The Northern March

Map of the Northern March's route

**The Northern March** refers to the several month march northwards and then westwards for Leo the Sixth and his supporters from the former Monarchies of Felindia.

## Timeline of Events

### The Preparations

As the Springtime of Nations was becoming more and more of a growing threat to the royal power of the Monarchies of Felindia, Prince Leo the Sixth grew concerned for his position and what could happen if the peoples of the Monarchies took up arms once again. The First Republic of Mourland has been dissolved in a coup of mixed popularity, and Prince Leo rightly feared that the people would seek to reestablish a republic. Beginning sometime in Jimni, the Prince began to make secret plans to escape from the Monarchies and head north to Pumoria, if the need were to arise. Notably, his plans to escape didn't include his father or any of his siblings.

By the 3rd of Lebra, Prince Leo both felt that enough preparations had been made for the journey, and that the situation was beginning to look dire enough, that he and his entourage began the journey northward officially. Prince Leo the Sixths father, King Leo the Fifth, and his family would stay at the city of Felandus, and soon be captured by revolutionaries on the 29th of Lebra after a short siege. The family that stayed behind didn't have the forces required to hold out against a protracted siege, so they had to cave quickly to the Republican forces.

### From Felandus to New Pugmyre

The journey from the city of Felandus to the Pugmorian city of New Pugmyre was planned to take a week, with enough supplies for two weeks if things got bogged down. It would take the entourage a little over a month just to even reach the de jure border of Pugmoria and the Monarchies. This delay was due to multiple factors: attacks by Republican militias, an influx of Royalist refugees joining the entourage, a lack of fully-intact infrastructure capable of moving a group of such size, and several bad storms that delayed the group. These delays and new members of the entourage would lead to rationing, hunger, and raids for food in the surrounding countryside.

On the 6th of Korpso, 869, the entourage had nearly reached the de jure border of Pugmoria and the Monarchies, where the group encountered a Pugmorian army lead by General Alex Colchek. Prince Leo attempted to negotiate with Alex Colchek to provide a place to stay for the large entourage where Prince Leos people could resupply, rest, and reorganized to take back their country from the Republican revolutionaries. After two days of negotiations, the talks broke down as Colchek refused to let Prince Leo and his entourage settle anywhere in Pugmoria. This move on Colcheks part was motivated by recent Pugmorian moves to occupy the de jure northern lands of the Monarchies of Felindia, ostensibly to 'pacify and liberate the area of Republican radicals'.

### Turning to the Western Mountains

Following the encounter with General Colchek's forces, Prince Leo began leading the entourage again with little idea of where to head. Prince Leo knew that heading back south would lead to the destruction of what little the entourage had, but they could no longer head north and risk the wrath of Pugmorian military forces. On the 10th of Kopso, 869, Prince Leo began leading the entourage towards the west, in a desperate gamble to establish a temporary base where the entourage could resupply, reorganize, and strike back at the Mourlander republican revolutionaries.

From mid-Korpso 869 to late-Sagitor 869, Prince Leo's entourage slogged towards the northwest, with progress delayed by Pugmorian civilians and some rogue military elements attacking the entourage. These attacks, in combination with an unusually harsh early winter season, began to take a toll on the entourage. It's estimated that 10% of the entourage was lost over this period of time. On the 29th of Sagitor, 869, the entourage arrived at the base of the Elder Mountains. Prince Leo and many of the other higher ups in the entourage believed that this would be the end of their struggles, but the chaos of the Mountains quickly dashed these hopes of an easy march.

## Makeup of the Entourage

### Initial Makeup

The initial entourage of the Northern March consisted primarily of upper class nobles associated with Prince Leo the Sixth and their respective aides, servants, and armed forces.