Dwilight University/History/Astromancy at War!/The Fall of Aegir Closes the Raivan Front
Facts for this article were collected by interviews with Lord Polemarch Bustoarsenzio Peristaltico and Sir Erwin Prodito.
The Fall of Aegir Closes the Raivan Front
In the Winter of 9 YD, nearly a full year after the Outpost of the Raivanlands entered the war against Xinhai, Aegir revolted into roguery and ended the Raivanlands. I celebrate the day the outpost sank and write this article with gleeful joy. Although I am making them the subject of an entire article, which I said I would never do, it is done not to enshrine the realm’s memory, but to present the last days of the realm to others as a case example. This event has many causes underlying it that are presented as best as possible. From the facts that I have gathered, these causes led to the Fall of Aegir.
The Raivanlands had been participating in a war they could not win. With Astrum and Xinhai fielding a stronger military and indulging in every territorial advantage, the Raivanlands were at the mercy of their conquerors. Worse still, their Liberonian allies exited the war in the benign Treaty of Stratford. That treaty was a death sentence for the outpost. Since the signing of the treaty, the outpost went into an irreversible decline. After they lost Nimh to Xinhai, Aegir's Deep became their best defense. Despite the motte and bailey defenses, the Raivanlanders stood no chance against the combined forces of Xinhai and Astrum. Realizing this harsh truth, the Raivanlanders abandoned Aegir’s Deep and retreated to their capital. This led to the successful takeover of Aegir’s Deep by Xinhai and the resignation of Astrum as combatants when they realized the Raivanlands were no longer competitive. Aegir had a large amount of militia garrisoned in the city sounding caution for the military of Xinhai. At this point, Xinhai repositioned their strategy from force of arms to patience.
Focusing on the city, the permanent loss of Aegir's Deep caused severe starvation leading to the deaths of reportedly ten thousand peasants and soldiers. The blatant doom of the outpost splintered the nobility. Many began to migrate out of the realm while some remained to face their fate. Famous for its trademark silence, Aegir during this period was as quiet as ever except for the few who thought they could still rescue the realm. In early Winter, Sir Erwin Prodito launched a rebellion to replace the invisible rulers and make a difference. Low Edward Raiva and the council in Aegir had never been very vocal during the war, ignoring the letters from Xinhai, ignoring his own nobility who pleaded for some leadership. The governing council of Aegir was absent save for the few hopeless military commands. When Sir Erwin and the Aegirian underground went public and launched the rebellion, it was swiftly met with criticism and taunting. The remaining nobles sided with Low Edward and cast out Sir Erwin as a traitor. After the noble rebellion failed, it was the peasants turn to upset the order of the realm. Enduring the famine and incompetence of the elite became so unbearable that they finally took the city into their own hands. They successfully tossed out the Aegir nobility. Whether these rebellions succeeded or not, the weight of imminent enemies and the dissolution of cohesion was enough to cause the end of the Raivanlands.
The Outpost of the Raivanlands fell, then, because of forces external and internal. The realm began its serious decline at the signing of the Treaty of Stratford and was forever silenced by the outraged peasants of the city. Finally.
Spring of 9 YD (or the 26th of February, 2010)
