The Grand duchy of Szlski

the region which produces most of the verianberg empires food szlski is the only automatons area in the empire to have a local parliament and has its own constitution the szlski Constitution

Structure

before the sejm was created the duchy was ruled locally by 20 nobles from each of the most powerful family from the duchy. the council was called the council of barons. they have the power to collect taxes and raise there own army but all of it would go towards the empire as a hole.
a special imperial house hold titles which can only be given to a szlski is the Defender of the crown. his responsibility is to make sure when the emperor visits the duchy the defender places the ducal septon orb and crown in the emperors hands.
the member houses of the council of barons-
the Jagiellonian-Richzea's (barons
the Richzea's (extinct)
the von Lewandowski (princes of malionberg)
the ballzinski's (barons of
the scartofski's (barons
the majator's (counts Karlino
the smilgy's (counts of
the Rozka (the voivodes of
the Kalenski's (barons of Ungolin)
dalbonethski's (the princes of sa'ivran known as the black star kings and the largest independet High elves principlity in the empire)
thorianefski's (the lords of twilight tower another high elf family)


High duchy of piastia (outter szlski)- radvaski
Dukes of kallia
County of ilethron
Dukes of wzrastac (Ortus)
the structure and culture of the grand duchy make it a unique task to rule in the empire. the barons council is a sacred instuation within the duchy, formed by the horse lords in the wake of the war between men and the old races. nominally the emperor always had to apple to the council rather than individual lords for help. it is also a dangours game for the emperors to simple push there will onto the duchy. the slzski hold there instiatues very close to there heart and infirngment on them is very frowned upon. in most cases the emperor will go and ask the council for aid. he nominally has to ask for them to raise there hosts and raise there taxes. When it comes to rulling it, the emperor will use strong men or family memeber to keep it in line or curry favour for example during the reign of Rudolph Von anerian 1st the Von lewendoski family (his cousin), the roskas (kyrstyna roska having been the emperors lover) and the smilgy (lesson smilgy the emperor first lord treasurer then constable) kept the duchy on side.
it is not until the rains of the hallbserg emperors in there ealry regin where this becomes more and inshined princilpe when the nobles of slzski where given spesific rights.



ruled from the sejm by elected representative they govern the duchy in the emperors name. the rule have been changed severeal times for how the election of a high baron but after Time of termoilwhen the members of the sejm are elected by the people. however the title of viceroy is held by the prime minister of the duchy.

Culture

the szlski people have a culture based on the horse. most nobles ride horses. Eagles are the national animal and is the duchys coat of arms. they have a strong connection with family. they are also a deeply proud and relgious people, they tend to not like outsiders interfiering in there affiars,

There is also two main divisions in slzski outer slzski sometimes known as as the frontier. This is made up of the boarders of the duchy it is also part of the administrative region of the lord lieutenant of the west. 

Inner szlski is the main population centres of the grand duchy 
The outer slzski lords are fiercely independent and are seen as aloof and weary of outsiders there.

Assets

the nations as the 3rd largest army in the verianberg empire losts of men serve in The verianberg imperial army there Szlski cavalry are know for being terrifying on the battlefield and they are know as the steel wings. szslki knights are renow for being the fastet in the empire. 
thought histroy the barons often fight turf wars with each other and so there armies are very experienced.
with in the empire part from the seers Szlski is the only nation to have a magical organisation. the dukes counter espionage service is made up of entirely magical using people both people born with the powers and those who have learned it.
the national relic the eagle sword seen on it flag hangs in the sejm wall instead of an imperial baton or any other imperial symbol.

History

a people with no home- during the great migration unlike most of the other people who looked for homes the slzski where turn nomads and had been in the southern continent. the reason they left the southern continent is because they believed there animal gods where leading them to lands where they could live a better life. by the will of The sultan they passed through his terrioty and crossed the straits. the sultan is said to have said that they whee like an ocean of horse, every person was on a horse even the youngest of the children and the oldest of the old were riding. the first leader these people was a man by the name of Jakub krakusczyk. he traveled north through the lands control by the slavs and into the kingdoms of the elves. they where much like the recaniks and where nomads working and farming for elvish kings in the summer and travelling west to the mouatines for shelter.

creation of the duchy-the szlski tribe would settle in the area which would make up the duchy after The war of Men and the 'Old' races was they had fought for the Stephan von anrian in the war. they were know for there excellent horseman ship and were rivals for the dark elf and elven cavalry they faced. however after the war there leader engal the iron eagle was dead and so his son became barons under imperial decree and ruled over little bits of land and came together in baron council to discuss affairs of there people. It was under Engal that the duchy official converted to The faith of the one. however this sparked some problem and many of the western barons refused to convert. and just as the religious fighting started between between the followers of the faith of the one and the old faith/the elven religion rebellion broke out in the west. the pagen armies march east and defeated the royalist army. but in false nagotiations the pagen leaders where all killed and there familes where either murdered or forcable converted. during the Garonit civil war the barons who had bearly had time to settle in the ruins of the northerm part of the dark elf empire where split. many of the still nomadic barons where loyal to garon 1st and the other loyal to garon the blue.

the birth of the sejm and the foundation of the families- in the wake of the black anarachy the Barons where called the banks of the varontine river, one of the many tridutaries of The roon river. the deeply divided barons (although many went by count (hrabia), lord or duke (książę) ) had been order by the new emperoe garon the blue to put aside there diffrences and make up. the eldest of them Casimer Olenka had 15 daughters and no sons, all of them unmarried, so he prusposed that they would all marry at least one male of the other baronal familes and therefore all the all the son would be brothers in law. they agreed and they agreed that a great new city woulde be built in the honor of this grand event this city would most often be called the ducal cpaital but its real name was to be miastożon (the city of wives). a great festival was held for the multiple weddings and it its belived that the city was built on the camps which held the weddings. after the wedding the Sejm was set up. this was a council ratifed by the emperor, in which the barons could debate matters. this was also where the title warden of the ducal crown was made and the impieral seat which is in the middle of the circler chamber.
wardens of the west - when Gerhard 1st created the postions of lord lieutenant of the west the duchy of szlski began to see alot of impieral attention, impieral lands in the duchy where smaller than in most other parts in the empire but they still had lands often held by impieral appointed stewards. but with the creation of the new title lord lieutenant of the west a large part of the western boarder was made up in szlski, the first impieral lord lieutenant of the west was lord Ritter 1st baron of korlak, his first mission was to start building casltes in the west. be built three major impieral castle, one was built on the elven ruins of Aylelion, the other two where fresh casltes named Gerhardschloss and akrinberg (named after the akrin hill) however these where deeply expsenive and the lands had to be bought off of the lords in order for them to be built. gerhard was forced to dissmiss Karlok for his over spending and put in his place the frugal count marrian hallsberg of zherik, the 37 year old count had remained unmarried and so in order to strenghten his postion he married a szlski noble woman. he was one of the men lords lieutenants to make his seat in Szlski.


the northman arrive and the rise of the von Lewandowski- the von Lewandowski family where one of the most powerful in the duchy. they where princes of malinborg. the first of there family to step into the lime light was Leszek 1st 'the fleetfooted'. he was a very wealthy but rather sidlined lord, his family where rank outsiders having only been admited as barons in 1914YBCW due to there mixed germinc slzski roots. Leszek married a heligolander women and would have 5 children of which three would live to adulthood. (Tara 1817YBCW, Wladyslaw 1813YBCW and Jaroslav 1811YBCW) Lesek was keen to pull his family out of the position they where in. luckly the impieral family large as it was looking to expand its infunces and pull tighter the realm. there where no impieral daughters to marry however there where impieral sons. the heir of the duchy of celenrtia Prince Uhtred von anerain was unwed and so Leszek put the poposal foward to wed the young prince to his daughter. the boys father agreed accepting the large dowery and the two where married when they where young. mean while his two sons where a diffretn picture. the eldest Wladyslaw was smaller and failer than his younger boystorus brother jaroslav however he did not lack for curougue. by 14 he was knocking men off there horses and defeating knights in the melee, however he did have strenght in poltices and sicnes and unlce his brother was an accomplished dancer. he married the daughter of the baron konrad Richzea while his brother married a middle ranking germinc lady. all three children would have children. (tara would have two droods as it where chaja and uhtred where first however both died young while she would also give birth to the futrure Rudolph Von anerian 1st and Sevastor von anerian 1st, Wladysalw would have a total of 7 children with his wife, Andrew, Karl, zorka, theria, kalantha and stephan, jaroslavs marrige would not prove as fruitful, a man not skilled in the ways of deplomicy, or realthonships and so him and his wife had a shaky realtionship. he however remaind loyal and finally the couple had a child in 1777 a girl called anya, the birth however killed his wife.) the while he was still alive Leszek moved himself into a strong postion. in sejm he was able to get himself as holder of the ducal rod. the office was ever important in the sejm and second to the defender of the crown in procedings involving the impieral family. at the start of 1782YBCW uhtred duke of celentria became emperor Uhtred von anerain 2nd this ment that tara was know empress putting her family in a very strong psotion. it was hopped that the new empresses brother could gain good postions in court but the effective realers of the empire the councilers of the emepror pushed them out in favour for there own. in the summer of 1782YBCW Harald and Ivar's first invasion tore its way across the empire. oppostion in the area was headed by the archduke of olgenberg Andras Hallsberg. the barons army gathered itself around Krakow, however the swiftness of the caught them off guard. the barons joined the archdukes army but they where defeated. the duchy was then devistated by the northern forces, most of the cities where saved when lords closed the gates but many castles where ruthlessly attacked and sacked. in the wake of the impieral defeat the impieral treasurer, Leszek Smigly, funnled what funds he could to the duchy but it would be a long time before the duchy would recover.


the first Barons war-after the death of baroness richeza her lands and titles where left vacant. she left the lands to her second son by her husband prince Ivan 2nd of House of Jagiellonian called sarkany who at the time was 21 (born 1530YBCW) he soon became very powerful, marrying the then emperors 17 year old daughter and gathering a large powerbase despite not having a large amount of land. at 27 he attempted to claim the title of leader of the barons council but his faith father baron von Lewandowski apposed him . sarkany know as the dragon soon became a trusted member of his father in laws council but while he was away the barons attempted to get rid of him. sarkany's wife was able to stop them and gathered supporters. the resulting war which had been locked by the law of boundary was won by neither side with the title of baron being appointed by a joint vote of the imperial viceroy and the barons council with the viceroy able to usurp the councils result if he deemed appropriate. however the war established the Jagiellonian-richeza's as one of the major houses in the barony.
the reign of the double headed eagle- the duchy was the first to declare for Charles hallsberg 1st declaring him duke of szlski. the barons army raised 9000 men in his name and while they where not quick enough to fight in any of the important battle the where a strong force to keep him on the throne. until the end of his life Charles always kept the title duke of slzski after his title of emperor. he also wore alot of red the duchies colour. however this loyalty had come at a price. in exhange for there loyalty the barons counil where given rights and privalaiges within the empire. there taxes could not be raised without the counils assent and the nobles where allowed to send less levies on certain occations. for this in slzski charles is know as Chalres the charaitable. while this cuase friction in the rest of the empire it charles will was able to dampen the fires of dicontent. 


the duchy however not having one single leader within its own boarders did have some problems. the barons council argued alot and enacted the law of boundary making intervening in there issues problematic. crown Kaiser Otto Hallsberg know to history at otto the law barker march an army of 4000 men during a time of boundary. for this he was elected head of the barons council after he defeated the rebel forces. this was only a temporary solve as Otto was only head of the council for 4 years until he passed power to a local baron to lead the duchy.






the duchy became part of Hugo hallsberg 1st the empire on the Roon The roon river and provided most of the troops.


for it entire existence the duchy has stood loyal to the empire. its boarder region became very diverse as germincs and heligolanders lived on there land for work. one germinc married into a baron family and made it the von Lewandowski. never in any of the war has it has fought in has it turned its swords in rebellion. the duchy became very wealth off of the fact that it could trade in food however it wealth was surpassed by that of magara and the lands of the crown. the empire on the Roon was made mostly of the duchy and was ruled over by the emperor on the roon hugo hallsberg 1st who went to war in war of the three empires. during all its wars it has sent per head the largest amount of men of any of the other semi autonomous states within the empire. the duchy however has been a battle ground during the 18 years war one of the frankish civil wars and The war of the long winter. in most of these war large amounts of there there men have died.

Demography and Population

the population is distributed evenly through out the city. however most populated areas are the industrial city. most of the population are farms who work for wealth lords.
around 67% of the population are szlski 
a furthre 13% are meirithalyari 
and 30% are vilakrewny

Territories

The roon river runs through the duchy makeing its low laying land very fertile.
the duchies of kallia and wzrastac and the county of ilethron made up a region called Mazovia

The grand duchy is also made up of two distinct areas. Outer slzski mostly on the boarder of the roon river up to krakow. 

Inner slzski is the rest of the grand duchy including the region of mazovia. 

Military

the szlski army is part of The verianberg imperial army. there most renown unit is the Szlski cavalry and there wings. there men are know for there courage and there units have a reputation for taking massive amounts of casualties for the empire.

Religion

while there if offical no state relgion the grand duchys population mostly follow the faith of the one. only the elven populations are exmept from this allowed to worship there gods along with the small slavic populationof velesniki who act as the queen of twilights personal bodyguards.

Foreign Relations

the duchy has remained out the kaff hallberg war
they area supporters of the frankish royal family and the Sejm sent 5000 troops to help the princes and her mother move further north for safety.

Agriculture & Industry

the nations economy depends on it farming out put being the largest food producing part in the empire. but this has led to several economic down falls in the duchy and the imperial bank having to bail them out due to bad harvests.
heavy industry are centered around the capital but this makes up only 7% of the nations total economy.

Education

almost 2/3s of the population can read and write and makes it the most educated state on the northern continent

Infrastructure

the roads in the duchy are crude and in the spring they turn into mud bogs making travel impossible.

we are the wings of steel

Type

Geopolitical, Duchy

Leader

Emperor Charles 5th

Ruling Organization

the verianberg empire

Leader Title

Emperor of verianberg

Head of State

Emperor Charles 5th

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Power Structure

Autonomous area

Economic System

Traditional

Currency

the verainberg Shrit

Major Exports

the largest exports are food. grain, beef , mutton, fruits and veg are all exported to the rest of the empire. there fishing port provide sea food

Major Imports

due to the lack of minerals and heavy industry the duchy has to import large amounts of arms,steal,glass,copper and clothing. they also depends on the verainberg ports to supply them with ships to main the trade and army ports in the duchy.

Legislative Body

the barons council was the oldest legisative body within the empire. it was formed at the grand duchies founding and while it normaly just a body which enacts the laws given to them by the emperor the barons council is a powerful poltical force within the grand duchy and the emperor cannot simply ignore there plees. often the emeprors have had to ask rather than command the barons council to raise forces and if he wishes to rase taxes the emperor of his represetive must visit the barons council and nominally ask for permission. 
however over time this became more and more a nesseicty especally  by the rule of the hallsbergs as they needed as much help as they  could get in there yearly rule.

Executive Body

the emperor had and always will be resposabily for enforcing the duchies laws as all the laws come the centeral authority in the empire.

Parent Organization

the verianberg empire

Subsidiary Organizations

• dukes counter espionage service
• kingdom of szlski

Controlled Territories

• krakow
• Mazovia

Neighboring Nations

• first consular republic of frank
• the kingdom of the frankish

Related Ethnicities

• Germinc
• szlski
• verianberguer
• vilakrewny

Szlski Marches- the northern part of the duchy boarders the marches of the lands of the crown and streches to the frankish boarder. however it could not be more diffrent. during Harald and Ivar's first invasion much of it fell into northern hands and so there is a degree of northenr infuclens with the local lords calling themsleves jarls much like the Fremdervolk people of the marches. however unlike the marches which are dominated with imposing casltes as to word off against heligolander rebels and to launch counter attacks into the duchy, the marhces ins szlski is more flat and lifeless with watch towers acting as the only fortications with the patrolling of the region down to local lords and knights. the marches are rif with golbin wolf riders who take adantanges of the small villaiges and farms.