Aquitania
The timeline of the County Simulutunum and the Magnus Family.
Prior to 470: The Magnus family was a renowned name within the Republic/Empire. Though the Republic/Empire had started succumbing to weakness and depravity, the Magnus Family still held its prestige and the respect of the people for their commitment to securing the Empires future. The Magnus’s were not the most powerful family in the Empire, or the richest; but they did have loyalty, prudence, and fortitude of character which carried with it the respect of leader and follower alike.
44 BCOE: This is the year that the fates decided to improve the Magnus family’s station in life. 44 BCOE marks the year that Octavian, a powerful political figure and strategic thinker, discovers his long-time mentor and surrogate father, Julius, was murdered by members of the Republic. Octavian and his childhood friend Matheus Magnus begin their journey to overthrow the Republic and return her people to their former glory, just as Julius had sought to achieve.
43 BCOE: Octavian, Lepidus, and Antony use their wealth and influence to convince the Republic to give them dictatorial powers over different parts of the Republic. The three leaders, aided by Matheus Magnus and Marcus Agrippa, begin eliminating Senators of the Republic that posed a threat to the three men. They subsequently divided the Republic into three parts: Octavian would receive direct ownership of the Western provinces, Lepidus would receive the Southern province, and Antony would receive the Eastern provinces.
42 BCOE: Octavian was informed by Matheus Magnus of possible intrigue involving Sextus Pompeius. Sextus had control of the shipping lanes within the Republic and had become dissatisfied with the policies created and the actions taken by Octavian. In an attempt to defuse tensions, Octavian purposed he marry one of Pompeius’s relatives. The plan was in vain and Pompeius plotted behind Octavian’s back. Pompeius attempted to create a deal with Antony which would be unfavorable to Octavian, but Antony refused and the alliance between Octavian and Antony deepened.
37 BCOE: Octavian sends Matheus Magnus to negotiate an agreement with Antony which will supply Octavian with ships that he needs to begin his expedition against Sextus Pompeius. Matheus Magnus is successful, but Matheus will be required to assist Antony in his campaign against the Patrician Empire in the east.
36 BCOE: With the agreement signed by Antony, Octavian charges Marcus Agrippa with command over the combined fleets of Antony and Octavian fleet to fight Sextus. In the same year, Lepidus challenged Octavian but was summarily defeated by Matheus Magnus. Matheus brought Lepidus before Octavian for execution, but Octavian forced Lepidus to retreat to the countryside and retire. Octavian’s choice to let Lepidus live shocked a lot of people, but Octavian most certainly had a plan for Lepidus.
32 BCOE: When the Republic was shared between Octavian, Lepidus, and Antony, Antony requested the portion that would have a certain client state that answered to it. Antony had history with the Queen. Intoxicated by the beauty of an exotic woman, Antony starts ceding Republic lands to a foreign Queen.
Many years earlier, Julius had saved the Queen and helped secure her throne from her younger brother and his power-hungry advisors. The Queen claimed that her boy was the son of Julius, but, besides the timing fitting, there was no real evidence to back her claim and she was regarded as an untrustworthy person.
Antony was a commander during the campaign to secure the Queen’s throne. As Julius’s right hand man, Antony had a lot of access to the Queen and many battles were won because of the coordination between Julius and Antony. The Queen had a lot of admiration for Julius and Antony.
After gaining control of the Eastern provinces, Antony, whom is married to Octavian’s sister, moves to the Queen’s capital and has a love affair with the Queen, straining his relations with Octavian even further. When Antony cedes some Republic lands to the Queen, Octavian uses the information to fuel his campaign against Antony. The Republic, as a whole, is outraged by Antony’s actions and supports Octavian against Antony.
31 BCOE: Octavian gives Agrippa command of his fleets once again to meet Antony and the Foreign Queen in battle. Fearing for her life, the Queen flees the battlefield with her forces and Antony’s forces are defeated. What few remnants that remain of Antony’s army retreats with him to the Queen’s Capital.
30 BCOE: Octavian and Matheus invaded the Queen’s country. Octavian surrounded the Capital where Anthony and the Queen were hiding. With nowhere to run, Antony committed suicide believing the Queen had already done so. After surrendering to Octavian, the Queen realized that she would be used as a trophy for Octavian’s Triumph so she committed suicide a few weeks after surrendering. Octavian killed the supposed child of Julius and used the Queen and Antony’s children as trophies and tools to defame Antony.
28 BCOE: In light of the treachery of many political figures in the Republic, their attempts to defame Octavian, and their abuse of power,
Octavian systematically forces Senators into retirement or has them eliminated.
27 B.C.O.E: This is the year that the Empire is created out of the ashes of the former Republic. Octavian, supported by many leaders like Marcus Agrippa and Matheus Magnus, united the people under one ruler giving birth to the Empire. Though the Senate and Republic still exist, all the power lies with Octavian.
12 BCOE: Lepidus and Agrippa both pass away. Wanting to ensure his descendants will rule over the Empire, Octavian has his daughter marry Tiberius, his stepson.
4 COE: Octavian adopted Tiberius making him his son and heir. Later Octavian conferred powers onto Tiberius that were nearly equal to his own.
14: Octavian falls ill and dies at the age of 76 and Tiberius becomes the Principate (First Citizen).
15-377: The Empire expands and becomes more prosperous. Occasionally, factions rise that threaten the Empire, but they are all doomed to fail.
378: Marked the date that the Magnus family first became suspicious of the success of the Empire. The head of the family, Lucius, predicted that the Empire was destined to fail if the Empire did not change. Lucius had the whole Magnus family do everything they could to help the people and try to burn away the corruption that had spread through the government. Though Lucius was one of the most respected men in the government, the duplicity ran deep and Lucius could not even convince the Principate, his childhood friend and heir to the Octavian bloodline, to make reforms.
380: Lucius was slowly ostracized more and more by men he had once called friend. They all believed him to be a false profit of doom and chastised him for it. Lucius tried to wash away their ignorance with fact and logic, but to no avail.
385: Lucius began distancing his wealth from other families. He horded as much as possible and started planning to move the family to a faraway land that traders had spoken to him about, a place away from the influence of the Empire. Late in the year 385 Lucius fell ill, so he kept his children close and taught his sons as much as he could.
390: Lucius dies and passes his legacy to his 23-year-old, first-born son, Germanicus. Germanicus was a devout believer in his father, Lucius, and continued his father’s work. Germanicus could see some of his father’s suspicions being validated when government officials, who were all corrupt, started turning on one another. Most damning of all was when Germanicus would hear or be in conversations where longtime friends were plotting against one another.
392: Due to the many years of work and effort that Lucius put into his plan, Germanicus, after 2 years, could start the Magnus relocation from the failing Empire to a rumored land named Elyria.
393: The Magnus family began their pilgrimage in secret. In September of 393, word made it to Germanicus that their family villa, which was left occupied by a few family members not able or willing to travel, had been raided by an old family friend looking for the Magnus wealth. Germanicus was also told that their family was being blamed for causing insurrection within the Empire’s capital city. The Empire put a bounty on the Magnus family for treason and dispatched scouts and hunters to find them. Thanks to Germanicus and Lucius, most of the family was safe and on their way to Elyria.
395: As Lucius Magnus predicted, the Empire was crumbling and Emperor Flavius Theodisius Augustus I split the Empire into the Western half, controlled by his son Arcadius, and the Eastern half, controlled by his son Honorius, attempted to stymie the Empire’s demise.
398: Travel for the Magnus family was very slow. Most of the family was in attendance, including elderly, and they were carrying most of the family’s belongings. On top of that, the Empire had people searching for the Magnus’s. To lower suspicion, Germanicus devised a plan where small groups of the family would enter a location at different times to avoid the attention the large groups would bring. This staggered relocation lessened the likelihood of the family being discovered, but it made traversing the Empire an arduous task.
From time to time, they would not go unnoticed and Germanicus would have to spring into action. The protocol was to leave no survivors of a group that they suspected knew whom they were; the family couldn’t take any chances. Luckily, at least thus far, the Magnus’s didn’t have to kill anybody that was a non-combatant. Pretty much anyone that had “spotted” them was hired to do so.
402: Germanicus’s heir, Flavius Magnus, is born.
In the year 402 the Empire is attacked by many of the tribes they had once ruled. The Empire’s hold on its territory had lessened leading up to the split; after, the northern and western tribes that used to be suppressed were starting to act rebelliously without consequence. It did not take long for simple acts of rebellion to morph into full on aggression.
402 marked the year that the once splintered tribes had coalesced into a large enough force to actively attack the Empire and that is precisely what happened. Alaric, the leader of these tribes. Continuously attacks the Empire's borders, but loses every engagement in the year. Alaric losses did not harm his side of the rebellion, everyday more people joined, rejuvenating his ranks, and the Empire’s army weakened. By the end of the year, enough blood had spilled that the sharks were circling. The rebellion would turn into a war of attrition that the Empire would lose.
406: A very wide river to the North of the Empire separated its fringe territory from free peoples. In the Empire’s heyday the river was used as a naturally occurring barrier and defensive line to keep people out of the Empire that did not belong. At one time, the river had forts and villages along its length. After the split of the Empire, many of the forts had been abandoned and fallen into disrepair.
The winter was especially cold in 406, resulting in the river freezing over and allowing an unprecedented amount of tribe’s to cross the river in mass. Skirmishes broke out everywhere and the Western Empire consolidated its position.
410: Alaric returns with a slightly larger force to attack the Empire. With rebellion breaking out everywhere and the tribes ever encroaching on Empire soil, Alaric attacks the Capital of the Empire. The Empire’s original capital city is sacked and occupied, initiating the down fall of the Western Empire.
432: Germanicus dies at the age of 65. When Flavius takes control of the family, things are difficult. The Western Empire, though significantly weakened, still exists and there are those still in power that want Magnus heads. Additionally, the tribes had taken most of the lands that the Empire controlled and were actively hunting refugees from the Empire. Worst of all was the fact that the family had to travel deep through enemy territory in order to reach the coast, where they could purchase ships to transport them to Elyria.
This slows the family’s progress even more because they can’t enter many towns, villages, and cities that are controlled by tribes without risking being killed.
435: Flavius’s heir, Odysseus Magnus, is born.
456: Barca Magnus, first born son of Odysseus is born.
460: Flavius Magnus, not notable for much, dies from his wounds at the age of 58 after defending the family from an Agent of the Empire, Cornelius Africanus. This is his defining moment:
The family was still following Germanicus’s plan to travel in smaller groups to avoid being spotted. The groups would stay relatively close together, were they could help one another in times of crisis, but not so close that they would be easy to identify.
The Magnus’s did not know that the Empire’s second-best hunter, Cornelius Africanus, was tracking the family. Where others were looking for signs of larger group movements, Cornelius did not underestimate the Magnus family and looked for places that had experienced high quantities of individuals or small groups passing through. Cornelius would ask villages and towns if an irregular number of travelers passed through rather than if a large group had. Not many places had said they had larger than normal travelers, but plotting the ones that had on a map revealed a path to the northwest edge of the Empire’s old territory.
Cornelius had a small group of 5 soldiers that accompanied him. Cornelius and 2 of the men were children of mixed families. The three men had one parent that was a citizen of the Empire and the other was an Auxiliary in the Empire’s military. The other three men were born as purebred tribe’s people, but they were given to the Empire as children to become soldiers. All six men were very good at blending in with the tribes that had taken over the Empire’s territory. That fact is why Cornelius was chosen for the task.
In the Fall of 460, Cornelius was staying in a town that told him of a lot of people headed northwest. The night before Cornelius was supposed to head for the next town, 4 pairs of men strolled into town. Cornelius watched them, not knowing they were the rear guard of the Magnus convoy. Something about them made Cornelius itch and when observed how “proper” they were when they ate, he decided to follow them the next morning.
Flavius knew they were being shadowed. Having spent most of their time on the run, Flavius and most of the other family members had developed a keen sense of observation. At dinner the previous night and early this morning, a group of men were eye balling him and the group of 8. When they normally pass through a town, there are very few people up in the morning as early as they set out, but this time there were too many people awake to be natural.
Flavius set a trap for Cornelius. He had 6 of his men hide in the woods around the road where there was a steep shoulder. Flavius had his number two, Hannibal, pretend to have twisted his ankle and be resting while Flavius “prepares” a splint. Normally, the ruse would have worked, but Cornelius was already suspicious of these men.
When Cornelius and his men come upon the two men in the road, they were in a loose wedge formation. A fight ensues and only three were left standing, Flavius, Hannibal, and Cornelius. Cornelius managed to land some mortal wounds upon Flavius. Cornelius was left on the side of the road where he would bleed out. Hannibal was virtually unharmed and helped Flavius make the journey to the next Magnus group, but Flavius died a few days later.
463: Barca Magnus gets sick and dies in the winter at the age of 7.
468: Romulus, the second son of Odysseus is born. The first-born son, Barca, died as a child but would have been 12 when Romulus was born.
476: Marks the end of the Western Empire, and with its trade partner deceased, the Eastern Empire starts to struggle. The fall of the Western Empire also means the end of the hunters sent by the Empire and the family can finally sail to the land of Elyria.
477-478: The Magnus family makes it to the coast and begins purchasing and building ships. By the time the ships are ready and they have gathered enough supplies for the journey, the weather took a turned for the worst and the trip had to be delayed until spring.
479: Late in the year, the small fleet of ships carrying the Magnus family made landfall in Elyria. The night that they landed, Odysseus spotted lights down the coast. As the sun crested the earth the next morning, Odysseus and several guards travelled to the village where they met very pleasant people who told him about how vast the land was, but how dangerous it could be. The Magnus family would maintain contact with this village.
480-481: Odysseus had the Magnus family venture further inland in search of a strategic location where the whole family could prosper and expand. Around the summer of 481, Odysseus found the perfect location, but the area was already occupied by a few families that had created a nice little town. Odysseus broke bread with the families and asked if there was a place for the Magnus family.
To this date no one knows exactly what happened or if the misunderstanding was due to the language barrier, but the Magnus family was not so politely asked to vacate their lands. Odysseus, weary from old age and the threats the family had faced to this point, took the family into the mountains away from where they had hoped to build their home. This infuriated young Romulus to no end. The whole family could see the location they wanted to call home, but they were stuck in the mountains with infertile soil.
483: Over the years Odysseus tried to mend relations with the townsfolk but nothing seemed to help. Romulus, on the other hand, was an outspoken young man that could convince even the adults that they should take the property by force if the denizens of the town did not want to “be in their presence”.
484: Early in the year, the family received word from their friends along the coast of a treacherous illness that was spreading across the land. The letter spoke about how many people in their own village had fallen ill and died to the Cold Plague. They lamented the fact that this illness killed gruesomely and quickly.
Odysseus had already known of the illness from his limited contact with the townsfolk and the other places the Magnus’s had made contact. He did not know that the problem was as widespread as it was and he was curious why his family seemed unaffected. Unfortunately he was slowing down, so he decided to give Romulus more control over the Magnus family.
485: Romulus had been plotting for a long time. After Odysseus gave Romulus command of the day to day and command of the family fighting force, Romulus began setting things in motion to take what his family had been denied. In the fall, Romulus sprung his plan when the township was at its weakest and trying to recover from the Cold Plague. Romulus and the Magnus fighters massacred the township leaving none behind for revenge.
After hearing the news about the townsfolk, Odysseus was so angry that he beat Romulus within an inch of his life. Odysseus would have killed Romulus but he was his only living son and despite his ruthless nature, he was a very good leader for the family. With the townspeople gone, Odysseus ordered the family to move in and claim the land.
492: Romulus has two twin boys, Augustus and Caesarian, named after a great leader and a family friend spoken of in the family’s stories.
495: Odysseus dies and passes full command to his son Romulus Magnus. After Odysseus passes, Romulus starts moving to absorb all the families and lands surrounding the Magnus claim. Many people accept the offers for their land and travel to the Magnus township to be equal member citizens or they leave their territory in search of other lands with their new wealth. Some, however, refused the deal and soon ceased to exist. Word got around that Romulus offers a fair deal or fair death, so most made the deal. To be fair to Romulus, those that joined the settlement, which were more numerous than those that declined, prospered and were equal members as Romulus had stated.
512: Romulus saw that expansion was spreading him thin, so he looked inward and started focusing on defenses and infrastructure. Romulus placed Augustus, age 19 and heir, in charge of building up defenses and Caesarian in charge of the infrastructure.
513: Augustus’s first son, Marcus Magnus, was born.
515: Romulus dies at the age of 47 on the battlefield. A dispute over the lands to the north had turned violent when a young boy accidently died to a trap after venturing too close to a Magnus outpost. No one knows when Romulus died exactly, even after being impaled by a few arrows he still gave commands from his horse. Even when the battle was at its fiercest, his corpse never fell from the horse, so no one knew he had died until the battle was over. Some men say that Romulus was dead from the first arrow, but his sheer stubbornness prevented his body from revealing to the men his demise, until the battle was over.
Augustus and Caesarian were both included in the battle and suffered minor wounds. After they found their father dead, Augustus led a campaign into the neighboring region and wiped another family out of the world.
521: A group of Bandits had made a camp in the region and were terrorizing the people, both in and out of the Magnus’s territory. The bandits would indiscriminately attack towns, villages, and supply trains. As a result, people from all around the region requested that Augustus handle the problem. Augustus made agreements with several townships that he would deal with the bandits, but, in return, they would answer to the Magnus family.
True to his word, Augustus removed the bandits that plagued the region and in doing so, cemented the Magnus family as the leading family in the region. The one downside is that Augustus was wounded in the battle and later died of infection at the age of 29. Caesarian took control of the family until Augustus’s son, Marcus Magnus, came of age.
522-525: Caesarian ruled over the family well. Rather than expanding his reach via troops, he opted for the political route. Caesarian had a short run as the head of the family, giving power to Augustus’s son, Marcus, when he reached the age of 21 in 525. Caesarian continued to help and advice Marcus, until his death. Marcus loved his uncle and was grateful for everything Caesarian had taught him.
During Caesarians three-year reign, he named the city Aquitania and formed the Simulutunum Pact. The Simulutunum pact was an agreement between Aquitania and their neighbors to look out for one another. Caesarian named the pact Simulutunum because Simul ut unum in Latin means “Together as One”.
525-553: In the early years Caesarian and Marcus expanded Aquitanian territory and had more towns and cities join Simulutunum. Also During this time, Marcus meets and becomes smitten with Andara Speardancer of the Conclave. Due to Simulutunum’s rising success in the region, they started gaining the attention of other large families.
539: Marcus has a son named Lupus in the spring of 539.
553-557: Through Marcus’s contacts in the Conclave, he discovers that two Great Clans, Imous and Perekel, are trying to gain dominion over territories that would threaten the Conclave and Simulutunum. Marcus commits Simulutunum forces to the Conclave and to Andara in an attempt to receive Andara’s favor and increase Simulutunum’s station within the Conclave. Andara was grateful, but the Conclave had determined that only Andara and a token force would be dispatched to the front line, so Marcus respected their wishes, but had Simulutunum forces on standby.
Caesarian dies in 554 surrounded by loved ones. A very large funeral is held and many leaders from the Simulutunum pact and from the Conclave are in attendance to honor a respected man. Though it was not an event that may be noted in the annals of the age, some figures like Andara Speardancer were present and carry the event in their history.
564: Marcus Magnus passes away at the age of 51 and Lupus takes control.
572: Cato, son of Lupus Magnus, was born. This period is relatively devoid of information, a dark period. Lupus lacked the drive to record the family’s history and preferred to explore other projects. What exactly has been lost to time, we will never know.
594-619: Lupus dies at the age of 55 in 594 and Cato becomes the head of the family. Under Cato’s leadership, the bonds between Aquitania and the rest of the members of Simulutunum strengthened. Cato was a fantastic orator and had superb political gamesmanship. Unlike many of his ancestors, whom were combat oriented people, Cato was philosophical. During Cato’s reign, fighting and threats to Aquitania seemed to disappear. Even thefts and other crimes were at an all-time low.
620: Marinus, son of Cato Magnus, was born.
621-641: After Cato’s son was born some things did change. Though Cato was a philosopher, he did not act like it after his son was born. Cato had his son trained in all things military and had his son very well educated. Marinus had a daily schedule that boggles the mind. Cato worked his son to the bone and as a result Marinus ended up being just as smart as Cato and a significantly better fighter. The only downside was that those skills came at a steep cost for Cato, the love of his son.
To this day, people speculate that Cato was the first to predict what would happen in the world. Cato’s son never knew the soft, kind hearted Cato that many others knew nor had anyone seen Cato treat someone the way he treated Marinus. That led people to believe, with all of Cato’s political clout, he could see that major conflicts that would enter this world in the near future; it was just a matter of when.
642: Cato died at 70, as the oldest leader in the history of Simulutunum, and Marinus becomes the leader of Aquitania. Marinus kept his opinions to himself and held his cards close to his chest. Marinus pushed, though not as brutally as his father to him, the youth in Aquitania to make them better fighters and overall a more educated populace. Today people wonder if Marinus could see the same thing Cato could and that is why he pushed the members of Simulutunum to be better.
644-664: Maximus, son of Marinus, was born in 644. Marinus treated Maximus just as his father had treated him, with two exceptions. The first was how Marinus held Maximus to a higher standard than everyone else. Marinus was treating every youth like his father treated him, but expected Maximus to be better. The second difference is that Marinus didn’t distance himself from Maximus. He explained to Maximus that he will be the leader in trying times and he had to be the best leader that the Magnus family and Simulutunum have ever known.
Marinus never explained what he meant by trying times and everyone thought Marinus was being melodramatic and inflating some issue like bad crop yields or some small dispute with a neighbor; the typical “trying times”. With Marinus as leader it did not matter his reasons, you did what he said. Under his attention, defensive structures were repaired and built, the infrastructure was improved, mainly roads, and stockpiles were increased.
665: Marinus died at the age of 45. In Marinus’s Will, he requested that there be no major funeral. His last order to his son was to spend nothing on the funeral and burn his body on a pyre. Maximus did as his Commander and father bid. The funeral only had people from Aquitania and nothing was spent on the funeral except wood.
671-696: Cato and Marinus were planning for decades to be ready for “trying times” and those times were now here. In 671, the Deranged King of the Xeilias Empire began conquering lands all across Elyria. After conquering lands, he would enslave the populace and rip them from their homes. Simulutunum held strong against the foreign aggression and were in a very good position to strike back if the opportunity arose, all because of Cato, Marinus, and Maximus.
675: Marius, son of Maximus, was born. Unlike Maximus and his father, Marius drove himself to excel. Marius was a very active child, he wanted to fight, was competitive, but didn’t absorbed knowledge easily. Above everything else Marius wanted to prove himself on the battlefield. Maximus didn’t want him in the campaign against the Deranged King’s main army, feeling that those would be better troops. Maximus sent Marius to a secondary front with Gaston, Maximus’s number two. Marius was 17 at the time. In 694, when Marius was 19, Maximus gave Marius control of his own forces to fight alongside Gaston.
676: Simulutunum had been lending support and aid to the Conclave and other defending forces against the Deranged King. In this year Rhyne’s Call happened and Simulutunum pledged itself to the combined forces, led by Jordyn Rhyne, against the Deranged King. After “Rhyne’s Call” the combined forces lead by Jordyn Rhyne started fighting against the Deranged Kings forces, Maximus put his childhood friend, Gaston, and Marius in charge of combat operations nearest the Simulutunum border. This marked the beginning of what would be called the War of Many Banners, but it wasn’t until 681 when a summit “Banded the Clans” together and the size of the Allied force became what people remember. Impressed by Jordyn Rhynes leadership, Maximus would later support Jordyn Rhyne’s elevation to the King of the Kingdom of Vornair, which rose from the ashes of Xeilias.
689: Forces from the United Clans finally broke the stalemate. For 8 years the alliance was only able to halt the progress of the Deranged King and win skirmishes here and there, but now the tides had changed.
696: In the summer of 696 the Siege of Archeon took place. The Allied forces pushed the enemy forces back into their original territory except for Archeon. Archeon was still contested in an effort by the enemy to gain a foothold once again.
The battle of Archeon was back and forth for five days until The Rhyne Legion appeared. Beinir Rhyne, tasked Clan Aritaur and the Conclave with attacking and occupying the enemy reserves so that our main force could fight without being overwhelmed. Simulutunum, led by Maximus Decimus Magnus, was among the elite force that went to stalemate the reserves. The battle was long and gruesome, but the reserves were held, giving the main Rhyne contingent the opportunity they needed to break the enemy.
After the battle was over, the United Clans discovered that a coup had overthrown the Deranged King and a treaty was on its way. When the war was over, Simulutunum had expanded yet again due to Gaston and Marius’s efforts and Simulutunum had new citizens that were eternally grateful for their rescue. With the acquisition of the new lands, the Magnus family became the largest landowners within Simulutunum.
698: The Kingdom of Vornair was formed. The First Crowning of Beinir Rhyne and Jordyn Rhyne happened in the summer. There was no crown at the ceremony and ever since, those that sit atop the throne of Vornair do not wear crowns. The next day, the King and Queen went to work creating councils and laws.
The most important result of their work was the Dukes of the Round. This council was composed of clans that were selected based on size, popularity, and their contribution to the success of the War of Many Banners. Clan Aritaur was on the table to be included and eventually was granted the seat. Not that it would matter from a small group like Simulutunum, but Clan Aritaur had Simulutunum and the Magnus’s support.
Several months after the war was over, the members of the Simulutunum pact had a meeting in Aquitania. Some of the leaders of the cities represented had been killed in the War and the group wanted to become members of a County with Maximus and the Magnus family as the leaders. For generations, the Magnus family had been good to those loyal to Simulutunum, so Aquitania helped members of Simulutunum get back on their feet in the wake of the War. On that day, the Pact evolved and the County of Simulutunum was born.
After the Clan of Aritaur was initiated into the class of Dukes, the Clan sought to identify and reward those individuals whom were an important part of the War of Many Banners and supporters of the Conclave. The Great Clan asked and recommended that the Magnus family be among the first Counts to pledge to their cause. Given the prosperous and friendly past the two factions had, Maximus Decimus Magnus pledged his loyalty to the Clan of Aritaur with the support of everyone in Simulutunum.
700: Marius becomes the new leader; Maximus Decimus Magnus died at the age of 56 and had seen more war and more of the world than most anyone. His funeral was in the Fall of 700. To honor him, many dignitaries from all around came to pay their respects. The quantity and prestige of the attendees were greater than that of Caesarian, who died in 554. Even the Duke and family came to Aquitania to celebrate the life of Maximus.
On the day of the funeral the Heavens opened and wept for Maximus; and for a full day after the funeral was over, a pillar of light shown on the tomb of Maximus. Today there is a statue in Aquitania that stands in remembrance of Maximus Decimus Magnus and the people believe that the gods themselves ascended Maximus into the heavens after the funeral was concluded.
711: Titus Veritas Magnus, son of Marius, was born. Marius pushes the people in Simulutunum to excel in all things. Still haunted by the memories of war, Marius wanted every man, woman, and child prepared for another conflict. Training was the key stone in everyone’s agendas.
718: 20 years after the War of Many Banners had concluded, Duke Rothesay had stolen the Duchy and throne from the rightful Duchess of Aritaur and leader of the Conclave. A number of Counts within the Conclave sided with Rothesay, but The Magnus’s were not one of them.
719-726: Duke Rothesay politically targets the former Duchess of Aritaur in order to publicly shame and discredit her and her family’s claim to the seat. Unbeknownst to Duke Rothesay, Duchess is using Aquitania as a base of operations in the region and the Magnus’s are protecting the true Duchess and helping supply the usurpation efforts. By the end of 726 many pitched battles had occurred and Rothesay was finally defeated.
727-728: Duchess and her supporters begin to pick up the pieces and reassemble the Duchy. There are some holdout Counties and Cities, but they all eventually bend the knee.
729: The last remnants of Rothesays movement dies and the Duchy is once again whole.
736: Marius died at the age of 61 and leaves his seat to Titus Magnus. Titus’s reign over the County seat was peaceful. That is not to say there were no problems with bandits or other smaller conflicts, but the world still remembered the War of Many Banners as well as the war for the Duchy. Those people that were alive then did not have want for that much blood again.
747: Quintus Magnus, son of Titus Magnus, is born. Titus loved and doted on Quintus, spoiling him. While Titus was demanding in his expectations of Quintus, the two shared a strong and loving bond. Rivaled only by Quintus love for his mother.
770: Titus Magnus dies at the age of 59, leaving the County seat to Quintus. When Titus died, it left a big hole in Quintus’s heart.
780: Tiberius Titus Magnus, first son of Quintus Magnus is born. Tiberius was named after his grandfather.
781: Voldis Veritas Magnus, second son of Quintus Magnus is born. Voldis was named after his grandfather.
782-799: Even though Tiberius was only a year older than his brother, he was very protective of him and tried to look out for him. Quintus preached to the two boys that family was everything, and, at the end of the day, family would be the only one’s standing with you when the bovine excrement hits the stone walls.
800: Quintus dies at the age of 53. Quintus loved both his sons very much and broke the tradition of having one heir. Quintus had planned for his death and divided his lands in half. He gave Tiberius first pick and then the other half would go to Voldis.
805: Exposition: Everyone within the Kingdom of Vornair continued to focus on improving life for the people and as well as improving commerce, infrastructure, and the governing system.
817: The Settling: With the Kingdom of Vornair representing a place of security and prosperity, a large migration occurred during the next several years. Many weary travelers of all professions and inclinations made Vornair their home.
Voldis ran his County well for 17 years, but hated it. He loved working with the people, but struggled with all the administrative requirements and all the political gamesmanship. Being the protective brother, Tiberius helped his little brother as much as he could in those areas, but Voldis decided he wanted to step down from the Countship. During the last ten years of Voldis’s 17-year reign, Voldis slowly gave Tiberius more control and in 817 stepped down from the seat and gave all his lands and title to Tiberius. Simulutunum was once again whole.
After Voldis stepped down from his County seat, Tiberius offered him a position with Simulutunum at the Capital, in Aquitania. Tiberius recognized and wanted to utilize his brother’s strengths so he offered Voldis the position of Consul Aedile. Voldis happily accepted and started working with the people of Simulutunum.