Liclania

Regent (de facto)

* Northri
* Sigmund
* Chargleman
* Clara Tacna
*list abridged, see full list below*

**Liclania**, officially the **Liclani High Kingdom**, was a mostly human-dominated state that existed in Northern Eylonia from the 1st millennium BT. Over the course of its millennia-long history, the Liclani state went through a number of transformations, going from a martial land empire to a devolved feudal state to a highly centralized autocracy to a constitutional monarchy. From the 16th century to the early 20th century AT, Liclania also possessed a colonial empire, which at its height in 1914 encompassed territory on nearly every continent.

The origins of the Liclani state are shrouded in legend. According to Liclani tradition, the kingdom was established some time in the 1st millennium BT by Ipola Ulome, who conquered Nrothfren and crowned himself Frost-King after obtaining a divine artifact known as the Keys of Opam, which allowed him to raise undead armies but which the gods had cursed to become the soul-corrupting Sword of Opam. In addition to founding the state, Ipola is also credited with bestowing his necromantic powers on a chosen few and creating the Vykals, whose use of the undead as soldiers and laborers would forever be integral to the Liclani military and economy. Under the centuries-long reign Ipola's successor, the Frost-Queen Ticiastani whose life was extended by the Sword of Opam, the Liclani state expanded from Nrothfren to encompass most of what would constitute Liclania by modern times through a process of violent conquest, during which populations of dwarves and firbolgs were absorbed into the Liclani people. Following Ticiastani's death sometime in the 1st century BT, the Frost-King Astan and his wife Iani reformed Liclani society to be less warlike and more focused on its own improvement, culminating ultimately in the magical entombment of Astan and the Sword of Opam. After briefly ruling in Astan's place, Iani would surrender control over the kingdom to a regent in AT 10, and regents would act as the de facto monarchs of Liclania for the rest of its history. In addition to establishing the regency, Iani and her daughters would also establish the Iani Mages, who among other duties would maintain the seal on Astan's tomb and perform religious rites, becoming an organized and integral part of the Liclani state and society with the creation of the Magisterium by the Regent Northri Torstensson in AT 67.

The Torstenian dynasty's right to rule Liclania hereditarily was initially challenged in a civil war incited by the rebellion of Hrosskel Hælgisson, who declared himself regent in AT 75. The Treaty of Dragon's Head in AT 90 ended the war in a compromise that saw the Tostenian dynasty retain its hereditary right to rule Liclania in exchange for granting privileges to local rulers that essentially transformed Liclania from a centralized empire to a highly devolved feudal state. Though Liclania initially remained largely isolated apart from sparse trade with the Luman Empire and small conflicts with the Seusonic tribes on its southern frontier and successfully resisted Thurionization, overpopulation and poor farmland in addition to other pressured led a number of Liclani to seek fortune overseas as merchants, mercenaries, and raiders in the period from around 793 to 872 known as the Necrostorm. During this period Liclani settled the isles of Vesterland and played critical roles in the unification of the Norlannic states of Eobrand, Alberland, and Weyndland; the founding of the Duchy of Bordely and the Bozdar Iodo; and the creation of the Ulffaki, an elite unite of the Luman Army.

For most of the Necrostorm, the regency was largely uninvolved in raids and conquest, but in 868 Regent Modolf invaded Norlannia to aid the raider-established Jarldom of Maldred. The campaign ended in disaster, and after Moldolf was killed at the Second Battle of Farnsturn in 872 the Necrostorm ended and the Liclani state quickly spiraled into a period of disunity known as the Recreance. After a chaotic series of civil wars which lasted from the deposing of Regent Bersi Englissson in 895 to the signing of the 944 Treaty of Nrothfren, Liclania was left with a virtually powerless regent and the state was divided into the High Jarldoms of Orestmark, Solvormark, and Tonnamark. Though Liclania remained culturally unified during the following period, the the three jarldoms remained in a constant state of rivalry and fought five wars against one another. 1158 saw the beginning of the end of the Recreance with the conquest of Solvormark by Orestmark in the Fifth War of the Recreance. From 1166 to 1214, devastating invasions by the Jovramangi (demons) forced Orestmark and Tonnamark to become allies, resulting in the marriage of the heirs of each jarldom to one another. The alliance between the two jarldoms was further strengthened by the Northern Crusades (1216 - 1312), during which the Thurionan Order of Iron launched campaigns against pagans such as the Liclani and Litovians, blaming them and their use of magic for causing the Demon Invasions. With the aid of the Thurionan realms of Kemdaro and Carnia, the crusaders were ultimately defeated and a long lasting alliance was cemented between Liclania and the newborn Carnian-Litovian realm.

In 1300 Sigmund, having inherited the jarldoms of both Tonnamark and Orestmark, seized the regency for himself, ending the Recreance. Despite Liclania's reunification and integration of Vesterland later that century; tensions between the Iani Mages, the Vykals, and the other estates remained, leading eventually to the Great Upheaval during the 17th century, which saw another round of civil wars and break-away regencies that led to the rise of the Regent Chargleman, who swiftly ended the Great Upheaval through a series of reforms that transformed Liclania in a highly centralized absolutist state with a professional civil service, a new law of succession to the regency based on merit rather than heritage, and the world's first modern public education system. He also created the Chamber of 300, which would eventually evolve into the Riksdag. This transformation coincided with the birth of the Liclani Colonial Empire - though the Liclani failed to colonize Skoheten and Bloomerland in the 16th century, 1632 saw the founding of the fur-trading settlement of Vienas and the creation of the Western Territories, which would later become known as Kehlata.

Emerging as a global power in its own right during the 17th century, Liclania quickly entered a fierce rivalry with Eobrand, losing Vesterland in the Eobrandic-Liclani War of 1654-1656 but successfully defending the Western Territories from Eobrand and its successor, Great Norlannia, in the Twenty Years War (1684 - 1705) and the Equadinian Wars (1735 - 1783). Among other factors, lingering colonial disputes between Norlannia and Liclania after these wars would lead Liclani Regent Clara Tacna to organize a summit of the Welthshires, Aethania, and the Eylonian great powers at the Congress of Nrothfren in 1818. The resulting 1820 Treaty of Nrothfren would secure recognition of Liclani colonial claims on every continent in exchange for Liclani recognition of the claims made by other powers in the treaty, and set a new diplomatic agenda for Liclania - to preserve the balance of power established by the treaty. With exception of Rinchuguo, which the Liclani ultimately opted to trade with instead of conquer, all of the Liclani claims in the treaty were enforced by 1880, with Liclania's most important holdings being the Tsochi in North Aloysia, Skoheten in South Aloysia, and Ahster in the Alequanian Sea.

In addition to her diplomatic achievements, Tacna also embraced certain aspects Enlightenment - abolishing noble titles, creating a social safety net, and granting unprecedented freedoms to the Iani Mages in hopes of preventing Liclania from being swept up in the series of violent liberal revolutions that began with the Equadinian Revolution in 1732. As radicalism grew throughout Eylonia and liberalism triumphed in the Welthshires, Maellas, Raeli, and Angharm; however, an absolutist regency became untenable and in 1848 - when a wave of revolutions across Eylonia spread to Liclania - Tacna stepped down and allowed the adoption of a constitution which transformed Liclania into a constitutional monarchy modeled loosely on the Welthshires, with power shared between an elected regent and a parliament - the Riksdag - led by a prime minister. The first head of this new government, Oscar Ekdal, would become known as the "Father of Liclani Democracy" for his leadership role in the liberal Society of Northern Lights which led the 1848 Revolution in Liclania. After a few decades of relative political unity under the Society of Northern Lights, the National Coalition Party, the Social Democratic Party, and later the National Progressive Party emerged as the main factions in Liclani politics. As nationalism and became a major force throughout Eylonia, it took on a unique forms in Liclania which distinguished itself from the rest of Eylonia with unique religion, writing system, and magic tradition. Because Liclania had long operated under collectivist principles and industrialized using undead labor rather than an living urban workforce, a unique form of socialism was expressed in Solidarism, which emphasized harmony instead of class struggle and supported Liclani imperialism as a necessary civilizing mission.

Though it was hoped that the Treaty of Nrothfren would keep Liclania out of any conflicts with other great powers, conflict between the newly unified Seuson Empire and Carnia-Litovia beginning in the 1870s inflamed tensions between Liclania and other great powers, culminating in a diplomatic revolution in 1895 which saw Equadin, Seusony, and Great Norlannia form a Western Entente to resist Carnia-Litovia, its longtime ally Liclania, and its new ally Raeli. This led directly to rapid militarization under Prime Minister Sven Marklund and the Council for the Armament and Protection of the Nation (CAPN), opposition to which in turn culminated in political crisis during the Nrothfren Riots of 1903-1904, seeing the collapse of the Social Democratic Party and the rise of the Solidarity Party.

Despite the backlash against the military-industrial complex, Liclania was ultimately unable to avoid going to war, and was forced to come to Carnia-Litovia's aid upon the outbreak of the Great War in 1914. Plans to swiftly defeat Seusony failed, and though Liclania's army reached as far as Langley and its air force performed better than any other in the war, the strains of total war ultimately proved too great for Liclania to bear, especially as its colonies were overrun and its outnumbered navy forced to prioritize preserving itself over protecting supply lines. As rationing intensified and over a million Liclani were slaughtered on the Seuson front, anti-war sentiment grew in both the Liclani metropole and the colonies. In 1915 Tsochi revolted and Entente forces crossed into Orestmark, ultimately forcing the pro-war Regent Harald Stromberg to relent to calls for peace. Under the ensuing Treaty of Clevers, Liclania was stripped of its colonial empire but Nrothfren was designated to be the seat of the Assembly of Nations, a new international body tasked with preventing future wars. Though the Great War devastated Liclania and ended its role as a great power, the newly neutral country would remain on the world stage as a new bastion of democracy, pacifism, and international cooperation.

## List of Monarchs

### Frost-Monarchs

*Ipola Ulome*
(reign length unknown)
 **Ticiastani**
*Ticiastani Ulome*
(several centuries)
 **Astan**
*Astan Ulome*
(at least 1927 years)