Ryerde
Jun 12, 2017 2:40:14 GMT -6
Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Jun 12, 2017 2:40:14 GMT -6
Overview
Ryerde as an independent march never really developed an identity of its own; stuck between actually relevant territories, heavily forested, and considered backward, with no particularly valuable natural resources, some have joked that it exists only due to an error in the maps. Adding to that the fact that the royal family historically suffered from some level of corruption and a long running tendency for insanity as age came to them, it wasn't exactly a major tourist destination. Farmers, traders, that kind of thing.
Etruria's brutal invasion and destruction of Ostia changed that to a degree - rousing the sleepy territory to action, leading to the beginnings of a tentative alliance with Worde, establishing a joint task force to train and coordinate against a possible repeat invasion from Etruria. While the relationship was... rocky at times and rocked especially hard by the marquess of Worde's death, as well as the failure of the Ryerden royal family to honor some of their commitments to the joint force, it barely survived nonetheless - and when the ruling marquess and his next of kin were both unfortunately murdered, it fell to one Lucius Geraint, former chief of intelligence, to regretfully step up to the position.
Interestingly, many other members of the corrupt rulership also met terrible and highly unfortunate accidents that sadly led to them being replaced with more competent individuals, a number of whom some note have ties to Lucius. Truly a strange series of events. While there are certainly questions of valid succession, it is also certain that the new Marquess has been ruthlessly efficient in turning the ailing country around; rumors fly fast and furious of what he actually did and what the reclusive spymaster is capable of, but within six months he had renewed diplomatic ties with Worde, reworked the tax code, invested an enormous amount of money in a major infrastructure upgrade, and invested a great deal in Ryerde's minor magical academy. Within three years, the joint task force was the strongest it had ever been, Ryerde and Worde's relationship had gone from near icy to best friends, Ryerde's academy had been responsible for discovering at least two new tomes as well as a resurgence in the use and acceptance of dark magic in the area, its major port city had begun to draw some business away from Badon, the capital city actually looked like a city, and those not loyal to him have mostly gone on extended vacations to unknown destinations.
While it is quite clear to most that the new marquess is none too concerned with the morality of his actions, his dedication to Ryerde is equally clear and the results of his savagely efficient restructuring mark an almost meteoric ascension for Ryerde. Overall the march is still a very minor power and will never be a major one, they simply do not have the resources and population to ever vie with Araphen and Laus, but they went from "LITERALLY irrelevant" to "fairly valuable to Worde at least," and their mage academy is picking up heavily so they have the potential of a decent future. And it turns out that for a bunch of people who spent their lives being the laughing stock of Lycia - maybe a future was all they really wanted. While most are frankly terrified of the marquess, they also trust him implicitly and will defend his (supposed) actions to outsiders quite fiercely.
Currently probably best known for its rising mage academy, especially with Etruria's being so closed off to outsiders in recent years. Trying to set themselves apart, and as the result of several successful former students, Ryerde's academy teaches all four branches of magic equally, including dark magic, and encourages innovation and creativity - which leads to a mixed reputation and a number of yearly accidents but also a wide variety off mediocre to top tier mages coming out of the melting pot. While not the most storied academy in Lycia, it is certainly one of the rising stars.
Military
Ryerde isn't a major power by any means, but for their size they pack a decent punch, Between a former commander's innovations in combined arms warfare, extensive use of mages and battlefield manipulation, and an ongoing partnership with Worde, Ryerde's small army is far better trained and powered than it has any right to be. They make heavy use of ranged units and their uneven terrain to stymie larger and less mobile forces so Ryerde itself would be very difficult to invade, but has extremely poor long range force projection and nonexistent supply lines along with HUGE undead problems so they're kept very busy.
Oh, right, undead problems! See, it turns out that when Ostia is spitting out countless undead on a daily basis, and your neighbor and best friend Worde needs an incredible amount of help to just survive, and a lot of undead and other monsters still make it through and end up somewhere in Ryerde, that's a bad thing. It is however a thing that Ryerde has become quite familiar with dealing with, leading to an odd sort of laissez-faire acceptance of the high dangers of its woods and regular attacks, and its villages to typically be built with wooden walls and spikes set into the ground to hold the undead off. There are some bandits too, but honestly there isn't enough to steal to be worth dealing with monsters themselves, so Ryerde is mercifully not that heavily plagued with bandits.
Relationships
Ryerde as an independent march never really developed an identity of its own; stuck between actually relevant territories, heavily forested, and considered backward, with no particularly valuable natural resources, some have joked that it exists only due to an error in the maps. Adding to that the fact that the royal family historically suffered from some level of corruption and a long running tendency for insanity as age came to them, it wasn't exactly a major tourist destination. Farmers, traders, that kind of thing.
Etruria's brutal invasion and destruction of Ostia changed that to a degree - rousing the sleepy territory to action, leading to the beginnings of a tentative alliance with Worde, establishing a joint task force to train and coordinate against a possible repeat invasion from Etruria. While the relationship was... rocky at times and rocked especially hard by the marquess of Worde's death, as well as the failure of the Ryerden royal family to honor some of their commitments to the joint force, it barely survived nonetheless - and when the ruling marquess and his next of kin were both unfortunately murdered, it fell to one Lucius Geraint, former chief of intelligence, to regretfully step up to the position.
Interestingly, many other members of the corrupt rulership also met terrible and highly unfortunate accidents that sadly led to them being replaced with more competent individuals, a number of whom some note have ties to Lucius. Truly a strange series of events. While there are certainly questions of valid succession, it is also certain that the new Marquess has been ruthlessly efficient in turning the ailing country around; rumors fly fast and furious of what he actually did and what the reclusive spymaster is capable of, but within six months he had renewed diplomatic ties with Worde, reworked the tax code, invested an enormous amount of money in a major infrastructure upgrade, and invested a great deal in Ryerde's minor magical academy. Within three years, the joint task force was the strongest it had ever been, Ryerde and Worde's relationship had gone from near icy to best friends, Ryerde's academy had been responsible for discovering at least two new tomes as well as a resurgence in the use and acceptance of dark magic in the area, its major port city had begun to draw some business away from Badon, the capital city actually looked like a city, and those not loyal to him have mostly gone on extended vacations to unknown destinations.
While it is quite clear to most that the new marquess is none too concerned with the morality of his actions, his dedication to Ryerde is equally clear and the results of his savagely efficient restructuring mark an almost meteoric ascension for Ryerde. Overall the march is still a very minor power and will never be a major one, they simply do not have the resources and population to ever vie with Araphen and Laus, but they went from "LITERALLY irrelevant" to "fairly valuable to Worde at least," and their mage academy is picking up heavily so they have the potential of a decent future. And it turns out that for a bunch of people who spent their lives being the laughing stock of Lycia - maybe a future was all they really wanted. While most are frankly terrified of the marquess, they also trust him implicitly and will defend his (supposed) actions to outsiders quite fiercely.
Currently probably best known for its rising mage academy, especially with Etruria's being so closed off to outsiders in recent years. Trying to set themselves apart, and as the result of several successful former students, Ryerde's academy teaches all four branches of magic equally, including dark magic, and encourages innovation and creativity - which leads to a mixed reputation and a number of yearly accidents but also a wide variety off mediocre to top tier mages coming out of the melting pot. While not the most storied academy in Lycia, it is certainly one of the rising stars.
Military
Ryerde isn't a major power by any means, but for their size they pack a decent punch, Between a former commander's innovations in combined arms warfare, extensive use of mages and battlefield manipulation, and an ongoing partnership with Worde, Ryerde's small army is far better trained and powered than it has any right to be. They make heavy use of ranged units and their uneven terrain to stymie larger and less mobile forces so Ryerde itself would be very difficult to invade, but has extremely poor long range force projection and nonexistent supply lines along with HUGE undead problems so they're kept very busy.
Oh, right, undead problems! See, it turns out that when Ostia is spitting out countless undead on a daily basis, and your neighbor and best friend Worde needs an incredible amount of help to just survive, and a lot of undead and other monsters still make it through and end up somewhere in Ryerde, that's a bad thing. It is however a thing that Ryerde has become quite familiar with dealing with, leading to an odd sort of laissez-faire acceptance of the high dangers of its woods and regular attacks, and its villages to typically be built with wooden walls and spikes set into the ground to hold the undead off. There are some bandits too, but honestly there isn't enough to steal to be worth dealing with monsters themselves, so Ryerde is mercifully not that heavily plagued with bandits.
Relationships
- Despite a long history of not getting along well with Worde, in recent years the Ostian crisis has forced Worde and Ryerde to get over themselves and become BFFs. It's been a bit of a struggle, but the appointment of Lucius Geraint a few years back was the turning point, and over the last few years they've actually become quite close, trading HEAVILY, with a joint task force encompassing both marches' armies that keeps both (relatively) safe from the unending tides of horror emanating from Ostia. Ryerde offers the majority of Worde's mage forces as well as rescuing Worde's failing economy with its own growing trade.
- Thria doesn't actually LIKE anyone, but Ryerde hasn't actually fucked them over (yet) and helps with medical supplies and some contribution to the joint strike forces that help keep Thria's hive-cities from falling, so they trade a decent bit with each other; as is typical, Thria provides mastercrafted arms and armor, Ryerde helps keep them alive.
- Laus and Ryerde generally ignored each other for most of Lycia's history, but as Ryerde slowly grows into a regional power, Laus has stepped up its offers and strives to pull Ryerde into its bloc with mixed results.
- Badon and Ryerde have always shared a mutual dislike and grudging neutrality on account of their shared guardianship of the mouth of the major river flowing through Lycia, but in recent years that relationship has strained as Ryerde strives to take a bigger slice of the pie and shrug off what it views as unfair trade agreements with Badon which the mercantile superpower refuses to renegotiate.