The Winterlands

* Map
* Main culture groups
* Crown lands
* Self-governing states

**The Empire of Winterlands** is an island nation to the north of The Hales. It was formerly known as The Empire of Valendoria, and has been also known as The Winterlander Confederation, after The White War.

## History

While there has always been obvious similarities between the cultures and they have shared the same religion, it's hard to determine if the cultures have merged over the centuries, or they are indeed the descendants of the same tribe that split overtime, as most Winterlanders theorized.

In their beliefs, the Winterlanders originate from a tribe named "The Winterborn". Who are said to be the offspring of the southern humans mingling with the native creatures called "The Coldborn".

The Coldborns are described to be short humanoid creatures, with long, black hair, thick skin, so pale they used it to camouflage in the snow. They have also said to be completely resistant to the cold and the harsh environments of the island. In other variants, the humans have killed the Coldborns but kept their traditions. The Bosothist clergy explain that the Coldborns were turned into people by The Frozen One, to serve him. The validity of either of these theories as well as the existence of the creatures is very questionable.

The Winterlands was divided onto smaller tribes, although they had a sense of unity, and shared a culture. Each of the tribes followed a different "Winterlord" or "Winterlady", who lead them, and they thought of them as a leader, sent by their God, The Frozen One.

The Valendorians were the first tribe to embrace feudalism, as well as founding House Winters, naming them true lords of the Winterlands. The kingdom rapidly started expanding, with the obvious goal of uniting the island under one banner. While it would be able to annex all of the western territories, reaching the southern shores, however the east proved to be harder conquer, as two more organized nations appeared on the map to oppose Valendorian expansion:

* The Kingdom of Maevilla, formerly a Valendorian province, founded by a Winters bastard after his claim to the throne was denounced, annexing all of the southeastern tribes (Mella, Indola and Venderland).

* The Norrish Horde, a tribal federation, lead by a legendary "white haired lady", whose identity is a mystery to this day.

The three main powers were hostile towards each other, but neither of them officially waged war, until Maevilla allied with the Norrish Horde. Valendoria saw this as a hostility towards them, and declared war on both nations, as soon as they've heard of the alliance.

Although with great casualties, Valendoria managed to defeat both of it's neighbors, annexing them completely. With this victory, and being the sole sovereign nation left on the island, it was now confident enough to name itself an empire.

While it no longer had any neighboring rivals, Valendoria grew weaker than ever before, as now it's many cultures no longer saw the empire as a protector, but more of an oppressor. Rebellions became more common than in any previous decades previously, and the uprising aggressors easily outnumbered the imperial army. After the rebels managed to occupy Valendorian lands, Emperor Drawe Winters agreed to, meet with the leaders of the rogue provinces, to discuss a treaty.

The Valendorian Empire was reformed into a Federal Empire of The Winterlands, the main changes were:

* Each culture would reclaim some sovereignty, letting them have their own kings, lords and dynasties who manage the internal laws.
* These rulers were still serving under the emperor of Valendoria.
* Each of the new Winterlander nations had to swear loyalty to be recognized.
* Annexing land from another wasn't allowed without the emperor's permission.
* Only a Winters could rule the empire.

The Winterlands enjoyed a long peace and prosperity, lasting for nearly three centuries, as most crownlands were happy with the reformation, which would come to an end with The White War.

While the invaders hardly occupied any major Winterlander territories, the extinction of House Winters left them in a state of anarchy, as the new laws stated that only a Winters could rule. The Winterlanders call this era "The Long Mad"

## Recent Events

The Winterlands managed to distance itself from the south; while immigration was still somewhat common (especially with Hallengard), with the exception of a failed attempt to vassalize Hallengard, the northern empire has taken no official diplomatic steps.

During The War of Weak Kings, while being invited to both sides, the states chose to join neither; they didn't support The Hales, as it wasn't an offensive war on Lauchette's end, thus they didn't need to; and they didn't want to neither felt ready to go to war with Lauchette again.

After troubles arise in Aedwin, with the Warden's sudden departure, The Winterlands chose not to recognize Aedwin as a kingdom, but rather a disorganized Lauch territory, some of the states even considered invading Aedwin to create closer relations with The Lauch Empire, but the majority opposed, ultimately staying neutral once again.

Once Lambertus was crowned as the new Lauch emperor, and started to heavily invest in the empire's military assets, an uneasy meeting was held at The Cold Keep, in Valendoria, with all of the leaders partaking in the succession crisis. The states has managed to come to three agreements:

* The Winterlands would stay neutral in any military actions between the Aedwinian rebels and the Lauch Empire.
* All of the conflicts between the states will be ceased until the island no longer feels threatened (This doesn't mean that the battles are over or resolved, and most parties expect to continue fighting at one point).
* While the empire will continue to distance itself from south, it's isolationism has been reached it's end, and will start to gather oversea territories for itself, to compete with Lauchette.

After hundreds of years, notes on nearby islands were rediscovered, previously hidden in Tovaria's Grand Cathedral. The first expedition will be rediscovery of Cleylia.

### Valendoria

Valendoria is the founder of and the capital nation of the empire, they have are easily the most advanced and have the highest population among all of the Winterlander nations.

Merely weeks after Stephana's death, the nation split into three: Black-Valendoria, White-Valendoria and Grand Valendoria; the first two being ruled by Winters bastard branches, while Grand Valendoria is governed by a Valendorian noble that Markas was going to wed Stephana to, before The White War.

Most lords supported Grand Valendoria's claim, however after many of them were unsuccesful with autonomy they were given, many of them rebelled and founded The Noble Republic of Valendoria, which is currently the most powerful crown land on the island.

### Melandia

Melandia was the first province in Valendoria, and one of the few that never rebelled; often being called "Valendoria's best friend". Since they are the nation that has been in the empire for the longest, they closely resemble Valendorians.

After the extinction of House Winters, a proposition was made to unite Melandia with White-Valendoria, however after the republic broke off, many Melandian nobles pushed to sign a neutral pact with them. As a result, Melandia fully released the lands held by Valendorians supporters, without any hostilities birthing Valen-Melandia.

The remains of the kingdom signed the pact, but only after they released Bralda as a free city, on the request of the Valendorian republic. Signing the agreement did make them less liked in the monarchial Valendorian nations.

### Cerinia

Cerinians made up the dominant southwestern tribe, holding all of Phirousia and Pripat; however they were too underdeveloped to be considered a threat to the kingdom.

They were the first to rebel after the Winters decided to make both Pripat and Phirousia their own province.

In the beginning of White War, Emperor Markas has returned Phirousia and Pripat under their rule once again, founding the Republic of Three Twins, to fortify the southern defenses and to postpone the border conflicts until the end of the war, however it was made obvious that this only is a temporary solution. For most parts the three cultures managed to cooperate.

Once Stephana came to power and the wars came to a truce, she decided to separate the three nations once again, however the idea of a noble republic rooted itself deeply into the Cerinian ideology. For this reasons they were the first to embrace the idea of a republican Winterlands, splitting into two.

### Pripat

Very little is known about Pripat's independent tribal era, other than their their long lasting rivalry with the Phirousians, and that they have been conquered by the Cerinian tribes.

While they were one of the last states to rebel against the empire, the hostilities with Phirousia were common throughout the imperial age, mainly border conflicts.

In the early days of The Winter War, Pripat was put into a personal union of Three Twins with Cerinia and Phirousia by Markas for the sake of better defence. While the three managed to cooperate during the battles, as soon as Stephana separated the three states, hostilities arose again, as Pripat was given much less land than they requested.

As soon as the White War ended, Pripat declared war on Phirousia to reclaim it's territories.

### Phirousia

Similarity to Pripat, their early history is nearly unknown up to the point of being annexed by Cerinia.

The only conflicts Pripat faced under Valendoria was with Pripat, as a result of borders neither states were happy with.

In The White War, Phirousia was united into The Republic of Three Twins, along with Cerinia and Pripat, to improve the southern defences. It originally created cooperation between the three, however during the truce, Empress Stephana chose to separate the three, granting Phirousia more land than it previously had, in an effort to bring an end to the hostilities.

Phirousia was often been called as "The Lauch-Winter Nation", as a result of the constant immigration from multiple sources:

* It being the closest Crown land to The Hales, as well as being one of the least cold ones.
* During the White War, it was the nation Lauch, Aedwinian and Hallengardian deserters were moved to.
* Many of the Lauch Invasions were failures, as the soldiers couldn't withstand the environment, resulting in the Winterlanders having to rescue them, and were most commonly transported to Phirousia.
* It was one of the few lands the invaders managed to occupy, many of them deciding to not return home.

Phirousia never had a too high population, and as a result many of the towns were fully converted. After Pripat annexed the western half of Phirousia, separating the two, the duke decided to grant them autonomy and founded New Phirousia.

### Mella

Mella was originally part of a core Valendorian land until the nobles renounced the claim of a Winters bastard, in favor of his younger brother. He was granted the governance of the province that is now Mella. It broke off during the battles with Cerinia, as The Kingdom of Maevilla.

While Valendoria was conquering the west, Maevilla has annexed the entire southeastern shores (Venderland and Indola), becoming one of the greatest threats to the Valendorian kingdom, however after decades of hostile silence, they were annexed into Valendoria once again.

The Kingdom was renamed to Mella and divided into three duchies to decrease the Mellan influence, as a result Mella was the second one to have it's rebellion against the empire. Unfortunately for them, the imperial army managed to defeat them, and Mella was divided into two duchies again.

Mella is the only country that didn't take part in any battles after the White War, although they are part of some conflicts.

### Venderland

Ruling dynasty: House Hoensbroeck

Veneders were one of the two tribes that remained peaceful towards the kingdom of Valendoria, annexing them wasn't a primary objective until the idea of a united Winterlander nation. They were mainly farmers and shepards as the southern lands parts had the ideal environment for them.

After Maevilla broke off of the kingdom, they warned their southern neighbors about Valendoria seeking to conquer their lands. Wether this was true or simply Maevillan propaganda is debated. Both Venderland and it's neighbor, Indola decided to join the new kingdom.

Originally Venders were mainly responsible for supplying the kingdom, however they grew in population and influence quickly, getting annexed into Valendoria only accelerated it further, as now they had a wider reach. Once Mella started their revolution, the Venders quickly joined in, raising their own army.

During the White War, it was the Venderlands that first proposed the idea of allowing Hallengard into the empire, however it was turned down. Nevertheless Venders became common visitors after the empire was divided, even getting a claim on Hallengard.

### Indola

There is barely any writings on the Indolans before they willingly joined Maevilla, which leads many to believe that they were Venders who only broke off Venderland a few decades prior to the union. Their culture and and traditions are nearly identical.

Just like their eastern neighbor they were were responsible for supplying the empire by farming, up to the Vender rebellion where they allied Venderland.

After the White War, the duchy split into two, where the northern region wanted to draw closer to Venderland and form an alliance, where the southern half wanted to stay completely independent from the other Crown lands, while the the hostilities were present, the two halves never engaged in combat.

### Tovaria

Ruling dynasty: House Royce

The first notes on Tovaria described it as a white mountainy waste, it's also the region of The White Reach, a sacred mountain, described to be the resting place of The Frozen One in Bosothist beliefs.

Just like most northern Crown lands, Tovarians were a nomadic Norrish tribe, up to the point where the horde collapsed and they were absorbed by Valendoria. Seeing how Tovarians had a strong connection to Bosothy and had a culture centered around fighting battles, The Kingdom of Tovaria annexed it's warmer, southern lands and founded the Tovarian Order, a sovereign military state .While the order swore their allegiance to House Winters, they were disallowed to join any non-religious war.

While the crown land was called The Tovarian Order, "Tovarian" would be a term to describe the low-born and peasant population, while the members of the militia were called "Frostmen". While Tovarians were mainly bosothists, they quickly grew tired of having no control over their homeland, and the attempts to overthrow the church controlled order, and the province would see a decade of internal conflicts and power struggles. The Duchy of Tovaria was officially recognized after The Second Tovaro-Frost war.

While the duchy had the clergy's support, it had a poor relationship with the Valendorians, as they often demanded their territories to be returned and kingdomhood. While a negotiation was scheduled between the lords of House Winters and House Royce, it was cancelled as The White War broke out.

Only a few months after the war ended, Tovaria found themselves in another conflict, as the mercenary group known as "The Black Brotherhood" remained unpaid, and they decided to raid and pillage the northern duchy. The Tovarian army was still recovering, and the Valendorians refused to aid their northern neighbors, as they were caught up in a civil war of their own. The Tovarians were losing until Kuvia and Kender joined on their side. The Brotherhood's descendants now reside in the Duchy of Blindkeep, a Tovarian vassal.

### Proshland

Ruling dynasty: House Talvace

Proshland is the northest and coldest point of the Winterlands, due to the extreme environment, while it's not the smallest subnation, it holds the smallest population among all of the regions.

While the Prosh people are rumored to have also been part of the Norrish horde, they were annexed into Valendoria without any battles after Tovaria fell. The lack of mentions of the tribe lead many to believe that they weren't part of either nations previously and no one even made contact with them.

They are mainly hunters or lumberjacks, since as a result of their low population, Proshland is surrounded by many dense forests and a rich wildlife.

While they remained mostly unused in all of the wars under the House Winters rule, they accepted Tovaria's vassalisation for better trades. Due to their extreme isolationism, the battles and civil wars had very little affect on Proshland.

### Kender

Kendish people once made up the largest culture group in the Norrish horde, however due to the many losses against the Maevilla and Valendoria they decreased to the third place in size.

After they were annexed into Valendoria, they were turned into a military state under heavy Valendorian influence as they feared that the Norrish subnations would invade the capital. While they did attempt to support the Kuvian rebellion and some troops voluntarily joined Tovaria during it's battles, they weren't permitted to officially join any battles. After the reformation of the empire, Kender finally enjoyed it's autonomy.

After the White War, Kender tried it's best to stay neutral, despite being pulled into a few wars, and eventually allied with Kuvia, later adding Tovaria and it's vassal, founding the Norrish Defence Pact.

### Kuvia

Kuvia was the backbone of the Norrish Horde and the very last nation to get annexed. It's often considered the "big brother" of Tovaria and Kender. It's the most isolated of the Norrish crown land, they are also said to have reserved their original culture.

Even after the annexation, Kuvian morale wasn't broken and the hordes managed to remain a threat. Kuvia had the most rebellions against the empire, which resulted in Kender's militarization and the foundation of the Tovarian Order. Kuvians were originally used as scapegoat, but with the empire becoming more and more unstable, they became an idol to those who wanted to break off from Valendoria.

Things improved after the reformation, but the rivalry between them and Valendorians was still present, but it didn't escalate into battles anymore. With the White War, the two cultures managed to put their differences aside to focus on a greater threat to the empire.

After the war, the Kuvian nobility openly described the idea of reuniting an empire as "Arming a corpse and expecting them to fight once more", instead they proposed the idea of a Norrish Union between Kender, Tovaria, Proshland and them, independent from the Winterlander Empire.

Kuvia eventually remained part of the empire, founding The Norrish Defence Pact with it's sister nations, but the idea of full independence is still proposed.

## Active internal conflicts

While the Winterlander conflicts are often called wars, negotiations are much more common than actual battles. When declaring war, both parties have to accept specific restrictions or risk being removed from the Empire. These are the following:

* Neither of the parties can request or accept external help.
* Neither of the parties are allowed to use strategies that would affect the Crown lands not part of the war (such as spreading diseases, torching farms etc.).
* If an external nation declares war on The Winterlands, both parties must cease hostilities immediately to defend the union.

### The Imperial-Confederation War

The Imperial-Confederation War is a major conflict between The Reformists, who wish to reform the Winterlander Empire into a confederation and The Monarchists who wish to conserve it.

**The Monarchists**

Kingdom of Grand Valendoria

Kingdom of White-Valendoria

Kingdom of Black-Valendoria

Kingdom of Valen-melandia

Kingdom of Melandia

Duchy of New Melandia

Kingdom of Cerinia

Grand Duchy of Mella

Duchy of Venderland

Duchy of North Indola

Duchy of South Indola

Kingdom of Pripat

Duchy of Phirousia (and it's vassal, New Phirousia)

Duchy of Kender (Formerly, withdrew)

Kingdom of Kuvia (Formerly, withdrew)

Kingdom of Tovaria (Formerly, withdrew)

Duchy of Proshland (Formerly, withdrew)

Kingdom of Lauchette (Unrecognized member)

**The Reformists**

The Valendorian Republic

Republic of Cerinia

Pripati Republic

Free City of Bralda

The Vender Republic

The Kuvian Republic (Formerly, abolished)

New Kender (Formerly, abolished)

The Free Mellan Republic (Formerly, abolished)

Republic of Tovaria (Formerly, reformed into the Republic of Blindkeep)

Republic of Three Twins (Theoritical republic)

After the extinction of House Winters, Valendoria broke up into three crown lands. The most powerful in it was The Kingdom of Grand Valendoria, that appealed to most Valendorian nobles and lords, with the promises of greater autonomy and power in the governance. However after the new borders were drawn, separating the three Valendorian kingdoms, the promises were revoked.

Enraged, the nobles sent an ultimatum to the king, demanding the promised autonomy in their regions, which was denied. The nobles declared their independence, nearly two thirds of the kingdom's landlords joining the republic, now growing into the most powerful Winterlander state, based on economic power, military strength and population.

Concurrent to this a republican uprising broke out in Cerinia, aiming to recreate The Three Twins. The Valendorian Republic threatened war unless the Cerinian kingdom releases the republic, which they ignored.

Many of the neighboring Crown lands now felt threatened by the Republic, warned them not to spread the ideology. The republicans did the opposite, promising protection and independence to any uprising rebellions, spreading the conflict out to to all of The Winterlands.

Although the republicans were outnumbered, both republics managed to gain land from it's neighbors, encouraging more and more republics to declare independence. Many argue that the reason behind the republicans winning so many battles can be traced to the lack of cooperation between the monarchists, as unlike their counterpart, the republics weren't in any conflicts.

After Kuvia founded the Norrish Defence Pact, the northern fell rapidly, forcing the Valendorian republic to sign a peace treaty in which they were forced to denounce their support for the northern rebels, and having to accept monarchist rule in the Norrish subnations. As an exchange, Tovaria would cease hostilities with it's republics, and the rebel lords of Kuvia and Kender would be allowed to move to Valendoria without any physical punishment.

Unexpectedly, Lorens Gaubert, the King of Lauchette, declared "The defence of northern order" to be a Lauch duty. His reasons are unknown, many suggest that it's simply to defend the Lauch population of Phirousia, others claim that it's either a plan to assert Lauch rule over The Winterlands or to be simply out of fear of republicanism spreading south or having a republican power. The Lauch people simply claim that it's out of his love for Stephana Winters, the last empress of The Winterlands. While none of the monarchists recognized the Lauch kingdom as an official ally, his offer was never declined either.

Currently this battle is still ongoing, although it has come to a stalemate on most sides.

### The Winterlander Succession Crisis

The Succession Crisis is a five-way, major battle to determine the next ruling dynasty of the Winterlands.

After the extinction of House Winters, the main Valendorian into three, however only after a few months after the new borders were drawn, a new Valendorian state broke off, as a republic, joining the crisis, aiming to reform the empire into a confederation.

Meanwhile, Tovaria was defending the clergy from getting sacked by a rogue mercenary group named The Black Brotherhood. The Valendorian crown lands declined to aid them. As a result, the Bosothist church now named House Royce the rightful rulers of The Winterlands, similarly to how they once did with House Winters.

So far the only hostilities were Tovaria recapturing it's former territories and The Valendorian republic expanding into it's neighbors.

While most nations aren't directly part of the crisis, they do agree on the fact that the empire needs to be reunited under one of them, so it technically still affects the entire island.

## Resolved internal conflicts

### The Old War of The South

The Old War was a continuation of the Pripati-Phirousian conflicts, aiming to bring an end to the rivalry.

When the Three Twins was hastly divided by Stephana Winters, Pripat was unsatisfied with the lands they were given. The Empress promised to rearrange the fiefs after the White War has officially ended. However she died before the rearrangment could have happened, leaving the issue unresolved. To make matters worse, with the death of the empress, the Kingdom of Lauchette has launched it's invasions, occupying both nations.

The occupation left both nations in ruins, many of the Lauch forces simply settled down in the southern parts of Phirousia. Pripat took this opportunity to declare war and annex the territories it desired. While it's still considered a war, it was a very swift take over, the armies of both sides have either taken heavily casualties or were disbanded completely.

While it's considered to resolved, all of sides in the succession crisis agreed to revisiting the border conflicts.

### The Tovaro-Brotherhood War

The Black Brotherhood returned shortly after the end of The White War, now merged with the tribes of The Hales, only to find the empire divided and bankrupt, unable to pay for their services. Enraged, the mercenaries sacked the towns, marching north.

Their goal was the Bosothist grand cathedral, a huge palace-like construction set right next to The White Reach, with no windows, and the majoirty of it being unvisitable for others than the Bosothist monks. Many ideas arose on what could be hidden there, a common theory is that it's filled with gold, that's also what the brotherhood believed in.

The new Valendorian stateslet the brotherhood past, as they were pre-occupied with their own battles, however the cathedral was under Tovarian protection, who threatened war if The Black Brotherhood stepped on any Tovarian land. The threat was ignored.

The original Tovarian war strategy was to hold their ground until the Valendorians join the battle, however each Valendorian state declined to aid them in the battle. Concurrent to this, a republican revolution broke out in the southern part of Tovaria. While the Republic and the Brotherhood weren't allies, they did have a common enemy. The war ended shortly, however when the Kendish and Kuvian armies arrived to help their norrish sister nation.

The Tovarian monarch decided to vassalize the mercenaries, and reform them into "The Ravens", granting them the previously rebelling province of Blindkeep, merging them. After the successful defense, the Bosothist clergy named House Royce to be the rightful rulers of The Winterlands, similarly to how they once did with House Winters, which lead them to join the succession crisis.