Retribution of Twelve Kings

*"Let this obelisk stand as a testament for all time, to all people that the Kingdom is not to be crossed. All those who stay true to us enjoy a zone of safety and security. However, attacking the People of Stone, breaching an agreement with us, is an error in judgement which will not pass. All things they hold dear will be forfeited. Their nation, their cities, their homes, their people, their culture, the very memory of their existence will have entered the danger zone."* - King Edrick Silverflow

The Retribution of Twelve Kings refers to a campaign which occurred in the year 902. The campaign was inspired by the massacre of a Grand Parade and what followed led to the annihilation of an unaligned city-state in the central area of what is today the Eastern Block. What is left of the site of the final battle of the campaign are the highly destroyed ruins of the city and an immense stone obelisk at the center bearing the names of every man, woman, and child of the Broken Kingdom who was lost in the massacre. Every reference to the name of the people and their city has been scoured from the ruins, leaving only the monument referred to as the Twelve Kings' Stone.

## Setting the Stage

In the year 875 the Truest King withdrew from direct leadership of the Stone Kingdom ,as the Broken Kingdom was still known at the time. The first generation of Royals was anointed and came into power, much to the speculation and curiosity of other powers. The Royals continued the Truest's policies,refraining from entering the world's political struggles and trading the Kingdom's construction expertise in return for large payments. It so happened that one ambitious self-styled King in the south central region of the Eastern Block decided to test the Kingdom he decided would now be too divided to function.

During this time period, it was still an accepted part of a Grand Parade's contract to make payments in installments as the work progressed. The Southern King in the year 899 contracted the Kingdom to build a castle in his city. The worker village was set up and progress was well underway for the next year and a half. Suddenly the payments ceased to arrive in the Kingdom, and messengers from the worker's village ceased to reach the Kingdom as well.

## The Betrayal

Scouts were sent to investigate the situation in the south. What they found was that the southern king had attempted to enslave the worker's village in order to finish construction without having to pay the remainder of his bill. Planning to simply release the workers after they completed the task, the southern king received a rather unwelcome surprise when his army surrounded the village. Instead of simply submitting to captivity meekly as expected of peasants, the workers armed themselves and drew ranks along side the Kingdom's soldiers who had guarded their temporary home.

Details of what followed are unknown, but bardic tales even in the Broken Kingdom boast that the workers made a showing which shook the southern king to his core before they fell. What was discovered was what was left was a small group of children under the age of ten, the only ones who had been unable to enter the fray. The children were released to the investigators along with a formal diplomatic apology and the balance of what was owed for the construction.

## Retribution

Upon learning of the massacre, an emergency session of the Council of Royals was called, the Truest King declining to join. After a mere four hours of deliberation orders left the Cathedral into each of the twelve kingdoms and within the week three quarters of the combined Riders had assembled for the march south. Each of the Kings left their heirs to rule in their stead, leading their forces to the south. The massive cavalry army's passing spread like wildfire, leading foreign observers to join the train, in particular from the Circle and Kushan, the latter keeping their peace while the former tried to encourage a diplomatic solution in maintenance of peace in the region.

By the time of the horde's arrival in the southern kingdom, the Encircled delegate had won an agreement from the Royals to enter negotiations prior to attacking. The Royals met with the southern king in the rolling plains outside of his city, the massive army they had brought forming into ranks behind them. To the bemusement of the Kushani ambassador and the dismay of the Encircled, the choices the Royals offered were far from diplomatic.

First the king, his nobles, his officers, advisors, city-leaders, their wives, and every adult offspring they had would present themselves before the Royals to be branded as murders as well as dehaired and tattooed as Cowards before the eyes of their citizenry. Second every suit of armor, piece of weaponry, object made of metal, jewel, and object of value in the city would be turned over. Third, the people of the city would fully dismantle the partially completed castle.

The second offer was that the King and his army could present themselves on the field of honorable battle and meet their end as men for what they had done, the rest of the terms remaining unchanged. In both of the first two options, the lives of the common people would be spared.

The third offer was that the King would be allowed to return to the city, and could attempt to hold out in a siege. The Royals, however, pledged that if he were to do so, the entirety of the city and every man and woman over the age of majority would be executed with the children of the city adopted and returned to the Broken Kingdom to be raised.

Historical records that the southern king was too proud to choose the first option, but not foolish enough to chose the last.

## Closure

After the battle the citizens of the southern city were forced to carry out the second and third terms. Every soldier, nobleman, and civil leader discovered to have hidden in the populace rather than face their deaths with honor was dehaired and tattooed as a Coward. When the work was complete the people were escorted to the borders of their lands in twelve groups and forced to leave. Shortly after erecting their monument to the massacred, the kings set fire to the plains and fields surrounding the city, allowing the land to burn until the wet season came again.