History of Imeriata: Difference between revisions
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| History of Imeriata | |
|---|---|
| Pre-human period | |
| Prehistory Unknown - 1000 BC | |
| Wharen empire Unknown | |
| Early human period | |
| Vedian migration Unknown to 855 BC | |
| Imerian migration 500 to 480 BC | |
| Mellankhönunga tiden | |
| The Elven wars 436 BC - 419 BC | |
| The non-human wars 350 BC - 206 BC | |
| The Vedian-Erathian wars | |
| Tidig khönunga tid (early royal period) | |
| Imerian unification wars 454 AD - 474 AD | |
| The first Vedian-Imerian war 621 AD - 626 AD | |
| Tiden mellan krig 626 AD - 845 AD | |
| Silfer kriget 845 AD - 901 AD | |
| The second Vedian-Imerian war 987 AD - 1045 AD | |
| The two hundred years war 1321 AD - 1521 AD | |
| Eröfringstiden 1521 AD - 1834 AD | |
| Din hedrade guldåldern 1834 AD - 1918 AD | |
| Queen Erika's war 1834 AD - 1842 AD | |
| Fridstiden 1842 AD - 1918 AD | |
| Inbördeskriget 1918 AD - 1924 AD | |
| Inbördeskriget 1918 AD - 1924 AD | |
Mörker åldern (Prehistory)
Not much is known about the prehistoric era as most information comes from the holy chronicles that were written centuries later and from Wharen records as well as a few primitive cave paintings made by dwarves. The species that developed the first cities that there is evidence for are the Wharen even if the name of most of their cities cities have since long been forgotten and lost in the mist of time so are the names Gra'drilmir, Sarkr'i and Misili still known as the first cities on the continent and home of powerful mages that laid the foundation of the Wharen empire and their control of most of the continent. However so are there still some evidence of the legendary men of the dawn or the men of the broken back that were said to have created mighty civilisations even before the Wharen arose and that were rivals to them in power.
It is also known that Humans developed into large tribes riding the northern wolves and herding and hunting the large hordes of reindeer and mammoths living there as well and a few early settlements have been discovered around the coastal areas. just as the human claimed the north for themselves so did large mountain tribes and kingdoms ruled by dwarf, goblin and troll kings in what today is the Vedian mountain chain.
The first elven principalities were created even if no records of the exact time for this is known nor as with most of the earliest states in Scandera so is also the exact borders totally unknown.
It is around this time when the first gods were born and the chronological faith were born in the north just as the Elven worship of their sun god spread in the central regions of Scandera and northern Imeriata and in the south did the Wharen started to worship Elderväsenden as most other tribes and species retrained their own religions of which not much is known or even just the more widespread spirit worship.
It was also in this era that the knowledge of how to forge weapons and armour out of bronze were discovered by the dwarves and then quickly spread out over the continent and especially the northern human tribes and elven warriors imported bronze. Dwarves and trolls started to start their first wars and even if knowledge is limited due to the lack of written information that survived so is it known that human mercenaries and wolf riders served in both sides as the Elven principalities tried their best to serve the dwarves as best as they could to restore the bronze trade.
However around 1200 BC so did the large battle of Granebere stood were a massive troll army able to break a dwarf and elven one and force a peace treaty favourable to the trolls even if the exact ramification of said treaty is vague and only mentioned quickly in Gryningskrigen or "the wars of the dawn" in the holy chronicles even if it was clear that land was exchanged to the troll with the secret of bronze making.
"...and thus did elven and dwarf hearts break when the hordes of trolls broke through their centre and moved up their troops to the allied right flank. Knowing of their impending doom did the elven prince Gyrlfriejd, son of Graldrim turn his army around leaving the dwarves under Harmel son of Grathel to cover their own disastrous retreat and for days did the troll king Gruntfil son of Gruntklin claim the secret of bronze as well as the land south of Gröldelberg as his own..."
Similar records exists for other wars between most species and even intra special violence is mentioned even if it is unknown how much of that, that is true and what is exaggerated as a few wars are mentioned to have been fought between millions of men which is highly doubted by most modern historians.
Wharen empire
What is however more well documented in runestones, both Imerian, elven and Dwarven ones, is the rise of the Wharen empire and the elven-wharen war that started around 1070 BC. While the exact reasons for the war remains unknown so is the course of the war relatively well known and documented from the battle of the borderlands where a elven warhost tried to intercept the wharen Army that marched over their border but were crushed in the field.
The rest of the war that followed were a series of defeats for the elves despite the aid they received from a army consisting of dwarves, trolls and humans that came down from the north even if human mastery of magic compared to other races enabled them to score a few victories before finally the war ended at the allied defeat in 1063 BC were the remains of the elven army was utterly crushed and the few survivors of the allied human, Dwarf and troll army had to withdraw to the north to lick their wounds.
A series of campaign followed after this victory since the Wharen empire had single handedly managed to crush most of the factions that could resist them and in a quick time were the fairies crushed and a new campaign was launched against a coalition of Southern trolls, Haflings and ponies tried to resist but in a few short battles so had the southern coalitions forces been utterly routed.
With everything south of the mountains under Wharen control did the Wharen spread quickly and colonies were established over most of the continent. Lower races were subjugated and blood tributes were demanded in form of living beings for sacrifices, for their blood for the Wharen to consume or to be part of dark magical rituals where death or pain was required.
Armed resistance were crushed mercilessly as the empire once again looked northwards to the Dwarven, human, goblin and troll tribes and kingdoms in the north that had spent the breathing space they had been given during the southward invasions fortifying the borders and create a large series of alliances.
Almost three hundred years after the elven-wharen wars during which the south had been pacified, elven rebels had been crushed did the Wharen finally turn their eyes towards the north and marched north. This time however were victory not just a easy feat but instead were they constantly harassed by human raiders on the way north, they had to fight through Dwarven and troll strongholds to get access through narrow passes where the enemy controlled the higher ground and around all this so were human magic also employed to take away their strongest advantage.
However despite the horrific causalities on both sides, the chronicles mentioning losses in the millions even if this is doubted by most modern historians so had the war been fought to a standstill and a ceasefire was agreed with the entire southern part of the Vedian mountains being conquered by the Wharen while the northern parts being able to retrain their independence.
This did however manage to cause a internal conflict in the Wharen empire and while it is uncertain what kinds of more underlying reasons was behind it so does most historians agree that a great deal of conflict and hostility had evolved between the various Wharen cities is the most likely explanation. What however is known is that with conflict brewing on the home front so would the Wharen be tied up back home and planning were made by the Remaining dwarf, troll and human kingdoms and tribes of what should be done.
Gryningstid (Early human period)
Vedian migration
With the Wharen empire growing more and more unstable and conflicts spreading internally between city states so did human raids in the north intensify. Mounted on large war wolves so did Imerian humans ride southwards and sacked a large amount of settlements and burned military outposts.
Legends even tells of a large human force that were able to relieve a large siege of a Dwarven rebel stronghold and crush a smaller Wharen army before finally withdrawing back to the frozen north.
However problems were common on the iceplains as well, liveable space was in short supply, inter tribal conflict was violent and the large herds of mammoths and reindeer were often not enough to support the massive human population.
It is not known when exactly but legends says how Veder gathered a large army consisting of hundred of tribes and million upon million of men. Something that is however doubted by modern historians. The humans struck at the city of Er'kashi where they managed to rout the Wharen defenders and sacked the city.
While not much is known of the exact course of the war so did it end by the Wharen being thrown out after nine major battles and in 855 BC so were Veder crowned king of Vedian by his victorious army that settled the mountain chain and with the help of their new dwarf and troll vassals did they start to make their own bronze weaponry.
Imerian migration
While the Vedian invasion is only briefly mentioned in the holy chronicles and just nine battles are named, and fewer are described just as heroes, gods and demigods that fought in the conflict being hardly mentioned at all so is this not true about the Imerian migration or the divine war.
The war itself officially started in 500 BC when the goddess Framatsier according to legend foresaw that the Wharen was going to awaken one of the seven sleeping Elderväsen and bring ruin to the world. All over the chronological north did messengers gather a mighty warhost or as it is described as in the holy chronicles.
| "On the first day after the prophesy had been seen did riders ride forth all over the north, to all the mighty tribes did the message go, to the gods halls high up in Gyllenheim and so did the riders ride and the demigods and mightiest of heroes could hear their names being chanted."
|
While the exact date is unknown so did the army cross over into the Vedian border in 500 were they were welcomed with open arms and even joined by a large of Vedians, most noteworthy the troll king Günder, the three dwarf lords Burig, Mulder and Falder as well as the twin goblin kings Snok and Hug and their forces as well as several human noblemen and their warriors.
According to the holy chronicles and a few runestones from the era so did the human army descended upon the Wharen lands to the south only two weeks after having crossed the vedian/northern border were they approaching the city of Er'kirmer. It was outside the white walls of Er'kirmer that a Wharen army were utterly defeated in pure combat for centuries.
Due to the Wharen military's over reliance on magical warfare so had the gods gifted the human army in protective runes that absorbed magical energy.
| "As the first day dawned over the battlefield so did the two armies stand in the light of the sun, one glimmering in bronze and under massive banners of good, the second dressed in silver flying black banners of evil drenched in darkness.
The battle did start with the enemy unleashing a horrid storm of magic, dark flames flew forward towards the Imerian shieldwall, evil spells were thrown at them and legions of demons and the undead charged their lines but every time did the humans stand tall and proud. Shocked and horrified so could the Wharen gasp in shock and look in horror at the enemy army that stood untouched in the light of the sun. Finally when the sun was at it's zenith did the army surge forward, chariots thundered over the field, wolfriders rode forward howling with their steeds amongst large armoured trolls on the flank and with feet that sounded like the thunder of a earthquake did the foot warriors storm forward, wearing armour, clothes or nothing at all as they cried out in outrage and hatred for their despicable foe." |
While not much is known about the battle itself more than a Lardin named Gjufrid managed to lead a mounted/chariot attack on a enemy weak spot and managed to break through the line and engage the enemy city magestrate in a duel and slay him before his men drove away the enemy command which broke the Wharen army which were forced to withdraw in a full rout.
While the enemy were in full rout towards their city so did the Imeirans press on and managed to overtake their fleeing foe and force their way through their gate which was the first recorded fall of a Wharen fortified city to a hostile invader. Panic started to spread amongst the wharen empire as rumours started to spread as the humans marched southwards and three months after the fall Er'kirmer so where the Imerian horde intercepted by a Wharen army at "the largest of all the crossings of storfloden" to prevent them from reaching the southlands where a massive army was gathered to destroy the invading Imerian horde.
While the Imerians won the battle so were the Burig and Hug, the goblin and Troll king slain and the Imerians were held down for almost a week which allowed the Wharen time enough to gather their men and once again approach the Imerian army, this time in greater numbers than their enemies from the north.
1: The battle against elderväsendet Ark-irk
2: The first clash of arms
3: The battle at the heights
4: The death of Mulder in the troll charge
5: The arrival of the elven prince Halmar with a ship mounted army of humans and elves
The two forces meet at what is popularly called the battle of shadow and light in the holy chronicles when the Wharen forces took positions over the old northern road with their camps protected by Storfloden and the human army taking up camp in the hills just north of them where they fortified themselves so that they could maintain a short defensive shield wall that would not have to worry about getting outflanked.
While a quick series of engagment followed over the course of a week such as the first engagment between human/goblin wolfriders and light Wharen infantry in the east which enabled the humans to take up positions without needing to worry about their flanks as well as being able to make a quick raid at the Wharen encampment that forced the Wharen to withdraw for the day and let the humans fortify themselves.
On the second day so did the Wharen heavy infantry charge forward at the Imerian fortifications and were after heavy causalities being inflicted to them by Imerian heavy warriors, light cavalry and archers to remarkable few casualties on the human side were forced to withdraw harassed by human cavalry.
In the end did the battle end first when the Wharen summoned Ark-irk to a horrific number of blood sacrifices in their own cities and a massive nation spawning ritual. With one of their own horrific gods on the battlefield so did the Wharen for the first time on seven days charge forward as the humans rose up from their own positions and meet the charge head on. The battle itself was horrific and ended in massive casualties which included gods, heroes, kings and demigods and ended when a large group of mortal heroes and gods managed to kill Ark-irk which broke the fighting spirit of the Wharen that tried to flee but were cut down once they tried to cross Storfloden that had once protected their camp from Imerian raiders and cavalry.
With the victory in the battle of shadow and light which had spelled the end of a massive part of the Wharen empire's armed forces and a massive moral victory of the humans that could enjoy large arrivals of new warriors, both non-humans living in the region and massive armies from the north as a few tribes that had not been able or doubtful about the invasion joined the war.
Without much resistance so were the Wharen quickly driven out of the south and east even if they were able to stop the humans in Erathia were Imer the great were killed in battle and the humans withdrew to their newly conquered territory in the west to lick their wounds and build their new lives until the Erathians moved down in a third migration only fifty years later when the last of the Wharen were eradicated in the west as they had been in the north and east before.
Mellankhönunga tiden (The time between kings)
The elven wars
With human kingdoms and tribes growing in the former Wharen lands at alarming rate and especially in the north due to the long control of what had historically been elven land but had fallen under wharen rule for centuries meant that human and elves were constantly in conflict with one another as Wharen inhabited land had after the war been claimed by the Imerians, something only the elves refused to accept during the negotiations that followed that war.
With the elves drawing themselves back more and more politically and becoming increasingly isolationistic and refusing to negotiate with anyone and humans pressing more and more into lands they considered their own and Imerians considered theirs did tensions between the two groups rise. With the Vedians promising support to their Imerian brothers so were the Imerians self assured and were confident that the elves that stood alone and without allies would not dare to challenge them and pressed for all the land that had been Wharen controlled and without any elven residents living in them until recently.
Tensions grew and in 436 BC so did the elves attack and slaughtered a number of human settlements in what they considered their own lands. Outraged by this did the Imerian kings have a conference in Imerbürg which quickly had grown into a rather large political centre in the rather divided land that Imer had left after his death and after a few days did they gather their armies and marched northwards.
Just as the Imerians gathered their men so did the elves join council and it was decided that going further on the advance was the best idea for the war, While the elves were able to besiege and sack at least five human cities mentioned on "Grödhylla stenen" as having been destroyed while two cities are mentioned as having been able to withstand a siege by the elven warriors. While temporary sources states that the cities lost were large metropolises so is this doubted by modern historians that have used the term "stor byar" or "large villages" to describe them,
| "This stone is raised in honour of the cities of Gränakr, hárfell, skjoldfell, Gränakirkja and kalda that did fall in the first battles, also to the honour of korptugrskjoldr and gullholl that withstod the elven hordes! |
While the exact date and details are unkown so did the two armies meet at a field at the time called jarnark and that the Imerians assaulted the elven light infantry charged but were easily repulsed at least three times by Imerian mounted javelin men followed by the cavalry being able to contend their western flank as the heavy Imerian infantry and even a trio of war mammoths charged and were able to rout the elves which enabled the humans to push far into elven territory without being threatened just as the battle itself cost the elven princes Hjarl and Grunhild, that had been described as the top commanders of the elven army, their lives.
With the elves on retreat did a large series of sieges follow as human warriors were able to overrun a large amount of elven cities and revenge their cities or towns which meant that the humans managed to secure victory in 419 BC. Something that is theorised to have been a great part of the early human success fist against the elves and later on amongst the rest of the non-humans in the east was the invention of iron forging in the north that quickly spread south amongst the human tribes and remained a highly guarded secret to the degree that it was made illegal to trade with iron amongst non-humans.
The non-human wars
With victories against both Wharen and elves so did the humans start to grow bolder and bolder and a large series of conflicts followed that was named the non-human wars due to the foes generally being humans against non-humans about dominance over the continent. While not exactly is very mentioned in dates so is the first war often thought to have been the Imerian-fairy war that resulted in a push east by the Imerians and extending their rule over what today is northern Imeriata proper and the death of all the fairy queen cast leaving the fairy race more disorganized than they used to be.
Quickly after that followed the Vedian-dwarves and goblin wars where goblins and dwarves vassals fought a great war over lands and uncertainties in documents signed after the Wharen wars about their respective borders that left both species weak and lacking much in fighting experience.
This were quickly followed by the troll wars where the trolls in Vedian looked to take advantage of the weakened state of both dwarves and goblins and attacked in large mass both races lands. When the words of this reached the Vedian king did he demand that the trolls would withdraw to their own lands and call of the attacks, a demand that was ignored and in 401 did a Vedian army crash with a troll one in eastern Vedian which ended in a crushing defeat for the trolls that were driven home to their own homelands where they after a long and bloody conflict had to sue for peace. The demands were harsh and in the end were every troll nobletitle revoked and the entire race enslaved as the Vedians themselves moved in to what had previously been troll, dwarf and goblin lands where they built their own villages, castles and fortifications.
in 350 BC so did the Imerians relations with a growing confederation of haflings and ponies living in the south grow more and more sour as raids were carried out on both sides of the borders and Imerian tribes were attacked by southerners while the imerians often retaliated by quick mounted raids that burnt down entire villages on the other side.
While few open battles actually meet on the ground due to the ponies and haflings often being able to sneak past Imerian patrols so were those battles often dominated by Imerian cavalry, both horses, wolves and mammoth as well as the newer breeds of war wyverns that Imerians started to domesticate were larger and more able to shatter a full on pony charge just as a Imerian shieldwall were a more than a formidable force for any pony charge, However in the air did the pegasi still dominate which meant that Imerian Wyvern riders often had to bring with them shortbows up and defend their own infantry formations from attacks from above.
Finally according to a runestone found in central Imeriata so did a unified alliance of Imerian tribes and kingdoms march in to the southern lands in 320 and a savage war followed which in the end resulted in the ponies and haflings being forced to hand over a large amount of land in the north and swear to never attack the Imerian tribes again.
Spurred by the success of all migrations so far so did in 290 BC a large tribe from the northern iceplains move in towards the western pass and overran the goblins living there and claimed the land as their own under the name of the kingdom of Karmanjaka. As the land here were still officially under the command of the Vedian king and it had been his subjects that had been driven out did he march westwards the same year to meet the invaders head on. The First battle in 289 BC proved to be without a winner and both sides had to withdraw to lick their wounds as the new tribesmen took up position on the western side of the eternal rivers river holding all major crossings.
However despite that so did the Vedian king Harold the weak demand a full scale attack over the river which resulted in serious casualities on his side to relative light ones according to runestones found in Karmanjaka. Using these losses did the Karmanjakans attack on full scale on all fronts and were quickly able to take several positions on the eastern side of the river from their exhausted and tried enemies that withdrew to the mountain passes.
With the Vedians in retreat did the karmanjakans push onwards and managed to claim the narrow field between the mountains and the ancient rivers river which today is known as "Karmanjakanska passet" or "the Karmanjkan pass". As Harold withdrew for the winter to gather more men and to lick his wounds did the Karmanjakans fortify their own lands by both defending it against two unsuccessful attacks by rival tribes just as they managed to get at least five larger ones to swear them fealty and join them as they built their homes on top of Goblin cities.
In the summer of 289 did Harold march west again this time with a large army under his command just as the various karmanjakan tribes united under their own banners with a secret weapon of their own at their command. According to the Karmanjakan chronicles so had the dragon god offered them an alliance while temporary Vedian sources claims that they had made pacts with Elderväsendena as the Wharen had done before them but when the two armies faced one another so where the Vedians shocked to find a trio of dragons being brought to the field besides the massive war mammoths and the normal flying wyverns that the Karmanjakans fielded but also could be seen on the Vedian side of the battle.
The Karmanjakans quickly set their weapon into effect and made a massive frontal charge as they concentrated their dragons on an attack on the Vedian center that they managed to divide into two and press into with their mounted and later on foot warriors. With the centre broken so did the Vedians call for a retreat. The ordered retreat quickly turned into a rout however and Harald had to seek shelter in a Vedian castle as he waited for the rest of his army to follow him. It is theorised that only around 10% of the Vedians managed to get back home to their own lands to relative light causalities on the karmanjakan side, fuelled by their victory did they press on into Vedian lands but were quickly forced to withdraw when faced with fierce resistance in the narrow passes where at least two of their dragons were shot down and they could not use their cavalry.
In 287 so did Harald finally sue for peace on the demand that the Karmanjakas would not have a king of their own but they would still be a free of independent nation. With the peace with the Vedians ensured so did the Karmajakans turn their eyes northwards and constructed several heavy fortresses to protect their narrow land from tribal raiders just as they guarded their trick to tame dragons jealously and even to this day so is most of the process a secret.
The karmanjakan war while it was fought between humans had a still very noticeable impact about human/non-human power relations as the dwarves and goblins in Vedian rose up in rebellion. The official reasons are believed to have been conflicts between human settlers and the fear for a human dominated kingdom but the defeat at the hands of the Karmanjakans made most dwarves and goblins believe that they could succeed as well so in 262 did a large non-human army rose up against the Vedian crown but this time did the Vedians manage to crush their subjects and the dwarves and goblins were put under the same conditions as the trolls had been 150 years or so earlier.
However the last war officially called one of the non-human wars was the exalted march to the south where rosetouched Gustaf managed to gather a mighty chronological warhost. With men raging from all over Scanderan lands with Karmanjakan dragonriders and light infantry, Imerian heavy huskarls and charioteers, Vedian heavy infantry, Northern tribal cavalry and countless other kinds of warriors gathering under his command in the name of their religion.
The reason for his success in gathering manpower had been a new raid into human lands that had managed to besiege and burn several settlements which had outraged the whole human community and a demand issued by the holy chronicles that they would convert to the teachings of the chronicles and that several important holy relics that had been lost during the raid should be returned had been meet by insults. This had infuriated countless of humans and men surged under the flag of Gustaf that launched his own campaign a year later.
So in 206 did he cross the border with his massive army and managed to quickly defeat several pony/hafling armies. Several runestones and Petroglyphies from this period also shows the first appearances of the later on so popular crossbow both in military scenes as well as in paintings featuring hunters which means that this would be the first war when the crossbow showed up in large scales on the Scanderan continent even if bows still clearly was more common. However it is debated heavily even today if the primitive crossbows had much effects on the war as a whole in archaeological circles.
The war however ended quickly when the humans utterly managed to crush and enslave large populations of the non-humans living there. The only real noteworthy exception to this was a rather large pegasi tribe that fled to the mountains in the south and established themselves as a independent force there. It took several hundred years and it was not until a bit in, into Eröfringstiden when a human army managed to drive them out and conquer these last free non-humans.
The Vedian-Erathian wars
While the three traditional human kingdoms had previously maintained a good alliance in the case of the Imerians and the Vedians while it had been an uneasy alliance in the case of the Erathians and the vedians when the humans had been united against a common enemy so did the alliance break down without that threat and the question over the shared border between the two nations were a growing source of conflict.
While the Vedian-Erathian war was not a official war but rather a large series of conflicts and wars between the two nations and with no larger gains being made on either side and with heavy damage on both civilian population so did the conflicts only manage to fuel further and bloody conflicts in the future which severely managed to weaken both of the powers which managed to enable the Imerians to rise over the Vedians as the most powerful kingdom on the continent.
Khönunga åldern (The early royal period)
Unification of the southlands
As Vedian were dragged into conflicts so were Imeriata slowly being more and more unified in a sense as kingdoms grew and became stronger. Especially the river kingdom in the north grew under the stjärnkhrone family as they were able to unify the north in 387 AD. With that victory under their belt followed a slow but steady expansion as more and more land were made to swear allegiance to the River kings.
However sometime during the early 5th century so were a Emanuel auf Stjärnkhrone crowned king of the riverlands and married the three visvind sisters that according to legend were daughters of the god Rasmer. Shortly after his coronation followed a massive campaign as the men of the riverland mercilessly attacked the southern kingdoms from the north and by the sea and demanded that every lord should swear allegiance to the high king of Imeriata, a title previously only worn by Imer the great.
In 454 so did most of the remaining southern lords, kings and chieftains band together to resist the northern men in an alliance officially named "the league of the south" or "södramarks ligan" as is called in Imerian. However despite initial successes on the northern and a southern front so did the tables turn again and the league were forced to withdraw more and more to the east as more and more rulers were either forced to withdraw by the Stjärnkhrone family, voluntary changed sides or just lost their strongholds and had their lands handed to a member of the Stjärnkhrone family.
The war ended finally after 20 years in 474 when the last king of the islandkingdoms to the far east finally bowed to the river king and in a grand ceremony so were Emanuel the first proclaimed Emanuel rex Stjärnkhrone high king of Imeriata.
The first Vedian-Imerian wars
Even the relationship between the Imerians and the Vedians grow sour as the southern kingdom were able to challenge the northern one and lords on both sides became bolder as raids over the borders became a growing problem and especially so did intermarriage and claims by various vassals in Syd Vedian become a growing problem as both kingdoms laid claim to the region. The area grow more and more unstable as both races moved in and allegiances of the local lords changed from generation to generation. However the Vedians grew more and more troubled as they were pressured from three sides with Erathians and Karmanjaka carried out attacks from the west, from the north did the tribes from the northern iceplains rode down and finally so did the Imerians attack from the south.
In 621 so were the situation grim when an allied army from the northern iceplains and Erathia had joined up in the western Vedian and been able to push back the Vedian king's army. Quickly did the Imerian king gather his army and marched north into Syd Vedian and besieged the castle Dunhölde. Despite being a military strongpoint and the most important fortification in the region for the Vedians were the Imerians able to take it by force and quickly occupy the region.
While the fighting continued in the north with very little success for the Imerians after that so were they able to hold the south and after five years of fighting so did the Vedian king give the region to the Imerian crown.
Tiden mellan krig(interbellum)
This clear defeat marked the decline of the era of great power for Vedian as the merchants flocked to Imeriata and Erathia as the old trade routes through Vedian were replaced by trade routes over the sea to the northern iceplains and the metal monopoly that Vedian used to have were challenged by Imerians in the riverlands and the Erathians in the north where the technique to break metal out of the bogs common in the northern parts of the two southern areas.
Culture blossomed during this time as ship construction advanced and the first Imerian triremes which was the older version of the biremes used earlier made their appearance on runestones amongst the lighter longships. Magical studies also advanced and the structure of the holy chronically became more standardised by the order of the grand cleric.
Silfer kriget (The silver war)
However the long time of relative peace came to an end in the early 9th century when the discovery of rich silver mines in the borderland between Imeriata, Vedian and the Erathian city states. This discovery combined with the rarity of silver in Scandera made the mines desired land by the three states.
As the three nations made moves towards the silver rich area so did a period of scheming and politics followed where everyone tried to lay their own clam to the area, the three nations tried to keep the other nations at bay and individual lords tried to keep rival lords at bay regardless of nationality. The result was border wars, raids and assassinations erupting around the contested border just as naval battles erupted in innanhaftet between Imerians and Erathians which saw amongst the first full scale naval battles on the continent as the larger triremes and biremes did a fine job of ramming one another while quicker and smaller longships boarded both eachother and the larger warships.
The war is generally characterised by two fronts the Northern front and the Imerian-Erathian front both of which had their own characteristics and quirks.
The Imer-Erathian front
The Imerian-Erathian front were fought mostly on innanhafet and söderarna between large fleets of warships. And the image of long lines of longboats tied together were quickly replaced by a more mobile melee but larger battlefield where longships board one another and tries to board the larger warship while the biremes and triremes rammed one another and the smaller longships while they also tried to hold boarders at bay.
In the beginning of the war so did the Imerians face a severe disadvantage on the sea as the Erathian city states due to their city nature and at first so did the Imerian navy under Erik auf Stjärnkhrone sail to face them. However when the Imerian navy saw the massive fleet facing them did they retreat southwards.
Deciding that it would be better to destroy the Imerian fleet and then take on their defenceless cities so did the Erathian fleet follow in pursuit. The chase went on until the sund were the several small islands there made manoeuvring very difficult and the Erathians moved into a trap.
In the larger open waterways did the Imerian halt and with the wind coming at their rear gave them a large advantage over the Erathians. To try to liqudate this did the Erathian navy move in amongst the islands to outflank the Imerians and liquidate the wind advantage. However this is when Erik sprang his trap. Recruited from the eastern and more southern lords had he acquired several fireships as well as mercenaries from Jarnarna that laid in wait for the Erathians. Trapped and with little room to manoeuvre did the fireships ram into the trapped navy and many a ship was light ablaze. As more and more ships caught fire so did the Erathians panic and tried to run out both to the north and to the south. Here however did Erik's forces wait for them and biremes rammed into the first escapees in the south and quickly were a line of Imerian ships formed to cut off the Erathians and with now vastly superior numbers and organisation were the ships either captured or sank. The ships that fled to the north however lacked the wind advantage the ships to the south and were quickly attacked by the mercenary fleet.
With that victory behind them were the Imerians able to launch a surprise attack on Vesiki and even take it. The rest of the Imer-Erathian front was characterised by the Imerians raiding and attacking the Erathian city states on the coastlines and were even able to almost entirely cut off oversea trade.
The Erathians were not able to recover from their massive loss on the sea and as part of the peace treaty were their ability to keep a navy severely hindered by the eventual peace treaty enforced by the victorious Imerians.
The northern front
The war on land was mostly remembered for the ferocity in the Vedian-Erathian battles which turned into outright slaughter of civilians on both sides even by the standards of the time. Massive battles were followed by drawn out sieges. While the battles between the Erathians and Imerians were often equal and victories tended to be evenly spread so were the Vedians forced to withdraw on almost every front and the drawn out war resulted in the Imerian navy launching blockades of the Vedian coast every spring to autumn and several harvests gone wrong resulted in mass famine in Vedian.
However in the end so were the Imerians ability to transport a lot of men over the Imerian rivers instrumental and combined with problems for the Erathians to supply their troops with the lack of their navy so were they slowly but surely forced to withdraw and the Imerians were able to claim the silver rich mines as their own.
The war had two important outcomes more than the Imerian control of the silver mines firstly did it finally spell the end of Vedian as a great power compared to Erathia and Imeriata. Secondly so did it give the Imerians control over the seas and by royal demand so were the Imerian navies increased to keep the seas in Imerian control.
The second Vedian-Imerian war
With Vedian in upheaval, crops going bad and famine a large problem so did a final tragedy strike the vedian kingdom when the monarch died without any children and several factions arose claiming the throne. One of the people claiming the throne, on good grounds even, was Harald rex Stjärnkhrone III high king of Imeriata and in 987 did he march into Vedian at the head of a large army.
Sieges and battles followed but the Vedians had lost so much since their time of greatness, they no longer could cut of iron production from the southern kingdoms, they no longer could brag about being the most unified kingdom, they could not brag about their numerical superiority and they had a hard time to feed their own population nor did they have the ability to put up a unified front to the southerners while raids being more and more common from the north.
fiefdom after fiefdom fell to the advancing Imerians, the coast was overun in just a few years and the army pressed north and west however so were the Imerians also forced to protect their gains from the barbarian tribes to the east. A lot of new military equipment saw use during this time as for the first time ever so could one notice pike formations on the battlefield amongst the large shieldwalls and attempts on what could only be called phalax formation appeared and were used on both sides to great success. Horses saw large scale use for the first time as the older wolf cavalry were faced out for the faster and stronger but less mobile horses that could carry heavier soldiers and while outright cavalry charges remained rare so were there still the ideals of heavy armoured cavalrymen rushing into lighter wolf riders a sight that have been much celebrated in folklore and music.
Chariots were eventually scrapped altogether except as transports to get heavier men to the battlefront and armour became more widespread, for instances so did the idea of naked warriors charging with no other protection than their faith in the gods die during this war as it became more and more obvious that the gods favoured the men in chainmail wearing thick helmets.
However despite the general success of the Imerian war effort so did the Imerian high king die during the war as he were struck down by a crossbow bolt outside a some hundred fjärdningsväg from Coperborg and were succeeded by his son Primus rex Stjärnkhrone VII that eventually became crowned king of Vedian.
The war also had a massive influence of Imerian political ambitions as they gave up the title high king of Imeriata and replaced it with "king of Imeriata" and Primus rex Stjärnkhrone VII was crowned "King of Imeriata, King of Vedian and high king of Scandera" A title that later on was replaced with "High king of the absolute royal federation".
With this success so did the Imerians clearly proved themselves as the leading force on the continent controlling a landmass half the size of Scandera itself. Her fleets ruled the seas raids and exploration campaigns were launched abroad over the sea with renewed fury even if the age of raiding slowly drew to an end and were eventually replaced entirely by trading, colonisation and exploration expeditions.
More so did they started to expand their influence in the minor states of Karmanjaka and Jarnarna and especially in Jarnarna were the Imerians able to forge strong links as hungry eyes turned towards Erathia in the hope for conquest. With ideas adopted from the west of large strong states with massive control of the hands of the king did also the high kings start to expand their own political control of their own empire and slowly turned it into something more resembling a unified state under the control of the high king rather than the lose collection of fiefdoms that it had been before.
The two hundred year war
The last Scanderan war or the two hundred years war started first in 1321 when the Imerian crown officially declared war against the Eteisrannikko city states and brought it's massive armies to bear at the Erathians that gathered their own armies.
While the war certainly lasted for 200 year officially ending in 1532 (meaning it lasted 211 years rather than 200 exactly) so should it be noted that large periods of cease fires could be observed and armies regularly returned home to care for fields which left certain years being only fought between light skirmisher armies and fully armoured noblemen.
While the war went back and forth in the beginning so were the second century of the war noted by a series of losses for the Erathians as the heavy toll of the war and the continued trend for battles to take place on Eteisrannikko soil take it's due as the Erathians were pressed back and back. Further more so did the loss of their allies in Suderland also prove fatal as the Imerians were able to use their previous second front to open up another one with the Erathians as they invaded the Eteisrannikko southlands.
While the war's most obvious outcome were the unification of Scandera as Jarnarna quickly joined the Stjärnkhrone empire voluntarily and Eteisrannikko and Suderland annexed. Leaving only Karmanjaka as the last realm not under stjärnkhrone control as a direct outcome of the war, however just a few years later did the Karmanjakans join the rest of the unified Scanderan kingdom.
Eröfringstiden
Eröfringstiden or middle royal period translates roughly to "the era of conquest" and was the time when the unified Scanderan kingdom started to expand over the world. Vinland and Africa were added thanks to conquests and Scanderan explorers travelled over the world and took home valuable knowledge from over the world and especially Arabic and Asian scientists were saught after. Culture and science advanced back home as libraries and schools were opened over Scandera.
Laws were standardised, economical reforms were put into place and sailing techniques were heavily improved just as communication networks were improved to enable to keep the empire in place and especially magical knowledge were improved on the home front and with the aid of taxation against non-worshipper of the chronicles so did the chronological faith spread amongst the colonies.
Eröfringstiden also saw the birth of the Imerian-gothic architecture that quickly spread over Scandera and the colonies evolved the colonial imer-gothic style where bricks were more commonly used outside of Scandera while sandstone were used back in Scandera proper even if one can find older sandstone buildings in both Vindland and Africa.
Din hedrade guldåldern
Eröfringstiden ended in 1834 with the death of Emanuel rex Stjärnkhrone VIII or "Emanuel the sonless" with the beginning of queen Erika's war. As Emanuel VIII was without a male hair and his only brother had died earlier so were the crown to pass to his nephew Gustav rex Stjärnkhrone V. However his daughter Erika auf Stjärnkhrone had, had her sight on the crown despite being on general good terms with her cousin and there even being a rumoured romance between them.
The young princess conspired and managed to get several high military officers to swear her fealty and she planned a coup to be crowned high king of the absolute royal federation herself instead of her cousin and on the coronation did she make her move and stormed the royal palace with men dressed in her red, white and golden colours but were thrown back to her utter horror by the high guard that started to push her men back from the palace walls and capture ground in the city.
Unknown to her was this just a desperate moment to let her cousin escape but she threw her full force at the legendary högvakten that were in the end massacred to the last man before Erika was finally able to conquer the palace grounds themselves. However to her horror had her cousin escaped with the silfer crown. Erika were forced to spent the first year of the war to gathering allies and attempting to consolidate power in Imeriata proper as Suderland, Taranaka, Karmanjaka, and Jarnarna swore her fealty while most of the federation, including Vedian and Erathia swore their loyalty to Gustav as the federation was divided into Erikioliner and Gustavioliner wearing the royal blue, white and gold uniforms of Gustav or the red, white and gold of Erikia.
The war that followed were surprisingly civilised but long as both sides provided for wounded for both sides, old Scanderan military traditions of duels between champions and generals to determine battles were used regularly and sieges were rare as battles were fought on the field rather than in populated areas. Soldiers of both sides often greeted one another as brothers and it was not common for either side to open fire unless ordered to do so. Even the two pretenders that both used the title "river prince" talked regularly through letters and even held several negotiations depending on who had the upper hand at the moment. However the idea of letting the war go was never far from any plans as universal pardons and marriage between the two pretenders were the universal thing on both sides agendas during negotiations.
The war itself lasted 8 years however with remarkable light causalities on both sides and a country side left in rather good shape all things considered even if the war still had left it's mark. The war did however lean more and more in Gustavs favour as the majority of the federation supported his claims. It did however end as Erika surrendered outside the gates of Imerbürg where she and Gustav meet face to face and in person negotiated the peace agreement where Gustav were crowned high king finally after years of waiting. Two months after the meeting and coronation were Erika crowned high queen and married to her cousin and seven months after the wedding did she bear Gustav a son.
While the war itself had caused destruction on the countryside and several realms had been tied up fighting independence moments but in the end did peace return to the federation. The war itself did have a lot of positive influences as well as Erika had during her time as prince improved the situation enormously for women in her realms and as queen did she influence her husband to keep them as well as extend those rights to several other realms just as she improved the situation and legal status of commoners and slaves. Even today is she remembered as an icon for feminism and the growing abolition supporters under the Prince Primus have adopted her as a abolitionist queen even if most of the opposition remains sceptical and have dismissed this as fantasies.
The war also had a huge cultural impact by advancing Scanderan-romanticism both in art, poetry and music and the war was forever entrenched in popular memory as a romantic affair when brothers engaged fire as gentlemen and great heroes lead armies in massive engagements for glory and their monarchs. Even the popular image of Erikoliner is seen as misguided loyalty at worst or brave men that died for their queen at best.
As queen Erika's war was the first war on Scanderan soil for more than 300 years and was the first instance of Scanderans actually going to war with one another so is it seen as the end of Eröfringstiden and the beginning of "Din hedrade guldåldern" or "the honoured golden age". With queen Erika and king Gustav married so were the population once again united as one with culture blooming and lessons in ship building, warfare and tactics learnt on the battlefields so did the golden age start off well, colonial adventures abroad was made and more legal measures protecting commoners were made and the industrial revolution that had slowly started to appear with the first humble machines at the end of Eröfrings tiden and under the rule Emanuel rex Stjärnkhrone VIII came in full swing with large factories appearing in the coastal cities while train engines and similar contraptions appeared in full force.
However amongst all the fame and glory of the last days of the honoured golden period did trouble brood in the cities. Commoners working in the factories seemed to grow more and more frustrated at the conditions in the factories and the growing control of the royal merchant guild that stood as a unified front against any form of social reform amongst the factories.
Inbördes kreiget
The situation exploded finally during a protest in Erathia where syndicalists were growing stronger and stronger clashed openly in full revolt with guildmen and were not only able to drive them out of the city but also launch a surprise attack on the guardsman garrison and managed to conquer it and have the soldiers desert to the revolution.
The violence spread as wildfire with almost all of Erathia being taken over and reaching as far as Karmanjaka where revolutionary soldiers and commoners in rebels were stopped by a small delegation of Karmän and a dragon priest. The incident is still remembered in Karmanjaka as "Slarker arger Floren!" or "the battle over the river". Being seen as the first sign of royalist opposition did the furiously conservative and already democratic Karmän send a small force to the border where a revolutionary army was moving northward in an attempt to spread the revolution into the Northern iceplains and get an opportunity to access the passes that lead further into Vedian.
Legend says that a thick fog oversaw the battle when 1000 men from Karmnajka and a single dragon priest told a massive revolutionary fieldarmy from Erathia to turn back and they had no business in the land over the ancient rivers river at the ancient mountains mountain. The small army of light infantry Karmän was no threat to the field army the revolutionary commander decided and the priest was promptly executed in the standard anti-religious policies of the new revolutionary government. At the sight of this did the Karmän attack, the attack did not come from the front though as the rebels had expected but from the air as several dragons launched their attack and dragon fire made short processes of armoured brigades and everything that even remotely locked like a command structure.
Amongst the chaos that spread amongst the rank did the Karmanjakan infantry sweep forward which caused further chaos and at the day had most of the revolutionary army retreated spreading words of several royalist field armies of Karmän and Ismän sweeping down from the mountains. However so did the Karmän stop their assault and withdrew just 30 miles from their own borders where they constructed a fortified line that would be held by Karmän and ismän for most of the war while the priesthood of the dragon rallied as many Ismän they could from the norhtern iceplains to boost their own ranks.
While that battle was a royalist success did the situation look worrisome other were as several federal realms were struggling with revolts as in Sydvinland, Jarnarna, southern Imeriata or Salywana or under brutal martial law where the revolutionaries were rooted out as in Imerian Africa. Or as in the case of Sudland and Erathia under rebel control. The war had started and spread so quickly as various unions joined up with the revolt and brutally slaughtered royalists or people with suspicious loyalty while quicker royalist strong hold fought back just as hard against anything determined a "leftist". The crown itself did it's best to prepare and turn the situation while Vedians as one of the few realms still entirely loyal to the crown sent troops in large numbers down into Northern Imeriata to hold the royalist line. A common joke from the era is that Vedians only did it to not have to side with the Erathians again.
However the rebels were quickly pushing their advantage and advancing into Western Imeriata and pushing northward from the south. As royalists continued gather forces as they retreated east and south did also the rebel attacks slow down. Armoured cars and massed artillery strikes did more and more often swarm forward in huge waves against the rebels in counter attacks and more and more often did they run into large fortified trench networks.
Slowly did the war just come to a halt as large trenches covered the western and southern fronts and large attacks were thrown back at horrific costs of lives form both sides. Desperate to break the situation that started to remind everyone more and more about the horrific wars in europe just a few years earlier did the rebels launch a massive attack to take Imerbürg and the royal family and win the war. The attack itself was fairly successful as they were able to breach royalist lines and came within sight of the great walls of Imerbürg itself.
However so were they once again stopped, this time by well supplied and well fortified men of högvakten. Outnumbered almost 10 to 1 did the royal life guard fight in their quickly established trench networks around the city. For almost a week of hard and heavy fighting that included gas used on both sides and massed charges and raids did finally the situation started to turn as two royal field armies appeared and started to heavily shell the rebels from the flank while a larger charge to the west managed to cut the rebels entirely off from their supplies.
While still outnumbering the royalists did it not take long time for the rebel's lack of ammunition to become more and more obvious and with fresh royalist swarming the battlefield did it become more and more obvious who hand managed to strike a victory outside Imerbürg. Not a single rebel were spared from the battle as those that surrendered were hanged high outside the city walls and the royalists marched eastwards to join up with the main forces there.
A new invention also showed itself on the battlefields of the civil war as the royal aerocorps supported by dragons did their first appearance on federal battlefields when the new unit managed to attack the syndicalist navy on the open sea with large bombers and torpedo armed planes which caused massive causalities on the syndicalist fleet and as it had done in the silver war did the royal navy use this advantage to their advantage and managed to trick a weekened navy to defend sundet where the Imerian navy managed to crush them with brute force rather than trickery this time.
With the hostile navy out of the picture did the royal and federal navy easy push the rebels out of Sundarna and managed to link up with Jarnarna where they managed to push the syndicalists that had held the islands tied up in battle out into the sea. With these two major distastes following one another did the inherit instability in the rebel ranks started to show.
The rebels were not as unified in one common faction as the royalists were and instead so could one find national socialists, syndicalsits, socailists, communists and simple republicans in one large group and the losses at war resulted in the military making a coup where they disposed the civilian provisional government. However this move just made the rebel population and political moments trust their own forces less and the distrust amongst the political groups started to spread while infighting became more and more common.
The royalists saw this and started the large "Push to the south" where large number of units transferred from the Western front put down into the rebellious south while men from Jarnarna joined the attack from the sea with the navy. The advance was highly successful and in only four months had the south been taken and supporters to the rebels were dealt with as the crown turned it's full attention to the west where the rebel government were desperately trying to keep their warmachine functioning and their government together.
The outcome of the war however became more and more obvious as victories in federal realm after realm meant that more forces flooded into the homeland and the syndicalist lost ground quicker and quicker.
it was first in January the 6th of 1924 that the last rebel stronghold were taken back and the federal government started to officially reinstate themselves by hunting former rebel soldiers and de-lefty the entire west. The war had not been won easily however as there were countless dead or lost on the battlefields, the southern parts of Taranaka had declared itself independent and the destruction were enormous but in the end did the royal eagle flew over all of Scandera once more.
