Duchy of Wellenia
The Duchy of Wellenia is a nation which rules over approximately equal amounts of Cloriadmen and Fremedhian people. Wellenia is ruled over by ethnic Cloriadmen but due to its multicultural status has relatively few issues with the large minority. The Duchy of Wellenia is also part of the Cloriadmen Confederation.
History
Wellenia was founded in 1212 by a chieftain who swept into the abandoned marches of South Fraspika. The Wellen tribe had long been on the fringes of Fraspikan controlled lands and for many years had been one of the main tribes threatening Fraspikan borders. With the tribes of Schielderras paying tribute most of the time, the tribes on the many islands of the Cloriadmen Saltmarsh were the greatest threat to the north of Fraspika. After many years taking traumatizing losses, the Wellens were finally able to take solid land for the first time and without a fight.
In the chaos of the Fraspikan collapse, nobody cared either. They swiftly set about integrating the local Cloriadmen population and commenced raiding the centaur-occupied Fraspika. While there were several years of back and forth raids, with the collapse of Clesentia, they were once again fortuitously able to gain land without a fight. Their conquests had secured them a small but viable territory, but their neighbors remained far more powerful. Continuing raids into their lands quickly became fruitless, and with the Wellens now possessing actually good land, the motivation to raid decreased significantly.
As the Wellens settled, their chiefdom began to gain the trappings of a monarchy, learning from their neighbors. Chief Clovar Dieuwen the reformer became Duke Clovar Dieuwen of the Duchy of Wellenia in 1290 SC, marking the transition into a settled nation. This diplomatic recognition was primarily advanced by the Grand Duchy of Barloem, which hoped to protect their lands from raiding. Crowning a king, they hoped, would centralize Wellenia and decrease the influence of raiders. This was successful, and Wellenia became a normal nations soon after.
In the 1390s, the Kingdom of Fraspika began turning their crosshairs to the Duchy. While successful in several wars against Barloem, the Barloemers had been stoutly resisting. However, Fraspika had gained a land corridor to Wellenia and hoped to further extend its northern borders in order to encircle Barloem and choke off their economy. The Duchy of Wellenia, with its control over former Old Fraspikan territories, was an easy target for Fraspika and Wellenia's subjugation was demanded in 1399. Wellenia played for time and urged the other Cloriadmen nations to join into the inevitable war. Having seen the power of Fraspika on the rise, the majority of the other nations agreed, however they demanded concessions, which harmed Wellenia's economy. Barloem would also aid Wellenia, sending economic aid during the war, which kept the nation afloat.
Despite the coalition's formation, the Fraspikan army made swift progress into Wellenia. The coalition's forces were extremely disorganized and their numbers were rather lacking, as the other Cloriadmen nations had only sent token forces. While numbers kept trickling in as more lords arrived, the Fraspikans won several key battles and by October Fraspika had secured all Wellenian land on the east of the Ravieau river. Although they had seen a number of early victories, winter came early that year and would wreck the Fraspikan supply. During one fateful battle, the Fraspikan cavalry would attempt a charge across a frozen river. This proved costly, as the ice was unable to hold their weight and led to the deaths of most of their cavalry force. Out of supply and lacking cavalry, the Fraspikans quickly became outmaneuvered. Their harassed and starving army attempted to retreat back to Fraspika, but was caught in a trap, losing even more men. The Fraspikan king Charles II would die in this battle, leaving his five year old son Charles III in charge, meaning the Fraspikan threat was at its end. The Duchy of Wellenia was still devastated by the war, despite their victory. Although it took just one year to reclaim the territories lost in the first year of the war, making it a short, two year affair, the Fraspikan army had stripped the land dry on their retreat, and many were starving and destitute. Their violence succeeded in turning the Fremedhian citizens of Wellenia against them, but it also inflamed separatism amongst them. The region took several years to recover, and locals felt ignored by the government, stoking resentment. The decision to hold a conference of Cloriadmen nations in their capital did not help either, though it did successfully result in the formation of the Cloriadmen Confederation. Wellenia, though playing its cards successfully, was simply too economically devastated to improve its peoples' lives or assume leadership of the Confederation, relegating it to a secondary role.
The next century saw a total of three major rebellions. In 1409 SC, a large peasant rebellion in the east, mainly Fremedhians, attempted to form a peasant republic and protested their taxes being used on things other then replenishing the land. The aftermath resulted in even more devastation, and the return of prosperity in the region was delayed further. In 1457 SC, several lords rose up in the west protesting the use of money in the east, and when their demands were met the peasants in the east revolted again. The lords in question seized the opportunity to claim the ruling duke at the time was clearly not favored by the gods and refused to stand down. A twelve year civil war followed, and while the fighting was off and on again, the country was further devastated. In the end, the duke died and his son was placed in power under a tenuous peace negotiated by the Cloriadmen Confederation. The new duke married the daughter of one of the rebellious nobles, which went horribly for both of them. He planned to use her a a hostage to assure her father's compliance, but the father died after just two years and the other nobles didn't care about her. Angered by what he saw as here worthlessness, he became violent. Fed up with his abuse, she retaliated for his cruelty by pushing him down the stairs; the murder was covered up by her lover and her young son with the now dead duke was crowned. Her infidelity being a public secret, the legitimacy of the child was questioned, but most assume he really was legitimate, as unless he was born extremely early, her lover had not been in the capital at the time of his conception. As the child reached maturity he began to chafe under the regency of her and her lover and had the lover imprisoned. In return for his release, his mother relinquished her regency and retired to the country. The details of the whole affair were covered up successfully for over a hundred years, but eventually become verified as fact.
Unfortunately for the young duke, there was yet another rebellion to deal with. His mother's lover, after being released from prison, became bitter against her for giving up on rulership. Already hating the young duke, he gathered an army of supporters and declared his intention to overthrows the duke. Though he failed and was executed, by the time peace truly returned to the nation the 1500s had begun. Since 1500, however, things have been looking up for the nation. The Young Duke became known as the Old Duke for his long reign, 1476-1538 (though from 1476 to 1492 his mother was in control), although for much of his reign he was actually known as "the paranoid" behind his back for refusing any and all war and constant fear of deposition. Still, his reign was long and though he feared overthrowal constantly, no attempts were made. Despite fearing his sons may murder him, he loved them enough not to take drastic action and so succession was smooth. At his behest, the younger son became the count of "Wellenia-over-Ravieau", as the eastern regions would gradually become known as. This system of second son becoming the count of Wellenia-over-Ravieau has continued, and the benefit of a royal residing permanently in the region has helped to repair relations between the two halves of the duchy. Wellenia has also followed the lead to the other Cloriadmen nations and slowly weaned power away from its nobility towards the merchant classes, who have cut down on a number of wasteful spending practices and generally helped trade flow through the nation. The only dark period in the last five centuries occurred during the Telgren Time of Troubles, as trade dried up. Taxes on crops were raised in order to maintain expenditure, saving the merchants pockets' (at their own behest) which prompted a series of small rebellions. As the Troubles died down and trade returned to normal, however, the rebellions ceased on their own. Still, this deference to the merchant class has worried many in the duchy, who protest that the mercantile class has been elevated to become the new nobility.
In the chaos of the Fraspikan collapse, nobody cared either. They swiftly set about integrating the local Cloriadmen population and commenced raiding the centaur-occupied Fraspika. While there were several years of back and forth raids, with the collapse of Clesentia, they were once again fortuitously able to gain land without a fight. Their conquests had secured them a small but viable territory, but their neighbors remained far more powerful. Continuing raids into their lands quickly became fruitless, and with the Wellens now possessing actually good land, the motivation to raid decreased significantly.
As the Wellens settled, their chiefdom began to gain the trappings of a monarchy, learning from their neighbors. Chief Clovar Dieuwen the reformer became Duke Clovar Dieuwen of the Duchy of Wellenia in 1290 SC, marking the transition into a settled nation. This diplomatic recognition was primarily advanced by the Grand Duchy of Barloem, which hoped to protect their lands from raiding. Crowning a king, they hoped, would centralize Wellenia and decrease the influence of raiders. This was successful, and Wellenia became a normal nations soon after.
In the 1390s, the Kingdom of Fraspika began turning their crosshairs to the Duchy. While successful in several wars against Barloem, the Barloemers had been stoutly resisting. However, Fraspika had gained a land corridor to Wellenia and hoped to further extend its northern borders in order to encircle Barloem and choke off their economy. The Duchy of Wellenia, with its control over former Old Fraspikan territories, was an easy target for Fraspika and Wellenia's subjugation was demanded in 1399. Wellenia played for time and urged the other Cloriadmen nations to join into the inevitable war. Having seen the power of Fraspika on the rise, the majority of the other nations agreed, however they demanded concessions, which harmed Wellenia's economy. Barloem would also aid Wellenia, sending economic aid during the war, which kept the nation afloat.
Despite the coalition's formation, the Fraspikan army made swift progress into Wellenia. The coalition's forces were extremely disorganized and their numbers were rather lacking, as the other Cloriadmen nations had only sent token forces. While numbers kept trickling in as more lords arrived, the Fraspikans won several key battles and by October Fraspika had secured all Wellenian land on the east of the Ravieau river. Although they had seen a number of early victories, winter came early that year and would wreck the Fraspikan supply. During one fateful battle, the Fraspikan cavalry would attempt a charge across a frozen river. This proved costly, as the ice was unable to hold their weight and led to the deaths of most of their cavalry force. Out of supply and lacking cavalry, the Fraspikans quickly became outmaneuvered. Their harassed and starving army attempted to retreat back to Fraspika, but was caught in a trap, losing even more men. The Fraspikan king Charles II would die in this battle, leaving his five year old son Charles III in charge, meaning the Fraspikan threat was at its end. The Duchy of Wellenia was still devastated by the war, despite their victory. Although it took just one year to reclaim the territories lost in the first year of the war, making it a short, two year affair, the Fraspikan army had stripped the land dry on their retreat, and many were starving and destitute. Their violence succeeded in turning the Fremedhian citizens of Wellenia against them, but it also inflamed separatism amongst them. The region took several years to recover, and locals felt ignored by the government, stoking resentment. The decision to hold a conference of Cloriadmen nations in their capital did not help either, though it did successfully result in the formation of the Cloriadmen Confederation. Wellenia, though playing its cards successfully, was simply too economically devastated to improve its peoples' lives or assume leadership of the Confederation, relegating it to a secondary role.
The next century saw a total of three major rebellions. In 1409 SC, a large peasant rebellion in the east, mainly Fremedhians, attempted to form a peasant republic and protested their taxes being used on things other then replenishing the land. The aftermath resulted in even more devastation, and the return of prosperity in the region was delayed further. In 1457 SC, several lords rose up in the west protesting the use of money in the east, and when their demands were met the peasants in the east revolted again. The lords in question seized the opportunity to claim the ruling duke at the time was clearly not favored by the gods and refused to stand down. A twelve year civil war followed, and while the fighting was off and on again, the country was further devastated. In the end, the duke died and his son was placed in power under a tenuous peace negotiated by the Cloriadmen Confederation. The new duke married the daughter of one of the rebellious nobles, which went horribly for both of them. He planned to use her a a hostage to assure her father's compliance, but the father died after just two years and the other nobles didn't care about her. Angered by what he saw as here worthlessness, he became violent. Fed up with his abuse, she retaliated for his cruelty by pushing him down the stairs; the murder was covered up by her lover and her young son with the now dead duke was crowned. Her infidelity being a public secret, the legitimacy of the child was questioned, but most assume he really was legitimate, as unless he was born extremely early, her lover had not been in the capital at the time of his conception. As the child reached maturity he began to chafe under the regency of her and her lover and had the lover imprisoned. In return for his release, his mother relinquished her regency and retired to the country. The details of the whole affair were covered up successfully for over a hundred years, but eventually become verified as fact.
Unfortunately for the young duke, there was yet another rebellion to deal with. His mother's lover, after being released from prison, became bitter against her for giving up on rulership. Already hating the young duke, he gathered an army of supporters and declared his intention to overthrows the duke. Though he failed and was executed, by the time peace truly returned to the nation the 1500s had begun. Since 1500, however, things have been looking up for the nation. The Young Duke became known as the Old Duke for his long reign, 1476-1538 (though from 1476 to 1492 his mother was in control), although for much of his reign he was actually known as "the paranoid" behind his back for refusing any and all war and constant fear of deposition. Still, his reign was long and though he feared overthrowal constantly, no attempts were made. Despite fearing his sons may murder him, he loved them enough not to take drastic action and so succession was smooth. At his behest, the younger son became the count of "Wellenia-over-Ravieau", as the eastern regions would gradually become known as. This system of second son becoming the count of Wellenia-over-Ravieau has continued, and the benefit of a royal residing permanently in the region has helped to repair relations between the two halves of the duchy. Wellenia has also followed the lead to the other Cloriadmen nations and slowly weaned power away from its nobility towards the merchant classes, who have cut down on a number of wasteful spending practices and generally helped trade flow through the nation. The only dark period in the last five centuries occurred during the Telgren Time of Troubles, as trade dried up. Taxes on crops were raised in order to maintain expenditure, saving the merchants pockets' (at their own behest) which prompted a series of small rebellions. As the Troubles died down and trade returned to normal, however, the rebellions ceased on their own. Still, this deference to the merchant class has worried many in the duchy, who protest that the mercantile class has been elevated to become the new nobility.
Founding Date
1212 S.C.
Demonym
Wellen
Official State Religion
Neighboring Nations
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
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