The Rise of Canticius I

In the summer of 811 BCE, Canticius I attempted to overthrow Geryfian rule and free the Isarin peoples of Northeast Canticula. The Geryfians defeated Canticius I, however, forcing him into exile. Thus he would remain until he was found in June 802 BCE by Queen Remstraya, who gave him refuge. She then asked Canticius I to fight for her kingdom, promising him that afterward he would have the land of the Isarins to rule over as an independent kingdom. Canticius I agreed to this.

Over the course of the war to follow, however, Remstraya's forces were aided by turn-cloak Geryfians to whom Remstraya promised pieces of Isarin land. With a majority of these war leaders promising to bend the knee to Remstraya in the years to follow, Remstraya went back on her promise for an independent Isarin kingdom and, instead, appointed Canticius I to serve under her as Warden of the Isarin Lands. In May 796 BCE, Canticius I, unhappy with this setback, attempted to close the narrow Northerly Pass into Isarya and claimed the lands Eastward as an independent kingdom by force. Remstraya retaliated with reinforcements from Vamastar, who quickly defeated Canticius I and forced him into exile once again.

As an outlaw, Canticius I resolved to find a way to assassinate Remstraya. He built a ring of close acquaintances serving as spies. And through this network, he learned that the Spellcrafter Guild serving under Remstraya possessed a powerful spellcrafter tool known as the Ring of the Whitestone. Meanwhile, the Spellcrafter Guild in the Kingdom of Bellesh, under the rule of King Orindan, possessed a similar tool known as the Ring of the Redstone. As Canticius I learned from an unknown Stonecrafter that particles from each of these two Stones, mixed into a glass of wine, would create a discreet and effective deadly poison known as the Last Sleep; such a poison was known to kill by putting a victim into a deep sleep during which they died.

Around June 795 BCE, Canticius I dispatched a burglar named Koron to obtain the Whitestone Ring and a burglar named Quinius to obtain the Redstone Ring. Both burglaries succeeded with Koron committing his undetected and Quinius having encountered and slain two of the Belleshian Royal Guard. Quinius was the last of the two to return because of this; nonetheless, as soon as he did, he and Koron were summoned by Canticius I. Upon this meeting, Canticius I, deeming that the two burglars knew too much dangerous information, ordered for both to be slain. Quinius was killed at that moment; however, Koron, with his cunning skill, escaped the ordeal. Determined to finish the job, Canticius I hired an assassin named Orumdeus to find Koron. However, having no time to await the outcome of this, Canticius I and a force of infantry, archers, and spellcasters, who he recently recruited and placed under the leadership of an Isarin daughter named Aryanna, traveled to the Remstrayan Capital of Vamastar.

It was around October 795 BCE when Canticius I arrived secretly through the city gates of Vamastar. Shortly after, he and a band of spellcaster forces, with the same level of secrecy, overtook a bank house, giving Canticius I access to large amounts of wealth. Meanwhile, Canticius I and Aryanna had units of archers and spellcasters hidden within the city walls of Vamastar, while the main infantry stationed themselves in a hidden location just outside the city. With the help of an insider named Haron serving as a royal servant to Remstraya, Canticius I mixed particles of the two Ringstones into a bottle of wine, thus making the poison. This, Haron was given to serve Remstraya, which he did so successfully. News of Remstraya's death became public on 10 November 795 BCE, on which day Canticius I ordered his forces to carry out an attack. By the end of that month, Canticius I gained the Imperial Seat and renamed the Remstrayan Empire to the Cantician Empire.

The Fall of Canticius I

In January 794 BCE, Canticius I and Aryanna married and, by March 793 BCE, conceived a son named Canticius II.

Acting upon his assignment, Orumdeus found Koron, who offered a higher payment for Orumdeus to assassinate Canticius I instead. Orumdeus agreed to this and traveled back to Vamastar, where he found Haron and discovered that some of the poisoned wine made for the late Remstraya remained in his possession. Haron, after Canticius I's victory, had been paid a handsome retirement but had been largely left out of Canticius I's circle of power, to his immense dissatisfaction. Thus, after being promised a powerful role afterward, Haron agreed to work with Orumdeus to poison Canticius I.

In October 793 BCE, after Haron's preparations, Orumdeus returned to Canticius I, lying to him that Koron was dead. In celebration, Canticius I had wine brought to them both, with Canticius I not knowing that the wine was poisoned. It is said that Orumdeus cast a concealment spell upon himself to give the illusion of drinking the wine while Canticius I and Aryanna drank the wine unknowingly. Both Aryanna and Canticius I died as Orumdeus and his forces captured the city and Imperial Seat. Orumdeus then sought to assassinate Canticius II, but an unknown servant took the baby and fled to safety, arriving in the Midland River Region by around May 791 BCE. Meanwhile, Orumdeus, seeing Haron as a potential usurper, went back on his promise and had Haron killed. Thus, Orumdeus became the uncontested Ruler of the Cantician Empire.

The Formation of Isarya

In March 792 BCE, Orumdeus appointed Koron to be Warden of the Isarin Lands. However, Koron was determined to rule from this land over the entirety of the Cantician Empire and, by June 791 BCE, had rallied sufficient forces to his cause. Open warfare erupted in September 791 BCE when Koron attempted to have Orumdeus assassinated; however, this failed, and Orumdeus' forces retaliated by sweeping the Isarin Plains, driving Koron from his seat of power. Over the years of conflict to follow, Orumdeus worked on tightening his grip on the Isarin lands while putting forward the orderly motions to appoint a new Warden. However, in October 786 BCE, Koron's forces struck back with coordinated firespells carried out by the Isarins, and drove out Orumdeus' forces permanently. Koron's forces then barred the way into the lands from the Northerly Pass; and in November 786 BCE, he and Orumdeus signed a peace treaty, establishing the Kingdom of Isarya.