Episode 19: The Rise of Two Kingdoms

The many wars lasted through numerous generations, and out of the chaos, Gracia became the first to thread together the strands of unity. A man called Paris, with his military prowess and tremendous strength brought glory to his people, winning many battles and claiming lands in the name of Beheim.

Paris achieved legendary status when he and his army faced off against the vicious highlanders of Quaser. In a desperate fight against Tor, Quaser's mightiest warrior, Paris struck a decisive wound. Having never before lost a fight, legend has it that the wounded Tor uttered, "Can you really be Human? Such strength, such speed!"

Standing before his enemy, Paris looked out over the battlefield and replied, "I desire that much to unify this land... Brave warrior of the North, pledge me your loyalty, and together we shall conquer all who oppose us."

Thus Paris led the White Hawk Knights, the Wind Knights, and now the newly allied highlanders across the lands of Gracia and achieved many military victories. The lands of Beheim swelled to more than five times its original borders, and as for Paris, he staged an uprising against the royalty and ascended the throne.

Meanwhile, the southern lands were also bursting with activity and many were concerned with news of the turbulent tidings from Gracia and Elmore. A charismatic leader named Raoul appeared, and led his own campaign to amass a personal force under his flag. A fiery speaker, Raoul defeated those who opposed him not with weapons but with words. One of his speeches usually went like this:

"Lords of the land! Do you not see what is happening beyond our borders? Formidable enemies march down on us as we speak! The kingdom of Elmore has long sought our wealth and our lands and is only waiting for the right time to strike. If the Gracia region across the sea should also decide to move, we will be overrun! There is no other option than to join our armies together under one flag and to prepare for war."

Raoul used persuasion to steadily tie the southern lands together. But the perceived threat of the Elmore kingdom was not as great as it appeared, as they were too busy dealing with the mass uprising of the orcs to focus any attention on Aden.

Nonetheless, Raoul first combined forces with his loyal ally Innadril, and together these lands established the kingdom of Aden. Unlike Paris, Raoul waged a bloodless campaign and he easily progressed west to acquire Giran and Dion.

It was in Oren that Raoul first met upon resistance to his plan. Oren claimed itself to be the leader of the southern lands and did not accept any leader other than their own. Eventually, the two kingdoms came to blows, but the Aden kingdom maneuvered a remarkable victory. The Gludio kingdom, witnesses to the might of the Aden army, voluntarily chose to ally itself with Aden, completing Aden's unification. Thereafter, Raoul became known as the Unification King.