Kingdom of Austaferraz

Kingdom of the Austaferraz Austaferra rīkiją (Old Rua)
224–702
Capital	Awomunþaz (224-283) Newjaburgh (283-)
Common languages	Old Rua, Nastivanic, Austaferric-Gauli, Old Basanian, Laimiaic (liturgical)
Religion	Koudish paganism, Cytoricism
Government	Monarchy
King
• 224–230	Erkablað (first)
• –702	(last)
Legislature	Þingą
Historical era	Decarchy
• Erkablað's expedition	224
• Westafolk-Ferra war	702
Currency	Rīkja
Preceded by Succeeded by Gauli polity Scylha polity Great Rua

The Kingdom of the Austaferraz (Old Rua: Austaferra rīkiją; Laimiaic: Ωσταφερρον; Nastivanic: ; Austaferric-Gauli: ; Old Basanian: ;), otherwise referred to as the Kingdom of Austaferraz, was one of the ten Kingdoms of the Rua Decarchy. It was founded in the third century after the expedition of Erkablað Bright-Blade, a Rua adventurer who married into the matrilineal line of Arfriþ Arframison, the son of Arfram Black-Eagle. Austaferraz, as well as the other Southern Rua states of Medjaferraz and Westaferraz, are collectively referred to as the "Ferrua", "Far-Rua" or "Ferruic states". The final king of Austaferraz was ($KING), who, alongside King ($KING) of Westaferraz, fought with King ($KING) of Westafolka in the Westafolk-Ferra war, where the Ferrua forces were defeated and both remaining Ferruic states were subsumed into the Great Rua.

History

The Kingdom of Austaferraz was one of the most prominent Kingdoms of the Decarchy throughout much of its history. They remained independent of outside influence, and waged numerous successful campaigns against the Ordanian polity in their early history. They also remained decidedly neutral in relations with other Rua states, only ever participating in war with Westafolka as a defensive measure. This level of peaceability between 468 and 700 allowed Austaferraz to develop greatly in culture and art.

Origin

The Rua came from a variety of cultures, linguistic groups and regions, and were only confederated for the purposes of invasion and subsuming of the Gauli people of Vostau. The Rua would undertake various expeditions to Vostau and beyond, with most being organised as "expeditions", where an expeditionary leader would rally a group of soldiers to campaign, and would reward them with tracts of land in the newly conquered areas. The expedition that led to the founding of Austaferraz was that of Erkablað Bright-Blade in 224. Most Rua adventurers to Vostau had used descent from the seminal adventurer Arfram Black-Eagle to justify their claims to the peninsula, though Erkablað was exceptional in this manner, instead having married Askadag, the daughter of Arfram's son Arfriþ. As such, Erkablað, himself older than Arfriþ Arframison, remains the only Rua adventurer in Vostau not directly related to Arfram, though all of his children would be related to Arfram through Askadag.

Between 224 and 348, Austafolka would remain a unified polity, with the monarch ruling the land at the top level and local authorities beneath him. In the Ferrua lands, local Rua officials were known as prækjaz, which would become a word for local officials in various southern Vostauc languages into the future. These prækjaz were originally delegated by the King, though in time, the King would grant power to the villages to elect their own prækjaz, and thus many Gauli came to be prækjaz, and were recorded in local oral records, some of which would later be written down in the Austaferric chronicle hoi húmnoi tôn prageiôn.

348 saw the death of the respected King Askablað I, who divided the land roughly between his four sons. As part of his spoken will, he stated that his first son Allablað ought to rule as King, but that only having one throne to give his children, each should gladly rule their own lands under the Kingship. This would be the first of numerous divisions of Austaferraz into territories ruled by Eiþans, a practice that became more common in Vostau after the declaration of the Decarchy.