Aesterwald

Formed by disenfranchised members of the Order of Saint Lucien following the arrival of the descendants in Athera. The Aesterwaldians claimed vast swathes of Northern Athera as their own.

History

Anthosian Roots

The Order of Saint Lucien was founded by Jack Rovin and Voron Rovin in Anthos, the predecessors to Aesterwald. In the OSL v Raevir war, the OSL was finally put 'on the map' as they beat back the Raevir at the battle of Savoy fields, and ultimately overthrew King Franz Carrion which ended the Carrion dynasty and began the Chivay Imperium.

Athera

The church nulled the vows of the Order of Saint Lucien. The now causeless men of the OSL joined the Imperial army. In the Imperial army, Voron Rovin was made 'Baron of Aesterwald', and eventually markgraf (marquis- or border count). The majority of the OSL then left the Imperial army due to internal struggles and decided to focus on the development of Aesterwald. The Markgraf grew quickly, having a large population, second to Petrus itself in scale.

As tensions rose from the internal struggles of the Imperial Army, Vibius de Sola a charismatic military leader rallied his followers and declared open rebellion against the crown. The Raevir, Aesterwald's long time enemy, then rallied in support for Vibius, however the Rovins and Aesterwald stayed true to their vows and maintained the defense of their emperor. The event was known as the Crossing of the Nocibur River. The Chivay Emperor fell eventually, leaving Aesterwald alone as the last remenant of the old regime. Aesterwald struck out as its own independent entity. Voron Rovin then fell ill and left Jack Rovin, his father, as regent. Jack aggravated Oren with petty border disputes and war loomed upon the horizon. Voron Rovin returned and reclaimed the throne peacefully. He witnessed the return of Iblees and took it as a course to re-unify with Oren. However Voron had a second motive. Voron Rovin knew that Oren's electorate system would crumble if Aesterwald entered as the balance would be broken. In most votes, the Raevir would have won, however with the introduction of Aesterwald as a titular kingdom, Aesterwald became a wildcard in most votes, a tie breaker and knew it would lead to civil war eventually.

As Tuvya Carrion declared King Maric a traitor for threatening to vote the Carrions out of power, an open rebellion formed. The realm became divided between loyalists and rebels with the kingdoms of Renatus and Aesterwald under King Maric and King Vorin respectively comprising the mass of the rebel force, supplementing their armies with mercenaries are the troops of other races. This rebellion caused tensions within Aesterwald and ultimately it was divided as the northern territory of Polaris declared itself in support of the crown in accordance with its vows. The forces of Polaris were easily defeated by the armies of Aesterwald as the Loyalists to the south failed to provide support. The rebellion culminated on an assault on the rebel bastion of Dragon's peak by the loyalist forces. Due to a hideous tactical error on the part of the loyalist commander innumerable numbers of loyalist troops were massacred as they attempted to scale a sheer cliff into the arrow fire of the enemy. The loyalists broke and retreted ceding victory to the rebels and eventually disbanding the empire. Aesterwald and Renatus became independent, with Aesterwald becoming the populous and influential following its collapse. During Athera, Aesterwald masterminded and headed a multi-racial alliance consisting of Dwarves, Orcs, Renatians, and the various Elven nations to coordinate a large-scale campaign against Iblees. However, the war took its toll. Voron Rovin, now titled "The Hammer",grew ill from a strange disease and died shrotly after the war- having fought literally to the death. His son, Arn Rovin, took control.

Bandits attacked constantly, and Arn initiated a Raevir exclusion act. He then instilled a schism to remove the Raevir church, however the move would cost him dearly in the future. His dwarven allies were not properly fit to fight war, and suffered heavy losses. He once again angered every other nation to fight against him, quickly draining the morale of his troops. Aesterwald met its demise when Blood-Mages assaulted the capital of Vanderfell, hoping to sacrifice its citizens. A battle raged on, Arn fleeing the scene. A giant explosion occurred in Aesterwald, destroying the entire capital with its citizens and buildings. It is the largest magical explosion to this date. Aesterwald eventually is reunited with The Kingdom of Akovia under King Andrik Vydra in 1491, and becomes the Kingdom of Oren. House Rovin is declared traitors and demanded to be brought to trial.

Geography

Aesterwald was located in the scenic northern mountains of Athera. With the capitol of Vanderfell being built around the peaks. The palace of Eagle's perch being constructed upon the summit. Around these peaks were vast forests of towering pine trees.

Duchy of Vanderfell

The Southernmost of the Triumvirate of Northern Duchies the Duchy of Vanderfell served as the gate to the north being placed directly on the road leading further north. It was perched among the northern mountains of Athera with its structures being artfully grafted to the slopes of these majestic peaks.

Duchy of Hanseti

Following the collapse of Hanseti and the dissolution of the Teutonic Order the territory of Hanseti fell into the posession of Aesterwald. Although it remained largely unpopulated it still remained under the jurisdiction of Aesterwald. It was located on the northern Haenseatic plateaus.

Duchy of Polaris

The Black sheep of Aesterwald. the Duchy of Polaris was located in the northern canyons of Athera and operated largely beyond the influence of its southern peers. It is thought that tensions arose between Polaris and Vanderfell due to the vast differences of culture between the two groups with the people of Polaris being Norlandic in contrast to the Waldenian culture of the Aesterwaldian. Ultimantely the Duchy of Polaris was consistently at odds with Aesterwald resulting in several genocides and rebellions.

County of Ayr

The County of Ayr was formed after the city of Ayr was founded on the west coast of the city of Vanderfell, upon the river Piscatorus as a port city. It would later incorporate land along the coast that was once part of the territory of Polaris.

County of Nerezza

A County of Darweigin that vassalized to Aesterwald.

Culture

A subset of Haensian that entered prominence following the collapse of Haense and the Teutonic order in Athera. Led by a series of Apostolic Kings. A great deal of the Waldenian people originated from the Order of Saint Lucien. The Waldenian people speak with a pronounced accent and are a very disciplined people. There military orders are very hierarchical and well drilled. The Waldenian people are a highly efficient and disciplined people. The House of Rovin led the Waldenians from their origins as the Order of Saint Lucien, to their height as the reigning power in Athera and to their ultmante collapse following a series of defeats at the hands of Akovian troops.

Art

Aesterwaldians tend to have vast illustrations of scenic battles or nature. They were also fond of grand portraits of their reigning monarchs.

Literature

Brief, stark and too the point. There was little entertaining literature produced by the Aesterwaldians. Most of their literature was limited to theological texts or legal documents.

Religion

The Aesterwaldian people were said to follow a form of reformed canonism due to their dislike of Raevir dominated canonism of the time. However their dogma was never clerly defined.

Random Tidbits

Trivia point 1: Heavy Germanic influence

Written by: ShimmeringBliss Edited by: Narthok Template made by: Tahmas