Saeoria

Flag of Saeoria

**Saeoria**, officially **The Mercantile Royal Republic of Saeoria**, located centrally in the Sea of Markaz, just off the western coast of Ukes. Seafarers that originate from the West coast of the main continent, they were driven from the continent as a consequence of conquest and ethnic cleansing. The remaining few thousand fled on the sea and settled on the island, where they mixed with the small native population. They largely live in coastal villages, with only a few larger towns, the only metropolis is New Iskandar, the capital. The other settlements include Stormwall, Tiefenhall, and Saeorana, the first settlement on the Island. Their culture is largely focused on trade since they don't have a large enough population for warfare. Due to their culture being a mix of mainlanders and natives, they speak a type of creole. They are a major neutral trading place for mainland countries, providing the possibility of trade for these nations even if they are at war. They have a historically hateful relationship with the inhabitants of the mainland West coast.

## History

### **The Iskandar Age**

The Saeorians decend from a group of people from Iskandar, a city of the Markazi Empire. At the end of the Western Wars (548-382 BC), the city of Iskandar was sacked and largely slaughtered by the Kori Empire, however only days before the siege succeeded, a group of several thousand people managed to flee Iskandar, under the leadership of Saeor the Elder.

### **Rule of Saeor the Elder**

In 381 BC in the city of Saeorana the Election of Kings was held. In the Election of Kings unanimously Saeor the Elder was elected as king and his descendants to come. Saeor would construct the cities of Stodar, Tiefenhall, Pthins, and Turtan, while also constructed the new capital of Saesin in 370 B.C. He planned to set up the House of Nobles in the new cities but in 365 B.C. he would die in his sleep due to natural causes. His eldest child Bæso Roedu would become King of Saeoria after him.

### **Rule of Bæso the Peaceful**

Bæso Roedu would get to work really quickly on creating the House of Nobles. He would divide Saeoria into Duchies but he couldn't decide who to give each Dukedom to. He planned to give the Duchies to his children, but Bæso would die young and having no legitimate children the next ruler of Saeoria would become Danell Roedu.

### **The Unification of the South**

In 699 C.E. King Danell II would send a force into the Kingdom of Tiefen. This force would sack several cities and force all local governments to swear allegiance to King Danell II. With this Danell would call for the formation of the Saeorian Duchies of Tiefen a conglomerate of small local duchies under one government, lead by Danell. This would put "The Duchies" as it would be called, under a union with Saeoria. After the failure of getting the Kingdom of Zia'a to join Saeoria a force is sent into the Kingdom of Loritul, here they would take the Northern Zia'a peninsula, renamed to the Northern Zaevin Peninsula. Here another puppet state was made, the Kingdom of Zaevin, also lead by Danell. The monarch of Zia'a knew that invasion was immanent. So he assembled a large force, calling on all his subjects across the Kingdom to defend the capital city, but in 722 C.E. the First Act of Union was passed, unifying Saeoria, The Duchies and Zaevin into one state and claiming the remainder of Loritul and the whole Kingdom of Zia'a as there's. So troops entered both of the countries and annexed them.

## Being re-worked

They broke through the naval blockade using a local merchants fleet, suffering many losses until they finally reached the Island in 381 BC, which they named after their leader. They established a number of coastal cities, soon coming into contact with the local natives. These two groups slowly merged and mixed, until what is now known as the Saeorians came into being, a creole people speaking a language made of Iskandru, the language of Iskandar and the surrounding region, and the local native tongue. At around the year 0 they started a large scale naval build-up, starting their extensive naval tradition. They soon took control of most trade routes in the sea of Markaz, something that hasn't changed to this day.

### **The Great Era**

In the year 852 CE, the ruling king Danell the Great initiated the Saeorian Reconquista, a series of wars against eastern island nations, that would take until 1023 CE. This established the Viceroyalty of Danellia, named after Danell the Great. Danell the Great would also initiate the Second Saeorian Reconquista, which saw the conquest of Saeoria's ancestral homeland of Iskandar, creating the Viceroyalty of Iskandar. Danell, still not finished, decided to call for the Third Saeorian Reconquista where they took the old areas known as Sær. which was the area where Saeoria thought to have got their name, and the region of Leont, home to Saeor the Elder's wife. Danell got greedy and called the Fourth Saeorian Reconquista. While riding around Magudaria he was ambushed and killed, thus calling for the end of the Fourth Saeorian Reconquista.

Caused by ethnic and cultural tensions in the colony, the Viceroyalty became independent in 1769 CE. A peaceful secession was negotiated with the Danellian leaders, including reimbursement for Saeorian state assets left in Danellia. Saeoria and the new state of Danellia established diplomatic ties, which soon turned into The Markazi Alliance. From day one the Saeorians were lead by "The Supreme Mercantile Council" an oligarchic government representing the most influential powers within Saeorian society, mostly made up of Dukes and Lords, lead by the descendants of Saeor the Elder, the most senior of which occupying the position of king. The council controls Saeoran politics to this day. Even in the modern age, Saeoria is still the biggest trade market in the sea of Markaz, this trade encouraged by the total lack of regulation regarding trade goods, essentially making the trade of any type of resource legal and even actively encouraged, as long as one is willing to share the profits with the council. During the 9 Years' War they participated on the side of the Coaxis, supplying much of their naval power and naval siege support along the Markaz Sea.