War of the Serpents

The War of the Serpents was a civil war that marked the end of Aeranthyen rule of the Camarite Empire. A war of succession between Liathor and his aunt Aris I over his father Oron II's throne, the war was fought from 1576 to 1591. It was a conflict that spanned two generations and saw the deaths of both rival monarchs, and the crowning of Liathor's son, Liathor I.

## Prelude

Emperor Oron II had four children with his second queen, Sarysa Valon-Bjer, and all four — Prince Liathor, Prince Llonwyn, Princess Dalya and Prince Iserion — survived to maturity. Oron began training his eldest son, Liathor, to succeed him, naming him the Prince of The Narrow. Oron was known as a brash king and the nobles took note of his prominent inability to rule either the realm or himself. Oron was half Tanahejan, and so himself and all four of his children had dark skin, which caused much of the Aldesti nobility to dislike him and instead flock to Princess Aris, Oron's elder sister.

Aris's skin was only slightly tan (even that was often hidden with powders and creams) and she had the typical Aldesti looks, which endeared the Aldesti to her. Aris was married to her cousin Arathor, who was also the cousin of the wealthiest man in the empire and a member of House Sordothyen. Aris had six children with Arathor: Princess Soleil, Prince Arathiel, Princess Renthe, Princess Liorelle, Princess Arathaine and Prince Liadan. She betrothed her eldest two children, Soleil and Arathiel, to one another, while Oron married his son Liathor to his niece Princess Liathaine, the spare to the throne of Northland.

The relationship between Oron, Aris and Elisant (their half sister, and mother of Liathaine) began to rapidly decline from 1575 — 1576, and though Aris had originally no intention to seize the throne from her brother's children, despite prodding from her husband and his cousin, she finally relented in 1576 AC when her ten year old daughter, Liorelle, was killed by her much older husband Romanio of Chiloh in a relationship that Liathaine Nasz had forcefully pushed her into.

## The War of the Serpents

### Massacre at Snakehall

Oron II died during his burning of Hildrport, which levelled the city. When word of this reached Queen Sarysa, Princess Dalya and Prince Iserion at Snakehall, Sarysa began making plans for the three of them to depart Snakehall and return to Lohsthar the following morning. However, the ship of Jorman Tiedeman, prince of the Icefolk Islands, had crashed ashore, allowing him to escape and discover of the destruction Oron had wrought upon his city. In anger, Prince Jorman sent assassins to Snakehall to murder the Aeranthyens present. The assassins arrived at Snakehall and killed Princess Dalya and Prince Iserion in gruesome ways, but they allowed Queen Sarysa to live. Following the massacre, Sarysa fled Snakehall on horseback, riding hard for Lohsthar.

### The Cabinet meeting

When word of Oron II's death reached Silverstone, it was at first given only to Princess Aris, in her capacity as high councilor. Rather than send a missive to The Narrow telling Prince Liathor to come and take his spot as emperor, Aris convened a secret council of her most trusted lords, nobles and advisors in her chambers. Those present include: Princess Soleil, Prince Arathiel, her husband Prince Arathor, Haben Linkfauter, Seleor Sordothyen, Krezys Holt, Siobhan Innes and Velmond Grey.

The meeting began in the dark hours of night, and lasted only thirty minutes. Velmond Grey, the wispy lord informer who supported Prince Liathor and had supported Elisant all the way back in '48, stood in opposition against the others in the Cabinet. Velmond was not aware of Aris's coup until it happened, and he protested against it, for the first time raising his voice to yell. It would not end well for him, however. Arathor ordered one of the sentinels present, Sir Renvey, to kill Velmond if he spoke another word. Velmond did speak, and Renvey cut his throat open.

Afterward, the conspirators decided that they would have to kill those members of Liathor's faction that resided at court: Princess Elisant and her daughter, Veraia. Aris pushed back a little against this, but eventually relented. The Battle in the Castle had begun.