Kingdom of Sordland

The Kingdom of Sordland period began in 1866 with the fall of the Renan Aristocracy and lasted until 1923. It was primarily ruled by King Egmund, who claimed to be maroon blood: a 19th century ethnic concept that established Sordish nationalism and pride. The king changed the identity of the country and distanced himself from the old aristocratic systems. One of his first changes was relocating the capital from Erlory to Hol. The city was also renamed from Hol to Holsord, meaning both High Sord and High City. After securing the throne, Egmund attacked the weakest neighbouring country, Wehlen, in a show of strength. The successive battles increased the fame of the Sordish Army in the Merkopa continent. This was King Egmund’s first successful conquest, which expanded the realm westwards by capturing the East Bludia (Bergia) region of Wehlen. Here the Bludish people resided for thousands of years. At first, they welcomed the Sordish soldiers as saviours as they had suffered under the iron-fist of their previous ruler. Soon after the annexation, the Bludish people were treated with similar respect by the Sordish to what they had previously endured. In comparison, the Agnolians living under Sordish rule were treated far better by King Egmund. He gave them as much freedom as possible and Agnolians slowly assimilated into Sordish culture. The designation ‘Agno-Sordish’ was established for those who accepted Sordish citizenship. In 1870, King Alfred II of Rumburg launched an invasion into Sordland after King Egmund’s cancellation of the Friendship Deal between the two countries. The war was short lived and did not result in a victory for neither side. It came to be known as the 15-Day War. After the war, King Egmund seized all Renan assets into his personal treasury and ended expensive welfare programs that were established before his reign. This backfired, resulting in the largest protest in Sordish history to that day. The people rallied behind Artor S. Wisci, the leader of the Republican faction in the King’s Parliament, who was inspired by the parliamentary republics of Western Merkopa and the socialist revolutions in Contana. The pressure caused the King to revert some of the programs to avoid a full-blown rebellion. In 1891, a powerful figure named Heron Walt rose to power in the Royalist faction and was appointed as the primary advisor of the king. Heron was a skilled architect and manager who had travelled the world to examine successful projects and advancements in order to apply them in the Kingdom of Sordland. His most successful works were the Agro-City of Deyr, Arvory Port, and the Free-Trade Zone of Sarna. These massive projects elevated the cities from poverty and revitalised the economy, which also boosted the popularity of King Egmund in a critical time. He was later awarded the highest honor by Egmund; Hero of the King. In 1915, territorial sea disputes arose between the Kingdom of Sordland and the Empire of Valgos, who was a large colonial power at the time. The latter retaliated by embargoing Sordland’s ships. At this time, the Valgos fleet was the largest in the world. The embargo damaged the Kingdom of Sordland extensively, causing isolation and posing a massive threat to sea trade in an already precarious time. There were other internal issues in Sordland, including Egmund's failure to give birth male heirs. His only child was a daughter named Jule, who was too young to rule and deemed unfit by Egmund’s royalist advisors. Meanwhile, King Egmund’s grip on Sordland was slipping as his old age was showing. The Century of Revolutions kept sweeping through neighbouring countries, when in a shocking turn, the king's advisor Heron Walt was also radicalized by the revolutionary Artor S. Wisci. He then abandoned the king and followed Wisci to revolution. This started the chain of events that led Wisci to energize the public with democratic ideas. Thousands gathered in a march, which was also joined by the 1st Army, that abandoned the king to support the revolutionaries. Together, the movement overthrew the king and the Republic of Sordland was proclaimed. Artor S. Wisci was declared the first President of Sordland by the provisional government. The royal family was ordered to locate to Duru Island for a period and was later exiled from Sordland in 1931 by President Soll to avoid potential bloodshed and suffering. Despite the Kingdom of Sordland lasting half a century, this period is regarded as a turning point for Sordland because of the establishment of the national identity and the foundation of a democracy.