Yaren

Yaren is the most middle province of Arthenos. It has been the battleground for a lot of major wars because of its strategic position. The land of Yaren is dominated by humans but Dvergur and Elvallìn have some settlements in the land as well, though they are decreasing. Yaren is most famous for being the battleground of the War against Earth and Sky, the war between Dragons and Giants. The end result of that battle will always be commemorated by the Lake of Fire. Before Settlements
Yaren was a lush and green environment. The roots of the First Tree reached all the way up there and the woods were connected with its roots. It is said that nowadays the woods are still waiting to reconnect with their original mother. But at least a part of that wood was about to be destroyed in the war of the Dragons against the Giants. Yaren was their battleground.
The dragons were led by the young dragon Arthuïn. It was Arthuïn who started the war when he went to the plane of the Giants named Eralthon and killed the king of the Giants Urthum the Great Hand. Arthuïn had a right hand named Zoron the Red Fury, who was an overly ambitious dragon, urging Arthuïn to continue the war against the Giants. The dragons are a proud race and don’t give up easily.
The Giants retaliated against the Dragons by traveling to Arthenos from their home. The Giants however were cut off from Eralthon and have tried ever since to return to their home. The Giants were led by Thrymir, the son of the slain king of Giants. His younger brother Ikmyr stayed with the remaining giants in Eralthon. Thrymir would fight the dragons every chance that he got in order to avenge his father.
These two powerhouses were equal in aggression and power. They slew each other one by one. Their numbers dwindled. Nowadays there aren’t many dragons or Giants left and it is all thanks to this war. Who knows how the world would have looked like if the Dragons or Giants remained in the original numbers? It is highly unlikely that humans would have been able to flourish as they do now.

The Coming of Humans

Centuries after the great war of Dragons versus Giants, the land of Yaren started to become populated by all sorts of races. Humans built settlements everywhere. The Dvergur went on and settled in the mountains of Yaren, while the Elvallìn made cities of their own, albeit far less than the humans. It was this time that the Humans still learned things from the Elves. But they were industriousness enough to become a race with their own identity. The land of Yaren was divided in kingdoms. It is said that there were about 200 small kingdoms in Yaren, each with their own king and land. In reality most of these kingdoms were just a city or a town, with accompanying land.
During this time as in all times where countries are divided, war was the common occurrence in Yaren. Many kingdoms fought one another in order to seize more land. But it is easy to exaggerate this. The wars were only with a small number of people since the kingdoms weren’t all that big.
Though the other races mostly kept to themselves, in Yaren there was a rather continuous conflict with the Balaur. They saw the land of Yaren as their own land by right since the Dragons battled the Giants there. The Balaur created a kingdom of their own and would wage war with the neighboring kingdoms. The kingdom of the Balaur still exists to this day since they dislocated their kingdom from the mainland. They now live somewhere on a small island.

The Claiming of the Empire

The Rhufein Empire that was founded in the south, in the land of Galnéath had set its eyes on the land of Yaren. It was said that Yaren inhabited ancient dragon magic and the Empire wanted to use this for its expansion. Most emperors were power hungry individuals and to have great power was always a reason to expand. The Empire had already taken the land of Kaednar in the southeast and now wanted to take the central land of Arthenos.
As you might remember the Rhufein Empire had a Lich under its control. After Kaednar fell, word came to the kingdoms of Yaren. The kingdoms of Yaren did not form an alliance, saying that they would be able to solve it on their own. Though one might think this was better for the Rhufein Empire, it only made things harder to solidify their rule. Because of the many different centers of power, this mean that there was always an army ready to attack. Whenever an army of the Empire would leave a settlement, it would be occupied again by a rival kingdom. Because of this the war was more a game of hit and run than real glorious battles. But in the end the Rhufein Empire was able to crush all the kingdoms of Yaren and establish the Empires control.
As with all lands that they took over, the Emperor installed a vassal as leader of the land. Yaren is a pretty huge land and thus three vassals were set in place. These vassals would give the Empire a lot of trouble in the future.

The Conflict between Vassals

The North-West part of Yaren, bordering the land of Serana, was governed by the vassal Jürgen von Mittendorf. Jürgen was a stern man and devout follower of the Emperor. Even if he didn’t agree with the Emperors commands, he would still follow them to the letter. It only came as a surprise that Jürgen had imperialistic ambitions himself. He would wage war against the other Vassals in order to claim the lands and become the sole vassal of Yaren, still under the rule of the Emperor, but a sole vassal, nonetheless.
The Middle and Southern part of Yaren, bordering Galnéath, was governed by Ludwig von Hisen. He has always been a sly devil. Though a loyal servant of the Emperor, Ludwig was never happy with the rule of the Empire and always told people that he would be able to do a better job. When the war between the vassals broke out, Ludwig saw it as an opportunity to show his strength and leadership. Eager he went into the fray.
The North-East part was governed by Hedwig Trier. He was a small and kind man. He did what was asked of him and otherwise walked in the forests of his vassal state, painted or wrote poetry. He only went in the war because the Emperor commanded him too. The army of Trier had the technological superiority and was therefore key in the war. The three vassals were in war with each other so they could not rely on the others. The Emperor was busy crushing the uprising in Ferwell so the Empire could not help a certain vassal as well. The war continued for 30 years which was longer than the uprising in Ferwell lasted. When the Empire lost Ferwell they retreated to Galnéath and left the vassals to fight for themselves.
In the end, it was the son of Hedwig Trier, Karl Trier, who won the war against the other vassals. After his father died, he went more on the offensive. First, he defeated the son of Ludwig von Hisen, Ludwir von Hisen in the battle of the Shimmering Forest. In order to defeat this army, they burned the whole forest to the ground as they knew that the army of Ludwir von Hisen was waiting for an ambush there. It was a spy who told Karl Trier of the ambush and then proceeded to burn the army down. The forest wasn’t able to recover and is now called the Scorched Wood. After his son died, Ludwig von Hisen was shocked and crumbled down. The city of Hisen was defenseless and ill-prepared because of this. Karl Trier was just let in and Ludwig von Mises was beheaded in the city square. Upon his death he cried: “Now I shall see my son again!”
Karl Trier then proceeded to wage war with Jürgen von Mittendorf for two more years, but in the end Mittendorf also succumbed to the power of Karl Trier. They besieged the city of Uthern for two years after which the city fell because of starvation. The populace of Uthern was promised more food than they could eat if they killed Jürgen von Mittendorf. They rebelled against him and dragged him out to Karl Trier who then beheaded him in front of the citizens. He killed all those who were followers of Jürgen von Mittendorf. He gave the population Uthern a whole banquette and they all honored him with gifts.
It is debated why Karl Trier was able to win against the other vassals, since his father never really invested in an army and thus his military power wasn’t all that strong. Historians have claimed that Karl Trier was able to form a vast army since he used the labor workers as soldiers. In promising the laborers a wage for serving in the army, the laborers quickly turned to the army to make profit. Before that it was common that soldiers were rather rich lords or at least wealthy citizens, as they had to buy their own weaponry. The laborers of Karl Trier were given weapons and armor to use. He even gave them a wage to fight. What the soldiers lacked in skill, they made up in numbers.
After the war between the vassals, Karl Trier became high justiciar of Yaren. Still under service of the Empire, Karl ruled Yaren with an iron fist. After establishing himself as ruler he became lustful with power. He now set his eyes on rebelling against the Empire but needed to wait for the right time. Though the Empire lost their Lich, the dragon blood still gave the Emperor vast powers. It wasn’t until the plague hit in Galnéath that his grandson Friedrich Trier would take up arms and cut Yaren off from the Empire.

The Muddy War

The plague hit in Galnéath, leaving it rather unprotected and destabilized. After the dragon incident, Ferwell was able to cut itself of from the Empire. Now was the turn of Yaren. It was the grandson of Karl Trier, Friedrich Trier who took up the arms against the Empire. There was a small problem though. The army of Friedrich Trier was immensely outmatched against the armies of the Rhufein Empire. Not only were they in fewer numbers, they also didn’t have the military experience of the Empire. Luckily Friedrich Trier would go into history as the greatest general of Yaren to have ever lived.
The army of the Rhufein Empire consisted of great cavalry and were plated in shimmering gold. The armies of Yaren were peasants only capable in swinging a sword. When the Rhufein Empire invaded the land of Yaren, Friedrich Trier retreated to the Hellish Marches. Friedrich Trier was in luck. On the day the armies of the Rhufein Empire came, a great storm was summoned. It is said that the personal wizard of Friedrich, Ralph Emmerthal, was there to summon the rain. When the cavalry of the Rhufein Empire entered the Marshes, their horses got stuck in the muddy ground. Their heavy armor made sure that they could not move flexibly. While the great warriors of the Rhufein Empire were stuck in the ground, the army of Friedrich Trier slayed them one by one. By some accounts, the death toll for the Rhufein Empire was around 20.000 people, while for the Yarenians it was only 132. This disastrous defeat of the Empire made sure that Yaren was now governed on its own. The Empire returned to Galnéath and left Yaren alone in the years to come.
The land of Yaren, now free from centuries of control from the Rhufein Empire, now needed a new form of government. They installed a new monarchy, with Friedrich Trier as monarch, but with the addition of a parliament. Rich men could now vote for a representation in society if they paid a heavy tax and served in the military for a year. Though there was some form of democracy, the monarch could veto any law that is proposed by parliament. So, the people were free, but only in the manner that the monarch would allow. Because the word ‘king’ had a negative connotation among the populace, Friedrich Trier would be known as Supreme Chancellor. Though Emperor would also be a suitable title.

Industrialization

Because of their agrarian output, Yaren became a very wealthy country. But more importantly, they created a new way of economic trading. It started on the farmland. The farmers would reinvest the profit they made from selling their produce, in machines or bigger land in order to get more profit, which they then again reinvested. This had huge consequences for the world.
Traders would do the same thing. They would trade their product and then reinvest in machinery, credit and banks. Because of this a whole new class of people emerged: the merchants. These people became rich through trade and industrialization. The aristocracy was rich based on their status but now there was this whole new group of people claiming dominance on society. This created a rivalry between the merchantry and the aristocracy.
But the merchantry won since they had the wealth necessary to solidify their position in society. The industrialization of the cities created a new class of workers, the wage workers. It used to be workers and aristocracy but now a new duality was constructed. The duality between merchantry or capitalists as they were called and wage workers or proletariats. The proletariats had to work for wages which the capitalists provided for them. The new machinery changed the scenery of major cities of Yaren. The capital of Yaren, Palikir, became an industrial powerhouse. People from all over the country flocked to Yaren in order to find riches. Even people from other lands traveled to Palikir.
The real conflict wasn’t between capitalists and proletariats. The real conflict was between the capitalists and the aristocracy. The capitalists were now nestling themselves in the upper classes, previously inhabited by the aristocracy. Even worse, the capitalists had more wealth and now wanted to elevate their status some more. They tried to push inside the circles of the aristocracy. Some were welcome of the new class (and their wealth), others didn’t want the common folk to mingle with them. They were of noble descent after all, while the others were just lucky peasants. This all climaxed into a clash of classes. The aristocracy tried to legally ban the capitalists from their circles. In the end the capitalists won and not only were they allowed in the aristocratic circles, the whole of nobility was done away with. Now it didn’t matter what your heritage was, you were equal to everyone (who had money).
It is also in this era of industrialization that science became the dominant force instead of religion. The capitalists invested a lot of money in the sciences. The invention of electricity was sponsored by the capitalists. They realized that science would allow them to make more profit with new and enhanced ideas and objects. Many scientific discoveries were made in this day. The Earth was now believed to be round instead of flat. Geologists tried to explain the causes of natural phenomenon. Society went through a real demystification. The clergy didn’t like this. Nowadays there was even someone who proponed that we all stemmed from apes instead of the Gods. It was too much to bear. A lot of scientific views that are deemed correct are actually hidden for the clergy for fear of persecution. It was a golden age to be a scientist, but only if you were the type of scientist that they wanted.
In all this the monarchy remained. He still had his veto but more and more, power would go to the people.

Type

Geopolitical, Country