Gararden

The Kingdom of Garaden is a state located on the south-western coast of Palia.
Its lands are bounded by the Palia Mountains to the north, the Lesser Hearth Range to the east, the Lesser Palia Range to the west and Garwara Bay to the south.
The current monarch is King Rael Asterkin Ort-Garard.

Structure

Provinces

Legally the King has absolute control over the kingdom, its lands and its subjects. The Kingdom is divided into twelve provinces (more formally governorates) which are ruled by governors who are appointed by the King. These governorships are de facto hereditary titles that are passed on through a single family, some of which have held their position for centuries. (Legally, governorships are directly awarded by the King but no monarch has ever transferred the title outside a family without a strong justification.)
Governors enjoy a great deal of power within their province and, with a few exceptions, their families are the wealthiest in the Kingdom.

Provinces of Gararden

Name	Capital	Current Governor
Ammdel	Twineford	Zavus Clink
Asdutur	Asdutur Quay	Winifred Costain
Deiradel	Lawsfort	Altonis Rewa-Vont
Eragol	Eragol	Quintin Murrine
Ereshold	Rensom*	Sariel Ort
Galleston	Trader's Marsh	Erasmus Meyer
Gwythshire	Stelbury	Preston Galwick
Immkol	Hallowend	Tauma Wariki
Lunedel	Midmeet	Skaratil Plymmit
Melsaetus	Lowe's Rest	Maya Goldsmith
Merskol	Marpost	Gwade Emme-Whitt
Usgol	Mountain's Rest	Kwaraan Lowareak

* Rensom is also the capital of Gararden.

Discipline

Governors rule at the King's pleasure and the King has many ways of disciplining a governor who displeases them. Usually the King demands a concession in the form of wealth or property. Sometimes the King will transfer lands to neighbouring provinces. If the King loses faith in the governor they can depose them in favour of a more compliant relative or the governorship could be transferred to an entirely new family.

Dissolution

In extreme cases the offending governor can be executed and the province dissolved into its neighbours. By way of example, there were fifteen provinces after the Kingdom's last expansion into the Southern Reaches (ca. 295 NK) and there are currently twelve.

Regions

Gararden's territory is commonly divided into vaguely defined three regions:

• The Hearthlands - Ereshold, Galleston, Gwythsire and Malsaetus
• The Northen Reaches - Ammdel and Deiradel
• The Southern Reaches - Eragol, Immkol, Merskol and Usgol

These regions are usually used as socioeconomic dividers, with people from the substantially more wealthy Hearthlands calling themselves "true Garardens".
Whether Asdutur and Lunedel are part of the Hearthlands or Southern Reaches depends on the speaker.

History

Seldur Civilisation

Records indicate that the Seldur Civilisation ruled an area encompassing the Hearthlands and the Northern Reaches roughly between 500 BK and 200 BK. One of the most advanced civilisations of its time, the Seldur had access to a substantial source of the magical material arcanacite which allowed them to create a wide variety of magical items (commonly referred to as Seldusian relics or, simply, relics).
Around 200 BK the entire civilisation suddenly collapsed overnight. Stories among its former neighbours vary - some say that everyone in the area dropped dead, others say the people vanished into thin air. It quickly became a taboo to enter the area and the entire region experienced only sparse (and temporary) populations over the next few centuries. The exact nature the disappearance of the Seldur is difficult to research as many records have been destroyed out of the belief that understanding why their

New Kingdom

The origins of the contemporary kingdom trace back to the Palian campaign of the Eresian Emperor Thesses II (ca. 30 BK until 1 BK). A whirlwind invasion swept westwards across Palia, conquering nations and tribes through a combination of surprise and overwhelming numbers. Completely disregarding the sanctity of the area the invading forces established a camp which would become the city of Rensom. The army was planning on continuing west until new arrived that Emperor Thesses had been assassinated and the Eresian Empire had in descended into civil war.
Instead of returning home the general of the army, Aster Garard, declared himself king of a new country called Gararden which occupied the region called as the Hearthlands.
Being both a bastion of the hostile Eresian culture and occupying taboo lands has caused great friction between Gararden and its neighbours for centuries.
Additionally, deriving itself from an invading Eresian army has given Gararden a habit of attempting to seize territory from its neighbours, with only two campaigns being considered an overwhelming success:

• In 89 NK then Queen Gwyth Augekin Garard invasion of the region now known as the Northern Reaches. The territories were integrated into the Kingdom by 120 NK.
• In 192 NK then King Asdutur Asterkin Garard invaded the regions known as the Southern Reaches. It wasn't until 295 NK under the reign of Queen Parah Seldurkin Garard that the province of Usgol was under the Kingdom's control.

Even though Gararden hasn't performed any offensive military actions for over a century, it continues to have severely impaired relations with its neighbours.

Area

33k mi² (85 km²)

Population

~2,000,000

Founding Date

1 NK (Gararden Calendar)

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Leader

King Rael

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Economic System

Mixed economy

Subsidiary Organizations

• Ammdel
• Asdutur
• Deiradel
• Eragol (Province)
• Ereshold
• Galleston
• Gwythshire
• Immkol
• Lunedel
• Melsaetus
• Usgol

Notable Members

• King Rael
• Queen Sophita Vont

Calendar

Gararden Calendar