Vladimir I

# Vladimir The Unifier

Vladimir I, alternatively, Vladimir von Marck, or Vladimir the Unifier, was the first Grand Duke of Marck, ruling from its creation, in 1873, until his death in 1873. Before assuming the title of Grand Duke of Marck, he was the Duke of Marck, and Consul of the Royal Confederation. He was succeeded by his youngest son, Vasily I.

## Early Life

Born in 1798 to Duke Oswald III and Duchess Yelena IV of Marck, Vladimir grew up in the castle at Marcktenburg. He was, like any other noble youth within the Royal Confederacy of Veresad, educated in the classics, philosophy, writing, mathematics, and of course, magic, along with some form of instrument, in his case, the flute. It was remarked by many of his tutors that, though the young 'vlad' possessed immense talent in most of his subjects, he was rarely satisfied, often feeling the need to best even his tutors. This was the subject of both much laughter, and much consternation within the ducal court, particularly during the fits of anger the boy threw when he failed to do so.

In 1817, Vladimir was sent to Veresad, to study at the university where he became known as a fiercely competitive debater and formed a lasting friendship with the then-prince of Veresad, Nikolaus Von Hauptwasser, soon to be Nikolaus IX, and the presumptive Count of Merin, Margrave Von Frostmore. The three would remain friends for several years. ￼

## Coronation

In 1827, Oswald III died of cholera at the age of 59, followed shortly by his wife. Vladimir succeeded to the coronet a few months later, following a state funeral, to little dissent. In addition to rulership of Marck and Gensaxe, Vladimir gained another prominent role: that of representative of Marck to the Ehrenhaus, the semi informal body that met in Veresad to discuss joint solutions to issues affecting the old Kingdom as a whole, under the leadership of the King of Veresad, in a system known as the Royal Confederation.

In 1829, Nikolaus IX came to the throne of Veresad, and appointed Vladimir, along with the also newly crowned Margrave III of Merin, as consuls, the two moderators of the Ehrenhaus. By all accounts, the three worked well together, the temperate Nikolaus moderating his two more fiery compatriots. Together, they managed to navigate the tempestuous and hostile Ehrenhaus, building the links that would, 44 years later, pave the way to unification under Marck.

Then, tragedy struck.

## 1832

In 1832, the young Nikolaus IX was killed, along with his immediate family, when their carriage crashed into a river in central Marck, leaving a child, in truth a baby, on the throne of Veresad, in the form of one Carol V. According to the dead king's will, Vladimir and Margrave were to act as the child's regents. The two clashed frequently over matters of policy, and the Ehrenhaus split as well, between the aggressive militarist Vladimir, and the Trade and Agriculture focused pacifist, Margrave. In autumn of 1837, Tensions escalated when Vladimir publicly accused of Margrave of having planned the murder of Nikolaus, after a dispute over joint policing funding.

### The First Brother's War

In January of 1838, Soldiers surrounded the Dacha of the count of Merin, and ordered him to leave, to stand trial. He refused, calling for reinforcements from the city garrison, loyal to him. The federate troops stormed the dacha, in a battle that lasted 2 hours. 31 soldiers were killed, 24 guards of the town watch, and the entire Von Frostmore Household, save for one daughter, who went missing, were confirmed as killed. another 83 soldiers and guards were wounded. Now the sole regent of Veresad, and consul of the Ehrenhaus, Vladimir I gradually began to draw the whole of the Ehrenhaus, and what would become his grand duchy, beneath his control.

## Civil Consolidation, 1839-1864

In the following years, Vladimir focused on improving the infrastructure of his own duchy, Marck. He personally financed new mines in and around Gensaxe, and greatly expanded the iron mining industry in particular, while granting a watershed number of logging licenses to businesses around Marcktenburg, paving the way for greater civil expansion, and expanding the Duchy's economy. With Veresad essentially his puppet, and another puppet installed as the new count of Merin, Vladimir began to use these new powers of trade to extend his influence into the western parts of the country, and the notable port of Krelia. Of course, these new ventures brought their own price as well. When his first son, Gregor, was the first von Marck to be born without magic in close to 100 years, Vladimir's duchy seemed cursed, as if his prodigious gifts had ended there. Searching for a scapegoat, Vladimir blamed heretics in the foothills of the mountains between Marck and Gannica on interfering with the boy's birth. The resulting conflict gave Marck full control of the mountains, right to the edge of the tundra, but, hunting outcasts on the fringes of civilization wore greatly on the military, and few bought his ploy. The stage was ripe for discontent.

## 1864

By 1864, Vladimir had thought his odds to have improved. His second son, Leon, had been born, healthy, with no complications in 1850, and been betrothed to the young Carol of Veresad, to secure their alliance once his puppet grew too old to be governed by regency. And, already, the halls of his Marcktenburg keep echoed with the playful laughter of a young Vasily von Marck as well. After several years of intermittent conflict, the Gannican frontier had settled down, and his dominion there was almost unquestioned. In fact, the whole affair had given Duke the chance to squirrel away his first prince into a military commission there, far away from any public eye. Unfortunately for the duke however, his eldest son disappeared during a raid by several tribals on the frontier in 1864, and, a few months later, Leon von Marck was kidnapped en route to Veresad, the night of his 14th birthday. Once more, the tides were against the embattled duke.

## The Second Brother's War

Declaring Vladimir unfit for governance, the Ehranhaus rose up against Vladimir, passing a motion of no-confidence, and expelling him from the body. A few days later, local bureaucrats in Veresad staged a coup, supplanting officials loyal to Vladimir. The Governments of Krelia, Rostov, and Veresad all declared formal independence from the royal confederation, rendering it, in essence, null. The new count of Merin, Ferdinand von Sekt, himself appointed by Vladimir, sided with Marck, swearing fealty to Duke Vladimir in the early days of the war. Thus were the battle lines drawn, east vs west.

### The Southern Arrow

Of the three major cities arrayed against the Duke, Veresad, with its sizable garrison and notable light industry, along with its massive population, was easily the largest threat in a prolonged war. Vladimir sought to avoid that. While a small force blocked off Krelia, Duke Vladimir ordered his forces split in two; one force, under his best general, Hal von Drusseldorf, went to Merin, advancing on Veresad from the North, while the other, mostly cavalry army, under the duke, came at the city from the east, on the longer road from gensaxe.

Veresadi forces attempted to march out to meet Von Drusseldorf's army in the field, planning to bog down and eliminate the smaller force, and then move on to the Duke's. However, due to counter-intelligence work by the inquisitors, the Veresadi commanders miss-calculated when the duke would arrive at the battle. Caught between Von Drusseldorf's infantry and the ducal cavalry, their force was surrounded, and forced to surrender. The city gave up days later without a fight.

Rostov was the most unique field of battle for the war. It was here that the Duke first tested his inquisitors. The walled city was well fortified, and well stocked as well. it would have taken months, perhaps years to conquer by siege, so the Duke resorted to guile. When his troops finally fought their way close to the city in 1869, a platoon of inquisitors, led by captain Stanislav Brenstein, infiltrated the city via its sewer system in the dead of night, before scaling a toilet shaft to gain access to the citadel at its center. They promptly kidnapped the wife, daughter, and son of the city's ruling Marquis. Seeing them paraded before his walls the next day, he surrendered his city, fleeing into exile with his family.

Thus, was left Krelia. Duke Vladimir had here underestimated his enemy.

### The Unification Campaign

Thanks to their (comparative) naval strength, the Krelians were hardly stymied by Count Von Sekt's blockade. The ships of the Krelian Marquis Ignacius raided Marck's coastline for years. The city itself was less of a challenge, though it still took several years of back and forth fighting before Vladimir rode into the city as a victor, in 1870. Even then, it took another 2 years of fighting across Marck, until, on October 12, 1872, on the Ship of Sigismund, *Indomitable*, a treaty was signed between Marck and Krelia, the last of the secessionist cities. Ignacius swore fealty to Duke Vladimir, in exchange for being allowed to keep his title, and his personal armies and monopolies were forfeited.

## Coronation and Death

For the next year, Vladimir worked to consolidate power, until, on September 3, 1873, he was officially crowned as the Grand Duke of Marck, absolute ruler of the entirety of the former kingdom of Veresad. That Same night, he was found dead inside the dungeons of the torre Inquisitorius, of unknown causes. Although his death was the subject of much speculation, a culprit was never properly found. He was succeeded by his last remaining son, Vasily I.