"Like most of history in the real world, Dynasties Online has what people could say are cycles."
"Years of war followed by years of peace."
"A constant cycle that no one can stop."
"As people are ever greedy for more."
"More resources".
"More wealth."
"More power."
"As long as desire, a natural element of living beings, exists, this cycle shall never stop."
"War is merely conflict personified and decided by violence."
"By force."
"Dominating those who oppose you through force of arms, bringing them under your rule whether they like it or not."
"In the first virtual age of war, many heroes and dynasties rose."
"Houses Erendis and Martinez in Chavaria."
"Ciradyl Erberos in the Kingdom of Pelthas."
"But arguably most importantly for the Kingdom of Nathia and potentially even the world."
"Railius of House Aurellion."
"Known now as Nathia's God of War."
Nolan Alexander, writer of 'Reginald Coulan and the rise of House Aurellion in Dynasties Online.
…
While the business world was in turmoil, the virtual one also began an age of conflict and the rise of wars across the world of Dynasties Online.
That's right, not skirmishes or small battles but full-on wars!
For the last year and a half, in-game certain players, especially the soldiers within the armies of Dynasties Online, great powers, were slowly getting more dissatisfied and bored with their lot in life and the game, taking their annoyance and rage to the Dynasty Online forums.
The main reason for this was that for the last year and half apart from training and drills they had done nothing except patrol and sit on their asses.
Some may think shouldn't these people be happy to get a salary for just sitting around in a game and training all day, especially when that salary can allow them to improve their lives in the real world, giving them a disposable income many had never experienced before?
Of course they should!
But these people are playing a game, so doing the same thing over and over can get boring, as people are never satisfied with their lot and always strive for more; otherwise, there would be far more professional gamers in this world.
Professional gaming to many may seem like an easy job of just playing games all day, but it is far from easy, playing the same game every day for hours on end, while analysing the best strategies to employ, requires a dedication that few possess, especially as the aim is not to have fun but to win as playing the meta all the time can very quickly become not very fun.
However, as time went by, these player soldiers got more bored and unruly.
If it were not for the fact that they had nothing better to do with their time and no better way of making money then these dissatisfied players would have long left the game instead now just like any person doing a job they disliked they reluctantly did it to get the pay check putting in only the bare minimum of effort.
Of course, as long as they kept playing the game Dynasties Inc, the company behind Dynasties Online would not care, after all to capture and retain players who would rather be doing something else was one of the reasons why James made the game the way it was and allowed people to make money off it, even to his own detriment.
The problem for these players was that because they had shown such enthusiasm at the start of their training and on initially joining, their bare minimum of effort was no longer enough for their superiors who knew what they were truly capable of thanks to them trying their hardest in the initial stages of training expecting a war to occur soon.
This is because these officers knew just how violent and cruel war can be, which is why, in times of short peace like they were experiencing now, these sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and generals trained their men harder than ever, as every bit of training and discipline was one more life saved on the battlefield!
War was no game; even masters and grandmasters could struggle to defend themselves in its unrelenting flames, let alone soldiers who were usually only at the intermediate or the adept level, only getting to that level after much training, blood, sweat, and tears.
Some players had even been whipped because of their disobedience, shocking them because in the military in the real world, such capital punishments for insubordination were a thing of the past but were all too common in a medieval world.
A few had even been imprisoned or executed for attacking or getting into conflict with a few of the NPC nobility, as many players saw themselves above a 'mere NPC', not realising that they are in a very realistic virtual medieval world, and that such actions against a noble are incredibly dangerous.
Nobility in the game, especially those from the older and more prestigious families, have countless contacts and ways to make life harder for you if you get on their bad side.
For example, in combat, they could arrange for an accident to occur, or they prevent your merits from being rewarded, or even report to your superiors that it was your fault something went terribly wrong, not theirs.
After all, many nobles are masters of using scapegoats to escape punishments for their failures.
Anyone without a noble title or backing themselves would find their life much more challenging when they make an enemy of a noble, because just as there are honourable nobles and commoners, there are also vengeful ones with less than stellar morality.
The worst nobles would even kill or frame someone to get revenge, leading to embarrassment or even death. No matter what, any commoner without massive talent or backing would find that any career they wanted in the military or the royal court was dead, they offended these important, well-connected members of the upper class.
But these were not the only players, some were relieved by the peaceful times.
This was the opinion of the few players that went through the Dynasty History System to become soldiers and officers because they had experienced and were well aware of the horrors of war and so with their large salaries of tens if not hundreds and sometimes even thousands of gold a month they enjoyed their lives while also having significant capital to improve their real world lives.
These were the players who knew the scent of death and decay that follow in the wake of every battle.
Who heard the screams of the injured and dying even in their sleep.
Who tears shed for friends and comrades lost to its brutal embrace.
It was not something they wanted to see again if they could help it, but the pay for being a soldier was good, and at times when looting was allowed, you could gain even more.
As a result, these players stayed in the army and hoped that the world could remain peaceful for as long as possible so they could live a good life on their salary as soldiers without risking death, which was part of their job description as soldiers.
In fact, many people after experiencing the horrors and brutality of medieval wars and conflicts had to see therapists to help them deal with the PTSD they had unknowingly received while fighting, only making it more and more clear why there was a strict legal adult only policy.
In the current era of war in Dynasties, trained and professional soldiers are the most important currency, especially in today's day and age, where all the major nations field large armies of trained soldiers, more than a hundred thousand strong.
A good example was the Chavarian empire, a superpower in the Dynasties Online, which used its large empire and vast resources to create a professional army of 400,000 men, in addition to the nearly 50,000 imperial guards.
This massive force has resulted in no one nation daring to provoke them.
However, there was also another reason for these countries' hesitation.
And this was the prestige of the old minister of war, who, even in his late sixties to early seventies, had refused to kick the bucket much to the dismay of Chavaria's neighbours.
Not to mention Archtorius who had also become a grandmaster strategist thanks to his talent.
And this was just the army controlled by the emperor!
Then there are more regional powers like Nathia, who have 80,000 men at the Nartook fortress, reinforced by 20,000 brought by their general Ranier Lantier, the Grand Duke of Bundo, to raise it to 100,000.
But it took decades for these armies to be trained.
Yes, not just years but decades!
Supplies, when lost, can be replaced, and so can incompetent commanders, but men trained for war and baptised in its hellish fire.
Those veterans who could stand against impossible odds and win?
They are more valuable than gold, as such men take years, even decades, to cultivate.
Either way, wars between nations include battles between hundreds and thousands of soldiers, devastating both sides and making trained soldiers vital as they are the ones who turn the tide.
In fact, as soon as people heard about what happened to Lucius and the turmoil it created in the imperial army, there were quite a few nations, mainly those with a younger leadership, that declared war on Chavaria, thinking it was the perfect time to strike.
Unfortunately, it did not take them long to find out just how much of a folly that was.
As a result of this perceived weakness, two nations declared war on Chavaria. The Kingdom of Otrua and the Krithan Dynasty, sensing an opportunity, declared war only 2 months after they heard about the chaos happening in Chavaria and the mass executions of nobles that took place.
They were even joined by some local lords on the border of the marshlands who created an alliance to attack what they assumed was a weaker Chavaria riddled with internal strife.
The outcome, however, was not what they expected at all.
Because all the armies assembled by these were all utterly crushed by Archtorius and the imperial family, who had recently broken through to become a grandmaster strategist, destroying their armies one by one with the help of the loyal Chavarian nobility and those at the border, which included the emperor's brother who lead the vanguard.
How did this happen, people may ask, when the emperor's troops were in turmoil?
Well, apart from having some of the most talented people of the age and a military that was second to none, the Chavarian Empire was a feudal empire.
Meaning that it was not just the imperial army that these invaders had to contend with.
But the Chavarian nobility and the forces they can bring to bear as well.
While in an offensive war, many of the Chavarian nobility would sit out, happy to not involve themselves in war, which was a precarious endeavour at the best of times, a defensive war was a different matter entirely.
Because, while in an offensive war, they could maybe get rewarded with some land or money, if they contributed a lot of resources that is and won two very steep requirements, in a defensive war, it was not just some soldiers, money or military supplies that was at stake but their territories and wealth.
Do not underestimate the lengths a lord would go to defend their territory, especially as each lord can act as a king within those territories, which bring them tremendous wealth and power.
Also, the emperor was ruthlessly swift in his actions against his enemies, bringing all the rebellious nobles to heel before these nations could even get an army across his border while rallying the loyalists into one united force.
In these circumstances, in addition to potentially facing the well-renowned and veteran imperial army commanded by a grandmaster strategist, something every nation feared, they also had to deal with the local nobility who would definitely not agree to having their land and titles stripped away without a fight and only made them more united because of how formidable the external threat was.
Even those with unaffected or unclaimed lands may join in the effort to defend a border territory and know that if that land was lost, they may become the new border, something that would only ever bring them trouble due to their shield being gone.
While other nobles, those loyal and honourable ones, would join out of a sense of duty.
This was the reason why it was so hard to conquer land in the current era and why Chavaria's rise was so impressive and shocking to the world.
Of course, this is only if the political system worked as intended, as it gave significant powers to the lords in their own territory, allowing them to rule as they pleased and even raise their own armies.
As long as they are loyal to the crown, and good relationships exist between the current king and these nobles, then you will have one of the best defended countries in the world.
But if they are not, then you have a whole other set of problems to deal with.
Such as nobles switching sides or refusing outright to support you.
But because the rebellious nobles were brutally and quickly suppressed instead of finding a weakened Chavaria, they faced a united one as no noble after the purge dared to defy the emperor's orders and even rushed over to help the emperor solve this sudden crisis.
A Chavaria that crushed them underfoot like ants under Archtorius' leadership, giving him the prestige that Lucius once had, and becoming a pillar holding up the fledgling superpower.
But the casualties sustained during this war, combined with those veteran soldiers who resigned from the imperial army in protest to what happened to House Aurellion, left the imperial military in shambles, and it was only in the last year that it had finally managed to recover.
But there was also one other thing to remember.
The Chavarian minister of war, an old fox feared throughout the entire southern continent and seen as the empire's last defence, for the entirety of this crisis, didn't even need to make a single move.
The equivalent of 3 major powers ganged up on the Chavarian Empire creating the first real crisis that the empire had seen in its tiny history and their most terrifying military asset, a man who has never lost one battle, and who single-handedly managed to prevent the imperial army from crumbling and helped forge the empire itself, did not even have to move.
Such was Chavaria's power.
Such was its overwhelming strength.
A strength that the eastern and southern nations such as Nathia, Norbohr and the Beastmen United States knew about.
And the reason why they didn't dare to make a move even when the imperial army was significantly weakened and the Kingdom of Norbohr had the most reason to want war and revenge, they didn't dare to start one.
Not while that old monster was living and breathing.
Why could House Aurellion seemingly escape so easily from the centre of a superpower?
It was a question that many people asked when they first heard about this event as the entire world was shocked when they learnt of Railius' survival and ability to escape from the capital.
Logically, this should be impossible despite the house's reputation and the loyalty of its key figures, it should have been eradicated alongside the rest of the purged Chavarian nobility.
One reason for this escape was indeed that the young 10-year-old lord was extraordinary and managed to gain key allies, though many did not know this.
Another was the tremendous skill of the Pelican Guard, who could give even the Chavarian imperial guard a run for their money, and the presence of the grandmaster of loyalty, allowing them to fight off their pursuers, seen by many as an important one.
But the final one?
That was well known to all and seen as the main reason for House Aurellion's escape.
Because apart from trying to stitch their country back together, the Chavarian imperial family had to deal with external invasions and vultures coming to eat them up while weakened.
As a result, most of the soldiers in the imperial army except for those needed to watch the border went west to fight in this massive war while Railius went east, making it easier for him to escape.
So in reality, this miraculous escape, which was not easy in the slightest, could occur because of these extraordinary circumstances becoming a legend of its own.
In other words, it could only happen because the imperial family was busy with far more important things to do than hunting down the last descendant of a fallen noble family who was running away from them with all his might.
But that was the past and irrelevant because now that the friend system was happy that the players had adapted to the virtual world, it decided it was time to light the gunpowder so to speak.
After around one and a half years of in-game time passed, just as the turmoil in the real world was beginning, four events would occur that would surprise the majority of the player base, who had just gotten used to living a peaceful life in the new medieval virtual world.
On July 15th, 4008 ASA (after species awakening), the Akorus Empire, known as one of the four superpowers alongside the Chavarian, Druffian and Calian Empires, declared war on the Kingdom of Cartelonia.
Sparking the first war of the game since the game servers opened.
This was quickly followed by four other declarations of war within one in-game month, which was only 4-5 days in real life.
On July 20th, 4008 ASA (after species awakening), The Druffian Empire, another superpower, declared war on the Kingdom of Argon.
On the 1st of August 4008 ASA (after species awakening), the Kingdom of Pabol declared war on the Republic of Suraan.
And finally, on the 5th of August 4008 ASA (after species awakening), the Kingdom of Drez declared war on the Kingdom of Coreland.
Thus began the first virtual age of war that would sweep up the real and virtual world and lead to new heroes, including players rising in these troubled times that would go on to create impacts that would be felt for years to come.