The Assassination of King Azoun III

On the 5th day of Alekona **803AB** an assassination was successfully carried out on the Courlerian Monarch of King Azoun the third, leaving multiple guards injured. A secondary attempt was carried out on Azoun's son, Ian Zheng, but was unsuccessful. It is unknown which nation is responsible for hiring the Black Rose to carry it out, though many believe it was Gonarundu.

## Background

In **797AB** the nations of Defel, Gonarundu and Roshan formed an alliance against Courler. Their intention was to destroy the battle-hardened nation and split the land gained amongst themselves, allowing each nation to acquire Courlers rich minerals. After forming their armies and preparing their supply lines, they invaded. While initially they found success against the surprised Courlerians, the armies formed and faced one another at the Battle for Courler in **798AB.** The allied armies were broken in this battle, causing all three to retreat in their own manner under chase from Courler. Within the year Courler and King Azoun III had reclaimed all lost land and were intent on keeping this war going as revenge.

A battle occured between Gonarundu and Courler in **802AB** which saw the barbaric nature of a nation intent on revenge and sent a warning around the world. The battle, named the 'Battle of the Rose', was won when Gonarundu eventually surrended. With no room or food, along with fearing a rebellion, for the large amount of prisoners they had acquired, General Ou Ki disarmed the soldiers and used the townspeople nearby to dig a giant grave. He then buried all soldiers and townspeople to be buried alive, leaving 200 of the youngest soldiers to be maimed and spread fear throughout the world.

The reaction from the world was harsh, believing Courler to be monsters or demons in disguise. Trade was tough for the time being, though the fear from Courlers, or more directly King Azouns wrath caused many nations to drop their embargos.

King Azoun III met with various leaders to discuss a new trade alliance, choosing to meet at his palace and show them around the city for entertainment. These meetings also came with large events and banquets to impress the nobles and diplomats he was trading with. These discussions is where the assassination took place.

## Assassination

The Events of the day was a soccer game, showing some of the culture and respect to Gonarundu even though they traded heavy blows from the war.

The game was quite uneventful, leaving King Azoun III to go and personally grab his own drink alongside the diplomat from Ralia. On his trip to the bar, two Assassins managed to sneak through and kill his guards with a quick slice to the neck. King Azoun III managed to fight the two off for some time, using his dagger and wrestling one of their weapons away. While he was wounded in the process, it was not fatal. A third assassin came before the guards, stabbing into the Monarchs back before running away with their companions. Ian Zheng managed to corner one of the assassins escaping and kill them, believing that more were held for questioning.

Though the stab wound for King Azoun was normally not in a dire situation it was laced with a unique poison that caused his rapid decline and death within minutes. Healers at the time were unable to cure the poison even through magical means.

The two assassins were captured later and tortured for questions, only ever revealing they were from the Black Rose.

## Aftermath

In the aftermath of the Assassination Courlerians took to the streets. They grieved for their King in their own way, burning prayers or going to churches and offering gifts. For the armies a series of attacks were planned, not to gain land but to simply kill as many of their enemy as possible before retreating.

Prince Ian was able to calm some of the masses down, though the lack of a culprit did not help matters.

In the end Prince Ian was crowned King and his son was named Prince and first heir. King Ian declared a true act of war, rather than petty skirmishes. His first step was enacting the Five Great Generals, allowing specific generals to hold armies in a certain manner and fighting how they see fit without being bogged down by politics. It was a plan of his for a while though the death of the King sped up the process, seeing the 'Great Warring Period' commence.