The Duchy of Bourgon, once the separate Duchies of Bourgolois and Croixonne, is a Merélasian vassal state born of a joining brought on by upheaval following the death of the King of Merélais, Lestat de Mereling, and ruled by House de Hautjardin from the ducal capital of Hautjardin, in northern Bourgon. After Duke Marlesvard and Lord Camille de Hautjardin eradicated or expelled rebels from the lands of Bourgolois and restabilised the province, sights were set further afield to neighbouring Merélaisian provinces to further root out the rebels from Merélaisian lands, starting with the province to the south, Croixonne.
The brothers found the ducal family of the Duchy of Croixonne had been decimated, with only a single traumatised servant hidden in the ruling family's estate bearing a letter carrying the seal of the murdered Croixonne Duke, charging whosoever would receive it to avenge him and his family, and their King. To do right by his lands and people. Duke Marlesvard knew well the hand and person of the late Croixonne Duke from communications and meetings over Marlesvard's small handful of years as Bourgolois' chancellor and foremost administrator under the late Princess of Merélais and Duchess of Bourgolois, Eléanore, his own older sister.
This further loss, while it did add to the Merélaisian Duke's anger, it also brought clarity. With no higher authority but his own and almighty Theos to look to, Duke Marlesvard went about bringing Croixonne under de Hautjardin administration, and tied the two provinces together, giving birth to the Duchy of Bourgon... but with the forces of Osterman Emperor Karl von Osthaus increasingly encroaching on the duchy's northern and eastern borders, the stability and existence of this new state is still threatened.
The brothers found the ducal family of the Duchy of Croixonne had been decimated, with only a single traumatised servant hidden in the ruling family's estate bearing a letter carrying the seal of the murdered Croixonne Duke, charging whosoever would receive it to avenge him and his family, and their King. To do right by his lands and people. Duke Marlesvard knew well the hand and person of the late Croixonne Duke from communications and meetings over Marlesvard's small handful of years as Bourgolois' chancellor and foremost administrator under the late Princess of Merélais and Duchess of Bourgolois, Eléanore, his own older sister.
This further loss, while it did add to the Merélaisian Duke's anger, it also brought clarity. With no higher authority but his own and almighty Theos to look to, Duke Marlesvard went about bringing Croixonne under de Hautjardin administration, and tied the two provinces together, giving birth to the Duchy of Bourgon... but with the forces of Osterman Emperor Karl von Osthaus increasingly encroaching on the duchy's northern and eastern borders, the stability and existence of this new state is still threatened.
