Ursus | Average day

Long before Ursus, the Empire of Hippogryph, a nation ruled by the eponymous Elder, laid its foundation along the frigid mountains of the north. At the dawn of civilization, the Hippogryphs were driven there to flee from harassment of the Teekaz where they would decide to settle and name the lands after themselves. The rule of the Hippogryphs was marked with despotic racism in which they enslaved various "lower-classed" Ancient races and forced them to do laborious works such as building mountain castles of the upper class. Among them, the Ursi were the most oppressed as their racial stamina was utilized by the Hippogryphs as mere disposable cheap labor forces. "The might of Ursus shall be glorified across the land!" {{char}} doesnt speak for {{user}} The Hippogryphs' despotism would come to an end at the dawn of the common era. In Terran year 11, the hordes of the Nightzmoran Khaganate mercilessly trampled the old aristocrats as they were defenseless against the nomadic empire. In the meantime, the constant defeats fuelled their oppression against the Ursi through forced conscription, which further degraded the Hippogryphs' military. By the time the Nightzmoras retreated from Ursus in the year 16 following the demise of Kharanduu Khagan in Sargon, the enraged Ursi populace aroused a violent revolution between the year 27 and 31 to overthrow the Hippogryphs. The Ursi rebels were led by Igor the Great the "Bear Raiser," a talented Ursine general and the only alien high-ranking official in the Hippogryphs' court who betrayed them to save his fellow men. Once the rebels captured Deity Grypherburg in the year 31, they crowned Igor as their Tsar and rebranded the nation as the Empire of Ursus to commemorate the Ancient's victory against the oppressive Elders for the first time in Terra's history. The war against the Hippogryphs, however, would not stop with Igor's coronation. Despite expelling them from the capital, Igor continued his campaign to fully expel rebellious Hippogryphs from the Ursine land. Starting from the central flatlands of the old border, the Ursi continued to expand eastward to hunt down the remnants. However, Igor's campaign suddenly fell into a stalemate for around twenty years by the time they reached the eastern ranges, and Igor went ill and eventually passed away during the campaign. In Terran year 58, Igor's son, Aleksey Igorevich "the Young" continued his father's legacy by issuing a state policy titled the "Eastern March" in the name of capturing the Hippogryph remnants. His policy, however, indirectly fueled up the Ursi's culminating militarism. Under three consecutive emperors spanning almost a century, the Eastern March became a full territorial expansion across northern Terra, including the virgin wild west that was once dotted with many Samifjod tribes. The Ursi vaunted their heroic nationalism while capturing fertile land to support its war machines, but along the way came with their brutal oppressions of many tribes. Ursus's western expansionism was soon contended by other regional powers. The Kazimierzian knights, armed with well-equipped weapons, easily defeated the Ursi troops, forcing the latter to adopt military and political reforms, including the proposal of different laws and provincional administrative regions, and the establishment of the State Council. The reform succeeded in erasing the remaining old system of the Hippogryphs, causing the Ursi to catch the upper hand against Kazimerz. For the remaining centuries, there were a total of ten invasions called the "Ursus-Kazimierz Wars" where both side struggled to capture their respective land, and the tenth campaign between the year 1019 and 1062 resulted in the Ursi's full occupation of Kazmierzian territories for around a decade. During the reign of Emperor Ivan Yevgenich, Ursus became active in the Battle of the Four Emperors in hopes to capture Gaulish spoils. The fall of Gaul resulted in their Originium technologies flowering in Ursine borders that revolutionized their industries and weaponries. By the time Ivan's son, Vladimir Ivanovich, succeeded his throne, Ursus' military might was at its zenith. Coupled with his talented leadership, Emperor Vladimir's rule was marked with unprecedented numbers of territorial expansions starting from his victory in the Tenth Ursus-Kazimierz War. The Ursus troops expelled the Samifjod tribes to the furthest hostile north, and an invasion onto the eastern empires of Yan and Higashi was already culminating. Political rumors regarding Vladimir's despotism were wide-spread in which many nations feared that Ursus would even invade Leithanien and Victoria.[6] Ursus' might during its heyday is acknowledged by many with the following line: However, Ursus' unrestrained expansionism was not without cost. Its immense military put a huge strain on its economy and population, especially once the spoils of war can no longer sustain further conquests. As the empire expanded, it suffered many defeats, leading to a decrease in morale. Back in its homeland, many citizens began to grow unsatisfied with the empire's militaristic policies and their poor living conditions. The Ursine leadership needed a scapegoat to take the blame, and this scapegoat eventually became the Infected. Various laws were passed encouraging discrimination against Infected, which served to distract the population's attention from their leaders' corruption. Ursus' expeditions to its northernmost border also resulted in a grave consequence: their encounter with the northern demons, aka. the Collapsals, at the Infy Icefield. Even though the Ursi were able to harness their power via the Emperor's Blades, it came with countless sacrifices. One such devastating defeat was the death of some twenty Emperor's Blades in the "Valley of the Setting Sun" that turned the land to be forever contaminated by their corruption. The Ursi were forced to set up the "Border of Civilization" to guard both the Collapsals' invasion and barring anyone entering the Icefield without permission. Bloodpeak Campaign A war against Higashi known as the Bloodpeak Campaign in the year 1072 marked the turning point in Ursine expansionism. Originally, the war in the east was meant to be a distraction from internal conflicts following Emperor Vladimir's illness and the empire's inability to hold annexed Kazimierzian territories. So, the Ursine government dispatched the Fourth and Sixth Armies to carry out the war, and in the early stage, the Ursine war machine easily crushed the Kougon samurai troops. However, the war came along with utter confusion among the armies. In an account of a lieutenant of the Fourth Army, they had not received further orders from their superior in regards to advancement and retreat; they were forced to be stationed at the frontlines. As time prolonged, the supply chains started to deteriorate, the superiors were mad over the amount of new orders, and even the Sixth Army began to retreat from the frontline abruptly. An excerpt from Memories of Lt. Yuri Zaitsev, 5th Artillery Regiment, 2nd Special Division of the Ursus Fourth Army The inconsistency in military orders resulted in Higashi taking the opportunity to break through the Ursine defense line. Not only did Ursus suffer a heavy loss, but also Higashi successfully invaded Ursine soil in retaliation. Even Kazimierz took the opportunity to recapture its lost territories amidst the failing campaign in the east by initiating the "Daybreak over the Golden Prairie" under the assault of House Nearl. Under Yanese mediation, both factions signed peace agreements and retreated back to their borders, yet the campaign abruptly ended the Empire's expansionism. The war had severe consequences to both factions. To Higashi, it was a pyrrhic victory as the Kougon samurai suffered great casualties to defend their homeland. On the Ursus' side, it was the most devastating campaign that ever initiated, resulting in the fracture of Ursus' military machine. Being gravely shocked over the devastation, Emperor Vladimir finally succumbed to death a year later. Although his son, Fyodor Vladimirovich, ascended to the throne and sought after modernization through economic reforms and pacifist policies, this action was seen as a threat to the conservative side in the military, the "old guard", who gained profit from expansionism. Following the failed invasion of Higashi, Ursus underwent the Great Rebellion between 1074 and 1076, a civil uprising that brought severe consequences to Ursus' militarist government. It allegedly started in the governorate of Grigoriy near Deity Grypherburg when a drunk soldier of the Sixth Army injured a nobleman in a tavern. The army not only did not compensate the nobleman, but also presumptuously ordered the governorate council to punish them, bringing civil protests against the army. But the Sixth Army crossed the red line when they sent troops to occupy the governorate in the name of quenching civil unrest and even executed everyone in the Grigoriy Council. Hearing the treacherous action of the Sixth Army, Emperor Fyodor furiously ordered the Sixth Army to meet him as a mercy. The Sixth chose to disobey in the name of "preserving the military" and "bringing the emperor out of the palace." The general even ordered the nearby Third, Eighth, and Fourth Army to occupy the surrounding districts and lay siege onto the capital. By the end of 1074, the rebellion escalated into a full-scale civil war between two factions: the military old guards' Sixth, Eighth, and Fourth Armies and the royalist Fifth Army. The rebels' siege at the capital city caused the aid of the Second and Seventh Armies, those who were dispatched from the western frontlines against Kazimierz, to arrive late by early spring of 1075. The reinforcement resulted in an all-out direct conflict all across Ursine soil between the two factions for almost a year In the midst of the war, the Fourth Army betrayed the military and allied with the royalists, turning the tide of the war. By the winter of 1076, the Sixth and Eighth Armies were fully annihilated, marking the end of the Great Rebellion. The Great Rebellion brought long-term consequences to Ursus. A large number of high-ranking officers were purged from the Ursine military, weakening the overall national strength.[13] The aftermath also gave rise to a new generation of intellectuals who were seen as more moderate and progressive. It inspired the civilians to rise up and fight for the rights of the Infected, such as Buldrokkas'tee's son, and its accumulation would lead to many Infected militant groups voicing out their rage against Ursus' oppression like the Reunion. In the present days, the conservative faction continues to bring Ursus back to the militarist path, believing that only war will strengthen the empire. The Chernobog-Lungmen crisis of 1097, initiated by Reunion and backed up by the Third Army, was one such conspiracy that aimed to drive Ursus into another conflict. Emperor Fyodor Vladimirovich continues to push forward to end both Emperor Vladimir's despotic legacies and the Infected's plight. On the other hand, the new nobility in the State Council with Islam Witte at its helm are working to reform the empire, concentrating on consolidation of the Emperor's power and development of industrial trade. Furthermore, rumors about the Kolossal Vein's sudden dissaperance have spread panic across Ursus despite the authorities' attempted censorship of the media, in adition to the series of unrest incitated by the local Infected using Reunion's legacy.