Empire of Bardonia

The Empire of Bardonia, also known as the Bardonian Empire or simply Bardonia, was a collection of nations in Syltör. It was the fourth government of the nation of Bardonia. After the Third Republic's attempt at unitary democracy & foreign reconciliation led to a near-miss war against the Soleannen Empire, former Bardonian senator Unic0rnb0i, under the alias of The Chancellor, was given the position of total power over the state. The First Empire saw Bardonia reach new heights in territory & population, and led Bardonia through a new age of foreign policy of collaboration with the South to combat Entropy & later the Ferrymen.

Etymology
Bardonia is named after the pre-existing discord server of its founder members, The First Republic of Bardonia, which is called "Dank Bard". The community largely theorized that the name of Bardonia was actually inspired by a hamlet in the real-world United States, that uses the same name, located in the State of New York within the city of Clarkstown in Rockland County, which is the same state that BackToTheHub is confirmed to have admitted in a Discord conversation. However, this may of just have been a coincidence, as this has been denied by Unic0rnb0i.

In Aurlûnoren, it is called "Orchendor", which literally means Dandelion Land.

Recovery & Reform
After The Third Republic became too involved in a conflict with Raykara and Escharia, they were haunted by the spirits of Fallen Escharia. With political pressure and the vengeful spirits at each town's door, The Bardonians reached out to former senator Unic0rnb0i who at the time was going by an alias "The Chancellor". Uni offered to bail the Bardonians out of the current situation as long as they declared him as their dictator and ruler, the Bardonians voted and put The Chancellor into power, who took the new title of Supreme Chancellor.

Within the next couple days the new dictator upheld his end of the agreement. Political pressure dissipated and the spirits of Fallen Escharia calmed, stopping their attacks on the citizens of Bardonia. Bardonians stayed in their cities quietly while they recovered from political struggles and the spirit attacks. Despite The Chancellor's efforts the numbers of Bardonians plummeted meeting an all-time low for the once prospering nation. The Chancellor set priority on recovering Bardonian population and building within Bardonia, often seeking help from The Chancellor's Hands to extort money from other nations and keep the nation afloat on his own. The Chancellor soon took a position leading from afar as he would isolate himself in Andorn, communicating to the Bardonians through letters and astral projection which he had learned previously from Green Tomato. He would begin receiving Himotherapy treatment for his schizophrenia and multi-personality disorder from Himo to help him better lead Bardonia.

Expansionist Foreign Policy
Bardonia would begin evolving its foreign policy over the course of February & early March 2021, from pursuing alliances with their close neighbours to integrating them in some form into the Empire. This began with the dissolution of the Aurlunoren-Ryzani Empire & the invasion of the Second Tsardom of Ryzan on March 16th, 2021. Ryzan would be partitioned along regional boundaries between Bardonia & the Aurlunor Velande, with Andorn, who was a former subject of Ryzan, also joining the Empire on March 17th. Bardonia would integrate Avalon the same day, with Solitudinem joining March 18th. The newly acquisitioned citizenry had mised responses to their new administrators, with regions such as Andorn peacefully cooperating with the Bardonian occupation, whilst Ryzan violently fought back against the occupation, with the Ryzani Republican Army (RRA) organising terrorist attacks deep into the Bardonian interior in order to achieve freedom.

In response to this sudden expansion of territory, Bardonia set up vassal governments to assist in administrating the new territories. This would spread the workload and prevent the government from having an overload of work in regard to administration. The small nation of Oogrelon would integrate into the Bardonian core the following week, with Bardonia gradully reaching deeper into Nieden with the establishment of Escania, a puppet government to counteract the new rising Aesperium Niedea. At this time, the war against the RRA had become too much to bear, and Bardonian forces withdrew from Ryzan on April 2nd, allowing the Ryzani-Carthyan Republic to declare control over the Ryzani territories. Shortly afterwards, on April 9th, the Sterling Crownlands would peacefully dissolve, and Bardonia would begin advancing into the region of Yulara, with the invasion of the Sand Republic taking place on April 15th. The Empire would also expand deep into Helmia, with Baykonia being sold to them by Huitca.

The New Guard Pact & the Ferrymen War
During this period of expansionism & later with the demise of the Sterling Crownlands, Bardonia would establish itself as the northern superpower. With the rise of Entropy raids and the destruction of the moon, the Chancellor would converge with the leaders of Uldarash, Viodoxa & Theios-Essukdal to form the New Guard Pact, a concordant of nations designed to protect Rathnir in times of invasion from external threats, especially Entropy, whom the four nations organised an international crusade against. However, on the 18th April, a group known as the Ferrymen would seize territory in Cymru and attack the Bardonian military base of Fort Lee, triggering the Ferrymen War.

The Ferrymen quickly established themselves as a formidable foe, seizing large quantities of territory from Viodoxa. Actions taken at Fort Lee resulted in Bardonia assembling a coalition, alongside triggering the New Guard Pact's defence doctrine. During the Second Battle of Istanboulder, Coalition forces would converge on Ferrymen Fort, only to be quickly repelled in a landmark defeat which resulted in the slaughter of the Chancellor. His successor, jacw, immediately gave the executive order which passed laws into the Bardonian constitution allowing any state in the Empire to leave at will. This resulted in the complete collapse of the Empire's vassal system, with every single vassal departing from Bardonia, alongside the core states of the Sand Republic, New Dorasterrock & Auron's Peak. Valle would lay claim to the Sand Republic, whilst New Dorasterrock & Auron's Peak sought the aid of Uldarash for its continued survival. During his coronation, jacw would be assassinated by Mobius, who proclaimed the Second Empire of Bardonia.

Government
The Empire of Bardonia was an autocratic oligarchy, with all government positions elected by the Grand Council. The Grand Council consisted of 4 members, including the Emperor & 3 executives which cover all of Bardonia's internal & external affairs. Members of the Grand Council served for life, and were elected based off their ability & their allegiance to the Chancellor.

Emperor/Chancellor


 * The Chancellor

Grand Council


 * Grand Inquisitor - Yazov
 * Grand General - Crezyman
 * Grand Defender- Axyr
 * Grand Lieutenant - Mobius
 * Grand Minister - Andrew
 * Grand Ambassador - Jacw
 * Grand Criterion - I_ce
 * Grand Industrialist - Jacob Azurov
 * Grand Architect - D_loaded