Catrulda Gelimarid of Eubornes - A Tale of Conquest, Betrayal and Irony
Age of Conquest
This tale begins long ago in the distant outskirts of northern Gual. The tiny militaristic tribe of Eubrones ruled by Chief Catrulda Gelimarid the stubborn, but just ruler. This tiny nation would seem normally to be a nation that should have been forgotten in the annuals of history, not even a footnote in many cases. But how wrong they were...
Catrulda Gelimarid had grand dreams of a vast empire and he wasn't about to let those dreams die. Upon the morn of January 1st he had begun to build his forces up knowing everyone in the region would be as well far beyond their normal capacity. He intended not to be a sitting duck, even if he had to dig deep into the treasuries coffers.
Fortunately, he ran short after recruiting just 5000 men, but it was enough to keep the neighbors from eying him too closely. Good for him, bad for them.
Over the next year he sent out multiple assassins targeting their best generals, usually with failure, but enough success that Catrulda felt justified. After all, their generals were masters and he was stuck with some mediocre schmuck, but he didn't complain too much after having sliced his hand on a wooden stick. The incident, much to Caltruda's misfortune had people calling him dumb and more than that, they couldn't figure out how he could manage such a feat. It would be forever recorded as one of Eubrones's great mysteries.
However, about this time, stage one of his plans had been completed. The best generals of his neighbors all now passed into the next life and so, using the pretext of one of his assassins being killed as justification, Caltruda declared war upon the the nation of Nevii.
The war was quick and brutal, favoring Eubrones. The enemy was quickly routed and retreated north to their allies, whom surprisingly despite declaring war were just content to sit idly by. Catrulda's general had lucked out though as their force was about the same size and they were coming back. Fortune smiled upon them and one of the fires set managed to burn a hole big enough to assult. Quickly, before they could return Catrulda ordered the troops to sack the city and then demand their annexation. Thus the Ebrones Empire was born.
But that wasn't enough for Chief Gelimarid. He had allied earlier with Parisii and they had dared to ignore his call for arms causing him to end the war prematurely. This of course meant that Atrebetes would be spared, Catrulda thought just temporarily, but it would not be taken during his rule.
So the next war was declared, this one on a traitor. This war Catrulda could afford a bit to maintain war a bit longer. He was not in risk of being annexed himself now. So after quickly routing the forces of Parisii and capturing their land, he saw their allies, the Aulerci were quite pitiful. He quickly dispatched his army to capture the province. And after a brief intermission in which the forces of Parisii raced against time to liberate their province, they failed and a double annexation occurred, doubling Eubrones's size once again.
It is at this point people began to whisper about the name Odoacre Dagaricid, the lead general in the two wars. He wasn't an especially genius general, but he was still better than most. And what's more important, is that the men under his command had begun to trust him.
However, Chief Gelimarid still had 2 more provinces to conquer and unfortunately, he didn't have any suitable replacements for Odoacre. Oh sure, he could command himself, and be laughed at (the wood incient was still fresh in everyone's mind), or he could give it to someone probably just as bad, but he wanted to conquer 2 more territories, one of which he saw much more urgent, Capnutes. The province was bordering the Roman Empire and even this far north he had heard of it, mostly from the Carthagian ambassador he had imprisoned after they declared war upon him in response to some other nation or whatnot. Chief Gelimarid was too unconcerned about someone so far away and indeed they never came, finally demanding some years later a few spare coins to end the war. Catrulda shrugged. He knew he could make the money back eventually by ransoming his prisoner.
However, the Roman Empire wasn't the same. They were much closer and thus more of a threat. He knew if he didn't act now, he might not be able to act later and quickly declared war upon Capnutes. One of their allies to the south joined in and while General Odoacre was busy in the south, they took over the recently conquered province of Aulerci and almost managed to do the same for Parasii, but he wasn't concerned about that far flung province and just demand annexation of Capnutes, ending the war. Catrulda chuckled as he watched the allied enemy retreat empty handed.
Age of Barbarians
The next ten years or so saw nothing much occur in Eubrones. The empire had it's hands full keeping barbarians at bay and the occasional peasant revolt (although sometimes he let the barbarians take care of peasants). General Odoacre Dagaricid had gained even more popularity from the last war. However it would still be a couple years before a replacement for him would be found. Unfortunately, by then, his loyalty had plummeted and his popularity had become decent. It was not overwhelming as he often had to retreat from massive barbarian hordes and let Catrulda beg them to just settle down in the area, something that made the current leader look all the more incompetent, though it didn't help Odoacre's image either.
Age of Division:
This went on for some time until finally after getting hit with barbarian raids on both sides, the government issued an order to General Dagaricid. Infuriated he finally had the last straw and delcared himself the true ruler.
Since all of the soldiers Eubrones could produce was going to support General Dagaricid already, there was nothing left to fight with, except foreign troops. However the current ruler didn't really feel up to the task. Instead he simply used the money he'd gained from those barbarian suppressions to make a sacrifice to the Barbarian horde now in the southern province of the rebel territory. He want to see them conquer the traitor.
But more than that, Chief Catrulda Gelimarid was getting old and tired of fighting. He knew his time would be up soon and besides, it seemed actually that the rebels had better technology than he did and so he just sat and watched from outside his throne, because well, his throne was currently occupied by another group of barbarian squatters. Their leader had long since left, but well, some thug more incompetent than Catrulda (except when it came to wood and fighting), was living the good life on his property.
So he watched as the other group of barbarians sacked one of the rebels towns and then, with the irony not lost upon him, he was able to make another sacrifice to appease his populace after the rebels took a province. He just had a good laugh after the deer had been slaughtered to the gods that as his realm was crumbling it was more stable now than it had been before.
But then Catrulda sobered up. He had had too much wine that night after all. He realized that once the other province was taken then he'd be left with one province and that thug of a barbarian would take over. Using all his begging and pleading and groveling skills he tried to get the barbarians to just settle down, but alas they did not and Chief Catrulda Gelimarid's rule came to an end.
In the last days before his rule would end, though a small group of supporters switched sides, unfortunately, the irony of being too little too late was not lost on the soon to be deposed Chief.
Epilogue:
Who came next historians have long forgotten but it didn't matter much because within a couple months that barbarian ruler was deposed and General Odoacre Dagaricid, leader of the rebel faction became Chief Odoacre Dagaricid of Eubrones and immediately upon his assertion took out some hidden scrolls in his pocket and read to the people about new ways of the world and how civilization could be improved. Indeed within one night the civilization value of Eubrones citizens went from not less than halfway to any real understanding of the basics to everyone knowing them.
And thus the tale of the Rise and fall of Catrulda Gelimarid comes to an end...
Age of Conquest
This tale begins long ago in the distant outskirts of northern Gual. The tiny militaristic tribe of Eubrones ruled by Chief Catrulda Gelimarid the stubborn, but just ruler. This tiny nation would seem normally to be a nation that should have been forgotten in the annuals of history, not even a footnote in many cases. But how wrong they were...
Catrulda Gelimarid had grand dreams of a vast empire and he wasn't about to let those dreams die. Upon the morn of January 1st he had begun to build his forces up knowing everyone in the region would be as well far beyond their normal capacity. He intended not to be a sitting duck, even if he had to dig deep into the treasuries coffers.
Fortunately, he ran short after recruiting just 5000 men, but it was enough to keep the neighbors from eying him too closely. Good for him, bad for them.
Over the next year he sent out multiple assassins targeting their best generals, usually with failure, but enough success that Catrulda felt justified. After all, their generals were masters and he was stuck with some mediocre schmuck, but he didn't complain too much after having sliced his hand on a wooden stick. The incident, much to Caltruda's misfortune had people calling him dumb and more than that, they couldn't figure out how he could manage such a feat. It would be forever recorded as one of Eubrones's great mysteries.
However, about this time, stage one of his plans had been completed. The best generals of his neighbors all now passed into the next life and so, using the pretext of one of his assassins being killed as justification, Caltruda declared war upon the the nation of Nevii.
The war was quick and brutal, favoring Eubrones. The enemy was quickly routed and retreated north to their allies, whom surprisingly despite declaring war were just content to sit idly by. Catrulda's general had lucked out though as their force was about the same size and they were coming back. Fortune smiled upon them and one of the fires set managed to burn a hole big enough to assult. Quickly, before they could return Catrulda ordered the troops to sack the city and then demand their annexation. Thus the Ebrones Empire was born.
But that wasn't enough for Chief Gelimarid. He had allied earlier with Parisii and they had dared to ignore his call for arms causing him to end the war prematurely. This of course meant that Atrebetes would be spared, Catrulda thought just temporarily, but it would not be taken during his rule.
So the next war was declared, this one on a traitor. This war Catrulda could afford a bit to maintain war a bit longer. He was not in risk of being annexed himself now. So after quickly routing the forces of Parisii and capturing their land, he saw their allies, the Aulerci were quite pitiful. He quickly dispatched his army to capture the province. And after a brief intermission in which the forces of Parisii raced against time to liberate their province, they failed and a double annexation occurred, doubling Eubrones's size once again.
It is at this point people began to whisper about the name Odoacre Dagaricid, the lead general in the two wars. He wasn't an especially genius general, but he was still better than most. And what's more important, is that the men under his command had begun to trust him.
However, Chief Gelimarid still had 2 more provinces to conquer and unfortunately, he didn't have any suitable replacements for Odoacre. Oh sure, he could command himself, and be laughed at (the wood incient was still fresh in everyone's mind), or he could give it to someone probably just as bad, but he wanted to conquer 2 more territories, one of which he saw much more urgent, Capnutes. The province was bordering the Roman Empire and even this far north he had heard of it, mostly from the Carthagian ambassador he had imprisoned after they declared war upon him in response to some other nation or whatnot. Chief Gelimarid was too unconcerned about someone so far away and indeed they never came, finally demanding some years later a few spare coins to end the war. Catrulda shrugged. He knew he could make the money back eventually by ransoming his prisoner.
However, the Roman Empire wasn't the same. They were much closer and thus more of a threat. He knew if he didn't act now, he might not be able to act later and quickly declared war upon Capnutes. One of their allies to the south joined in and while General Odoacre was busy in the south, they took over the recently conquered province of Aulerci and almost managed to do the same for Parasii, but he wasn't concerned about that far flung province and just demand annexation of Capnutes, ending the war. Catrulda chuckled as he watched the allied enemy retreat empty handed.
Age of Barbarians
The next ten years or so saw nothing much occur in Eubrones. The empire had it's hands full keeping barbarians at bay and the occasional peasant revolt (although sometimes he let the barbarians take care of peasants). General Odoacre Dagaricid had gained even more popularity from the last war. However it would still be a couple years before a replacement for him would be found. Unfortunately, by then, his loyalty had plummeted and his popularity had become decent. It was not overwhelming as he often had to retreat from massive barbarian hordes and let Catrulda beg them to just settle down in the area, something that made the current leader look all the more incompetent, though it didn't help Odoacre's image either.
Age of Division:
This went on for some time until finally after getting hit with barbarian raids on both sides, the government issued an order to General Dagaricid. Infuriated he finally had the last straw and delcared himself the true ruler.
Since all of the soldiers Eubrones could produce was going to support General Dagaricid already, there was nothing left to fight with, except foreign troops. However the current ruler didn't really feel up to the task. Instead he simply used the money he'd gained from those barbarian suppressions to make a sacrifice to the Barbarian horde now in the southern province of the rebel territory. He want to see them conquer the traitor.
But more than that, Chief Catrulda Gelimarid was getting old and tired of fighting. He knew his time would be up soon and besides, it seemed actually that the rebels had better technology than he did and so he just sat and watched from outside his throne, because well, his throne was currently occupied by another group of barbarian squatters. Their leader had long since left, but well, some thug more incompetent than Catrulda (except when it came to wood and fighting), was living the good life on his property.
So he watched as the other group of barbarians sacked one of the rebels towns and then, with the irony not lost upon him, he was able to make another sacrifice to appease his populace after the rebels took a province. He just had a good laugh after the deer had been slaughtered to the gods that as his realm was crumbling it was more stable now than it had been before.
But then Catrulda sobered up. He had had too much wine that night after all. He realized that once the other province was taken then he'd be left with one province and that thug of a barbarian would take over. Using all his begging and pleading and groveling skills he tried to get the barbarians to just settle down, but alas they did not and Chief Catrulda Gelimarid's rule came to an end.
In the last days before his rule would end, though a small group of supporters switched sides, unfortunately, the irony of being too little too late was not lost on the soon to be deposed Chief.
Epilogue:
Who came next historians have long forgotten but it didn't matter much because within a couple months that barbarian ruler was deposed and General Odoacre Dagaricid, leader of the rebel faction became Chief Odoacre Dagaricid of Eubrones and immediately upon his assertion took out some hidden scrolls in his pocket and read to the people about new ways of the world and how civilization could be improved. Indeed within one night the civilization value of Eubrones citizens went from not less than halfway to any real understanding of the basics to everyone knowing them.
And thus the tale of the Rise and fall of Catrulda Gelimarid comes to an end...
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! So many new possibilities to explore (or exploit).
