Empire of Carladia
The Empire of Carladia is one of the largest geopolitical entities on the continent of Veland. It was formed from the fallen Kingdom of Epixus in 359AH. It maintains a reorganized feudal system similar to the Kingdom of Epixus, but it now also includes the Valdoreians population. It controls the western coastline of Veland, and borders the nations of Merchant Republic of Volyra to the South-East, Bhamtodur in the mountains to the East, and Socaris to the North-East. It is currently ruled by Empress Seremyel Evencrest.
Founding
From the Ashes
Following the War of Loyalties, which ended in 359AH, Zranda Evencrest, Lord of Carladia, became the first Emperor of Carladia. He named the new empire after his own lands, rather than the region as had been done with the Kingdom of Epixus. This was done politically to avoid connection with the "cursed" Bretol dynasty that had ruled Epixus for over five centuries.
He reorganized the fiefdoms that had previously been ruled by Dukes, Counts, Barons, Mayors, etc. each subservient accordingly, into a more centralized government around the Emperor. He removed several lower titles, demoting some nobles and promoting others, and ultimately consolidated economic power among the surviving families, while also weakening their military power. He kept their taxes the same, in exchange for also reorganizing the military into a standing Imperial Army. The Legions were then made up of recruits gathered from all over the Empire, and individual nobles were limited in the soldiers they could muster. This process could always be appealed to the Emperor if circumstances required temporary or even permanent extensions to the levies Dukes, Barons, and Mayors could muster.
A new Façade
The Dukes that had ruled their duchies for hundreds of years, suddenly lost most of their power overnight. Some, including the Ragemark family, harbored resentment towards their new Emperor. He had ensured that no single Duke could do what he had done, and incite a civil war or march on Andsall and take it single-handedly. At the same time, he increased the income of the Dukes by cutting out some of their administrators, which had become superfluous in some ways, simplifying a complicated bureaucracy a bit. The Dukes kept all of their land, and the Barons took over administration of the Baronies within the fiefdoms. Mayors remained in control of towns and cities, managing the populace and local garrison, while the Barons mostly managed defenses and taxes as necessary within the borders of their administration. Dukes acted as a representative of the well-being and interests of the people and duchy as a whole, and answered directly to the Emperor. Their new limitations on soldiers that could be legally raised, also included laws banning wars among the interior, with the intention to reduce the inner squabbles of territory.
After hearing deliberation and receiving advice and concerns from his Dukes, Zranda agreed to form a council of Dukes, named the Laadsran, who would vote and settle their squabbles politically rather than militarily. The council, notably, would not include the Emperor, except as a tie-breaker vote when necessary. Otherwise, he was excluded from all Laddsran meetings. While on the surface this appeared to give more power back to the Dukes, it still centralized the Dukes to work underneath the Emperor, giving him final authority in the meetings, ensuring that whichever faction he supported would come with an extra vote as long as they could match their opponent. It also created a centralized governmental council, rather than the splintered Feudalistic system that existed before.
New Alliances
When Zranda permitted the Valdoreians to leave the reservations and settle in his Empire freely, he also agreed to ally King Siluss Feyel and allow him to retain the reservations as his own territory. This alliance was set to last until the end of time, and has persisted through present day. To promote Valdoreians moving into Imperial territory, he constructed a Valdoreian quarter in Andsall, and encouraged Mayors to do the same in their own cities. These may have been originally setup as quarters specifically for Valdoreians, but they quickly became ghettos as some Mayors didn't hold the same sentiments as Zranda, especially those who fought against the Empire in the War of Loyalties.
While Siluss was glad to allow his citizens to move out into the Empire at large, he missed that Zranda permitted this for another purpose: It increased the population of his Empire, while also weakening the Valdoreian reservations. His alliance certainly came from a mutual respect, but it's likely he intended the Valdoreian reservations to eventually be emptied and re-integrated into the Empire.
It cannot be understated however, that he did trust and rely on the Valdoreians implicitly. His mother was a 2nd cousin to Siluss, and he held a love and admiration for the refugees that is truly what fostered his new proclamations regarding their citizenship in the Empire.
Formative Years
Encroachment
Zranda spent much of his rule solidifying the new state on the continent. Its foundation was stronger than Epixus had been, but he learned very quickly that without outside allies, the Empire would fall to the encroachment of the Krothian Empire. Krothia, located to the North, viewed Zranda's reorganization of government and removal of his Nobles' armies as a weakness that could be exploited, and began raiding the outlying villages.
Emperor Tsarg Shild, a monstrous half-orc, offered the villages a choice: Join Krothia or give up all valuables. Most of them tried to fight back, but several agreed to join, and before Zranda had even received his first report, he was in a border war.
Krothian-Carladian Border War
Calling the border war a "war" is a bit of hyperbole, it was an extended series of minor clashes over several years, and two major battles, each a year apart, from 360-364 AH, with stretches of relative peace between them.
The minor clashes were mostly over small towns on the border. Krothia would lead troops into Carladia and raid neighboring villages, and the Imperial Army on standby near the border would quickly move to counter. There would be a very short clash of blades and arrows, a few soldiers would die from both sides, and Krothia would retreat with their spoils.
Battle of Lake Khasan
This continued, until an accident one day on the part of the Krothians. They were moving troops along the border, as they did during peace-time to confuse the Imperial Army, an officer mistakenly marched around the southern side of Lake Khasan, which put them in Carladian lands. Carladia moved their army to catch them marching around the lake, and believing this to be a purposeful incursion perhaps leading to another raid, they attacked the troops. This was the first major battle of the war. It was a brutal loss for the Krothians, as they lost three times as many troops as the Carladians. All Krothian troops routed or surrendered, the ones who routed attempted to escape across the lake, leading to many of them drowning. The ones who surrendered were captured, and were only allowed to march back the way they came into Krothian territory after an ambassador travelled to Andsall and pled for their release.
Battle of Khalkan Gol
The second and last battle of the war, was fought in the swashes of Khalkan Gol, the river that connects Lake Khasan with the larger Lake Arnach. It was the first offensive push Carladia made into Krothian territory. They attempted to cross the river, and were met with rows of heavy shields, the Krothian special form of fighting. After several hours of fighting, and those who fell being swept away by the river or sinking into the mud to suffocate or drown, Carladia pulled back to their side of the river. The following morning, Captain Osarg Khorvos and Captain Bradmurk Embermark, from Krothia and Carladia respectively, met in the bloodied river to discuss a neutrality agreement. They struck the agreement, sealed it in blood, and each returned to their Emperors with the news, thus ending the border war.
Stability
Zranda learned from the border war exactly how weak his neighbors considered him. He enlisted the help of King Siluss to ally with the Valdoreian dwarven Kingdom of Bhamtodur in the mountains to the East. The dwaves had been neutral in all conflicts, preferring to expand their territory into the Darklands, but the new Evencrest dynasty intrigued them, and being vouched for by the King of the Valdoreians convinced the council to agree to an alliance. The dwarven Valdoreians were allowed the same rights as their fellow elven Valdoreians, including settlement and citizenship in Carladian lands.
The remainder of Zranda's rule focused mostly on policy, and managing his nobles new roles in his Empire. After 101 years of his rule, died at 145, in the year 460 AH. His long rule allowed the new bureaucracy to settle in, and by the end of his reign most had never known life in the Kingdom of Epixus and accepted this new policy as the way things were.
Laadsran Crisis
In the 7th century AH, the Laadsran grew increasingly ambitious due to a few particular Dukes on the council. Of the eight, three were secretly allied to one another, agreeing to vote for each other's policies. This created a serious unbalance within the council, as the three of them only had to convince two more of the Dukes to vote their way, either through bribery or promises, and they could institute whatever policies they wanted. Ragemark, Proudhair, and Ravenarrow, all families who could trace their dynasties back before even the founding of the Kingdom of Epixus, roped in the Esraun and Firwu families, and pushed several reforms to their taxes, reducing what all Dukes had to contribute to the Empire from 15% to 7% of income, which nearly crippled the infrastructure and military of the Empire in weeks.
Emperor Dhehren attempted to step in and fix the policy, declaring the new policy moot and demanding they pay their full taxes immediately. This enraged the allied Dukes, as the Emperor was supposed to stay out of Laadsran politics except for tie-breaking. They attempted an immediate vote to declare the Emperor unfit to rule, and an emergency vote for a new Emperor. The vote tied at four and four, with the Emperor breaking the tie in his favor. Duke Gurwot Firwu had balked at the declaration of the Emperor and the brazen disregard for his authority shown by the others, and was the tying vote, switching sides.
The remaining four, even more enraged now at Firwu's cowardice, planted their feet and accepted the stalemate. Without the taxes they were being ordered to pay, the Emperor wouldn't have the money to pay his soldiers that would ultimately be the ones to force them.
Dhehren realized this too late, after ordering his Legions to spread across their territory and collect taxes, the people began rising up, as they had already paid their contributions to the Barons, who had been the ones ordered to keep the remaining 8% of their taxes. The people, combined with the unpaid Legionnaires, revolted. Riots broke out across the Empire, and Andsall burned from the fires that had broken out.
He called an emergency Laadsran council to break the stalemate, which he technically did not have the authority to do but they complied anyway. He agreed to changes between the relationship of the Laadsran and the Imperial Throne. Thus, the Laadsran Constitution was born.
Articles of Constitution
The major changes amended by the new Constitution, was the removal of the Emperor's right to tie-breaking. It was agreed that if the Laadsran cannot achieve a majority, the vote fails outright. In return, the Laadsran could implement no policy which would put into jeopardy the well-being of the Empire or its holdings. An impartial judge voted for by popular vote would sign off on all new policy changes before they would be put into place.
The Emperor was also granted veto powers in certain cases, however a list of requirements needed to be met in order for the veto to apply, including proof that the votes were organized prior to the council being called, or vote-rigging like the Ragemarks, Proudhairs, and Ravenarrows had done. This ensured that they could pass no policy which had conditions agreed upon in secret, as now all conditions had to be agreed upon openly in the council among all members.
This satisfied both the Laadsran and the Emperor, as it removed him from holding voting power in the Laadsran, while not removing him completely. The Emperor also secured the knowledge that the appointed judge would ensure no butchering of policy would occur like this again.
The council paid their taxes, and the riots ceased, returning the Empire to peace.
Empire of Carladia in the 13th Century AH
Outlive, Outlast
After its crisis in the 7th century AH, the Empire stabilized and focused on improving its diplomatic position. It managed to survive the collapse of the Empire of Krothia, and its outpouring of refugees in the 11th century. During the 12th century, with the Convergence of the Asterisms, several new monstrous races appeared in the dark corners of the world that had not existed before. Arachnid races appeared in the forests, and Drow began expanding through the Darklands, among others. With the help of the Martial Guild, which to Carladia's benefit was headquartered in Andsall, the monsters were quarantined and kept at bay.
Present Day
The Empire in the present day stands as a testiment to diplomacy and acceptance, while also praised for its support and funding of the Martial Guild and its expansion. Many Emperors have tried to replicate Zranda's subtle political brilliance, but most simply contented themselves with maintaining the Evencrest legacy. The new Empress however, Seremyel, is the first half-elf Empress to take the throne, and her similarities to Zranda are remarked by many. She has been pushing and paying for many contracts to deal with larger monsters in the Empire's borders, endearing herself to the commonfolk and merchants who struggle against them.
She has begun funding infrastructure projects, and there have been reports of a massive structure being constructed deep in the Forest of Albeia, on the Valdoreian reservation. Valdoreians living in the Empire deny this, as it would require King Lolvril Feyel permission.
Notable Locations
Andsall
TBC
Carladia
TBC
Bardpointe
TBC
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