《Tales beyond the Solaria Archives》 The Polaris Porta
For as long as man has walked the earth and strangled the lands of it''s riches there has been a force beyond our comprehension which others wield to excellent proficiency yet the vast majority of us are not even aware of in our daily lives; Magic. The earliest mentions of Magic predate the written word, as old as humanity as we know it, yet it was the early Mesopotaminus peoples who first knew about magic. The wielders of magic often suffered under the yoke of the various city states which permeated the lands; only seen as tools to the kings of these states. Even those who wielded it with great proficiency found it hard to be independent, as the men and bronze of the armies of these kings can overwhelm and crush any organized magic revolt. In the far west, in ancient Albion, the Druids were the first society to embrace Magic and see those who wield it as equal, even sometimes greater. Their civilization would flourish and spread throughout the western world, transforming the Druidic society into various flourish Gaelic kingdoms. Their decline would go hand in hand with the rise of the Raman Empire, and more broadly the ideals of Antiquity and Greso-Raman thoughts and philosophy. The last of the Gaelic kingdoms, and subsequent Druidic society, would fall during the height of Rame. Magic and it''s usage in the Raman Empire was considered a cultural taboo. with some emperors going on wholesale purges of magic users. However it became lawfully illegal to practice following the Christianization of the Empire, with death being a common fate of magic users; though they''re fates would be more lenient closer to the frontiers of the empire due to the growing power of the various "abhuman" kingdoms in Germania and due to the fact that magic was useful during hard times, making it more acceptable to use in those circumstances.
In Albion, even after most kingdoms converted to Christianity, took on a more relaxed approach to the handling of magic, due to the lasting influence of it being the homeland of the Druidic People. These various kingdoms have no issue with everyday magic use, with some even recruiting these gifted individuals into their armies to gain the upper hand in disputes with their neighboring kingdoms. This has caused some problems in terms of relations from the churches in Albion to the central Raman Catholic dioceses, whilst not being completely excommunicated the tensions and strain has been growing, with the growth of these tensions temporarily being stunted by the "Magia Toleratio" decree passed by the current pope, Ferdinand. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Magic in the current day remains taboo at best, and wholesale illegal at worst; depending on how forgiving the king of the local lands are. However this begs many questions, Where does magic come from? What is magic? Is it of divine, unholy, or neither origins? Well we are able to partial answer some of those questions due to the generosity of a Flugel who donate some books from her library to our historical archives. One of the books contained a plethora of knowledge regarding the basis and foundations of what Magic is. This wasn''t even the original copy as the flugel explained to us that she has had to copy and recopy the book into several other ones over an untold amount period of time, she wasn''t even the first owner of the text. To say this knowledge is ancient is an understatement, it predates ancient society.
Most of the text relates to different practices and usages of Magic, being rather mundane yet useful in it''s words; though nothing which the current magic societies have uncovered and understood. Yet an interesting excerpt which was buried amongst the vast pages and words of the book has led to a new insight as to how magic came to be in the current era. The Polaris Porta. The gateway of magic. described as an immense structure of size whose carvings ornate and foretell the being who gifted and cursed us with this gateway. The realm to another world which brims of beings of pure magic, though not impossible with our current understanding of magic it is an immensely draining process to both conjure and maintain; even by some of the most talented and proficient magic users in the known realms. There is also mention of a "fountain" in which all magic "flows out of" which does slightly contradict the current and even mentioned understanding of how magic works, being a force rather than a flow of something. There are many things to understand about this text and its mysteries, that of the words which have no translation; do they hold the key to understanding the origins of Magic? Most importantly, and the thing which has kept the scholars awake for several nights straight, what is this "League Solaria" and why are they mentioned so thoroughly throughout this entire book?
Bridgets Order of Knights "I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion" - Alexander the Great The fate of every soldier upon a battlefield is decided not by his vigor or equipment but rather through the leadership of their men. History has told us of the many great moments when the weak and meager gather around a central force whose power is not built upon it''s own men but by whom who led them. It was not the professional soldiers of the Western Raman empire who failed to defend their borders and land but it was the governors, generals, bureaucrats, and emperor who failed to rally men to a common cause; leading to the collapse of the Western Raman Empire. So when it comes to the matter of victory in all manners of life, both in peace and in war, it is fundamentally the role of whomever leads the people and resources which they hold domain over; yet in this rare case it is both the army and its leaders which are both prideful yet powerful lions. Bridget''s Order of Knights. Formed in the later wanning years of the kingdom of Jerusalmon, it has partaken in several important wars and crusades throughout its existence; even contributing so much to the defenses of the Kingdom of Jerusalmon that it singlehandedly made the sole remaining crusader state in the Levant survive the apocalyptic Jihads declared on it. Whilst not being able to save Jerusalem itself it has remained a stalwart force in the defense of the remaining cities. The effectiveness of this knights order compared to others is in its unique philosophy on Discipline and Tactics. Unlike traditional orders this one isn''t tied to a monastery or city; acting more or less as a warband who offers their services to different Christian Cities. This has also made it to where their recruitment is vastly different, instead of wealth or class they are made up of those who have nothing to lose and everything to gain in servitude to this knights order. The soldiers that make up this Knights order come from all over the Human world, some locally recruited in the Levant Christian lands and hotly contested Anetaliana, and some coming as far as Albion to join this order''s ranks. This order is also unique in the manner of how members act, always reserved and not one to give much knowledge about themselves. This goes hand in hand with their tactics as they opt to do sudden devastating ambushes on groups of enemies using horses for mobility whilst their usually superior equipment and armor would sweep up the enemy force; keeping quite both in information and presence they are able to execute their plans effectively. It''s not only because of the manner in which their members act which make them effective in combat it is also due to the ever vigilant and stoic leaders which make up the order. The founder, Lord Rodon Bridget I, hailing from the Western Levant was, in the beginning, from an irrelevant farming family; destined to be lost to history, if not for the Jihads. For it was one of these which led Muslim warriors to raid the young Rodon''s family farm, slaughtering his father and maiming his mother; before moving on to wherever they were needed. Despite being no more religious or fanatical as any Sunday church-goer, it was at this moment where the young Rodon was said to have been given a vision by the Archangel Mikael, telling him to gather other lost men and women of faith and give them the resolve to fight. It was likely at this moment which spurred his momentum to form this Knights Order. Despite being of low birth many people rallied to his side and in turn joined the order''s ranks. During this era the order entered into a great deal of progression and prestige for both the men that fight under it''s arms and the man who lead them in these said fights. Rodon Bridget would be the foundational titan who lead the order into glory; but it would be his successors to cement it as a legendary army in history. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. After a fatal blow at the hands of a spear which impaled him in the abdomen Lord Rodon, in his final moments, declared his successor to be the captain of the lead cavalry group of the order, Captain Johan II. Though being amongst the most competent and driven soldiers of the order his mixed Judeo-Raman Christian beliefs and minor noble background made him estranged in contrast to the Greese-Orthodox commoner background which comprised the vast majority of the order''s soldiers. As such most of the men elevated three individuals as the proper successors to the order. Lord Ifrit. The Oldest surviving soldier of the order, amongst the first recruited by Lord Rodon himself. Despite his age he holds himself to the same mannerisms and respect to that of any common soldier in the order, young or old he didn''t care, they were Knights fighting for Christianity and that was their purpose. Often called "Father Ifrit" by the soldiers under his arm he has won the respect of his men through his wisdom and insights in both battle and peace. Duke Harrod. A soldier of fortunate he came to the order as; a crusader of faith he now is. A man whose birth was higher than that of most soldiers he commanded, coming from a wealthy Albion family, initially he was the main man who managed the economics of the order, with an impressive retinue to boot. When he was given field command of his unit, he turned this ragtag group of peasants into a professional fighting force in less than a month. It turns out he had a knack for management and training; along with substantial money reserves to buy his troops only the best equipment in the field. Not only was he competent he also cared for his soldiers'' health, frequenting the markets to buy only the best of provisions in great numbers. Called by his men "Harrod The Charitable" he has won their unending loyalty and respect through his dedication to both their health and combat abilities. Lady Sofia. A true exemplary of the nature of the order''s structure. Found by the order as an orphan in the early days of it''s existence, she was raised by Lord Rodon as if she was his own daughter; teaching her the ways of the order and of Christ. In time she grew from the pampered child of the order, the one you would see asking soldiers for sweets and you would see them give them to her, to a respectable young commander. Don''t mistake her for any regular girl, she was born to be a fighter and leader; the elite spearhead of of the common foot soldiers of the order. She expects every soldier to do their best at any given moment and in turn she has never led them into total destruction, let alone defeat. These three figures in the order have always been seen by the common soldiers as the second in the hierarchy to Rodon. Whilst the order has continued under the final words of Rodon to let Johan II to lead the order, the omnipresent danger of the increased strengths of the Jihads, lack of faith in the current leadership, and most importantly the telltale signs of infighting have begun to rear their ugly heads. Whilst not that important compared to other factions they still represent a good number of elite and determined troops willing to defend the remnants of Christendom''s holdings in the Levant; the fate of a well established fighting force in defiance of the Jihads may certainly determine the fate of Christianity in the lands which it has sworn to safeguard. Tycho The Unknown Explorer
The extent to which we know about this world has always been ever changing through out the ages. The ancient Arkkadians only knew of the Euphroites and Tibrics rivers and the surrounding lands, The Machadonican''s knew only of Greese up to the Indesus river, The Ramans knew the entirety of what we considered to be the "Human" world, at least the occidental world that is. However we know that this is not the true extant of the world, there lies of many distant lands beyond the ones here in Europa. As such history has had a fair share of countless explorers and adventurers which have followed the call to the unknown and set sail and foot into the brave new lands beyond which our archives detail. Obviously the descent into the unknown poses many dangers and problems, many do not survive the perilous journey. Those who do, however, cement themselves as legends in the books of countless societies for their contribution to knowledge. Others, however, seem to do it more for the thrill of the experience rather the rewards which it brings. Tycho, A Nekomimi hailing from the Lorca Region, is one such example of this. A destitute and steadfast Neko searching and lusting for adventure and exploration, sometimes to a point of complete obsession. Whilst buried underneath the words and books of other more well known, human, explorers many scholars, especially amongst the new generation, would consider the feats which Tycho achieved as an explorer to trump all current great explorers and even challenge that of some of the established greats. Though there is much contention on the verifiable nature of the claims and tales made regarding Tycho as an explorer.
For starters Tycho''s crew on her adventures is always described as under crewed, even by the most barebones standards, meaning that there are few credible sources to corroborate her story. Tycho also uses her own names and descriptions of the lands which she explores, making it hard for readers to see if she is describing an unknown or known land, this wouldn''t be a problem usually if she had used referenced descriptors of the lands rather than made up names. Lastly, though this point of contention is mostly resolved as false it still has a few merits which don''t rule it out of reasonable possibility, there is very few official academic and archival evidence of a Nekomimi named Tycho being born at all, this maybe due to the official status of Nekomimis in the region of Lorca and the lack of care to record and census them, supporting the idea that of Tycho and her writings to be nothing more than a collection of false anecdotes or fictional stories. The collections of the writings regarding Tycho began with her, mostly true and factual, descriptions of her adventures through the regions of Gaul, describing fantastical tales of battles and the daily lives of those living in her home region of Lorca and beyond. Her subsequent stories follow the usual format of her adventures throughout the region which she is exploring, detailing anything she would come across. The integrity/plausibility of her stories would start to wane regarding her explorations of Greese and her origins of her ship: The Advent of Discovery. This is the first point of contention on whether or not Tycho''s writings are true, this is because the village of Taksi does in fact exist in the region of North Machadonica however, as you might know, this region is completely landlocked, so the existence of a port and access to the sea is impossible; making it more likely, if this story was true, that Tycho mistook this village as Taksi. Tycho would then recount her explorations of the docks, seeing the vast ships adorned with gold, diamonds, and various other precious gems and materials. This would lead to her encounter with a man simply mentioned as "The shipwright", she notes that the man was likely into the final years of his life, seeing that his appearance and overall demeanor evokes one of such age. The Shipwright offered to build Tycho her own ship if she were to beat him in a game of 4 player chess just between the two of them; to this offer Tycho agreed. Unfortunately for her it has been recounted that Tycho doesn''t exactly have the mind of scholar, due to her often simple and somewhat childish ways she chosen to write; as such The Shipwright easily beat her in 2 moves. Tycho would continue to challenge The Shipwright continuously in a multitude of games, all of which resulting in her defeat within a few minutes, or even seconds, into the game.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Tycho, after playing hundreds of games with The Shipwright, was nearing her limit as she described being exhausted after these games. However she noted that The Shipwright didn''t appear exhausted at all, or even bored, just smiling at her asking if she wanted to play again. It was an odd reaction and Tycho brought it up to the man as such. The Shipwright simply laughed and offered to build Tycho a ship regardless of the fact that she has lost several hundreds of times before. Taken aback but really wanting a ship to explore beyond the lands of the upper Mediterranean she accepts and stays in the village of Taksi for "a number of days" before the ship was completed. This is another part of the story which is clouded in mystery, whilst Tycho could be using the phrase "a number of days" as a stand in for a really long time, Tycho writes as if only 2-3 days passed, normally this wouldn''t be impossible to do, even alone, but the major facts being that The Shipwright was in an olden state and the fact that Tycho describes not seeing anyone help The Shipwright in the construction of the ship is certainly odd. However what makes this a near impossibility, even giving benefit to the doubt, were the estimated dimensions Tycho gave for the ship, estimating it at 150 feet in length, it is certainly a mighty ship, but to build one from scratch within a few days is all but impossible for a single person to accomplish. With this major discrepancy left aside. Tycho is handled the bottle to christen the ship with by The Shipwright, eagerly. Things would go awry for Tycho as the bottle fails to break, a tell tale sign of a maritime curse, dating many centuries ago; to give the ship good luck on it''s voyages so that it may not sink. So immediately things were not looking for the new ship in which she had acquired. Fortunately for the ship The Shipwright decided to christen the ship instead to which the bottle broke instantly; thus securing the Advent of Discovery from any danger. It is at this point in which most scholars tend to disregard the factual basis of Tycho''s accounts of her adventures. Due to the rather controversial assumptions Tycho makes on these discoveries of hers. With her describing a large landmass off in the distance in the Alantica ocean, and of grand crystalline cities on the coast which triumph over any city which she has ever seen or known. Whilst this maybe a product of the long time Tycho and her crew have spent out at sea and the associated fatigues and hallucinations which come with it her writing in this part of her records seems to remain the same and indicate no sign of change of the mind, suggesting that this was not a byproduct of the sea playing tricks on the mind but rather her simple observations as she saw them. This is the most controversial part of Tycho''s writings Other disbeliefs by most scholars include her expeditions to the far North which she also discovered great unknown landmasses, and even, though hotly debated, the Flugel homeland of Flugelslied to due her mentions of beings like angles dancing through the air of these specific lands. Her expeditions to the far East which scholars are more able to back up due to the well archived past expeditions by other explorers to the far East. The Powdered Patriarchs Knights Order
Amongst the countless knights orders which give battle in the name of Christendom there are many who have abandoned their sacred oath and strayed away from the light of god. Often times being branded as "Heretical Orders" due to a number of reasons, the most common of which being excessive violence in the field of battle and/or horrendous mistreatment of innocent civilians; though in times of crisis, especially during a Jihad, both Orthodox and Catholic churches tend to turn a blind eye. These orders are few and far between, due to the increased professionalism of these established knights orders, however whenever an order is branded as heretical by one church, it often becomes a de-facto order for the other church, being seen as more or less a tool to be used for political leverage against the other; orders branded by both Orthodox and Catholic churches as heretical are even more rare. This doesn''t mean that they don''t exist, and one such example of this is the knights order known as the "Powdered Patriarchs". Their founding and early history is well established and understood to scholars, even those not affiliated with the Church, with their founding being in the area which is know as Transylvania, though this was before the massive incursions of vampires which has led to this area being a warzone between the existing human kingdoms that existed in this area and the new vampiric realms. The order was said to be established by a kingdom on the far fringes of Transylvania, as such their local name has yet to be fully translated into any of the standard Mediterranean scholarly languages, though a rough translation into greese has been made, calling it "the Realm of Trandafiri". With their founder, a knight named Zalem of the Golden Wheat, leading the initial order''s ~500 men into battles in the levant and surrounding regions, acting as guards to Christian pilgrims. Their order would operate under the banner of Greeso-Orthodoxy yet they often fought alongside and made great connections to other knight''s orders who fought for Raman Catholicism, most notably a knights order named "the Brothers of Rhodes". Scholars on the ground in the levant at the time wrote of the great battles these two orders would participate in, regardless of the outcome they made sure to leave many a jihadists slain on the field of battle, and their men mostly unscratched. Though this would be the story of glory and success, even factoring in the small losses and personal tragedies the order would endure, this would be the happy ending and glorious tale of the order''s history; sadly this would not be the case when the Order decided to follow in the Mesopotaminus Incursion. The Mesopotaminus incursion was a combined effort of several knights orders under the general leadership of the king of Malka, Huedan Lato, and the leaders of well over 8+ prestigious knights orders to strike back at the Jihadists and lay siege to several important cities for the Jihadists, not the least of which being that of the central city of the Fuyabbid Caliphate; Bachdad. There is a common saying in western Europa of "being unable to look away from a wagon accident" which more or less means being unable to look away at something tragic; even if those signs were prevalent before the actual accident takes place. A planned attack which was built upon wishful thinking and the faith of the men involved in it with the backing of their horses, swords, and armor.
They would continue advancing into Fuyabbid lands largely uncontested, liberating and recruiting Christians who had to live under caliph rule, bolstering the ranks of this "mini crusade". Whilst it seemed to be largely successful and unnoticed by larger Fuyabbid rule (due to rumors of a military campaign in the far east occupying a large part of the caliphate army). This, however, was not true and unbeknownst to the incursion force an ambush was being set up for them to fall into. Continuing with the string of victories against small Garrison forces of the Fuyabbid Caliphate they pushed ever deeper into their lands until they were on the outskirts of the city of Bachdad. The final knot was tied on the noose when the force of knights decided to set up camp out side Bachdad; opting to take the city later in the day at night. This one decision decided the fate of the Mesopotaminus Incursion and all the men who followed. With the Incursion Force setting up camp on a hill overlooking a path and another hill some 100-200 meters away from where they had encamped around. Tents and a simple barricade erected at the sloping ends of the hill to deter any forces from skirmishing on the good terrain; though this didn''t matter in the face of it all with the Fuyabbid force closing in on the encampment. The bloody battle would begin with one of the scouting parties sent out by the incursion force would report a great number of Muslim troops beginning to converge and surround the general area of the camp. It was decided by Huedan Lato and the other leaders of the knights orders to begin preparations to hold off their attacks and wait for an opportunity to break out. Though during this discussion a number of regular soldiers overheard the leaders discussing the state they were in and quickly broke out in panic, leading to more and more soldiers being made aware of their circumstances, with some opting to mount their horses and try to get away from the incoming carnage as quickly as possible. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.The disorganization of the Knights was further exemplified when loud thunderous booms, akin to that of lightning, began to be heard around the grounds of the camps, followed by the cries of anguished men seeming to have been struck by some invisible force. The few men who had the courage and sense to stand and be ready for battle manned the barricades and took their positions on the hill, only to see an ocean of Fuyabbid troops quickly surround their encampment. Though the order had an estimated ~8000 men under their banner, eye-witness accounts described a near 17:1 ratio in favor of the coming Muslim troops; the situation and chances were dire. Assailing the hill and barricade en masse waves of Fuyabbid troops clashed against the poorly put together defenses of the Knights. Even after repelling the first few skirmishes the incursion force at this point had taken considerable casualties with barely any losses for the Fuyabbid force. It was decided by Lato and the remnants of the leaders to send out Zalem''s knights, the Powdered Patriarchs, and Duke Giuseppe Dorato, leader of the Brothers of Rhodes, to attempt a breakthrough of the Fuyabbid lines and salvage this desperate situation they have found themselves in By the time dusk had reached the battlefield it was mess of trampled horses, half-dying men, shattered armor, broken spears, torn banners, and the carcass which was the dream of what the Mesopotaminus Incursion hoped to achieve. The Incursion force entered the night with a force of ~8000 men led by the greatest leaders of several Knights Orders, by morning only 17 men were left alive to be taken prisoners by the Fuyabbid; most of whom being either sold off as slaves or executed shortly thereafter. Huedan Lato, the mastermind behind the whole Incursion, laid dead in the midst of the chaos to escape, ironically likely trampled by his own men. Durato, the leader of the ~500 Knights of the Brothers of Rhodes, whiose body was left skewered on a pike along with the rest of his soldiers. However Zalem''s corpse was never found, not even any bit of his weapon or armor or any of the other Knights who joined him on the breakthrough charge. Due to himself and most of his order "disappearing" it was concluded by many scholars and clergy officials that Zalem and his Order, the Powdered Patriarchs, deserted the Incursion and fled, not only abandoning their fellow soldiers in the field of battle but also abandoning the holy cause of it. With how many knights orders took place that belonged to either branch of Christianity it was formally decided, in a long time, by both churches to ex-communicate Zalem and the remnants of the Order but also declare them as Heretics, seeing them no better than servants of the Anti-Christ itself.
Though we do not truly know what happened to Zalem nor his Knights it is quite easy to speculate and entertain the idea of them truly deserting and abandoning the cause; in the face of absolute destruction it is reasonable to want to flee. However rumors have begun to emerge to the east in contested Fuyabbid lands of "a band of rogue bandits attacking and harassing Fuyabbid army wagon trains and weapon armories". Particularly targeting storages for the Fuyabbid''s supposed "black powder" weapons. Normally this is the usual dealings of bandits in lawless parts of any given empire, but these are different; they seem to be part of an organized group rather than a rag-tag band of mercenaries. Some point to them being merely an organized crime group, attacking these rare "black powder" storages to take and sell them. However an interesting proposal was brought up suggesting that these attacks on these "black powder" weapon storages are being perpetrated by the remnants of Zalem''s Order, continuing the fight in their own way against Caliph rule over the levant and Mesopotaminus. However the only way to know is venture out to the east, into the levant, and await for a surprise attack against Fuyabbid forces or their "black powder" armories from these apparent "bandits".
Pope Ferdinand "To change the world we must be good to those who cannot repay us" - Pope Francis At the turning of the new age off at the far eastern lands of the Raman Empire was given birth the Religion which would dominate Western Europa; Christianity. It would suffer under the persecutions of many despots and emperors whose goal was beyond that of which the Church strived for, and such there was great tension and opposition to embrace Christianity for it was considered Taboo for the then Pagan empire. It would not be until the reign of Emperor Constantze in which he would oversee Christianity as the dominant, and then later on the official Religion of the empire. Through this long process to integrate Christians into the empire it resulted in many problems for both the bureaucratic and religious systems, namely on many issues regarding interpretation of the Bible, systems and powers of the clergy, and numerous more which would lay dormant yet set the foundation which would split this unifying faith in the face of a greater enemy. With the Christian reforms largely succeeding for the most part, it allowed Emperor Constantze to centralize his power and, controversially, relocate the Capital of the Empire to the city of Byzontium; renaming it to Constantium. With the founding of the Church proper it has allowed for the institution of the Church to also exist, no longer being a pariah in the Empire''s borders, with it being another powerful political entity; akin to the patricians of old. However with the migration of barbarians coming from Germania into Gaulia came to be the end of the once whole Raman empire, with the west collapsing into several kingdoms and the east continuing to carry the flame of Rame into the present era; however tumultuous its position might be. The institution of the church was also affected by these events in many ways good and bad for the church and the followers of the faith. Following the collapse of the Western part of the Empire the Institution of the church would be complicated due to the fragmentation into several different diocese; though the heart of the Church lay in the pentarchic order of the 5 most important cities for the administration of the Church. However this division over time began to change and divide the church, at first it was minor problems like what books should be considered part of the bible, etc. This would grow into fierce debates on many issues such as regarding interpretation of the bible and what traditions it would mean to follow, etc. These small but cracking divisions would imploded in the mid 11th century with the proclamation of the two churches; the Western Raman Catholic church and the Eastern Greese Orthodox church. The Western Church was in a more precarious position as it was not ruled under one state, which the Eastern Church was, and such several key institutions were governed by separate entities, some of which were quite hostile in the churches involvement in their lands; seeing them as outside influence to their own rule. This was quickly rectified with the rise of the Frankish Empire. Starting off as a small pagan state birthed from the collapse of the Western Raman Empire in the 400s it quickly gained influence and power following the ascension of king Charlemagne to the Frankish throne in the 800s. Throughout his reign he waged many successful wars with his neighbors but also improved the stability and economic activity of the lands he ruled, akin to when Rame had once governed those lands. Charlemagne eventually was able to piece together most of the shattered remains of the Western Raman Empire into now formally the ''Frankish Gaullic Empire''. With this unification came also the power of the Church, which still held claimant to the Western Raman Empire, and with Charlemagne effectively uniting the Western Raman Empire had decided to coronate him as the Emperor of the "Holy Raman Empire" This caused 2 major ramifications for the political situation in Europe. First and the most glaring being that of Raman Legacy, whilst the pope had coronated a new "Emperor" of the Ramans, there was still the Eastern Raman Empire that existed. Whilst no direct wars have been waged against the two, it began the first fragments between the Eastern and Western church. The second ramification it had regarding the creation of this new "Holy Raman Empire" is that it had inadvertently set the the continuous problem of the circular power between the pope and the emperor. As such led to an internal division in the politics of the HRE, this came to a head during the late 11th century when several counties and baronies in the northern and central parts of Italia, under Holy Raman Empire control, declared their allegiances to the pope rather than the Emperor, starting a series of wars, called the Rame-Vaienna controversy, against the HRE to remove their influence from the peninsula. These wars ultimately culminated in nothing major, more like a series of skirmishes and loud arguing at the other side, and eventually the Emperor of the HRE, King then Holy Raman Emperor Haroldson V, and then the pope of the time, Pope Callistis, came together to agree to mend the power balance between the two entities. However this feeling would not be shared with the current Holy Raman Emperor, Ottomark IV. Following the growing rise of the churches influence due to both growing Oni and Vampire uprisings and attacks, particularly in the far east of Europa, this allowed the then Pope of the Raman Catholic Church, Camile II, and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantium, Spiridon, to spread their individual agendas throughout the lands in which nobles usually held the dominant power, especially in areas like Germania and Gaul, whilst most kingdoms welcomed the light of Christ''s corporeal servants many felt as if the growing clergy were disconnected from the kingdom of god; one such ruler that shared this feeling would be Emperor Ottomark IV. In his early reign he voiced great displeasure with the state of the Raman Catholic church and wished for the church to stay in their own affairs, especially in Germania. In the later part of the 12th century the current head of the church, pope Camile II, unexpectedly had passed away in his sleep. Being the pope for the better part of 7 years he managed to uphold the careful balance and relationship between western and eastern churches, along with managing the numerous knights orders which maraud in and out of various conflicts and other such duties; he did well to keep the stability of the Raman Catholic church. Following his unexpected death the cardinals of the Vatican quickly prepared to inaugurate the next pope which shortly thereafter in the coming 2 weeks the next pope was named; Pope Johan. To many of the hardliners in the church it came as a surprise due to the unorthodox nature of how Johan approached religious issues in the church and the general unpopularity Johan had in his clergy duties due to differing interpretations. Most controversially which Johan was known for was his support for not only magic toleration but normalization in both the church and broader society as a whole. Many hardliners felt as if his reforms and ideals were going to ruin the church in an irreversible way; with many speculating a potential schism to happen because of his ideals. However during this time Pope Johan made a herculean effort to convince the church as an institution that his ideals would not lead to anything bad and to generally calm everyone down. Even with this massive effort on his part there was still a large and growing majority that felt uneasy with how he was going to lead the church as a whole; with some more extreme groups outwardly decrying him as the anti-Christ, coming here to hijack the holiness of the church. One of the biggest opponents when it came to Johan and his reformist ideals was Ottomark IV. Due to the increased unrest in his realm due to both abhuman and magic practitioners uprisings and rebellions; fearing that Johan''s ideals would only give these groups more power and influence in his realm as it was already. Ottomark IV would send a numerous amounts of letters and envoys to the Vatican to voice his displeasure, yet ruluctant cooperation, with the pope on the issues of paganism on the rise in the eastern parts of the HRE''s realm. Things would seem to stabilize and calm down however going into a few months after his inauguration rumors began to circulate regarding Pope Johan''s draft of a papal decree in regards to treatment of magic and magical users. This imploded the inner structure of the church because if any decree that changes the church''s stance on magic is put through it is considered something that the entire church, not just the Vatican, must adhere to and any such deviations to the stance could be charged with extreme punishments or worse; Ex-communication from the church itself. Though a large part of these rumors were largely built on unfounded evidence and speculation to the shock of the entire church during a regular meeting of the cardinals Johan would put out that he has been drafting a decree to a similar nature; named the "Iustus Magia" or "Just Magic" decree. It is said the cardinals in attendance went mad and began to shout at the Pope, hurling insults and threats at him, whilst many things were being thrown; the Vatican was embroiled in chaos. With the growing chaos happening someone was bound to be hurt and whilst a chair was thrown, a loud thud was heard landing on the ground, and to the shock of all as they quickly knew who had been hit by it; for it was the Pope, Johan. Many of the cardinals rushed to his side but the blow from the chair had done in a good portion of his head, many feared the worst and rushed him to the Vatican''s physician who tried all that he could to care to the stricken pope, however the damage done by the chair was more severe than what most knew. Only after 5 months and 28 days after his ascension to the highest position of the Raman Catholic church the Pope, Johan, was declared dead. This news sent shock throughout Italia, then to the wider world, as word began to spread quickly of the Pope''s death, and to many Johanist sympathizers; blatant murder. A commission was quickly formed comprising of local lords, scholars, and clergymen in Italia to figure out the whole story of how the pope died. They began to interrogate the cardinals as to who threw the chair at the pope, with many of them ousting out Cardinal Mese as the one that threw the chair; even though Cardinal Mese was an avid support of Johan and his reformist views. The cardinals were split on the issue yet ultimately Cardinal Mese was charged with murder of the pope. With this being resolved it allowed the Vatican to orient themselves properly and focus on the major issue at hand; selecting the new pope to lead the church. Despite his short reign Johan had left an impression on many of the cardinals and leaders in the church. To a point that no side could agree on any candidate to become the pope; fearing that one side or the other would push their agendas through. However a radical proposal was put forth to which many of the cardinals agreed to; that was to make a well-known local priest in the Italia countryside as the pope. Father Ferdinand was a well known and respected priest in the Northern Italia countryside, despite his fairly young age as a priest, who often took great care in his duties as a priest, handling charity, preaching the good word, and ensuring a stable presence of Raman Catholicism in the face of political uncertainty between the various kingdoms and baronies that occupy the lands. Whilst not being a puritan like many priests and bishops are in lands where there are a lot of abhuman and magic influences he holds the good word of the lord dearest to himself, not just as a Christian but as an individual. A envoy of Bishops were dispatched to Father Ferdinand to inform him of important matters in the Vatican; to which he accepted and began the journey to Rame. It was only when he arrived in the Vatican that he knew why he was brought there in the first place; witnesses described Father Ferdinand fainting at the revelation of his ascension to popehood. Whilst initially reluctant he knew what was at stake for the church as an institution and accepted the great privilege. On Christmas day of 1197 Father Ferdinand, born of low birth to a devout Christian family in the lands of Italia in which he then devoted his life to the service of his good lord, was coronated and became Pope Ferdinand of the Raman Catholic Church. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Christian kings and Lord from both the Orient and Occident flocked to the new Pope, who they have heard to be quite generous, to seek his favor in both political and religious affairs they find themselves in. However Pope Ferdinand would maintain his distance, for he knew what became of popes who strayed away from their sacred duty and chose to indulge in the pleasures of the material world rather than the eternal salvation which his good lord will bring. However one monarch which he made great lengths to interact with is Emperor Ottomark IV of the HRE, making frequent envoy missions to his realm and vassals, ensuring the hold of the church''s influence in these lands. Whilst Ottomark would normally be displeased with this influence in the past, it seems that new leadership has tempered his thoughts and begun to re-embrace the authority of the church. It was not only because of new leadership but also Ferdinand''s somewhat neutral stance on the issue of magic and abhumans; something which he greatly was pleased at considering who Ferdinand had preceded as pope. Whilst it seemed that the relationship between the Raman Catholic Church and the HRE, once greatly intertwined with each other, would be mended a recent development had changed that course into something that would begin this era of uncertainty which the current Church is in right now. During a visit to the lands of the HRE, Pope Ferdinand and his entourage would be attacked by forests bandits in the lower parts of Germania. Despite being able to easily calling upon any of the tens upon hundreds of thousands of soldiers devoted to protecting Christianity the Pope opted to travel without any guard stating in the aftermath that "One of the holy commandments is "thou shalt not kill" and whilst many Christians interpret it in many ways I see it as my duty, as pope, to uphold the lord''s word to the fullest; if I cannot then what position am I to be pope? I extend that to those who are close to me; they shalt not spill any blood." Being outnumbered and without any real means to defend themselves these bandits took hostage of the pope and his entourage. For days they were held captive by these bandits, and despite the torture they endured they were in good health, but at this point many people had wondered where the pope had disappeared to; causing a slight unease to fill the minds of people who were ready to receive the pope at their destination. Ultimately their escape would come, however it would not be at the hands of god or his intervention but rather men whom the church had vilified since its establishment. A bishop, Bishop John, who accompanied the pope during his travel gave his recount of the event which led to their escape from the bandits:
It was the fortnight since we got captured by the bandits in which we heard unusual noises coming from where they normally would be sleeping and/or patrolling to ensure we hadn''t slipped out into the night. We were tied by our hands and feet to a wooden post they had erected in the ground near a small cave entrance near their camp; most of us either stood or laid on the ground during our capture but with this unusual situation most of us stood. Ferdinand was amongst the first to alert us of the strange noises to which we quieted our conversations and prayers to listen. The bandits which took us hostage were screaming in their Germanic tongue; even with the one bishop that understood Germanian in our party he could not decern what they said. Eventually their screams stopped and we prepared for ourselves to be attacked by whatever animal or beast they encountered; even with the large amount of men they had a bear could easily take all of them on. However to our bewilderment we found that what had attacked these bandits was not a bear but rather several hooded figures of human form, carrying all manner of weapons such as spears, daggers, and bows; even though it was quite dark at this moment their silhouettes contrasted greatly against the campfire from the camp . Though we tried to maintain our composure we all feared that we were going to be captured again by bandits who had more intent to kill than those who took us in the first place. However to our amazement they lifted their hoods and dropped their weapons before us; the a gaping of the mouths of all the bishops and even Ferdinand himself was evident. These humans had unusually pointed ears and an aura which conveyed a sense of divinity even though they were clearly borne from the dirt of this earth. They spoke to us in near perfect Latim of their intent with us: "Be not afraid holy men of the human world, we hold no intent to harm you. We wish to speak with your leader, Ferdinand, in privacy." All of us protested this idea but, ever open, Ferdinand decided to humor this request from these odd people. They untied him first and led him a ways away into the forest. If they spoke some degree of Latim they must be quite educated and civil; compared to many such other peoples who seem to only speak as if their tongue had been bent in a way that made speaking Latim an impossible task. We all waited anxiously to see if these people would honor their agreement with the pope. We all prayed to make sure that the one man keeping the whole church together at this moment is well; to which it seemed our prayers were answered after all. Returning from where they led him, Ferdinand returned, to the joy of many of the bishops. He appeared to be in better condition than when we left previously but we were solely focused on being able released and to make haste; many people would be worried at this point. Those odd people we never saw again as Ferdinand help to untie us from our captivity and to ushered us to begin preparations to go back on our visit. When we arrived at our destination of the Lord of Sweinslenburg''s Castle, he took note of our condition and rushed to get us treated after our journey. When questioned about what had happened I was about to explain to him, but Ferdinand had cut me off before I could speak and simply said that we had gotten lost and encountered some stray dogs which attacked us. He had lied. He then shot me an unusual glare from him, as if to say "You have no authority here, do not speak Bishop John." So I stayed quite about my account of events. We quickly wrapped up our business and began our journey back to the Vatican. All throughout the return journey Ferdinand''s face was different from his usual self. He held a face which was optimistic and bright-eyed, giving to his calm and agreeable nature. Now he holds a face of contemplation, that belonging to not the scholars of today but the philosophers that hail from ancient Greese. I do not know what he discussed with those odd people but whatever it was it made him think continuously without stop. Even when we stopped to rest and camp for the night he still contemplated something. Even when we returned to Rame he still held that thoughtful look. That one discussion with those pointy-eared folk had caused Ferdinand to contemplate something that he could not stop thinking about. I pray that whatever it is it is something holy, rather than something unholy clouding his mind with its temptations.
To the blissfulness of many people in the human world, especially in the church, pope Ferdinand had encountered a group of enigmatic abhumans, which from the description given by Bishop John suggest they''re the people known as "Elves". Elves have been a dominant abhuman species in Germania, even before the rise of the HRE, and been struggling to keep their lands in their control as Humans have begun to settle these lands; fueling the instability in Germania. Whilst it was never said what was discussed between these Elves and Ferdinand at the very least it left an impression; some would say the spark which has led the current church into the direction it is going at now. In the summer of 1199 Pope Ferdinand enacted the controversial "Magia Toleratio" decree. An official decree from the Vatican and the Pope itself. Under this decree many things would be instituted to be changed in terms of the stance the church has on Magic users and Abhumans. Most controversially in regards to two aspects of this written decree: 1. The abolishment of the death penalty for any person found to be using magic, combat or otherwise, and must be treated regularly on the same level as those of convicted of mild criminal behavior, such as theft. This is applicable to all Monasteries and Kingdoms that have some form of lawful jurisdiction and associates with the Western Raman Catholic Church; this decree overriding any local laws made in relation to this. With each accusation for the usage of magic being dealt with independent tribunals overseen by members of the local clergy. If the case is severe enough it will be dealt with by the Vatican itself. 2. The writing and overall prose of the decree not matching up to how pope Ferdinand usually writes, with many scholars speculating the origin of the decree; with many oppositions to the decree and overall ideals it puts forth implicating that a good chunk of it was written not by Ferdinand himself but rather his previous successor, Pope Johan, with his speculated "Iustus Magia" decree being an inspiration at best and downright plagiarism at worst. These two factors set the internal workings of the church on fire, as both reformist and traditionalist factions, which was tempered with the ascension of Ferdinand to popehood, began to reignite their inner factionalism with each other; with many reported monasteries and churches having physical fights with one another''s members on this issue of magic usage. Many kings and lords reacted in different ways to the news of this decree being passed, some being sympathetic to the reforms whilst others felt the church was over-stepping their boundaries as a political entity that is meant to be a mediator between kingdom''s disputes. The one that reacted the most aggressively to the decree was Ottomark IV of the HRE, with many reporting that angry yelling could be heard from day to night from his castle. Ottomark IV condemned the Papal decree and detached their church institutions from the influence of the Vatican itself due to the ramifications it would have in its efforts to conquer Germania from the various abhuman kingdoms it faces off. However it would not just be met with aggression, the Albion churches reacted with great support for the decree and its effort to mend the relationship between the church and magic usage. For now as it stands just several months after the decree was announced a rising tension between the HRE and the Papal State has existed ever since. The Germanian break-away church has not been condemn at all by the Vatican as of yet, seeking for a peaceful re-integration into the wider Raman Catholic Church after the tensions and dust has settled. Though that is for the future, as it stands Pope Ferdinand has been kept under immense watch and protection by the Papal Guards and Church as a whole; due to speculations of a planned assassination attempt against him by hardliner traditionalists which still exist in the church now. The HRE doesn''t fair any better, due to rising health complications and the wear the constant battles and wars he has waged in Germania Ottomark IV is in poor health. Not only for him but also his realm as the spark has turned into a raging inferno, with the various Abhuman kingdoms working more closely together now against their shared enemy, with many scholars even predicting the largest war in Germania is about to begin, with both sides gearing up for their eventual final confrontation against one another. Will the Bulwark of the HRE, established all those centuries ago, and it''s strength be able to hold their lands in this coming war or will the power of these abhuman groups persist and crush the HRE decisively, undoing centuries worth of expansion and rule in mere years; if that is to be the result what will happen in Germania? Will they make peace with us or will they remember the persecutions and vow revenge on us all? This is an era of great uncertainty, not just for the rulers in charge that play this game of chess but also the pieces themselves; the ordinary folk and soldiers of both worlds. "Deus Misereatur Nostri" "May god have mercy on us."