Post by Retrograde on Sept 13, 2017 0:49:14 GMT
The Most Blessed Commonwealth of Routaille
“For generations untold, the common people of Routaille were ground under the heels of the Merov dynasty and their noble lackeys. Year after year their crimes against man went unchallenged. But no longer. The people rose up, and the oppression of the nobles has been purified with the flames of revolution. No longer shall a man be choked by the constraints of false social classes. Now, we know this to be true: All men are made equal before Artis!
We are free! SING THE REVOLUTION!”
Common Names: Routaille, the Commonwealth
Head of State: King Arno VI de Merov
Governing Body: Assembly of the Masses
Capital: Pyracle
Largest City: Imrena
Notable citizens: King Arno IV, Geron Baux, Marielle Tenderheart, Jared…
Statistics
Routaille Modifiers
Fortress Routaille: +1 Army, +2 Castle
Revolutionary Fervor: +2 Loyalty
Echoes of Corruption: -2 Economy, -1 Espionage
Army 4 (+1) = 5
Navy 2
Logistics 4 [+1] = 5
Economy 5 (-2) = 3
Espionage 3 (-1) = 2
Castle 4 (+2) = 6
Loyalty 3 (+2) = 5
A People’s History
Centuries before the Trevastines came to its shores, and even before Trevast itself existed, the Islands of Routaille were inhabited by a people known as the Tlem. The descendants of people who had migrated from the Boterin continent in millennia past, the Tlem established many kingdoms in the land, constantly vying for control of the islands.
The greatest of these kingdoms were known to Trevast as great traders, possessed of much material wealth. Though it served the Tlem at the time, their trade is ultimately what doomed them to conquest. Knowing what riches awaited them in the islands, the Trevastines - in particular the Merovs - cast greedy eyes upon those shores and plotted their domination.
At first it was simply small trade cities, which the Tlem tolerated because they brought greater access to the goods of the mainland as well as access to superior weapons and armour. However, the Merov rapidly grew more ambitious, and in the reign of Gion I the combined forces of the Empire made landfall on the shores of Routaille.
The war was brutal, but quick. Tlem kingdoms assisted the invaders in the mistaken belief that they would be allowed to continue existing should they support the Empire. They merely delayed the inevitable, the Empire only sparing them as long as they were useful. By the end of the decade, the lands were conquered and incorporated into the Empire as the Province of Rutilia. The conquest was followed by a mass settlement of the islands, settlers encouraged by the wealth of Rutilia and the promise of warm lands to start a farm on.
Rutilia would not remain part of the Empire for long. The Merov dynasty was fraught with issues, and agricultural collapse only exacerbated things. With the invasion of the Merov’s continental holdings by the Galathions and the loss of the capital, the Empire was shattered. The Merovs and their supporters fled to Rutilia, far from the problems of the mainland.
So began the Kingdom of Rutilia, which over centuries of linguistic drift would come to be known as Routaille. The Merovs from the start knew that things would have to be different in their new domain. Stratified social classes did not take long to emerge, with those who had supported the Merov Dynasty quickly becoming the nobility of the new kingdom, while the farmers were forced to give up their freedom in exchange for protection from their new lords in those turbulent times, and would soon become serfs. The Tlem, originally the masters of their homeland, were seen as untrustworthy and were thus thrown to the bottom of the social ladder, confined to specific occupations and held to be lesser than the other peoples. These castes only grew more divided over the centuries, and the oppression of those not fortunate enough to join the nobility became more and more severe.
The Kingdom of Routaille was quickly recognized as a wildcard in the politics of Trevast, allying with with one nation for one generation, and then doing everything in their power to thwart them in the next. For brief moments, the Kingdom interacted peacefully with its brothers and sisters, marrying their nobles with those of the mainland and trading happily with them. However, all the other nations of Trevast watched them warily, knowing that such periods were temporary.
Many times did the Boteri attempt to invade Routaille, for much the same reasons the Trevastines did. As a result, Routaille became a land coated in castles and forts, and a strong martial tradition was fostered amongst its upper classes. Indeed, the Knights of Routaille gained a fearsome reputation as men driven that they were in all ways superior to their enemy and that as such those who opposed them were to be crushed and reminded of their lowly place before Artis. These knights also became some of the most visible enforcers of the brutality of Merov rule, a terrifying weapon to be used against those who would attempt to rise up against them.
However, oppression eventually will receive an answer.
After almost 1500 years of unbroken rule by the Merovs and the nobility, the people rose up. There had been previous attempts, of course, but none had ever succeeded. This was different, the common man had finally had enough. The petitions for better treatment had been ignored or met with punishment, the attempted revolts ground into the dust. There was no other choice.
Though the cry for Revolution did not start with Odo II, it ended with him. Odo was a tyrant like no other, a brute and a narcissist. The son of the previous King, Arture, Odo came into power at the age of 16. Even by then, Odo was known as a cruel rake who delighted in the pain of those who displeased him, especially when they were women. Yet still he was the heir apparent and approved by the nobles following his marriage to the sister of the Valdez king, Maria.
Immediately Odo began enacting petty cruelties against the populace. Sumptuary laws in which people below a certain class dressed too nicely would be sentenced to decades of hard labour. Edicts where Tlem were declared not fully human and thus afforded less protections under the law. Seizures of land from wealthy commoners, given as gifts to his friends. It was all too much.
Yet if it were not for his children, then perhaps he might have lived a little longer. Before the Revolution, Odo had two children: Odo the Younger and Giselle. Giselle, the younger of the two children was neurotic from a young age and by the time she hit puberty it was clear that she had developed the madness that sometimes burdened the Merov. Falling into panic attacks from the slightest amount of stress, she was gifted a ranch in the lands of Valdez where she could live out her life in peace. Odo the Younger was a different sort of mad.
Around the time that Odo the Younger was 10, young men and women throughout Routaille began to disappear wherever the royal family set foot. Inevitably, the corpses would be found, their bodies ruined in ways only a psychopath could manage. This was the grisly reign of Odo the Younger. Perhaps he was born evil, or maybe he learned from his father. It is hard to say. However, what is known is that rumours began to develop quickly throughout the land about the corruption in the royal bloodline, something that Odo II was quick to quash with punishments for treason. It was clear Odo had no interest in putting a stop to things.
In a flammable environment, it can sometimes only take a single spark to set things ablaze. It began in Pyracle, where a recent blight had depleted food stores. Tensions were already high when Odo the Younger visited a bawdyhouse, looking to relieve tension by seeing a play in the Low Theatre. However, things quickly got out of hand as he set his sights on one of the actresses. He stormed the stage, guards in tow, and made his move upon her. Yet this was where Odo met his end. One of the other actresses, a young Tlem by the name of Marielle Tenderheart, responded by cracking the prince in the head with a steel vase. So great was the impact that Odo the Younger was killed almost instantly. The guards of the prince tried to arrest Marielle, but the people of the bawdyhouse were having none of it. A riot began and the guards were lynched, and Marielle kept her head and her freedom.
The riot rapidly grew, spreading across Pyracle. Soon, the whole city was consumed in a great rage as people took the chance to vent all the emotions they had repressed. The guards try to quell the rioters, but there was little they could do. The people stormed the king’s dungeons and freed one Geron Baux, a radical preacher who said that all men were equal before Artis, and that the social classes of nobility were thus false. He was to become a central figure of the Revolution to come alongside Marielle, being symbols of the power of the people and their ethos.
An army was mustered by the Grand Duc of Chalord - the king’s most powerful vassal - and the rioters were forced to flee from the city of Pyracle, scattering. Yet the Revolution did not die there. Instead, armies rose up everywhere the Revolutionaries fled to, forming Revolutionary factions that hoped to impose their own vision upon Routaille.
Seeing Revolution was enough to summon back a member of the Merov dynasty from his warding in Alendron: Arno. Arno was a boy born to a Cassian mother and the grandson of a Galathion and was known from a young age to be conscientious, kind and unfathomably intelligent. He saw it as his duty to support his people in that trying time, and took what he had learned in the court of the Galathions with him. It was then that he met up with Marielle Tenderheart, who was impressed with Arno’s intelligence and kindness, and the beginning of the Arnist faction within the Revolution.
For the first 4 years of the civil war, the Royalist forces were seemed to be in control of the situation. They had more resources and the Revolutionaries were disorganized, often bickering amongst themselves. Yet following a humiliating defeat near the southern city of Ramoulen, the Revolutionaries realized they would have to change their approach. A great conclave was called, and the Revolutionaries agreed to unify and throw their support behind Arno. The war began to change favour dramatically. Now acting as a single force, the Revolutionaries were able to coordinate their strikes against the Royalists. Soon, the battles began to favour the Revolutionaries, and the Royalists were on the back foot.
A year later, King Odo II was killed in battle at the Battle of Yawning Hill, where Revolutionaries crushed his army, lead by the combined generalship of Geron Baux, Marielle Tenderheart, and Arno. The enemy forces were routed, and the Royalists left in disarray. However, the Royalists were not yet ready to submit so easily. They rallied around Odo’s second daughter, born during the Revolution: Fernanda. Though she was only 1 year old, she served as a symbol of their rule. In addition, they summoned Queen Maria’s brother, Ferdinand, King of Valdez.
The Valdez armies marched upon the shores of Routaille, prepared to enforce their King’s niece’s claim. However, they were met with far more resistance than they were anticipating from the Revolutionary army. Still, the Valdez army was nothing to scoff at. They made it to the mountain pass that protected the capital city, ready to march on the capital. However, the Valdez army was stopped a great mass of pikes. A battle ensued and thanks to the favourable terrain and some quick thinking, the Revolutionaries were able to claim victory. The Revolutionaries, hoping to end the conflict between themselves and a foreign power there, released Maria, who had been kept under house arrest into the care of her brother.
The Valdez and the Revolutionaries made peace then, with the Valdez departing. The Royalists were stunned. After that, the cause mostly disintegrated, leaving members of the Royalists to either flee the islands or face imprisonment or worse.
Following their victory, Arno was crowned King Arno VI of the Routais, Osais and Tlem. The choice in styling was meant to remind that he was a monarch of the people, not an owner of the land. A new government was established in which the people of the land would be able to represent themselves before government and have a voice in the laws. This was called the Assembly of the Masses, influenced in part by the government of Alendron, although more radicalized. Routaille was thus declared the Most Blessed Commonwealth of Routaille, a promise to the people that it would serve for the benefit of all its people.
Since then, Routaille has mostly focused inward, hoping to rebuild itself after a long and brutal civil war. Yet now they begin the process of opening up to the other nations of Trevast, hoping to establish new bonds with its brothers. Yet they must be careful, for many do not take kindly to the new order Routaille finds itself under…
Trade
Routaille is a fairly resource-wealthy land, capable of producing many goods that other lands simply cannot either due to geography or limited supply. However, they also produce many of commonly found around Trevast. Some of the goods they produce are:
Honey
Mead
Wine
Potato liquor
Pears
Pearls
Tomatoes
Chili peppers
Naptha
Whale Oil
Wool
Beef
Goat meat
Linen
Coal
Silver
Copper
Tin
Timber
Army
The Routais Army is the pride of the Commonwealth. Gone are the days of a feudal army consisting of levies and their lords, and now they have been replaced with a citizen army, one forged in the fires of the Revolution and willing to lay down their life for their country.
The construction of the army is simple, focused around dense blocs of pikemen supported by crossbows and light cavalry. Auxiliaries like sword-and-buckler wielding rodelaires help maintain the lines and defend the pikemen and crossbows. The Routais tend to fight defensively, forcing the enemy to engage them while they themselves are in a favourable position. However, they are capable of attack, and when they do so tend to favour lighting quick strikes, taking out vulnerable enemy positions like artillery and archers.
Men are conscripted into the army from the age of 16 for five years, where they will be trained in the ways of war and sorted into infantry, cavalry, or archery. They will then have the option to renew their service for another 5 year period. A curious element has entered the Routais military as well - because so many women served in the Revolution, a precedent was set. Women are not conscripted, but they are given the option of enlisting into the military. Though the position of infantry is barred to them, the role of crossbow-woman and cavalry remains open.
Navy
The Navy of Routaille is in a sorry state these days, much of the Navy scattering to the various nation-states of the world in the wake of the Revolution. However, a small force remains, mostly operating as merchant marines to protect the trade of the nation. Like their armies, Routaille favours fast, lighter ships than other nations, hoping to get things done quickly.