The Kingdom of Erdantia

“Welcome, friend to the nation to rule all nations.”

The Kingdom of Erdantia is a monarchic nation that controls most of the Peninsula of Erdantia, and large portions of the mainland of Orlend. It is currently ruled by King Ulric Tyler, with the Tyler Dynasty having been in power all the way back to the Great Erdantian Rebellion in which the nation was formed. It is a military and economic superpower within Orlend, often at the forefront of international politics.

Structure

The organisation of Erdantia is remarkably efficient for its size, following a feudal structure. The nation is divided into 73 Areas, each split into typically 5-11 Holdings (although the number of holdings in a given area can be as high as 23 and as low as 1. Most holdings are controlled by a single feudal lord (although one feudal lord may and often does own multiple holdings), while some can also be run by a council (for example Renn and Drago, among 4 others), or by a wealthy family.

Land Rights

Within a holdings, land can typically be divided into four categories -

• Land owned fully by the lord
• Land run by a vassal in the place of the lord
• Land owned fully by an individual or not-state organisation (like a guild or company)
• Land owned fully by the King/State

Holding Overseer

Each holding has an official responsible for communications between the lord and the King of Erdantia, with larger holdings sometimes having two. This official is referred to as the Holding Overseer. The official's duty is to monitor the activities of each lord, ensure that they behave lawfully, and give twice-yearly updates as to the state of the holding to the King, or to give an update on important events. In cases where there are two officials, it is any given official's responsibility to report any corruption with the other official, each one acting as watchdog over the other. Despite these measures, corruption is still common among Holding Overseers, with deals often made between them and lords. Holding Overseers are granted legal immunity to allow them to act against a corrupt lord without fear of persecution (at least in theory). This often contributes to the corruption issue. If an Overseer does commit a crime, they can be reported to the High Court.
Any permanent settlement with a population of 600 or more is also granted its own official. A notable effect of this is that lords will sometimes work to keep populations below 600. An example of this is a lord in northwestern Erdantia who expelled 42 Supradians from his town in order to keep populations down, so as not to be held accountable by an official.

Royal Peculiars

A "Royal Peculiar" is an area not subject to control of the lord its land sits on. These are typically a building, but can be as small as a room or as large as a quarter. Examples include Drago Castle, the residence of the King, as well as several fortifications around Erdantia run by the Standing Army. Past Royal Peculiars include Renn Castle, back when the holding of Renn was under the control of a lord. The castle is now fully within the jurisdiction of the Renn Council.

Parliament

Erdantia has the largest parliamentary organisation in the world, with over 200 officials. These officials represent a variety of aspects of Erdantian life, from soldiers to lords to merchants.

Legislation

Most of Erdantia's laws are made by the King. In all matters except for non-military taxation, Parliament does not need to agree to decisions and legislature. This is not to say that Parliament does not have power over Erdantia's laws. If 70% of Parliament's members come to an agreement on the passing of a law, the King must pass it. Local laws are also common, but must be kept constant throughout all the holdings of any given area. Lords of a holding must come to an agreement on any local laws passed, and must all enforce them. The methods by which lords come to an agreement varies, but are not recognised by Erdantian law, meaning that a lord could technically Vito any law they did not agree with with no consequences.
The Erdantian legislative system, as well as various laws that restrict the King's power and define Erdantia's organisation structure, is defined in the Constitution of Erdantia. The first constitution of Erdantia was created in 1411, two years after the resolution of the Great Rebellion. It was made by a group of people chosen to represent different aspects of Erdantian society - The King, five lords, eight farmers, a blacksmith, six soldiers, a knight, two merchants and two priests (following traditional Erdantian spiritual beliefs). This constitution was kept in place until the takeover of Garlan Tyler, in which the constitution was removed and Erdantia became an absolute monarchy. With Markus Tyler's return several years later, a new constitution was written, with a similar set of people used to represent it (although there was now only one traditional Erdantian Priest and two priests following Libran). There have been no changes to the constitution in the 100 years since.
In Erdantia's waters (defined as anywhere 30 kilometres out from Erdantia's coast) is subject to only nation-wide laws, as it is not under the ownership of any lord. Furthermore, the king rules that Erdantian law applies to Erdantian vessels, and that an attack on Erdantian vessels, such as piracy, is breach of Erdantian law irrespective of the nationality of the attacking vessel or location of the attack.
The majority of crimes commited in Erdantia can be divided into three types - Common, High, and Treasonous. These distinguish only the person the crime was commited against - An ordinary civilian or foreigner, a knight or lord, and the royal family. The severity of punishments usually depend massively on which of these the crime falls under.
For example, killing a peasant is formally named "Common Murder", while regicide is "Treasonous Murder". Some crimes do not bear this distinction, such as begging, forgery or coin-clipping (although attempting to barter with money you know to be forged falls under fraud, which still bears such distinctions).

Judiciary system

The High Court deals with treasonous crimes and some High Crimes (Although many of them are dealt with illegally by the Order of Erdantia), while lesser crimes are dealt with by the local guard. The High Court can also be involved in the case of espionage, even common espionage. This is to ensure that spies from the Order of Erdantia who may be taking part in a home intelligence operation can be given immunity without disclosing anything to lords or other legal authorities.
Law enforcement is typically carried out by a specified guard or watch of each holding. In the event of a criminal hiding in spaces between holdings (of which there are a few in central and northern Erdantia), the military may be involved. The mechanisms by which guilt and punishment is decided upon varies between holdings, but is usually one of the following

• The decision is left to the Guard (usually made by the Sherrif).
• The decision is made by a local court (its members elected or appointed by the local lord).
• The decision is left to the local lord, who can give out whatever punishments he desires.

Some holdings, mostly to the west, still use Trial by Combat, Trial by Fire, and other archaic forms of justice, although the King has expressed his disapproval of these practices, so their use has declined somewhat.
There are few limits on what punishments can be given out. Most of these limits are set either as protocol for courts/guard to follow by the local lord, or as local legislation for that area. Regardless, the Statute of 1532 states punishment by torture or rape as illegal (although in the case of the former it is not considered such if it results in the offender's eventual death, making it not a torture, but an execution. Furthermore, the statute fails to define rape, leaving it open to some questionable interpretation.

The Royal family

Central to Erdantia's power structure is the royal family. Descending from the first King of Erdantia, Ervan Tyler, the royal family have huge amounts of power and influence. Each of them (excluding the Monarch, princes, and princesses) have the title of Alquess (unisex), and are granted great power under the Erdantian Constitution.

Culture

Main article: Erdantines
Erdantine culture has its roots in both Kelbrike and Cordaintine influences, with the dominant ethnicity or Erdantia being Erdantines, who descended from Kelbrike settlers before being occupied by the Cordaint Empire.

Marriage and family

Erdantian marriage is usually based on either wealth or profession, depending on social class. In Erdantia, marriage is seen not only as a joining of two people but also as a transfer of family - usually the partner from the poorer family transferred to the richer one and taking their surname (where applicable, as many use patronymics instead).

Symbols

The Erdantian Lion

The Kingdom of Erdantia has long been associated with the symbol of the lion - it appears on flags, crests and banners. While there is some dispute as to how this symbol originated, as lions are not native to Erdantia, a popular story goes that during the Great Erdantian Rebellion, Ervan Tyler came across an Eserisian merchant, selling various wares taken from Eseris and beyond into the Senestrian plains. One of these was a lion. Ervan was captivated by the beast's majesty, and bought it from the merchant immediately, keeping it at Renn.
One night, a group of Cordaintine assassins broke into Ervan's home at night, planning on taking his life. Ervan awoke to the sight of the lion tearing the would-be assassins to pieces, leaving no survivors. While Ervan was upset by the bloody sight that he beheld, he took it as a sign of the lion's loyalty to him and the cause he fought for, and when Erdantia claimed its independence, despite the fact that the lion had died of tuberculosis some months before, he placed a depiction of the lion on the Erdantian flag, replacing the previous symbol

The Burning Rose

An intentional defacement of the rose symbol used by the Cordaint Empire, the rose previously found on the Erdantian flag before the lion is both alight - representing a destabilisation of Cordaintine Power, and has very visible thorns - representing the negative and destructive nature of the Empire.

History

Erdantia has its roots in Kelbrike settlers who colonised the Peninsula of Erdantia in the late first millenium. They quickly spread across the peninsula, which was previously uninhabited, and formed settlements there. This small nation that had been created from the settlers was soon conquered by the ever-expanding the Cordaint Empire.
The nation was the first of the many who proclaimed independence against the Cordaint Empire. The resulting rebellion was dubbed the Great Erdantian Rebellion. The leader of the rebellion was Ervan Tyler, who became the first king of Erdantia. Ervan had already had a son, Garlan Tyler, who was illegitimate, but had a second after he took power, Richard Tyler, who was this time legitimate. After Ervan's eventual death, Richard took power. It was ten years into Richard's reign that Garlan Tyler, who had since put together a military group dubed the Blood Legion, took control, executing Richard. Richard's son, Markus, was able to escape to what is now modern-day Silnear. It had been about six years of Garlan's rule before Markus returned, reclaiming control of most of Erdantia, save for a small area in the north of the Peninsula of Erdantia, which became Gaen.
After Markus took power, he instantly began a campaign of focusing on external expansion, something also focused on by his father, as opposed to internal security. He pushed westwards and took over large parts of mainland Orlend, almost doubling Erdantia's land area by taking advantage of power vacuums caused by the fall of the Cordaint Empire and instigating the Erdantia-Elir war, which eventually resulted in the collapse of the Kingdom of Eliron. He also moved the capital of Erdantia from the City of Renn to the City of Drago to increase trade with the newly flourishing nation of Emmerion via road and place the capital closer to the centre of Erdantia to match the new expansion. Drago was also situated on the Erdantian Canal, a huge structure crossing the Peninsula of Erdantia built by the Cordaintine Empire and vital for trade on the west coast of Orlend.
Markus died in 1476, and was replaced by Queen Aldith Tyler. During Aldith's rule, Erdantia was faced with increasing militerisation by the Syndalan Empire, and it became clear that a war was imminent. She responded to this by forming the Orlendian Pact, which was one of the last acts she did before her death in 1505, just one year before the beginning of the Syndalan-Orlendian war. In 1498, she also took over two islands off the western coast of Syndal, creating the Eastern Colonies.
The Syndalan-Orlendian war lasted for over 70 years, ending in 1587 with a final combined assault on the capital of Syndal. However, peace was far from a possibility for Erdantia. No longer bound by certain terms of the Syndalan-Orlendian war, Shadra immediately ended all trade with Erdantia, removing Erdantia's ability to get access to Kakellium. Erdantia responded by launching a small-scale invasion of a few islands in the east of Shadra, forming the Northern Colonies. The trend of Erdantia's military aggression continued with its attempted invasion of Gaen, starting with the annexation of the town of Eserae. This provoked one of the bloodiest wars in Orlendian history, the War of Eserae. The war lasted until 1891, where the Kingdom of Erdantia defeated Gaen at The Battle of Sesilen, immediately launching a full invasion of Gaen and annexing it as part of Erdantia.

Demography and Population

Erdantia is considerably more densely populated across the fertile Peninsula of Erdantia, with population density dropping off further into the mainland. In the Reber Plain, an open area of grassland to the north of the country, there are very few settlements due to poor fertility and lack of any other natural resources to make it worthwhile, the only one of any real size being Timra, which sustains itself off of trade with Emmerion by land, competing with the Emmeri territory of Arletzia further north. The town sits on a road between Drago and Landria (a city jointly owned by Emmerion and Erdantia that sits on the border between the two).
By far the most common ethnicity is Erdantines, with a growing proportion of Cordaintines the further west one travels.
The dominant language is Erdantine by far, with the vast majority of the population able to speak it. Erdantine is written in the Cordaintine alphabet. About 10% of the population are fluent in Cordaintine, and about 2% (mostly priests practising old Erdantian religion) speak old Erdantian, which uses the Erdantian fuþark (runic alphabet).
The nation has a total population of around 24 million people.

Territories

While the majority of Erdantia's territory is Erdantia itself, the country does have several colonies. Parts of the Duchy of Atlin are forcefully held, as well as several colonies kept in and around Shadra, the Senestrian plains, Eseris, and Syndal. These are divided into the Northern Colonies, the Southern Colonies, and the Eastern Colonies, each of which is controlled by a different naval officer.
The Northern Colonies are a string of eight islands off the eastern coast of Shadra. They are one of the only sources of Kakellium available to Erdantia, as well as being an important watchpoint for northern Syndal.
It is led by Admiral Dante Liner, aboard the ship of the name name.
The Eastern Colonies are comprised of two islands off the western coast of Syndal, taking a purely military role to watch naval activity in Syndal.
The Southern Colonies are a series of five islands and settlements on/near the eastern coast of Eseris and the Senestrian plains. They are important for trade, supplying food and exotic fauna.
The area is let by Admiral Murien Turner aboard the warship Syvellen.
The mainland of Erdantia itself is huge, taking up just over 1 million square kilometers. Some of the area is forcefully held, namely the parts of the Duchy of Atlin annexed by Erdantia, and the entirely of what was formerly the Grand Kingdom of Gaen.

Military

Erdantia is a superpower within Orlend. Its military is divided into four main sections.

Lord-supplied armies	The Standing Army (including the Knightly Orders)	The National Scouts	The Navy
- Most numerous - Typically poorly trained - Mostly defensive, as opposed to taking part in invasions. Naval or land. - Often drafted civilians and mercenaries	- Less numerous - Better trained and armed. - Take a more aggressive role. Land only. - Trained soldiers	- Only number 300 - Well-trained - Reconnaissance role. - Soldiers	- Fairly numerous - Trained - Responsible for naval warfare and transport - Soldiers and seamen

Mechanics of Lord-controlled armies

In times of war, the King of Erdantia sends a quota to each holding, asking for a certain amount of soldiers. It may ask for specific roles, such as archers, knights, arbalists, or combat mages. It typically keeps to strict (but easy-to-meet) equipment standards. Failure to meet this quota may result in taxation. These soldiers can come from either the lord's soldiers, conscripted peasants, or in the form of mercenaries. In some cases, money can be sent instead for the King to pay for these mercenaries.
This is only a generalisation, and the method by which holdings contribute to Erdantia's military varies massively between each one. Some instead contribute money towards the upkeep of Erdantia's standing army, navy, or National Scouts. Some are expected to send money or soldiers abroad, while some are expected to put military forces towards the defense or their own holdings (almost exclusively employed towards the borders of Erdantia, particularly those with the Duchy of Atlin, Yannurrin and Gaen.

Other units

Within the standing army, there are a number of Knightly Orders (12 in total). There are as follow.

• The Order of Tyler
  
  The Order of Tyler is first and foremost devoted to the royal family, and has historically used in the protection of the King. It includes the Old Guard, the New Guard and Brooker's Angels. It is different from most other orders in that it is largely an organisational construction, with the Order's grandmaster mostly serving a ceremonial role and the units operating very much independently from one another, in contrast to other knightly orders which very much operate as a coherent organisation.
  It is one of the smaller orders, with just under 100 Knights (most of which are in Brookers Angels, which is the only mercenary group in all of Erdantia to be granted permission to give a knighthood to its officers).
  
• The Order of Erdantia
  More detail: The Order of Erdantia
  The Order of Erdantia is not so much a knightly order as an intelligence service (although all of its members are technically knights). It is the main intelligence service of the Kingdom of Erdantia. It is led by an Overseer rather than a Grandmaster.
  It has around 200 knights (referred to as operatives within the order), and a large number of support staff.
• The Order of Westheart
  
  The Order of Westheart is based in Kakiobre Castle, and is mostly concerned with the upkeep and manning of Erdantia's western defences. It is composed of about 620 knights, and is one of the larger orders.
• The Order of Wood
  
  The Order of Wood is made up of Erdantia's battlemages. Its headquarters are in Drago. It is composed of 157 knights.

The National Scouts also maintain a knightly order, named the Order of Terrowin, which is entirely separate from the standing army.

Mustering an Army

While the Standing Army, National Scouts, and Erdantian Navy can deploy as soon as the order is given, the majority of Erdantian military power comes from the lords, and preparing their troops for battle was a far more complex undertaking. War can only be declared by the reigning monarch, and so the initial order is sent from wherever the monarch is currently located (usually Drago Castle). An initial message is sent to lords of each holding (and the overseeing officials of each area) detailing that soldiers are expected to be sent to aid. This leaves time for the holdings to make initial preparations. Messages are also sent to Admirals, Grandmasters, and Provosts of the various permanent military forces of Erdantia, and they are expected to deploy immediately. Usually up to a week later, another message will be sent to the lords detailing how many soldiers (or if applicable, how much money) should be mustered, with a deadline supplied. Finally, a third message will be sent on or just after the date of the deadline given to give the order to deploy. Lords can then muster soldiers either from their own armies, from available mercenary organisations, or from the peasantry.

Religion

The Kingdom of Erdantia has two common religions, being Libran and Supradia, stemming from Cordaintine and Native Syndalan influences respectively. Libran is the official religion of Erdantia, it being the religion that King Ulric Tyler (and indeed the rest of the royal family) practise.
Generally speaking, Supradia becomes more common the further south and east you go (towards Eseris and Aven, both practitioners of Supradia), while Libran is more common towards the north and west. While Libran has been present since the formation of the nation, Supradia was not introduced until much later. Discrimination against practitioners of Supradia is not unheard of.
A small minority of Erdantians follow traditional Erdantian beliefs, although they are much rarer now than they were 100 years ago. Practitioners of traditional Erdantian Religion are most commonly found on the peninsula.

Foreign Relations

Within Orlend, Erdantia acts as something of an older brother to many other nations, taking a direct role in many political disputes and making full use of trade protectionism. This direct nature is intimidating to many nations, including the Duchy of Ober, who have expressed this on a few occasions. Tensions with Yannurrin have always run high, even before the War of Eserae, although steps are currently being taken to deescalate the highly militarised border between the two countries, with a good degree of success. Regardless, the border between Yannurrin and Erdantia is highly militarised and includes the largest castle in Erdantia.
With such a large size, Erdantia borders many nations (9 in total), so having positive diplomatic relations with each of them is crucial for national security. Erdantia's closest allies are the countries of Aven, Emmerion and Eseris. Eseris's relationship with Erdantia is complicated, with King Ethenirep stating that he believes that Erdantia had been conducting espionage on the country for a long time. Erdantia has denied this. Regardless, Erdantia and Eseris are in a close military alliance, having fought two large-scale conflicts together (the Syndalan-Orlendian war and the War of Eserae).
Aside from Eseris, Erdantia's other closest ally is Emmerion which it shares a small part of its western border with, Emmerion acting as its trade link to the Atloan Ocean and nations on the west side of Orlend such as the duchies of Valmot and Ciril, as well as being an important source of wool.

Trade & Transport

Erdantia keeps strong trade relations with Emmerion, Eseris and Silnear. Emmerion is known for bringing in luxury items from further west in the Atloan Ocean (such as rare animals or man-made objects such as Kirinan swords), and is also a great exporter of wool. Eseris is known for its fruit (including dates, bananas, and pomegranates), and plays no small role in slave trade, bringing slaves from further south in Senestria. Trade with Silnear and Eseris is done with the port city of Renn, while trade with Emmerion usually ends up at Drago.

Education

The education a citizen of Erdantia has access to varies wildly based on wealth. There is no standardised school system, but rich families can usually hire someone to teach a child to read, write, do mathematics, and recognise heraldry.

Infrastructure

The infrastructure of Erdantua varies considerably between holdings, with the vast majority build by lords rather than Kings.

Defence

There are several large castles and fortifications across the nation, the largest of them being on the border between Erdantia and Yannurrinn, and the second largest being Kakiobre Castle in the town of the same name, on the border with the Duchy of Atlin. Neither of these are castles in the traditional sense, providing residence for a royal or noble family, but rather act as the residences of their respective Knightly Orders.
There is also a border wall on the border between Yannurrin and Erdantia, although it is relatively weak and mostly just serves to slow and deter a Yannurrin invasion than directly stop it.

The Erdantian Canal

A large canal sits across the peninsula, with Erdantia's control of the canal giving it huge trade privileges. The canal was originally constructed by the Cordaint Empire, and is maintained by Erdantia, with the City of Drago sitting at the north side of the Canal. Erdantia is able to tax people who cross the canal, as well as controlling who does so.
The road system of the Peninsula of Erdantia is advanced, with considerably fewer roads further into the mainland. Cordaintine infrastructure plays a major role in the mainland, with most of the roads being originally built by the Cordaint Empire, and indeed even in the peninsula many major roads are Cordaintine. Two major ports are the City of Renn, Eastern Erdantia, and Drago, Royal Erdantia.

Founding Date

1409

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Drago

Alternative Names

The Province of Erdantia (when under Cordaintine control)

Demonym

Erdantian

Head of State

King Ulric Tyler

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

Marks (also used in Gaen, Renies, and Silnear)

Legislative Body

King of Erdantia (State-level)
Erdantian Parliament (State-level)
Holding Lords/Council Heads (Area-level)

Judicial Body

High Court (State-level)
Holding Lords (Holding-level)
Holding Courts (Holding-level)
Sherriff or equivalent title (Holding-level)

Official State Religion

Libran

Subsidiary Organizations

• The Cambion Extermination Division
• The National Scouts
• The New Guard
• The Old Guard
• The Order of Erdantia
• The Renn Council

Related Ranks & Titles

• Overseer

Controlled Territories

• Arkrith
• Drago
• Drago Castle
• Eastport
• Erial
• Erial
• Eserae
• Hender
• Hender
• Kakiobre
• Kivrid
• Maiser
• Ner
• Orver
• Osteen
• Renn Castle
• The Elkan River
• The Erdantian Canal
• The Kerbek Mountain
• The Northern Colonies
• The Reber Plain
• The Southern Colonies
• Timra
• Yeln

Neighboring Nations

• Aven
• Emmerion
• Eseris
• Gaen
• Renies
• Silnear
• The Duchy of Atlin
• The Duchy of Ober
• Yannurrin

Manufactured Items

• Mark

Related Items

• Mark
• The Spear of Kineva

Organization Vehicles

• Dante Liner (Ship)
• Retribution (Ship)

Notable Members

• Arthur Hurst
• Cada Timma
• Dante Liner (Person)
• King Ervan Tyler
• King Richard Tyler
• King Ulric Tyler
• Lord Edward Behmin
• Queen Aldith Tyler

Related Ethnicities

• Erdantines

Related Plots

• Giovanni's escape