Following the 3rd Annual Oktoberfest in Bozageest things began to settle down for the Lord of Renatus. Archduke Alexander Raynolt Kovak still had much to accomplish, but the years ahead were filled with the sort of success that a determined man might enjoy when surrounded by his loyal and fiercely determined comrades. It would be the combined efforts of these people that would guarantee the Archduke’s legacy and the extravagant success of Renatus as one of Partum’s most powerful and well-regarded nations.

Alexander was better known to his friends and subjects by his nickname, Xan. Beyond his realm he was given the honorific name of Alexander the Unifier as his lands grew and either absorbed or melded with neighboring states. Much of his successes were not sealed on the battlefield despite the remarkable strength of his armies but instead through clever machinations and negotiations that enabled his would-be rivals to embrace his leadership as a shortcut to even greater wealth and influence. The two-year long peace agreement with Lotharingia was the springboard for a number of fortuitous expansions of Renatus. Having secured a brief period of peace in the region, it was a natural move for the little states of central Partum to look to Xan as a man capable of persuading people to see things his way or else be brutally brought to heel if his lands were invaded.

The first two states to merge into Renatus were Söldnerland and Wientaler. Once they had fully pledged their allegiance to Archduke Alexander it was only a matter of time before the other states would fall into line. Over the next six years this would also include the states of Mort-Vivant, Kastallia, Schwartzwalden, Sachsen, and finally Lotharingia, the one realm that had been a thorn in the side of the whole region for over a century. Another ten years later would see Renatus expand even further, merging with Grünherze, the Duchy of Meideborg, Meissen, Bronderburg, Pomerania, and the Duchy of Holzsassen. The Archduchy of Renatus Now spanned from Fanolania in the west to Lusatia in the east, from Geldenreich in the south to the frigid northern sea. It had only taken twenty years for Xan to go from a restless and ambitious Baron to now ruling the third largest realm on the continent.

Of course, his success wasn’t merely his alone. The greatest strength of Alexander the Unifier was naturally his close friends and allies who enabled his vision to become reality. As his closest core of companions were also his adventuring buddies, he had given them vast tracts of Renatus to govern and control as his vassals. This permitted them to carve out their own bases of operation and resources with which to carry out their own goals as well as support those of Archduke Alexander. None of the other rulers of the lands surrounding Renatus could boast such a close working relationship with their nobles, and this really made his ability to get things done that much easier.

In his personal life Xan also enjoyed success. In addition to his adopted orcish son, Grendel, Xan and his wife Lersha had triplet sons. Two years later they would have twins, a son and a daughter. After that they took in a number of orphaned children and added them to their thriving family. Grendel was the heir to the Archduchy and as such took his role seriously even at a young age. Just as his father was known as the Unifier, Grendel himself brought together a different sort of unified power by way of mystically uniting the dragons that inhabited the many parts of Renatus. How this was managed was a mystery to most everyone, but it gave to the Archduke a terrifying power that nobody else in the region could rival.

There remained only one difficulty throughout the reign of Archduke Alexander: The Fourth Imperium. While the existence of this troublesome menace was a grand stimulus to help Xan unite his neighbors it was also a vexing foe that resisted all efforts to keep it hemmed in much less vanquished. No matter how mighty Alexander the Unifier got he still could not find a way to crush the Fourth Imperium.