Chapter 1: Chapter 1: The Beginning of the End
" Heavily wounded in the battle of the Death Valley, our great leader, Ivar William Fortuna, the 9th ruler of the city of silver and the Emperor of the Arcadian Empire, had united with our ancestors in the hall of the Gods", the Grand Chancellor of the Frost Council announced a grieving new in the middle of the city square of Neverwinter. Immediately, wailings of women can be heard all over the place and every men present trembled in unbelief. On the moment when the Goddess of Night resigned her duty leaving the world under the bright light of the Sun God, the great heart of the Emperor gave up. On his death bed, he was joined by his dearest wives: the Dandelion of Cassandora, Queen Christina and the Statue of the Faith, her Holiness Liliana of Varnasiga. His last words were unknown until today, but we know he left a letter to his heir, Prince Omyrus, advising him the duties an Emperor must follow to protect the Empire and his family. Also, a mysterious book was sent to the Prince along with the letter; On the same day, the Magisters were informed that until the Prince finished reading the book and pass the challenges afterward, the Empire will be under the rule of Queen Christina and Queen Liliana.
Omyrus reached the capital several hours after the death of his father. His horse died of exhaustion the moment he stopped. His war armor died in red of his own and his enemies. Fighting as brave as his father in the battle of the Red Valley, many would expect to see him wearing the Frost Crown of the Silver City, Neverwinter. He rushed toward the chamber of his father, only to see an empty shell without a soul. He didn't cry or show sadness, he knew the Empire was unstable and when this new spread, rebellions would rise. Before he could say anything, the Magister Councils shown up and lend him the letter and the book, also claimed that he must stay in the Magister Tower until he finished reading the book. The Prince did not like the idea; however, a king's words still counted after his death.
Omyrus sat alone beside the bed, and opened the book.
" History is not always glorious or honorable, my son. " The Emperor wrote in the first page of the book " But it will teach you somethings that no scholars in the Great Library can and dignify the person you want to be. Together with Magister Robert, I wrote this book recording the entire history of our people from the days we were slaves until now, when we are the greatest empire in the realm of men. I'm sorry for leaving this world early, Omyrus. I hope that after inheriting the throne, you will still be the kind and energetic boy like you always are. "
The title of the book was familiar to us, as it is believed to be one of the greatest writing in human's history.
- The Chronicle of Arcadia
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In 500 BA, on the continent of Myra, King of Hollumia, the strongest and largest kingdom in the north, King Theodore had a strange dream. In his dream, a lighting struck the belly of his daughter, from which a four-eye lion ripped her flesh to get out; then, the king's body was cut in half and his upper part had to look at the lion slowly devour the rest of his body. Right at that night, the king summon his advisors and tell them what happened.
Many guesses and advises were raised that night, most proclaimed Princess Dora's child would kill his grandfather and dye half of the kingdom in blood. The King needed to act, he summoned the nobles and ask them how to deal with the matter. Many volunteered to slay the Princess on the behalf of the King; most of their voluntary was not from their loyalty. Princess Dora was a known beauty with a cold heart; many noblemen had proposed to her and be rejected so they see this as an opportunity to revenge, or to satisfy their darkest desires. But the King deny all of them, no father, cruel or not, can sentence his own daughter to death. Instead, heprepared some tributes and offer the hand of his daughter in marriage to the King of Lyria, a small neighboring kingdom. Like other Hollumians, the King believed, a child of a lowly Lyrion would possess no threat to his throne.
And it was Theodore's mistake to do so. 2 years later after the marriage, a vicious son between Dora and Illirio, the King of Lyria was born. The boy was named Cicerio; a large ceremony was host to celebrate the birth of the Prince. Illirio had had three wives at that point and none of them managed to give him a heir so the birth of Cicerio was like a blesh from the Gods to him.
The young Cicerio grew up under the love of his parents. He learned to how to wield a sword from the best swordmen; how to ride from the best riders and tutored by the wisest scholar his father could find. The young Prince was curious to everything and soon gain the title " the Genius of Lyria" as he learned so fast that even his tutors sometimes could not catch up with him . When he reached 14, he joined the military and fought alongside his father in two war against a neighbor kingdom, the kingdom of Laplace in the next four years.
Some records claimed that once the Lyrion army failed to take an outpost belonging to Laplace near the border after 5 months of besieging and news of a rescuing army was coming, King Illirio decided to pull back his army and march home. However, the Prince had another idea. Disobeying the order, Cicerio gathered all of his men and secretly led them out of the camp at night. The Prince's men struck the fortress at a lighting speed, right when the Laplacian soldiers were feasting thinking they had won the war. When Illrio realised what happened and rush to the fortress, hoping his son had not yet been killed by his ruthlessness. The Prince welcomed him at the gate of the Fortress, presenting the head of the fortress garrison commander.
Together with the rumors about Cicerio's grandfather's dream and his bravery in battle, the Lyrion people soon call their Prince the " Four-eye Lion " of Lyria. When the Prince reached 19, King Illirio died a natural death. After defeating several political rivalries, Cicerio sucessfully inherit the throne and became the King of Lyria. Right after his coronation, he married Lyra, daughter of a local rich and influencial nobleman. Although it was simply a political marriage, the Lyrions noticed their King and Queen truly love each other. Lyra gave birth to a twin the next year, a boy and a girl, secure Cicerio's authority further.
After inheriting the throne, Cicerio spent the next five years consolidating his power and conducted many schemes to put down rebellious faction along with raising his popularity among the soldiers and people. Many officials and nobles who opposed him were uncovered as corrupted or spies; they were imprisoned or executed. Their property was put into public treasury, which later be invested in economic, military and agricultural fields while their families were exiled. At the end of the fifth year ,Cicerio had gained complete control of Lyria and the city had unarguably become one of the most prosperous cities in the Western Myra Region, of which prosperity second to Hoskevick, the capital of Hollumia only.
At the age of 24, Cicerio launched his third military campaign. Assigning his most trusted subordinates as military officers and trained new recruits in his newly invented art of war, which abolished the old traditional system where individual prowess was viewed as symbol of authority. Cicerio trained talented soldiers who had talents in commanding to become officers. The Lyrion soldiers had to trained hard everyday, spend time learning different trumpet signals and how to fight effectively in square or shield wall formation. The new Lyrion King introduced 26 different trumpets' signal; each of them was meant to give different orders. This was a huge tactic innovation since initially the Lyrion army only listen to two signals: attack and retreat.
By the spring of 476, Cicerio's army's number reached 10000 men, which included 2000 bowmen, 1500 calvary and 6500 infantrymen. The army was ordered to march toward the city of Laplace, rival of Lyria for more than a hundred year at a steady speed. Every soldier had get used to carrying his own gear and supplies. Hence, the number of wagons normally used was reduced greatly; hence, the marching speed of the Lyrion army almost doubled compared to five years ago.
The city of Laplace was a city focusing on trading slaves. They were not informed of Cicerio's advance until his army was 10 miles away from the city walls. The slave masters quickly gathered their slave warriors and march out of the walls to meet the Lyrion army. They expected to engage Lyrion army while the Lyions were still tired from the marching. At least 20000 slave warriors, calvary and infantry, charged recklessly at the Lyrion ranks.
Meet the slaves were lines of disciplined Lyrion infantry units. Cicerio divided his army into small units, each consisted of around 160 soldiers. Those who lived in the same villages, towns or neighborhoods were positioned to fight alongside each other. He stretched his infantry to a long line, formed a semi-circle, leaving a large empty area for the slave warriors to rush in. Each unit was positioned 10-15 meters away from each other. Behind the infantry he positioned the bowmen; when the slaves got in the trap, the bowmen loosed their arrows in volleys, causing heavy damage to their foes. Meanwhile, the Lyrion King personally led his cavalry to go around and charge at the back of the Laplacians, sending many to flee the field.
The slaves threw their weapons as they see the Lyrion war horses charging from behind. Those who brave enough to stay and fight got killed mercilessly. In merely 2 hours, the result of the battle was decided. At the end of the day, Cicerio sat on the headless corpse of Lucius, the most powerful slave master in the whole city. Other slave masters were summoned to pay their homage to the Lyrion King. Disobeying was not an option when the Lyrion army had entered the city, ready to pillage or seize the property of anyone who dared to resist their King's might.
In only two months, Cicerio had managed to defeat the enemy that many Lyrion kings struggled for more than ahundred of years. His military tactics and reformations proved their effectiveness and were studied centuries later on. But for the moment, Cicerio's successfully conquest of Laplace brought him a great benefit that he couldn't find in Lyria, unlimited and experienced work forces.
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