Tideweaver War

Seifer Tideweaver

Gheric Arylon

Bruce Wilde

An assassin named Seifer Tideweaver from Luria Nova sought the lives of High King Gheric Arylon and High Adjudicator Lowry Cameron of Westgard. Despite repeated complaints to Suzerain Emperor Bruce Wilde, the attacks continued and even appeared to be fascilitated by the empire, so Gheric was forced to officially declare war.

The war saw little action due to the distance between the realms. However, during the short war Westgard saw many different High Adjudicators:

• Lowry Cameron was incapacitated by Seifer Tideweaver.
• Agatha Poe replaced him, but was killed in a duel by Kenneth Gotz.
• Lowry Cameron was voted into office again, but was suddenly incapacitated by a mysterious sickness.
• Carlos Snodaert replaced him, but disappeared.
• Severina Erickson was High Adjudicator when the war ended.

Even though Westgard eventually succeeded in executing Seifer Tideweaver, the war continued until the Mimer incident saw the only battle of the war. The Lurian victory caused Westgard to vie for peace on the condition that Nova Luria would no longer allow infiltrators to operate in Westgard. The new ruler of Luria Nova, Heliacal Wassgandr Felsenbach, accepted.

Tensions rise (2022-09-10)

Seifer Tideweaver was caught, but High King Gheric Arylon informed the realm that much more was going on. Unortunately Seifer escaped the next day.

Letter from High King Gheric Arylon

Westgard --
In the wake of the assassination attempt on my life last night, I have sent the following two letters to the rulers of all realms on Dwilight, exposing the Lurian Emperor's inaction, despite repeated warnings:

Background according to the High King

Rulers of Dwilight

My apologies in advance for two lengthy letters, but this is a serious enough situation that requires explanation.

A little more than one month ago, High Adjudicator Lowry Cameron of Westgard was sleeping in his quarters when he was approached by Seifer Tideweaver, an infiltrator working for Luria Nova. This assassin had a poison tipped blade and made an attempt on the life of a member of the Westgard government, and his life was only spared by the alert actions of his guards who had an instinct that something was happening, and caught Seifer in action and arrested him.

In the aftermath of this outrage, I approached Bruce Wilde, Suzerain Emperor of Luria Nova to inform him of the incident. He and I spoke about it, and I politely requested that he make some kind of pronouncement to his people that Westgard and its nobility was not to be subjected to subterfuge in this way, particularly assassination attempts and particularly members of my government. The emperor made no such commitment and claimed he did not feel it necessary to eject Seifer from his realm.

In the interest of friendship with the Lurians, a people I have generally respected since my first tenure as High King, I dropped the matter, and Seifer left our dungeons with a warning to not return.

22 days ago, Seifer Tideweaver was again found lurking in the bedchamber of my High Adjudicator. Again with a poison tipped blade. Again too incompetent to be able to make his planned kill, he was found, arrested, and thrown in jail.

At that time, I again contacted the Suzerain Emperor. Clearly Seifer was neither ejected from Luria, nor ordered to stop this kind of activity. I demanded an explanation from the Emperor, and made clear to him the following:
Let me make clear that if any noble of Westgard was found to be conducting operations like this against you or a member of your government, that person would be sanctioned immediately, told directly to leave your people alone, and to practice their dark craft elsewhere.

I then made clear to him that I was directing Lowry to ban Seifer and expel him permanently from Westgard with a warning that if he is seen in the realm again, he would be caught, arrested, and he would be immediately executed for his crimes. I asked him to ban Seifer himself and sanction him for his actions.

The Emperor's reply to me was thus:
I promise you - as long as I am ruler - that Luria Nova will not use his death as a ground for war or any other type of issue with Westgard. He is operating on his own, and as such he does not get the privilege to get any kind of protection from the Lurian government. With that being said, I believe that with having him banned from Westgard, you will not see him again. It seems like it is his life goal to be banned from every realm there is, and as such, banning him from Luria Nova would only speed up that process - and I would be playing straight into his hands. Which is why I do will not have him exiled from Luria Nova.

I found this reply curious and insufficient. Why any ruler would maintain a relationship with an assassin, and refuse to expel him from your realm when that assassin is targeting foreign government officials from friendly governments is beyond me. I can promise you all that if this was a member of my Kingdom, I would likely execute the cad myself for jeopardizing the peace of nations.

Still, in the interest of friendship and good relations, I again let this go, hoping he was right that Seifer would never return and the point would be moot.

Gheric Arylon, High King of Westgard

Current development according to the High King

Continuing from my previous letter...11 days ago, Seifer himself sent me the following message:
High King Gheric,
That is a fine bounty on your head. Fear not, I am coming relieve you of such a burden.
Rest easy dear King. You need not look over your shoulder every day for long.

So now we had a Lurian assassin who the Emperor had refused to expel from his realm openly threatening the assassination of a foreign monarch.

Again I contacted the Emperor, and this time, my patience thin for these threats, I requested the Emperor take action:
Therefore I ask you now for a third time, in the wake of one of your citizens now openly threatening the ruler of what is, at worst, a neutral realm, and at best a realm run by a warm colleague and friend: banish this man from your company.

My message was never returned. Seifer remained a Lurian citizen. No sanction took place.

Last night, Seifer Tideweaver entered my Royal Palace in Eidulb and as I slept, attacked me. He failed, but sunk his knife deep into my ribs, injuring me badly. He was apprehended and is now in a Westgard jail. He will soon be executed, as he was warned he would be.

As I lay in my chambers bleeding and wounded, I believe I am owed an explanation for why my very polite and respectful requests for this man's estrangement from Luria were ignored. Your explanation before that banning him would “help him achieve his goal” of “being banned from every realm on Dwilight” seems to be an incomprehensible reason to allow him the protection, gold income, and privileges of citizenship afforded by Luria. So what if that was his goal? He wants to be a renegade from civilization that has a price on his head? So be it. How any realm can continue to allow a man like that to be associated with them after attempting twice to kill a foreign judge, and then threatening a foreign King is... frankly incomprehensible.

If our situations were reversed, it would have taken a single request of you to me for me to expel this madman, and I am bewildered beyond any rational understanding as to why you would remain associated with this man and jeopardize the good will if nations by so doing. I tried very hard to keep this between us, and to use this situation to build closer ties of friendship between our realms, but now I feel I must discuss this openly in the hall of rulers. I would appreciate an explanation for why this man continued to be embraced as one of your citizens to the point that a knife was plunged into my chest last night.

For the Shield,
Gheric Arylon, High King of Westgard

Response of Swordfell

We had precisely the same issue with Seifer here in Swordfell, when he recently tried to assassinate a high-ranking member of our government. The response we received from Luria was identical, which we found frankly baffling, as we are not simply a friend to Luria, nor ally, but an actual Federated Partner. Our governments are bound by treaty to a level rarely seen on the continent. And our concerns about the assassination attempt were likewise ignored.

Well, not entire ignored- Marshal Wassgandr made a backhanded threat to dissolve the treaty and invade Swordfell if we kept pushing the issue. Or any issue, really.

We also do not understand this new political position that has been embraced by Luria.

Perdita Esotericus
Lady Regent of Swordfell

Response from Avenor

High King Gheric,

Avenor faced the same issue a while ago. Seifer Tideweaver attempted to assassinate one of my marshals, as a result of what he got cut, thrown into our dungeon, then release, and banned from Avenor. Exactly the same as in High King Gheric, and Lady Regent Perdita have mentioned. Suzerain Emperor Bruce, had ignored my letter, and refused to offer any explanation. More than that, recently I received a direct threat to my life, via a letter, signed by Seifer Tideweaver.

High King Gheric, please know that, if Westgard will not executed Seifer Tideweaver, and the mentioned scumbag will be cut on Avenor lands - he will be executed. As I mentioned in my letter to Suzerain Emperor Bruce, anyone who will attempt to assassinate any of my nobles, I will consider that as an attempt on my persona, and therefore I will deal with his in person.

These being said. High King Gheric, do as you feel it to be right, and know: In cause of any repercussions, Avenor will be at Westgard side in this situation.

Signed,
Northon Agawolf
High King of Avenor

Lowry Cameron is incapacitated (2022-10-06)

While the Westgardian army was out fighting monsters, they were shocked by the news that their High Adjudicator Lowry Cameron was poisoned by Seifer and near death. Unsure about Lowry's fate, they chose Agatha Poe as their new High Adjudicator and rushed home. Seifer, however, was able to escape before Agatha returned.

Declaration of War (2022-10-24)

Political map of Dwilight when the war was declared.

WAR!

message to all nobles of Westgard
The High King has declared war on Luria Nova. He gave the following reason:
For months, every realm on Dwilight has been plagued by a slate of attempted assassinations on government officials by Seifer Tideweaver, a noble of Luria Nova. Each and every realm has seen a member of its government attacked, and each government has registered a respectful protest with the Suzerain Emperor, Bruce Wilde.

Westgard is no exception and indeed seems to have been targeted even more than the others. In the past two months alone, Seifer Tideweaver has attempted to murder Westgard's High Adjudicator (at the time) Lowry Cameron on no less than six occasions, and the High King Gheric Arylon at least three times. Each time, he has through his incompetence failed in his attempt at regicide or murder of a high-ranking government official, and has been apprehended and put in prison. Seifer's incompetence in assassination, however, is matched only by his admitted skill at escaping his jailers, so despite multiple death sentences, he was repeatedly able to avoid the executioner's axe.

Throughout this wave of attacks, Westgard has attempted to work with Luria Nova. In the beginning, our request was simply for the Emperor to direct his people to not attack foreign heads of government. When denied and attacks continued, the request changed to one that sought Seifer's banishment from Luria Nova, making him a renegade. This request, made with great compliments and deference to the Emperor, was also ignored. More attacks followed, and still the Emperor failed to act. This raised serious questions as to his own culpability in the actions of his assassin. Was he directing and supporting these belligerent actions? Was this a way for Luria Nova to attack other realms without having to fight a traditional war? Was this part of a great plan to destabilize rivals? We do not know, but the Emperor's insistence on supporting the renegade assassin Seifer Tideweaver does raise the troubling possibility.

Finally, after the last attack, Westgard issued an ultimatum: If Seifer Tideweaver even sets foot in Westgard again, let alone attacks one of our citizens, let alone attacks a member of our government, the Emerald Shield will consider it an intentional act of war upon the people of Westgard by Luria Nova. High King Gheric Arylon made clear how uninterested in war with Luria Nova, or any human realm, he was. It is and has been Westgard's mission to protect the realms of men, including the Lurians, from the monstrous hordes that infest Dwilight, and we have no interest in the geopolitical gamesmanship that others engage in. We are seeking to rebuild our realm and grow once again, and fighting a war will harm our ability to do just that.

Nonetheless, Westgard could not continue to allow our citizens and our government to be so assaulted by an assassin doing the bidding of his Emperor without making clear that there are consequences for those responsible for the attacks. Moreso, as the Shield of Humanity, it is sometimes our role to defend the other realms against a brother realm, if it becomes a threat to them, as Luria Nova has. And so we made clear that any further attack would be considered an act of war, and the party responsible for doing so, having been given a chance to avoid any conflict well in advance, would ultimately be responsible for that war starting. Following the ultimatum, High King Gheric Arylon was attacked once more by Seifer Tideweaver, and this time the assassin almost succeeded in killing him, wounding him badly enough to capture the bounty. Emperor Wilde had his opportunity to stop this madman from acting, and he chose to do nothing.

Consistent with what was stated clearly for the entire continent to see, Westgard considers this action to be an intentional act of war by Luria Nova. As such, we consider a war to have already been declared on us, and the Shield of Humanity reciprocates that action, now declaring war against Luria Nova.

Westgard will consider this state of war to continue until such time as the following things occur:

1. Seifer Tideweaver has been apprehended and executed for his crimes against Westgard, and the rest of Dwilight, or until Luria Nova expels him from their company
2. An international treaty governing the behavior of infiltrators toward foreign governments is drafted and signed
3. The 5,000 gold bounty Seifer gained through the attempted murder of Gheric Arylon shall be given to Westgard, to be distributed to her people

As is our history, we find war with humans to be grotesque, but when forced to fight we will seek no territory from Luria Nova, and wish to bring no destruction upon their lands or their people. But we will fight a war if one is thrust upon us by the actions of a maniac, and we will fight it until honor is satisfied.

Another Assassin (2022-11-12)

Senator Iulia Baceolus was attacked by an assassin. She thought it was Seifer, but the High Adjudicator informed the realm that there was another assassin at work: Celina - also a Lurian. Through torture Agatha discovered even darker secrets.

Letter from Kenneth Gotz

Message sent to all nobles of Luria Nova (23 recipients) - 13 days ago

Commoner spies are my concern. They're being deported, not harmed.

Kenneth Gotz
Imperial Magistrate of Luria Nova
Margrave of Askileon Purlieus

Secret Meeting

(Personal message) - 13 days ago

You have been invited into the "The Sacred Hand", a secret society, by Kenneth Gotz, Imperial Magistrate of Luria Nova, Margrave of Askileon Purlieus.
To accept the invitation and become a member, you must follow him to the secret gathering place. To do that, click here right now, or you might miss the opportunity. (you can read your messages first, but you shouldn't hesitate too long.)

Letter from Claude d'Artois

Message sent to all nobles of Luria Nova (23 recipients) - 12 days ago

Esteemed nobility,

Are we so afraid of adventurers and westgardians that we wish to deport them?

Why do we concern ourselves with the smallfolk?

The sun does not concern itself with ants.

Fare you as well as I fare,

Claude d'Artois
Knight of Giask

Seifer captured (2022-11-13)

Senator Louisa Kepler of the Eidulb Outskirts captured Seifer Tideweaver while he was sneaking around her camp with a poisoned dagger under his cloak.

Death of Seifer (2022-11-15)

Seifer is executed by Agatha Poe.

Kenneth Gotz vs. Agatha Poe (2022-11-29)

Lurian Magistrate Kenneth Gotz insults Westgardian High Adjudicator Agatha Poe by suggesting she is a peasant parading as noble stock. Agatha challenges him to a duel, which will be reffereed by Tol Godora in Nidhogg's Mark. All of Westgard holds its breath as Kenneth is a traitor to their realm and considered to be the master brain behind the assassination attempts. Kenneth proves, however, too strong for Agatha, leaving her badly wounded. Agatha would succumb to these wounds two weeks later.

Lowry Cameron is again incapacitated (2022-12-19)

After being re-elected as High Adjudicator of Westgard, Lowry Cameron suddenly is incapacitated by sickness. Senator Louisa Kepler is struck by this mysterious sickness at the same time. Rumors blame Lurian poison.

Mimer Incident (2022-12-30 to 2023-01-03)

Astrum requests aid from Luria Nova to suppress a rebellion in Mimer. When the Lurian troops arrive, the citizens send a delegation to Westgard to ask for help. On December 30th the newly appointed Lord Commander Vincenzo Falconi lands at the Well of Mimer. His 100 men were initally pushed back into the seas by a force of 440 Lurians, but the Lurians pulled back when reinforcements arrived - realizing that the beach would soon be filled with Westgardians.

Despite being outnumbered, Vincenzo ordered the march on Mimer on the January 2nd, because representatives from the city informed him they were about to break. Luria had 530 men at Mimer, while Westgard only had 420, of which 50 citizens. Although the battle was fierce and the Westgardians managed to wound three Lurian commanders (Jan of Arescod, Richard Shepherd and Baelric Aboolio), Westgard was defeated and both the current Lord Commander Vincenzo Falconi and former Lord Commander Sparticus II Bathgate were wounded. As the Westgardians retreated they were chased by Moria Igelfield, but Aelius Rousselor managed to defeat the Lurian in battle, after which the ships could safely be boarded.

Carlos Snodaert disappears (2023-01-09)

High Adjudicator Carlos Snodaert disappears. However, it is believed, or rather hoped, that his disappearance is not due to Lurian infiltration.

Peace is signed (2023-01-27)

Gheric Arylon, High King of Westgard

I proposed this peace to the Lurians, as the casus belli for the conflict has been reasonably dealt with, given the death of the assassin Seifer Tideweaver.

I asked one thing of Wassgandr Felsenbach as a condition for the war to end. I demanded that he direct his infiltrators to stay out of the realm of Westgard, and that he promise that if a lurking assassin of his is apprehended in our lands, that infiltrator will be ejected from Luria Nova for violating our territory. Essentially, I asked him to promise that in the future what I demanded of Seifer will be done.

Wassgandr Felsenbach, Heliacal of Luria Nova

Since I heard no objection, I have decided to accept the white peace. Our infiltrators will stay out of the regions belonging to Westgard.