History of Kalgachia/The 200s
As the third century of Shrubdom turned, Kalgachia was still frenziedly importing raw materials in preparation for the expected collapse of Kasterburg, the only territory preventing Kalgachia's complete enclavement by the Raspur Pact. But a sudden cluster of ailments among the Shirerithian nobility, exacerbated by outbreaks of a new fungal disease among their subjects, conspired to mollify Kalgachia's traditional geopolitical adversary at around the same time as a glut of gold exports from Helderbourgh hit world markets, causing a steady decline in the purchasing power of the gold-backed Kalgarrand and slowing imports accordingly.
Within Kalgachia the decade also saw a gradual increase in the influence of the Lord Lieutenants' Council - previously a largely ceremonial organ of the Kalgachi government whose membership had nonetheless begun to feature persons and artifacts of immense theological significance, allowing the Council a voice rivalling that of their nominal seniors in Kalgachia's supreme Council of Perfecti.
Repatriation of the Sword of Fire (201 AL)
In 201 AL came a surprise: the Prince of Modan, a southern Shirerithian noble of considerable standing, had announced his departure to Constancia on health grounds and disposed of his Benacian assets in the process. Among these assets was the enchanted Sword of Fire - one of the ancient Cedrist Great Swords whose scattered and shifting ownership had traditionally come to represent the balance of power in Micras' northwest quartersphere. Now - for the most inexplicable reasons given his Nationalist-Humanist affiliations - the Prince gifted the sword to the House of Yastreb, the ancient rulers of Goldshire who had long since joined the Minarborian migration and survived past the demise of that verdant empire to establish themselves at the deepest levels of the Kalgachi government. That the sword had previously been in Kalgachi possession was well-known, the artifact having been recovered from the imperial regalia of its previous owner, the Minarborian Empress Lyssansa. The coven of Kalgachi arcanists who obtained the sword had subsequently gifted it to a Shirerithian daemon queen by the name of Kizzy Drakland in order to strengthen her power in that country, only for her to be defeated by the armies of the Prince of Modan and surrender the sword to him in exchange for being allowed to flee to Goëtia. Now, out of the archonic blue, this national humiliation for the Kalgachi had been reversed by the Prince himself and the sword was safely back in Kalgachi territory.
Rubina Yastreb, the Lady Lieutenant of Oktavyan, asserted the prevailing claim to the sword by being the first of her family to arrive at the Kalgachi border post where it awaited collection. This coup went some way toward reversing the political downfall she had experienced in the early 180s after her marriage to a Shireithian noble, indeed her leadership of Kalgachia's Lord Lieutenants' Council - combined with the presence of Lord Toastypops within its membership - compelled Kalgachia's ruling Council of Perfecti to grant that organ increased powers in their legal reforms of 102 AL.
