Thyssen War of Succession

The Thyssen War of Succession is a conflict within the Kingdom of Thyssen which began in 1428 with the death of Prince Eyke III. The war is being fought between Eyke's son, King Esterad I Ambrose and his paternal uncle Lancel Ambrose, who is opposing Esterad's claim to the throne of Thyssen, favouring instead his own son Rickard.
==Prelude==
When Eyke III ascended the throne of Thyssen in 1412, succeeding the beloved Queen Melianne, who was revered for her long reign of peace, it became clear the already ageing king lacked his mother's skill of diplomacy. Throughout his reign, he caused the breakup of nearly every alliance made by his mother and in 1418, Eyke allied himself with Anton Nagy III, emperor of the Golden Horde. Only two years later, the Kingdom of Vichin under King Florence II finally defeated the Horde after nearly two centuries of dominion in the Westerlands. After the war, King Eyke was forced to swear fealty to Vichin as punishment for backing Anton Nagy and thus became known as Eyke the Kneeler. Although allowed to retain a small level of autonomy, Eyke was denoted from King to Prince of Thyssen and became the laughing stock of his own court.
On the 21st of August 1428, at the start of the Western War, Corvian troops entered Thyssen and prepared to attack Hardholt with the intention of subjugating the country so it could not support Vichin with funds or troops. However, the night before the Corvian forces planned to attack, Prince Eyke III died tragically, falling from the walls of Kastamir Castle and the following morning, his 13-year-old son Esterad declared that he would allow the Corvians to pass through his lands if they would support his claim as the King of Thyssen. He was later chosen among his own earls at a Folkmoot without the presence of his uncle Lancel or cousin Rickard, the latter of which was recovering from grave injuries sustained during a tourney on the Isle of Pyor. Due to these injuries, the young Lancel looked weak and did not seem a fit for rule in the eyes of the Thanes. His father Lancel had also not been present when the Corvians marched on his seat at Hardholt, which did not help their case in the eye of public opinion. This greatly angered Lancel, who rode home to Hardholt with his son and called his banners in open rebellion, declaring Rickard the true King of Thyssen and claiming the young Esterad was unfit to rule, even going as far as to accuse him of murdering his own father.
==Conflict==
===The Battle of Wyrmling Reach===
Lancel immediately began gathering his levies with the claim that he would bring Esterad to justice for the murder of his brother. However, not long after, a small army under Esterad's command returned from a pass in the Lowan Mountains near Oxcross with a hoard of dragon scales, earning the young king the title of 'Dragon Slayer'. Following this display of strength, Lancel did not garner nearly as much support for his cause as he had hoped. Nevertheless, on February 7th, 1429, Lancel's army left Hardholt, passing through the Skirling Pass, which he garrisoned sufficiently to block Esterad from reaching the north. Esterad's council had made plans to stop Lancel reaching the pass, but were delayed when a fire inexplicably erupted in Kastamir Castle and the King's right hand was killed.
The bulk of Lancel's army circled Kastamir and marched towards Astholm, likely with the goal of occupying Heath, but he was stopped near the town of Wyrr. Here, the local lord urged diplomacy and insisted on the king's innocence. This was all a ruse, however, allowing King Esterad to gather the support of the Gilhelm nobles and rout the forces of Lancel completely at the Battle of Wyrmling Reach. Lancel was forced to retreat to Serrak, allowing Esterad to re-establish control of Astholm and secure the Thyssen border. Lancel went home to Hardholt and declared his son King of Thyssen. The Thyssen War of Succession had officially begun.
===Loyalist invasion of Serrak===
Immediately upon reaching Hardholt, Lancel began seeking the support of the Kingdom of Corveaux, who were hesitant, still caught up in the Western War. They had already declared support of Esterad's claim, but were sympathetic to Lancel, whose wife, the mother of Rickard was Corvian. His army was then allowed free passage through the Corveaux and the Corvian controlled regions of the Westerlands, and in June of 1429, Lancel sent an army east with 3.000 men to relieve the city of Rook, where King Louis of Corveaux's cousin Luciana had been besieged by Vichinian troops. He had hoped to earn the full support of Corveaux, but in the ensuing battle, Luciana chose to flee into the Westerlands to join her King, although she never made it before the end of the war.
At the same time, Lothair Hadar, the Baron of Hadar, who was in charge of Lancel's garrison in the Skirling Pass deserted after coming to an agreement with King Esterad wherein he would receive a large sum of money and his seat of Hadar would be given free city rights. Lance managed to convince a force under Estyra Tyvain to stay, but they were decisively defeated by loyalist forces under Warren Bulwer.
Despite these heavy defeats, the continued support of the nobles of Serrak, and the victory over the Vichinian force at Rook, would cause several prominent figures, including Anna Meckheart, the earl of Astholm, as well as Lothair's daughter Meera Hadar to swing to Lancel's side. Upon returning home, Lothair found himself blocked from entering the city by his own daughter, who labelled him a coward and a traitor, and he eventually died of typhoid after being forced to camp with his men outside the city walls. Meanwhile, having broken the garrison in the Skirling Pass, the young king Esterad entered Serrak and split his forces in two on the advice of his councillors. The plan was for Bulwer to crush the rebels in northern Serrak while Esterad's force would draw Lancel out of Hardholt by raiding his western territory, before destroy Lancel and his army. At first, the king was vigilant, ready for Lancel to strike, but he soon grew bored of raiding villagers and relaxed his efforts. In March of 1430, Lancel seized the opportunity and almost completely annihilated Esterad's army and wounding the King. Esterad and the forces of Warren Bulwer were forced to make a hasty retreat to the capital, abandoning their campaign in Serrak all together.
===The occupation of Est Tyrrsak===
Lancel hoped to finally defeat Esterad now with the help of Anna Meckheart of Heath, who had raised a large force in the south. While his son Rickard launched an attack on Kastamir by river, he entered Gilhelm on the 26th of April, but before he could join up with the allied army of Meckheart, it had been intercepted at the village of Rynwood on the 3rd of May by Warren Bulwer, whose army outnumbered them two to one. Not letting the chance slip by him, Esterad left Kastamir once again and took Lancel's entire force by surprise. Lancel suffered another defeat and was almost captured, while the small fleet Rickard had led to the capital was forced to flee north in shambles. At this point, the two had lost all semblance of power in the south.
In a desperate attempt to regain favour with his barons, he besieged the town of Est Tyrrsak, however, this was a strong fortress and unlike ideal sieges, time was not on Lancel's side. Esterad's forces were fast approaching from the south after having recovered from Rickard's naval assault. Fortunately for him, some Corvian merchants from Brindille aided in crafting siege weapons and Lancel would employ trebuchets for the first time in the history of Thyssen, finally breaking through on June 8th and butchering the garrison. Shocked by this sudden development and frightened by the display the new of siege technology, Esterad halted, unsure of what to do, allowing Lancel time to reinforce Est Tyrrsak. He charged Estyra Tyvain with the defence of the city and began the construction of ships to put pressure on the capital, connected to Est Tyrrsak by the Thane River. Soon after, Warren Bulwer marched north and besieged the city, although its fortresses remained strong, forcing the general to encamp his army and prepare for a long siege. Meanwhile, to the south, Anna Meckheart had reformed in Heath and was rallying another force. This effort was however delayed when in August of that year, the wife of Rickard Ambrose died during childbirth. The child did not survive either and Rickard lost his only prospect of an heir. Once the other lords of the realm caught wind of this, many deserted Rickard's cause, but Lancel remained in Est Tyrrsak, refusing to break the siege. Meanwhile, the war stalled.
===The Battle of Mootwyk===