Eisenreich

**Eisenreich** was a greater duchy of the country of Yurgenschmidt, which was dissolved in the wake of it's Aub rebelling against the Zent.

# Geography

Eisenreich consisted of the entirety of what today is Ehrenfest and Frenbeltag, we well as the eastern parts of Klassenberg's current territory.

# Economy

Eisenreich's main sources of income were the rich iron mines in it's north, which they exported both domestically and internationally, as well as the foreign trade through the country gate to the neighboring country of Bosgeiz.

# History

Over 200 years ago, Eisenreich was one of the richest and most powerful and influencial duchies in the country. In his hubris, the Aub at the time allowed himself to be convinced to try to usurp the crown by people from the neighboring country Bosgeiz.

To facilitate the rebellion, the Bosgeiz government sent many people and supplies to their ally, while Aub Eisenreich brought his political weight to bear, to establish as many of his loyal subjects as he could among the sovereign nobility. In preparation for the strike he also infiltrated many of his knights into the Royal Academy's dormitory.

Many of the local nobles and members of his own family tried to dissuade him from this foolishness, but he would not listen. In her desperation, one of his daughters fled the duchy and flew directly to the Sovereignty, to inform the Zent of the impeding attack. Enraged by the treachery, the Zent immediately teleported to the area to close the country gate and upon his return to the Sovereignty, gathered the Sovereign Knight's Order for a preemptive attack against the would-be usurper, utterly crushing is surprised force. The rebellious Aub himself died in the fighting. As punishment for the insurrection, the duchy was split into three parts. The western areas were turned into a new, middle duchy, given the name Frenbeltag, and the northern, iron-rich areas were handed over to Klassenberg. The less than third that remained was reduced to the rank of a middle duchy. The entire archducal family was executed as traitors, with only the woman who warned the Zent being spared and put in charge of the diminished duchy. The Zent also had all Sovereign nobles formerly of Eisenreich, as well as some of the more powerful, local nobles executed.

With their main sources of income either being given to another duchy or being blocked off due to the closure of the country gate, as burden of the many left behind Bosgeiz citizens stuck in the area and the rest of the country scorning them as a duchy of traitors, Eisenreich and it's nobility fell into crisis and without any help from the Zent or anyone else, declined further and further, caught between stories of old glories and a future without prospects. With nearly all foreign sources of food, or the means to pay for them, drying up, the Leisegang family, in charge of the most fertile area of what remained of the duchy, rose to become the most prominent and influential noble house of Eisenreich, near enough overnight.

Over time the country split into two factions, one, enticed by stories of their glorious past, advocated to beg the king to reopen the country gate, so that the stuck Bosgeiz citizens could return home and they could use it's riches of the reopened trade-lanes to regain what they considered their rightful place. The other faction wished to keep their heads down and ride out their punishment, and punish the Bosgeiz people, since they blamed them for corrupting their former Aub and causing their duchy's downfall.

When it became time to decide the archduchess' successor, the divide between the duchy's nobility, which also extended to her own children and grandchildren, escalated into open warfare.

Bemoaning her lack of power and ability stop her own father from committing treason and her own offspring from ripping the remnants of the duchy apart, the archduchess gave her position and status back to the Zent and requested someone else to be assigned to rule. The king accepted her resignation, and together with who would soon become the first Aub Ehrenfest, took the Sovereign Knight's Order to Eisenreich to reestablish order. After crushing the nobles, who advocated for the reopening of the country gate, he used his Grutrissheit and moved the location of the duchy's foundation, destroying their former seat of power and thus the constant reminder of their former greatness, so they would never again seek to restore their old glory, and changed the duchy's name to that of the man he appointed as the new archduke - Ehrenfest.

# References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ascendance of a Bookworm. Part 5 Volume 4. Chapter 16: Kirnberger’s Country Gate