The War of the Three Sisters

The War of the Three Sisters was a civil war within the Old Pale Empire between three half sisters, the daughters of Emperor Myrold II, Acetta, Beatrice and Cecilia who disputed the succession rights following the death of their father.
Acetta, the eldest sister and her father's favourite was born out of wedlock to a courtesan, Donna Fanettei, before Myrold was married or crowned as Emperor. The Emperor's first marriage, to the Lady Solill was childless and he brought Acetta into the court and began to teach her how it operated from an early age, perhaps thinking that she might be his only heir, legitimate or not. When Lady Solill died from some wasting disease which the doctors could not cure, he made an official announcement once the period of mourning was over, declaring in front of the Ecclesia that Acetta should rule after him. According to the constitution of the Empire, that declaration was all it took to make Acetta the next in line for the throne. It did not matter whether she was legitimate or not.
In any case, the Emperor married again, and although it was relatively late in his life he had two more children. Beatrice, the eldest legitimate heir (according to legal practice within normal families), was the daughter of his second wife, the Lady Rythelle who later died in childbirth, along with the son she had been carrying when Beatrice was only six years old. Cecilia was twelve years younger than Beatrice and the daughter of Myrold's third wife, the Lady Pelle, who went on to survive the Emperor.
Note : Readers more familiar with Earth Zero should be aware that a year on Magicians' End is only two thirds of the length they are used to, and so they should scale down their intuition for durations accordingly, which are always expressed in local years. This applies in all articles concerning the realm, and is just a little "timely" reminder here, where we are specifically discussing ages. Please read the Timekeeping article for more details about the local calendar.

The Conflict

Prelude

Emperor Myroid II died just before dawn on the morning of 20th of Mald 2833 BPC and by noon on the same day, the actions had already been taken that would lead to war, although the first shots would not be fired until eight days later.

Old Pale Empire - Lady Pelle by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - Lightstaff Berthold by DMFW

Lady Pelle, having the full authority to set in place the arrangements for her husband's funeral, acted with great speed to assume a greater control over affairs of state than was technically her right. Enacting a plan that had been long in preparation, Lightstaff Berthold an ally she had been cultivating over many years, announced to the Ecclesia that the Emperor had declared to his wife on his death bed, that his youngest daughter, Princess Cecilia should become Empress after him and that it had been determined that the funeral and coronation would take place on the same day.
Princess Acetta had not anticipated Lady Pelle's actions but she moved swiftly to engage her own allies at court and in the Ecclesia to declare the Lightstaff's ruling unlawful. Nymon Alduke, a senior mage in the Constructivist Faction of the Ecclesia, long opposed to Berthold, put forward the case that the successor for any Emperor must have been publically annointed and witnessed and Lady Pelle had no evidence that her husband had changed his mind in private. Even whilst these debates were ongoing, however, on the 3rd of Findil, Lady Pelle sought to press her advantage swiftly by ordering the arrest of Acetta. For the next four days the city of Honirham, the court and the Ecclesia were in tumoil, but on the 7th of Findil, General Evan Peterson ordered troops to forceably free Acetta, resulting in a small fight in which two of the jailers were killed. These became the first casualties of the war.

Old Pale Empire - Nymon Alduke by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - General Evan Peterson by DMFW

Within two days, sensing the way the tide was turning, Lady Pelle and her daughter fled the capital to avoid any counter arrest. They made their way swiftly to Zalgurim where Lady Pelle was born and where she had many supporters. There she enlisted the aid of Field Marshall Gerald Cartwright, persuading him that Cecilia's claim to the throne was in the best long term interests of the Empire. Sources close to the household later suggested that Lady Pelle made much of the fact that the Princess Acetta was childless, unmarried and too old to give birth to an heir, whilst her own daughter, was not only a legitimate child of the late Emperor but of child bearing age herself. This was technically irrelevant, since as Empress, Acetta could appoint whoever she wanted as successor and it need not be a child of hers.
Be that as it may, it is rumoured Lady Pelle went so far as to suggest that the widowed Field Marshall himself might make a suitable husband for Cecilia despite their age difference. We will never know how the Lady Pelle intended to break her daughter's engagement with the wealthy banker, Kyrald Stibb, a match she had schemed to bring about in the previous year, and what the consequences might have been had it come to that, but there was clearly more than a hint of desperation in these plans. As for Cecilia herself, she seems to have had remarkably little agency in all these matters, controlled by a mother whose ideas had now begun to spin out of control.

Old Pale Empire - Field Marshall Gerald Cartwright by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - Kyrald Stibb by DMFW

What of the middle sister, whom we have so far failed to mention? Princess Beatrice had been married to the wealthy aristocrat and merchant Fergus Lewis, five years before the death of her father and they were living on his extensive estates close to Goldfayre on the continent of Tinturbean, with a two year old son named Caebrin. When she heard of the death of her father she had immediately prepared to go to the funeral but was persuaded to stay for her own safety by Admiral Thomas Manning, when it became apparent that the political situation in Honirham had descended into chaos and strife. During a period of intense reflection as the news came that princess Acetta appeared to have gained control, Beatrice became convinced that if Cecilia had a right to the throne, she certainly did and that to give this up so meekly, as she had hitherto thought to do, would be to deny Caebrin his birthright. She therefore did and said nothing overtly, lending no support to either sister but contacting old friends to find out how many allies she might expect to count on, if she launched her own claim to be Empress.

Old Pale Empire - Fergus Lewis by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - Admiral Thomas Manning by DMFW

Deployment

The old Emperor's funeral took place on 14th Glim 2833 BPC in Honirham, with only Acetta of his three daughters attending. By now, Lady Pelle had been able to rally support from Admiral James Jenson, whose fleet was moored at Tylisfort and so the supporters of the princess Cecilia had an army and a navy, and at least the passive acquiesence of much of the countryside around Zalgurim, although it was not clear how much enthusiasm there was for her cause amongst ordinary civilians. Further east in Ralsimoor, there were troops who had yet to openly declare for any side, but were thought to be more likely to side with Acetta.
Meanwhile, the eldest princess had secured the services of Fleet Admiral Henry Hudson, a highly respected naval strategist with loyalist ships at Sunport and Jebbin City as well as the Honirham fleet itself.

Old Pale Empire - Admiral James Jenson by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - Fleet Admiral Henry Hudson by DMFW

Princess Beatrice had persuaded General Oakus Fielding, the supreme commander of the army of Tinturbean, to lend her his support. This meant that she too had an army and a navy, so all three sisters could fight at land and at sea, and it was not entirely clear where the advantage lay in any forthcoming conflict.

Old Pale Empire - General Oakus Fielding by DMFW

The Engagement

The war lasted for a total of four years before a final resolution, but there were only a handful of major engagements which determined the outcome. To begin with, all sides were cautious and no one was willing to take risks. With her command over Honirham secure, Princess Acetta seemed inclined to sit behind safe defensive positions and reluctant to risk her troops in the open, but this allowed her sisters to consolidate, increase their numbers and strengthen their own defences and is now viewed as a mistake by military strategists. It seems likely she was expecting one or the other of them to surrender. It was only after Fleet Admiral Henry Hudson inflicted heavy losses on Admiral James Jenson's fleet off the Sowtin Islands in the summer of 2832 that Acetta took advice from General Peterson and instructed her forces to built on this advantage by marching on Zalgurim, a deeply symbolic strike where soldiers from the new capital of the Empire would be attempting to capture the former capital.

The Battle of Maplerun - 12th Tivith, 2832 BPC

Field Marshall Cartwright decided that it was better to meet the enemy in a pitched battle before they could besiege Zalgurim and he marched his forces down the road to Jebbin City, taking up positions on high ground near a small town called Maplerun that would become the battlefield. The Battle of Maplerun has gone down in history as a text book example of the way to execute a flanking manoever. General Peterson, learning of the disposition of his enemy, outsmarted Cartwright, by dividing his forces and sending two groups into rolling farmlands to the north and south of the road, only to converge behind the town and Cartwright's encampments at the same time as the main body of troops reached the hills and drew up their own positions.

The Three Sisters War - Battle of Maplerun by DMFW

Partly due to the surprise of this pincer manoever but also largely down to the superior numbers and skills of the battlemages in the army sent from the capital, Cartwright's army was heavily defeated and he did not escape with his own life. By the 16th of Tivith, Zalgurim was under loyalist control, Lady Pelle and Princess Cecilia were captured and her claim to the throne was ended.

The Battle of Thermhow - 19th Findil, 2829 BPC

Princess Beatrice bided her time before she finally decided to confront Acetta and it was two years after the battle of Maplerun before she left the relative safety of Tinturbean and arrived on the eastern coast of Myruthea. Taking the war to Myruthea was a bold move, but also a necessary one. In the long run, General Oakus Fielding understood that united Myruthean forces would eventually launch their own invasion of Tinturbean, and time was on their side since they could draw on greater numbers. Beatrice considered surrender, but was persuaded that she had enough support for her claim on Myruthea if she could be there in person to rally it. Since Admiral Manning knew that he did not have the strength to confront Fleet Admiral Hudson anywhere along the west or south coasts, the hope was that a circumnavigation would not only evade patrolling warships near the capital but would also allow Beatrice to build alliances in the further flung regions of the continent, before marching on Honirham. She landed with a sizable contingent of troops at Fogport on the 1st of Tuzlle, 2830 BPC and to begin with, her troops contented themselves with consolidating postions in the far east.
In the spring, Oakus Fielding began to advance along the Old Pale Empire Road. There was an expectation that Klaractazum would declare for Beatrice, but this proved to be false intelligence and instead they met a loyalist army outside the town of Thermhow before they could even reach the city. The battle of Thermhow went in favour of Beatrice, but it was a pyrrhic victory. A second army from Honirham was already marching to meet them over the Eroveth Pass and on 4th Glim 2829 BPC, the commander accepted the surrender of General Fielding, avoiding the needless loss of more lives and the war was over.

Outcome

Princess Cecilia was executed for treason on 15th of Authon, 2831 BPC, before the war was over. Her mother, Lady Pelle was never formally charged and although Princess Acetta was quite clear in her own mind about her responsibility for the conflict, the necessities of politics meant that she must punish the daughter and pardon the mother, something for which, by all accounts, she never quite forgave herself. Lady Pelle committed suicide on 9th Pruth, 2831 BPC.
Princess Acetta, who had already declared herself Empress in 2833 BPC became the uncontested ruler of the Old Pale Empire at the end of the war.
Princess Beatrice and her husband were tried for treason and executed together on 21st of Pruth, the very last day of the year 2829 BPC.
Those belligerents in the army and navy who had fought for the younger sisters, were treated with mercy. There were no further executions, as some might have feared. Princess Acetta said that there had been more than enough blood letting in the war and it was time to heal the Empire's wounds. Even so, the ring leaders who had not otherwise perished, were stripped of their rank and forcably retired in disgrace, counting themselves lucky. The sole exception was General Oakus Fielding, whose good sense in surrendering and saving lives at the end of the war, the princess respected when she offered him a role at the capital, which he accepted. Her own commanders were more generously and suitably rewarded and tasked with revitalising a military which had bled so freely in the service of what the men had thought right.

Aftermath

Of the many regrets Princess Acetta suffered after the war, the execution of her half sisters weighed most heavily on her mind. For Princess Cecilia, she had nothing but compassion, recognising how cruelly her mother had manipulated her in the service of her own ambition, not only in the claim against the throne but in the marriage arrangements she had made with such apparent disregard of her daughter's feelings.
"I had to execute her, though", she said to friends, many times over the following years. "She would have been a symbol of rebellion ever after if I had let her live, and the security of the throne and the lives of the Empire's soldiers are my responsibility. Who can say how many more deaths might have resulted if I had not taken the decisive action an Empress must take?"
It was the same in the end with Princess Beatrice. Although she had agonised for a long time about the fate of the middle sister and her husband and had considered an exile in the furthest reaches of Punjuki, in the end Nymon Alduke persuaded her that the crown must be firm and show resolution if the Empire's long term future was not to walk down a bloody road again.
"There was no need for Bea to get involved", she complained to her friends later. "Cecilia was too young and too weak to stand up for herself but Beatrice should have known better and had her head turned by her husband. I have no regrets about dispatching him!"

Historical Significance

Legacy

There is one final lasting legacy of the conflict of which we must speak. Acetta made a binding promise to Beatrice before she was executed. It was, in the end, a kind of atonement for the ritual cruelty of the law which she felt she had to enact. She promised that she would personally look after Beatrice's young son, Caebrin, mercifully not old enough to understand what had happened to his father and mother. Not only that but she promised she would formally name him as her successor. And so it came to pass. When Empress Acetta died many years later, Caebrin was of age and became the next Emperor. Only then, could the final scars of the war of the three sisters, begin to heal at last.

In Literature

Xandra Omuthe by DMFW with Stable Diffusion

The War of the Three Sisters, became a subject for a great deal of writing, not only of the historical kind, but also in the arts. It was a story with rich themes exploited in novels, poems and theatrical adaptations over the next few hundred years. The best known interpretation is Xandra Omuthe's famous play, "The Price of Empire". It is a loyalist interpretation, and she paints the Princess Acetta as a sympathetic character, forced to be ruthless against her better nature. The skilfully written scene where the Empress makes her famous promise to Princess Beatrice, just before the execution, has been known to reduce audiences to tears. Yet who can say what was the truth of it? The victors, as ever, write the history and most of the stories afterwards.
All that is certain is that the Empire would never fall into civil war again until the day when forces outside its control would finally bring it to an end...

Conflict Type

War

Start Date

7th Findil 2833 BPC

Ending Date

4th Glim 2829 BPC

Conflict Result

Princess Acetta became Empress of the Old Pale Empire

Location

Myruthea

Old Pale Empire - Princess Acetta by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - Princess Beatrice by DMFW

Old Pale Empire - Princess Cecilia by DMFW

Maps

• 

  Magicians' End : Myruthea

  The continent of Myruthea

Belligerents

Princess Acetta

• Old Pale Empire

Led by

• Fleet Admiral Henry Hudson
• General Evan Peterson
• Nymon Alduke
• Princess Acetta

Strength

Once she had established control over Honirham, Princess Acetta had the natural advantages of an incumbent leader. She had control over the battle mages based in the city. The Ecclesia was on her side, she had the loyalty of a strong local army and the best naval commander in the world. In addition, the important port of Jebbin City, declared for her at an early stage. Although it was difficult to assess loyalist sentiment on other continents and in the east of Myruthea, it is thought that she had majority support overall, even if some towns and cities were slow to declare their allegence.

Casualties

Loyalist casualties were relatively light throughout the war as they never really suffered any significant defeat until the Battle of Thermhow. The army sent from Klaractazum was largely destroyed here by General Oakus Fielding, almost at the end of the war, and it is estimated that up to twenty thousand men may have been killed.

Objectives

To make Princess Acetta the next Empress of the Old Pale Empire.
The loyalists believed in the orthodox rules of succession, supporting the choice of Emperor Myrold II, that his eldest daugher, Acetta, should become the Empress of the Old Pale Empire, despite the fact that she was unmarried and childless, but simply because it was the witnessed desire of the Emperor that it should be so.

Princess Cecilia

• Old Pale Empire

Led by

• Admiral James Jenson
• Field Marshall Gerald Cartwright
• Lady Pelle
• Lightstaff Theosophos Berthold

Strength

Princess Cecilia and her mother were incredibly lucky to escape the capital, once the shock of what rapidly came to be seen as the treason of Lightstaff Theosophos Berthold had died down and the Ecclesia had sided with Princess Acetta, but in Zalgurim, they were able to call on the most senior figure in the army. Field Marshall Gerald Cartwright's troops were considered to be some of the best in the Empire and with sea support from Tylisfort, the rebels certainly had sufficient strength to cause concern in Honirham.

Casualties

Unfortunately for the youngest princess, her military let her down badly. Her ships were almost all sunk, by Fleet Admiral Henry Hudson when they tried to take Sowtin and then the Battle of Maplerun ended in disaster for her Field Marshall. Altogether, across both of these engagements, it is thought that upwards of thirty thousand men were killed with the vast majority being Cecilia's supporters.

Objectives

To make Princess Cecilia the next Empress of the Old Pale Empire.
Princess Cecilia's claim to the throne was always a weak one. It relied entirely on her mother's account of the Emperor's dying wishes, not witnessed in public and frankly not believed by many. Since only a publically expressed wish could alter the succession, there would have been insufficient reason for anyone to start a war, were it not for other issues with which Lady Pelle sought to muddy the water. She implied that by being childless Acetta risked the future stablity of the Empire, she fanned the flames of ambition in her supporters and she played on the fears of those who disliked Acetta and thought that the Empire under Cecilia would be more conducive to their mercantile and political interests.

Princess Beatrice

• Old Pale Empire

Led by

• Admiral Thomas Manning
• General Oakus Fielding
• Princess Beatrice

Strength

In Admiral Thomas Manning and General Oakus Fielding, Beatrice had secured able allies and competent forces, but they were perhaps not so strong as the defenders of Honirham.

Casualties

Beatrice's forces were not challenged until late in the war when they marched down the Old Pale Empire Road to the capital and came face to face with an army sent from Klaractazum at the Battle of Thermhow. Although they actually won the battle, they lost about twelve thousand men and simply had insufficient strength to continue the march to Honirham when faced with a second army, crossing the Eroveth Pass to meet them.

Objectives

To make Princess Beatrice the next Empress of the Old Pale Empire.
Beatrice had the weakest claim to the throne of all the sisters and if it had not been for the actions of her younger half-sister in starting a civil war it is almost certain she would never have even thought to oppose the succession of Princess Acetta. It was, in fact, the thought that Princess Cecilia might succeed that induced a resentment, which, fed by her overly ambitious husband Fergus Lewis, led her to take steps that could not easily be undone. One cautious step at a time, she found herself on an irreversable road to conflict when Acetta challenged her silence and lack of support.