Viragstag
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Kingdom of Virag Viragstag | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 830–980 | |||||||||
 Modern reconstitution of Viragstag royal banner | |||||||||
 The Lushyods dominated states in 850, with Viragstag in blue | |||||||||
| Capital | Viragzag | ||||||||
| Common languages | Lush | ||||||||
| Religion | Aletheism Alban Nazarism | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Vir Korran | |||||||||
• 830 - 855 | Haldar I | ||||||||
• 957 - 980 (last) | Bezias III | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Foundation of Viragzag | 830 | ||||||||
• Death in battle of Bezias III | 980 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The Viragstag or Kingdom of the Lake was a medieval Lushyod state that existed in south-eastern Belisaria between the 9th and 10th centuries. It was founded in 829-830 when Havar I, a Lushyod prince from the Kingdom of the Drev led his retinue, his tribe, other adventurers, and their Ludic bondsmen on a southern migration to what is modern day Brumen. There, he founded the city of Viragzag on the northern shore of Lake Bluhen, then known by the Lushyods as Viragzod hence the name of both the city and the state. As monarch of the lake, Havar I built a strong state over Ludic, Southern Gothic, and Lushyod populations, and imposing its hegemony over what is northern Brumen.
Following the death of Havar, the kingdom entered a period of decline, locked in warfare with the southern kingdom of Waldreich and the other Gothic states while also struggling with internal conflicts between tribal lords. Back and forth of raids, counter-raids, sieges and localized battles would continue for the next 125 years until Viragzag was taken and its last king killed in battle ending Lushyod dominion over the region. The partition of Virastag among the victors and their partisans led to the creation of the modern constituent principalities of Brumen.
Background
Lake Bluhen before the Lushyods
The centuries following the departure of the Latin Empire but preceding the establishment of the Lushyodorstag is commonly known within Brumen as the War of the Three Nations. They saw long lasting low-intensity warfare between three competing powers - Sudentor, Waldreich, and Bewahren - each trying to establish their legitimacy as successor of Tervingia and hegemon of the southern Goths. Between these three forces many smaller kingdoms, generally representing only one or two tribes, were kept around as buffer states which loyalties changed depending on the balance of power, matrimonial policies, and internal struggles.
The region around Lake Bluhen was especially affected. Since the 3rd century it saw the implantation of many Ludic tribes which became locked in conflict with their Gothics predecessors. From the 6th century onward, after the dissolution of the Alban Federation under the diplomatic and military assaults of the Three States, lake Bluhen and the adjacent lands fell prey to myriads of petty warlords and tribal chieftains, none managing to maintain their power for more than one generation. As a result of this political anarchy it became derogatory known among the Three States' chroniclers as the Northern Emptiness.
The Lushyods
an Ugric people, the Lushyods were a semi-nomadic pastoralists known for their love of both horses and riverboats. They migrated southward, along what's known as the "Lakes Road". By the middle of the 8th century, Lushyod razzias into the Drev river valley changed in nature as the Lushyods began a new cycle of mass-migration, colonizing the Furodomark and the Drev River Valley. By AD 830, the tribes had begun their converstion to Nazarism, of either the Alban or Aletheic denomination, but the majority of Lushyods remained pagans with reputation as heathen pirates and raiders.
History
Establishment
Havar was the second son of the Drevkorrag Worsak I and a prince of the Lushyods. Following the custom of his people, he inherited the leadership of a tribe, the Kurt-Gharmat, who had adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle near the modern city of An Lushem, Drevstran. In 830, the Kurt-Gharmat, led by Havar, would cross the Kaspory Mountains southward into the Northern Emptiness. They subdued the territories north of Lake Bluhen and established a new capital city known as Viragzag. Being both fresh water sailors and semi-nomads pastoralists, the shores of Lake Bluhen provided the Lushyods with all the pastures and fishing they needed.
The relations between the Lushyods and the local Luds and Goths is a matter of debate depending on the interpretation of the southern sources. The superior military and organisational capacity of the Lushyods allowed them to subjugate the local tribes, although some sources claim they willingly joined the burgeoning state through treaties. Local chieftains who had not fought against Havar I were allowed to keep their positions, and the newcomers swore to protect their customs and religion in exchange of a tribute and an annual levy. Lands were taken from the defeated tribes and turned into pastures or Manors. Ludic bondsmen from the Kingdom of the Drev also migrated with their Lushyods masters, boosting the new state' manpower.
Havar rule
Under Havar I, the Viragstag grew quickly in size and in power. He notably maintained his father alliance with the Alban Lauras of the Kastory Mountains, gaining support among most of the Northern Emptiness' tribes while also establishing in his new capital of Viragzag the first Aletheic presbyter of the region.
Havar continued to lead raids against neighboring states, notably Waldreich and Bewahren who had signed an official armistice and non-aggression pact in 833 due to the growing threat of the Lushyods. In 836, Havar I defeat the King of Bewahren in battle and conquered the northern half of the Gothic state giving Viragstag sea access. Similarly, by 840, every northern tributary states of Waldreich and Sudentor had been subjugated.
In 849, Waldreich and Viragstag signed a peace treaty defining the border between the two kingdoms. The same year, the state of Sudentor agreed to pay an annual tribute to Viragstag as it was under the dual pressure of Havar I and his cousin the Lushyodorkorrag. Unchallenged, the Viragstag was free to enjoy the profits of its previous wars and raids with monumental constructions (temples, palaces) in Virazag and elsewhere, development of the manor system, construction of roads, bridges, and acqueduc... these land development projects multiplied as the Viragstag remain without ennemies as Waldreich would fall into civil war.
Second Virag-Gothic War
5 years after Havar' death in 855, the Waldreich was reformed from a tribal confederacy to a kingdom under its new monarch : Klaus the Farmer. Conflicts immediately resumed between the Gothic states and the Viragstag now led by Havar' son : Bezias I. In 862 Sudentor, encouraged by Waldreich, refused to pay tribute to the Viragstag beginning the Second Virag-Gothic War. Sudentor fought against Lushyods and Ludic raiders from Viragstag by employing Docetic mercenaries and warbands from the Lushyodorstag while the Kingdom of Waldreich organized its own raids northward. Ultimately neither operations were successful and the war switched eastward when a Waldreich army saved in-extremis the state of Bewahren after its ruler had been defeated in 864 in battle while trying to regain the territories lost almost three decades ago.
Bezias I (855 - 880) and his son Bezias II (890 - 908) would have to continue handling annual warfare with its southern neighbours. Their main rival would prove to be Waldreich as it had grown much stronger than the other Gothic states through successful military and administrative reforms. Bewahren, weaken by the decades of conflicts, could only allign itself on Waldreich' diplomacy and very rarely ahd the capacity to wage its own wars. Sudentor meanwhile, was often divided on who to support as it perceived both Waldreich and the Viragstag as rivals and potential mortal threats if left unchallenged. Sudentor Thing would thus often sue for peace with the Lushyods whenever the balance of power asked for it and vote for war whenever there was an opportunity.
Internal crisis
For the past 80 years, the Lushyods of the Viragstag and their vassals had either dominated or fought to a standstill all of their rivals. But in 810, the recently crowned King Lazvig I was defeated in battle by an army from Waldreich which was able to lay siege to Virazag before winter and the threat of reinforcement forced the invading force to retreat. This defeat rekindled old conflicts within the Lushyods tribes and clans and a year after Lazvig was assassinated and his underaged son was placed on the throne as a puppet ruler. What followed was a civil war of catastrophic consequences for the Lushyod state during which Waldreich launched nine campaigns, conquering lands up to the southern shores of Lake Bluhen. The other two Gothic states also took the opportunity to launch their own campaigns : three for Sudentor and four for Bewahren which was finally able to retook most of its long lost lands. Many tribes, especially Gothic ones, betrayed the Viragzag for one of the invaders, leading to deportation campaigns by the Lushyods who moved entire population away from the border or even sold rebellious clans as slaves to other states.
Lazvig IV rule
After ten years of crisis and seven monarchs on the throne, Lazvig IV (921 - 956) was capable of restoring order to the Viragzag, exterminating the rival and rebellious factions of his brother (anti-king Mirkos I) and rival clan of the the Pseudo-Havarids. Pockets of Emendatic resistances were squashed as Lazvig affirmed Aletheic Nazarism as the state religion and proceeded to mass convertions, extinguishing the last remnants of polytheism among the Lushyods.
Lazvig was able to restore some semblance of royal authority among the tribal chieftains and feudal landlords (having emerged from the latter) despite his diminished power compared to his predecessors. He consolidated his position by launching new campaigns against the Gothic States. Against Sudentor he was able to corrupt the Lords, who were favourable to Lazvig and his pro-Aletheic policies, established on the recently conquered lands by recognizing their titles and offering them gifts in exchange of their alliegeance. Sudentor found itself having to rely almost solely on its Docetic and Alban mercenaries from the Lushyodorstag, forming the core of the still-loyal armies. Against Waldreich, Lazvig sent both naval and land expedition and the dual assault forced the Goths to retreat to more defensible positions southward. Finally, The reorganized Lush armies were able to defeat Bewahren in battle but could not push them back to the sea has they had done almost a century prior, the military reforms inspired by Waldreich showing their results.
By 930, Lazvig IV had thus been able to stabilize the situation and the borders would not change much for the rest of his reign. Nonetheless, the concessions given to the landed aristocracy and to the Aletheic Church would prove detrimental in the long run as the central state no longer had the authority necessary for the military and administrative reforms needed to organize a constant war effort with a permanent military, something Waldreich had proved capable of.