A history of the Brethren

[ElConejo]

The Brethren has existed for a hundred years. Its power has emanated from the West Ocean and dominated the Four Oceans for generations. The two most powerful nations uniting together to achieve supremacy. The Brethren of Ion and Metrata formed the immortal bond between the two people.

This historical look at the region known as the ‘Four Oceans’ will look at not only the rise of the nations in the area, but also will seek to allow a better understanding of how the Brethren was established, and what its effect was on the region.

The Brethren was established in Jan. 1001 A.D. between the newly formed Republic of Ion and the Kingdom of Metrata. This bond between two ruling houses eventually continued even after revolutions in both countries resulted in democratic governments. The bond between the two nations extended into many decades as the two began to live a symbiotic relationship.

By all accounts the people of Ion (and before that Aless) have always held a very firm and powerful military tradition. The Ionite Republic, later extended its powerful military to protect the Brethren from harm. This is after all how the pact came to exist.

The Metratan people have always held a knack for industry and economics. The entire Metratan history relates specifically back to currency and the handling of major trades. The Metratan economy, although shakey in its infancy, was never near the pitfalls that many of the other nations have dealt with. This economic and industrial potency assured their place next to the Ionites in the Brethren.

We will first look at the region before the Brethren to understand how and why the Brethren Alliance took place.

Kings and Kingdoms

Of the three major islands in the Four Oceans, the western-most island would bare the brunt of the first major war of the region. The Aless Kingdom had set itself up in the southern tip of the island. The Morahala tribe was dwindling on the northern middle portion of the island. And to the far north of the island bore the first Metratan Dynasty.

King Metra VII held his Dynasty with an iron fist in north. He moved his empire out slowly. In the latter days of his life he took control of the entire northern part of the island. Metra VII was a man that history shall record as a rigorous worker. Even as King, he would often tour new landscapes and survey the land best for settling. He would position his work force at the fringe of his empire to make certain trade roads would be built.

King Hum of the Aless Kingdom was one that wished to expand outward and take complete control of the southern side of the island. Hum expanded his Kingdom quickly and soon had the largest general population on the island under his control. The Alessian King would find his empire butting directly against two others: the Metratans and the Morahalas.

The Kings of the Morahalas contributed more than any other figures to their inability to grow and prosper. Although many have attempted to document the succession of kings in the Morahala kingdom, we find that they would transfer power so often that little to nothing in the small kingdom was ever accomplished. The prominent military and political leaders would often dispute over such matters as expansion and would only add to the problem.

Pawns and Peoples

Of the people on the West Island much good can be said. In the south, the people were growing in numbers in Alessian cities, and were quickly building a infrastructure. To the far south lay a hard-working yet often oppressed people. To the far north we see a very agricultural group that quickly turned its sights toward industry and commerce.

But tempers began to boil on the island. The new Morahala wish to expand pushed against the borders of both of the larger states. Morahala leaders wanted to take control of the south-western coast as well as the inner flatlands. This Morahalan expansion pushed right into the center of the Alessian ‘claimed lands’.

Immeditately the Alessian King amassed an army of swordsman and horsemen and led the army to Morahala. Declaring that the states of Morahala were in violation of his borders the King ceased control of the territories. The Morahala were outraged and ready to fight back.

The Alessian King Vongt went to the Metratan King Metra IX and asked to sign an alliance against the Morahalan. King Metra agreed to the treaty and pushed his few troops down into Morahalan territory. Soon the Morahalan were extinguished by Alessian and Metratan troops.

However, upon returning from the conquered lands, a few leaders within the military ranks felt they did not want to live below a monarch any further. These military leaders were in favor of having leaders in which they would elect into leadership. These were the first seeds in which would result in the Ionite Revolution.

[DarkCloud]

...Sorry that I have no comments as of yet, but just wondering, are you going to segue from the Historical Report style into the storytelling style, or will the rest of this tale be told historically as well?

[ElConejo]

I was coming into this with a historical feel to it, thats why I titled it A History of the Brethren. I want this story to be a reflection of a History Channel type presentation (and honestly I didnt know if anyone but me would like the format). So the rest will continue like the beginning. I will be posting some pictures of the game as well. (This "History" is based upon a cooperative multiplayer game I am having with my best friend Metra so it will be ongoing until our game ends... that is if Apolyton wants me to keep writing ) So once I have some pictures up and I do wsome editing to the previous post (spelling and directional errors) I will be on my way to reporting Historcally what is happening in the 'Four Oceans'.

EDIT:
P.S. Please reread the first post if you already read it, it makes much more sense now, I dont know how I made so many blaitent mistakes... but I did write it being a tired college boy! LOL
Thanks for the support!

[ElConejo]

This is a map of the lands of Ion and Metrata before the military encounters of the Morahalan:

[ElConejo]

Revolutionaries and Revolutions

After the Morahalan War, the Aless Kingdom had expanded their borders to include the Morahalan territories in the south. Claiming the land as their own, the Alessians integrated the Morahalan people into the kingdom. The Morahalan people were already sick of the unstable monarchy in their own state, and they would not quickly welcome a new monarch.

The Morahalan people would be half of the reason the revolution would take place. Many of the civil leaders in the conquered lands wanted to establish themselves as a separate democratic state. The Morahalan people, however, did not possess the resources to carry out this plot.

On the other hand the military leaders, returning to their homeland were met with disturbing news that would bring the revolution even closer. The King of Alessia had decreed that all military personnel be removed from their posts and reduced to worker status.

The King’s decision outraged the community, especially in the core cities of the kingdom. The troops, abandoned by their king, felt no desire to support him. The military leaders that had planted seeds of revolution now rose up to state that they would lead a revolution to create a republic in Alessia.

The revolutionists seized control of the King’s military. All horses and weapons were taken in the name of revolution. The revolutionaries made quick allies of the Morahalan people. The Morahalan were eager to fight along side the revolutionists to create a republic of the region.

The revolutionary leaders supplied the resources and the Morahalan, along with the abandoned troops of Aless, supplied the manpower. Over the period of twenty-two months, the revolutionaries fought for their new republic. This period would come to be known as the Ionite Revolution.

The Ionite Revolution

Almost two years of revolution brought into existence the most influential military power in history; the Ionite Republic. The revolutionists chose carefully what they wanted to call their new government. They finally decided on the name of the river that ran through the Alessian heartland; the Ion River. The river that brought life to the people in the region would be the life of the people once again. They chose their capital to be placed in the city of Ion on the symbolic river.

The revolution started in the neck of Fion. Fion was the natural land bridge that connected the northern Alessian Kingdom, and the southern Morahalan Kingdom. Here the revolutionaries took control of the military and enlisted the help of the natives in the south.

From the revolution’s beginning in Fion, the revolutionary army met the small loyalist imperial army at the hills of Aion. King Vongt led his loyalist army to battle on the hills of Aion. The revolutionaries and the loyalists battled for hours to end in the revolution’s victory.

Accounts of the battle depict blood soaked blades and few men surviving the encounter. The revolutionary army, was able to push through the loyalists and to the King. The only account of the fate of the King of Alessia is a grim depiction of brutal beating and death by the hands of his former soldiers.

Once the battle had been won, the revolutionary leaders went down river to the now sacred city of Ion. Here they set up the House of Ion, where the Ionite Senate would preside. The House of Ion was the place where the first borders were marked and the first laws were drafted.

The House of Ion was also the place where the first leaders of the Republic were elected. The first Senate was made up of mostly the leaders that had survived the revolution and those who were adamant about forming a powerful, equal, and prosperous republic under the Ion banner.

[Metra]

I uh...see that this is mostly, only about your civ. I see that The Metratans kinda went the way of the dinosaur.


BRING MONEY!!!!

[ElConejo]

Metra, I have the entire Metratan rise to power coming up in the next supplement.. cool thy jets my brother. The next two sections revolve around the Metratans.

[ElConejo]

The Metratan Expansion

The Metratans in the north, although sent a few units in accordance with the alliance against the Morahalans, did not concern themselves with the fighting. Instead they pushed their borders up to the north where the barbarians thrived.

The Metratan King wanted to push his borders north and colonize the mineral rich regions of mountains terrain the north was infamous for. During the time in which the Morahalans were losing their lands, the Metratans were conquering the few minor tribes to the north of their kingdom.

The King was looking for gold. Commerce. Trade. The three factors that had led the kingdom to where it stands today led to the expansion of the borders to the high north. The fighting between the settlers and the barbarians was fierce and prolonged. The Metratan defensive units were highly trained and powerfully equipped.

Metratan troops advanced the kingdoms borders into the new lands and found beautiful mountains and many usable terrains. The settlers were cut off from the homeland through a vicious mountain range. The King already had plans to construct a road way through the mountains to his new lands.

The lands would become a very important part of the Metratan infrastructure and would further add to the Metratan rise to power. The northern lands would become the scene of a terrible land dispute that would spark a war between islands and between massive powers.

The Metratan Imbalance

Metrata had long since been the seat of the Kingdom. It sat along the Metera River which flowed east-west and though the northern Metrata land. The Kingdom had become extremely prosperous. Much of the country’s economy was based upon companies and industries run by the Metratan noblemen.

The nobles however, had to pay an extremely stiff fee of business to the king in Metrata. The King, while accumulating the most incredible cash reserve the world had ever know, made quick enemies of the nobles he taxed so coldly.

At one point, the date of which is not known, the Metratan nobles arrived at the only solution: remove the tax-crazed monarch. To better eliminate corruption and harsh taxation the nobles believed a republic like that of the Ionites was in order.

The nobles first shocked the King’s courts by refusing to pay their taxes. The King, furious, stated that they would be removed of their nobility and reduced to peasants if they did not pay his tax immediately.

The nobles rallied the lower class citizens behind them in favor of removing the crown. Without a powerful military to police the rioting people, it was sure that the Metratan King was not going to win. The few imperial guards defended the king’s palace but were soon overrun by the masses.

The nobles decided to keep the capital of their new Metratan Republic in Metrata. Their decision was made for several reasons. One was because it sat upon the river that brought great trade to the region and helped the economy flourish. Another reason was because to many of the nobles, the city symbolized the new nation eclipsing the old.

The nobles formed a Senate much in compliance to the Ionite government in the south. The Metratan Senate believed that they would continue the Treaty of the Brethren due to its financial and strategical value.

With the two new Republics formed on the West Island, the Brethren only strengthened as the two nations grew. Their political interests and mutual safety were helping form the bond between the two as seen nowhere else in the region.

[ElConejo]

Brethren Powers

By the time the Ionite Republic had been established in the south, the other powers in the Four Oceans had risen to power as well. On the Eastern Island, there were five empires forging themselves legacies. All five nations in the east were carving out their island for their own.

The formation of the two sovereign republics in the west initiated a reason to formally rewrite and clarify the Treaty of the Brethren. The Brethren was now strengthened even further by the two revolutions occurring so close together. The people of Metrata and Ion could cross borders and make trade as though they were a single country.

The Brethren Alliance was defined as an unbreakable blood alliance to each other's nation. Each citizen of both powers should understand himself to be part of the Brethren as a whole, and treat both cultural and blood lines as his brother. The two governments were now locked to trading with one another any resources that would aid or assist its brother. And technology, under the terms of the Alliance would be shared between the nations freely. Territories, although retaining their present nationality, would be understood as part of the Brethren sphere. For almost all intents and purposes, the two nations were united. During these conferences the two nations created the Flag of the Brethren in which would represent the Brethren as a symbol of its unity.

The Brethren Powers grew strong with free trade between the countries. The Metratan Republic now set its sights north to spread its domain further, and bring back valuable resources. The Ionite Republic now looked east to fill in the land conquered from the Morahalan, as well as setting their sights to the South Ocean and its island chain.


Struggling Expansionism

The expansion of the Brethren’s land was not altogether simple. The Metratans to the north dealt with terrifying barbarians in their expansion. The Ionites suffered many civil disorders and economic pitfalls due to the expansion to the west. The Metratan economy was pained by the use of the skeleton military in the north against barbarians, and the Ionite economy suffered from the massive corruption and disorder in its new territories.

Metratan policy with the new lands was to quickly relocate as many settlers to the region as possible. Thus the north became very densified and cities soon marked every area of the north. These cities became lucrative due to the natural resources and the trade network set up by Metrata.

Ion was more interested in creating a powerful set of metropolises spread out among the new territories. They expanded slower as a result, but the cities were on average more developed. However, with the more centralized city distribution came new problems for Ion. The corruption in the densely populated new lands was sky high.

Eventually, the Metratans were able to put down the barbarians and develop their cities in the north. The Ionites similarly brought their cities under their law and control through courthouses and police stations in the new lands.

The time of expansionism for the Brethren was relatively short in comparison to its long and powerful history, but it was nevertheless a very influential in the course of its evolution as well as its power in the region.

[ElConejo]

The Flag of the Brethren

[ElConejo]

The Generations War

The War between the Hergatron Kingdom and the Vintal Empire began in late 1004. The war started after a trade agreement was broken by the Hergatronese. A first hand account of the transaction that would spark the Generations War was recorded by a Hergatronese guard outside of the Royal Palace:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Vintali convoy arrived in the square; it was escorted by a group of Vintal guards. His Majesty had made a deal with the Vintal that he would send spices to Vintal, in exchange for a very modest sum of gold. His Majesty had his Royal Military Advisor check the caravan for the gold. The gold was indeed present. And just as we thought His Majesty would hand over the spices, he nodded to his advisor and made a hand gesture to his Royal Guard. The guards immediately dispatched the Vintali guards, and the caravan was brought into the deeper palace.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Hergatronese would later deny that the caravan even arrived in their capital. The Vintal, certain that their gold was now in Hergatron’s coffers demanded repayment or a state of war would be declared between the houses.

Hergatron once again denied any involvement and dismissed the demand. Weeks later Vintali troops arrived at the Hergatronese border. The Great Generations War had begun.

The war would see very few battles at first. The kingdoms were too far apart to mobilize their armies quickly. However, in 1012, the Hergatron King Jamer II successfully took control of the Vintal city of Rheims. The city was held successfully for two full years before the Vintal army could make an offensive.

When the Vintali Army arrived to take back their beloved city from their rival. The armies met in battle outside of Rheims. In the end, the Hergatronese army was all but wiped out. Most of the survivors were taken prisoner. King Jamer II was killed in battle, and the city returned to Vintal control.

Because of the loss of Rheims, the new King Jamer III, went to the Reh’ren monarch to the north of Vintal for help. The Hergatron-Reh’ren Alliance against Vintal was an attempt to bring the weight down upon Vintal.

Vintali generals wanted to strike at Reh’ren as quickly as possible. The objective was not to conquer Reh’ren, but rather to remove them from the war. With the victory of Rheims the morale of the Vintal army was secure, and now the army was fully funded. The Vintali generals chose Rome to capture for its valuable mineral and gem mines.

The generals attacked and took the lightly defended city in only a few short days. The Reh’rens were given no time to mobilize their armies into Rome and lost the city with almost no resistance.

Rehren armies attempted Rome’s recapture but were pushed out by the growing Vintal power. The Vintal generals were poised to strike at Reh itself. The Vintal Royalty, fighting two wars now with a thinly stretched army, wanted to poise every available resource to avenging the injustice the Hergatrons bore upon them.

Hergatron generals were busy plotting their next offensive against Vintal. Realizing that the reason they lost the battle of Rheims was due to the fact that the army had no support from the homeland, they set out to find a suitable forwarding post.

Their Reh’ren allies could not be trusted with protecting their own borders, the Hergatron military looked for another location near Vintal territories. They found the small island of Berinx the perfect location. Located in the South Ocean, they could easily send troops and supplies there to be moved shortly inland onto Vintal soil. The only problem with the Berinx Island plan was that it was currently being held by the Ionite Republic.

Hergatronese ambassadors demanded that Berinx be allowed to house Hergatronese ships and military personnel en route to Vintal lands. Ion however, wanted nothing to do with the Eastern conflict and would not submit to the demand of the Hergatron military.

Overzealously, the Hergatron generals declared war on Ion and plotted to take Berinx by force to use against Vintal. They believed that Ion would ceed control because Berinx was not worth enough to fight a major war for. They underestimated the Ionite nationalism. Within weeks of the declaration, Ionite warships engaged and sunk dozens of Hergatron ships off the coast of Berinx and Ion.

Meanwhile in the East, the Vintali military gave Reh’ren an ultimatum: Abandon the alliance and declare peace, and seed control of Rome to Vintal, or Reh and all of the Empire would be completely destroyed. The Reh’ren monarch learned of the declaration of war to Ion from Hergatron and concluded that Hergatron could no longer be trusted. Also the Reh’rens, not knowing the limited power of the Vintali army, and witnessing their own defeats, reluctantly signed the treaty.

In the west, after the Reh’rens had pulled from the war, Hergatron was no longer sure of its dominance over Vintal, and certainly not sure of war against both Vintal and Ion at once. Ionite leaders did not want a war either. The Ionite President Thimad worked out a Peace Treaty that the Hergatron government agreed to and ratified.

The irony of the Hergatronese tactics during the first stages of the war was that they largely benefited their rivals instead of themselves! The capture and then subsequent loss of Rheims gave reason and morale to the troops of Vintal. Bringing Reh’ren into the war only forged new territory for the Vintal Empire. Attacking Ion for the Island of Berinx resulted in the sinking of many of the King’s ships. Nothing that the Hergatronese did during the first phase of the war helped them at all.

The feud would continued however, until the Second Ionite-Vintal War of 1114 disposed of the Vintal Empire. But the war between the two houses of Hergatron and Vintal, as the historical name implies, lasted generations.

[Metra]

cool. I like it. I also like how the one about the war has only to do with those involved. (which is why you see nothing of metrata)
ALL HAIL THE BRETHEREN!

[ElConejo]

Please I would love to hear any comments as long as those comments fall into at least one of the following: 1)Constructive, 2)Pleasant. Thanks I would love to hear any feedback!

[Paddy]

Good value mate. I enjoyed this

[ElConejo]

Originally posted by Paddy the Scot
Good value mate. I enjoyed this

Thanks a lot Paddy! And if you like that, then you will more than likely enjoy the next chapters coming! I REALLY appreicate the support, thanks again!