Grand Kingdom of Shirion
History
The Grand Kingdom of Shirion was founded in 1006 S.C., and was the oldest, grandest, and longest-lived of the Middle Kingdoms of the South. In 1006 S.C., the south was divided amongst squabbling regions of the degenerated Old Kingdoms, the last of which had been shattered by a giant invasion in 995 S.C. An ambitious duke of the Duchy of Shirion began expanding his realm and after twenty years of conquest had managed to unify much of the region, pushing back the giants somewhat. This staunch force allowed other dukes and princes to forge their own realms, as Shirion bore the brunt of attacks. Despite being the main defender of Halflingkind in the south, the Kingdom was never truly able to stop the giants on its own, since giants are four to five times as tall as halflings. Thus, the giants still controlled a sizeable amount of lands mainly populated by halflings.
Enter humanity. While humans had been known to the halflings for around 2 thousand years at this point, in the early 1000s S.C. there were very few to none in the southern lands, most being consolidated in the north. However, one king had a genius idea: hire human mercenaries to fight the giants, and grant them the lands the took. This ensured that there would be a militaristic culture of humans on the border of Shirion as the first line of defense against giants. The plan took 800 years of on-and-off warfare, land conquered, lost, and eventually taken back once more as various kings leaned into or ignored the settlement system, but by 1925 S.C. the final troll strongholds to the east of the mountains had fallen and the kingdom was finally at peace, completing the Shirioni portion of the Halflings Reconquests.
Enter humanity. While humans had been known to the halflings for around 2 thousand years at this point, in the early 1000s S.C. there were very few to none in the southern lands, most being consolidated in the north. However, one king had a genius idea: hire human mercenaries to fight the giants, and grant them the lands the took. This ensured that there would be a militaristic culture of humans on the border of Shirion as the first line of defense against giants. The plan took 800 years of on-and-off warfare, land conquered, lost, and eventually taken back once more as various kings leaned into or ignored the settlement system, but by 1925 S.C. the final troll strongholds to the east of the mountains had fallen and the kingdom was finally at peace, completing the Shirioni portion of the Halflings Reconquests.
Disbandment
The fall of the Grand Kingdom of Shirion is a tragic story. By the 1980s S.C., the nation had begun having serious issues with land distribution. Namely, most of the land in the kingdom was owned by halflings and most of that land was owned by the nobility. The human settlers, having defeated almost every stronghold of trolls to the east of the mountains and no longer gaining more land, had begun to settle down and start true communities, but were rather disconnected from the rest of the kingdom. Though there were certainly human communities in the east of the country, they lacked land of their own, most being serfs to the powerful nobles. Thus, there were two disunited groups of humans, both wanting a greater piece of the pie. In contrast, the nobility wished to entrench their dominance over the lands controlled by humans, seeing their freedom and swiftly growing population as an existential threat to the halflings in the kingdom. The troubles all began in 1981 S.C., when a group of humans kidnapped a rich baron who they claimed was arbitrary, cruel, and racist, demanding a ransom for his release. The crown would immediately send negotiators to try to diffuse the situation, sensing the danger, but the negotiators were killed en route. Enraged by both the diplomacy strategy and humans in general, the nobility charged their personal soldiers with attacking and destroying the humans. They did so with a scorched-earth tactic that left the town of rebels a scorching ruin and its population dead. This strategy enraged the humans, and claiming that the crown had done nothing to stop the nobility, humanity rose up, killing and expelling as they went. This existential threat angered the king who ordered the rebellion destroyed. However, the king's forces, which still contained many humans (since, unlike the nobility, the crown had not been replacing humans with halflings), was unacceptable to the nobility, and they deposed the king, arresting him and his soldiers before establishing a council of nobles in late 1982 S.C. The nobility, now in control of most of the country, waged a violent racial war against humans hell-bent on doing the same to them. However, in 1983, the king and the remnants actual army of the kingdom, all halflings now, since the humans had been executed, was able to escape imprisonment and rally loyalists. The return of the king made the civil war even more chaotic, as disorganized and disconnected rebel groups started popping up. However, the population of the region had become extremely radicalized and so the king had a very small base of supporters. Though he succeeded in taking back the capital city, Ibairon, his forces were unable to support the campaigns and royalists soon lost control over all but the capital. By this point the civil war had become a free for all, as both the human and halfling sides of the war began splitting around 1987 S.C. and by 1989 S.C. were a complete mess. Over the next 6 years the civil war began to die down as groups had begun to struggle to feed their soldiers, the countryside was in ruins and entire regions lay devastated by pogroms. The few groups which still had any sort of military capabilities swallowed up the remnants of those who did not, and by early 1997 S.C. the war had all but ended. These uneasy halts in battlefield action lasted one year, then two, then three, and so by 2000 S.C. the the destruction of the countryside means that no side really has the energy to fight any more. Perhaps one day one of the shattered remnants may reunify the nation, but until that day the nation is split forever asunder.
DISBANDED/DISSOLVED
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