Kingdom of Ardania

Our lands have had a long and bloody history, but we forged a powerful nation of culture and industry under one kingdom for all to prosper under. - King Carmichael the Wise

Structure

A monarch and nobility rule the kingdom, each having their say in matters of state. Over eight ranks decide each person's status in the kingdom.
King/Queen: House Kasval has ruled the kingdom since its founding, making it the most powerful House in the kingdom. Their rule is law, and many kings and queens who sat on the throne ensured it stayed that way.
Vemer/Vemerse: They are the highest-ranking nobles, second only to the royal family. They have large amounts of sway over politics and land in the kingdom known as Vemerons. They are among the few who can raise armies from their vassals and collect taxes from those who rule under them.
Banor/Banoress: They are considered the defenders of the realm as their lands are on the borders of the kingdom known as Banordoms. Which are heavily fortified and allowed to have small armies to defend the borders when needed. Allowing them to have a significant influence in court both politically and militarily.
Herrshal/Herrshalma: They are the in-between of the nobility that make up most of the nobility and controlling Herrshales that make up most of the kingdom. Most are vassals of higher-ranking nobles and often fight each other over lands and raise their titles.
Dushal/Dushalma: Rather than playing a role in the kingdom's political situation, they are assistants to the Herrshals in their duties in their lands. They often lived in their lands and acted as administrators to ensure their subjects followed their laws.
Keyshal/Keyshalma: The lowest rank in nobility, they own only a tiny fief and are often under the control of higher-ranking members of nobility as their vassals. Though they are small, they can have more freedom and command soldiers.
Galos/Galess: These are often minor nobles living inside other nobles' lands as vassals, usually holding a castle or manor. Some either have control of military assets or financial wealth.
Durnon/Durnonit: They are landowners who are not nobility; their wealth allows them certain rights and freedoms. They are allowed to do with it as they please and can grant specific rights on their lands.

Culture

What you see before you is a nation founded on the principles of unity and tolerance; though it still exists, it has been divided by social class and wealth. Causing these values to lose their meaning as the people are trapped in the plots and schemes of their rulers.- Royal Scholar

Being a Member

So you are a part of the illustrious kingdom of the south, huh? A place where the food is plentiful, and the rulers are far from their subjects. Well, what you might think is a better life from The Empire or any other place is not quite so as it is nothing more than a gilded cage. The golden age that once existed in these lands is long gone, and you are trapped in whatever life you are born into, all because of who your parents are. What once was a nation of values has since been in centuries of decline and trapped in political turmoil by its nobility and those trying to overthrow them. The noble live the easy life as they live off what their subjects sow and often get away with whatever they want. But most of them will end up dead from rivalries and wars at some point or another. Cause the nation to fall apart as the House of Kasval loses its influence over them. Corruption and deception are common among them, as well as among the public officials that they control.
The people, or should I say the peasants for that matter, are down in the dirt as they have no say in what goes on in the courts of nobles. They are just stuck in their current life unless they do something, or someone takes an interest in them to become something more significant than ever before. If it's to become a priest or even a knight, being born with magic can be beneficial in some cases, too. Your life revolves around several things: the job your parents had, the lord you serve, and how much land you control. All those factors can make your life comfortable or a living hell. Of course, there are also the bandits and thieves that are running about as well that you have to be careful about since they can raise you home to the ground and beat you to the brink of death if you are lucky. You also have to deal with your neighbors sometimes, and there are so many cultural groups in the kingdom that it may cause arguments and fighting if things get out of hand.

What People think of You

Being a part of the kingdom means that you are considered utterly foreign to the rest of the world as it is isolated from the world due to its geography. Merchants outside the kingdom consider you a business venture as you may have resources unique to the south worth selling. You are also considered a symbol of defiance as the Vatian Empire does not conquer you and remains a part of a fully independent nation away from imperial rule. But for those who do know how the kingdom works, they consider you a part of a chaotic and lawless land, as conflict tends to pop up every few decades and leave the region in ruins. In other words, a nation is on the verge of ruin and collapse from internal struggles.

Public Agenda

The kingdom only wishes to maintain its sovereignty and power in the south and eliminate internal and external threats to that sovereignty.

Assets

House Kasval: The Royal house keeps the kingdom together amongst its various nobles and people. It has large amounts of political influence, and its military, the Royal Army, is one of the best-equipped forces in the land.
Great Houses of Ardania: These are amongst the most influential and powerful members of the kingdom's aristocracy. They hold large swaths of lands, resources, and military forces that aid in maintaining the various regions of the kingdom and the houses under them.
Noble Houses: The minor members of the aristocracy who make up the majority of land owners in the kingdom. Their duties are to maintain, tax, and protect their lands for their liege lords, who rule over them.
Border Guard: Armed forces that ensure the kingdom's borderlands are protected from all threats outside of it. Each of its three branches has many resources and defenses to hold off an attack from all these edges of civilization.

History

The Joining of Two Kingdoms

For over eight hundred years since the fall of First Kingdom of Men, the lands known as Carathas would be divided for seven long centuries of endless war by rivaling petty kingdoms until finally two remained, the Kingdoms of Arda and Dania remained as the sole powers in the region waging many wars with no clear victor. What would be a shock for both sides would be the sudden marriage proposal between their monarchs, King Hendrik of Arda and Queen Kerena of Dania. This, of course, was met with some opposition with attempted assassinations and a string of coups that followed, known as the Reforged Union. Yet they would escape with a young, energetic bard known as Kasval and reclaim their thrones. Rather than taking the names of their respective houses, they would build a new Royal was known as House Kasval after their savior. Through this marriage, a kingdom united all Carathas, which would take on a new name, Ardania, to honor the merging of the two kingdoms.
It was then that an era of peace would not be seen in centuries as wars had ceased under the new monarchy, with much of the old ways fading and new things taking their place. A new capital would be made to hold the kingdom together known as Asron, powers were divided among the Great Houses of Ardania to maintain the peace across the land. Its people would no longer see its neighbors as enemies, but as kin as all were Ardanian now. Laws were put in place to protect its people from the corruption and cruelty of their nobles, with all being treated relatively under their rule. However, the most important of all these was that they began to expand their minds to bring forth a better future for themselves for many generations.

Advancement and Reform

Over the centuries, the kingdom adapted and evolved to new ideas and the discarding of outdated methods and superstitions. Allowing it to become highly advanced in the sciences and the progress of society. Commoners prospered more and better understood the world around them. Schools were created to teach improved methods and practices of their selected occupations. New forms of technology were often seen throughout the land as the greatest minds of the Order of Sciences would devise various ways to create machines and tools to improve productivity and resource harvesting. However, they also dealt with making weapons and magic applications, eventually bringing a golden age to the kingdom that would last over three centuries. This is all the more reason to continue funding the projects that the thinkers had and see them blossom into something extraordinary.
Power would also be redistributed amongst the members of the nobility, and new laws were created that dealt with more severe issues, such as claims on lands, restrictions of warfare, and taxation. These laws would unite to make one of the kingdom's most successful legal documents, the Laws of Fealty. While seen as controversial to some for its repression of rights for its nobility, it would ensure a more stable peace without causing open warfare to engulf the land on a large scale for decades. Keeping many of its aristocracy to maintain standards of rulership under the crown's authority. All this ensured the need for order, with so many individuals having the ambition to gain more power.

Ruled By Blood In Isolation

The kingdom's nobles control many aspects of the nation since their families have ruled many parts of these lands for centuries. Meaning that from the day they were born, they were destined to rule. This does not always end well with other Houses that rule the kingdom. Small-scale wars have been known to happen in the old days, but since the kingdom's founding, it has become a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. This has led nobles to either deal with rivalries in a court of law or covertly in the shadows when no one is looking. The courts of the nobility are full of vipers and wolves waiting to take advantage of anything or anyone to further their influence. However, when conflict occurs between houses openly, it is often done on the battlefield and by specific rules to end such arguments. As for the people who live under them, they must live by their rules and follow them accordingly or face their wrath. Most rulers often leave the management to members of their courts, and the people are usually content with that. Yet very few of its ruling class deal with politics outside the kingdom's territory, mainly stemming from their long history of isolation.
The kingdom has one of the more peculiar existence in the Western Lands as it has remained isolated for several millennia and has little to deal with the nations that have come and gone during that time. Because of its geography, its people deal with their problems at home rather than in the land beyond. Resulting in some xenophobia among the population as they have no understanding of the customs and traditions of foreigners in their lands. Though very few of them even came to the kingdom, they usually only dealt in trading. It is also why the kingdom's borders are fortified; having to deal with problems in their lands already, they might as well prepare for any distant threats that might want to knock at their door.

The Decline

In later centuries, the loss of power from House Kasval would cause the land to fall into disarray. The nobility seized control over land and territory without anyone to stop them. Wars became more common as they fought one another across the land and littered it with the dead. Even taking advantage of the people they swore to protect for personal gain, allowing corruption to run rampant. This has caused the people to lose faith in the government as they continue to suffer because of it. This led to several rebellions and revolts that challenged the kingdom's authority, the most famous in recent memory being Roderick's Rebellion
Though they would all be put down in the end, the tension between the nobles and the people has continued to flare up from time to time like a festering wound that never properly healed. It continues to cause problems for many lords in their lands, especially if they are doing terribly at their jobs. There have been many cases of an angry mob storming a lord's castle and mounting his head on a pike for all to see over the last few decades. This has weakened the kingdom as the turmoil within has started to show its ugly head. Leading to a rotting realm that only values power and authority over everything else.

Disbandment

The kingdom fell to the might of the Vatian Empire after waging a four-year-long war during the War of the Raptors. Its entire government collapsed, and the survivors who served it either died or submitted to imperial rule.

Demography and Population

Populations are divided into the territories of the rulers of these lands, along with settlements within them under their control. This can range from a few hundred people in small villages to hundreds of thousands in cities. This is also attributed to the occupations and the resources in the reason as farmers need large amounts of land to grow crops and need only a few dozen people. While mines need hundreds of people to harvest resources from them.

Territories

The territory of the entire kingdom make up the whole south of Kineth which is also called Ardania. All of which has been under their control for thousands of years. They hold some land in the lower areas of the Spine Ridge Mountains to security from barbarians that raid the region from time to time.

Military

The military is divided into three groups: the Royal Army, the Border Guard, and the Vassal military.

Royal

by Jester%

The royal army is a force to be reckoned with as it is the most tremendous fighting force in the land. They are recruited from all kingdom lands to make up the army and are loyal to House Kasval. With the resources of the royal family, they can train and equip their troops much better than most lords in the kingdom. They are often only called when an all-out war, be it an invasion or rebellion, has been declared. A royal navy is used similarly but deals more with pirates.

Border Guard

by Jester%

While the nobles protect the inland, the borders are often where all the real dangers show themselves, with several groups created to protect the kingdom's borders. These groups comprise the border guarded, a mix between the royals and the vassals. While Banors control territory on the borders and are sworn to defend it from all dangers, the royals also have a say in matters that affect these regions as it could lead to the danger coming inland if they are not properly dealt with. This is why a mix of funding from the lord and the royals ensures the borders are secure through specialized soldiers. Equipment and tactics differ between each border; only use what they need to defend themselves properly. They considered some of the more experienced fighters of the kingdom as they saw more action on the border than anywhere else. Three groups protect these borders, the Forest Guard, Mountain Guard and Sea Guard.

Vassal

by Jester%

Vassals are limited in their number of soldiers due to their rank; this can vary from a dozen to thousands. Their equipment differs as well, depending on the finances of the lord that they serve. They are often used to protect their lord's lands and preserve peace. The experience of the soldiers in their designated territories usually has to conflict in the area. Most lords rarely have seasoned soldiers; instead, using conscripts from their populations to serve them as they can not afford to pay them.

Technological Level

Ardania was an advanced nation that, at one point, even rivaled the Vatian Empire. They managed to create sophisticated weapons, armor, and siege equipment for warfare, along with advancements in agriculture and mining to improve the output of their resources. Roads can be found all across the land, connecting to well-crafted towns or magnificent cities.

Religion

The Exalted was founded in the kingdom, and it quickly became dominant in only a few centuries. All other religions are forbidden in the kingdom and are demonized by the Luminarium of the Exalted

Foreign Relations

The kingdom has been in isolation for much of its history, with only traders coming to the region by sea as the Great Forest blocks much of the north and not many people travel through it. This is why it generally was only in trade and didn’t do much with the political situation of the Western Lands as it usually did not affect them.

Agriculture & Industry

The kingdom mainly comprises farmland used to grow crops and raise livestock. This allowed for food to be plentiful across the kingdom, which had many different varieties of crops and animals. Fishing exists but is not in significant demand as it is deemed unimportant. The region's industry is mainly made up of mining, wood, medicine, cash crops, and pelts, as they are abundant across the land. Allowing those who control these industries to become wealthy.

Trade & Transport

Trade is often done by sea using large cargo ships as very few roads can be used to travel to the northern lands of the west.

Education

Peasants

Education is often for young people to learn when they cannot do average jobs. Doing so will help them become more productive and innovative, which will help them later in life. These children would be under the tutelage of a community member, such as an elder, scholar, or priest who can read and write. They are often taught to read and write, with some understanding of how the kingdom works and some history, along with some math classes. This usually lasts until they are old enough to help their parents. This does not end with children either; adults must attend class when given new equipment to use correctly in their jobs. This is often done by an instructor sent by the government who knows how it properly works. This also happens when an adult has to change their occupation or their social position is elevated.

Nobles

Those born to rule must have the proper knowledge to do so. This is why they are taught when they can understand things by a tutor or tutors often teach them. Usually, wealthy nobles hire differently so their children can learn more than one aspect better. They are often taught about politics, history, warfare, manners, etc. This lasts until they reach adulthood or pass their classes earlier. By doing this, they are better prepared to rule when the title is finally passed down to them, and they can be effective at what they do. Of course, not all children listen to their classes and often do what they want when their parents are not looking, causing trouble later in their lives due to their lack of skills.

Infrastructure

Many settlements span the kingdom, from the largest cities to the smallest hamlet. Of course, these significantly differ in who has what, as smaller settlements have little to no infrastructure while larger settlements have large amounts of it.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

May All Become One

-858 BCA - 1528 CA

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Asron, the Royal Captial

Alternative Names

The Kingdom, Southern Kingdom

Demonym

Ardanian

Ruling Organization

Great Houses of Ardania

Founders

• Kasval

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Market economy

Currency

Coins are used and are divided into gold, silver and bronze.

Major Exports

Food, metal, and made goods as many people seek to acquire them.

Major Imports

The kingdom only allows exotic imports to enter their territory as they do not need average goods as they are already in possession of them.

Legislative Body

Ardanian Aristocracy

Judicial Body

Royal court of Judgement

Executive Body

King

Official State Religion

Luminarium of the Exalted

Subsidiary Organizations

• Forest Guard
• Great Houses of Ardania
• House Kasval
• Sea Guard

Location

Ardania

Related Ranks & Titles

• Banor

Controlled Territories

• Genderly
• Whitewood

Neighboring Nations

• Kingdom of Vatia

Organization Vehicles

• War Wagon

Notable Members

• Denarus Gedeli

Related Species

• Humans

Related Ethnicities

• Ardanian

Power of Blood

by Jester%

You have to understand, son, you are a farmer because your family comes from a long line of farmers, and our lord comes from a long line of lords, meaning that it's in our blood to do what you do best, and we can't get rid of it no matter hard we try. - Farmer Explaining To His Young Son

Bloodlines mean everything in the kingdom as they define who you are and your rank in society. You are stuck with your current status with only a few situations that can raise or descend it. Along with only having the benefits and pitfalls that come with it, three social statuses divide these groups across the kingdoms.

by Jester%

Pure Bloods: They are the descendants of Bannerlords and kings who ruled Ardania in ancient times and granted them the titles their families have today. Many of them are high-ranking nobles and state members who continue to maintain their importance through power and influence.

by Jester%

Halfbloods: They are the between, as their ancestors have some influence, but their families are mixed with mud blood. They are often minor nobles and wealthy landowners with varying statuses in what they can achieve with their positions.

by Jester%

Mud Bloods: As the name implies, mud bloods have no power in government or say in society. They make up the peasants of the land and often must obey the will of their lords. They can have more power only if granted a rank or title should they be able to prove themselves valuable enough through intelligence and skill.

Turmoil From Within

by Jester%

I have seen seven wars in the last twenty years and have lost three houses, a wife, and two sons. All of these were caused by border struggles between noblemen who wanted more than they didn’t already have. - Old Farmer

War has been more common in the last few centuries than it ever was before. The many existing ruling houses have been fighting each other for control of rights and territory. Though many of these happened between minor lords, there have been some larger-scale ones from time to time that have caused certain regions to suffer greatly. The people often suffer because of this, as their homes are raided, and their livelihoods are left in ruins.

Beyond the Border

by Jeter%

Going out beyond the borders is no easy feat for any man; your life could end at any moment if you are not prepared to do what must be done to survive. - Veteran Ranger

Since its founding, the kingdom has always been defensive of its borders as they surround some of the most dangerous regions in the Western Lands.

by Jester%

To the north, the Great Forest is full of foreign and familiar dangers. Here, the Forest Guard watches the vast green wilderness and keeps the peace as best as possible.

by Jester%

To the east, The Spine with barbarians and other ferocious beasts. The Mountain Guard stand vigilant in their fortress to hold back any threat that might come down.

by Jester%

The rest leads out to sea, which leads to the Hyperion Isles, the Gulf of Traders, and the Great Blue. These areas are notorious for pirates and sea monsters. The Sea Guard is sailing these dangerous waters to ensure all can safely travel.

Magic in the Courts

by Jester%

Magic is something we can’t fully control, which is why we have wizards in our service to help us gain control of it as best we can and to our purposes. - Crafty Noble

Individuals born in the kingdom with magic have the right to sit in a noble’s court due to their value and knowledge as advisors in all things arcane. Those who gain a seat often have significant influence over decisions and the ear of the lord they serve. Allowing them to live comfortably and be protected as long as they are in their service. Though few mages give their services, conflict and corruption have caused them to seclude themselves from the nobility’s politics in protected mage settlements or isolated regions of Ardania.