Reymond I

"Find what your enemy fears the most, and exploit it like nothing else ever has." - Reymond I

Honno Meudaeris Poull, known most commonly by his royal name, Reymond I, was the first First Allegiant of Etermel of the Trebai Ascendancy. Born in 7997, Reymond became famous for his military expertise, quickly rising to the rank of Grand General of the Trebai military during the Twenty-Year War. With Chief Admiral Ivona of Vell, he secured control of the High Kingdom of Atla Vera and founded the Ascendancy. Following the war, he became First Allegiant of Etermel of the newly-created government, but was killed later by Ivona I.

Early Life

Reymond was born in 7997 in the Trebai province of Brakerk. He was a member of House Poull, which, despite claiming to be related to both the Unknown Orator and Veshek Redoran, was relatively little-known. The family suffered under constant attempts by House Brandenben to seize their land before the Twenty-Year War, and by the time Reymond was an adult, his family occupied only a small sliver of coastline.   As a child, Reymond was known for being antisocial and reserved. He was the second son of his parents, though their eldest, Freda, suffered from an array of chronic illnesses. Freda was the only person Reymond got along with as a child; outside of his education, he spent most of his time with her. When Freda died at the age of thirteen, Reymond was emotionally devastated. Looking for somewhere to sink all of his sadness into, he became extremely interested in the writings of the Unknown Orator-- especially De Arte Militare, an essay on war. It was here that Reymond's passion for military tactics began.   When he was fourteen years old, Reymond published his own treatise on the military. The essay shocked his family, because it largely refuted many of the Unknown Orator's points, whereas most previous Trebai writings on war merely analyzed and dug deeper into De Arte Militare. Reymond dared to express his own ideas, which were initially met with ridicule. Among these ideas were the use of psychological warfare, the implementation of experimental technology, and a focus on the capabilities of a very small army.   When he was nineteen, Reymond ignored his father's wishes for peace and staged a daring assault on House Brandenben, using only a hundred men. He did so by implementing a prototype of one of his inventions, the Fire Wagon, and taking the enemies by complete surprise. Once he had a tenuous hold on the castle, the rest of his family, dumbfounded, joined him. They were able to fend off counterattacks by the remaining forces of House Brandenben, and, shocking the surrounding area, were able to quadruple their territory.  

The Twenty-Year War

House Poull, now completely under the rule of Reymond, continued to push further and expand their territory. Their gains became so dramatic that Aldo III, the ruler of the High Kingdom of Atla Vera, sent a royal army to put an end to the man's successes. Just as the two factions were preparing to do battle, however, they received word that a number of dwarven kingdoms, headed by the Makovai, had declared war on the Kingdom. Aldo called off the incursion, and House Poull joined the king in making preparations to defend their homeland.   Reymond rushed to obtain a position in Trebai High Command. However, due to his young age and relative inexperience, he was instead relegated to the command of the forces of his province. Resolving to make the best of this, Reymond quickly rushed off to battle, taking the commands of his superior officers as more of a suggestion than an order. Due to his use of new technology, Reymond enjoyed several victories, while much of the rest of the Trebai forces fell to the overwhelming advances of the Makovai. Eventually, Reymond was forced to retreat, to ensure that he would not become surrounded by the advancing Makovai.   As the amount of Trebai-controlled territory grew smaller and smaller, Reymond received a series of promotions; despite this, the rest of the army still refused to implement his ideas. This was in part due to the fact that, as the Makovai began to get used to Reymond's fire wagons, they became better at defeating them. Moreover, they deployed experimental technology of their own, such as the Groundwrecker.   Without the consent of the King, Reymond proceeded to make a contract with the Sunlit Isles Trading Company, ordering a thousand Thunderbird-Class Miniature Cannons, for which he had composed the earliest designs. This point marked the beginning of control of the war effort shifting from King Aldo to Reymond and Daphnea arms companies. It also marked start of the first major Trebai successes in the war.   As the Trebai, armed with an increasing amount of experimental technology, pushed the Makovai back, Reymond became aware of a plot by fellow general Zeredeus Zeno to overthrow King Aldo. Aldo, as a result of his old age and increasing insanity caused by the duration of the war, had publicly given control of the war effort to the Trebai God Etermel, and was in a noticeably weak position. Reymond came to Zeno, a far older and more experienced general than him, and offered his support for an eventual coup of the High Kingdom of Atla Vera. Zeno accepted his help, and tasked Reymond with contacting Trebai Chief Admiral Ivona of Vell to obtain her support.   Ivona accepted their plan. They publicly formed the Alliance of the Three, openly declaring that they now served as Allegiants of Etermel, not to the king. In secret, Reymond and Ivona planned to quietly kill Zeno and take his place as co-rulers. All the while, Reymond continued to deploy experimental technology with increasing levels of brutality, as the Makovai lost more and more of their forces and territory to the efforts of him and his fellow generals. Most famously, he unleashed the magical construct Malevolence Five upon the Makovai, which helped to finally break their will and force them to surrender.  

Creation of the Trebai Ascendancy

Late in the year 8045, peace talks began with the kingdoms of the Makovai, though fighting on the ground continued. Zeno headed the peace talks while Reymond and Ivona returned to the city of Redoran and stormed the king's palace with a small, elite force headed by Reymond. Members of this force included some of Reymond's oldest veterans, some who served with him in the raid on the castle of House Brandenben. As this was happening, Ivona parked her fleet outside the city in Obsidian Bay, and King Aldo was informed that the city would be bombared if he did not surrender. Aldo complied, and was exiled to a quiet country home outside of the city. Already old and sick, he died less than a year later.   During the peace talks, Zeno was informed that Reymond and Ivona no longer considered him an ally, and now requested his surrender. Zeno was able to finish the peace talks, securing a Makovai surrender, and gathered up an abundance of soldiers loyal to him. When Reymond heard of this, he gathered his forces and rushed to do battle with Zeno, who was headed down the River Halvoy. Meanwhile, Ivona declared the foundation of the Trebai Ascendancy in each of their names, declaring herself the First Allegiant of Etermel along with Reymond. Reymond took the royal name "Reymond I" to honor his father.  

Battle of Orenheid Bend and Death

Both commanders' forces halted when they met each other on opposite sides of the river. Reymond learned to his surprise that Zeno had managed to bring with him several dwarvish legions who viewed him as responsible for the overly-cruel tactics deployed by the Trebai. Reymond had made deals with the Makovai for better post-war treatment if he was to receive help in fighting Reymond and Ivona.   Outnumbered 5 to 1, Reymond abandoned his initial plan to divide his troops and have some of them flank the enemy. Camped in the trading town of Hermanden, Reymond devised a new strategy: while his soldiers dismantled the town's buildings to make landing craft for their trek across the river, he filled his personal vessel with explosives. Once the landing craft were prepared, Reymond sent his vessel across the river where it lit aflame and disrupted Zeno's defenses. Using this as a diversion, Reymond's forces landed upon the shore and began a fierce battle.   The battle lasted into the night. Reymond himself entered the frey, sustaining several wounds but persisting anyway. Both sides suffered excessive casualties, with neither gaining an advantage for quite some time. Just as Reymond's forces were about to turn the tide, both sides saw a mass of ships heading down the river. Lit by the torches on each ship was the banner of Chief Admiral Ivona.   Reymond's relief quickly turned to shock when Ivona began firing on the entire mass, rather than making strategic strikes at Zeno's forces. When Reymond's warriors tried to separate themselves from their enemies, the bombardment followed him, and Reymond realized that Ivona had the intention of being the last Trebai military leader standing.   The bombardment lasted until the morning, with all of Reymond's and Zeno's forces either fleeing or dead. Reymond, having lost his right arm and bleeding out on the battlefield, was brought before Ivona, who executed him on the spot using her own rapier.