The happenings of Saxonia (2)
After checking out Rigurd's soul he gave it back to Azrail to send it back into the cycle of reincarnation.
Before he left, Azrail had asked for some subordinates to help him with the management of the realm of death, so Tristan created the 7th race, he called them Reapers.
These reapers were created after Azrail's likeness, Tristan created around 1,000 of them and gave Azrail the ability to create more if he felt like it.
Once Azrail left, Jeremiah and Tristan went back to the couch and sat down to resume their "viewing" of Saxonia.
...
Up until the year 20,200 AC, King Rigurd had been introducing agriculture, military, and infrastructure reforms, and he had been working on creating a 4th settlement due to the capital city, Vraetia City, getting up to a population of 200,000 and the other two cities being at 50,000 and 100,000 in population.
Another reason that drove him to create another settlement is the fact that all three of the cities had been founded on the coast, plus, Rigurd had come across knowledge of a sizable deposit of copper and tin pretty close to each other further inland.
So, in the year 20,197 AC, King Rigurd now known as King Rigurd "The Wolf King" announced the establishment of the fourth settlement north of where Vraetia City is.
For the first year of using newly domesticated beasts thanks to Rigurd's pseudo taming magic (called pseudo do to not being able to tame any creature stronger than a 3rd tier aura user) The construction of the new town named, Town of Felern, after Rigurd's father King Felern II, went smoothly and quickly.
It wasn't until the year 20,199 that problems arose.
The territory that Vraetia claimed and owned was bordering another major kingdom in the area called the Orten Kingdom. The Orten Kingdom had 3 cities of their own that had rivaled the population of Vraetia with the total of people in Orten being 300,000 and Vraetia being 350,000.
While this isn't the only kingdom bordering Vraetia, all of the others are city-states with the strongest having one city and one town.
When King Rigurd first heard of the Orten Kingdom, he wasn't very surprised, he expected to meet another kingdom that rivaled his in numbers and strength.
While on paper the two kingdoms were relatively even, in reality, Vraetia was way stronger due to the average soldier being a 1st tier aura user, while the Orten Kingdom only had at most 2,000 aura users out of their 50,000 troops.
The army of Vraetia however, had 50,000 1st tier aura user foot soldiers, with 5,000 tier 2 aura user squad leaders. and 500 tier 3 aura user commanders, and 5 tier 4 aura user generals, and of course, you can't forget Rigurd, who was now at the peak of the 6th tier.
On top of that, the Vraetian army boasted a cavalry of 2,000 with all of them being dire wolf riders.
By all means, King Rigurd was a warrior king, thus giving him a significant advantage over the steward king of Orten, King Salavan III, who had barely reached the 3rd tier at the age of 783.
Keep in mind, at the time of this conflict, Rigurd was "only" 219 years old, so it was safe to say he was a monster among aura users.
Conflicts arose to an all-time high when soldiers from the Orten Kingdom raided the new Town of Felern in the year 20,203.
During the raid, Orten soldiers killed 7,947 civilians out of the 20,000 who lived there.
Orten would have probably slaughtered the whole town if it wasn't for General Nauld who was stationed in the town with 2,000 soldiers in case something like this ever happened.
General Nauld was the most senior general of the Kingdom, he had been Rigurd's personal Knight back when he was a prince. Nauld was like an uncle to him.
Not only was he by Rigurd's side during the succession war, but at the time of the raid he was a peak 4th tier aura user who had developed his own Aura Method, called the "Cyclone Eagle Aura Method". On top of that, Nauld was only 538 years old, if he had started aura meditation earlier in life, he very well could've been at Rigurd's level at that same age.
Unfortunately, it wasn't until he was in his 300s that he started training aura.
And so, leading his small garrison of troops, General Nauld and his men overran the 5,000 raiders, Nauld himself took out more than 500 men that night.
Accounts from soldiers and citizens alike that night talked about how graceful and efficient his movements were, it was like he was riding the wind when battling.
General Nauld had become known for his speed and masterful use of wind elemental aura, hence the name of his aura method. And it was thanks to Nauld that only 106 troops died with another 200 only having minor injuries.
(A/N the "Vraetian Aura Method" of the royal family uses the element of lightning)
When King Rigurd caught wind of the night raid that happened, it was safe to say he was immensely pissed.
The very next day King Rigurd made the declaration of war against the Orten Kingdom.
What the surrounding kingdoms of the "Great Eastern Peninsula" didn't know, is that Rigurd had been trying to find ways to go to war and conquer his neighbors without drawing the ire of everyone around him.
And so, using that night raid as a Casus Beli of sorts, King Rigurd marched with 44,400 soldiers, 4 generals, and 1,000 wolf riders, to the capital of Orten, Leaving 11,10 soldiers, one general, and 1,000 wolf riders back in Vraetian City as a defense force.
On the way to the capital, the Vraetian army conquered the 2 cities of Orten that were on the way to the Capital.
In both of these battles, the individual strength, and tactics used by the Vraetians led to swift victories with few casualties.
Even though both cities had basic stone walls that were 3 meters tall as defense, they were no match against the attacks that King Rigurd himself unleashed against them.
After the swift defeat of the two cities, King Rigurd left a garrison of 2,000 soldiers with 10 squad leaders and 1 commander to keep control, while this may seem like too little of a number, they were more than enough to keep the normal civilians in check until the end of the war.
Moving on from the conquered cities, the army of Vraetia finally arrived outside the walls of the capital of the Orten Kingdom, the City of Orten, named after their founder Gilligan Orten.
When King Salavan III heard about the arrival of the Vraetian army, he was quite honestly terrified, he had heard about how swiftly the other two cities had fallen, so when he saw the huge army sitting right outside of his front door, he was quaking in his boots.
However, no matter how scared he was, he was resolute to go down with the kingdom of his forefathers.
Mustering up as much courage as he could, King Salavan ordered a last stand against the invading forces, however, it was all for naught due to the sheer display of power King Rigurd had shown shortly after Salavan's order.
When Salavan ordered the last stand, many of his soldiers were nervous and scared so once they went to the wall and took a defensive stance, they were understandably terrified and confused when King Rigurd had stepped forwards by himself.
As Rigurd stood in front of the gat of the massive 6-meter wall, his next action would go down in the history books forever, even thousands upon thousands of years later, Terran scholars and historians would still talk about this battle.
King Rigurd quite literally swung his sword with all of his might and aura combined, and the complete front side of the wall came toppling down from Rigurd's attack.
Using that as a signal, the Vraetian troops charged in and without killing anyone else took over the city.
While some of the Orten soldiers tried to fight back, due to the sheer difference in strength thanks to aura, the Vraetian soldiers were able to incapacitate them.
Once all of the enemy troops were captured, King Rigurd and his entourage of royal guards, including General Nauld, waltzed up to the castle of the Orten royal family.
although very little was known about magic at the time, there were still those lucky enough to awaken magic and learn how to control it and rise in tier.
Tiers 1-3 are called Magus, 4-6 are called Sorcerers, 7-9 are called Grand Sorcerers, 10-12 are called Warlocks, and 13-15 are called Grand Warlocks. As of 20,000 AC, only tiers, 1-9 are known.
The Orten castle was built by a peak magus who specialized in earth magic, in fact, that same magus was a defender in one of the cities Rigurd had conquered on his way to the capital, however, due to Rigurd being 3 tiers higher as an aura user he was easily able to overpower the magus and kill him.
(Picture of the Orten castle --->)
Back to big balled Rigurd and his posse, King Rigurd, and his royal guard plus Nauld walked through the front gate of the castle, there were no guards since all of them had gone to help the defense but subsequently got captured.
As the group strolled through the castle, there were many servants on the ground begging for their lives, however, unlike a bloodthirsty tyrant, Rigurd went over to them and helped them to their feet, and assured them he would bring prosperity to his newly conquered cities.
Later that same speech would be given to the people of the former Orten Kingdom, and it would be relatively easy to win them over since the Orten rulers were tyrants who exploited their people.
After a few more minutes of walking, Rigurd finally came across the throne room, the image of a man who has lost all hope could be seen sitting on the throne.
Before Salavan could beg for his life, Rigurd in one clean motion sliced off his head.
Later in the royal chamber, the Vraetian group had found the family of the now-dead King Salavan lll.
Hiding in the chamber where his wife, daughter, and two sons, despite being advised to kill the sons to decrease the chance of them harboring resentment and later starting a rebellion, King Rigurd spared their lives.
Now don't get it twisted, Rigurd is not a merciful man, he just had better uses for the two new workers he acquired, as for the daughter and wife, Rigurd made a shocking announcement when he declared he would wed off the daughter to Nauld as a war bride, and the mother would be imprisoned in one of the towers of the castle.
Rigurd's next declaration would completely shock Nauld, Rigurd had declared he would grant Nauld the noble title of Duke, of course in their language it is something different.
The lands Nauld would rule over under King Rigurd would be the three cities that used to be the Orten Kingdom, however, the territory each occupies would be lessened by some, but nonetheless, this would be the first known account of feudalism in the Terran continent, and it started in the late bronze age no less.
On top of the title, King Rigurd granted Nauld the surname of Anvindr, which funnily enough translates to wind in Old Norse.
Once they had finished everything that needed to be done, the Vraetian army packed up except for a garrison of 10,000 troops who would now be commanded by Nauld the General turned Duke, as his personal army along with a retinue of higher-ranked soldiers and a strategist.
And so, in the year 20,204 AC, a little more than a year after the night raid that caused this happened, the Orten Kingdom had fallen, left to be just a name in a history book.
Once King Rigurd returned to Vraetia City, he made the bombshell announcement of his declaration to unify the southern half of the "Great Eastern Peninsula" as well as, his ambitions to become the king of kings, or in other words, the first emperor.
For another decade, King Rigurd had spent time preparing for his grand conquest, plus this gave Duke Nauld time to organize his new territory and implement the reforms that Rigurd enacted for the original cities.
Duke Nauld didn't have to worry too much about uprisings due to the populace loving him and their new king due to the abundance of food that they now had thanks to the farming techniques Rigurd had introduced.
Fast forward to the year 20,215 AC, the time has finally come, the grand conquest that Rigurd had announced a decade before is finally going to start.
King Rigurd planned to split up the army which now numbered 80,000 not including higher-ranked soldiers after successful recruitment fueled by the high of victory.
He planned to divide and conquer, the surrounding city-states and petty kingdoms had nowhere near enough strength to resist the Vraetian invaders, so King Rigurd would take the west side of the peninsula and work up north, while Duke Nauld would take the east and work up left until the two armies met up.
The war that would later come to be known as "The 500 years Conquest" had officially kicked off.
Through the decades and later centuries, King Rigurd and his most trusted friend Duke Nauld would sweep through the southern half of the peninsula, and in the year 20,700 AC, the conquest had finally been completed.
This war would later come to be known as the best-recorded war of its era due to Rigurd having a scribe and historian present at every battle to write down the events and how they unfolded.
Rigurd wanted to ensure that the history of his great nation and conquest would forever be immortalized in the history books.
After a few more decades of consolidating his grand kingdom, Rigurd would announce the formation of the Vraetia Empire in the year 20,734.
Alongside the new title of emperor, Rigurd had gotten the title "The Conqueror".
For the remainder of his life, "Emperor Rigurd "The Conqueror" would eventually take a wife and sire one boy and two girls.
The first and only prince would grow up not to become a great warrior, but a pioneer in the field of magic, by the time of his father's death and eventual succession to the throne, at the age of 197, Prince Basham Vraetia would become a Mage who reached the 6th tier as a peak Sorcerer.
Rigurd's two daughters wouldn't be pushovers either, the first princess Talena would become a great swordswoman and warrior reaching the 5th tier at the age of 198 when her father died.
And the second princess Vini would become a brilliant scholar and steward, who would later become an advisor to her older brother once he was the emperor.
And so, on that faithful day in the year 21,000 AC, Emperor Rigurd "The Conqueror" the greatest king and later emperor to ever live, passed away due to natural causes with a smile on his face surrounded by family and friends. He was also comforted by the fact that the empire he had built was in a prosperous time and it would be in great hands under his son, and hopefully his later descendants.
Before he died, Rigurd would utter his last words...
"Don't cry my children, take solace in the fact that I have accomplished everything in my life that I could dream of."
"Although I wish I could stay and watch as you three lead this beautiful empire into a golden age the likes the world has never seen, I am happy that not only I but also my dear friend Nauld and those brave soldiers who fought by our side, could create such a grand nation for our descendants."
"Goodbye, my children."
And when that last word left his mouth, Emperor Rigurd had breathed his last breath.
Those words that were spoken that day would forever be immortalized on a plaque in front of the statue his children would build in the city square, depicting him with two dire wolves at his side, holding his legendary sword Storm Caller, the sword that could unleash lightning to kill gods.
With the passing of Rigurd, his son Emperor Basham's "The Wise" would lead Vraetia into a golden age for magic and aura alike.
years passed with prosperity, all across the continent, kingdoms rose and fell, but the one constant was the almighty Vraetia Empire.
The next 3 emperors after Basham would all be competent leaders that kept the prosperity going, that is, until the 6th emperor, Kaldris came along.
Emperor Kaldris was a tyrant who only cared for himself, nobody knows the reason why he turned out this way, but what everyone knew, was he needed to be stopped, and stopped he would be.
After being fed up with his tyranny, in the year 24,500 C, the two princes, Khorian and Belhorn III would stage a coup and kill their father, Emperor Kaldris "The Tyrant".
for two years they ruled side by side to stabilize the empire before they concluded on what to do.
At first, when the first prince Belhorn III had approached his brother to kill their father and end his madness, the second price had been a little apprehensive, but after being promised 1/3 of the empire and being allowed to form an independent kingdom, as long as he was a protectorate of the empire, then he agreed.
After the empire was stable, the now Emperor Belhorn III had kept his promise, and the protectorate, the Khoria Kingdom, named after the second prince, was officially established.
For their whole reign, the two brothers had amicable relations, but the same couldn't be said for their heirs.
Anytime they were together, the two cousins would always fight over which nation was the best, and how the first prince of Khoria, Khorian II should unite them and become Emperor, however, the imperial prince, Basham II thought otherwise.
In the year 25,000 AC, shortly before Tristan ended the time acceleration, the two brothers had both died within a month of each other due to natural causes, and their two realms were passed on to the two sons.
Whether Emperor Basham II and King Khorian II could coexist, was yet to be seen.
Who knows what is in store for the two nations, but one thing is for sure, all it takes is one wrong step and all-out war will break out between them.
(Here's a picture of the Vraetia Castle during Rigurd's time as King before Emperor --->)
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Authors Note:
The chapter today kind of ran over what I was originally expecting, but I think it came out pretty good, and just so you know, this was the revised and cut down version, the original would've probably been over 5k words.
The next chapter will stay within the Terran continent, but don't worry after that we'll move on to another race, so bear with me!
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy future chapters!!
P.s: if you guys ever want a more in-depth story on either Duke Nauld or Emperor Basham's Life then let me know. I was thinking of doing a side series going into the POV of future and past characters' and telling their stories from their view.
P.s.s: once I'm done with the Terran continent, I'll put a hand drawn map picture in the chapter.