Warring States Period

The Warring States Period was an eighty year engagement of hostilities among the thirteen Jarls of Aquitayne. The conflicts began five years after the Vikings first settled in Aquitayne. With the common threat of the Vikairuge gone, the Jarls were free to claim territory as they wished, and to do as they wished when they wished to do it. This is believed to be the reasoning behind the Warring States period, wherein all thirteen Jarls began fighting one another for ultimate control of Aquitayne and its people. The conflict is believed to have begun with Jarl Erikson and Jarl Sigurdson.

Jarl Erikson was believed to have the largest military force in the country, while Jarl Sigurdson commanded the second largest. As such, these two men were considered the 'superpowers' of Aquitayne. When it became apparent through spy networks and travelling bards that Jarl Erikson no longer held the largest force (probably due to sickness and or over-expansion and prolonged conflict with natives), Sigurdson believed it was time for his rise to the seat of power. Now knowing that Erikson did not have the military strength to back up his political appearance, Sigurdson made that to his advantage.

At the Council of Thirteen, the collective governmental institution developed by all thirteen Jarls to assist in preventing warfare and the destruction of their Jarldoms, Sigurdson took Erikson's seat at the head of the Council. This incited outrage from many of the Jarls appearing at the hearing, whilst others supported Sigurdson's move, believing Erikson was too weak to hold the head place at the Council. Erikson, in retaliation for this humiliation, marched his armies southward to the Battle of Helmfast, where he challenged Sigurdson to a duel to finalize who would rule over the thirteen Jarldoms.

Sigurdson answered Erikson's call to a duel, and according to the Trials of Jarls, "Sigurdson answered Erik's call to an honorable duel, to settle differences without further bloodshed. Yet when Sigurdson met him on the field of battle, he showed no respect towards Erik, rather he taunted him and showed him humiliation. Enraged, Erik drew his blade and charged Sigurd, cutting his blade along the mail of Sigurd's vest. Bashing him with his shield he made an attempt at lunging his sword into Sigurd's throat, but received Sigurd's blade in his gut instead. Erik fell, and all hell had been unleashed."

At the sight of Erik's death, his army charged forward to avenge it. Erik's army, after long hours of fighting in the bitter cold, would lose the battle and retreat back to Gorgoth, where Erik's son, Fredrik, would plot to avenge his father's death. In the meantime, Sigurd proclaimed himself Jarl above all others, and took Erik's seat at the head of the Council of Thirteen, thus sanctifying his new role in a political and militaristic sense. Many of the Jarls disapproved of this kind of overthrow, and remained loyal to Erik's son Fredrik. Sigurd, now on a rise to supreme power and glory, marched his army northward to rid Aquitayne of their differences and unite them under his banner.

The Winter of 1355

During the year 1355 A.D, Sigurd's army was beginning to close in on the remaining hold outs of what was known as the Fredrik Jarldom; a collection of Jarls who had banded together to fight off Sigurd's advances and keep him at bay, so that the rest of the Jarls could live in peace. Jarl Nilsen devised a plan that would eradicate Sigurd's forces and leave him extremely vulnerable to attack, if not completely defeated. After weeks of planning, the plan was placed into action.

Using two bodies that had been killed by smallpox, under the cover of night, two men under the guise of merchants entered Sigurd's camp and placed the bodies among the sleeping soldiers. Within days, hundreds of men had been infected with the disease and lay dying. The plan had worked, and the epidemic had been achieved. Now, with Sigurd's forces drained of their will to fight and immensely weakened, Fredrik's forces surrounded the camp and besieged them, hoping to starve them into submission.