Druthenia

"Despite our best efforts, despite making it through this awful chaos relatively intact, it appears that war looms on the horizon. Thunderstorms don't seem to mind where it releases its rain."

- King Henrik III

The Kingdom of Druthenia (Druthenian: Konungariket Druþenien) is a nation located in the north-eastern parts of Eidora, occupying the entirety of the Druthann peninsula. It is one of (if not the) oldest nation-state still independent on the subcontinent, having managed to defend itself from outside invasions thanks to its professional army and large navy, but also due to the favorable and stable political climate inside its borders.

While Druthenia is rich in resources and land, it lacks in population. The cold weather offers a stable climate, which is however not suited for the large scale agriculture needed to sustain a large populace. This in turn has resulted in a extreme focus on quality of troops over quantity; Druthenian soldiers are among the most well trained and most well-equipped in the world. But no-one knows for sure if it will be enough to weather the oncoming storm.

While primarily inhabited by Druthenians, the kingdom also hosts a large population of indigenous Satí in the north. Their native homeland, Satímaa, is divided between the east - controlled by Druthenia - and the west, which is controlled by Radovia.

Information relayed in the present tense is considered to be the situation for Druthenia at the start of the story (1914).

General information
See also: Druthenian Military

Druthenia is known as a land of contrast: from large open agricultural fields in the moderately warm south, to the cold and unforgiving snow-capped mountains of the north. It is a large country with a low population density, resulting in huge swathes of land that are devoid of people. Sometimes, Druthenia is known as the "land of a thousand lakes" due to a large amount of post-glacial lakes, mostly in the central part of the country.

History
Druthenia has a long and complex history which spans several millennia.

Pre-history
Due to a lack of written sources in this period, not a lot is known about pre-collapse Druthenia. Ancient Krichoians write that the Druthann peninsula was inhabited by a "strange folk, following barbarian druidic practices [sic]." Later sources seems to alude to the coming of the proto-Druthenians, who appears to have migrated to Druthann and supplanted whatever people lived there before. If this was a peaceful process of integration, or a violent invasion, is unknown. The true origin point for the proto-Druthenians is not entirely known either.

The Collapse
The Druthenians, being far away from the great empires of Krichoia and Asteria, seemingly made it through the Collapse without issue. Written Druthenian sources from the period does show that they were much aware of the turmoil going on in the rest of the continent, and it appears that a similar plague of the kind that ravaged the great empires spread to Druthenia aswell, causing some deaths.

The Long Age (0 - 1300's)
The Druthenians during and after the Great Collapse were organized into many decentralised tribes, spread across the coastal areas and up certain rivers (mainly the Ipe). This made them easy pickings for any outside force, and they experienced several invasions by southerners. By 900, a lot of south-eastern Druthenia was occupied by southern powers, who settled the area and made it their own.

The hero king Dain (da-in, with a short a) would be the great warrior and unifier of the Druthenian people. After assuming leadership of his tribe, he rallied the other chiefs to fight off the southern invaders. The "reclamation war" would only last two years, in which the southerners were defeated and the area once again falling under the control of Druthenians. For his feat, Dain was crowned king of all Druthenians in 1018; this event is regarded as the formation of the modern Druthenian state. He then laid the foundations for a great city by the mouth of the Ipe river - Dainsborg - which soon became the true capital of the kingdom, being made official by his descendants in 1055.

Even though the southerners had been defeated, a sizeable minority still lived within the formerly subjugated area, and southern nobles still held power in Druthenian politics. Tensions between these nobles and the monarchy boiled over into a short civil war in 1132, where the nobles were decisively defeated. Fearing them once again becoming a powerful enemy, the king had all the nobles executed and their holdings given out to Druthenians. Many southern commonfolk fled back south, and those who remained were treated poorly.

Age of Turmoil
Druthenia, being a mostly self-sufficient country in terms of vital goods, would still feel a hefty blow from the economic crisis that struck the world. While the country was able to get on its feet fairly quickly, it brought a lot of burning political issues to light that further complicated the situation.

Druthenian Uprising
On June 21st, 1915, the day before the summer solstice, elements of the Red Raven group supported by Commonwealth advisors and materiel staged an attempted uprising across many towns in Druthenia. This "Druthenian Uprising" would spark a short civil war (with Commonwealth intervention), and eventually lead to the Satímaa War.

Battle of Dainsborg
The date for the uprising was chosen at a relatively short notice: not only would the king be busy holding a party in the palace (which had already been infiltrated by Red Raven members), but the Chancellor, party leaders, and important ministers of the parliament would also be conducting a long-lasting crisis meeting in regards to the current situation in Eidora. It was decided that the opportunity to capture most important government figures in a single move was too good to pass up, and thus, plans were drawn up in the second week of June.

The plan sprung into action at 11pm in the evening: at the time, the palace was holding a ball, and a majority of parliamentary figures were convened in the parliament building for discussion. The plan was to storm the palace, parliament, all major train stations and other communication buildings, while police stations and the local Dainsborg garrison would be sourrounded as defectors working from within would secure further defections or surrenders ("in the face of overwhelming numbers and shock"). At the same time, similar actions would be conducted in other major cities, such as Bergensvik and Tvenneby, alongside major railroad junctions and ports. An important objective was to neutralise two armoured trains, stationed just outside of Dainsborg.

The port was quickly overran without much resistance, while the train station had a few policemen that fought back for a short moment, before surrendering in the face of overwhelming numbers. Unfortunately for the rebels, the Dainsborg garrison was not swayed by their cause, and refused to give up arms. This would result in the heaviest fighting, as the soldiers in the surrounded base attempted a breakout. Meanwhile, the parliament and palace was stormed: at the parliament, the rebels attempted to sneak in without raising suspicion, but were found and shot at by one of the six sentinel guards in the building, killing one and wounding another before they themselves were shot in the leg. Thanks to quick thinking, the guard was able to bar the main gate before the rebels were able to storm the building.

Settling in for a siege, the leader of the rebel group tasked with capturing the parliament asked to speak with the party leaders inside to negotiate. Specifically, they wished to speak to Arvid Bräcke, the leader of the Social Democrats, as they believed he would turn to their cause and convince the remaining people inside the building to surrender. This was a horrible miscalculation: Arvid, angered at their audacity, burst into a fit of rage and berated the rebels from the third story window in front of hundreds of witnesses (both rebels and curious onlookers) before slamming the windows shut so hard the glass shattered. Unsure what to do next, the rebels began preparing for a siege of the parliament building, but were interrupted by police arriving at the scene. A standoff ensued.

In the palace, things were quite different. As the clock struck 11, various rebels that had infiltrated the ballroom (disguised as servants) took the king and his family (except the Crown prince) hostage before the Royal Guard were able to react. Faced with the possible death of their monarch, they surrendered their arms, and the whole ballroom was sealed with all inside becoming hostages. Meanwhile, additional rebel forces including mages stormed the palace from the outside, meeting heavy resistance from the Royal Guard before breaching. Crown prince Oskar, having left the ballroom with a lady guest, took her to hide in the palace library alongside two guards, who helped bar the door shut.

In the outskirts of Dainsborg, paranoid officers had continually switched out the crews for the armoured trains, as well as the guarding detachment, in fear of "socialist infiltration". This paranoia was not unfounded (as it turns out), and forced the rebels to assault the location of the trains directly to prevent them from being properly crewed. This attack did not succeed, and the rebels were pushed back as the now active trains began operations just after midnight: one left Dainsborg to secure the railway upriver, while the other carefully entered the city via the tram network, setting course for the palace. It would however take several hours to reach it, as rebel forces would attempt to stall the progress of the train by blocking the tracks with various obstacles, such as cars and trucks.

Around 1 am the day after, the palace was almost completely secured by rebel forces, except the library that remained unbreached. As the crown prince and others inside had no means of escape, no assault was attempted. Despite this success, the rebels would fail all their major objectives: the police force and military garrison was not swayed, the armoured trains were not secured, and the parliament was never breached, being secured by arriving troops by 2:25 am. Rebel presence in the center of the city remained high, and their forces settled in to defend their position from the army and the police force. The palace became a makeshift headquarters for the rebels.

To Write: assassination

Politics
Druthenia is in the transitional stage betweel a monarchy and a full-blown parliamentary democracy. At the start of the story, concessions have been made and some citizens are eligable to vote for the lower chamber of parliament, while the upper chamber is reserved for nobility or other people in high places. The monarch still exerts a lot of power.

Parliament
The Druthenian parliament, Riksþinget, is a bicameral system consisting of the upper house (Jarlþinget), which is elected by and consists of the nobility and other people of high class such as notable mages, generals, and wealthy aristocrats, and the lower house (Folkþinget), which is comprised of parliamentary representatives voted in by the people, usually (but not necessarily) belonging to a political party. The head of government, the Rikskansler (Realm Chancellor), has to be approved by both chambers of parliament, aswell as the king.

History
Originally, the monarch held all power in the country, but would sourround themselves with advisors and nobility to become better rulers. To organise this more clearly and officially, the Jarlþing was instituted in the early 1700's, with clear rules on who could be a part of it and what their tasks would be. This system began to slowly creep into the monarch's rule, but would not (and could not) completely challenge the power of the monarchy.

Parliament would change drastically after a disasterous war with the Radovians in the 1870's. In the wake of social unrest after the conflict, parliament would reform to allow certain citizens fullfilling some rather extensive requirements to vote for and become representatives for a new chamber: the Folkþing. Together, the two halves made up the Riksþing, which served the king rather than the other way around. In short, the Riksþing would act mostly as an advisory body, but was also able to write and re-write laws - that would, however, still need to be approved by the king to be passed. Of note was that Satí were not able to enter either chamber, being completely excluded from Druthenian politics. To actually vote for the Folkþing, you needed to be at least 30 years old, and be a taxpayer or employed by the state, which included mages. In addition to that, it was first implicit (and quickly added officially) that to be eligable, you must also be of legal age, which most women were not, as they were under the legal guardianship of either their fathers or their husbands.

At the start of the Age of Turmoil, social unrest once again pushed through electoral reform in 1902, much to the king's dismay. More people were eligable to vote for the Folkþing, as well as become parliamentary members. Men who were at least 22 and paid a certain amount of taxes, or had been part of the armed forces, became eligable, alongside female mages over the age of 30. Satí were technically eligable, though very few could meet the requirements needed, as Satí were often poor and unable to become official state mages. While this stemmed most unrest generated by the crisis, this would be the start of a longwinded political fight for complete suffrage for men, and also the beginning of the female suffragette movement in Druthenia. Men would become completely emancipated in 1909, only needing to be 20 years of age to be able to vote: however, women who were not mages or widows did not have the right to vote, as they would be considered to be under legal guardianship of either their fathers, or after marriage, their husbands.

During all this, socialism and other left-wing political movements were supressed to various degrees. Before the Asterian revolution and the formation of the CSR, the ruling class in Druthenia viewed socialists with suspicion, though did not expressly forbid the ideology. After the revolution in 1907, however, socalism was heavily supressed and socialist parties were outright banned. The already established Social Democratic party (Folkets Sozialdemokratiska Arbetareparti, FSA) was allowed to continue its operation, though the political establishment would work against it at every turn, and political supporters were hindered whenever possible. This harsh supression of the socialists is what eventually helped the CSR lay the seeds of a staged revolt, using socialist anger as a tool to create a violent revolution, something that most people agreed would never have happened without foreign assistance and "riling up".

Later, or after the story takes place: After the end of the Satímaa war and the failed socialist uprising, all women became their own legal guardians, resulting in femal suffrage. While these reforms were in general to appease the political left after the revolution, socialism was still viewed with suspicion, and their movement was still supressed, although not as extensively, and no longer officially due to the law - however, the FSA gained a lot of trust from the populace after refusing to support the violent revolutionaries, claiming they had always been proponents of peaceful means. Because of this, they became the largest party in the Riksþing after the election in 1919. Thanks to their performance in the war, Satí were given full emancepation aswell, though it did not mean as much as they also received their own legislative body in their now autonomous region. The Riksþing would remain a bicameral system for another three decades, before the Jarlþing was abolished in 1948, leaving only the Folkþing as the sole parliamentary institution, which is still known as the Riksþing.

Satímaa
Main article: Satímaa

Satímaa is the native homeland of the Satí people, split in two between Druthenia and Radovia. Through most of Druthenian history, the Satí have enjoyed general autonomy, being free from the responsibilities of Druthenians. This is however a double-edged sword, as they've neither been able to reap the benefits of being true citizens of the country: most notably, Satí mages have not been allowed into the Academy in Dainsborg.

Much of modern Satí - Druthenian relations would be shaped in the Satímaa war and its aftermath, which would eventually result in increased rights and official autonomy of Satímaa within Druthenia.

Isle of Kings
The Isle of Kings is a small island located just outside Dainsborg and the Ipe river outlet. It has been the traditional burial ground for monarchs ever since Dain, who was the first to be laid to rest on the island. The island is not open to the public, and only during funerals and other ceremonies may select individuals, such as trusted members of the press, be allowed on the island, which is always guarded by a small detachment of Royal Guards.

Färnbergen
The "far mountains" is the northernmost region of the country, which includes the arctic islands that are disputed with Radovia. It is incredibly sparsely populated due to its cold and unforgiving climate, so much so that Satí never settled the region. As a result, it is mostly inhabited by Druthenians, even though these don't number more than a couple of thousand.

Behind the scenes (meta)

 * Druthenia is based upon Scandinavia; specifically, Sweden. The Druthenian language is a modification of old Swedish, mostly in its written form before the writing reform of the early 20th century.
 * The flag is based upon one of the very first flags for my very first worldbuilding project. It is one of the few things that that was held on to as the project died.