Agrenraysereg Federation
The Agrenraysereg Federation is a vassal of the Khanate of Doikorás, and formerly the strongest Orentesh nation. Agrenraysereg has been beset by internal struggle for a number of years which initially led to the loss of their tributaries and eventually to subjugation under the Doikorán. While the head of the Agrenrayseregi is still allowed to call himself Khan, it is as a subserient khan. This sad state of affairs is by far the weakest Agrenraysereg has been since its founding.
The nation was originally born from a union of several Ayseregy Bolyans in early 1464; the Tokar, Götkars, Sür, Cumar, and Orghar. Known as the Bäghlyan (Five Bolyans), the Bolyans used their secure base as a luanching point to invade their neighbors. The Bäghlyan core was able to subdue the rest of the Ayseregy by 1482, with the exception of the Körtolar Confederation, a powerful alliance of several other tribes which resisted their expansion. However, by conquering the surrounding tribes, the Körtolar were completely surrounded, and over the course of several decades were slowly brought to their knees. By 1500, their power was broken, and in 1503, they were conquered and their capital settlement of Chiga-Llusak was razed. The ruling elite were slaughtered, while the rest of the Körtolar were left as lower status than the rest of the Ayseregy. At this point, the tribes declared the Agrenraysereg Federation, as unification of the Ayseregy Bolyans was complete.
During the decades of war with the Körtolar, the Agrenraysereg Federation also made plays to expand northwards, conquering many of the northeastern Bolyans even before the Körtolar were completely eliminated. This power base threatened the Doikorán Bolyans to their northwest, and many of them swore fealty to the March-Kingdom of Kchatéldelest in response. While some chose to pay tribute to the Ayseregy, they were a minority, and mostly in the north, where Kchatlyn power was not being projected. During the 1500s, many of the Deinepri Bolyans also began paying tribute to the Ayseregy and those who did not were conquered. Notable in their resistance were the Quizelrőd, a Deinepri Confederation formed to oppose the Ayseregy. Their opposition was fierce, for they were backed by several other powers including the dwarves of Valrang. All three depended on the Deinepri to send trade through the area, and they did not want to risk the warlike Ayseregy taking control of the Deineprio River. The Ayseregy fought several unsuccessful wars with their foes, including the Sevsevy War.
By 1556, it was clear the Agrenraysereg's leadership that their frontal assaults into the Quizelrődi highlands were futile, and that naval operations were hopeless against the might of the Telrai navy. Instead, they hoped to press south through the heavily forested and mountainous Sevsevy lands along the border with Autuavao, betting that the other powers woud not see this coming, allowing them to crush the Telrai and remove them from the alliance. With the fearsome Telrai unable to come to the aid of the Quizelrődy, a pincer from the south should theoretically be able to smash all resistance. In order to prepare in secret, they formed an alliance with a Sevsevy Bolyan, which was to guide them through the forests. However, they failed to consider that the Sevsevy were not unified, and other Bolyans, friendly with Autuavao, alerted their foes. The Ayseregy army was cut off very quickly and eventually blundered into an ambush, from which almost none of them escaped. In the aftermath of this war, many Sevsevy tribes became tributaries of the Telrai (though later fully integrated), and the Ayseregy lost contol over the Sevsevy they had conquered previously. The next several decades were troubled, with the Ayseregy elite having largely been wiped out in the forest campaign. However, the loss of traditional leadership also left little resistance to an autocratic takeover, which occured in 1586. The Chogkar family, initally minor nobles in the Orghar Bolyan, had taken over that Bolyan following the death of most other Orghan noblity. Aslan Chogkar, head of the family, seized power with the support of many outlying Bolyans, who had been left vulnerable to raids during the anarchy of the preceding period. He then broke the power of the other Bolyans, centralizing power to himself. However, Agrenraysereg was still in strife, and rogue Bolyans continued to be an issue until 1600. Finally scattering these Bolyans, Aslan Khan assumed complete dominance of the state.
Agrenraysereg, united and stronger than ever, descended upon their foes with fury, all of whom had turned to deal with internal struggle. He led a punitive expedition through the Doikorán Bolyans which had once paid tribute in 1602, intent on strengthening his grip over them. The Bolyans largely capitualted without a fight, although fighting continued in the westernmost regions for several years. The March-Kingdom of Kchatéldelest fell into civil war in 1607, and Aslan seized the opportunity to punish the Doikorán who had sided with his foes. Pulling troops from the east, he rode into the north and razed entire villages, making piles of the skulls of his foes. Arslan seized men of learning, had them castrated, and took them back to the capital as advisors. He allowed his soldiers to take women as wives as they wished, though he did not partake in this himself. Per his decree, any man who took a Doikorán wife had to remain in the lands after the campaign. He also sent many members of the Bolyans who defied him early in his reign to settle these towns, where they became the lower class (under the soldiers with Doikorán wives). Satisfied with the destruction of the region, he then sent out demands for all Doikorán Bolyans to submit to him. All immediately surrendered to him, and there were no more revolts by the Doikorán. With them secured, his army then swept south into Retiand, a halfing nation which had taken control over key border regions in 1579. Aslan crushed their armies and secured control of the region. He then sacked and looted the capital of Retiand, and took the ruler to be his personal court fool. Any halflings who had migarated into lands previously ruled by the Ayseregy were likewise taken as slaves and gifted to officials as jesters. He placed the former ruler of Retiand's son in charge as a vassal, then turned east. After a year's break in order to resupply his forces, Aslan invaded Quizelrőd in 1612. While his campaign was initally successful, it was notably slower than previous ones. Sources from this time indicate that Aslan's mental health was beginning to deteriorate, and this illness soon turned physical as well. He died in the winter months of 1612, which threw the army into disarray. This allowed Quizelrőd to hold on, and Aslan's successor made peace with them in order to focus on securing his internal position. From then on, Quizelrőd was a tributary of Agrenraysereg, but it was under much loser control than the rest of the Confederation's possessions.
Although the Chogkar dynasty was for the most part competant, they were never able to match Aslan's conquests. Retiand largely ignored their tributary status (apologizing for "late" or "missing" tribute) and are last recorded paying in 1619. The Doikorán Bolyans, while subjugated, chafed against the dominance of the Ayseregy, and while the south was held tightly the north often escaped close notice. Although Agrenraysereg continued offensive campaigns well into the 1800s, there were no more great triumphs. The border regions of the Plaires Centralis were brought into the fold in 1658, which completed the Agrenraysereg Confederation's conquests in the west; they had reached the limit of Orentesh settlement. Wars with the nation of Autuovao were a constant fact of the late 1600s, with Autuovao being tactitly supported by the other nonhuman nations in the region. These conflicts began due to a dispute over the southern Sevsevy lands, known as Ko'ldarzern. Ko'ldarzern's borderlands exchanged hands several times, but the wars rarely ever escalted past these borders, save two events. In 1682, the Autuovao landed troops in Ayseregy lands, capturing several villages along the coast. However, they were driven into the sea after failing to cut off the Ayseregy forces. Additionally, in 1699, Ayseregy troops broke out from Ko'ldarzern and threatened the Autuovaic capital, which succeeded in getting the Autuovaic to surrender and revoke all claims in Ko'ldarzern.
During the 1700s, Ayseregy Khans made multiple attempts to conquer the Centaurs of the Plaires Centralis. They maintained a permanent presence of soldiers in the Rosklet tribes squatting in the former Kchatlyn manors, and used the region as a staging point. These campaigns usually managed to pentrate into the centaurs' lands, at which point the centaurs would be forced to respond. Typically, they would perform hit-and-run tactics which decimated the Ayseregy armies. Strongpoints were basically untenable, since the tribes were able to raid supply lines. Although ineffective, these skirmishes throughout the 1700s paved the way for more successful conquest. In 1809, the Ayseregy were able to finally seize enough land that the centaurs were forced to capitulate. Conquest of Retaind also followed, in order to secure the west and obtain supplies from the productive halfling state. The plains were held this time for 15 years, from 1809-1824. However, at this point new centaurs tribes moved in and defeated the Ayseregy, pushing them back to the edges of the plains. Off-and-on wars continued, with the Rosklet states being victim to scorched-earth policy from both sides. Finally, this conflict, combined with the halflings of Retaind waging guerilla warfare and cutting off their food surpluses, forced the Ayseregy to withdraw. The centaurs would chase the retreating Ayseregy through the Doikorán Bolyans and Retiand. After destroying the invading centaurs, the Ayseregy tried to once more gain control over Retiand, only to be thwarted by the dwarves of Harjallstund. Finally being kicked out entirely by yet another halfling rebellion, the Ayseregy retreated to lick their wounds.
Their final effort at claiming the steppe came in 1943. Tamis Khan led an Ayseregy army through the steppe, intent on reaching the border of the Relvetsian Empire. Arriving in 1944, he formed an ad-hoc city on the border as his base of operations, but was unable to hold on. His overstretched lines were crushed by an alliance of several centaurs clans, and none of the army ever returned home. While the fortifications held out until 1967 as an isolated bastions, Tamis' ran out of men to replenish the garrison and the military operation there was crushed. With Tamis' death in the plains, Agrenraysereg fell into succession crisis, which eventually led to its defeat at the hands of the Doikorán Bolyans. Reduced to a vassal state, Agrenraysereg has suffered immensely from Tamis' folly.
Demography and Population
Agrenraysereg has just over 550,000 people living within its current borders, although it historically had a much higher population of nearly a million. Even with its reduced borders, Agrenraysereg should still have 700,000 citizens, but is still recovering from the devastating conflicts of the 20th century and is therefore at a serious low point for population.
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