Leere

Leere is the main country featured in Coup De Grace. It is a decently large country inhabited by both mortals and vampires. It is in the continent of Erde and sits between a great sea and the country of Mondlicht.

## History

### The Albrecht Dynasty | 900-1 BR

The mortal King Nicodem I of the house Albrecht became the first king of Leere, joining together many settlements and small cities. This led to an age of growth and an age of peace, art, and philosophy. There were a few skirmishes with vampires, especially starting about 300 BR, but they were largely put to rest.

In 40 BR Sovereign Valeska the Great took the throne after their father was elected by a board of officials to step down due to deteriorating health. Sovereign Valeska was known for their kindness, their funding of the arts, and beginning new trade relations with Mondlicht, but their reign was marred by continuous campaigns against an ever growing threat of vampires. The once ununited population of vampires had formed militias that continuously ravaged and attacked mortal settlements.

In 20 BR, Valeska was married to his wife, Queen Estera. Normally a royal wedding would have been a big deal, but due to the first of many assassination attempts, they were forced to marry in a private location, with only a priestess of Brilliance to officiate. Later that year, twins Princess Valentine II and Prince Alfred III were born, and they became symbols of hope for a future free from the violence that was quickly spreading throughout Leere.

Princess Valentine and Prince Alfred were trained in the craft of war at a young age, and in 5 BR, they were put in charge of armies that waged against the ever amassing legions of vampires.

In 2 BR, a militia of vampires, led by General Aureli, overtook the Castle Albrecht. Sovereign Valeska and Queen Estera were beheaded without ceremony. They were drained of their blood and their heads were put on spikes in the center of Sonnenstadt. Valentine, nine months pregnant at the time, and Alfred had been lured out to near Mondlicht to aid their ally against the fight against the vampires, unfortunately unable to protect their beloved parents.

Valentine and Alfred continued their campaign against the vampires. They led both their armies and their people into battle, all while Valentine took care of her child, Nadia. Their battle prowess and charisma was exceptional and their love for their people was unyielding, but the very concept of them as symbols of a brighter future is what kept the battle against Aureli and his legion of undead strong.

In 1 BR Valentine and Alfred were finally captured and sentenced to death. They were marched into the center of Sonnenstadt with their hands cut off and their lips sewn closed, but their defiant looks still rallied the crowd to the point of a skirmish. They were burned at the stake together.

Valentine and Alfred, despite their failed campaign became symbols of rebellion and considered martyrs and became far more myth than actual people.

Followers of Brilliance became convinced that the flames spared them and they would return again to save Leere from the control of the vampires. Others believed that Nadia, Valentine’s child would appear again as a new leader of a rebellion, but neither has ever come true.

### The Reign of Aureli | 1 AR - 121 PR (Years 1-121 of the Rule of King Aureli)

King Aureli became the first vampire king. He was known for his cruel treatment of mortals. Many rebellions were attempted, but they were quickly stopped. Bodies of mortals littered the streets, and vampires ransacked entire cities, often leaving only a few survivors.

It became something of a dark age where famine and plague swept the land. Even the vampires suffered, with a lack of order, there was very little actual benefit to being in charge of the mortals offered. Aside from the few ruling vampires, many lived in squalor and suffered.

In 112 AR, a vampire named Ryszard and a mortal claiming to be a descendent of Nadia Albrecht named Warrick joined forces to campaign against King Aureli, with many mortals and vampires joining their side.

After many campaigns, in 121 AR, Ryszard and Warrick proved to be successful. They killed Aureli and began establishing a new form of government that would rely more upon the peoples’ wishes as well as enforce a justice system to prevent rampant killing of mortals.

### The Democracy of Leere | 122-238 PR

The democracy which elected Warrick Albrecht as a leader and Ryszard as something of a vice president was a failure. During this time they erected a justice system that only allowed for mortals who committed crimes to be used as food by vampires. While there was some intrinsic hierarchy, it was not enforced by the government, and vampires and mortals lived in relative peace with each other.

Upon Warrick Albrecht’s death in 164 AR, Ryszard took control of Leere, with his vice president being a vampire by the name of Cassius. Without mortal representation, the leadership quickly fell out of favor, and laws seemed to begin to favor vampires. Mortals began to start uprisings which created more prisoners. With an increased criminal population, vampires began gaining power as they were able to feed more often and gain power.

Eventually, the democracy fizzled away until Ryszard stepped down and faded into history. The opening created a time of unrest that lasted a century as various vampires and mortals tried to take control.

### The Reign of Ira | 428-1043 PR (Years 1-615 of the Rule of King Ira)

The vampire Ira took the throne, establishing a new era of continued vampiric power in an absolute monarchy. Little advancement was made during this time, with the society stagnating largely in what we would consider feudal times. Vampires continued to gain power, while mortals were relegated to the lowest parts of society.

Around 900 AR the Albrecht family name reappeared, in the form of a young man named Mercy. At thirteen, Mercy stumbled from obscurity, claiming that Brilliance spoke to him directly and forced mortals to recall the days of valor and direct action against the oppressive forces of vampires. Mercy was not a good speaker and it was quite easy to overlook someone so young claiming to have been contacted by a god. Despite this, Mery seemed to possess powers unseen by any mortal before, which captivated many.

Mercy quickly grew a close following, who sought to purify the world from vampires in the name of Brilliance. The group settled in a small commune where they would perform rituals in order to gain favor with Brilliance, as well as to serve as a base of operations for their growing resistance against vampires.

Mercy died in 920 AR at the hands of King Ira himself, who was hung, strung, and quartered  but was survived by his many children and even more followers. The rage against their prophet’s death only fueled the ever growing group of religious zealots.

King Ira was beheaded by a group of the newly dubbed Puritans in 1043 AR, but was stopped by his successor, Prince Xander. Prince Xander was King Ira’s son, born of a mortal wife and turned by a vampire noblewoman named Lady Evah Bourne.

### The Reign of Xander | 1044-2347 PR (Years 1-1303 of the Rule of King Xander)

King Xander was at first considered a fair ruler by many, often attempting to keep mortals happy by allowing more freedoms than they had previously experienced. He allowed mortals to gain wealth and even some positions of power.

He enforced a system of law that allowed justice to be done to vampires who exerted unneeded power over mortals and other vampires, introducing the Knight class and a justice system that he felt kept both mortals and vampires in check. Only mortals sentenced to execution were allowed to be used as food, and vampires that broke this rule were defanged, becoming a leech class.

Of course, this gradually became a problem of over policing but at this point there was very little that anyone could do about it as it became so integrated with the fabric of society.

In 2125 AR, it was clear that King Xander’s mind was betraying him, and he was becoming mad with power, and his paranoia grew. He surrounded himself with many Knights constantly, and had many vampires defanged and increased the amount of capital offenses.

He grew convinced that Mondlicht, a former ally and current country of neutral relations, was planning on expanding into Leere, overthrowing him, so he decided to declare war against the country.

The war lasted nearly half a century. Ultimately with unhappy citizens, many people in Leere deserted or joined the other side, giving Mondlicht the upper hand,

Finally after suffering numerous losses, Leere surrendered under the promise that they would not invade again. Mondlicht agreed and took a large portion of Leere and completely closed their borders. All beings in the territory overtaken by Mondlicht were killed, including those that had fought against Leere.

The war left Leere impoverished and in famine and with vampires and mortals deeply unhappy with King Xander. King Xander was apprehended by his surviving military and defanged. He was banished into Die Helligkeit, where he presumably died.

An old vampire and leader of the coup, Alaric declared that he was to be the new ruler. His charisma and power were unquestioned.

### The Reign of Alaric | 2348-3150 PR (Years 1-801 of the Rule of King Alaric)

King Alaric took over the throne in one of the darkest points of Leere’s history. Despite having fought alongside mortals during the war, Alaric despised mortals. He saw them as weak, no more than fodder or livestock. With the country in ruins, he knew the only way to bring it back to its original glory was to exploit the expendable.

King Alaric established a caste system with vampires on top and mortals on the very bottom. Vampires, already often wealthy and in positions of power, became more powerful, with the mortals essentially carrying the labor of the country on their frail backs.

King Alaric was careful to make mortals feel as if they could obtain power; he opened up Knight jobs largely to mortals, and even struck deals with some especially enterprising mortals to create business opportunities.

The mortal Tourmaline family rose to prominence in Sonnenstadt during this time, and became known for their advancements in technology.

Abuse of mortals was rampant during this time though, despite the Knights existing to enforce the law, in order to stay in favor with vampires, they often looked away from the injustices happening everywhere. To counter this individuals began to take justice into their own hands.

Two of the most prominent figures during this time were Dmitri Latro and Valeria Albrecht, self-proclaimed vampire hunters. Valeria had been a Puritan, but after her group of pilgrims were attacked and enslaved or killed by vampires, she left the faith to focus on vampire hunting full time.

The Puritans also had a resurgence during this time with many people joining in order to seek safety in the typically well armed and trained settlements. Rumors were floating around of miracles having happened, and people seeing visions of Brilliance walking among mortals.

In 3151 former Marquess Cassius and a small army including Magnus Latro, and a holy warrior (rumored to be Brilliance himself) disguised as a foreign knight and her two retainers managed to kill King Alaric during a festivity. Cassius delivered the final blow, though the Latro family stole credit for the killing, claiming that Cassius is no more than an opportunist turncoat.

Regardless, with the sudden death of King Alaric, a ruler favored by many vampires, with no chosen heir, the country was launched into a panic. Many vampire nobility desired the throne, but vampire hunters chose this time to pick many of those that attempted to off.

### A Makeshift Government | 3152-3156 PR

A board of temporary leaders stepped in to help maintain the status quo during this time. The life for the average mortal did not change very much.

Finally a relative unknown was chosen for the position: an old line vampire named Ilse.

### The Reign of Ilse | 3156-3496 PR (Years 1-340 of the Rule of Queen Ilse)

Queen Ilse keeps much of the same rulings as Alaric did, though she rarely makes many public appearances, instead having one of her many council members speak for her. Nobility and royalty still bear a striking importance, but much of the happenings these days seem to be from discussions and votes amongst the vampire elite rather than just the choice of the queen.
Queen Ilse (or perhaps her council) is very keen on progression of society, and industry is booming. While many mortals such as Puritans keep a very old fashioned mindset, even more are enraptured by industrialization.

Coal soot coats everything in Sodenstadt, and while the wealthy listen to gramophones and enjoy a decadent lifestyle, the poor mortals slave impoverished, overworked, and beyond exploited, too busy to pay any heed to the fact that the last Albrecht has seemingly disappeared and the Latros have lost much of their relevance.

This is the age of revolutionary invention, and the saviors Valentine and Alfred are reduced myths and crumbling art, Brilliance won’t answer anyone's prayers, and Cassius is revealed to be a liar.