Kingdom of Edierne

## Edierne

The Kingdom of Edierne is the westernmost kingdom within the Westerlands, ruled by King Hadrian Vyachlaw, his coat of arms, a crowned black two-headed eagle on a field of yellow.

The country extends inland from the Bay of Crabs in the west, between the Slatina and Wrynova rivers in the north and south, to the Ida River in the east.

## Economy

Edierne’s main exports are fish, madder root, vodka, and salt. They benefit greatly from their firm position in the Bay of Crabs, from where they can trade with merchants of the Skahazadans and Chorene and most of Edierne's largest cities are situated along the coast.

## History

Edierne is one of the youngest nations in Magnia, only founded after the Western War. Modern Edierne roughly encompasses parts of the early Kingdoms of Vaskja and Wichau that fell to Golden Horde invasions in the 14th century.

### Early History

The lands on the Bay of Crabs is first mentioned in 1034, when Stefan Aljevic, a vassal of the Kingdom of Vaskja and the governor of Anon and Kotar, led a rebellion to renounce Vaskja rule. He took Oswiezim while the Vaskjans were switching thrones.

Vaskja retaliated by sending in troops from Skadar and capturing Stefan, who was taken prisoner to Bardiov. He managed to escape, began a guerrilla resistance from the bogs and marshlands, and defeated several Vaskjan expeditions, liberating most of the west coast. A rebellion in Cassow in 1038 worked in Stefan’s favour by diverting attention from his lands, allowing him to expand his rule East and even take the Vaskjan city of Skadar.

In 1042, yet another attack of several Vaskjan vassals, led by Lutovid of Totieska, was defeated. Stefan overthrew Lutovid and placed the region entirely under his control to form the Duchy of Wichau.

Stefan most likely died in 1043 and his son Mikhail eventually secured his rule by 1046 and proved to be an apt diplomat, fostering good relations with Vaskja. He also entered diplomatic relations with the northern powers by marrying one of his sons, Bodin, to the daughter of a Corvian lord. Around 1077, Mikhail acquired the title of King, and when he died in 1081, he was succeeded by his son Bodin.

Soon after, Corveaux attacked Northern Vaskja, capturing Cassow and Prezsow. Bodin was expected to aid Vaskja, instead he remained idle, possibly as part of a pre-conceived plan with Corveaux. He only watched as the Vaskjans got utterly defeated. It was first in 1085 the Vaskjans got the upper hand in their wars with the Corvians, recapturing Cassow and Prezsow and in 1090, they punished Bodin for his impudence. He was captured and brought to Bardiov where he died in 1101 and with that, Labusa and surrounding lands was ceded from Wichau vassalage and came under Vaskja rule.

### End of the Aljevic Dynasty

With Bodin gone, his Corvian wife, Joaquina, feared that Bodin’s nephew, Bronislaw, would seize power before her young children could take the throne. She ordered the arrest of Bronislaw and his family. Bronislaw was captured, but his 6 brothers and many sons found asylum in Mireem. In her haste to claim the throne, she had planted deep seeds of hatred among the extended family.

Seeing a weak Wichau, the Vaskjans began meddle, sending General Koczopar, one of Bronislaw’s exiled brothers to capture the throne. Koczopar managed to defeat Joaquina with assistance from Vulkan of Arsa. However, there was a falling out between Koczopar and Vulkan, who drove out Koczopar, and the throne was given to Vladimir, yet another brother of Bronislaw and a Vaskjan vassal. Joaquina had not yet given up. After Vladimir died, she had Bronislaw, who was still imprisoned, castrated and blinded in case he were to gain the throne, thereby ensuring it for her son George.

After gaining support from Vulkan of Arsa’s nephew, George returned to Wichau, but he barely got to his throne before being captured by Vaskja. He died in captivity and after his successor Nadja died in 1146, Nadja's son Radoslav only bore the title Prince. Wichau had been reduced from Kingdom to a principality of Vaskja, where it would remain until Vaskja's fall in the 14th century.

### Age of the Golden Horde

During the Revolt of the Brother Princes, the Vaskjan brothers Oros and Dezsa undertook an offensive against King Manuel of Vaskja while he was south of the Wrynova and cut off his return by attacking Wichau. Radoslav was pushed to Kotar, and retained only the coastal area, with the brothers holding much of inland Wichau.

Throughout the 12th and 13th century, during the height of the Golden Horde, the history and politics of the region has been lost to time. In 1356, Lower Wichau was held by the widow of Oros II, Jelena, who at the time was in Château in Corveaux, as part of the court. The other half of Wichau, Upper Wichau, was held by Durras Iljic until his murder in 1362, when he was killed by the sons of a neighbouring baron.

Under Oros the Weak, the Kingdom of Vaskja fell to the brutality of the Golden Horde, and one by one, so did the Wichau lords, who failed to withstand their rapid expansion and between 1360 and 1362, the Horde conquered Wichau.

### Vichin Annexation of the Westerlands

The region was reunified in 1422, during the Golden War, when the Golden Horde was finally defeated by the Kingdom of Vichin, ending two centuries of domination in the region. The west was annexed as Vichin protectorates and divided into duchies with no regard for previous borders or local cultural and ethnic divisions.

The lands of Wichau became split and incorporated into three different duchies with much of the Vaskjan lands, enraging the locals whose ancestors had fought the Vaskjans for generations and died for their freedom.

Lord Dechansk of Wichau abdicated and King Florence II arranged for Balshaw’s uncle, Stefan Laszarev to marry Lady Elierena Harwick and gave him the lands of the Coast.

### The Western War

In 1428, The Western War broke out between Corveaux and Vichin due to the Corvians supporting anti-religious revolts in the Westerlands. The widowed Lady Elierena declared she would remain loyal to Vichin, to the ire of her vassal lords Hadrian Vyachlaw and his childhood friend Jurij Nenadov.

The two lords each went home to their respective seats of Oswiezim and Totieska. The lords were soon attacked by the Vichin lord, Duke John Cleight of Stokengrad, with whom they fought a long war of attrition and skirmishes. During the Siege of Oswiezim, Nenadov died in the onslaught, but the Vichin had failed to break Totieska, and Hadrian eventually managed to send the weakened Vichin forces fleeing with the help from Corvian relief forces, whereafter he was recognized by Corveaux as King of Edierne.

## Administrative Divisions

The Kingdom of Edierne is divided into two voivodes, divided by the Kotor River: Upper Wichau, ruling over three counties, and Lower Wichau, ruling over four counties. The counties of Edierne are:

* **Oswiezim,** ruled by Hadrian Vyachlaw from the City of Oswiezim.
* **Molkovac,** ruled by Eslaw Arsa from Totieska.
* **Rosac,** ruled by Neda Nenadov from Tytograd.
* **Beran,** ruled by Mikail Konstantin from Kotar.
* **Andrejvika,** ruled Sarah Dorhs from Prizsek
* **Anon,** ruled by Antonia Radoslav from Anon.