A Spectacular Civil War

1255 AC (Aclian Calendar)
Fourth Month

Princess Aednat declared a revolt, denouncing King Aiden and his court as a court of murderers, backstabbers and traitors. For unjustly framing former Chief Architect Kelvhan for slander and having an illicit affair with the then Queen Elise of Torfun, for murdering the honourable Duke Oshan the Stern, and for failing to resolve the murders and defamations of over two dozen loyal noble houses and even exterminating the survivors, King Aiden was declared the true enemy, and Aednat marched to war.

To that end, she submitted a formal plea to the Empire of Aclia for assimilation and help against the royalists, and the Empire answered as it sent the monster horde to invade the lands of Torfun.

All of a sudden, the Kingdom of Torfun, one of the Three Great Kingdoms of Aclia, was thrown into the fires of war, and to make matters worse, the Monster Horde that took down the kingdom of Efros and the Elven City-states of Prosperio, Inyalrinus and Caenanor, was leading the attack.

Fear ran rampant in the citadel of Dornham, and King Aiden angrily cursed and threw his wine goblet to the side, causing it to clang off the stone walls and onto the floor.

"Damn it! Damn it all!" He roared, "Is my kingdom filled with nothing but traitors!?"

King Aiden was a man filled with vanity and ambition, with a massive chip on his shoulder. He despised his father for rejecting his desire for freedom and liberty, for rejecting his ideas on reforming the kingdom, all because the nobles were the ones who held true power. He showed them, he showed them all. He killed his own father, he killed all the nobles who opposed him, and he **** everyone else to accept his reforms. That will show them all.

"And yet this Aednat dares rebel against me?" Aiden scoffed, "I'll show them that Torfun needs no knife-eared foreigners who think themselves better than us!"

The poor messenger who delivered the report shivered where he stood, hating to be the bearer of bad news to this most temperamental king.

"Get out," Said the King.

The messenger hastily obeyed, taking his leave. And yet as soon as he left, he heard the statacco of thunder, followed by the panicked screaming of guards and civilians alike.

"What the fuck is going on!?"

A bloodied messenger came in, panting heavily and nursing a broken arm.

"My King, the Monster Horde has cannons! They're breaking down the walls!"

King Aiden felt his stomach turn cold; Dornham was built to withstand catapult fire, not cannon fire. If they brought cannons...

"Rally the men! We take the fight to them!" Aiden ordered.

Aiden may be many things, but coward was not one of them. He would not let them take his citadel without a fight.

Warchief Diepkutter found the Humans of Torfun to be putting up a better fight than the last ones he fought, or the pansy Elves they conquered. As participants and veterans of the Hundred Years War, the Torfans had a deeply rooted martial tradition, owing to their constant feuds with neighbouring kings long before and during the long war, and early on they learned the importance of cannons and firearms. Hence why instead of hunkering behind their walls, their knights made daring sorties from the city walls to take the fight to the enemy while their own mages and cannons provided fire support.

All the same, however, it quickly grew to be a boring war.

The Warchief lazily yawned as he noticed a Human in ornate armour and wearing a crown, charging on horseback towards his troops. He quickly got gunned down for his trouble, one corpse among many.

Such was Diepkutter's immense boredom that the oaths roared on the Human's lips were like muffled screams to his ears.

"Warchief, the Humans are dying and the gates are open! Should we attack?" An Orc officer asked.

"No, hold positions and maintain pressure," Diepkutter ordered.

"As you order, Warchief," The officer saluted.

Thankfully, Diepkutter's boredom was cut short as Aednat's men fired an arrow into the sky, which then exploded in a shower of fireworks. The signal they were waiting for.

"Storm the city, now!"

Before long, the last of Dornham's defenders were slain, and those who surrendered were arrested and later to be put on trial.

Victory was theirs.