Augusterm's Conquest of Haven
Augusterm Vetala was once a merchant from Araniva. However, following his exile, he swore revenge on the leadership that had betrayed him.
The Conflict
Prelude
Your falsely exiled brother is returning, my kin. Your leaders will try to silence me. They will do whatever it takes to do this, even sacrificing their own people. I do not wish to force you into this conflict, but I must ask you to decide with whom your loyalty rests.Augusterm's campaign for conquest began with his wrongful exile. As the story goes, a rival merchant framed Augusterm for a serious crime, though the specific crime has been lost to time. It was only thanks to Augusterm's connections as a merchant that he was able to escape execution, and his sentence was retroactively changed to exile. While this did not prevent Augusterm from running his moderately successful merchantry business, it did prevent him from returning to his homeland.
Augusterm, infuriated, swore vengeance against the leadership of Araniva for their betrayal.
It was not known whether Augusterm's vengeful anger was directed at his rival. Some said that Augusterm thought nothing of his rival attempting to frame him, and that his anger towards the leadership of Araniva was instead because they only ever listened to his rival. Others even speculated that his rival had bribed the leadership, both into declaring Augusterm guilty and into sentencing him to execution. This was never proven, however.
Preparation
Deployment
Augusterm's forces were the only truly mobile side of the fight, with the tribes staying in their tribal lands to defend against him.
His conquest began on the island known to humans as The Hushed Isle, slowly spreading clockwise across the other tribes. His final conquest was of the Araniva tribe itself, in the island known to humans as The Icy Wastes.
His conquest began on the island known to humans as The Hushed Isle, slowly spreading clockwise across the other tribes. His final conquest was of the Araniva tribe itself, in the island known to humans as The Icy Wastes.
Battlefield
Due to the nature of Augusterm's campaign, the battleground changed per the tribe he was conquering. Some tribes resided primarily in thick forests, others made their homes in vast deserts, and still others lay claim to the plains nearby large mountain ranges. Thanks in part to Augusterm's frequent travels as a merchant, he was somewhat familiar with the lands the tribes called home. This somewhat leveled the fight so that the tribes didn't have as much of an advantage over Augusterm's forces.
Outcome
The tribes that were conquered through military force often had to spend several months recovering from the fight. After the Old Actreine Empire was established, Augusterm offered aid and reparations to those tribes, as part of officially welcoming them into the empire.
Aftermath
With Augusterm's conquest of Araniva, he created the Old Actreine Empire, installing himself as its first ruler. This empire lasted for several generations until the invasion of the Zhelats, with the last Lord of the Actreine Empire being Hermidus Ralgen.
Historical Significance
Legacy
The public opinion of Augusterm was never fully agreed on. While some saw Augusterm as a man who had been wronged and who established his own kingdom to prevent such wronging from happening again, others saw him as a power-hungry tyrant whose exile had been fairly earned. However, what was agreed on was the effect the empire's establishment had on the Actreines as a people. Augusterm had inspired many Actreines to feel a sense of pride in their species and kin, a sense of belonging in this world that had once been everyone's but theirs, and a sense of pride in this new empire.
In Literature
Most literature surrounding Augusterm's conquest was found in history textbooks, as well as some books that were kept in the Great Actreine Library. However, as the generations passed, some Actreine historians wrote books questioning the circumstances of the conquest: Was Augusterm truly innocent? Why did he choose conquest as his method of vengeance?
Rumors
The Crime
Over the generations since Augusterm founded the Actreine Empire, there were many rumors surrounding him and his circumstances. Some thought that Augusterm had been framed for the murder of a close friend to the leadership, rather than the leadership having been bribed into declaring him guilty. Others believed his accusation had been of theft or forgery, high crimes in a tribe that placed so much emphasis and importance on trade and merchantry. Some even went so far as to speculate that his alleged crime was marrying a non-Aranivan. While as the ruler of the Actreine Empire he did in fact go on to marry a non-Aranivan (as another way to spite those who had betrayed him, some said), such behavior was never a crime in Araniva. For certain, it was looked down upon and seen as an undesirable outcome for many Aranivans in that time, but it was never illegal.The Rival
The identity of the specific rival that framed Augusterm has been lost to history. This caused much speculation amongst the populace. There were rumors that the rival wasn't a business rival as much as a romantic rival. There were rumors that the rival was angry at Augusterm refusing their advances. There were rumors that the rival had bribed the leadership into ignoring Augusterm's testimony.
Conflict Type
Military Campaign
Battlefield Type
Land
Start Date
10 H
Ending Date
0 AY
Conflict Result
Augusterm conquered and united all of the Actreine tribes into one empire
Belligerents
The Tribes
Strength
At first his only forces were the mercenaries he could hire from various places, but as his conquest spread across Haven his army expanded until it consisted of all mercenaries and fighters from the conquered tribes
The Actreine tribes of Haven only had their own individual forces
Casualties
While Augusterm's skills in economics and merchantry were well-honed, he had little experience with combat at the start of his conquest. As such, during the earlier years, his side suffered some casualties. However, as his conquest spread across Haven, he gained more experience, and the casualties per conflict fell to lower and lower numbers.
Not all of the tribes were conquered using military force. Some were conquered through diplomacy and negotiation.
However, the tribes that were conquered through military force suffered some casualties.
However, the tribes that were conquered through military force suffered some casualties.
Objectives
Augusterm wanted to get revenge on the leadership of Araniva for betraying him
Self-defense, and maintenance of the status quo
An interesting turn of events for a wronged merchant. Perhaps it would be interesting to add a quote by Augusterm or an excerpt from a history book and add it to the prelude. This would allow the reader to connect to Augusterm's motivations. The jump from the prelude to the deployment felt very rushed. Answering some questions could help ease out the transition; questions like: When did Augusterm decide to attack? When did Augusterm gather all of their forces? Tooltips on words like "Actreines" could be helpful to the readers that are unfamiliar with your setting. Overall, an interesting article :)