Vardhem

The Flag of Vardhem

Szasgiper from the east

### Towns

Szasgiper, Szamlesz, Madketi, Gaskatsarv, Vraszleszdar, Leszdhemm, Jalvrasz, and Lesztarfresz

## History

### Founded

0 VC

***The Vardhem*** (Vardic: Vardemipr, IPA: vɑrdɛmipr), often also known as The Commonwealth of the Vardhem is a nation located in the far south of Sabrim, defined by its vast landscapes and sizeable population as well as rich culture, Vardhem is a nation that has been recently steeped in turmoil. It was united under Vard zjemösþrapr (Vard the unitor) in the year 0 of the vardic calendar with Vard recieving an almost mythical status in Vardic society with a large part of the Vardic identity being descendance from Vard himself.

### History

#### Vardhem dynasty

**Vardhem dynasty *- Vard Cycle - Verdavek Cycle 0-289***

***-Vard**, founder of the Vardhem dynasty and founder of the Vardhem, he was born in -34 and is a  Mythified adam-like figure from whom Vardic people claim descent from. Not much is truly known for certain about Vard but what is known is that he had an otherworldly charisma and ability to conform others around him to his will, he is also saidt to have been a military genius, thereby helping him in his conquest of what would become Vardhem. He Died of old age in the year 30.*

***-Varan**, first born and heir to the Vardhem. 3 to 4 brothers and 3 to 4 sisters. (7-59)*

***-Varsk “Leszkharsk”**, first born of **Varan**, he continued his grandfathers grand conquest and conquered the rest of the Vardhem and became a powerful king, feared and respected by many. (40-101)*

***-Vark**, first born of **Varsk**, a despot that was assassinated by his guard, not much else is known. (78-105)*

***-Mirskþesz**, second born, second born of **Varsk**, said to have been a coward but also a skilled good diplomat (83-157)*

***-Mirver I**, First Born of **Mirskþesz,** a philosopher and one of the many great vardic thinkers of history. He instituted an early version of the great assembly that is still used to this day. (149-214)*

***-Verdavek,*** *Third Born of **Mirver,** his older brothers died of a great sickness (201-243) He led some of the first raids against the Desert Peoples beyond the mountains.*

***-Verdan,*** *First Born of **Verdavek.** (221-289) Faught wars against foreigners around vardhem and continued raiding up north, built a colony, its location now lost. He died of a great sickness**.***

#### Lesztapavötra dynasty

-***Perszlar**, son of **Perszter**, son of **Perszki,** second born of **Mirskþesz** a second cousin of **Verdan**. (243-307) He was another famous raider and explorer. How he died exactly is unknown and sources remain scarce*

***-Drinþarsk I,*** *second son of **Perszlar**, he was said to be an arrogant yet effective ruler (287-351)*

***-Drinter,*** *first born of **Drinþarsk,** born into wealth and luxury, he was a true abusive ruler, hated by all (321-369). He was said to be inhumanly sadistic however leading to a great fear and dread about him allowing him to survive his rule without being overthrown*

***-Drinþarsk II,*** *first born of **Drinter,** another sadistic madman. (349-395). He faced multiple rebellions and was killed by Perpindesz cult fanatics from Madketi for what he had done.*

***-Drinþarsk III ,*** *first born of **Drinþarsk II,** is said to have bee**n** a bit of hope in anotherwise rotten lineage. His rule faced many rebellions of people discontent with the monarchy. He managed to somehwt pacify the realm however. (371-420)*

***-Drinþer,*** *first born of **Drinþarsk III**, did not care about his realm and spent his time exploring and raiding other shores. His rule gave a lot of autonomy to the noble families and the assemblies, which gave him a lot of popular opinion among the nobles but would come at a great cost for the next rulers. Died in Battle (398-443)*

***-Khirålan,*** *third born of **Drinþer,** he was not expected to rule and so was sent as a **Khirålan** to the **Þarverdöskna** dynasty. After his two older brothers and his own father died in battle he inherited the crown. Was an “Ok” king. He did not possess or wield much power because of his father’s decisions and acted mostly as an overseer of the noble families who ran the great assembly in actuality. (431-495)*

***-Khidrin,*** *first born of **Khirålan.** The effects of the noble families running the court started to rear its ugly head by the end of **Khirålan’s** rule, corruption, assasination, nepotism… The assembly was rotten to the core. Tensions between multiple noble factions start to arise. **Khidrin** was a total puppet ruler of the **Þarverdöskna** dynasty. They escalated the tensions with the \_\_\_\_\_\_ dynasty of Madketi into a full blown civil war. (478-512) The king along with the heads of the \_\_\_\_\_ Madketi dynasty died in the war.*

#### Þarverdöskna dynasty

***-Mirskþesz II**, son of the sister of **Khirålan’s** wife. He was **Khidrin’s** tutor/friend and took over the crown after his death. He was a strategist and finished the Madketi civil war, ending the period of strife that had been created. (460-522)*

***-Þer I, -Mirskþesz’s II*** *second born. He was a very “artistic” ruler. He enjoyed the more cultivated things in life such paintings and plays. He spent a lot of the crown’s treasure patronizing artists. Under his rule the Madketi Cycle Legends started to flourish. The tales of the heroes became very popular among the nobles and the commoners thanks to his patronage. Literacy increased during his rule, it still remained rare but many more could engage with the literature of the time. (501-559)*

***-Merski I,*** *First born of **Þer,** a powerful warrior. He revived the raiding traditions and led many raids to the North. he came back with a lot of gold which he invested in **women**. It is said 1/10 men in modern Vardhem are descendants of **Merski.** (532-584)*

***-Þer II***, *First born of **Merski,** he spent a lot of resources investing in infrastructure for the kingdom. He was a benevolent ruler. He also wrote some of the first formal laws that applied to the entire kingdom and attempted to make the assembly a bit more meritocratic. This lost the Þarverdösknas a ton of respect from the noble families . (555-621)*

***-Mirver II,*** *First born of **Þer II,** contrary to his father he cared little for diplomacy. He spent his entire life revisioning the laws of his father and restructuring the assembly. It’s under his rule we saw the most similar approach to the modern version of it. (589-647)*

-***Drinþer II,*** *Second born of **Mirver II,** he faced the first sparks of the imminent rebellions generated by the reforms of his fathers. Still his rule was one of prosperity and further development. Under his rule **The Drinþerine Walls** were built. He also invested heavily into reforming army and navy as well as the state, reforming the legal code into the modern Vardic code that is still used to this day.*

*His rule was one of development, prosperity and peace. The respect as well as dread that he commanded was legendary, no clan dared to make a move and the Great Assembly was practically a place for the great Irkhda (king) to command clans how to act, rather than sway votes.*

***Drinþer II’s*** *early life was a lonely one according to the sources that remain. As a child he was quiet, often reading books alone or exercising outside. He took a great interest in traditional vardic philosophy and thought as well as statecraft and any manner of related subjects, it was not rare that he listened to his father and the other clan leaders during Great Assembly sessions.*

*During his teenage years **Drinþer** grew rapidly, going from a small and quite weak boy to 47 … (188cm) tall by his 19th birthday. When **Drinþer** was 26 (turning 27) his father died, causing him great grief and sorrow, yet as one of the great philosophers had said “one must endure one’s hardships, accept them and overcome them to develop and be truly virtuous”.*

***Drinþer*** *was crowned as the 22nd king of the Vardhem and directly started implementing reforms, much to the surprise of the clans. He reformed administration, centralizing the state as well as making it more efficient.*

*In the year 651 Szasgiper was attacked by a foreign force, the Vardic forces, taken by surprise were quickly overwhelmed and the city was sacked and the walls reduced to nothing but rubble. **Drinþer** is said to have fought in the battle personally, slaying many foes, after the battle it is said that he was different, his personality became more stoic and he started retreating to his books.*

*He knew that something must have to be fixed. **Drinþer** immediately started reforming both the army and the navy, using his administrative reforms to create a well supplied and well trained army, with a small core of professional and elite troops stationed in or around the capital. He also began building the great Drinþerine walls that still stand to this very day.*

His navy reforms allowed the amount of ships that could be effectively coordinated and levied up to such a degree that many Vardic scholars agree that no other navy has surpassed the Vardic navy under ***Drinþer II.***

*(620-711).*

-***Drinþarsk IV,*** *Fourth born of **Drinþer II**, his brothers died of old age before his father. The death of his father left the kingdom unstable, the army took up arms and the noble families rebelled, his father’s worst nightmare came alive. **Drinþarsk IV** was put into house arrest by the **Þarverda.** (651-730)*

#### Þarverda dynasty

***-Merski II.*** *Quickly seizing control of **Drinþarsk IV**’s strongholds proved weak without noble support. The capital was breached by **Merski II’s** forces, **Drinkþarsk IV** was put in house arrest and **Merski II** was crowned King. He abolished a lot of the **Þarverdöskna** reforms and gave a lot of privileges back to the nobles. ( 690-  750 )*

***-Merkar.*** *Conservative, he upheld his father’s changes to the law. Local clan assemblies began popping up during his reign, many of these assemblies passed various local laws, often in contradiction to the laws of the great assembly. (723 - 789)*

***-Yaliski,*** *was the third born of  **Merkar**. He was given as a **Khirålan** to \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ dynasty. After his brothers drank themselves to death he inherited the throne. He hated his father and his brothers so he dismantled some of his reformations (761-813)*

***- Þer III**,  first born of **Yaliski** stayed true to his name, restored the assembly as the **Þarverdöskna** dynasty had established it and also tried to reopen several theatres but his efforts did not go very far. ( 799- 863)*

***- Þer IV ,*** *first born of **Þer III**, like his father he was a phanatic of the **Þarverdösknas**, he thought of himself as the true successor of their dynasty, built a lot of monuments in their honour and even wrote some poems about them. (823- 898)*

***- Þer V*** *,first born of **Þer IV,**  he was obsessed with \_\_\_\_\_\_ romance from the Madketi Cycle and then he obsessed himself with his cousin. He kidnapped her, raped and married her. Incest.  (849 - 916)*

***- Drinþarsk V,*** *first born of **Þer V,** a son of incest, he was even worse than his father and had an incestuos relationship with his twin sister Apparently he also had some kinky fetishes and contracted HIV. You can guess why he died. (877- 923)*

***- Mirver III,*** *first born of **Þer V,** They called him the ghost, a disgusting excuse for a human being, totally rotten and dysfunctional, his half brother **Varsk II** looked after him and acted as a regent in his stead (885- 931)*

***- Varsk II**, second son of **Þer V,** Although not as distorted as his brother, he was unfertile. He did his best to not destroy the empire so most of the rule was carried out by his advisors. In his deathbed, the only living member of the  **Þarverda’s** was his aunt, **Svaþer**, so against all odds a woman ended up in the throne (910-939)*

***- Svaþer,*** *daughter of **Þer V**. She was a true patron of the arts and a ruthless but effective administrator. The queen **Svaþer** reformed the tax system, directly appointed ministers and funnelled much money into theatre and other artforms. She was notable for her love for classical **Leszdapavödra** theatre, a love that she instilled in her son from a young age. (915-999)*

- ***Yadersk I***: *Taught from a young age to love theatre by his dear mother, he simply could not help but be obsessed with it. The poetry, the music, the story! It was all so amazing **Yadersk** thought, yet real life was nothing like the theatre he enjoyed. It was dull, boring, especially anything regarding the governing of the nation*. ***Yadersk*** *left much, if not all, of his power in the ends of the great assembly and the nobles that sat in it. They voted to give themselves more power, again instituting local assemblies.*

*They gave themselves power to appoint their own local law speakers, truly separating themselves from the great assembly. Yet Yadersk did not care much, still enjoying his theatre.(945- 1015)*

***- Yaliski II,*** *eagerly awaiting the death of his father ,**Yadersk**, he planned on how he would use the power his father so stupidly wasted. On his rise to power he retook as much power as he  could from the noble families but he was utterly horrible at his job. He was remembered as an incapable and obnoxiously arrogant ruler. (978 - 1053)*

*- **Yaliski III,** first born of **Yaliski II,** He was an idiot, More Eagerly awaiting the death of his father then his father did in his time, **Yaliski II**., He was an arrogant prick that no one liked and drank himself to death while on the toilet.(1000-1070)*

*-**Yaliski IV,** first born of **Yaliski III**, was born in the purple as they say. An absolute despot spent his time and the crown's money on **women.** Died of Gout.(1067-1123)*

***-Ivår I**, second born of **Yaliski IV.** He was profetiziesed to be blessed by an arrow before he was born. He inherited the rotten realm the **Yaliskis** had created. He faced many rebellions from all sides. A lot of people were unhappy by the previous rulers. There were various attempts to murder him, all failed. In the end he faced a rebellion against **the future** **Ivårmirsk*****’s**, *in the midst of the battle, an arrow shot from \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **Ivårmirsk** hit the King on the knee. The king retreated to his keep but the medics were unable to treat his wound. (1105-1147)*

***-Ivår II*** *, first born of **Ivår I**, he inherited the kingdom being 8 years old. He stayed under the protection of \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ **regent of The \_\_\_\_\_ dynasty.** The court rebelled, the army took up arms against the royal clan and then retreated to their homelands. The Vardhem shattered into many independent states, while some others still advocated for the **Þarverdas.** (1139-1162) he died in “house arrest”*

#### Warring States period (Histories of the various different independent factions)

***Þeröskna protectorate***

-***Onirvok I, (1065-1130)*** *, second born of **Sater,** Seized the opportunity that was presented after the **Ivårmirsk** rebellion and declared **Þeröskna** independent. He was a chad and honorable ruler.*

***-Uþ (1115-1168)**, second born of **Onirvok,** he enlisted in the royal army and served as a guardsman in the Capital for **Ivår I.** After the rebellion, his older brother died and he returned home to **Þeröskna**. There he aided his father into consolidating an independent realm. When his father died he further consolidated the realm of **Þeröskna** and subjugated many of the minor local powers. It is said he had two wives, both **Khirålan.** He gave his sons away and married many of them to other powers to secure a stable political position. He had 9 children, henceforth they started to be called the **Uþkids.***

***-Uþer (1140-1169)**, First Born of **Uþ,** he died in a hunting accident right after he inherited.*

-***Onirvok II (1143-1172**), Second born of **Uþ,** he inherited **Þeröskna.** He married one of the daughters of **Kevidet I** in an attempt to secure an alliance with the kingdom of **Likeni.** He was murdered at his wedding by his own younger brother **Khirålan.***

***-Khirålan (1148-1193)**, the fourth born of **Uþ,** he was a **Khirålan** in \_\_\_\_\_\_\_ kingdom’s court. As a young man he was abused by his political father and downplayed by his biological family. He of course was invited to his older brother’s **Onirvok II wedding**. He came in with a loaded crossbow and several daggers. He shot his brother in the private dinner and slit the throat of the rest of his family. He was a cold and feared man, but that made him an excellent ruler for the time. He aggressively expanded the borders of **Þeröskna** and fortified it.*

***-Mori (1175-1215),*** *the second son of **Khirålan**, he was a literate chad, he loved the classics and seeked to develop **Þeröskna** and the surroundings. He faced many attacks on the borders but wisely defended his realm. His motto and what became the **Uþkid** motto was: “A good King does not look for war but he is always prepared for it”*

***-Moridik (1198-1242),*** *The first born of **Mori**, he was a strategist. He served as the commander of the armies for his father and when he inherited he had to deal with the start of **Sven Ivårmirsk** unification of the Vardhem. He faced the **Ivårmirsk**  in numerous battles. He also aided as many nearby powers as he could, but at the end he just didn't have the numbers. He fought the **Ivårmirsk** at the gates of **Þeröskna** and he managed to hold it long enough for his family to flee to **Yalifrosz.** The city and the stronghold were burnt and wrecked, the people were enslaved and took to the capital. The kingdom was lost. **Moridik** was not yet finished though, he took what remained of his army and marched north to the capital. He died in a more symbolic than anything battle against **Ivårmirsk.** No one survived the massacre.*

***-Khirålan (1221-NA),*** *First born of **Moridik**, He was raised to hold himself as a honorable ruler, sadly his fathers anvisons would not come to fruition as he died in battle and wis his death the realm of **Þeröskna** was annexed to the new **Vardhem**.*

***Likeni***

***-Kevedet I*** *(1063-1129), born first son of **Mirver** of **Madketi**, After the declaration of **Þeröskna** independence followed it up with **Madketi** independence. He was said to be one of the best archers in history*

***-Kevidet I*** *(1110 - 1169), **Kevidet of the six wives** son of the **Kevedet the Great,** was the greatest man in Likeni history. At the young age of 15 joined the Royal Navy serving as an archer on ship **Deyska II** run by **Deyska III** who named the boat after her mother. When **Madketi** declared independence **Kevidet** and other **Likenikhem** took over the boat and took **Deyska III** as his first wife. **Kevidet** went on to conquer and marry many more women. He was known for his Archery and sailing ability and his absolute Chadness. **Kevidet** had many sets of children, his favourite of them came from his First wife **Deyska.***

***-Kevedet II*** *(1140 - 1182), Born **Kevedet II** he was famous for being the first born of **Kevidet I,** he managed to get power and would lead the **Likenikhem** to more victory. Winning the battle of the lake prevented any other powers from controlling it. Unfortunately **Kevedet II** died during the burning of the Lakes Palace, His Son and two of his daughters died in the fire.*

***- Yinisaska II*** *(1155 - 1184) **Yinisaska I** Third daughter of **Kevedet II** after the death of her older brother, two older sisters and her father in the burning of the Lakes palace. During her rain she developed many new battle strategies.*

***- Yinisaska III*** *(1171 - 1199)Born sole child of **Yinisaska I,** Yinisaska took after her mother developing new invasion to improve her nation, unfortunately she died young and never got to see the completion of the new Likeni race track*

*- **Kevedet III**(1189 - 1243)**Kevedet III** born the son of **Yinisaska II,** saw the end to his mothers goal of the Grand Race track, he also was the first to effectively using the **Yinisaska** Naval Battle plan conquering parts of the coast. His rain also followed the major developments in the city of **Madketi** and saw the beginning of the **Kevedethem** style of architecture. **Kevedets** rule was one put up there by his forefathers **Kevidet** and **Kevedet I.** In his rule he sorted out a peaceful rejoining with the **Vardhem** Rulership to not gain the same faith as the **Þeröskna.***

***-Fråki Nödman*** *(1219 - N/A) Born first son of **Kevedet III**, **Fråki** is the next ruler of **Likeni** works to reunify Likeni with its neighbors and to bring a new age to the Land of the Lake.*

### Culture

Vardic culture is one ultimately focused on the family, sea and intense dedication to one's craft. The long period of disunity and war has put a strong mark on Vardic culture, creating a strong class of warriors.

Vardatians are at heart a maritime people. Knowing how to sail is considered common knowledge, even for the highest of nobles or lowest of farmers.  Poetry, theatre and philosophy are some of the most prized intellectual crafts that Vardhem is famous for.

Another key aspect of Vardic culture is that of maturity. There is an intense pressure in vardic culture to conform to the ideals of being mature and not being childlike. All children keep their hair very short until they are around 14 or 15 when they undergo the process of becoming an adult. From there on they grow out their hair (and beard) whilst also taking on new hobbies and interests overnight.