Drachenwald/History

Gilead's Account of Drachenwald's History

The History of Drachenwald, as witnessed and compiled by Executor Gilead Occam This history is from the memory of witnesses and my own recollection. It may contain some errors.

Of The Beginning:

In the beginning, there were mountains. To these mountains came a few hardy Darkans, looking to start a colony. Their reasons are not known to me; but their results were. Taking Nazia and Alaise, they defeated the Great Dragon that lived here, and carved out a new land for themselves. The land was named Drachenwald, and the government a republic, ruled by its lords and guided by the strategic council. After the realm was perhaps a month old, my family gained nobility in Nazia. Jacket was the Prime Minister of the realm, and Falasan was our greatest enemy. Two mountain regions had revolted from Falasan, and we wanted them. Falasan had other ideas. We warred them in Nazgorn, we fought them in Belegmon, we slew them in Galadia. I used family gold in this war, sacrificing Prestige to gain enough money to lead a troop of 35 mixed infantry. Even so, our army was significantly smaller than theirs, and we suffered many defeats, and few victories. However, after mounting a valiant defense in the rocks of Galadia, we were able to take over that region while they were occupied in Belegmon. Thus the war ended in a compromise; we gained one region, while Falasan retook one region. After this war was a period of peace. For many days, Drachenwald had no foes, no battles to fight; just itself to tend to. Every region had 100% production, 100% morale, and 100% loyalty. But the citizens of the realm wanted to expand; to complete their goal of uniting the mountains under one banner. At the next election, Lord Skanders ran against Lord Jacket, promising to expand the realm. He won with the support of the Strategic Council. For about 75 days, very little happened in this realm. Skanders negotiated with much of our neighbors in order to gain another region. These negotiations did not go very far. The realm was discontent, with several elected officials plotting to push Skanders into a war, with only a few average troopleaders (like myself) preventing it. On the surface, this was another time of peace, but that all changed when the silence was punctuated by the Drachenwald Civil War.

Of The Drachenwald Civil War:

Looking over the finances and troopleaders of the realm, Prime Minister Skanders and Judge Su Ji Jurugi noticed a very large number of families from a realm named Avamar. Avamar, a realm on another continent, is apparently a sworn enemy of Skander’s family. Suspicious, he sent an order to the realm for all nobles to show their financial history, and tell him how much gold they had sent home to their families. This immediately put the Avamarian troopleaders on the offensive. They started by questioning whether Skanders had the authority to order this; a legitimate question. At this point, I started my finest hours, making several passionate and well reasoned speeches to the realm, explaining why Skanders was justified in asking for this, and that it was important to keep gold in the realm during times of trouble. It was because of these speeches that I was appointed to the Strategic Council. Seeing they did not have a way out, they started accusing Skanders of witchcraft. Filing many formal protests, they eventually forced him out of office. Unprepared for this occurrence, most of the nobles' votes were wasted, with them voting for far too many different people. The General, Banker, Judge, Sargeases, Nemethos, even me (which was especially funny, since I was not well known to the realm at this point) got votes. But the Avamarians /were/ prepared, and all voted for their leader, Leo, who had been in the realm mere days. Taking his office immediately, he challenged the Nobility of Lord Skanders, the Judge, and several of their most public supporters. We reeled from this event; we had just witnessed a coup! Thinking quickly, several people called for him to step down, and let us elect someone who was a legitimate ruler. He refused. We knew that if he could fill the Council with his supporters, Drachenwald would be doomed to be a puppet of foreign rivalries. Moving to stop him, Skanders, myself, and a few others sent pleas to foreign rulers not to recognize the government of Drachenwald under Leo. Immediately, this put massive pressure on Leo to step down for the good of Drachenwald, but he refused. Seeing there was only one other way to stop him, I joined the Rebel movement. Skanders and most of the troopleaders loyal to his government joined our side. Somehow, Leo found out I was a member. He messaged me, telling me to sabotage the movement, spy for him, and he would make me general in his administration. I must admit, for a minute I was tempted. Leo clearly had the advantage (his supporters logged in much more than even Skanders did) and a Generalship would give me a chance to prove my value to Drachenwald, something I never had an opportunity to do under the previous government. But, after a few seconds, I realized that I wanted to do what was best for Drachenwald, not for myself. In order to survive, Drachenwald needed the rebellion to succeed. In order to succeed, the rebels needed a double agent. Sacrificing my personal honor for the good of Drachenwald, I agreed to help Leo, while really spying for the rebels. As you might suspect, Leo figured this out eventually. With my cover blown, I made passionate speeches advocating rebellion, and helped to get more and more troopleaders onto our side. Using family gold, I recruited a massive unit of 70 men, and took my place beside Skanders. It was this dedication for which I was later appointed Executor.

Starting the rebellion, Skanders ordered us to march on the capitol building. News of the rebellion spread throughout the continent. It was perhaps the most watched rebellion of our time; we received wishes of luck from each corner of the land. We readied ourselves for battle, and battle we did. In the third battle, we wounded Leo, and took the palace. We had won.

Of The Empire:

In the aftermath of the rebellion, Skanders had to choose how to reform the government. We were all loyal to the Republic, but at the time we felt it was too weak a government. It had been taken over by a group of only 7 organized nobles, and we couldn’t let that happen again. So, perhaps mistakenly, or perhaps correctly, I argued for a stronger government; a government ruled by strength. I wanted security and stability, but a leader chosen by the people got lost somewhere along the way. After I made a public declaration, that Drachenwald should be reformed as a noble Empire, Skanders formed the Empire of Drachenwald, as it stands today. Afraid of the abuses Tyranny can bring, he appointed me Executor, and directed me to write a constitution to bind the Council to some basic laws. In an ironic twist, I decided to take much of our constitution from the Constitution of Avamar.

Of the Recent Past, and the Future:

With a defection of a Taran Lord, we gained Sauvia. Protecting Talerium from Darka, we gained Eagle’s Glen. The future I do not know, but the Troopleaders of Drachenwald will shape it.