Aurlûnor Velande



The Celestial Empire (known officially as the Aurlûnor Velande) or Aurlûnor is a nation located in Southern Syltör. It's capitol city is Lhûmar, which lies on the northern coast of the Western Sea. It's official religion and ideology is the Twin Dragon.

History
Evidence of early settlement of Aurlûnor can be traced back over 74,000 years by hunter-gatherers in the region, most likely being humans. The first Elven inhabitants would arrive 11,000 years before the present, where they would settle alongside the early settlers. It is not known when the place became a majority Elven settlement, but burnt records would indicate that they would have multiple wars against the humans of the region, until the final human bastion would perish 2,500 years before the present. The early peoples of the pre-Aurlûnorian era would use namely bronze and were said to be more advanced than their neighbors for the era, being able to build some of the earliest architectural styles that had single and second-story houses. These elves were ruled by local Kings who often fought once another, and normally saw raids from other tribes of the nearby area before they were pacified years later.

The first recorded proper Kingdom in the region was a Kingdom known as Almador. The first King was Maxion, who would be known as the "Prophet King" due to his many prophecies of future events, and his apparent power to "look into the future". In his visions, he would foresee a great catastrophe that would occur after his lifetime, but would see a savior appear from the heavens. It is not clear entirely what he saw, as multiple sources believed this was when he saw the current Velereth, while others say it was him predicting his own assassination. For over 600 years, the Kingdom would rise to become a regional power.

Around 1,000 years before the present, the Kingdom would fall into disrepair, civil turmoil and corruption, and would dissolute itself into multiple warring states. The Warring States Period would see some of Aurlûnor's most deadliest conflicts, which killed 1/3rd of the population. Series of crop failures and tyrannical warlords would almost see the self-destruction of the Elves in the region. Around 930 years before the present however, recordings of a flash of light would be seen, and sounds of dragons would cover the heavens, as the descent of the current ruler, Sareariel Lelya-Earcala, would bring an end to the Warring States Period through her words of unification, and her mending of the wounds that was between the people. Despite her objections, Sareariel would be hailed as the Celestial Empress, or Velereth, and would become Empress of a unified nation known as Aurlûnor. Despite it's isolationist behavior, the country has seen itself open up to the outside world.

Aurlûnor would see a period of expansion along the Lothranis Sea, where they would expand down into settling Athrabar, and be apart of the Partition of their former allies, the Takumakken Empire. Multiple times, the empire has seen itself get into close wars with Takumakken, though most of them have been avoided through diplomatic talks. Sokalis, which once was a city in Takumakken, has became a contested zone until finally falling to Aurlûnor's control through the Transfer Ceremony by the new Emperor of Takumakken and the Velereth.

Multiple raids would follow by a group of nomads by the name of the Boris. They would raid and sack Athrabar, and would settle there, establishing their territory. They would be eradicated during the First Barbarian Rally.

History on the Server
Aurlûnor was founded on November 15, 2020, by player Coffeeccubus. Following their abandonment of Ashura, which they would found a month prior to the current country, Coffeeccubus was inspired to make Aurlûnor due to their Stellaris obsession, and the fact they would play a nation known as the Aurlûnor Velande, a paranoid isolationist spiritualist xenophobic pacifist nation that is a pre-scripted selectable from the Stellaris Mod, Elves of Stellaris. Coffee wanted to adapt them into a more fantasy world setting, and thus established it. The first attempt of establishing the nation failed, as she would be confronted by SikkeOst, who would confront them about settling on one of their islands, which Coffee found "perfect", and demanded them to either be annexed into his empire, Escharia, or leave. Coffee, who said that they "hate being a vassal to another", decided to leave, and migrate back to the original continent Ashura was on. They would find yet another ideal spot, which was located a few thousand blocks northwest of where Ashura was, and settled there. Facing no opposition, Aurlûnor was born with the city of Lhûmar as it's first settlement. Though originally was planning to be isolationist, they would join the alliance, the Syltörean Confederacy on November 17, 2020, which would make it the first time that Coffeeccubus has joined in a coalition with any nation. Dalatra would be titled "Imperial Concubine" on November 16, a day after establishment, and would see Coffeeccubus' character (who is also Sareariel Lelya-Earcala) becoming one of Dalatra's wives. They would also participate in the coronation of Dalatra as Empress of Yimmu-Audal, and would support her claim during the near Yimmu-Audal War of Succession, before the war was called off.

Later, multiple changes happened around the nation. Most notably, it's "roleplay restart", where it restarted all foreign treaties and alliances, including the cancellation of Dalatra's marriage to Coffeeccubus' character. For the next few months, the nation remained neutral from world affairs, until it rejoined the Syltör Confederacy in later December. Coffeeccubus continued to deny Globalism, and keeps declaring that Aurlûnor will not recognize a declaration of war against them, unless they are neighboring or nearby to wage war. This opinion is unpopular by the community, but it is apart of the nation's strict roleplay policy.

This began to change, as on Janurary 17, 2021, Aurlûnor formally joined Bardonia, but made an agreement that they are only there in name and color, and agreed that they will keep their sovereignty, titles and such without having to change any aspect, but only have to follow Bardonian Law. But Aurlûnor's laws remained, which means that secularism is not allowed in the borders that Aurlûnor controls, and forced conversions may still happen should Aurlûnor conquer something. On the same day, Aurlûnor went through a small conquesting spree, and colonizing the unclaimed territory that Transyakistan had as a trade outpost. These gains, saw Aurlûnor's influence in the sole sea that it bordered increase drastically. They would purchase Sokalis as well, but not formally annex it until two weeks later.

On Janurary 20, 2021, Aurlûnor would renounce their ties to Bardonia as a Protectorate, and would even state that none of the things that happened between Aurlûnor and Bardonia happened, citing that they "will not take it to roleplay consideration if they are voiding the global war". Following the Bardonian Conflicts, Aurlûnor would go back to normal until Janurary 25, 2021, where the Takumakken Empire collapsed due to their leader no longer having interests of ruling the nation. This lead to a crisis between Cool_Man69 and Coffeeccubus over Sokalis, as Cool_Man69 claimed that the territory never belonged to Aurlûnor. Coffeeccubus would disagree and a war would almost begin, until being resoluted on Janurary 27, 2021, where the two leaders would agree to a compromise, fully annexing Sokalis.

In addition, the Partition of Takumakken occurred, and Aurlûnor managed to gain a large chunk of the western territories. This alone, finally end the three month long dispute with Takumakken over settlement, and greatly expanded the borders of the Empire. It would also aquire the County of Fornois on Janurary 30th, 2021. It would become the sole member of the Syltörian Confederation, which would also be dissolved on the same day.

Several attempts at banditry and raids would happen following the influx of new peoples coming from the newest Stoneworks Minecraft uploads, which saw mass murderers, excessive toxicity and settling in Aurlûnoren territory, much to the dismay of Coffeeccubus. Boris would be driven out of Aurlûnor following the First Barbarian Rally.

Government
The Celestial Empire is ruled under an absolute theocratic monarchy, in which, the Velereth (or Empress) has the final authority on all matters of the state, and is usually worshipped as a divine being, as seen in the Twin Dragon religion. As per custom, members of the Imperial Court are not allowed to speak, until permission is given by the Chancellor or the Velereth to "speak freely". When either one says they may speak freely, anyone in the court may state their opinion without being silenced.

The Chancellor or Prime Minister is who rules almost every administrative function to assist the other members of the Imperial Court, and is the highest position below the Velereth, being able to override anything as long as the Velereth doesn't override them.

The Grand Counselor, who functions as the highest position of all of the Governors of the Provinces, in which they send directly to them. They also deal with disciplinary actions on officials, and helps keeps the other members of the court in line, with the exception of those above them. They have the authority to dismiss Governors and re-appoint them, as long as they submit a report to the Chancellor and the Velereth.

The Grand Inquisitor is incharge of the inquisition force, a special detatchment of the Imperial Guards that actively hunts down, and punishes heretics who do not follow the Twin Dragon faith, and enforces the religious law, and punishes them for apostacy accordingly. If they wish to punish their superiors (with the exception of the Velereth), they must receive blessings from the Velereth herself first. The Grand Inquisitor may also be punished if they are found out to be a heretic.

The Excellency of Works, is incharge of all the monument and public works in the empire, in which they order commissions of special buildings, gardens and that liking to be considered. They are also responsible to making sure the empire continues to look beautiful, by inspecting the corners and usually propose ideas on how to beautify locations.

The Four Ministers, of War, of Agriculture, of Diplomacy and of Architecture, each share an important aspect of the Empire. The Minister of War namely focuses on the defense and military counting of the army, as well as making sure adequate fortifications and armories are well supplied. They are also responsible for diplomacy that comes into the nation. the Minister of Agriculture deals with the affairs of food and orders the construction of new farms and villages to produce said things, being one of the more important aspects of the empire and is also incharge of fisheries as well as land farms. The Minister of Diplomacy is the head lesion of diplomatic affairs, and heads all diplomats, ambassadors and envoys inside and outside of the empire, as well as give internal relations reports. The Ministry of Architecture deals with planning cities, building buildings such as houses, and other sorts, as well as maintaining the architecture of the country follows the guidelines of how buildings are following the correct style.

A Magistrate of the Palace is a member of the Imperial Court that has not yet been given a position. They may assist any ministry they wish, and are basically freelancers until a position suited for them is picked or requested. They may attend meetings at the Palace, and may have an opinion in the court on behalf of a ministry unlike other Imperial Court members, who are required to stay silent while the higher ups are talking.