Kerebrenia

Now, the Crypt Shrine, were all the bones of the holiest have been dumped throughout Ossurian history (before their descent into a maleficent religio-cult after the exile of the Nynten Knights of the Black Lion were exiled from Grimmoria (even in the ancient times when it was just Valye tribes eeking out a meager existence in the unforgiving arctic mountains), lies in ancient but moderately sized city of Krinykhiezne in the province of Kerebrenia, whose rule was in recent generations returned from the direct dominion of the Tzaichor to the line of the original kings of the land, beginning with Kryel King Aubram Gebrius II Kronezykthy.

The reason for this was a combination of elements at play, the first being the young Tzaichor at the time, Rubedic VIII Rutelnekyscu. Rubedic 8 was as feisty and bloodthirsty as any Rutelneskyscu before or after him, he was however the youngest coronated Tzaichor in many generations and also catastrophically terrible with war strategy (which is saying a lot since the Ossurian Legions are so powerful, fearless, and innumerable that one merely needs to direct the flow of the onslaughtering bloodstorm and they'll decimate anything in their path).

The second factor was the record low temperatures and brutal blizzards that began just before Rubedic 8's reign, thought at the time to be a temporary anomaly. The frigid (even for the arctic Ossurians) conditions were unbearable and the mobility of the Ossurian Legions was inhibited and the independent but Grimmorian and Estherian allied principalities and kingdoms of the south made advances into Ossurian territory.

The third, final, and definitive factor was the actions of the then Gertzeig, Duke Aubram Gabrius II Kronezykthy, who ruled the tiny territory of Upper Kerebrenia (Up-Kerbenyae) which bordered Kerebenia proper and the Crypt Shrine within ruled directly by the Tzaichor, during the province's surprise invasion by a Svosi-Ebrawncan coalition with internal aid by Autryssien agents (both Upper and Lower, shockingly) hiding in the region.

Rubedic 8 had nearly completely drained Kerebrenia province of the Legions normally guarding the Krinykhiezne Shrine to bleed them towards the border where the kingdoms of Crovaria, Dounyth, and Autrysse united in an unprecedented level of effort to invade the borderlands.

This invasion was done in concert with the Kingdom of Ebrawnca, the Princely Republic of Svosa, and the Republic of Autrysse who were all officially and for all appearances uninvolved, but behind the scenes had their most powerful troops traveling by cutting-edge camouflaged highspeed airships provided by the du Lanc dynasty of the Estherian Empire.

The key to the deception was the co-operation of the Kingdom and Republic of the two Autrysses, normally mortal enemies. Republican Autryssiens were trusted spies of the Ossurians, the Republic lacking the military support of the global monarchic community having no other choice but to try to maintain independence while essentially serving the Ossurians who could potentially wipe them out.

Autryssiens spies in Kerebrenia and other provinces over time had gone from being at each other's throats, to laying down their differences after decades of seeing the horrors of the Rutelnekyscu regime. While the Republican Autryssiens were thought to be spying on and infiltrating the ranks of the Royal Autryssiens, they were in fact collaborating and developing a plan to strike at the spiritual heart of the evil empire.

When the Svosi-Ebrawncan troops (with some Royal Autryssien specialists and knights) arrived in Kerebrenia aboard their Estherian Althair-class airships, they met the Autryssien agent cells and overnight began the invasion of the defenseless region.

The coalition were greeted as liberators by a large enough portion of the native Kereb-Ossurians furthering their momentum and impact.

Duke Aubram Gebrius II from his fort in the neighboring Upper Kerebrenia province became aware of the invasion, first from the sound of aerially dropped bombs and then a subordinate rushing into to relay that they were under attack.

Indeed, there were Autryssiens agents even in Upper Kerebrenia and they began murdering soldiers and officers along the border and even some within the Duke's fort.

Taking direct action, the Duke called to arms his best men and then set about forming a civilian militia.

Long story short, the Duke singlehandedly led the defense and managed to not only put the forts and castles of the regions into seige mode, but also lead a strike team that operated in the shadows to brutally kill invaders and rebel Ossurians alike in the night.

Though most Ossurians feared and hated the Tzaichor, the Duke was well-loved by the people and easily swayed many rebels back into the fold.

Rubedic 8 died in battle at the border with the Crovari-Dounythic-Autryssien coalitioned army before a messenger could even reach him to tell him about the invasion in Kerebrenia.

The more rational elder Rutelnekyscu princes realized that for once the brilliance of their dynasty's flame wavered wildly and rather than let the populace dwell on the obvious incompetance and stupidity of the now dead Tzaichor (who left no child as heir) they commended House Kronezykthy and rewarded their stoic Gertzeig, Duke Aubram Grebius II.

Rhothergic Hurellius, one of those afformentioned rational elder Rutelnekyscu princes, was elected Tzaichor and Aubram Grebius II was raised to the rank of Kryel, just below Rhothergic's imperial rank, and given the former Imperial Dominion, now Kingdom of Kerebrenia as his fief, with the Duchy of Upper Kerebrenia reuniting and absorbing back into Greater Kerebrenia.

Now the twist is, it was Duke Audram Gebrius II all along who had fostered the inter-Autryssien alliance in secret, providing them safehouses and financially supporting the endeavor the two groups had concieved together. Bear in mind many Autryssien agents had taken Kerebrenian wives and husbands over the generations, many deep cover Autryssien agent family lines were technically of more Kereb-Ossurian heritage than Autryssien, and thus loyal to the kindly Duke.

The Duke, a noted scholar, was also the one (along with the help of the historians in his employ) to decipher the Tablet held in the Krinykhiezne Shrine as not being the Tablet of Death, but rather the Tablet of Fire.

He formed a secret society that essentially established a new Ossurian religion.

The Order of the Holy Flame emphasized the life-giving properties of the Tablet of Fire in the face of the cavernous dark of death. They understood that the ghostly floating flames summoned by the Ossurian priesthood were not made of hellfire at all, but rather interpreted them as the burning light of the Lord Balaroth, incarnation of Eled-Amur, God Himself, who incarnated in this world as Opherus Cruxis.

The translated text of the Tablet of Fire was copied and then scribe/printed into pamphlets disseminated into the oppressed Ossurian populace.

King Aubram Grebius II's son, King Grebius III* had the technological genius to apply the Tablet's secret into magitech devices to warm the frozen earth of the arctic tundra and provided lush greenery.

(Useless trivia: King Grebius was not the Third because his father King Aubram Grebius was the Second, in actuality Aubram Grebius was named for the very last King of Kerebrenia, who became the first Duke of Upper Kerebrenia. After centuries, Aubram Grebius was by chance named so out of nostalgia and happened to succeed to the Dukedom. Before then, the name had too much of a tragic connotation within House Kronezythy. Aubraum Grebius II's wife believed it was the luck of her husband's name that reignited the good fortunes for the family. "Grebius" had only been used twice by Kerebrenian kings as regnal names and only towards the end when the name entered the family from intermarriage with the highland clan of old Valye stock, House Wuveilla, headed by Jral Count Grebius Wuveilla. Thus Aubram's son Grebius Kronezythy became King Grebius III of Kerebrenia.)

Grebius III conducted his experimental program in secret, first creating lush hidden valleys in the sparsely populated Upper Kerebrenia region, then throughout the Empire in small backwater pockets.

Eventually, Grebius IV comes around, he has a young son also named Grebius.

Grebius IV is assassinated. His child son becomes King Grebius V.

The son is then killed. Grebius IV's nephew, whom he was close to and treated like a son, is next in the line of succession.

His given name is Nicoljai, but upon his ascension takes the regal name Grebius VI.

Ketherna's granddaughter or something travels to Kerebrenia and meets Grebius VI and falls in love, becomes his queen.

Turns out the Kronezythies are patrilineal descendants of the ancient Imperial House of Koronae, whom Ketherna and her granddaughter of matrilineal descendants of.