Imperium: The Seventh (incomplete)

In 1446 Robert Terrari VIII, Imperator of the Sixth Imperium, died in his sleep. Robert was widely regarded as a weak ruler beholden to his High Lords and remembered for his inaction as the fringes of his Imperium declared their independence and seized upon what Imperial officials and garrisons were still present in their lands. The most major symptom of Robert's weakness was the preeminence of Saiana Syrus, the Duchess of Daltora, Chief Minister of the Imperial Court, and elder sister to the Imperator's wife. Upon Robert's death Saiana and the Empress-Dowager declared Robert's second child Lilith, the empress' favorite who was also betrothed to Saiana's son as the new Imperator over her twin brother Gregor. This arrangement pleased the Dukes of the realm who benefited from Saiana's continual erosion of Imperial Authority and used it to take greater and greater liberties with both the nobles and commoners under their rule. Gregor however was outraged, only sixteen at the time the Prince fled to Altmora with a few loyal servants and a large quantity of wealth taken from the opulent court in Alderia. Gregor spent six years traveling around the Cyrian Sea, gathering support and troops for his claim on the Imperial Throne.

An authoritative yet charismatic youth, Gregor was well received by Cyrian elites and commoners alike. The decay of the Sixth Imperium under Gregor's father and his predecessors had caused considerable grief throughout the Cyrian Sea and Kelom as a whole, with invasions and raids on border states by emboldened Eldonic Dukes and pirates becoming near constant nuisances. The so wounded and concerned Cyrian peoples welcomed Gregor with open arms and most pledged material support to his cause. Hosted by the Chancellor of the Republic, Gregor based his recruiting efforts out of The Imperial Palace in Altmora, hosting weekly meetings with Altmoran merchants, senators, and guild leaders when he wasn't traveling to other Cyrian cities to petition their communities for support.

After spending five years gathering an army of volunteers, mercenaries, and men pledged by various Cyrian City States Gregor secured an agreement with the Altmoran Navy to transport his forces into the heart of the Imperium. Bringing his forces to shore near the capital of Alderia Gregor achieved a decisive victory against his sister's forces in the Battle of the Tyrian Fields where he outmaneuvered a 34,000 strong Imperial army with 20,000 men and utterly destroyed them; casualties for Gregor's forces are estimated to be in the hundreds while Lilith's forces had over 30,000 dead and the remainder taken prisoner. These prisoners included Frederick Syrus, husband to Lilith and daughter of Lilith and Gregor's aunt Saiana Syrus. Following Gregor's victory the magistrates of Alderia opened the gates of the city in direct defiance of Imperator Lilith's orders and Gregor assumed control of the city without incident as the Imperator and her court fled.

Declaring himself Imperator, Gregor issued several decrees of note during the week long period while his army marshaled itself in the city and bolstered its ranks with volunteers from the populace. The most notable of which was the Dispossession Edict, a decree that stated that all duchies in the Imperium would be dissolved and reorganized into provinces with appointed governors, the Edict further stated that any Duke or Duchess who opposed this reorganization or aided those who did would be stripped of both nobility and citizenship and executed as a traitor. Acting in accordance with his decree Gregor had his cousin Frederick and all captured lords who had supported him hanged and their severed heads put on display above the gates of Alderia.

After fully pacifying Alderia and leaving a small garrison behind in the city Gregor marched north at the head of an army of 25,000; reinforced by Alderian volunteers and Altmoran Marines who flocked to Gregor's banner after the victory on the Tyrian Fields. Gregor's forces moved north along the Eldo river for five days until they finally met a Daltoran force of approximately equal number consisting of the remaining forces of Gregor's Aunt Saiana that was commanded by the Duchess herself. Saiana's army contained a large contingent of cavalry, particularly heavy cavalry while the Daltoran infantry was mostly made up of levied peasants and a small cadre of men at arms. This composition of forces was the tried and true standard of Eldonic warfare and had been so for centuries. This heavy cavalry based army and those like it had dominated contemporary battlefields for centuries, however it failed utterly against Gregor's innovative infantry based combination of pike and shot. The Daltoran cavalry were shattered by the revolutionary tactic, later dubbed the Gregorian Square. The rest of the battle was a similarly resounding victory for Gregor as Saiana's forces were killed or put to rout with only minimal casualties for the Gregorian army. Duchess Saiana Syrus herself did not escape the fate of her army either, after having her horse shot out from under her early in the battle Saiana was killed by Gregor in single combat shortly before the last of her forces were put to rout.

The damage of the battle was 6,000 casualties for Gregorian forces, and 19,000 dead or wounded Daltorans. All surviving Daltoran Knights and Lords were executed on Gregor's orders and the commoners among the survivors were taken prisoner. With losses accounted for and prisoners secured Gregor marched his army further northward towards Daltora proper, securing the surrender of the smaller towns and holdfasts in his path as he marched. With the death of her sister Saiana, Gregor and Lilith's mother Arizia Syrus became Duchess of Daltora, however she only held it with a skeleton garrison thanks to the successive and decisive defeats of Daltoran forces under Frederick and Saiana by Gregor. The walls and gates of Daltora were strong, but they lacked adequate men to staff them, and Gregor's army had brought innovative cannons and bombards designed for sieges with them from Aros in case any cities resisted capture. It took a mere six hours before the southern walls and gates of Daltora were completely breached and Gregor's forces poured in. The Trade and Slum areas of Daltora were left virtually untouched by the interloping Terrari army, this bore stark contrast to the wealthy and government districts of the city, which Gregor ordered his army to sack and loot to their heart's content. The conduct of Gregor Terrari I and his army in the wealthy districts of Daltora would be described as a war crime by modern standards, tens of thousands of Daltora's 280,000 inhabitants were killed or displaced by the marauding Terrari army, along with untold amounts of rape, pillage, and plundering allowed and encouraged by Gregor and his officers. However, the message behind these actions was clear, the elite of Daltora had supported their Duchess' undermining of The Imperium for the gain of herself and her personal holdings and Gregor was undoing her work. Imperator Lilith I fled Daltora as Gregor entered the city, and he did not pursue her further. Their mother Ariza Syrus committed suicide by poison in the Syrus seat of Ihngarde Keep before Gregor's troops breached it.

With the Syrus Sisters dead and their Imperator fled, the Nobles of The Sixth Imperium quickly fell in line and accepted Gregor's terms. The terms of the Dispossession Edict allowed them to retain their wealth, along with ownership of the various castles and palaces they called home, all other territory was ceded to the crown. Given the apparent invincibility of Terrari forces in battle, and the innumerable examples Gregor had already made of those who opposed him those who had previously dismissed the edict were more than happy to sign on.