Geography
Hopefully, sooner or later I’ll be able to post a map, here
Recent history
The Grand Duchy of Reziel was founded by the expatriates of the Empire of Irem, a nation existing somewhere else outside the East Pacific. This group (which will hereinafter referred to as the first Iremians) was led by Grand Duke Elistar Reziel, who happened to be the Empires Protector, i.e. its supreme military commander.
The exodus has its roots in the so-called Ziganian crisis, when the Easternmost provinces of the Empire rebelled against the central government, mainly because of the unreasonable level of taxation. Ordered to crush the revolt with iron fist, Elistar Reziel lead the Imperial Elites (i.e. the Archangels, [01]) against the capital city of the rebels (Zigan, [02]) and stormed it during an assault which ended in a bloodbath.
Feeling betrayed by his own leaders, Elistar rushed back to the capital city of Irem (also named the One Thousand Columns City) where he confronted the Emperor. Rather unfortunately, this produced a split inside the Archangels ranks, dividing those who were ready to follow Elistar and raise their arms against the throne (the Ruby Throne) and those who wanted to remain loyal to the crown. Therefore, as soon as he reached the city, Elistar Reziel was accused of high treason: this would have probably determined a civil war, but in the last moment the Grand Duke decided to abandon his role and leave the Empire itself.
As soon as they reached TEPs north-eastern lands, the first Iremians found themselves in an anarchic territory, ruled by ruthless lords of war constantly battling against each other. As the most part (a good 99%) of Reziels followers were elite soldiers, they simply decided to do what they were trained to do and battled against the warlords for the control over the city which is now called New Irem. As the battle was easily won, they seized the power and started to rebuild the citys infrastructure, while trying to open contacts with the other nations of TEP [03].
With Dannistaan, Free Pacific States, Kelssek and Kangarawa being the first nations to answer the Rezielan call, the city started to be stabilized, with the surviving warlords being pushed back towards the western hills (near the present Reziel/RNH border) and eventually defeated: in the process, a number of smaller villages/towns and large portions of the countryside entered the Ducal area of influence, mainly because of the protection the Archangels were able to offer them: the embryo of the new Grand Duchy was born.
During the subsequent months and years, mainly thanks to the help of some of the abovementioned nations (FPS and Kangarawa above all), the Rezielans were finally successful in consolidating the new State, stabilizing its economy. In this period, the Grand Duchy entered EPTO, under the North-East command (entrusted to RNH). Unfortunately, a sudden issue arose, endangering the many achievements of the new State (the so-called Airbusian incident).
Indeed, the civil war Elistar Reziel had feared so much had indeed started, endangering the very survival of the Iremian Empire: when the Emperor died in mysterious circumstances and the Council of the Five took power, being unable to lead the defense against the advancing armies of Zigan [04], a number of high level Iremian officers started a plan called Silver Seraph which was centered on the main goal of finding Elistar Reziel and the Iremian expatriates and join them, wherever they were.
The whole thing went incredibly bad and the Iremian First Fleet, lead b Admiral Roger Proudmoore, materialized in front of the shores of Airbus UK, where it entered in contact with the Airbusian forces: with the unlawful seizing of Iremian ships and the consequent killing of an high-rank Archangel being the sought casus belli, a war begun between the two nations. As the conflict threatened to become a regional one, a peace summit was indicted by the Dovakhaneses and attended by the leaders of Bakostrovia, Dovakhan itself, FPS and Kangarawa and by Elistar Reziel himself who, on behalf of the Grand Duchy, met his old comrades and countrymen, who (once again) accepted his leadership [05].
The peace summit was successful only to a point: indeed, it avoided a larger scale conflict and allowed a international team of Dovahanese and Kangarawans humanitarians to enter the war theatre. On the contrary, it didnt bring peace between the Airbusians and the Iremians, which eventually determined a full conflict, with the Iremians being supported by the Airbusians hostile to the standing regime. In the end, Elistar Reziel and his men defeated the Airbusian dictator Robert Darbat Singh, but no real invasion of Airbus UK happened, as the rebels gained the FPSian support and in the long run they were able to require a full independence from the Iremians, who assumed a peacekeeping only role.
In the meanwhile, in the North a number of large cities (with Caergoth, Solanths and Vingaard being the first ones) required to be annexed to the lands of New Irem, which consolidated the Rezielan area of influence over the northern part of present map-plot n. 35. This lead to a deep change in the governmental structure, with Elistar Reziel imposing a turn towards http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php?showtopic=5174&view=findpost&p=5233558: at present time, the Grand Duchy can indeed be reasonably compared to a constitutional monarchy (like real world Holland, Id say). See below for further details.
Immediately after, the Michelsland Empire was annexed too [06], which brought to the actual-map shape of the nation. About Michelslands formal independence, too, see below for further details.
— Begin quote from ____
Foot-page notes
[01]The term Archangel is just the corps name. In no case it identifies winged supernatural creatures.
[02] During the preliminary skirmishes of the Ziganian crisis Elistars first field-adjutant, Count Codric De Corde, was killed by ambushing rebels. His second son, Arian De Corde, mysteriously survived.
[03] ICly, the TEP portion of the facts has been RPed in the thread The Foundation of Reziel, which disappeared in the big forum crash of 2002. The Irem portion on the contrary, is usually told via flashbacks or indirect references scattered through my RP threads.
[04] The events are briefly summarized in http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php?showtopic=4694&view=findpost&p=5028727
to Elistar Reziel.
[05] The following events, including the final downfall of Irem, can be read IC in what survives of the thread http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php?showtopic=4694.
[06] Michelsland was an inactive nation landlocking my southern border. The facts leading to its annexation can be read in the http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php?showtopic=5128 thread.
— End quote
The joint Governments of the Grand Duchy of Reziel and the Empire of Michelsland
Political Structure
Under construction
The Archangels
The Dark Twins
The Brotherhood of the Observers
Under construction
Major Characters
Grand Duke Elistar Reziel[52 years old, Archangels nickname: Dragonhunter, Military rank: Commander in chief] Shadow Noble and 27th Grand Duke of Reziel, at 52 hes de facto the national leader. 510 tall, his hair are black, but grey ones are starting to appear. His eyes are pitch black, with golden sparkles scattered in the iris.
Assistants name: Luke Gardol
(Emperor) Prince Lachdanan Uth Reiser[31, AN: Storm, MR: Colonel] 511 tall, hes both a Shadow Noble and the standing Emperor of Irem, even if he hasnt yet claimed the title, mainly because the Empire itself doesnt exist anymore. At present time, he operates as field commander for the whole military (even if he mainly focuses on the Archangels). His hair are black and short, his complexion is mild-tanned and his eyes are pitch black, with golden sparkles scattered in the iris. Hes deeply engaged with Marilyn Janus, Ambassadress of Kangarawa to the Grand Duchy of Reziel and hes a member of the Council of the Fives.
Count Arian De Corde[21, AN: Rainbow, MR: Second Lieutenant] 61 tall, he has attended Shiro Academy in the recent past, even if he was unable to finish the school year having been http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php?showtopic=4973 in the middle of it and never went back. Shadow Noble, hes engaged with young Countess Eloise Proudmoore, but he refuses a deeper and more responsible commitment pretending hes too busy with his duties as newly-appointed Lieutenant of the Archangels. Hes the second son of Codric De Corde (Elistars first field-adjutant) and Ileana Almsyckm with Lothar De Corde being his older brother. His hair are black and short, his complexion is mild-tanned and his eyes are pitch black, with golden sparkles scattered in the iris.
Countess Ileana Almsyck De Corde[52] 54 tall and rather thin, with a fair complexion and black eyes, this long-black-haired Lady is the present Minister of Foreign Affairs for the joint Governments of the Grand Duchy of Reziel and the Empire of Michelsland. Shes the mother of Lothar and Arian De Corde, member of the Council of the Fives and she has deeply engaged with Elistar Reziel since their adolescence, even if their (platonic) relation was never made official anyhow and was suspended pending her marriage with Codric De Corde.
Count Lothar De Corde[31, AN: Phantom, MR: Major] 511, dark brown short hair and Shadow Nobles pitch black eyes with golden sparkles scattered in the iris, hes Arians older brother and Lachdanans first field-adjutant, being his second-in-command whenever the need arises. At the end of http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/The_East_Pacific/index.php?showtopic=5128 he married Katrine von Eindhoven and hes consequently the standing Imperial Consort of Michelsland.
Count Eldemar Valenstar[30, AN: Worshipper , MR: Captain] 511, his hair is dark blonde and his eyes are deep azure. Despite being enlisted as Officer of the Archangels, hes not actually serving in their ranks, as his primary mission seems to be a life-long seek for the ancient Iremian god Kijo (see below). Upon recently, he has been appointed as a member of the Council of the Fives.
Baron Kantar Uth Mackan[29, AN: Scorpion, MR: First Lieutenant] Kantar Uth Mackan was a Shadow Noble serving as First Lieutenant in the Archangels corp. During a night ball held in New Irem, he lost any possible control over the Twin lurking inside him, which took the lead. As, according to traditional Iremian laws, such a fact would have probably determined his immediate execution, he decided to leave the newborn Grand Duchy and hide in Malev (Kandarin), in Lorenzo Khazardis palaces: indeed, while he was interested in entering malev and trying to find out the secrets kept by the underground depths of the ancient city, the Kandarinese hoped to learn more about the Twins nature and, hopefully, to gain new knowledge/powers in the process.
Kijo Hes basically the god of the Iremians. Usually called Lord of Thunder or Lord of Azure, when hes in need of taking human form hes usually 6 tall. His hair are dark blonde and his eyes as blue as the sea, but theyre usually hidden under the full helm of the arabesque plate armor he always wear.