Leixi-Airoxian Commonwealth

**Races**: 95% Human, 5% Assorted Others

Government: Electoral Monarchy

Capital:Tharnux

Leixi and Airoxia were once separate nations, but they are now united under one crown. Leixi is centered around the river running through the Commonwealth, with a high population density due to the regular nature of the river's flooding. Airoxia, on the other hand, is largely rural, relying less on agriculture and more on pastoralism. The monarchy of the Commonwealth is a semi-electorate, with each heir to the throne having to be approved by an assembly of all the Airoxian nobles. The king largely relies upon Leixi for the tax revenue and military, leaving the Airoxian nobles free of large-scale taxation or manpower levies to ensure votes for his heir. As a result, Airoxia is a land of feuding nobles, where noble families have near limitless power within their own demesnes. However, true conflict beyond small skirmishes is highly uncommon, as the monarch has the potential to raise a huge military far and away beyond anything any single noble family could muster. Despite this, the noble families have the potential to raise a similar sized army, if they work together, which ensures that no monarch uses the Leixi power base to disrupt the electoral nature of the monarchy. The Commonwealth was formed hundreds of years ago when the kingdom of Leixi insulted the Airoxian nobles, who jointly banded together, deposed the Leixi monarch, and elected a king from amongst themselves to rule both kingdoms.

#### **Culture**

Though Leixi and Airoxia are united by a monarch, they are very culturally distinct, only sharing some basic similarities. The people of Leixi live their lives seeking order and regularity, believing that a perfect world is one ruled by schedules and conformity. Many believe that the ideal way to achieve the perfect world of unity and peace that they desire is to follow a strong leader who can impose order over chaos. Though they are not inherently warlike, they are willing to go to war if they can be convinced the war is just. The Airoxians, on the other hand, believe in strength gained through struggle, which lends them a more warlike stance in life. This divide comes primarily from the different souces of subsistance in the two kingdoms. Leixi depends on the regular flooding of the Rzeka river for its high population, while Airoxia relies upon pastoralism, which focuses on bending a herd of animals to an individual's will, much like how the Airoxian nobles feud with one another, hoping to gain dominance over the other nobles.

#### **Religion**

Leixi-Airoxia follow a modified version of the faith of Gloria-Etalia. The people of Leixi believe that Gloria-Etalia will return when the people of the world have created a perfect orderly society, while the people of Airoxia believe that they will return when an individual strong enough bends the world to his will and calls them back to the world.

#### **Organization**

In Leixi, the king is treated as an absolute monarch, but the Airoxian nobles are largely left alone within their own fiefs to guarantee their electoral votes for the king's heir. As such, Airoxia often has no larger ruling power than the counts of the land.

#### **Origin**

Airoxia has existed in some form since the late fourth age, with the many counts agreeing to come together to defend their lands in threatened. Leixi cut through the Airoxian lands on the Rzeka river, forming a unified kingdom to defend against the Airoxian nobles in the early fifth age. They existed as separate nations until the sixth age, when the ruler of Leixi, King Amhaten IV, insulted the Airoxian nobles, calling them savage raiders not fit to be known as counts. The nobles banded together, sacked Tharnux, publicly humiliated and executed Amhaten, and elected one of their own, King Thutszkoe I, to lead both nations. The Airoxians enjoyed supremacy over the Leixi during his reign, but his son, Thutszkoe II, rallied the Leixi people, defeated the Airoxian nobles on the field of battle, and the two people came to the agreement that rules now, with the Airoxians having the power to approve the heir, provided they submit to the current king.

#### **Diplomacy**

Leixi-Airoxia are seen as a fragmented people by many, but their closest neighbors know that though they seem disunited, the entire kingdom despises foreign influence and will unite to drive out any invaders. Many states have attempted to seize the holdings of some Airoxian noble, only to be quickly repelled by the full combined might of the Leixi people and the Airoxian nobility. The Airoxians are suspicious of foreigners, but are content to leave them be, provided that they are left alone in turn. The Leixi see most foreigners as chaotic people who need to be shown the light of order and stability, be it through peaceful relations or through conquest.

They have a tentative trading relationship with the Araxian Kingdom. Offers for a military alliance has been offered by the Araxians, but have been declined as it would be exploited to fuel the Araxian's barbaric love for violence and conquest.

#### **Geography**

The land to the northeast of the River Rzeka is a grassland, gradually becoming less fertile the closer one gets to Windhell Valley. The land to the southwest of the River Rzeka is composed largely of rolling, grassy hills. The land surrounding the river itself is a highly fertile valley perfect for growing crops.

#### **Economy**

The Airoxian economy is built largely off pastoralism, though some counts with territory on the mountain range have focused their efforts more heavily on extracting iron and silver from the mountains, much of the former is sent to the industrial centers in Leixi. Most of Leixi is dedicated to wheat farming, though certain large cities such as Tharnux are more urban, focusing on industry and manufacturing goods for the rest of the kingdom and beyond.

#### **Previous 50 Years of History**

In the past 50 years, Leixi-Airoxia has had two monarchs. The first of those two, Thutszkoe VII, was generally regarded as a weak monarch. He let the Airoxian nobles run wild and free for decades, with his lack of oversight allowing them to fight one another in near total warfare. While the Airoxian nobles ran free, however, he did manage to further centralize Leixi, reforming the tax system to bring in far greater sums of money. He became known as something of a miser, never spending a single coin more than necessary. As a result, he accumulated vast wealth for the nation, but most vestiges of his authority outside of the Rzeka river valley dissolved as the nobles feuded. Military outposts and forts lost national funding, and so ended up swearing allegiance to local nobles in order to gain funding. As military forces fell into the pockets of the nobility, Airoxian warfare heightened, reaching a ferocity and commonness not seen in Airoxia for centuries. However, after 42 years of rule, Thutszkoe VII died, leaving his kingdom in the hands of his son, Szyćak I. Szyćak rapidly went to work, using the vast wealth accumulated during his father's reign to reform the military, adopting the pike square for his infantry to counter the light cavalry dominated Airoxians, building new forts along the river and beyond, and attempting to bribe old forts and outposts back into his service. His reforms were spectacularly successful, resulting in a highly disciplined army that could easily defend Leixi. However, Szyćak was not satisfied with mere security for his people. No, as a student of the great Leixi philosophers, he valued order above all else, and the warring Airoxians represented chaos and disorder within his own realm. And so, Szyćak mustered his armies and marched into Airoxia with the sole intent of forcing order upon the nobility that had been allowed to run amok for decades. Though it took the better part of 5 years, Szyćak was hugely successful. He fought and smashed the armies of almost every single noble in Airoxia, with only three escaping by willingly submitting ton his will before he could force them into open battle. After this conquest, known as the Great Purge of Chaos in Leixi, and the Crushing in Airoxia, the Airoxian nobles willingly submitted to Szyćak's rule. He happily accepted them, using the remnants of the noble armies to supplement his cavalry arm of the army, which had previously been all but nonexistent. However, though most of the nobility willingly submitted to Szyćak, a small number refused to recognize his authority, leading to their execution and replacement by some of Szyćak's top generals, allowing him to have a guaranteed power base in Airoxia should any of the nobility ever attempt to rebel. Now that he has enforced his will over his entire kingdom, Szyćak looks outward. His primary goal is to gain a port on the Westrasi Sea, through any means necessary. Currently, the easiest target seems to be attempting to drive straight through the Euraxian Kingdom along the Rzeka river until they reach the coast. There are also possible plans to war with the Uroxian Federation, though such a war remains less appealing to the king, and as such, is far less likely to be implemented.

While Szyćak plans for further conquest, he primarily leaves his kingdom in the hands of his wife Abriana, the daughter of a wealthy Veranese merchant family. However, he is also a lavish spender, and his wife is often left scrambling to collect enough money to fund his grand army while also being able to fund general tasks of the state. While there haven't been any major crises over money yet, there is a significant possibility of shortages in the coming years if new sources of income are not found.

#### **Player Character Notes**

The Leixi-Airoxian Commonwealth is split between the more pragmatic, orderly Leixi, and the more war like Airoxians.  The current king (a Leixi) has recently brought the nation more firmly under his rule, which may create create tension between Leixi and Airoxians who encounter each other away from the firm hand of the law.