Kram and the Northern Edoran Territories
With the defeat of the Tomlassans in September 771, Edoran settlers began moving in, as the region was ruled by Sir Peter Brewer, the Governor of Kram. The population here consisted mostly of farmers, who were unhappy with the Edoran Crown over high taxes and lack of representation. Two separate petitions, in the years 772 and 773 respectively, were filed by the farmers, demanding more rights. However, both of them were ignored; and soon, protests and resistance emerged in the region. In May 774, Governor Brewer died, and, with no direct descendants, left no appointed successor for his seat. Two rival families within the Kramish ruling class began fighting over the vacancy, while the protesting farmers in surrounding regions united into one force, under the leadership of Paul Morlings. To quell the situation, King Peter III dispatched a division of knighthood, under the command of Kory Marlan.
Queen Elaina
Between 773 and 774, King Peter III, now over 100 years old, knew that his end was near; however, he had no immediate candidates for succession. His wife, Queen Mary, died years ago giving birth to their fourth son. His three older sons were illegitimate, for they, each, had married multiple times.
Meanwhile, Elaina was born into Edoran nobility, but was not directly related to the Royal line until she married Peter III's oldest son, Robert. With Robert only able to achieve the status of King Consort due to his illegitimacy, Elaina was named the sole successor to the Throne, which she attained after Peter III's death in September 774. Her son, Alexander, who she had with Robert, was named a Prince, and the next official heir to the Throne when the time came. Queen Elaina spent the month of October settling tension with the Kingdom of Moorland, as pirates were attacking the Circlarian Coast, threatening Edora proper. Furthermore, she had an issue with a man named Sir Jacob Weller.
Sir Jacob Weller: Jealousy and Departure
Born into a family of upper knighthood, Sir Jacob Weller was initially credited with leading a division of musket-wielding infantry into Tomlas as it fell to the Edorans. However, when he returned to see that, as expected, his mother, Elaina, had become the Edoran Queen, he was unhappy with the notion that she had named Alexander to be the next heir. Weller came forward and public expressed contempt, claiming that he was the son of Elaina in a previous marriage, which she tried to hide from Edoran Nobility, and that he was the legitimate heir rather than Alexander. Public controversy ensued over the possible scandal, as Weller led a civil cause, attempting to work the functions of the Edoran government in an attempt to force Queen Elaina to abdicate. However, the effort failed; and Weller was imprisoned for nine months, pending charges of treason and espionage. After his release, Queen Elaina assigned Weller to Kram to dispel the resistance led by Paul Morlings and bring order to Kram. As a reward and a prize of consolation, the Queen promised Weller the Governor seat of Kram.
In October 774, the Queen moved Commander Kory Marlan to the Circlarian Coast to fight the attacking pirates, and replaced Marlan at his post in Fort Dale, following through her offer, with Jacob Weller. Stationed here, Weller and his colleague, Martin Hughes, worked on a new invention: the rifle, an enhancement of the musket. Such an idea, initially conceived to fight Morlings' forces, was drafted on paper as a blueprint, but was never put into practice, as Weller had another agenda.
According to his personal journal, which was discovered years later, Weller, enraged and begrudged toward the Queen, initially considered the idea of, himself, turning against the Edoran Kingdom. However, his deeply religious convictions intervened, as Weller was raised with the belief that the Edoran Kingdom was the holiest nation, and that launching an outright military campaign against it would be an unforgivable sin. Weller's resolve, which he ultimately carried, was to desert his post and find land elsewhere to start a new Kingdom.
In March 775, Weller gathered his recruits and sailed a fleet of ships away from Remikra. They landed on the East Coast of Canticula, where they constructed a small settlement. With appeal to the masses of locals angry over their ruling power, Weller's settlement quickly grew into a city, as fortifications were being continually built. In November 777, Jacob Weller crowned himself King of a region of this land: the Kingdom of Prove.
Consequences of Abandonment
In June 775, having known of such betrayal and abandonment, Paul Morlings took advantage of the power vacuum and organized his forces into army divisions. He launched a major offensive upon Kram, Nalesh, and surrounding territories. News of this was sent urgently to Queen Elaina, who was shocked to hear of Weller's departure, and dispatched Kory Marlan back to the North. Marlan, honoring the Queen's word, launched a counterattack against the rebels in January 777, driving them to the North Coast. However, as Paul Morlings' forces retreated, they stumbled upon the rifle blueprints, which Jacob Weller accidently left upon departure for Canticula. Morlings took advantage of this and built the new weapons, training his soldiers with them. In March 777, they struck back at the Edoran Kingdom. Being able to hit targets at longer ranges and with better accuracy, they captured the cities of Nalesh and Kram. By the end of the month, they captured Cales and drove the Queen's forces to the Circlarian Coast.
Spies working for the Queen discovered Morlings' use of the rifle. The Edorans wasted no time developing the rifle, themselves. And very soon, with all divisions of their infantry armed with these new weapons, the Edorans took back large portions of previously lost territory and recaptured Cales. Further inland, they encountered more of Morlings' forces and were caught in a gridlock. Morlings' forces, meanwhile, established themselves as the Kingdom of Kram, as Paul Morlings crowned himself King.