Brött
Brött is somewhat of an oddity among the Northern Human Realms. They are perhaps the most peaceful (though the bar is very low for that) of the three dominant kingdoms. While they share their neighbors' near-worship of Abbas, they have no particular interest in reuniting Abbasynia, rather preferring to go it alone than to deal with the inhabitants of Kampura or Gorgogi. Brött is rarely the aggressor in any of the northerners' wars. That duty is left to her neighbors, though that does not mean that Brött does not engage in those wars.
To understand the Brött mentality, we must examine the two primary idols of the people there: Abbas and vultures. Both are worshipped for the same reason, cleverness. The Brött value cleverness above all else. To them, no amount of intellect, strength, constitution, or endurance can make up for a lack of cleverness. Abbas' cleverness was in the way he united the tribes of Abbasynia to forge an empire. He did not simply stampede his army over the grasslands of the north, crushing anyone who dared oppose him. No, he used his knowledge of the tribes and their problems to gain leverage over them and persuade them to join him without spilling a drop of blood. Similarly, vultures, a primary scavenger in the region, are seen as being more clever than many other predators. They know that animals will die in the deserts and grasslands of Brött, and they know that they are more fierce in a fight than many of the small predators they compete with. Rather than wasting their energy hunting and killing prey, they simply wait for something else to kill their meal before swooping in and taking it for themselves. Why run the risk of injury or death in hunting when you may just let another creature do it for you?
This idea that cleverness trumps all explains much of Brött's actions over the past centuries. They will rarely begin a war with Kampura or Gorgogi, but as soon as one begins, the Brött army mobilizes and stands ready to raid their weakened neighbors. These Brött raids result in many lost resources for the other two nations, but they can never fully retaliate for fear that their nemesis would then take advantage of the distraction to deal a killing blow. In this way, the Brött manage to raid two other kingdoms simultaneously without major repercussions. They need have no fear of a united front against them either, since the Gorgogs and Kampurans hate for each other is pure and strong.
In fact, Brött plays as much a role in the continued division of Abbasynia as either of the major combatants. It has long been suspected, though never proven, that Brött stages border raids in Abbasynia to trick Kampura and Gorgogi into each thinking that the other is responsible. They have also been known to step into military conflict between their neighbors at the incredibly rare times when one of the kingdoms seems to be close to achieving victory. The Brött know that if Kampura and Gorgogi are ever allowed to unite, then they will be able to invade Brött and take away the small kingdom's independence.
Structure
Brött is organized much like the rest of Abbasynia. The structure of the kingdom is hierarchical, with the king at the top, nobles and lords beneath him, and the peasantry underneath it all. A sort of feudal system is in place for the peasantry, where they must give a portion of their crops to their feudal lord in exchange for protection provided by the lord.
History
Brött was founded around 470 AC, near the time that Abbas supposedly disappeared from his empire. Historical records show that just preceding the establishment of the kingdom, there was a brief internal struggle in the region. After the victor emerged, the fighting moved to the borders of the newly established kingdom as the warring states each sought to legitimize their claim to the land by claiming it for themselves. After approximately a decade of war, the modern borders of Brött arose. The south is, of course, bordered by the Chükan, the Aljabal Desert to the north, and grasslands to the east and west.
The first king of the land shared its name: Khazagan Brött. Before Abbas' supposed disappearance, Khazagan held lands in the Aljabal Desert on the way to the shrine dedicated to Isha. Though the lands he controlled had few natural resources, he made a fortune from the travelers and pilgrims passing through his lands. Merchants and traders from all over Abbasynia would come to his city to sell wares and make a small fortune themselves. Through his taxes, he became wealthy. Wealthy enough to raise an army when the time came to fight to keep his lands. Eventually, he realized that his army was vastly stronger than his neighbors, and he began conquering them. The Succession Wars as they would be collectively called lasted for decades, but Brött was spared the most brutal fighting. Khazagan had more or less conquered Brött's modern territory by 482 AC, and none of the other major powers challenged him for control of the region.
Now, having its modern borders (except for the Baruqi Hills territory which came about after a war with Gorgogi), Khazagan decided that he had claimed enough land to sate him for now. He began the laborious task of building the infrastructure that his realm would need to survive. Though the infrastructure is nothing to marvel at, heavy emphasis was placed on roads, so that the army could move quickly across the nation to engage with any threats. The road network is rather extensive in that region of the north, and is an impressive work for such an early kingdom to have achieved. He also set about raising taxes and established grain tithes to equip and feed his army.
Eventually, of course, Khazagan died. Each king since him has succeeded their predecessors relatively peacefully, sparing Brött the countless civil wars that plagued Kampura and Gorgogi during the Succession Wars. The result was that Brött was left untouched by war for centuries. By the year 770 AC, however, the Faruk family had taken over Gorgogi, and the Kaan dynasty was established in the newly declared kingdom of Kampura. There were no more distractions for the Faruks and Kaanites to keep their attention away from Brött, and what followed was a series of wars known as the Wars of Unification, where each of the three kingdoms attempted to subdue the others and bring them into the fold. During these conflicts, the border regions of all three nations was tramped over by so many armies that the grasslands turned to seas of mud. Each kingdom was dealt its share of damage, and many border towns and cities were razed to the ground. At one point, even the Gorgog capital was besieged by the Kampurans.
The Wars of Unification achieved very little, with almost no territorial gain or loss for any of the combatants, aside from a few minor castles and forts along the border. The final conflict of the Wars of Unification ended in 886 AC, and the modern states emerged as they are today. While there have been no further conflicts of that scale, there have been several wars between the three kingdoms, all with little gain or loss -- each an attempt to unify Abbasynia under the aggressor's banner. Brött has mostly avoided being the main battlefield in these wars and adopted their tactic of sitting on the periphery and taking advantage of their neighbors' weakness.
In the 233 years since the end of the Wars of Unification, the border of Brött has been turned into an unbroken chain of fortresses (much like all the borders of Abbasynia), and passing into and out of the kingdom can be difficult -- especially in times of war. The current capital sits at Gribbsted, and the current king is Yartog, son of Agur. He is an able king, not particularly wise, strong, or charismatic, but dependable and smart enough to consider the counsel of others. He presides over a prosperous land, wealthy from trade and raiding neighbors, but it is not without its issues. The Chükan Jungle presses ever northward, pressuring the Brött to either deal with the jungle, which many men have tried before (and failed) or steal yet more resources from their neighbors. If any of you, my readers, are historians, then I shall expect that we witness the final solution to this issue in our lifetime. I watch with great interest and dread alike at what may transpire.
Founding Date
470 AC
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Demonym
Brött
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