter cold and snow,

    trained in secrecy.

    When spring arrived the Duchess would nearly match every step her foe would

    take. However, equipment and soldiers would be lost at a rate more rapidly

    then those against her. It was only a short amount of time before she would

    lose this civil war, everyone knew that. When the year 219 ended, Darnae

    barely had a nation she could call her own. With the change in season,

    everything would change. Darnae knew she might lose her crown shortly after

    hosting the greatest single event in Anuire. Like tradition subscribed, she

    and the usurpers agreed to a truce during the festivities in the second

    month of the spring.

    Everyone who was anyone in Anuire descended upon Diemed. Local regents

    and other important nobles were appalled at the conditions they arrived to.

    Many countries gave Diemed financial assistance for holding such an event in

    return for various favors later. It was quite evident nothing was spent on

    the occasion. The resources and gold were spent to help Darnae`s plight.

    Darnae would not give her enemy the chance to strike her down. She broke

    the truce. On the night she broke the truce, twenty important rebellious

    leaders were killed on raids of their manor houses. Several army encampments

    were attacked by complete surprise the next day. Warehouses of supplies were

    raided. Two-dozen manors were burned to ash within the first week alone.

    Thousands died. Everyone was taken by the ferocity. Despite everyone`s best

    efforts, Darnae would not end the hostilities. Many foreign dignitaries were

    wounded and killed, most on raids of rebellious manor houses for which they

    were innocently staying. Many peasants and merchants that traveled from a

    far lost their lives or goods in the violence.

    As more and more foreign regents and nobles fled, Darnae could increase the

    number of places she struck. Vengeance and anger consumed her. She commanded

    her armies to lie to waste several towns and villages that were rebel strong

    holds. Her unluckiest antagonists were captured. The torture they would

    later endure would be infamous. Few rebels survived, most took flight to

    border countries.

    With the rebellion over, Darnae had to turn her attention to neighboring

    countries. There were already border disputes with several countries; those

    countries now amassed armies at Diemed`s doorsteps. Nearly every country in

    Anuire had suffered some sort of economic adjustment as a result of Diemed`s

    inner struggle. It was Arlen Swordwraith, an indirect descendant of Michael

    Roele and the King of Aerenwe, who first slighted Darnae. King Swordwraith

    stood before common body of gentry in his court and referred to Bloody

    Baroness of Diemed. The news spread and the title stuck throughout the old

    empire.

    It took every ounce of diplomacy available in Diemed for war to not reign

    down upon it. Diemed would remain at an uneasy peace for a decade. Though

    they would be years without war, the rest of Darnae`s rule would not be

    years without violence. She`d have anyone who spoke against her beheaded or

    impaled. The mayor of Aerele became the most powerless position in

    government. It also became an appointed position, and it remains so to this

    day.

    Darnae would rule with an iron fist. She could no longer find trust in

    anyone. The people were heavily taxed. It would take the churches influence

    that finally ceased two decades of taxing the people to poverty. It was the

    churches effort to the people, which enabled the peasants to no longer find

    the intense laws as resentful. By then it was to late, Diemed was in ruins.

    The remaining populous was poor, bitter, angry, and disloyal and border

    nations were still ready to go to war.

  4. #4
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    Thanks this should be more than enough info

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