Empire of Uldarash

The Empire of Uldarash, also known as the First Empire of Uldarash and Uldarash, was a union between various western states founded on 9 October 2020. It served as a counterbalance to the many colonial and expansionist empires of the East, such as Yimmu-Audal, Escharia, and Valdreach.

Specifically, the crux of the empire's formation came from Ardat Mosul, which after the ancient war of Audalad-Ummarnu colonization, became a colony of Yimmu-Audal. The other Westerners resisted this colonization however, with cities such as Taranusha being abandoned in the war, as vast amounts of populace fled from the war-torn lands of Northern Ummarnu, and the Lands of the Eye. The rest of the Westerners resented Ardat Mosul for their decision to kneel, however justified it may have been.

Moreover however, they resented Yimmu-Audal, and feared they would continue their expansion all across The Mesa, inviting other Eastern Powers to do the same. With this, the Westerners united together, with over seven different civilizations and city states deciding to band together and form the Uldarash Empire.

History
The circumstances for the formation of Uldarash can be found nearly 200 years prior to it's entrance on the world stage. This primarily comes from one event, an event that forever changed the West and created the desire for a unified, pan-Western empire. This was the Audalad Invasion of the West. The Invasion can be read about here Old Kingdoms of Talawa, however the a short summary of the events are as follows:

Audalad invasion of the west
In 200 BSS, traders from the then prominent Ardatian Empire became disgruntled with the increasing commercial influence of Yimmu-Audal in Vastallos and the Sea of Slaves. Because of this, they instigated a war between Ardat and Yimmu-Audal, a war which once declared proved massively to the disadvantage of the Ardatians. Very early on in the war, the Audalads crushed the Ardatian Navy, and began blockading the Sea of Slaves, preventing valuable food shipments from reaching Ummarnu. Recognizing the terrifying technological advancement of the Audalads, as well as scuffing under the Audalad blockade, the Old Kingdom of Talawa, the Kingdom of Kuntarra and other minor north Haven states joined in a coalition against the Audalads. However, their efforts would prove for not, as after a brutal 70 years of fighting, the West would fall. The Ardatians sighed a treaty with Yimmu-Audal, becoming colonial vassals of the empire, and ushering in the age of the Eastern Imperialists. Despite this, the foundation had been set and the need had been recognized for a coalition of western nations.

Eastern Imperialists
Following the Aualad Invasion of the West, an age of colonialism began, where the vast, growing Eastern Empires began settling colonies in the West. Ardat Mosul remained the largest and most successful colony by far, however other colonies ranged from the Phagosian based Fernheim (Escharien) & Tlahatl (Valdreach), to the more southern Utummerai-Atulud & Madinat Al-Ahmar (YA). The increasing rise of these colonies both terrified and humiliated the Westerners, with more and more of them calling for a proud, unified western empire every day.

Formation
On September 28, 2020 the first piece of the grand puzzle of Uldarash began coming together, when the lands of Palovina & Sanctuary (formerly Kuntarra) came together in a sort of a union state, forming the Kingdom of Paloro. Soon after, meetings were held between this new Paloran Kingdom and the other western city states, such as Leafy Town, Valkenburg, Lormere and many more. Very importantly, these talks soon expanded to include the Kingdom of Talawa, the though greatly diminished, still mightiest native Western nation. Among these meetings two leaders quickly rose to prominence, King Wilusa of Talawa & King Dentro of Sanctuary. Talawa held the most amount of territory, the largest and most well equipped army, and was the only western nation to have multiple cities. Sanctuary on the other hand held the (at the time) largest city in Haven, some powerful magic and the healthiest economy. Both nations were connected by their Talawan heritage (Sanctuary consisting of the Redstoneborne subspecies of the Talawan Elves), and the Asharu Pantheon, a loose animist pantheon of gods & spirits that connected many of the western peoples together. This meant that, on October 11th, 2020, when the Empire of Uldarash was officially created, the rulers of these kingdoms, Wilusa & Dentro, were named the first two emperors of Uldarash's famous diarchy. Furthermore, the capitals of each kingdom, became duel-capitals of the united empire, with Talawa's Lukka serving as the administrative/military capital of the empire, and Sanctuary serving as the cultural/religious capital of the empire.

A question that is often asked of Uldarash's formation is how they from the beginning formed such a centralized governing system. This has been seen in stark contrast to later region-based coalitions that formed following Uldarash, such as the Silver Coalition and the VAWR. All of these governments were very loosely centralized, with the individual member states often maintaining high degrees of autonomy or even independence. Uldarash though, formed a Diarchy with absolute control, and all nations that had formed it were fully incorporated as integral provinces of the nation. The simple answer is, no one had thought to do elsewise. Uldarash was the first of these coalition nations in Rathnir, and it's founders had based it off of the only model they knew: that of the Eastern Empires.

Pre-Golden War
Following the creation of Uldarash, the empire was slow to make allies with anyone. They were inherently, very distrustful of all the Eastern Empires, both due to the continued existence of their western colonies, as well as simply the nation's pride. Uldarash had formed to 'serve as the counterbalance to the imperialist empires of the east', making the idea of allying with with these powers an iffy proposal to say the least. Initially, Uldarash contended itself with simply allying to other western nations such as the city-states of Vastallos, in addition to supporting independence factions in the colonies, particularly Tlahatl & Lumaire. At the time, the primary foe of the empire was seen to be Ardat-Mosul, a sentiment that prevailed even after the colony's eventual breakaway from Yimmu-Audal. Emperor Wilusa had despised Ardat, believing their surrender in the Audalad Invasion of the West to be a betrayal to both him and the west as a whole. Under his reign, relations with Ardat and YA would be very tense, with Emperor Dentro being largely apathetic to the Ardatians.

On October 13, 2020, the Tlahatl World Summit was held in Valdreach's colony of Tlahatl. Among other things, this summit between the Big 4 or 'Old Guard' as they are often referred to now, established the rights of the Mesa, affirming Uldarash's right to close off their own territory and prevent others from mining in it. This monumental decision would have massive repercussions, setting much of the ground work for the Golden War. Interestingly, this also saw the beginning of Uldarash's turn against Escharien on the national stage. Surprisingly, of all the states present it was Escharien that was most feverently against Uldarash's Mesa Declaration, seeding hostile relations to come

On 23 October 2020, the Minedodge raid began. When Player Minedodge killed an unarmed member of Hapatmitas, a bounty was placed on his head and a manhunt began. This only lead into two more members of Hapatmitas being slain. Sewer Mafia eventually joined in, originally housing Minedodge, but then betraying them as they captured them in a structure. While trapped, they had slain Minedodge. Minedodge later came back with the Minedodge insurgency of Uldarash.

On 24 October 2020, TheRealJay and Cantheallmighty Incident occurred, a truly seminal event in the history of the old world where, were it not for the efforts of Duke Keechoo of Palovina, the Empire of Uldarash and Yimmu-Audal could have gone to war. With war having been avoided, this event amounted to little effect on Uldarash, but had it gone differently, things could have been quite different.

On the same day, three members of Uldarash, KingCrafter9K, leader of Cresttown, WhiskeyKnight, leader of Hapatmitas, and Keechoo, the leader of Palovina, found and confronted two figures in the region of Verdania. ProdigyBoy and mace_n654, they spoke a completely unique language, which they called "Small Speak". Translation between the languages is difficult, but the two are capable of understanding the Travelers Tongue, and can say some of the tongue's words. Eventually, they managed to get the people to join Uldarash, but they did not have any official town and had not given themselves a name. Some days later, they claimed to be "builders" sent by "Felsonsvhon" from The Void, they own a temple in the Verdania Mountains, where they fly the banner of Palovina next to their own, calling themselves citizens of Palovina though still recognized as separately the town of Felsonsvhon.



On 27 October 2020, members of Uldarash were patrolling their claims in the mesa, when they stumbled across an unclaimed Bardonian underground base. This came to be known as the Bardonian illegal mining Incident, where the Empire of Uldarash attempted to negotiate with Bardonia the fines that would be paid for such a massive base. However, tensions would continue to rise, especially as the Empire of Uldarash demanded a fine of $100,000, only to be paid 100 – half a golden ingot – despite the massive amount of gold that could be found in the mesa. This soon escalated into a declaration of war, thus beginning the Great Western War, also known as as The Great Golden War to the rest of the world.

After the war, Wilusa stepped down as Emperor of Uldarash leaving Dentro and the Imperial council as rulers of the empire. Talks have begun to reform the nation and create a new form of government. Uldarash no longer sought to expand its borders, rather it sought to consolidate what it has left. The nation kept two capitals, but after the war Hapatmitas took the role over from Lukka.

On 4 November, due to the loss and engagement in the Great Golden War, Palovina formally seceded from the Empire, taking Felsonsvhon's Landing with it to reform Paloro, entirely separate from The Empire of Uldarash that Paloro had formed into. This was done on good terms and the two nations still have a good relationship and open borders between each other.

Whiskey's reign
Soon after the Great Golden War with Emperor Wilusa resigned and Emperor Dentro was left on his deathbed from injuries sustained in the war, leading WhiskeyKnight to step up to power as the regent of Uldarash. Upon siezing power, WhiskeyKnight began heavily encouraging nepotism within the empire, his House, that of the SpiritKnights be given key administrative, noble, and military positions within the empire, until nearly every position of power within the empire was held by a member of his House. Whiskey would go on to see Uldarash join the VAWR, and form the Crescent Concordant (for a limited time). In the beginning, WhiskeyKnight promoted a firmly neutral, although pro-Ardat agenda, the later aspect slowly taking over the former as time went on. The Ardat issue continued to be the defining issue of all emperors' of Uldarash, with Emperor Wilusa having been staunchly in opposed to the very existence of an Ardatian state, and Emperor Dentro having ranging from apathetic to promoting integration as an autonomous state. To make things full circle, Emperor Whiskey was incredibly pro-Ardat, primarily due to his close personal friendship with Calipha Dalatra, ruler of Ardat. Whiskey had worked closely with her during his tenure as Merchant Commander of the Western Host, a mercenary organization that Whiskey had covertly used as a tool to further Uldarashi interests abroad, before his accession as Minister of War.

Consolidating the empire
Despite this friendship, Whiskey had fully intended to pursue a policy of neutrality and consolidation for Uldarash. Eventually however, with Uldarash joining of the VAWR, formal allying of Ardat, and finally, WhiskeyKnight's accepting of the exiled Kingdom of Aurora into Haven (which would have far reaching effects into the future) would show that under WhiskeyKnight, Uldarash had drifted to a distinctly anti-Trillium position. Overall though, Whiskey's reign was about one thing: consolidation. Uldarash had to minimize losses from the war, begin contractionary budget policy and most importantly limit Uldarash's empire sprawl. At the time, Uldarash was, in terms of raw territory, the biggest empire in Rathnir, and Whiskey knew the now-weakened empire would never be able to garrison, develop or even populate all of it's vast territory. Expansion of Uldarash would be through soft-power and influence, not conquest and occupation. It was mentality, that would shape the First Empire of Uldarash, transforming into a juggernaut of intrigue and careful diplomatic maneuvering.

Whiskey's time as Emperor would also see the implementation of the Whiskey Doctrine, where Uldarash would, as opposed to previously annexing and integrating their neighbors, would instead propose "Vassal Contracts", an agreement that emphasized soft power as opposed to hard power. At their height, Uldarash had 5 protectorates under them, namingly Aurora, Wahar, Jcon, Kingdom of Falnir and Nunaje. This would prove to be one of the most contentious points between Uldarash and much of the rest of the Concordant. Many of the other concordant members feared Uldarash would use it protectorates to stack the votes in its favor during Concordant Votes, whereas Uldarash argued that their vassal contracts expressly prohibited them from doing so. Alongside the Concordat's inaction on denouncing the actions of Emperor Siegfried attempting to usurp the Audalad Throne, WhiskeyKnight announced that Uldarash would leave the Concordant. Upon leaving the Crescent Concordant, Uldarash then went on to found The Crimson Hold Alliance of Defense (CHAD) with Sironia & Cobbleworks. The following months were primarily consistent of a cold between the Uldarashi System (Uldarash and her vassals) and the Crescent Concordant. Osudal would later declare independence, and tensions occur over the Crescent Concordant's Guild City, regarding whether the Concordant or Uldarash owned it. Eventually, after receiving countless threats on his life, Whiskey gave the island back, however in doing so revealed many of the conversations between concordant members, and their threats against Uldarash. Unsurprisingly, the Concordant was enraged, many members vowing to "burn the empire & hang the emperor". Surprisingly however, a war between the 2 factions never came to pass, and eventually, Uldarash, pledging uphold the interests of their vassal Aurora, was brought into the Trillum War, whereupon they would be defeated militarily. However that would not be the defeat would not be the biggest blow endured by the empire. Instead, it would be the cost for the mercenaries hired by the Yimmu-Audal-Ardatian Empire, which the Ardatians had assumed Uldarash would pay. Despite Uldarash still maintaining the highest wealth in the land at the moment-from their Mesa holdings-they bafflingly high expenses for the over-priced mercenaries would nearly empty the Uldarashi treasury. Were it not for the efforts of Minister of Commerce Tequila I (Whiskey's 2nd born son) the Empire would have gone bankrupt. Tequila managed to get Ardat to pay for more than half of the mercenary expenses, an amount that would cripple Ardat into such incredible debt that they would have to sell the nation itself to pay back their mercenaries.

As Uldarash's politics would begin to stagnate, the VAWR was disbanded, Osudal rejoined the Empire, and from then on world politics would see Uldarash slowly drift away from prominence, still regarded as a major power to some, and to others the equivalent of a time capsule, showcasing the oldest of the otherwise entirely collapsed Old Guard, and taking a backseat in foreign involvement. The perfect example of this can be seen with the Dandelion Wars, where Uldarash utterly declined to join the 2nd Coalition. Although this was primarily because the existence of Escharien & the Crescent Concordant within the coalition, it is still representative of Whiskey II directing Uldarash back into a period of consolidation-which was of particular importance after their financial losses from the Trillium War.

While Whiskey reign did see the reintegration of the Western Mesa, the stemming of Uldarash's downfall, and the creation of powerful alliances with neighbors, it was only towards the end of his reign where Uldarash would finally begin to truly recover, his wife, Queen Consort Wurmbo having launched a program to revitalize the capital, making it even more populated than it was before. Simiarly, Whiskey's cousin Rum would launch a similar campaign in Sanctuary, finally beginning develop the city after it's bombing in the Golden Wars. Slowly but surely, Uldarash was building back up, finally beginning to truly recover from their defeats to the Bardonians. However, this would not last, and alongside other aspects of Whiskey's reign, such as the alienation of their neighbors and the unpopularity of his own personal religion in Uldarash (noxism being a insurmountably small minority in the empire) would prove to be things that would haunt the empire, even beyond his reign.

The Coup of Paloro
Around this time, the Coup Of Paloro occurred. The new king, Loic, requested that Uldarash, alongside other nations would join together to create a new Empire of Haven. The smaller nations involved would agree, though Uldarash and Aurora were notably against the deal. After Aurora sent an ultimatum to Loic, Loic and his supporters fled, leaving Keechoo to reclaim the throne.

After this, on February 11th, the night before Emperor Whiskey II was to head to Asahiri to bend the knee to Loic, he was assassinated. Although the assassination was blamed on pro-unionist spys from Boulderov, later investigation would reveal that it was members of Aurora and his own High Council, including his son Tequila and cousin Rum who had done it. To save the empire, they reasoned, they had to kill the emperor.

After Aurora sent an ultimatum to Loic, Loic and his supporters fled, leaving Keechoo to reclaim the throne.

Rum's Reign
The first week of RumKnight's reign, after the Soleannan Spirits attempted to raid Hapatmitas, they were quickly attacked by volunteers and men from across the Empire, including three men from Kush and BackToTheHub. The Spirits, however, managed to escape, following a server crash, and a few members involved are banned.

Keechoo, the King of Paloro, was then killed on 27 February by the Haven Company. In retaliation, the Sanctuary Raid is launched, successfully driving them out of the disputed lands of Asahiri. The Haven Company then went on to consider other lands, only to resettle again in Haven, though a plain bit further Western. They then began to call themselves the Khanate of Haven thenceforth. The Golden Ring of Haven, a new alliance, would then be forged.

Collapse of Uldarash
RumKnight's reign would then come to a close, quite swiftly, following a surprise invasion of Sanctuary and Hapatmitas executed by Viodoxa and Sewor mafia. Following a swift defeat at the Second Viper War, Uldarash was dissolved, and the Protectorate of Aruna was made in Hapatmitas, a vassal to Viodoxa. As Viodoxa was lead by Loic, it was suspected by some members of Uldarash that this was purely retaliation for the results of the Coup of Paloro.

The Empire would proceed to go through a period of factionalization, until 5 March 2021, where a number of smaller factions within the former fractured empire, re-united into a second empire known at the time as the True Empire of Uldarash.

Territory
Current and Past territory of Uldarash

Cities
 * Aldenard
 * Goldtree
 * Eibenburg
 * Hapatmitas
 * Kaahiru
 * Sanctuary

Former cities:
 * Barrier port
 * Carrot-Fort
 * Cresttown
 * Felsonsvhon
 * Kabarria
 * Leafy town
 * Lormere
 * Lukka
 * Palovina
 * Splitland
 * Trigonummari
 * Valkenberg
 * Woodenia

Two capitals
At the beginning and before the Iram Administration, The Empire of Uldarash had two capitals, each controlling different aspects of government. Lukka is the northern capital and the military capital of the empire. Situated in Southern Ummarnu, near the junction of Ummarnu and Haven, it works to provide resistance to a possible northern threat and to exert control over the Uldarash-controlled portions of the Mesa. There is also the southern capital of Sanctuary, the religious, cultural and geographical capital of the empire, being situated in central Haven as well as the center of the Empire.

Later on, however, the Iram Administration, the capitals have since changed. Hapatmitas became the northern and military capital of the Empire and recently, Splitland became the southern capital. In the case of Hapatmitas, Lukka was never really used or built up and it was given up during the peace talks following the Great Golden War. Splitland became the southern capital as Sanctuary became uninhabited as Emperor Dentro became sick and could not keep the city going so Sanctuary was disbanded and left to ruins. Splitland too, would eventually fall to ruin, leaving Hapatmitas as the sole capital.

Government
The government of Uldarash was a Feudal Monarchy. Noble titles in Uldarash werelimited to either landholders, or those who hold leadership positions in the Uldarashi military. Uldarash was governed by two emperors and the Council of Lords, a legislative body comprised of all the landholding nobles in the country who worked together to determine national policy. Uldarash also had an Imperial Council made up of Ministers appointed by the emperors and confirmed by the Council of Lords. Following the resignation of Emperor Wilusa, and illness befalling Emperor Dentro, the state was governed by the Regent Emperor, King Iram (WhiskeyKnight) as well as his wife Queen Consort Wurmbo. However, following King Irams assassination, Minister of War RumKnight became Emperor. Following his recent position change and an open position, the Imperial Council voted SnapplyPie of Faldenburg for Minister of War. A new ministry position opened up for Infrastructure and Knilz1999 was voted in.

Religion
The Empire of Uldarash's majority religion was Asharu. Though everyone in the empire was granted freedom of religion, a temple dedicated to the Asharu religion, or notably each town's patron God.

Simply put, Asharu belief dictates that everything, whether living or not, such as a river, wolf, or fire, has a spirit. The more important they are to humanity, the holier they are. The holiest being light. This is the reasoning for each town's patron God.

Culture
From the very start the culture of Uldarash was very diverse. In the north were desert citys of Hapatmitas, Kaahiru and Lukka, in the center lie the floating city of Sanctuary, the town of Palovina with its fertile marshes and the valley of Leafy town. To the west on the cost of the Haven's Heart were the ports of Lormere and Cresttown and on the southern coast were the mountain town of Valkenberg. Finaly there were the jungle town of Kabarria to the east. Together these towns made up the diverse culture of Uldarash.

Diplomacy
The relationship Uldarash maintained with Ardat Mosul was commmonly described as tenuous at best. In ancient times, before the Audalad Invasion, the Ardat Caliphate and the old kingdoms of Talawa coexisted, though territorial disputes in the Mesa and the basins created by the rivers flowing out of it were a regular occurance. Both the races of the Lamiatrophus and Talawans were not prone to the same wars and conflicts that most races sharing the same territory were apt too. Overall the two entities were able to maintain peaceful relations. When the Audalians invaded, a fierce rivalry was struck up between the two nations, specifically in regards to Ardatian submission to the Eastern Empire. The Talawans believed this to be betrayal of the entire West, allowing their lands to be taken and stripped of resources by "gold-hungry imperalists". Specifically the relations between the two leaders of the time, Xyla of Ardat and Wilusa of Talawa, remained strained, with the two even being cited as "unable to stay in a room with the other". Many Succubi refugees fled Ardat, arriving in Lukka and Hapatmitas, converting to the local cultures, though many still wished to free their homeland.

While there are no official sources about the matter, rumors persist that the Talawa as well as many of the Haven City States may have supported the guerrilla rebels in Ardat. Whether the rebels received support or not, their quest for independence has failed and the remnants of the group faded away. Following the death of Caliph Xyla and the coronation of her daughter Caliph Dalatra, relations between Ardat and its western neighbors began to improve. Westerner's view of Ardat improved significantly when Caliph Dalatra declared Ardat's independence from Yimmu-Audal, with many Westerners seeing this as a sign that the west could be independent of eastern influence once more. Further cause for this hope came with Caliph Dalatra and Emperor Wilusa's treaty which settled the millennia-long disagreement over the Ummarnu Mesa. Others remained worried about the stability of this treaty and feared that war for control over the gold-rich Mesa to be inevitable. To make the region more stable the Emperors of Uldarash ordered the construction of the Great Barrier to separate the claims of Ardat and Uldarash more clearly.