And here we are with another one! Let's go!
War of the Roses
Inspired by Halo, Extra History, and Dune
This story would be set in an almost completely alternate world than canon Remnant, and would serve as a complete reimagining to the political setting of the world that the characters inhabit, where there would still be Grimm, aura, semblances, and Faunus, only everything else has been changed greatly.
In this universe, Remnant is ruled by a feudal system, and is overrun by opposing clans, tribes, noble houses, and warlords, all of them fighting and competing for territory and resources, from the warlord Branwen Twins, to the House of Steel, ruled by James Ironwood.
Remnant's continents and lands would be divided by these clans and tribes, all of them sporting a mixture of futuristic technology, yet medieval and feudal traditions, looks, and even weapons and titles. Menagerie would belong to the Faunus tribes, with the largest of them being the Belladonna Tribe, ruled by Chieftain Ghira Belladonna, his consort Kali, their Daughter Blake, and supported by the Amitola and Wukong vassal clans, though they were opposed by the White Fang clan- Ruled by Sienna Khan- And the splinter faction from the former, the Black Fang clan- Ruled by Adam Taurus- The both of them seeking Blake's hand in marriage to secure their clan's position of power within Menagerie, which itself is considered a holy land by the rest of Remnant.
Anima would be ruled primarily by the Nikos Dynasty, led by the Emperor and Empress, and soon to be seceded by their daughter, Pyrrha, though they themselves held little power outside of their cities of Mistral, Wind Path, and Kuchinashi, with power outside the cities constantly being disputed between warlords and chiefdoms, such as the collection of bandit tribes known as the Branwen Clan, ruled by the Branwen Twins, Raven and Qrow (Though their power was fragile in of itself, for without their leadership, the Branwen Clan would fall apart, and its vassal tribes would turn their guns and blades on each other out of mistrust and opportunity), The Spider Clan, a collection of criminal tribes ruled by the one they called Chief Malachite, and supported by the vassal clans led by her daughters, and then smaller clans and tribes dotted around the continent, only stopped from killing each other by the loose control of the Nikos Dynasty, though they constantly came further to the brink by the chance of marrying their clan into that same dynasty, and constantly competed to have their sons and daughters added to Pyrrha's harem of male and female lovers, though her favourite harem members remained Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, members of the vassal Ren and Valkyrie tribes, and would remain her closest lovers.
The desert territories of Sanus that would be canonically known as Vacuo was a divided land of constant war and conflict, between the clans and tribes that formed the Crown, a fragile alliance that was constantly on the brink of civil war if not for their lords in House Asturias, and whom wanted to instate a monarchy in the lands, and their opponents in the various chiefdoms that stood against them, such as the Alistair, Violette, and Daichi tribes, and allies in the Wukong clan in Menagerie, all of them tearing apart the sands of Sanus in a brutal civil war.
The continent of Solitas was itself caught in a cold war (An ironic name, surely) Between the House of Steel, led by the nobleman and knight, Grand General James Ironwood, and his fellow nobles, which itself held the most land, population, and military might between the two of them, and the Schnee Kingdom, led by King Jacques Schnee after Nicholas' death, along with his wife, the Queen Willow Schnee, and the princes and princesses that were their children, their house controlling the industrial and agricultural heartland of Solitas, and held control of the most dust reserves. This cold war would not be one of soldiers and vast battlefields, but of propaganda and showboating, which would only escalate as one of the Schnee Kingdom's princesses, Winter, defected over to the House of Steel, and brought all that she knew about the Schnee Kingdom with her.
This Cold War would not be helped by the minor clans and houses that had taken up residence within Solitas, of which they would regularly change hands and be bartered between the two major powers like tools, sparking many proxy conflicts between the clans loyal to both the House of Steel and the Schnee Kingdom, leading to years of oppression and violent suppression, eventually leading to a growing rebellion forming in the hearts of these oppressed clans, and within the slave populations of both major powers, lead by former noblewoman Robyn Hill, and her court of lovers and allies in Fiona Thyme, Joanna Greenleaf, and May Marigold.
(Hey, a lot of leaders and rulers back in feudal and medieval times had harems and multiple concubines. Look at the old emperors and pharaohs, for example. It's historically accurate, and I know how horny all ya'll are for this kind of stuff, so... Everyone wins.)
Slavery was a major part of the economical trade of Remnant's clans and tribes. Many armies that belonged to clans and houses were made up of slaves in technologically advanced, yet feudal collars and restraints to prevent them from rebelling against their masters, and a majority of the slaves that belonged to these clans were made up of Faunus, prisoners of war, or individuals that belonged to opposing religions and ethnicities to the clans that they were enslaved by. Antisemitism and racism was rampant across Remnant, and part of the political debate in Menagerie between the Belladonna Dynasty and their vassals, the White Fang, and the Black Fang, was how to combat the clans of slavers that were constantly attacking their borders. In fact, many of the battles and wars between these clans and houses was about slavery itself, with some clans demanding the end of slavery, whilst some clans had slavery so ingrained into their political and economical identities, that they declared it impossible for them to be rid of it. These issues of slavery would not be helped by the presence of the Grimm, as entire armies of slaves would be sent out to die against the Grimm, thereby justifying the usage of slavery to the clans that employed them.
Many religions had made themselves known within these times, despite the vast amounts of antisemitism that ruled these times. In this world, Ozma and Salem would not be alive at this time, but would be remembered as something akin to Jesus Christ for the Brother of Light and the Brother of Darkness respectively, serving as their legendary messiahs and prophets, whilst other religions, like the Church of the Shattered Moon, the Way of the Beast, the Church of the Seasonal Maidens and so on, would continue to grow across Remnant, sparking many religious conflicts between the different clans, on top of the ones that they were already waging.
And yet, this story would not take place in any of those places, but in Eastern Sanus, where a hundred years ago, the Oz Dynasty had collapsed with the death of King Ozpin Pine and his son, Oscar, and had separated into multiple warring noble houses and their vassal clans in a conflict known as the War of the Roses, with the largest house with the strongest claim to the Valerian throne being the House of Arc, and their heir, Jaune Arc.
Jaune Arc would be the head of the House of Arc, and each of his seven sisters would be in charge of their own clans, with his eldest sister in particular, Saphron Cotta-Arc, and her lover, Terra Cotta-Arc, holding rule over a vast, and extremely important trading city in Anima called Argus, (Itself contested with forces from the House of Steel, seeking to encroach on Anima and build alliances of their own with the Nikos Dynasty). In addition, Jaune Arc would have a personal alliance with a vassal Faunus clan known as the Scarlatina Tribe, headed by Velvet Scarlatina and her family, and the remnants of the Zedong clan, fleeing from the violence of the deserts of Western Sanus, with their head, May Zedong, being an old childhood friend of Jaune himself.
Jaune Arc and his sisters and friends in Velvet and May, would hold the strongest claim over the Valerian throne, which they hoped to use as a way to build up a kingdom based on equality of both race, sex, and religion, and they themselves would receive support from both the Nikos Dynasty themselves, hoping to gain political power over Sanus by marrying off their daughter to Jaune, helped along by the constant bargaining and pestering of Pyrrha's closest lovers in her harem, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie- Even though he himself was uncomfortable with the idea of having multiple lovers- And the Belladonna Dynasty, who supported the idea of a kingdom based on equality for both human and Faunus, and wished to build an alliance with the House of Arc by marrying their daughter to him.
However, May and Velvet, both of them in love with Jaune, had agreed with each other to marry Jaune in a three-way relationship, or at least have one of them marry him, and the other be a concubine, to allow their clans to rise as real vassals and seats of power within this new kingdom, and insure that no foreign powers would attempt to interfere with their building of a new kingdom.
But, the House of Arc would have two major rivals during the War of the Roses for the future of Sanus. The first would be House Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester and his Dove, Bronzewing, and Lark vassal clans, and holding a major alliance with the Schnee Kingdom, whom wished to create an entire kingdom of slaves in order to fuel their economical expansion across Remnant, as well as finding allies within the Fall Clan, led by Cinder Fall and a violent splinter faction of the Church of the Seasonal Maidens, composed of fanatical zealots whom worshipped Cinder as a god.
The Second would be the House of Rose, led by Summer Rose, her husband from the Xiao Long vassal clan, Taiyang, and their daughters Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao Long. The latter daughter, herself attracted to Blake Belladonna, wished to bring the House of Rose to power in order to marry Blake and secure a stable future for both of their powers, and Ruby Rose had been offered a marriage proposal from the House of Steel, themselves wishing to marry her to one Penny Polendina, an autistic princess to one of their vassal clans, in order to create political alliances in Sanus, and create a political powerbase outside of Solitas, though Ruby would find herself to be in love with both Penny and Jaune, and would be torn between the two, but would find herself constantly in conflict with both May and Velvet, as they sought to keep Jaune to themselves, and the House of Arc in power.
As such, all eyes would turn to Eastern Sanus, as a complicated web of political intrigue would descent on the currently most important piece of land on the planet, and a complex series of alliances would form around these three houses, as they all competed for the vacant throne of Sanus, spinning alliances and empires of their own, turning entire political entities to their side, sometimes even overthrowing them, creating entirely new laws and orders of their own, and drawing every major clan and tribe across the world into the conflict, known as the War of the Roses.
Game of Thrones has got nothing on this!
Wow... This was a lot more complicated of a story than I thought it would be.
But hey, feudal and medieval politics be like that, political marriages and such.