The Winterlands

## Winterlands

**The Empire of the Winterlands** is a confederation of disparate nation-states to the far north of the Hales. The Empire functions as an electoral monarchy, with electorate states convening in a diet to vote in a new emperor when the previous one dies. The country has been embroiled in a civil war with the monarchist northern states and the republican southern states for upwards of thirty years, which has limited their involvement in outside affairs.

## History

### Early History

The Winterlands was originally an ununified collection of different clans and tribes, most often locked in war with their neighbors for territory or perceived slights. These wars would slowly come to an end with the rise of Valendoria, a nation in the center of the Winterlands. The ruler of Valendoria, Věnceslav Winters, would bring together the tribes and clans as vassals under the Valendorian banner.

However, the submission of the vassal states wouldn’t last long as Věnceslav would soon after die without an heir, leaving the nation of Valendoria in panic and turmoil. To solve the succession crisis, the nobles of the realm as well as the rulers of the vassal states convened in a diet. As a result, the vassals were released as independent nations, and a Valendorian heir would become the new emperor of the confederation of nation states. When the emperor died, the states would reconvene and elect a new emperor. This system still persists today.

### Great Peasant Rebellion

After a series of crop blight and failing harvests, famine struck in the southern Winterlands. Barons and nobles lived decadently while peasants and farmers starved in the fields. Despite outcry by the peasantry against the poor living conditions and the practices of serfdom, their demands were ignored by the local nobility. As such, peasant revolts sprung up all across the southern reaches of the Winterlands. These revolts have come to be known as the beginning of the Great Peasant Rebellion.

Expecting an easy victory, the nobles sent their armies to crush them, though the majority of the levies mutinied and joined the side of the rebellion. Subsequently, the dukes and princes of the South were removed from their thrones, and a new system of republics were installed in the southern nations. In response to this, the emperor, Burkhart von Hildebrand, began amassing troops to assist the deposed dukes and princes of the South. Consequently, the republics formed a net of alliances with one another to protect themselves from the perceived threat.

### Discovery

War soon broke out between the republics and monarchies, and the war quickly fell into a stalemate. The stalemate continued for approximately twenty years until the discovery of the Winterlands by Lauch and Aedwinian traders after the War of Daggers. These traders were able to supply the southern republics with weapons and the northern monarchies with foodstuffs. The traders were warned by Burkhart to not trade with the South, but trade continued as normal.

What comes next for the Winterlands is unclear. Though the northern monarchists have made gains as of recent, there’s nothing to show it will last. While Winterlands is isolationist at heart, whether or not their foreign policy may change is uncertain.