Well, that made for an enjoyable read! I like pretty much everything that you proposed and I think such a direction would have truly done justice for the Ancients and the Garleans alike. It also captured a lot of what pulled me into the setting back in the days of ARR and HW.

My only suggestion would be to perhaps have Regula's blade play a part in the confrontation with Varis. Mostly to give some pay off to the scrapped thread that was Regula's dying words. Upon seeing the blade, the part of Varis that managed to resist would be emboldened or some such. A little cliche, perhaps, but it'd be a good way to tie off the loose end and maybe later have a follow up where it is revealed that Regula had a son who survived the chaos consuming Garlemald and vows to become a good soldier.