A History of the Bastard's Rebellion
A History of the Bastard's Rebellion
Prelude
Prelude
Aris Petrakis was a fine peacetime King. A generous man who hosted many tournaments through his twenty year reign and focused himself on the maintenance of the Essharan Empire instead of the expansionist attitude of his predecessor, perhaps his greatest flaw was his habit of infidelity, even as his own marriage produced naught but stillborns, until the birth of his daughter Sibylla to Aspasia Salvae.
He did, however, have a bastard. This was not uncommon for the time; Kings were known to have mistresses, and while bastard children were something of a black mark on one’s personage none would dare so insult the King of Esshar.
Eros -who was granted the cadet house of Petaris by his father- was the bastard son of Aris and Alaya Pelleaux and a charismatic, well trained warrior, who served the Kingdom as a Lightbringer of the First Light, given command of the garrison at Nuburg. The Summer Capital at the time, this appointment was widely seen both as a reward for his service -leading the Nuburg garrison was a position of some prestige- and a way of ensuring the Petrakis dynasty’s monopoly on power with the Empire. Eros, for his part, was never said to speak a word against his father, but as Aris wasted away at the hands of some disease, he expressed fear that the Empire would fall into ruin with Sibylla upon the throne -a child of ten in 689 AC. As such, it is perhaps unsurprising that when Aris breathed his last in the early months of 690 AC, Eros declared that as the son of the King, despite his baseborn nature, he held a better claim to the throne than Sibylla, arguing both that Sibylla was too weak to rule, and that his lineage through his mother demonstrated the blood of Astya ran stronger through his veins than Sibylla, who’s maternal grandmother was an exiled Magnolian.
He did, however, have a bastard. This was not uncommon for the time; Kings were known to have mistresses, and while bastard children were something of a black mark on one’s personage none would dare so insult the King of Esshar.
Eros -who was granted the cadet house of Petaris by his father- was the bastard son of Aris and Alaya Pelleaux and a charismatic, well trained warrior, who served the Kingdom as a Lightbringer of the First Light, given command of the garrison at Nuburg. The Summer Capital at the time, this appointment was widely seen both as a reward for his service -leading the Nuburg garrison was a position of some prestige- and a way of ensuring the Petrakis dynasty’s monopoly on power with the Empire. Eros, for his part, was never said to speak a word against his father, but as Aris wasted away at the hands of some disease, he expressed fear that the Empire would fall into ruin with Sibylla upon the throne -a child of ten in 689 AC. As such, it is perhaps unsurprising that when Aris breathed his last in the early months of 690 AC, Eros declared that as the son of the King, despite his baseborn nature, he held a better claim to the throne than Sibylla, arguing both that Sibylla was too weak to rule, and that his lineage through his mother demonstrated the blood of Astya ran stronger through his veins than Sibylla, who’s maternal grandmother was an exiled Magnolian.
First Steps
Eros’ declaration was polarizing amongst the realm. Whilst the nobility largely saw it as little worth noting, this attitude changed when the cities of Mora and Dintium declared their support for the bastard. The First Light chapters within the cities sided with them -Eros was well liked among the military, and had served in several of those cities during his rise through the ranks- and suddenly what was supposed to be a doomed grab for power by a bastard with ideas above his station became an open revolt against the crown -the Loyalists against the forces of the Rebellion, who were nicknamed ‘Petarans’.
Essharan cities at the time were built to withstand sieges with relatively little manpower, and so the majority of the garrisons of Mora and Dintium marched for Nuburg, where Eros and the Nuburg Garrison were securing their hold on the city after a short siege of the Summer Palace. The royal court -which had been ruling from Nuburg at the time- received a small amount of warning by loyalists within the city, and many thus managed to escape to the countryside and then back to Osrona, turning what Eros had likely hoped would be a very short war into an extended conflict. Even so, the capture of many nobles -including the current Lord Pelleaux- allowed Eros to blackmail their families into remaining neutral in the conflict. Additionally, the taking of Nuburg cut Esshar off from several of their nearby trading partners, a hard blow to the Loyalist forces. Finally, days after the successful taking of Nuburg, Eros legitimized himself as King Eros Petrakis I, and issued demands for all cities and Lords to swear fealty to him.
Essharan cities at the time were built to withstand sieges with relatively little manpower, and so the majority of the garrisons of Mora and Dintium marched for Nuburg, where Eros and the Nuburg Garrison were securing their hold on the city after a short siege of the Summer Palace. The royal court -which had been ruling from Nuburg at the time- received a small amount of warning by loyalists within the city, and many thus managed to escape to the countryside and then back to Osrona, turning what Eros had likely hoped would be a very short war into an extended conflict. Even so, the capture of many nobles -including the current Lord Pelleaux- allowed Eros to blackmail their families into remaining neutral in the conflict. Additionally, the taking of Nuburg cut Esshar off from several of their nearby trading partners, a hard blow to the Loyalist forces. Finally, days after the successful taking of Nuburg, Eros legitimized himself as King Eros Petrakis I, and issued demands for all cities and Lords to swear fealty to him.
The War in Earnest
Whilst initially the Loyalists were in disarray, not having expected such bold moves from Eros, they quickly regrouped. The confirmation of Sibylla’s safety as she returned to Osrona bolstered morale, even as her Regent, Lord Hadrian Grimmore, was quietly replaced by Lightbringer Anomeus Astor, who began issuing orders for the First Light to marshal at Fort Constellus and prepare to push towards Mora.A large Loyalist army reached Mora in 691 AC, encamping around the city and preparing for a long siege. At the same time, the Loyalist garrison in Hessalia came under siege by a company of Rhoynish mercenaries under Damikles of Korith, who’d sworn himself to Eros in exchange for a grant of Essharan land to his clan, who’d largely been exiled from the Rhoynish Tribelands after a failed attempt to claim the High Lordship of the Rhoynur. After a month without any sign of reinforcements, the Hessalian garrison sallied forth to try and break the siege. Despite the numerical difference -the Rhoynish numbered perhaps a thousand to the Loyalist’s three thousand- the Loyalists suffered heavy casualties, losing approximately three quarters of their men for a mere hundred Rhoynish. The city fell shortly after to the mercenaries, who installed a new governor, left behind a small garrison, and marched onwards.
The Battle of Hessalia was not the only Loyalist setback, nor was Damikles the only foreign party that joined Eros. Nuburg had held the Essharan mint; as such, Eros was able to create his funds, which he used to hire a company of Sluthian mercenaries. It was not particularly hard to do so; the Sluthians had heard the descendant of Ersen Astor was leading the Loyalists, and the chance at revenge was appealing. The Sluthian company -approximately five thousand strong- swept through the Essharan countryside, burning farms and putting villages to the sword. It is believed that even Eros was appalled at their actions, but after Mora fell in 693 to the Loyalist siege, he required the men.
Still, when the Sluthians met Lightbringer Astor on the field near Dintium, they were crushed by the superior Loyalist army, losing nearly two thousand men in the process. They fled back towards Nuburg, whilst the Lightbringer marched onwards to Dintium in 695. The siege of the city was short; the garrison had not been paid in some time due to the Loyalists raiding Petaran caravans with currency bearing Eros’ face, and thus were relatively demoralized. A promise from the Lightbringer that they would be treated more leniently if they surrendered and their will broke, the city surrendered bloodlessly.
Hessalia was recaptured several months later after a citizen’s uprising, which lead to the death of both the Petaran governor and the Rhoynish garrison, though several hundred died in the process. It was quickly becoming clear that despite the Petarans’ early victories, the war was turning against them. There was however a downside to these successful sieges. Whilst the loyalists reclaimed Mora and Dintium, their administrators escaped to Nuburg, and the replacements appointed were inexperienced, causing the two cities to quickly collapse into chaos.
The Siege of Nuburg
Facing defeat after defeat, the Petaran forces withdrew to Nuburg, raiding as much food as they could as they went. The loyalists pursued, but here they finally hit a wall; unlike Mora and Dintium, Nuburg was a city initially built as a fortress, and so long as its foreign allies continued to supply it, it could hold against siege indefinitely. Even so, the Loyalist army encamped outside the city in preparation for a siege in 696. It is said that when Eros was informed of this decision, he laughed, proclaiming that Nuburg would outlast the Loyalists by a thousand years.
Even so, he did not make it easy for the loyalists. Petaran strike teams would leave the city through secrets gates at night, striking at the siege camp’s flanks and slaying dozens of men before retreating. As 697 came around, Lightbringer Astor’s patience began to wear thin. During this time, unbeknownst to any save perhaps Astor and Sibylla themselves, Lord Hadrian Grimmore had been travelling to Aen and Barsburg. Through unknown means even to this day, the Lord managed to convince both empires to put aside their differences and join with Esshar in common cause. With this secured, Astor sent couriers with a plan of attack; while the Loyalists would assault the city from one side of the pass, Aen and Barsburg would do the same on the opposite side. In early 698 this plan was put into action, and thus began the Red Spring.
The Red Spring
The Red Spring was a two-pronged assault on Nuburg. While the Aen-Barsburg forces struck at the gate leading into the pass, the Loyalist finally put to use siege weapons they’d been building for two years. The walls of Nuburg fell, and the loyalists swept into the city. The next three weeks marked a hard slog of urban fighting, the Petarans near fanatic in their attempts to push back the loyalist forces. In several places they were successful, the Nuburg Library and Summer Palace defying any attempt to breach them. The tide turned, however, after the Sluthians -knowing a lost cause when they saw one- turned on the Petarans, breaking into the library and killing the garrison led by Damikles of Korith. Realising the war was lost, Eros flew a white flag above the Summer Palace on the first day of the fourth week of the battle, signaling his surrender.Even so, Nuburg had paid a heavy toll. Its once proud walls were ruined, and many civilians were killed during the fighting. Whole districts had been demolished by catapults, and a city which had rivalled Osrona in strength was left in ruins. The cost of rebuilding was considered so staggeringly large that any such plans were abandoned except for restoring the fortress, given its strategic importance of guarding the pass.
Aftermath
The Bastard’s Rebellion’s end did not mark the end of strife in Esshar. No, whilst Eros was publically put to death, and Sibylla’s decision to both allow his family to live and pardon any Petarans who wished it -including the administrators of Mora and Dintium, who returned to their cities and stabilized them- marked her as having the makings of both a strong and merciful ruler, the war had taken its toll. Esshar’s war debt was high, and Eros’ habit of making new money when he began to run low resulted in significant inflation.
With the counsel of her advisors, Sibylla borrowed heavily from the nobility at moderate interest rates to pay back the foreign banks, and in an attempt to lower prices for goods declared all currency bearing Eros’ face null and void in value. While a wise decision in the long term, Sibylla was not aware at the time of the scale of Eros' currency's circulation. Much of the coin seized during the war had been redistributed to pay her soldiers in several cities, and devaluing them resulted in widespread hatred of the Queen amongst much of the populace as many lost their life savings, triggering an economic depression. The Queen spent the majority of her reign trying to hold the Empire together through numerous revolts, famines, and stints of poverty as a result of the war.
The war also triggered changes in the legislation of the Empire. The city-based chapters of the First Light no longer answered to the regional governors, but rather the administration of Fort Constellus, which was almost always under the control of an Astor. Additionally, bastards were stripped of all claims at birth rather than the previous rule of their claim simply being lesser, and it became a significantly greater mark of shame for nobles to have bastard children. Whilst it was still common for nobles to have mistresses -even the King- where once bastards were given minor roles and used to bolster the strength of one’s house, now it was far more common for them to simply…disappear.
With the counsel of her advisors, Sibylla borrowed heavily from the nobility at moderate interest rates to pay back the foreign banks, and in an attempt to lower prices for goods declared all currency bearing Eros’ face null and void in value. While a wise decision in the long term, Sibylla was not aware at the time of the scale of Eros' currency's circulation. Much of the coin seized during the war had been redistributed to pay her soldiers in several cities, and devaluing them resulted in widespread hatred of the Queen amongst much of the populace as many lost their life savings, triggering an economic depression. The Queen spent the majority of her reign trying to hold the Empire together through numerous revolts, famines, and stints of poverty as a result of the war.
The war also triggered changes in the legislation of the Empire. The city-based chapters of the First Light no longer answered to the regional governors, but rather the administration of Fort Constellus, which was almost always under the control of an Astor. Additionally, bastards were stripped of all claims at birth rather than the previous rule of their claim simply being lesser, and it became a significantly greater mark of shame for nobles to have bastard children. Whilst it was still common for nobles to have mistresses -even the King- where once bastards were given minor roles and used to bolster the strength of one’s house, now it was far more common for them to simply…disappear.
In a less-Essharan context was the beginning of the 12th Barsburg-Aen War, as members of the rival empires' armies began infighting on their joint march back to their respective territories. It is commonly believed that a poorly timed drinking song from a Aen unit disparaging the Barsburgian Emperor as they passed the outskirts of the Barsburg camp was to blame for this.