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by Fav'te
Could there be a better proof of the natural perversity
of Bretons than their conduct before, during, and after what history will remember as the War of Betony? By the most
depraved of motivations, the most despicable of tactics, and the most ungentlemanly of triumphs, the kingdom of
Daggerfall changed the nature of warfare in the Iliac Bay and perhaps over all of Tamriel. In Sentinel, we call the
recent carnage the Siege of Betony, but as the book of history is writ by the victors, let us speak instead of the War of
Betony.
Redguards by their nature are a modest and practical
people. We are not phlegmatic like the High Elves, nor cowardly like the Wood Elves and Khajiiti. But what would
infuriate and enrage the swaggering, vainglorious Nords and Bretons would not merit a shrug from a Redguard. Had any
Breton kingdom possessed the little island of Betony, it would have been covetously guarded. Betony's trade would
have been seriously restricted; its religion subjugated; its people bound by active and constant pledges and duties of
vassalage. But Betony was not a Breton dominion. Betony was part of the Kingdom of Sentinel.
King Lysandus -- may the Old Ones continue to torment his
soul for his wickedness! -- saw the prosperous island which is closer to his land than to Sentinel, and his black heart
turned to avarice. Through threats, lies, acts of piracy and, finally, invasion, Daggerfall illegally took
possession of the Island of Betony. His court sorceress, the Lady Medora, his enchantress mother, and other experienced
counselors were horrified by the brutality of his campaign and begged him to abandon his tyrannical act of war.
Gradually, all dissentors were removed from court. None but the ignorant and the warmongers remained.
Our late king Camaron tried to employ civil diplomacy
with Daggerfall, but in the end, he made the former declaration of war. Daggerfall and Sentinel have fought
many times in their two thousand years of coexistance, and Camaron knew the black magic and espionage the Bretons
considered honest warfare. Never debasing the Sentinel character by duplicating the Breton villainy, Camaron
knew best how to combat Lysandus. King Lysandus' knavish battle tactics were even more perfidious than his ancestors',
and the war continue to rage until it began to involve more than Sentinel and Daggerfall.
Lord Graddock, ruler of Reich Gradkeep, acted as
concilator between Sentinel and Daggerfall, and eventually convinced both monarchs to meet and make peace.
The ill-fated Treaty of Gradkeep began civilly; the terms of peace were discussed, agreed on, and set to paper. The
terms were excessively generous. Camaron had agreed to give up some of his rights to Betony in order to placate the
madness of Lysandus and bring peace back to the Iliac Bay. It was not until King Camaron read the Treaty he was about
to sign that he realized the outrageous perfidy of the Bretons: the Treaty had actually been purposefully
miswritten by the Daggerfall scribe in a desparate and ignominious attempt to trick Camaron into signing a
contract different from the one to which he had agreed. The castle of Reich Gradkeep erupted into bloodbath, and the war
continued.
The Battle of Cryngaine Field was the tragic ending of the
senseless war of attrition. The Cryngaine Field is located in between the Yeorth Burrowland and the Ravennian Forest
where the armies of Sentinel and Daggerfall respectively made camp after the massacre at Reich Gradkeep. As the
battle began, Daggerfall proved that she had some foul daedric magical tricks left by blinding the Redguard army
with a wall of mist. Lysandus did not have the opportunity to gloat over his cozenage for long, for the sure arm
of a Sentinel archer struck him in the throat even through the thick, swirling fog. Lysandus' son, Gothryd, who had spent
the battle in lugubrious relaxation, was crowned without ceremony, and thereupon demanded a duel with King Camaron.
Camaron was many years Gothryd's senior, and though a superior warrior, was exhausted from the endless warfare the
boy king had been spared. Nevertheless, as a point of honor, our king agreed to the duel. The new king of Daggerfall, by
dirty trick and black magic, managed to backstab our king before the duel ever began. Thus, the victor of Cryngaine
Field, and the War of Betony, was Daggerfall.
Daggerfall's wickedness continued even after her
inglorious victory. While the widow queen of Sentinel, Her Majesty Akorithi, mourned and tried to mend her shattered
lands, Gothryd demanded the Princess of Sentinel as a hostage of war. To save her homeland, the Princess Aubk-i
agreed to leave Sentinel and even marry the murderer of her father. But we true Redguards of Sentinel know where her love
and honor lies. The Queen of Daggerfall is the Princess of Sentinel first and foremost.
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