Vulharenjiard

The Kingdom of Vulharenjiard or Vulharenjiard is a member nation of the Azerath Nations. Vulharenjiard is one of the kingdoms within the Azerath Nations that was founded by a God-King, Draemor the Brave and is the oldest nation within the Azerath Nations. Vulharenjiard is the second smallest nation in the Azerath Nations being slightly bigger than Dinsfurd which is the smallest nation. This is because Vulharenjiard is located atop the Vulhein Mesa and surrounded by claimed territory to the East and ocean to the West. Due to their small size, much of the population lives underground in a former mine shaft while the more wealthy class live on the surface.

The Tribal Era
During the Tribal Era, human tribes inhabited the Vulhein Mesa which at the time was cut off from the rest of the tribes in the lower lands. This isolation caused the tribes on the mesa to form a unique culture and engage in trade, commerce, alliance and warfare all on top of the mesa.

When the God-Kings arrived, a wooden bridge was constructed to link the lower lands to the mesa, ending the isolation the tribes experienced over their entire history. This resulted in great consequences for the tribes as they were quickly overrun by tribes of the lower lands and incorporated into their territories.

This invasion of the Vulhein Mesa did not generate a cultural shift in the tribes atop the mesa for their invasion occurred right when the God-Kings began isolating and grouping tribes with similar culture in order to develop nations. This caused the inhabitants of the Vulhein Mesa to be easily grouped for they all fell under the same ideology.

When the God-Kings debated establishing the groups of tribes into unified kingdoms, Draemor the Brave who led the tribes on the Vulhein Mesa decided to be the first to disband the tribes and unify the people into a kingdom. Draemor the Brave only did this out of sheer convenience. While his brothers had to face the problem of disbanding tribes and mixing the inhabitants together although they had different ideologies, Draemor the Brave did not have these issues. The tribes atop the mesa were already very close ideologically and also they were going through a peace period where all the tribes were allies. Due to these circumstances, Draemor the Brave established the Kingdom of Vulharenjiard making Vulharenjiard the first established kingdom in the Azerath Nations.

The Great Slave Roundup
Shortly after all the God-Kings established their kingdoms, Vulharenjiard was experiencing their first economic boom after discovering massive coal deposits underneath the kingdom. This was around the time that Permethious the Lustful of Vascova was pushing anti-Morthanian propaganda throughout the Azerath Nations. Due to the massive demand for labor in the mines, Vulharenjiard was one of the first kingdoms to step forward and join in the invasion of Morthania.

Vulharenjiard contributed a vast amount of troops in the Great Slave Roundup in order to capture as much Morthanians as possible and ship them back to the coal mines. This caused Vulharenjiard to have an abundance of slaves which many they had to sell.

Over the years, Vulharenjiardian miners bred certain races of Elves together in order to make a race that was fit for mine work and dimwitted for better obedience. This resulted in the creation of Greckchen Elves who still inhabit the abandoned parts of the mine network to this day.

The Dynasty Treaty
A century after the kingdom was established, the vast mine that Vulharenjiard relied on economically had dried up. This led to a sudden and major economic depression which drew the kingdom very close to economic collapse. Due to the severity of Vulharenjiard's economic state, along with the economic slump other kingdoms were experiencing, Vulkenrad the Conqueror of Jiarengrad drafted the Dynasty Treaty which would unify all the nations in the Azerath region under a Dynasty.

All of the nations saw the flaws and blatant favoritism toward Jiarengrad written in the treaty, however Vulharenjiard and her struggling neighbors were in desperate need of the economic stability the treaty offered. So the treaty was signed and put into effect ending the Predynasty Era and beginning the First Dynasty Era. Vulharenjiard would become the first nation to overthrow the Dynasty Nation during the Jiarengrad War and become the 2nd Dynasty.

Modern Era
Today, Vulharenjiard remains a peaceful kingdom with The Blood River War being the last conflict the kingdom participated in. Following the collapse of the Vulharenjiard economy, Vulharenjiard became the first kingdom in the Azerath Nations to abolish slavery. As a result, Vulharenjiard has the highest Elven population density in the Azerath Nations.

Name
Vulharenjiard's name is based on the name of the mesa it sits atop, Vulhein Mesa. Vulhein is the Fraenish word for "Snow" and Vulharenjiard is "Snowy Kingdom" in Fraenish.

Government
The Kingdom of Vulharenjiard is ruled by an absolute monarchy which was established during its founding. Vulharenjiard is the only kingdom founded by a God-King that is not currently ruled by a descendant of their God-King. In 3D 361, King Belivex was assassinated before he produced any children, thus ending Draemor the Brave's bloodline. The monarchy is currently held by the Helruus family who were the servant family of the original monarchy beforehand. King Andre Helruus ascended the throne quickly after King Belivex's assassination in order to prevent a power vacuum. Some claim the speed that Andre ascended the throne was proof that he orchestrated the assassination, since the assassin was never found but there is no proof to this claim.

Recently, the Vulharenjiardian monarchy has established a branch of government called "The People's Governors" which politicians can be elected to by the people. These politicians do not have any power in the government but they are elected to be the voice of the people. The job of these politicians is to push laws that the people want up to the monarchy so the monarchy can improve the lives of its citizens.

Vulharenjiard also implemented a voting system for its citizens to vote on bills that would be put forward at the monthly Dynasty meetings.

Military
The Royal Army of Vulharenjiard is the only branch of military in the kingdom. Due to the period of peace the kingdom is experiencing, the Royal Army is small and split between home defense and law enforcement. Historically, enlistment in the Royal Army was mandatory for every 16 year old male citizen however since the reduction of the army, enlistment is now strictly voluntary. Volunteering for the Royal Army grants specific perks such as job security but it also is a requirement to become a politician.

Foreign Relations
Vulharenjiard has historically been a strong ally with its fellow Azerath Nations members and rarely engaged in conflict with them. This is due to Vulharenjiard's strong reliance on the money the Dynasty gives to their economy, which is funded by the taxes of all the Azerath Nations. However, Vulharenjiard did get into conflict with Jiarengrad during the bloody Jiarengrad War, which was instigated in hopes of ending the First Dynasty Era and forcing a revision of the Dynasty Treaty.

Vulharenjiard engages in trade with fellow Azerath Nations and their territories but does not engage in trade with nations outside the Azerath Nations. Much of this is because what little resources Vulharenjiard exports will be bought up by Azerath Nations members with more profit due to the freedom of trade between Azerath Nations.

Banner
Vulharenjiard's banner is orange, with a red cross, blue diagonal cross and a sun with a red ring. The Orange background symbolizes the kingdom's national color, the red cross symbolizes the blood of the defenders of the kingdom, the blue diagonal cross symbolizes peace and river that separates the Vulhein Mesa from the rest of the lowlands and the sun with the red ring represents the God-King Draemor the Brave.

Vulharenjiard's banner was first introduced shortly before the invasion of Morthania as the Azerath Nations were developing banners in order to tell the difference between armies.

Ethnic Groups
Vulharenjiard is populated mostly by Humans but the kingdom has the highest density of Elves in the Azerath Nations. Vulharenjiard is also home to a very small population of Goblins although Goblins experience more oppression and racism than the Elves in the kingdom

Language
The dominant language within Vulharenjiard is Azrathian however the Fraenish Language and Burdarelik language are also spoken in Vulharenjiard. Vulharenjiard is the only kingdom where Burdarelik is spoken due to the language being invented and spoken by the Grekchen Elves.

Religion
The dominant religion within Vulharenjiard is God-King Worship. Following the death of Draemor the Brave, when the God-King Worship religion was taking off in the Azerath Nations, the Vulharenjiardian monarchy banned every religion except God-King Worship from being practiced within the kingdom. This ban has since been lifted but God-King Worship remains as the only religion within Vulharenjiard.

Geography
Vulharenjiard occupies the top of the Vulhein Mesa. This region is higher in altitude than any other Azerath Nation making Vulharenjiard the coldest nation in the Azerath Nations.

Climate
Vulharenjiard is the coldest nation in the Azerath Nations due to its altitude. Because of this, common clothing in the nation are clothing made of animal furs. Vulharenjiard experiences snow year round.

Below is a table documenting the average temperature in Fahrenheit as of 6D 235