Continued from...

• Time Immemorial
• Ascension
• Il Duca

Civil War averted by the Great King through a brokered truce between The Duke and the wily ole General.  The façade would prove to be short lived, but for a time there would be successes within the realm. 

The precarious truce morphed into a battle of ego and subversion.

To be broken at last by the ole General when he attempted to install an usurper to The Duke.  The usurper, a pawn - innocent, but it mattered not.  The army split, two factions had formed - war imminent.

The ole General, though cunning and secretive, was arrested by the bold King and his royal guard. Before the ole Generals allies could react, he was exiled from the lands of Orange. 

Justice fell swiftly upon the kingdom - none guilty spared. War decisively precluded, the Duke's preeminence reinforced.

The most high King anointed a portly fellow, a son of a Bum, to General. Though command was ultimately bestowed upon The great Duke - a wild run, without a strategic objective ensued. Great victories, crushing defeats.

The Duke heroic and great in his own right, without ultimate victory.

Bum's son, ineffectual; supplanted by a wizard of sorts. A Master of Minds, who would bring forth the greatest warriors the Kingdom of Orange ever beheld, would become the supreme leader of the armies of righteousness. 

A dynasty was born, The Duke's power ceded to the great Master of Minds.

One magnificent warrior, whom they called Tee-dee, was the greatest of all the Master of Minds brought forth. The ultimate hero, legs as thick as the largest tree trunks, arms so massive that beasts of burden were no match in strength, and wits that gave even the greatest Generals pause.

Tee-dee's gallop towards the enemy shook the very walls of Hades. All foes fell before his onslaught.  His cry struck fear into the hearts of many; his bludgeon's reverberated throughout the enemy lines - crumbling them. 

The trembling bones of the opposition emboldened the armies of orange with courage they once found wanting.

Poised for greatness, the armies of Orange burst outward from their protective barricades, advancing in all directions; a horde unlike any the known world have ever seen.  For months, no foe could muster the courage or fortitude to withstand the orangemen's military juggernaut.

On the cusp of world domination, a young upstart republic and their left-handed peasant hero beguiled and bewildered the armies of the Master - defeat was dealt severely upon The Duke. 

The disaster was so disparaging that the once great Duke nearly hung up his broadsword to retire into obscurity and shame.

He and the armies of Orange persevered; with vengeance on their minds and a thirst for redemption in their hearts, the armies resurrected their pride and marched forward - leaving only despair and destruction in their wake.

To be continued...