Cagilan Empire/2009 History Summarization

Letter from Famine Rider

Message sent to Kylaine Vita

This CE is not the CE of old. We have gained much, and lost much. I'm not by any means the eldest here, but I can fill in some gaps. I came of age at a time when Morrigan had been gone for ages. Vengence, Big Bad, and Strider were the leaders of the government, and we had just successfully squashed Suville. This was after the battle of Starguard, one of the battles I would choose to see, could I ever do so. Carelia and Tara had been founded and saved, Tara from but 4 regions, Carelia from the ashes of a problem realm. The CE was stable and prosperous. We had allies on all sides, and would fight at our leisure. Lady Morrigan came back for a short time, but was not herself. She stayed but a few months, and disappeared again. Our leaders grew old, and began to retire. Some moving away, some just up and disappearing. The face of CE changed in this period of peace. It became a new CE. A younger, more energetic one. It was the CE that I fondly remember. All was well until the snakes took over in Falasan, and drove that realm mad. The war with Falasan was long. It lasted an entire year. (OOC: Really - I recall it starting in summer a year ago, and not wrapping up until something like April. It was a horrifically long war!) They were our military equal, had more coin than us, and our allies were evenly matched. We were being careful - we wanted to TO regions and make them into an allied realm to our north. That way we would have allies on all sides. However, careful TOs don't win wars. Scorching earth does. After many futile months of TOs being TOed and swapping region after region, we changed out our General, and began to burn Falasan. That got results. Within two months, Falasan surrendered. Duke Maniac switched the allegiance of the BF duchy to the CE, causing a massive lot of problems, as all the knights of Falasan came with it. Still, we worked it out. After months of making a peace treaty which was as close to ironclad as possible, (slippery snakes of Falasan are hard to pin down) we finally got a treaty signed with Falasan. They had lost a region or two to Tara, and had lost the BF duchy to us. It was then that we made a good, strategic decision, and sacrificed the CE. We formed Coria. The formation of that realm cemented our allies on all sides. It made us invincible. None can march on our soil without passing through that of our allies. We can reach almost all realms on Atamara through friendly territory. And we lost our best nobles. Who would volunteer to leave their home? Who would leave the safety, security, and prosperity of the CE? Those with ambition. Those with drive. Those seeking fame and fortune. With the formation of Coria, we secured our realm for a long time in the future. But it cost us dearly. We lost our friends and family members. We lost our leaders, Dukes, and marshals. The government of the CE changed dramatically with that. There are lords in here now that I do not know. Marshals I've never fought alongside. When a Lordship comes up, I am often faced with a list of names I don't know to choose from. This isn't the CE of your grandfather's days. It's not even the CE of my day. This is another face of the CE, and one I don't know well.

Famine Rider (Marquess of Strahan)