Early Life[]
William Boomica was born on April the 18th 1732 A.T.F in a poor village located in Franika. Williams ethnic makeup was a mix of Franikan and Romikkan, which, for the area, was rather unusual. Williams parents were absent throughout his early life, as his father toiled away in the factory of the nearby city of Versillias and his mother spent most of her time being a telegram interceptor. Both his parents were paid abysmal wages resulting in Williams early education being negligible at best. From an early age William became a common thug who joined one of the many Franikan Gangs that ruled the streets and Underworld of Versillias.
Many of the Franikan Cities throughout the last few decades were neglected under the recent rule of the Brettish Empire over Franika. Thus the city was always ripe with job opportunities for a common thug like William. In his later teenage years something drove William to want better for himself. In one of his books he later wrote called "The True Kings of Politics" he described how the hierarchy of the gangs doomed those who were smaller to fail until they were no longer of use, suggesting Williams discontent with his position amongst the Criminal Underworld, and his new yearn for greater power. At the age of 17 William had stowed away on a trade ship, and secured a way to reach Orbis. Orbis was plentiful of opportunity and William had hopes of putting his muscle to use in one of the many armies of the warring factions of Orbis. It was said William departed so quickly he either forgot to say goodbye to his family or had little care to. When William reached Orbis he landed in Orbis's North Eastern city of Freeport, which at the time, was ruled by a Confederation of Merchants known as "The Gold and Silver Alliance". William found employment as a Mercenary for the Merchant Alliance, being in their service for about three years until 1753 A.T.F when a recruiter for King George's The Fats Army was recruiting foreigners to serve in the Kings depleted armies. William who had made a name for himself as a capable mercenary, opted it was time he go into real military service.
William's Arrival In Orbis And Rise To Power[]
On May the 23rd 1753 A.T.F William departed for The Imperial City, the capital of King George's Warlord State. He enlisted in The Warlord State of Titus's Armed Forces, and instead of being placed in the line infantry, he was transferred immediately to Georges Royal guard. He was rather disappointed at first, feeling he was better suited for the frontlines, but found the political talks and court debates interesting. King George even went out of his way to educate his guards and thus William, for the first time, received a proper education on the history of Orbis, how to read, and how to write. Within the next few months William had witnessed King George transition from a tame ruler, to an outright tyrant who grew negligent of his people and realm. While William did respect King Georges strong hand when it came to the management of his State, William detested King Georges laziness in private.
William wrote in his books that initially he was grateful but later in life recalled that George only did so to help brain wash him in his "Barbaric" and "Lazy" warlord ideology. On April the 13th 1755 A.T.F King George was assassinated and his daughter assumed the role of Queen of The Warlord State of Titus. This enraged William who in his own words considered Azebellia to be "A snobbish pretender who ascended the throne by bloodline rather than competency". Another man who agreed with this was another personal guard of King George who held the Title of Knight, the Orbisian Knight was named Arthur Paxton. Both held common views, and having served with each other for nearly two years both of them had become good friends. On a warm summer night on August the 25th 1755 A.T.F Arthur Paxton and William assassinated King Georges daughter Azebellia, and held the Warlord States Ruling Council hostage demanding power be handed to William through Royal documents, legally stating the transition of power was recognized. William very perceptive during his time in the Warlord States courts, he knew that seizure of power through force alone could cause a permanent fracture within the state, thus William sought legal recognition in hopes of using it as leverage to reel in the rest of The Warlord States chambers.
The Council initially challenged William, but eventually agreed to do so. Unfortunately for the Council Members, William was still indignant of the whole situation. Believing the Council initial hesitation was the foreshadowing of an eventual coup, William personally had the Council Members arrested. In a show of power, William executed each Council Member one by one in public, disemboweling them and letting them slowly die in agonizing pain. This show of grotesque and brutal resolve earned him the unofficial title as "The Unforgiving".
Williams rise to power progressed unchallenged, as the bulk of the Warlord States Army pledged loyalty to William within days upon learning of what had transpired. The General Populace adored William, as he was seen as a liberator of The Warlord States populace from the previous tyrannical ruler. The Army viewed William Favorably as many of the rank and file soldiers were inspired by Williams rise to power, from a peasant, to mercenary, to ruler. But what made Williams rise to power stand out more than anything, was his attempts to propagandize his humble beginnings. For starters William did not mascaraed around in lavish robes, chariots, or waste taxpayer money on pleasure projects. Furthermore William refused to take the title as "King" of The Warlord State, instead simply being referred to as "The Warlord". William made it abundantly clear, he was a revolutionist, and a man of political change. For much of greater Orbis, William was viewed as one more contestant to the Ancient Throne, but to his people he was seen as the "Magnificent Uniter" they had waited centuries for.
To maintain his image of a "Liberator" William enacted several nationwide reforms, his first set of reforms were the nationalization of several industrial businesses. William had seized these privately owned factories and re-purposed them into military factories to churn out hundreds of thousands of armaments for his growing war machine, William also increased the job capacity too, making sure to offer a wide array of positions for his people to be employed in. William had then began investing in the public sector, rebuilding run down hospitals, cleaning up the slums, and restoring order in the most lawless parts of Titus City. He advertised that all of these changes were paid for by King Georges stash of gold that he had sat on for decades, hording within his personal chambers. Finally William instituted a "debt forgiveness" program, in which those who applied could have their debts to the state of private entities be canceled out either for manual labor contributions or military service. To many, these changers were revolutionary, while to others it seemed no more than minor pandering. Williams largest and most impacting change was the adoption of the Brettish "CLC" law, allowing for commoners to own land within his realm. While land ownership laws differed nation to nation in Orbis, the Warlord State of Titus had strict rules on who could own land, which was a privilege tightly clenched onto by the nobility. With the passage Williams Orbisian edited "CLC" law within The Warlord State of Titus, it became entirely clear that William, caring about his own subjects or not, was staunchly against an all nobility ran nation.
Militarily Williams attention was drawn into a complete re-organization of the Warlord State of Titus's Armed Forces. The Army was in excellent shape, being trained in Brettish Army Tactics, possessing Flintlock Muskets, Artillery Pieces, and (For Orbisian Standards) State of The Art Military Facilities. The only major obstacle in Williams greater control over the military, were the current Command Staff who despised William. Many of them had been placed in their positions by King George solely for their Nobility Status. As such William quickly did away with the Nobility amongst his ranks, introducing a doctrine known as "Competency over Nobility". Soon a new Command Staff had been introduced to the Warlords Military, with several new Generals being promoted. The most important being Gunnar Erman, Cornelius "Spike" Baextii, and finally William promoted his new found friend, Arthur Paxton, as The Marshall of The Warlord State of Titus's Armed Forces. Williams first order of business was to survey the current geopolitical state of Orbis. To his East he was neighbored by the weakened Palax Empire, on a pathway to recovery, but still recuperating from its previous death blows from decades prior. To his south laid the various disunited City States of Hoplotakia and the Tribal Clans of Decians in the Decian Mountains. To his west William was bordered by the Patriarchs Forces, who for the last several decades, had forcibly wrestled a majority of Acrabia (minus Carigo) under its control. And finally to Williams North, laid The Realm of Karkos and The United Vics Republic Union, two up and coming super powers locked into conflict over the supremacy of The Far North.
After spending a few months surveying the political landscape of Orbis, William had begun to dream of total conquest. In his eyes he saw himself as a liberator, a liberator from ignorance, weakness, and above all else a liberator from the inept nobility. William detested the ideals of Free Domains, and made it clear that his "Revolution" was one far different from those of The Free Domains. William did not seek the removal of the nobility if they served a purpose, but instead believed it was his duty to remove those who bleed noble blood that were incompetent. William's Grand Campaign would begin early into 1757 A.T.F. Plans were drawn up by William to initiate a pre-emptive strike against The Northern Powers, although officially both The United Vics Republic Union and The Realm of Karkos were not at war with The Warlord State, William believed conflict was inevitable and thus he sought to strike first. William began calling up soldiers for a grand campaign that would conduct dual operations, A Northern and Southern Army that would conqueror all of Orbis simultaneously.
By mid 1757 A.T.F William had assembled a force of nearly 100,000+ men, and several hundred artillery pieces. William initially offered to give command of this Army to his Marshall, Arthur Paxton, however Arthur Paxton declined this offer. Arthur instead opted to deploy his own private force, a force of 20,000+ knights of various nationalities who had been decommissioned from various nations across Nara. Although small in number, William hoped this blitzkrieg force would be able to make vast gains with its small size, maneuverability, and skill. Thus allowing for Williams Southern forces to mop up what he anticipated would be a "quick and sound conquest of the South". Many of Williams Command Staff, namely Gunnar Erman, had protested Williams plan. They argued that William underestimated the strength of The Realm of Karkos's forces, and that Williams projections for a swift conquest of the South in a timely manner was unrealistic. Arguments between the Command Staff and William dragged out for days, until William eventually initiated the Campaigns start at the behest of his Command Staff.
To celebrate what he called "The beginning of the end of the Orbisian Age of Chaos" William hosted a massive jamboree in the old Imperial Palace of Titus City. In an attempt to garner fame and love from his subjects, William ordered that all taverns cover any patrons fees on his personal coffers, and at the jamboree William allowed various soldiers to party alongside the nobility, a decision the nobles outright detested. On December 12th 1757 A.T.F, Arthur Paxton would begin to rally his forces at Titus City in anticipation for the campaign. Nearly 20,000 Knights from Paxton's Order were summoned, most of them being Orbisian in origin, with Franikans, Brettish, and Reichlandian Knights littered amongst the ranks. Paxton's initial plan of conquest was to secure Vaedesia, afterwards Arthur planned to move north and establish several camps near the United Vic Republics Union capital of Sven City. The surrounding camps would be used to harass caravans, and local patrols with the hope of leading Ivan Balinskie to come to the conclusion that a siege was imminent, with this Arthur hoped that Ivan would sally out and engage him in a field battle. Arthur Paxton departed from Titus City to begin his Northern Incursion early January of 1757 A.T.F. While Paxton marched North, William, accompanied by Gunnar Erman and Cornelius "Spike" Baextii, marched his force of 100,000 men south to begin his Southern Campaigns.
Williams Southern Campaign[]
Williams first order of business was the daunting task of crossing the treacherous Decian Mountains. While the Decian Tribes of Old were but a shadow of themselves, now civilized and much smaller in number, the newer inhabitants of the Decian Mountains proved to be a far more formidable opponent. These newcomers were The Savagemen, who had arrived in the Decian Mountains thousands of years prior to The War For Orbis. The Savagemen more commonly known as the "Pigmen" were non-human monstrosities left over from Sargoths failed invasions of Nara. Tall, numerous, warlike, brutal, and savagely strong in nature, the Pigmen from their capital of Savage Tusk reigned havoc upon anyone who dared cross the Decian Mountains.
Upon William Army's arrival in The Decian Mountains, Savagemen ambushes immediately began. During the waning hours of midnight, the Savagemen would attack Williams encamped soldiers. Musket Fire would ring across the borders of the camp, followed by the blood curdling screams of men being carried away or ripped limb from limb right on the spot, followed by a deafening and eerie silence. As William advanced south, the frequency and intensity of the Savagemen ambushes rapidly increased. Soon what started as only a few dozen casualties a night, turned into hundreds of soldiers, equipment, and food going missing every night. William knew it was only a matter of time before the Savagemen would escalate the skirmishes and ambushes to conventional battles, and to further worsen the situation Williams men grew angry with Williams inaction to the situation. To regain control over his panicked men, William took the forefront of the situation and gave a speech to his army. He not only apologized for his inaction, but promised revenge and compensation for their losses. Williams men, reinvigorated, seemed to unanimously accept his apology and morale steadily improved.
To keep his word, William dispatched several scouts around the mountain ranges to investigate the origins of The Savagemen. William personally visited several Decian Villages to learn more information regarding The Savagemen. To his surprise he soon learned these hellish creatures not only possessed a capitol, but also the ability to self govern. William later learned that the largest settlement of Savagemen was located on the far Western Side of the Decian Mountains hundreds of miles away. The capitol, known as Golden Tusk, was a near impenetrable fortress that was originally a Duvan Stronghold eons prior. William ruled out that the attacks were from the Capitol mainly due to the positioning and the time required to dispatch the parties of Savagemen to his Army's location. Weeks later, Williams scouts had reported the finding of a large encampment of Savagemen who they believed were responsible for the nightly ambushes.
The Settlement of Savagemen was called Forks Peak, an old Decian Fortress that sat upon a mountain, that fell under the jurisdiction of the greater Savageman Kingdom of Golden Tusk. With haste William gathered 10,000 men of his 100,000 man army and began marching towards Forks Peak. William deferred command of the rest of the army to Gunnar Erman, ordering for the main bulk of the army to hold their position and only march south once William rejoined them. As a fail safe, William ordered Gunnar Erman to dispatch Spike Baextii with an addition 30,000 men from the main force to Forks Peak if William was not heard from in a fortnight. With his failsafe in place, and orders dispatched, William marched for Forks Peak.
The Battle of Forks Peak[]
The Battle of Forks Peak began on June the 17th 1757 A.T.F, the battle itself was regarded as a pyrrhic victory for Williams forces. The Battle initially started with the bulk of Williams 10,000 strong contingent of soldiers advancing up the steep pathways that lead to Forks Peak. Several hours into the march, William and his men encountered the main fork in the path. William devised a plan to divide up his forces sending 5,000 men up the left passage, and the remainder of the 5,000 up the right path. William hoped that his overwhelming numbers from both sides would be enough to snuff out the Savagemen. The Fortress of Forks Peak was in ill repair, with multiple sections of its walls being in complete ruin while other portions were shored up with piles of Savagemen dung and waste. Furthermore the majority of Forks Peak's walls and buildings were built out of wood and cobblestone, ample targets for explosives and targeted arsony.
William personally accompanied the right flank, as Williams forces began to close in on the Savagemens Stronghold. Ear piercing pig screams and howls began to emanate from the rocky mountain formations around the pathway, what followed was a hail of boulders, decayed corpses, and spears being hurled from the high rises of the pathway and onto Williams men. Williams men began sporadically firing at the high positions before being assaulted by nearly 400 Savagemen in close quarters combat. Even with superior firepower and numbers, the Savagemen wreaked havoc upon Williams Line Infantry. One Savagemen was capable of enduring dozens of gunshots, hundreds of bayonet slashes, and was capable of slaying 10 of Williams men for every Savagemen that fell.
The engagement nearly turned into a slaughter, however in the near moments leading up to a potential disaster. Fresh soldiers from the left flanking force began to pour through the unorganized ranks of Williams forces. The Left Flank had suffered a similar ambush, resulting in the officers from the left flank to order a retreat back to the beginning of the fork, and to advance up the right side of the fork to link up with Williams forces. Through sheer numbers, Williams men were able to beat back the Savagemen ambush, and advanced to the gates of Forks Peak. William took notice to the large buildup of Savageman dung on the ruined parts of the walls, he began ordering his men to set fire to the dried heaps of dung. Within no time at all, the entirety of Forks Peak was set ablaze. The remaining Savagemen outside of the walls had dispersed across the countryside, while those still trapped inside the fortress were burned to a crisp.
Although the battle had been won, William suffered heavy casualties resulting in nearly 2,000+ of his men killed and an additional 4,000 men wounded. Furthermore, William was enraged that his officers from the left flank disobeyed his orders to advance to Forks Peak and instead opted to rally back with the main force via retreat. Secretly William had felt he was robbed of his glory to lead his men in battle. Conflict began to ensue between William and the Officers whenever several of the Officers within Williams forces made it clear they were not backing down from the decision that was made. One officer was quoted as saying "With all due respect, i simply can not admit to any fault, whenever the Orders i was given put my men's lives in danger with no strategic gain. We disobeyed our orders to save the lives of our men, not to spite you". Even though the Officers truly meant no disrespect to William, he took it as such. William simply replied to the Officers "Then i will have you put down, by the men you decided to save". Afterwords William ordered the Officers to be lined up, and shot dead by a firing squad made up of soldiers from the right flank who the officers had saved.
The Battle of Tertrella[]
Following The Battle of Forks Peak, William hastily marched his army south to rejoin his forces with his generals Gunnar Erman and Spike Baexii. Williams conquest of the southern realms progressed in an uneventful fashion. While the Hoplatakians were a people of art and civilization, their days of possessing large and technologically (for their time) advanced armies had long since passed centuries prior. Now the Hoplataki States were little more than minor fiefdoms ruled by oligarchy under the plagiarized title of "democracies". The oligarchs themselves did possess some valuable trinkets, but compared to the rest of the nations of Orbis. The lands of the Hoplataki were considered to be impoverished, and their rulers possessing lack luster stockades of wealth themselves.
Each city fell one by one in short order, the major cities of Hoplatakia, Taania, and Mycan put up some resistance. But any attempts to resist Williams conquest were hastily dispatched. By the end of the summer of 1757 A.T.F, William had successfully annexed and conquered the majority of the Southern Realm of Orbis. Williams new holdings included all of the Hoplataki City States, The Decian Mountains, and The Great Oak of The Yetti.
All that stood in the way of Williams undisputed hegemony of The Hoplataki realms was a man by the name of, Adonis Obglin. Adonis Obglin was a petty half-Taanish half-Hoplatakian king who ruled a small hamlet near the coast of Southern Orbis. Adonis had learned of Williams intentions to conqueror the south many months prior thanks to his informants within the Decian Tribes. Adonis had spent the next few proceeding months rallying support and building one of the first modern Hoplatakian Armies to ever be assembled. Adonis had secured a large payload of muskets from the East Franikan Trading Company, the Company was all too willing to support the rivals of their competitors (The Brettish Trade Syndicate) financially supported state. Adonis's Hoplatakian Army was unfortunately prematurely forced to deploy in battle against Williams forces. With the end of Williams conquest of the major cities, William had begun to notice an increasingly large movement of Hoplatakian Insurgents moving south, while William was unaware of the force that awaited him, William was able to quickly deduce that the once scattered bands of insurgents were beginning to rally and unite near the Southern Shoreline. Within the final weeks of August, William's army of 40,000 men had closed in on Adonis's location. In response Adonis's met Williams force in an open coastal plain on August the 30th 1757 A.T.F. Williams force consisted of nearly 100 Artillery Batteries of various sizes (9, 12, and a handful of 18 pounders), and nearly 40,000 men. In his usual preference, almost 90% of Williams Army were infantrymen, save for a few thousand light horsemen who were Hoplataki Locals pressed into service. The rest of Williams army that he initially marched south with, was spread across his holdings garrisoning the newly acquired cities he had conquered. Gunnar Erman was ordered to accompany William and take command of the Hoplatakian Levied Horsemen, while Spike Baextii was tasked with the governing of the newly acquired cities. Adonis's forces were made up of an ill prepared force of mostly peasantry, insurgents, commoners, and Decian Tribals. Adonis's forces numbered nearly 70,000+ men, but out of the 70,000 men, only 20,000 possessed muskets, and even fewer were proficiently trained on how to adequately use them. Adonis's forces possessed some cavalry although the exact number was unknown.
The Battle began the following day on August the 31st 1757 A.T.F, both armies met on a coastal field. The battle layout was categorized as a flat field, with some large rock embankments and minor black volcanic rock formations, with the field possessing tall light green grass. Adonis's first attempted an outright charge, hoping to drown out Williams line infantry with his numerical advantage. Adonis's charge was quickly thwarted by Williams artillery that inflicted devastating casualties on Adonis's forces. William wanted to capitalize on Adonis's forces attempting to withdrawal to get out of range of the Artillery, thus resulting in William deploying Gunnar Erman to chase them down with his light cavalry. This plan had backfired as the Hoplatakian Levied Cavalry refused to obey their commanders orders to run down their fleeing brethren. While many of the cavalrymen were petrified of the idea of betraying William, they also refused to run down their own people who were fighting for their freedom. As such the Levied Hoplatakian Cavalrymen simply remained in their position, ignoring their orders, a decision they would later come to regret.
In frustration William ordered Gunnar to take command of the Artillery and Artillery Rear Guard, while he would personally lead the infantrymen in a charge against Adonis's forces. By now a few hours had passed and Adonis continued to pull his forces further and further towards the coast, constantly re-adjusting his lines away from the Artillery. When it became clear that he could no longer retreat as the shoreline edged close, Adonis decided to make his final stand only half a mile away from the beach. Adonis made an effort to harass Williams Artillery lines who were positioned behind his line infantry, dispatching several squads of Light Hoplataki Cavalrymen to skirmish with Williams rear guard. This had little effect, as the Hoplataki Cavalry were quickly warded away by Williams Line Infantry Artillery Guards. William knew that most of Adonis's forces were ill equipped for line to line battle, thus William had devised a risky plan to end the battle without it ensuing in a bloody melee. William split up his forces into three small lines, and had them advance to various positions surrounding the trapped Hoplatakian Army. William ordered each of these lines to advance from the West, The North, and The East and to unilaterally push South against Adonis's forces. William transmitted his orders across his ranks and threw his plan into action, within a few hours Williams plan had worked. While Adonis knew he could not expect his men to comply with his orders to charge again, he was also hopelessly outgunned by the Line Infantry. Only being able to respond with small and slow volleys of his own, while the rest of his army attempted to throw javelins, shoot arrows from bows and crossbows, and some even resorting to throwing beach rocks out of desperation.
It became quite clear to Adonis that his forces were going to be unable to dislodge themselves from the ensuing entrapment. As such Adonis began ordering his offers to order their men to throw up white flags announcing their surrender. William began receiving reports that large portions of Adonis's lines were trying to surrender, but to the horror of Williams Officers, William simply asked "Are the cannons in position?". While the battle had been raging the the entrapment and entanglement of Adonis's forces were underway, William had moved his Artillery a mere 200 yards from the fighting in one massive line. With little regard to those who were making an effort to surrender, or even his own men, William ordered his Artillery to fire canister shot into the mosh pit of Adonis's soldiers. What came after Williams Order, was a grotesque display of cruelty and destruction, Hundreds of Adonis's men were torn to pieces by the canister shot. Limbs, hair, clothing, and various other body parts flew amuck as the screams of men trampling over one another to get away from the bloodshed drowned out the musket fire. Soon the smell of smoke and gunpowder was blotted out by the stench of the torn and mangle intestines of disfigured Hoplatakians who were shot uninterrupted by both Musket and Artillery Fire. Williams plan had worked, throughout the course of the battle Williams thin lines of line infantrymen were able to keep up enough consecutive momentum and fire, to push Adonis's men into a tightly packed mosh pit on the beach head. All while William carefully positioned his Artillery in the center to deliver the final blow.
The Battle had come an end after William had sedated his sadistic need to display his military "genius". The battlefield was a sight that many would call "unforgettable". Tens of thousands of men laid peppered with Musket Ball and Canister Shot. Limbs, guts, and blood littered the beach as the water itself remained blood red for several days. Williams forces suffered light casualties, with estimated ranging no more than 2,000 dead and 8,000 wounded. Adonis's forces suffered apocalyptic casualties, with 60,000+ dead and 10,000 captured or wounded. To the surprise of William, Adonis himself survived the battle refusing to retreat or abandon his men. A rare moment of admiration and respect flourished within Williams mind for the Half-Taanish Half-Hopaltakian King. As such, he had Adonis's sent to a prison camp, a fate considered "lucky" compared to what came next for the rest of Adonis's Forces. The Remainder of Adonis's forces were rounded up, including the Levied Cavalrymen who refused to follow Williams Order. Over the next few weeks the captive prisoners were tortured into revealing their families whereabouts, anyone who refused to answer was promptly killed. In a display of extreme cruelty and repression, William had the Hoplatakian Families meet at this prison camp situated several miles outside of the city of Taania. William then gave the family members of the soldiers who fought for Adonis a choice, prove their loyalty to William and kill their family member who dared rise up against William. Or be hanged, many of the family members compiled and were forced to kill their loved ones in animalistic and brutal ways devised by William. Some of these included strangling, disembowelment, or on special occasions hand to hand combat. William then made sure to have every family member who complied be branded with the letters "UF" standing for "Unforgiven". Furthermore William then organized the Southern Realm into a new province, calling the province "Ghoulcrest". William primarily decided for this name stating "The Hoplatakians are nothing but mere Ghouls pretending to be humans, thus their home province should resemble what they are....filthy subhuman Ghouls.". Williams rule would remain uncontested, albeit for a small force of 3,000 insurgents who were quickly put down by William at The Battle of Nikolai.
Patriarchal "Affairs"[]
William wasted no time in his enrichment following the conquest of the Southern Realms, Willian first began levying enormous amounts of tribute and taxes from the Southern Hoplatakian Commoners and Peasantry. William also ordered his men to seize many of Hoplatakian Statues of famous poets, generals, and gods and ordered the statues to be smelted for any precious materials. Finally William raided many of the Hoplatakian Museums selling off priceless works of art and artifacts. William had not only robbed the Hoplatakians monetarily, but he had also robbed them of their culture. William was still careful to keep his image of a "Liberator" within his central provinces intact. Oftentimes William would use small portions of the wealth he seized to fund public infrastructure, and fund local charities within Central Orbis. To further his smear campaign of the Hoplataki people, William painted an image of the Hoplatakians being hoarders of wealth, illustrating them out to be indifferent to the Orbisians suffering during the war. Stoking the flames of an already proud people, William had elevated himself to near legend amongst his subjects within the Core Provinces.
William had then set his eyes on the city of Pyra that was poised to the west of The Southern Realms. While Pyra wasn't a noteworthy city in the grand scheme of things, albeit for Pyra's unique history, The city itself was situated near the head of the Pyrian River. This river network stretched deep into the heart of Acrabia, making it an ample pathway to traverse in his upcoming Acrabian Campaign rather than traversing the treacherous desert's that shielded much of Acrabia from Central Orbis. Upon his arrival the situation immediately became complicated as William soon discovered that Sarah Cortes Maximus, Daughter of the late Patriarch Valin Cortes Maximus II, was situated in Pyra. Sarah Cortes Maximus was not officially the crowned Patriarch yet, but with the ensuing global chaos and the lack of a male heir to the previous Patriarch, it was safe to say that Sarah Cortes Maximus would be next in line. Before her official adornment, Sarah took it upon herself to take a grand tour of her realm. Visiting the various regions and provinces that had been conquered by her fathers crusades decades prior.
Sarah was the complete opposite of what William was, she was known as being a lenient ruler, who cared more about those she ruled over rather than her public image. Sarah herself was considered a radical progressivist, believing in the abolition of restrictive gender roles, and and avid believer in democracy. Many who knew her found that she was near obsessed with The Republic of Reichland and the history surrounding its formation, never shying away from stating her desires to replicate their form of government in Orbis. Furthermore Sarah was known to be rather promiscuous, a trait she never hid from the general public. Upon Williams arrival at Pyra, his soldiers, many of whom were avid believers in The Church of Titus, would outright refuse to attack the heir of the Patriarchy if ordered.
William requested an audience with Sarah Cortes Maximus upon his arrival, upon meeting the two rulers differences were snuffed out by their immediate infatuation with one another. The few similarities the two rulers held exploded together, and within weeks of meeting William officially began courting Sarah. In an extremely rare circumstance, it was said that William went above and beyond in his attempts to swoon The Patriarch. He took her to lavish feast within Southern Orbis, and even commissioned a Brettish Ship of The Line to have its entire deck retrofitted, with a lavish red silk rug. He would then sail this ship down the Pyrian River with Sarah as as he treated her to fancy feast, entertainment, and romantic sightseeing. None dared to point out Williams ever growing hypocrisy, as one of Williams main talking points was that he would not waste the people's finances on frivolous activates that did not matter to the state. Nonetheless this short lived romantic episode between Sarah and William expired as quickly as it began. While both of them had been deprived from having the time to engage in a proper courtship during their younger years, both were still stout and staunch leaders at heart.
The fairytale dances and balls, soon turned into arguing and bickering amongst what should be the fate of Orbis. Sarah had tried to convince William that with the power they held, they could shape Orbis into a thriving homeland built upon peace, as they would lay the foundations together for a bustling Republic. William on the other hand was hell bent on remaining a de-facto monarch, while William was no revolutionary he worried that those who would be elected would be the same nobility who had ruined the country beforehand. Things finally reached a breaking point after William had physically struck Sarah during an argument, with no remorse or hesitation. Sarah was furious that William had laid a hand on her, but even more so that he had kept his true personality a secret for so long. Sarah had ordered that Williams Encamped Army leave Pyra at once, giving them several weeks to dispatch. Sarah made it clear to William in their final face to face meeting, that once she became the official Patriarch she would demand the return of Titus City and all of its holdings to The Patriarchy. If William refused her proclamation, it would mean war. William simply smiled when he was told this, and quietly walked away, mounting his horse, and leading his Army towards his capitol of Titus City.
After Arthurs success in the destruction The United Vics Republics Union in 1758 A.T.F at The Battle of Sven City, Williams plans had been coming slowly coming together. Now back in the Capitol of Titus City, William wasted no time in assessing his nations situation. William began a steady military build up, constructing several training grounds and war factories within Titus City. William knew it would take sometime to shore up his ranks with soldiers, so he turned his attention to the Mercenary Sector. Williams eye was immediately captured by The Wolfgang Mercenary Company, while the company's current head, Sebastian Wolfgang, was an unproven inheritor of the company. The soldiers the Mercenary Company possessed, skill, weapons, and had a longstanding reputation of being reliable.
William approached Sebastian Wolfgang with a contract, the contract outlined that William wished to hire the services of the Wolfgang Mercenary Company for his campaigns to "reunite Orbis". William further detailed in his offer he was willing to not only pay the Wolfgang Mercenary Company an exorbitant amount for their services, but also would exempt Sebastian Wolfgang and his properties from any State Taxation. Finally to sweeten the deal, William also promised that once Orbis was united, The Wolfgang Mercenary Company would be granted a sole monopoly on all state Military Private Contracting.
At first Sebastian displayed blatant accismus towards Williams offer. While a small part of Sebastian detested William for the way he ruled, Sebastian above all else was attempting to expand the contract further in his favor. In what was considered a brazen request, Sebastian attempted to add onto the contract that his company would be allotted the control of Gallius City. William responded to this overstep in anger and threaten to forcibly seize Sebastian's personal properties and training facilities, all of which were within Williams Realm, if he dared to make such an "outrageous" request again. It became quite clear to Sebastian that the initial contract laid before him was the best possible route, and that backing out now could potentially unleash Williams wrath upon him. Sebastian accepted and signed the contract laid before him during the spring of 1756 A.T.F and officially became in service to The Warlord State of Titus.
Bad news from the North soon came after signing on The Wolfgang Mercenary Company, William was informed that Arthur had to retreat from the Far North after nearly being caught in a pincer by both Karkos and Ryan Dust forces. William was astonished that Ryan had managed to cover so much ground while avoiding crossing through neutral territory. Reports soon flooded in that the King of Pamplonei had not only allowed Ryan Dust forces to move through his lands, but also provided scouts to help them traverse the landscape in a timely manner. William immediately began planning out plans for retaliation, for nearly three days William sat in his office in a manic state of rage, and infuriation.
After regaining his senses, William ordered Arthur to sack the City of Pamplonei as a show of force and to remind anyone who helped his enemies that punishment would be swift and that he would be merciless. Arthur, who was known by many to be a man of morals and honor, protested heavily against this. For several days Arthur attempted to convince his liege and longtime friend that this wasn't the right course of action.
William ignored Arthurs please, and ordered Arthur to sack the city, threatening that he would do it himself if Arthur protested. Arthur accepted, and planned on taking his Knightly Order and only allowing them to burn the city but not to hurt the inhabitants. Arthurs plan fell apart when William informed Arthur he would not be allowed to deploy his Knightly Order for this campaign, and instead to command an army of 35,000 directly from the Warlord State of Titus's Armed forces. Arthur marched his army to the City of Pamplonei, the city itself was not walled and compared to other major cities within the war, the city was considered to be small and unimportant within the greater conflict. The King of Pamplonei, Pablo The Second, had no standing army albeit for a small and feeble town militia, and his Kingdom had remained as a neutral party in the conflict up until Ryan Dust's arrival.
On August The 2nd 1758 A.T.F Arthur ordered his army to advance into the city, only burn down the buildings, and to spare the inhabitants including the King. The Army, which held more loyalty towards William than Arthur, instantly broke formation and flew into a rampage killing and looting indiscriminately. Arthur was horrified with his Army's immediate turn to barbarism, Arthur began engaging his own men in combat attempting to prevent them from harming the inhabitants. King Pablo The Second, was later captured from his keep after the town's militia had been decisively defeated, and was hung from a tree branch, stripped naked with his hands and feet cut off. The Sacking of Pamplonei lasted for 3 days, until all 14,000 of the city's inhabitants had either fled or been killed. During the first day, Arthur himself had slain nearly 10 of his own men, attempting to protect the city's inhabitants, before he was shot down by several of his own men. Thanks to Arthur's Orbisian Plate Armor, the bullets didn't penetrate his armor and morally wound him. Unfortunately even though the plate armor stopped the bullets, it didn't prevent the blunt force trauma from breaking two of his ribs and causing major bruising. With little choice, Arthur limped away while the men who shot him returned to looting, having little care for the fate of their supposed commander. Arthur rode on horseback back to Titus City, where he stayed at a local inn healing and recovering from his wounds.
William was informed about what had happened, but nonetheless continued to insist to himself that it was a necessary action that needed to be taken. Though in a rare moment of empathy, when William was asked by his personal guards if they should arrest Paxton for treason, William immediately said no to question. Showing some signs of guilt, and remorse for what had happened to his friend. All of Williams plans and dreams were falling into place until a messenger had informed him of the coronation and post-coronation feast that was taking place in Aldurias, to crown Sarah Cortes Maximus the next Patriarch. Sarah Cortes Maximus had invited all of the remaining contenders to the Orbisian Throne to this meeting, stating that she would like to invite everyone for talks of "peace"
The feast was hosted in Aldurias during the end of the summer of 1758 A.T.F, Sarah Cortes Maximus's primary goal to begin talks of Orbisian Re-Unification with the other Lords. William was not cordial to idea of a Female Patriarch nor his Ex-Lover getting the better of him and blurted during the feast "If that bitch will take the throne, then i will put her head on a spike!" William and his entourage would leave the feast shortly after this outburst, and would return to the Capitol of Titus City. All of this tension would lead to The Civil War for The Patriarchy which in the end would see almost all of Williams allies except for Sebastian Wolfgang's The Third and his Mercenary Company abandon him upon Sarah Cortes Maximus's calls for a crusade against The Warlord State of Titus.
The Battle of The Dominal River & The Fall of Williams Orbisian Reign[]
The Last Battle in The War for Orbis occurred near the Domional River in Acrabia, where William fielding an army of 111,000 men, would earn himself a decisive defeat at the hands of Sarah Cortes Maximus who fielded 242,000 men. The battle began when Sarah Cortes Maximus, Karkos The Conqueror, Kelmujin Eastmoore, and Ryan Dust, had positioned their forces into three columns. The First column was Line Infantry, followed up with the second line being made up of swordsmen, and the rear column a mix of knights, horse archers, and levies. The decision to put the cavalry in the rear was made by Karkos, who believed the cavalry would be better used as a rear guard to assist the flanks with haste as a majority of the fighting would be ranged warfare from either side of the river. Although Sarah Cortes Maximus was the leader of the coalition, it was Karkos who did a majority of the military leading. Karkos would then assign his general, Ryan Dust, to command the artillery pieces. Finally Kelmujin Eastmoore, a Drazzanian Warlord, was given command of the levies and cavalry in the rear. The first two columns of Infantry would both be led by Karkos and Sarah. William, horrendously outnumbered and outgunned, ordered his men to dig trenches along the river side. Furthermore his trusted retainer Arthur Paxton remained in the frontlines with the Line Infantry and his dismounted knights. William ordered his last loyal lord, Mercenary/Lord Sebastian Wolfgang The Third, to hold the rear with the artillery and dispatch regiments to anywhere the line seemed thin. William only had enough men for one massive line to mirror his enemies, with his only reinforcements mixed with the artillery line directly behind him.
The beginning of the battle was immediately disastrous for William, commencing with the Patriarch's Artillery decimating Williams lines. The situation worsened when the following morning after the start of the battle a heavy rain fell flooding and washing out many of his trenches. Karkos initially tried strong arming his away across the bridge, by deploying several thousand medium-heavily armored sword and bucklers' across the bridge. Due to the bridges large size and Duvan origin, this allowed for a bloody melee to ensue. Inevitably Arthur Paxton and his knights took the brunt of the infantry fighting on the bridge. The line infantry fire from across the river began to pick up, and although Williams men were better trained and better armed, the sheer numbers of the Patriarch's forces was too much for Williams lines. Nevertheless Williams army stood their ground, and the following morning the fighting ceased. For nearly a whole day both sides mirrored each other, running back and forth attempted to tactically outmaneuver one another. Finally by the fourth day an all out attack was initiated by the Patriarch's forces, Karkos had spent the latter day constructing makeshift rafts and boats. While he did this Kelmujin Eastmoor had rode up river with a small contingent of Drazzanian Horse Archers and crossed the river. The combined crossing of Karkos's men across the bridge and river, followed by the flank commenced by Kelmujin decimated Williams Army.
During the confusion and fighting William ordered Arthur Paxton to rally what knights he could, and order the army to retreat back to Titus City. When Paxton initially refused, refusing to leave his lord to die, William explained that he would hold the rear guard for the retreat. Arthur bregudgendly complied and began to pull the army back, William and his rear guard were able to buy time allowing Paxton and nearly 30,000 men to escape. The rest were either killed or captured. After this defeat William and Sebastian Wolfgang The Third were captured. Arthur Paxton escaped and rallied all the forces he could and held onto Williams Warlord State, entrenching himself in Titus City as ordered. Sarah Cortes Maximus showed mercy to William even after he hurled multiple insults at her demanding she execute him. He was Banished to back to his home in Franika on June the 26th 1759 A.T.F. Sebastian Wolfgang was also spared, and he was put under house arrest at his Estate outside of Gallius City, Sebastians Mercenary Company was also forced to disband.
Return to Franika[]
After his banishment to Franika he learned that a New Royalist Party, a pro-Franikan part, had arisen in popularity claiming the Brettish Rule over Franika was unconstitutional, in response The Brettish Parliament arguing Brettland won in the Frankio-Brettish War and thus Brettish rule was legal by conquest. This decision caused the New Royalist Party to spark an open revolt, and while William was gone a full scale revolution had taken hold over Danika. Being Franikan he jumped to the chance to join the rebels. He returned to his village and assembled a militia, his personal militia's ranks quickly swelled due to the fame he garnered from his conquest in Orbis. He named the Militia "Franikas Revenge" and fought for nearly seven months aiding the Franikan Royalist until finally Parliament had released all previous land titles back to the Franikans. Franika once again had become Independent monarchy. After the war William attempted to gain power in the new government but many of the other more prominent Revolutionary Leaders who had fought in the war for years longer had far more popularity than he ever could obtain.
William would spend two more months as a minor politician taking time to write books, read, paint art, and hunt while often times helping train the New Franikan Legio. One late night in December of 1759 A.T.F William received a note, an invitation to the peace talks to end The War For Orbis. Arthur Paxton had used the remaining army as a bargaining chip to secure Williams return. The few remaining Warlords and Kings of Orbis were ready to unite and Arthur demanded that unless William would be allowed to return and play a role in the peace talks his armies would not surrender. In desperation for the War for Orbis to come to an end Karkos, Sarah Cortes Maximus, Ryan Dust, and Kelmujin Eastmoor all agreed to allow William to attend the meeting if it meant peace.
The Return of Williams Power[]
William attended the meeting and was known for being helpful in organizing the newly formed Dominions Army, decommissioning Knights, the title of Knight (which Arthur felt betrayed but kept his mouth shut), and also centralizing the economy to help rebuild and lower inflation. During this time William and Arthurs friendship suffered due to Williams modernization efforts of The Orbisian Army. William would be the leading General in Economics for Orbis until 1764 U.O when the Wesley War started. Williams first action was to call upon his plethora of generals who served beside him in the War for Orbis, including his old friend Arthur Paxton. Arthur agreed and with his echelon of upper leadership selected, William turned his attention to The Far North. The Kingdom of Avoria, a newly founded Kingdom, requested to be put under the vassalage of William. The Ryalls borders were situated close to the powerful King Karkos, and thus opted to side with William who unlike Karkos, promised their autonomy. William quickly accepted this request from the Ryall family and promised to come to their aid if Karkos marched upon them.
The Battle of Norks Shore and Presumed Death[]
William knowing this was his last chance to seize absolute power re-organized thousands of veterans from the old War For Orbis and marched north to defeat intercept Karkos who was planning on subjugating the The Ryalls. William marched Against Karkos Lazarai, and was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Norks Shore on February the 23rd 1764 A.T.F. William fielded an army of 96,000 men, and an additional 20,000 from The Ryalls, while Karkos possessed an Army of 112,000 men. William being a primarily infantry man brought an army made up of mostly line Infantry with a few artillery pieces. Karkos's Army consisted of primarily of Old Orbisian Knights and Militia summoned from all across The Far North. Karkos used the Militia to distract the better trained army of Line Infantry William deployed. The Heavy Knights came from the flanks, broke the Ryall defenders, and proceeded to decimate Williams Army. Arthur Paxton was killed in the fighting and several stories have arisen of Williams fate. During the fighting William disappeared in the confusion and chaos that ensued, Williams remains were never found.
Personality[]
Williams was regarded as being charismatic, he was able to inspire those who would follow him to peruse his goals to the very end. Many also regarded William for being a very stubborn man, oftentimes going to the extreme to prove his point. Along with his stubbornness it was often common for William to hold grudges against those who slighted him. However one trait that was universally accepted by was that William was extremely intelligent and knew his way around politics.
Appearance[]
William had a light complexion to his white skin, he was considered to be a stout man standing at 5.10 Feet tall, and possessing a well built appearance. It was said in his younger years William weighed around 200 pounds, however it was said in Williams later years he gained some weight as he did less of the fighting and more commanding in his later campaigns. William had blonde hair and blue eyes, his face was considered to have a brutish look to it, and his jaw was well defined. It was said William dressed in mostly commoners apparel as he had no interest in dressing like a noble, William possessed many weapons in his lifetime but never used one enough to have a main weapon worthy of note. Though it was said that he favored his Franikan Longsword that he had imported to Orbis.