Freehold of Kainiya

The **Freehold of Kainiya** was a small Freehold located in the North. While being created by the Nytalyrian Empire to act as a buffer state between the Freeholds of Laenius and Ryliria, politically, Kainiya acted as an Old Freehold, with its rulers clinging onto Human slavery as most of Enselonde's other Freeholds were moving away from it. It ultimately collapsed in a wave of slave revolts in the early 3rd century AW, paving the way to the rise of the tribal kingdom of Great Skull.

## History

Originally a part of the Freehold of Laenius to the west, which encompassed most of modern-day Wyrsia, the area around the city of Kainiya was a problem for both Laenius and the Nytalyrian Empire. Geographically isolated by hills, economically underdeveloped, and still relying heavily on Human slave labour, Laenius effectively gave the area the boot in 34 BW, not wishing to rule over it. Lyxis the Blind initially wanted to incorporate it into Ryliria, yet they were equally reluctant.

With no takers, the best solution was to simply make the area a small country. Effectively, in 33 BW, Kainiya was born out of abandonment under their first king, the already elderly Yathail Kainiyai, the local lord of the city of Kainiya. Yathail I was not entirely a hopeless case, as he was aware and willing to work on the issues facing his newfound Freehold. He initially aligned himself with the so-called New Freeholds and aimed to modernise the region. He put forward a roadmap to economically modernise the Freehold with the goal of founding a trade-oriented economy and eventually abolishing slavery altogether. This effort was noble, if not inefficient, due to the ongoing Third Human Rebellion and Divine War across Enselonde. International trade had largely ceased to exist, and Kainiya was ravaged by the Divine War. Both Sylvir, the God of Water, and Dhydos, the God of Frost, battered Kainiya (and other Northern Freeholds) with floods and blizzards, doing great damage to Kainiya's already stagnant farming industry. By 14 AW, the elderly Yathail had died, having failed to reach any milestone on his roadmap. His son and successor, Dyffias I, threw his father's roadmap out the window entirely, steering Kainiya towards a different path.

Dyffias I is not remembered fondly for several reasons. His upbringing in absolute luxury made him spoiled and detached from reality. Most of his reign was spent partying lavishly, expanding the capital with luxurious construction projects, and even expanding slavery within his country by implementing a cruel breeding program. Dyffias dragged Kainiya into crippling debt, barely avoiding bankruptcy by downsizing the military, selling the entire navy, raising taxes, and working the slaves in his country to the bone. While slavery wasn't pleasant for any Human experiencing it, the reign of Dyffias was especially brutal as he imposed quotas that were impossible to meet and workplace fatalities skyrocketed above the average. In time, even the guards and nobility on the ground took pity on their own slaves. Quotas were ignored, records were falsified, and some Hyllidan landowners even released their slaves unconditionally out of protest. Dyffias clamped down and tried to have some of the nobility arrested for treason in 119 AW, which saw a broad coalition form against him. With his power base turning hostile, Dyffias could only watch as he was deposed and replaced by his cousin, the relatively young Vulymer.

When Vulymer I was crowned, it immediately dawned on him that he had been thrust into an impossible position. Traditionalists, reformists, moderates, the military, the landowners, foreign delegates: countless groups tried to sway Vulymer to their point of view. In the end, he chose the worst option of all: compromise. Instead of aligning with one group's policies and interests, he tried to please everyone, pleasing nobody in the process. Vulymer's decrees and laws were often half-hearted and filled with loopholes. Sometimes one law passed, only for it to be reverted a year later. Effectively, the central government had broken down under Vulymer and the Nytalyrians ultimately decided to put an end to it. They withdrew from Kainiya diplomatically, leaving them isolated. In the process, the Freehold also lost its main trading partner and further stagnated economically. Dyffias' debts continued to haunt the rule of Vulymer, and the only solution he could find was increasingly relying on slavery. In doing so, however, Kainiya had now become entirely dependent on slavery, and one large-scale slave rebellion could be the push that caused it all to fall apart.

That push came in the year 209 AW. A slave farm near Kainiya for dissenting slaves had unintentionally become a hotbed for revolt. Under their leader, Gern Freeman, the largest slave revolt in Kainiyan history broke out. Other farms in the area were taken over, as the rebellion's numbers grew rapidly. One stroke of good luck came to Vulymer, however, when Gern decided to march on the capital prematurely. The Kainiyan Army met them on the battlefield and soundly defeated the rebel army, scattering them to the wind and taking Gern prisoner. He was subsequently beheaded, with his head put on a stake outside the capital to act as a warning. Believing the revolt crushed, Vulymer celebrated, yet, this, too, was premature. Gern's lieutenants spread across the Freehold, instigating further nationwide uprisings. One lieutenant in particular, Annuh of Kainiya, stalked the capital with a group of skirmishers, sabotaging supply lines and taking on much larger military forces with a high success rate. Annuh crippled the monarchy even more, as away from the capital, other Freemen leaders like Catadar and Iar took over other significant towns.

In one final disaster for Vulymer, the military discovered the whereabouts of Annuh of Kainiya's headquarters north of the capital and marched to raid it. They fell right for the trap. As the army was away, Annuh and his forces emerged inside the city walls through the sewers, slaughtering its skeleton garrison. Vulymer barely fled the city through a hidden passage, abandoning the country altogether and living out the remainder of his life in Ryliria. Without their king and capital, the Kainiyan military scattered to the wind with some fighting on, others returning to civilian life, and others leaving the country altogether. The Freehold effectively ceased to exist by 210 AW. Officially, Kainiya collapsed in 211 AW, before ultimately being replaced in 212 AW by the united Great Skull kingdom under Catadar Freeman with its capital in Cnoc Kirne (formerly Kyrn).

## Kings of Kainiya

* House Kainiyai
	+ Yathail I (33 BW-14 AW)
	+ Dyffias I (14-119 AW)
	+ Vulymer I (119-210 AW)
* Anarchy (210-211 AW)