Stolesia

Stolesia is named after house Stoles.

Dusk of Chartelinga

House Stoles was a minor house within the kingdom of Chartelinga. Only holding stewardship over the harbour town of Vidhavn and its surround forests.
When a civil war broke out after the death of King Doralth Ewin, the house declared itself neutral. This quickly changed, when house Bartle moved in and occupied Vidhavn. As a result House Stoles felt itself forced to muster an army and expel the Bartlian troops occupying the town.

Tuesday, Springeld 7th, 690:
In the early morning Stolan bombardiers, supported by artillery from house Ulder started to bombard Bartlian ships moored in Vidhavn. At the same time troops from house Stoles, Ulder & Cynbald moved in on the city's walls.
Having underestimated the military capabilities of house Stoles, already under pressure by a hostile local population and then faced with no way out, Bartlian troops surrendered two days later.

by Philip Orsbridge

Dawn of Stolesia

With the signing of the Alborg Accord on Springeld 16th, 690 both the Ulders and Cynbalds swore fealty to house Stoles and Stolesia declared itself an independent nation at the same time. Making it the first region to secede from the Chartelingan kingdom. A year later it would go on to annex all the lands of the major house Bartle. Soon other minor houses followed, surrendering their stewardships in return for stability and protection.

The Shadow Years

Between 690 and 1760 Stolesia enjoyed relative stability, outside the odd border dispute, succession conflict or uprisings by Bartle loyalists in one form or another. However, by the turn of the century a new political movement had grown to a noticeable size. The movement called itself "Restorationists" and it wanted to achieve the reunification of the lands as they were before 690, under the Chartelingan kingdom. Over the course of another 20 years the Restorationists managed to take complete control of the parliament. On Sepvri 9th, 1820 King Udal II, a Restorationist himself, officially abdicated, handed over the state to the parliament, joined the Restorationist party and declared Stolesia a Parliamentary Republic.

With the abdication of the king, the stewardship of Ulderulst by house Ulder, had been revoked. Loyalist were quick to take to the streets out of protest. Here they were met with celebrating Restorationists and eventually fights broke out.
The Ulderulst Militia was send in, to break up the riots. However, it didn't take long before Stolesian troops ordered them to stand down and took control of the situation themselves. It was rumored, but never proven that they mostly fired on Loyalists.

by NYPL Digital Gallery

This event sent a political ripple, through the Aparic region and the whole Imelian continent. A king freely abdicating and joining parliament had never been seen before. The once stable country, was suddenly caught in a wave of unrest. However, with Restorationists in key positions within the military and judicial system, uprisings and protests were quickly and effectively dealt with. Thousands of citizens were arrested, sentenced and locked up or put on forced labour.

Algiss Pact

By 1850 similar Restorationist parties had taken control of neighbouring nations. Burgiss, Alderan & Vedle had all become parlimentary republics with Restorationists at the helm. In the spring of 1862 the Allgiss Pact was signed, all four nations would officially form a union or as the name implied "a land encompassing all".

The Great War

Fearing annexation or even an invasion of its northern regions, Kowltres started militarizing its border with the Vedle Republic during the summer of 1863. Backed by the other Algiss pact members, the Vedle Republic ramped up its presence along its Southern border as well. Tensions ran high. In the spring of 1865, this reached its speak, when an Imperial Nostres cargo vessel just of the Burgiss coastline, on route to Harm, was torpedoed. While the Algiss Pact denied any involvement, the Crown Pact officially declared war on the members of the Algiss Pact.

Crown Pact	Algiss Pact
Kowlres	Vedle
Nostres	Stolesia
Khaltres	Alderan
	Burgiss

This declaration of war would put in motion the Great War. A conflict that would ravage the Imelian continent for over 40 years.

Restoration - Present

On Etem 14th 1910, the Great War was officially over. With the signing of the Trecht Peace Agreement, all hostilities came to an end. The Algiss pact was dissolved and the crown was restored in Stolesia. Stewarship of Ulderulst & Haiborg was returned to house Ulder and house Cynbald.
Stolesia is to this day still undergoing reconstruction of the damage done during the war, but it has set itself once again on the path of progress and justice.

Structure

Head Of State

The king or queen both represent the state and government. Although the role is usually ceremonial, the crown can be called upon to provide a final vote if a stalemate occurs.

Parliament

The legislative body. Representatives are elected by the general public. All citizens of age have the right to cast their vote and anyone between age 21 and 75 can have themselves added to the voting ballot. While there have been 2 parliamentarians older than 75, they were younger that 75 when they were first introduced.

Stewardship

The cities of Ulderulst and Haiborg fall under the direct stewarship of their respective noble houses. House Ulder in Ulderulst and House Cynbald in Haiborg.
While the towns do not fall under auspice of parliament, the stewardship councils will usually follow the decisions made in parliament. Another side effect of the house stewardship system, is that citizens can't vote for parliament. However in recent times, both towns hold elections on the representatives that are send to parliament on behalf of the respective houses.

Founding Date

Springeld 16th, 690

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Obelstadt

Demonym

Stolans

Leader

Karl Valen-Stoles

Head of State

Karl Valen-Stoles

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Power Structure

Unitary state

Related Ethnicities

• Uld Ewain

House Stoles
House Stoles was one of the minor houses in de kingdom of Chartelinga.
House Ulder
House Ulder was also a minor house. Having lost most of its senior members during the start of civil war and facing the risk of being usurped by another family, it swore fealty to house Stoles on Springeld 16th,690. "Ulderulst" is named after this family and it still remains officially under the stewardship of the Ulders.
House Cynbald
House Cynbald, another minor house. This family faced its own civil war. With Havi Cynbald surrendering to House Bartle, while her sister Tana refused, allying instead with the Stoles. On Springeld 16th, 690 Tana swore fealty to house Stoles and her family would go on to regain stewardship of Haiborg, after it was retaken and her sister was expelled. Havi Cynbald would eventually set sail for Berrica and establish Cynehoe and Cinderby near its northern coast.
House Bartle
House Bartle was a major house. The Bartle family had been members of the royal court for as long as the Ewins had been on the throne. With the fall of house Ewin, the Bartles were caught in a power struggle with the other major houses and the realisation of loosing access to various resources and infrastructure. Hoping to strengthen their position. Early on during the civil war, they invaded Haiborg. Hoping to control its copper and coal mines. Later it attempted to capture Vidhavn, to secure an access to the Aparic sea. However this failed and eventually they lost control of Haiborg as well.
While the Bartles were able to hold on to their own lands for almost another year, they were quickly running out of coin. On Devri 1st,691 after being unable to pay their troops for two months, the majority of the troops deserted.
Fearing for the lives of his children, Houselord Odard Bartle requested asylum in the new state of Stolesia. This request was granted. However the Bartles had to relinquish their rights of stewardship. By the end of Springeld 691 all their lands had been annexed and their remaining troops were added to the Stolesian army.