Arcaea/Library/History/To what extent can the fall of Ethiala be attributed to the incompetence of its leaders?
"Under the leadership of "King" Jenred and his wet blanket of a wife Edara, the current scenario we find ourselves in does not surprise me a great deal."
This is a rather fateful comment from former King of Arcaea Riar Dynrode Windsoul, during Arcaea's attack upon Ethiala's capital. In the same letter that he claimed to be the rightful King of Arcaea, he insulted the incumbent King's wife. Might, at this late stage, Arcaea have been convinced not to destroy Ethiala? It seems unlikely. However, the comment is indicative of the generally thoughtless attitude of Ethiala's leaders throughout the war, as they insisted upon forgoing all hope of peace by insulting the very people they needed most to befriend. In this essay I will consider the impact of the death of King Septimus, the secession of Lasop, the ascendency of Keffer, the strength of the forces arrayed against Ethiala and the domestic and military leaderships of that troubled nation.
Under Archduke Septimus's chivalrous care, Ethiala's legal and political system went under a series of reforms. The realm was in desperate need of restructuring; it faced the danger of stagnation. There was severe disgruntlement amongst the nobility, as evidenced by Dieter's prompt secession when Septimus died. During Septimus's reign, the realm was held together largely by his force of personality, and it is true that he was well liked - his various contacts, particularly in Cathay, gave the realm much needed international political influence. However, Archduke Septimus foresaw at least some of the problems that were afflicting his realm. If it could not gather enough internal strength, it would be snapped up by a more powerful neighbour. Lasanar's attempt to do just this was largely beaten off by Septimus's own influence, but he hoped that his reforms would give the realm enough of a sense of purpose to survive beyond his death.
Clearly this was not to be. Lasanar was afflicted by a similar danger, only its size meant that it would be eaten from the inside, rather than by foreigners. The turmoil of Lasanar's collapse, Ethiala's long term problems and the questionable election of Keffer were enough to prompt the secession of Duke Dieter of Lasop to form the Kingdom of Kamador. This tiny realm was not large enough in terms of heritage nor size for many records to have survived, and other realms' biased interests have made it even harder to put together a balanced view of it. However, it does appear that Dieter had genuine support from his vassals in the secession; they did not return to Ethiala, at any rate. The matter of Dieter's leadership is another question, but Keffer's failure to resecure Lasop can clearly be seen as a critical error. It may have been a tumultuous period, but in one fell swoop the new Archduke had allowed a third of Ethiala's holdings under Archduke Septimus to be lost.
Keffer himself can clearly be blamed for at least part of Ethiala's fall. He must take responsibility for its inability to hold Lasop, and its provocation of its eventual destroyer, Arcaea. However, can he be called the ultimate cause of its downfall? Perhaps; according to one view, had Keffer simply stepped down, at least at any point until the final stage of the war, Ethiala would have survived. In support of this view are the actual words of Arcaea, and it is clear that many Arcaeans, both those in positions of power and those not, had personal reasons to hate Keffer. However, there is an alternative view that Arcaea's large nobility meant that it required more land to satisfy its many knights; Ethiala was too tempting a target. Had Septimus succeeded in reinforcing Ethiala's spirit, Arcaea might have chosen other enemies, but the upheaval caused by his death meant that Keffer had no chance to do this.
In actual military terms, what might have been done to defend Ethiala better? Well, its military tactics were far from the finest in the land, but this can be attributed largely to the competency of the forces allied against them. Arcaean heavy infantry is well known for its discipline and the quality of its armour, and by the time of Ethiala's destruction the Arcaean army was largely composed of veterans, which had experience fighting on the walls and in the streets of Talex, Remton, Niel and Lasop. Had Ethiala left its capital it might have been easily destroyed; its army was negligible. Although Cathay was on their side, much of its time was occupied with fighting Papania. Ethiala's best chance would have been to coordinate better with Greater Aenilia; their failure to do this can be called their greatest military mistake. However, without utterly brilliant tactical leadership, there was little that Ethiala could do to change the ultimate fate of the war; their enemies were simply too close at hand, their allies too distant.
So, what was Ethiala's greatest mistake? It seems clearly, from a diverse and comprehensive variety of scout reports, yield records and production estimates, that their economy was, bluntly, awful. They failed to feed their peasants, despite little close harassment from Arcaean forces until the final stages of the war. Could they not have found a single ally to supply them with enough food? Even their enemies made (albeit conditional) offers of sustenance! Had Ethiala found enough food to keep their peasants productive, and had they been able to collect enough gold to equip a decent army, they might not have so easily been defeated. By allowing their regions to slip into mismanagement, they cost themselves their very existence.
