Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska
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The Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska, known as the Kingdom of Haense or simply Haense (New Marian: Haenz; Raevir: Henzij), is a centralized, united monarchy composed of two crowns, Hanseti and Ruska, and ruled by a single individual known as the king. Highlanders make up the majority of the population of Haense (especially Haeseni, but also Batavians, Raevir, and Norlanders) and the state claims to be the "Realm of All Highlanders". Its current capital is Markev, one of the largest human cities in Atlas, which is situated inland on the River Baltas-Czena and surrounded by the thick Wickswald. Excluding the dense urban area of the capital, the rest of the nation is mostly rural with its denizens spread out across the forests and highlands.
Both Hanseti and Ruska have existed since antiquity, yet were not unified till 1578, when Emperor John III granted Duke Peter royal pedigree and autonomous vassalage. Following the Coalition Wars, Haense became independent, fell to a brief decade of occupation by the Kingdom of Courland after the First Northern War, and subsequently regained a majority of its former borders after the victorious Second Battle of the Rothswald. Tensions grew sour with the south, which eventually culminated into sparse conflicts with several heartlander states, including Renatus. Peace was declared following the formation of the Empire of Man and after a long period of peace. War broke out once more as Haense swore allegiance to Joseph I Holy Orenian Empire and the War of the two emperors began.
Haense is a semi-absolute monarchy, with the current monarch ruling being King Marius II. Marius, who has ruled since 1707, is a member of the long-ruling and ancient Barbanov dynasty and thirteenth of its blood to rule. The king is advised by the Duma of Haense and the Aulic Council, which compose the proper Haeseni government. The military is a centralized army led by a marshal known as a Herzen Markyal (Common: Lord Marshal) and has retained a strong focus on cavalry warfare. The state religion is Canonism with an emphasis on the Prophet Sigismund and the highlander saints.
Contents
Name
The official name of the state is the Dual Monarchy of the Kingdoms of Hanseti and Ruska (New Marian: Kongzem Edaeleo ag Kusoraev; Raevir: Krolovesto Hanzeja i Ruski; High Imperial: Regnum Edelae et Raevii), which is mainly used in official documentation and legal edicts. The most common forms used are the High Imperial form and its New Marian form, while the Raevir form is rarely if ever used. Other names include the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska, used by other historians and foreign writers, the Kingdom of Haense, widely used by its own inhabitants, or just simply Haense when used in mundane conversation.
Less regarded names include Jrotheo Kongzem (literally, Joren's Kingdom), denoting the kingdom's claim as a successor of Joren Horenson's canonical northern realm and the Lands of Exalted Sigismund, an early Imperial name given to the northern lands under Emperor John I.
History
Background - Late Vydran and Early Johannian Period (1491–1578)
- See also: Northern question and Duchy of Haense
Haense's foundation is rooted in the first settlement of Raevir in Hanseti- namely in Ayr, Hiebenhall, and Drakenborg- during the waning years of the Schism War in the 1490s, when the ruling Waldenian kingdom began to crumble and Raev kossak bands took control of a vast majority of the country-side. Vanderfell, the capital of Aesterwald, would fall in 1492 to officially end the Schism War, and in its remnants a puppet state was formed under a Hansetian governor known as Otto Heinzreich. However, the nobility was almost completely replaced by newly arrived Raevir lords, such as the Barbanovs and the Kovachevs, and eventually Otto Heinzreich would be later succeeded by a Raev himself, Karl Barbanov. Karl reorganized the state, forming a true ducal realm, and it was decided to be called ‘Haense’, after ‘Hanseh’, from the biblical name of the Joren’s first and capital city during his conquests of the northmen. Karl therefore became the first ‘Duke of Haense’, a title which has suck upon the Barbanov familial holdings for generations.
In these early years, the focus was the Third Human-Dwarf War, and the Duchy of Haense became a warzone. Scattered throughout former Waldenian realm lied numerous dwarven outposts, and control of the mining and lumber industries became vital to both side’s war efforts. Famous battles include the Siege of Drakenborg and Karl’s Capture of Hiebenhall, which marked the end of dwarven occupation in the highlander realm. Hiebenhall was reconstructed into Siegrad, the first de jure capital of a Haeseni realm, and it prospered to trade on the rivers. Shortly after war ended, Karl launched new attacks upon the pagans deep in the hinterlands, pushing many out of the region (including future pagan settlers on the isle of Avar). Karl died in the Great Worm Attack of 1518, and the duchy continued into a regency led by the Hansetian Tarcell Othaman.
The War of the Ducal Coalition went into full swing following the Wett Massacre, and regent Tarcell declared for Duke Hugo Sarkozic in his bid for kingship. For majority of the war Tarcell remained near Haense, defending against numerous attempts at an invasion. Karl’s son Siguine reached of age near the middle of the war, and when Hugo died mere months after his fourteenth nameday, he was elected the Duke of Adria and Lord Paramount of the Coalition. Many Haeseni soldiers followed Siguine south to Brelus, where Siguine suffered defeats both at the Blackwald then Barrowyk. Brelus soon after was sacked and destroyed by royalist forces, and the Ducal Coalition admitted surrender the following day.
Despite this, Tarcell remained stubborn in rebellion and continued to be defiant till his untimely death a year after in 1522. The Haeseni soldiers, now without a leader, fell quickly to an Orenian company led by the northman Jan Kovachev, who later was granted a fair majority of Haense’s ducal lands. This status quo did not remain long, however, and the Horen Restoration in 1526 saw Haense once again reorganized into the rump state of Carnatia, given to the Sarkozic-claimant Otto Sarkozic. The imperial reformations gave a short spurt of peace in the hinterlands, but soon it once again came to disorder. Throughout previous empires, there has been at least one form of autonomous highlander state, and many looked who it would be led by. The hinterlands during this were split three-way- Carnatia, the heartlander-controlled Courland, and the Horen principality of Alamar. The Duke of Carnatia and Viscount of Alamar came to an agreement known as the Sigismund’s Day Compromise, to form an autonomous realm with the emperor as king. However, they did not include the Duke of Courland, and the proposed government never came to be.
The Eighteen Years’ War stretched a good majority of this time, which gained the mixed Raevir-Hansetian Carnatians a military tradition. Two of the war’s most famous commanders, Jan Kovachev and Josef Vladov, came from their ilk. The Capture of Avar under Josef Vladov was also a celebrated success in Carnatia, and the company known as the Carnatian Hussar gained rapid fame throughout the imperial army. What became now known as ‘the Northern Question’ ripped apart relations between the two power-houses of the hinterlands, Haense and Courland. The return of the Barbanov-claimant Petyr to Carnatia and the Duke of Courland’s illegal seizure of Kraken’s Watch (a fief owned by the Vanir family) sparked the bloody Riga War. Command was given to Petyr Barbanov, supported by talented commanders such as Jan Kovachev, Fiske Vanir, and the later Palatine Rickard Barrow. The war ended in a Haeseni victory at the Sacking of Riga in 1564. Petyr look the position of Lord Governor of the North by the imperial government, and he helped lead the pacification of the Krajian Rebellion from 1565 to 1576.
Haense’s most famous victories during the entirety of the Anarchy include the Sacking of Riga, which ended the Riga War, the Battle of Krajia in 1570, raiding and looting the de facto capital of the hetmans, and the Standoff at Eroch River, where Rickard Barrow bravely saved the imperial crown prince. Only two years after the submission of the hetmans, Petyr was granted the crowns of both Hanseti and Ruska, to which he called after his ducal seat: ‘Haense’. Historians consider this the founding moments of what is to be the ‘Haeseni people’, a culture that is not wholly Raevir or Hansetian.
War of the Timbers
Dukes' War
- See Also: Dukes' War
Horen Restoration
- See Also: Horen Restoration
Late Johannian and Early Pertinaxian Period (1578–1655)
With now total legal control over most of the hinterlands, Haense expanded immensely. New fortifications, villages, cities, and estates were constructed throughout the valleys of the Greyspine. New Marian was adopted as the official tongue of the nation (though Raev Iliyric was still used in rare occasions). Karlsborg was constructed as a planned city under the direction of Rickard Barrow, designated to be a true Haeseni royal capital. He also designed the palace of Ottostadt, the first home of the royal family. Petyr only ruled for four years, and though it was a large blow to the nation, his popular son Andrik II took the throne. Haense continued to blossom and thrive, its population boomed, and its culture thrived.
In 1585, Andrik II was supposedly disrespected by the reigning emperor at the time, John IV. In rage, he killed the emperor, then fled north to commence the short-lived Deep Cold Uprising. It ended quickly in 1586 by a pro-Imperialist faction led by Sergey Kovachev, the Duke of Carnatia, and he forced Andrik II to abdicate to his infant son Marius. Andrik was later captured by the veterans of the Carnatian Hussar, and he was boiled in milk by the insane emperor Philip. Andrik’s brother and Marius’ uncle Karl Sigmar took power as regent, and unlike his father and elder brother, he could not rally the nobility behind him. His centralization efforts with the military was an intense struggle, and numerous lords were placed in power due to personal relations with the monarchy rather than true talent. By Marius’ accession as king in 1598, the nobility forced him out of court.
The nobility of the time was controlled by two main factions- the Sergeyists and the Andrivists, who quarreled for control. A small royalist faction under Stefan Bihar and later Lukas Vanir existed, though it struggled to keep the peace maintained between both sides. Throughout all the political turmoil, Haeseni culture continued into its golden age, producing countless works and the creation of the first proper Haeseni language, known as New Marian. Marius attempted nationalization of his country, and he reached some success, and continued the vast effort of colonizing the Haeseni hinterlands. He founded countless cities, roads, and forts, though majority soon after left abandoned following the coming war.
A few short rebellions, such as the Brawn Rebellion in 1600, but the nation resumed a tenuous peace. To the south, the empire had fallen to the Coalition Wars, and was divided amongst the ruling warlords. Due to multiple diplomatic blunder, include the Haeseni councilor Diedrik Barrow’s murder of one of their princes entered Haense into the First Northern War. The military of Haense at this was disorganized and weak, the blunder of Branimar Vanir’s command taken its toll. Both at the battles of Elba and Vasiland, Haense experienced bloody defeat, and soon the monarchy of Marius left in exile to an allied court.
The loss of the nation is perhaps one of the greatest forces which bonded the now divided Haeseni people, when occupied by Heartlander warlords. Much of the nobility fled to the southern city of Mardon, where Marius made his court-in-exile. The lower nobility and minor landowners stayed, however, and there grew a great friction between the highlander natives and now newly-arriving heartlander colonists. In a pact led by the Count of Ayr, Eirik Baruch, and the Rutherns of Metterden, short incursions began, which soon spread wildfire throughout the former Haeseni realm. The exiled government soon took interested, and now in leadership of Stefan Barbanov, they met at the climax of the Second Battle of the Rothswood, where the occupier’s army was annihilated, chased by the soldiers of Harren van Metterden.
The first true Karovic duma in years began, and the Karovic houses met to choose a new king. The Ruthern, a primary combatant in the war, wanted their own as king, yet the royalist faction wished for a return of the Barbanovs. In a landslide victory, Stefan won and was elected king, appointed numerous famous officials such as Henrik Bihar and Alessa Grendok. In the beginning, raids by the western pagans were common, though after the brief Battles of Rostig and Alban, they halted further incursions. Palatine Henrik Bihar oversaw the construction of the new capital of Alban (the former Karlsborg was destroyed following the war) and vast reforms spread throughout the state. Despite imperial losses to the south, the Haense state militarily rebounded dramatically, and due to the Pruvian Inheritance the economy boomed. Alban thrived under Stefan and his two successors, Otto I and Otto II, and Haense continued to maintain themselves as one of the dominant powers in the human realms. Barbanov grew to become a wealthy family not only in terms of their own realm and came to exhibit strong influence.
Otherwise in the brief conflicts on the Vasiland Coast during the War of the Beards in the Siege of Kraken’s Watch in 1635, Haense remained relatively peaceful, while the south was rocked by scandals such as the Adelburg Coup. Otto II joined the Third Crusade, helping remove the pagan threats to the west, and constructed the new capital, known to the present day as Markev. When his son Otto III took the throne, he greatly expanded both Markev and his new palace of Krepost. However, the cultural golden age was running on fumes, and as tensions increased between the heartlander states and Haense, war came to everyone’s mind. For a decade, no conflict happened, though intense diplomatic meetings did not help the situation. In 1653, conflict broke, and while initial successes were had, the Curon front was decimated by their opponents. Belvitz, one of the main trading partners with Markev and the main breadbasket of humanity, was cut off by embargo from the Horen crown. By 1654, the capital of Markev experienced famine and later the Great Plague of 1654, which decimated the populace. Both Otto III and his heir (though on mysterious circumstances) died due to this plague, which left the realm to his second son Karl II.
Deep Cold Uprising
- See Also: Deep Cold Uprising
Coalition Wars and Occupation
- See Also: First Northern War
Greyspine Rebellion
- See Also: Greyspine Rebellion
Pertinaxian Period (1655-present)
Culture and society
The Kingdom of Haense revolves around the Highlander culture, this is reflected in the appearance, language and uses of its citizens.
Haeseni Chess Is an often played game, it has a varied set of rules depending on the house but the royal standard is commonly the one picked between friends.
Demographics
Religion
The Diocese of Jorenus is the official title held by the Haeseni Archbishopric.
The Church of the Canon is the official religion of the kingdom.
The Cult of Sant Sigmund is a cult situated in the kingdom.
Politics
Aulic Council
The Aulic Council is a form of privy council that is personally assembled by the ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Haense and active during the reign of a sovereign.
Military
Historically, Haense has primarily (and currently does) maintained a centralized army, led either by the Lord Marshal or another figure, with additional levy reserves supplied by noble estates and urban militia.
Succession of the throne
Haense follows semi-strict primogeniture succession, with only males and sons of females having right to inheritance. The son of the current King would be next in line to the throne. Should the firstborn bear no sons, then the secondborn's sons shall inherit. If there are no males left in the dynasty, then the sons of females would inherit. However, females may not inherit the crown.
The succession of the Royal Throne is maintained in the House of Bihar, a cadet of the House of Barbanov, which itself is from the figure King Peter I, whom derives his line from Emperor Alexander I, son of Emperor Tobias I, and therefore the direct line of the Prophet Sigismund.
Geography
The Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska lies to the southern tundra of Atlas, where snow and cold weather are abundant, bordering the Princedom of Fenn to the south, the Kingdom of Marna to the north, and the Kingdom of Santegia to the northeast. The long and deep Czena River surrounds the southwestern border of the Kingdom, with the kingdom's western border guarded by the Grendock Mountains. The capital of Markev lies along the eastern shore of the Czena River, just beside the Lake Jan, and does not shy away from its concentrated highlander culture.
Coat of Arms
The royal coat of arms consists of 16 quarterings and symbolises the two kingdoms under one king, and its roots. The iron crown and shackles depicted recognises the roots from Saint Joren of Paradisius, the first King of the Highlanders, who was locked away by his brother Harren to claim his land. Houses Kovachev and Carrion are also depicted, with Carrion being the parent house of Kovachev. The golden crow on black represents Tuvic, a link to the Holy Orenian Emperor Alexander I, further highlighting the strong connections between the Holy Orenian Empire and the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska. Other arms depicted include those of Ostrovic, Rovin of Ayr, and Hanseti.
The royal blazon was as follows:
- Quarterly, first and fourth quartered: first and fourth Sable a crow Or (for Tuvic); second Gules a crow Sable (for Carrion); third reversed party per pall: first Gules a phoenix Argent (for Ostrovic), second Sables two griffin rampant Gules (for Kovachev), and third Or eagle Sable with Argent bend (for Rovin of Ayr). Second and third party per pale: first party per fess: first Or a eagle Sable (for Ayr), second Argent a teutonic cross Sable against Or (for Hanseti); and second Azure a circlet Argent above broken shackles (of Saint Joren of Paradisius). For a crest, a circlet Or, jewelled with five breeches of bear or oyster plant leaves, three shown, with Lorraine cross Or and gems Azure on points Or inserted (the Hanseti-Ruska royal crown). For supporters angels Argent.
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