As it is known today, the Kingdom of Palingvyre can trace its way back to the collapse of the Gnoman Empire remnants in the region. The area was then dozens of administrative provinces, all flourishing under Gnoman rule. While slavery had been the fate of many, particularly the Unknown, who were almost entirely enslaved, this had been many centuries ago and the slave population had dwindled and changed. As such, the ‘serfs’ as they could be termed, lived surprisingly good lives.
From all corners of the Empire luxury items flowed, bringing exotics that ordinarily would never have graced the hands of the peasantry and land was leased for reasonable tithes allowing for mutual benefit as tenants could live of the land and turn a profit, leading to upward mobility and increased prosperity. Racial tensions were all but unheard of, the Dwarves may have been slaves, but they where seldom needed here, instead put to work much further east, in the mountains or the colder north.
Society fell into three distinct classes: the Serfs, peasants but relatively well off most were uneducated, but almost all had some minor wealth, the Executors, those who had earned enough to lease land and could then begin to work and turn a profit, and finally the Domini, those who made up the controlling class.
While the name may suggest an authoritarian style of rule, the Domini certainly weren’t tyrants, at least not all of them. A Dominus would include a Gnoman Emperor all the way down to an village administrator, anyone who would be associated with the political or social running of the Empire. They were also remarkably diverse, especially on the local and regional levels, with records indicating both humans and elves holding positions of power; This undoubtedly helping to contribute to the reduced racial antagonism.
With life this good, it would be hard for any to picture the rapid turn around that would then befall this particular section of the Empire. It is perhaps unsurprising that these were generally external factors. The first of these would be the Galist Insurrection in the north. The dissatisfaction of the elves and humans living there causing them to rise up in open and bloody revolt. The dogmatic ideology, that would later become Magolism, would push south seeking to secure their borders from the Gnoman imperialists.
What would be become Palingvyre was on the brunt of this impact and would fall into disarray quickly as rebels swept through, specifically targeting the institutions that maintained society. With a rapid downward spiral of chaos, a second factor played against the northern provinces here. While in the south, the Seniorem maintained some semblance of control, managing to hold onto individual areas that would become the Gnomic nations, they were dying out. There were no Seniorem left to hold the north together and, as the remaining Gnomes headed south seeking refuge in the safety of their leader’s company, a power vacuum ensued in the north. Many leaders arose from the lower ranks of the Domini but conflict between them was inevitable. As the conflict grew so too did racial divisions and it was soon that the provinces fractured away in to independent fiefdoms, more akin to tribes, distrustful of those around them.
Exacerbating this was the return of many Darmian slaves, now free, either through rebellion or exiled simply due to the shortage of resources the Gnomans could ill afford. This new race, needing land and supplies now had to find their way in the disorganised mess of the northern provinces.
Even with the drastic challenges facing the Empire it would still take nearly two and a half centuries to fully collapse.
The King of Palus (~440 MH - 452 MH)
At this point, more specific attention can be given to the forerunner of Palingvyre, specifically the province of Palus. Palus was fortunate in a way having been north enough to be out of the way of the unrest in the south while not so far north as to be swept by the fervour of the Galists. In addition to this, its small population meant it had always been somewhat ignored by the Gnoman bureaucracy to a point that it was only a group of Darmian slaves fleeing violence that would inform the local populations of the Empire’s collapse.
Of course there was scepticism, the Empire had been a fixture of life for centuries, but that did little to stop the more enterprising individuals seizing upon the opportunity to proclaim themselves fully in control of Palus. With very little recorded at the time it is hard to know precisely what went on, but from what little that does exist, three factions grew to dominate.
The first was a group seeking to emulate their Gnoman forefathers, looking to establish an equally ‘free’ society as it had been before. Their opposition would be two racial groups seeking to govern for themselves, one human and one elven. It is believed the Darmia backed the human faction, obviously being rather more sceptical of a Gnoman system than others. The process of how the struggle then progressed remains shrouded in mystery, although warfare was the most likely outcome that led to the human faction rising victorious.
Prior to the Gnomans, there had been tribal ‘Kings’ and this was what the new ruler would call himself, King Goedric of Palus. Roughly twelve years is a relatively short time for a ruler to cement themselves, but Goedric was undoubtedly helped by the Darmia backing him and they would be rewarded with an esteemed position in his new nation.
The ‘War of Peace’ (452 MH - 454 MH)
Goedric it would seem, was quiet the opportunist and it should not be surprising that one who takes power through violence, would use it to gather more. Quickly Goedric would ensure that Palus was secure waging multiple wars against the Galists to ensure there would be no more raiding. This so called ‘War of Peace’ was undoubtedly a thinly veiled attempt to appease popular notions of Galist barbarity, but it worked. Through sheer dumb luck or strategic brilliance, Goedric could not have chosen a better time to begin striking back at the Galists, who were laden with loot from the Empire, but bloodied from their own war. These skirmishes would continue until Goedric’s death on the battlefield, but he had secured wealth and resources for his people. Being one of the first nations to rise from the collapsing Empire had given Palus a distinct advantage, but now it was magnitudes more powerful than its closest neighbours, something that would not escape the notice of its future monarchs.
The Age of Conquest (454 MH - 622 MH)
Over the next century and a half the following monarchs would bank on their advantage and begin expanding conquering tribes and nations east along the coast. Few nations would remain independent and, while one may expect this would be a difficult time to maintain order, the contrary was true. While initially their would be resistance to the new rulers, at the turn of the century many of the dissenters had died, fled, or been forgotten. Helping this was the unmistakable fact that life seemed better under Palus, it brought security, wealth and work, three things sorely lacking in a post Empire world.
The inexorable march onward would continue for as long as the advantage Palus had would last, fading in the latter part of the sixth century as the other nations properly consolidated and began to organise themselves. At times too, it would not solely be Palus aggressing as they would be attacked by multiple rising nations. The unclear nature of borders and swathes of unsettled land meant disputes were common and, alongside the now more evenly pitched adversaries, the Palus war machine would grind slowly to a halt.
The final conquest would be of the Kingdom of Ovrin, a human dominated land with a knack for warfare and their main rival in the north. The Ovrunns were the initiators, attacking a border settlement and quickly occupying it, believing themselves a more than capable match for Palus. They were not entirely wrong. The Palish military struggled immensely against the Ovrunns, ultimately coming out ahead in a few key battles and winning the war. It was by all accounts a pyrrhic victory, the only comfort being that the majority of fighting had been on Ovrunn soil. That land was now decimated and its people exterminated, with land settled by the conquering Palish, but it would be a fruitless and barren waste for some time. If that was not all, the Palish King, Alfred ‘the Bloodied’, had been slain in the final battle of the war.
A common theme of Palus had been the reverence to their monarchs, each warrior King had burned as a beacon of the strength of their nation. While it was certainly dangerous, (Alfred was not the first to die from wounds in battle), there would usually be enough time to prepare for the reign of the next monarch. This was not the case here. Messengers took time to bring word back of the King’s death and it would be many months before a new ruler would be crowned. The Palus war machine had been slowing, certainly, but this stopped it dead in its tracks.
The Consolidation of Palus (623 MH - 809 MH)
With the steam knocked out of its sails the Kingdom of Palus would settle into an uneasy peace. While they had been successful in the war against the Ovrunns, numerous problems stemmed from it. The first was the discontented soldiers, promised land for their service, were left in a precarious situation. Much of the land was rendered barren and it would be many winters before it could support the families that now lived there. While aid was delivered, it came late and a few families starved. The reason? the lack of a monarch.
Power in Palus always vested in the King and was one of the reasons for its efficiency in warfare. The King had both the wealth and power to command and provided the wars were won, their popularity would maintain. In addition, a constant state of war meant, even if the intended heir wasn’t crowned, someone would be and quickly. With the death of Alfred ‘the Bloodied’ and no ongoing war, the royal court found itself drowned in politicking and backstabbing, as the pretenders attempted to claim the throne. The eventual successor was, Eric of Cabry, a decently influential noble but nobodies first choice for a king. Eric had sat back and waited for an opportunity and fortune had played handily in his favour. Now he faced a large pile up of work, at the bottom of which was the aid to the newly conquered lands.
This awkward transition too caused issues. The elites of the Darmia, who had long enjoyed high positions in noble societies had seen the choices for king discarded, and it was no secret that King Eric took the Kingdom down a more human focused route. While it would be impossible for him to remove the Darmia, at least politically speaking, (they were still far too influential), he could dilute their power by granting titles to other human houses, but that too, ignored the numerous other political opponents that had been irked by proceedings.
At the end of Eric’s reign, things were hardly better. The border provinces were still on edge, the royal court struggling under the weight of internal bickering. The only thing that had not yet given in was the army, which was still firmly in the grasp of the King. Granted, this was mostly due to titles and wealth granted to important generals, but they could still be relied upon. Future monarchs would fail to make reforms and the human-centric focus would persist for many years to come.
Papal Integration (999 MH)
No recount of Palish history would be complete without discussing the introduction and role of faith in the Kingdom of Palus. Religion in Palish society had always been disorganised and loosely coherent, even going as far back as the Gnoman Empire. During the Empire, the brand of Hythness practised among the the Palish people followed Pardith and had unique emphasis on magic. As such, the Palish Hythnetics were virtually exterminated, with the last followers of Pardith seeming to vanish. In its place the Gnomans heavily pushed Cathirianism and ensured it took root in the population.
Despite this it was only in 999 MH, when the first Papal missionaries entered Palus, that religion would become official to the state. Having happily dealt internally with its worship for nearly a millennia, (if counting the Gnoman occupation), Palus knew it was self-sufficient and saw no need to subscribe to some meddling authority. The Papal Imperium was not powerful in of itself, but was heavily influential in the south and had worked its way north. A nation wishing to resist its influence effectively became a more appealing target for invasion, but this was less the case for Palus as it was militarily strong enough to resist a threatened attack from its neighbours. Thusly, the Papacy had to take a different approach.
Banking on the more precarious position of the Palish monarchy compared to some, the Papacy offered a bargain. The right of an individual to rule could be divinely endorsed, strengthening their legitimacy and, in return the Papacy could integrate itself into society, building cathedrals and appointing cardinals. This rang well to the ears of the Palish monarch, the idea of security, not solely for himself, but also his children was undoubtedly a boon and the sacrifice would be a relatively small price to pay.
Of course, the Papacy also sacrificed some of their influence with the monarchy directly. Beyond purely political, this was, in part, a geographical inevitability, even in the modern day Palingvyre is about as far as a nation can be from the Imperium, (Capétia excluded). As such, the Church was always separate from the the Monarchy itself and often, instead of the Papacy influencing Palus, Palus would influence Cathirianism. The agreement would be formalised in 1002 MH and the ruler of Palus would be, then and forever, a Consecrated Monarch.
Reformation into Palingvyre (1043 MH)
After generations of monarchs had come and gone Palus had stagnated. There had been a few military reforms, ensuring the Kingdom could still defend itself, and the economy had continued to grow, but as the world became more connected, it became ever clearer that Palus was lagging behind. Failures of the past seemed oh so close to the minds of many, especially among the Darmian noble houses a few of whom had lived through those very times, but it would be some feet to gather enough influence to make a change.
After years of planning, networking, and compiling, the highest of the Darmian houses, the House of Bunting, brought forth a petition against the King of Palus, Edward III. The petition was known as the Paling Monarchical Reformation Charter, it was backed by forty-three other noble houses, four major guilds, (Trademasters, Smiths, Carpenters, and Architects), and, most importantly, seven senior generals from the Palish military. Even with this immense presure, it was by no means a guarantee the monarch would agree to such terms, so it was undoubtedly relieving when gamble paid off. It is, by any account, a remarkable document, regarded as one of the earliest forms of a constitution and one that would set the framework for the exercise of power for Palus going forward.
House Bunting was smart and the reforms were couched carefully so as not to cause further fractures. It recognised the importance of cooperation in governance, even if that cooperation was given under some duress. The key chapters were as follows:
Palus, Regnum Omnium
Palus, Regnum Omnium, was perhaps the clearest and most obvious change proposed. It decreed that Palus was a Kingdom for all of its citizens, not just a select few. In reality, this was more meaning to give the nobility more powers and would be manifest in the following clauses:
An order of precedence in peerages, whereby those who owned landed titles, would actually have governing rights appropriate for their title.
The establishment of a council of advisors specifically to give advice to the Monarch on matters of state and rulership. The council would have a fixed membership of human and Darmian nobles, although the Monarch would be entitled to choose the majority of these members, with the remainder selected by the nobles themselves and one position reserved for a general.
Palus had become synonymous with a human Kingdom, despite the contributions of Darmia in Palish history. Thusly, Palus should be reborn into Palingvyre. ‘Paling’ was a reference to what was a wider region than the historic Palus and ‘Vyre’ being an Old Palish word for land. As such, Palingvyre would mean ‘Land of the Paling’ to reflect the newly reformed Kingdom.
Mandatory consultation of nobles, particularly those most likely to be affected, before the military is engaged.
These were the main de jure constitutional reforms giving power to the nobles. It is however key to note that no power was actually divulged from the Monarch. The Absolute Right of Possession of Land is still retained by the Monarch and as the nobles only have more freedoms to administer that land. The Monarch has no obligation under these rules to act on the advice, merely to receive it and the nobles must only be consulted on military actions, they have no power to prevent it. Undoubtedly these points would have been pushed forward to sway Edward III to accept, and there were some other beneficial chapters for the current ruler.
Aeturnum Dynastia
Palingvyre will be seen by its neighbours as a nation reborn, it is important that the its dynasty remained stable. The following clauses apply:
The House of Marion [Edward III’s dynasty at the time] will become the House of Paling. The House of Paling is the name of rulers, the Monarchy and the Crown.
The succession laws are codified as agnatic-cognatic primogeniture, to ensure the line of succession.
A point of note that there had been several changes in dynasty, most commonly due to the death of infants, whether that be natural causes or ‘natural causes’. Either way, stability in the Monarchy was seen as a must by both parties. It gave confidence to Edward III that his progeny would succeed him, but it also closed off a potential avenue of complaint by a future Monarch, whom should be the same dynasty.
In presenting this to the King, the House of Bunting was taking a risk. Given the sheer number of backers, one may be mistaken in thinking that acceptance was a foregone conclusion, in reality however, the noble houses had no real power and it was the backing of the seven generals who had military power that would be most persuasive. There was still another hurdle to overcome, however, a question of whether the nobles had the authority to present the Charter to the King. Doing so could be seen as a direct infringement upon the powers of the monarchy, emanating from the King himself.
Effectively, the King historically and presently, (especially with the backing of the Papacy), had the right of rulership. To present an alternative was to commit a form of treason, to disbelieve or disclaim the King’s right. This was no small problem, and even with the threat of a civil war, Edward’s position was bolstered by this. Even if the King accepted the Charter, something like an advisory council would still face this same problem. Put simply protections were needed.
In order to achieve these House Bunting alone first presented the King with a declaration to sign. The original text has unfortunately not survived, but translations from the Old Palish do exist and read as follows:
‘Potestas Coronam’
‘Hereby, the Monarch of Palus does declare the Crown absolute in all conquered and occupied territories by it, and those that it lays claim to. Power must be manifest with the Crown, as all power flows from the Crown.’
A fairly simple passage which was quickly signed with the King’s Seal, seemingly formally codifying his power. As it was, he had been somewhat deceived. In his haste the King had acknowledge a subtle but important distinction, that of the Crown and that of the Monarch. In making the distinction, Edward III had stated the Crown, not the King, was the source of all powers. By common legal principles of the time therefore, the Monarch in wielding those powers, became a trustee to the Crown. This, in turn, meant the nobles could petition the King, who would be now forced to hear them, lest their suggestions benefit the Crown.
This illuminates the choice of wording in the Charter, it never explicitly limited the power of King because it didn’t need to, the power came from the Crown. This status quo would be the largest point in the development of the Kingdom of Plaingvyre, as it would hold the King to a level of responsibility never before seen in other monarchies and, as time would go on, many developments in the Palish system would be traceable back to this principle.
Foundation of the House of the Lords Advocate (1150 MH)
With an advisory council formed under the Charter, there came an ever pressing need to include expanded nobility in this process. Although it would undoubtedly increase efficiency, having the landed nobility also able to weigh in on potential policy shifts at the first instance, as opposed to several weeks later upon pronouncement, it was more a move to appease many minor nobles who felt as though they had been snubbed and now had cause to be aggrieved at their dismissal.
With the formation of the House of the Lords Advocate, policy making would shift from the typically arbitrary ‘whatever issue the King feels like addressing’ to a a more planned and regimented program. As one of the earliest forms of a legislature, it would take time to perfect the system, and both de facto and de jure power still vested with the King, but it was a step in the right direction for many.
The First Queen of Palingvyre (1401 MH)
Ever since their codification in the Reformation Charter, the succession laws of Palingvyre have always favoured men, with male heirs taking precedence over female heirs. In the age of warrior kings, this made sense. A monarch was expected to ride out and face his enemy in the field of battle and men tended to be stronger and wouldn’t need to worry about pregnancy impairing their ability to fight, hence male heirs were preferred.
While it could not be called a surprise that Palingvyre now had a Queen as its monarch, (Annabelle had been the heir apparent for over 14 years), it was a curiosity for many. The impact of this would be felt throughout the western world, many credit Queen Annabelle as ushering in the ‘Age of Queens’, that would lead to a social shift for the role of women in the Church. In addition, with the crowning of a Queen, it raised the possibility she would marry another King or Prince, potentially leading to a union.
The Union of Crowns (1402 MH)
Queen Annabelle ‘the First Queen’ had not been able allowed to marry prior to her father's death. It was seen as important to ensure, if she were to be Queen that a suitor befitting of her Monarchical status be selected. Candidates ranged from the King’s of neighbouring nations, to the human Dukes of the Capétian and Kaisteinian Empires. Despite the potential for a union with a powerful neighbour, many expected the princes of the Empires to take precedence and ultimately the prize of the First Queen’s hand. Indeed, had Palingvyre been any other Kingdom, with any system, Queen Annabelle may have had to marry strategically at the behest of the nobility. But in Palingvyre, it was not so, in Palingvyre, the Queen could choose.
And choose she did. Surprising all but one, she selected to marry Prince Tegwyg the Crown Prince of Enthvyre. This was, to put it mildly, a controversial decision. Many felt that she had snubbed the more prestigious Empires in choosing such a minor nation, In addition, it was virtually unheard of for a ruler to marry to a different race, Tegwyg being a wood elf. On the other hand, it made sense, the Crown Prince would be the King of Enthvyre one day and, as it shared a border with Palingvyre a union of the two nations made perfect sense. In reality, neither of these would be the reasons for Queen Anabelle’s choice. Her reasoning was far more simplistic. She and Tegwyg had been courting for years and were very much in love.
Despite some grumbling of those abroad, the union was mostly well received, particularly to those to whom it mattered in Palingvyre and Enthvyre, where month long celebrations were held in the run up to the wedding. As a gift from the Darmian nobility, House Bunting presented the Queen with the Crown of Darmian. The island of Darmian had only recently been re-discovered as the ancestral home of the Darmia, having lain uninhabited for centuries. Their had been suggestions the islands be resettled and become independent, but the highest Darmian nobles were clear their loyalty was to Palingvyre. The Crown had been good to them for most of its history and, in a majority vote amongst themselves, agreed that the Queen be crowned as the ruler of Darmian as well. The ceremony held thusly was henceforth known the Union of Crowns, between Palingvyre, Enthvyre, and Darmian.
