Lukas Vanir
|
|
|
Lukas Vanir (2nd of Snow's Maiden, 1533 - 7th of the Grand Harvest, 1612), known as Lukas the Learned, was a Haeseni soldier, statesman, and philosopher who served as the second Lord Maer of the Haeseni capital of St. Karlsburg, and as the fourth Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska following the resignation of Duke Henry Kovachev.
Contents
Early Years
Lukas was born in the frozen forests of Salvus to Britannus Vanir, the only remaining scion of House Vanir in the aftermath of the Dukes' War, and Emilia Vladov. The family had lost their lands and their home of Kraken's Watch after the war, and so Lukas was brought up in the outskirts of the Kingdom of Salvus, surviving by hunting the little game that lived in the woods. In his personal journals and in records from his later political campaigns, Lukas recalls that these years taught him resilience and determination. He would carry these traits and the lessons of his youth with him when his father retook the Vanir's ancestral lands during the Riga War, with the assistance of Petyr Barbanov and the others in the Carnatian League. This was the first of many wars that Lukas would fight in, and it was here that he got his first glimpse at the politics of the real world, understanding the nature of power and what drives humans to do what they do, writing in his journal:
Here it is, that my family who lost everything to men we knew and trusted, shall now regain what we lost through the actions of men we hardly know.
It was from the crucible of the Riga War that the young Lukas began to form his identity as a supporter of Barbanov and the polity that would soon become Haense. After the passing of his father and the accession of his elder brother Fiske as Baron, he would lobby for further support of and closer ties with Barbanov, a cause that Fiske accepted open-heartedly, given his own friendship to the Barbovic Duke. When the descendants were forced to flee Vailor and migrate to the Isles of Axios, Lukas and Fiske traveled with the Carnatians, swearing fealty to and setting up camp with Duke Petyr. When Emperor John III granted Petyr the Kingdoms of Hanseti and Ruska and bestowed him with land in the north of Axios, Lukas would follow his family and move north to help establish the new Margraviate of Vasiland.
Early political career
Advisor to the Margrave
In the new Margraviate, Lukas played a key role as advisor to his brother in both political and military affairs. Lukas was given command over the levy forces of House Vanir, tasked with recruitment, training, and equipping all soldiers sworn to Vanir. In this task, he performed well, employing a qualified officer corps and recruiting local merchants and craftsmen to keep the levy equipped. As commander of the levy, Lukas fought in the War of Orcish Submission, making a name for himself among Haeseni circles. In letters written to his brother, Lukas says of the war:
The orcs barely put up a fight, leaving only a few defenders to stall our advance while the populace evacuates. With what courage did these uruks attack our Empire with the Axis coalition, when they can hardly defend themselves? Where are their allies now? How quickly old loyalties and friendships are forgotten in the shadow of power and conquest.
Following the end of the war, Lukas resigned as commander of the levy, opting instead to travel the world and sail the seas, hoping to discover new lands and treasures for Haense. Although ultimately unsuccessful in his venture, he returned to Axios in 1588 after eight years at sea with a renewed spirit and sense of duty. He sought for a position in which he could make use of his experience as commander of the Vanir levy, though the absence of a central army and the high barriers to entry in the Karlsburg City Guard officer corps presented few opportunities. Instead, on the advice of his brother and family, Lukas entered the St. Karlsburg's Lord Maer's race of 1591.
Lord Maer of St. Karlsburg
The campaign for Lord Maer was the shortest and most unconventional in Haeseni history, with Lukas' only competitor withdrawing from the race after just one debate. Lukas was sworn in as Lord Maer on the 15th of the Sun's Smile, 1592, and entered office with an ambitious agenda. His first act was to establish a municipal council, staffed by officers such as the Captain of the town guard, a Head Steward to oversee property sales, and a City Manager/Vice Maer. The council was the first ever bureaucracy for city management in Haense, but it streamlined matters and led to more efficiency in the affairs of the city. His second act was to clearly establish travel routes between the Imperial city of Johannesburg and St. Karlsburg, paying carriages to ferry travelers back and forth between the two cities. This travel network became especially useful when the city of Johannesburg was besieged by Coalition forces during the Coalition War, led by Tuvya Staunton. With the capital threatened, the Coalition sought to destroy the Empire by enticing its vassals into secede, offering peace if they did. There were many in Haense who began question whether the Kingdom should remain loyal to the Empire, or if it should take the offer. As Lord Maer, Lukas would often exchange correspondence with King Marius I, both to keep him informed on the happenings of the city and to offer his opinion on different matters. As a veteran of the Axis war, he believed in the ability of the Empire to overcome the siege and turn the tide of the war, writing:
It was the work of your ancestor, the Exalted Sigismund, that united a fragmented and subjugated humanity into one Empire. King Andrik Vydra, Saint Emma, Saint Wilfriche, Saint Otto: all of these great Northerners expose one simple fact - we are Oren, those of us who have shed our blood for it, who have given our lives for it, we Northern people. It is your responsibility, it is expected of you, to pay respect to their sacrifice by staying true to the Empire for which they gave all they had. This war can be won, if not with numbers than by the sheer determination of the Orenian people.
A few days later, the King rejected the Coalition's offer to secede and decided to remain true to the Empire. The policy ended up redundant however, as Emperor Philip I released all his vassals to save them from destruction before detonating a tahnium bomb to reduce Johannesburg to rubble. With the most populous city in the world now destroyed, Lukas acted quick to welcome refugees to St. Karlsburg. He knew that many former Imperials would refuse to live under a Staunton King and the influx of refugees would bring new inhabitants and businesses, boosting the economy of the city and increasing the revenue generated by it. He passed the Refugee Housing Act of 1594, offering refugees free housing if they chose to immigrate to St. Karlsburg. The offer was accepted by many refugees, boosting the population of the city as Lukas had predicted.
With the boom in population however, also came an increase in the needs of the City Guard and the Stewards in order to run the city. Houses in the city were tax-free, but with the need for more streams of revenue for the city, Lukas passed the Karlsburg Taxation Act, creating the system of taxation that Haeseni Lord Maer's and High Seneschals would use to present day. The public response to the tax plan was mixed. Although it generated revenue for the capital, others saw it as theft and took to the streets to protest the new policy. Some, however, decided that the policy was too much to bear and secretly plotted to kill Lukas. The conspiracy came into fruition when an unknown assassin attacked Lukas at night on an empty street within St. Karlsburg while he was alone. His right leg took most of the damage from the attack, but he was able to disarm the assassin and force them to retreat, narrowly escaping with his own life. He would go on to lose his leg, leaving him bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
After hearing of the attack, Marius I looked favorably on Lukas, seeing him as a devoted public servant truly dedicated to the success of the Kingdom. The King's own struggles with his current Palatine, Duke Henry of Carnatia, were in contrast to his friendly relationship with Lukas. When Duke Henry resigned from his position a few weeks later, Marius appointed Lukas to replace him as Palatine, elevating him from Maer to second in command of the whole Kingdom.
Lord Palatine of Hanseti-Ruska
Resolute Realm
The dull reign of Petyr I and the rebellious reign of Andrik II had not formed a governmental structure for the new Kingdom. As a result, vassals were left as autonomous groups and given free reign over their lands and people. Marius I, in the first major reform initiative of his reign, announced the creation of a Resolute Realm: a plan to create and centralize a royal government. As Palatine, Lukas was supportive of the effort, writing in his journal:
It is good and just that the King centralizes power in this Kingdom. Vassals with no government to keep them in check are like children with no parents, lacking self-control or direction.
Lukas was a major proponent of centralization, a stance he took after witnessing the fall of the Fifth Empire at the hands of disloyal vassals. He knew the threat posed by self-serving vassals, and was quick to support Marius' Resolute Realm. The first part of the realm was a survey and inspection of all vassal territories, taking note of food production, population, and if building standards were being met. To this end, a Ministry of the Interior was created, responsible for the management of all vassal territory within the Kingdom. As the head of this Ministry Lukas recommended Diedrik Barrow, a man he knew would be tough on the vassals and incorruptible, and this recommendation was accepted by Marius.
The policy saw the dismantling of many vassal towns by the new Minister, which was one of its intended effects. The existence of these smaller towns had diverted trade and craftsmen away from the capital St. Karlsburg, weakening the Crown and the whole nation as a result. Many vassal lords were extremely upset by the destruction of these towns as it weakened them, yet reluctantly accepted the policy for the protection offered by Haense. Marius and Lukas knew that most vassal lords had been vocal critics of the Stauntons, and would rather lose their towns than be sworn to a Staunton king. Not all lords fit into this category however, and some would use the implementation of the Resolute Realm to rebel against the Kingdom. The ensuing chaos and its aftermath would completely halt the Resolute Realm project, killing the royal government's main domestic agenda.
Brawm Uprising
The centralization of the Resolute Realm was begrudgingly accepted by most houses, but not by House Brawm. With their connections to the Staunton rulers of Courland, Brawm labelled the policy a breach of their feudal contract and rebelled against the royal government, expecting those connections to support their efforts. Lukas immediately urged Marius to close the borders of the Kingdom, with the hope of cutting off any potential reinforcements that the rebels could call on. Marius was a man of diplomacy and hoped for a peaceful resolution to the rebellion; he was also weary of the damage to trade and travel that the border closing would have and wanted to avoid the financial damage. Months passed and it became clear that no such resolution was possible, forcing Marius to order the border castles of Vasiland and Metterden to cut off all access into the Kingdom. A small Courlandic detachment had managed to pass into the Kingdom in these months, but not enough to be a serious threat to the Kingdom.
Lukas knew that a show of strength now against the rebels would deter any other threats to the Kingdom. He was weary of Courland's expansionist goals, knowing that their Raevir minority under the rogue Arpad Ivanovich constantly lobbied for war against Haense in hopes of taking the Kingdom of Ruska. It was his hope that a decisive victory against the rebellion would dent their efforts and keep the peace between the two human powers for longer. An army was raised of the various levies of the nobles, numbering a grand 8,000 men and the largest army ever fielded by Haense. He rode with the army as it lay siege to the Brawm castle of Houndsden, his military experience from his youth guiding him as he supervised the commanders and helped lead the siege. Avoiding a long siege was key to Lukas' goals here; a swift and decisive victory would validate his government and confirm his competency in running the Kingdom, and would serve as a deterrence to outside nations. At his urging, the castle was reduced to rubble and assaulted, the overwhelming force of the royal army being too much for the Brawm defenders to repel. After a few short hours of fighting, the Brawm defenders surrendered themselves and the castle, effectively ending the rebellion.
King Marius had originally intended to only punish the head of House Brawm, his peaceful and conciliatory nature pushing him to pardon the rest of the family. Lukas, however, argued that pardoning the Brawms that took up arms against the rebellion could embolden other nobles with similar rebellious notions. The argument persuaded Marius, and he ordered the executions of all Brawms that fought in the Siege against the royal army, leaving only a few members of the House alive but without land or title. The destruction of the rebellion gave Lukas a great deal of influence in the Kingdom, allowing him to more easily persuade the King in matters of state.
Haense-Courland Summit
As work on the Resolute Realm continued, King Marius sought to build up the Kingdom's nonexistent foreign relations. The main focus of this plan was to stabilize relations with the Kingdom of Courland, with whom tensions had risen in the wake of the Brawm rebellion. This policy was welcomed by King Tobias of Courland, who also sought better relations with Haense in order to cement Courland's status as the successor to the Fifth Empire. Prince Meric Staunton was sent to St. Karlsburg to meet with Marius and lay the groundwork for future diplomacy. As the Prince left the city however, he was assassinated by the Minister of the Interior, Diedrik Barrow. Barrow had acted on his own, yet war hawks in Courland were quick to point the finger at and lay blame on Marius for the murder. Despite Marius' best efforts to clarify the true origin of the attack, the narrative that Haense had assassinated the Prince became the only account that Tobias would believe. Tensions fell to Coalition War levels, with citizens in both nations arguing for war against the other.
Lukas, believing that war was not yet in Haense's best interest or that the Kingdom was ready for war, pushed for Marius to continue his diplomatic efforts to stabilize relations. As a result, both Kings agreed to a diplomatic summit where all issues between the two powers could be addressed peacefully. The Haeseni delegation consisted of Marius, Lukas, and a few retainers for security. In contrast, the Courlander delegation consisted of Tobias, his son Prince Joseph, and the entirety of the Courlander privy council. This showmanship was not well received by the Haeseni, who had hoped for a simple and productive dialogue between the two rulers. The high tensions between the two states proved too strong to overcome however, as the meeting began immediately with an aggressive dispute over the true nature of Meric Staunton's death. When the Kings failed to achieve a resolution to that matter, partly due to the interruptions of the Courlander privy councilors, Marius angrily accused Courland of using the Brawm rebellion to undermine his authority in Haense. This accusation only flared tempers between the two delegations, and the summit continued to spiral and worsen relations. In the end, all that the summit was able to accomplish was a temporary halt in hostilities until the body of Prince Meric was returned to Courland.
Great Northern War
After the failure of the summit, some noble houses within Haense felt more emboldened to attack Courland. One such family was Ivanovich, who kidnapped Princess Annabelle of Courland, and held her in the prisons of St. Karlsburg. Enraged by his vassal's unilateral action, Marius orders the Princess' release, though Ivanovich refused and moved her to the Duchy of Carnatia. The Duke of Marna, an advisor to King Tobias, was sent to Carnatia to secure the Princess' release, but was instead beheaded by the Ivanovich rogues. Further military incursions by Courland to free the Princess failed, resulting in the deaths of many Courlander and Haeseni soldiers. Despite privately acknowledging that war with Courland was an inevitability, Lukas nonetheless publicly condemned the acts of the Ivanovichs and pressed for Marius to lightly punish them in order to open diplomatic talks with Courland. To Lukas' dismay, Marius fully disenfranchised the Ivanovich family, stripping them of land and title and crippling the vanguard of the Haeseni army. This was the first and only major disagreement between the King and Lukas, the latter believing that a more lenient punishment would have been best for the inevitable conflict between Haense and Courland.
In favor of unity, Lukas publicly supported Marius' disenfranchising of the Ivanovichs. In private however, Lukas knew that war with Courland had to happen and, in order to avoid the fury of the international community, had to be provoked by Courland. To this end, Lukas sent the Count of Metterden, Boris var Ruthern, to treat with King Tobias and seek an end to the military escalations of the past year. Further research into Lukas' personal journal reveals that he had informed Boris to seek out any sort of injustice against him or Haense, thereby giving Marius a just cause for war. Boris' visit turned deadly however, as he was killed by Ser Demetrios upon arriving at the Courlander capital. He writes:
I send Count Boris to Courland to seek a cause for war, and in this effort he has lost his life. He knew of the risk he would take on when I spoke to him, yet he was not shaken. His determination to succeed for his Kingdom was as strong as ever. His true objective may never become public, but his sacrifice will provide security for countless generations of Haeseni. Would that all Haeseni were so dedicated as him, our nation might reach great heights previously thought unattainable. He was truly a greater man than those who came before him.
Following Boris' death at the hands of a Courlander knight, popular and government opinion shifted away from diplomacy towards war. Among those calling for war was Archbishop Rory Othaman, the future High Pontiff Owyn II, whose support Lukas had wary of. The Archbishop's Pontifical ambitions were no secret nor was his desire to see a reunited Orenian empire, and Lukas had often steered Marius away from Rory's counsel because of this. On the matter of Courland however, Lukas gratefully accepted the Archbishop's backing for war. With the senior most clergyman in Haense supporting war, Lukas convinced Marius with little resistance to issue an ultimatum to King Tobias, demanding a public apology and economic reparations for the death of Count Boris and forthe release of Princess Annabelle, who had remained a prisoner. As Lukas predicted, Tobias rejected the terms of the ultimatum, and Marius declared war on the Kingdom of Courland.
Lukas had witnessed the strength of the Haeseni military during the Brawm rebellion and believed that the war could be swiftly won with a single offensive into the Courlander heartland, a belief that was shared by most in Marius' government. The army was mustered near the fortress of Metterden and marched soon, leaving little time for a full muster and forcing stragglers to catch up to the main force in the coming days. As a result of this strategy, and as a result of a gross mismanagement of the armed forces by Lord Marshal Brynden Vanir, the Haeseni force had dropped in strength from 8000 soldiers to just 5000. The Courlanders however, had attained the support of the powerful Urguani clan of Frostbeard, adding to their general strength. Still, the general consensus among Haeseni command was that 5000 soldiers would be enough for the campaign that lay ahead, and that the expected Westerlandic reinforcements would bolster that number. The first engagement of the war quickly disproved that belief, as Westerlandic reinforcements never arrived and the Haeseni army was swiftly routed at the Battle of Elba.
After the Haeseni loss at Elba, King Tobias sent peace terms to Marius, including the surrender of Metterden and Vasiland, as well as Duke Kovachev and the King himself to Tobias to answer for the war. Despite the initial loss, Lukas and his supporters still felt that there was a chance at victory, especially in a defensive siege of the fortress at Metterden where the army was now stationed. The terms were denied, and preparations began for a long siege of Metterden, which Lukas considered the next step in the Courlander offensive into Haense. Instead, the Courlander army marched to Vasiland, forcing the Haeseni to leave a minimal garrison at Metterden and rush to Vasiland to defend the province. This rush and the following lack of preparation would prove fatal, as the Courlander assault on the castle succeeded and the border territory was lost. It was at this point that the public's attitude to the war had completely reversed, with a majority of nobles and councilors in favor of peace. Marius signed a treaty of full surrender with Tobias, ceding the whole territory of Haense to Courland but not the royal titles of Hanseti or Ruska. As part of the treaty, a small number of nobles were allowed to maintain their holdings, including Ruthern and Baruch, in exchange for swearing fealty to Tobias. At Lukas' urging, those houses that could did so, in order to save them and leave open the possibility for a future reconquest of Haeseni land.
Exile in Mardon
The signed treaty of surrender had not ceded the titles of King of Hanseti and Ruska to Tobias, which had been one of his many goals from the war. Despite this, Tobias claimed himself as King of the aforementioned Kingdoms in an effort to legitimize and strengthen his rule over his newly acquired Northern land. In response to this, Lukas' first act in exile was to hold the first session of the Royal Duma, a body whose existence had been established years earlier but had never been used by the royal government. This Duma was meant not only to maintain an image of dignity and pride among the exiled Haeseni nobility, but also to remind the Haeseni populace that the Dual-Monarchy was not dead yet. The Duma itself was lacking in substance; the nobles voted to confirm their loyalty to Marius and to Barbanov, to recognize him as the only King of Hanseti and Ruska, and to never end the fight against Courland until the Kingdom was fully restored to its old lands. The Duma achieved its intended effects; Haeseni pride and nationalism remained stable, and the Haeseni who had chosen to live under Courland never fully swore loyalty to the newly named Archduke Francis of Akovia.
As part of his campaign to maintain Haeseni nationalism, Lukas wrote the work which would earn him the title of "the Learned": his 'Greater Man philosophy and the school of Political Lukasism that emerged from it. The treatise was a compilation of observations of Lukas' from events throughout his life, starting with the Riga War all the way through the Great Northern War. In his work, Lukas introduces the subject of the "Greater Man", and defines him as a man whose sole desire is to serve his people at whatever cost to himself. The Greater Man is one who understands that his life means more when it is used in the service of a whole people, when it has a dignified purpose. Boris Ruthern was continuously named throughout the writing; the young man's sacrifice of his own life for the furtherment of the Haeseni people was considered the prime example of a Greater Man. The treatise was published in 1608, after four years of exile in Mardon. The popularity of the essay turned Lukas into a cultural symbol for the Haeseni people, one that fomented immense nationalistic pride in the Haeseni people. Copies of the writing were smuggled in secret to the occupied territories, where people living under Courlandic yoke took inspiration and began a resistance movement against the occupation. This rise in nationalism was not lost on Lukas and Marius, who used it to encourage further resistance to rising Courlandic hegemony over humanity. When the Kingdom of Mardon was attacked by Courland, a wave of Haeseni volunteers swelled the ranks of the Mardonian army and allowed it to beat back a Courlandic invasion. The stress from handling all these affairs began to take its toll on Marius, who had taken on a habit of drinking to alleviate some of that stress. His inability to control his habit led him to an early grave; Marius died in 1611 and his son Petyr II took over as King-in-exile. Petyr, however, failed to establish himself as a leader of the Haeseni people, falling ill to measles and dying of the disease within four months of his reign. Marius' youngest son, Stephen, became head of Barbanov but had very little actual influence. He was still young, and the early death of his brother meant that Stephen was little more than a figurehead with very little actual power.
Greyspine Rebellion
Count Joren of Metterden was killed in the court of King Joseph of Courland, and his whole House of Ruthern rose up in rebellion against the Courlandic occupiers. They, along with House Baruch, had been the two houses who kept their Haeseni lands after the Great Northern War, and now both provided a foothold for the rebellion in the north. Lukas, who had retained his status as a cultural symbol, urged the Haeseni populace to return to the north to support the rebellion, and they did so. Some 3000 Haeseni militiamen joined the rebellion army, and diplomacy by Ruthern had won the support of King Hughes of Lotharingia. Courland entrusted the defeat of the rebellion to Archduke Franz of Akovia, a Kovachev noble, hoping that the Haeseni would not fight another Haeseni. This was not a gamble that paid off however, as Lukas and the other leaders of the rebellion were able to discredit Franz and paint him as a traitor to Haense. The rebellion continued to grow in strength, but nowhere near the strength of the Akovian army that had been raised to put it down. Rebels made the first move of the war, marching north from the fortress of Metterden to reclaim the old capital of St. Karlsburg. The Courlander army marched south to meet them, and the two armies finally met in the Second Battle of the Rothswood. The battle was a decisive rebel victory, forcing King Joseph to surrender the Haeseni lands from an inability to fully control them. The battle was Lukas' last however, as he was never found after the battle. Witnesses report that he had been seen during the first Haeseni charge of the battle, running with full speed into the Courlander lines.
"Greater Man" Philosophy
WIP
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrid Vanir | 1563 | 1608 | Drasko Kovachev | First-born daughter of Lukas and Isabelle. |
| Adeline Vanir | 1572 | 1582 | Unwed | Second-born daughter of Lukas and Isabelle. |
| Harald Vanir | 1575 | 1599 | Odette Ruthern | First-born son of Lukas and Isabelle.
|
