Margraviate of Achaea
The Sanceren Crusader State
The Margraviate of Achaea is one of the three Crusader States located in southern Ezura, specifically the Girded Valley. It is the youngest realm of the three, and has only occupied the region since 252AE, a mere three centuries ago during the time of schism within Aumont. It brutally annexed most of its territory from either Thessalon, Argosia or 'unclaimed' lands filled with heretics at the time.
Its origins lie with the then newly formed Kingdom of Sancre, who wished to prove itself among the other nations of Albion as being great enough to send its own crusader force into the Girded Valley. True enough, today Achaea holds most of the territory among the three states and considers itself as the culmination of the crusades, the force to end the religious wars once and for all.
A line of Achaean Knights heed the call of their Marquis on the field of battle.
History
The Crusader States are three semi-autonomous lordships operating in the Girded Valley in the south of Ezura. They were the natural evolution of the Crusade, a desperate show of force by the kingdoms of Albion to prove their valour and might in the eyes of the Mother Danu, after the fall of the Empire. It was also a show of unity, as well as a land grab of both materials and resources, not to mention man power. The people of the Damaran, native humans of southern Ezura, were to be converted and preferably recruited into either society or the armies that made up the Crusade. Any who resisted were crucified without mercy, henceforth named the 'Crusade'. The Road of Crosses still bears the signs of brutality of the first crusaders today, with the skeletons of the innocent still hanging off their cross, exposed over centuries to the light of Danu until they are naught but dust.
The Cause of the Crusade
The common consensus is that the beginning of the First Crusade was a call from Uriel the Merciful to reclaim human lands captured by monstrous people or turned heretic; the origin is, however, widely debated. Much of the lack of clarity comes from the number of armies operating without a central unity in the First Crusade, which eventually turned into the three crusader states present today.The Materialist View
A person can be devoutly religious, but still seek to gain wealth in conquest. People of all classes felt the economic pinch at this stage of time after the fall of the Empire. The serfs that had no place in the existing feudal structure in Albion went south-east, often taking their families and worldly possessions in a hope to move and colonize a new home there. The inheritance of the possessions in a family being passed down to the eldest son left a whole slew of second children with no holdings of their own. Some who marched in the Crusade set out to claim holdings of their own and became Princes in their own right. For many of these people, conquest in the name of the Folk of Danu opened an avenue to a better, richer life.The Spiritual View
Another camp sees the Crusade as an attempt by Uriel the Merciful to expand the power of the church and reunite the Damaran people with its beliefs. This would also have the effect of liberating those who still believed in Danu from the heretics who chose others as their deity. Those scholars arguing on this side also point out a couple reasons that a material view isn’t necessarily consistent with the actions of those in the Crusades. The incredibly expensive journey of the Crusade was not only funded by the church, kings or nations. While the Church did offset some of the cost, most who joined the Crusade paid their own way. Aristocrats sold their assets to fund their journey.Territories
Though young, Achaea controls most of the territory shared between the three crusader states. It has notoriously annexed all of the coast that once belonged to Argosia, a fact that still divides the two states to this day. To add insult to injury, it has made Kirkshaw Harbour, the initial settlement of Argosia and first of all cities in the region, its administrative and military capital.
Its territory spans from The Belt mountains in the west to Kirkshaw Bay in the south, bordering Argosia and Thessalon in the north and east respectively. Its land is the richest of the three, and many farms and small streams dot its landscape, to the envy of others.
Military
Achaea boasts the most modern military of the three, and continually receives support, supplies and troops from Sancre. Though this helps establish it as the dominant power in southern Ezura it is a continual drain on the coffers of its parent kingdom, not to mention unpopular since the introduction of conscription due to the lack of volunteers.
It is the only Crusader State to boast two standing armies, siege engineers and dedicated skirmishers and missile troops not made up of levies. Despite this and its territorial ambitions over both Thessalon and Argosia, its armies are tied down attempting to pacify the local heretical population, the Brutgor in the north-western mountains and the monstrous raiders from the south-west.
Founding Date
252AE
Capital
Leader
Leader Title
Government System
Theocracy
Power Structure
Feudal state
Economic System
Traditional
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
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