Vervillia

Kingdom of Vervillia Royaume de Verville (Vervillian)
Flag
Motto: Intelligentia et sine ipso Intelligence and selflessness
Capital and largest city	Valdenberg 40°15′N 3°72′E
Official languages	Vervillian Principean
Recognised regional languages	Tyrnican
Demonym(s)	Vervillian
Government	Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Wolfgang IV
• Prime Minister	Jean-Luc Lemaire
• Speaker of the House	Georges Flugzen
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	King’s Senate
• Lower house	Queen’s Assembly
Establishment
• Independence from Second Sabarine Empire	1294
• Blaco-Vervillian Union	1530
• Vervillian Revolts	1789–1795
• Re-establishment of the monarchy	1945
Area
• Total	114,951 km2 (44,383 sq mi)
Population
• 2021 estimate	10,721,000
• 2016 census	10,223,448
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$491.80 billion
• Per capita	$45,872
HDI	0.901 very high
Currency	Commonwealth mark (CMR)
Time zone	UTC+00:00 (Western Auressian Time
Date format	dd-mm-yyyy (CE)
Driving side	left
Calling code	+42
Internet TLD	.vva

Vervillia (/vɜːrvɪlɪɑː/; Vervillian pronunciation: /vɜːrviːleː), officially the Kingdom of Vervillia (Vervillian: Royaume de Verville) is a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy in Western Auressia. It borders Fortaine and Draite to the southeast and southwest, respectively; its entire northern and western border is covered by Blayk, with the exception of the city-state of Avilême in the far northeast. Vervillia has an area of around 114,951 km² (44,383 sq mi), making it one of the smaller states in the Occident. There are approximately 10.7 million people living in Vervillia and its capital, Valdenberg, is a primate city. Other cities include Brençon, Coire, Chaudoir, and Saint Maurice, among others.

Historically, Cisalpine Vervillia was an important frontier for the First Sabarine Empire. Its mountainous terrain formed a natural border between the imperial heartland, Moisia, and the area known as Transalpine Vervillia. Eventually, the Sabarines triumphed in their conflict with the Rubic tribes, and Vervillia’s coastal plain became vital in the flow of trade from Sabaria to Montanicum and Calinisia. The Isaric Blakes settled in Vervillia during the late Empire, with a feudal structure eventually developing under the re-emergent Second Sabarine Empire.

Under Matthieu I, and with assistance from Blaykish and Tyrnican interests, the Vervillian Kingdom broke free of the Second Sabarine Empire in 1294. Vervillian colonial settlement in Amandine and Saint-Baptiste began by 1510, but was heavily integrated into the ensuing Blaco-Vervillian Union, which became the world’s foremost power for three centuries. The War of the Tyrnican Succession pitted Blayk and Vervillia against each other, fracturing the Union and surrendering Vervillian colonial territories to Montigné. In the late 18th century, revolutionary sentiment was quick to spread to Vervillia; sporadic revolts occurred even before the outbreak of the Rythenean Revolution. In 1809, Vervillia and Tyrnica halted an Orpanist invasion of Avilême, and had defeated the radical forces in Blayk by 1815. The reign of Leopold I of Blayk reaffirmed a Blaco-Vervillian friendship, which would persist throughout the 19th century in the face of rising tensions between Tyrnica and Rythene.

When the First Great War began in 1908, Vervillia joined the Coalition. Despite emerging victorious, Vervillian sentiments pivoted away from its Blaykish and Rythenean wartime allies. In 1925, far-right authoritarians affiliated with Palian Lanza Party seized power; in the late 1930s, Vervillia collaborated with Palia and Draite to invade Fortaine and Avilême, before sparking the Auressian front of the Second Great War by declaring war on Blayk. Vervillian forces kept fighting the Coalition in what became the War in the Alps, dragging out the conflict and forcing the remaining allies to advance into the mountains. The Vervillian monarchy was restored in 1945, under the House of Varberg, and its military was abolished entirely.

Today, Vervillia is the southernmost constituent state of the Commonwealth of Northern Auressia, which was formed in the aftermath of the mid-century wars. The Commonwealth provides a single market, shared currency and union-wide system of laws, to which Vervillia is a party. The slopes of the Vervillian Alps attract thousands of visitors every year, being renowned as one of the best locations for ski tourism. The Vervillian supermarket chain, Lemaire, operates over 10,000 locations worldwide, and is sometimes called “Vervillia’s greatest export”. Vervillia formerly operated a significant mining industry extracting precious metals from its mountains, but has ceased almost entirely as of 2021. Vervillia makes use of hydroelectric power for part of its energy needs, but has not phased out fossil fuel usage. Its most common material exports are agricultural products, motor vehicles, and some luxury goods.

Etymology

The Rythenean term Vervillia derives from the similar Vervillian and Principean endonym, Verville — loosely translating to “green town” or “green farm”. Ultimately, the two elements stem from the Sabarine "viridis" and "vīlla".

History

First Kingdom (1294–1805)

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages, Vervillia was nominally part of the Second Sabarine Empire, but its geography saw it isolated from most imperial affairs; although the area was mostly comprised of small semi-independent fiefs with theoretical imperial immediacy, control from Sabaria was rare. This meant that neighbouring states often exercised their influence, notably Blayk and Orlesso and Avilême and Tyrnica by sea. Matthieu Dutette (1294–1330) was born as the illegitimate son of Henry I of Fluery, whose domains stretched southwest into modern-day Vervillia. When exiled from Campanie by his legitimate half-sister, Matthieu massed support from Campanian vassals in the Alps to break away from lowland control. Matthieu was crowned King of Vervillia, refusing to swear alleigance to the Sabarine Emperor. He spent much of his reign securing territorial concessions, managing to wrest Valden from Orlesso. Upon Matthieu's death in 1330, his second cousin Georges de Coire (1330-33) claimed the throne — as Duke of Coire, his new realm extended to cover more than half of present-day Vervillia. Matthieu's closer relatives were from the House de Fluery, and he had left no heirs to dispute the succession.

The coronation of Matthieu I in 1294.

Georges I consolidated the new Vervillian territories during his reign, which was cut short by the plague. His son, Georges II (1333–71) sequestered himself inside the Château de la Bruche for almost a decade, angering his most prominent vassals. In an effort to regain popular support, Georges II launched military campaigns against Louis VII of Blayk and Emperor Julien II. Ongoing tensions between Blayk and the Empire (part of the Wars of the Eagles) allowed Georges to attain huge swathes of land from both powers, before dying of lung cancer in 1371. His daughter and only heir succeeded him as Marianne I (1371–1422), one of the longest-reigning monarchs in Vervillian history. She was also notable for having issued the Humanity Act, one of the earliest steps in emancipation and Vervillian parliamentarianism. Marianne maintained a close-knit court, which saw her subjected to influence from the House de Cuscairie and the House de Céreste: Blayk and Orlesso both desired Vervillian alleigance, and to recover their lands lost to Georges II in the 1360s. Neither could pursue military retaliation against Vervillia without forcing Marianne to align with the other, so both dynasties attempted to gain allies in the Vervillian nobility. Ultimately, Marianne married Adrien of Orlesso (later Emperor Adrien I), aligning Vervillia to Orlesso in the Fourth War of the Eagles (1411–22). When Adrien died in the Sack of Sabaria, Marianne's health swiftly deteriorated and she died on a walk at Château de la Bruche.

After the dissolution of the Grand Duchy of Orlesso, the House de Céreste maintained some of their holdings in the reconstituted Duchy of Fortaine. The Duke of Fortaine, Adrien's nephew, had inherited his lands and claimed the Vervillian throne on the same basis as Sébastien I (1422–34). Sébastien was embittered by the Céreste downfall, and sought to reincorporate Vervillia into the SSE as a new grand duchy — Orlesso and Esmeria both having been divided after 1422. Sébastien's ambitions were curtailed by a combination of factors: the House de Cuscairie and House de Naval had recently fought to curtail the burgeoning Céreste power, and the Vervillian aristocracy were fiercely resistant to having their independence taken away (particularly the "Prime Twelve"; Les Premières Douze). Although Blayk and Palia were opposed to Sébastien, they did not take steps to remove him from power: Charles III of Blayk focused on his conquests in Tyrnica, while Tristán IV of Palia focused on Sabarine consolidation of the west and the south. The Prime Twelve instead turned to Audun VI of Tyrnica, who had recently retaken Audrache and shattered the Blaykish Navy at anchor. Audun seized the opportunity offered by the Vervillians — unopposed by Blaykish ships, he orchestrated the landing of an enormous Tyrnican army on the Vervillian coast, and Sébastien was quickly killed in the subsequent Siege of Lièze. The foremost among the Prime Twelve took the Vervillian throne as Matthieu II (1434–41), and uprooted remaining Céreste influence with Tyrnican assistance, before Audun turned his attention north and marched toward the seat of Blaykish power. This marked the formation of the Tyrno-Vervillian Alliance, in which Matthieu pledged to support Tyrnica in the Occident.

Matthieu III "the Heroic" in 1455.

Matthieu II was determined to maintain the legacy of Marianne I, but died of a heart attack in 1441. His son, Matthieu III (1441–1468) ruled under a regency during his early childhood, but faced his first test as a ruler at the age of sixteen in 1455. Blayk's dominance during the Fifty Years' War had sparked concerns about the balance of power in Auressia; Charles III had seized all of western Tyrnica during his claim on the Tyrnican throne — a feat that not even the Sabarine Empire had been able to accomplish at the height of its power. Although Blaykish gains had been rebuffed by Audun VI (1426–36) and Constance I (1444–49) of Tyrnica, renewed efforts under Rosalie I of Blayk had renewed the Blaykish power: she had rebuilt the Blaykish fleet, and with it had conquered the Umbrecht coast. She was poised to launch a new assault on Audrache, which was the only city still linking Tyrnica to the Occident and Auressian trade: with Tyrnica isolated from the Galene Sea, Rosalie could have threatened the Tyrnican heartland and finally taken the throne.

Elise I had assumed the crown in Vedayen, and throughout the 1450s had secured powerful allies: Tyrnica, Avilême, and Rythene, against Blayk and its ally Kürskäringar. In 1455, she called upon the debt owed by Vervillia to Tyrnica, and compelled Matthieu III to join his forces to hers. With Rythene and Avilême supplying maritime power — especially by keeping Kürskäringar from entering the Galene Sea — Elise relied on the potency of the Vervillian army as a territorial force to supplement the Tyrnicans in the east. Ferried across the Galene by ships from Avilême, the Vervillian forces acted by severing the Blaykish supply lines from their bases of power in Stierstandt and Grienfels. Matthieu III was instrumental in the Siege of Audrache, which resulted in a Blaykish defeat that began the decline of their power in the Orient. Matthieu "the Heroic" returned to Vervillia and institued widespread reforms, including a reconstitued Council of Nobles based on the Sabarine Senate. The king disappeared from Vervillia in 1468 with a mistress, rumoured by some to have been Elise of Tyrnica. He left the crown to his son, who became Matthieu IV (1468–78) at the age of eight, and drowned in a lake at eighteen.

Matthieu V (1478–88) was born in Bonçef as Alain Vernette, the nephew of Matthieu III. Matthieu V was feared throughout his reign, and was finally deposed when exiled by the Council of Nobles for reportedly mistreating slaves in the Château de la Bruche — a violation of the Humanity Act under Marianne I. He lived out his exile in distant Amarata. During this time, the Council of Nobles gained significant power in selecting who would be crowned as monarch: notably, they elected to crown the Duke of Horfougère as Georges III (1488–1502) instead of one of Matthieu V's heirs from the House de Dutette. Georges III presided over a period of peace, and upon his death the throne passed to his brother Georges IV (1502–09). Neither had any immediate heirs, and so the wife of Georges IV became Marianne II (1509–10). Marianne was renowned — during her time as queen consort and queen regnant — for having embraced liberal and humanist values, assembling a variety of notables in her court who aligned with those beliefs. Chief among them was Jean-Baptiste Amand II, the famous Blaco-Vervillian Renaissance philosopher and explorer. In 1509, Marianne II granted Amand the funds to mount an expedition to Marceaunia, for which he had been campaigning since the establishment of permanent Rythenean settlement in Albrennia.

After Marianne's unexpected death in 1510, the Council crowned the Duke of Coffort as Thomas I (1510–15), having found him to have been the closest relative of Georges IV. It was during the reign of Thomas I that Amand returned from his voyage, having established the colony of Colette in what would become known as Amandine. Thomas had developed a reputation as a harsh and Machiavellian ruler whose ideals were at odds with that of Amand — even so, he recognised the economical superiority that Vervillia might attain by being one of two Auressian nations with territory in the New World, and appointed Jean-Baptiste Amand as his viceregal representative in Marceaunia, granting him further financial aid for a second voyage. The rapid growth of colonial Amandine was accelerated by the monetary investment funnelled into it by the Vervillian government: it soon became clear that Amandine was the "jewel in Vervillia's crown". The Vervillian colonial empire set it apart from other Auressian nations, and signified the beginning of a transformation from a small alpine state into a great power of the modern world.