5001-HârnWorld/3rd Edition/50

Verlid VII, King of Chybisa

CHYBISA: THE MELDERYNI KINGS
After her near destruction in the Migration Wars, Chybisa’s monarchs built carefully. Her fortifications were respected by the surrounding tribes and the vigilance of her defenders was well known. But after a century of relative peace, she had grown decadent and her nobility had grown complacent and apathetic. At the beginning of the fifth century, renewed aggression by the Hodiri and Pagaelin tribes (and their harassment of caravans and traders) caused alarm in Chybisa. When Verlid VI died heirless in 409, the barons of the kingdom offered the vacant throne to Imadain I of Melderyn in the hope that fear of the island realm would keep the tribes at bay. It did. The barbarians quieted almost immediately and Chybisa relaxed back into prosperity.

Between 409 and 475, a council of Chybisan barons governed in the name of four Melderyni kings. When a bastard succeeded to the Melderyni throne in 475 under the island kingdom’s ambiguous succession laws, the Chybisans were outraged. The barons of Chybisa seceded from the island realm and elected one of their number as King Sharat I. Arabar II of Melderyn proclaimed that he did not recognize the legitimacy of the new king but took no further action. The succeeding Chybisan monarchs enjoyed almost 200 years of peace.

Kaldor has had a long history of rebellion, interspersed with periods of recovery. Soon after the founding of Kaldor in 188, the kingdom developed a tradition of unrest as powerful barons were forever in conflict with the strong royal government. This culminated with a disastrous Civil War on the death of King Maranos in 362.

The Kaldoric Civil War
The clearly legitimate successor to Maranos was Aidrik II but many of the barons backed a rival claimant who promised them greater regional autonomy. Fierth of Qualdris claimed to be Aidrik’s elder brother, born on the wrong side of the blanket. Neither claimant could fully command the loyalty of their followers. For 15 years, all that was achieved was to lay waste to the countryside. In 377, Aidrik II, acting on treacherously false information, was caught in the open with his army by a superior rebel force near Kiban. He and his army fought bravely, despite the defection of several of his vassal-lords, but Fierth won the day. According to popular history, Aidrik was captured and slowly roasted alive over an open fire.

The Restoration
Fierth the Usurper failed to deliver the powers promised and was forced to defend his crown ruthlessly on several occasions from the very barons who had supported him. Fierth preferred subtle methods; he corrupted the judicial system to his needs and levied ever-greater taxes. Many barons were tried and executed for treason. On his death, a major revolt erupted. Uthred, his son, was able to subdue this rebellion but was unable to win the support of his recalcitrant nobility. He was slain by a band of knights while hunting in 406. The barons assembled to choose an heir and Aidrik II’s only surviving son, who had been given refuge in Chybisa, was handed the crown. The new king took the name Aidrik III and promised to rule in a manner respectful of the barons’ rights. All were tired of war and, for nearly 100 years, conciliation and compromise became the principles that would govern Kaldoric politics.

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