The War of Dominion
Nastrond@Mardox
The halls are mostly empty, with only a few servants, a few minor lords, lord Ellius Braveshine and the heir to Nastrond Nasvell being present. It wasn't anything uncommon for there to be no issues, the people of Nastrond rarely had any complaints about their lives, they had learnt to live through hardships.
However, the doors to the palace open, with a Valgraadi messenger arriving, accompanied by a few Valgraadi Iron Guards. The messenger bowed before Nieldun and started speaking. "Esteemed king, as you may have heard, our Lord, the wise King Dorian Grainwad has passed without leaving any heirs or close family members and now, three people have risen to claim his throne." he said, smiling deviously from ear to ear.
"My lord, Darius Highmall is one of these claimants and has heard of your incredible strength in combat and is willing to overlook your demonic lineage if you would support him in this claim of his. He will win with or without your aid, however, if you aid him in his victory, he will reward you with both gold and the chance to tie your noble family with his by marrying his daughter with one of your sons!" the messenger, brimming with confidence awaited Nieldun's answer.
Lord Braveshine spoke to Nieldun as if the messenger was not even here. "And one of the other claimants is Lord Orrius Leighton of Dolgathrasar, who is supported by our own Lord Bornetall, my king. We should not, plus this the first time Lord Highmall showed anything but aggression towards us... I say we either stay out of this or support Lord Orrius." Lord Braveshine spoke with little care towards the messenger who awaited the response.
Wolastra@bluetommy2
Two people seek an audience with you right now. The first person was a Wolastran, though he claimed to be from Ceia, one of the cities seized by the Sequini during the previous war, bearing a very urgent message. The other was a young woman wearing a full suit of plate armor, all except the helmet which she took off to show some respect towards King Ernst. This woman was from Airgiallne as evidenced by her dark purple hair.
The first to come speak was the Wolastran from Ceia, carrying the message. He bowed before Ernst and opened the parchment containing the message.
"King Ernst of Wolastra, when our other leaders let us down, you have fought until you could fight no more. We know you do not wish to fight anymore, but please, great king, we ask you to support us! We are planning to rebel, we wish to re-join Wolastra and our own kin!
Send the army to aid us and the Sequini forces stand absolutely no chance towards our glorious armies, let us rise again and prove them that Wolastra has yet to show it's full fury!"
The man's speech was certainly quite inspiring as many of the lesser nobles and knights in the throne room began cheer, agreeing to the idea of another war with what they considered their enemy. As soon as the crowd silenced, however, the Airgiallni woman knelt and started speaking.
"Noble king, I am lady Arias, servant of our new Queen Merya of Airgiallne." she said, presenting both herself and her queen with a polite smile. "Though she is new to the matters of state, she has quickly realized that she needs an heir to continue her own line, as such, she proposes a royal marriage between your highness' heir and herself. However, in order to continue her line, the first child shall be of her own dynasty, while the others will be your own dynasty."
As soon as she finished speaking, the messenger rose to his feet, looking quite insulted. "How dare you interrupt us, woman, this is a matter of the greatest importance for his highness, the welfare of his people!"
However, young lady Arias stood on her knees, ignoring the messenger and simply awaiting Ernst's response.
The messenger was seething with anger. "Who do you think you are, you little bi..."
Before he could even finish his sentence, the captain of Ernst's Royal Guards shouted. "You're in the presence of the king, show some manners!" he shouted, staring sternly at the messenger, who knelt yet again, cowed. The captain looked towards Ernst and nodded, meaning that he could speak his opinion about both of these offers.
The Jade Empire of Sha'an Tzien@Lauder
The court was filled with the heads of all clans, both large and small, all were in the presence of the the esteemed Shogun, discussing the newest matter that had been proposed. It was time for the Jade Empire to rise again. The signs were there, the Shalorni were stirring on their island, most likely for another great expedition to begin the reconquest of the continent while the Sequini already claimed the title of Emperor and had carved themselves a very large empire for themselves, clearly thinking that they were the successors of the now defunct Celestial Empire.
If these people wished expansion, then it was clear that Sha'an Tzien would soon be their enemies. As such, all the heads of the clans had agreed that expansion was necessary in order to secure themselves a position in this world, but the question was, with who to war. There were currently three valid targets to war with.
The first was the Emirate of Mtol Darask. They had a much smaller army than the Jade Empire's own and owned great expanses of land, which would make Sha'an Tzien look visually impressive on the map. However, there were two issues. The first, was that the Daraski would never meet them in direct battle choosing to let the harsh terrain kill the army, the second is that the relations with them were improving, making a war with them quite difficult.
The second target would be The Order of Ashkanian, who are the sole military order with such a large military. Since their general mission is conversion of the other countries to the Imperial Faith, an attack on them by us would mean that the countries who still follow said faith would view this as a threat to their own faith. While we are strong, we cannot face the Kingdom of Sylvanyr, the Royal Island, Ashkanian and Valgaard alone.
The third and final target is the now fragmented Kingdom of Valgraad, who is currently in the middle of a civil war. This would mean that the fractured country could not mount an effective defense against our glorious armies. This would be our most valid target as of now.
Your Head General turns towards you and kneels, speaking "Great Shogun, we shall follow you in any war you deem worthy of starting... so who shall face the wrath of the new, ascending Jade Empire?"
