Kimiwekessie

The Kimiwekessie, also known as the Second Interregnum, was a period roughly spanning from 1671 to 1689 ASD in which there was no legitimate Soleannen Emperor, and rival courts backed by outside powers vied for dominance within Nieden. The period would begin with the abdication of Valerian due to the declaration of war by Uldarash, continue through the dissolution and fracturing of the empire as an independent body, and finally end with the reunification of east and west under Yazov and the formation of the Soleannan Imperium.

The Causes of the Collapse
The collapse of Escharia cannot be attributed to any single factor; it was a multitude of events and mistakes that took the nation down the road to its own dissolution. One of these was the independent growth of nationalism within the Duchy of Suderen, led by Anerias Magistri; having been passed over for the position of heir and controlling the most populous duchy in the Empire, Anerias found himself increasingly drifting out of the orbit of the other lords of the realm, which would culminate in his declaration of independence at the outset of the crisis. Furthermore, Valerian failed to find a worthy replacement for Anerias in time, as his court steadfastly refused the elevation of his lieutenant Yazov, owing to his Akratian origin, which ultimately led to the elevation of Ilia Aesperii, who, though good-hearted, found herself outclassed by the task in front of her. Most importantly, however, was the rivalry with the militarily superior Kingdom of Aurora; despite being thoroughly outmatched in strength of arms, the Escharians chose to adopt an aggressive posture towards the kingdom to the south, which would eventually culminate in Escharia’s entrance into the Uldarashi Civil War and subsequent retaliation by Aurora. In the end, it was this attack by Aurora that would send Escharia into its death spiral.

Collapse and Immediate Aftermath
On December 7, 2021, the Empire of Uldarash (led at this time by Aurora) declared war on Escharia alongside their allies. Having followed on the heels of utterly embarrassing defeats of the Escharian Army in Haven, the ruling class of Escharia quickly lost all hope, and the Emperor himself resigned in favor of Ilia, who was not at all prepared for the task ahead of her. In an act of desperation, she turned to the Uraki Imperium for aid. Uraka, having recently defeated Uldarash at the Battle of Fornost, accepted this plea for aid, and stepped in to guarantee Escharia’s independence, albeit as a vassal of Uraka. However, in the chaos and confusion, both the duchies of Suderen and Tyramat split off, and Uraka felt obliged to guarantee their independence in order to not let their vassalization of Escharia appeal to the rest of Rathnir as a hostile invasion of the continent. Tyramat would quickly enter Gertonia’s sphere of orbit, whereas Suderen would willingly become a puppet state of Uldarash in exchange for Uldarashi protection and military aid.

Anerias’ reasons for siding with the Aurorans were not entirely defensive, however; he had designs on overthrowing Ilia becoming Escharian Emperor himself, which he saw as his natural right. To this end, he sought to buy the assistance of Aurora for the purposes of making war on his former countrymen and specifically conquering the Aarene Duchy to his north (at that time known as the Escharii Duchy), which he purchased through the sale of the Sunken Isle of Tessel, from which the Order of Aurora had originated. Though Anerias took serious flak for this decision, it paled in comparison to the criticism lobbed on Ilia, who herself tried to hide her involvement in the sale despite receiving half of 500 thousand dollars the Aurorans paid for it. This greatly undermined the legitimacy of Ilia, and combined with other political failures, would soon lead to her downfall.

Eventually, Ilia became unable to rule due to sickness, which left practical governance of Escharia in the hands of Alexia Varanamai, who would control the nation for close to a year; eventually he demanded to be allowed to step down, which resulted in a coup against Ilia and the handing of emergency power to Yazov, who in turn convinced Valerian to come out of retirement and retake the throne. At this time, Valerian’s former advisor Samael also returned from retirement, in order to assist him.

Valerian and Samael set about restoring the empire, first by setting their sights upon Tyramat. They declared an annexation of the territory, nearly sparking a war with Gertonia; however, this was averted at the last minute due to a deal worked out between Kaiser Jeremy and Samael that saw most of Tyramat and a large chunk of Escharian land ceded to Gertonia in exchange for Southern Tyramat. Beyond the controversy of selling Escharian land, however, this would galvanize the already-aggressive Anerias into attacking Escharia, before the independent Kingdom of Suderen was itself absorbed.

Secession of Aarene
On January 9, the Uraki Imperium entered into a large-scale war in Eldham, which threatened to spill over into its vassals. Seizing on the opportunity, Anerias convinced the court of the Duchy of Aarene to secede from the still-Urakan controlled Escharia and join Suderen, declaring the True Holy Empire of Escharia (which would later be renamed to the Fourth Escharian Empire, but is known to us as the Empire of Asterien). This sent the Western court of Valerian reeling, as they lost their most populous remaining duchy to the puppet state of their hated enemy, Aurora. It is at this time that the conflict becomes one of East vs. West, as the split came down largely on geographic lines. Valerian was successful in organizing an international coalition to retake his Eastern provinces, but chose not to make the first move, anticipating an invasion by Asterien; Asterien in turn chose not to attack because they felt their position was stronger on the defensive. As such, both sides settled into an uneasy stalemate, as neither felt comfortable attacking the other.

Around this time, a third faction would assert itself; the Church, under the now-Cardinal Yazov. Yazov used his influence to split off Lileannen and Gentumar from the East, creating the Holy Cities, which were backed by many of the world’s great powers. War nearly broke out between Asterien and the Holy Cities, but was averted due to Asterien’s uncertainty of victory. The Holy Cities also attempted to host peace conferences between Valerian and Anerias, but these went nowhere.

As both sides settled into the stalemate, both Anerias and Valerian began to decline. Valerian, who had never really wanted to return to power, broke first; and eventually resigned once again, leaving power in the hands of the son of Samael, Hadrian (OOC: Yazov’s alt account). The Western Half of Escharia under Valerian, which had up until this point been known as the Free Escharian State, was then renamed to Aesperium Niedea; a nod to Escharia’s predecessor, which Valerian had once led. For his part, Anerias began a precipitous decline in energy and vigour, losing the spark that had led him as far as he had gotten. This led to his lieutenant, Nive, taking up more of the duties of states, and over time he came to effectively be the leader of Asterien in all but name. Nive, for his part, was drifting closer towards a pan-Escharian ideology, and through his ties with Luci Magistri in the West, helped to improve relations between East and West over time.

Reunification
Eventually, Anerias’s lethargy would reach a boiling point, in which members of his court, along with the Auroran General Robert Vorpes, who had provided the critical military assistance for the creation of Asterien, would convince Anerias to resign in favor of Nive. Upon taking office, Nive quickly became disillusioned with the state of Asterien, especially due to looming war with Kartek, and began actively seeking unification with Aesperium Niedea. A long period of negotiations ensued, but after a time Nive and Yazov worked out a deal in which East and West would reunify under Yazov’s banner, while retaining a degree of autonomy. On March 5, 2022, Nive and Yazov signed the documents, formally uniting the two states into one and forming the Soleannen Imperium, thus ending the Kimiwekessie.