[hider=Solmark] [u][b]The Ash Kingdom of Solmark[/b][/u] [h2]Basic Information[/h2] [h3]Name:[/h3] The Ash Kingdom of Solmark [b]Askriket Solmark[/b] The references to "ash" in most of the country's symbols come from Solmark's historic reliance on the Ash tree for their lumber needs, including for the ships for which they were later known. [h3]Capital City:[/h3] Fylkelond [h3]Head of State:[/h3] Karol Adolvarg II, Konung av Solmark, Envaldig av Solheim, Jarl av Sudmark [h3]Currency:[/h3] The Solmarkish Krone (SMK) [h3]Population:[/h3] 15,532,303 Solmarkish [h2]Flag[/h2] [img]https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/834671195608842240/878902644431794217/ash-kingdom-of-solmark.png[/img] The National Flag of Solmark The flag of the Solmark is a bicolor featuring an outlined sun cross. The sun cross represents the entirety of the greater Solheimar peoples, with the round halo being an icon of the Sunna religion and the cross representing the breadth of the Solheimar and their eastward ambitions. The blue and red represent the two rival kingdoms, blue and gold being the colors of the seafaring Solheimr kingdom, and red and white for the Sudmark. [h2]Territorial Claims and Major Locations[/h2] [b]Claim request subject to approval and unforgiving judgement[/b] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/834671343038889994/885474971600695326/NotAStepBackMapGeographic-Solmark.jpg[/img] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/834671343038889994/885475100479074405/NotAStepBackMapGeographic-SolmarkSubdivided.jpg[/img] Major regions of Solmark colored with gradient from their respective capitals. Solheim (Yellow), Steinholl (Red), Sudmark (Black), Eriksdell (Blue), Jomsdall (Violet), Halland (Green). [h3]Solheim (Capital: Fylkelond)[/h3] Solheim is the ancestral cradle of the Solheimar People and the administrative and naval heart of the modern Solmark. The shipyards of Fylkelond are home to the Ashen Fleet, named for the forests of ash covering Solheim's valleys that once were the main building material of their ships. Once, the Solheimr House Eriksson ruled as Fylkirs of all Agnarrverold ever since the defeat of the Jomsdall and the ascension of Fylkir Agnarr Eriksson I. The entire house was exterminated in the reign of Konung Magnus Adolvarg I during his consolidation of power. [h3]Steinfell (Capital: Karolfeld)[/h3] Steinfell's mines supply Solmark with iron and coal to feed the steel mills of Sudmark, though other regions have begun to compete with Steinfell to supply minerals to the foundries of Ulfburg and Konungsund. They are home to the Oak Fleet, similarly named for the oaks that were traditionally used by Steinfellers in their ships. [h3]Sudmark (Capital: Konungsund)[/h3] Sudmark was once simply the breadbasket of the old Fylkirike, with the arrival of industrialization; however, it was able to develop into the manufacturing center of the kingdom during the time of the Republic of Halland. With the reincorporation of the rebellious colony, it was forced to compete with Halland as the industrial heartland of the kingdom. [h3]Eriksdell (Capital: Alhus)[/h3] With little arable land, except on the southernmost coasts and an otherwise inhospitable climate, the people of Eriksdell resorted to hunting the fabled Northern Mammoth and the great whales of the northern seas. The introduction of steam-driven automobiles has since made their task much, much easier. Eriksdellers are famed through the kingdom as a hardy, self-reliant people. The armies of the kingdom trace the traditions of their light infantry and ranging regiments to the Eriksdeller Veidhrs. [h3]Halland (Capital: Ulfburg)[/h3] Once nothing but an agricultural colony founded by adventurous Steinhollers and Solheimers, Halland later developed to become a fearsome industrial juggernaut capable of threatening the rest of Agnarrverold. In 1789, they declared independence and waged a series of devastating wars against the mainland that resulted in a national crisis of identity and the later revolution of 1801. [h3]Jomsdall (Capital: Jomskrone)[/h3] The Joms are a mysterious, stoic people. Their folk religion is an ancient form of the Solnish faith widely characterized by solemn ceremonies and heavy collectivistic elements. Rumors even hold that the Jomsnish congregation practice cannibalism, a practice long abandoned by the Solnish clergy. Their Jomsherr armies are infamous for being unbreakable in frontal assaults, and their lands are feared as a frozen wasteland of stony mountains and frozen glaciers. Unlike the rest of the kingdom, they are not ruled by appointed royal governors but by a synod of priests, of whom one is selected to serve as Jomsfylkir for the remained of their lives. [h2]History[/h2] [hider=Preunification Historical Fluff] According to legend, the Solheimar spider-people were once nothing more than wandering bands of giant frost spiders wandering the mountain caves of Agnarrverold when in Jomsdall they bore witness to human occultists in a clearing worshipping on the summer solstice. The frost spiders fell on the men on the day of the unsetting sun and devoured them all. The Sun, deprived of its worshippers, gave the spiders a boon. They were made half-men and half-spider, given the power of thought but stripped of their silk and venom. Armed with their new gifts, they left Jomsdall and journeyed to follow the sun to where it would take them. They crossed the mountains and came upon the valleys and bays of Solheim, where sun and sea met, bathing the land in warmth and wind. They settled there with their spider-kin, who would become their livestock - the Vafthrudnir who wove silk for them, and the Kyr who gave them milk and meat. After hundreds of years, the Solheimar developed a civilization built on the carnivorous conquest of other living beings to feed them. The peninsula was at the time divided into tens of squabbling tribes ruled by Jarilazar. These tribes practiced cannibalism against their fellow tribes in wars of conquest, but the practice began to die out as the Solheimar looked east and began raiding other nations for food and later riches. In 1032, the Jarilazar Erik af Sunnafeld outlawed the practice of eating other sentients and raiding became exclusively for material riches. He initiated wars of conquest to unify the Solheim region under Sunnafeld. Upon his death, his son Agnarr ascended and continued his father's work. He expelled the former inhabitants of Sudmark and brought it firmly under the Solheimar and marched west to Jomsdall, which he conquered for himself. The Joms had expected him to consume their high priest, as was tradition for their people. Instead, the Jarilazar made the Jomsfylkir subservient to him as Fylkir of the Agnarrsverold Fylkirike. Thus he became Fylkir Agnarr Eriksson I. His sons would finish the conquest of the peninsula, defeating Steinholl and forcing Eriksdell to yield. For eight hundred years this order continued, with the kingdom developing its maritime prowess and establishing colonies on nearby islands and most notably, on Halland. In 1789, this ended with the Hallish War of Independence. The Hallish won and established a republic, with a better-organized state, greater agricultural capacity, and burgeoning industrialization. The succeeding 56 years were one humiliation after another for the Fylkirike, almost leading to the collapse of the kingdom into its constituent feudal states. While the central government continued to crumble, the House Adolvarg of Kathsund initiated colonization efforts in the flatlands south and west of the peninsula. They also began reorganizing their domains and initiated the project of industrializing their home city of Kathsund. When a rebellion flared up in Solheim against the Fylkirs, an army under Gustaf Adolvarg came to their aid, for which the Fylkirs granted them the title of Jarl of Sudmark. Jarl Gustaf I then sailed to Halland in support of a loyalist faction within the republic and with their aid, restored Agnarverrold sovereignty over them. Seeing their rising power, the Fylkir mustered Solheim against his vassal. Solheim recognized Adolvarg's authority; however, and acclaimed him as their Envaldig. The rest of the peninsula and eastern Solheim resisted, beginning the War of Solheim. With Sudmark, Halland, and Western Solheim behind him, Gustaf first marched against the isolated Jomsdall. The rest of the Fylkirike fell shortly after, but not without Gustaf's death. His son, Karol Adolvarg rose to become the new Jarl of Sudmark and leader of the alliance. He marched his armies through Steinholl, and then into Alhus. Eight hundred years ended in 1849, with the execution of the Fylkir by firing squad, the founding of the Askriket, and the ascension of Konung Karol Adolvarg I. [/hider] Karol Adolvarg I consolidated his power over his new kingdom by abolishing the feudal system and deposing the defeated Jarls. The petty lords who had sided with him were granted pensions in exchange for their lands. The Joms resisted at first, but in exchange for the extension of special rights and privileges such as retention of their traditional government under the Jomsfylkir, the Joms devoted themselves and their armies by oath in service of the Askriket, and the House Adolvarg. Upon Karol's death in 1881, his son Magnus ascended but not without having to crush the last remnants of the Erikssons. In the aftermath of the Eriksdell Rebellion, the Erikssons and several prominent Steinholler and Eriksdeller families were completely exterminated. Under his reign, Kathsund was renamed Konungsund and further industrialized. Railroads were built linking Konungsund and Fylkelond, and from Konungsund to the rest of the inland colonies. Inland colonies that had long resisted central rule from Fylkelond soon found themselves subjected to the newly centralized absolute rule of Konungsund. Where the railways stretched, armies had gone before them to carve out a path of dread and flames. The last great colonial resistance on the northwest coast was crushed following a three-year campaign from 1889 to 1892. In 1895, local colonial collaborator governments were replaced en masse by appointed royal governors in preparation for Magnus' greatest project: the war to retake Halland. In 1899, Halland was placed under blockade and invaded without a declaration of war. Nearby states decried the Askriket's war of aggression, to which they responded with claims that Halland rightfully belonged to a sovereign Solnish state. Ulfburg fell quickly, but pockets of resistance persisted in the south, where the Republic had established a government-in-exile. It was here that the 21 year-old Ruthar Adolvarg was dispatched as a field commander in 1900. His experiences on the field influenced his and his son's later pacifist outlook toward governing the kingdom. In 1907, the Halland Republic finally surrendered after the fall of their last hillock. In that same year, Konung Magnus I suddenly died, leading to the ascent of Ruthar I. Ruthar's ascension was accompanied by a large-scale reshuffling of the royal government. He initiated a loosening of controls over the colonies and the instatement of local civil governors, elevating them to the level of the peninsular regions. In a move of reconciliation, the interim military government over Halland was replaced with a semi-autonomous republican government. Further, he began a downsizing of the Royal Army. This rapid series of changes over the course of only ten years (1907-1917) threatened several groups of entrenched elites - including the militarists, industrialists, and nationalists - and thus they conspired to stage a coup to replace Ruthar with the young prince Karol. In 1917, they put this plan into action, initiating the Fylkir Palace Coup. Ruthar I was accidentally killed in the course of the coup. While Karol II ascended to the throne at the age of 18, the conspirators began plotting against themselves, taking advantage of the king's death in their coup and the parts each played to throw blame at one another. Within a month, no group had emerged blameless. The militarists especially had become especially despised in politics and popular discourse. Using this to his advantage, the young Karol II initiated a counter-coup. Two months after his ascension, the Revolution of 1918 was staged by his student and former aristocratic allies. A popular assembly calling itself the *Nationellforsamling* or the National Assembly was convened with royal assent, made up largely of influential Solheimers and Sudmarkers. They, with the king's authority backing them, declared the Conspirators of 1917 traitors and regicides. In spite of all their power, the conspirators were overtaken by popular uprisings, Karoline loyalists, and the republicans of Halland who had come together in an awkward alliance under the new king. All the while, Solmark became more and more awake to the fact that a terrifying new foe was knocking at their doorstep. While Karol II juggled the new factions he had built within his nation, he found that their ideals were accidentally more than a fit for what he needed - a united nation capable of stably mobilizing en masse under his aegis. The only problem was actually ensuring those ideals could defeat the personalities championing them, and that these dreams of a united people under a strong central state would actually make sense in reality. [h3]Solmark and the Alfheichen[/h3] The Alfheichen expansion coincided with the turbulent ascension and consolidation of the Askriket and the Adolvarg kings were well aware of the genocidal monolith a sea away and they were keenly aware of how the Alfheichen viewed their arachnoid people. Nonetheless, there were more pressing matters at home in their cold corner of the world, and so little attention was paid to the Alfheichen and their conquests. That was until the conquest began coming too close to home for Solmark. The Revolution of 1917 was not only borne of the decay of Karol I's absolute regime, but also of the growing popular sentiment that the rising Alfheichen threatened the entire Solheimr people, and that the petty squabbles in Halland that the government was so fixated on would be nothing compared to their legions marching in lockstep gunning down anything with more than two legs. In response to the Alfheichen threat, the nation has undergone a transformation into a semi-democratic stratocracy. Conscription laws were passed with the legitimacy of the National Assembly, enforcing a national military service program for young adults and establishing a regular citizen militia to be merged with local police controlled by the monarchy known as the Home Guard or the Heimvakt. Over the course of five years, national redoubts were established in Jomsdall and northern Eriksdell. The greatest military advances made; however, were in the Eclipse Cannon or *Förmörkelsekanon* technology developed in 1906 in the war against the Hallandr. The accumulated development of industrial steel refinement, artillery manufacture allowed for the mass production of long-range heavy artillery that could be used as coastal batteries, or even to bombard targets across the Halnish Sea from Solheim, Eriksdell, or Steinholl. Recent times; however, have seen a downturn in public enthusiasm for the fortification of the peninsula. Opposition factions in the National Assembly composed of liberal students, Halnish republicans, and emerging business elites, dissatisfied with the slow pace of liberalization in the country, rejection of international diplomacy, and the prevailing influence of the monarchy, have made the end of national mobilization and the defunding of the Heimvakt into their priority policies. They have only grown in strength since the widespread demonstrations of the late 1920s born of frustration from an economic slowdown and perceived backwardness. In response to several violent flare-ups, the first true national political party was organized in Konungsund - the National Defense Party or *Nationelltförsvarparti*, which pushed for the preservation of the standing political order. Later with the intensification of the wars abroad and a major ideological shift, the party supported the expansion and further militarization of Solmark, though the party is split between those who recognize the need for outside contact, and those who would retreat behind the walls. The former faction is led by the sitting President of the party and leader of the government within the National Assembly, Astrid Eklund. The latter is led by the Prince Karol Gustaf Adolvarga, heir to the throne, long groomed by his father and advisers in preparation for the coming war. The Heimvakt; however, has firmly established itself as an institution in rural regions supporting local operations and supplanting local power structures. They, along with industrialists and monarchists have become a political force defending the monarchy and mobilization in and of themselves, and vehemently oppose liberals in the National Assembly, even in policies that would allow for greater free trade with their neighbors and thus give them better armament and ration supplies. Some within Solmark hope that the Reiyk would take up arms against them, before the nation takes up arms against itself. [h2]Pressing Issues[/h2] As noted above, Solmark has evolved into a ticking time bomb. The preparation, tension, and fear surrounding a Reiyk invasion must be unleashed *somehow,* whether against the Reiyk it was made for or against the Solheimr that built it. Not many government militarists realize it but Solmark is not prepared to stand alone. As rich as its mountains are in mineral wealth, it relies heavily on its warmer colonies for food supplies and on foreigners for other raw resources that they cannot field efficiently enough, or at all, on their own. Regional tensions, especially in the former republic of Halland, the southern colonies, and the strange Joms, still persist. Though the republicans have largely accepted the protection and autonomy given to them by Solmark, they also are a haven for the liberal opposition opposing the national mobilization program. Halland itself had been hesitant in allowing the fortification and garissoning of their lands. [h2]Notable Strengths[/h2] - Despite the growing political division in the National Assembly and growing dissatisfaction from the colonies and Halland, the Askriket still retains a robust and highly centralized administrative setup, ensuring that all provinces are in lockstep and allowing for the rapid implementation of policies within their borders. - The Heimvakt serves as a well-trained and organized civilian militia specially dedicated to shoring up internal defenses and rapidly responding to threats. They have an especially strong presence in frontier regions, serving as a more reliable second government and infrastructure network for neglected mountain regions. [hider=The Heimvakt and the Standing Army] - The ascendancy of the Heimvakt has allowed for the drastic shrinkage of the standing army formed under Karol I. The standing army, though small, still poses a formidable threat for invaders and dissenters, being largely composed of the brutal and enigmatic Jomsherr regiments. [/hider] - The *Vagg* or "Wall" is a defensive network covering much of the Agnarrverold peninsula, being particularly strong around the Halnish Sea. The Vagg, at its most extensive, consists of a convoluted network of concrete pillboxes and bunkers riddled with obstacles atop which sit a complex of heavy coastal and field artillery emplacements, often with at least one Eclipse Gun. The Vagg's physical defenses are supplemented in part by the national railway network, which closely follows much of the wall, allowing for the rapid transport of supplies, troops, and artillery pieces. - The Solmarkish Navy has been heavily downsized since the rapid expansion under Karol I. Now it is mostly composed of destroyer squadrons complemented by light frigates and torpedo boats meant for reconnaissance and harassment. One fleet of capital ships remains; however, in the Ash Fleet. Stationed at Solheim, the Ash Fleet represents some of the most advanced in Solmarkish gunnery technology that could be slapped on a boat. - Solmark's gunnery technology remains its greatest point of pride. With a robust metallurgy and mining industry to support it and the finest minds in the nation to develop it, the sounds of thunder are rightly dreaded within their enormous range. [h2]National Priorities[/h2] By National Priorities, it is assumed that these are the things the Solmarkish government is putting a focus on at the current moment disregarding internal opposition factions and what they probably really should be focusing on. The Army The Navy Resource Extraction Industrial Output The Economy: Internal Trade Technology Agriculture The Common People The Upper Classes The Economy: External Trade Diplomacy Cultural Issues Espionage and Intelligence Ideology [/hider]