War of the Wylthean Succession

The civil war in Shireroth resulting from the abdication of Kaiser Wyltheow I without leaving an heir. In June 2004, Kaiser Wyltheow to resigned, leaving the throne to whoever proved themselves worthy of it. At that time, Shirerithian law contained no provisions for determining succession if the Kaiser himself had no preference, so theoretically everyone was equally qualified. Three people declared an immediate interest in the position James Raine, Jadie Doran, and Scott Alexander. Despite the wishes of some participants to the contrary, the matter quickly turned into a recwar, with different Duchies supporting different candidates. As Jadie quickly opted out for personal reasons, the nation polarized around Scott and James. Scott managed to get Greg Russell of the Barony of Amity and Mirioth and Eriana Moon of Lunaris as well as Philip Locke and Eoin Dornan of his own native Hyperborea on his side, while James' strongest supporter was Duke Rakesh Ackbar of Brookshire, who had the support of his Babkhan friends including Ardashir Khan. Yardistan under Gryphon Avocatio and Ari Rahikkala also supported Rakesh, putting it in conflict with its own Barony.

Major battles of the recwar included the Battle of Amity and Mirioth, where Ardashir Khan's fleet nearly destroyed the Amity capital of Erudition, the Battle of Shirekeep, in which Hyperborean Paladins held off Brookshirithian troops under [[Erik Metzler]], and the Battle of Wolfraven, a prelude to a Yardistani invasion of Cimmeria that never materialized. There were also many skirmishes around the strategic port city of Musica that left it more blown up than it already was.

Politically, both candidates tried to get the Landsraad to support them in an ultimate goal of having it vote on and approve their Kaisership. However, traditionalist elements in the nation pointed out that Landsraad selection of the Kaiser would be suspiciously close to democracy, and refused to acknowledge any Landsraad vote on the matter as binding. After a bit of searching the records, Shirerithians discovered that the only traditionally approved way of settling such a dispute was a judgment from the Cedrist prophet [[Brrapa Lu Eraro]], widely believed to be Erik Metzler. Both candidates agreed to put the matter before Brrapa and abide by his judgment.

Brrapa chose James, who took the name Kaiser Lacrymosa II. However, upon taking the throne, he revealed that he did not much want the position, and that he had fought for it only to keep Shireroth busy and to continue the tradition, established about a year earlier, of having a Kaiser Lacrymosa reign for a single day before a Kaiser Los took the throne. Upon making four minor decrees, Kaiser Lacrymosa abdicated in favor of Scott, who took the name Kaiser Los II.

During the early days of Kaiser Los' reign, Los and others revealed information about the behind-the-scenes of the previous war. It became clear that Kaiser Wyltheow had known all along that such a conflict was going to happen, and that Wyltheow, James, and Erik had been involved in the matter together and had choreographed many of its turns and events. Some people found this to be very amusing, including the new Kaiser himself, while others, predictably including Philip Locke, were outraged.

The events of the War of the Wylthean Succession were made into the novel Unaimed Arrow.