Seylos

Kingdom of Seylos Kingdom of Seylos
Flag
Motto: "In virtute maris"
Status	Independent State
Capital and largest city	Selbourne
Official languages	English
Recognized languages	Scots, Welsh, Irish
Religion	Seylosian Protestantism (No official religion)
Demonym(s)	Seylosian, Seylosi
Government	Absolute Parliamentary Monarchy
• King	Aidan Redmond
Legislature	House of Governors & House of Commons
Establishment
• Loss of Great Burlingtonian Civil War	1534
Area
• Total	213,585 km2 (82,466 sq mi)
Population
• 2018 census	34,354,000
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$1354.2 billion
• Per capita	$38,362
HDI (2018)	.90 very high
Currency	Seylosian Pound (KSP)
Time zone	GMT -0
Driving side	right
Calling code	+99
Internet TLD	.se

The Kingdom of Seylos, commonly known as Seylos, is a sovereign state near the south-east coast of Argis on Eurth. It's closest neighbors are The Holy Empire of Derthalen to the north and the Duchy of Eire to the south. It has a confirmed population of 27,350,000 as of 2018, making it the 26th largest country by population on Eurth. The current monarch of Seylos is King Aidan Redmond.

While its constituent "nations" are not independent in any meaningful way, Seylos is made up of three culturally similar territories. These are Anglia, Alba, and Cymry with Anglish, !Scottish, and !Welsh cultures respectively. Seylos also has one overseas crown dependency Llalta, and while technically a part of the Kingdom of Seylos, it enjoys a high degree of autonomy both internally and internationally. The largest city in Seylos, as well as its capital, is Selbourne, with a population of over nine million in its metropolitan area. After Selbourne is the city of Norfolk which has a population of around two million and sustains much of Seylos's naval manufacturing capability.

Seylos has a well-developed economy and has the 17th largest economy with a GDP of 1.07 trillion, and 15th for GDP per capita at 39,263 per person. Historically Seylos was formed after its first king, King Harold the Just, fought and lost a brief civil war for control of Great Burlington. After the loss, King Harold and a large number of his followers embarked on a journey to the recently discovered island of Seylos to form their own society free of the perceived injustices of Great Burlington.

History

Great Burlingtonian Civil War

In 1534, then Count Harold engaged in a civil war with the current ruling government of Great Burlington. However from the start, many historians believed this was a futile effort as the Count had only gained a small amount of support mainly from north of the country. However, Harold had managed to secure unusually intense loyalty from his surrounding subjects and fought desperately in a bid for independence from the crown. After six years of fighting, in 1540 Harold was joined by a handful of other counts in the region who had become emboldened after seeing many of his initial military successes. However these successes were short lived as the tide began to turn heavily in the favor of the Great Burlingtonian armies which had begun to strike at the heart of their norther possessions. In response, sensing a coming total defeat, the now newly crowned "King" Harold took to building a fleet of ships capable of carrying him and many of his subjects across the Adlantic Ocean to newly discovered lands in the west. He committed his forces to protect the fleet building efforts as best they could, and after a year and the loss of almost all of Harold's land many of the ships had been completed with Harold making sail for the new world.

Settlement Period

After their initial arrival on the island of Seylos, Harold began the excruciating work of constructing his new capital, Selbourne. Over the next few years remnants of his rebellion trickled from the old world and joined their group on the island. For many this was considered a wild age of new pioneering discovery and exploration. Many expeditions were sent across the land to establish what their new land was like finding a sub-tropical and temperate environment ripe for exploitation. Groups of settlers spread out across the island, with many settlers from Whales rushing to stake their claims in the west. Smaller minorities of Scots made their way up north to establish their own communities, all the while each of these groups still pledging fealty to the King. The Settlement Period in Seylosian history has no absolute ending attributed to it, however its believe that most of the island had experience some form of nearby human settlement by 1683.

Great Alharun War

In the late 1930s the King of Seylos, Montgomery Firtzoy, was forced to flee the country after the rise of a nationalist party known as the Mandate. The the past several years the party had been growing in power noticing the power disparity between Seylos and numerous other states across the New Wurld. In 1939 Bradford Ness, the leader of the Mandate party, made his move. A series of violent clashes occured around the country, forcing the King to flee from Selbourne to Norfolk, still solidly in support of the monarch. Ness in his haste heavily miscalculated the military's loyalty to him, resulting in a sizeable portion of the Navy grouping in Norfolk to support their King. Royal Marines held Norfolk while the last of the King's government and military Loyalists evacuated to the city. Eventually the Seylosian Loyalist fleet set sail from Norfolk for Gallambria, which had offered them shelter. Over the next few years the Mandate concerned itself with industrial buildup and the creation of a new fleet. In 1941, fearing annexation, Eire, Pleinmont, and Sark signed a treaty with the Mandate relegating them to mere puppet states. In 1942, Seylos put its new fleet to the test and set sail for Galahinda, demanding its virtual annexation. When refused Mandate forces quickly landed on the island, seizing the poorly armed nation in quick order.

From this point forward, the Mandate felt it acheived sufficient buildup for its biggest target. The Kingdom of Hodrea extended throughout most of the island, and Ness highly desired these lands. In 1944, Seylosian tanks began their first crossings into the Hodrean Kingdom meeting early success against their Ceriser opponents. However it would soon become apparent that conquering the island would be a collosal task, one that most of the military leadership was poorly prepared for. On top of this, a series of stinging raids by the much more experienced Loyalist Navy began to cause the beginnings of unrest in Seylos, of which a sizeable portion of the population was already against such agressive conquests.

By 1945, with progress in Ceris slowing, it became clear that a change in leadership in the military was required to win the war in Ceris. A Brigadier by the name Layne Ward, had proven himself to be one of the best field commanders on the ground, and after a series of humiliating setbacks on the island, Ness chose the radical option of sacking the current head of the First Army, promoting Ward to the role. Within only a couple months the war took a radical turn, and Hodrean resistance began to crumble.

Eire Unification

In 2019 King Aidan Redmond visited Eire for negotiations to bring Eire into the Kingdom of Seylos, following the murder of his grandfather. Other nations involved were Pleinmont and Sark which had been suffering for many decades underneath Eire's policies in the region. After a long period of excess spending the Duchy was unable to pay its debts any longer, and the much larger and prosperous Kingdom of Seylos was seen as a way out of its financial woes. After a large part of the negotiations occurred, the Ducal Palace was attacked by rebels intent on killing the king and preventing the unification. Throughout the attack Aidan and his bodyguard Major Parker, survived the initial assault and escorted the Pleinmont and Sark delegates to safety. Aileen Ráichéal, the former first minister of Eire, has yet to be found after her abrupt disappearance before the attack.

War in Ceris

In 2020, extreme unrest began to blanket the island of Ceris to the west of Seylos. Overall the region was considered exceptionally poor, with exception of states closest to Seylos itself. Wracked with overpopulation problems, resource shortages began to plague nations on the island. This began to spiral out of control when a series of military attacks from an unknown party began to appear throughout Central Ceris. This was later found to the be Sentists, a radical militarist group based on an emerging religion. It became clear the danger they posed as they began to expand rapidly, coming to head in the Siege of Kassel. During this time, Seylosian Army Special Forces Team 13 was sent into the country to retrieve a target of high value, Nicole Bretz, however they were interrupted by a chemical weapons attack by the Sentists on Kassel. The team fought their way through the city, with Lieutenant Róise Maura, Corporal Royle Oswin, and Nicole's nephew Kieron Bretz managing to escape the city before the population was wiped out or fled.

Shortly after the destruction of Kassel, Sentists forces barreled north and south crushing all opposition. Southern Ceriser countries fell to The Speaker, while the northern forces under The High Priest Wetzel Carran spread destruction through Hodrea heading straight for the capital of Liechnenfax. In an attempt to save the city, the Seylosian Royal Navy dispatched heavily outnumbered forces to defend the city. The Sentists attacked with a force of a hundred thousand pushing the allied forces back farther into the city. Despite the numerical disadvantage, allied airstrikes hindered the Sentists advance. However it made little difference to the city, when the High Priest ordered the detonation of a massive collection of explosives in the city center, culminating in the largest manmade non-nuclear explosion ever created. While the city itself was mostly intact, fires spread quickly burning most of the city, however Seylos has established a successful beachhead and was backed up being reinforcements from home and Gallambria. During the siege, The Speaker helped Seylosian forces by warning them of the High Priests intentions. He followed up the betrayal by cutting off all access to supplies from the south and disowning the Northern Sentist faction.

The war continued for some time in a more defensive manner while manpower and resources were built up. In early 2021, the coalition forces, now consisting of Tagmatine and Salvian military detachments, launched a coordinated assault against the northern Sentist forces. Without supplies from the south, superior firepower from the coalition crushed the Sentists despite their massive numberical advantage. Just after the beginning of the coalition assault, Kieron Bretz discovered the location of the Northern Sentist headquarters while analyzing his aunt's intelligence. Coalition forces redirected their efforts to cutting of the head of the Sentists. As coalition forces closed in The High Priest attempted to flee the region, only to be intercepted and captured by SF13 and a small group of ex-Hodrean Militia. With the High Priest captured, Sentist forces in the north collapsed quickly, bringing the war to an end.

Geography

Clouds over rolling hills in Seylos

Seylos is a blend between a more subtropical climate in the south and temperate climates more to the north. Due to the island's geographic position, it is kept slightly cooler than would be expected at it's latitude. Seylos is usually split between forests, plains, and tall hills. In Alba, there exists a smaller mountain range which cuts off part of the territory from Anglia. The terrain around Selbourne, which made it such an appealing first settlement site, is a mix of open plains and thicker forests to the south near the coast.

Government

Seylos is officially an absolute monarchy, headed by the King and supported by the nobility who had once been prominent in roles of regional governments.

In actual practice now the Seylosian government had changed radically over the years. For many decades before the present, the Seylosian nobility had begun to waver in their power and had made significant missteps in regional governance. This led the crown to expand and consolidate more power, replacing many regional governors with non-noble appointees. This practice came to a head in 2018, where the brother of King Aidan, Henry Redmond attempted a coup with significant noble backing. However, when the loyalty of the military was shown to be with the then Prince Aidan, the coup quickly collapsed resulting to the fleeing of many upper members of the Seylosian nobility with Henry.

Faced with an enormous crises of governance, and unable to expand the crown quickly to fill this gap, King Aidan decided to form a new parliament. This parliament would consist of the House of Governors and House of Commons. The House of Governors would be formed of representatives from each democratically elected governor of a county, and these representatives would be appointed by the governor themselves. The House of Commons would be elected directly by the people based on certain geographic voting areas. Voting for governors had concluded by the end of 2018, with the House of Commons elections slated to begin in the middle of 2019.

After this massive change in government, the balance of power significantly shifted. The crown still enjoys the most authority in Seylos, followed quickly by the people's elected representatives, and at the bottom are the nobility who have largely lost most of their political influence.

Economy

Seylos is a highly industrialized and advanced economy. It's largest sector is in the service economy, but it still contains a large industrialized sector for shipbuilding, alcoholic beverages, food stuffs, steel, and naval supplies.

One of Seylos's most successful industries is the beer brewing industry. The Tadhg Brewery Group has a staggering 150 billion pound net worth with massive exports all over the globe from beer to liquors such as whiskey predominately brewed in Alba.

Aerial view of Norfolk Shipyards

The Norfolk Shipyards are enormous facilities built in the city of Norfolk on Seylos's eastern coast. During a time of slow economic growth in the early 1900s, the Seylosian Crown decided to stimulate economic and military growth through the beginning constructions of the naval yards. Today much of the shipyard is leased out to a variety of ship building companies from luxury yacht manufactures to top of the line military firms. The success of these yards has been an enormous source of government funding for years.

The Seylosian tech industry has also taken off in recent years. While it has yet to catch up with the likes of countries like the Sunset Sea Islands, it has built itself a solid foundation in cities like Selbourne and Swansea.

Agriculturally Seylos exports citrus, sugarcane, tomatoes, peppers, cotton, watermelons, peanuts, snap beans, potatoes, grapes, strawberries, pecans, broccoli, beans, and squash.

Other Links

List of Seylosian Characters