Kingdom of Krókłość
The Kingdom of Krókłość is a Rodłowi nation which is the main competitor to the Kingdom of Spólństawo for dominance over the Dzentrałkrin region. While less populous and with a lesser land areas than a united Spólństawo, Krókłość does have the advantage in prosperity and unity, due to the ongoing civil war in their rival. Krókłość certainly wishes to take advantage of the Spólństawan distraction in order to expand themselves without check but have also been covertly funding the rebels in Kryziddia, which diverts their attention. They may have to choose between further damaging their rival and expanding their own power, especially as invading the coastal cities may cause economic strife.
Culture
It is important to distinguish the culture of Krókłoś from the broader Rodłowi culture. While the Rodłowi Empire was considered by its leadership to be a united Rodłowi state, it essentially enforced Krókłoś culture. When Krókłoś is used, it refers to the people of Krókłość in its modern form and does not refer to the Rodłowi subculture of which the Krókłoś are part of.
History
The Kingdom of Krókłość, like most other Rodłowi nations, traces its formation back to the migration of tribes into the Dzentrałkrin region after the Westsfall. As Erleting tribes pushed southwest in order to seize the holding of the Blazennian tribes who had left to conquer Oleandreon, they were at the same time being pushed southwest themselves by Rodłowi tribes moving west.
By 800 SC, modern Krókłość was mostly under the control of the growing Nazchal Empire, which went on to unite most of the Rodłowi tribes. However, the Nazchal Empire was mostly built on the strength of an alliance of invading tribes and was unable to consolidate or fully unify these tribes, falling within the decade. Central Krókłość would then be under the control of the Krókłoś tribe, while the south remained under the Nazchal and the north went to the Litewskzyci. The Krókłoś would do their best to intermarry and create a strong ruling class, eventually assimilating the previous populations of the region.
In 1019 SC, the Krókłoś tribes were defeated and annexed into the Kingdom of Litewskzyc, with only a small amount of land in Eastern Krókłość under the Principality of Płusk remaining independent. However, times would change when in 1052 SC the Płuskans formed a pact with the nation of Allumyl and invaded Litewskzyc. With a rebellion in Krókłoś proper, the two armies were able to flank and overcome Litewskzyc, which was completely partitioned between Allumyl and Płusk. This united what would become northern Krókłość and central Krókłość under one state, with the prince of Płusk declaring the Kingdom of Krókłość in 1057 SC.
In 1188 SC, war broke out between Krókłość and Pryzelfów over trade routes. Krókłość took advantage of rebels in order to defeat the Pryzelfów , who were reduced to a rump state. Krókłość would sign a suzerainty treaty with these rebels, making them a protectorate of the expanding kingdom. After this point, however, the Kingdom was preoccupied by a number of wars with the Relvetsians of the northeast, who seemed to have a never ending desire for southern expansion. One by one the other dukes and tribes to the east of Krókłość would fall to the Relvetsians, including their old ally Allumyl. Krókłość, however, was able to hold strong and defend itself, though not without loss of some of its northern lands. They were also forced to accept the Pryzelfów rump state retaking much of its former lands.
By 800 SC, modern Krókłość was mostly under the control of the growing Nazchal Empire, which went on to unite most of the Rodłowi tribes. However, the Nazchal Empire was mostly built on the strength of an alliance of invading tribes and was unable to consolidate or fully unify these tribes, falling within the decade. Central Krókłość would then be under the control of the Krókłoś tribe, while the south remained under the Nazchal and the north went to the Litewskzyci. The Krókłoś would do their best to intermarry and create a strong ruling class, eventually assimilating the previous populations of the region.
In 1019 SC, the Krókłoś tribes were defeated and annexed into the Kingdom of Litewskzyc, with only a small amount of land in Eastern Krókłość under the Principality of Płusk remaining independent. However, times would change when in 1052 SC the Płuskans formed a pact with the nation of Allumyl and invaded Litewskzyc. With a rebellion in Krókłoś proper, the two armies were able to flank and overcome Litewskzyc, which was completely partitioned between Allumyl and Płusk. This united what would become northern Krókłość and central Krókłość under one state, with the prince of Płusk declaring the Kingdom of Krókłość in 1057 SC.
In 1188 SC, war broke out between Krókłość and Pryzelfów over trade routes. Krókłość took advantage of rebels in order to defeat the Pryzelfów , who were reduced to a rump state. Krókłość would sign a suzerainty treaty with these rebels, making them a protectorate of the expanding kingdom. After this point, however, the Kingdom was preoccupied by a number of wars with the Relvetsians of the northeast, who seemed to have a never ending desire for southern expansion. One by one the other dukes and tribes to the east of Krókłość would fall to the Relvetsians, including their old ally Allumyl. Krókłość, however, was able to hold strong and defend itself, though not without loss of some of its northern lands. They were also forced to accept the Pryzelfów rump state retaking much of its former lands.
In 1242 SC, the invasions finally ceased to be a threat and the Kingdom was able to begin recovering. In 1276 SC they would bring the Litewskzyci regions of Allumyl under their wing as a vassal, carving out some land from the Relvetsians. In 1308 SC, Bolesław the Great would ascend to the throne of Krókłość and begin expanding the Kingdom in earnest. Bolesław first turned to the south, where he annihilated the Kingdom of Pryzelfów and completely annexed their whole nation aside from some minor enclaves which were seized by others. Bolesław then attacked the nearby Principality of Alistród, establishing them as a province of Krókłość and securing the Dłienki river. He completed his expansion by marching west and invading Spólństawo, seizing the Spólństawic town of Augurówy (as well as the Maryzynye-populated regions of Lower Spólństawo) and forcing forcing both Upper and Lower Spólństawo to pay tribute to Krókłość. Thus having established dominance over nearly all surviving Rodłowi states, he declared his new realm the Rodłowi Empire. The new Rodłowi Empire would be able to fully overtake the Relvetsians and fought a number of wars with them over the next few centuries, expanding once more into the lands overtaken by Relvetsians in the 1200s. Though efforts to repopulate the region in its entirety proved unsuccessful, the border between the Rodłowi and Relvetsian peoples was stabilized, mirrored in the division between the Dzentrałkrin and Vnutyr Relvetsia regions.
However, the heyday of the Rodłowi Empire would not last forever. While outwardly unified, in reality there were major, irreconcilable differences between the various provinces and tributaries of the empire. The rich coastal cities, which had mercantile ties with the Frostreach Empire and even with Gnomes and Telrai, were often at odds with the more rural and agrarian heartland of the nation. However, with the slow withdrawl of the Frostreach Empire, the coastal cities became targets of Voðeren raids instead. Even though trade had declined, the Emperors refused to accept lowered taxes, leading to poverty and strife in the cities. With the series of Voðeren attacks and thievery that disrupted trade being outright ignored by the government, the coastal cities finally had enough of the Empire. They would form the League of Eight in 1547, in reference to the eight principal cities of the coast at that time. The Eight would go on to establish their own naval forces which beat back the Voðeren raiders. These navies would go on to be used for smuggling operations and to avoid taxes, since they no longer felt their taxes were worth paying as they could not rely on the government's defense of their harbors and were forced to levy their own fleets. When taxes began dropping, the Empire would send soldiers to attempt to clamp down on smuggling, but they were unable to root it out due to their poor naval investment which was the main issue in the first place. This so-called assault on the liberty of the cities (who were mostly autonomous) by stationing of troops within them finally boiled over and they plotted to declare independence. Using their contacts, they managed to secure support from the western tributaries and waited for their moment to declare independence.
In 1559, their waiting came to fruition, for this marks the year of the unification of the Kingdom of Spólństawo. The Krókłoś had long sought to keep the two nations from unifying as they would then be a large hassle to deal with, but by 1559 they had strayed from their close watch. When the sickly and bedridden Krókłoś Queen of Upper Spólństawo died within a year of the new Queen of Lower Spólństawo's ascension to the throne, the two nations agreed to a marriage between the King and Queen. With both monarchs being previously childless, this would essentially mean the two would be forever unified. Under usual circumstances, both would have quickly arranged marriages to Krókłoś nobles (with or without a choice), but the Rodłowi Empire was busy with the smuggling and with the north, so they did not react to the occurrences out west. Whether or not they missed it, simply decided to accept it, or were deliberately misled is still up for debate. Either way, the damage was done. The new Kingdom of Spólństawo immediately declared independence and began preparing for war. Their friends in the League of Eight would rise up shortly after, and the Krókłoś were on a back foot immediately. Many of the soldiers they has previously sent to the Eight ended up settling in and forming connections in the area, finding the fine dining, opportunities to collect bribes, and whorehouses much to their liking. It is said that when the emperor called upon his commander in the region to destroy the cities, the commander refused and sent a letter back explaining that he felt the women of the city were far better than the emperor's own mistresses and that had the emperor ever visited he would understand why so many stood with the Eight.
So it is much debated whether the whorehouses did more for the independence cause than the elite councils of merchants who orchestrated the whole thing. Either way, it makes for a point of pride in the industry in those cities to this day.
Nonetheless, with the defection of land, troops, and the tributaries, the Krókłoś would immediately lose control over their Relvetsian subjects as well as the Litewskzyc, who had no lost love for them. By 1563, even their staunchest allies had abandoned them and the emperor was forced to abdicate. He was summarily executed for oppressing the people and other such trumped-up charges and a second son of his younger brother was found to put on the throne (the first son died in the war). The new postwar order would see the Krókłość lose all land they had conquered to the south and west as well as having to grant the Kingdoms of Litewskzyc and Pryzelfów their independence once more. However, they did keep some regions, such as the south of Litewskzyc they took all the way back in 1057 as well as the lands the Pryzelfów did not retake in the 1200s. Other changes would see the revival of Alistród, which, though thoroughly assimilated into the Krókłoś state, was to be a buffer state in the south of Krókłość, allowing goods to reach lake Arcesiel without passing through Krókłość and shortening the Pryzelfówy frontier with Krókłość. Lastly, the Eight cities were guaranteed their independence. Though the League itself would disband shortly after over mercantile disputes, its legacy remains. Three of the cities remain autonomous or independent today: Augurówy (autonomous), Styałystowa (independent), and Śwyzcśyzca (independent).
Ever since the disastrous collapse of the Empire, Krókłość has had no hope of regaining its glory. Without any ports of its own for many years, it was forced to do all of its commerce through the city-states, and fighting those city-states would be a disaster economically, so they have refrained. They were also faced with an alliance of the Kingdoms of Nazchódów, Pryzelfów, and Litewskzyc, who all feared a rising Krókłość for obvious reasons. However, recent events have changed this, and the Krókłość have managed to begin restoring their glory. In 1977, Spólństawo collapsed into rebellion. Then, in 1980, the Relvetsian Empire collapsed, which opened up further routes for expansion. Krókłość wasted no time in seizing this chance to regain glory. The ruler of Alistród was deposed in 1983 and a pro-Krókłość puppet was set up who would later swear fealty. Krókłość's military immediately abandoned Alistródi borders and rushed its troops east, since they knew that Alistród was not a threat. This sudden influx of troops reached all the way to the Litewskzyc border before the northern kingdoms realized, and the nation was quickly overrun, leaving no chance for either Pryzelfów or Nazchódów, now separated by many miles, to respond. Since none of the war participants were confident in offensive operations, the war ended in 1986. The major prize of this was was the city of Ingłyst, a former member of the League of Eight and a possession of Litewskzyc since 1719. Possession of Ingłyst allowed Krókłość to have limited access to their own ports for traders, though most of their goods still flow through the other cities, since river transport is much cheaper. Still, Ingłyst will allow Krókłość to construct and maintain a naval force. Immediately after the war's conclusion, Alistród swore fealty and joined the Kingdom of Krókłość once again. Having now formed a secret alliance with the Kryziddian rebellion, they are waiting for a time to strike and hopefully weaken Spólństawo enough to swoop in and restore their strength.
Founding Date
957 S.C.
Alternative Names
Rodłowi Empire (1319-1563)
Demonym
Krókłoś
Leader Title
Official State Religion
Related Species
Related Ethnicities
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