Alcingeria

PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE: The year is 1690 In the land of Alcingeria. Alcingeria (pronounced Al-sin-jair-ee-ah) is divided into five provinces. However, it was not always so. Long ago, the country was one in unity. However, the king grew old, and with that age came not wisdom, but arrogance and greed. His heavy taxations and demands from his people caused his lords and citizens to become poor and unhappy, soon to be kindled into a rage by the complete lack of empathy shown by their ruler.

Poverty was widespread in the nation for a number of years until Lord Relin, one of the most powerful lords in the North, began a rebellion to free his people from poverty, to depose the king, and stabilize the country once more. Relin was a man of great diplomacy, but he was also one of the wisest tacticians the time had seen. He traveled, without his armies, to the neighboring lords to personally implore them to join him. Some joined without question, merging into his cause and making it their own. Some had to be bought, and some, who were speculated to be paid off by the king when he realized what was happening, adamantly refused and declared war.

Lord Relin engaged in numerous battles before striking into the heart of the nation's capital, defeating anyone who stood in his way. Over the course of the war, later called the Relin Crusade, many more powerful lords such as Delron, Fel, Vulrock and Yutsa joined Relin's cause.

The Crusade lasted four years, three months and twelve days until the king's armies surrendered to the United Army under Lord Relin. The first thing Relin did when he took power was have the king publically executed, as well as any powerful supporter who refused to surrender. When any trace of the old regime was gone, the next thing Relin did was give back the wealth to the people. He ruled as king, presiding over a new Alcingeria divided into the five provinces named after the five most powerful lords prior to and during the Crusade. Each one received an equal share of the country's land, an idea proposed by Lord Yutsa in an attempt to preserve the country they'd fought so hard for and to ensure future rulers had little reason to declare war. Each province's monarch from then on was to be of that same family to ensure the morals and ideals of the time were upheld as efficiently as possible.

The center of the country, where the old capital city was located, had been preserved as a historical site; no province was legally allowed to claim the land. Over time, though, the city came into neglect and fell into ruins, with any trace of a city once having been there gone save for a handful of old war tunnels, and some other surviving structures.

The first Province of the five is called Relin. (Pronounced Re-lin.) The Province of Relin is ruled by Queen Mycta. (Pronounced Mis-ta) She is a great and fair leader. Like any monarch, her place on the throne is her birthright. The second Province is called Fel. (Pronounced Fell.) The Province of Fel is ruled by King Bunsen. (Pronounced Bun-sen.) King Bunsen is a good leader, but he is known to have a short temper, and punishes outlaws, criminals and people of the like accordingly, and sometimes a little to excessively. The third Province is called Yutsa. (Pronounced Yoo-t-sa.) Yutsa is ruled by King Desmond. (Pronounced Dez-mond.) He is a leader noble to his people, and is very weary of outsiders. He will do what is right, no matter the cost to himself, or others. The fourth Province is called Vulrock. (Pronounced Vul-rock.) Vulrock is ruled by Queen Yuka. (Pronounced Yoo-ka.) Queen Yuka is a tyrant. She uses fear to control her subjects rather than using trust. Queen Yuka is known to be a wrathful, malevolent person. The fifth Province is called Delron. (Pronounced Del-rawn.) Delron is ruled by King Lucias. (Pronounced Loo-sh-us.) King Lucias is a tyrant, much like Queen Yuka. King Lucias always gets what he wants, whatever, or whoever that might be.

Although the country has enjoyed long, prosperous periods of peace, the nature of the country has caused various rulers throughout history to attempt to increase their nation's power, contrary to Lord Yutsa's suggestion at the end of the Crusade. Nonetheless, each war failed to gain land or power and the idea was by-and-large disregarded as unwise and foolhardy. This didn't stop every selfish ruler, but history has shown that most have been deterred by the daunting task.