Frostreach Empire

Konigjarls are branded upon receiving the title, as a way to show that they are the one with the mark to lead the country. This mark is the same that Øldar received when he was branded an outcast from Clesentia.

The history of Frostreach begins with the settlement of Hurstrheim in spring of 1930. The town would serve as a base for Øldar and his tribesmen, as well as a place for him to raise his young family. However, this small town would grow swiftly, as the people lived in peace, the waters of Frostreach Bay were rich in fish, and the land was fertile. Soon, small settlements began to span the entire southeastern arm of Frostreach, leading to conflict with the native who considered it their land. Misunderstandings, paranoia, and competition for resources soon led to war between the Reachmen and Koðr. From this first spark of conflict, the hardened Reachmen had the advantage- despite Koðr advantages in knowing the terrain, the finely crafted weapons of the Reachmen as well as Øldar's brilliant leadership and use of cavalry prevented any Koðr from being victorious. Soon, word of his exploits spread across the land, and Koðr tribes feared him. Øldar, however, wasn't satisfied with the success at conquering this small part of Frostreach.

Taking advantage of the calm waters of Frostreach Bay and of the river systems which flow into it, Øldar soon established a chain of fortified settlements along the bay or on these river systems, each of which would become the seat of the first Jarls, and 10 families as colonists. He also incorporated the island of Kresvall during this period, securing the position by 1254. However, despite the Reachmen continuing to gain lands in the south of Frostreach, the Koðr possessed almost the entirety of inland and North Frostreach, stretching into frigid lands the Reachmen could not initially penetrate. Additionally, their fine weaponry, scavenged from the ruins of Clesentia, was beginning to break down in the harsh environment. This marked a change in Reachmen policies, as Øldar sought to subjugate, not eliminate, the Koðr. However, the Reachmen continued to push upriver, and with the settlement of Svest as a trading post with the Dvur - Ice Dwarves, they obtained a new source of quality weapons in 1262.

The conquest of the Svest region had essentially isolated the Koðr in three pockets- a large one north of Ölvend, a small one between Ysjal and Måtstad, and a few remnant groups in the south of Svest. The defeat of the larger group in a pitched battle in 1277 would mark the final shot the Koðr had to stop Reachmen expansion, and it is this date which is traditionally said to mark the end of the Conquest of Frostreach, with the majority of the remaining Koðr tribes aceding to Frostreach dominance shortly thereafter. However, in reality many of these tribes were not very assimilated, and they continued to control swathes of land, especially in the north, for many years. There continued to be isolated raids and flare-ups of violence throughout the closing years of the 13th century and for much of the 14th as well, though by the 1400s the Koðr appear to have been largely assimilated. Their lands were mostly broken up in the 1300s, splitting the people and leading to loss of culture and traditions. Combined with assimilationist tactics, and their shipment across the Empire as prisoners when they revolted, most Koðr elected to go silently. Their last notable territorial holding, an isolated forest and highland region near Svest, was finally broken up in 1417, and though some Koðr remain today they do not form a majority in any Frostreach province.

After Øldar's death in 1295, the throne would pass to his grandson Þaru and his granddaughter Haffi (his eldest son, Harig Karlus, had already died), who continued many of his policies, such as the Koðr assimilation and conquest of new lands. Generally, Haffi was more of an administrator while Þaru participated in military matters with more enthusiasm. With Frostreach under control, Þaru would instead look to target lands to the south, thus beginning the conquest of the islands which now bear his name. The Mauronian population was just as isolated as the Koðr had been, and despite being more populous, they were under heavy pressure from the Telrai who had landed on their shores 500 years ago. And, while the inland Mauronians were relatively safe from both Telrai and Reachmen, their coasts were easy targets. Frostreach had great initial success against the Mauronians, but struggled mightily against members of the so-called "Eastern League" (from a Telrai perspective), an aggressive and colonialist subset of the Confederation of Numoanu, which was likewise engaged in conquering the Mauronians. Þaru's forces would struggle against them for almost 50 years before dealing a crushing defeat, securing the Telrai withdrawl from most of Mauþu and Vátngard. The Numoanu Confederation would soon become staunch allies of Frostreach, after disciplining their wayward members, and a treaty on ownership was settled. This opened up the islands for settlement by the growing Voðeren population.

After the glorious reigns of Øldar, Þaru, and Haffi, Frostreach's expansion slowed greatly, mostly due to The Øldar Lineage Plot. This plot allowed the corrupt son of Þaru, Jord, to win against his cousin in combat, and be nominated as heir. Finally, in 1344, once Þaru and Haffi both died, Jord would beocme the Konigjarl. The effects of this corrupt ascention would not yet be felt, however, as Jord inherited a competant bureacracy and military staff which could help fulfill his ambitions. Though their population continued to expand rapidly, thanks to vast and fallow fields, the rest of Northern Telgren was filled with fierce foes who required much greater investment to defeat than either Frostreach or the Þaru isles had. The largest of these foes was the mighty High Kingdom of Albreannidh, a powerful, though decentralized, state which held sway over western Grenholl. While Frostreach had snapped up several of Grenholl's outlying islands before and during their invasion of the Þaru Isles, 1347 marked the first time their troops landed on the Grenholl mainland. What followed was a hundred years of grueling warfare between the declining Albreannidh and the rising Frostreach- and all the Albreannach clans trapped in the middle, seeking autonomy and privileges. By 1447, Frostreach controlled the majority of the Albreannach lands, but the long conflcits had reduced their appetite for further expansion in the region, and the Empire increasingly turned towards attacks on the Cendlith and Dyghwek, two other groups of Grenhóllr. However, the closing years of the 15th century were the twilight of Frostreach's golden age, as the Empire began displaying signs of strain- overextension, corruption, rebellious subjects, and an economy that was in slow decline. Jord had also begun slowly replacing loyal, effective Jarls with his cronies as they died out, and his lineage continued this policy, leading to an ineffective nation. Things wouldn't truly begin to go bad until 1515, but the signs were already there.

By 1515, the Jarldoms, though still nominally electoral, were deeply rooted in corruption, and the ruling line of Konigjarls cared little for governing. The ascention of Svokjem in 1515 marked the beginning of the end. A bored, arbitrary ruler who never even bothered to call the Jarls for his coronation, during his reign the various Jarls began to realize that they were functionally independent and could do as they wished without any central oversight. While operating under regional authority, they began to drift away from the main body of Frostreach. It's difficult to say when exactly each Jarldom became functionally independent, but it was really up to each Jarl when exactly they became independent, as Frostreach wasn't doing anything to stop them. This hemmorage of land started slow, with large lands unsettled by Voðeren, such as Eastern Mauþu and parts of Albreannach land, seeing their revolts go unchallenged and therefore gaining indepdendence. This slow loss of land to local uprisings would then spread to the Jarldoms as mentioned, and these finally began to declare independence rather than just doing as they pleased. In the tail end of the 16th century, the phenomenon escalated rapidly, and by the turn of the 17th century Frostreach only held a few Jarldoms outside its core island- Vilmøjor and a few more enclaves on Mauþu, Orøene, Sunden, and the rest of the outlying isles of Grenholl, and a few minor holdouts on Grenholl itself. These last few Jarldoms were more loyal than most, having been targets of large amounts of immigration from the Voðeren, and relying heavily on trade with Frostreach- but even they could no longer afford to pay taxes and receive nothing in return. After all, Voðeren raiders from the other provinces had begun attacking commerce on the seas, and any jarldom whose wealth was not spent on building boats would be ravaged. By 1619, these last few Jarldoms had been lost, leaving the Empire confined to Frostreach itself.

For the next 300 years, Frostreach's Jarldoms, content in their autonomy, would bicker and claw their way at influencing the Konigjarls, who allowed bribery and other favors to influence their decision making. The Jarldoms had independent armies, navies, and participated in raids, both on one another and on the rest of the denizens of the North Seas. With Jarls not permitted to change the borders of the realms de jure, they satisfied their lust for expansion by occupying and forcing weaker Jarldoms to make concessions, by placing loyal family members on the thrones of other, weaker, Jarldoms by virtue of force and favor, and by exploiting their citizens to give them power. Though this state of affairs was at its worst during the 19th century, corruption continued throughout the 20th. The ascention of the powerful, though corrupt, Konigjarl tbd begin the centralization of the Jarl system under his supporters during the 70s and 80s, but his mistreatment of citizens and the blatant corruption of his appointed Jarls led to unrest.

From this unrest, one man emerged. Gorm Ødgarsson, appointed Jarl of Valmerås in 1983 after the previous Jarl died of a myserious illness, would begin plotting against Konigjarl tbd. When tbd called a Jarl's council, Gorm was immediately alerted to his blatant corruption and went on high alert. With Gorm refusing to take part in corruption, he sensed a notable shift in attitude from his Konigjarl, becoming suspiciously kind and trying to give Gorm lavish gifts alongside suspicious food and drink. Gorm suspected that tbd had his predecessor poisoned, and that the only reason that he, Gorm, was even allowed to hold the Jarldom was thanks to his popularity amongst the people. If the Konigjarl had him blatantly murdered it would be clear who had done it, but should Gorm die of illness it would just be a tragedy, opening up the position for one of the konigjarl's cronies. The only reason Gorm was still alive was due to his care in not eating anything prepared by an untrusted source, in keeping armed guards at all time, and in treating his servents well such that they would not betray him. Over the next seven months, Gorm would collaborate with the Jarls of Genköping, Svest, and Ölvend, and in 1984 they launched Gorm's Coup. Gorm's victory over the Konigjarl in a duel to the death reinforced his right to rule, and he concluded his coup by convincing the Jarls of Kresvall and Sålholm to capitulate peacfully and by crushing the Jarls of Måtstad, Ysjal, and Kalköping in battle. From there, Gorm would reform the nation and fix corruption and abuse of power throughout the realm, all while expanding the power of the military and preparing for what would be known as the Conquests of Gorm. To date, the resurgent Frostreach Empire has conquered about 40% of Grenholl, all while prepring for an invasion of the Þaru Isles.

The Frostreach Empire has a total population of roughly 8,500,000 people. Of this population, nearly 8,000,000 live on Grenholl or one of the smaller surrounding islands, while just 700,000 reside on Frostreach itself. Due to the insularity of the Dvur (who share the island of Frostreach with the Empire) and the general lack of other racial groups in northern Telgren, there is a negligable amount of nonhumans in Frostreach, split between the few Dvur within the Empire's bounds and, more recently, Telrai. This population makes up less than 10,000 individuals. The Confederation of Numoanu, nominally a subject of Frostreach, is more of a tributary and ally, but if counted would give Frostreach an additional population of 6,000,000 Telrai. Although most of Frostreach's population is on Grenholl, a some of this population is Voðeren and not Grenhóllr, giving Frostreach's ruling Voðeren a population of 1,300,000, with the Grenhóllr making up the vast majority, at 7,200,000.