Yadosia has long been considered the land of arts, wine and leisure. As the direct successor to the fallen priest-emperor empire of Elentrea, Yadosia has a great wealth of cultural heritage to offer. Moreover, it has been a very open empire over the centuries, where every culture, every belief and even magic were welcome. All that was to change with one particular event. One day, a captured lizard priest was taken to Bayard's dungeon. From that day on, nothing in Yadosia would ever be the same again.
The Kingdom of Yadosia, or The Land on the Yadir
Kingdom of Yadosia lies on the Rock Sea, its neighbours being Toran to the west, and Hadewald to the east. In the south, the Kingdom of Yadosia is bordered by the Great Desert. The climate of Yadosia is warm, but quite mild due to the influence of the humid winds coming from the Rock Sea. Thus Yadosia becomes more and more desert-like from north to south. In the north, directly on the coast, there is a moderate, but quite humid climate, which becomes drier and warmer towards the south, so that Yadosia's cultivation possibilities are very wide-ranging. Well-known are, on the one hand, the Yadosian wines that thrive magnificently on the warm slopes and, on the other hand, the horses, such as the Yadosian, that were bred here.
Social structure
The kingdom of Yadosia is a monarchy, with a royal couple at the head. Next in line are the dukes, princes, barons, counts, squires and nobles. After that comes the people.
The King of Yadosia resides in Bayard, the imperial capital. At his side is the queen, who represents the king in his absence. The king and queen are traditionally assisted by the high council, which fulfils advisory functions and is composed of 3 representatives of the priesthoods, the nobility and the guilds, as well as 7 free advisors appointed by the king at his discretion. This high council is always at the king's side and has its own rooms in the palace of Bayard. However, the ruling power is firmly in the hands of the king.
Furthermore, the king appoints the 10 ministers (warfare, magic, seafaring, diplomatic affairs, taxation and tribute, law, trade, sacred affairs, etc.). These ministers are each subordinate to a ministry, for example, the House of Commerce of the Ministry of Trade. These ministers also have an advisory function and, together with the Imperial Council, assist the King. The Imperial Council consists of the dukes, princes and barons, as well as the presidents of the guilds, priesthoods and the mage academies. Thus, the circle of advisors to the royal couple consists of the High Council and the Imperial Council, although the Imperial Council rarely meets in full, as the individual members usually have other things to do.
The history of Yadosia
The Fall of Elentrea (231 b. EC)
The history of Yadosia begins with the fall of the empire of the priest-emperors Elentrea. In 231 b. EC Bayard is founded on the ruins of the destroyed city of Elentrea. It is said that at this time there were about 200 different "empires" that lived, ruled and raged on the territory of the former Elentrea. The largest of these "empires" consisted of three to four hamlets. Four kingdoms grew far beyond the others in these warlike times. The remaining small kingdoms joined together to form three kingdoms so as not to be hopelessly at the mercy of the four great kingdoms.
The territory of Yadosia was now divided among eleven kingdoms. And it is said to have been quite quiet and peaceful for several decades. One day, however, a certain Thandralf le Noir is said to have seized power in one of the western kingdoms and subjugated the two kingdoms to the west. He proclaimed his victory by messenger and demanded that the other kingdoms submit to him if they did not want to perish in disgrace. The other kingdoms refused, and war erupted. Thandralf marched his troops into the middle kingdoms. The three easternmost kingdoms joined together under King Fran to form the Eastern Alliance and used the remaining time to build up their armies. Thandralf le Noir marched further east and subjugated kingdom after kingdom to his bloody rule, driving thousands of refugees before him.
When Thandralf's troops reached the border of the Eastern Alliance, the campaign of conquest gradually came to a standstill. The exhausted troops of le Noir now faced the rested and well-trained troops of the Eastern Alliance. The Eastern Alliance managed to hold off Thandralf's armies and push them back a little to the west. For a long time the front is said to have stopped shifting and a truce was finally signed in 20 b. EC, later in 120 b. EC the mutual recognition of the two states was signed between Thandralf le Jeune and the current commander of the Eastern Alliance Arthur Vignoble. In 100 b. EC, Thandralf le Cruel had several Alliance border posts raided and invaded Alliance territory. The Alliance lost vast territories to Thandralf's empire and in 98 b. EC Thandralf was at the gates of the city of Bayard, the capital of the Eastern Alliance. Bayard soon fell and went up in flames. Thandralf le Cruel had succeeded in what his ancestors had sought, the destruction of the Eastern Alliance. He had Arthur Vignoble staked and all the other high politicians of the Alliance hanged. Vignoble's three sons fled into exile.
Thandralf le Cruel ruled his kingdom with an iron fist. His son Thandor took over in 87 b. EC, and ruled even more cruelly than his father. He was not granted descendants, although he is said to have had 200 wives, all of whom he drowned because they did not give him a son. In 40 b. EC, several territories rose in the east of the empire under the returned descendants of Vignoble. Thandor saw his empire and power waning as yellow scabies confined him to his bed. By 33 b. EC, the territory of the former Eastern Alliance had been liberated again, and the forces of those of Vignoble marched further west. Thandor succumbed to his illness in the winter of 30 b. EC and without leaving a descendant, when his empire had already shrunk to a third. In 29 b. EC, Thandor's general and friend, Prince Albert Jamais, surrendered to the forces of Vignoble's last surviving descendant. Adam Vignoble had Prince Albert and his generals beheaded, their descendants banished, and the fortress of Pion Gris, Thandor's seat of power, set ablaze.
Adam Vignoble had himself crowned king of Yadosia in 28 b. EC. He had the palace in Bayard rebuilt and declared Bayard the city of the king again. The Vignobles ruled benevolently and justly for four centuries and the empire flourished. In 380 EC, Ingolf Vignoble was crowned king after his father King George died in a hunting accident. Ingolf was soon nicknamed "The Madman" because he enacted several laws that seemed very suspect to most, such as the "Law on the Sanctity of Fish" and the law that allowed apple picking only on Fridays. Ingolf's insane laws and his greater liking for green-and-pink clothing soon made him and Yadosia impossible everywhere and the laughing stock of the people, so that only three moons after his coronation he was again deposed by his mother and placed in the care of a Ce-Nya monastery. Queen Marie is said to have thereafter sworn to live chastely and had her son's laws suspended. She reigned for 5 years and was then stabbed to death in the throne room by Ingolf, who had fled the monastery. For high treason, as he is said to have said, before being seized by the palace guards and thrown into the dungeon.
The Nordstädt Pact and the Inquisition Magica (155 EC)
In 155 EC, the realms of Yadosia and Hadewald jointly banned the practice of magic in the Nordstädt Pact. The slowly strengthening magic was well received by the people, especially since Yadosia had always been a very free empire. The nobility and the military, on the other hand, felt threatened by the newly emerging magic, and so there were efforts to ban the practice of magic. Good relations with Hadewald ensured that they met in the Hadewald town of Nordstädt and agreed on a pact that banned magic in both realms.
In addition, the Inquisition Magica was founded in Bayard in 195 EC, an association that initially started with the nobility and the churches to break up the magical covens and orders. The Inquisition Magica was to remain in existence long after the practice of magic had long been permitted again. In 330 EC, the grouping would finally be banned and go underground.
Letterpress printing is invented in Bayard (262 EC)
In 262 EC, the scholar Jean Bienmont from Bayard invents letterpress printing. Although this was to make him famous and the art of printing spread like wildfire across Tirakan, there are rumours that this technique was already known in ancient Elentrea. Here, however, knowledge of printing plates and presses perished with the fall of the empire and fell into oblivion.
The Hermetic Circle claims military command. (259 EC)
The Hermetic Circle, which has become more powerful due to the rise of magic, claims military command in defiance of the Inquisition Magica and the Nordstädt Pact. There is a rupture between the Yadosian army and the guild. In a few bloody nights, this conflict is settled in favour of the military. During these weeks of violence, notable mages and military personnel die in targeted attacks.
The new royal house (390 EC)
With the throne now vacant and no known heir to the throne, the Council met to decide who should sit on the throne from now on. It was unanimously decided that King George's nephew, Prince Bertram de Tonnerre, was appointed king. In 390 EC, the royal couple was found poisoned. Their son Jonas, however, was only four years old, and there a previously unknown man entered the throne room and announced that he was George le Faucon, descendant of King Ingolf Vignoble, and as it turned out a priestess of the Ce-Nya monastery. The council met for many days and seams as to whether George's claim should be granted, but as he bore no signs of insanity and his lineage proved correct, George le Faucon was crowned king. However, when King George drowned his rival for the throne, Jonas de Tonnerre, in the moat in broad daylight, giggling confusedly, the people of Yadosia rose up in indignation shortly afterwards. But King George would not resign despite the advice of the High Council. The people revolted, a tiny part of the army joined the rebels, but the majority remained loyal to the king. What followed was a bloody civil war lasting 3 years, at the end of which King George was slain by the rebels.
General Dietmar von Breitbach seized the sceptre and negotiated truces with the rebels, as in the south of the country many hordes of the desert tribes, who were advancing into the defenceless and internally shattered empire, were wreaking havoc and advancing further and further north. General Dietmar von Breitbach led the last remaining troops to victory over the Buruga horde. General Dietmar von Breitbach summoned the leaders of the rebellion to the palace and negotiated with them to administer the kingdom until Jonas' sister reached the age of sixteen, and then to hand over the crown to her. Dietmar von Breitbach kept to the agreement and had Marina de Tonnerre crowned Queen of Yadosia in the life moon of the year 400 EC. Marina's first official act was to rename the largest street in Bayard "Civil War Avenue". In 405 EC she created the Imperial Council to give the ruler a better insight into the ministries and to serve as a mouthpiece for the people and the nobility. Thus, since then, the de Tonnerre have continued to be the rulers of Yadosia. At present, King Herbold II de Tonnerre rules wisely and justly, but he is getting on a bit, and he does not yet seem to know exactly which of his three sons he should appoint as his successor.
The Lizard (410 EC)
A caesura in Yadosian history was to occur in the year 410 EC. Under the events of the Storm of the Hoof and the appearance of the Lizards, Yadosia had faithfully stood by its allies in the last decades. One fought with Asgoran and Hadewald side by side at the Bloodwall.
One morning in the Haumond of the year 410, news was brought to Bayard that a priest of the Lizard had been captured. He was already on his way to Bayard, and would be placed under guard and questioned by the Academy of Hermeticism there.
A diary extract from an eyewitness:
410, haumond the thirteenth. I had already prepared breakfast for the first meal, so that the children and Francis could strengthen themselves. Normally Francis would have already been on his way to our little shop, but today everything was different. The Yadosian army was to bring a prisoner to our bayard, one of those creatures from the south we hear so much about these days, a lizard, and an important one as well!
Marie from next door told me it was a priest, but I think she's talking nonsense. What could such creatures worship? I shudder at the thought of it, but it must have been important, otherwise they wouldn't have made such a fuss.
So, fortified and dressed in Sunday best, we went down to Civil War Avenue to join the crowds of citizens and watch the spectacle. It was... strange, we had all never seen one of these creatures with our own eyes. They are so different from us, not only that they resemble a human-sized lizard, but also their behaviour, They behaved so not at all like a prisoner on the way to interrogation. Even when the rotten eggs and the one or other stone flew towards her, she did not move, such a prisoner should be... humble...
I don't know, Francis said, it's just a soldier or a general or something, that's another blow... but for me... I got a very bad feeling about it.
So we walked with the children a little bit on the height of the wagon, which was very exciting for the little ones, of course.
And then suddenly there was this scream, a woman I knew only slightly from the shop had dropped to her knees and was crying uncontrollably, she kept shouting that this was wrong and if we didn't see that this creature was entering our bayard like a king, she couldn't be calmed down until some city guards pulled her aside. Francis just shook his head, but I.... I could kind of see what she meant.
*Excerpt from "Our Bayard" - Records of Caroll Relé, Transcript from the Library at Bayard 476 EC : Franz Kastel Academy of History at Hadewald.
The lizard was taken to the high tower of the Hermetic Academy of Bayard and locked up there.
Influences of the Lizard (477 EC)
It took several decades for the influences of the captive Lizard to become apparent to other realms. In 477, in the midst of the war against the bulls, Yadosia denies the inhabitants of Asgoran and Hadewald any entry into the country. Only three years later, Yadosia closes its borders completely. In 482 EC, the Wiesengrund Treaty, which has ensured peace between the former Elentrea and Asgoran since 330 b. EC, is unilaterally revoked by Yadosia.
During this time, all Yadosian troops are withdrawn from the front. Henceforth, Yadosia does not provide any more banners.
The Empire of the Serpent (490 EC)
Just eight years later, 80 years after the Lizard was captured and driven into Bayard to cheers, this same Lizard priest proclaims the Empire of the Serpent in Bayard. Yadosia is now completely cut off from other realms. No one can say whether a human being still sits on the throne at Bayard, and whether it is not just a puppet of the lizard. The borders of the realm are strictly controlled, there is a rumour that there are so-called "insensate", people who have lost all empathy and humanity. These are to be used primarily as guards.
Two hundred years later, around the year 646 EC, the borders of Yadosia are guarded by Minotaurs. From about this time onwards, a strange crunching and cracking sound emanates from within the land far into the neighbouring regions of Asgoran and Toran. In the years to come, fugitive Yadosia report of a gigantic black tower that has arisen in the interior of the land. It is said that the tower would grow on its own.
Politics
The foreign policy that Yadosia has long advocated is one that derives directly from Yadosian chivalry. It straightforward, open and honest, towards allies at least. Yadosia is always keen to maintain its reputation as a just and peace-loving empire. The wars Yadosia fought under the kings of the de Tonnerre were not marked by unnecessary violence and the desire for gain. Yadosia also enjoys a good reputation among its neighbours, which is mainly due to the calm, honest manner of the de Tonnerre kings. Even though Yadosia has constant border disputes with the Buruga tribes, who are always trying to invade Yadosia from the great desert in the south, the current king Herbold de Tonnerre has managed to conclude various trade agreements with a few Buruga tribes. Yadosia's domestic policy is similar to its foreign policy. Here, too, Yadosia pursues straightforwardness, which has led to the fact that in Yadosia everyone is innocent as long as they have not been found guilty by a court of law. The exceptions are the royal couple, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the imperial administrators, who can decide on the guilt and non-guilt of individuals as they see fit.
Religions
In Yadosia, any form of faith is allowed to operate, as long as it does not violate the prevailing laws or has a declaration signed by the Ministry of Sacred Affairs stating that this faith group is allowed to perform various rituals. Such permission is also required for recruiting followers/believers. Thus, the predominant religions that operate in public are found among those of the [[die-gotter-tirakans|Three Gods and those of the Titans, while those that the Traitors have chosen as their Gods eke out their existence underground.
Military
The military of Yadosia, how could it be otherwise in a monarchy, has always been firmly in the hands of the nobility. Even though the Ministry of War exists, the acting minister is usually a noble. Yadosia's army relies mainly on the knights, who are still highly respected, even if the backbone of the army now consists of pure infantry. Famous, however, are the valiant Sun Riders, who relentlessly prevent the Buruga tribes in the south of Yadosia from plundering and invading the country. In some battles, the army found energetic help in some paladins who saw the influence of their deity threatened. It must also be mentioned here that the Yadosian army nevertheless has 4 squadrons of mounted flight lizards, and the acquisition of 2 new squadrons is said to be under discussion, as the mounted common flight lizard has quickly made a name for itself as a rapid reaction force.
Cities
**Bayard is the capital of Yadosia, the seat of the royal family, the high council, the ministries and of course the secret service. Bayard rightly claims to be the most beautiful city in Tirakan, as the city is teeming with temples, villas and merchant houses. The seat of the royal family alone, Bayard Castle, also called the Palace, is worth seeing, as it rises gracefully on a hill in the middle of the city, proudly above the rest of the city's buildings, apart from the Academy. "The Academy of High Magic at Bayard" is also well worth seeing, with its towers and turrets and all the bridges in between. The ever-changing colours of the buildings are somewhat confusing. The best view of the academy is from the market square, where the daily market takes place. At this large market, almost all the goods from Bayard and all the surrounding countries are on offer, so that thousands of different smells fill the visitor's nostrils. Bayard is home to the Royal Guard of Honour, the Temples of the Three Gods and the Ten Titans.
Rocher de la Tempête, the second largest port town in Yadosia, is located on a part of the coast marked by high cliffs. The city proper is high up on the cliff, while the harbour is a good hundred steps below. The city contains temples to all three Gods, the ten Titans and the mage academy Rocher de la Tempête, which was crucial to the city's foundation, as the academy stood first, and then the city formed around it to meet the academy's needs. Thus Rocher de la Tempête is still firmly in the hands of the Academy, which is unique in Yadosia. Rocher de la Tempête, with the few villages around it, is also an 'independent' duchy, but it will probably never declare its independence, since the head of the Academy, Andalon "The Grey" Weiherwächter, who has been in office and honour for a whole 675 years, seems to dislike politics, as well as any other public appearance. He has not been seen outside the Academy for more than 121 years, but he has always been represented on important occasions by his official deputy, Magister of Magical Arts, Sir Alfred Kohlenbrecht. However, all visitors to the Rocher de la Tempête Academy report that Andalon Weiherwächter is still alive and holds the reins of the Academy firmly in his hands.
Feu Montagne, another of Yadosia's more important and large cities, lies in southeastern Yadosia, and is the residence of the principality of the same name. Thanks to the surrounding hot bogs, Feu Montagne is Yadosia's main producer of pitch, Tar and rushes, not to mention the bog oaks, whose heavy, dark wood is popular everywhere for sturdy gates, doors and furniture. Another important trade commodity of Feu Montagne is liquid stargold, a golden oil that can be extracted from the roots of stargold, a rush-like plant found in the high moors west of the city, and used for various sacred and magical purposes. Feu Montagne, like the principality, is the more primitive part of Yadosia, which is also reflected in the mentality of the inhabitants, so old sports can still be found here, which otherwise are mainly found in Hadewald. Directly on the border to Hadewald, it is difficult to distinguish whether the guest in the tavern is Yadosia or Hadewald.
**Clostrull, Yadosia's largest port city, lies in the far north-eastern part of Yadosia at the mouth of the Reflet river. Clostrull is also home to most of Yadosia's shipyards and ships, and the city's large harbour, where a vast number of ships, as well as the main part of the Royal Yadosian War Fleet (KYK for short), lie at anchor when they are not roaming the Rock Sea. The location of the town, which has made Clostrull the eastern gateway to Yadosia, is probably also the reason why the population of Clostrull almost exceeds that of the capital. Clostrull is home to the temples of the three Gods and those of the Titans, with the temples of Chronar, Nadal and Algor, as well as Ginae and Ce-Nya predominating. Also, the many travellers bring foreign religions with them, making the city a melting pot of all sorts of sects and beliefs. In any case, the local branch of the Ministry of Sacred Affairs has enough to do banning various sects, considering new applications, so there is reason to believe that the Orders of the Traitors are more active in Clostrull's underground than anywhere else in the Empire.
Château Faucon, or rather what is left of Château Faucon since the Civil War, really only consists of the old fortress and a few hamlets. However, as the only larger town on the border with Toran, Faucon is still very important as a goods transhipment point and customs town.
The Ministries
- Ministry of War
- Ministry of Magic
- Ministry of Maritime Affairs
- Ministry of Diplomatic Affairs and Foreign Affairs
- Ministry of Taxation and Tribute
- Ministry of Law
- Ministry of Trade
- Ministry of Sacred Affairs
- Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Ministry of Building Law