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 Dolchland to the north and Galahinda to its east. It has a confirmed population of 34,354,000 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 New Anglia, Alba, and Cymry with Anglish, !Scottish, and !Welsh cultures respectively. Seylos also has three overseas territories, the crown dependency of Llalta and the cities of Kaseka and Bab Al-Bahr. 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 is a member of a supranational union known as the North Adlantic Union of which it was a founding member, joined by several other nations in eastern Ceris.

Seylos has a well-developed economy and has the 9th largest economy with a GDP of 1.35 trillion, and 12th for GDP per capita at 38,362 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 Anglia. 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 Anglia.

History

Great Anglian Civil War

In 1534 Duke Harold in southern Great Anglia raised protest to a series of laws curtailing not only the powers of the nobility but also the Geltic minorities that very much still existed five hundred years after their initial arrival. The ruling monarch King Albin of Anglia reacted harshly by declaring Duke Harold an outlaw for betraying the crown. This declaration initiated the beginning of the Anglian Civil War (1534-1543).

Early in the conflict, Duke Harold achieved a series of startling victories against the Anglian royal soldiers. These early victories prompted dozens of Anglian noble lords and dukes to abandon the royal camp and switch sides by joining Harold's side in the conflict. Not soon after the first attack, the Geltic lands in Anglia also pledged their support to Harold as the true ruler of Anglia. The bloody civil war continued to grind on for another six years.

In 1540 the tide began to turn against the beleaguered rebels. King Albin sensing his new upper hand demanded as a peace offer not only the total submission from his rebelious nobility but also the complete annihilation of the peoples who had dared to rebel against the crown.

The rebels began to discuss amongst themselves on how to best survive their threatened destruction when several cities in their northernmost holdings were put to the sword by the Anglian armies. The decision was made to flee, as they could no longer hold off the overwhelming might of the Anglian forces. Over the next year, in 1541 ships were constructed in haste to begin the mass migration. The Geltic people of Anglia knew of free lands near the Dolch Sea to the southeast of Argis that would be suitable for them to flee to. With their courses set, dozens of ships made the first journey to the island to be known as Seylos. As the Anglians closed in on their remaining port settlements by the end of 1543, the last rebel ships set sail carrying as many people with them to the fabled island as they could. Those that remained were given no quarter by the advancing Anglians.

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. 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.

A Seylosian tank advances through a Ceriser city.

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 was chosen in a radical change in command of the First Army. 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.

Seylosian soldiers advance further into Ceris.

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.

Corinium Conflict

In March of 2021 Haruspex began operations on the island of Corinium located to the north east of Seylos. While the island was some distance away, it's proximity to Argis as a stepping stone for the Haru made it an incredibly strategic position for any side that controlled it. Both Haru and Seylosian ambassadorial staff landed on the island for negotiations, however it became quickly clear that the north and south of Corinium were deeply opposed to each other. WIth the north of Corinium, also known as North Korinon, heavily influenced by Haru political dealings, Seylos attempted to secure some sort of control of the island by deploying the HMS Ardent to the country. Luckily for the Seylosians, the ship arrived before the large Haru fleet allowing a landing of Seylosian personell and protection of the port of Corinium.

Other parties were also interested in keeping the Haru in check, with Tagmatium passing valuable intelligence on the Haru fleet movements, and Iverica also deploying ships to backup the Seylosian presence. Negotiations between the various parties continued after the arrival of the Haru fleets, however after the arrival of the North Adlantic Union 1st Fleet both sides settled on occupation of their respective zones. Haru occupied Corinium became North Korinon, while the official original government of the Republic of Corinium continued in the south supoorted by Seylos and the North Adlantic Union. Shortly after Corinium was admitted into the union to further protect the small state from Haru aggresion.

Geography

Clouds over forests and towns

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.

Military

In peacetime the Seylosian military dedicates itself to research, humanitarian works, and infrastructure projects both in Seylos and beyond. In the past few years the Royal Navy, the nation’s largest branch, has been involved in multiple humanitarian projects and have devoted hundreds of millions of pounds into scientific research for the nation to benefit from. The Royal Army’s main function during peacetime is mainly in logistical and engineering works, for instance preparing for infrastructure and supplies needed to support the many refugees from the crisis in Machina Haruspex and helping various nations in Ceris. The Royal Air Forces support both branches, mainly in a logistical capacity, however due to it’s longer and faster range they take a primary role in patrolling the Dolch Sea for any illegal activity.

What sets apart the average Seylosian servicemember is not their skill in warfare, though they are prepared for it, but their unusually high amount of education and skills they can bring to the Armed Services. The Monarchy long ago decided that quality was much preferable to quantity and with their focus not on war, they made their investments in the individuals. Seylosian servicemembers spend an average amount of time, for Eurth, in combat training. However most of their time is dedicated to education. Every enlisted service member is required to enroll in a minimum of three years of higher education, with every officer expected to be pursuing a graduate level degree. Pay for even the lowest servicemember is quite high and the waitlist for joining the military is extraordinarily long. Upon enrolling service members are required to go through a battery of psychological testing to ensure their fitness for duty. These extreme measures however come at a price, the Seylosian military, compared to other militaries from countries of similar wealth is very small. While the Royal Navy enjoys around forty five thousand personnel, the army itself only makes up around nine thousand. While mechanisms exist to turn the Seylosian Military into a formidable force should the emergency need arise, Seylos’s forces would be incapable of mounting any sort of foreign assault, without support, aside from a blockade.

Other Links

List of Seylosian Characters