Isenreik

== History ==
== Geography ==
Isenreik is in Central and Eastern Tanais, with Clearcrest bordering to the south, Gallitrea and the Princedoms to the west, Estavgorod in the north and the Desolate Wastes in the east. It is one of the largest nations in Tanais.
Elevation ranges from the World's End Mountains to the shores of the Shivering Sea in the northwest. The forested uplands of central Isenreik and the lowlands of northern and eastern Isenreik are traversed by various major rivers and large lakes. Glaciers are found in the alpine regions.
Most of Isenreik is covered in forests and woodlands, with a substantial amount of arable land in northern and eastern Isenreik and great mountain ranges in the east and south and great mountains found in its heart.
== Government ==
The Emperor is head-of-state of the Empire and commander-in-chief of the most powerful army in Tanais. However, most of the Empire's power is held by the Elector Counts, of which the Emperor is one. Those Elector Counts become most important in the case of the Emperor's death, in which case elections with 13 electors, 9 of which are the Elector counts, are being held. The candidate with the most votes becomes the next Emperor for life.
The heir of the deceased Emperor is an obvious candidate; under normal circumstances he will be supported by the friends and allies of his predecessor. Therefore a dynastic succession is a strong possibility. However the heir may lose the election due to personal enmities or because of personal failings.
The Electors have de facto also the power to depose of an Emperor, although that happened only twice in history, and in one case the Emperor in question refused to abdicate and a civil war
ensued.
=== Power ===
In effect, the Emperor is largely the leader of the Elector Counts who have to answer to him if summoned, yet the Emperor does not directly control them and their states and they retain a high-degree of sovereignty. Many matters are debated between the Emperor and the Counts on an equal standing and then agreed upon, and not always as the Emperor wants.
The Emperor's power is severely limited by the inability of enforcing his edicts within the semi-independent provinces. Far from the capital and inside their own provinces, the Elector Counts rule and they can choose to largely ignore his edicts and decrees. Furthermore The Empire is not a centralised state, but a feudal confederacy. Only the capital and its surrounding protectorate is directly controlled by the Emperor. The Emperor does not control the entire military of the Empire and he does not receive all, or even the majority, of taxes. His taxes and resources are collected from the capital and his own personal treasury will pay the military units under his direct control and the capital.
However, each Elector Count has to either send troops or the equivalent in money and supplies to the Emperor. These soldiers march under the banner of the Emperor and are often the single largest army in the Empire.
Each of the Elector Counts collects taxes from his respective province and will spend his wealth as he sees fit. He will recruit and pay his own provincial army, who is far more loyal to its local ruler. Depending upon the wealth of the province, a wealthy Elector Count may even afford and recruit a larger army than the Emperor. A wise Emperor will realise that trying to subdue the Elector Counts through threats and/or force is a very dangerous errand, which all too easily ends up in open rebellion and civil war. Gaining their respect and loyalty through example and fair leadership tends to be the best policy.
=== List of Emperors ===
Name 	Reign 	Notes
Ragnar 	1213 aPr to 1179 aPr	Chief of the Eicen, founder of the first confederation
Sigurðr 	1179 aPr to 1152 aPr	Second highruler of first confederation
Cyneric 	1152 aPr - 1124 aPr 	Greatly expands the confederation, was later poisoned
Sigeweard 	1124 aPr - 1066 aPr 	Establishes interrelation with the Dwarves and the Brahl
? 	 	Various unknown or lesser known rulers of the confederation
Wilfrith the Tyrant	866 aPr - 842 aPr 	Converts the confederation into the Empire, rules with force and abolishes voting, first by the title of Emperor
Wilfrith II 	842 aPr - 827 aPr 	Son of Wilfrith, turns hostiles towads the Dwarves and Brahl, beginning of a civil war, gets stabbed to death
Chlothar I 	827 aPr - 821 aPr 	Brother of Wilfrith, dies in battle during the civil war. With the death of most of Wilfrith's bloodline there is no heir to the throne
? 	821 aPr - 737 aPr 	No kind of unified structure, constant power struggle and feuds between states, various self-proclaimed rulers
Lothar the Wise 	737 aPr - 671 aPr 	Reunites the warring states, founds the Second Empire, heavily reforms it, implements a system similiar to the old days of the confederation
Birgir the Fast 	671 aPr - 637 aPr 	Renews trade agrements with the Dwarves, expands the Empire to its current borders through mainly peaceful means
Various emperors 	 	
Markus III 	507 aPr - 455 aPr 	Completly fails to defend the Empire from an Orc invasion, bullies Elector Counts into giving him more taxes; first Emperor to be deposed
Diederich 	455 aPr - 426 aPr 	Due to increased Blight activity forms alliance with besieged Estavgorod and sends help to Norvland
Various emperors 	 	
Berengar V 	385 aPr - 342 aPr 	Calls Dwarves to help repell a great Orc raid, forges alliance between the Empire and local Dwarven kingdoms
Aurel 	342 aPr - 310 aPr 	First mayor war between the Empire and Gallitrea, ends in Gallitrea's surrender
Various emperors 	 	
Samuel the Pious 	211 aPr - 166 aPr 	Saves the Empire from an invasion by Blight forces, heavily pursues adoption of the Trinity thoughout the Empire.
Various emperors 	 	
Eugen I 	44 aPr - 29 aPr 	Start of the invasion by Azquhn the Vile, fataly injured in battle and dies soon later
Gereon VI 	29 aPr - 24 aPr 	Dies in battle against the Blight
Eugen II 	24 aPr - 21 aPr 	Often called "Eugen the last", last emperor of the Second Empire, executed by Azguhn
? 	21 aPr - 1 aPr 	Complete occupation by the forces of Blight; the Twenty Years of Agony
Siegfried the Great	1 AP - 48 AP 	Leads the rebellion known as Rebirth of the Phoenix, defeats Azquhn the Vile and liberates Isenreik. Forms the Empire of Isenreik.
Various emperors 	 	
Hildræd 	74 AP - 103 AP 	Builds the Iron Wall
Various emperors 	 	
Viktor 	1041 AP 	Current Emperor
Category:Tanais
Category:History
Category:Nation
Category:Nation/Human
Category:Monarchy
Category:Lore