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| - Immediately, the Constitutional Kingdom fell on hard times. In 1565, the economy went sour due to excessive rainfall, flooding, famine, and disease. The nobility withdrew into their fortified manners and administration crumbled for some 5-7 years. When the disaster was finally over, there was further political in-fighting. The King (renamed from the previous title because of Artanian influence) was dead and his heirs fought for the succession. Not helping matters, the nobility chose one heir while the powerful clergy chose another. War would have broken out had not the latter died from a bout of epilepsy. The new King was crowned in Metapontum, war only narrowly averted. The Council of Dukes, however, had consolidated power in the absence of the King; the army now answered to the Minister
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| abstract
| - Immediately, the Constitutional Kingdom fell on hard times. In 1565, the economy went sour due to excessive rainfall, flooding, famine, and disease. The nobility withdrew into their fortified manners and administration crumbled for some 5-7 years. When the disaster was finally over, there was further political in-fighting. The King (renamed from the previous title because of Artanian influence) was dead and his heirs fought for the succession. Not helping matters, the nobility chose one heir while the powerful clergy chose another. War would have broken out had not the latter died from a bout of epilepsy. The new King was crowned in Metapontum, war only narrowly averted. The Council of Dukes, however, had consolidated power in the absence of the King; the army now answered to the Minister of War, not to the King. By 1650, the King's powers were greatly eaten away. But, with the death of King Rilguir II in 1655, the successor, named Loronz the Bold, quickly reversed the tide of aristocratic power. His policies and daring regained him all of the unwritten privileges that had changed hands to the ministers over the last century. Loronz set about a 60 year era of effectively absolute monarchy. The power of the Council reverted to an advisory status while the army pledged allegiance to the King and only to the King. But while the King held political power, the populace was growing ever more affluent and economically influential. Loronz was a man in the right place at the right time, for by his death in 1715, it had become impossible to maintain an absolute monarchy: the populace wanted rights and they wanted freedom. And so when Vehlroh V ascended to the purple throne in 1715, he was faced with a burning call for reform. His father and predecessor had squandered immense amounts of the treasury in order to strengthen the army and carry out foreign petty war. This was a good strategy in the short run, as it consolidated power and unity, but financially it was a disaster. With no money left in the state's coffers, Vehlroh could neither pay his troops nor feed his citizens. The cries for reform grew louder. But the new King was ill-trained and easily frightened. Instead of trying to bargain with the people, he assumed that he could simply crush them, and with little foresight he used his under-payed troops to put down protests and slaughter dissidents on the streets. The crisis reached a head on September 8, 1720, when the King's troops carelessly stormed into the Anleitya Meisol, the most holy church in the Capital, and arrested a clergyman for preaching treason. It was rumored that they had also destroyed a sacred relic of the patron Saint beloved by the people. The rumor was treated as truth, and within days riots broke out in Metapontum. Soon they spread to Halion, Akran, Gylsa, Bouthrotum, and more, each bringing chaos and bloodshed. The King fled to the Nukeya, where the rebellion was more limited, but he could not restore order, not with his under-payed troops, and not with his uninspiring character. On October 10, 1720, after nearly a month of chaos and disorder, a revolutionary government was established in Metapontum. It preached of equality, spiritualism, and a Republic. Yet in Halion, a different government was declared as well by the landed gentry and supporters of the Monarchy (but not necessarily the generally despised King). A war was taking shape from the ubiquitous chaos, one that would decide the future of Solentia. Vehlroh was not involved in this conflict; he was not invited by the Royalists, who had chosen their own candidate for the throne, nor was he given refuge by the Republicans, of course.
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