War of the Bears

The War of The Bears, as it has come to be known and also called Kaegan's War, was a civil war within the Kingdom of Aqoris starting in early-337 AF and ending in late-338 AF, lasting just over a year. The Royal House, House Boyce, was divided between those Loyal (Royalists) to King Dannis I ,nicknamed "the Cruel", and those rebelling against him under the leadership of Prince Kaegan Boyce (Rebels). 
It was sparked by several mass executions of commonfolk and noblemen in Newcastle, the fleeing of Prince Kaegan and his family back to Ravenglass, and the Assembly of the Lords of the Lake at Ravenglass who declared rebellion against the tyranny of King Dannis. Every Great House took part in the war and due to conflicting loyalties to the two Royals, some minor Houses refused to follow their Liege and swore to the opposing side; such is the case of House Pyke declaring for Dannis and the Royalists when House Rocke ,their Liege, swore for the Rebels. 
==History ==
===Prelude===
King Dannis I Boyce took the throne in 300 AF from Rylar II Boyce, his uncle. Many speculated that Dannis had his uncle killed. He was 30 at the time of his coronation and even from childhood, displayed psychopathic and sadistic traits. He was a cold man and rarely showed any empathy, instead laughing at the misfortune of others. He would repeatedly commit horrendous acts against the commonfolk of Newcastle while also threatening the Lords of the Kingdom, even torturing them or sometimes outright executing them. His eratic behaviour and madness would worsen as he got older. His younger brother, Prince Kaegan, was the complete opposite. He was loved by the people and the noblemen. He was born a year before Dannis took the throne. In his teens, he became a celebrity among the people and the Lords respected him. This infuriated Dannis and grew to despise his younger brother. In spite, he ordered Prince Cayle Boyce, the youngest of the three brothers and close friend to Kaegan, to join the Bronze Cloaks. In 318 AF, Dannis then demanded the young Prince Kaegan marry to Mariya Rocke, daughter of Lord Wyllam Rooke. Kaegan was sent to Ravenglass, becoming a ward to the Lord, and actually formed a loving bond with his betrothed. In 320 AF Mariya gave birth to their first child, Byrron.
In 336 AF, he would return to the capital with his pregnant wife and son. The commonfolk applauded and celebrated the return of the "Prince of the People" which infuriated the King. In the Great Hall, several Lords, notably Lord Bart Durham, also celebrated the return of Prince Kaegan. In retaliation, King Dannis executed hundreds of commonfolk and the Lords who celebrated the return of Kaegan, paranoia in of fear of rebellion. 
Lord Wyllam Rocke escaped the executions and got Prince Kaegan, his wife Mariya, his son and their unborn child out of the capital and fled to Arkridge, then to Ravenglass. There he assembled the Lords of the Lake, and the new Lord Dayron Durham, and informed them of the events that took place. He called his banners in rebellion against the Tyranny of King Dannis the Cruel and pledged fealty to Prince Kaegan Boyce as the rightful King of Aqoris. House Pinewood quickly followed to swear their swords but House Pyke refused and Lord Hugar Pyke fled the Lakelands and informed Dannis of the rebellion. Dannis called the Kingdom to war against the Rebels, resulting in several Houses to declare for the Rebels and the people of Newcastle to riot. 
===The Opening Rebellion===
House Knigh of Seawatch, a House in the Domainlands, rebelled against the King and declared support for the Rebels. Lord Godrick Knigh informed the Prince by sending a letter via a rider. Dannis was informed of the betrayal by House Knigh and ordered the heads of every single man of House Knigh to be put on spikes in the Great Hall.
In the Lakelands, Lord Wyllam Rocke dispatched Lord Tylar Pinewood and his forces to siege down Eskdale, the seat of House Pyke. Lord Dayron rode south to Arkridge to call his banners and gather support from the Southern Houses. In the borderlands, House Slait received the call to arms and raised an Army of 30,000 Bordermen within a few weeks, this host then moved South to meet with the Carlisle Army, under the command of Sir Daltas Carlisle with his father still in Newcastle. This force of over 50,000 men was a major threat to the smaller 25,000 Rebel Force at Ravenglass. 
The 5,000 strong Pinewood Army reached Eskdale and discovered it abandoned.
===Ambush at Eskdale and Sack at Eden's Rest===
Lord Tylar and his Army marched straight into Eskdale, the seat of House Pyke who were their Liege Lords and raised the banner of House Pinewood. With his army searching Eskdale for any clues on where the garrison was, the main gates to Eskdale closed shut and hundreds of Archers had climbed onto the walls and unleashed storms of arrows on the unsuspecting soldiers below. In a few minutes, a majority of the Pinewood force had been killed or wounded. Then the gates to the town reopened and Pyke House cavalry stormed into the weakened Pinewood lines. After an hour of fighting, Lord Tylar and his bodyguards were brought out from the Keep and executed, with their heads being paraded around the city before Lord Tylar's head was sent to Newcastle. Lord Hugar then assembled 1,000 Heavy Cavalry and rode to Eden's Rest, the seat of House Pinewood. 
His cavalry once again swept through the streets and slaughtered the people. He made his way to the Pine Keep and burnt it down with the besieged members of House Pinewood inside. Every single Pinewood was killed and the House went extinct. With his dangerous position near Rockshore and other rebel strongholds in the middle of enemy territory, Lord Hugar took his army to link up with the Loyalist Force at Carlisle, burning the rest of Eden's Rest to the ground as he left. Lord Wyllam was informed of the extinction of House Pinewood and he informed Prince Kaegan. Kaegan in return demanded the execution of Lord Hugar for committing a horrendous act on commonfolk and causing House Pinewood's extinction. He moved his host at Ravenglass to intercept the Pyke's before they reached Carlisle and ordered the Lesser Houses of the Lakelands to use skirmishing forces to harass the Pyke Force.
===Massacre of Newcastle ===
After hearing news of the Slait-Carlisle Army linking up, Dannis began to conscript the people of Newcastle to crush Arkridge who were being besieged by forces led by Lord Rodrick Ross and Lord Margan Tarbor. This conscription incited even more riots and many Boyce soldiers defected to the Rebels and joined the Defence of Seawatch. Dannis grew even more paranoid and ordered the Boyce Army to "sweep the streets" and cull the rioters. 30,000 commonfolk were massacred by the King's Men and two Lords of the War Council in the Winter Keep condemned the King's actions. Lord Ethon Carlisle and Lord Olivar Lanser refused to commit their men to massacre civilians and Dannis had them executed as traitors, including every Carlisle and Lanser soldier who did not swear loyalty and join the massacre. After the massacre, King Dannis ordered his army of 15,000 Boycemen to move to Carlisle and join forces. 
The young Sir Daltas Carlisle hears of his father's execution and declares support for the Rebels. Out of honour, he allows the Slait Army to leave Carlisle who split up to then retreat toward Newcastle, with the other half retreating back into the Borderlands. The Forces of House Lanser under the new Lord Lanard Lanser defect to the Rebels side and join the Northern Rebel Army, being a major Northern house like House Carlisle, they take around 11,000 men with them. The Northern Army then marches to meet the Pyke Force who are trapped between the two approaching armies and defeated at the Battle of the Fields, just outside of Carlisle. Lord Hugar is killed and the remainder of House Pyke surrenders, being granted mercy by the Prince. Lord Daltas and Prince Kaegan meet after the battle and Lord Carlisle swears fealty to Prince Kaegan. Kaegan orders him to take the Carlisle Army north and lay siege to Dumfries. He would take half of the Lakeland Army to Newcastle and Lord Wyllam would lead the other half south to relieve Arkridge. 
Kaegan was also informed that The Free Cities of Eirus were willing to support the rebel cause with naval and logistical support in the Eastern Expanse which greatly improved Rebel control over the east of Aqoris. 
===Battle of the Spear===
With the Carlisle's in the North and Rocke's in the South, Prince Kaegan felt confident his army could best the smaller Marshes Force led by Sir Howard Rush, camping near Summercross. They were soon going to be relieved by the Royal Army led by Lord Commander Cayle Boyce. His Army then surrounded the Royal Host at Summercross, numbering around 25,000 Men. Despite his smaller force of only 20,000 men, Kaegan believed he would be able to beat the Rushes's first, then the Royal Army would switch allegiance.
The Prince's army clashed with the weakened Rushes and crushed through Summercross. Kaegan stormed the Royal Army. Boyce fought Boyce and many deserted to the Prince's side. However, the hard-line loyalists fought incredibly well. Prince Kaegan met his younger brother on the field and the two were forced to fight due to Lord Commander Cayle's oath as a Bronze Cloak. Kaegan wounded Cayle and offered him mercy. Cayle surrendered and the Royal Army was defeated. Cayle was held prisoner for the remainder of the war. 
In the North, the Carlisle Army was stuck fighting the Bordermen who refused to surrender. Lord Rocke's forces were able to relieve Lord Durham's. The Ross-led army soon turned around and retreated to assist in the defence of Newcastle from the approaching Army led by Kaegan. House Knigh and some Boyce defectors were still defying the King's siege and surviving. In Ravenglass, Mariya would give birth to twin girls, informing her husband by letter, and the couple named them Reina and Malina. 
===Battle of Newcastle===
The Ross and Tarbor Army was able to reach the capital and join the newly formed Royal Conscripts. Over 50,000 men were ready to defend Newcastle from 25,000 men led by the Prince from the west and 20,000 men of led by Lord Wyllam Rocke and Lord Dayron Durham. The Armies laid siege to Newcastle, causing widespread commonfolk revolts and weakening the defence. The 4 Rebel Commanders (Kaegan, Carlisle, Durham and Brask) met to discuss how to manage the siege. The 18 year old Prince Byrron would also fight valiantly in the battle and proved himself a capable fighter and tactician, leading a smaller group of elite fighters to break through the Royalist lines and assist the defenders at Seawatch prior to the main assault in the hopes that the Rebels in Seawatch would be able to sweep through the north of the city as well. 
The Rebel Army decided on an all-out attack on the walls, this was largely successful and the Rebels took control of several portions of the city wall but it was not enough to defeat the remaining Royalists. In the last hour of the Siege, before the Royalists were about to crush the incursion, the Carlisle Army, having left the Lanser Army with the newly aligned forces of House Cherman to garrison the borderlands, arrived and swept through the lightly defended North and broke the defenders out at Seawatch, alongside Byrron's force, and crossed the River Spear. The Boyce, Carlisle and Knigh's then marched south onto the Winter Keep and stormed it. King Dannis was killed during the fighting alongside the Bronze Cloaks and House Guards who had not defected. Sir Asten Knigh killed the King in combat. Lord Rodrick Ross, the Adviser to The King and the commander of the Royalists in the Southlands was killed in the Siege. Soon after the bulk of the Royalist Army surrendered upon seeing the Rebels raise their own banners above the Winter Keep.
===Ascension of Kaegan III===
With Dannis dead and the surrender of Newcastle, Prince Kaegan made his way to the Winter Keep and assembled the surrendered Lords. He sat on the Bear Throne and granted them a pardon. The Lords named him as King Kaegan III Boyce, ending The War of The Bears. He named Lord Wyllam Rocke as his Adviser to The King out of respect to his support and for helping his family escape. House Knigh was commended for their efforts against King Dannis and were paid greatly. Kaegan betrothed his daughter Reina to Sir Asten Knigh, heir to Seawatch. Kaegan pardoned Lord Commander Cayle Boyce and allowed Cayle to command his Bronze Cloaks. Kaegan also reinstated House Ross under Lord Rodrick's son, Rupert Ross, as Great House of the Southlands and Wardens of the South, a title previously held by House Durham during the rebellion. House Durham was given a great amount of gold by Kaegan and also betrothed Byrron to Dayron's daughter, Joanne Durham, also pledging that Arkridge would be rebuilt at the expense of the crown. 
===Aftermath===
The defeated Lords had sworn fealty to the new King and put aside their differences. Lord Tobin Slait was bitter about the defeat but would die two years after the end of the war from an injury he sustained. His son would marry Malina Boyce, uniting the two families and keeping the borderlands united with the rest of the Kingdom. The Realm was damaged greatly by the war but soon recovered under the firm leadership of King Kaegan, entering the realm into a golden age. During the reign of Kaegan II and then the reign of his son after his death in 351 AF, the Realm would become extremely united and prosper. Raids from Alba largely stopped due to the strong presence in the Borderlands until the end of Byrron's reign. The commonfolk saw their lives greatly increase and overall, the Kingdom became a better place due to the Rebellion. House Pyke resented the Boyce's from there on after Kaegan ordered the Pyke's to repay a heavy debt to House Rocke as punishment for the extinction of House Pinewood. 
Category:Wars
 
Category:House Boyce