Holy Epic Backstory, Batman!

Backstory

100 years ago the known world lived in fear of the First Great Orcish Empire, with it's monstrous hordes under the rule of Emperor Ragvar VI, and his powerful and evil dragon ally, Trogdor the Burninator. In an act of singular solidarity, ancient enemies since beyond memory, the kingdom of Luptonia and the United Counties of Jaredise, forged peace in order to join forces and push back the onslaught of the Orcish Empire. After many years of bloody conflict the Orcish Empire was pushed back by their combined forces and many lands were liberated from it's brutish rule. Trogdor was eventually flushed out and destroyed, but not before much of the countryside, peasants, and thatched-roofed cottages were burninated. In his final death throes Trogdor placed a horrible curse upon his vanquishers and vowed to extract his revenge on them from beyond the grave. The Orc Wars raged on for many years after Trogdor's death, but the decimated Orcish empire was never the threat it once was. Eventually the remnants of Ragvar's forces were completely routed and monstrous hordes returned to the inhospitable lands of their origins.

The kingdom of Luptonia is now in the middle of a civil war. The two factions are the recently crowned prince Hadron and his older half-sister Countess Vandra who claims that the throne is rightfully hers. Their father, King Aeron the Mighty, has died. The noble houses are divided with a majority of the noble houses supporting the crown prince, yet some of the most powerful houses choose to back the Countess's claim. There are a few holdout provinces as well that have not declared for either faction and yet remain neutral or potentially hostile to both.

Lady Vandra is King Aeron II's illegitimate daughter, begot when Aeron was young and himself was the heir apparent to the throne. The then Crown Prince Aeron kept her by his side until his ascent to the throne when his newly wedded and bedded queen, Merinda, convinced him to banish Vandra from the kingdom, fearing for their coming first-born's safety. Vandra was shipped off, against her will to marry a troublesome Count, Count Garrund the Cruel, in the neighboring United Counties of Jaredise to help solidify peace. Queen Merinda gave Aeron three sons, yet the eldest two, Aeron III and Benron, died under mysterious circumstances. The queen accused Countess Vandra of having them assassinated but was never able to prove it. In an act of parental paranoia the youngest prince Hadron was taken away to a secret foster home. In the following years both Queen Merinda's and Count Garrund's health began to fail and eventually they both succumbed to illness. That left Countess Vandra to rule Garrund county on her own, since she had given Garrund no children.

Recently, King Aeron the Mighty has also succumbed to illness. Almost immediately a young man of the appropriate age, 15, was brought forth claiming to be the long lost prince Hadron. Many of the most loyal noble houses pledged fealty to the new prince, yet some of the most powerful noble houses refused to believe the grand claims of this until recently nameless youth. Countess Vandra, taking advantage of their recalcitrance, promised an alliance with these powerful houses if they backed her claim to the throne. Orchestrating her rebellion from behind the safety of her foreign borders, her allied nobles wage war within the kingdom of Luptonia.

As the bulk of the Crown Prince's armies have been mustered and marched off to the border of Garrund County in anticipation of a full scale invasion, many of the minor nobles have been left short-handed to defend their own lands. The rebel conflict however has spread throughout the kingdom as some interior provinces have declared for the Countess and launch attacks on their enemies. One such rebel is Sir Mortimer Grim who lords over the nearby Grim province. He is also known as Sir Grimace, due to frightening scar he received during the Orc Wars after he was slashed across the face by the ax of an Orcish Warlord.

We start our adventure in the minor province of Leventhorpe governed by Baron Renford Leventhorpe, who has pledged fealty to the Crown Prince. If tales are to be believed, Sir Grimace has been leading raiding sorties into the Barony of Leventhorpe, burning and pillaging small hamlets and villages and torturing their inhabitants. Trade routes have been severely interrupted due to the increase in banditry, rebel led and otherwise. To make matters worse, there have been an increased number of monster sightings in the area, something that hasn't happened since the end of the Orc Wars. Baron Leventhorpe has put out a plea to any war veterans, mercenaries, heroes, heroines, or able bodied adventurers to help bring peace back to his troubled land. Your band has formed up with the common goal of discovering the truth behind these portends of doom and putting an end to them if possible. Will you fight in the name of the young man who claims to be the Crown Prince Hadron or join the rebels throwing your lot in with the mysterious Countess Vandra? Will you become outlaws or seek to carve out a new nation from the pandemonium that surrounds you? Maybe you'll forgo all these options and instead pursue your fortunes in one of the many ruins, crypts, and abandoned lairs filled with secret caches of treasure and wondrous arms from the time of the Orc Wars said to be hidden in these parts. Only time, and destiny, will tell...