Difference between revisions of "Arete Family/Averyll"

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|image=[[Image:Averyll.jpg|300px|thumb|center|'''Averyll Arete''' commanding the field at the victorious Battle of [[South-East Island/Lesthem|Lesthem]], where the heroic Pontifex Phear was unfortunately killed, after which she was elected as the new Pontifex of [[Toren]].]]
 
|image=[[Image:Averyll.jpg|300px|thumb|center|'''Averyll Arete''' commanding the field at the victorious Battle of [[South-East Island/Lesthem|Lesthem]], where the heroic Pontifex Phear was unfortunately killed, after which she was elected as the new Pontifex of [[Toren]].]]
 
|name=Averyll Arete
 
|name=Averyll Arete
|age=27
+
|age=28
 
|class=Mentor
 
|class=Mentor
 
|realm=Toren
 
|realm=Toren
 
|island=South-East
 
|island=South-East
|honour=142
+
|honour=145
|prestige=30
+
|prestige=31
 
|title=
 
|title=
 
|former titles=Pontifex of [[Toren]]<br>Countess of [[South-East Island/Jerelin|Jerelin]]<br>Marshal of the Army of Tor<br>Fiduciary of [[Toren]]
 
|former titles=Pontifex of [[Toren]]<br>Countess of [[South-East Island/Jerelin|Jerelin]]<br>Marshal of the Army of Tor<br>Fiduciary of [[Toren]]
|history=Began her career in Toren (07.06.06)<br>Appointed as Countess of [[South-East Island/Jerelin|Jerelin]] (09.08.06)<br>Appointed as Marshal of the Army of Tor (11.29.06)<br>Elected as Fiduciary of [[Toren]] (12.27.06)<br>Elected as Pontifex of [[Toren]] (3.17.07)<br>Banned from [[Toren]] by Gheros(07.26.2007, Reason: ''overthrown by a rebellion'')
+
|history=Began her career in Toren (07.06.06)<br>Appointed as Countess of [[South-East Island/Jerelin|Jerelin]] (09.08.06)<br>Appointed as Marshal of the Army of Tor (11.29.06)<br>Elected as Fiduciary of [[Toren]] (12.27.06)<br>Elected as Pontifex of [[Toren]] (3.17.07)<br>Banned from [[Toren]] by Gheros (07.26.2007, Reason: ''overthrown by a rebellion'')<br>Ban lifted by Gaius Julius (07.27.2007)
 
}}
 
}}
  
Averyll began her career on the South-East Islands in Toren, far away from her family in Abington. Like Aeryn, Averyll is very studious, but whereas Aeryn is passionate about the religious affairs of her realm, Averyll is passionate about military affairs, and so, on the recommendation of Sir Phear, Averyll decided to leave her ancestral home for more war-torn realms. In Toren, she met Pontifex Phear, the brother of Sir Phlex, and he appointed Averyll to the command of Jerelin after only two months in Toren. Shortly afterwards, Averyll became Toren's one and only mentor. Many of her students later became very successful in Toren, and eventually Averyll's lessons became the canonical texts of Aristoi Academy.
+
Whether they adore her for her unfaltering devotion to her realm and religion as well as her success as a strategist and tactician, or they loathe her for her seemingly endless brutality and complete disregard for "the petty quibbles of lesser mortals", Averyll is by far the most (in)famous member of the Arete family, and her name is among the most recognizable on the [[South-East Island]], inspiring fear amongst her enemies and awe amongst allies. Despite these same qualities, or perhaps because of them, Averyll easily found a home on the war island and has earned herself many nicknames of notoriety. Her career is likewise marked with many inflections, often directly connected to some of the most important events in the history of the entire island.  Here is her story.
  
Averyll's reputation grew quickly. She was appointed as the Marshal of the Army of Tor, and thus became part of Toren's Military Council. Later, she was elected as Fiduciary of Toren, and thus became part of Toren's Advisory Council. Through the combination of these two titles simultaneously, Averyll became intimately familiar with the effects of takeover strategies, and successfully coordinated several takeovers of her own. Her most famous victory, or rather infamous, was the takeover of Lesthem, which earned her the reputation of being a brilliant military strategist, but the unprecedented brutality she demonstrated there also earned her the nickname "The Butcher of Lesthem". But the infamy she earned in the takeover of Lesthem was not only due to her brutality, but also due to the outcome of the final battle, for it was the battle that ended the life of the heroic Pontifex Phear, and thus brought an end to a glorious era.
+
==The Butcher of Lesthem==
  
Despite her infamous reputation, or perhaps because of it, Averyll was immediately elected as the new Pontifex by the extremely narrow margin of only 3 votes (over Cyperus, Duke of Toren Stronghold), and shortly thereafter retired from her positions as Countess of Jerelin, Marshal of the Army of Tor and Fiduciary of Toren, citing a conflict of interest in both writing policy and implementing policy at the same time. Doing so also created new leadership opportunities for other nobles in the realm. However, the legitimacy of her rule was immediately questioned by a member of Averyll's own Advisory Council, who pointed out the fact that Cyperus was imprisoned, along with most of his supporters, during the same battle that left the throne empty, and thus he was unable to effectively campaign for the position. Gheros, serving as Haruspex Maximus, initiated a referendum calling for a re-election. The referendum closed in Averyll's favour, thus concluding the debate over her legitimacy, but opposition to her rule continued to grow nonetheless. One noble even called Averyll a "wretched whore", and eventually this discontent grew into a rebellion, which came to be know as The Toren Civil War.
+
Averyll began her career on the South-East Islands in Toren, far away from her family on [[Atamara]]. Like her sister [[Arete Family/Aeryn|Aeryn]], Averyll is very studious, but whereas Aeryn is passionate about the religion, law and other administrative affairs, Averyll's interests are strictly limited to the art of warfare, and so, at the recommendation of Sir Phlex, who was the Count of Washford at the time, Averyll decided to leave her ancestral home for more war-torn realms. In Toren, she met Pontifex Phear, the brother of Sir Phlex, and he appointed Averyll to the command of Jerelin after only two months in Toren, probably due more to the administrative success of her sister than anything Averyll had done herself. Regardless, Averyll soon became Toren's one and only mentor, and many of her students later became very successful leaders in Toren, including the [[Arylon Family|Fisc Arylon]] (who has served as lord, marshal, banker and general), [[Danlawer Family|Gaius Julius]] (who has served as lord, marshal, general and judge), Count Necroid of Neralle and Count Bailyhn of Berakor. Eventually Averyll's lessons became the canonical texts of the [[Aristoi Atamarism/Academy/Military Studies|Military Studies]] program at [[Aristoi Atamarism/Academy|Aristoi Academy]].
  
When Averyll was elected as Pontifex on March 17th, it was obvious to everyone on SEI that Averyll, with all her titles, was an extremely influential person in Toren, but no one outside of Toren had every heard of her, let alone had become familiar with her policies. This caused a great deal of stress in foreign realms, particular the rulers of those realms. When Averyll made it clear that she would honour the precedent set by Phear to support the treaty with Ikalak, King Cronos of Taselak began to coordinate his efforts with the underground rebellion that had been growing in Toren. On April 14th, less than one month after Averyll's election as ruler, the Seperatists declared rebellion. The declaration was timed with the onset of two takeover attempts by Taselak, thus forcing Averyll to choose between defending her realm and defending her crown. To make matters worse, despite Averyll's proclamation of her commitment to the Treaty, even in the face of open-rebellion, Prime Minister Maximus of Ikalak doubted her commitment and so he ordered his troops to cease-fire for the during of the rebellion. This forced Averyll to defend not only her realm against two takeovers and herself against open-rebellion, but also to do so without the assistance of allies as promised by the Treaty she supported.
+
Averyll's reputation continued to grew, and that right quickly. She was appointed as the Marshal of the Army of Tor, and thus became part of Toren's Military Council. Later, she was elected as Fiduciary of Toren (the only Banker left of SEI), and thus became part of Toren's Advisory Council. Through the combination of these two titles simultaneously, Averyll became intimately familiar with the effects of takeover strategies, and successfully coordinated several takeovers of her own. Her most famous victory was the takeover of Lesthem, which earned her the reputation of being a brilliant military strategist, but the unprecedented brutality she demonstrated there also earned her the nickname "The Butcher of Lesthem". The infamy she earned during the takeover of Lesthem was not only due to her brutality, but also due to the outcome of the last [[Battle of Lesthem]], for it was the battle that ended the life of the heroic Pontifex Phear, and thus brought an end to '''The Golden Age of Toren'''.
  
Out-numbered with fewer resources and diminished morale among peasants and nobles alike, Averyll choose to defend the realm before herself, and she ordered the troops to defend the regions being taken over by Taselak. Fortunately, enough Loyalists returned from the battlefront in time to overcome the rebellion. Unfortunately, both takeovers were successful, in part due to the absence of allied forces, in part due to all of the rebels in the capital instead of on the battlefield. Moreover, two dozen nobles were lost from the ranks of Toren, some for being rebels, others left because they were convinced Toren was going to lose. Even though the rebellion was over, Maximus did not lift the cease-fire. A referendum was called in Ikalak encouraging Maximus to take advantage of Toren's weakened state, betray the Treaty, and end the "boredom" by conquering the island without delay. Averyll convinced Maximus to at least enter into negotiations first.
+
Averyll was immediately elected as the new Pontifex by the extremely narrow margin of only 3 votes (over Cyperus, Duke of Toren Stronghold), and shortly thereafter retired from her positions as Countess of Jerelin, Marshal of the Army of Tor and Fiduciary of Toren, citing a conflict of interest in both writing policy and implementing policy at the same time. Doing so also created new leadership opportunities for other nobles in the realm. However, the legitimacy of her rule was immediately brought into question.  According to the [[Toren Herald/Issue 1|Toren Herald]], "Shortly following the Averyll's election. Karibash the Great, made a startling speech full of hate and spite directed towards Lady Averyll."  More specifically, Karibash, who was a member of Averyll's own Advisory Council at the time, stated that Averyll was too inactive to adequately perform as a ruler and furthermore claimed that his achievements easily matched hers.  Not even 6 hours had passed since the votes had been tallied. Gheros, who was serving as the Haruspex Maximus at the time, stated that if such harsh words had been spoken against any other ruler, she would impose equally harsh penalties, but since it was directed at Averyll, she would do nothing to enforce order. The Toren Herald continues, "Averyll, surprisingly doesn't seemed bothered by Karibash and hasn't spared the effort to argue with him."  This later proved to the norm for Averyll, who made a point of not participating in the public forum on matters unrelated to the war. Things soon began to calm down; however, four days after the election, Gheros initiated a referendum calling for a re-election. Her reason for doing so was that Cyperus was in Taselak's prison during the election and thus was unable to effectively campaign for the position. The referendum closed in Averyll's favour by a large margin, thus concluding the debate over her legitimacy, but opposition to her rule continued to grow nonetheless. And so began '''The Dark Age of Toren'''.
  
With the loss of the legendary Phear, as well as two dozen other nobles, having suffered a rebellion and the withdrawal of their ally from the conflict, these were truly the darkest days yet seen in the history of Toren, and yet the darkest had yet to come. Eventually, Maximus agreed to abide by the treaty and even signed an amendment requiring a greater involvement of his forces in the war against Taselak, and so Averyll managed to retain the spirit of the treaty and keep Toren alive. She than declared martial law (i.e. she dictated military strategy instead of the general), retook the lost regions, as well as a couple new regions, and even raised morale, loyalty, and production from the single digits to the mid-nineties in all of the regions that had been decimated by the brutality of the volley between Taselak. Things were starting to turn around for Toren. Than, on June 15th, Maximus announced that he intended to break the Treaty a second time.
+
==The Tyrant of Tor==
 +
 
 +
Some consider Averyll's reign as ruler of Toren to be the Dark Age of Toren because they hate and fear her.  One noble of Toren even called Averyll a "wretched whore" (his comments went unpunished, although he was later banned for treason as a result of his involvement in a conspiracy).  However, most consider Averyll's reign to be the Dark Age of Toren because her rule was plagued with, as one noble so eloquently put it, "a greater ill-fortune than any other ruler on any other island at any time in history."  The Truth of this statement may be a bit exaggerated; however, it nevertheless remains true that every single crisis that befell Toren during Averyll's reign was initiated not by Averyll herself, but rather by the domestic nobles that hated her and the foreign nobles that feared her.  Regardless, those few malcontents within Toren immediately set themselves against Averyll, and the judge never once attempted to enforce the realm's laws against disobedience and insubordination.  Consequently, this discontent grew into a rebellion, which came to be know as The [[Toren Civil War]].  As hate was permitted to run rampant within the realm, so to did fear immediately set in amongst nobles and leaders outside the realm, not because they knew Averyll well, but rather because they did not know her at all.  Life and death, victory and defeat, had so far been the predictable result of the treaties written by the late Pontifex Phear, and no one outside Toren (and some not even inside Toren) knew whether or not Averyll would uphold the terms of the agreement.
 +
 
 +
When Averyll made it clear that she would honour the precedent set by Phear to support the treaty with Ikalak, King Cronos of Taselak began to coordinate his efforts with the underground rebellion that had been growing in Toren. On April 14th, less than one month after Averyll's election as ruler, the Seperatists declared rebellion. The declaration was timed with the onset of two takeover attempts by Taselak, thus forcing Averyll to choose between defending her realm and defending her crown. Together, the King of Taselak and the Rebel Leader each preached that Averyll had transformed the Toren Theocracy into a Tyranny.  Henceforth, Averyll became known as "The Tyrant of Tor".  But before Averyll could respond, the situation became even more dire.  Despite Averyll's proclamation of her commitment to the Treaty, even in the face of open-rebellion, Prime Minister Maximus of Ikalak doubted her commitment and so he ordered his troops to cease-fire for the duration of the rebellion. Thus, Averyll was forced not only to defend her realm against two simultaneous takeovers amidst open-rebellion, but also to do so without the assistance of allies as promised by the very same treaty she supported.
 +
 
 +
Out-numbered with fewer resources and diminished morale among peasants and nobles alike, Averyll choose to put the realm before herself, and she ordered the troops to defend the regions being taken over by Taselak. Fortunately, the rebellion was defeated despite their effective conspiracy with the enemy ruler. Unfortunately, both takeovers were successful, in part due to the absence of allied forces, in part due to all of the rebels being in the capital instead of on the battlefield.  To make matters worse, two dozen Toren nobles were lost as a result of the rebellion, some for being rebels, others left because they were convinced Toren was about to fall. With the loss of the legendary Phear, as well as two dozen other nobles, having suffered a rebellion and the withdrawal of their ally from the conflict, these were truly the darkest days yet seen in the history of Toren, and yet the darkest had yet to come.
 +
 
 +
Even though the rebellion was over, Maximus did not lift the cease-fire. Instead, a referendum was called in Ikalak encouraging Maximus to take advantage of Toren's weakened state, betray the Treaty, and end the "boredom" by conquering the island without delay. After quelling the rebellion and orchestrating a strategy to retake the lost regions, Averyll managed to convince Maximus to at least enter into negotiations before abandoning the treaty he had previously begged her to uphold.  Eventually, Maximus agreed to abide by the treaty and even signed an amendment requiring a greater involvement of his forces in the war against Taselak, and so Averyll managed to retain the spirit of the treaty and keep Toren alive. She than declared martial law (i.e. she dictated military strategy instead of the general), retook the lost regions, as well as a couple new regions, and even raised morale, loyalty, and production from the single digits to the mid-nineties in all of the regions that had been decimated by the brutality of the volley between Taselak. Toren was at the peak of its power, and it looked as though Taselak would not last the month. However, on June 15th, Maximus announced for the second time that he intended to break the Treaty.  No warning was given.  No negotiations took place.  The announcement was made, and the attacks immediately began, on two fronts.  It was not long before Toren was once again reduced to a mere handful of regions.
 +
 
 +
==The Last Pontifex==
 +
 
 +
Once Maximus broke the long-standing Ikalak-Toren Treaty, Duke Cyperus attempted to negotiate a new treaty with Taselak, and he did so without the knowledge, consent or authority required of Averyll.  Mischa, the new ruler of Taselak, refused to consider any terms until Averyll had been removed from office.  Averyll agreed to step down as ruler in order to save the realm, but only after having seen and agreed to the terms of the Treaty that would take place after her resignation.  She stated that her removal from office was the only bargaining chip Toren had to negotiate equitable terms, and furthermore, that if she resigned prior to signing a treaty, Taselak would have no reason to sign any treaty at all.  But Mischa refused to even reply to Averyll's letters, and eventually the nobles of Toren, including Duke Cyperus, were once again plotting rebellion.  However, before Cyperus was able to rally his supporters, Gheros, who was still Haruspex Maximus, initiated the second rebellion.  With her own judge, the person whose job it was to prevent rebellions, against her, Averyll finally gave in.  She ordered that no one join the loyalist forces and instead allow the rebellion to take its course, and with the exception of a few radical loyalists, that is exactly what happened.  The Theocracy was overthrown and Gheros became Queen of the new Kingdom of Toren.  Thus, Averyll became "The Last Pontifex".

Revision as of 13:06, 26 November 2007

Averyll Arete commanding the field at the victorious Battle of Lesthem, where the heroic Pontifex Phear was unfortunately killed, after which she was elected as the new Pontifex of Toren.
Full Name: Averyll Arete
Age: 28
Class Mentor
Realm/Island: Toren, South-East
Honour/Prestige: 145 / 31
Title(s):
Former Title(s): Pontifex of Toren
Countess of Jerelin
Marshal of the Army of Tor
Fiduciary of Toren
History: Began her career in Toren (07.06.06)
Appointed as Countess of Jerelin (09.08.06)
Appointed as Marshal of the Army of Tor (11.29.06)
Elected as Fiduciary of Toren (12.27.06)
Elected as Pontifex of Toren (3.17.07)
Banned from Toren by Gheros (07.26.2007, Reason: overthrown by a rebellion)
Ban lifted by Gaius Julius (07.27.2007)

Whether they adore her for her unfaltering devotion to her realm and religion as well as her success as a strategist and tactician, or they loathe her for her seemingly endless brutality and complete disregard for "the petty quibbles of lesser mortals", Averyll is by far the most (in)famous member of the Arete family, and her name is among the most recognizable on the South-East Island, inspiring fear amongst her enemies and awe amongst allies. Despite these same qualities, or perhaps because of them, Averyll easily found a home on the war island and has earned herself many nicknames of notoriety. Her career is likewise marked with many inflections, often directly connected to some of the most important events in the history of the entire island. Here is her story.

The Butcher of Lesthem

Averyll began her career on the South-East Islands in Toren, far away from her family on Atamara. Like her sister Aeryn, Averyll is very studious, but whereas Aeryn is passionate about the religion, law and other administrative affairs, Averyll's interests are strictly limited to the art of warfare, and so, at the recommendation of Sir Phlex, who was the Count of Washford at the time, Averyll decided to leave her ancestral home for more war-torn realms. In Toren, she met Pontifex Phear, the brother of Sir Phlex, and he appointed Averyll to the command of Jerelin after only two months in Toren, probably due more to the administrative success of her sister than anything Averyll had done herself. Regardless, Averyll soon became Toren's one and only mentor, and many of her students later became very successful leaders in Toren, including the Fisc Arylon (who has served as lord, marshal, banker and general), Gaius Julius (who has served as lord, marshal, general and judge), Count Necroid of Neralle and Count Bailyhn of Berakor. Eventually Averyll's lessons became the canonical texts of the Military Studies program at Aristoi Academy.

Averyll's reputation continued to grew, and that right quickly. She was appointed as the Marshal of the Army of Tor, and thus became part of Toren's Military Council. Later, she was elected as Fiduciary of Toren (the only Banker left of SEI), and thus became part of Toren's Advisory Council. Through the combination of these two titles simultaneously, Averyll became intimately familiar with the effects of takeover strategies, and successfully coordinated several takeovers of her own. Her most famous victory was the takeover of Lesthem, which earned her the reputation of being a brilliant military strategist, but the unprecedented brutality she demonstrated there also earned her the nickname "The Butcher of Lesthem". The infamy she earned during the takeover of Lesthem was not only due to her brutality, but also due to the outcome of the last Battle of Lesthem, for it was the battle that ended the life of the heroic Pontifex Phear, and thus brought an end to The Golden Age of Toren.

Averyll was immediately elected as the new Pontifex by the extremely narrow margin of only 3 votes (over Cyperus, Duke of Toren Stronghold), and shortly thereafter retired from her positions as Countess of Jerelin, Marshal of the Army of Tor and Fiduciary of Toren, citing a conflict of interest in both writing policy and implementing policy at the same time. Doing so also created new leadership opportunities for other nobles in the realm. However, the legitimacy of her rule was immediately brought into question. According to the Toren Herald, "Shortly following the Averyll's election. Karibash the Great, made a startling speech full of hate and spite directed towards Lady Averyll." More specifically, Karibash, who was a member of Averyll's own Advisory Council at the time, stated that Averyll was too inactive to adequately perform as a ruler and furthermore claimed that his achievements easily matched hers. Not even 6 hours had passed since the votes had been tallied. Gheros, who was serving as the Haruspex Maximus at the time, stated that if such harsh words had been spoken against any other ruler, she would impose equally harsh penalties, but since it was directed at Averyll, she would do nothing to enforce order. The Toren Herald continues, "Averyll, surprisingly doesn't seemed bothered by Karibash and hasn't spared the effort to argue with him." This later proved to the norm for Averyll, who made a point of not participating in the public forum on matters unrelated to the war. Things soon began to calm down; however, four days after the election, Gheros initiated a referendum calling for a re-election. Her reason for doing so was that Cyperus was in Taselak's prison during the election and thus was unable to effectively campaign for the position. The referendum closed in Averyll's favour by a large margin, thus concluding the debate over her legitimacy, but opposition to her rule continued to grow nonetheless. And so began The Dark Age of Toren.

The Tyrant of Tor

Some consider Averyll's reign as ruler of Toren to be the Dark Age of Toren because they hate and fear her. One noble of Toren even called Averyll a "wretched whore" (his comments went unpunished, although he was later banned for treason as a result of his involvement in a conspiracy). However, most consider Averyll's reign to be the Dark Age of Toren because her rule was plagued with, as one noble so eloquently put it, "a greater ill-fortune than any other ruler on any other island at any time in history." The Truth of this statement may be a bit exaggerated; however, it nevertheless remains true that every single crisis that befell Toren during Averyll's reign was initiated not by Averyll herself, but rather by the domestic nobles that hated her and the foreign nobles that feared her. Regardless, those few malcontents within Toren immediately set themselves against Averyll, and the judge never once attempted to enforce the realm's laws against disobedience and insubordination. Consequently, this discontent grew into a rebellion, which came to be know as The Toren Civil War. As hate was permitted to run rampant within the realm, so to did fear immediately set in amongst nobles and leaders outside the realm, not because they knew Averyll well, but rather because they did not know her at all. Life and death, victory and defeat, had so far been the predictable result of the treaties written by the late Pontifex Phear, and no one outside Toren (and some not even inside Toren) knew whether or not Averyll would uphold the terms of the agreement.

When Averyll made it clear that she would honour the precedent set by Phear to support the treaty with Ikalak, King Cronos of Taselak began to coordinate his efforts with the underground rebellion that had been growing in Toren. On April 14th, less than one month after Averyll's election as ruler, the Seperatists declared rebellion. The declaration was timed with the onset of two takeover attempts by Taselak, thus forcing Averyll to choose between defending her realm and defending her crown. Together, the King of Taselak and the Rebel Leader each preached that Averyll had transformed the Toren Theocracy into a Tyranny. Henceforth, Averyll became known as "The Tyrant of Tor". But before Averyll could respond, the situation became even more dire. Despite Averyll's proclamation of her commitment to the Treaty, even in the face of open-rebellion, Prime Minister Maximus of Ikalak doubted her commitment and so he ordered his troops to cease-fire for the duration of the rebellion. Thus, Averyll was forced not only to defend her realm against two simultaneous takeovers amidst open-rebellion, but also to do so without the assistance of allies as promised by the very same treaty she supported.

Out-numbered with fewer resources and diminished morale among peasants and nobles alike, Averyll choose to put the realm before herself, and she ordered the troops to defend the regions being taken over by Taselak. Fortunately, the rebellion was defeated despite their effective conspiracy with the enemy ruler. Unfortunately, both takeovers were successful, in part due to the absence of allied forces, in part due to all of the rebels being in the capital instead of on the battlefield. To make matters worse, two dozen Toren nobles were lost as a result of the rebellion, some for being rebels, others left because they were convinced Toren was about to fall. With the loss of the legendary Phear, as well as two dozen other nobles, having suffered a rebellion and the withdrawal of their ally from the conflict, these were truly the darkest days yet seen in the history of Toren, and yet the darkest had yet to come.

Even though the rebellion was over, Maximus did not lift the cease-fire. Instead, a referendum was called in Ikalak encouraging Maximus to take advantage of Toren's weakened state, betray the Treaty, and end the "boredom" by conquering the island without delay. After quelling the rebellion and orchestrating a strategy to retake the lost regions, Averyll managed to convince Maximus to at least enter into negotiations before abandoning the treaty he had previously begged her to uphold. Eventually, Maximus agreed to abide by the treaty and even signed an amendment requiring a greater involvement of his forces in the war against Taselak, and so Averyll managed to retain the spirit of the treaty and keep Toren alive. She than declared martial law (i.e. she dictated military strategy instead of the general), retook the lost regions, as well as a couple new regions, and even raised morale, loyalty, and production from the single digits to the mid-nineties in all of the regions that had been decimated by the brutality of the volley between Taselak. Toren was at the peak of its power, and it looked as though Taselak would not last the month. However, on June 15th, Maximus announced for the second time that he intended to break the Treaty. No warning was given. No negotiations took place. The announcement was made, and the attacks immediately began, on two fronts. It was not long before Toren was once again reduced to a mere handful of regions.

The Last Pontifex

Once Maximus broke the long-standing Ikalak-Toren Treaty, Duke Cyperus attempted to negotiate a new treaty with Taselak, and he did so without the knowledge, consent or authority required of Averyll. Mischa, the new ruler of Taselak, refused to consider any terms until Averyll had been removed from office. Averyll agreed to step down as ruler in order to save the realm, but only after having seen and agreed to the terms of the Treaty that would take place after her resignation. She stated that her removal from office was the only bargaining chip Toren had to negotiate equitable terms, and furthermore, that if she resigned prior to signing a treaty, Taselak would have no reason to sign any treaty at all. But Mischa refused to even reply to Averyll's letters, and eventually the nobles of Toren, including Duke Cyperus, were once again plotting rebellion. However, before Cyperus was able to rally his supporters, Gheros, who was still Haruspex Maximus, initiated the second rebellion. With her own judge, the person whose job it was to prevent rebellions, against her, Averyll finally gave in. She ordered that no one join the loyalist forces and instead allow the rebellion to take its course, and with the exception of a few radical loyalists, that is exactly what happened. The Theocracy was overthrown and Gheros became Queen of the new Kingdom of Toren. Thus, Averyll became "The Last Pontifex".