The Cleric's Plot

Part of History of Juhnvechteya
Part of the War of Joran Succession
The Cleric's Plot was a nearly-successful plot to assassinate Albrecht an Taepe, a claimant to the Silver Seat of Stribrna Joraje. Consisting of an attack on the Hetzbukarn of 618, which destroyed a large portion of the castle at Hrad Szteck and a number of that diet's participants, the attack was unsuccessful, and the plot was eventually exposed. 
The attack was carried out by one Odo Zrenimo, a Böhmist cleric, and was orchestrated by Honza of Hôrak, in order to kill Albrecht an Taepe, as well as his son, Gereslaf of Hôrak, in orfder to accomplish his political aims. The plot was covertly funded by his contacts throughout Juhnvechteya. The plot, and Hôrak's involvement, would eventually be exposed following a lengthy investigation by Albrecht's allies, and would result in the Harrowing of Hlucy. 
=== Background ===
The plot was made by Honza of Hôrak to kill his son, the widower Gereslaf, who married to Adela the Rich. This was in order to enable Honza to inherit all of Sorusk, which had been the territory Adela had governed, and which Gereslaf inherited. The two had fallen out, in 615, over this marriage. Honza had chosen the Hetzbukarn, as it was also a time convenient to remove Duke Albrecht, who was another political enemy of Honza's.
=== The Plot ===
The plot was carried out over a number of weeks. Slowly, over time, much gunpowder was covertly stolen from various Ducal magazines, their barrels being filled with sand and ash to hide the theft. These were then stashed in a cave beneath Zdarba abbey near Szteck, where they were retrieved by Zrenimo, and hidden in the cellar at Szteck Hrad among a delivery of wine in preparation for the Hetzbukarn. 
Honza, feigning illness, appointed his son, Gereslaf, to be his representative to the Hetzbukarn. Gereslaf took this as a sign of their relationship improving once again and agreed to the appointment. 
During the Hetzbukarn, on the second day, Zrenimo lit the fuse to the powder and fled the scene. 15 minutes later, the Hrad was rocked by a massive explosion, which destroyed the keep, bergfried, much of the inner bailey, and severely damaged the southern wall of the castle. Many were killed, and Gereslaf, the primary target, died in the initial explosion. Meanwhile, Albrecht an Taepe survived, having left the castle's hall for a moment. His page, who was standing beside him, was instantly killed he was hit by a piece of debris in the throat, and another nobleman standing behind him, one Jean "The Ginger" of Aurim, was killed by the shockwave, without being hit by any of the debris. 
The blast was heard in a 10 kilometer radius, and about 350 people were killed or wounded altogether. 
=== Investigation ===
Immediately following the explosion, several theories sprouted up, ranging from wild to outlandish. Many saw this as Albrecht getting back at Honza for getting with Adela, who had once been his lover, while others viewed this as an attempt by Albrecht to eliminate his foes and enable the easier centralization of power under the Ducal office. Almost all of these theories pointed to Albrecht as the orchestrator and hinged on his coincidental survival. 
An investigation was launched almost as soon as the dust had settled, and Zrenimo was discovered early in that night. Albrecht did not take this attempt on his life lightly, and interrogated the cleric. Zrenimo, for his part, did not reveal those involved in the plot, only the location the powder had been collected, as he had never been personally contacted by Honas or his immediate representatives. 
Most of the gunpowder in Stribrna Joraje was by then under government control, and so the investigators began a thorough inventory of all such powder in their stocks. They eventually found some barrels at the repository in Brežénik Hrad, whose contents had been siphoned out and replaced with sand and ash. Eventually they come to finding a gang of thieves in the town, who had been paid to get as much powder as possible, by breaking in and stealing it. They had no idea to who or what the powder was going to, but they stood to make a lot of money out of the deal and so carried through with the instructions. Through this, the investogators followed the money-trail. 
A wainwright had been contracted to make wagons for the operation, and had recieved money independently from the thieves, this time from a Prüuler merchant. The wainwright had met the merchant after the merchant's wagon had broken, and was paid far more than the repair would cost, being told there would be more if he waited for mysterious commands. This information was unhelpful, as while now Albrecht knew a Prüuler was involved, he could not investigate this, as Prüule was then held by Johann an Taepe, his enemy for the Silver Seat, and the investigation was halted. During this time, Albrecht would rarely left his room, let alone his castle, and was scarcely seen, rarely giving orders to his White Army commanders. Albrecht seemed to be having a mental breakdown after 5 years of war and the stresses associated with them.
There would be months of no progress on the investigation, until a new lead stepped forth, this time a man claiming to h have met a Prüuler merchant near Aam at around the same time, who had a heavily armed escort and seemed to be transporting a lot of money. This was a few days before the explosion, and the merchant seemed keen to be getting out of there rather quickly. Albrecht dispatched some loyal knights to Prüule, where they found a newly-rich merchant, and this man was kidnapped and brought to Joraje for interrogation. 
He quickly gave up all his secrets; His name was Barulf Viszeny, he admitted to being hired by Honza Hôrak to organise the assassination, with funding from numerous other unnamed nobles. After extracting his information, Viszney was then executed on the wheel, before being quartered. The plot was exposed.
=== Aftermath ===
Following the plot's exposure, all who were determined to be involved were executed, most by hanging, though some by decapitation; Zrenimo was killed by boiling in a cauldron. 
When news of the exposition reached Honza Hôrak, he considered suicide, but instead began to call in every favor he had, and recruited soldiers to come to Hlucy, in preparation for what he knew would come. Albrecht, for his part, immediately began to summon his White Regiment, and began to march for Hlucy as well, intent to put the city to the sword in recompense for what its master had done. So would begin the Harrowing of Hlucy in late 618.
Sensing weakness from his opponent to the south, Johann an Taepe would conduct his own assault into Karred, intent on seizing a number of important towns and securing a foothold on the River Orat. This would prove the beginning of the Second Phase of the War of Joran Succession
=== Notable Casualties ===
Among the hundreds killed or wounded at Szteck in the Cleric's Plot, some would go on to have a great effect on the proceedings of the following years. Among the most important are the following
Lanselm, Bishop of Oraun. His death would see the rise of the hard-line bishop named Jan of Dagrava, who would go on to begin the Heretic trials of Oraun which defined Juhnvechtese Werranism for the next several decades
Gifroy van Hüghts, brother of Corijn van Hüghts. This death would go on to see the van Hüghts family side fully with Albrecht during the rest of the War of Joran Succession.
Janz z Kushowakost-Ilivest. Jan was primary driving force behind the movement to end the War of Joran Succession peacefully. Following his death at the hands of nominally Johannist actors, this faction would die out in favor of those who advocated for war.
Category:History of Juhnvechteya
Category:War of Joran Succession