Heir to the Sundered Crown (41 page)

Authors: Matthew Olney

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #Fantasy, #War & Military, #Science Fiction & Fantasy, #Epic, #Sword & Sorcery, #Teen & Young Adult, #Children's eBooks

BOOK: Heir to the Sundered Crown

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The King of Delfinnia (1AGE -2 AGE)

With a vast host at his back Markus turned his attentions back to the Golden Empire which was now under the sole dominion of Sivion. What was left of the Free Fighters fled to join Markus. Mages arrayed against Sivion also swelled his ranks. With an army of close to a million men King Markus invaded the Empire. Several battles were fought and won until finally his army laid siege to Sunguard. There on the last days of the siege Sivion and his wicked followers cast dark magic which transformed him into a Lich. With his new powers Sivion laid waste to the Delfin army.

Defeat was almost nigh when Markus, wielding Asphodel cut down Sivion. With the dark wizard’s death his forces collapsed, his un-dead abominations fleeing north to cower in the darkness of the Eclin Mountains. The Empire was toppled, and Markus had conquered his enemies. With the fall of the Golden Empire the last great empire of the Nivion folk fell.

Markus was not to enjoy his victory for long. In an act worthy of the great tragedies, Marcus was murdered by the jilted princess of the Stormchaser clan. At a feast in his new capital the princess Yissa had arranged for the king to be killed. The feast hall doors were sealed. Hiding in the rafters of the hall were the assassins of the Crimson Blades. No one in the feasting hall survived. Including the Empress turned Queen Theodara.

Part 4 – Delfinnia

A New Kingdom (2 AGE – 27 AGE)

With the murder of Marcus and Theodora, chaos followed. Civil war erupted amongst the tribes who had once been united in their campaign against the dark wizards and the Empire. After six years of conflict Marcus’s younger brother Riis won the crown.

In memory of the war a new crown was forged named the Sundered Crown, a reminder of the Sundered alliance of the tribes.

King Riis the first was a just and noble King and built upon his elder brother’s victory. He rebuilt the city of Sunguard and made the surviving champions that had aided his brother in his conquests nobles in his court. The lands now called Champia, Bison, and the Stormglades take their names from them.

Peace settled over the new realm of Delfinnia, but tensions remained high between the magic folk and commoners.

Purges (27 AGE – 494 AGE)

Violence erupted as magic users were persecuted by the common folk. In an attempt to halt the bloodletting Riis made it law that all magic users were to be exiled to the ancient city of the Mages, Caldaria. Only magic users useful to the crown were allowed to live outside its crystalline walls. The Nightblades continued to hunt the fell beasts of the void and a number of mages served as advisors and healers to the King. It was at this time that Riis formed the council of the Diasect, a body created to oversee and protect the realm from enemies both visible and hidden. The knights of Niveren reformed under a new charter to hunt down the illegal magic hunters and the witch hunter’s guild expanded in size. Burnings and executions became common place.

Crusades of Eclin (494 AGE – 696 AGE)

Two hundred years past and the kingdom prospered. Under the reign of King Alden the third however the peace was shattered. The remnants of the magic wars swarmed from the north to attack the realm. Un-dead hordes destroyed the city of Eclin and spread as far south as the walls of Balnor.

In response the newly formed King’s legion and the Knights of Niveren mobilised, and at the battle of Balnor crossing the tide was turned. The following century saw the Knights of Niveren launch crusades into the mountains. Eventually the un-dead hordes were once more defeated but the N’gist followers who had unleashed the dead slinked back into the shadows.

Age of peace (396 AGE – 520 AGE)

With the threat of evil removed Delfinnia expanded its borders. New cities arose including the city of Kingsford. The peace lasted for three hundred years and only the brief appearance of a Lich sent the kingdom to war once more. Once again the Knights of Niveren saved the day and contained the menace in the mountains. It was during this time that King Oldus the second rebuilt Eclin and turned it into the fortress city it is today. Delfinnian explorers took to Esperia’s seas to reconnect with the other peoples of the world. What they found however horrified them. The lands that had once been home to great empires and the Golden Empire had been reduced to savage, wild places. The people were barbarians, devoid of civilisation. Colonies were established across the sea, a move that awakened the wrath of the vicious Yundol’s, the savage descendants of the long lost Yolla Empire. Masters at sea craft the Yundol’s bested Delfinnia in a number of naval battles. Defeat at sea seemed certain until the royal fleet was built. The tide turned and the Yundol fleets were destroyed securing Delfinnia from invasion for another century.

Yundol Invasions (620 AGE – 634 AGE)

The Yundols returned. Under the reign of King Riis the fifth a vast fleet of Yundol ships landed on the southern shore of Delfinnia. What Delfinnian ships were sent against them were destroyed and the King’s legion was bested at Plock. The Yundol’s pillaged without challenge until a new idea was given to the Diasect. Riis died battling the invaders in the valley of Retbit and his son was but a child. The sacking of the sacred isle of Zahnia saw the ancient city there reduced to ashes.

The Baronies (634 AGE – 650 AGE)

As a result the Diasect became regents. Under its authority it divided the realm into the baronies of Champia, Bison, Robinta, Retbit, Eclin, Stormglade and Sunguard. Each lord of those territories was granted permission to raise their own armies and so ease the burden on the crown. The strategy worked and the baron of Retbit, by far the wealthiest of lords formed an army that rivalled the Kings own. Retbit’s forces counter attacked the Yundol’s from the north whilst the armies of the King’s Legion and barony of Champia attacked from the west. After years of heavy fighting the Yundol invaders were pushed back into the sea.

Following the victory the Kings legion built a huge wall along the south eastern shore. The Yundol’s still raid from time to time, but their menace is greatly reduced.

For a hundred years the realm prospered once more. That was until the King and his heirs were assassinated by an unknown foe and the events of the Saga of the Sundered Crown began.