Swarzia

Grand Duchy of Swarzia
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: "Nobiscum Deus"
Anthem: "I am a Swarzian" Swarzian: "Ich bin ein Swarzien"
Capital	Hess
Largest city	Lothgard
Official languages	Common
Recognised national languages	Common, Swarzian
Recognised regional languages	Swarzian, Common, Temrisian
Ethnic groups ((1910))	Swarzian 98.4% Temrisian 1.6%
Demonym(s)	Swarzian
Government	Absolute monarchy
• Duke	Wolfgang III von Swarzkrahe
Legislature	Imperial Diet
Establishment
• Swarzian exile from Valmere	13th Century
• Arrival of the Swarzians	14th Century
• Establishment of the Realm of Mittelswarzia	1489
• Annexation into the Celestial Empire	1641
Population
• 1911 estimate	39,830,000
GDP (nominal)	1910 estimate
• Total	1.4 billion solaris
Currency	Solaris
Time zone	UTC<? (?)
Date format	mm-dd-yy
Driving side	right

The Grand Duchy of Swarzia, also known by its name Swarzia, and informally as Swarzenland by some of its inhabitants, is a province of the Celestial Empire, located in the Empire's deep south.

It neighbours the Democratic Republic of Temris to its east and the Kingdom of Atris to its south. Its rulers are the House of Swarzkrahe, led by head of the house Grand Duke Wolfgang II. The duchy was named "Swarzia" potentially because of one or more of the following; the abundance of coal and oil in its north, the black waters of the Zwinilinge River (which prior to integration in the Celestial Empire, served as the de-facto border of the Swarzian state), or because of its ruling house, the Swarzkrahe dynasty.

Swarzia has long been a hub of regional trade, serving as a centre for southward bound merchants from Kolch, maritime trade from Atris, or merchants from Temris, and is home to the Swarzian people, an ethnic group expelled from their home continent of Valmere long ago for refusing to assimilate into the native Reichskrieger populace and convert to Christianity, opting instead to preserve their worship of Arastraheim, the Multifaceted God.

Though held long in isolation from their Reichskrieger brothers, the Swarzian language and culture still remains virtually identical to that of Reichskrieg. The nation's most populous city is Lothgard, and its capital is the old Swarzkrahe seat of Hess. Its most prominent trade city is Blumenthal, located on the banks of the Zwinilinge River.

Owing to the climate in the north of Swarzia, very few major cities exist north of the Zwinilinge. Around 78% of Swarzians reside in the south which makes up just a fraction of the country's area. The largest city in the north is the city of Minau, a border checkpoint for southward-bound traders and a major hub of arms manufacturing.

History

Background

Swarzia's history as a true nation-state only began in the thirteenth century, with the Swarzians.

Emperor Friedrich von Metzen, known domestically in Reichskrieg as "Friedrich the Pious", and in Swarzia as "Friedrich the Tyrant", of the Holy Vranic Empire, issued the Edict of Weilburg, declaring that all of the Empire's residents must adopt Christianity as their official faith, or face trial for heresy.

Among the ethnic groups and cultures this targeted were the Swarzian people, a small subculture residing in eastern Reichskrieg who worshipped the god Arastraheim. Their refusal to convert to Christianity resulted in decades of persecution. Swazrian settlements in Reichskrieg were torn down and their inhabitants expelled, beginning a mass exodus.

Of the two hundred thousand or so Swarzians who lived in Reichskrieg at the time, twenty thousand of them chose to emigrate westwards to Morsain where they were not as persecuted. The remaining 180,000 set off on a series of mass migrations along the eastern roads, and passed briefly through Enstaat, Dayan, Vrankin, Estyang and other nations, though the Swarzians were not welcome in any of those nations for more than a decade.

For the next century, the Swarzians journeyed south intermittently settling in the nations they passed through, suffering persecution and enslavement from Dayani slaver-gangs and Christian zealots.

In the fourteenth century, the Swarzians arrived in the Celestial Empire, having been driven out by the natives of Reichskrieg due to the practice of their Arastramic faith, and were able to forcefully conquer a small swathe of land from its tribal occupants, establishing the Realm of Mittelswarzia in 1489 through the unification of the various Swarzian settlements that had been established in the region. This effort was spearheaded by the Knights of Arastraheim, the milita of the Arastramic faith, who established a strong military presence in their region.

The Realm of Mittelswarzia was not a fertile land by any means; the Swarzians struggled to feed themselves, and thus would launch raids into bordering nations for food, resources and slaves. The early nations of Temris and Atris were victims of monthly Swarzian raids on their borders.

The borders of the Realm of Mittelswarzia in the mid-16th century. Dark green signifies areas controlled by the princely government of Mittelswarzia. Light green signifies regions that paid tribute to Swarzia.

The House of Swarzkrahe came into power in the 16th century. Previously, they were known as the House of Weilburg-Kolenz and had a somewhat-insignificant role in the affairs of the Realm, until through adroit manipulation of Swarzian industry, particularly in the trades of banking and blacksmithing, the Weilburg-Kolenz dynasty gained enough traction and wealth to play a major role in court politics, donning the name of Swarzkrahe to distance themselves from their unimpressive beginnings, and they soon married the only daughter of the ruling House of Wissau through a male heir, effectively ending the Wissau dynasty and beginning the Swarzkrahe dynasty.

Celestial Rule

In 1641, the Celestial Empire arrived in the Realm of Mittelswarzia, demanding submission or war. The Knights of Arastraheim, though skilled and dangerous, were no match for the superior technology, battle experience, and numbers of the Empire's armies. Prince Heinrich von Swarzkrahe was forced to surrender rule of the kingdom to the Celestial Empire, but not before the Knights rebelled and attempted to prevent the signing of the surrender treaty, led by their Grandmaster, Johannes von Hess.

Their uprising was violently put down, with most of the Knights slaughtered. The Knights that had not joined in the uprising bore witness to the dissolution of the Knights of Arastraheim, but were mostly allowed to keep their titles and lands their families held.

Immediately upon joining the Celestial Empire, the House of Swarzkrahe's upwards trajectory continued. Through providing banking services for the Empire, supplying personal guards to Ren Osarrus through former Knights of Arastraheim, and trade, they boosted Swarzia's wealth.

By gaining the favour of Ren Osarrus XIX, the Swarzians were permitted to annex the province of Veldmat to their north, granting them access to coal and oil reserves and the great desert that was Veldmat, and the province was even promoted to the status of a Grand Duchy in 1756.

Through Ren Osarrus XXI, the Swarzkrahe family married into the imperial lineage itself. Ren Osarrus XXII would later sire two children. One became a Swarzkrahe, the other Ren Osarrus XXIII, and their children respectively became the Duke of Swarzia and Ren Osarrus XXIV, becoming cousins.

The murder of Ren Osarrus XXIV prompted the Swarzkrahe family to mobilize to enact retribution for the death of their cousin, marching north with 10,000 men to partake in the Battle of Nhasa against Ren Osarrus' murder, Grand Admiral Gong.

Gong was killed in the ensuing battle and his military junta deposed. Swarzia partook in the Qanteng War very briefly, with a declaration of war upon Elodia, a declaration that was made in error, and was rescinded less than a day later.

It was at this time that the economy, which had experienced a good amount of growth, began to slow its expansion, much to the concern of the Ducal government.