Theydim, Unified

Theydim is barely unified, if you ask me. The High King dies, and now they're falling apart between each other with rusting swords and sharp knives.

History

Theydim as a unified political power is only about thirty years old, but Theydim as a cultural political power has its roots in the Adrakian Empire.

Thydian Unification Wars

The Unification Wars was the first successful campaign to unite all Arlings of Theydim under one ruler and last longer than a handful of years. However, High King Magnus the Red-Eyed recognized the limits in his ability to micromanage each region as if Theydim were one Arling. He allowed the Arles who swore fealty to him, signed the treaty, or eventually bullied into accepting his authority, to rule their Arlings in regards to internal matters. All border issues, all trade disputes, or anything between Arlings were to involve him and ultimately be subject to his commands.
The Unification Treaty had several clauses many Arles had resisted, but eventually the negotiations where met so the Negotiator's Scales would be balanced, though some terms would be questionable.

"My father was a great leader in war. Did he get excessive with how he brought his opponent to the negotiation table? I'm sure he was since war was his self-proclaimed best talent. Does this mean my father was a bad politician? You still signed the Treaty. Now, you signed the treaty, I am my father's heir. Therefore, you will support me."

"'Signed the treaty,' Magnusdotr? I wrote it. I can see the ambition in your eyes - an ambition the Bold would no doubt appreciate even if she were to mock you for it, because your ambition, like your father's exceeds your abilities. I will only support the High King who can support their own people as well as their ambitions - and your father was fast losing mine."

— Magnusdotr to Great-Cook

Thydian Civil War

While also called a succession crisis, the Thydian Civil War began with the unexpected death of Magnus the Red-Eyed, while he was on tour around Theydim. The Arle of Capital, Tilde Magnusdotr, initially took the news well, all things being considered, and was prepared to be crowned High King as expected. This was disrupted when the Arle of Ostufer, Seigmund Kerlbror, came forth claiming the late High King had made him the heir, while on his deathbed.
The two major conflicting claims - the Heir Apparent and the Deathbed Heir Claimant have opened Theydim to a Civil War where the two would-be heirs fight for the throne, but two other factions have arisen questioning the value in having a High King at all.
As per the terms of the Unification Treaty, the succession crisis would have to be resolved by the end of a Cycle from the death of the High King with the crowning of a new High King. Failing to do so will mean Theydim as a nation would dissolve and the Arles would be the highest authority of the land while warring amongst each other again.
If Theydim dissolves, then the Independents would have to contend with the Uncrowned as the Capitolists and Ostufer factions would have to start a new Unification War. The Uncrowned want the Arles to rule independently, but have a council where all interactions between Arles would be made public to the others. The Independents want a return to the traditional ways with the Arlings rising based on the strengths of their Arles while the weaker Arlings would collapse and be absorbed into their neighboring Arlings.

Maps

• 

  Theydim

0 3A - 37 3A, unless a new
High King is crowned

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Predecessor Organizations

The Adrakian Empire
Theydim, Pre-Unification

Demonym

Thydian

Leader Title

High King

Capitals

Estopti City
Oestopti City

0 3A - 37 3A, unless a new High King is crowned

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Predecessor Organizations

• The Adrakian Empire
• Theydim, Pre-Unification

Demonym

Thydian

Leader Title

High King

Official State Religion

Gods of Theydim

Subsidiary Organizations

• Alleklint
• Atemkyst
• Capital
• Capitolist Copy
• Capitolist Faction
• Felkhath Arling
• Feroian Arling
• Fjellstrand
• Flachsteengroeve
• Former Minor Arling K
• Horfadal
• Independents, Thydian
• Jordelv
• Norrasjo
• Ostufer
• Ostufer's Faction
• Vetheriss
• Zimaskog

Location

Theydim

Official Languages

• Common - Language

Related Ranks & Titles

• Arle
• Duke, Thydian
• Housecarl

Controlled Territories

• Theydim

Neighboring Nations

• Contested Lands
• Council of Families
• The Five Cities
• The Kingdom of Tormyra
• The Under Cities

Notable Members

• Magnus the Red-Eyed

Related Ethnicities

• Thydian

Related Myths

• High King Magnus Was Murdered

Related Plots

• Thydian Civil War Arcs and Plotlines

Related Historical Events

• 31 .3A
  Magnusdotr Claims to be High King Magnus' Heir
• 31 .3A
  Kerlbror Claims to be High King Magnus' Heir
• 0 .2A
  High King Magnus is Crowned and Rules Theydim
• 1 .2A
  Thydian Unification War

Governance

"So every conquered Arling is ruled by an Arle, but every Arle has to answer to the High King."

"Unified, young Arle. I do hope you don't glare at your High King like you are to me."

"I glared when he made me kneel as a squire. I think he'd be here with his sword at my neck again if I stopped now."

— Arle of Jordelv and an instructor

Theydim is built as a collective of Arlings. Each Arling is governed by an Arle who would traditionally be the highest authority of their territory before the Unification. Since the Unification, each Arle is under the High King's authority. The Arles still, generally, rule their regions without interferance from each other beyond negotiations and deals. However, inter-Arling diplomacy was limited as the High King would generally be involved to ensure the diplomatic terms were in line with overall national laws or intentions of the High King.
Traditionally, Thydians have govern themselves in a feudalist society where the land belongs to a noble, and most who work on the land either pay taxes or are bound to the land. However, Thydians have a history of overthrowing nobles who abuse their people and the lesser nobles or the nobles who have been neglectful of their duties can be stripped of their nobility if their people successfully petition another nearby noble to take over. It is believed these traditions date back to Saint Antral leading her rebellion against the Adrakian Empire to form what would become the dis-unified Thydian Arlings.
Presently, the divisions of rank have blurred. Some Arles are, militarily, as powerful as a Duke or Baron due to the size of their Arling and retain the title of Arle out of tradition. Some Lords can stand on equal footing with a Duke because the Lord's fealthy is to the same Arle and not to another noble between the Lord and the Arle. There are also falling nobles who can no longer afford the economic status of their title, leading to more commoners to take on Manor Lord titles or similar status because they could afford to buy the land.

Hierarchy

High King

The High King is the highest authority of Theydim. Any inter-Arling dealing is under the High King's authority.

Conflict between Arlings

The High King can be called upon to settle contention between Arles or Arlings, and is the primary source of the High King's authority. Some Arles have chafed under the High King's authority, while others have flourished because the High King's influence has leveled the political field.

Arles

Arles are typically treated as the highest local authority. The Arles who had more willingly accepted their defeat or negotiated into joining Magnus during the Unification War took on the lesser styling of "Highness" while the ones who were more begrudging and are resistant to the Unification retain the traditional "Majesty" styling.
With the current Civil War, the Arles who favor the Uncrowned or Independent factions have more consistently been using the "Majesty" styling though some are more gentle in correcting the until-very-recently "Highness" styling they had been using for over twenty years. Of the Capitolist and Ostufer factions, however, the only Arles using "Majesty" are Magnusdotr and Kerlbror.

Housecarl

While Housecarls are not unique to Arles, every Arle has one as do most Dukes. The ranks below Arle and Duke are less likely to have a Housecarl due to the social standing for having one hired and the power a Housecarl hold for their noble. Housecarls are also very expensive, and often a way for someone of a lower rank to rise up - even from commoners.
A Housecarl is typically the representative of their noble and the noble's personal bodyguard. Most will carry a form of their noble's crest that has been modified to signify the person is their Housecarl, and therefore able to fully represent their noble. While a Housecarl cannot declare war on behalf of their noble, they can call for an army on their noble's behalf or be a participant in negotiations.
Most of the "lesser" nobles can count a Housecarl as a House founder, allowing for the descendants of that Housecarl to gain political, economic, or the military status to elevate their rank further.

Dukes

The defining trait of a Duke is typically the amount of land they control, and the size of the army they could raise within their lands should they or their Arle call for an army. Most Arles also carry a Duke title as their lesser title, often passed down to their heir apparent for formal occasions.
A Duke primarily governs over a large portion of an Arling and is, like the other noble ranks, the day-to-day authority for most people of their region.

Barons

Barons are typically a rank between a Duke and a Lord, and at the social status of a Baron, most Thydian class standings begin to struggle. Barons are also a declining population in the nobility - as the political shift from the Unification Wars have limited the expansionist abilities of an Arling, so too have the abilities or Duchies, Baronies, and Domains. Some regions are economically poor without an expanionist-based economy, leading to nobles struggling to maintain the funding to support their regions.

Lords

While the number of Barons have been dwindling, most become Lords and take up what was formerly a decorative title as their primary title. Lords are typically charged with governing a handful of towns and regulating taxes. The towns themselves may have issues between each other resolved with or without the input of their Lord, but any bandits or raiders are the concern of a Lord and the responsibility of a Lord to handle.

Manor Lords

Manor Lords are typically landowners who were either once nobles, KnightErrantsDefineLater who have been paid or gifted lands, or very wealthy non-nobles who can raise up a local militia to respond in the moment to local attacks by beasts, raiders, or bandits. Repeated attacks to a town or collection of villages, however, and the Manor Lord would often send word to the Lord.

Current Arlings of Theydim

Current Arle: Arle Hanne Lisedotr
Geography: Former riverlands and farmland that had dried up since the Adrakian Era.
Civil War Faction:Independents, Faction Founder

Current Arle: Arle of Atemkyst
Geography: Flat summertime grasslands, flat winter wasteland with strong winds, mountains at the eastern border
Primary Industry: Goat herds, fishing
Civil War Faction: Independents

Current Arle: Arle Tilde Magnusdotr
Geography: Mountains and mountain foothills
Primary Industry: Mining, Adrakian
Civil War Faction: Capitolist Faction, Faction Founder

Current Arle: Arle of Enjorde
Geography: Occasional fields, mostly rocky flatland
Primary Industry: Dog breeding, mining
Civil War Faction: Uncrowned Faction

Current Arle: Arle of Ertsklif
Geography: Swamp, swampy ravines
Primary Industry: Rice agriculture, Arfosian mining
Civil War Faction: Ostufer Faction

Current Arle: Arle Nunciel Great-Cook
Geography: Flat farmland, rivers
Primary Industry: Agriculture, often called the Breadbowl of Theydim
Civil War Faction: Contested

Current Arle: Arle Tigh Turlan
Geography: Mountain foothills
Primary Industry: Trade routes, Timber
Civil War Faction: Capitolist Faction.

Current Arle: Arle of Fjellstrand
Geography: Mountains, mountain foothills, coastline
Primary Industry: Archeology, goat herds, timber, fishing
Civil War Faction: Independents

Current Arle: Arle of Flachsteengroeve
Geography: Flatlands, ravines, quarries
Primary Industry: Mining
Civil War Faction: Uncrowned Faction

Current Arle: Arle Ivan Akselson of Horfadal
Civil War Faction: Independents

Current Arle:Arle of Jordelv
Geography: Rocky flatlands
Primary Industry: Trade
Civil War Faction: Capitolist Faction

Current Arle: Arle Sten Stormwatch
Geography: Coastline with some mountains on the eastern border.
Primary Industry: Fishing, Whaling
Civil War Faction: Uncrowned Faction

Current Arle: Arle Siegmund Kerlbror
Geography: Coastal cliffs, rocky flatlands
Primary Industry: Trade, Fishing
Civil War Faction: Ostufer Faction, Founder

Current Arle: Arle of Stendal
Geography: Stair-step carved valleys, dried stair-step carved valleys
Primary Industry: Goat herding, mining the former lush stair-step valleys
Civil War Faction: Ostufer Faction

Current Arle: Arle of Vetheriss
Geography: Salt forested coastline.
Primary Industry: Fishing, Salt Timber
Civil War Faction: Capitolist Faction

Current Arle: Arle of Zimaskog
Geography: Mountain, mountain forest, forested coast, rocky coast
Primary Industry: Fishing, timber
Civil War Faction

Former Arlings of Theydim

Current Duke: Former Arle Minor Arling K
Geography: Coastal
Primary Industry: Fishing
Reason for being a Former Arling: Territory loss to Alleklint and economic dependency on Ostufer.

Current Arle: Arle NAME LATER
Geography: Rocky coast, ravines and caves
Primary Industry: Arfosian Mining
Reason for being a Former Arling: Territory loss to Alleklint and economic dependency on Ostufer.