Thirty years ago…
Nicholas Arc stared out across the green field in front of him. For nearly ten miles the ranks and lines of the enemy force spread, lengthwise and widthwise. This was no ordinary army. It was a horde. A horde of desperate people fighting for the future of their children and grandchildren.
Unfortunately for them, Nicholas was doing the same for his own.
"If His Majesty's report is true then our forces will be enough to turn the tide of battle." Said the ever loyal Titus, Master-at-arms and now Captain of Nicholas' levy.
"If we can trust the word of His Majesty that is." Nicholas replied, forcing himself to calm.
"Gentle as the wind, as hard as steel." His father's words warned him, and the sound of the familiar, gravelly voice of his father filled him with a warmth he used to cool his nerves.
"Aye." Titus admitted grudgingly. "I do not mean to suggest treason but...King Jaqcues has been known to embellish in the past."
Nicholas snorted. What a flowery way of saying the king had lied about the true extent of the threat posed by the horde of angry Faunus. And that that lie had led to numerous lords being crushed in battle, thinking their militia's and levy's could defeat what was supposed to be a small but plucky band of Faunus using their natural advantage's to, well, their advantage.
Truly, Titus could be as flowery as the worst noble when he wanted.
"We wait." Nicholas stated simply. "We have to wait for the rest of the infantry to catch up regardless, might as well watch and wait in the meantime."
Titus nodded, regardless of the questioning look he had on his face. The man meant well, but he had a lust for battle that clouded his judgement at the worst of times.
"As you command milord." Titus replied, turning to command the three dozen mounted cavalry behind them. Only six were true and trained knights, them and their horses protected by steel plate armour and armed with lancers that could pierce through solid wood and hardy chainmail. The rest were merchants and rich farmers who could afford to take a horse along with them to war, all conscripted when Nicholas had been forced to summon his levy under King Jaqcues' command.
He'd hoped to stay out of the war. Nicholas had no quarrel with the Faunus, especially not those who just fought for the rights of their children. And his continued neutrality had saved his lands from being ravaged by the horde of angry Faunus, who'd risen up across the south of Vale. King Jaqcues had been busy putting down a similar rebellion in Atlas, only arriving at Vale a month ago.
Schnee's lackey, an Atelsian noble named Ironwood, had faced and defeated a small Faunus host at the Battle for Kingsport, securing the royal forces a foothold on Vale's northern coast. By then, the Faunus had laid siege to Emerald Vale, the seat of Schnee power in Vale and where the Governor of Vale ruled, handling Valean matters as an emissary of the Schnee. The Governor had died months ago, thrown from the walls of Vale in a bid by the starving townsfolk to appease the besieging host. It hadn't, the siege continuing until three weeks ago, when news of the King's arrival and the Battle for Kingsport travelled south.
Now, the King and his host, twenty thousand strong if Jacques could be believed, faced a horde nearly twice it's strength, a horde bloodied and experienced after crushing nearly the entirety of Vale's nobility in battle.
Nicholas wasn't the only neutral lord. But he was the biggest, Ansel being a large city, even if it paled in comparison to the likes of Kingsport and Emerald Vale. That meant he'd become the unofficial leader of numerous Counts and Viscounts, who'd rallied under his banner of neutrality. Some had mocked him and his decision. They had been the same ones who'd been crushed in battle at the outset of the uprising.
Regardless of how he felt about the matter, Nicholas found himself here ready to do battle in a fight that could've been so easily avoided if it wasn't for Atlas and it's racism.
The sounds of horns blowing broke him from his reverie. The Atlesians and the remains of their Valean allies cheered, shaking their spears and clanging axes against shields tauntingly. They were positioned across three hillocks, and a small mound stood before them, where two armour-clad leaders sat atop their armoured horses.
One was King Schnee. His horse was pale, beneath it's golden armour and snowflake embroidered caparison. He had a sword sheathed on his hip, and a round silver shield carved with the staff and sword of Atlas merging together of the Schnee snowflake rested on his left arm, the weight resting on the King's left leg.
Next to him stood the great Lord Ironwood, who'd masterminded Atlas' victory against their own Faunus uprising and now planned to do the same to Vale's. The man was off to a good start, considering his victory at Kingsport, but now he faced one of the largest armies seen on Valean soil since the Great War.
It did not take long for the Faunus to respond to Ironwood's challenge. Thousands of horns shrieked through the air, with Faunus mashing weapons to chests, shields and the ground with enough force that Nicholas could feel distant vibrations. A lone figure strode before the horde, raising a greatsword high into the air like an executioner's axe. It pointed directly at Schnee, before the man let the sword fall with a bellow, leading the first dozen or so ranks of the horde towards the still cheering Royalist forces.
If Nicholas had to guess, there were at least half of the Faunus were charging. It was nothing more than a probing attack, allowing the Faunus to keep the majority of their forces rested whilst tiring Schnee's. A good strategy, considering they had yet to declare a leader of their rebellion.
Ironwood didn't respond at first, and Nicholas watched distantly as the man drew his blade, raised it into the air, then let it fall.
Atop the hillock's, three red flags were waved suddenly.
Moment's later, fiery boulders tore through the air behind the hillocks, a good dozen or more. Black smoke trailed in the air behind them before they tore through the Faunus, exploding when they landed.
Nicholas flinched at the sounds of screaming Faunus. The fire spread quickly, cutting off the attacking forces from it's reserves.
'Magic' Nicholas realised with shock and horror. 'No fire spreads that fast.'
But who could possibly cast such a potent spell? This feat was common before and during the Great War, but with their defeat and the Mistrali Inquisitor's being given unfettered access into Vale and Atlas had led to a purge of many mage's and magic users, who were accused of heresy by the Inquisition and dealt with accordingly. The question of who ringed in Nicholas' mind tauntingly.
It mattered, but not immediately. Especially since Ironwood now yelled something, causing his forces to cheer as they charged behind him. Dozens of knight's rode around him, protecting him and forming a wedge formation, of which Ironwood was the tip. Schnee was flanked in the middle of the formation, something that Nicholas could see the sense in. It could be regarded as cowardly of King Schnee, but if he were to die in the first charge then the loss of morale could break the army.
To their credit, the disorganized and suddenly trapp Faunus rallied around their leader, the one who'd led the charge in the first place, before continuing ahead to meet the Royalist forces in battle. With both armies so close to clashing, Ironwood's mage, or mages, couldn't risk casting another devastating spell lest they hit their own troops. The two armies charged closer and closer over the burning and smoke-filled field until they clashed together in a frenzy.
It was like two large pans clanging together. Spears shattered against steel armour, axes cleaved through shields, swords pierced through flash and mail, lances tore through lungs and plate armour.
Screams followed. Screams of the dying and the wounded. Battle cries of the grief-filled and the bloodthirsty. Ironwood and his knight's cleaved through the first few ranks of Faunus, before they were stalled by the sheer press of bodies.
Grassland turned into marshland, trampled and crushed by boots and wetted by blood and guts. The field became slick and the ground shifted beneath the feet of pushing and fighting soldiers. Horns blew and flags waved as Sergeants tried to reorganize the lines of the messy melee, leading to a minute or so of respite as the two armies pulled back for a moment, lines fixing straight once more before another, shorter charge.
Screams and carnage. Not willing to abandon their comrades, the Faunus waiting in reserve tried to march around the flanks of the blazing fire, only for it to inch closer the closer they got. They were helpless and forced to watch as their comrades fought and died, just out of their reach.
The battle raged onwards, both sides giving up trying to reorganize their forces after the fourth respite and subsequent charge. The fighting spread out, the Royalists slowly being pushed back towards their hillocks. However, for every inch gained, the Faunus lost a dozen men. The slog continued, each side pushing in the desperate hope that the other broke first.
It took hours. The sun reached its peak in the sky when the Faunus broke. They threw down their weapons in surrender, and Nicholas squinted in time to see their leader, the man who'd led the charge, fall from Ironwood's blade. To Nicholas' horror, many of the surrendering Faunus were killed on the spot, murdered by the bloodthirsty and the grieving. To Ironwood's credit, he managed to regain control of his forces in time to prevent a full blown massacre but by then the damage had been done. The twenty thousand or so remaining Faunus reserves roared and bellowed, filled with rage at the sight of the crimes they were witnessing.
It was then that Nicholas gave the signal to his men. They'd spent the last four hours getting into position, allowing him and Titus to make sure everything was prepared to perfection before making his move. It began with a volley of arrows into the Faunus' right flank, causing chaos and disarray. Then Nicholas led the charge on foot, four thousand levied soldiers suddenly appearing from the surrounding woodland, the Arc's crescent moons dancing over head from innumerable banners.
On the other side of the field, a similar event happened, though with a smaller force but bearing dozens of flags and sigils, the Counts and Viscounts who had been neutral until this point.
The arrival of new forces, coupled with the fact they'd just witnessed their brethren defeated, caused a mass rout amongst the ranks of the now broken Faunus. Nicholas surrounded a few dozen of them, but allowed the majority of them to escape. If they realised they outnumbered his own force by about three to one, they'd turn around and crush him, as the fire that had kept them from reinforcing their brothers and sisters in arms prevented Ironwood from doing the same to him.
But his plan succeeded. Some fought, but many were exhausted after being delivered their first defeat. Kingsport didn't count to them, having been led by Faunus revolting in the north of Vale. The horde from the south had been undefeated, and had even besieged Emerald Vale, until now, where they had been forced to watch their enemies crush half of their mighty horde.
The retreating Faunus fled into a distan valley, before disappearing entirely. Cheers and blowing horns marked their victory, Nicholas' joining the cheerful cries of his men. The captured Faunus were tied with rope, and they were forced to wait as Ironwood's army doused the fire that still burned. Once it was put out, Nicholas led his men as they marched toward a tired and gore-splattered Ironwood, he shook his head and nodded respectfully.
"Took you long enough." The man greeted tiredly. Some of Nicholas' men bristled at the perceived insult, even though it was true.
"It took time for me to rally the remaining southern lords. We came as fast as we could." Nicholas replied, telling him a half-truth. It had taken time to gather his forces, and Ironwood didn't need to know he'd spent the last few hours of battle organizing his men and waiting for the right moment to rout the Faunus.
"Then I can't begrude your lateness, especially since you routed the remaining Faunus." Ironwood stated politely.
"We were just finishing off your work." Nicholas said in reply. "Though there is more to be done yet."
"Indeed there is." Ironwood replied with a tired nod.
/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/
The next few hours were a blur of work. Bodies were stacked in piles, tents sprung up everywhere, filled with the low, sickly moans of the wounded. Faunus prisoners were herded into pens, and King Schnee emerged, having been treated for a broken arm he received in battle, to give judgement onto them.
"For sedition and treason against the crown. I sentence these traitors to execution by manual labour." The King spat to the joy of the now cheering soldiers. "Maybe then these animals will have a use."
Nicholas watched impassively, and he noted that Ironwood stood next to him with a similar look on his face.
"Something wrong?" Nicholas asked the newly promoted Marshal of Atlas.
"None at all." Ironwood replied, though his eyes told a different story. "A rather ironic punishment, considering that was to be their fate regardless of whether they fought."
"Indeed." Nicholas replied, turning to watch the frightened faces of the caged Faunus. One in particular caught his eye. A black haired woman, whose hair had clearly been cut short recently and raggedly at that. Cat ears poked out from the top of her head, and her eyes were golden like the metal. She was attractive, but Nicholas was married and that was not what drew his attention to her. Whereas her comrades were weeping and terrified, she stood, a resolute and determinedly fierce look on her face that wasn't lessened by the single tear that had rolled down her cheek.
She met his gaze, and she cocked a brow, daring him to antagonise her. Nicholas met the gaze for a few moments, before he turned around and left.
/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/
Hours later, with soldiers drinking and celebrating outside, Nicholas was summoned from his tent by a messenger of King Schnee.
"Your Majesty." Nicholas bowed lowly, catching a brief glimpse of the king before his eyes stared at the fur covered ground.
"Rise Lord Arc." The King replied, and Nicholas did so, now able to take in the king fully.
The man was tall but lithe, with one arm in a silk sling across his chest. He had a pale-blue mustache and glacial eyes that looked upon him with practiced lack of care. But Nicholas could see the calculating and cunning that lay hidden beneath the layer of fake impassivity.
"You were late." The King stated.
"I was, Your Majesty." Nicholas replied.
"Why?"
"I was busy rallying my forces, Your Majesty."
A long silence stretched out between them before the King spoke again.
"No matter. You arrived in time to drive off the rest of the animals at least. No small feat considering you were outnumbered. Good work Lord Arc."
"Thank you my King." Nicholas replied politely. "But I was merely doing my duty."
"Indeed." The King replied, a bemused expression on his face. Then the king stood, striding over to a decanter and pouring whiskey into two crystal blue glasses.
"A toast." The King said magnanimously. "To our victory over the animals!"
"To victory!" Nicholas toasted, taking a sip from the burning whisky. He was surprised to find his eyes didn't water like they usually did, then assumed Schnee was using Atlesian brewed whiskey.
"Ah." The man said, smacking his lips. "Good stuff that. Regardless there is a very important matter I would like to discuss with you, Lord Arc. Please. Sit."
Nicholas sat in one of the plush, velvet red chairs that faced one another, separated by a small table and the decanter.
"You have done a great service unto me today." King Schnee said, relaxing into the chair and crossing one leg of the other. "And I would be a very poor king indeed if I let great services go unrewarded."
"I need no reward, Your Majesty." Nicholas replied, trying to hide his sudden worry at the thought of even more responsibility than running his fief.
"Is that so?" The King said in reply, the bemused expression returning once more. "Well I suppose someone so humble does not need too great a reward."
Nicholas just barely held back the sigh of relief.
"But someone who is a direct descendant of royalty deserves a great gift no?" Schnee asked rhetorically. "Your grandfather was King of Ansel was he not?"
"He was." Nicholas replied calmly. "Before your own grandfather defeated him in battle and forced him to swear fealty with the rest of Vale."
"It was not the fault of my grandfather the Valean lords refused to follow him after King Oswald's death." The King replied defensively, even though there had been no hostility in Nicholas' tone. "One would argue he brought unity to the region after the Kingdom fractured between different lords claiming the throne. Yours was one of the few to actually have a legitimate claim, if memory serves."
"That is correct, Your Majesty." Nicholas said. "But that is in the past. The Arc's serve the Schnee now."
"Indeed." King Schnee replied. "And as I said before you have done a great service to me. I must merely find a suitable reward for someone so loyal and with royal blood."
Nicholas remained silent, wondering where Schnee was going with the charade.
"If I remember correctly." Schnee began, taking a sip from his glass of whiskey. " The former Governor of Vale was killed some months ago."
"That is true, Your Majesty."
"He was my uncle."
Nicholas fell silent.
"How did he die?"
"He...He was thrown from the walls of Emerald Vale after refusing to surrender the city to the Faunus."
"Hmm. What a way for the old bastard to go."
"Your Majesty?" Nicholas asked, perplexed.
"Don't worry Lord Arc, just an old...rivalry of sorts between me and my uncle." The King replied, though the vicious grin that spread across his face told another story. "Let me assure you that I do not intend to avenge myself upon Emerald Vale's inhabitants. He got no more than what he deserved."
Nicholas said nothing, instead opting to take a gulp from his glass of whiskey. The Schnee were a weird sort.
"Regardless, the problem I find myself in is that I lack a Governor of Vale." Schnee continued, the vicious smirk dying after a few moments. "No Governor means my rule over the region is less effective. Less taxes, less administration, less efficiency. Bandits will roam the region, emboldened by a disorganized guard that has only worsened due to the animal's uprising. This is bad for trade which is bad for everyone. What I need is a new Governor. And I was thinking of appointing a...more local lord to the task."
Nicholas took another sip of his whiskey, already dreading the mountains of paperwork and missives.
"Do you have any suggestions for a local lord who has proven the loyalty and ability to suppress rowdy subjects, Lord Arc?" The King asked rhetorically and Nicholas shook his head.
"None in particular come to mind, Your Majesty." Nicholas replied nervously, and the king replied by laughing merrily.
"Oh! Oh so humble aren't you Lord Arc?" The man asked, wiping a tear from his eye. "I suppose that's another thing that will ensure you don't get ambitious once given the title. Too humble to become a king!"
The man laughed some more and Nicholas took another long sip of whiskey, letting out a sigh of disappointment upon realising it was empty.
"What do you say Lord Arc?" The King said after collecting himself. "Do you accept my offer to become the new Governor of Vale?"
"It would be an honour my King." Nicholas replied, bowing his head to hide the grimace that spread across his face. He was never going to see his family again, he'd be buried beneath a mountain of piled up paperwork!
/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/
Hours later, Nicholas Arc found himself standing before caged pens filled with defeated Faunus. A dozen or so of his most loyal soldiers stood behind him, each carrying a bag of food and water. The guards were asleep, unconscious from drink and revelry.
Nicholas Arc drew his blade, staring at his reflection in the castle-forged steel. Falvo Mortem had been his father's and his father's before his. It was a symbol of the might of the Arc family, having never been broken despite laying low hundreds of enemies.
Nicholas looked up into the frightened eyes in front of him. The Faunus cowered before him, and Nicholas had never felt like less of a man.
"You will not return to the army. You will go to your homes and lives your lives in peace." Nicholas told them, raising Falvo Mortem above him. The Faunus flinched and backed away from him, cowering in their cage.
Falvo Mortem fell.
With a dull thunk, it cut through the ropes binding the cage together, causing the gate-like door to the cage to swing open.
The Faunus blinked, then flinched when he threw one of the bags at their feet.
"Share it between you. There's enough to last for a week. After that, hunt, scavenge, or hope you've gotten back to your home villages."
"What's the point?" One of the Faunus, the woman he'd had a staring contest with earlier, spat. "We're all going to become slaves under Schnee's new laws!"
"Not in Vale." Nicholas replied.
"And how are you going to prevent that happening?" The woman hissed angrily.
"By not implementing his laws in Vale." Nicholas replied calmly. "I'm the new Governor of Vale, that gives me more autonomy and now the legal power to reject laws that I fear will damage the local economy."
"Why would the Schnee care about that?"
"Because less money being made in Vale means less money they earn in taxes."
"Of course." The woman spat. "All they care about is Lien."
Nicholas couldn't find it in himself to argue with her.
"You have to go now. I'm giving you this chance but also this warning. If we face each other on opposite sides of the battlefield again, I will not be so merciful in the future." Nicholas warned, and to her credit the woman met his gaze with an unimpressed look.
"Very well. But I give you my own warning as well. If you betray your word and our brethren are enslaved under the Schnee, Ansel will be the first to burn beneath our wrath." The woman growled, to the agreement of the Faunus around her.
"If I betray my word I will surrender to you myself." Nicholas replied. "That I swear as an Arc. And an Arc never goes back on their word."
The woman stared at him for a few more moments, before taking the bag and leading the Faunus out of the cage and to the outskirts of the camp, where they waited whilst Nicholas opened and freed the seven other cages filled with Faunus.
As he saw them flee, he could only hope they kept their word and did not take up arms once more.
/#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/ /#/
Once King Schnee found out about the mass breakout, he executed the sleeping guards and tried to organize a manhunt after them, only stopping once Ironwood and Arc convinced him to go after the Faunus army instead.
The last remnants of the Great Faunus Army were defeated at the Battle of Fort Lagune. Small pockets of resistance remained, both in Vale and Atlas, but were slowly dealt with by Ironwood and Arc, with many who faced Arc surrendering instantly due to his policy of reintegrating them into society, whereas Ironwood was feared for his military cunning.
The Faunus Rights War came to an end with a Faunus defeat on paper, having lost the majority of the major battles due to magical wildcards and luck being in their enemies favour, however the war weakened the Kingdoms of Atlas-Vale economically and militarily, with large portions of Vale leaderless after the executions of noble families that resisted them.
However, the new Governor of Vale was quick to promote and install new bailiffs, sheriffs and advised the King on potential new lords who'd proven themselves during the war. This gave him more political power to resist the new Faunus Rights Laws that King Jaqcues tried to enforce, though they were unpopular even in Atlas, a notoriously racist kingdom. As time passed, King Jaqcues was forced to repeal the law in the aftermath of the settlement of Menagerie by the Belladonna clan, whose colonisation efforts were sponsored in part by the Arc family and their allies. This has led to good diplomatic and trade relations between Atlas-Vale and Menagerie, much to Mistral's chagrin.
Due to his actions, Lord Arc's only son and heir, Jaune, was taken to foster in Atlas under King Schnee, who worried that Lord Arc was growing too unruly. Two years before King Jacques death, he replaced Lord Arc with Lord Ironwood, who was married to the eldest daughter of King Schnee as a boon for his deeds during the Faunus Rights War. The new Governor of Vale only made token efforts to introduce more...Atlesian laws upon Vale, but these were quickly pushed aside in favour of developing and expanding the new trade and economic ties between Atlas-Vale and Menagerie.
Jaune Arc would not return home for for four years, when he returned a man aged sixteen. He would depart Ansel six months after his return and one week after his seventeenth birthday to return to Solitas at the invitation of the newly crowned Queen Weiss, who was celebrating her betrothal to the brother of Mistral's Queen.