Calredia in the early Middle Ages
Calredia, year 832
Forget for a moment the sturdy walls of Villacollina, the pleasant river of Chalois Basin and the sunny hills in Ergellon... Let us go back to centuries before the stories of our previous characters, in a time before the mighty Kingdom of Swadia and the powerful Vaegir Tsardom. Four hundred years before the Warband timeline, and two hundred years before Bannerlord, Calradia was much more different than we thought. The Calradic Empire was slowly entering its decadence due to famine, pestilence and the first invasion of the Khuzaits from the East. The Khuzaits, fearful nomadic warriors from the edge of the world are making the proud Sturgians, the Empire and the brave Savramates tremble at their feet under the command of their great Khan, Baian Ortolug. People flee from the East, many cities burn, are sacked and razed to the ground: the hordes from the East know no mercy and the great imperial walls are just vestiges and relics of a world that is soon going to vanish.
But maybe not all is lost! The Empire and its allies resist, and at West, there's a new Kingdom that is slowly making its way to the known world. The Vlandians, and their leaders and warriors, have been known for generations as great fighters, sometimes siding with the Empire, sometimes against it. Their king Amalareiks has been able to conquer the city of Jaculan, that you will know as Jelkala, from the hands of the Calradic Emperor Phocus Macrobitius. Now the Vlandian kingdom is flourishing with trade; too far from the Khuzaits to care about their horses and much confident of their recent victories, the Vlandians are considered a powerful people. Some parts of the world finally see some light under the wise guidance of the Archbishop Evoric of Pravend, that is considering to take a leading role in the Makerist Church of the Vlandian Kingdom. He has been supported by the other Bishops and people whisper that, while funding many new churches and monasteries, he might want to proclaim himself the Head of the Church.
In all this, a small community of men, women and veterans of the recent war against the Empire, hardworking servants of the Maker, are starting a new life in a small region of the Vlandian countryside called Krenn, in the West-Vlandian province. Led by the wise words of Gastald "Liutprand Pertingi" this will be the story of the men and women that will live through this turbulent century and will manage, somehow, to find peace and prosperity.
- Red: Vlandian Kingdom
- Brown: Calradic Empire
- Green: Battanian Confederacy
- Purple: Khuzait Khaganate
- Yellow: Savramates Khaganate
- Blue: Sturgian Princedom
- Purple: Free Cities of Geroia
- Light Blue: Jumnish Tribes
- Orange: Kingdom of Balion
- Yellow: Aserai
Vlandian Kingdom
The Vlandians originated overseas, mostly Balion, and came to Calradia as mercenaries, adventurers and colonists. They take their name from one of their first warlords Wilund the Bold (Calradic: Valandion). The Vlandians were employed by the Empire and paid in land grants and titles, predominately located along the western coast. During a period of instability in the Empire, Osrac Iron-arm declared himself king of Vlandia, leading to de facto independence. Today the Vlandians are at the head of a young and strong Kingdom able to impress even the Calradic Empire.
Ruler: King "Rex" Amalareiks Vlandi
Governement type: Early feudal
Calradic Empire
There was a time where most of the known world was ruled by just one mighty superpower, now the Calradic Empire finds itself in the middle of pestilences, famine, the invasion of the Khuzaits in the east East and the growing power of the Vlandians in the West. Adding to this are the unruly Battanians in the North. But the Empire is yet to be defeated, its army still stands its ground and the cities of this great nation are a beacon of culture and knowledge and there is no civilization in Calredia that doesn't look at the Empire with great respect.
Ruler: Emperor Phocus Macrobitus
Governement type: Imperial
Battanian Confederacy
The misty hills of north-western Calradia are dominated by the Battanian clans, the original inhabitants of much of the continent. Their hilltop fortresses have born witness to countless wars fought to resist outside invaders: first the Empire's legions, and more recently the rising Sturgian and Vlandian kingdoms. They are masters of the longbow, the night raid, the sudden wild charge out of the woods. They idolize valor, but especially like it when mixed with a bit of mischief - the cattle thief who can whisk an entire herd into the fog; the champion who dines with a rival tribe, and, regaling his hosts with an anecdote of battle, produces from his bag the skull of one of their kinsmen that he took as a souvenir.
Ruler: Rì Dubnovellauno
Governement type: Tribal
Khuzait Khaganate
For centuries, the tribes in the vast steppe east of the empire were content to live as nomads, venturing into the imperial lands to raid and trade, and then returning to their ancestral freedom. A decade ago, however, something happened far away to the east - a change in the winds, perhaps, or some terrible but distant conqueror - and the horse clans were set in motion. Khagan Baian Ortolug led the clans nearest the empire into its eastern provinces, overrunning its provinces and forming a khanate. He imposed discipline on the unruly clans, forcing them to ride to war on his command instead of simply when they wished.
Ruler: Khagan Baian Ortolug
Governement type: Nomadic
Savramates Khaganate
The last of their kin, the Savramates have been driven west by the Khuzaits. They were themselves the rulers of the Steppes once, when the Khuzaits were still disorganized. Even the Empire recognized the bravery of the Savramates horsemen and they drew inspiration from them to make their own cataphracts. Now the Savramates, as brave and fearful might still be, are decimated by the dreadful hordes from the East and are calling to their former foes to unite against the invaders.
Ruler: Kati "os" Bagaxar
Governement type: Nomadic
Sturgian Princedom
The confederation of small kingdoms that is now the Principality of Sturgia came into being only a century ago. As boomtowns sprung up along the great rivers of the north, the local tribal leaders forged marriage pacts with Jumnish and other adventurers, hiring their swords to subdue their neighbors. Under pressure from the empire, they elected a prince to lead them in war, and eventually the princes became a hereditary office. But the idea of a monarchy has never sat easily with the independence-minded boyars, and the potential for rebellion always lurks under the surface of Sturgian politics.
Ruler: Knyaz Oleg Stjurg
Governement type: Tribal
Written by Borrisnator & Wlodoviec