Ottavio Dynasty (1250-1394)

Curtiss Ottavio: Rise to Power
Following the death of Adrian Constance III and his heirs, the throne to the Merick Isles was disrupted. Several military generals declared themselves as Emperor and began a bloody civil war over the right to rule. While this war was short in comparison to others fought in the region, the seven months of combat exhausted many of the generals who began teaming up.

Curtiss Ottavio was one of these generals. He created a pact between 3 other battalion generals that they would split power upon rising to the throne. Their coalition fought a 3 month war against the other two pacts and came out victorious. In their final battle for Palma Arbor city general Antinio Brutis, one of Ottavio's allies, died in a bloody cavalry assault. It is known what happened to Ottavio's other ally, but he died sometime afterwards leaving only Ottavio to take control of the Merick Isles.



Technology of War
Throughout the entire Ottavio Dynasty the technology of war increased. New types of metals were discovered and different forge techniques created new stronger weapons. Nautical and Siege technologies also increased to create ships that used ranged warfare for the first time.

Infantry armor exploded, with the weak Romanic armor disappearing and replaced by stronger mails and plates. All of the Gelebeth Era fortresses that still dotted the landscape found new life in both garrisons and renovations.

Nobles Fight for Power
With Feudalism spreading like wildfire around the known world, nobles within the Merick Isles began demanding more power around the time Adorjan Ottavio took power (1292 A.D). Adorjan put his foot down and used his newly grown military as a force to prevent this change from occurring, but a few nobles in the southern islands revolted.

By far the biggest of these revolts was the one in Palustown. Adrian Smith, a wealthy land owner, armed his local subjects and raised an army to fight Adorjan. An enraged Adorjan decided that Smith was not worthy of a fair fight, and sent in the navy to start the first true nautical bombardment in the history of the Merick Isles.

Naval vessels armed with Ballistas and Trebuchets hurled huge stones, pots full of flaming oil, and massive arrows at the city of Palustown. The bombardment lasted 28 hours before the town was demolished and Smith was forced to surrender. The technique employed here by Adorjan Ottavio would be the direct descendant of those used throughout the 1500s and onward.

End of an Era
<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Close to 100 years after the victories of Adorjan Ottavio, the throne to the Merick Isles was once again compromised. Emperor Cladius Ottavio died in 1388 A.D without a male heir to the throne. His death was a sharp needle in the hearts of the people of the Merick Isles, for Cladius was by far one of the most generous Emperors since Gelebeth III.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Without an heir, the throne was left empty. However, in a large show of strength, Empress Andriella Ottavio simply sat in the throne of her late husband. While there was much anger against her being in power, she quickly showed that she was able to command, and put down two revolts without any trouble weeks after taking power.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">For the short 6 years Andriella was in power civil rights exploded, the economy went up, and even a foreign invasion of Rerno Island was stuffed.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Andriella Ottavio died in 1394 from and seceded the throne to her bastard son, Marshal Cassian, who under Andriella's rule had become the Centurion of the Royal Guard.

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