Nation Name: The Grand Duchy of Rhenania
National Flag: Location on the Map: Local MapCapital City: Rouenne
Government Type: Unitary constitutional monarchy.
Economic System: Centrist mercantile capitalism.
Leader Name: Grand Duke Ranulf III de Rouenne
Ruling Political Faction: The ducal House of Rouenne.
Most Followed Religion / State Religion: The most commonly-followed (and, indeed, essentially the only) religion in Rhenania is known as Solailism. In its most basic form under the first migratory tribes that would eventually settle Rhenania, the sun was worshipped as a physical deity for its necessity in growing crops and traveling safely.
Over time, however, this direct belief in the sun as a god was supplanted by a number of prophetic movements that spread throughout the nation. These prophets generally claimed to have been born of the Sun, and appointed as the representatives of the cosmos on earth. Over the course of a few hundred years it became more common to venerate the now-deceased Prophets and their interpretations of stellar phenomena rather than to directly worship the sun.
This shift proved useful as astronomical development advanced and it was determined factually that the sun was rather plainly inert, one of millions or billions of similar stars. Solailism became more and more dependent on the recorded words of the Prophets, with the movements of the stars above now considered to be interpreted by said prophets as the source of their decrees rather than having somehow dictated words to them.
The primary differentiation of the Rhenanian Solailist church from other nations' is in its veneration of a number of individuals from the line of the House of Rouenne, such as its founder Rollo, as having been guided divinely in their goals by the heavens and thus considered to be prophets themselves.
The state follows a fine line between secularity and the establishment of a state religion: while the Congress and judiciary are nominally secular, the ducal line are for the most part staunch Solailists. Among the population, approximately eighty-three percent are modern Solailists, ten percent follow olders variations on the religion or other faiths, and seven percent are irreligious.
History: The first settlers to the Rhenanian river basin arrived there from the continent's coastal regions, migrating upriver until they reached the basin itself, which they found to be full of fertile and nutrient-saturated farmlands. The semi-unified host of migratory settlers dispersed along the riverside and the enormous freshwater lakes. Eventually they came to form a number of clans, who feuded intermittently with one another for resources and lands. In times other than those of strife, however, the tribes generally maintained amicable relations with one another, and exchanges of goods and artifacts maintained a relatively-unified Rhenanian culture.
Eventually one Rollo of Rounne, a man of legendary (and likely mythologized) strength and wits, emerged as the undisputed leader of his namesake tribe at the settlement of Rouenne. An ambitious leader, he bound together what tribes he could through careful diplomacy and united the rest by force. By the time of Rollo's death the Rhenanian basin was a unified nation once more, and despite some infighting in regards to succession it remained so for the ascension of his son. This son, Robert I, was a skilled statesman, though perhaps not quite as much so as his father. After a number of years of rule, he came to suspect that it would be most conducive for the overall unity of the nation that it have an enemy to combine against. The kingdom of Iridar, to the south downriver, was perceived as the best option.
Iridar had suffered for a number of years from monarchial disputes -- most recently, its elderly king was without issue or immediate male family, and the realm was at risk of being thrown into chaos upon his death. Robert reached out to the the king of Iridar, offering to bind their two royal dynasties into one for the sake of continuity of throne. After some negotiation the king agreed, and it was decided that Robert would be married to his cousin. Shortly after Robert's return from this negotiation, however, and a few months before he was to marry the aforementioned cousin, the king fell ill and died. The nobles of Iridar, chafing at the possibility of serving under a foreign king, annulled the betrothal and refused to recognize the king's dying wishes. In response Robert raised up a mighty host of Rhenanians, and rode south along the river to take by conquest what he had barely failed to gain through guile.
As it turned out, fate was in the Rhenanians' favor. A few pitched battles took place, and quickly it became apparent that the primarily foot-based armies of Iridar stood little chance against the armored cavalry of the Rhenanians. Following a major conflict outside of the enemy capital, in which three major nobles of Iridar were slain, most of the nation's resistances crumbled and it was swiftly conquered. In order to hold onto their new, richer lands, it became necessary that the royal family of Rouenne intermingle with local customs. Robert crowned himself not as the king of Rhenania but as that of Iridar, naming Rhenania as a Grand Duchy and granting its ownership to his brother and general Tancred. Marrying much of the rest of his immediate family to the remaining noble dynasties of Iridar, he was able to acquire support for this new realm.
Our focus, of course, is not on Iridar but Rhenania. In the north, Tancred and his new vassals chafed somewhat at the transition of rule -- they had set out as conquerors and succeeded to the position of vassals. This anger simmered just below the surface for generations, and while in a few instances armed conflict broke out these were generally able to be mediated as a result of the shared dynastic relations between Iridar and Rhenania.
This dynamic changed drastically for the worse several hundred years later, when a violent revolution came to pass in Iridar after a series of costly and near-bankrupting wars with nearby Svebia. The south was swept with liberal furor, and all of those members of the House of Rouenne who were present in the region came to find themselves facing the business end of the axe or the guillotine. The branch in Rhenania, preferring their heads to remain strictly intact on their shoulders, declared independence from this new revolutionary Republic of Iridir.
Iridir, of course, was not prepared to take this without a fight, but the Rhenanians were prepared to put up one. Conflicts along the Rhene river continued on-and-off for decades, but the Rhenanians always managed to protect their core lands from incursion by the revolutionary armies. Eventually those armies turned their eyes to easier prey, and even later found themselves crushed by other foreign opposition.
From that point on, the governance of Rhenania remained relatively stable. The Grand Duke, knowing that to declare himself a king would necessitate the appointment of powerful dukes and draw further ire from those of revolutionary mindset, instead chose to pursue a path with less chance of treachery. After about a year of deliberation the Rhenanian Compact was placed into law, a constitution that governed over the power of the ruling dynasty. While the Duke still held a significant amount of authority, this could be placed into check by a formalized court system and a parliament made up of representatives of the people, the nobility and the church.
This placed Rhenania into a period of great prosperity. Innovations in industrialization significantly increased technological advancement and standards of living. When war broke out between the kingdoms to the south, the Rhenanians (naturally) stood oposed to Iridar once more, but did not devote significant military resources to any expeditions beyond the rivers. Eventually signing peace with the rest, they embarked with reasonable wealth and status onto the world stage.
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