The Crownless Lands

''Freedom's a grand thing, to be sure. It's just too bad that you have to give it to the fool as well as the sage.''

- Kaylan Strakos, Minister of Justice A recent break away from Vaelorn and Straegard, the lands of the Crownless have been a remarkable success. Sandwiched between those two countries, they have been forced to be on a constant defensive. Because of this, the people of the Crownless have been honed into a well-disciplined militia and have developed advanced military technology, even in comparison to the Tenders of the Aei'kar. They have created airships, hand cannons, clockwork horses, high explosives and biological agents. The Crownless operate under an elected Triumvirate currently made up of the Ministers Cole Peredian, Ralos Haen and Kaylan Strakos.

The Secession of the Eight Provinces
In 1315, eight provinces under the control of both the Principality of Straegard and the Kingdom of Vaelorn split away and declared themselves independent states. In the century since the secession and the war it eventually cause, many historians and scholars have attempted to deduce the reasons. All but one of the provinces, Faerul, were rich and prosperous, excelling either in agriculture or mining. The island of Drexin, which was one of the first to secede was one of the most economically powerful counties in Straegard prior to their independence. Because of the lack of monatery impetus and even the significant absence of persecution, many have assumed that it was merely a power play by the various provincial governors at the time. Given that both Straegard and Vaelorn were experiencing an increased undead presence from Idlebruuke, the timing itself was fortuitous for the Secessionists.

The First Crown War (1323-1324)
A few years of tenuous peace existed between the Eight Provinces and their former masters, until in 1323, a wayward terrorist group called Slachatain attacked Brightshore Citadel in hopes of killing the king and the royal family. After Vindicators were brought in, it was discovered that the group had ties to Drexin's governor, Vincente Strakos. Vaelorn declared war on Drexin and unleashed its Right Hand, an army numbering over two million soldiers. A fleet of zeppelins and gyrocopters was unleashed towards Drexin. In response, Strakos called on the other independent provinces to aid them, which according to their mutual defense agreements, they were obliged to do.

What everyone but Strakos was unaware of was that, the Drexinites had been planning such an attack since before their independence. Strakos knew that his island, all alone and unaided, would soon be reabsorbed by Straegard by force or time alone. He would require a stronger centralised government and allies in order to keep the island free. Hence, he supported Slachatain in their obviously foolish attempt on the monarchy of Vaelorn in order to inspire his fellow Secessionists to fight and band together.

When the Right Hand finally arrived on the border of Drexin, they found their fleet facing a flotilla of ships gathered from all around the Eight Provinces as well as significant defenses awaiting their advance. For four months, the Right Hand tried to punch a hole through Drexinite defences but every single time were repelled by the flotilla and the Drexin defences on the ground. After two further months of air sorties, the Right Hand finally limped back to Vaelorn, defeated.

A victorious Vincente Strakos then traveled about the Eight Free Provinces and convinced the other governors that what they required to ensure collective security and stability was to create a centralised democratic system and band their provinces together as states within a greater union. From this, the Crownless Lands were born. Officially, they are called the Confederated Provinces of Vaelorn, but no one but clerks and judges really refer to it as such. To themselves and the world at large, they are crownless and proud of such a fact.

The Mass Immigrations (1330-1335)
The Crownless Lands quickly grew in their reputation as a free society, anarchic and unrestrictive in the ir government. Whether it was through a desire for freedom, wealth, change or simple happenstance, is unclear but beginning in 1330 AS and ending in 1335 more than three million immigrants arrived in Crownless Land cities and ports. Desperate for work and the promise of the new nation they had now arrived, many immigrants found themselves unwanted by the native Crownless. Most shops in major cities such as New Anegal were given to having "No Dusters Need Apply" or "No Slits" both common racial slurs against Vaelorn and elves respectively.

These anti-immigrant sentiments eventually erupted in the Estate Riots of 1334 when a large mob of natives burned down the New Anegal East Estates in protest for the recent streamlining of citizenship legislation by the Crownless Executive Minister Vincente Strakos.

However, the Executive Minister was vindicated in his legislation after winning six consecutive terms of office, taking major percentages of the voting citizenry. Many have speculated that Strakos purposefully enacted the easier citizenship for immigrants in order to garner their votes for a simple price. Given the man's propensity for shrewd statecraft, this is not an impossible supposition.

The Second Crown War (1338-1341) 

In the years after the mass immigrations from Vaelorn and the elven states, even more illegal immigration occured over the Vaelorn-Crownless border, sparking tensions between the two human nations. Vaelorn, for their part, were unwilling to either stem the flow of immigrants or to understand that the Crownless wasn’t party to the exodus. Vaelorn blamed the Crownless for seeding the kingdom with anti-royalist propaganda in order that they might woo top Vaelornian mages, military commanders and industrialists. After the defection of Battlecaster Alfred Duan - Vaelorn’s foremost researcher in the matter of military applications for magic - in 1336, Vaelorn escalated military deployments along the border. This led to a defensive reaction from the Crownless military eventually leading into a full scale engagement between the two countries in 1338 at the border town of Reafremonte.

The war once again showcased the impressive technological superiority of the Crownless. Battlecasters came equipped with a device called an “ethergauntlet". The gauntlet allowed battlecasters to more easily focus ambient magical energy into their spells. This not only lowered the amount of time taken to cast spells but also increased their power by a factor of three.

Squads of these battlecasters were used decisively in the Battle of Koravire Valley, where an overwhelming force of Vaelornian troops assembled against a vastly outnumbered Crownless mage taskforce. The taskforce, led by Colonel Laer Eversall, rebuffed the Vaelornians through the clever deployment of Shadan'Mo battlecasters. The Vaelornians were drawn into a choke point within the valley which allowed the batlecasters to concentrate their fire. In a few moments, the Crownless managed to decimate their enemies. The victory at the Battle of Koravire Valley was the first of a string of one-sided battles leading to a favourable treaty to the Crownless. In it, the Crownless Triumvirate gained control over the border province of Drassen from Vaelorn.