Valast had a lot to do with many many power turnovers, plots, wars, assignations... so that everyone would be where they are now. Not trying to toot my own horn or anything like that...which is why he is spoken of in 3rd person... but it is true in this case.
Every time something changed in the game, Valast made sure he was on top of it. If a war looked like it may end then he would let out a little information he had been holding back. Or if he wanted to war with one realm he would make sure another war was started with realms that could come to the aid of his victim.
Always with a focus of keeping Oritolon busy, happy, and guarding the south so that Lukon could send its entire army north somewhere. And the entire task was goal oriented to bring down every realm that had stood against Lukon in the early war against Portion.
OT was allowed to survive because Giblot was always too strong of a threat if left unopposed. So why not let the two battle it out...provide a little aid to which ever side was loosing and keep it going. Until OT was almost destroyed that is....then Valast took a more friendly direction with OT
(side note... Giblot was aiding Lukon in the portion war. Giblot gave the Hendrix family funds for troops and for a palace in Lukon...and later chose to keep OT busy after they had raided Lukon and killed Valasts brother)
Free will was never detained by Valast of course...and he did not directly lie to anyone..errr ok not often. But it is amazing what a little nudge here or there will provide.
Lukons troubles began when Alowca fell. Without a direct enemy, Oritolon fell into its self bickering and fighting... rebellions... lies... hard to retain trust with each other with that much turn over. Next Giblot tossed off its yolk. That made things complicated for a while...unpredictable...uncontrollable.
But taking down Giblot has been a big big job.
Anyway... Valakyrie does not have the cunning her father did. Her brother has it. So while Lukon is still a beast...lead by beasts... it has lost some of it growl. Fangs are still sharp and it will bite you... but in doing so it may leave its self exposed to the rest of the wolf pack.
Um...what that paragraph above means is that Valakyrie is not as successful as her father was in keeping other realms where Lukon needs them to be. Assassins have a MT friendly ruler (not to mention a bad taste in its mouth after the whole Innocent/Wetham thing, which Ares caught wind of...lol that story is for another post I think)... Oritolon still does not remember her past strongly enough to respect Lukon (thus Lukon must resort to the same fear tactics used on other realms)... OT has become Lukons friend but no much is said between the two peoples, and Rak can never be controlled...yet always unpredictable.
MT has become a beacon of anti Lukon thinking... thus Lukon is fighting them now. But MT continues to grow stronger in characters and influence. If they had the money and land to back them they would stand a chance. If they do not figure out how to get it though...well...then they will be scattered to the wind of a Lukonian fart.