PART 27: WARS AND CIVIL WARS
Ravan had just come out of a 9 years war, and with it he claimed the kingdom of Boao as a vassal. Added to that was the fact he had secured an alliance with Sill Wakant of the Kolund Empire. He had political power and he had military power. But he still missed spiritual power. Thus, he began to device a plan to gain the support of Purios Amin IV. The Purios never had an official residence, travelling throught the continent and staying in various churches and courts before going back on the road. Ravan would build a church, which he would then give to the Purios, making his home close to the Sill's capital.
A few days after ordering the construction of the church, Ravan decided it was time to institute massive reforms. Because he passed the last 20 years fighting various wars, he never really had the time to pass reforms to fix the government and the state. After all, the Empire was ruled just like it has been under Lagan “the Faceless”, the founder of the First Qesani Empire. Dan had especially put those institutions in place so that his new empire could pretend to the title of successor to Lagan. But today, there was surely a need of new reforms. Although the new administrative system would official be called the “Late Feudal Administration”, future Qesanis and historians would simply call it the “Ravanian Reforms”.
In March, problems began to appear between two of his new vassals. The feud between Duchess Kigeni Nerice of Tamilia (who recently pledged fealty to Ravan) and King Buran of Boao was becoming a problem. Seeing the obvious answer to allow political stability, Ravan simply backed his puppet king of Boao, ending the debate in favour of the vassal king.
In May, he once again celebrated the Tukarid with all his court, celebrating the new victories of the empire and the religious traditions of their faith. Ravan was once again praised as one of the great monarchs of the Empire, some even calling him “the new Lagan”.
In August, only half a year since the conquest of Boao, Ravan received a letter from one of his vassals, a letter a little too familiar to the one he got from Saviel “the Careless” in 1079. Basically, vassals wanted more council power, just like 21 years ago. This time, their leader Duke Kid Navani of Rebaca, the grandson of former Marshal Ned Navani, who was duke from 1005 to 1072 and served as Marshal for various Sills. Ned himself ad once been the leader of the rebels in the 5th Civil War, an unorganized attempt to gain more power from Dag I. Now, his grandson was trying to do the same, and Ravan was decided to refuse and make his vassals finally understand their place. And so started the 8th Civil War.
To make sure he would gain the upper hand, Ravan contacted Sill Wukant of the Kolund Empire, asking him for help in the war. The Sill and his regent quickly agreed to help their ally, but in the end he would not be able to send any help. Not a week later, a new civil war errupted in the Kolund Empire, this time for elective monarchy. Because of it, Wukant would not be able to help Ravan for the entire war.
And so Ravan had to fight on his own. He himself lead a few hundred troops from the capital wile they were going to the meeting point for the whole army. On their way there, the troops of Ravan felt into the ambush of one of the rebels, Duke Nant Redis of Ruande. Although Ravan got out of there alive, he was wounded during the battle, a wound that would only heal in the late stages of the civil war.
In November, he learned that a war in the north had just started. The two successors of R II of Revejin, his nephew Rigoa of Revejin and grandson R III of Rodiane, were fighting for the control of a county on the border. This was only another proof that the world was currently living a period of utter chaos.
In January 1101, Ravan received news of the death of the Purios Amin IV, who was succeeded by the Purios Amin V. This would no change the plans of Ravan, as Purios Amin V clearly said he would be happy to gain his own church, but would only accept it in period of peace. This condition would prove harder to meet than anticipated.
Lead by Duke Serad Wodasia of Walamasia, a Kewedro duke who had bent the knee after the conquest of Boao, 11,000 loyalists met the rebel host, strong of 10,000 men, at the Battle of Logeba in April 1101. It turned into a defeat for the loyalists, who were forced to retreat south.
With this defeat and the lack of reinforcement from the Kolund Empire, Ravan knew he had to turn to mercenaries if he wanted to win this war. But with the rebel's army numbering 30,000, the Ten would not be enough to win this war. So he turned to another band of mercenary named Duhog. Lead by Captain Qan, Duhog was an army of Taim (a Taeborn culture, the local population of the North-East) and believers of the Rearpen faith, like Ravan was. They cost a lot, but Ravan was extremely rich and could easily afford to pay them for years. With this, Ravan gained 25,000 new troops.
In June 1101, it was discovered that the Marshal of the realm, King Loban of Risonia, was using the soldiers of the army to extort money from the peasantry. Ravan was angered by the crimes of his marshal, especially when he needed those soldiers to fight in the civil war. But Ravan could not afford to lose the support of Loban, and thus let him be, although he promised himself to deal with the guilty marshal later.
Once again with Duke Serad Wodasia leading them, 24,000 loyalists defeated 15,000 traitors at the Battle of Qeodyed in February 1102. The success was made even more decisive thanks to the military skills of both Duke Serad Wodasia and Captain Qan of Duhog, and lead to te death of one of the best rebel commanders.
In June 1102, Esousin Kukati, the first son of Prince Dag (the heir to the throne) was found dead. Only aged of 33 years, his death was extremely suspicious, especially after the death of Agan a few years ago. Ravan began to believe that someone may be eliminating people in the line of succession. But who? This family had too much suspect individuals who had motives into this. Ravan promised himself he would find the man responsible after the civil war was over.
A month later, another death was announce, although unrelated to the murders in the family. The King of Boao, Ruban, died at 51 years of age. To succeed him, the vassals of Boao elected another son of Lic “the Lion”, Prince Lilar. Lilar would prove less of a puppet than his brother, although he would still stay somewhat loyal to Ravan, which was well enough due to the current circumstances.
In August, the loyalist host faced another crushing defeat at the Battle of Ravavon, even though the loyalists were almost twice the numbers of rebels. Following this defeat, the regular loyalists and Duhog fled in separate directions, preventing the two forces from rallying.
In November 1102, Ravan learned that King Tous of Basboao had died, leaving his son Kobarid to succeed him. The new king was a total wreck, lacking any skill to rule and showing signs that lead many to believe his reign would be similar to the one of Warid I “the Butcher” or similar tyrants.
This lead his vassals to revolt in order to put a more “appropriate” ruler on the throne of Basboao. The first revolt started in January 1103 to put a nobleman named Asoup on the throne, which Ravan didn't really care about. A second revolt erupted in May, while Ravan was winning decisive battles against the rebels. Those rebels were planning to put King Lilar of Boao on the throne. Ravan realized that it would mean that Basboao would also be absorbed into the Second Qesani Empire and quickly offered to back the rebels, which they accepted.
After the Battle of Kakala in September, Ravan had crushed the rebel forces and destroyed any chance they had to defeat him. Kid Navani and the rest of the rebels were forced to surrender to Ravan, ending the civil war. All guilty, Ravan decided to keep them all jailed until he had the time to decide their punishment. Due to later events, he would in fact forget about them totally and let them rot in their jails.
In January 1104, soon after the end of the war between Revejin and Riodane, a civil war erupted in Revejin. The vassal rebelling were mainly dukes with lands far away from the main part of the kingdom, and now ad no intention of staying vassals of a crumbling kingdom, and now were trying to gain their independence from King Rigoa. Their independence would greatly help Ravan, and so he sent money to those he hope would become his future vassals.
Soon after the beginning of the civil war, King Rigoa of Revejin died in dubious circumstances and was succeeded by his brother Sigoa. The timing of the death only made the situation worst and helped the tensions grow in Revejin.
In May 1104, Sill Wakant of the Kolund Empire (still in a civil war), made his way to the capital of the Second Qesani Empire. There, he married the daughter of Ravan, Princess Kuredi. This finalized the alliance between the two Empires and helped the two rulers to get closer.
The next month, Sill Wukant asked Ravan to help him clean up his last rebels. This time, the rebels were less organized than in 1096, and Wukant ad more experience, allowing the Sill to gain the advantage on his enemies. By 1104, he was on the verge of victory against the vassal kings who rebelled, and mainly wanted to see if Ravan could be trusted or not. Ravan also understood the message and accepted the call to arms.
In October, the civil war in Basboao was over, with a victory from the rebels backing Lilar. With this, Lilar gained all the territories of Kobarid, and thus annexed them into the Second Qesani Empire. The fact that Ravan backed the rebels made Lilar reconsider his opinion of his liege, and the relationship between the two evolved from mistrust to mutual respect.
Saddly, Lilar would die only 2 months after becoming king of Basboao, and his inheritance would turn into quite a mess. Being into a matrillinear marriage with a Saepaba (a Rur culture), the new king of Basboao became his son Apeb Acamilia, a Saepaba who wasn't a great fan of Ravan.
However, he was less a problem than the new king of Boao. Surprisingly, the nobles of Boao elected as new king Neras II “the Wise”, a smart and working politician, and the grandson of Neras I “the Evil”, who was king of Boao between 1014-1045. Neras II just happened to hate Ravan for unknown reasons, and clearly had no intention of playing good little vassal.
Added to that was the fact that this succession meant the end of House Tenr on the throne after holding it for 53 years. It was one heck of a developpement, which Ravan was not happy about.
King Apeb of Basboao (Left) and King Neras II of Boao (Right)
In Feburary 1105, Ravan and Wakant defeated the last rebels, bringing peace once again to the Kolund Empire. But as he returned home from another victory, he learned that his nephew and heir, Prince Dag Dagnisl, had lost his wife. Seeing an opportunity, he betroth him to the under aged queen of Adiligor, Rurati Tavigor. This way, House Kukati could eventually take control of Adiligor through succession. Well, if the girl was able to keep her throne until marriage, of course...
In March, he got a message from King Neras II of Boao. He made it clear that he wanted more power for him and the other members of the Council. Although the man had many allies backing his demand, Ravan still refused. He had the Kolund Empire backing him, and he just ended another civil war a few years ago. He would not let a simple vassal king dictate the policies of the Empire. Neras II simply leaved, telling him they would meet on the battlefield, launching the 9th Civil War.
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Could give me a few years of peace.
