Kingdom of Aurelia
Sometimes called "The Home of Heroes," The Kingdom of Aurelia has seen itself grow in power and influence like many of the great nations of the continent.
Until the Third Age, Aurelia was unique in that it contained no Fallen Cities, it was a fully self sustaining nation independent of any of the massive continent dotting city states. In the Third Age it is no less unique for being the only non-Fallen City based nation to itself subsume a Fallen City itself in the shape of Balmoth.
Aurelia now is perhaps not one of the "great" powers, but is nonetheless a respected power on the continent. Aurelia is rich with an abundance of internal resources, both physical resources such as timber, mineral, and agriculture, as well as industrial resources such as the Dwarven forge city of Jarak. Its people are proud and willing to both defend their homeland and support its independent spirit.
But what really makes Aurelia stand toe to toe with the other powers of the continent is its use of spy-craft and diplomacy, which it is unmatched in. Aurelia has an over 1000 year history in nurturing and growing its own spy institution as well as fostering friendly diplomatic relationships with all its neighbors. What the Aurelian monarch doesn't know via diplomatic talks, they'll know via their deeply embedded spies. This has led to a dual reputation amongst the other nations, as they respect Aurelian self sufficiency and skill at diplomacy, but also have a fear and distaste for the fact that Aurelian spies could be anywhere.
History
Aurelia came into being during the Fall of the Torva in the late First Age. As the Immortal Cities began to fall the strategically critical Immortal City of Mysellari faced a particularly intense siege from the rampaging norse Gir'An, with their leader even being mounted atop of an undead Dragon raised by his clan witch. With no aid to be found from its fellow cities Mysellari fell to the onslaught and its people fled.
As the Gir'An swept southwards they were met by an army of Humans and Olark led by a group of five powerful warriors. Lambor Ulthuar, Helene Easdon, Korthil Vitri, Phonix Milatadies, and Argan Stellings. These warriors were called the Zwiastowaci, (or Heralds) and their closest followers the Rycerz Herolda (Knights of the Heralds). Leading from the front of the army they wielded powerful enchanted weapons that were made of material mined by Ulthuar, designed by Vitri, forged by Easdon, enchanted by Milatadies, and religiously anointed by Stellings. The army turned back the Norsemen and destroyed their leader atop his undead dragon.
After the victory the army following the Zwiastocwaci declared they would continue to follow the Zwiastowaci only. Taking the initiative the Zwiastocwaci took their army and went to each of the regions they had come from. There they rooted out any Norsemen that still threatened the land and also overthrew what few ruling Elves remained, claiming the land "For Mortals." After the campaign the Zwiastocwaci converged on the small fortress of Avolen, the home of Argan Stellings. It was here that the Zwiastowaci declared that Argan Stellings would be the new king of the Aurel, now named Aurelia. Argan accepted the honor.
The land was split between the Dzieci z Zwiastowaci (Children of the Heralds) in the centuries to come. These families became lords and ladies of Aurelia, and the leader of each family was given the family weapon that has been handed down throughout the history of each family all the way back from original Zwiastocwaci.
In the late 2nd Age, the nation underwent a period of political instability. The ruling family, the Stellings, were ousted in a vicious coup that saw all of the royal family dead minus Zelena Stellings, who somehow escaped. The Vitri family, the family responsible for the coup, took the throne and either bribed or forced the other major families bow to them. In 740 2A, 23 years after the coup took place, Zelena Stellings would return to Aurelia, and kick off the Aurelian Civil War. The war was a brief but bloody affair that saw the near extermination of the Vitri family and the return of the Stellings to the throne. Zelena went about a period of rebuilding her nation and securing her rule for several decades, especially against Tharrisia which had been eyeing the wealthy nation of Aurelia more and more.
During the Year of the Dragon in 755 and 756 2A, Aurelia was heavily involved in the conflict due to their association with legendary The Wayfarers. This led to Aurelia becoming the defacto leading nation in The Tharrisian War against Tharrisia. During the year it suffered from both a major attack on Starmont Allod and its capital during the Battle of Avolen. It also suffered during a war campaign against The Gir'An during the Fall of the Blood Shaper. But in the aftermath the nation saw its star on the rise even more as the reverence of the Wayfarers and the careful political maneuvering of Lady Evoda Vitri (with the help of the remaining Wayfarers) put it at a place of prominence on the continental stage.
At the end of the Second Age the nation played a pivotal role during the apocalyptic event known as The Return. Aurelia aided the Blessed Dead on several occasions, including being the place they first died and came back to life. After the war, the nation continued to rise in prominence even more. Though it soon saw another political shake up as the Stellings and Vitri family lines ended with Zelena and Evoda dying within 10 years of each other. Rent Milatadies would become King of Aurelia after that, and Bhelmir Strongheart would become Lord of Starmont.
Demography and Population
The population of Aurelia are a hardened and self sustaining population. Due to the surprising size of Aurelia it rarely wants for anything, being able to farm and harvest trees in the south and Balmoth east, mine in the Northeast and Jarak, and fish on its western coast. It trades its surplus out but Aurelia is mostly self reliant.
The people themselves reflect their nation as a proud and strong people who are fiercely loyal to their nation. Aurelia prides itself on being independent for over 1700 years without help or instruction from a Fallen City nor one of the great powers, and this attitude permeates every part of its culture.
In terms of the races within Aurelia's borders, the nation is primarily a mixture of Humans (many of Norse descent), Dwarves from the city of Jarak (that have spread throughout the nation over generations), and the usual presence of Olark found anywhere in Kalin.
Territories
Aurelia's core territory was mostly unchanged for nearly the entire 2nd Age, with only some northerly expansion after the Fall of the Blood Shaper.
This changed in the 3rd Age with Jarak and Balmoth joining Aurelia's territory. This has led to overall growth of Aurelian territory, as well the incorporation of Jarak's mines.
One unique point of Aurelia's territory is the fact that the city of Balmoth surrounds a 2 mile smaller city that is fully independent and contains the Church of the Mantle. This odd quirk of geography was a result of Balmoth joining Aurelia, with the Church insisting it be separate from Aurelia. Functionally, many Balmoth citizens work and live in the territory of the Church, and the Church can leave whenever they want, but questions of legal jurisdiction exist.
Military
The Aurelian army is usually kept pretty small during peace time, but can grow during mobilization and war time to grow out how many soldiers they have. For the most part though, Aurelia relies on its spies and diplomats to stay out of conflict in the first place.
During war time, the Aurelian Army forms the core of the military, consisting of infantry, cavalry, air ships, and most land and air related operations. One of the unique aspects of the Aurelian army, both in peace and war time, is special rights given to Jarakian Dwarves where only Jarak Dwarves are allowed to lead Artillery units due to their city being the origin for nearly all Aurelian artillery guns.
Aurelia also has a navy, which it maintains enough to guard its shores and trade routes, but little else.
Aurelia also has the Rycerz Herolda, an ancient knightly order that has evolved to be a special forces army loyal to the monarch of Aurelia that are highly skilled individual combatants.
Technological Level
Aurelia is not as advanced as most other nations when it comes to technology, technomancy, or magic. But Aurelia is also not significantly behind any of the other nations.
Religion
Aurelian's are largely Mantle worshipers, and have been since the founding of the nation under the Stelling family. Friction has arisen over the centuries however with the addition of Balmoth and Jarak to the nation. Jarakian dwarves are, by standard, Shamanistic or Ancestor Worshiping and rarely worship the Mantle. Meanwhile, the strange situation with the Church of the Mantle being both a part and not a part of Aurelia has led to some friction internally. This friction has grown worse with many people near Balmoth proper following the Orthodoxy of the Church, while the rest of the Mantle worshipers in Aurelia tend to veer more towards the reformist Supragens Movement.
Agriculture & Industry
Aurelia owes much of its power and success due to its abundance of resources. It has plenty of arable land to farm food, access to old Aurelian mines (including silver mines) along with the city of Jarak, a massive mine on its own. Industrially, Aurelia is behind nations like the Federated Union of Eastern Kalin and Impero Tharrisian, but is still able to maintain enough industrial capacity to not be irrelevant.
Education
Most education across Aurelia is managed by local churches, which maintain and run schools for children aged 7-17. These churches vary wildly in terms of educational quality, but they provide some level of education to nearly the entire population. The exceptions to this are Starmont Allod, which due to ancient edicts provide free and compulsory education for all of its people, and Jarak, which does not have a unified education system and too few Mantle churches to cover the entire population.
Kraina Bohaterów (Land of Heroes)
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Alternative Names
Aurelia, Land of Starmont, Home of the Wayfarers
Demonym
Aurelian
Leader
Government System
Monarchy, Constitutional
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Mixed economy
Currency
Aurelian Marka
Legislative Body
Following reforms and the adoption of the Aurelian Constitution, Aurelia maintains a mixture of Monarchical rule shackled by a constitution. In effect, there are two primary lawmakers: The King/Queen of Aurelia, and the Rada Ludowa (literally translated as "Council of People"). The Monarch of Aurelia may propose and pass laws, but a super-majority of the 100 member Rada Ludowa can overturn nearly any decision the Monarch makes; meanwhile the Rada may propose and pass laws on its own with a super-majority and without Monarchical approval. Despite these limits, many a King and Queen has realized they need only to get 45 of the Rada on their side, and they can effectively cripple the Rada's ability to overturn the King or Queens decision.
Judicial Body
Ever since the switch from the feudal system, a robust system of courts has been established throughout the country. There are 7 court systems (one per Allod) that are led by a Sedzia Gvowny (Chief Judge) who is chosen by the Rada and approved by the Monarch. The Sedzia Gvowny deals with large crimes and major interpretations of laws on a local level. Meanwhile, minor judges called the Lokalna Sedzwi (Local Justices) are put in place by local governments in each Allod.
Subsidiary Organizations
Notable Members
Comments