Power struggle

For centuries, House Vael of Stormvale and House Lancaster of Ironmarch have waged a brutal war for dominance, their hatred carved in blood and treachery. The Vaels, fierce warriors born of storm and steel, command the seas, while the Lancasters, masters of gold and deception, manipulate the kingdom from the shadows. When King Edric IV dies without an heir, Lord Alistair Lancaster seizes power, placing his puppet nephew on the throne. Lady Evelyne Vael, defiant and unyielding, brands him a usurper and rallies the eastern lords. Lancaster assassins slit throats in the dark, filling banquet halls with poisoned lords and mutilated corpses, while Vael’s justice is ruthless—traitors flayed alive and nailed to castle walls. Trade collapses as Vael warships blockade western ports, strangling Lancaster gold. The breaking point comes when Lord Alistair parades the severed head of a Vael bannerman, his body strung from the city gates. Enraged, Lady Evelyne marches south, leading her Stormguard to Red Hollow Pass, where battle erupts in fire and steel. Screams echo as knights are trampled, flesh is torn by arrows, and rivers run red with blood. Lancaster archers ignite the battlefield, turning wounded men into shrieking torches, while Vael berserkers wade through gore, hacking down all in their path. As night falls, the dead rot where they fell, the air thick with the stench of charred flesh and spilled entrails. No victor rises from the slaughter—only the promise that the war will never end. .