In my last post I started to talk about the history of Valdaran, the homeland of Laeryk Thorn and Gavain Whiterose, two of the main characters in my upcoming book, Laeryk's Proving. Today I'm going to continue with the history of Valdaran, and how it became one of the military powers in the world.
If you'll recall, the Allking of Valdaran had formed the Wyvern Knights to serve as a way to unify the noble Houses and heal the rift that still remained after the clan wars which had troubled Valdaran in its earliest days. To solve the shortage of supplies that the Valdaran people faced every winter, the Wyvern Knights were sent to raid the neighboring kingdom of Deldanare.
Under the rule of the Valdaran's second Allking, Hrothnir Korvaftsson, the raids into Deldanare increased. The five Wing Lords and many of the Valdaran nobles advocated invading Deldanare and annexing some of its farmlands. Allking Hrothnir resisted this idea, feeling that the rugged nature of their mountainous Valdaran homeland kept the Wyvern Knights from growing as soft as the Deldanari. The debate raged on until something happened which startled the Allking's entire court.
Princess Elouise du Lemaigne, eldest daughter of the king of Deldanare, came to the Valdaran capital of Wyvernholme to request a meeting with the Allking. Hrothnir was impressed with the bravery of the Deldanari princess, and granted Elouise the audience she requested. Princess Elouise spent days eloquently pleading that Hrothnir call for the raids on her homeland to cease, begging for an alliance between the two nations. She even went so far as to suggest a marriage between herself and Hrothnir to cement relations between their nations. Hrothnir's response was to order the princess taken captive and sending a ransom demand to her father.
The demand never arrived. Far to the south, the Morkavian Empire had begun a campaign to conquer the known world. Their armies had marched forward and conquered the city-states south of the Wastes, and then continued their march into Deldanare. The Deldanari military had been weakened by the Valdaran raids, though it is questionable whether they would have been strong enough to repel the Morkavians even without the assaults from the Wyvern Knights. King Franc du Lemaigne fled east into Valdaran, demanding asylum from the Morkavian invaders. At first Hrothnir laughed at the proposal, but word from the border quickly changed the Allking's mind.
While the Deldanari had been unable to resist the raids by the Valdarans, the Morkavians were a different matter. The Morkavian military possessed power siege weapons which proved a threat to even wyvern-mounted warrior. For the first time ever, the Wyvern Knights' raids were stopped. To make matters worse, the Morkavians even began making incursions through the low passes that led into Valdaran itself.
Incensed, Hrothnir agreed to aid Franc du Lemaigne in reclaiming his throne, though he kept Princess Elouise as a hostage to ensure the good behavior of the Deldanari king. With the aid of the Wyvern Knights, Franc du Lemaigne was able to rally his people into resisting the Morkavians. Supported by ground troops who concentrated on destroying the Morkavian siege weapons, the Wyvern Knights quickly routed the invaders, restoring Deldanare to its people. The nations of Valdaran, Coribhal, and Fardan united to drive the Morkavians back to their own borders, liberating all of the land the Empire had claimed, and shattering the remnants of the empire into the nations of Morkav, Haddar, and Nadyss.
During the last days of the fighting, Franc du Lemaigne fell in battle while saving the life of Allking Hrothnir. Honored at the sacrifice the Deldanari king had made for him, Hrothnir released Elouise, whom he had grown fond of, and placed her on the throne of Deldanare. He would have considered her request for marriage, but the Wing Lords forbade it, warning Hrothnir not to dilute purity of the Valdaran royal line. Hrothnir coneded to their words, but struck a new treaty with Elouise. Henceforth, the second sons and second daughters of both royal families would marry every five generations. Deldanare helped supply Valdaran with the resources its people needed to survive the harsh winters, while Valdaran agreed to send its Wyvern Knights to defend Deldanare from any attacks on its sovereignty or its people.
Kickstarter Update: The Laeryk's Proving project page will be going live on the Kickstarter website within the next week, possibly sooner depending how long the approval process takes. I'll post an update as soon as it is available.
Next Time: I'll discuss the noble Houses of Valdaran, and the origins of House Thorn.
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