The Great Kingdom of Aerdy, commonly referred to as the Great Kingdom, is a nation-state which dominated the south-eastern Flanaess from 1 CY but has been in decline since the fourth century. It was heavily influential, originating the Common language, Common Year calendar, and the gold/silver/copper coinage standard used throughout the Flanaess.
As the Baghluny-Suloise War raged on, many Baghluny would seek refuge to the north-east of the Flanaess until they reached the Solnor Ocean, the great ocean in the east. There, they came into contact with a tribe of Oerdians called the Aerdi, which is Oeridian for "Sky people". The settled lands were divided among individual Aerdi noble families, notably the houses of Garasteth, Cranden, Darmen, Rax, and Naelax. Coming into conflict with the newly-arrived Baghluny refugees, they discovered a pressing need to unify the scatterned Oeridian tribes under a single leader.
In -217 CY, Lord Mikar of House Garasteth was crowned the first Grand Prince of Aerdy. The lands within his rule were known as the the Kingdom of Aerdy, and their capital in Rel Astra.
The Kingdom of Aerdy set about expanding throughout the Flanmi Basin, spending its early decades conquering the neighbouring Flan and Oeridians. They crushed the old Flan kingdom of Ahlissa to the southwest, and conquered rival Oeridian tribes to the north who had settled there after them.
In -110 CY, during the reign Grand Prince Almor II, House Rax defeated its western rival Nyrond in the Battle of a Fortnight's Length. With the conquest of Nyrond, Aerdy nearly doubled in size, declaring itself the Great Kingdom of Aerdy and beginning the nation's imperial era. House Cranden rose to prominence over the next century.
In 1 CY, Grand Prince Nasran of House Cranden declared universal peace throughout his empire. He established the Common Year calendar, with the new year established as 1 CY. He took the new title of Overking, which would be used by all subsequent rulers. This move centralized power in the capital at Rauxes, which initially posed challenges to the Overking due to the difficulty of governing such a large realm.
The reforms posed by Grand Prince Nasran would prove to be successful. He would begin minting official coins for the first time since the fall of the Baghluny and Su empires, and this currency would quickly be used as the standard currency over all of the Flanaess, along with his calendar system and the official language of the Great Kingdom, now known as Common, is still used accross the Flanaess as a netural language to communicate between nations.
To solve this, he appointed largely autonomous viceroys to rule over each province. by 100 CY, during the reign of Overking Manshen of Rax, there were four viceroys, with House Cranden ruling South Province from Zelradton, and House Naelax controlling North Province from Eastfair. Manshen divided the western marklands into the Viceroyalty of Nyrond, ruled by a junior branch of House Rax from Rel Mord, and and the Viceroyalty of Ferrond, ruled from Dyvers.
In 75 CY, Overking Tenmeris died and was succeeded by his wife Yalranda, the first and only Overqueen of the Great Kingdom, and an influential member of House Rax-Nyrond but a Cranden by marriage. When Yalranda died at the age of 40, her son Manshen broke with tradition to take the name of House Rax-Nyrond.
By 100 CY, the Great Kingdom stretched the entire breadth of the Flanaess, from the Solnor Ocean to the Fals Gap, and as far north as Perrenland and the north and northeast of the Vesve Forest, and from Sunndi to the Griff-Corusk mountains. It continued to grow over the next century under the rule of the Overkings of House Rax, notably the ambitious Erhart I and Toran I.
Age of Great Sorrow
In 198 CY, Selvor the Younger prophecied an Age of Great Sorrow. A brief hysteria occurred among the superstitious Aerdi.
In 213 CY, Overking Jiranen died after the end of a long reign. His son Malev rejected the throne, secretly auctioning it off to his cousin Zelcor. A total solar eclipse occured during Zelcor's coronation, taken by the Royal Astrologers as a confirmation of Selvor's prophecy. Zelcor ignored the warning, and simply disbanded the Royal Astrologers and banished them to Rel Astra.
This began an era of decline for the Great Kingdom, with successive Overkings being increasingly decadent and incompetent, leading to the gradual collapse of the Great Kingdom. Ferrond declared independence in 254 CY, followed by Veluna, Tenh, and Perrenland. Nyrond declared independence in 356 CY during the reign of Overking Portillan, whose attempts to reconquer the territory were blocked by an attack on the Great Kingdom's heartlands by Flan barbarians. The Urnst states and Theocracy of the Pale would soon follow Nyrond's example and declare their own independence.
Subsequent Rax Overkings were poor leaders. Portillan's son Galren was a fool, and Galren's son Sonnend was a drunkard with no interest for affairs of state. Subsequent rulers were weak and ineffectual, leading princes to act increasingly independently of the Overking and even fight amongst each other. House Naelax began to rise in the late 300s CY, using humanoid mercenaries and aligning itself with the church of Hextor.
The last decade of the rule of Overking Nalif was marred by internal schisms. House Rax was unable to present a strong contender for Nalif's heir, leading to agreement among the major noble houses that it was time for change. However, the houses had no agreement as to who would succeed Nalif. This controversy would be recognized as the beginning of a succession crisis known as the Turmoil Between Crowns.
In 437 CY, Overking Nalif of House Rax was assassinated by House Naelax. The herzog of North Province, the charismatic and ambitious Ivid of Naelax, made a claim to the throne, which was supported by most (but not all) of House Naelax. His primary contender to the throne was the herzog of South Province, Galssonan of Cranden. Naelax was opposed by House Cranden, much of House Garasteth, and the remains of House Rax. Numerous smaller contenders.
The dispute resulted in a period of civil war lasting nine years, during which assassination of nobles and shifting of alliances were common. Several noble houses resorted to in-fighting or settling old scores with rival houses. The war ended in 446 CY when Ivid I was crowned Overking, due in large part to the death of all other viable contenders.
The resulting lasted nine years, ending in 446 CY with the crowning of Ivid I and the granting of greater autonomy to the provinces of Medegia, Rel Astra, Almor, North Province, Bone March, and Ahlissa.
Regrettably, the Turmoil Between Crowns also resulted in the destruction of the Royal Guild of Navigators, the august body responsible for developing a more accurate method of navigating the oceans and seas of Oerth, by creating a system of longitude and latitude. (0° longitude was established so as to run through the capital, Rauxes, while 0° latitude was determined to run along the Oerth's equator).
Ivid I soon gained a reputation as a tyrant. He deposed the herzog of South Province and replaced it with a prince of his own House Naelax, who in turn sparked outrage when he imprisoned and tortured ambassadors from Irongate. Irongate, Idee and Onnwal rebelled and founded the Iron League in 447 CY, joined in 448 CY by the Lordship of the Isles and in 445 CY by the County of Sunndi, and allied with Nyrond.
The Great Kingdom of Aerdy worships Pholtus of the Blinding Light, a deity associated with law, order, and inflexibility. Pholtus and his worshippers are most notoriously known for being adamantly against magic, killing anyone suspected of spellcasting outright. This would have profoundly lasting impacts on all territory under the Great Kingdom and beyond, even after the kingdom's decline.
Nowadays, Pholtus is still worshipped by many ex-Great Kingdom nations and their neighbours, who consider the Holy Censor, the head of the Church of Pholtus located in the Theocracy of the Pale, as the official spokesperson of the religion.