The Dynasty Inheritance System.

"Beware the inheritance system of old."

"What makes Dynasties online hole."

"Can turn a dynasty cold."

"And on countless family's toll."

"For those who make no plans."

"For the passing of one's throne."

"Shall succumb to the greed of man."

"As another takes it for their own."

A common proverb in Dynasties Online.

….

After cursing at the system for a few minutes, Railius went back to reading the system notifications that had appeared when he found out about the death of his father, Lucius.

[House Aurellions Lord has died, the dynasty will now enter into a state of inheritance.]

[Railius Aurellion is the officially appointed heir of the noble house by the previous lord.]

[Checking any other potential pressed claims to dynasty leadership.]

[No claims have been pressed.]

[Railius Aurellion has successfully been installed by his supporters as the head of House Aurellion.]

[Due to the lord of the house being underage, a regent will be appointed unless specific instructions for some other form of caretaker government or power structure have been left by the recently deceased head of the house.]

[Thorilsia Caskarm has been selected as a candidate for regent.]

[No objections have been made.]

[Thorilsia Caskarm has been installed as regent of House Aurellion].

[Everyone who serves House Aurellion is happy to swear loyalty to the new lord.]

[Inheritance of dynasty completed with no further objections removing inheritance state.]

[You have successfully managed to inherit your dynasty's power in a stable manner.]

[The Pelican Guard and their commanders are more loyal to you than anyone else, leading to them upholding your regime, allowing you to issue commands to them more easily.]

[Certain options and commands cannot be given due your dynasty to being under a regency.]

[Until you come of age, your regent will rule in your place, making important decisions for your dynasty and any factions or nations controlled or associated with it.]

[Beware, regents may try to take power for themselves, usurping your dynasty's power and making it their own.]

[Regents may also try to maintain their power and influence over your house even after you have reached your majority. Planning for the future and appointing loyal regents is an excellent way to maintain stability and ensure your dynasty's prosperity and power.]

With little to do on the long ride, Railius spend time digesting the system notifications and insight into the game and its mechanics while beginning a conversation with the friend system in his mind on things he would like more clarification on.

"Friend System, what is the inheritance state, and what are its implications for a dynasty?"

Railius asked, feeling that the term and its effects would be critical to know about in the future.

"The inheritance state is something imposed on a dynasty when rulership passes from one ruler to another."

"A series of events will happen that can have a huge effect on a dynasty's fortune and even on the world at large these can range from short events to quests that last for years."

"It represents all of the potential power struggles and strife that can happen in these tumultuous times from coups to assassinations and even civil wars."

"This means that dynasties can be in the inheritance state for as little as a few hours to several years, and dynasties going through this state may be weaker or unable to bring their full strength against their enemies.

The friend system said, giving an overview of what the state means for a dynasty and its various implications, as every person who goes through the dynasty history system will have a succession event or inheritance system activated in some capacity to make them aware of it.

"In your dynasty's case, inheritance was easy as your dynasty is very internally united right now because as the appointed heir of the previous lord of the dynasty and his eldest child and son, you have undoubtedly the best claim for leadership that was not contested by anyone one else with significant influence."

"You also have the support of all the major powers within your dynasty, making the inheritance of power between Railius, your character and his father Lucius a stable and peaceful affair."

The friend system stated, before giving an example to help explain it more to Railius.

"The leadership of a dynasty can be something very complicated. For example, suppose the leader of your dynasty would become the leader of a nation. In that case, all nobles or people of influence within that nation will likely have a vested interest in who becomes leader and so may interfere with the inheritance and succession of a dynasty."

"Let's say that there are 2 potential princes who could inherit the throne. The previous ruler chose Prince 1 to succeed him. However, Prince 2 has the support of the most powerful noble or general due to marriage or other ties. You may see the supporters of Prince 2 try to coup or take power away from Prince 1 to allow their preferred heir to take the throne when the previous ruler dies."

"If you look at history, there are countless times where differing powerful nobles and high officials have used their power to have their preferred heir take over leadership of a nation."

"From faking the last wishes of a previous ruler to open rebellion, all forms of influence have been used by powerful people to help them retain their power and position."

"As such, it would not be uncommon for some sort of internal conflict to occur within a nation over its succession, so it is always something you should be planning for."

"These situations can also be exploited by other nations around who might make raids, declare wars, or do a variety of other actions against a nation and ruling dynasty that is in the inheritance state."

"Any man who takes this state or inheritance lightly in Dynasties Online…."

"Is destined for failure!"

The Friends system said coldly, stressing how important dealing with and having a peaceful and stable succession is to keep the power of a dynasty strong, noting this, Railius, who was already thinking about how inheritance would work, decided that he would need to spend the next few months if not years creating systems to ensure a smooth transfer of power within his own dynasty.

It was only a few minutes after Railius had finished his pondering and conversation with the friend system that the rhythmic bouncing stopped, and he was face to face with 1000+ imperial guards charging towards them, the night-long passing, making the sun's rays reflect off their black armour.

"CHARGE PROTECT THE YOUNG LORD!"

Leon roared from behind Railius, crossing over the step like a shooting star on his snow-white horse, seemingly turning into a ray of light as he fearlessly charged towards the imperial guards.

Railius could barely hold on due to the burst of speed, feeling for the first time a sense of foreboding.

"PROTECT THE YOUNG LORD!"

[Skill Aurellions Loyal Protector activated, increasing stats and combat ability by 20%]

[Unique unit skill Protectors of Aurellion activated, increasing fighting prowess by 10%]

The two sides met lances piercing armour and flesh as lives were ended in seconds, the blood which flowed out of the wounds dyed the steppe red, the crimson coat becoming a regular occurrence in the constant power struggle between dynasties and nations.

What surprised Scorpius and the imperial guards was the Pelican Guards' incredible skill, which seemed to have suddenly increased. What used to be an even battle of skill had turned into one where the Pelican Guards had an advantage.

The vice commander had seen and heard about the sudden increase in skill when these elite soldiers were protecting Lucius on the battlefield but didn't expect them to be able to beat his own elite troops in a one-on-one situation.

What was even more annoying was that the Chavarian imperial guard was skilled with magic and formation that protected them from arrows and ranged attacks but nothing for hand-to-hand combat and close-quarters fighting as usually they were the most skilled close combat fighters on the battlefield. Scorpius even looked on with surprise when he saw that many of the men falling lifeless to the bloodied ground were the black-armoured Chavarian imperial guard.

'For the first time in 20 years, we, the legendary Chavarain imperial guard known throughout the continent as some of the most powerful cavalry and soldiers in the world….'

'Are actually outmatched in one-on-one combat!'

Scorpius thought, trying hard to suppress his surprise when he initially got the order from the emperor he was confused why the emperor decided to be so ruthless in dispatching one of his most loyal subjects.

'If it only took Lucius 12 or so years after becoming a noble to create such a terrifying force, he did not want to see what House Aurellion could come up with in another 10 years with all the resources that a powerful marquis had at its deposal.'

'And considering that House Aurellion has been in control of 100,000 soldiers of the imperial army, if they could make that army loyal to them then turned on the imperial family due to a grudge such as killing their lord….'

'They truly will be a threat to the empire!'

Scorpius thought more clearly, any hesitation gone as he cut down a man that was charging towards him his sword, appearing like a flash of light as the man's flesh fell in two separate parts, the other master-level fighters using their great martial prowess to make up for the skill gap between the imperial guards and the Pelican Guards the other 500 soldiers that came from other noble families stood no chance against the elite soldiers from House Aurellion and quickly either died or retreated.

Leon swung his spear from left to right, piercing through the imperial Chavarain forces like a bullet. As everywhere he passed, bodies of black-clad imperial guards fell to the ground as the grandmaster made a beeline for one of the three master-level fighters chasing them, hoping to surprise and take one out before they could all band together to face him.

Seeing Leon easily speed through his men, their corpses scattering behind the former Chavarian vice general, Scorpius decided to use the same formation that Lucius Aurellion did all those years ago to restrain skilled fighters due to their ability to impact the battlefield.

"Master-level tactics! Master Suppression!"

Scorpius called out despite there being no master-level strategist amongst the Chavarian forces. The veteran imperial guards immediately surrounded Leon as the Chavarian vice commander of the imperial guards used his comrade to bait Leon into a trap.

Strategy and tactics in Dynasties Online are far more complex than just a simple formula of master-level strategist = master-level tactics.

This is because soldiers who are immensely familiar with certain formations and tactics can pull them off even without a master-level strategist behind them. The only issue is that sometimes small changes to a formation are needed, or a commander who tried to imitate a strategy that worked in the past may not understand the reasons for its success or what made it so formidable.

This is why master suppression is such a powerful tool as it is easy to understand because even Aldorus, who was only a captain albeit a talented one, was able to use it effectively to suppress and heavily injure Alden, a vice general in the Plurian army helping to make them retreat and leading to a decisive victory at Brunag. The formation is also much small compared to others and improves when a master-level fighter can help suppress any attempt by an unfortunate being trapped inside the formidable formation to break out, making Scorpius confident in his ability to trap and suppress Leon while the imperial guards killed off the Pelican Guards using their superior numbers and making the formation easy for people use even without a master strategist oversight.

500 Chavarian imperial guards surrounded the loyal grandmaster making Leon smile slightly at their efforts. How could these men who were the first to use Master Suppression on the battlefield be unfamiliar with it? Many of these imperial guards are former Chavarian Royal knights who spent years going from one bloody battlefield to another, using this formation time and time again to deal with problematic variables on the battlefield.

'Trying to use my lord's own tactic to deal with me? How bold! They do realise that the person who helped him develop it all those years ago….'

'Was me.'

Leon thought, swinging his spear at the weak point of the formation, blowing several Imperial guards away and breaking through the once feared formation effortlessly, to the surprise of Scorpius, who nearly died when he clashed with his former comrade in arms briefly to try to send him back into it if it were not for 5 knights sacrificing themselves to block the angry man's strike he would have had his heart pierced by his enemies red tasselled spear.

Only now, when he had fought directly with Leon, he found that he was as skilled and powerful as his commander and realised the abyss-like skill gap between them, barely escaping the grim reapers scythe.

'Since when did that bastard Leon….'

'Become a grandmaster!'

Scorpius cursed, his sword hand shaking slightly as this revelation changed everything.