Iadria

## Kingdom of Iadria

Iadria was a land defined by its monarchy and theology. Vast, diverse and often divided, the Kingdom nonetheless stood proudly as the greatest Anderian state of the Sixth Age.

### Languages

West AnderianUcorian

Red Elvish

### Religion

Church of Jareche Edos (State Religion)Cult of Edos (Illegal after 6A 590)

### Government

Theoretical absolute monarchy; ducal heirarchy provides balance of power

### Ruler

King Jareche Asterion (Founder)Menestas Dynasty (6A 50 - 159)

Succession War Era (6A 159 - 166)

Silvane Dynasty (6A 166 - 243)

Navine Dynasty (6A 243 -

Arvait Dynasty (6A 566 - 725)

Second Navine Dynasty (6A 725 - )

### Era

6A 0 - 6A 721 (as the Kingdom of Iadria and Leogoth)6A 721 - (as the Kingdom of Iadria)

**The Kingdom of Iadria**, commonly referred to as the **Eight Duchies**, the **Duchies of the Holy Crown** or simply as **Iadria**, was the largest and westernmost Anderian nation on the continent of Adovias. Initially acting as the primary mainland territory of Anderia, the area the future Kingdom comprised began its rise to individual prominence following the Fourth Age Collapse of the Empire. Comprised of eight powerful Duchies - Angarth, Naegirus, Blackbriar, Vremas, Jareche, Navine, Ucoria, and the Autumnvale - as well as the Holy Land of Leogoth, Iadria was ruled by the Kings in Ihenium, who claimed divine right to rule under Jareche Edos. Unlike the Eight Duchies, Leogoth was ruled directly by the Crown and Clergy until its secession to the Epherian Empire in the Okequar Treaty of 721.

## History

### Sixth Age

The eight Duchies were formed as individual successor Kingdoms to the Anderian Empire, and were unified by King Jareche I of Leogoth, who Iadrians deified as the Second Coming of Edos. The reign of Asterion's successor King Castor I the Conqueror and the ensuing Menestas Dynasty oversaw the full integration of the Duchies and further territorial growth in the Wars of Eastward Expansion, which resulted in the formation of three new Iadrian Frontier Duchies. Despite the end of Iadria's eastward growth with King Castor's death, the Kingdom's power rose to rival that of contemporary Aldera and Ibbathis over the course of the hundred-year Menestas Dynasty. This period of prosperity came to an end with the youthful death of beloved reformer-King Lancelin I in 159, whose lack of an heir sparked the gruesome War of Iadrian Succession. The course of the decade-long civil war saw the extinction of the Menestas Dynasty's remaining members, extensive infighting among the various Duchies, and four successive Houses coming into possession of the Holy Crown. The last to be crowned was King Alastair II Silvane of Vremas, who successfully reunited the Kingdom and ended the fighting in 166. The War exposed deep cracks in the foundation of Iadria, which to this point had held strong through the Menestas' linear power, and irreparably shook royal control over the Frontier Duchies. By 172, the three Duchies were in open revolt, declaring independence from the Crown in Ihenium and the Jarechean Faith. Thus began the Stehevar Secessionary Wars, which would absorb Iadria's attention, armies and funding for the ensuing decades. By 6A 240, the exhausted, depleted and retreating Iadrian forces were facing inevitable defeat in the long slog of conflict, unable to control the Duchies' vast swathes of territory and defend against guerilla revolt simultaneously. The young King Alastair IV Silvane was forced to concede to terms with the newly-independent former Duchies, withdrawing his armies back to Leogoth and swearing a pact of peace. Only three years later, Alastair and the Silvane Dynasty as a whole was deposed by the Church. With the argument that Jareche Edos had clearly withdrawn his blessings from the Dukes of Vremas widely accepted, the Holy Crown passed to Ralnan I of Navine, whose armories and troops had been the clear backbone of Iadria in the secessionary wars.

Fifty years of relative peace would follow the end of the Secessionary Wars; though deprived of its eastern Duchies, Iadria prospered freed of the drain of resources and manpower they necessitated. The Kingdom entered the Fourth Century a resurgent power, seeking to solidify its borders and its place in the world as the true heir of Anderia. These aims would soon bring Iadria into conflict with the Kingdom of Kestalor, its southern neighbor and the second most powerful Anderian nation on continental Adovias. The Duchy of Blackbriar, which encompassed the vast eponymous forest, had never had clear boundaries with the Celliden swamplands of northern Kestalor. During the first decade of the Fourth Century, numerous skirmishes and raids brought strife to the borderlands, as both Kingdoms claimed the region for themselves. In this heightened state of tension, only a spark was required to cause open conflict. In 6A 309, the outskirts of the Kestaloran city of Syrinthra, located at a strategic pass through the Celliden Mountains, were assaulted by a raiding party of mercenaries riding out from Blackbriar. Though the attack caused relatively little damage, its brazen nature and the threat it exposed to the Kingdom's northlands enraged Kestalor's monarch.