Frederick III

*“Du denkst, ich sei so ein verrückter alter Mann, der den Verstand verloren hat? .. Sie haben Recht." -Frederick III to Gottfried Mannerheim*

Emperor **Frederick III** (Born Frederich Klaus Adolf *Gottfried* von Metternich-Habsburg Lorraine Mirzasberg Gohsurg *Mannerheim*), was the **Kalmanic God of Thunder**, **Incest**, **War**, **Chaos**, **Apocalypse** and **of the Underworld**, the **Dead** and **Destruction** also referred to as the **Son of the All-Father and King of Latikea Beigædr II** by Averopian royals from his birth in 301 AY till his death in 908 AY, and the **Crown Prince of the** **Western Latikean Empire**, while also known as the **Champion of Calmania** or the **Calmanian Champion**.

Born in Arletia and raised as the heir to the Calmanian throne, Frederick III inherited his family’s divine powers and became a god, but was treated by his father Francis Beigædr II horribly and used as a tool rather than seen as a person. Frederick was often bullied and abused by Maximilian and raised to believe he was nothing more than a weapon, a item to be used until it was broken and then thrown away. Frederick was punished greatly in his youth whenever he stepped ‘out of line’ and grew to be a ruthless, efficient and capable warrior, who committed acts beyond reason with complete determination and zero remorse after his acts but in reality, the Calmanian God of Thunder was a completely broken man treated and used like a tool all his life.

## The War Before

After King Jadenius Goh, the first and only leader of the Kingdom of Galthia was defeated and captured by the Roman army in Rames on the March of 321 AY (where he later was stripped off his reproductive organs) the Latikean cilent Kingdom of Arletia, led by Bödvar the Feared, at the time was a small, relatively unknown kingdom which was given to Dyanii mercenaries(foederati)but had ambitious plans of becoming a great power. Bödvar sent his son Beigædr II to Latikea, where the Latikeans and what remained of the powerful Latikean Empire under their control agreed for Arletia to be etsbalish as a 'terminus status' which was similar to a march, providing with nesscary protection for Rome and was allowed to mantain a increase amount of troops, but at the same time was reliant on Latikean administration. Emperor Eugene IV eagerly agreed and the pieces were set in place for Arletia to slowly learn the ways of the Roman army and emerge as a powerhouse in Europe.

At the same time, on 474, Eugene IV attacked the Galthians during the beginning of summer in a massive all-out campaign, hoping to end the war with a large-scale attack on multiple Galthic cities meant to bring them under Roman rule. Rome had specifically drew many Arletian troops into this campaign, known henceforth as the Ninety Days March, where many of them fought well but met their end in the dozen bloody battles of the Ninety Days March, such as the First and Second Battle of Foivons where nearly 17,000 casualties of Arletians were inflicted. Eventually, a armistice was met, ending the conflict and leaving Gaul as a allied state of the Romans. While this was happening, Rome also opted to expand influence in the Balkans, and defeated the Serbians and Athenians during what is known as the Nine Years’ War, which rebrought Roman rule to Southern Balkans and destabilized much of the land there, which ultimately fell to rebels somewhere in 513 AD.

In 514, following the disastrous Battle of Thessaloniki which saw Roman Emperor Romeo V be defeated, captured and executed along with 12,000 other Roman soldiers killed in action and thousands more imprisoned, Burgundy had perfected and enlarged its army with the likes of Rome’s, who was by now a quickly collapsing power in European affairs due to the previous catastrophes in Balkans. To this end, Beigædr murdered his father King Bödvar and broke the Roman protectorateship of Arles, declaring war on Rome and launching a full-scale invasion of the south. After traversing the Swiss Alps, Frederick III led a professional standing army of at least 17,000 troops to which he defeated the Romans at Turin and at Genoa, but the invasion had to be stopped after financial problems. However, the discipline and efficiency displayed by the Arlesians forced Rome to abandon Central Europe and sign peace with Arles, allowing them independence.

With one of the most successful armies to date at the time, having just defeated Rome multiple times, Arles soon broke the proposal with Gaul and launched an invasion of the Gallic kingdoms, which soon turned out to be a costly and bloody struggle instead of a quick and easy showcase of strength like Arles had expected it to be. The cost of fighting such a massive war became apparent in 525, where at least 41,000 Arlesian casualties were suffered and the Gallic nearly twice that number, as the Gauls had perfected guerrilla warfare and used deception tactics to their advantage, but most confrontations were won by the Arlesians. After this, Beigædr managed to execute his wife Marisa on charges of treason (for good measure) and settled peace with Gaul by arranging a marriage with him and the then Queen of Gaul Frances II, who was the daughter of the late Jadenius Goh.

It was a difficult decision to make, considering they were enemies at war for nearly seven years, but Frances II ultimately agreed to the proposal, wanting to spare her people anymore destruction and suffering Arles had enacted on them. From there, the two kingdoms entered a personal union and Beigædr declared that Arles would become the Kingdom of Burgundy, and peace had finally begun to set in Central Europe. Ludwig was also declared a traitor and hunted down by Burgundian police, but it is presumed he escaped and went into exile as he was never caught by the Burgundian authorities.