Kingdom of Semter

The **Kingdom of Semter** was a country in the Dun region of Northern Kornica. It's capital was Khyrdyr and in 1878 it had a population of around 2 million. Most of the population spoke Eshan and lived in the southern regions along the Aspa River.

## History

### Eshan Alliance

In 1861, Oraz Mäsiar became Eshan Imperator and began introducing friendly policies towards the Dun Kingdoms. Semter was a historic mediator between the Eshan monarchy and it's fellow Dun Kingdoms, so when the Eshan government starting becoming closer to the Dun governments, Semter was the first to propose further cooperation. In 1867, following the assassination of Nicholai Ramoyov, the Eshan and Semter governments began a joint operation to search for and arrest suspected terrorists and Dun rebels.

Throughout the rest of the 1860s and 1870s, Esha and Semter continued cooperation and by 1874, Semter King Orlin Masaev began meeting with Eshan diplomat Dusan Siroky, a native Junoan appointed by the Eshan Imperator to handle diplomacy with the Dun Kingdoms. Siroky became especially interested in Semter and started making frequent diplomatic visits to Khyrdyr and eventually started pushing for military cooperation beyond policing and anti-terrorism. One of Siroky's opponents in the Semter government was General Oskar Sarkezi. While Sarkezi wasn't against further cooperation, he wanted to take a more careful approach that would prevent Semter becoming an Eshan puppet. Despite that, Siroky continued tie the Semter army with the Eshan army and in May of 1874, both armies began joint-training exercises.

By the end of 1874, Sarkezi was resisting further military cooperation and urged King Masaev to stop advancing relations with Esha. Masaev, however, was determined to bring a permanent end to Eshan-Dun animosity. Siroky was able to convince the Eshan government in November to propose an official alliance with Semter, which was officially delivered to Masaev on November 20th. After roughly 2 weeks of back and forth debate in the Semter government between Sarkezi and Masaev's supporters, Sarkezi eventually gave in and permitted the treaty. On December 5th, Masaev and Oraz met in the Semter border town of Karvo to sign the Treaty of Karvo. Siroky and Sarkezi were both present and signed the treaty alongside their superiors.

### Eshan Dynastic Crisis

Leading up to 1878, little changed in Semter's government or politics. The Semter army continued training alongside the Eshan army and Sarkezi gradually came to trust his Eshan counterparts. Siroky became Grand Duke in 1875 after Solarev Korolenko's arrest in protest to the Treaty of Karvo, bringing the Mäsiar government and Semter closer. In November of 1876, Sarkezi and Siroky saw each other privately for the first time, both meeting as second in commands of their respective governments in Karvo.

Once the attempted assassination of Rosen Ramoyov failed, the Dun Kingdoms were quick to be blamed as with his father's assassination. Members of the Ramoyov aristocracy immediately began petitioning Siroky to investigate the Semter government, believing the assassination was planned to keep Esha aligned with the Dun Kingdoms. The Eshan government also refused to investigate the attack, leading to further suspicion of Siroky's willful ignorance. The Semter army raided several suspected bases of the Dun Committee, arresting 76 members but failing to find any evidence they were linked to the attack. When Siroky found out about the Semter army's reports, he traveled to Khyrdyr for an emergency meeting with Sarkezi on October 4th. Siroky attempted to convince Sarkezi the fabricate evidence and blame the arrested Dun Committee members, however Sarkezi refused, not wanting to draw further attention from the Ramoyovs to Semter. This meeting coincided with the LLE's formation in Esha and investigation which would uncover Siroky's organization of the attack on Rosen. Before Siroky was about to leave Khyrdyr, on October 10th, he received news of the LLE's investigation and decided to stay in Khyrdyr in secret while maintaining contact with Imperator Oraz. Siroky stayed in Semter for a week until with assistance from Sarkezi, he was smuggled out of Semter into Victalma where Mäsiar agents got him to Azalorn.