[Hider=Kingdom on the Ardäin][center]
[h1]Kinnekräich op de Ardäin[/h1]
[h2]Kingdom on the Ardäin[/h2]

[img]http://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/thumb/4/40/Qoherys.png/250px-Qoherys.png[/img]

[h3]Nation Overview[/h3]
The Kingdom on the Ardäin is a kingdom with a long and storied history along the banks of the Ardäin river. Though the land on the banks of the Ardäin are rich and fertile, the power of the kingdom has been in a long decline over the years and it is far from its zenith. The simple reason being that most of the Ardäinesch nobility stand stubbornly in the face of progress, clinging desperately to the old ways of chivalry and knighthood. The armies of the kingdom of are varying quality due to their adherence to a feudal system, and still field armies filled with the rabble of the levies and the heavily armoured knights of the nobility. It is also a place of great oppression, with many of the Ardäinesch King instituting laws designed specifically to limit any power the serfs may have. This has resulted in the Ardäin's slow decline, which is only amplified by the Kingdom's internal problems. Still holding fast to feudalism the King has to deal not only with enemies from outside the Kingdom, but from the scheming of the powerful nobility as well. And the current King, Alois IV vun Kinnekdrelaps, is a surly and unpleasant man whose wife has born him only three children: two sons who are a halfwit and an invalid, and an infant daughter with clubbed feet and fused fingers. This had made the King even more unpleasant to his wife, Queen Stéphanie vun Mierbuerg, which has not endeared him to Stephan vun Mierbuerg or Rodolphe vun Gëllenduerf, the Queen's father and eldest son from her first marriage respectively, who are both powerful noblemen.

[h3]Geography[/h3]
[img]http://i.imgur.com/7nEEj8r.jpg[/img]
The vast majority of the kingdom is made up of flat plains and rolling hills, with forests and copses of trees. The land is also incredibly fertile, especially on the banks of the Ardäin itself, and there are numerous farms all across the countryside. Though there are higher foothills in the northeast and southwest where the kingdom borders mountains.

[h3]History[/h3]
The earliest history of the region now ruled over by the King on the Ardäin is that of numerous warring tribes. These tribes were distinct from both modern Ardäinesch people and those of the Empire, with little of their culture remaining or even known. What little is known is that they were a violent and warlike people who worshiped a variety of Gods and Goddesses who demanded bloody human sacrifice; of those tribes on the Ardäin itself many of them worshiped the river itself as the physical embodiment of a Goddess. However, one cannot discount the possibility of their viciousness being played up by the Empire and Fiorentians who would come later.

Though the land was on the edges of the Empire, it was a region heavily settled by the Empire because of its fertile farmlands. This influx of foreigners is believed to have begun the destruction of the original peoples' culture, further accelerated by the introduction of the Ambrusian Church and the destruction of local pagan practices. And when the Empire itself collapsed, a new group of people migrated into what was now a number of petty governors claiming the mantle of the Empire for themselves. They were swiftly conquered and subjugated by the barbarian King, whose people settled the fertile riverlands as well. Though upon his death the kingdom would fracture, and over the years many would convert to the Ambrusian Church. The birth of the Kingdom on the Ardäin proper was nearly a thousand years ago, with the overthrow of the Joachiming dynasty. The dynasty had managed to conquer and unite much of the lands along the main branch of what was now known as the Ardäin River, but the dynasty quickly gained a reputation as wanton, cruel, and hedonistic. The peasants lived in terror of their lords and Kings, and many prayed to God for deliverance from them. Eventually the peasants would revolt during the reign of King Kurth Priestbane, when he executed several prominent clergymen for speaking against his ways. This resulted in his alienation from many of his vassals, who feared reprisal from the Church and when the peasant revolted against Kurth in anger the Church supported him. 

At the forefront of this rebellion was a man by the name of Alois. He had no surname, and was a simple blacksmith but he managed to lead his ragtag army to several victories over the King's army. Many began to believe he was sent from God to cast down the hated Joachimings, and there were several lords who joined in the rebellion and lent him their armies. Eventually the rebels suffered a disastrous defeat, and were scattered to the winds. But when King Kurth returned to his capital, to mete out punishment to those who betrayed him he was overtaken by a swarm of peasants as soon as he strode in the gates. There he was taken to his castle, where upon he saw four pyres and Alois. The rebel leader had left his army with a small force who, with the aid of the city's peasants, had quickly taken the castle as well as Kurth's relatives. And now Kurth saw his two sons and his brother, all three of his heirs, lashed to pyres whilst the fourth was empty. According to legend none could hear the screams of the Joachiming men as they burned alive, so loud was the cheering of the peasantry.

After this Alois renamed the city and castle Kinnekdrelaps, King's Pyre, and declared himself ruler of the city as Alois vun Kinnekdrelaps. He did not declare himself King, though he did write to the High Pontiff himself of his victory over the vile Joachiming and asked to be crowned as King. The High Pontiff, who had heard of tales of the peasant leader was more than happy to oblige. And so not only was the man born a poor blacksmith crowned as King on the Ardäin, but the High Pontiff himself declared that his victory had been the will of God and that God had worked through Alois. And for this, he was officially declared Saint Aloysius the Good, Saint of the downtrodden and oppressed. However, Alois's Kingdom would not be the size it is today, and there would be many rival Kings that the van Kinnekdrelaps Kings would crush underneath their heels as they slowly expanded over the years.

And how ironic that the royal house founded by the Saint of the downtrodden and oppressed would grow into tyrants themselves. Convinced of their superiority because of their Saintly lineage and their firm rule on the Ardäin River, the Kings on the Ardäin would not look kindly upon the peasantry of their kingdom. After all, the peasants should bow to the will of their betters and the royal family was, without a doubt, their betters. For much of their history, the main rivals of the Kings on the Ardäin would be rival Kings to the east and west and rebellious nobles within. However, as time advanced the threat of the oppressed peasantry would continue to grow. Though there were several peasant rebellions they were all put down by the King's armies, further proof to them that they still ruled by God's divine writ. Eventually, the King and the nobility would agree on one thing: the need to keep the peasantry from growing too powerful. And so there would be numerous laws passed by royal decree and supported by much of the nobility limiting the peasants from gaining any kind of wealth or power. Furthermore, the nobility of the Ardäin would become stuck in a "Golden Age" mentality that since the Ardäin is at its peak then the traditions that brought them there must be working and so must not be changed. Though not all are aggressive traditionalists, enough of them are that the Ardäin has a reputation as clinging desperately to dying ways.

[h3]Society[/h3]
Ardäinesch society is, at its most basic, divided into three separate groups: the peasantry, the clergy, and the nobility. Nominally all three branches are of equal importance to the kingdom; the peasantry do the work, the clergy pray and insure God's favour, and the nobility rule and lead. However, in practice the peasantry are looked down upon with disdain by nearly the entirety of the clergy and nobility. There are numerous laws passed for the sole purpose of limiting any power and wealth the serfs could ever have, which results in a generally miserable populace who have been known to revolt. However these revolts all end the same: peasant rabble butchered by the heavily armed noble warriors.

In terms of religion there is a rather interesting dichotomy. Much of the Ardäinesch people are quite religious, especially the peasantry. However the clergy of the Ardäin is infamous for their corruption, excess, and abuse of power. So while the serfs are a pious lot of people they have a near universal hatred and distrust of any clergymen, with the exception of many local priests who aren't as corrupt.

One of the major facets of the upper class is also their staunch traditionalism in the face of an advancing world. Most of the nobles do their best to cling desperately to the trappings of chivalry, and there are many laws which exist solely to attempt to keep the kingdom in medieval stasis (as well as oppress the serfs). There are few cities because serfs are banned, on pain of death, from leaving the village of their birth without permission from the local lord; there are few to no wealthy burghers because the peasantry are banned from having too much wealth; philosophy is nearly a taboo subject unless it exists in line with the Church and nobility's views; the Ambrusian Church is given free reign over the peasants so long as they don't interfere with the nobility; and there are heavy limits on the importation of any 'new' technology such as guns or the printing press.

[h3]Economy/Industry[/h3]
The land along the great banks of the Ardäin River is fertile and well-suited to agriculture, which is the predominant industry of the kingdom. Though there is small-scale mining and logging, the vast majority of the Ardäin's serfs are farmers.

[h3]Military[/h3]
The military of the Ardäin is most assuredly a throwback to a dying era, thanks to the Ardäinesch nobility's disdain for progress and borderline obsession with traditional. As the Kingdom itself still follows the old system of feudalism, the Ardäinesch army is composed of the nobles' varied warriors. Generally the core of the army is formed of skilled knights and men-at-arms, though the rising usage of pikes has resulting in most of them being trained as both heavy cavalry as well as infantry. Meanwhile the bulk of the army is formed up of feudal levies, who have little training other than what they can get done in the seasons where there's little farming to do. Because of this exceedingly decentralized organization, the training and equipment of the various armies can vary greatly depending upon the wealth of the local lord. There are also very few gunpowder weapons in the Ardäinesch army, and those that are there are usually artillery. This is because of the large limits imposed upon such technology, and the fact that many lords won't even [i]want[/i] to utilize such weaponry.
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