I was talking with a friend who plays the other day, and we were stunned to realize the depth of the butterfly effect and how it has affected the East Continent.
So you see, once upon a time Vix Tiramora wasn't too terribly involved in the Northern War. About half the realm ignored it, and the half that did participate mostly just sat around on defensive actions. The realm was in serious debate about entering the Perleone/Alara conflict at that point, to ensure a swift end to hostilities. Then, one day, following the lead of Mathias Chenier, Highmarch changed sides in the war, instantly galvanizing Vix Tiramora and rededicating the realm to fighting the war with the North. Talk of intervention in the Perleone/Alara conflict ceased, leading to the present state there today. During the course of this conflict, Highmarch took over Abadan. Vix took it back, but before a Lord could be elected, Highmarch corrupted the region back.
This act of corrupting the region, lead to a bill in Vix being passed, entitled the Emergency War Powers act. Behind the scenes a minor feud was taking place over control of the granaries of the realm. One single lord refused the banker, me, access, and this banker wanted control... Mostly just out of spite. So he proposes a bill allowing lords to be appointed to newly conquered regions, bypassing the traditional election system in order to counteract the corruption tactic. He also works into the bill a section requiring all lords to open their granaries to the banker... Nobody at the time knew it, but it would have dire consequences. The defiant lord in question refused to obey this law, even after it passed a popular vote. The feud kept on quietly for some time, until an accusation was made of Vixen food being sold to Alara to prolong the conflict. This brought the granary issue into the public. The defiant lord continued to refuse to obey, and the judge ordered the lord to obey or step down as a duke. The duke stated in no uncertain terms that he would not follow the law, and he would not obey the judge. The Duke was banned, and defected to the North.
All of this chaos can be firmly laid at Chenier's feet. If he had not pushed for Highmarch to flip North, Vix would likely be fighting in the South, no pretext would have been given for the fateful granaries law, and Nivemus wouldn't have territory spanning almost the entire length of the continent. Good job Chenier.
