Kingdom of Galudon
Often referred to as the ‘Iron Heart of Pannotia’, Galudon or more collectively known, the Galudonian Kingdom is one of the primary nations settled by Humans within the known Pannotian world. Originally derived from the namesake of its most prominent, albeit archaic Petty Kingdoms, the Kingdom has rapidly evolved from its primitive feudalistic roots into a prospering sovereign realm flourishing with diverse cultures whilst pioneering the world's technological advancements. Its capital of Ironhurst (a homage paid to its colloquial title) is seat to the King of Galudon, Frederick Caelock, whom the citizens have not seen in decades, and the Galudonian Parliament: the country's primary legislative mechanism. Despite its industrial power, it is only a simple cog in the machine of Pannotia, competing primarily with the long established Elven Kingdoms, the Dwarven Empire and the wide reaching trade routes of the Ferox civilization. Nevertheless, the rulership of Galudon seeks to keep the populace happy and the gears of progress turning as it everly expands its global reach.
History
Once a simple Human settlement plan, the Kingdom of Galudon has evolved from a collection of minor Human Petty Kingdoms to a full blown nation in its own right over the course of nearly seven hundred years. The exact year in which the Kingdom was founded is unclear but it is estimated that the first signs of a bustling settlement where what is now known as Ironhurst is located, began around the year 1060 - 1070AE as a result of a mass migration of Humans from Aesox centuries before, primarily due to growing concerns over the Dwarven Empire’s expansionism and diminishing resources. Evidence shows that the first few decades were not hospitable to the country's settlers with sickness carried from Human emigrants from all corners of Aesox culminating in mass outbreaks of Collopox. Death tolls rose high into multiple hundreds as local leaders, those primarily being wealthy sons and daughters of aristocrats from Aesox based kingdoms seeking to make names for themselves in new, undiscovered lands, sought desperately to quarantine off infected civilians while the makeshift power hierarchy struggled to consolidate some form of unanimous authority structure. A loose and lax oligarchy of the three most notorious Aesox aristocratic families was implemented, comprising of the families Abberton, Caelock and Credge – the former two families hailing from West Aesox while the latter originated within the mountains of the South Eastern portion of the region. Between them, they were able to quarantine and hypothesize treatment for those infected with Collopox, at least temporarily, before establishing an immigration system which pitched nationalities coming into Galudon to its four corners, establishing separate settlements outside of Ironhurst itself and requiring of emigration ships a 40 day anchoring off-shore, reducing the risk of the infection returning.
Despite the triumvirate leadership proving particularly effective, the natural hierarchical order shifted when Bernard Abberton, the son of Cyril Abberton who sat upon the original triumvirate council, pressed the other two families into accepting him as de facto ruler and King of Ironhurst using his family's wealth, his popularity among the people of Ironhurst and his families shipping company (which had been used to bring supplies from other continents to and from Ironhurst) as leverage. Overnight, Bernard Abberton was crowned as the first King of Ironhurst in 1120 AE. As a measure of appeasement, the families Caelock and Credge were granted noble status and were delegated responsibility over city planning and expansion, while also granting them both positions as advisors within the royal court (which at the time was incredibly small). This method of appeasement went over fairly well and had very little negative effect on the people of Ironhurst due to its population size at the time of only about 20,000. The regime continued to operate incredibly similarly to how it was in the triumvirate days, only now, there was one major figure having the final say on decisions. Across the country, this method of leadership was mirrored with the family MacNamara forming the Kingdom of Vorith in the Northern reaches of the country and the families Teague and Fortesque founding the Kingdoms of Kithage and Acrafort in the West and East, respectively.
Trade continued between these four Kingdoms for the next century, despite trials and tribulations often hitting hard upon each of them and disputes began to arise over land acquisition and expansion, especially between Ironhurst and Vorith with the former wanting to expand past the Stamworth mountain range in the middle of the country to where the largest iron and copper deposit could be found, which at the time was being excavated and processed by Vorith citizens. Disputes escalated into full blown conflict when Ironhurst claimed that their trade convoys were attacked and pilfered by Vorith soldiers at which point the then King of Ironhurst ordered his army into Vorith territory, occupying their mines and demanding retribution. The Kingdom of Kithage refused to get involved as, at the time, it was dwarfed in size by both Ironhurst and Vorith, however Acrafort came out in force, denouncing Vorith for savagery and brutalism – opting to send supplies to the Ironhurst forces as it began to push deeper and deeper into Vorith. The conflict spanned six years before finally, Ironhurst was able to capture the major Vorith trade hub of Tolbarrow and sisters of the Vorith MacNamara King.
Despite having practically equal numbers, it became obvious to the Ironhurst occupiers that they were significantly more advanced in terms of military training, basic warfare technology and leadership skill. King Benjamin, seizing the opportunity, placed King MacNamara and his sisters under house arrest, placing the Caelock family in pseudo-control of Vorith for a few months before declaring the full annexation of the Vorith Kingdom under Ironhurst’s banner – shocking the governments of Acrafort and Kithage. Now having control of the copper and iron mines of former Vorith, Ironhurst was able to produce more tools and technology, assisting them in expanding their own cities and villages but, more importantly, allowing them to make the discovery that changed their entire way of life – coal. Mountains of it within the Ironhurst mountain range, alongside gemstones, gold and cymrinite.
By 1346 AE, Ironhurst had developed exponentially socially. The once small settlement of 20,000 now numbered 130,000 because of the huge boon in agriculture, resources and luxuries found on the Isle they had settled. At this point, the Caelock government had become responsible for the administration of almost half of the entire country's landmass. Tragedy did however befall the Abberton family as its last male heir dies of a rare cymrinite related disease known as Kaymer’s Pox, allowing the Caelock family, who had been consolidating government power, wealth and alliances to make such a move, to seize the throne. The new Caelock royal regime quickly set about diplomatic engagements to Acrafort and Kithage to begin laying the foundations of unifying the remaining two kingdoms into the fold, with Kithage immediately agreeing to such after seeing how prosperous Ironhurst and Vorith held cities had become in comparison to their own. Acrafort, however, declined. It took almost two hundred years before Acrafort was finally forced into unification with Ironhurst, primarily due to growing scandal amongst its ruling class and a return of various illnesses that they were just not advanced enough to treat. Come the year 1517, the true and unified Kingdom of Galudon was formed during King Bartleby Caelock’s reign, with the King favoring diplomatic appeasement to the disgruntled nobility, providing them with large, lavish estates, funding for parties and soireés and granting charters and monopolies to many of the ruling families.
King Bartleby Caelock was not your average monarch. Rather than bask in the luxuries that came hand in hand with power and authority, he vested a considerable fortune into expanding research into the minerals and gemstones that had been found in the Galudonian mines and mountain ranges. Scholars from all around Pannotia were welcomed into his Court and were put to task with finding unique and innovative functions for copper, iron and cymrinite, though the latter was quickly placed into the hands of Ironhurst University specialists for experimentation. Elves, who had recently become a more frequent visitor after their resurface into World affairs, warned King Caelock of tampering with the mineral which only drove his ambitions further. His lifetime saw a great and unexpected push in the field of science, primarily due to an unexpected alliance with the Eiruks whom he had chosen to aid during their rebellion against Dwarven captors in the mid 1500’s, signing the Advancement Concord, and with assistance from them and their designs revolving around geartech, helped the Human race discover and fully utilize steam power technology that ran almost entirely on water and heated coals. Noting the size of the Dwarven Hoardes and the reemergence of the once dominating Elven Kingdoms, Galudon formed its own state army, complete with the greatest of state of the art technology in the form of airships, powerful mortars and muskets – technology that the King believed would stomp out the arcane superiority of the Elven forces if it came to it and rivaled the breakthroughs that the Dwarves had been relying on for centuries, albeit being outnumbered by them. This focus on technology over magic, a force that had been recognised as existing since the Great Equilibrium bred a huge amount of distaste toward the arcane, and Galudon to this day seeks to find the ultimate advancement which would make this ‘volatile and archaic’ force obsolete.
His rulership ended on one final revolutionary note. In order to ensure that King Bartleby’s progress would continue, he established a secret council of scholars, technicians and bureaucrats known to the public as the Ember Convocation – an organization that sat above the government and advised the Crown in matters pursuant to his ‘ideal technological world’. It continues to exist to this day and valiantly, albeit clandestinely, guides the sitting Monarch’s hand in matters of advancement. Before his death he parsed his ideology into a single tome: the Philosophy of Bartleby, which is religiously followed to this day by the vast majority of Galudonian citizens. Following his death in 1598, the technological revolution began and still continues to this day. Advancements in steamtech were numerous and by the 1800s, the skies above Ironhurst were littered with steampowered zeppelins and airships, the streets were patrolled by both members of the metropolitan police forces alongside steampowered copper golems. It isn't uncommon to note propellers, intricate gearwork and pipe systems even along domestic houses with these pieces of technology helping to power the many cities within the Galudonian country. In recent times, the liberalization of Galudonian society has seen the Nobility displaced and rulership placed in the hands of elected officials, albeit these formerly powerful families remain so with vast amounts of wealth and their own individual prosperous trading companies. Instead, the authority to legislate was granted to these elected officials within the Galudonian Parliament – comprised of Senators who are elected by Aldermen into the highest legislative board in the country, while Aldermen, who are voted into power by civilians, are charged with hard authority, seeing laws enforced within their designated boroughs and towns while liasoning with their elected Senators in the capital.
Geography
Galudon is located in central Pannotia northwest of Aesox and to the east of Destresh. It sits between the West Aesox Sea to its east and south and the Galudonian Stretch to its east. Galudon boasts rocky coastlines with few sandy beaches, which cities like Ironhurst have absorbed and taken up residence by. Much of the interior inland is dominated by a cacophony of plains and highlands, though many of the valleys are home to lush and vibrant forests that have grown wild over centuries that are only now being tamed by the expansion of nearby civilization. The flatlands are dominated by townlands and villages, dotted with farms used for agricultural produce and animal rearing with mining outposts littering the inclines almost harmonizing the tranquillity of simple life with the telltale acknowledgements of industrial progress. The country sports two significant mountain ranges: The Stamworth Mountain range which divides the country along its centre and the Vorith Caps, a collection of closely formed mountains that separate the north of the country and the Aesox Sea. Galudon’s climate is temperate, meaning it gets cool, wet winters and decently hot summers; though rain can be spontaneous even at this time. The further north one travels, the colder it can become and the Highlands of Vorith are no stranger to snow throughout the year. The Kingdom is host to multiple cities and major townlands, all of which are loyal to the King of Galudon. Among these notable cities are Ironhurst, the Kingdom’s largest city and capital, Vorith, Tolbarrow, Acrafont, Stamworth and Larkburrow, with the latter being the only non-Human dominated city, being primarily settled by the Eiruk race as part of the Advancement Concord.
Government and Ruling System
King Bartleby was undoubtedly a monarch of many great virtues, with his decisions alone having shaped human civilization more than any other individual. However, these virtues would not follow his successors for long. The next three generations of Galudonian Kings showed a steady decline in integrity, strength and support as they grew lazy and reclusive with the powers granted to them by their forefathers. This fell in poor taste with the other estates of the Kingdom. The nobility and old royalty of the subjugated realms found the new Kings to be consistently breaching the treaties that had been signed by their forefathers, and their rights and priveliges to be shrinking with almost every new decree. This all reached a fever pitch when King Benjamin the Second refused a Vorithian baron a judicial duel, which hadn’t been in practice for decades yet was seen as a vital right to the nobles.
The merchant class and the guildsmen of Ironhurst were quick to attach themselves to this controversy on the side of the nobility, they themselves feeling wronged by Benjamin II’s tax reforms. A plain refusal to pay the new rates sent a signal to the nobility that they had more friends than expected, and soon a secret concord would be struck between these two classes, one that sought to ensure their protection from royal predation. Word of this alliance snuck its way into the royal ear, sending King Benjamin into a fright. The King, against the wishes of the Ember Convocation, threatened to raise arms against the allied factions. The coalition put their influence and wealth to use, sending the Kingdom into stagnancy. Thousands would suffer from the power struggle until the Ember Convocation organized a series of Diets between the sides to negotiate and develop a compromise. The result of the negotiation was a three page long treaty securing the comforts of the nobility, and ceding parts of the legislative process to the traders and artisans of Ironhurst. And that was the birth of the Galudonian Parliament. Well, the first iteration of it anyhow.
The Galudonian Parliament grew with age into what we know it as today, a bicameral legislature that steers the law of Galudon at the King’s behest, with the layman’s voice having the power to elect aldermen who would best pursue their interests. These elected aldermen hold sway over their respective boroughs of Ironhurst, able to create by-laws to suit the needs of their people or themselves without the direct involvement of parliament. To solve the issue of law though, the aldermen will choose the senators who will serve in parliament, where they will process proposed legislation and discuss it among themselves. Should a majority vote it through it will by formality be brought to the King-In-Council, who will sign it into law, making it binding and up to the interpretation of the numerous lawmen of Galudon.
The men and women who fill the seats of the chambers are all voted in at some leg of their political journey, with the most convenient route being through political parties. These parties make it all the more easier for up and coming alleged bringers of change to enter the political sphere with financial funding and support within Parliament. How these parties are managed, or what matters they choose to fight for, are not much regulated by the law, meaning that anyone can technically build up a party of their own if they have the support for it. It is not uncommon for the parties to host meetings with wealthy patrons or influential organizations to garner support for their aldermen or their hopeful would-be senators.
The King remains the head of state, effectively ruling Galudon together with his Ember Convocation. The Ember Convocation consists of several figures from different influential fields such as the scientific, industrial and arcane; these chosen figures help guide the King with advice on whatever may serve him best at the present. To sit on the Ember Convocation is to swear to uphold the Philosophy of Bartleby, to do what you can to maintain the steady flow of progress that his reign worked so hard to achieve. The inner workings of the Ember Convocation are only truly known to the King and its members, the few glimpses behind the curtains the public receives comes in the form of royal decrees.
Also important to note is the distinction between aldermen and senators. The city of Ironhurst is divided into several boroughs, boroughs run by elected officials known as the aldermen. They are chosen by their own people, and must serve them well to gain their votes for a second term. In their governance they may issue by-laws and ordinances to assist with achieving the goals of their campaign, or whatever else a bold soul might wish to accomplish. But not all can be done with the power an alderman has, thus bringing us to the senators. They are the lawmakers in parliament, though entirely beholden to the aldermen who gave them their support. They share a symbiotic relationship where one cannot make it without the other, leading them into constantly tugging and pulling at each other within their power dynamic.
Society and Culture
Galudonian Society almost completely mirrors the culture of the Humans that predominantly inhabit it. With a keen focus on points raised in the Philosophy of Bartleby, the social atmosphere may appear foreign to many cultures from abroad. This is unsurprising given the emphasis both on a citizen’s duty to further the country's advancement whilst simultaneously encouraging leisure, pleasure and personal freedoms, though never at the expense of the pre-mentioned work due. These personal freedoms award much in the realm of culture to the melting pot of races that inhabit the country, and as such, despite human culture making up the vast proportion of traditions, fashion, architecture and so on and so forth, it's incredibly common to see foreign culture being showcased within Galudonian streets.
Whether it is a matter of civil defense or war abroad, the Galudonian Army is a force that is universally recognised as something of a powerhouse; not because of their training or skill, which is undoubtedly similarly matched to other Human armies in Pannotia, but because of their military’s outrageously powerful technology. So, while the Galudonian ground forces number close to 60,000 able bodied men and women, they are assisted by innumerable high powered zeppelins, steamtech golems, automatic mortars and advanced muskets, the likes of which are centuries more advanced than other traditional Human civilisations. Thus far, the Galudonian Army has only ever been deployed three times however with tensions rising over the lack of Galudonian colonial expansion and a Royal Caelock heir, some fear it may be used soon for expansion abroad or for keeping the peace at home.
Religion
Galudon prides itself on having little to no religious mandate. This is not because Galudonians are atheist by any regard, in fact many do uphold private spiritual traditions and subscribe themselves to religious pursuits, but rather because the Kingdom has never in its history recognised a religious sect as its legally recognised denomination. The freedom of expression that Bartleby installed during his reign forbade such and instead opened the doorway for individuals of any race, culture or belief to engage in pulpitry of their choosing providing it doesn't prove a hindrance to the country's pursuits in the social and technological development. As a result, Galudon is a country of many different religious beliefs that are preached locally to any who will hear, rarely veering into violent territory thanks largely to the presence of the Ironhurst Metropolitan Police Force and other policing outlets across its four corners.
Though Galudon does not recognise any particular religion as its own, it does have, in a roundabout way, its own religious text: The Philosophy of Bartleby. This tome, written by King Bartleby Caelock himself, provides guidelines to the pursuit of happiness and harmony between freedom for one’s own pleasure and happiness and statewide duty, and is often displayed proudly in homes, at workplaces and read aloud in the streets. For example, intimate engagements are encouraged as a means of offsetting the stresses of the workplace while workplaces themselves are given protocols protecting their employees from harm, injury or mental strain. It follows Bartleby’s methods of appeasement, ensuring a happy and content people while also safeguarding the sanctity of the State and its legal mandates. Moreover, Marriage is encouraged within its text though with no defined limits and with emphasis only on “protecting the sanctity of friendship, love and mortal bond”. It is a legal ceremony, carried out by any official member of the Galudonian Parliamentary bureaucracy, and can be performed by Senators, Aldermen, Police Commissioners and surprisingly, University professors. The lack of restriction has given room for sizeable families which has resulted in a large increase in polygamy amongst Galudonian Citizens, though respect is demanded by the text toward all marital relationships no matter how many are involved in the union or their genders.