# ⚔️ THE THREE-YEAR GAP ### _4723–4726 AR: The Years of Shadow and Stone_ _A chronicle of Rivermarch’s unseen war, political metamorphosis, and the quiet shaping of the Free Lands._ --- ## **YEAR ONE — 4723 AR: THE FRACTURE OF NATIONS** ### **The Fall of House Surtova** - The **Night of Sundered Masts** ignites at **Port Ice** when the _Lords of the Black Sails_ turn against Admiral Lucian Surtova. The fleet burns; the admiral is executed on his own flagship. - **King Noleski Surtova** vanishes within days—presumed dead, though rumors persist of his escape across Lake Reykal. - With the monarchy shattered, Brevoy collapses into civil war between **House Orlovsky**, **House Medvyed**, and scattered loyalist enclaves. ### **Rivermarch’s Response** - **Brinn Whitewood** enacts the **Civic Emergency Decree (§7.4)**, temporarily granting military authority to the Council to absorb refugees and prevent destabilization. - **Jamandi Aldori**’s Restov armies sweep north, seizing the Ruby Fortress and declaring the **Aldori Concord of Free Peoples**, dismantling the old monarchy. - Rivermarch refuses annexation, but enters into an informal alliance: Brinn and Jamandi exchange envoys and troops under the _Treaty of Stone and Steel_. ### **Rise of the Vigil** - Amid the chaos, **The Vigil** emerges from the shadows — a secretive intelligence web controlling spy rings, informants, and trade guilds. - Unknown to most of the Council, its architect is **Valerius Crowne**, a former Aldori spymaster believed dead since the Brevic purges. - **Rynara Rattigan** becomes one of his key operatives, overseeing the _Whisper Cell_ from Stromhaven’s Warrens. - Under Crowne’s unseen hand, the Vigil begins shaping the new political order, infiltrating bandit groups, noble exiles, and merchant guilds. --- ## **YEAR TWO — 4724 AR: THE SHADOW YEAR** ### **The Silent Trial** - The Vigil uncovers a rogue faction within its own ranks—the **Black Eye Compact**—which had infiltrated the Guard to seize control of Stromhaven’s courts. - **Maximus** and **Gerrek Thornwall** lead a covert purge in the undercity tunnels. Over thirty conspirators vanish overnight; no records exist except a sealed tribunal entry labeled “The Silent Trial.” - Officially, the Vigil denies involvement. In truth, it was a **controlled burn** ordered by Valerius Crowne himself to eliminate unstable elements and reassert command. ### **Gerrek’s Reforms** - After the trial, **Gerrek Thornwall** institutes the **Three Shields Accord**—a division of civic defense into: 1. **The Guard** – law enforcement & order (Gerrek). 2. **The Vigil** – intelligence & counter-espionage (Crowne & Rynara). 3. **The Wardens** – frontier defense & exploration (Maximus). - The system solidifies Rivermarch’s internal stability and allows the Council to project unified strength despite ongoing Brevic collapse. ### **The Pitax War of Masks** - **King Irovetti** of Pitax deploys mercenary actors, bards, and “diplomats” to sow disinformation across the River Kingdoms. - Tybalt Rattigan identifies and dismantles a cell in Fort Crowe, exposing a network of Pitaxian illusionists. - The Vigil quietly manipulates the aftermath—seeding counter-propaganda that strengthens Rivermarch’s legitimacy across Mivon and Restov. ### **Jamandi’s Concord** - Lady Jamandi formalizes the **Concord of Free Blades**, aligning Restov’s armies with Rivermarch for mutual border security. - In exchange, Gideon and Orena are granted access to Aldori leyline archives, initiating the **Leyline Concordat Project**. --- ## **YEAR THREE — 4725–4726 AR: THE CONCORD AND THE QUIET WAR** ### **The Leyline Concordat** - **Gideon** and **Orena** stabilize Rivermarch’s leyline lattice, linking Stromhaven’s core to Restov’s Crystal Spire. - The leyline network becomes the backbone of the **Courier Grid**, allowing near-instant communication and trade transport across allied lands. - During the calibration, Gideon’s team uncovers remnants of the **Eternal Emperor Initiative**, revealing lost Azlanti consciousness-transference research. - The Vigil begins quietly monitoring the project, seeing potential—and risk—in the technology. ### **The Fall of the Surtovan Remnants** - Port Ice officially joins the _Free Kingdoms Compact_ after Valerius Crowne orchestrates the quiet assassination of surviving Surtovan loyalists. - Their archives are divided between Rivermarch and Restov. From these, Tybalt recovers proof of Surtova’s dealings with the Technic League of Numeria—information now sealed in the Vigil’s black archives. ### **Gerrek Thornwall’s Retirement** - With order restored, Gerrek steps down as Captain of the Guard, founding the **Thornwall Academy** to train Rivermarch’s civic officers and magistrates. - His doctrine, _“Order through Integrity, Unity through Service,”_ becomes mandatory education for all new guards. - **Eira Stonebough** assumes command, quietly serving as Crowne’s indirect liaison within the Guard hierarchy. ### **Rynara’s War in the Shadows** - Rynara leads operations against Pitaxian spies, Mivonese smugglers, and rogue Vigil defectors. - Her final report to Crowne—_“The Kingdom Endures”_—is used as propaganda by Linzi Fairwind to reforge the people’s morale, spawning the _Order of the Songbird’s_ civic revival movement. ### **Jamandi’s Ascendancy** - Jamandi consolidates power over northern Brevoy, declaring the **Free Kingdoms Pact**, an alliance of Rivermarch, Restov, and the liberated city-states along the Sellen. - She appoints envoys to Stromhaven, granting Aldori academies extraterritorial rights in exchange for military training and duelist instructors. ### **The Vigil’s True Power** - By 4726 AR, Valerius Crowne’s network controls every major intelligence thread in the River Kingdoms: - Guild informants in Mivon. - Leyline monitoring through the Concordat. - Agents embedded in Pitax, Restov, and even Brevoy’s surviving houses. - Brinn and Tybalt are among the few who know the truth—that **Crowne is alive**, operating beneath layers of aliases, shaping events through whispers. - To the world, **Rynara Rattigan** is the face of the Vigil. To those who truly serve, **Valerius Crowne** remains _The Shadow Regent_. --- ## **CLOSING STATE — AUTUMN OF 4726 AR** - **Stromhaven** has transformed from frontier capital to metropolitan hub: leyfire-lit streets, twin markets above and below ground, and a Guard bound by civic code rather than noble command. - **Fort Crowe**, under Lady Kressle, anchors Rivermarch’s river fleet and secures Tuskwater trade. - **New Azlanti**, the leyline academy of Gideon and Orena, opens its doors to apprentices from across the River Kingdoms. - **The Vigil**, invisible yet omnipresent, remains the kingdom’s most powerful unseen force—Rynara its voice, Crowne its mind, and Rivermarch its stage.