Second Drillian Civil War - Drillian - History
This was a short bloody period in Drillian's history. During a three month period in -88 SKR almost the entirety of King William Drake IV's family was put to death. This war was also the start of Matriarchal Male Primogeniture form of inheritance in Drillian.
The reign of King William IV from -78 SKR until his execution in -88 SKR was full of turmoil. He took the throne and made a huge elaborate quest of finding a wife among the noble families. The next year he married. King William IV then found a year later that a young serving girl caught his eye. After asking for a divorce from the Kayugan church he was denied. Shortly after that his Queen suffered a hunting accident and died. He married the serving girl only to have her die in child birth of a girl. He married again quickly but soon found a fourth he was interested in. After being denied a divorce again he expelled the Kayugan church in -81 SKR and confiscated most of their lands and assets creating a huge uproar in the Drillian noble families. He brought in the Suomi church to sanctify his fourth marriage. This caused even further distress among the nobles who were displeased by the influence of the official church of Blackwater in their lands. When this wife failed to produce a male heir he divorced her and chose another. He went through in quick succession four more wives from local families this way. His ninth wife was a young gypsy woman who charmed the King and produced a male heir who unfortunately died shortly after birth. As the King started trying again to produce an heir he caught his wife with the captain of the guard and executed them both. King William IV then claimed he would be chaste for one year to cleanse his soul and entice all women to want to produce an heir for him. While this was met with derision in private several of the noble families took this chance to prepare their daughters in any way they saw possible to be the new Queen. On midsummer's day in -86 SKR he took his tenth wife and immediately bedded her to produce an heir. Less than a month later he caught her with another noble families son. He brought in a Priestess of Loviatar? and cursed the Queen. He tricked the Queen into donning an invisible chastity belt with a spring trap built in. The next time the young man came to pay a visit to the Queen his manhood was mangled beyond repair. The King then had his Queen spayed like a hound. The King took an eleventh wife from outside of Drillian's noble families who died in childbirth with a male baby. When King William IV took his twelfth wife from a noble family in Terraguard and executed her in a fit of rage the noble families of Drillian suffered a paroxysm of violence and took retaliation on the Drake family and their allies.
Count Vilmar and Baron Cowles led the movement to overthrow the Drake family and remove them from office. Many of the other noble families of Drillian rose up to join them; however several other families in the Second Drillian Civil War chose the side of the Drake family. They were in a minority but strongly believed that however distasteful an individual King's appetites were it was better to keep the traditional line of succession than go through a second upheaval.
The Drake family was joined by the Bolpel family in the field of battle. The Mosskin family sided with the King but chose to not provide any troops to directly support him. They stopped anyone from entering their own territories but refused to provide the Drakes with funding for mercenary units.
The war was over in only three months. It concluded when Count Vilmar beheaded William IV in front of his new Queen and her children. Count Vilmar refused the throne and between the Mosskins, Cowles and themselves developed the new system of inheritance for the Kingdom that would put women in power and a compromise of keeping the inheritance through the male line.
