Thx, Bellam and Osoerde were outside of my playing field, so I'm not "in the know", so to speak, of their more secret dealings.
Hokay.
Osoerde was originally ruled by Jaison Raenech, one of the nastiest folks to ever hold office in the region. He'd usurped the throne and was hunting the right-born heir, William, through the countryside. Eventually, he got bored with that and began conquering his neighbors, forging a powerful empire that eventually included as vassals Roesone, Aerenwe, part of what was once Ghoere, Elinie, and Coeranys - the most powerful empire the east had seen since the old Anuirean Empire. Partway through this, though, the Pontiff of the IHH entered his castle and brought him to bay, placing upon him the Atonement spell and bringing him away from worship of Belinik and back to Haelyn, dispelling his evil nature at the same time (though not his ruthlessness or ambition). Raenech seemed poised to make a play for the Iron Throne when the Gorgon began to move once more, and instead of continuing his conquests, he gathered every soldier he could and marched north to battle the awnshegh. Though in the end he was slain, he drove the Gorgon back into his very citadel, and even after his death his armies were poised to bring it down. In desperation, the Gorgon cast a mighty realm spell that summoned up thousands of undead, many of them the fallen of Raenech's own army. Through a valiant sacrifice by an elven regent, the spell was partially defeated - the dead rose, but not under the Gorgon's command. They rose under the undead leadership of Jaison Raenech, born again and filled with undying hatred for the monster who had slain him. This undead army cut its way through the retreating Anuireans and laid siege to the Gorgon's keep once more, and none know (or will say, at least) what became of them.
In the meantime, William, now William Osoer, had been designated as Raenech's heir after his Atonement. Osoer ruled Osoerde and married Raenech's widow, Marlae, Queen of part of old Ghoere. They wound up waging war to keep the vassals of the empire under their dominance as Roesone and Aerenwe rose up against them with Diemed's help. In addition, Ghiriele, lord of another part of Ghoere, joined them as well, betraying Marlae and beseiging her keep with mercenaries. In the end, Osoer largely lost the war - Roesone and Aerenwe won their freedom, Ilien became a vassal of Diemed, and Marlae's lands were divided up. Osoer withdrew into his own lands, furious, but unable to act - especially as he now faced upheavals even within his own lands.
Bellam, meanwhile, was a Countship of both Roesone (province of Bellam) and of Aerenwe (province of Dhoenel, gifted to Bellamie by Raenech for services rendered). Bellamie was publically untrusted by both his regents, not least because of the substantial guild holdings he held within Osoerde. Though he fought on the side of the Southern Alliance at the beginning of the war, he later turned his coat after a near-fatal assassination attempt, which he claimed was the work of the Queen of Aerenwe seeking to remove an untrusted noble so she could give Dhoenel to her followers. Joining Osoerde, he saw the loss of Dhoenel in the eventual peace treaty and the loss of most of his guilds in Roesone and Aerenwe in the war, but gained two new provinces in Osoerde by marriage when their old Baron died. Nevertheless, Bellamie claimed grievance against Osoer, claiming that Osoer had promised him that Dhoenel would remain in his hands no matter what. He eventually joined with the IHH and ETN to demand that Osoer change his ways and act to address their grievances at the end of the war, going so far as to publicly refuse to swear vassalage to Osoer until their demands were met.
The IHH's claim was that Osoer had treated them badly, made unacceptable demands of them, and refused to return to them lands, relics, and holy graveyards stolen by Raenech - and that he had attempted to ransom those lands back to them. The ETN sought to punish Osoer for treating the temples as his vassals and to support their ally, the IHH. Bellamie claimed mistreatment, violation of promise, and excessive demands of vassalage after Bellamie had willingly joined Osoer's cause. Osoer, meanwhile, made alliance with other temples to try to negate the IHH and ETN's power. The IHH and ETN struck out with divine magic, cursing Osoer's lands and driving him into economic collapse, then, in turn, blessing them to show their mercy and desire for peaceful negotiation. The game ended before the final results were shown.
As an interesting note, though the details did not become common knowledge, it is known that Bellamie joined the Pontiff of the IHH and several other regents in traveling to a far-off realm to strike down the Lost - a story that helped disprove the rumors that Bellamie had begun to practice dark arts himself. Osoer, though, refused to aid the various groups that sought, in many places to oppose the Lost, which hurt him badly in the contest for the hearts of the people of Osoerde after the war.
