Peter Flameheart

Early life


Peter and his brother Nelis were born as non-identical twins in fort Greengate (now Volandia) in Savernia, their parents being Geoffrey Flameheart and Sophie Cardel. They were kept a secret for a long time to keep them out of the unstable political games of Bardonia that where played at the time. This meant their father went to war and their mother didn’t have much time either cause she was helping with supplying potions for the war. Keeping them hidden from the outside world and with the parents away, the boys became curious and bored at times, which meant they often misbehaved and tried to sneak out of the fort or caused mischief inside of it. All this went on till they were about 11 years old and they thought it would be funny to paint their fathers armor in a pink colour, what they had forgotten was that Geoffrey had an important tournament the very next day. They were punished and had to clean the stables for weeks, and after that they were send to Ashbury as the political climate had calmed down.

In Ashbury Peter was finally taught discipline, not that his father hadn’t tried but being the busy man he was he just did not have the time. He also got frequently separated from his brother because when they were together they often fell back to their old habits of wreaking havoc. Reading and writing, basics in sword fighting, horse riding and table manners weren’t too hard to learn for Peter and he also developed an interest in business. Experimenting with brewing became a pastime as well and he got fairly decent at it. Slow but surely he turned from a boy into an intelligent young man.

Rising up the ranks
Eventually at the age of 19 he and his brother were moved to a new town Ducklandia, later renamed to Volandia; which was situated in the province of Holtendall, now called Verdentops, where there father was a governor. His father’s goal was to test whether he could stand on his own feet and this he did. Peter saw the opportunity of starting the first bar in town which the people saw as a welcome addition. His brother helped him run the bar and also started doing jobs for the city. As the city grew in size and population both Peter and his brother got involved in more city projects. For example the building of the first wall which they coordinated and helped in as well made them earn the respect of the citizens.

Unfortunately the city’s mayor and his council did not always have the best relations with the Queen and government because of bad communication which led to resignation of the Hdroey as mayor. The search coordinated by Queen Hazel herself and her council began immediately because the town had since become quite populated and prosperous. Soon Nelis, Peter’s brother, was asked to take up the position of mayor. Peter joined him in this venture after being asked to fill the position of Vice-mayor.

He earned the trust of many other nobles by continuedly helping out in the kingdom, even infiltrating a rebel cell that had formed in Volandia. The Rebel cell was led by Fanthom44 who was soon found quilty of treason and got kicked out of Savernia.

He was also one of the first who contacted the immigrated group called the Quaratecans they settled close to Volandia, maybe even to close for comfort. They wanted independence claiming the land once belonged to their ancestors but they were told they would have to accept the Savernian rule and integrate. There response was launching raids against Volandia Peters home town. This meant war, and together with some support of their ally Aurora they took there settlement and forced them to leave the kingdom.

He was asked several times whether he was interested in ruling a city himself since he was only a vice-mayor yet he told them he already had his hands full with managing Volandia and he had also become a very successfully recruiter often bringing new people in the kingdom.

Peter also started training recruits in the military and since the military was quite small back then he quickly became an official trainer and was even trusted to the war room. He became a member of the New Kings council after 0lly took the throne from Hazel who had no longer an interest in ruling as a queen, yet she stayed as an advisor and ruler of Ashbury.

The Laumont war
Meanwhile tensions started rising in the wider world, specifically in the continent of Haven where Savernia was situated. A new upcoming super alliance, called the Horde, they had been subtle threatening Savernia that they would have to either join or die. The council decided they didn’t want join since that would mean losing their military and diplomatic independence. Though on the other side, they couldn’t refuse either or the Horde would invade. So, they tried to stall for time with the excuse that they were still discussing the matter in the council.

Meanwhile Peter accepted the governor position in the Hold of White Shores. This hold was the biggest in Savernia and included almost half of all the Savernian territory. Yet it was mostly unpopulated land. There were 2 cities under construction, called Riversend and Antlersrest. The last becoming the summer palace of king Olly Ashwood. A third settlement was called Descemont. A town existing of immigrants from all over Rathnir. But most of its citizens were coming from The Lorent. One of the nearby countries that had shown interest in the region and which was a member of the Horde alliance. Their leader Cole, managed to convince Descemont’s leader, Sir Loppi, knighted by king Olly only about a month earlier, that he should fight for independence from Savernia. This way Cole himself could back Descemont’s call for independence and try to annex the land in the process. Peter tried to talk Loppi out of it, to no avail. And so, he had to prepare for war. The Savernian council decided that Loppi, together with his new found state called Laumont, was allowed to go independent. Since the specific region had no big value to the Kingdom and it was not worth a costly war. Loppi and Cole were surprised by this response and they received the lands surrounding the city all the way to Antlersrest. Peter later had to deal with several planted settlements elsewhere in the Hold. They were all send by Cole and the Horde leader, called Ringo, in an attempt to destabilize the region and bait Savernia into a small war that they could back up. But Peter managed, together with the council, to avoid all this without spilling a single drop of blood.

Eventually Loppi, Cole and Ringo started spreading the rumor that Savernia had been discriminating and suppressing the Laumont people. These claims were obviously not true and they stirred up quite the commotion in Haven and larger Rathnir. Nonetheless they used the lies as a reason for war and they now demanded the entire White Shores Hold. Not only was this deemed unreasonable, the Laumont people never had any ties to the region they now claimed. Peter once again tried to talk to Loppi, but he quickly discovered that he had turned into Cole and Ringo's pawn. Savernia was no match for the armies of the Horde. Fortunately, they were part of the Commonwealth of Haven. This was an alliance with its sole purpose being securing the peace in Haven. Both sides prepared for battle and Peter started fortifying his provincial capital of Antlersrest. They even demolished the entirety of the town of Riversend, since they deemed it hard to defend. This also prevented the Horde from attacking a weak point and securing a base in the middle of the land. Not along after, two battles were fought over the city of Antlersrest.

The First Battle of Antlersrest
Directly from Peter Flameheart's notes from the battle.

''The walls had been reinforced; the trenches had been dug. All the needed reinforcements and supplies had arrived. It was dark and it started to rain. While I stood on the northern wall, peering into the darkness. We knew they were coming. Minutes felt like days, the silence was unbearable. Until eventually we saw the enemy arrive. They started circling the city, looking for weak points in the defense. While we exchanged volleys of crossbow bolts and arrows. They eventually split up and started the attack.''

''First, they tried the southern walls since the high ground looked like a tactical advantage. But once they finally got some of their soldiers on the wall, they realized they had trouble holding their ground. Also, taking the city meant, they had to take the palace on the northside, so they withdrew. Losses had been taken on both sides.''

''Next, they tried the north-eastern and north-western walls at the same time. I was constantly following the majority of their forces as they kept on switching between the fronts trying to force an opening. So far, they had not been successful. Yet we noticed that they were more experienced and we were losing more man than they were. Eventually they blew a big hole in the foundation of the north-western wall. The ground collapsed and created a big pit and tunnel underneath the wall. Some of our soldiers fell down into the pit and the enemy started to flood in as well, not knowing it was too deep to easily climb out of and access the city. More of our soldiers jumped down to help our cornered brothers and so the pit turned to a chaotic slaughter where both parties took heavy losses. Yet we lost more since our soldiers were not able to climb out or run back like the enemy could.''

''I had been shooting my trustworthy bow all along, suppressing the enemy and here and there managing to kill or shoot one in the deep trenches we had dug. I barely shot any arrows in the pit since the chances of hitting allies were too big. I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of knowing I might have shot one our allies or fellow countrymen. The fighting in the pit came and went, until the enemy realized there was no entrance in the city, or at least not one worth loosing even more lives. So, they withdrew once again which gave us the chance to fix the hole somewhat.''

''After the pit was temporary sealed, I was called to the north-eastern wall since the enemy was attempting to build bridges to cross our wide and frightening trench. Some managed to get on the wall with ender pearls. Some makeshift bridges crossed the gap but those were often quickly blown up or destroyed. I engaged in hand-to-hand combat with several foes and often felt outmatched. Luckily, I was saved by the fact we still outnumbered them on the wall. It dawned once again on me that we were losing way more men than they did and that they were clearly stronger. With a bit of luck, they would easily swarm and beat us. Eventually I was wounded myself beside the several small cuts and bruises I had now sustained. I received a big gaping wound in my upper right leg during a duel with a longsword wielding Hordian.''

''The bleeding was weakening me and I was in need of medical care so I was helped back into the palace where they quickly stopped the bleeding. Alas I was too weak to fight on. All I could do was sit in the basement in between the many wounded soldiers, still holding my gladius, not knowing what happened on the walls. The constant mix of screams and explosions felt never ending and since reports were scarce and far between and often came from other wounded soldiers. We did not know much.''

''Eventually dawn came and both parties were exhausted. So, the enemy withdrew. Some of us called it a victory and I was relieved as well, hearing the news. Yet climbing back on the walls I was faced with a horrible reality. The walls were crumbling, the city was in shambles. There were many craters where there once were roads, wall and roofs. The city was littered with blood, bodies and severed limbs. It made me sick and then I knew that we hadn't won... no one had, and no one would win in a war like this.''

''After counting the bodies, we saw we had made them pay a high price, but we had suffered even more. We realized we needed more men, since the enemy had lost less than us. We knew the next battle would be fought in the coming days or if we were lucky, in a week.''

The Second Battle of Antlersrest
''We had done it. We were not sure it would be enough, but we had done it nonetheless. The walls were repaired and heightened, the trenches were now even wider, the supplies had come and we had many more soldiers who had been more thoroughly trained. Yet I knew the Horde had done the same. We knew they had more fighters than last time so we were not sure. I had tried to keep the morale high all through the preparations yet deep inside I was scared.''

''My wound had not healed well and I still had trouble running or standing for a longer period of time. So, I had decided not to fight in the battle. I felt somewhat guilty because of it, yet I was not going to sit by and wait. I had been working on all kinds of things, ranging from brewing to helping the armor and weapon smiths. And during the battle I was still there resupplying soldiers and taking care of the wounded myself. It was somehow even worse not knowing how the battle had started and not knowing if the defenses were giving us the edge we so desperately needed.''

''Yet once the work and the wounded arrived, there was no end to it. I was even too busy to listen to the news we got from the battle. I was totally focused on helping out and even filtered out the screams and explosions that had me so terrified in the first battle. The news I did get, often told the same story, mainly that we were holding them back, yet barely. Both sides were taking heavy losses. Eventually the enemy did break through and they entered the palace, flooding the city and killing the pockets of soldiers that had not managed to retreat back in time. Panic started to spread in the basement, where the supplies and wounded were. The enemy soldiers were taking over the upper levels and had been flooding the walls. Fortunately, our walls were mostly made out of thick marble and they couldn't penetrate the middle or lower levels of the palace. I later heard that the fighting in the halls was a bloodbath and that we made them pay, though we still slowly being pushed back.''

''We were getting desperate and some started to lose hope. I even started arming the wounded in case they broke through and I we hastily barricaded the doors. But they never came and the screaming went silent. The doors were opened again, after hearing they enemy had somehow fled.''

''Coming outside the damage was even worse than last time and once again the smell of blood filled the air. But this time there was also something else, there was hope. The enemy had fled and we could clearly see they had lost many more men than last time. We heard that some of our forces who had been isolated in the city had been able to form up and managed to get outside the city. The enemy assumed they fled but that was never their intent. They had managed to ambush the supply camp of the horde, effectively halting the constant supply of troops, food, medical care and weapons. This had taken its toll and had pulled many enemy soldiers out of the palace. Yet I got the feeling that there was another reason for their sudden retreat, but before I could think of one, there was more work to be done.''

''I rushed back to the wounded and while trying to save one of our dying soldiers he told me: "Its ok Sir we have won the war, it is over." I replied to him, "Hold on mate were going to get you out of this, you might even be able to fight in the next battle," as I was trying to sound optimistic, since he was clearly dying. But he responded "I am a lost cause sir, but my sacrifice was well worth it". He handed me a ripped piece of cloth, soaked in blood. It took me a while but finally I recognized the symbol on it, it was the emblem I had only seen once before, on the chest of the horde leader Ringo. I was shocked and I asked the dying soldier how he had gotten it. Yet he was gone, his blank eyes staring at the ceiling, dead. We later heard that Ringo was indeed slain and his body had been dragged back out in a last effort to save him.''

The aftermath
The Horde stopped the attacks and a peace was agreed upon. Both parties were too drained to continue a war without an end in sight. Savernia let Loppi keep the lands he wanted so badly. Afterall, they did grant him independence, even before all the bloodshed. The Horde had lost a great deal of its army and was getting nothing in return. It soon started to crumble little by little. Though it didn't collapse completely.

Peter had to decide what to do with the city, if you dared call it one. At one point he even considered demolishing it in its entirety or leaving it as an ugly ruin. A scar in the landscape, as a remembrance of all the ugly things that happened there. But doing this would remind him every time of his failure. He would have succeeded in defending Savernia but not his own province. He had already lost Riversend as well. So, he decided to start clearing the streets and placing new stones. Later he was joined by the savernian building core and mostly led by Thomas Brightbrook.