War_of_the_Brelish_Succession

=The War of the Brelish Succession: Is it Inevitable?=

Sar, 7 Therendor 998 YK
WROAT -- There are many in Breland who fear that events following the sudden death of King Boranel ir'Wynarn early last month will drag this peaceful, prosperous nation to the brink of civil war. And given the unsettling news out of Sharn, these fears are not without merit.

It has been nearly five weeks since the death of King Boranel, and seven weeks since he relinquished day-to-day authority to his brother, Prince (now Regent) **Kor ir'Wynarn**. Regent Kor, in turn, adjourned Parliament before they could cast votes for the new First Speaker and Lord Chancellor -- internal elections in which **Lord Ruken ir'Klarn** and his anti-monarchist allies were likely to prevail, according to confidential sources.

Prince Bortan's Travels
Enter Prince **Bortan ir'Wynarn**, the late king's eldest surviving son, who has served as Royal Steward (in charge of the Crown's finances and border security) since he resigned his Army commission eight years ago. After being passed over for Regent, the Prince announced his resignation from the post of Royal Steward (effective when Parliament reconvenes), and even before his father's death he was sighted visiting towns, villages and hamlets throughout northern and central Breland, traveling on a privately-chartered airship with a minimal entourage said to include his half-sister **Princess Audrina**. Observers contacted by the //Chronicle// report that the Prince's speeches have been engaging and forceful in asserting his claim to the throne.

"The only reason my Father would have named an Heir Designate is if he'd intended to pass over his eldest child," the Prince said at the village of Ringbriar. "My Father didn't name an heir, nor did he hand the crown to my Uncle, Prince Kor. Therefore, by the Galifar Code from which the laws of Breland sprung, I am your new King."

The //Chronicle// observers add that nearly all of Prince Bortan's speeches have been made in towns with Brelish Army barracks, or villages near where army units are camped. In the past day have come rumors that Prince Bortan may also withdraw his resignation as Royal Steward -- since the Office commands multiple law enforcement, border patrol and other armed units numbering up to 10,000, including Deputies, Wardens, Bailiffs, the Breland Coast Guard and the floating fortress Argonth.

Reached at his castle outside Mistmarsh, **Baron Curzon ir'Dorn**, a longtime friend of King Boranel and one of his strongest allies in Parliament, was carefully diplomatic. "While it is true that the Galifar Code states that the eldest child succeeds where no Heir Designate has been named," the baron said, "the Last War started when the siblings ruling Breland, Thrane and Karrnath rejected that very claim by their eldest sister, the Queen of Cyre. I daresay that //Brelish// precedent is at least as important as the rules of succession for Galifar-that-was."

Regent Kor's Travails
For his part, Regent Kor has not been idle. For a man who turns 71 later this year, he has shown considerable vigor in his recent actions in both domestic and foreign policy. However, the results have been decidedly mixed.

The handling of his brother's final resting place has been called a "disaster" by several figures in King Boranel's funeral procession. In the days after the King's passing, Regent Kor stated that his body would be borne to Thronehold Castle, there to be interred in the mausoleum where the Emperors of Galifar rest. This move, seen as putting the King of Breland on an equal footing with the Emperors of united Galifar, was swiftly denounced by Aundair and Karrnath even as the lightning rail carrying the King and his procession reached the Thrane border. Thrane, which did not immediately denounce the plan, agreed to allow a Brelish-flagged airship to carry Boranel over Thrane airspace to Throneport in Scions' Sound.

The airship docked in the Brelish-controlled sector of Throneport. In an attempt to break the impasse, Regent Kor announced that Breland would agree to allow Queen Aurala of Aundair, King Kaius of Karrnath and "Queen Diani" of Thrane to also be interred in Thronehold Castle. This statement did nothing to mollify the Karrns and Aundairians, and had the additional effect of alienating Thrane, where the Church of the Silver Flame has ruled for more than 80 years. "Offering //Blood Regent// Diani, a powerless figurehead, the same privilege as the rulers of Aundair, Breland and Karrnath is an insult to the Keeper of the Flame," said one observer in Princess Deardra's entourage.


 * Princess Deardra ir'Wynarn**, a daughter of King Boranel who married into the Thrane royal family and who escorted her father's procession through Thrane, reportedly tried to apologize on her uncle's behalf, but the Council of Cardinals rejected the overture. The Keeper, Jaela Daran, had no comment. The impact on the King's procession was immediate -- the King's body has been "temporarily" placed in a sarcophagus in a Sovereign Host chapel in the Brelish sector of Throneport, and the airship //Golden Dragon// is reportedly returning to Breland under the Kraken flag of House Lyrandar.

The Cyran Question
Another move by Regent Kor has also met with widespread criticism. In late Olarune he used the Crown's power to make recess appointments during periods when Parliament is not in session to name **Prince Oargev ir'Wynarn**, last member of Cyre's royal family and leader of the ragtag Cyran refugees living in New Cyre, Governor of the Yedan's Expanse region. In return, the new governor renounced all claim to the Throne of Galifar and swore fealty to the Brelish Crown.

Since then, rumors have swirled that Oargev's appointment was part of a much larger deal brokered by King Boranel himself, involving Breland, Darguun, Zilargo and the Cyran survivors. Indeed, the recent move by Lhesh Haruuc of Darguun to release hundreds of ethnic Cyrans and Zil Gnomes -- enslaved inside Goblin-held territory ever since Haruuc's successful rebellion against Cyre 28 years ago -- is seen as another part of the rumored deal. Word from the Red Keep in Darguun is that thousands more of these ex-Cyrans and their children will be expelled in the coming months, with most expected to settle in and around New Cyre and be granted Brelish residency. This news has been met with opposition from inside Darguun, where many tribal leaders insist that keeping slaves is both a cultural imperative of the Goblin peoples since the founding of the Empire of Dhakaan fiften thousand years ago, and critically important to Darguun's economy.

On the Breland side, the //Voice of Breland// (a monthly broadsheet published in the town of Fith'Hagen, thought by some to be a mouthpiece for the anti-monarchist Swords of Liberty movement) has denounced the rumored deal, saying these Cyran nationals, secretly armed and trained by the Goblins, would quickly join forces with New Cyre and Goblin raiders from the Seawall Mountains to start a new war against Breland.

Royals Taking Sides

 * Prince Julian sides with "Koristas" -- dismissed by observers because he's an officer in the King's Citadel, still commanded by Regent Kor
 * Princess Borina, in Karrnath, has no preference -- but she's both young and dull-witted
 * Prince Aejar still missing in the western Blackcap Mountains, presumed dead
 * No word from Prince Cleon or Princess Fiona -- but rumors in Sharn have one or both endorsing Lord Ruken as an elected Prime Minister and an end to hereditary rule altogether. Other rumors -- that both possess exceptionally large aberrant dragonmarks and are now leading the criminal gang known as "House" Tarkanan -- cannot be confirmed.
 * Prince Brask reportedly traveling with his cousin, Baron Lujaad -- or perhaps quietly studying to be a priest of Boldrei in Sharn.
 * Prince Halix, a freshman at Rekkenmark Academy in Karrnath, says he will stand behind whoever is eventually crowned, in the interests of Brelish unity (too bad he's not five years older).
 * Princess Audrina has made two appearances with her half-brother, Prince Bortan, but has not publicly declared herself a "Bortanite" (some say she drew more applause than Prince Bortan when they appeared together)
 * Princess Florimel, who married Baron Mossimo d'Deneith, has reportedly implored the Deneith leadership to // not // offer Blademarks mercenaries to either side should hostilities break out.
 * Princess Deardra, who married the younger brother of Blood Regent Diani of Thrane, has been silent -- but the former commander of her personal guard has been sighted near Sterngate and New Cyre.