New Colchis: History

5454AD Magnus Dies

When Magnus died, the Lady Sujata had his reincarnated self brought to her palace, and raised in a secular, warriorly fashion. Many orthodox priests objected, but they were suppressed. Thus Sujata began a clever campaign to further undermine the power of the priesthood.

The Sovereignty slowly began to win the upper hand in its long rivalry with Bose and Gauranga Houses. Economic links with the frontier towns gave it access to raw materials and a growing market for goods. The old Houses became stuck in a spiral of economic decline.

5471AD Sujata Dies

Old Lady Sujata died at the ripe old age of 84. The young Lord Magnus became leader of the Sovereignty, and at once set about marshaling his power and authority.

For the next five years, under Magnus’ direction the Sovereignty began to exercise its economic muscles. The production of war materiel was doubled, and many more young men and women were recruited into the army.

5476-5542AD The Unification Wars

Then in 5476AD, Magnus declared that the Sovereignty was dissolved. It was replaced by the “Kingdom of New Colchis”. Young Magnus became King and the child Sujata became Queen.

King Magnus proclaimed that the Kingdom was to be the supreme world government of New Colchis, with sovereignty over the whole planet. With this he began the long campaign to conquer New Colchis, in a series of conflicts that came to be known as the “Unification Wars”.

Magnus’ proclamation was accompanied by lightening strikes against his old enemies, the Bose. Dozens of divisions of new grav-assault vehicles swept into Bose lands. By the end of the year, “Skua” the Bose capital had fallen to the Royal forces.

Some echoes of the chivalrous Code of the Glorious Wars lived on amongst the warrior class. Although the Unification Wars were fought with modern weapons, the warriors were careful to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties. Most people’s lives were largely unaffected by the wars.

5503AD The Crimson Flower

The exception was the continued excesses of the Crimson Hand. The ultra-orthodox terrorists had by now decided that the Kingdom was as much of an enemy as the heretics.

In 5503AD they perpetrated their worst ever outrage. The Hand secretly constructed a nuclear bomb from the drive unit of an intra-system freighter. The weapon was detonated in the heart of Croman, capital of the Kingdom. 15 million people were killed, including both King and Queen. This atrocity is known to history at the “Crimson Flower”.

There followed a period of terrible chaos. Marshal law was declared, and government fell to the generals. A great purge of the priest class resulted in hundreds of executions. It was two years before the King & Queen reincarnated were identified, and many more before they were old enough to relieve the generals of the burdens of government.