Protectorate of Bleda
Snow and Steel
Originally founded as a protectorate and colony of Pelliny, after the war with the Eastern the Pact of Red Snow established the Protectorate of Bleda as an independent state. Despite its original foundation as a colony of Pelliny it has always had a distinct culture with a vastly different military structure, due to the harsh climate of Whitehelm. It has never been as wealthy or populous, and has always had difficulties defending its borders. The government and population are largely based in the capital city of Bleda-City with many smaller towns and settlements spread out across the more arable regions of Whitehelm.
Structure
Bledan Royal Court
The ruling body of the Protectorate of Bleda is the Royal Court, which is overseen by the Prince of Bleda. Despite having gained independence from Pelliny, the sitting Prince did not decide to raise his title to King. Seeing the small size of his Protectorate and his stature as the second son of the King of Pelliny he felt it prudent to remain a Prince. The rest of the court is made up of advisors and counselors pulled from the lords of the Greater and Lesser Houses of Bleda, the Steward, a representative of Pelliny, and the lead priest of the primary temple of Bleda. The Steward presides over the court during any of the Prince's absences and serves as his primary advisor. The Great Houses each maintain a permanent seat in the Court, while the Lesser Houses rotate through a number of other seats in the Court. The Diplomats from Pelliny are primarily there to serve as representatives of Pelliny's interests in commerce and political events. Finally the High Priest serves as a cultural advisor and encourages the Prince to follow the will of his god. The Lords in the Court each help to manage a role within the state, from military leadership, to tax collection, and the issues of commerce. The court also manages any criminal or civil disputes, though these issues are usually handled by the Lords of the Lesser Houses.The Noble Houses of Bleda
Rule and administration of the cities and towns of Whitehelm fall to the eleven houses of Bleda. They are broken into three categories; the Royal Family, the three Great Houses, and the seven Lesser Houses. The Royal Family is made up of the Prince and his family, his wife, two daughters, son, and his sister. The three Great Houses of Bleda hold permanent seats in the Court, and administer the major aspects of the city and Protectorate. These great houses make up a large portion of the Knights of Bleda, and many of the Snow Guard with their large clans. The lesser houses, although smaller than the great houses are still knights, and make up the real power base of the Prince. The decentralization of authority in these smaller clans keeps any rivals from gaining too much authority. The lesser houses are responsible for tax collection, commerce regulation, and for administering the city.History
Founded by Pelliny after the unification with Athera to expand their own influence. The reality of Whitehelm soon challenged Pelliny’s goals. The harsh weather and threat of the Vvulfjr slowed the growth of the settlement. It wasn’t long before the tensions and local conflicts spread into a regional conflict, with the northern nations of the Vvulfjr lacking the ability to siege stone fortifications and instead used skirmishing tactics to keep the humans behind their walls. This stalemate was broken with the arrival of a division from Pelliny. This influx of human soldiers drove the Vvulfjr into the mountains. The two sides continued to fight for a month or two before the Vvulfjr met with Pelliny and sued for peace.
This treaty ended oficial hostilities but small skirmishes remained. Bleda slowly continued to grow in the following decades. As Bleda slowly grew and began to welcome the Vvulfjr into the city, initially only to trade. As relations between the Vvulfjr and Bleda continued to improve, the Eastern began to expand north. This Eastern expansion was first noted by the Vvulfjr. Fearing they would lose more of their home to these invaders, the Vvulfjr again unified against a single enemy. This time however the Vvulfjr turned to their former enemy for assistance, and met with the Prince of Bleda. The Prince agreed to help the Vvulfjr, and requested aid from Pelliny. The combined Vvulfjr Human army pushed these Eastern settlers back.
The response from Eastern was swift and significant, mustering a large force against the combined forces of Whitehelm and Pelliny. This escalation of the conflict caught the attention of the Atheran’s who stepped in to broker peace. The subsequent treaty split Whitehelm into two separate protectorates. This angered the Vvulfjr who felt betrayed by this treaty.
Tensions again rose between the Vvulfjr and Bleda. When the conflict broke out, the now experienced garrison of Bleda stepped up to face the Vvulfjr. The garrison had grown significantly since the eastern war, and were able to face the Vvulfjr alone. The lord of Bleda did not wait long to meet with the Vvulfjr Warchiefs. While the armies faced off in the field, the rulers met at the table.
Eventually the lord and warchief came to an agreement which recognized the Vvulfjr as full citizens and recognized the sovereignty of their tribes. There have been some continued skirmishes over the years but this treaty ended all formal hostilities between Bleda and the Vvulfjr. In the following years several tribes joined the “Nation of Bleda.” In the years since the wars Bleda has largely kept to themselves with lower income they have little in the way of imports and are closer to subsistence then would allow for exports.
Military
Although founded by and technically still a protectorate of Pelliny, the military of Bleda lacks the surplus of farmland to keep and maintain purpose breed warhorses. With a lack of warhorses the focus of Bledan military diverged from that of Pelliny, with cavalry being nearly non-existent in Whitehelm. Their armor is less advanced and comprehensive as well. Using padded mail armor and broad shields. The equipment reflects the harsh climate of Whitehelm, and as such is designed to be durable and utilitarian, holding up well against the snowy weather. Generally it would seem that the armor used by the soldiers of Bleda lagged far behind the rest of the world, with the Coat-of-Plates being the heaviest armor readily avalible in Bleda. Often this Coat-of-Plates would be paired with steel pauldrons and an enclosed helmet, but this armor was fielded only by Bleda's nobles.
In battle, infantry make up the bulk of Bleda's fighting force. Fielded in medium armor with large kite shields and fighting from formation with spear. These massed infantry make up the center of the Bledan line, supported by crossbowman and more heavily armored professional soldiers and nobles. These heavy infantry serve two roles, the first is as the veteran center of the line. As a fixed point, these heavy infantry help anchor the line, and maintain the moral of the peseant levies. The second role is as shook troops, used to break apart the enemy lines. These soldiers will often trade in their spears for axe and sword to split apart the lines of the enemy. The crossbowman are relatively few, with the weapons being hard to maintain in the harsh climate of Whitehelm. Those there are take up protected positions from within the ranks of infantry. With the walls of shields and steel between them and the enemy, the crossbowmen are able to fire and reload without threat of direct attack.
In more recent years, Bleda has also began to incorporate some of the Vvulfjr into their ranks. Wearing specialy designed mail the Vvulfjr fight with their traditional weapons, typically various forms of one handed and throwing axes. Often they are seen carrying javelins with them as well. Being used as skirmishing forces, the Vvulfjr often fight from the flanks, or assist the heavy infantry in breaking the enemy lines.
Trade & Transport
With its harsh climate Bleda is more import dependent than most other nations. Subsistence farming and lumber are the primary industries with some local mining, but it is nearly exclusively for local use. With these local focus and limited output of these industries it leaves little room for exports, as the people survive on such small margins. These narrow margins have also made the people dependent on the imports from Pelliny, primarily imports of weapons, armor, and food during the harsh winter months. With this dependence on import there has been little market for luxury goods, as the people are more concerned with day to day survival than the comforts of more urban life. There are however some exports from this regions, primarily furs. The furs of the local wildlife is in high demand in Pelliny, Athera, Coastal, Eastern and Southrald. These furs are highly sought after for their warmth and moister resistance, as the animals from the region of exceptionally thick fur to shield them from the cold. The only other export of note is the northern lumber, which is sold primarily to the Eastern.
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