Prologue : Revolution
The Continent had a disease. A crippling disease, leaving the royal families crushed. No dynasties had the glories they once bore. The disease had contaminated a lot of them. The disease had been spread among the people, like a murmur floating from ear to ear. Unknown, the disease strewed among the population of the Continent. At first, it did not bear a name – it was only a feeling, tightening one’s chest. But soon, his name was heard – it was the disease of revolution.
The crowns, the monarchs, the elite… All of them were fearing it. Their dynasties were crumbling. Among the noble families, few women were fertile – and even if they were, the baby would be still-born. Kings and Emperors died quickly – poorly reigning over twenty years. The disease had tarnished their power, a power that was once so feared and respected. The disease had slowly begun to destroy the crowns of the Continent.
One monarchy still stood the strongest: Forsyth. After the death of Queen Georgiana, the First in 1603, the Sir Jacob’s Regency brought Forsyth to pursue its Glory Age. When Francis II, Queen Georgiana and King Rainer’s first born, was of age to reign in 1610, he encountered many sicknesses and battles throughout Forsyth’s territory against the Red Axe. On his deathbed in 1655, he left the country with no heir. With no one from Forsyth Royal Family willing to take the throne, the three major Duchés – Duché Divert, Manfort and Forterissa – of the realm fought each other in the Three Kings War. The War left the country paralysed and in utter chaos for fifteen years. Queen Tatiana, his sister, who had married Emperor Thomas III of Liory, had two sons, the future Emperor of Liory, Hadrian V, and Prince Rainer. Prince Rainer married Lady Regina of Montfortey, daughter of the powerful Duke of Montfortey. The pair had three children: Lady Mary, Lord Charles, and Lord Dante. In 1669, at the death of his father, Lord Charles decided to take the throne, being Queen Georgiana’s great grandson. Using his mother’s army from Montfortey, he managed to control the entirety of Forsyth’s territory. In 1670, he was crowned under the name King Rainer I – using the name of his great grandfather, viewed as a hero in Forsyth, managed to get him a lot of popularity.
Thus, began the Restauration and the Second Glory Age of Forsyth. After King Rainer I’s death in 1740, his successor, James IV, had only one child, the sickly Charles IV. King Charles IV had a feeble nature and was rarely making public appearances. It was mostly his beautiful and charismatic wife, Queen Isabella, daughter of the Duke of Forterissa, who talked to Forsyth’s population. The King’s absence and the perpetually closed doors of Ortelly Castle made the people doubt the strength of Forsyth’s monarchy. Our King is sick. This is a sign that monarchs are now feeble. A revolution had been brewing since Queen Georgiana’s reign. But the wind of revolution had never been louder during King Charles IV’s reign, namely between 1761 and 1783.
Contrary to most royal families, Forsyth’s royal family was not sterile. Even though King Charles was a very sickly man, he never faulted in his bedroom duties. Queen Isabella gave birth to seven children before her husband’s death in 1783: Princess Isabella, the future king, Prince Francis, Prince Albert, Prince Charles, Prince Enrique, Prince Rainer, and Princess Carmena.
Further south of the Continent, the royal families were desperately in need of an heir. After the death of Hadrian V, Liory was left no heir. Next in line was the Ahmad dynasty. Since its creation, Liory always had two dynasties fighting for the throne: the Hadrian dynasty, that had been in place until Hadrian V’s death, and the Ahmad dynasty. The Hadrians were paler, blonder and a minority in Liory’s noble families, whereas the Ahmads were more tanned-skin and dark of hair. The Ahmads were used to living next to Zenobium Desert. Inside the Liory Empire, the Hadrians had always been viewed as the outside oppressors since they inhabited Liory’s territory later than the Ahmads. When the Ahmads asked through their gods if they should take the Liory Empire’s throne, the priests communicated to them that the gods wanted the next male born of the Ahmads dynasty to bear Liory’s crown.
Ahmad I was crowned in 1636, then followed his first born, Ahmad II in 1689. At Ahmad II’s death in 1711, his first born Cyrus I succeeded him. However, being sterile, he did not give his wife any heir and then, Cyrus I died in 1717, when a Red Axe member stabbed him in his sleep. His brother, Darius I, followed him, but on his death in 1722, he also left the country with no heir – his wife had only brought still-born into the world. To continue the dynasty, Ahmad II’s nephew, Damian I, took the throne in 1722, then Damian II, then Darius II who died poisoned on his coronation day, and then Damian III who died with no heir. It was Ahmad IV, his brother, who took the crown in 1769.
Ahmad IV needed an heir and went to the Highest Priest of the Zenobiumal Religion, the Venefikia Sumia Racheer. After speaking with the Ancient Gods, the priest came back with a prophecy: Ahmad IV must undergo a forty-day walk in the Zenobium Desert and the first woman that he would encounter would be his true love and the woman bearing a fruitful progeny. After walking for twenty days, Ahmad met Noor. The woman was a nomad, living with her family in the Zenobium Desert. They encountered next to a water fountain. Once their eyes met, Ahmad knew he would marry Noor. Spending the last of his twenty days in the desert with Noor’s family, he eventually proposed to her, revealing himself as the emperor. When Noor became empress, she finally gave the dynasty children: Princess Samara and Prince Darius.
But the disease was still spreading amongst the royals. The revolution was brewing. The Red Axe was organising terrorist attacks all throughout the Continent. Once again, to protect his family, before Darius’ birth, Ahmad went to see the Venefikia Sumia Racheer. The priest came back with another prophecy, that said: A storm is brewing over the royal heads. To protect one’s crown intact, one must follow this commandment. The emperor will be given a male heir on the fifth day of Spring this year. To protect his blessed dynasty, the heir must marry the royal female heir that will be given on the fifth day of Spring of the year after. Darius was born on the fifth day of Spring 1779. After his birth, Ahmad sent spies in the different royal courts of the Continent: only one family was planning a child in the year that followed, the Forsythian Royal Family. The fifth day of Spring 1780, Princess Carmena, the last daughter of King Charles IV and Queen Isabella, was born in Ortelly Castle.
A year later, an arrangement was made; in seventeen years, Prince Darius and Princess Carmena would wed to protect both of their royal families from the storm brewing. But outside of this marriage agreement, the people were still shouting their chants of Revolution:
If I can still hear the sound of the lark,
If I can still see the vessel embark,
If I can still touch the soil of my birth,
I’ll know there is still hope on earth.
Uniting with our companions,
Letting go of our bonds and irons,
Being freed from our persecution,
This is the wind of revolution.
