Clayistan Royal Guard

## History

### Formation

On M10-23 96 ASB the Unified Clayistan Army was dissolved as ordered by the Brinjal Conference. The new King of Clayistan Victory II now had the problem that his country lacked a national army. His solution was to order the head of his royal guard Layton Tran to assemble and army of spies and soldiers. Tran was given twenty years to accomplish this task by any means. Tran spent the next twenty years kidnapping children and training them to be spies whilst hiding in a lair he referred to as the First Sanctum. The First Sanctum was a refurbished mountain cave in the Duchy of North Vetchinia. Tran presented his forces to Victory II on M4-09 116 ASB though his forces numbered only seventy-three Victory II was impressed and privately declared the creation of the Clayistan Royal Guard (CRG) and put Tran in charge of it. Victory II also provided Tran with the funding to establish the Essalia Sanctum.

### Scandal

On M5-16 166 ASB the CRG attempted to assassinate the Baron of Briciole Cypress Amarillo. The CRG believed that Amarillo was selling military information about the State of Estuaria to the Loaman Empire. The State of Estuaria was a protectorate of Clayistan and selling information about their military was considered treason. The CRG believed that a noble trial against Amarillo would take too long and might not find him guilty, so an assassination was ordered.

The assassination attempt failed miserably. Amarillo survived and the CRG agents captured. Three days later one of the agents escaped and made his way back to the Briciole Sanctum, unaware that the Briciole Security Force (BSF) had let him escape and had followed him to the Sanctum. On M5-23 166 ASB the BSF stormed the Briciole Sanctum but were forced to pull out. A second attack took place two days later and resulted in the BSF making it to the archive room and leaving with a large number of CRG documents which revealed many things about the CRG including their existence.

Knowledge of the CRG quickly spread through Clayistan along with demands about what was to be done about them. On M6-09 166 ASB King of Clayistan Argilla III made a public announcement were he confirmed that the CRG worked for him and further claimed that he had personally ordered the assassination of Amarillo and presented several documents that incriminated Amarillo of treason. The people would remain unaware that he had nothing to do with the assassination and that he had had the CRG forge the incriminating documents.

The nobility of Clayistan were still not happy about the existence of the CRG. Argilla III announced on M7-17 166 ASB that membership in the CRG would be opened up to the children of noble families. The noble members of the CRG were not real members but thought they were. Instead they were Guardsmen of the Clayistan Royal Guard or GMGs for short.

### CRG-Tapial

King of Clayistan Argilla IV died on M7-30 201 ASB. Argilla IV's funeral was held on M8-13 201 ASB. Argilla IV's half-brother Elton Tapial was scheduled to succeed him as the King of Clayistan, however at the funeral Elton Tapial was murdered by his brother Prakash Tapial. The vassals of Clayistan decided against allowing Prakash to become the King of Clayistan and instead declared Harrison Tapial King of Clayistan as Claysius III. The head of CRG at the time Triangulo Burgus was at the funeral and agreed to recognize the move. A high ranking member of the CRG named Benjamin Icosadon believed that the true King of Clayistan was Prakash Tapial and that Burgus had betrayed the CRG. On M8-22 201 ASB Icosadon assassinated Triangulo Burgus, Icosadon announced what he had done to the CRG and that Prakash Tapial was the true King of Clayistan, many in the CRG supported Icosadon and joined his faction of the CRG known as the CRG-Tapial and began the First CRG Schism. On M11-19 214 ASB the CRG-Tapial attacked the Essalia Sanctum, the Sanctum held for two days. On M11-22 214 ASB all of the records in the Essalia Sanctum were either burned or looted by the CRG-Tapial. The survivors of the attack regrouped at the Vundarf Sanctum under the leadership of Massara Hendrake. On M1-22 215 ASB the CRG-Tapial attacked the Vundarf Sanctum, Hendrake had anticipated this and had had the sanctum rigged with explosives. When he was sure that Icosadon was in the building he had the explosives detonated and the Vundarf Sanctum fell into the vast pit below Vundarf killing Hendrake in the process.

### CRG-Sunbell

On M8-01 280 ASB Ghada I abdicated in favour of his relative Vincent Sunbell (Achille II) who had captured him during the Thunder War a few days prior. The head of the CRG at the time Michael Dyoum claimed that Ghada I had no right to abdicate as he was only a child and that the CRG served the King of Clayistan and by extension the Church of Clayistainis. On M8-05 280 ASB Dyoum made his opinion on the state of Clayistan known and was expelled from the CRG under the orders Achille II. When Dyoum left he took many followers with him and established what came to be known as the CRG-Sunbell beginning the Second CRG Schism. The CRG-Sunbell did not operate as the CRG-Tapial did, instead of going on the offensive they primarily gathered information. The a civil war called the War of Clay Restoration began on M1-22 282 ASB, the CRG-Sunbell declared their support of the rebelling faction on M5-04 282 ASB. Achille II was captured by the M2-28 290 ASB and abdicated the next day bringing an end to the War of Clay Restoration. Two days after the end of the war the CRG-Sunbell was dissolved and Michael Dyoum restored as the head of the CRG.

### Clayistan National Army

On M3-17 343 ASB an explosion occurred within the Terracotta Palace. The palace's CRG garrison was composed mainly of GSGs. The head of the garrison Lachlan Barrera ordered his forces not to enter the palace based on information that the explosion was a ploy to lead an assassin to Claymore II's safe room, he instead ordered his forces to wait a few hours to wait for the assassins pickup vehicle. Five hours past and no vehicle arrived, Barrera ordered his forces into the palace where they discovered that the Queen of Clayistria Sarah II and her son Carlos Sectile had been killed.

On M3-19 343 ASB Claymore II held a meeting with the various heads of the CRG garrisons. Claymore II knew why the CRG had responded the way it did and also knew that the heads he had summoned were not the real leaders of the CRG. He told the CRG representatives that he wanted to use the attack as justification to create a new national army. That same day the GMGs were removed from the CRG and used to create the Clayistan National Army (CNA).

### CRG-Sectile

On M4-27 379 ASB Manterro II abdicated in favour of a commoner named Dervot Heord who took the regnal name Dervot IV. By this point those in the CRG were taught that the King of Clayistan's right to rule was based on his blood connection to the god Abanos a blood connection that Dervot IV did not have. Many still supported Dervot IV based on the fact that someone who did have the blood connection had granted him the right to rule. On M6-27 379 ASB a group of CRG agents left the CRG and created the CRG-Sectile beginning the Third CRG Schism.

On M2-18 381 ASB Dervot IV attempted to help end the schism by permitting the CRG to kidnap more children to recruit into the CRG and had what these children were taught changed to make them more loyal to him. Many left the CRG in response to these changes.

The Tapial Block began supporting the CRG-Sectile on M3-12 381 ASB

On M7-11 406 ASB the CRG attacked the last known CRG-Sectile stronghold which they called the Cramryth Sanctum. The battle for the sanctum lasted twelve days and only concluded when the surviving members of the CRG-Sectile retreated into the caverns that ran below Cramryth. The CRG pursued them through the caverns for two days. The pursuit ended when the members of the Tapial Block turned on their allies in exchange for amnesty.

### War of Heordian Deposition and the CRG-Heord

On M3-07 429 ASB Claysando Ardash, the Prime Minister of the Sandy Clay Commonwealth declared himself King of Clayistan and the Sandy Clay Commonwealth as Claysando II, and declared war on Dervot IV beginning the War of Heordian Deposition. The CRG supported Dervot IV.

On M7-23 431 ASB Claysando II's forces began laying siege to Dervot IV's capital Ceramica. On M8-21 431 ASB Dervot IV, all of his family present, and a handful of his advisors along with the city's treasury departed the city in a fleet of airships, despite a large army that was en route to lift the siege being only five days away. After leaving the city Dervot IV contacted Duke Purplius II and declared him his regent. The CRG continued to support Dervot IV despite his withdrawal.

On M1-19 435 ASB the last of Dervot IV's political allies surrendered to Claysando II bringing the war to an end. The leader of the CRG at the time Edward Rigel did not want the CRG to face another schism and ordered the CRG to avoid confrontations with Claysando II until he decided whether or not to recognize him as the King of Clayistan.

Rigel and a score of other CRG members attended the Sunbell Conference which lasted from M6-14 436 ASB to M2-11 437 ASB. At the conference Rigel had the CRG recognize Claysando II as the King of Clayistan. Two days after the conference ended a large number of younger CRG agents established the CRG-Heord beginning the Fourth CRG Schism.

The CRG-Heord was supported by the Tapial Block.