Great Slavic Church Schism

## Prelude

After years of the Catholic Church dominating in the Slavic regions of the south under the leadership of the Northern churches of Carinia what is known as the Division Years began to brew in the Slavic Kingdom. Many Arenginians began forming what was first known as the Slavic Christian Church. This church began to translate bibles from the typical Carinian languages that only priests and cardinals were able to read and interpret and they distributed them to their worshipers. With the slavic bible now spreading around the country and the Slavic Church gaining ground against the Catholic Church the Carinian Priesthood urged the High King Rosjad Armianck of Solosti to address the unrest since for several weeks Slavic Church radicals had been attacking Carinians and Catholics.

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*Rosjad Armianick when first Crowned holding the Declaration of Libation*

Armian though having endorsed the Catholic church when first crowned decades ago had began to sympathize more with the Newly established church. The king influenced by Slavic Church members in his very own court did little to quell the attacks and soon after the main Cathredal of the Suns in St. Osloverg burned down. The Carinians with little choice decided to again call for talks with the king, with the help of Armianick's nephew, Damirian Griblalick who was a devout Catholic and the perfect new heir for the Carinians to impose, the cardinals and representatives of the Catholic church were able to talk with Armianick in privacy. The group of men carefully surrounded the king and his servants as Damirian himself talked with his uncle about the state of the country. Suddenly the Carinians charged at the servants and few guards in the room and with ease Damirian himself stabbed his own Uncle 15 times in the stomach and chest until the old king died.

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*The Carinian Church Delegation and Damirian stand before Armianick moments before his assassination.*

## Tensions

With the death of Armianick and with the coverup that it had been his own Servants that had done the deed, servants who were Slavic Church members, Damirian was crowned as King of the Slavic Kingdom of the South since he was the oldest of the male relatives and Armianick only had a daughter, Alicia. Damirian promised that order would be restored and that the crown was still subservient to the wills of God and its true church. This calmed the Carinian church in Arengin for the time being. The Slavic Church for their part sent a delegation to give an offering of good faith to the new king and to assure they had no ill intent. Damirian was not impressed by this show.

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*King Damirian meets the Slavic Church delegation.*

After some years of rule and tensions still hot Damirian proved to be a less than impartial king. With little restraint he made laws that deliberately discriminated against members of the Slavic Church, outlawed the distribution of the bible in any language but Carinian, and imposed curfews of worshiping times and areas for the Slavic Church members. In a show of defiance the Slavic Church organized a march beginning at their cathedral and would end at the Royal Palace. Thousands attended and before the march could begin hundreds of soldiers surrounded the site and ordered the crowd to disperse. The crowd remained peaceful and began to march despite the order, the soldiers then began beating and pushing the crowd back with their shields and lances. The crowd was gathered back to the square in front of their church. Dozens were wounded.

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*The March is stopped.*

### Start of the Split

With the new king showing his bias against the Slavic Church, Catholic radicals took the chance to stage several attacks and burnings that they claimed had been done by Slavic Church goers. This spiraled into Catholic radicals to attack the Bolschiov Church and massacre the men they claimed were responsible for the attacks.

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*Catholic Radicals attack the Bolschiov Slavic Church*

#### Strife

The attacks were not left without reprisal. Slavic Church members began to rise up, with soldiers within Royal Ranks joining them. What first started as protests against the King turned into a violent call for vengance. The masses charged at the streets of the Capital and into the Carinian Cathredal and the Royal Palace. The battle turned bloody and the Cathredal was burnt down once again while the Royal Palace managed to fend off the attack. But despite this what came known as the Slavic Church Schism had begun and with it the start of the Age of Strife in Arenginian history.

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*The Attack on the Royal Palace*

## "A Short Lived War"

The civil war began with no clear leadership for the Slavic Church unlike the Catholic church which had the backing of the Kingship and the Carinian Church. At first it was believed that it would be a short lived war with the Kingdom squashing the rebellion with ease. After the cathedral was burned and the attack at the palace was repelled soldiers from all over the kingdom began to flood the Capital. Quickly the Slavic Church fighters were driven out of the city with those that couldn't flee being captured and executed. The rest fled into the wilderness to fight another day. King Gribalick assembled the armies of Arengin that were still loyal to him, Borayat Pavler Rastiakatan of Meadowia joining in with his own armies, and Carinian and some Bearstian forces coming in from the East to join the war.

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*Carinian Reinforcements arrive to the South Slavic Kingdom*

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*King Damirian Gribalick leads his forces out from St. Osloverg to quell the rebellion with the blessing of God*

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*Boyarat Pavle Rastiakatan of Meadowia joins the Coalition to quell the Rebellion*

The Slavic Church Council fled the city before they had been captured and were in disarray and division over who should lead them to battle or even if they should go to battle at all. Their ranks were composed mainly of farmers, workmen, and some soldiers who had deserted the Royal ranks but they had no leader. The Council settled in the countryside on the town of Dunet, the cities were controlled by the Catholic government. The Council kept debating alongside the unofficial leaders of the rioters who now had become citizen soldiers for the cause. Meanwhile the armies of the Catholics marched on occupying town after town and looking for any signs of Protestant slavic symbols or symphatizers and massacring those that were. Several towns filled with protestants were burned with few escaping. Many cities and towns of Catholics saw these armies as a blessing and greeted them as heroes.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/db/e1/1c/dbe11c1baac81b0e9243ff3663c1d974.jpg
*Aftermath of Purge in Slavic Town*

*Slavic Protestants manage to escape town burned by Catholic armies*

While their leadership kept trying to make a decision towns of Slavic protestants began to assemble to stand up to the Catholic armies. Towns like Prokoshma, Mytirzhinsk, Otaceni and Griștik assembled in militias to fight off the invading armies. Little chance did they stand but they fought nonetheless. Meanwhile, more organized protestant insurgent forces struggled against the armies of Gribalick, in the woods of Paske a battle took place between Rebels and Carinian and Royal forces which saw a rebel force decimated by the much better equipped and organized Catholics. The war was not starting well for the protestants.

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*Citizens of a Protestant town stand ready to face the Catholic armies, none of these towns were able to fend off the attacks*

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*Protestant Rebels Charge, Battle of Paske Forest*

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*Protestant Rebels and Royal Soldiers at Lake Mabas*

### A New Ruler, a New Nation

The war was beginning to look like a lost cause for the Protestant cause, until one man among the leaders of the first city uprise stood out among the rest. Vassili Bluzinki from Tarki, he was the son of Borayat Eugin Bluzinki of Taki and the perfect man to led the armies of the Church, giving it legitimacy and with his experience in the Aydiniran Skirmishes and Kavelian War he had proven to be a competent commander. Vassili accepted the position and with this the armed masses of the Protestant became ranks of soldiers and began training and preparing to fight back. Vassili began his campaign by first relying on hit and run tactics. This proved effective at the battles of Vorotin valley and the Kobna pass which saw smaller and quicker protestant bands managing to inflict severe casualties in the Catholic patrols and ranks, at times decimating entire companies of men gathering equipment and escaping to the wilderness with minimal losses. This began to frustrate the Gribalick and his allies who were expecting to fight the rebels in head on battles, they then realized the war would be prolonged further as the Protestants became better equipped and organized.

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*Battle of Vorotin valley*

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*Battle of Kobna pass*

A year of harsh guerrilla warfare passed and Vassili's forces grew from simple insurgents to a strong army of thousands, equipped and trained. Vassili was confident that the Protestants could changed strategy from simple hit and run tactics to facing the Catholic armies head on in battle. The first battle came at the ruins of Prokoshma near the Katarin river, Vissili rode onto his white horse and led his army to face off a Catholic army of similar size. The battle was ultimately won by the Protestants, managing to flank the surprised Catholic army and cutting it in half ending with thousands dead and captured and the rest fleeing. The protestants celebrated their first major victory and hailing Vassili as a hero. Vassili for his part married princess Alicia who had escaped from the capital to join the Protestant cause, their marriage was celebrated and Vassili was declared the true king of the Southern Slavic Kingdom.

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*Battle of Prokoshma*

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*Vassili Bluzinki proposes to Princess Alicia with a priest at holy witness.*

With the tide of war turning against him and now the Kingdom split effectively in half Gribalik needed a desperate victory to assure his allies he was still in control. He amassed an army to attack the protestant town of Neviglebsk, his army outnumbered the garrison and within a week the town's walls feel and thus the Catholics had scored a victory that turned into an offensive to retake the other half of the country. Vassili had to prepare to face Gribalik at the Bravysk fields or the protestant capital of Karnopol would be in jeopardy of falling to the Catholics. The two armies meet at the fields of Bravysk and a bitter battle ensued which saw the protestants falling back and the Catholics winning but sustaining more casualties than the Protestants. Vassili retreated to the Dazok hills and split his army into three to form a defensive line in hopes to fend of the Catholic attack. The strategy worked and leading the Catholic armies into a narrow line the Protestants won the battle and the Catholic armies turned back and lines were established. Another battle followed up after this at the Bravysk field yet again but no side claimed victory and lines were reestablished, the Protestant kingdom was safe for now.

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*Siege of Neviglebsk*

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*Battle of Dazok Hills*

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*Second Battle of Bravysk*

### Tragedy and Hope

With the lines reestablished and hopes for victory still achievable Vassili rested with his wife at the capital and was thinking of a new strategy, however unbeknownst to him Catholics had managed to infiltrate within the city. A band of Catholic soldiers disguised as Protestant warriors moved into the small castle where King Vassili and his queen were resting at. They managed to quietly kill the guards and enter the ruler's quarters. Vassili was caught by surprise but managed to awake before he was stabbed with several spears, with his wife behind him he killed several of the attackers before being pierced in the stomach by one of them and despite killing him as well Vassili began succumbing to his wounds. The guards arrived to find their king laying dead in his queen's arms, the news spread around the city and then the country with Protestants crying in sadness and Catholics celebrating. Vassili was buried in the fields outside of Karnopol, his grave looking at the sea.

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*Assassination of King Vassili Bluzinki*

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*Burial of Vassili*

With the Vassili dead it was now vital that a new king would rise to led the Protestants to victory, however Alicia was the only royal left and thus as Queen it was up to her to lead the Protestants. Queen Alicia was no military commander and thus she left those decisions to Captain Artem Zavragin and Yulian Trapesniko, Vassili's most trusted men, to led their armies to victory. Artem and Yulian both gathered the armies and led to attack the Catholic forces at Bravysk, despite being outnumbered and the Catholics prepared to fight them the Protestant army miraculously won, fighting with tooth and nail and eradicating much of the Catholic forces. This was the beginning of the end for Gribalik.

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*Charge at Bravysk*

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*Captain Artem Zavragin of Arengin and his forces*

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*Captain Yulian Trapesniko of Solotoviski and his mountain men*

### Final Days of the War

Months of fighting continued with Artem and Yulian scoring victory after victory and slowly taking more and more of the country. The battle of Chitilad plains was a major breakthrough that saw Protestant forces defeating the last of the most experience forces of Gribilik. The battle of Timargut saw Captain Artem defeating the last of the Carinian forces in the country. And Captain Yulian chased
Rastiakatan's forces all the way to Meadowia and defeated his crumbling army, Rastiakatan was killed and his head chopped off to signify the end of his rule and Meadowia as an autonomous state within the Kingdom. The Protestant armies entered the Capital virtually unopposed, Gribilik had evacuated his forces to the fortified city of Armaylovka in Kavelia near the Urus pass.

While Yulian remained at the capital Artem and his army marched to Armaylovka where they surrounded the city and a siege ensued. Without allies and abandoned by the Carinian church Gribilik pleaded to the Arenginian commander to allow him to go into exile to Aydinir and he would never bee seen again. Artem refused and the city walls were attacked, the remaining catholic forces inexperienced and demoralized were easily outmatched by the Protestant forces and the city walls were breached. The protestant forces killed all enemy forces they found. Gribilik made one last ditch effort to escape by piercing through the largely unguarded lines at the back of the city, with most forces concentrating in the city he was able to slip away with some of his men. Artem was let know of this and he personally rode with a cavalry detachment to stop Gribilik. The two forces met at the Brezoi pass at the Urus mountains where after a bloody fight Artem cut off Gribilik's head, the battle then stopped as the remaining Catholic forces now leaderless layed down their arms and surrendered. Artem rode back to the capital with Gribilik's head on a pike.

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*The Siege of Armaloyvka*

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*Armaloyvka walls are breached*
e
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*The Death of King Gribilik*

## A New Kingdom

With Gribilik dead and the Protestant army in control the Catholics were now at mercy of new rulers, many feared reprisals and purges. Instead of that, Queen Alicia enacted the Declaration of Egalitarianism, this declaration put an end to all hostilities between the churches and prohibited the persecution of all and any religious beliefs within the Kingdom, anyone could worship whatever they desired and were protected equally by law and there would be no acts of revenge against Catholics. With the declaration signed by all churches and regions within the Kingdom the war was now at an end and the Catholic church within Arengin never became what it once was as more people were allowed to worship freely they turned to Slavic Protestantism which became known as Orthodox Christianity. Within a few months Queen Alicia married the hero of war Artem Zavragin and a new king line was established backed by a new more popular church. Years of reconstruction and fragile peace between Protestants and the remaining Catholics followed, though the Carinian Church would not let this pass without a fight. The Age of Strife didn't end however, the Ruskland Cthulhist for their part had grown a steady following throughout the years of instability and this would lead to further conflict in the years to come.

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*King Artem Zavragin*