High King Election

The High King Election was arguably the most monumental event in all of recorded time, as it brought the end of the Historic Era, and gave birth to a new era, beginning the official record of time.

### Backstory

The event itself was fueled by the recent discovery of the Catacombs of a Thousand Years, within which the oldest ever church was sealed away - the Church of the Red Skull, which directly worshiped the Punisher - Gamagin. The discovery was made by a Kitrovian citizen, who was doing his regular mining duties, when he stumbled upon a peculiar mineshaft filled with bones and signs. Startled by the sight, he contacted the Knights of the Withered Rose, suggesting that they should investigate that area, as he needs to continue his mining affairs, but he's too scared to go into the "Death Tunnels" all alone.

Keeping it on the back burners due to the imminent threat of the Nashar Invasion, the Knights were finally able to find the time to go down into the mines of Kitrov and investigate the strange tunnels. Fresh off of a grandiose victory over the Nashar Legion, Sir Erebus and Sir Davos decided to celebrate by granting themselves an archeological expedition deep into the mines, to see what kind of historical riches they may find, if any. Upon reaching the strange tunnels, they discovered a story - the story of the Catacombs of a Thousand Years.

### The Catacombs of a Thousand Years

The story that they discovered was the tragic tale of Reverend Mansen who was on a mission to find the oldest ever church in existence, and halt Gamagin worship for good. According to his research, the Church of the Red Skull - while lost to ages and never discovered - contained Gamagin's most precious relics, powerful enough to grant their bearer "the power of a god" and allow him to rule over all mankind. Reverend Mansen's mission was to discover these relics and destroy them, so that no one could ever hold such power, as in his eyes such power can never be used for good - only evil. Hence, he went to one of the oldest places of the known world, to find the oldest ever church.

Upon the discovery of the Catacombs of a Thousand Years, Reverend Mansen found the Church of the Red Skull, complete with an altar of blood, cultist incantations and a sacrificial chamber. While at first glance it seemed like the grounds of an evil blood cult, Reverend Mansen was surprised to find the people who lived within the catacombs in their little underground village to be very welcoming and kind. Only sacrificing cattle to contain the evil monsters of the caves and preaching the path of a True Believer. There were some at the village who were uneasy with Mansen's arrival, such as another newcomer by the name of Samora, who claimed to be the prophet of Gamagin, coming to rescue the people and promising them glory upon the discovery of the relics. Both were on the hunt for the Red Skull which can only be found by following the path of a True Believer, as that is where the relics were supposed to be hidden. Threatened by the Reverend's goal, and the recent collapse that destroyed half of the village, Samora decided to convince the people of the catacombs that they need to go back to their blood cult-like ways and start sacrificing people in order to avoid the wrath of Gamagin - suggesting that the purest of souls needs to be sacrificed, a young girl by the name of Nereta (who was an actual prophet of Gamagin, hiding amongst the commoners and teaching them how to become True Believers). Upon the disappearance of Nereta on the day of sacrifice, Samora persuaded everyone that this is all because of the Reverend and suggested he should be sacrificed instead of Nereta. The cave in trapped everyone underground, as the entrance to the catacombs was now entirely blocked - but it revealed a long-forgotten tunnel in the catacombs called "The Forbidden Cave", where Mansen headed to make his escape.

In a spark of rage, Samora destroyed the entire village, killing almost everyone. Only one more person escaped and got trapped together with Reverend Mansen in the Forbidden Cave, and after spending countless days in there, Reverend Mansen killed and ate Smarrer, becoming petrified in the process as "Punishment" from Gamagin.

### The Red Skull

Interestingly, the Kitrovian Mines led exactly into the Forbidden Cave, and the petrified Reverend Mansen was the first thing that Sir Erebus and Sir Davos came across, starting the story from the end, and slowly piecing it all together as they made their way to the uppermost levels of the catacombs, where they discovered the Church, along with the tenets of the True Believer. After learning of the tenets, they went back deep into the catacombs and investigated, looking for where this path may be. Fortunately, they found it, followed it (based on the tenets) and discovered the Red Skull - but they were not alone down there. Samora made her way there first, and a fierce battle ensued between the Knights and Samora. Victorious, the Knights entered the Red Skull, where they found Gamagin's most precious artefacts, the Crimson Blade and the Crimson Crown, along with a plethora of incredibly unique red gemstones. Sir Davos claimed the sword, while Sir Erebus claimed the crown.

### Lust for Power

After their expedition into the catacombs, Sir Davos kept Reverend Mansen's journal. Mansen's words resonated with Sir Davos, reading the journal over and over every single day. No longer able to contain his thirst for power, Sir Davos met with Erebus and shared his plans with him. He told him of the Reverend's journal, and how they were both chosen by Gamagin to be his representatives. However, there is only one crown - therefore there can only be one king. One king to rule over all kings - The High King.

Up until this point, the Riverlands were divided amongst 7 kingdoms - Uzacan, Far Harbor, Kitrov, Gantrick, Epheria, Laputria (Erebus' kingdom) and Thoronor (Sir Davos' kingdom), each with their own alliances and enemies. Sir Davos' plan was to bring all the kingdoms together and elect a superior figure head to represent all kingdoms and the entire Riverlands continent. While Erebus had no intention of running for the High King position, he understood Davos' point of view, and agreed to run against him in the election. Both parties wanted this to be an internal affair, that only has to do with the kingdoms of the Riverlands. But due to the fact that multiple kingdoms within the Riverlands had ties with other nations in the known world, the High King Election became a worldwide issue. On one side, you had a young, charismatic but a bit too ambitious and short-tempered Sir Davos, while on the other, you had a calm and collected man of the people in Sir Erebus, looking to expand his empire. Laputria's biggest allies were the Riverlands kingdom of Kitrov (WRTC), and the mighty Samariums that come from the west. While Thoronor's allies were Epheria (Fellowship of the Red Jay), Gantrick (the kingdom which Sir Davos gifted to the then leader of Gantrick for free) and Mushway as per their military alliance. This effectively separated the Riverlands into two, West Riverlands and East Riverlands, divided by the Vena Inferior from the west, connecting with the Aorta River in the middle of the Riverlands.

The West Riverlands main idea was to encourage free trade and free market, allowing everyone to do as they please, while the East Riverlands wanted to keep everything inside the Riverlands and focus on internal growth as much as possible. Even though there were more kingdoms in the Eastern section of the Riverlands, there were more people living in the Western part. With the majority of the west belonging to one kingdom - Laputria, its citizens did everything possible to sabotage Sir Davos' campaign, creating anti Thoronor propaganda and spreading it worldwide, poisoning the ears of nations outside the Riverlands, such as Samarium and Aquos. Aquos being a fairly new nation, had powerful ties with Uzacan, and upon learning of the false propaganda and naively believing it, Aquos tried to persuade Uzacan to vote against Sir Davos, as they believed that he wants ultimate control over the people and specifically the market. While throughout all of this, Sir Davos didn't even have the chance to make propaganda for his own campaign, as he was too busy trying to convince people that the propaganda is false and that everyone should keep an open mind - a price he had to pay for his own ambition.

With election day fast approaching, the tensions were running high. It was decided that for the election, only the kingdom leaders of the Riverlands would get to vote for who they wish to see as the High King of the Riverlands, after consulting with their people about the decision of course. The election was set to happen at the Table of Kings, in Ivy Hills, where all kingdom leaders would assemble and vote. Both Thoronor and Laputria were excluded from the voting process, as both candidates for the High King position were also leaders of their kingdoms.

### Election Day

Due to the high tensions and animosity between both sides, the High King election was predicted to be a volatile event, which could go wrong very quickly. For some reason, it was rumored that if Sir Davos was to become High King, he would be assassinated. Sir Davos was aware of these rumors, hence why he hired some personal security in Mushway to protect him incase things go wrong. With people slowly assembling at the table, everyone awaited the arrival of the Laputrian Emperor Sir Erebus, who came on horseback surrounded by his Laputrian army, flanked by Samarium who came to show their support for Erebus. The only real neutral party at the elections was Aquos, who came bearing gifts to whomever becomes High King.

It was time for speeches. Erebus went first and proclaimed that he sees strength in independence of each kingdom. He believed that the kingdoms should not have a High King above them all, as their strength lies in their uniqueness. However, due to the divine intervention of Gamagin, he will accept the status as a High King, and shall remain High King until all the concerns of the people were met. Once that is achieved, he will step down and abdicate the throne, giving the crown to the Knights of the Withered Rose to safeguard in the reliquary until such a time comes where a High King is needed, and is chosen by all people equally, and not just the kingdom leaders.

Sir Davos had a different idea. He believed that in order to be called a "king", you need to earn that title either by a higher power or by being chosen by the people. He couldn't even consider himself the king of Thoronor, as that would be a self-proclaimed title, this is why this election was so important to him. Both himself and Erebus were chosen by a higher power through Gamagin, and now it was time for the people to choose. He believed that he was the rightful choice for the Riverlands, as he is someone who won't hide behind walls or others when it's time for battle, he would be the one leading it - relating his prowess in battle over at Gantrick Field against the Nashar Legion. He proclaimed himself to be a peacekeeper and protector of the people of the Riverlands, who is there for them to solve any problems and disputes in an orderly manner and help the people.

This wasn't the end of his speech, however. While he never got the chance to create any propaganda for himself to further his campaign, Sir Davos waited till the election speech to dig at his opposition, publicly, in front of everyone. In an attempt to twist Erebus' speech around, he claimed that Erebus only cares about Laputria, and doesn't want to deal with anyone else's problems, which is why he did not want this election to happen, and why he wishes to abdicate the throne in the future. He also brought up how Laputria treats everyone who wishes to leave them or those who do not wish to be associated with them, bringing Mushway into example, who used to be a Laputrian colony in the past and had to jump through many hoops to gain their independence. Not only that, Sir Davos also mentioned how Erebus is making relations with outsiders (Samarium) in order to undercut existing businesses within the Riverlands, ruining the livelihoods of fellow Rivish people. He reflected on his generosity towards never wishing to expand his kingdom and giving away vacant land to other kingdoms instead of claiming it for himself. He reminded everyone that Laputria was the cause of a few instances of conflict already, when Aquos and Laputria were fighting over a mushroom island, and when Laputria decided to TNT trap the base of the Uzacan leader - both instances in which Sir Davos had to interfere and resolve the conflict peacefully, even as far as putting himself in danger by having to remove all TNT traps himself. To finish it off, Sir Davos' main goal is peace and prosperity of the Riverlands, and he shall do everything in his power to protect that peace, just like he always did.

### The Vote

Once the speeches were heard, it was time to vote for a High King. The kingdom leaders discussed their choice with their people, and the votes were collected by Aquos as the only neutral party at the election. The votes counted as follows:

- Gantrick votes for Sir Davos

- Epheria votes for Sir Davos

- Far Harbor votes for Sir Davos

- Kitrov votes for Sir Erebus

- Uzacan votes for Sir Davos

Culminating the election, in which Sir Davos was announced the winner, beating Erebus 4 to 1.

Sir Erebus honorably handed the crown to the new High King Davos, but proclaimed that he shall never submit before it, and urges no one to do so either. It took years to mend the relationship between Laputria and Thoronor, until finally, Laputria agreed to be a vassal of the High King, supporting Sir Davos in all his ventures. And now, the Riverlands stand united, stronger than ever, under one High King - achieving the peace and prosperity that Sir Davos sought after, distributing the precious red gemstones that they found in the Catacombs of a Thousand Years, now called Rubies, amongst the nations of the Riverlands and the known world - making it the new currency of Drevhall.

This is where the First Era began.