Turmoil following Mijat I's death

After Mijat I died, everyone was preparing to crown Mijat II as new Great Emperor. But while Mijat's body was being brought back to the capital, Mitar Zorić assaulted the party, killed the heir, and installed Mijat I's other son, who was 6 years old, as the new Great Emperor instead, because he was young and easy to manipulate. Mitar himself became Regent and Grand Commander of the army. Alot of people didn't accept this betrayal and most provinces of Clante rebelled in a coalition to execute the traitor (Mitar Zorić).

## **22 August 2022**

The Coalition has taken the capital Gornja Crnuca! The tyrant burned it to the ground and evacuated to Smederevo along with the young emperor before the battle. Nothing remains of Gornja Crnuca but ruins. The Crusader Leagues have installed systems in Clante to protect religious buildings from being destroyed. However, ever since then, the war entered into kind of a stalemate. Nobody was really getting anywhere, and all the coalitioned governors secretly schemed against and disliked each other, so the coalition was falling apart with many distant governors simply leaving it, knowing they can now rule their lands almost completely independently.

## 23 August 2022

The coalition has disbanded as there is no trust remaining between the remaining coalitioned governors, who were stuck in a stalemate. The court officials decided to take matters into their own hands. In the morning, as Mitar Zorić arrived to court, he saw Vojislav Mijatović and Imperial Guards blocking the entrance. Then, Vojislav announced an Imperial Decree condemning Mitar and sentencing him to death. Mitar was then executed by the Imperial Guards. Vojislav created a new position - Chancellor, which is basically regent but with alot less power and is temporary. He started finishing off Mitar's loyalists in the capital area while Governors acted almost completely independently everywhere else.

## 24 August 2022

Vojislav quickly finished off most of the rebels. The remaining Mitar loyalists, who were on the run, offered their leaders to die and their soldiers to retire if they were spared. But, Vojislav, being arrogant from this victory, declined it and promised to exterminate all of them. Mitar loyalists, having nothing to lose, stormed Smederevo, and against all odds, took most of the city rather quickly. Vojislav was killed and Miroslav Aleksić, Mitar's used-to-be right hand man, assumed the position of Regent-Chancellor. Meanwhile, outside the capital area, the House of Tasić managed to oust the last remaining Gisić descendant from power in any province. Then, the 2 most powerful Tasić governors, who were also brothers, fell out and formed opposing alliances with other governors. Ingwar Tasić allied the peaceful Radovan Nestorovski and the military-minded, northern Grigorije Bojanić. He also recruited the famed commander Ratimir Darković. Meanwhile, his brother and now rival, Ognjen Tasić, with the compassionate Milomir Jelić (yes, jelić) and Simo Nešić, who was of lowly origin but still wise.

## **25 August 2022**

All of these governors began fighting each other. Ingwar Tasić tried to attack Milomir Jelić, but the invasion failed and Ingwar suffered heavy casualties. Simo Nešić took advantage of this and invaded him, pushing Ingwar heavily north east. Ingwar then ordered Ratimir to conquer a nearby province on his orders. After conquering it, Ratimir went on to conquer some territories for himself. Ingwar granted him permission because Ratimir offered him the imperial seal he found in Gornja Crnuca after it fell. Radovan Nestorovski offered to host Simo Nešić's family in his province in exchange for a separate ceasefire. However, Simo Nešić bribed one of the guards Radovan assigned to execute his own family. Then, he blamed Radovan, who offered to personally hunt down the murderer, but Simo refused after making it clear he's in massive grief. He launched a cruel invasion of Radovan's province. Radovan sent out a call for help, and a very likeable person by the name of Draško Jelić (once again, yes, jelić) came to his aid. He's been working for Simo for a while now, but he knew very well Radovan wasn't responsible for the murder, so he staged a rebellion. Simo rushed home and defeated Draško, who fled to Radovan, who died of disease a week later and granted his province to Draško. Draško helf Simo off for a while, but then one of Radovan's sons staged a rebellion and took over most of the province. Draško then fled to Simo and teamed up with him. Together, Draško and Simo defeated the rebels and split the province in half. Seeing this, the emperor began making plans to flee the Regent-Chancellor's rule in Smederevo.

## 26 August 2022

The emperor succesfully escaped to the ruins of Gornja Crnuca. He sent out a call for aid, ordering every loyal governor to arrive. The closest person to Gornja Crnuca was Ognjen Tasić, but he was busy fighting Grigorije Bojanić and wasn't too keen on receiving orders, so he ignored it. However, Simo saw the massive benefits of having the emperor in his province, and he rushed to the emperor's aid. The emperor was surprised to find out it was Simo who arrived, not Ognjen. Simo then offered to relocate the capital to the capital of his province, claiming Gornja Crnuca was just ruins. The emperor was reluctant, but Simo indirectly threatened him with his army, so the emperor agreed. The capital was relocated to Kursumlija, and Simo made the emperor his puppet. He then bestowed ranks and titles to other governors, who mostly accepted the rewards. However, by doing that, they agreed to abide by the edicts he would draft in the emperor's name. Realizing that, his ally Ognjen Tasić got very jealous. Then, Ingwar Tasić, one of the only governors who refused the rewards bestowed by Simo, declared himself emperor of the new Tasić Dynasty. All his allies cut ties with him and the emperor himself ordered every governor to invade him. He was quickly obliterated and tried to flee to his brother Ognjen, but was ambushed by Draško and killed. Ratimir Darković took over his territory. Draško, being a member of the Jelić house, was devastated by the fact the emperor is yet again being manipulated and threatened by a governor, so he invaded Simo, but got crushed, and fled to his relative Milomir Jelić.

## 27 August 2022

Ognjen Tasić finally defeated Grigorije Bojanić, and could now focus south. He started mass recruitment to prepare for a war against Simo. With his armies amounting to 12 million men, he invaded Simo, but was defeated quickly, leaving him with 5 million men. He still had a numerical superiority, so he offered to sue for peace, but Simo refused and conquered even more of his province. Ognjen then died of grief, and his son immediately surrendered to Simo on the condition he can govern one of his father's provinces. After he surrendered, however, Simo paid some bandits to kill him on the way to Kursumlija. Simo now started focusing south. The prosperous prvoince of Milomir was becoming a powerful threat, so Simo attacked him. Draško was now fighting for Milomir, and held Simo off for a while, but then Milomir died, making Draško his heir instead of one of his sons, so a civil war broke out. Draško had to leave the frontline to secure control of the province. Simo, confident he can now win the war and unite Clante easily, began making plans to both finish off Draško's province and attack Ratimir Darković's province. These 2, seeing where things were going, decided to form an alliance. With Ratimir's help, Draško secured control of his province. Simo outnumbered the allies 4 to 1. In the initial battle, when the 2 forces met, the alliance forces began literally killing themself. Then, the real alliance force emerged from ambush positions and inflicted a heavy defeat against Simo. Simo then ordered a retreat back south. Following that, the governors took some time to finish off smaller governors and take their territory.

## 28 August 2022

Simo Nešić has been made Prince of Serres. He send Ratimir a request for collaboration to invade Draško Jelić. He accepted the offer and allied Simo. At first, the invasion was going terribly and Simo's army was decisively defeated in the first battle, seriously damaging their morale. Draško's army went on the offensive as Ratimir's forces, it seemed, were going to betray the alliance. But they launched a sneak attack southwest and occupied Topola. Supply levels dropped and many people deserted. He tried to flee back to his homeland, but the army was intercepted and crushed. This earned Draško Jelić's lifelong hatred of Ratimir, and Draško swore to destroy him. Ratimir requested Simo to help him in case of an invasion, and he accepted. However, shortly after, Simo died of cancer and was replaced by the ambitious Miomir Nešić.

## **29 August 2022**

Immediately after coming into power, Miomir barely spared the lives of his brothers, and prevented them from entering the capital. Then, he made the Jelić Emperor abdicate, and declared himself emperor of the new Nešić dynasty. He granted Simo the posthumous title Emperor of Nešić. With the last emperor of the Jelić Dynasty deposed and killed, Draško Jelić declared himself the next emperor of the Jelić Dynasty. And, as emperor, his first decree was to launch a military campaign against Ratimir. Every minister was against this, but they were unable to stop him. The invasion was going well, but things started going downhill. Ratimir's army put up a strong defense to bid for time. Draško foolishly camped his army in the shades. Ratimir's forces attacked him with fire and annihilated his army. They didn't pursue them however, because, as they expected, Miomir has invaded them instead of helping. Ratimir stopped recognizing Miomir and his dynasty as the legitimate one, and declared himself emperor of the Darković dynasty. The invasion flopped.

## **30 August-6 September 2022**

Boring stalemate with not much happening, minor skirmishes only and no major territorial gains for anyone.

## **7 September-13 September 2022**

The Jelić Dynasty has attempted to invade Nesić 3 times, but all attempts failed eventually. This has also depleted their manpower and treasury. However, to counter this threat, Nesić employed Ja Stojan and made him Grand Commander. After defeating Jelić the 3rd time, he retired from Grand Commander position.

## 14 September 2022

The Nesić Emperor is dead. His son is very young, so 2 regents were appointed. Zvezdan Nesić and Ja Stojan. Ja Stojan immediately fell ill however, so Zvezdan ruled pretty much alone. When he visited pre-Lazar Tasić royal tombs, which was 7 years into the regency, Ja Stojan suddenly "recovered", took control of the Imperial Guards in the capital, forced the Empress Dowager to write an edict condemning Zvezdan, then ambushed Zvezdan on his way back and killed him. He was made the single only regent of the nation. He soon passed away of illness, and his equally wise son, Zvonko Stojan, was made the next Regent, as his house dominated Nesić court affairs.

## **15 September 2022**

The regent saw the weak states Jelić and Darković had been reduced to. He made a non-aggression pact with Darković, then invaded Jelić, which fell within a few months. On his way back to the capital, he usurped the throne and declared the Stojan Dynasty. He made Ja the posthumous Martial Emperor of Stojan, and kept the capital as Serres. He then tried to attack Darković, but failed miserably. He then started focusing on the economy and co-existence with the smaller Darković. Darković's new emperor became a tyrant who didnt really care about the nation that much

## 16 September 2022

Having gathered enough troops and supplies, he launched the second expedition against Darković. He quickly crushed their armies and took the capital. The emperor of Darković offered the capitulation of his state in exchange for his family and him to be spared, and for him to still own some land. Stojan accepted, but once Darković signed the treaty, he and his family were killed anyway. Zvonko has unified Clante and began focusing on its recovery. The turmoil is over!