West Oleandron
West Oleandron was a successor state to the mighty Empire of Oleandron, in possession of the mighty city of Isileum- capital of the Empire since 266 SC. Besides the imperial capital itself, West Oleandron was given governing power over "everything west of Cycladiand", the name modern Blazennia bore at the time. Although in name a large region, in practice it was largely depopulated and devoid of economic potential. West Oleandron only ever controlled the region of Fjalla and the northernmost parts of Alcedina, corresponding to the surroundings of Isileum.
West Oleandron never had a particularly large human population and therefore was unable to support itself. This ended up being a blessing, however, as the state was spared the brutal wars of the east. West Oleandron was essentially defunct by 784, but was technically still in existence as a rump state until the overthrowal of the military government in 788.
History
West Oleandron was founded in 774, by decision of the human militarists who had ruled the nation since the Coup of '67. Although Isileum had remained the capital of the country, the vast majority of the nation's resources were in the eastern half of the Empire, and communication between the two made it impossible to rule from Isileum. Therefore, the military leadership abandoned Isileum for the city of Oleandron itself, leaving behind approximately a third of the military high command in the west. A loyal and unambitious general named Ardolix Scalifor was placed in charge of the new West Oleandron, as it was believed that he would keep the west at least nominally loyal to the Empire. Unfortunately, the situation began to fall apart almost immediately. Unlike East Oleandron, which had the benefit of the Treaty of Cycladiand to at least discourage further expansion from The Westsfall, West Oleandron was still totally overrun. The Erleting invaders, unlike the early Blazennians, had been ceded no land from the Empire, and were actively engaged in pillaging the countryside. With little more than garrison units in the, West Oleandron had essentially no ability to project power.
Although the Imperial Magical Academy was reopened and Western students were allowed to attend, this was nearly immediately cut short by the 777 Bastellíon Uprsing, which saw the majority of Fjalla revolt. The already overstretched western military units were now in grave danger from the elven rebels, and with their hands tied were barely able to defend themselves, much less retaliate. To make matters worse, in 783, East Oleandron collapsed into their own civil war, leaving the west totally without aid. This would prompt the halflings of Fjalla to make their own independence call in 784, signing a border treaty with the elves and ensuring the two new states were at peace. West Oleandron, was now without its main farming and taxpaying areas and consequently had no money to maintain their army any longer. Many of the original forces raised in 767 had long since been demobilized in the 20 years since the uprising, and the rapidly falling population left ineffective levies as the only method of raising troops, which was infeasible if West Oleandron wanted a harvest. The collapsing military situation saw Erleting tribes sweep into the area and reach Isileum itself before being driven back by the citizens of the city, including elves and halflings. Despite this victory, General Scalifor's failure in reclaiming any land whatsoever saw him overthrown in 788; the rebels citing gross negligence and military failure, alongside what they saw as unjust racial policies- although Scalifor was too spineless to enforce the draconian laws the East put in place, the barring of nonhumans from the military was seen as the main reason for the fall of the West. The rebellion would form the multicultural Free City of Isileum, which lasted far longer than the republic ever did.
Comments