Between 262PC and 297PC the Holy Sigmarite Empire enjoyed a period of peace, but at the cost of a dwindling position on the world stage. Emperor Otto IV, concious of his military weakness, avoided confrontation with his neighbours and stood idly by as the High Elves and Skaven war threatened his own interests. The Dominion ruled the coasts of Canaur and the Skaven frequently raided Armaethor with no response from the Empire, while strange stories of disappearances began to plague the northern region of Holwingen.
The people of the realm pinned their hopes on Konrad, Otto's son, to revive the fortunes of their land, but in 288PC, aged 46, Konrad suddenly grew ill and died, leaving his son Karl, then 26, as heir to the throne. Finally in 291PC, aged 75 and having ruled for 37 years, the old Emperor "Otto the weak" died and Karl II was proclaimed ruler of the Sigmarites in a joyful coronation before he was even 30.
Karl inherited a nation with deep problems. The army had been run down, the treasury was low and the infrastructure of the realm was in need of much repair. Karl was the antithesis of his grandfather and longed for a rejuvination of the Holy Sigmarite Empire. He was also charismatic, bold and occasionally arrogant, character traits which would shape his rule.
Between 291PC and 297PC Karl wisely concentrated on rebuilding the empire, expanding the realm along the north Canaur, founding the towns of Franzburg. The HSE also expanded west along the lesser Canaur, to Wurmlingen and Pforzdam. The new emperor also invested in his armed forces, expanding the army and starting work on a "royal navy", a fleet of ships to defend the realm but under the direct control of the emperor and the newly created council of lords, rather than an ad hoc force run by privateers.
Karl's new army first saw battle in 297PC after the emperor made his first foray into foreign policy, attempting to bully the Dwarf Kingdom into a more favourable trade agreement by sabre rattling and seizing many dwarf trade caravans. The plan backfired and the dwarfs, insulted, sent an army to Wurmlingen, defeating the small army garrisoning the town and forcing Karl into an embarrassing climb down. Fortunately the emperor's natural charisma avoided long term diplomatic damage.
In 298PC and 299PC Karl embarked on a new crusade he offered a "mighty army" to aid the High Elves in their long watch over the Kaalroen Empire. The crusade was meant to show Palurin that once again the Holy Sigmarite Empire was a power to be reckoned with, but the crusade went horribly awry. The army still wasn't big enough for such a grandiose adventure, and much of the army was made up of Ogre mercenaries under the Sigmarite banner, and the regular troops still lacked much in the way of training and experience. First the main Empire army was routed at Huvustad by lord Tragean leaving just the Ogre contingent to arrive in northern Canabrin to "help" Mellvellon.
The Ogre force over-wintered near the elf lands and, rather inevitably, more than out stayed their welcome. Rather than attacking the beastmen lands as intended, the Ogres instead ended up raiding the rather more wealthy elven and human settlements under the protection of Mellvellon. Infuriated, the elves attacked the Ogres, defeating them soundly. Karl II quickly denied any responsibility for his mercenary army and banned them from returning to the Empire.
By 303PC the emperor's rather shaky foreign policy adventures were becoming a source of ridicule and some were even suggesting his uncle, also named Karl, would be a more pragmatic ruler. However in that year Karl II got lucky. He sent his army west into the desert of bones, a place denied to them by Cuitlaxaochitzin, in an attempt to prove his prowess in one last desparate gamble. The gamble paid off and the rather more experienced HSE army soundly defeated the lizardmen when they attempted to bar their entry into the desert. Karl's army looted the ancient ruins of the desert, avenging Emperor Otto's "folly" in 79PC. The victory was more attributable to blind luck than great strategy or planning, but the populace hailed Karl II non-the-less. Finally the Empire had the military triumph it craved.
Unfortunately Karl's navy did not share in this success. Launched with much pomp and ceremony in 302PC the newly built vessels encountered their first enemy in the following year, encountering Typhus' fleet on the Pan Coron ocean, heading towards Armaethor to collect more slaves for the skaven war machine. The Empire fleet did put an end to this particular raid, but in their first battle much of Karl's new navy was sunk by Typhus's much more experienced fleet. Karl wept at the loss of his prized vessels, but vowed to build more. The expansion of the Holy Sigmarite Empire would go on.
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