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| Sovereign Nation of Sentrania Population: 14 million Government: Sovereign Parliamentary (ruler's word is law unless unanimously outvoted by High Council) Ruler: King Stephen of Celandra, age 27 Currency: Sentranian Gold Crown Capitol: Brenwall (pop. 300,000) Major Cities: Brenwall, Port Celandra, Gateway Newmarket Founded: Thirdmonth 25, 3 Age 1029 Official Language: Aralynian Official Religion: Church of Brynioch Major Figures (Sentranian High Council): Gen. Caelan Greathorse, Minister of War; Edmund Knox, Minister of Intelligence; Lord Mage Mendel, Minister of Arcane Affairs; Edric of Covenshire, Minister of Interior; Galen of Greywater, Ambassador General. Sentrania is the larger of two established countries on the subcontinent of Provincia, or Greater Aralynia, the western half of the greater continent of Precopia. Its people are a hodgepodge of intellectuals, professionals, and soldiers, all pledging direct allegiance first to Crown, Province, and Lord, respectively. history In the days of the Kingdom of Aralynia, most of what is now Sentrania was in the Aralynian "Eastern Provinces". The earliest reference to the name Sentrania comes from the 600's, when a Chalice Knight named Sentran inherited a large portion of the northwestern Eastern Provinces into his demesne. Instead of splitting the demesne among his heirs as some of his predecessors had done, he gave the entire portion to one heir. In the late 990's and early 1000's, the Drenndish king died without an heir, sparking a major civil war in Drennden. Worried that the conflict would spill over into his borders, Sentran's heir (also named Sentran), began to play a delicate game of diplomacy, uniting chunks of Sentrania into a single political unit. By 1029 Sentran had accomplished full unification of Sentrania, and declared himself the first king. Only within the last fifty years do we see the type of government emerging in Sentrania that exists today. King Shaene (King Stephen's uncle) began reforms in the early 1320's that would lead to an organized, kingdom-wide judicial system, centralized military command, and legislative reforms in the top levels of Sentranian government. Shaene, after accomplishing most of his sought-after reforms, retired in 1351 and passed the throne to Stephen, his sister's son. Stephen not only came into his reign wrestling with powerful nobles still resisting his uncle's legislative reforms, but also had to turn his eyes eastward when Nosferatian troops launched offensives into the Stone Anvil Mountains and independent states along its borders, striking the first blows of the War of the Scepter. When Eboracum's eastern colonies were attacked in 1356, it was Sentrania that they looked to for help. This worried Stephen's administration. The Eboracan Commonwealth was Precopia's reigning commercial titan for hundreds of years. The enemy must be powerful, indeed. Stephen called the first Alliance High Council in the late spring of 1356. Sentrania's centralized military and organized government was unanimously chosen to lead Alliance efforts against Imperial Nosferatia. Sentrania would finish mobilization by autumn and would deploy cruisers and destroyers to protect the lanes between its port cities and the southern Eboracan islands, which were still under Eboracan control in the months following the fall of Drad Ebortol. Nosferatia massed its navy in the north and attacked Sentranian ships in the waters off the coast of Port Celandra early in the spring of 1357. Shortly after, Imperial troops landed near the city and laid siege to it. Two days later, as the Sentranian Fifth Army went to the city's aid, another Nosferatian Army landed in the north, near the city of Caer Solaris, the capital of Old Aralynia. As it marched toward the city, it was met by an Alliance force led by General Caelan Greathorse and the Sentranian 3rd Army. King Stephen himself was at the battle, as were the Company of Dreadbane, and supposedly the legendary sword itself. Alliance forces turned the Imperial advance, and by the end of the day had them in retreat back toward the coast. In the months following, Sentrania organized a major Alliance counteroffensive, beginning with simultaneous attacks on occupied Drad Ebortol and the Nosferatian mainland. By the winter of 1358, most of Nosferatia's field armies were destroyed and Sentrania saw the end of the war in sight. present political climate Sentrania emerged from the War of the Scepter totally intact and in much better economic shape than most of its allies. However, most of its standing military forces (the forces that weren't disbanded) are still in occupation of Nosferatia. This has left it open very recently to a series of raids by a seafaring race of seven foot tall barbarians that caught the kingdom off guard and nearly destroyed it, being turned back only when they had marched on Port Celandra. the Sentranian mindset Sentranians are open, polite people, easily drawn into thoughtful discussion. They are more likely to make an educated judgment on the individual than to openly distrust a group based on generalization. They are fiercely proud of their national heritage, but they do not boast, instead taking a more reserved position. As a nation, they are less zealous than their Drenndish counterparts. Brynioch is a caring, honorable, and friendly god, and a government would be giving better service to him by staying centralized and rigid than letting his brow-beating clergy infiltrate it and divide it with their theological bickering. They consider their Drenndish cousins temperamental and less educated, prone to fits of religious fervor and judgments on everyone else's morality but their own. Certanans are welcome for a round (or five) of ale but are to be sent home before they begin breaking things. Eboracans are welcome trading partners but are prone to haughtiness and scheming. Nosferatians are a little too quiet, but are okay, even friendly, once you get to know them...it wasn't their fault they were corrupted by a fiendish necromancer bent on selfish conquest. The world outside remains to be explored, and when those first scouts and exploring parties are sent out, they will probably be Sentranian. |
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