Navinian Rebellion

Duke Richard Navine rallies his armies at the city-state of Aedrisos.

Duchy of Jareche

Duchy of Angarth

Duchy of Naegirus

Deposition of King Geoff III

Ascension of King Richard I Navine

House Haywood

Knights Jareche

House Cobalst

Royal Legions of Iadria

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House Navine

House Halleron

Ereoth

Losterea

Elven Realm of Cenother

House Alataer

The **Navinian Rebellion**, also known as the **Dragon’s War** or **Richard’s Rebellion**, was a civil war for the throne of Iadria. The War began shortly after the conclusion of the Epherian Invasion, and was launched by Duke Richard the Dragon of Navine against King Geoff III Arvait, Ruler of Iadria. The war took place during the Sixth Age by the Calendar of Aerodran, beginning in the year 6A 723 and  continuing into 6A 725. The rebellion was spearheaded by the self-titled Dragon-King Richard I and his House of Navine, and supported by many noble houses of Iadria, most notably those of the Ucorian Reach and Autumnvale. From his throne in Ihenium, capital of Iadria, King Geoff III, the Griffin of House Arvait, found his backing in Lord-Commander Michael Valendel of the Knights Jareche, Duke Royce Harveld of the Blackbriar, Chancellor Jack Palivan of Naegirus, and Duke Jaymes Cobalst of Vremas.

Duke Richard's self-proclaimed motivation for instigating the rebellion was to restore the House of Navine to the Holy Crown, in response to King Geoff's perceived failings as a wartime leader and signing of the Okequar Treaty two years prior. Navine justified this goal using the precedent set by the Church's deposition of King Alastair IV Silvane in 6A 243 following the Stehevar Secessionary Wars, which had placed the first Navine Dynasty on the throne. Duke Richard received enormous popular support in eastern Iadria, where he had become a legendary war hero for his exploits during the Invasion, while King Geoff had conversely fallen out of favor for his alleged preference for the Western Duchies and misuse of the East as a shield against Epheria. The loss of Leogoth in particular was a sore spot for many Iadrians, and Duke Richard's promises of a future Crusade against the Eastern Empire to reclaim the lost Anderian lands earned him much support among the nobility and middle class. Richard consolidated this support and secured the pledges of Duke Justin Alataer of the Autumnvale and Duke Adrian Halleron of Ucoria, as well as the Elven city of Cenother, which sought revenge against the Epherians for their torching of the surrounding forests during the Invasion.

Richard gathered his supporters to the Ucorian city of Aedrisos on May 17 of 6A 723, where he issued the Declaration of Aedrisos, stipulating that Geoff III had failed in the eyes of Edos and was unworthy to wear the Holy Crown, and that the united Navinian Coalition would enact the duty of deposing him in the absence of the Patriarchs of Leogoth. Geoff and his loyalist supporters correctly interpreted this as a declaration of war, and both sides began mobilizing their forces. As expected, the Autumnvale and Ucorian Reach joined with Navine in its rebellion. Richard and his Coalition quickly set about ousting or executing the remaining influential Loyalists within the rebel Duchies, while King Geoff ordered the Sixth and Twelfth Royal Legions to march into the Autumnvale and restore order in the vital breadbasket of Iadria. They advanced along the northern shore of Lake Stios, then made their way towards Ayrith, hoping to march on to Wolfwater and cut off the western Autumnvale from rebel forces. In response, Navine led a rapid forced march, aiming to reach the vital city first. On June 13, the two Legions were surprised by Richard's host at the Battle of Ayrith, where the Dragon Duke defeated them in detail and forced their surrender, securing the Autumnvale for the Coalition and striking a blow to the loyalist's morale.

The catastrophic defeat at Ayrith severely blunted the Arvaits' offensive strength, as the few Legions that had survived the Invasion and remained loyal struggled to mobilize and hold back the rebel advance. Most of the Loyalists' strength was now found in the loyal Ducal levies, which were spread thin throughout the West. As autumn set in, the Coalition continued its advance, beginning a large-scale assault on the Duchies of Vremas and Jareche. Willsden and Newham fell quickly as rebel troops pushed over the plains east of Lake Stios; Tergaron and Swordbreak would shortly follow after brief sieges, leaving most of the Vremasian east in Coalition hands. In Jareche, the rebels found less success; though the city of Ormkirk was besieged and taken, successive assaults on the walls of Aedoven Sanctum and Calbridge Citadel met with failure as winter set in.

As 6A 724 dawned, the Coalition refocused the brunt of their forces southward. Though rebel forces continued to cautiously probe the defences of the daunting Jareche Forest, the main offensive fell on the Vremasians. From Tergaron and Newham, two Coalition armies converged to lay siege to the great city of Stios, while Earl Alton de Claevitall was tasked with siezing control of the winding Vremas River. Heavy fighting ensued along its banks as Navinian troops battled their way into Stawford, Holmfirthe, and the Vremasian capital of Paelford; though its Duke Jaymes Cobalst commanded his forces valiantly, he was ultimately captured alongside the city. In the aftermath of Paelford's fall, Vremasian resistance to the Dragon-Duke all but collapsed, with only sparse holdouts of its Ducal army remaining in the far western reaches of the Duchy. After a bloody storming, Stios finally fell in late Autumn, opening the northern road to Richard and his allies. Navine did not hesitate to embrace this opportunity; even while fires still burned in Stios, the rebel Duke led a force northwest to Angarth Pass, bypassing Calbridge Citadel and siezing control of Cahendum, Panshaw, and the path into King Geoff's royal heartland.

While the rebel advance through central Iadria seemed unstoppable, it was not without its setbacks. In early 725, Navinian forces attempted to exploit their seizure of Cahendum by opening a front against Naegirus and northern Blackbriar. Duke Royce Haywood of Blackbriar, having lent his forces to the defense of Vremas, now committed his Ducal army in full to defend the west. A rebel Legion advancing on Elden from Cahendum was met with the full might of Harveld's formidable army, and was subsequently obliterated at the Battle of Berkton. To the north, Ucorian forces attempted to make headway into Naegirus at the Battle of Kiaderia, an indecisive clash which ended in retreat for the Reachmen. With the threat to his northlands diverted, Harveld proceeded to launch a counterattack across the Vremas river, retaking Holmfirth for the King at a great cost in blood. Reeling from these defeats, the Coalition would make no further advances into the two southwestern Duchies. Instead, Richard diverted his strength north, aiming to consolidate his gains and deal a final, decisive blow to the 'pretender' King Geoff. To this end, a second, much larger siege of Calbridge Citadel was launched, where a contingent of Knights Jareche still held out. After two months of near-starvation, the Knights finally conceded the Citadel to the Coalition. With his northern flank secured, Duke Richard continued the push toward Ihenium.

Though King Geoff had gathered a significant army to Angarth, composed of multiple Legions, Knights Jareche, and the remnants of his loyal levies, he remained unwilling to engage the advancing Duke in a pitched battle. As a result, Richard was able to seize the Angarthic cities of Axminster and Hirane with little resistance, pushing deep into the eastern Angarth Fields. Even as the rebels drew ever closer to the Royal capitol, Duke Royce continued his counteroffensive in the south; futile as it may have seemed against the might of the Coalition, the concentration of rebel troops in the north meant Harveld faced a weakened foe. Paelford was recaptured as the summer of 725 drew to a close, and much of the Vremas River along with it; though this was hailed as a great victory for the Loyalists, even the Blackbriar's Duke was aware that the cause was all but doomed. With only Blackbriar, Naegirus, and parts of the Jareche Forest remaining under the King in Angarth's control, many Western nobles began to question the worth of continuing the bloody fight.

Finally, in Autumn of 725, King Geoff played his last card. As the Coalition's armies advanced on Everton, just east of Ihenium, the remaining loyalists of Angarth united into one great host. The Griffin King ordered this army forward to meet Richard's forces in battle, and to break them their once and for all. The armies assembled at Everton were by far the largest of the Rebellion, as both leaders foresaw the decisiveness of this engagement. For hours, Navinian steel clashed with Jarechean silver, many falling as Iadrians spilled each others' blood in rivers. As the fog of battle lifted and the stragglers regrouped, however, the outcome became abundantly clear. King Geoff's great host, numbering in the tens of thousands, had dissolved through the course of the battle, as wary generals and nobles of wavering loyalty broke off one by one from the losing fight. Though the Loyalist host had fought bravely and died in the thousands to defend Everton, in the end, their cohesion had broken under the Coalition forces' unrelenting assault. The remnants of the Royal host scattered, most returning to their native Duchies; the cause was well and truly lost. King Geoff himself, sensing the end of his reign was at hand, gathered his loyal knights and lords and fled the great city of Ihenium, traveling east along the coast through uncontested lands.

On September 4, 725, Duke Richard the Dragon entered the city of Ihenium uncontested at the head of his victorious armies. Though King Geoff had never officially abdicated, Richard declared his flight from Ihenium as tantamount to such, and immediately gathered the Patriarchs and lords of the city. An opulent coronation ensued, met with enormous crowds celebrating the end of the conflict and the ascent of the famed 'Dragon-King'. With no-one left to resist him, Richard was declared King Richard I Navine, the first of his House to rule Iadria in centuries.