A Pawn's Gambit

The Birth of a Revolution

The year is X400. For the last two decades, tensions had been rising between Regonia and Arcisio, two neighboring kingdoms. A Civil War centuries before had separated the once unified country, and now land disputes were starting to reemerge. Diplomats had been sent to either side in an attempt to ease emotions, but all hell broke loose during the winter of X400 when diplomats sent to Regonia from Arcisio had their carriage apprehended by thugs and were brutally murdered and stripped of their possessions.

No one knows for sure whether or not the attack was ordered by the Regonian government, but at this time it didn't matter whether or not they did it because the tensions had finally snapped. For the Aricisio people, it was the last straw of a number of second chances, and for the Regonians, it was a baseless accusation and required an apology for anything to be fixed.

When the news reached the townspeople of Arcisio, a blanket of rage engulfed the country. Protests broke out, riots consuming the country, and the masses demanded war be declared on Regonia. With no other option, the king made a speech at the busiest and most populated place of all of Aricisio, Rey Plaza.

"For months now we have been looking for a peaceful exit to this conflict. We were once brothers, unified as one, but war and corruption has split us in half, separated us from our brothers and sisters." The king began. "After seeing the atrocities that have been committed by the kingdom of Regonia, after seeing them stab us in the back, we have no choice but to formally declare  war on Regonia. We gave you a chance, and you spit in our faces. You inhumane monsters do not deserve to breathe the same air as us, to walk the same land as us. As king, I promise you that I will free the people of Regonia from their corrupt government and create a new kingdom from their ruins, a kingdom where we can all live as one!" 

The king ordered his soldiers to begin hunting down the diplomats that were sent to Arcisio and to throw them in jail. The war would go into full swing just days later when the king would get assassinated by a well known Regonian diplomat by the name of Jacques. His son took the throne at just 22 years old, and unlike his kind and warmhearted father, he was a cold-blooded man who did not tolerate mistakes. He made a show to publicly execute Jacques for all the people to see, both Regonian and Arcisian. He tortured him until his body was black and blue, his bones broken, blood streaming off of him like a river. With the death of Jacques, the king's son, King Henry III, set an example and a warning to the country of Regonia. 

Days after the execution of Jacques, the queen of Arcisio had reportedly passed away after a heart attack in her sleep and a full day mourning session was put into effect. The king gave out a heartfelt speech for his mother, listing her achievements and talking about how great of a woman she was. Hours later, he would announce his marriage to the daughter of a queen from a neighboring country with no father. Rumors would circulate about whether or not the queens death was purely accidental, and if the king was really killed by Jacques, but those rumors were put down swiftly, and Henry III would be solidified as the rightful king of Arcisio.

Around this time, 41 year old Roy Maximus was drafted into the army. His father was a war veteran, and he too, was a former soldier. He left behind his 15 year old son, Rex Maximus, and went out to proudly serve his country. Little did anyone know at the time, but this event would inadvertently cause a swift change in the tides of the war. It would create a vigilante the world didn't know they needed.