“The history of the Kingdom of Posuin, undisputed Hegemon of western Alcidea, stemmed from a collection of tribal communities in prehistoric times. These communities often traded, mingled, as well as fought and warred with each other, doubly so when some of the northern tribes accepted migrant foreigners and intermarried with them.

Sometime in the past millennium, the tribes were faced with the threat of the growing human kingdoms to their east, as well as the occasional orcish raids from the north, and the rapidly burgeoning dwarven settlement to their south-east.

It was during these periods that all the tribes, big and small, poor and prosperous, gathered together and decided to unite into one whole, the entity which later became the kingdom of Posuin as we know it. ‘Posuin’ itself was the tribal word for ‘Unity’, chosen as the name of the kingdom to highlight the hopes of the tribesmen that they would be united as all, despite all their differences.

What few historical texts from the early Kingdom period as well as tales of the past indicated that they held onto this ideal well for the first few centuries. Over time, however, as the kingdom grew larger and more prosperous, the former tribes - now noble houses - began to fight for their own benefits rather than the benefits of the kingdom as a whole, which led to the fractious Kingdom we know of nowadays.” - Henrietta Iolbves, Royal Historian for the Clangeddin Empire, Circa 572 VA.

“This is quite a retinue you got along with you,” commented Aideen shortly after their convoy left Dvergarder. She was seated in the Ducal carriage, along with Pedro, his younger sister Sandra, and Solenia who she was already familiar with. Their carriage was preceded by four larger wagons where a dozen knights were seated in two rows, and followed by another six carriages which carried their servants, retainers, and other assistants.

Three of the Duchy’s Knight-Captains, including Graciela who Aideen already knew, rode on horses along with another dozen knights who escorted the convoy from all sides. At the moment, they were not very vigilant since they were still in the duchy’s territory, but the way all the knights were fully armed and armored spoke for the sort of troubles they expected going forward.

“Aren’t the people going to be worried if so many knights marched across the lands?” she asked with curiosity to the siblings.

“They are pretty used to it nowadays, sadly,” replied Sandra from across the carriage. She was seated next to Pedro, while Solenia was placed next to Aideen. “Uncle told me that it was more peaceful in grandfather’s days, that we’d only take an honor guard of six knights with us when we traveled the lands back then. Sadly the divisions of interest had since intensified, doubly so in father’s generation.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“That reminds me,” added Pedro to the conversation, the young noble looking animated and lively, even if the still visible purplish bruises on his face had not yet fully healed. “Sol told us about what you were doing in Knallzog. If you like, you can do the same in the villages and cities where we’d be having our rest stops.”

“Would that not draw untoward ire towards you all?” asked Aideen out of consideration for her hosts. The Uthgwes family had treated her well and been very helpful, and she was not one to repay kindness with ill intent. “Your father said the Unburdened Healers had a strong influence here.”

“Eh, Dad always brought some healers along with him whenever he traveled and pulled a similar stunt anyway, a middle finger to the inbred bastards around the capital, as it were,” replied Pedro rather nonchalantly. “This issue with the healers is merely one of many disagreements that dad, and by a large extent, the border duchies, had with the centrals. The fire’s long been lit, it wouldn’t hurt to toss another log or three into it.”

“On this specific issue with the healers, our father had also taken the hardest stance against their practices because our lands were the furthest away from the capital and the central duchies, so we could afford it,” added Sandra from the side, the young woman had a pair of glasses perched on her nose, and dressed more like a civil official, unlike her siblings who wore simple clothes that were easy to move in. “Uncle Hass in Jonkver and Aunt Melania in Algenverr doesn’t have as much leeway in the matter. They were far closer to the capital and would have been impacted negatively by drawing a line so clearly.”

“Political expediency. I get the reason,” replied Aideen with a nod. She understood the idea all too well, that people were unable to do what they felt was right because their people would end up suffering more from the payback should they push for it. Vitalica, the old nation she grew up in, not the new one that took its name, was often placed in similar dilemmas in the past. “Does your King have no say in all this? I can’t imagine such a political divide being good for the Kingdom.”

Pedro and Sandra remained silent to her question, though from their undisguised expressions of disgust and loathing she was clear what they thought of the matter. They probably had not voiced their thoughts since it would be an insult to the crown.

“It’s inconvenient for my older siblings to say it straight out, but basically, our so-called king on the golden throne has been a puppet for the noble lords for… three generations and counting now,” said Solenia at last from beside her. “We from the border duchies and the centrals are just two of many factions. The largest two, sure, but on our own we would have a hard time calling for any policies to be done.”

“Alliances and betrayals are a common thing between the nobles here. It is mostly because the lot of us could never agree on one thing that nobody had ever managed to push their benefits above everyone else so far, but for all we know that might change soon,” added Sandra as she clarified the local political situation. “The centrals are on a rise of late, and have been busy courting smaller factions to ally with them.”

“We also had a bad king, one even we openly call a tyrant, just four generations ago,” added Pedro to the conversation. “That was what led to our current situation, where the king is mostly a figurehead puppet with little power of their own. Nobody wanted to give them too much power, lest a repeat of Oguru the Terrible happened.”