A/N: Second part of the appendix chapter, after this is one last part followed by the very last chapter of this story. My apologies for taking so long to post this.
Thanks to Wobb Nox, filipinosberman, FieryMatter and Ascalon on SB for beta-ing.
Chapter LXXII: Imperial Dynasty, Part II
Sarnori Independence War (226 AC)
When Elia Gofenteos Rada ascended the throne, Sarnor would declare its independence, citing its refusal to be a puppet of the Empire and a clandestine battleground for spies of the two rival powers. In fact, this move was partially stirred by Tymerid agents who had the ear of the then King of Sarnor, Akurion Sarhathin.
Akurion was known to have an incredibly low opinion of the Empire, thinking of it as little more than a bully who sought to control them when they should be an independent kingdom. Their help and protection ensured they were able to reclaim their former lands, yet this stirred feelings of independence in the hearts of its nobility, who felt that rather than remain a puppet, they should break free of their chains and become a great power on par with Westeros and Tymeria.
This was also compounded by the cruel fact that Sarnor was too dependent on Westerosi aid and protection to ensure their growth as a nation and culture up to that point, for without the Empire, they would never have been able to reclaim and recolonise the lost Sarnori cities.
It was little effort for Tymeria to convince King Akurion that Tymeria would support its independence, should they choose to make the official declaration. What they did not know, however, was that Tymeria had no intention of truly honouring its promise, intending to take its lands for themselves.
When the declaration of independence reached their ears, the Empire had a reputation to maintain, and so they answered with war to bring Sarnor to heel.
The war lasted only a year, yet it was a year too long with large portions of Sarnor itself devastated, including the capital of Saath.
For both sides, they worked to subtly remove the Sarnori elites from their positions, gradually replacing them with their own people. Be it sending them to die, assassination and framing of other parties or even punishing genuine corruption, little by little, the cause for Sarnori independence was being strangled to death.
While the war would have lasted longer, neither power wanted to risk going into another period of economic recession so soon after their respective civil wars, and the overall exchange proved to be dead even.
What determined the war's outcome was the capture of several Tymerid agents and prominent politicians who, under extreme torture, confessed the Tymerid plan for Sarnor, and that the assassination of several Sarnori nobles and generals were carried out by Tymerid assassins, who then falsified information to pin the blame on Westeros, fanning the flames of war even further.
This information was publicised to all, and though there remained Sarnori generals who wanted to continue the fight, stubbornly resisting through sheer pride or disdain for Westeros, there were others who no longer felt their cause was a righteous one and eventually surrendered to the Empire, defecting from the rebellion.
Even King Akurion himself seemed incredibly dispirited, yet as the instigator of the rebellion and the face of disloyalty, he was not allowed the opportunity to surrender when the spies' words proved true, the eastern provinces of Sarnor were occupied by Tymerid forces, the local elites deposed, partially with force.
Akurion felt an immense betrayal, simply retiring to his room and weeping to his wife and children in lament for how a noble cause was perverted by forces beyond his control, or so accounts of his retainers went.
He felt Tymeria to be an even worse master than Westeros, who despite their different cultures, had treated them with nothing but decency. Records and personal accounts say that Akurion felt that, in a really cruel way, the heavens were punishing him for biting the hand that fed him.
Knowing that Sarnori independence was doomed, he sued for peace, offering his own life in exchange for Westeros taking Western Sarnor under its wing.
The Treaty of Saath was signed, effectively rendering Sarnor permanently split between the two powers; Westeros holding the western half, Tymeria holding the eastern half.
Many Sarnori would rue the day they dared trust the Tymerids, and so Tymerian Sarnor would be restive for several years with countless groups working to undermine their rule. On the other hand, Westerosi Sarnor remained more peaceful, making integration smooth and bloodless.
Thus ended the era of Sarnori independence and the ill-fated reign of King Akurion Sarhathin, a tragic tale of a man who sought to have his people rise to greater heights, only to be brought down by treachery and overwhelming might.
Whaling War (227 AC)
A year into her rule, Empress Elia Rada would face increasing contention with the Kingdom of Ibben, ruled by the Shadow Council, an oligarchy similar to the Magisters of the old Free Cities.
For years now, Ibben faced increasing losses to Westeros in terms of trade due to their antiquated merchant practices and trade skills. Many times they tried to copy their methods, only to face failure due to stubborn, pig-headed merchants and constant politicking between the Shadow Councilors.
Things came to a head when the crew of a merchant ship, the Radnor, was held captive for ransom by a thug of a Councilor seeking to extort a ransom. No one knows his real intentions, only that he somehow believed he could plaster mud on the face of the Empire.
Needless to say, it backfired spectacularly.
The Whaling War - I cannot even call it a war - was laughably short, otherwise known as the Fortnight war due to dragons outright demolishing the Ibbenese military in just a fortnight with dragonfire. In fact, even without the aid of dragons, the Imperial Army and Navy would handily deal with the Ibbenese like parents disciplining naughty schoolchildren.
Having never fought a real war for over two centuries since the Century of Blood, the army was just a hodgepodge of different town militias hastily assembled, wearing only simple leather armour and cheap spears and swords of steel, while the navy was a collection of fishing and merchant ships converted into warships which were promptly sunk.
The Shadow Council was brutally purged, along with nine-tenths of the nobility and religious elite. Ibben was named a province of the Empire, the capital of New Ibbish renamed to Ibham, and the Grand Duchess Sofia Manham - a talented stateswoman from Westeros - appointed to her position.
Ironically for the locals, the Ibbenese Conquest also proved the greatest impetus for change to a long-stagnant Ibben; the army and navy were completely overhauled to modern Westerosi standards, the economy blessed with a strong revival through strong stimulus, and Westerosi craftsmen and intellectuals migrated to the land, bringing with them their unique cuisines, skills and knowledge, allowing for an Ibbenese cultural renaissance.
The Ibbenese Reformation [1] would last for a full century, bringing untold prosperity to the isles.
Ibbenese Reclamation (236- 248 AC)
For close to a decade, the Ibbenese Reformation would retool the logistics infrastructure to support colonisation efforts, for Grand Duchess Sofia sought to reclaim lost Ibbenese lands in the Essarian sea all the way to the old capital of Ibbish, then named Vaes Aresak.
Though some would say it was premature given that the Ibbenese economy was not yet very strong, recent Tymerid colonisation efforts in the Bone Mountains made it a race to claim as much land as possible before they encountered another territorial dispute.
Empress Elia Rada gave her tacit approval, and Grand Duchess Sofia reclaimed the old Ibbenese lands, and Vaes Aresak had its old name of Ibbish restored, thus completing the reclamation. For the rest of Empress Elia's reign, the recolonisation proceeded smoothly.
During excavation of old ruins, they uncovered old tomes of lore detailing lost knowledge of crafts, arts and even philosophical literature, and massive amounts of money were spent deciphering the old tomes, for only scraps of the old Ibbenese written language remained in modern libraries, and scholars toiled to reclaim their ancient heritage.
Empress Elia would pass in 248 AC, when she was only forty-and-seven, due to a hereditary heart condition. She was succeeded by her adopted grandson Arthur, who ascended at the age of twenty-and-two.
Arthur was adopted by Elia's daughter Obela, long before she had her other children. A very quiet and introverted person, he busied himself more with books and scrolls than martial talent. This made him highly sensitive to whispers and rumors in the Imperial Palace, and he had a very good eye for people.
When he reached his age of majority, he showed extraordinary talent in statesmanship and intrigue, and in several skirmishes against bandits and rebels, he displayed exemplary understanding of tactics which he flawlessly executed. Thus he proved the power of the mind over the power of the sword.
Even then, officials would not accept someone who lacked the imperial lineage to ascend the throne, and as such Obela arranged for him to marry a close relative of the Gofenteos-Rada Family, his wife Deria.
Deria was the stereotypical warrior general who preferred to act rather than think, and she was a menace with her large zweihandler, yet the two complemented each other's strengths and covered their weaknesses rather than exacerbate them.
Elia's children passed early by some cruel stroke of fate, passing early from illness or assassinated by jealous relatives and rivals. Thus, only Elia's grandchildren were left to inherit the throne.
First Contact with Mussovy (250 AC)
Arthur would usher in the next Golden Age of Westeros, expanding its fortunes and initiating new colonisation efforts in the Thousand Islands which had yet to be claimed by other parties. He would also form closer ties with the Tsardom of Mussovy [2, a small nation formed of the survivors of Brandon the Shipwright's expedition.
These survivors lost their ships and their knowledge of shipbuilding, resulting in them being stranded for centuries in the cold, dark, grim forest. To their east was the Grey Waste, desert as far as the eye could see. They frequently fought shape changers with the aid of the Demon Hunters, an order of dedicated warriors specialised in fighting said creatures.
At the time however, they were suffering from increased attacks, and a recent spat between the Demon Hunters and the ruling government worsened internal strife. Thus, things were nearing a breaking point.
When Westerosi emissaries arrived, many Mussovites were cautious as to their intentions, not daring to trust them out of the blue. Nevertheless, a group of influential nobles known as the Bears were willing to hear out the emissaries.
Hearing of their grand Empire, their modern technologies and great power, the Bears knew that they were the only lifeline they could ever hope to receive to break this stagnation, and finally allow them to expand further beyond, perhaps even into the Grey Wastes. Thus the stage was set for the coup.
In the Mussovite capital of Edringrad, a coup took place which resulted in the Bears gaining power. The old Tsar was deposed and the opposing nobles murdered in their homes. The new Tsar of Mussovy, Edran Toskomav, signed an alliance agreement with Westeros, effectively placing it under the Westerosi sphere of influence.
Mussovy would spend years upgrading its infrastructure, though it would be at least two to three decades before it could even begin expanding its borders. Great attention was given to shipbuilding, the Mussovites hoping to reclaim their lost heritage and expand their horizons.
Tymerian Conquest of Yi-Ti (240-250 AC)
Meanwhile, Tymeria would go to war, conquering the Empire of Yi-Ti and the plains of the Joghos Nhai.
Hearing of the Westerosi conquest of Ibben and their alliance with Mussovy, Tymeria sought to expand its influence as well, starting with the Empire of Yi-Ti. An ancient empire tracing its roots back to the Empire of the Dawn, its culture has a very long and storied history, steeped in tradition that defined the Yi-Tish way of life. Its cuisine follows the philosophy of balance and harmony, and makes heavy use of herbs and spices, with differences across every region.
Long before the Andals or even the Rhoynar developed their civilisations, dwelling as mud-hut barbarians, the Yi-Tish were already building their own empire.
Alas, those were past accomplishments, and the Yi-Tish learned firsthand just how woefully underprepared they were for war with a nation of dragonriders.
Dragons easily overwhelmed their great ramparts and giant armies, and while the Yi-Tish gave as good as they got, with several loyal generals willingly sacrificing their lives for their country and their people, the Jade Emperor and the Nine Eunuchs along with countless civil officials did not share their bravery, and thus sent a message for surrender.
What they did not expect was for the Tymerian troops to suddenly start killing them and their families the moment they were let into the city, as if waiting for the most opportune time to betray the corrupt administration. Dragons would burn troops throughout the city, and by the time they were finished, not a trace remained of the Jade Emperor and the Nine Eunuchs, or the rest of their direct subordinates.
Several revolts would break out as lords refused to accept the dastardly takeover of the capital of Yin, and they too were burnt to ash, and soon nary a lord remained to challenge the Tymerian takeover of Yi-Ti.
When they began rehashing the local laws, they encountered more than a few cultural differences that they clashed over; their women were treated as terribly as women in old Westeros before the Rada era, and their feet were bound tightly to prevent growth for they believed big feet were unfitting for women; men were allowed to have many wives but women were expected to remain loyal to that one man, posing the risk of internal strife within the harem; children were faced with immense pressure to succeed academically, at the risk of destroying their sense of self-worth.
To better integrate the Yi-Tish, King Rhaegar Targaryen III would enlist the aid of lawmakers willing to collaborate, borrowing their expertise to ensure as seamless a transition as possible to the new power. Tymerian nobles would replace the old Yi-Tish nobility, undergoing comprehensive education on Yi-Tish social etiquette, culture, language and written word to better integrate with the locals.
R'hllorite and Valyrian priests would follow the same routine, and they found thousands of Yi-Tish converts desperate for some form of spiritual healing.
Rhaegar himself would take a Yi-Tish wife, Mei Xuan, and drape himself in the Yellow Robe of emperors to cement his legitimacy. Other Tymerians would scoff at this, believing the Yi-Tish culture inferior to theirs, but Rhaegar's word was law.
It is also known that Rhaegar had come to fall in love with Yi-Tish culture; he ate rice instead of bread and used chopsticks more frequently than the fork and knife; he wore Yi-Tish clothing instead of Tymerian clothing; he practiced Yi-Tish calligraphy with a brush and mastered the art; he even adopted an Yi-Tish name upon ascending the Yi-Tish Imperial Throne: Zhu Qian Long (朱乾隆).
His name translates as Lasting Eminence of Vermillion, and he adopted the name partly due to his love of the colour vermillion red.
In 245 AC, Rhaegar set out to conquer the Joghos Nhai, intending to bring the plains under Tymeria's control and assimilate the native tribes, and within half a decade, every single tribe submitted to his rule. The road to truly assimilating the Joghos Nhai was long and expensive, and botanist help from the Summer Isles and Gosmerch had to be brought in to green vast portions of barren plains. With the northern coast secure, however, Tymeria could afford to project its naval power more easily in the northern seas as answer to Westeros's expansion of Ibbenese trade.
Indeed, Ibbenese ships had to dock at the newly founded port city of Yangang (Salt Port/盐港) for rest and resupply, bringing rich trade to those lands, and some even had to pay a premium for extended stay.
The Joghos Nhai tribes had to learn Yi-Tish and High Valyrian, adopt Yi-Tish names and culture and marry Yi-Tish and Tymerian brides, and within a century they were fully assimilated into the dominion of Yi-Ti. Two centuries more, and they formed distinct cultural identities that shaped the future of both Yi-Ti and much of the world as entrepreneurial merchants.
Tymeria's conquest of Yi-Ti and the Joghos Nhai would serve to further sour relations with Westeros, who feared they were beginning to grow far too powerful for their liking, and for a time it seemed as if another Westerosi-Tymerian war would break out.
As fate would have it, however, they would temporarily put aside their differences over a series of wars that simultaneously broke out.
The Azhult and Shadow Wars (260-270 AC)
The first aforementioned war was named such due to the nature of new enemies both Tymeria and Westeros had to contend with, and it started with Sorthoyan colonies of both nations beginning to go silent.
It was an abrupt cessation of all communication, and no matter the efforts of both countries, they failed to reach the colonies by letter or courier. Peering by glass candles revealed only grim signs of carnage and slaughter, houses burned to blackened husks and corpses all over. Even worse, colonies were seen fighting each other in pitched skirmishes, and only forced intervention by the great powers prevented further conflict.
Many scouts were sent deeper into the jungle, and scores of them died, yet their sacrifice was not in vain, for they eventually found the instigator of all this mayhem: A nation of lizardfolk.
From what patchwork information they managed to gather, these lizardfolk were bipedal beings with a developed culture akin to Pre-Xadoq Summer Islander culture, but wielded massive stone-studded clubs alongside spears, shields and bows, and who built massive pyramid temples of stone to honour their pagan gods. Their written script consisted of a series of pictograms, each to describe a particular phenomenon, living being, object or concept, and their siege warfare consisted of using ladders to scale walls and portable logs used as battering rams to bring down gates. They did not use the trebuchet, ballistae or mangonel, or any siege weapon medieval Westeros was accustomed to using.
The Lizardfolk themselves formed a greater Azhult Empire, a union of several tribes who paid homage to an emperor of their own, the greatest and most powerful being the Mahulti tribe.
As for why the Azhulti attacked the colonies? To seize captives to sacrifice atop their altars, and in some cases, to plunder their knowledge to use in service to the Azhult Empire.
Countless people were outraged at this barbarity, and emissaries were sent to the court of the Azhulti Emperor, Machothithun, to deliver the official declaration of war. The emissaries themselves were beheaded and their severed heads displayed at the border to the shock of those who saw them.
In response to this atrocity, Westeros and Tymeria formed the Dual Alliance, and together they declared war against the Azhult Empire.
At the same time, strange occurrences were taking place in the Shadow Lands, and suddenly shadowy demons attempted assassinations in both great nations. They would have killed many prominent politicians and generals if not for magical wards holding them in place, before they were killed by magical steel.
Suspicions instantly fell upon Asshai [3, the only known location in the entire world that practices similar magic known as Shadowbinding. When questioned, there was immediate retaliation in the form of hordes of demons who sprang forth like a tidal wave, pouring forth from the Shadow Lands.
The conquering general of the time, Argella Durrandon II [4] of Westeros, was descended from the exiled members of House Baratheon under Argella and her daughters who fled the moment Orys died and the Stormlords of old bickered over royal succession. Not wanting to be betrayed again by her own vassals, she took her children and sailed to Essos, never returning.
They settled in the Free City of Qohor, where they made a living as seamstresses and merchants. Argella's experience navigating feudal Westerosi politics allowed her to easily identify the most trustworthy and productive trade contracts, allowing her to make a tidy profit on the sale of metals.
Argella also reclaimed the name of Durrandon for her family, and together with her daughters, established the Durrandon Trade Company, dealing in all manner of goods legal and illegal. Overtime, they began to lose their warrior roots, fully transitioning into a merchant family.
Over the generations they continued this trend, but when the Free City of Qohor was peacefully annexed, House Durrandon immediately came under scrutiny, and the ruling matriarch at the time, Selyne Durrandon, was personally summoned to the Imperial Court.
To make a long story short, Selyne affirmed House Durrandon's unwillingness to reclaim their ancestral titles, having fully settled into life in Essos and not wanting to lose the life and livelihoods they gained. Lengthy investigation by the Tian Feng Huang proved that House Durrandon's connections were primarily focused in Essos, and had no political connections in Westeros to speak of.
Thus House Durrandon was declared free of suspicion. The Durrandon Trade Company would continue to serve as an integral and influential trading house in Qohor and much of Western Essos, even helping supply the Imperial militaries on countless campaigns and skirmishes.
Argella Durrandon II, however, chose to make a departure from her merchant roots, choosing the life of a soldier. Though her merchant upbringing brought her a lot of connections in both the military and bureaucracy, she was always a more tomboyish character who loved horse-riding, and showed a preference for martial training.
Of course, her parents largely disapproved of it, and many a time she fought with them over this. That is not to say she acted shamefully; she was always careful with her actions and took the time to talk to them despite their disagreements. This partly stemmed from the fact that Argella was her parents' only daughter, and did not want to lose her to war, yet Argella was adamant she went.
Eventually, after much haranguing, weeping and forgiving, Argella was reluctantly permitted to enlist.
Argella would quickly distinguish herself as an intrepid, courageous and charismatic individual, using her honeyed tongue and natural beauty to sway many to her side. Her merchant training also made her highly shrewd and cunning in the world of politics, allowing her to easily sidestep or outright demolish political opposition to her rise in the ranks.
Over seven years she worked tirelessly, until she finally attained the rank of general at the age of twenty-and-five. Having brought much fame and glory to her household name, her parents forgave her stubbornness and accepted her willingness to continue her military work.
Of course, that was not to say she would truly abandon her family's company; she would make much use of the company's connections to further the Imperial military's advances elsewhere. When she finally married and had children, she worked with her parents to raise them as upstanding individuals and heirs to the Durrandon Trade Company, ensuring its future.
While her assignment to the city of Asshai was seen as an ostensible snubbing, orchestrated by more jealous rivals who sought to curb her popularity and influence, it would eventually become a necessity.
The city of Asshai itself was promptly conquered, its inhabitants offering little resistance once their resident Shadowbinders were slain. The decision was made to abandon the city and bring its inhabitants with the main army, and praying to both the Udohanar and R'hllor, she wished for the city to be smote down.
A pillar of burning flames struck the city like a hammer, burning every single trace of it from the face of the earth and all its noxious toxicity. When the flames subsided, not a single stone was left.
The Asshai'i wailed in fear and terror, believing the Lord of Light's judgement evidence that he was most displeased with their ways, and it took them days before they finally calmed down. Even then, they were mostly catatonic and responded only to basic orders, as if losing their reason to live.
The land where the city of Asshai once was was quickly reclaimed as a forward base, and engineers went to work building a military fortress and naval port to accommodate a large fleet. At the same time, new weapons were in development that would forever change the face of warfare: Firearms.
Firearms involved the use of blackpowder to fire balls of lead against an enemy, a weapon with strong penetration power and easy to train with. Blackpowder itself was invented in Yi-Ti by accident, when physicians attempted various experiments to create an elixir of immortality. Before the war with Tymeria, the Yi-Tish primarily used blackpowder for fireworks, to set off during festive and other celebrations like the new year. When Yi-Tish auxiliaries began fighting the tribes of the Joghos Nhai, engineers worked to create a new weapon exploiting the use of blackpowder.
Their answer was the gun lance, a polearm with six steel barrels that fired arrows at high velocity through a controlled blackpowder explosion within said barrels. When the Tymerians saw this weapon, they made a superior version called the rifle, using the stock and trigger of a crossbow for easier firing, and a matchcord to ignite the blackpowder within.
Thus was born the matchlock rifle, the predecessor to modern firearms.
A smaller variant was made, known as the pistol, which allowed for firearm usage in tight spaces and close quarters.
The Yi-Tish made another weapon called the Hwacha, predecessor to the first rocket launchers, a wooden implement that fired arrows with little rockets attached. They easily set enemy fortifications and ships on fire, and could be fired at great distance.
In those days, firearms were prone to malfunctioning in wet weather, for both the matchcord and the blackpowder had to be dry to properly ignite and water would prevent that, rendering them useless in battle. Yet their power was undeniable, and to discard them was a fool's errand.
Said firearms were blessed by priests and enchanted with magic, making them a potent weapon against the shadow demons of the Shadow Lands.
As Argella rebuilt the city and made preparations to expand into the Shadow Lands, the hordes of demons battering against their walls and gates in an attempt to overwhelm them, and every battle fought was no less harrowing than the last. Argella would spend years killing them and eradicating their nests as she expanded Westerosi control of the Shadow Lands.
Little of note was to be said about the Shadow Wars, only that the demons themselves displayed no intelligent thought and focused only on massed attacks, making them extremely predictable, though due to the sheer number faced it easily took years to expand allied control of the Shadow Lands. Yet through discipline, focus and sheer will, she managed total control in the end.
At the same time, the Azhulti fought viciously in the jungles of Sorthoyos, using the dense jungle to their advantage in frequent ambushes and raids on allied positions. The allies responded by scorching vast swathes of the jungle itself with dragonfire, burning entire villages, towns and cities. They also gave the Azhulti a taste of their own medicine, raiding their own strongholds and hidden outposts.
The Azhulti made extensive use of magic similar to Valyrian sorcery, and their warrior-priests were well-versed in war, wreaking havoc on less-prepared armies, but without control of the skies and the seas, the allies made use of their superior logistics, keeping their armies well-fed and well-supplied in inhospitable terrain. The lizardfolk, on the other hand, faced starvation as more warehouses and farms were burned, yet none dared turn against the Emperor Machothithun for he was their only protector.
Then the Azhulti capital of Machochitlan was conquered, and the Emperor and his entire court was beheaded.
With the conquest of the Azhulti Empire came peace talks, Westeros and Tymeria agreeing to split the lands according to their old provincial lines. This has made forced relocation of tribes necessary to avoid long-term tribal conflicts. As for the Azhulti tribes themselves, they were slowly assimilated into their respective colonial populations and their old tribal identities forgotten, their old traditions preserved but mingled with new ones, their old gods of blood and sacrifice forgotten for gods of healing and salvation.
The Shadow Lands Campaign concluded only in 270 AC, when the last shadow demon was slain and the land cleansed of noxious toxins. The land was fertile and sprouted fresh flora, rivers ran clean and pure and irrigated vast tracts of land, the air smelt of the fresh morning dew, and the sun shone bright in a clear, blue sky.
Asshai would encompass the entirety of the former Shadow Lands, and the city of Asshai itself was renamed A'saihom. General Argella Durrandon II was named the Grand Duchess of the Dominion of Asshai, and her direct family would relocate to live there for the rest of their lives.
Tymeria recognised Westeros's rule over Asshai in the Treaty of A'saihom, relinquishing an entire kingdom's worth of land. In any other context, it would be seen as handing over an unfair advantage to one's own rival. In this case, Tymeria was busy focusing on new colonisation efforts in both Sorthoyos and Ulthos, diverting massive amounts of resources to those endeavours, hence this move.
From then on, Asshai would become a true regional power in eastern Essos, capable of competing on equal ground with all the Yi-Tish dominion combined. Even centuries later, they are still a great power with massive wealth from trade with other nations, controlling much of the region's sea routes.
Arthur Gofenteos Rada, however, would not live to enjoy the fruits of Westeros's triumph, for he died in 270 AC just three months after signing the Treaty of A'saihom. He was forty-and-four, his life cut short by an assassin's dagger.
The Three Puppets (270-285 AC)
The perpetrator of Arthur's murder was none other than his most trusted advisor, Mors Taemagor, who thirsted for power since he was a wee child born into destitution. Living in a little shack, he fed off tiny scraps he gained from begging or stealing, and was often bullied in his childhood.
Desperate to get out of poverty, he devoted what little money he had to studying, and started his own merchant ventures to earn pocket money. As he grew up, he became a handsome man and started out as a prostitute to women, developing a mastery of the flesh trade. He learned how to look beneath the mask, how to captivate women and make them dance in the palm of his hand, and how to manipulate them to do his bidding.
Before long, he passed the Imperial Civil Service Examination [5] and started as a low-ranked minister, eventually gaining the ear of Emperor Arthur himself.
At the age of forty-and-eight, he was a cunning, wily and dangerous puppetmaster, and all the court feared his extensive reach. With Arthur's death blamed on a long-time rival of Arthur, some poor sod whose name was erased from history, his son Lewyn took the throne at the age of thirty-and-five.
Thus began the time of the Three Puppet Emperors, a list of Rada monarchs who ruled only five years each and were doomed to early deaths.
Despite his reputation, Mors was a stabilising force in the Empire, helping smoothly facilitate colonisation efforts in Asshai and Sorthoyos and establishing trade routes to that end. He also maintained good relations with Tymeria and keeping them in check, using a combination of hard intimidation and soft manipulation with masterful ease.
He instated capable and loyal officials to key positions, ensuring the bureaucracy ran smoothly without his direct oversight, and consulted deeply with generals and engineers to adapt the use of firearms into Westerosi armies and navies.
He even helped pioneer the invention of the cannon, a large cylindrical metal object that fired large balls of cast iron. They easily brought down stone masonry walls and had far greater range than Hwacha, and as a result innovative architects began designing a new type of fortress designed for cannon warfare: The Star Fortress.
Stone layered over densely packed dirt and arranged in polygonal layouts, these new forts could withstand sustained prolonged cannonfire and covered all possible blindspots, turning the entire surrounding area into a killzone. These new star forts would see extensive construction all across the Empire, several projects paid for from the Lord Chancellor's own pocket.
In 275 AC, Emperor Lewyn died under suspicious circumstances after a heated disagreement over who should hold the reins of government at the age of forty, and his son Mors was crowned Emperor that year aged twenty-and-eight. In 280 AC, Mors died in a hunting accident after being skewered by a boar aged thirty-and-three, and his son Doran took the throne aged ten-and-eight. Doran himself died in 285 AC, contracting a chronic illness that took his life at the tender age of twenty-and-three.
The Westerosi Revival (285-290 AC)
When Doran's twin brother Arin ascended the throne at the same age, he staged a trap that saw Lord Chancellor Mors Taemagor captured and immediately executed, his house wiped out and his direct lackeys assassinated. Following this, a power struggle ensued between Arin and Mors's remaining forces which saw them imprisoned, executed or exiled, their names forever disgraced.
In the year 285 AC, Arin III would initiate what came to be termed the Westerosi Revival. He overhauled the bureaucracy and modernised building practices that took cannon warfare into account, continuing Mors's (ironically) beneficial reforms and repealing old, antiquated tax laws, and encouraging greater migration to colonies in Sorthoyos, Asshai and Ulthos.
He also sponsored the innovation of superior seafaring tools and technology and the construction of a great network of lighthouses, so that crossing the great oceans were not as dangerous as before.
For the Tsardom of Mussovy, their territory had since greatly expanded to encompass great portions of the Grey Wastes, greened and irrigated with the magics of the Hydromancers and the Children of the Forest, and Giants worked the construction industry, hauling great blocks of stone and hewing them with massive picks. The vast green plains were excellent for raising cavalry, and as they fought increasing numbers of hostile tribes Mussovite Cavalry distinguished themselves as terrors of the plains, devastating large armies beneath their hooves.
Mussovite Winged Hussars would become renowned as the very face of Mussovite military power on par with Westerosi and Tymerian knights, a friendly rivalry developing between them.
Corruption was also at an all-time low since the time of the Three Puppet Emperors, and it seemed as if a beacon of light shone through the darkness, banishing it away to bring happiness and prosperity to the Empire. Yet this light easily blinded most to the growing darkness hiding in its shadow.
Tymeria would ignore a resurgent Westeros, and cannon foundries churned out guns like a beehive overflowing with honey. Then the inevitable came to pass as both sides declared war over border disputes in Sorthoyos.
Countless battles were fought, a new generation of heroes baptised in the flames of war, and for the first time in history, firearms saw mass deployment all across the world, on land and at sea. Galleons fired broadsides of cannon balls, mortars decimated infantry formations and cannons shattered old medieval stone walls.
It was clear to all that aside from dragons, firearms were the new face of warfare.
Initial exchanges were more or less decided primarily by melee battles and dragons due to both sides' relative inexperience with firearms. As the war dragged on, gunmen became progressively more accurate and accustomed to their weapons, and battles became increasingly costly in turn.
For both great powers, victories were won as many times as defeats were incurred.
Even Mussovy was baptised in the crucible of war, its armies and navies managing to soundly defeat several Yi-Tish and Tymerian forces for control of eastern Essos. Their border with Yi-Ti was in a constant state of flux, though even as they committed to this war, they continued with their colonisation efforts eastward, wanting to become an equal to the Empire step by step.
Long after the war, Tymerian and Yi-Tish veterans would speak many a story about the valour, discipline and power of the Mussovite Winged Hussars, and they came to be an integral part of their cultural heritage centuries later, with horse racers dressing in ceremonial Hussar armour for racing competitions.
Five years of war saw no conclusive gains by either side, and with the populace growing increasingly weary, politicians began to plead with their respective monarchs to sue for peace.
And thus, the Second Westerosi-Tymerian War ended with a white peace. Neither side was triumphant or disgraced, simply exhausted of commitment to warfare. Yet their rivalry was to be set aside in the face of the harshest winter ever known to Man.
Entire regions were soon blanketed in snow as news of winter arrived, and many remarked the snows to be far chillier than usual, with glass gardens the only method of food production left. Even in the True North, the snows were piling like layers of dirt from a landslide, and the local government has issued emergency rationing to cope with the increasing strain on food supplies.
The long winter that followed would last for ten-and-five years, and the entire world of Planetos was covered in its strangulating embrace. Despite the governments' best efforts, more and more people in Tymeria and Westeros were starving to death or shivering from the cold, as if the gods themselves had decided to put Westeros through a harsh trial.
And in 305 AC, beings from ancient mythical stories made themselves known, assaulting border forts of the province of Bormirland with alarming speed.
[1] The Ibbenese Reformation would even result in Ibbenese culture being so sophisticated and attractive that it was exported to many parts of the world, and many Ibbentowns were founded to house Ibbenese migrants.
[2] The Tsardom of Mussovy's rise to power is a prime example of what heights a nation could reach with the proper leadership and drive for excellence.
[3] Asshai would remain a stronghold of magical learning, though it took many generations for its shadowy reputation to truly fade. As such, no one other than the most destitute or desperate Westerosi helped settle the Shadow Lands at first.
[4] House Durrandon was one of the few houses that would survive for centuries more, outliving countless other old houses and defying all expectations, though even this family, in the end, would be claimed by the ravages of time.
[5] The Imperial Civil Service Examination was crucial to being allowed to participate in Imperial politics. Anyone who failed was allowed to try again, but could only take it once a year.