Azerath Nations

The Azerath Nations Confederacy, commonly known as The Azerath Nations is a Confederacy of 9 nations that fall under the Azerath Treaty. The Azerath Nations include: Vulharenjiard, Jiarengrad, Vascova, Dinsfurd, Harlemruud, Devinshire,Baasvonclad, Jaarjiadia and Devfraern. Every nation under the Azerath Treaty have independent governments with independent laws, however, each nation must follow a set of "Dynasty Laws" set by the Dynasty Nation. The Azerath Nations Confederacy is one of the major Superpowers in the Mortal World.

The Tribal Era
The group of nations which would eventually form into the Azerath Nations Confederacy were formed from scattered Human tribes that dominated the area. For thousands of years these tribes existed in a primitive and often barbaric state, this era is known as the Tribal Era. There are no written records that exist from the Tribal Era so most understandings of the time come from folklore, literature and verbal history. The popular understanding of the Tribal Era comes from the Dente Codex, the bible of the Azerath Nation's religion, which describes the past from the viewpoint of the God-Kings. Historians believe the understanding of the Tribal Era is unreliable although they accept the Dente Codex version as the most accurate account of the era that exists.

The Tribal Era began in an unknown time when Humans first settled the area. For thousands of years the Humans of the region lived within tribes which were governed by a tribal leader. For much of the era, all the tribes were independent and it was rare for a tribe to have contact with another. However, as the land became more populated and more tribes were established, the proximity tribes were to each other was small and larger tribes began to engage in trade with other tribes, as well as engage in warfare to invade other tribes. The dominant tribes of the land were the Hudi, the Mulluud, the Vulian, the Conos and the Romus.

The Hudi and Mulluud tribes were considered peaceful and they resided in the area that is now Vulharenjiard and Jiarengrad. These tribes owned vast amounts of other neighboring tribes which resided in the area that is now Vascova and the King's Forest. Although these two tribes owned small tribes, they had very little involvement in the smaller tribes governments and the relationship was mainly based on trade and military protection. Since the Hudi and Mulluud tribes were considered peaceful, they obtained ownership of smaller tribes either through marriage, trade or alliance. For the tribes that were obtained through marriage, the daughter of the Hudi or Mulluud tribes would marry the Chief of a smaller tribe thus the two tribes would become allies. For the tribes that were obtained by trade or alliance, the Hudi or the Mulluud would offer something that the smaller tribe needs in order to survive, such as crop or military protection. This method was only used on weaker tribes, however, the land obtained by the ownership of these weaker tribes was worth the trade to the Hudi and Mulluud. The Hudi and Mulluud tribes were farming tribes with the Hudi primarily growing wheat and the Mulluud primarily growing melons. These two tribes became giants in the Tribal Era due to the vast amounts of fertile land they possessed but because of this, the tribes were always on the defensive against invasions.

The three remaining tribes, the Vulians, the Conos and the Romus were barbarian tribes which reside in the area that is now Baasvonclad, that owned most smaller tribes in the southern region which is now Devinshire. Out of the three tribes the Vulians were the largest and most brutal. The three tribes obtained their smaller tribes through brutal takeover while the Vulians would often slaughter or enslave the entire tribe then plunder their goods before setting the tribe on fire. The smaller tribes that were owned by Vulians were spared from death either through trade deals or their abundant resources. Since the three barbarian tribes were focused on war and death, they didn't take up farming or hunting as much as most tribes, thus they recruited their smaller tribes to do it for them. In many cases a smaller tribe would offer all the women in the tribe of child bearing age to the men of the Vulians in exchange for their lives. The Conos and Romus were not as brutal in their tactics but were still barbarian. The three barabrian tribes were believed to be in a treaty with each other, although they constantly killed each other. It is believed that this was because the other barbarian tribes preferred the warriors of the three barbarian tribes as sacrifices rather than a weak civilian of a smaller tribe. Vulians were infamous for night raids in which it is believed they just slaughtered for the fun of it. The three tribes also participated in cannibalism. The Conos and the Romus primarily engaged in cannibalism for ceremonial reasons, such as eating their slaughtered enemy's Chief or eating a sacrificed slave, the Vulians were prone to hunting and eating humans for sport.

These 5 tribes had a foothold on their regions for thousands of years until four brothers sparked a cultural revolution that would change the Human world forever and end the Tribal Era.

The God-Kings
With tribal life going as usual, four brothers were beginning to gain influence. It is unknown which tribe or even where these brothers were born. To most they seemingly came from the mountains and began to preach ideologies that would better the lives of everyone. The brothers only traveled through the two peaceful tribes thus only gaining influence in those tribes. It is certainly fact that the brothers wouldn't have gained any influence if they had traveled to the barbarian tribes since their rhetoric was largely against them. The four brothers names were Draemor, Purlomas, Vulkenrad and Parmethious.

The brothers were gathering high support in Hudi and Mulluud with their promises of a better and more protected life. When the brothers began to spread their word to the smaller tribes, the three barbarian tribes started to notice them. The barbarian tribes however reacted in a completely different manner than was expected. They ended up ceasing their abuse on other tribes, in hopes that people would just forget about the brothers when their lives can't possibly be improved further. Although the lives of the tribesmen and women improved, their plan completely backfired. The barbarian Chief's plans to stop being barbarians was such an off-the-wall reaction that people began to believe that the brothers were Gods and they used their powers to sway the minds of their enemies. This boosted the brother's popularity immensely and they gained widespread support throughout the tribes they were visiting.

Although the brothers were seen as one unit working together for the common good of the people, each of the brothers had a different idea on how the people should be run. The only similarities between the brother's ideas was they all believed the tribes should be united under one government in order to achieve their goals. However, none could agree on who should lead such a nation. Each individual brother believed that they were the right one for the job but none could agree on who would take the title. They couldn't rule together for their ideologies were so different, the government they were going to establish would be all over the place.

The decision of who would become the ultimate leader of their planned government was put on the back burner as the brothers began to focus on preparing their people to be self sufficient and intelligent. The brothers began this by teaching people how to read and write, as well as unifying them under one language. In the tribal era there were dozens of different languages which made it hard for the tribes to communicate with each other. Once a small group from each tribe was fluent in their new language, they were then sent to become teachers to teach the rest of their tribe the language. It is unknown how the brothers managed to know a written language but it is known that the language that was translated into writing was a popular language spoken in the 5 large tribes. he act of teaching a large group of people a new language was time consuming but for the people who managed to learn how to read and write, they were introduced to the new phase. This phase was to teach people how to build. This phase was not very time consuming for most people knew how to build for they often built their own houses. Yet the brothers introduced how to craft new items such as brick, ceiling tiles, windows and so on, so the people could build houses bigger and more lasting than their small clay huts. All while the brothers began their phases to unify the people, they still debated on how this new kingdom shall be run. Draemor wanted to run the kingdom like what typical monarchies are run today, while Vulkenrad wanted to go for a more warlike civilization. Parmethious agreed with Draemor's type of government but wanted himself to be King and Purlomas was less focused on politics and more focused on the advancement of education.

The Barbaric War
With decisions still being debated, the brothers put their final plan into effect: Defense. It was well known that the Barbarian tribes were not going to keep their peace for long. With it being clear that the brothers were popular than ever, the barbarians were set to attack anytime. Vulkenrad headed the effort and raced to train up as many tribesmen as possible. A few months later their prediction had come true. By the hundreds, barbarians flooded neighboring tribes with the goal to slaughter them all. What they didn't expect was how prepared the tribes were and the barbarians were caught completely off guard. The retaliations ended in the barbarians retreating back to their tribe. This battle was the official beginning to the Barbaric War.

Although the Barbarians lost the first battle, they retreated back to their territory to regroup and plan. They decided to attack again throwing more numbers at the defending army in hopes of overwhelming them. To make this possible, the Barbarians recruited as many people as they could, including children and slaves in their ranks. The Barbarians wanted to gather and deploy this force as quickly as possible, before the brothers and their army attacked the Barbaric territories. Due to the haste, the new Barbaric army was untrained and practically leaderless. To the Barbarians, this was not an issue for their plan was to swiftly crush the opposing army and absorb their territories.

The Barbarians attacked at dawn two days later which caught the brothers off guard. The Barbarians swiftly slaughtered everyone in their path but the brother's army quickly regrouped and took defensive action. The brother's army was much more outnumbered than the Barbarians, however, the brother's army was much more trained and due to this the brother's army quickly turned the tides in the battle. The army soon began to slaughter the hoards of Barbarians slamming into them and after a few hours of fighting the Barbarians signaled a retreat. Vulkenrad, knowing the Barbarians had put their entire army onto the battlefield, ordered an immediate slaughter of every Barbaric soldier they could. Every man, woman and child who fell behind the Barbaric retreat was slaughtered and Vulkenrad's army chased the retreating Barbarians deep into their territory. It was strictly forbidden that the army slaughter innocent civilians within the Barbaric territory in order to make it easier for the civilians to turn against the Barbarians. The army also freed any slave within Barbaric territory and gave them the option to fight against their oppressors. This plan worked perfectly as thousands of former Barbaric civilians and slaves rushed to turn against the three tribes that had oppressed them for so many years. Within two months the tribes of Vulians, Conos and Romus were burned to the ground and the brothers quickly integrated their newly conquered land into their territory.

Formation of Kingdoms
After the brother's victory in the Barbaric War, they swiftly got back to discussing their plans of turning their territory of various tribes into a kingdom. Draemor, who had been popular with the tribes that resided on the Vulhien Mesa, put forward the idea to split the territories into sections that contained tribes that were similar culturally. Without the approval of his brother, Draemor disbanded the tribes that were on the Vulhein Mesa and incorporated the inhabitants into a new kingdom named the Kingdom of Vulharenjiard. Draemor was thus worshiped by his people as not only a god but also their king and was granted the title: Draemor the Brave.

Draemor the Brave's brothers were not upset by his establishment of his kingdom but they were weary to do the same with their own supporters. Vulkenrad was the most weary for his tribes were mixed culturally and they did not get along with each other. As the years passed on, Draemor the Brave and his kingdom was stronger and more stable than ever, especially compared to the various tribes his brothers had to endure governing. Vulkenrad, the most pessimistic of the plan, surprised everyone by following Draemor the Brave, grouping his supporters and establishing the Kingdom of Burmethia (currently the Kingdom of Jiarengrad) which at the time only encompassed the small land between the bridge to Vulharenjiard and Dwelmer's Rock that Vulkenrad Palace sits atop today. Vulkenrad was also worshiped as a god but he did not gain his title of Vulkenrad the Conqueror until he conquered the Kingdom of Bulvishire which held Dwelmer's Rock and the land to the East.

Parmethious grouped a few tribes around a mining town South of Bulvishire and Jiarengrad and created the Kingdom of Vascova shortly after. Parmethious gained the title of Parmethious the Lustful by his people who noticed his love for riches.

Finally, Purlomas established the Kingdom of Baasvonclad South of the King's Forest and was given the title Purlomas the Smart due to his dedication to education and inventing.

The Great Slave Roundup
Shortly after the establishment of the kingdoms in the Azerath region, it was discovered by Vulkenrad the Conqueror that there was a civilization of Elves living East of the river that ended the Azerath region, this civilization was the Kingdom of Morthania. Morthania was extremely advanced compared to the Human kingdoms it bordered and it is regarded as the most advanced civilization in history.

The relationship between Morthanians and their Human neighbors began peaceful. However, Parmethious the Lustful, along with his citizens had resentment toward the Elven race. Although the Azerath region was dominated by Human tribes throughout history, this didn't stop Morthanians from living in the area to farm or mine. Due to the proximity of Vascova to Morthania, Morthanians were found living in Vascova, Baasvonclad and Jiarengrad.

In the early years of the new Human nations being established, the citizens of these new kingdoms did not pay much mind to the Elven population living within their borders. This began to change in Vascova when Parmethious the Lustful began a major propaganda campaign to subjugate and oppress the Elves that lives within its borders. This hostility eventually spread across the new kingdoms and soon rampant racism against the Elven race was present.

Shortly after this cultural shift in view toward Elves, Parmethious the Lustful put forward a campaign to enslave the Elven race. This was believed to be the entire point of the propaganda campaign for Parmethious the Lustful believed that having Elven slaves work within his mines would substantially increase profit without enslaving his own citizens. In PD -100 Parmethious the Lustful along with his brothers launched an invasion against Morthania to roundup as many Elven men, women and children as possible to enslave them and this became to be known as the Great Slave Roundup.

The Great Slave Roundup was an incredibly fast invasion which puzzles historians to this day. Due to the invasion, every Elf that lived within the Azerath Nations for the next several thousand years was a slave and refugees that fled the chaos went on to found the Kingdom of Authorania. Due to the Great Slave Roundup, some Elven races were driven to extinction and new Elven races were created.

The Dyansty Treaty
Over a century after the God-Kings established their nations, Vulharenjiard and Dinsfurd had begun to experience a major economic struggle. Due to these nations having little resources to export, they struggled against high export nations like Jiarengrad and Vascova. Due to the economic depressions within the struggling nations, mass migrations of people into Jiarengrad and Vascova had begun, forcing new immigration policies. These policies upset the God-King of Vulharejiard as well as the King of Dinsfurd for it showed that although the nations had a mutual agreement of unity, they were not united. Vulkenrad the Conqueror decided to call a meeting at his palace in order to ratify the union agreement they created over a century ago. He drafted a treaty named the Dynasty Treaty which unified all the member nations under a "dynasty" which was led by one of the member nation's Kings. The Dynasty Nation was in charge of passing laws, bills and policies that every other member nation had to follow. The other God-Kings did not fully support the treaty, however, their hand was forced to accept the treaty because of its economic security and freedom of trade. The Treaty was ratified shortly after, Vulkenrad the Conqueror crowned himself as the first Dynasty Leader making Jiarengrad the first Dynasty Nation, Vulharenjiard and Dinsfurd were saved from economic collapse and the start of the First Dynasty Era had begun.

In 1D 354, King Balothsar of Vulharenjiard assassinates King Mitius XVI during the Jiarengrad War ending Jiarengrad's rein as the Dynasty Nation. Immediately after the takeover, King Balothsar used his Dynastic powers to call a meeting of all the kings of the member nations. The meeting was about the revision of the Dynasty Treaty in order to limit the power of the Dynasty Nation. A revision was agreed upon by the other nations and meetings were held for a month in order to write the revision. The final draft was named the Azerath Treaty and it established that universal laws, bill, policies, etc. were to be voted on by all the kings and universal laws, bills, policies, etc. could be put forward by any nation not just the Dynasty Nation.The Azerath Treaty is still followed to this day.

Government
The Azerath Nations is considered a Dynastic government although each nation has an absolute monarchy form of government. When it comes to the confederacy, the Dynasty is controlled by one nation which is named the Dynasty Nation. The Dynasty Leader, who is the King of the Dynasty Nation, will retain their throne until they are overthrown. The Dynasty Leader if often overthrown through assassination, bribery or kidnapping however overthrowing the Dynasty Leader is not restricted to these methods.

When it comes to individual nations, each nation within the Azerath Nations is an absolute monarchy. When it comes to the nations founded by the God-Kings bloodline is important for the King of that nation has to be the decedent of their God-King. The only nation that was founded by a God-King who is not ruled by that God-King's decedent is Vulharenjiard, whose last remaining relative of Draemor the Brave was assassinated. When it comes to the nations that were not founded by a God-King, they established absolute monarchies because their nations governments were modeled after the God-King's nations.

Laws and law enforcement
Each member of the Azerath Treaty must follow a set of universal laws that were ratified by the Dynasty Nation. Every month, every king from every nation will meet at the Palace of Kings to put forward bills. The only other time the kings will meet for voting on bills is during an emergency meeting put forward by the Dynasty Leader, usually for declarations of war. Any king is allowed to put forward bills that can be voted into law. This is the process of a bill getting voted into law:

A king will put forward the bill. Once the king introduces the bill to the room, the other kings must debate over the bill until each king knows which way they will vote. The vote works on a "ye" or "nay" system and all the kings must vote "ye" or "nay" except for the Dynasty Leader. The Dynasty Leader can only vote to break a tie. If the majority is "nay" then the bill is thrown out but if the majority is "ye" it will be pushed to the Dynasty Leader who will either ratify the bill or veto it. If the bill is vetoed it will be pushed back to the kings to vote on in which the process has to start over again. If the majority is once again "ye" then the Dynasty Leader cannot veto the bill and must ratify it.

Although universal laws are put forward and ratified by kings, bills are often created by citizens of each nation. When a king of a nation puts forward a bill, that bill usually was created and voted on by their citizens.

Laws are enforced by both national and dynastic police forces. National police forces are the majority of law enforcement within the Azerath Nations and they only have jurisdiction within the borders of the nation they belong to. The Dynasty Nation's police forces have jurisdiction throughout the Azerath Nations although they are only used to enforce law outside of the Dynasty Nation during times of crisis.

Foreign relations
In the Azerath Nation's early history, it was common for a nation to invade outside nations to gain their land however this has all but been left in the past. Today, the Azerath Nations usually engages with foreign nations through trade and rarely builds relations with foreign nations. This is because the Azerath Nations is very sustainable with free trade and movement within its own member nations. This does not mean that the Azerath Nations currently never engages in foreign relations but in fact the Azerath Nations have very unique relations with Authorania.

 Military 

The Azerath Nations' military is made up of the militaries of its member nations. Each nation has control of their own military however the Dynasty can call together a collective force called the Azerath Army. The Azerath Army is led by top Generals of every nation but there is one General that will be in charge of the entire collective force.

To create the Azerath Army there must be a vote at the Palace of Kings separate from the vote on a declaration of war. When there is a declaration of war that requires a unification of the member nation's militaries, a vote is put forward that asks the Kings whether they want to put forward their army to be absorbed into the Azerath Army. If the majority is "ye" then all the nations that voted "ye" will have their militaries absorbed into the Azerath Army and all the nations that voted "nay" will be left out. If the majority is "nay" then the Azerath Army is not formed and individual alliances between nations will often be formed. The only time the Azerath Army was formed with every member state participating was during the Blood River War.

Banner
Each nation within the Azerath Nations have their own banners but the Azerath Nations Confederacy has a banner that was made to represent each nation.

The banner includes the colors that represent the banner colors of each Azerath Nation: Orange (Vulharenjiard), Red (Jiarengrad), Blue (Baasvonclad), Green (Vascova), Cyan (Dinsfurd), Purple (Devfraern), Brown (Harlemruud), Yellow (Devinshire) and a White border (Jaarjiadia).

The Azerath Nations Banner was created during the Blood River War so the Azerath Army had a banner that represented the different kingdoms the soldiers came from. Since then this banner has been used to represent the Azerath Nations Confederacy and the Azerath Army.

Ethnic groups
The Azerath Nation's ethnic diversity is slim with Humans dominating the ethnicity. Since the abolishment of slavery, the Elven population has increased within the Azerath Nations although some races of Elves are not counted in national censuses due to lingering racism. To combat this, government often group races of Elves by Superior and Non-Superior Elvens. Superior Elvens include Elven races that are ancient and survived through slavery, today these include: Snow Elves, Sinclair Elves and Noble Elves. Non-Superior Elvens include Elven races that were created due to crossbreeding during slavery, today these include: Wood Elves, Blaster Elves, Grekchen Elves and Ferner Elves.

Language
The dominant language within the Azerath Nations is the Azrathian Language which was the result of mixing tribal languages into one common language. The Azrathian Language was believed to have been invented by the God-Kings however this is unknown as no written record of this exists.

The only other language spoken within the Azerath Nations is confined to the Azerath Nation's farthest member, Jaarjiadia, who speak Jaarjiadian.

Religion
The dominant religion within the Azerath Nations is God-King Worship. In every nation except Devinshire, the God-King Worship religion is the most widely practiced religion. Devinshire is the only nation within the Azerath Nations where the God-King Worship religion is the minority, with the majority worshiping the Devin religion.