Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1808-1809
An embassy delegation of a thousand people was formed in Ashterah, the Ashbrum Central City, and Lionwei Arhat was put at the head of the delegation.
Lionwei could not forget what had happened in the council; Kilaiwen's words and suicide were troubling his mind.
After Kilaiwen was thrown into the dungeon, he had committed suicide by using a breath spell to empty all the air from his body, asphyxiating himself.
Shenlad's death from a heart attack had also caused the Ashbrums to collapse mentally and spiritually.
After these two deaths, the Council reconvened and Marco was appointed as the head of the council.
Marco established an embassy delegation of a thousand people and appointed Lionwei, one of the Ashbrums' best diplomats, as the head of the delegation.
He had only one goal: to make a peace treaty with the least amount of damage.
After the second Council meeting, Marco enthroned IX Junric, the son of XXI Carl, as the new Dynasty Lord.
Many people objected to this situation; they opposed the accession of Carl's son, who had led them to disaster, to the throne.
Marco, as a Dynasty member, had to oppose these reactions, albeit reluctantly.
"Calm down! Do you think I am happy with this situation? If I had my way, I would wipe out Carl's line from the face of the earth, but you know that since the times of the Ancient Empire, the throne has always passed from father to son. The opposite is considered the end of the Dynasty."
A Dynasty member asked for the floor, stood up, and said:
"Marco, do we still have to follow this tradition? 1000 years have passed since the Ancient Empire collapsed. 1000 years!"
Marco responded to this statement:
"The Kislavein Dynasty, whom you hate, follows this tradition like a religious ritual. Not only them, but the Turvig Dynasty in the Northern Lands, the Arfas Dynasty in the Southern Lands, and the Costin Dynasty in the Central Lands have always followed this tradition since the Ancient Empire. If we abandon this tradition now because of our hatred for Carl, the Ashbrum Dynasty, the oldest Dynasty in all the Lands, will be considered fallen by all the Dynasties, large and small, including the Eastern Lands Dynasties."
The Dynasty members who thought like Marco also took courage from Marco's speeches.
"Marco is right. There is even a verse in the holy books: If a Dynasty Lord has no heirs left and someone from the older generation or a different branch ascends to the throne, that Dynasty ends and a new Dynasty begins. Even when God commands this, we cannot act with hatred and anger and make this mistake."
The Dynasty members calmed down. The embassy delegation set out under Lionwei's command, carrying white Ashbrum banners symbolizing surrender and the desire for peace, to meet with the Kislaveins.
A month later, the Kislavein Headquarters:
The Kislaveins had not rested since the last war.
Despite suffering losses as heavy as the Ashbrums, they were trying to conquer as many cities as they could, using this opportunity.
11 armies, each consisting of ten legions, had surrounded the cities and castles, increasing civilian casualties by plundering and massacring the places they conquered, aiming to force the Ashbrums to surrender.
While the Kislaveins continued to conquer Ashbrum lands, the thousand-strong Ashbrum embassy delegation reached the Kislavein headquarters.
The Ashbrums were greeted with insults, curses, and humiliations at the Kislavein headquarters.
A few Kislavein soldiers took some members of the Delegation to the tent of the Kislavein Dynasty Lord, IV Orsman.
The tent was three times the size of a peasant's house, inspired by the tents of the steppe nomads.
Orsman was sitting on his throne in all his glory.
The Ashbrum envoys knelt and bowed their heads.
"We present our respects to the Kislavein Dynasty Lord, IV Orsman. We bring you the wish for peace from our new Dynasty Lord, IX Junric."
Orsman was pleased; after years of war, he would finally get what he wanted.
"Just breathing the same air as the Ashbrums makes me sick to my stomach. To keep it short: You will return all the lands we gave you 300 years ago. You will pay 3.5 billion gold in compensation. Your lord's brothers and sisters will be given to us as political hostages. And you will give us the heads of Marco and Brian Ashbrum, who killed my right-wing commanders, Arrogan and Gustav, in the war."
Lionwei thought about what to do in the face of these terms.
Half of the Ashbrum lands, all of their ten years' income, and the heads of two promising Dynasty members... All of these were very harsh terms for the Ashbrums.
Refusing or even reducing the compensation was out of the question because the winner takes all, but Lionwei decided to make an attempt to save Marco and Brian's heads.
"It is your natural right to want to avenge your commanders, Dynasty Lord Orsman, but it is natural for warriors to kill each other on the battlefield. There, you either die or you kill. Marco and Brian are on the verge of death from the wounds they received in the war."
Orsman understood that Lionwei was lying and began to strangle him with magic.
"Do you think I don't realize you are lying? If I kill you right here and massacre your delegation, who would say what? Some might say 'envoys should not be harmed,' and I would say 'I took revenge for my slaughtered envoys,' and who would find me strange? History is written by the winners, and we won this war, and we will write history."
Lionwei's face began to turn purple; he felt the breath of death on his neck. Just as he was about to take his last breath, Orsman released Lionwei.
Lionwei collapsed to the ground, began to cough, and took deep breaths.
Orsman took his sword, stood up, and put the tip of his sword to Lionwei's throat.
"Marco and Brian killed two talented commanders of mine. I want those two heads."
Lionwei, to save them, made a move that would probably cause him to be killed by the Ashbrums, if not the Kislaveins.
"Then let's pay blood money for the heads of both of them."
Orsman began to grin. At that moment, Lionwei realized that he had fallen into a trap.
Orsman sheathed his sword, sat on his throne, and began to explain the amount of blood money.
"1.5 billion gold and Blumbardir Castle, north of Ashterah city."
At that moment, Lionwei understood that Orsman wanted to get more gold and land, but since he could not do so because of the 500-year-old Great Dynasty Foundation Treaty, he was doing it under the name of blood money, using Marco and Brian as an excuse.
Lionwei was very regretful. Orsman and the Kislaveins in the tent were in a good mood.
Orsman took a sip of his wine, signaled to his men, and had the peace treaty written.
After both sides put their seals on the treaty, he looked at his warriors.
"Warriors, show these scum the way out of the camp. I do not want to breathe the same air as these scum any longer."
The warriors threw the envoys out of the tent by grabbing their arms.
Then the thousand-strong delegation left the Kislavein camp without even a single day of rest.
Lionwei was executed for the damage he had caused to the Ashbrum Dynasty and for failing to fulfill his duty.
The Ashbrums signed a heavy treaty and became dependent on the Kislaveins. This war ended with the absolute Kislavein Victory.
Celebrations, festivals, and feasts were held all over the Kislavein lands for 40 days and 40 nights.
Orsman was eating and drinking with his soldiers at that time. Then Orsman's sons came to his mind.
"Ricardo and his two brothers will turn 14 this year. When will they grow up and reach the age to enter the academy? I hope he has become stronger in the past years. The war of the heirs will begin in a year. Let's see if Ricardo can win this war and become my successor. I have great expectations from you, my son. I hope you don't disappoint me."
The war of the Ancient Dynasties had ended, and now the War of the Heirs was beginning.