War of Taeghean Succession

Taeghas » War of Taeghean Succession
In 1499, Rhuobhe Manslayer raided the borderlands of Taeghas, and Count Alfred Khorien and his son and heir, Edgar Khorien were slain in an ambush laid by the Manslayer. The realm of Taeghas was thrown into chaos. Edgar was Alfred's acknowledged heir and the realm was up for grabs.
Immediatly, Aeric Boeruine put forward the claims of Roger Khorien, Alfred's brother. During Borric Boeruine's reign, Boeruine made many overtures to woo Taeghas from its neutrality and the threat of Veladrin Avan made this a sensible policy. Though Alfred's father, Albert Khorien did not forge an alliance with Boeruine, he did seek closer ties by marrying his son, Roger to Borric's daughter, Aurelia Boeruine. Roger was, in his day, a proud and capable warrior who looked good on horseback. He had a notable appeal among the nobility and the army. The swift tendering of Roger's claim, its support from Boeruine and his connections to that great house, and Roger's appeal in such key segments of the kingdom gave every indication that the Archduke Aeric has scored a major coup against his long time rival, Darien Avan, the Prince of Avanil.
Harald Khorien was a younger son sent off to study with Lucien of the Seven Stars in order to help the family with an academic, and perhaps even arcane, education. The sudden death of his father and brother put Harald into a difficult bind. One the one hand, he wished to pursue a life of study and astrology instead of politics and rulership. One the other, it was becoming evident that Roger would not be comfortable with Harald remaining in Taeghas, and there were even rumors of assassins challenging Harald's peace of mind. As it happened, Lucien of the Seven Stars orchestrated a meeting between Darien Avan and Harald that proved critical. Darien proposed that Harald advance his own claims to the County of Taeghas, with the support of Avanil, that Harald would be the court mage of Avanil and could pursue the life of a source wizard in Taeghas and Avanil, while Avanil would assist Harald in the routine tasks of governing the county and defending the realm from Roger and Aeric. This suited Harald, and he appeared before the court in Stormpoint and gave what turned out to be an unexpectedly stirring speech advancing his own claims to the county as Alfred's son. As many of the most strongly pro-Roger nobles were already in Boeruine in attendance of Roger, the court at home turned profoundly pro-Harald.
It was now clear that Roger and Harald would fight for the throne, backed by Boeruine and Avanil respectively. There was one last setback for Roger. The Captain General of Taeghas, William Nentril, was an Avanese noblemen, and strongly supported Harald over Roger, given their attachments to the Prince and the Archduke respectively. William countered Roger's appeal in the army by removing Roger's partisans, many who were in Roger's court and away from their formations, and replaced them with men loyal to himself. As such, Roger was almost entirely dependent on Boeruine's army. Their hope was that a swift military victory would shake the court at Stormpoint and rally the nobles to Roger's side.
Only two months after the death of Count Alfred, Roger nominally lead an army into Taeghas to claim his birthright. Immediatly a complication arose. As the Count of Bayside, Roger wanted to move deep into Taeghean territory and use his own county in bayside as a base. It was centrally located in Taeghas, and substantial. Archduke Aeric, was more concerned about maintaining lines of communication back to Boeruine, and keeping tabs on the Avanese forces. In the county of Portage, Aeric Boeruine won a decisive battle at Ambelside, which he hoped would bring the court and nobility over to Roger's cause. Captain General William Nentril rallied his army and reinforced it with new recruits paid by Avanese gold. At the same time, Prince Avan brought his own army into Taeghas, and forced Boeruine to keep an eye on the bridges across the Elfwash River. The Archduke's concern was that if Avan got behind him and destroyed the bridges back into Boeruine, his army would wither away slowly and the Prince would never have to give battle. The Archduke wanted to preserve his lines of retreat as well as supply so that he could force Prince Darien to give battle.
Rhobher Nichaleir, Archprelate of the Western Imperial Temple of Haelyn, tried to invest Harald with the County, and Thuriene Donalls tried to invest Roger as well. Neither ritual proved effective and the conflict continued.
Facellies Sloere of the Taeghan Outfitters met with Harald, who promised that neither Parnien Anuvier Iniere of Prince's Pride nor Eriene Mierelen of the Brosen Royal Guild would be given license in Taeghas and offered Facellies a monopoly position in the county. Assured of his security, Facellies backed Harald.
The armies maneuvered across northern Taeghas, but Taeghas always seemed to know when and where to defend. The Archduke was worried about spies, but was also wary that Harald, an astrologer before seeking the throne, was reading his deployments in the stars.
Harald himself was also touring the country winning popular support for his cause, while Roger was in camp with the army of Boeruine. As he did so, he began to discover the sources of the land speaking to him, and began to acquire source holdings. All the while Harald's position was growing stronger. Even so, one great battle could force Avanil out of the war, and leave Taeghas to Roger.
Arlen Innis tried to shield Boeruine's army from scrying and other divination, but Taeghas seemed always to know the movements and dispositions of the Archduke's forces. When Arlen declared that the course of magic had changed in the province and that Harald had very likely gained control of a source in Portage, it was clear that time was running out. The armies of Taeghas and Avanil were slowly growing day by day, and Boeruine was running short of coin. Boldly he tried to place his army between that of Taeghas and Avanil so he could defeat each one seperatly, but whenever he tried the two armies came together as if they had foreseen his plans.
In the spring of 1501, Rhobher Nichaleir's investiture ritual was successful and Harald Khorien was in control of the land and holdings of Taeghas. Aeric Boeruine acknowledged Harald as Count of Taeghas and withdrew his support formal support for Roger. The war was over.
Roger was then divested of his county in Bayside, and William Nentril was awarded the county. Roger Khorien is generally acknowledged as a count, but the title is honorary. Though Aeric Boeruine has not declared Roger the true count of Taeghas in any recent war, it is assumed that if the Archduke did occupy Taeghas, he would install his brother-in-law as Count in place of Harald.