Aventine Hill, Rome, December 17, 546 A.D.

▪────"When fortune turns her face away, valor alone cannot sustain an empire."────▪

546 A.D. once mighty Rome, once an empire of great power and wealth, has been reduced to a shell of her former glory. The invasions by Germanic tribes of Rome's territories, followed by Aithila's arrival, forced the empresses to negotiate with the tribal chiefs and kings that had settled on Rome's lands to protect themselves from being overthrown by the Hunnic hordes.

Thus, a shaky agreement was reached with the barbarian tribesmen that was supposed to protect Rome's borders in exchange for land and riches. Though damaging to Rome's prestige as it was, the desperate situation experienced by the empire seemed to not only justify this arrangement, but effectively to confirm that it was a blessing in disguise — Some might say a brilliant move that wound up profiting Rome greatly — but they couldn't have been more mistaken.

The great power wielded by these tribes eventually led Rome to make concessions to them, lest they rise up in revolt against her and crush their overlord. It was a matter of time until these concessions began to undermine the empress's power significantly, and it became clear that the power of the Roman empress was beginning to crumble. Behind the scenes, the Germanic peoples, making use of the power granted to them by the weakness of the empresses and the many concessions gained, pulled the strings for many years until Odowara deposed Remula Augustula.

Once Odowara came to power, she quickly made enemies with the Byzantines, who sought to overthrow her by offering Theoderica and the Ostrogoths the Italian peninsula should they defeat Odowara. Many years of instability followed Theoderica's death, which culminated in the Byzantine invasion of Italy in 535.

A map of Italy during the Gothic Wars 535-554 A.D.

A map of Rome during the sack of 546.

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Aldericruna Sigudisa, was born on June 14th, 528 near Vidobona to chieftess Audawina, and her husband, Valdar. Little is known about her childhood other than the fact that she was educated by an enslaved Roman, who her mother purchased from a raiding party, and that she used to tend for her mother's sheep. Known to be a boisterous and rambunctious woman, she was never expected to be capable of holding onto her mother's throne, but to everyone's surprise, she did.

Her rule began with the uncovering of a plot by rival clans to install Thalira, the very woman who'd slain her mother during a battle against a rival tribe of the nearby Bauvarii. Angered beyond measure, Aldericruna went on to order the brutal killing of several noble clansmen involved in the conspiracy, killing Thalira with her bare hands.

The years that have followed since have been years of constant struggle as Aldericruna has sought to find herself and her people a place in which they can settle unmolested by external threats, as well as internal conflict with ever-scheming nobles who attempt to undermine her rule.