Dark Realm of Han

The Dark Realm of Han, shaded in green.

The **Realm of Han** or the **Dark Realm of Han** (or **DROH** or ***Jun Zhengfu Chen Zhou***), is an absolute monarchy and military order ruled by the Chen dynasty, a Xandunese clan originating from Xandu-proper. The Dark Realm is located in a valley west of Xandu, almost directly west of Shanjing. It consists of several villages (of which one is its de facto capital), vast (and dense) forestry, as well as a mountain range on its eastern border which forms a natural barrier with Xandu, and another mountain range to its south which also forms a natural border with Tyavyli. It is largely economically under-developed and relies heavily on revenue from mercenary services conducted abroad and raiding.

The realm joined the Holy States (later known as the League of Palus) as its eighth constituent state in July 2019, making it the first country to voluntarily join another. It left later in December 2019, though Lord Han continued to rule the State of Xandu in an informal fashion. This led to a series of conflicts known as the Thornian Wars, which culminated in the partial occupation of the Dark Realm by the Thornian Empire, followed by a brief civil war known as the Little Civil War.

It was officially a neutral nation and steadfastly refused to join or form an alliance with the League of Palus or the Democratic Federation of Tyavyli after leaving the League of Palus in December 2019.

The Dark Realm effectively collapsed in mid 2021 as pillager tribes overran the plague-striken Chen Army and Xandunese militias in the north-western plains, followed by the central plains and Fort Han. The entire senior leadership of the dynasty briefly went into hiding but returned to power at the end of 2021.

## History

### Early years

The Dark Realm was founded by a former Xandunese general, Weihan, who was frustrated by Shanjing's increasingly socialist and passive outlook. He demanded for more mercenary rights but the populace of Shanjing was unwilling to accept commercially available military force. Also, poor economic development, poor resource management, and relatively slow technological progress tested the patience of some settlers who were more willing to go straight into trading with the more economically vibrant settlements further east.

Weihan explored regions further west of Greater Shanjing and discovered plains which consisted of three villages. He settled in the eastern-most village and began work on a mega-fort by the side of the village.

The Dark Realm refused to negotiate treaties with its neighbours throughout history. However, it accepted the general agreement that the nether should be neutral ground.

### Tyavylian Campaign (mid to late 2016)

The Dark Realm attempted to conquer its southern neighbour, Tyavyli, numerous times throughout the 5810s and 5820s in an attempt to gain access to the Eastern Sea. The Tyavylian Campaign was expected to be a relatively swift conquest as Tyavyli was severely underdeveloped and its military was publicly known for having made a mess of military exercise around Ty Town.

The first attempt to attack Ty in the 5810s was botched due to hostile mobs attacking Xinnic troops in the densely forested region north of Ty. The decision to conduct the operation at night was also problematic due to Ty's poor lighting and the forests blocking out moonlight.

The second attempt to attack Ty was done slightly differently, with the Xinnic army invading from the swamps north west of Ty. However, the large amount of potholes, ponds, rivers, and lakes that the soldiers had to cross delayed the operation. Xinnic troops were once again cut down by a ferocious barrage of hostile mobs and were forced to pull back to Fort Han.

### End of the Dark Realm (December 2016)

In December 2016, Dark Lord Weihan officially abdicated from the lordship and chose Jia Ren as his successor. This news was met with uncertainty by other countries. However, Jia Ren did not show up on the server since his appointment. With no Dark Realm citizens making an appearance and without any proper reason given after a month, the server admins officially terminated the Dark Realm's sovereignty. Ironically, this was just a day before the Governing Committee was made the sole government by the server admins.

### Revival of the Dark Realm and membership in the Holy States (July 2019 - 27 December 2019)

The revival of the server saw the return of Weihan who re-established the government and cult of the Dark Realm. It was revealed in July 2019 that the Holy States had intended to hire his services for future military operations, but he declined the offer. Instead, the Dark Realm was invited to join the Holy States as a full member state, to which Weihan agreed.

Having lost his way, Weihan established The Settlement in the former Common Area in between the world's major states. The Holy States swiftly annexed the territory on behalf of the Realm of Han and recognised The Settlement as the temporary capital of the realm.

During the Holy States' transition into the League of Palus in November to December of 2019, the State of Umia provided aid to the Dark Realm in helping to rediscover Fort Han and to provide adequate resources to resume development. The Dark Realm became a constituent sub-state of the Free State of Xandu after the League of Palus annexed Xandu, with Weihan becoming President of the Free State.

### Independence and neutrality (27 December 2019 - late 2020)

The Dark Realm re-attained independence on 27 December 2019 after Weihan invoked the Article of Separation in the League's constitution. This allowed the Dark Realm to legally leave the union. It was decided that Xandu would remain within the union as a state.

Its isolation from the rest of the world left it untouched from The Great Plague and it was out of reach of the Thornians during their retaking of Xandu (though they ruled Xandu *on behalf* of the Chen dynasty).

### Anarchy (late 2020 - August 2021)

The Dark Realm's mercenary guilds continued operating well into 2020, with its remaining mercenaries travelling to and from Goruid to fight in the Second Pillager War. These mercenaries brought the plague back into the Dark Realm, leading to a mass outbreak that killed off an estimated 75% of the population. The remaining populace either fled south to Tyavyli or eastward to Xandu.

Pillager tribal forces from across the western plains and deserts took advantage of the chaos to invade the Dark Realm. They first took the north-western plains with surprisingly minimal resistance from Chen forces. An attempt by the Chen leadership to regroup around Fort Han failed as tribal forces quickly took all surrounding villages, and ferociously fought over Fort Han. The entire senior branch of the Chen dynasty was presumed missing in action. Junior officers related to the Chen dynasty quickly took control and led their armies into a tactical retreat into Xandu whereafter they surrendered to Xandunese authorities. The Dark Realm was considered dissolved after the Fall of Fort Han.

### Isolation, retaking of Xandu, and mercenary activity in Thornia (August 2021 - March 2023)

Little is known about this period in history as few ventured further west of Xandu's western border. Almost all of the Dark Realm's historians, scribes, and educated elite had either fled elsewhere or perished during The Great Plague. Thornia was unable to send spies outside its borders due to the Thornian Civil War.

Lord Han and the rest of the senior military leadership is known to have re-emerged during this time and reformed the Dark Realm's military forces into multiple armies. The Dark Realm's military was able to regain much of its strength and recapture Xandu during the height of the Thornian Civil War.

The Dark Realm was able to subsidise the mercenary forces which the Trabovonian rebels of Thornia hired. The hiring of these forces led to a domino effect of other rebel groups in Thornia siding with the Thornian government to expel Dark Realm influence from the region.

### Chen-Thornia War (26 March 2023 - 2 May 2023)

The Dark Realm, and its internal allied armies under Chen overlordship, launched an offensive into Thornia in an attempt to establish Dark Realm buffer puppet states in the region. Captured Chen-aligned soldiers let on that this was largely a retributionary plan against Thornian encroachment into the continent.

The Chen forces failed spectacularly in the initial phase of the conflict and lost control of Xandu by early April. A stalemate between early to mid April allowed their forces to regroup and for the Army of the Dark Realm to make arrangements to formally join the conflict. By late April, Chen forces managed to recapture most of Xandu and to even capture a stretch of the eastern coast stretching from Trabonnia to Ume.

The Thornian Army eventually managed to turn the tide of the war and recapture the coast between Trabonnia and Ume, all of Xandu, and even the central valley of the Dark Realm. Fort Han was nearly besieged, but the fort surrendered to the Thornian Army.

### The Little Civil War (3 May 2023 - 11 May 2023)

The greatly exhausted and depleted Dark Realm splintered into several rival territories - Fort Han and tributary villages, the Zhongyang Lianmeng or the Central Alliance, and the Hegu Republic. All three factions launched several raids into each others' territory, whilst the Central Alliance and Hegu launched several small attacks on the Thornian occupiers.

The army recalled the few units left in Xandu to withdraw from the territory to join the fight against the Central Alliance and Hegu. Poor communication led to the Thornian Army believing that the ceasefire was being broken and that the war had resumed. This led to severe clashes that wiped out entire units. Fort Han sent messengers to clarify the situation and to attempt to negotiate an alliance. The Thornian Army rejected the alliance offers and withdrew completely. The hobbled Army of the Dark Realm managed to score phyrric victories against Hegu, and later against the Central Alliance villages of Sen and Lin.

### Post-war period (12 May 2023 - Present)

In the aftermath of the Thornia-Chen War and the civil war, the country's leadership began exploring the possibility of forming alliances with groups outside of the group of highly-civilised nations such as Thornia or Tyavyli. This was done in the hope of ensuring that the Dark Realm would no longer fall into the same political and nationalist plots that led to the Thornia-Chen War.

Land-based expeditions were sent out westward in search of groups related to the proto-Xandunese. In the span of two months, several unsophisticated settlements and nomadic tribes were discovered. The closest are the Chirgisids, followed by the Hurxudi further west, and the Kzatis even further north-west. According to the Chirgisids, all three tribes were once united several centuries ago but ultimately split after the leading clans of the tribe were at each others' throats over an unresolved murder of an elder. The Chirgisids eventually came on top as the leading splinter tribe but chose to isolate itself (hence why the Dark Realm never received a trading or diplomatic party from the west).

The Kzatis had only a year ago launched a severe raiding campaign across Chirgisid and Hurxudi lands in preparation for an eventual invasion. The Dark Realm leadership decided to form a military alliance with the Chirgisids and Hurxudis to help them subjugate the unruly Kzatis and to form a relationship with these nations. In exchange, the Chirgisids offered to train the Dark Realm's army in the art of cavalry warfare whilst the Hurxudi offered infantry in future campaigns.