Soeria

Duchy and Society of Soeria Degendom en gezelschap van Sorië
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Soeria in Messenia
Capital	Zvevegem
Official languages	Volkstaal
Religion	Arlatur, Siriash
Demonym	Soerian
Government	Respublican monarchy
• Duke	Gerwin IV
Establishment
• Freehold	1500
• Gezelschap	1677
Area
• Total	34,654 km2 (13,380 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate	5,856,537
• Density	169/km2 (437.7/sq mi)
Time zone	IAT-M -1

Soeria (Volkstaal Sorië, Sormark), officially the Duchy and Society of Soeria (Volkstaal: Degendom en gezelschap van Sorië), is a country in western Messenia. The country shares borders with Siurskeyti in the west, Helminthasse in the north-west, and Alcasia in the north and east.

Etymology

The origin of the name Soeria is disputed, with multiple suggestions being put forward during the country’s existence. The oldest such points to an Antissan origin, from ishahruwau, “to cry, to shed tears”, but the region did not carry such a name in the period during which Antissan culture held sway. The Siur commonholds of the Trying Times period referred to the region as Suðurmörk (“southern marches”) as it became increasingly Arlaturi in outlook, and this remains the country’s name in modern Hártal; local Sorië and Sormark and the usual Ellish form Soeria are formed partly as sabamicisations.

Geography

Soeria mostly consists of relatively low-lying land around Skellish Bay (to the east) and the Harsirflói (to the west) on the southern coast of Messenia, as the western edge of the Zepnish Coastal Plain; parts of the country’s north-east are of higher elevation, forming the southernmost extension of the Woestenberg hills, part of the larger Aphrasian mountain range.

History

Ancient history

Soeria was one of the territories in southern Messenia which harboured the beginnings of the Antissan civilisation which dominated much of the region in the second millennium BCE; many of their earliest settlements gathered around the shore of Skellish Bay in Soeria and Alcasia. By around 1550 BCE the area had fallen into the remit of the rising Dammurite empire, and remained under its rule as it transitioned into its later manifestation as the Larhine Empire. With the fall of Larhinia in the 600s BCE it drifted back into fractious independence as a collection of petty principalities.

Battle of faiths

The dramatic spread of Secote domains across Messenia in the eighth century saw modern Soeria fall under Secote rule by around 750 CE, with the so-called “Branimirovid Empire” assuming an overlordly role late in the ninth century. This continued as the looser Secote Dominion gave way to Mistivey II’s empire. As Siriash fragmented and yielded to a greater competition of ideas during the Acephaly period, Soeria became an intellectually lax region where Arlatur, spreading outside its Siur heartlands, found a new audience. Arlaturi philosophy intersected with Soerian Siriash in numerous ways, but from the Coseptran Restoration and later, with the rise of the Decairanisers, this syncretism was weakened by a newfound exclusivism. Many Sirian rulers of post-Secote Soeria were ambivalent about Arlatur at best, especially as it increasingly formed a distinct community, and where they did not persecute they would greatly restrict the freedoms of these perceived heretics. Nevertheless, the work of a number of Soerian heimsálir established adherents among both freedom-minded farmers and interested nobles, and even more parts of urban society were sympathetic or open to dialogue, driving forward the emergence of Arlaturi as a definable faith group from the beginning of the 14th century.

Suppression of Arlatur at both the secular and faithly levels accelerated in the early 15th century, with hefty increases in schahn levies – mandated by civil rulers as representing a willingness to submit to Sirian rule, and in the local context increasingly railed against as a form of recusancy tax. This was heightened in the middle 1420s by more local-level rulership being organised on the taparate level, with concomitant involvement in that rule by local Sirian prelates. Simmering discontent burst into outright rebellion from the spring of 1429, with neighbouring Siur polities more than willing to throw in with fellow Arlaturi; Skjóll and Skurður were prominent players here, with the former spearheading a full-scale intervention in 1431. Soeria was whiplashed by the fighting over the next six years before its ruling prince was driven from the throne and a truce agreed which would remove the worst oppressions and allow local ædrar a voice in a governing council which made conscious efforts to weld Sirian and Palthian practices to Siur-like þing gatherings.

The rickety truce held until 1448, with infighting among the Arlaturi communities engendered by the Vinadeila dispute giving Sirian rulers united behind the Tepharion in the Arnlurnian Hierarchy a belief that Soeria was ripe to be taken back into proper Sirian rulership for good and all. Over the next five years the remnants of the truce were well and truly torn down, with Soeria pulled firmly back into the Sirian camp as Arnlurnian princes pressed further into the Siur country itself; the brief capture of Reylatur in 1455 forced Skjóll to withdraw, with the perfidy – and convenient alliance – of Geirröð with the Palthians shutting off any hopes of further intervention as the new regimes settled into place both in Soeria and to the north in what is now north-western Alcasia.

Seemingly nothing had been learned by the Arnlurnians, with renewed efforts to silence, drive out or convert local Arlaturi, with a renewed bout of rebellion in the middle 1470s being brutally crushed. A stronger and better-organised fight-back began in 1481; this time, it snowballed into an almost complete control over modern Soeria by the end of the decade, and bold attempts to hold southern Alcasia and even make inroads into Laugland. With a restored and reinvigorated Æthelin under Tarfur Grassgrunnur storming across western Alcasia, the War of the Western Descenders (1494–1500) saw the Arnlurnians mount a frenzied defence; but their loss at the Battle of Hesselinck in 1500 and the signing of the Peace of Ovelstedt forced a surrender and the complete withdrawal of any claims to untrammelled Sirian rule in Soeria henceforward.

The new Soeria

The Commonhold of Soeria which was agreed upon at Ovelstedt was a strange creature, even for the times. Most Sirian rulers had either died during the fighting or pledged themselves to assert rule only in specified areas and – to an extent – over people who consented to that rule (in itself the basis of traditional Siur sovereignty, and arguably looking back to ancient selship practices in the Palthian lands). Likewise, many of the Arlaturi noble houses had been deprived of their heads – and over the next few decades there was a degree of influx from the border country as Siur soldiers, and some lesser nobility denied prospects at home, began to settle in Soeria and claim (with varying degrees of success) rights and responsibilities of rulership, forming a revived “noble” class as the Geplichtete (literally “obliged”, in the sense of accepting an obligation).

For these and other reasons, the new Commonhold had no single ruler (or thein – Volkstaal borrows the Hártal term); and the council agreed upon as the highest civil authority – the first Generality (Algemeenheid) of Soeria – was thus a fragile thing, which perhaps owed its existence in its early years largely to the knowledge of its members of the likely consequences if it did not endure. Although it bore some resemblances to the Siur commonhold, it was perhaps never seen at this time as a political entity at the same level as the commonholds in the Siur country proper.

This certainly did not mean an absence of intercommunal enmity. Arlaturi in the wake of the Vinadeila – and Soerian Arlaturi still emerging from decades of institutional persecution – were less disposed to thoughts of tolerance and peaceful cohabitation; and Sirians whose faith insisted that those outside it were, at some level, less worthy than other human beings, were disinclined to accept that the old rules had changed. This ill-mannered and irritable state of affairs was something that the house of Urgamitz, elevated to imperial status in Palthia, could usefully exploit – and their support saw the steady emergence of the Stacheln (literally “thorns” or “stings” in Zepnish) as an overarching pro-Palthic and pro-Sirian faction.

As with the empire more widely, Seranian fever wrought havoc in Soeria during 1606 and 1607; in the confusion thus created, the Stacheln’s generally greater unity allowed them to gain the upper hand against the disjointed and less coherent Arlaturi factions, Palthia sensed a tipping point in the offing; alongside their drive into western Alcasia – reclaiming this territory from Siur Æthelin – the Empire’s support allowed the Stacheln to gain control of the Generality in 1620 and put in place an undiluted Sirian government. Let off the leash after years of political impotence, the Stacheln set about re-erecting the kind of institutionalised discrimination that was already becoming commonplace in Alcasia; but their own heavy-handedness and the greater parity of local Arlaturi with Sirians in Soeria meant that they could not put it into effect with anything like the same vigour. The worst effects were perhaps muted by an increasing practice of the separate faithly communities living alongside each other with their own distinct institutions – something which would become an increasing feature of life in Soeria as “pillarisation” (verzuiling) – but could not be forestalled forever; with numbers now favouring the Arlaturi community, Stacheln rule was thrown out in the Evenwichting (“Equilibrium”, as the upheaval is known in most Soerian historical studies) of 1660, with the Arlaturi factions now gaining the advantage of support and some guarantees of protection from Siurskeyti (although these were not necessarily as assured as Soerian Arlaturi leaders may have believed them to be). In this fashion Arlaturi Soerians confirmed their dominant position (“even weighting” being a lesser consideration), with many Sirians choosing to uproot themselves, fleeing for Alcasia or, in some cases, deeper into the Palthian heartlands.

The net effect of these changes was a much weaker sense of belonging within the wider Palthic Empire, with the now-essentially Arlaturi polity (very much an anomaly in the wider Sirian realm of the empire) seeing little need or willingness to answer to a Sirian emperor in Steintor. As Alcasia under duke Peter von Leiditz cast off imperial rule loudly and with force in 1699, Soeria at the fringe of the empire slipped its leash much more quietly four years later; the payment of Schutzgeld as an imperial levy was seemingly much less of an issue for the Generality. The Soerian delegation at the signing of the Treaty of Spatzberg in 1708 did at least accept a notional allegiance to the centre as the Baldwinian system took shape; but, with its collapse in 1740 as Konrad II took the new Zepnish throne, even this pretence was discarded as unnecessary.

Battle of families

It has been argued that the new Generality was in some respects created with institutional weaknesses which left the new Soerian state fatally flawed from the outset. Some of the more prominent Arlaturi houses who had played significant roles in the Evenwichting carved out for themselves in the process effectively hereditary rights to numerous governmental offices and other privileges by both formal and informal instruments, leaving the new government often hamstrung by the need to keep onside or otherwise placate vested interests. The respublican constitution of the new Soerian polity, the Gezelschap, was from the beginning impregnated with devices for dynastic rule and even monarchy. While their competition kept autocracy and rescapitanism at bay, a more serious problem came with the disenfranchisement of the entire van Slaterdam clan for their involvement with the Stipts in the Slaterdam Ban, contradictory with the de Roode branch's substantial influence that redeemed for them a poorly defined ability to continue participating in Soerian politics. By the late 18th century disagreements with the Gezelschap's dominant van Boonheim family led to the rise of the Schoppenaas faction that rallied behind increasingly popular figures from the Roodes and tried to put them in office, leading to a concentration of power under a Duke and an era of political violence known as the Gezelloosheid. From the 1812 Spades' Emeute, in which the Schoppenaas overthrew the Boonheims and installed a Roode duke, Soeria began experiencing periodic though limited civil wars, and frequent changes of government.

The feud was left without a clear victor when in 1838 an aristocrat and Ascesian adventurer, Gerwin van Dodemeestra, became the Duke with Alcasian support in the Deckside Acclamation. Dodemeestra's dynasty turned the Gezelloosheid into a three-way conflict while facing much criticism as Alcasian stooges, and they were briefly overthrown on a number of occasions, but under Coenrad II (r. 1860–77) significant progress towards modernisation was made. Coenrad's less admirable repression of opponents also nonetheless returned some stability, and focused politics into the debates of a parliament, the Generality of Soeria, though this body would now consistently be antagonists to the Dodemeestras' attempt at holding power. A new political movement known as the Grachtaanhang arose and became popular with industrialists and intellectuals, who, between the doctrines of deictism and economism, were moved to push for greater rationalisation of politics and an end to the chaotic political culture.

Modern Soeria

The steady growth of a legitimate respublican culture became a persistent burr under the saddles of a house of Dodemeestra which was all too inclined to forget Arlaturi principles of authority wielded by those perceived as worthy to do so in favour of old-school Palthian autocracy. This was eventually brought to a head by the death of Coenrad in 1877 and the accession of his younger sister Hilda. Nicknamed “de bezem Hilda” or “Broom Hilda” for her frequent spats with the civil government and her threats to “sweep this house clean”, she went further than any Dodemeestra ruler before her in either ignoring or seeking to countermand the decisions of her government. While Coenrad had been sparing in his use of his rights of veto over new setningar, during her eight years on the throne (1877–85), Hilda threw back for further revision no less than thirty-nine draft setningar (one of these, on the establishment of an enforcement arm of the country’s tax-gathering agency with police powers, was rejected three times before being withdrawn), and the opening of the 1883 parliament was delayed for five weeks while Hilda challenged the right to sit of its then incumbent leader Robert Schroder.

The political class’ patience with Hilda’s caprices finally ran out in 1885; a revolution in Empery of that year – noted for happening as she attended a musical performance – ended the monarchy and founded a revived Generalship. Schroder and his wife, the pioneer alienist Lucille van Peldt, were leading players in the Revolution, and Schroder continued to lead the chamber while more permanent hierarchical structures were created and emplaced.

Perhaps the greatest flaw in these endeavours, however, was the extent to which they seemed to rely on the respect and goodwill which Schroder had gathered around himself. By the 1900s this respublic had again fell into disarray, as the Grachtaanhang clashed with the moralising Arlaturi eldership and their supporters, the Bronaanhang. In 1907 a second revolution saw the accession of the flamboyant and charismatic Reijnier van Halen (r. 1907–1950) as a new Duke who created a new strong and stable state based on the Ducal office. As a benevolent autocrat, Reijnier won respect for the monarchy through his own personal accountability and daring, and also steered Soeria through the Long War. He was so popular on his death that, despite his personal wishes, public referenda allowed his son to succeed him and establish a Halen dynasty, although after the scandalous and embarrassing reign of Gerwin III (r. 1977–85) the Censure of 1985 returned power to the Generality.

In more recent years – reviving, to a degree, its role as a facilitator in the Geweld period between 1945 and 1958 – Soeria was caught up in some of the backwash to events in Alcasia, as the intercommunal violence of the Tranenjaren wracked that country. It has been often observed over the years that Soeria is in some respects an antithesis to Alcasia – a majority-Arlaturi and minority-Sirian country which had successfully put to one side the old animosities which once wracked it. Certainly the comparison was not lost on Alrijk, who was one of the loudest interordinate voices protesting the actions of Hubert van Brandt and his Peace and Reconciliation Council; some observers have suggested that Alrijk was a very visible diversion from the covert support being delivered to Arlaturi paramilitaries in Alcasia from Siurskeyti and Helminthasse.

Politics

Soeria's polity consists of the parallel forces of the Duke of Soeria and the Gezelschap. The Duke is, for the most part, similar in character to the Siur theinar, with his office being contingent entirely on approval by liegemen, in Soeria's case the Gezelschap as a concept. The Gezelschap specifically exercises power through the Generality of Soeria, an assembly of delegates from various bodies representing well-established local institutions such as diets, urban councils, Arlaturi seiskyn, and Sirian orders. Selection processes can be variable by denomination. Since the Censure of 1985, the Duke and the Generality's powers are specifically negotiated whenever either party motions to bring up the matter, but most such deliberations take place at the accession of new Dukes only as an adaptation of the Siur principle of handfestning. Matters ranging from how the cabinet is structured and appointed to what conduct the Duke may engage in as Soeria's representative are all established by these sessions.

The Soerian monarchy was an incrementally built solution to the conflicts plaguing the more pluralistic and respublican form of the Gezelschap established after the Second Soerian Revolt. Based on this it has positioned itself in the public consciousness as a decisive force with a much more intimate association with the body politic; this is chiefly a legacy of the highly charismatic Duke Reijnier. Combined with the related history, Soerian dukes have been some of the most proactive and publicly important monarchs of Messenia. After 1985 the Duke's executive powers have mostly been curbed, the Reijnierist aura has somewhat faded, and Soerian kingship has thus placed great emphasis on acting as the ambassador of the country's kvöðin, regularly venturing into the spectacular and controversial — even criticised as histrionic, as in the personal activism of Duke Alrijk in response to the Tranenjaren. The Gezelschap, generally more matter-of-fact in its outlook, has an ambivalent relationship with the Duke, and Soeria's constitution is arguably still not yet harmonious and settled.

The main political factions and parties are the Bronaanhang, the voice of Arlaturi moral rectitude on domestic matters and a samskyldist social policy guided by the ædrar; the Geiseraanhang, supporters of ducal prerogatives often seen as axarvaldist; and the Radaanhang, efficiency-favouring technocrats steeped in theoretical schools like stjórnfræði or deictism. Samvaldism has a modest presence, but is largely checked or made redundant by the corporatist social structure; and attempts at introducing clearer aphypnist principles have been firmly resisted by a more strongly egalitarian Arlaturi ethos.

Foreign relations

Placed as it is in close proximity to Siurskeyti and Zeppengeran, two of Messenia’s recognised great powers, Soeria has had to carefully balance its relationship to both over the years. The similarity of worldview partly engendered by a shared Arlatur belief system has helped foster good relations with Siurskeyti, while positive efforts by Zeppengeran under the New Alignment regime have prompted a small, but noticeable, uptick in positive sentiment towards the Zepnish. Soeria was regarded well enough by both countries that it was an acceptable location in 1989 for negotiations which ended a long period of strain between the major players in the second Straits Game period; and the end of the Tranenjaren period has seen a marked uplift in relations between Soeria and Alcasia.

Language

Soeria and Alcasia are the only two countries where Volkstaal is the most widely-spoken language; Volkstaal, part of the wider Palthian language family, was historically known as Alkazientaal, but pressure largely from Soerian speakers brought about the change of name in 1871. The two countries’ governments sponsor the Volkstaalunie, a governing body which monitors the status of the language and makes rulings on correct usage and the validity of foreign loanwords.