Haldor

* Flag of Haldor
* Territory
* Chancellor

**Haldor,** officially the **Chancellery of Haldor,** is a small nation is Western Asvalin and a former colony of Hesel. Until 1928, it was a part of the Heselese Federation of Omoria. However, due to the Haldori people having very little representation in the Parliament, as well as the scarce funding received by the island, Amerand Bashtal led the military to mass desert, and declared Haldor independent. Vem'Aht Ashvar- then President of Hesel- was sympathetic to the Haldori cause, and so Hesel did not impede the independence movement.

Unfortunately, independence did not solve all of Haldor's problems. Poverty still ran rampant, and the islands lacked any natural resources. Several military strongmen also seized power in Haldor's history, but they were few and far between. With the dawn of the 2200s, Haldor is making great progress- investments from The Varin Corporation and Heselese Omoria have lead to much development. Many worry that this is giving foreigners too much influence in Haldor, but for the common man the foreign aid is benevolent and a godsend, helping propel the backwater country into a new age of prosperity.

## Early History

### Pre-Colonial Era (???-1850)

Before being discovered by the Federation of Hesel and incorporated into the colony of Heselese Omoria, the islands of Haldor were inhabited entirely by the Haldori People, and functioned as a sort of loose confederation of small settlements. Starmester, the modern day capital of Haldor, was the largest city in the area and acted as the *de facto* capital of the region, with the leaders of various settlements meeting in the city and large markets being organised.

Unfortunately, many records of pre-colonial Haldor were lost when the University of Starmester was burnt down by Heselese Forces in 1862 following a local Haldori revolt. All that remains known apart from the basics is that there used to be a leader of sorts, called the *Mehrnem* who oversaw meetings of Haldori chiefs and was elected by certain educated citizens of the islands.

### Heselese Federation of Omoria (1850-1928)

In 1843, a Heselese Trading convoy under the guard of the Heselese General Sir Wemgoht Krendi arrived in Starmester. They met with the Haldori *Mehrnem* Amel Kamroth and allegedly forced the *Mehrnem* to agree to an extremely unfair and humiliating trade deal which allowed Heselese merchants to purchase Haldori goods in Starmester for a third of their actual price, and forced the city of Starmester to pay heavy taxes to the Federation of Heselese Omoria which had begun to form to the south of Haldor.

The various Haldori Chiefs were furious at this agreement, and managed to convince *Mehrnem* Kamroth to attack the next convoy of Heselese Merchants. This convoy arrived in 1846, and consisted of nearly 600 Heselese sailors and soldiers. The convoy was shot at with the few cannons possesed by the Haldori, and the *"Starmester Slaughter"* as it came to be known ended with the deaths of 534 of the Heselese sailors and the capture of the remnants.

Sir Wemgoht Krendi, who was serving as the First Governor of Heselese Omoria at the time, was furious, but also saw the attack as an opportunity to seize Haldor into the Heselese colony. Krendi gathered an army of around a quarter of a million troops, and quickly captured Starmester within two days, executing the local garrison and looting the markets of the *de facto* capital of the Haldori people. *Mehrnem* Amel Kamroth was not in the city at the time, but when news reached him, he gathered a rival army and met Krendi's forces at the fields of Lafol. Kamroth's army outnumbered Krendi's force, but his army was decentralised, poorly trained and poorly supplied compared to Krendi's elite force of Heselese Marines. The Slaughter of Lafol was, as the name suggests, a slaughter, with the majority of Kamroth's army being compeltely destroyed and Kamroth himself being caught and executed, along with the majority of the rebel Haldori leaders.

    Following the Haldori defeat at Lafol, Krendi let his army sail across the islands of Haldor, looting the merchant class of Haldor which had supported Kamroth and arresting and executing several pro-Kamroth leaders and officials. After this was over, Krendi installed Bejron Klein, the elected leader of Leirden who had previously advocated for closer ties to the Federation of Hesel for economic reasons, as the *Mehrnem* of Haldor, and officially incorporated Haldor into the Federation of Heselese Omoria.

Immediately the colonial government proved to be a downgrade. Earlier, Haldoris who had received a decent education were allowed to participate in elections of the *Mehrnem* of the country every 7 years and could also file petitions when the leaders of Haldor gathered in Starmester to make their greviances heard. All elections seized as soon as Sir Wemgoht Krendi took control- the Governor of Heselese Omoria was appointed by a committee of Heselese companies with an interest in the region with heavy input from the Heselese Federal Government. The position of *Mehrnem* was also no longer an elected office, and was now appointed directly by the Governor of Heselese Omoria.

Bejron Klein also proved to be an extremely ineffective and corrupt *Mehrnem.* He bent to every order from Wemgoht Krendi, and in the eyes of many Haldori ended up letting the rest of Heselese Omoria loot Haldor of its natural resources and people. In 1862, the situation got worse as the Central government of Heselese Omoria ordered Bejron to shut down the Haldori Newspaper The Starmester Spinster, which was extremely popular among the Haldori people. In addition to its popularity, the *Spinster*'s Chief Editor was an extremely charming, popular and influential man named Mendoc Bashtal, who- after the execution of *Mehrnem* Amel Kamroth, was likely the most beloved man in all of Haldor.

Bejron Klein had no choice but to attempt to shut down The Starmester Spinster and arrest Mendoc Bashtal. When Federal Troops arrived at Mendoc's house in Starmester to arrest him, a crowd of around three thousand people gathered in front of his house and pelted the troops with stones. The Federal Troops attempted to retreat, but were engulfed by the crowd and ultimately ended up firing. This immediately prompted a violent response. Elbor Rankul, a Haldori officer loyal to Kamroth and a group of fellow loyalists shed the symbols of Heselese Omoria and donned armbands of red and blue- the colours of the Haldori people. Rankul's troops outnumbered the Federal group, and after a short skirmish they emerged victorious. Soon after, droves of troops deserted from the Omorian army and joined Rankul, succesfully attacking and destroying many Federal encampments in Starmester.

Bejron Klein was forced to again call for aid from Governor Wemgoht Krendi, and for the second time in barely a decade, Heselese Marines marched through Haldor, crushing Rankul's troops in Starmester and plundering much of Haldor again for good measure. However, Krendi- tired of fighting in Haldor- decided to abolish the post of *Mehrnem* entirely and create the post of Chancellor. Although the Chancellor would have very few powers, they would be directly elected by educated Haldori citizens. Unsurprisingly, Bejron Klein did not win the elections for Chancellor, and even less surprisingly, Mendoc Bashtal won.

As Chancellor, Bashtal fiercely resisted many demands from the Federal government of Heselese Omoria, and arrested several Federal Officials for attempting to take a ship full of timber despite his orders. Annoyed, Wemgoht Krendi dismissed Bashtal as Chancellor, and held new elections, but these ended up being won by Nejrin Fido, who had previously served as a close assistant of Bashtal, and who promised to continue the same policies with close advice from Bashtal himself. After six years of dealing with Nejrin, Krendi dismissed him from the post of Chancellor and held elections again, but his efforts were to no avail- Mendoc Bashtal's brother Derric Bashtal won, and continued the policies of Bashtal and Fido, with close advice from both. Finally, Krendi gave in, and Bashtal's circle and allies would hold the post of Chancellor until Haldor gained independence in 1928.

In 1888, Nejrin Fido was Chancellor again, as Derric Bashtal had fallen deeply ill and Mendoc Bashtal was distracted raising his son Amerand Bashtal. During this time, Wemgoht Krendi stepped down as Governor of Heselese Omoria, and in his place the more lenient Lestlon Fjeldo of the Heselese Worker's League was chosen. Fjeldo immediately cut taxes in Haldor and began to reduce the amount of resources being taken to the region, choosing instead to take materials from the Federal Territory of Upper Omoria and the Olref region of the Federation of Heselese Omoria.

Without the abrasive character of Wemgoht Krendi to rally against, and the new Governor being fairly positive for Haldor, calls for Haldori independence began to die down- even among the "Triumvirate" of Nejrin Fido, Derric Bashtal and Mendoc Bashtal. Independence simply wasn't important, as Fjeldo had also allowed the position of Chancellor to gain more importance, and Fido had to focus his efforts on developing Haldor alongside the two Bashtals. And so, from the 1890s till the early 1920s, Haldor remained fairly peaceful, with Lestlon Fjeldo not extracting much from the region. Still, funds were scarce, and Haldor had very little say in the Federal Government of Heselese Omoria, and in this time of peace, Amerand Bashtal was being raised and groomed to lead Haldor in the future.

### Haldori Independence Movement (1923-1928)

By 1923, Derric Bashtal and Mendoc Bashtal had both died, and Nejrin Fido was slowly withering away while holding the position of Chancellor. Although Fido was still carrying out popular policies, the need for a younger face became apparent. The obvious choice was Amerand Bashtal, who was serving in the army as a prominent general at the time.

In 1923, Lestlon Fjeldo stepped down as Governor of Heselese Omoria, and a new Governor, of the Heselese Democratic Front this time, was appointed. This governor- Harleque Krondil- seemed to be returning to the policies of Wemgoht Krendi, exerting heavy Federal control in Haldor and limiting the powers of the Chancellor. In face of this new adversary, Nejrin Fido decided to step down as Chancellor, and Amerand Bashtal- son of Mendoc Bashtal- was elected in his place. Immediately, Bashtal began to call for an independent Haldor, and imposed heavy taxes on Federal ships which arrived to take supplies from Haldor.

Harleque Krondil decided not to let the open defiance in Haldor stand. The Federal Government sent a task force of 3,000 troops to occupy Starmester and another task force of 1,500 to occupy Leirden. Krondil had also asked the Heselese mainland government for aid in the form of marines, who had proved immensely effective during the reign of Sir Wemgoht Krendi. Unfortunately for Krondil, the Heselese President at the time was a Heselese Worker's League politician named Vem'Aht Ashvar, who saw the colonisation of Haldor as an unjust move made by his predecessors from the Heselese Democratic Front and was even supportive of Haldori independence.

By 1925, the amount of Federal troops in Starmester and Leirden had increased to 10,000 and 6,000 respectively, with more military bases being constructed on the islands of Haldor. The Federal troops- in territory hostile to them and without support from the Federation of Hesel, had to rely on the meagre supply chains fully owned by the Federation of Heselese Omoria and became jumpy and nervous. Even the local Haldori garrison, which was officially loyal to Heselese Omoria, listened to Chancellor Amerand Bashtal more than Governor Harleque Krondil.

In 1925, Nejrin Fido- the former Chancellor and the last survivor of the original "Bashtal-Nationalist" triumvirate- led a group of around 15,000 protestors to Leirden to protest against the Federal military presence in the area. The leader of the Federal forces in Haldor- Yonthan Geltor- demanded that Chancellor Bashtal dismiss the gathering immediately using Haldori police forces, but Bashtal refused. Geltor, furious, ordered the Federal detatchment in Leirden to dismiss the gathering by force if necessary. In an incident similar to the attempted arrest of Mendoc Bashtal in 1862, the Federal garrison opened fire on the protestors, prompting the Haldori military to retalliate in turn. The Haldori garrison of Leirden outnumbered the Federal garrison by nearly three times, and unlike the Slaughter of Lafol, the Federal garrison did not have a significant advantage in training or equipment. All 6,000 troops in Leirden were killed or captured by the end of the day, and Yonthan Geltor dead.

Governor Harleque Krondil immediately demanded that Chancellor Amerand Bashtal secure the release of the 5,000 Federal troops being held captive by Haldori troops in Leirden. Bashtal, who was extremely close to Nejrin Fido and likely ordered the capture of Federal troops himself, refused, and demanded the withdrawal of all Federal troops from Haldor as well as less exports from the region in exchange for the release of the prisoners. Krondil refused, and the Federal troops remained imprisoned in Leirden as January 1926 began.

1926 only gave rise to more escalations. In February, the Haldori workers at a Federal Steel Refinery in Starmester went on strike for higher wages. Soon, a textile mill in Leirden followed, and a domino effect began- encouraged by Amerand Bashtal- with workers across Haldor going on strike. Governor Krondil introduced the **Klein Plan,** which would use Haldori troops- officially employed by the Federal Government- as Strikebreakers i.e. Haldori troops would be used to fill in the vacancies created by strikes, eventually forcing the strikers to return to their jobs as no concessions were made.

This plan, on paper a good solution, ended up backfiring as it only led to Haldori troops going on strike. Amerand Bashtal was the mastermind behind the military strikes, and attended rally after rally, giving inspiring speeches to the striking soldiers and workers and encouraging them to remain on strike until their demands were met. Whenever a group looked like it would end a strike, Bashtal rushed to meet their leaders and strengthen their resolve. Nejrin Fido's group in Leirden had swelled in number, reaching roughly 30,000 protestors and strikers in July 1927.

This sorry state of affairs ended up causing the President of Hesel- Vem'Aht Ashvar- to visit the area in December 1927. First, he visited the capital of the Heselese Omoria, and met with Governor Harleque Krondil to discuss the issue of Haldor, Next, Ashvar visited Starmester, and held lengthy discussions with Chancellor Amerand Bashtal. Finally, Ashvar met with Nejrin Fido in Leirden to discuss the issues of the protestors. In the end, President Ashvar- who was already biased in favour of Haldori independence- agreed to allow the **Chancellery of Haldor** to exit the Federation of Heselese Omoria. Ashvar also ended up dismissing Harleque Krondil from the post of Governor, and the independence of Haldor ended up acting as a catalyst for increasing liberalisation and democratic reforms in Heselese Omoria.