Following the decade-long War of Deadly Voices, the various city-provinces of Aleasana did their best to heal their wounds, and settled into the nearly four century period generally known as the Interregnum. The War, while it had cost many lives, had ultimately settled nothing, and had ended because the damage done to all sides was so great that they had more or less lost their ability to wage it. And so Aleasani slowly settled into existence without a monarch.
In the beginning, most people were too preoccupied with rebuilding to particularly care or even really notice the lack. True, problems like bandits and raiders were being dealt with less quickly, but by and large, there was little change to the average person's life. Aleasana had always been a kingdom of very autonomous provinces, prone to feuding and infighting. With most cities preoccupied with the reconstruction, things more or less stayed the same. However, as the Aleasani returned to their former power, it gradually became apparent how profoundly different things were now. With no ruler over them to control things, the lords of each city-state found themself the near-absolute authority on policy within their borders. Roads that had once been free gained arm guards and expensive tolls. Historic trading partners now fought among themselves and closed their borders. In a few areas, (Dromas, for example) the hereditary rulers were diposed by radical elements, who then molded life to fit their vision of an ideal existence. It was a time of great change, dominated by constant minor conflicts.
For most, the idea of the king became one of incredible appeal. In the beginning, people remembered the better times during the Old Kingdom, and waited eagerly for their return. Eventually, the legend of what the Old Kingdom had been, exagerated and glossed over by later generations, gained a sort of unstoppable momentum. It had been a land at peace, a land with one law--a better land. Adding to this atmosphere was the initial belief that this was merely a temporary matter--that "within a summer or two" they were going to settle things and Aleasana would gain a new monarch. As the years past, this belief changed from an apparently comonsensical statement to a near-religious faith. A new King would arise. Aleasana would be united again. The petty wars would stop. This was not the end of the kingdom--it was the Interregnum. It was this attitude that fired Lord Steward Ralin Valeris of Cassant in his attempt for the throne. With typical elan, Ralin side-stepped what a horde of lawyers, religious figures, and nobles had argued over for centuries, and simply declared himself King, "in order to restore to Aleasana her former state of order and justice."
Ralin had of course, expected some opposition but the outpouring he recieved shocked even him. Altania, a traditional ally, declared his actions "unlawful, unwise, and unfit'. Dromas declared that it would view any attempt to 'reestablish that outmoded instrument of tyranny known as the Kingdom of Aleasana' with hostility. And most devastatingly, Dominus Kalthir Alsea declared he would fight against Ralin's "mad attempt for power" to his dying breath. Ralin had known Bandesh-Thar and the Darists would look askance at his bid, but he had been counting on Kalthir, a reasonable, kind-hearted man who'd used his reign as Dominus to further reconciliation with those powers the Church had harmed during the War, to hold the criticism back, and be willing to deal with Cassant. Instead, he met Ralin on the field. In the battle, that followed Kalthir died, and his daughter Majera took over the title. Majera was the opposite of her father--an "oldblood" like her mother Ancia, and her reaction was even more strident--she declared that not only would she oppose Valeris as king, but that she would fight to see the throne returned to the Alseas.
Soon, others entered the war, with a variety of goals, as the conflict spread. Soon the Interregnum was over, and the War of the Throne had begun...
