The Rise of Kaldol
-
The year is 989 CE on the Isle of Icholasen. It has been five years since Uveira, the Bloodking of Kaldol landed on the rocky beaches of Kicrlaunk. Once a son of a peasant ennobled by saving the previous King from assassination, Uveira spoke against the King after him, protesting that his expansionist policies were not going far enough. Now an outlaw, he took a band of some of the most veteran warriors and set sail for lands of his own. Internal strife on the isle left the three Kingdoms ripe for conquest and Uveira stood at the pedestal for a fate for Ruthenish exspansionism. With two of the three Nicoleizian Kingdoms fallen, the Kingdom of Romain was left standing alone. Was Ruthund destined to rule the North, or was it doomed to remain on the Northern shores west of the Bunaland? A critical meeting was about to take place between the King of Romain and the King of Kaldol on a heath outside Lunonjraunk.
-
King Louis III of the Kingdom of Romain had been in line to unite the entire island of Icholasen. He had a claim on the Kingdom of Regina and the Kingdom of Kicrlaunk. Unfortunately Uveira, the Bloodking, had put a stop to his and his dynasty's right to rule the entire island of Icholasen. Louis knew that he was the next Nicoleizian king to fall -- unless he did something about it. He was ready to talk. His right to expansion had been taken from him, and he was definitely not going to let his own Kingdom fall to these barbarians.
Louis was about 34 years old, his father Phillipe dying at 56 around 3 years earlier (historians however dispute the date of Phillipe's death). He was muscular and blond - definitely a jock by modern standards. He had a healthy but carefully manicured beard - a status symbol within the incredibly patriarchal society of Romain (it had never been possible for a woman to take the throne of Romain. During the reign of Queen Anastasia I, Romain was demoted to a Duchy so that she could legitimately rule over it - the title of Duke of Romain being now held by Prince Tommy). His hair was shaved at the back and the sides - like a modern fuckboy. However, this had an important purpose as Romain armour relied on chain-mail, which came up over the head, with long hair it would get stuck and become a huge mess. Louis' hair was newly shaved for this event, having delegated much of recent fighting of raids to his Knights.
Louis had the backing of his court to talk to Uveira - though the Archbishop of Romain had strong doubts about how holy it was to talk to total barbarians. But, the Pope was on Louis' side - Louis had promised the Pope he would take back Icholasen for the one true Christian faith - but that it was foolish to fight the far stronger armies of Uveira the Bloodking right now. Romain geographically was only around 1/3rd of the territory of the island of Icholasen - but it was less developed than the other areas of the island. It was also still subject to raids and other terrors. Louis governed a Kingdom in peril. Would this Kingdom and Christendom survive? In the Year of Our Lord, 989, that survival was certainly not guaranteed. Christian Kingdoms were falling like dominoes - two out of three Kingdoms on the Island of Icholasen had already fallen. Louis was literally the bulwark against barbarian infidels - he was well and truly on the very edge of the civilised world.
Despite Louis' dire situation was at least helped by being surrounded by a strong court. Some of the most powerful Christian nations were behind him. He was married to Angelica Lamborda, an Inquistan who brought with her the support of the (still Catholic) Inquista and its deep pockets of gold. The Pope, too, had sent an envoy to Louis' court, - a learned man who knew all about theology, but also about the natural world. Louis' Knights were also strong and relatively well armed, with the deep pockets of the Pope and some Inquistans funding their weaponry and mercenaries. Despite this, the army of Romain was incredibly unskilled. The Island of Icholasen had been relatively peaceful until the raids had begun, the 3 Kingdoms accepted the status quo. Skirmishes of course existed between the 3 Kingdoms, but the armies had still not become as skilled as the armies under the Bloodking.
Overall, Louis found himself unsure about the future of his Kingdom. He had plenty of advantages, but equally as many disadvantages. After a trip in a boat and a short trip by carriage, he arrived in modern-day Lunonjrauk. A city now named after a communist revolutionary who murdered royalty. Louis climbed up the windy hill and saw his interlocutor. It was chilly - the town was not far from the coast. Louis wore the fur of a bear, some chain-mail armour, furry trousers and boots. He had a sword sheathed on his belt.
'Greetings, Bloodking. I am happy to make your acquaintance.' Louis held out his hand, unsure if handshakes were a thing in Ruthund.
-
On top of the summit stood a plain stone floor with a table gilded in iron. Uveira too wore a crown not of Silver, as custom in Ruthund, but an iron crown. In fact, the whole summit was littered with sharp objects made of iron with the only other feature of the location being more notable was the plain gray stone slabs that made the structure-- if you could call it one. The morning fog also did not help lighten the mood of the summit, and perhaps made Uveira more mysterious and intimidating to the Romain King. Yes, Uveira made quite an effort and display to ensure the King was thoroughly intimidated. Uveria was both fair and foul to a Christain eye: he had long black hair elaborately braided, while also his ears were notably pierced with spikes. So basically, he just looked like someone from Seattle that LARPed. He spent no effort to clean his ceremonial amour, for the blood split was all the more reason for both his friends and foes to fear him. And to add with his menace, he strongly resembled a sort of Northman, towering over the Romain King that stood before him.
Icholasen was not the first expedition that Uveira partook. Perhaps what distinguished him most as a trusted Commander for the Ruthen King was his pacification of the Hukons about 7 years before, making the former menace the Westmark of the Kingdom. He also participated in the establishment of a second Southmark soon after, driving the Kelondi out of Zgadhyvzind for good. Even with these successes, Uveira believed that Ruthens were destined to conquer the World as he envisioned on his Spirit Quest. But this was deemed too extreme for King Hazdula and when Uveira drew his sword upon the King, Uveira was exiled from Ruthund. Searching for a Kingdom of his own as a base to conquer the world with his band, Icholasen was ripe to conquer. With Vardic raids weakening the Kingdoms, as well as various unresolved feuds plaguing the courts of the three Kingdoms, Uveira stepped on the grey shores of Icholasen with a rightoues Zeal to purify his foes and to bring glory to the Spirits and Ruthund.
Uveira pushed the boundaries of his expansionism perhaps too far. It is no mystery that Ruthund within the last 100 years took to expanding their boundaries and creating colonies across Northern Europe. In fact, Ruthund was quickly becoming a power that Northern Europe was struggling to contain-- and this reality only rung more true with the conquests made under Uveira. But with much of Christendom aware of his conquests, the expedition that King Hazdula once begrudgingly backed, now completely disavowed. Hazdula's attempt to keep a leash on Uveira failed, probably because he wasn't into it. There would be no more conquest in Icholasen bestowed with the King's blessing. Uveira was alone, and with little allies. His best hope is to consolidate his current holdings or to use psychological warfare on the Romain King, hopefully giving the Bloodking favorable terms. From a raven's eye (a Ruthenish term for, "from a 3rd-person's point of view during the time"), psycological warfare perhaps could work. Uveira was seldom seen by anyone except from the fields of battle, proving himself a warrior not lightly to be challenged. In battle his helmet obscured his face so much that his foes could not see black and void. Stories about his mysteriousness before lead to some rumors that he made a pact with Satan so to perform dark magic to twist his foes and bolster his men. Sometimes, he was also called the Witchking of Kaldol for this reason.
As of now however, Kaldol was on higher ground-- which you may interpret both literally and figuratively. And King Louis knew this well, the Bloodking knew this well. It would be the Bloodking who was going to be making the demands for the time being. But time was of the essence, for Christendom was stirring.
"Hail, Louis King." said Uveira in a rich deep voice. He noticed that Louis hand was out as an gesture of politeness. Though Uveira was aware of such mannerisms, he wanted to make an impression on Louis and instead of shaking his hand, he instead squeezed his hand so hard it nearly crushed his incel thin-wristed hands.
"Sit", he genstured towards the iron table accompanied with similarily composed chairs. "We have much to discuss." He gestured his personal guards away. And so the two Kings were at last alone face to face. Pagan King to Christian King.
