Paragon Rebellions

The **Paragon Rebellions** or **The First Visimarian Rebellion** was a war in 539 to 553. The war was declared immediately after the rise of the rank of Arch-Confessor within the Holy Empire. This decision clearly divided the nobility who on one side believed that the Order of Paragon was a fanatical group of pagans whos worship was created just to gain power within the Empire of Visimar while the other half were firm believers and supporters in the decision to establish an Arch-Confessor.

## History

### The Separation - 539

After the declaration of war against the Holy Empire of Visimar, the now Western Empire of Visimar was quick to give refuge to the nobles that supported this new empire but were on the wrong side of the empire. Some of these nobles were caught while sneaking over to the WEV and were promptly executed by the initiative of faith militias and fanatical nobility. The Western Empire was slow to raise forces but in 540, they raised number around 30,000 soldiers.

### Initial Conflict (The First War of Visimar) - 539-548

Once the forces of the Western Empire were great in numbers, they marched the entire force over the newly established borders and sacked and pillaged. The towns they were sacking were then taken over by the Western Empire, who's soldiers were keen on destroying anything related to the Order of Paragon, this brought new recruits to the army as there were some peasants and commoners who felt the need to join the Western Empires army because of their resentment against the Order. As the Holy Empire gathered men from the eastern regions and levied as many faith militias that they could account for, they marched out to meet the raiding armies of the Western Empire.

This soon resulted in battles across the Empire, with many victories given to both sides of martial ability. The deciding factor of the war would occur in 544, just 5 years after the conflict during the Battle of Ansee Abby which saw over twenty thousand soldiers on the field. This battle would see a Holy Empire victory after the death of the Western Emperor Konrad II, who had suffered from an unhealed infection from a wound while on the field. The conflict would soon cease after this to recover and reorganize on both sides.

The conflict would soon kick back up in 546 when the Holy Empire laid siege to the Western Empire's strongest castle in the North, Castle Enkle. This siege would be unbroken and would last until late 547 when a large scale assault would break the walls and eventually have the castle sacked. This loss of a fortress meant that the tides were beginning to turn against the western empire who soon sued for peace in 548. This peace would be unstable at the least as both sides raided one another in small scales during the cease-fire.

During this peace, an heir to Konrad was chosen among the divided nobility of the Western Empire and soon enough, Emperor Ragnfred was chosen. This led to some minor outcry between the nobility, but no major division would occur as their main enemy was still a threat to all of them.

### The Second War of Visimar - 548-549

Another war would soon erupt once more just 8 months after the cease-fire. The Western Empire would again march their army of 50,000 soldiers straight for Midheim around 549 to directly besiege the city and end the Order of Paragon then and there. The siege would prove to be the last major offensive the Western Empire would commit to before its sudden collapse after the death of Emperor Lazlo.

Before the army was able to establish the siege, however, a large host of faith militia and the large garrison of the Palantine Guard in Midheim would face the larger army in the field of battle to allow the escape of the majority of citizens in Midheim. The 1st Battle of Midheim would come underway and just under a few hours of battle, and the total destruction of the young divisions of the Palantine Guard, the Western Empire would be able to besiege the city, which housed only a few thousand citizens and lesser nobles. Because of the sacrifice that the garrison made, both Emperor Ragnfred and thousands of Midheim citizens were able to escape into safe territory.

After just a few months, Midheim was the Western Empires. But before any victory celebration was to be had, many soldiers of the WEV were shocked to see that the Holy Empire's host was on the hill overlooking them. The 2nd Battle of Midheim would occur just days after the 1st battle. This time, over two hundred thousand men would fight in a week-long battle, it's been said that Emperor Ragnfred charged his cavalry wing at the exposed Emperor Lazlo who was conducting the battle behind the lines when Ragnfred's wing his the flank of the emperor's retinue, it's been said that Ragnfred stuck a lance through the side of Lazlo's chest as he charged into his bodyguard. The battle proved to be the end of the Second War of Visimar as the Western Army collapsed into a frantic retreat back to the Western Empire.

### The Death of Emperor Lazlo - 549

The sudden death of Emperor Lazlo would see the sudden end and fragmentation of the Western Empire of Visimar. Had it not been for his death, it is certain that the Empire would have fallen already as the Empire was poorly governed by its nobility who then blamed the Emperor for not treating them well during the times of war. This would have culminated into another conflict if the Emperor was to win the 2nd Battle of Midheim and eventually the war. Many historians agreed that the Western Empire of Visimar was a doomed cause that was more than likely to have collapsed upon itself once the fury of the Rebellions had passed. Factions and Sub-Factions would emerge from the fallen empire as the nobility banded together to face the threat of the Holy Empire, as some nobles were willing to fight to the end, others were willing to pledge their allegiance to the Holy Empire as a request for forgiveness.

Some nobles were able to secure their lands again with little repercussions while others were executed for their outrageous crimes and contributions to the Western Empire. After the purges and repledges, the Holy Empire took three years to subdue these factions. Some were easily destroyed and put into the Empire's fold once again, while others like the League of Razvan who had the support of the local clan of the Great Hog. These factions were a struggle but eventually, were reintegrated into the Empire around 553.

### Aftermath 549-560

This conflict would see the hatred of the Order of Paragon among the western nobility for generations to come. This hatred can be seen throughout the empire's history, especially during any other civil wars as these nobles would usually join the side against the parties that controlled Midheim, the religious capital of Clamund. The memory of Emperor Lazlo and Konrad II would be forever tarnished in the official history of Visimar, calling these tyrant emperors heathens and a heretics of the highest order. This tarnishment would make some of the nobility question their loyalty, but no major outcry for the Western Emperors acknowledgement would take place, putting the Holy Empire into a quiet state of uneasy peace for centuries to come.