Alexander Kemerskai

Alexander Kemerskai, formerly known as Sir Alexander Kemerskai of Vinnin, is the 1st President of the Griffonian Republic and famed revolutionary figure and officer. He is currently head of state of the Griffonian Republic and commander of its military, serving as a Field Marshal in the chain of command. He was the mastermind behind the Revolution of 978, which brought an end to the Griffonian Empire, if only for the time being, and participant in the Long March North, which culminated in the overthrowing of the Duchy of Cloudbury and the establishing of Republican rule in North Griffonia.

Birth
Alexander Kemerskai was born the fourth son of the Baron of Vinnin, a fairly large city in the Imperial province of Interriver, in 939 ALB, in a time of peace and prosperity for Griffonia. His father, Aldus Kemerskai, cared little for Kemerskai, and continually told him he would be sent off to the Griffonian military to become a Knight in the Imperial army. Most of Aldus's attention went toward his first and eldest son, August Kemerskai, ten years older than Alexander. August was groomed to be his father's sucessor, spending much of his time in court with his father, flirting with Imperial noblegriffs and training in sword, politics, and strategy. Alexander spent most of his time with his older son by 2 years, Amos Kemerskai, who was also trained to fight in the Imperial army. They forged a close friendship in the cloistered halls of Vinnin, joking about their brother's courtly mannerisms and learning the art of a general.

Officer Training
In 950 ALB, Alexander's brother Amos was sent to the Interriver Military Academy. In 2 years, Alexander was also sent there as a griffon of 13 years, his father wanting nothing to do with him at the court. Although Amos was 2 years his better, Alexander learned fast, if not faster, with a natural knack for military tactics and cunning strategy, and eventually, they both were given the title "Sir" and sworn in as full officers of the Griffonian Empire. Alexander Kemerskai became an artillery officer, and his brother Amos became an infantry officer. Being in a time of relative peace, neither of them had much combat activity.

Rising The Ranks
Alexander Kemerskai, although being an officer during a time of peace, was recognized for his strategic ability, and was promoted many times, becoming a prominent general in the Imperial military. He commanded Griffonian troops during numerous exercises, and his military prowess was seen as a warning to any nation who would dare to secede from the Empire. His trusted brother, Amos, however, without his brother, was demoted to that of a low level officer, and ended up serving under Alexander in a piteous position. Kemerskai's strategy guided the actions of the Regency Council during the time of peace, and it is thought that he was one of the main architects of the "peaceful century" in Griffonia.

Marriage And Children
In 961 ALB, at the age of 22, Alexander Kemerskai married a commoner, something unfounded of his position, during a tour in the Strawberry Duchy. With his newly wed wife, Gladys, he had two children. His daughter, Elise Kemerskai, was born in 964 ALB, while his first son, also named Alexander in honor of his father, was born in 967 ALB. Alexander Kemerskai Jr. seldom saw Kemerskai due to his father's military missions.

Storming Of The Imperial Palace
The National Republican Party, along with an Imperial munity plotted by Kemerskai, Schabel Sunglider, Claus Rosewing, and Reinhard Suntail, among others, was much stronger than the Imperials thought it was. With the support of Kemerskai and many officers, the commoners revolted. In what was called The Bloody Day, smallfolk seized the streets of Griffenheim, battling with guardsmen and storming houses and prisons. Every prisoner in the Imperial Cells was let out, and the people soon began to march upon the Imperial Palace. Kemerskai and his entourage of officers, along with hundreds and hundreds of commoners, stood at the gates of the seat of Imperial power and their government. He gave the order to move out, and a wave of commoners rushed through the palace, trampling antique carpets, throwing artifacts to the ground and breaking the stained-glass windows of the Archonate.

However, none of the commoners could find Grover V, despite Kemerskai's best efforts to look for him. According to Republican reports, he was whisked away by Eros at the last minute. Kemerskai's forces did find the entire regency council, save for Eros of course. They were put on trial in the town square and executed. It is said this move cemented the Republic's control over Griffenheim.

Battle at the Griffking
After Griffenheim was taken, Imperial forces were forced to flee into strongholds such as Bronzehill and the Strawberry Duchy, where the Eagleclaw family sheltered both the Archon and the Emperor. Kemerskai organized his forces for a quick takeover of the Empire proper, the Duchy of Griffenheim. Kemerskai himself would take Interriver, at the Griffking River, where the Baron of Vinnin, his father, still reigned. Reinhard Suntail, Schabel Sunglider, and Anders von Bruma, a commander from Yale who had quickly joined with the Republic, would march toward the city of Crona. Claus Rosewing was entrusted in encircling Imperial forces in Kingston and the East.

Kemerskai's forces met the levy of the Count of Interriver, Jonas Hardweiler, at the Griffking River. General Kemerskai had his first chance to prove his tactics as the new Marshal of the Republic and provisional President. The victory was decisive, and Count Jonas's forces were beaten back to the North, where after further confrontation with Republican forces, eventually fled into Bronzehill and left fighting entirely. Kemerskai's forces were able to utilize the River to their advantage, and Count Jonas, a poor strategist, led his troops cross the river, where they were gunned down by Republican cannons and artillery and forced to retreat, only killing a small amount of Republican troops, who had the high ground.

Campaign in Interriver
Kemerskai moved out into Northern Interriver, where the citizens of the city of Griffking's Rest, the capital of the region, had just organized a peasant's revolt following their Count's defeat at the Battle at the Griffking and absence from court. The new commune, the Peasant's Republic of Interriver, was modeled off Greifenmarschen and was given substantial autonomy, leading to the peasants' declaration of complete loyalty to Alexander Kemerskai.

Attack on Vinnin
Kemerskai's armies in Interriver moved north, aided by independent Peasant militias loyal to the Peasant's Republic of Interriver. There, they found the armies of Kemerskai's father, the aging Baron of Vinnin, Aldus Kemerskai. Aldus's forces originally had the upper hand in the Battle of Vinnin, pushing back Alexander's forces. Alexander, however, utilized defensive tactics and artillery barrages, and eviscerated his father's forces while on the defense. Hundreds of griffons died in the attack on Alexander's fallback line, leading to Aldus's numerically superior force being driven back into the city itself.

Aldus's forces surrendered, and he was taken prisoner by his son, Alexander. Eventually, he was taken to the city square of Vinnin, where he had once announced his royal decrees and executions of his own. Now, the tides had turned, and Aldus was sentenced to death for the charges of treason against the people of Griffonia.

The Presidential Election of 978
After securing the Imperial heartland of Griffenheim, Alexander Kemerskai, regarded by many as the leader of the revolution, with his leadership of the National Republican Party and successful campaigns in Interriver, called for the first ever presidential election the history of the Griffonian Empire. The elections were dominated by the National Republican Party, led by Kemerskai, but there were many others, such as the Socialist People's Party, led by the young and idealistic revolutionary Asper Sickleclaw, which advocated for socialism and revolutionary practice and ideology. Elections were also contested by revolutionary right-wing organizations, such as the National Revolutionary Front, led by the now-dead Peter Alstrenner, which advocated for staunch anti-monarchism, fanatic nationalism and pan-griffonian identity, and a corporatist economic system.

Kemerskai won with 77% of the vote, with Sickleclaw and Alstrenner both recieving roughly 12%. The NRP's unitary rhetoric, democratic principles, and the fact that the revolution was still ongoing and the people wanted stability, gave them an easy ride to victory. Kemerkai's experience as a war hero made him a very popular candidate, and his cabinet was generally built on compromise between moderate factions. It included army generals, idealists, pragmatists, all united under democratic cause and purpose. At least, in theory.

The "First 100 Days"
Kemerskai took power and immeadiately began to implement large-scale reforms. The first act of his government was to pass "The Freedom Act", which removed the positions of slavery, serfdom, and servitude in the Empire, and freed all who would fall under those positions. He also improved welfare reforms for common griffons, establishing a minimum wage and taxing Griffonian nobles and oligarchs at steep rates to redistribute wealth to the common griffon. His policies were massively popular, and Kemerskai's approval ratings soared as more and more businesses sprung up around the Heartlands, aided by populist policies. However, Kemerskai's government did find trouble with inflation, with his economists often focused more on reforming the countries economic system than balancing the budget.

Second Campaign in Interriver
Unfortunately for the Republic, the Griffonian nobility in exile did not simply let the Republicans take over their nation. The young Grover V, aided by his faithful guardian and religious mentor, Archon Eros VII, launched a counter-revolution. Aided by the Count of Bronzehill, whose subjects were surprisingly loyal to the monarchy, and the Duke of Stawberry, who had married Grover's aunt, the counterrevolutionaries gained a foothold in the North. Coming from Bronzehill and Strawberry, Imperial forces overwhelmed Republican forces in Intterriver, putting an end to the Peasant Republic there and restoring the Barony of Vinnin under Kemerskai's brother, August Kemerskai I. August expressed his desire to fight for the Empire against his brother, but he was held back by his principal knights, who reminded him he was the last heir to Vinnin, and needed to stay to produce children.

Republicans Flee From Griffenheim
With Diamond Dogs, Archon Eros VII, and associated Imperial forces marching against the President-Marshal, Alexander Kemerskai ordered a full retreat from Griffenheim, desiring a retreat and eventual takeover of the weak Duchy of Cloudbury, sending letters to all generals in the army. The armies that participated in this Long March included Kemerskai's own army currently in Interriver, the army of Claus Rosewing and Max Whitefeather currently fighting in Katerin and Angriver, and Reinhard Suntail's army also in the South. There were many more armies that attempted to participate, but they were rooted out by roving Griffonian armies and annihilated. Many Republican armies stayed in Angriver and hid in the great Schiebwald, commencing small raids on associated Angriverian forest towns. Others went to Katerin, including one traitorous Imperial knight brigade, which produced an odd combination of pious knights and republican revolutionaries.

Destruction of the Sixth Army
General Luster Valwatter, currently defending captured land in Bronzehill, was tasked with bringing an army of Republican diamond dogs and griffons north to Cloudbury through the Whitetail Mountains, flanking the Duchy of Cloudbury while they would be distracted on the South. Luster's plan was critical to easily defeating the Duchy of Cloudbury and relieving rebel forces led by Runa Teafeather in the Whitetail Mountains. However, Luster was caught off guard by the forces of the Count of Bronzehill, led by (insert famous dog general here). His army was flanked by multiple diamond dog divisions and obliterated, ending all plans of a two-front war against the Duchy. Luster's body was later found in a river with a claw mark raked across his face.

Blackrock's Army Defects
Blackrock, fearsome Imperial officer who had defected to the Republicans after the Fall of Griffenheim, defected once more, and her troop became an independent, roving bandit army. Blackrock's task to take Griffonstone for the Republican revolution morphed into a desire to take Griffonstone for her new bandit fiefdom. Kemerskai's letter to flee to Cloudbury was reported to have been burned by Blackrock as she marched further south. When Republicans in the army realized she had no intention of sticking to the values of the Republic, they plotted to overthrow Blackrock and replace her with a loyalist leader, but their plot was rooted out and Blackrock assumed sole control over her army, which became a roving warlord band.

Battle of Mirabelle
Kemerskai's army quickly joined up with the forces of Reinhard Suntail and Claus Rosewing near the Griffenheimian-Feathisian border, and prepared to retreat North to the Duchy of Cloudbury. While their army moved North, they were caught by a large force which included levies from the Strawberry Duchy and Feathisian troops loyal to the Grand Duke of Feathisia. With the combined might of three, albeit weakened, armies, Kemerskai, Suntail, and Rosewing drove back the opposition with moderate losses. The Battle of Mirabelle was won, and the three armies moved across the Feathisian border in to Cloudbury.

Kloborg Allows Safe Passage
When the Republicans marched through the Feathisian-Cloudburian border from the south, they arrived at the city of Kloborg, one of the only cities in Cloudbury governed by a non-hereditary ruler. Due to Republican tensions in the city, in 965 ALB, the Duke of Cloudbury, Otto II, abolished the Barony of Kloborg and allowed noble Karl Svens-Rinner to become the first Mayor of Kloborg. While Otto II believed this would quell Republican tension, it did not, and Kloborg openly declared for Kemerskai's rebellion, giving his troops arms, supplies, food, and rest. Karl Svens-Rinner and his protege Tobias Sivenhof, who would later become a prominent Republican minister, became the leaders of the pro-Republican movement in Cloudbury, and would inspire numerous peasant revolts and attacks across the country after their declaration for Kemerskai.

Taking The South
Despite Republican belief that the Cloudburians would fall easily, the war in the North raged on, and in the winter of 979, the Republicans were forced to hold the southern provinces of Cloudbury, which included most of the province of Winghagen (except the city itself, which was engaged in a brutal siege by Republican forces). The Cloudburian navy was still stationed in the Winghagen city-port, and would gather resources for the seiged city by buying goods from Vedina and the Imperials. The Imperial army, interestingly enough, had not attacked the Republicans from the South, focusing more on quelling internal resistance and saving what little territory they had left after the numerous independence declarations by Imperial vassals. It seemed the Republicans were in for a long war, with the seige of Winghagen ongoing and Cloudbury only a dream of spring.

While the Republicans believed they could not take Winghagen, the tide soon changed in their advantage, when the arrival of a small flotilla under Hermann and Cornelius Hassentelf, minor Imperial naval officers from a small Feathisian noble family turned the tide of the siege. The Hassentelf brothers crushed the Cloudburian fleet, which was completely unaware of any major Imperial naval presence. With the Cloudburian fleet destroyed, Winghagen quickly surrendered to the Republicans. Count Leonhard Gørtz himself brought the letter of surrender to General Claus Rosewing, but this did not save him. For his actions against the Griffonian Republic and the revolution, he was hanged as a traitor just hours after his surrender.

Stalemate At Cloudbury
When Spring came, the Republicans pushed back yet again, with brigades under Maximillian Whitefeather and Claus Rosewing moving north to Cloudbury from Winghagen, while a brigade under Reinhard Suntail moved in from the east. However, while the Republicans did have some popular support, the Duchy was able to levy a massive amount of peasant troops to defend their Duchy from what they believed were "heartless revolutionaries". They used the execution of Leonhard Gørtz as a propaganda tool, and any peasant rebellions in the army were soon quashed. It seemed that the war was at a stalemate - the Republicans would have to attack Cloudbury without popular backing, before the Empire swept in from the South with a fully equipped army.

In the coming months, the Republicans made small gains, but could never take the grand prize of Cloudbury. The city was nearly encircled more than twice by Suntail and Rosewing's combined armies, but Otto's troop size was much more vast than the Monarchists, so they were able to repel any chances of a tactical encirclement through sheer numbers. With the west and east mostly controlled by the Republicans, the major factor that would lead to the capitulation of the Duchy was Cloudbury, and while County and Barony fell around him, Otto II barricaded himself and his armies inside the heartland of the Duchy.