Formation of the Nation States

## 2421-2441 Balmorien and Teldor

Even though Balmorien had lost their war, the confederation of city states under a single nation would continue.  The capital remained in Aachnarn, the nation remained Balmorien, but the nobles of Thearth, Roane and Devnah chose new leadership outside Family Balmor.  Family Joachim had been the ruling house before Lord Balmor beheaded the nobility of the city, so Lord Joachim regained his position in the city and took up the challenge of ruling the nation as well.  King Joachim invited all of the nobles from Devnah, Thearth and Roane to come to Aachnarn, to present their interests and complaints, in a lightly unified nation under the new king.   The cities were still independent, and the regions were definitely different, but they fell into line swearing fealty to the King in Aachnarn and helped build the capital city greater than it was.

When the Magnate returned to Teldor after the war, the court in Balkmore was expanded to hold all those in Azmunth and “True Surrin” who believed that working together was better than being on your own.  There was also a sense that the “Other Surrin”, Crocia and Smothe should have been grateful of the Magnate and his protection of their cities.  The people and nobles in the “Other Surrin”, Crocia and Smothe looked at the Magnate as a military leader and nothing more.  They remember having the Balmorien armies plundering the countryside with the Magnate attempting to catch them, not protecting their lands at all.  Let alone the fact that many of the troops from Surrin, Crocia and Smothe lost their lives in the assault of vengeance against Balmorien.   Regardless, Teldor was now a nation, its lords paying homage to the Magnate of Balkmore.  Teldor was also suspicious of both of their neighbors, Balmorien to the north, and the thankless delinquent regions to the south.  They would reopen trade with both slowly, but never fully trusting either.

## 2404-2440 Bavarin and Angleside

After the Demon Wars, the armies returned from the Chwaer Gate to settle back home, happy to be rid of the surge of demons that grew out of the Mote.   It was long after, however, that the nobility that were involved in the war began to discuss about banding together to form a nation state to protect the cities more effectively.   In the far south, the Southland was a nation state already, with the hamlets paying homage to the Queen, who would open her court to nobles across the south and hear their words.  The Queen had proven during the war with the Dark Lords, that she would ride out to protect any of the hamlets across the Southland Plain.   The nobles to the north of the Southland felt that they, too, needed a better plan to protect the people and cities.

There were discussions in several cities, from Kreenan to Fathe Nûn to Taitronen about how to best protect the cities and people.  They weren’t just worried about the Mote and what it could bring, for the war between Balmorien and Teldor was something they also didn’t want to have come west, should those warlike societies deem so.

The nobles held councils to determine a king to protect the cities and to begin a sensible, defensive nation state.  There was talk of all of the regions from Dreton to the Mote being under one king, but the terrain between the southern Mote and Anglehome was extremely hostile and not likely to be crossed during a time of need.   There was a sensible border in the mountains below Coten anyhow, so the nobles began to side with one side or the other.  The bordering regions had always been friendly.  There was no record of animosity between Dreton, Coten and Regent, so the border would continue to be porous for trade and communication.   Kreenan and Fathe Nûn would be the new capitals of two new nation states, though they would be allies from then until now.

## 2448-2450 Calandiren

In similar fashion, the war against the Ice and Night Giants awakened the spirit of unity in Glenhome and Gelden.  The devastation to the land and Glen Ár brought the people of the regions together, and a council, later known as The First Council, was held in Calandoriel after the immediate threat was over. The lords of Gelden and Glenhome all sent representatives to be part of the decisions going forward.  There had been tremendous tension between the different elves in the past, but those differences were set aside in this moment of unity.   The same was true between the people of the valleys and the spires of Calandoriel.  When the suggestion came that the cities of the regions bind together, there were no dissent.  Calandoriel would be the capital city and all could send representatives to the court there, whether human, dwarf, drow, wood elf or high elf.  Many people at the council wanted Caladan to lead, but he denied the role.  He would stay true to Sylvana and the wilds, making his focus that of the worship and betterment of the living.  Instead, there was an election between the nobles to determine who would lead.  By a large margin, the ruling family of Glen Ár was selected, Lady Elenar Dannogh would rule.

The next business was the reconstruction of Glen Ár.   Lady Dannogh asked the nobles if they would be willing to help its reconstruction, and the people consented.  To lose a great city to the desolation left by the Night Giants would be a travesty to all who had ever lived in Glen Ár.   As soon as the council concluded, the work on the new city would commence. The great dwarven architect and builder, Brund Gairgen, was assigned the job of designing the new city. It would now be a city of great defenses, but the ruling castle would be stalwart and mighty, capable of holding the population of the city if it had to. Caladan gave Brund a sapling to plant in the center of the city, in the market square, to not only bring hope and life to the city, but also to provide a means of communication between the city and the wood creatures of Calandoriel.

In addition, Caladan would work with the craftsmen of Gelden and Glenhome to build a new and larger court in Calandoriel.  All people representing all willing cities would need a place to be heard and a place to stay in the city of spires, the new capital of Calandiren.

## 2446-2456 Aden Shahn

After southern Surrin, Crocia and Smothe refuted the invitation from Teldor that they take the knee and swear fealty, there was almost an immediate sense of apprehension that came to the nobles of those regions.   Teldor may not have been as aggressive as Balmorien, but they still had a bellicose nature, and the Magnate didn’t seem like he was going to settle for Surrin being divided.   There would almost certainly be some ploy by the Magnate to wrestle the smaller cities into Teldor.  The cities of Balkmore and Bredenkham had always been competitive, not to the point of warfare, but rather in trade and any competition they had.  Even during the battles against the Balmoriens, the nobles of the two cities would attempt to out-do each other, comparing the count of banners or heads taken, who would charge first into battle, who would be the last to retreat from a skirmish and survive.   The likelihood that Bredenkham would be subservient to Balkmore if it was forced to join Teldor was very unlikely.  The egos of the nobles of these large cities were too great.

The solution that Lord Lahdrin came up with was to start a new country south of Teldor.  It would hopefully be comprised of all lands south of Teldor to better insure a defense if needed.  The regions also had several trade pacts and guild alliances that would make the regions a bit more amenable to joining.   The only problem was really the Smothe.   The Smothe had a history of troublesome relations with Crocia over the years, with numerous battles and a war or two that ravaged both regions.  Lord Lahdrin was going to have to make sure that the Smothe would feel that they wouldn’t feel like they were a minor component to the new kingdom.  The other thought that he had was to draw Osebb into the new kingdom.  If the Smothe was surrounded by members of the kingdom on multiple sides, especially if they were active trade partners with, there would be more impetus for the Smothe to join the kingdom.  After several months of courting Osebb with promises of representation and better trade negotiations, they were ready to join.  Lord Lahdrin then focused his attention on the Smothe, visiting all of the towns east and west and making sure that they felt that they did matter, and were important to the security of the realm.  The work would pay off and begrudgingly the Smothe acquiesced.  When Lord Lahdrin finally went to Crocia, they were a bit taken back that they were last to be courted, but they, too, consented.  They had made a demand that Niemandale be the capital of the new kingdom, but Lord Lahdrin knew that this would not sit well with the nobles of the Smothe, let alone Surrin.  Plus, Lord Lahdrin wanted to make sure that the split Surrin felt that they were more of a core part of the new kingdom.  In 2456, the Council of Aden Shahn was held in Bredenkham, inviting nobles from all of the regions to create a new court and swear fealty to Lord Lahdrin.   The nobles came and Aden Shahn became the next of the nation states in Eirethune.

## 2448-2560 Udbotsi

After Aden Shahn was formed, Eastlom felt a bit vulnerable to the new nation.  For many years, Eastlom had decent trade relations with the Smothe and Osebb.  However, there were times when Lord Ryder, armies of the Smothe, or pirates funded by the Smothe had fought or damaged trade and troops of Eastlom.   Eastlom had enough issues with the northern border, whether it was dragons in the mountains, or clans of hostile Ûr from the desolations.

Family Udbarik was a strong and noble family from Daemore that was a strong participant in expanding into the mountains and near the moors in Eastlom.  They had great operations in and around Bastwell, and handled all of the trade between the three main cities.  They were also adventurers, traveling deep into the mountains and desolation to the north to try and understand what they could be facing.  They were also explorers, feeling that Eastlom should expand beyond its core, to the east and south.   They had great contacts with the independent Green Cities to the south, managing most of the main trade routes between the two regions.

The head of the family during the middle 26th century was Lord Abidj Udbarik, an adventurer, but also a man who wanted to keep his wealth.   He had his fear of the dragons, but they were manageable with a modicum of logic.  The people of the Smothe had proven they weren’t as manageable or logical.  For this reason, he began a flood of propaganda throughout Eastlom whose purpose was to instill fear into the populace from the joining of the Smothe to the new nation of Aden Shahn.  With Smothe part of a larger nation, they could sway more than one crazy Lord of Smothe or Osebb to damage the trade and people of Eastlom.  Relentlessly, he sought to bind the towns and cities in the region together, seeking unity between them as a defense in both warfare and commercial ventures.  Now, Lord Udbarik did want power, but he was willing to share it with others.  He knew that several of the other lords of Daemore would challenge him for leadership, but if he could convince the three strongest noble families to share in the ruling of the land, they probably could convince others to swear fealty.  Lord Udbarik presented the concept to the families in trade terms, making their structure seem analogous to a predatory cartel that they could control together.  Between the families of Beo-Juhm, Asaam and Udbarik, no noble family could deny their power.  There were a couple nobles who did deny them power, but they were swept aside by propaganda and violence.[1]\

In 2560, the Conclave of Safety was held and the heads of the three families rose to the position of Potentate of the Realm of Udbotsi.  The nation was formed, but the three families were also quite expansionist.  They had their eyes on expanding their territory along the eastern coast, and soon, the southern coast as well.

## Links

Chronology of Eirethune

Previous, Second Age: Age of Nation States

Next, Expansion and Wars of the Nation States

## Notes

[1] It is said that the Family Udbarik has a quill that has been passed down through the ages which has helped them in their negotiations and influence in Daemore. The *Quill of Conversion*is said to allow the lords of Udbarik to write words that will later come out of unsuspecting mouths - almost like a mass suggestion spell.