Title: The War of Betony
Author: Vulper Newgate
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Price: 580
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Content:


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[/center]The War

[/center]of

[/center]Betony



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[/center]    The history of the Iliac Bay, if told in its entirety,
would horrify readers more than the most gruesome legend of
the Underking. In comparison to the wars of the first and
second era, our most recent appeal to arms, the War of
Betony pales. The Siege of Orsinium lasted from 1E 950 until
1E 980 without a pause. A thousand years later, the Thrassian
Plague coupled with the War of Righteousness slayed over half the population of the Iliac Bay. And yet, the War of
Betony fascinates us, and not just because of its immediacy.

    Ironically, Lord Mogref of Betony was seeking peace when
he asked for Daggerfall's protection on the Isle of Betony.
The island had long been independant, but as the piracy in
the Bay increased, Mogref truly realized  Betony's
vulnerability. King Lysandus agreed to be Betony's liege,
on advice of many, including his archpriest of Kynareth,
Lord Vanech. While Betony is a prosperous fishing island and
well-placed strategically, the vassalage of Betony was
primarily an act of charity. Lysandus knew that if someone
did not help Betony, it would fall to the pirates, if not
to someone worse.

    Unfortunately, King Camaron of Sentinel did not agree.
Citing a two hundred year old contract, obliquely if not
illegally written to suggest that Betony was a "traditional
holding" of the Kingdom of Sentinel, Camaron declared
war. The majority of his advisors, being warlords in a
traditionally bellicose country, supported their king in
this. The Chief Counselor, a woman called The Oracle,
foresaw death and defeat in the war, but her wisdom was
stifled and she was banished from court. Camaron should have
listened to her.

    A few scrimages of the War of Betony went to Sentinel, but
the major battles were all won by Daggerfall. King
Lysandus, his heir Prince Gothryd, and the general of the
army Lord Bridwell were fine leaders and warriors as well,
and the Battle of the Bluffs and the Siege of Craghold both
went to Daggerfall.

    The war might have been won with one more victory, but for
an unusual domestic incident in King Lysandus' court. The
king's mother, the dowager queen Nulfaga, had been uneasy
about the war since its beginning, but she now began to have
visions of cataclysm. She saw the death of her beloved son
should the war continue. Ebullient by his success, King
Lysandus refused to listen to her fears until Nulfaga left
court. Lysandus then realized how certain she was about his
impending death. He began to actively negotiate a peace
treaty with Sentinel, using the neutral lordship of Reich
Gradkeep as facilitator.

    The Treaty of Reich Gradkeep was never to be. King Camaron
was initially civil, as the losing side of a war is often
civil, but when he realized that the proposed treaty would
have included a formal declaration that the kingdoms of
Sentinel and Daggerfall would share Betony, he flew into a
rage. With no thought for the protocol of attacking a
neutral peaceable lordship, Camaron order his army to riot
through Reich Gradkeep. First the halls of the palace, and
then the streets of the capitol ran red with blood. It was
only with the support of the Daggerfall army that the chaos
was brought under relative control. The Sentinel army
fled to the Yeorth Burrowland, and the Daggerfall army
chased them as far as the Ravennian Forest before making
camp.

     One week later, after each had a chance to send for
reinforcements and plan their strategies, the armies met in
the field that separated them, the flowering meadowland
called Cryngaine Field. In the heat of the clash, an
unnatural fog spread over the field, blinding all
combatants. When the mist finally lifted, King Lysandus'
body was found, his throat pierced by an unmarked arrow.

     Daggerfall did not waste any time in mourning; young
prince Gothryd, who had shown great bravery in battle and
was very popular among the troops, was crowned King of
Daggerfall just behind the battle lines, and he ordered the
army onward. Perhaps it was the sight of the brave young
warrior turned king appearing on the battlefield in full
regalia that inspired the Daggerfall army, perhaps the
battle would have turned regardless, Sentinel began to
panic. King Gothryd met King Camaron before the Redguards
had retreated, and the two monarchs fought. Both were
excellent warriors, but Gothryd was a more skillful
swordsman, and Camaron fell that day. Lord Oresme of
Sentinel formally surrendered to Daggerfall, giving up
all rights to Betony officially. He later commited suicide on
the ship back to Sentinel.

     Peace was a difficult process for the cities and towns on
both sides of the Iliac Bay. As part of the formal peace
treaty, King Gothryd asked for the hand of Princess Aubk-i,
only daughter of the late King Camaron and the Queen Regent
Akorithi. The request was intended to restore friendship
between the kingdoms, and it was partially successful
though many in the royal court of Sentinel viewed the
princess as more a prisoner of war than a bond to
Daggerfall.

     The only surviving member of the ruling family of Reich
Gradkeep was a sickly infant, so the councilors of state
appealed to Lord Auberon Flyte, a cousin of Lord
Graddock, to rule the lordship in regency. Lord Flyte
accepted, and his strong, almost dictatorial style was
just what Reich Gradkeep needed to restore order after the
bloody Treaty of Reich Gradkeep. His subjects were grateful
that when the infant heir died, they not only elevated his
wife Doryanna and him from regents to rulers, they agreed to
rename the lordship in his honor. Reich Gradkeep became
Anticlere, named after his ancestral home.

     The horrors of the War of Betony still live on, even in
Anticlere. Whether Daggerfall and Sentinel will be able to
use the marriage of King Gothryd and Princess Aubk-i as a
symbol of peace rather than discord is something that only
the future can show.

                         -- 14 Suns Dawn 3E 404





 
