Archduchy of Coenia

The Archduchy of Coenia was an archduchy within Yimmu-Audal, encompassing the area of its direct predecessor, the Archduchy of Reyllea, minus the island of Rhodia. It was last lead by its Caeron, Bowph Elernel of New Lardburg, and was home to the Coenian, Lardburgian and Reyllean cultures. The Archduchy ceased to exist upon Coenia's annexation into the Empire of Aldovir as a sovereign state, following the Treaty of Roscella. Coenia as a political entity ceased to exist when, following the War of Lardburgian independence, it split into the Caeronate of Carn and Caeronate of Lardburg.

History
The Kingdom of Reyllea stood for ages south of Theios-Essukdal and remained within its general sphere of influence, but autonomous in both its rule and customs. The Reyllead culture remained supreme, and cities rose as important events took place both within and around the kingdom. However, when the Lardburgians arrived here and settled on the Eastern coast, all they found was a shell of what was once a regional powerhouse.

The Kingdom was eventually inherited by Mistic Audalad, who then passed it to StoryStudio Audalad, who then gave it to Kerplis Elernel, a Lardburgian local, upon his death. Kerplis reformed the kingdom, moving the capital from the half-ruined Roscella into his new provincial city, New Lardburg. As his reign continued from mid-April to late May, the Kingdom became more and more like the original Lardburg, with almost no people of Reyllead culture remaining in it when Kerplis, who was at this point in charge of the Lardburgians for 1 real life year, decided to step down and retire.

The Grand Gathering of Lardburg
Soon after Kerplis decided step down, all Lardburgian commoners and nobles gathered outside of the gates of the ancient city of Old Lardburg to choose a new Caeron from their ranks.

After speeches from Kerplis, and the legendary Lant Elernel himself, the procession moved to the Grand Altar of the Old gods, where they urged the holy Blue Flower to return the greatest of Lardburgians, the Eternal Caeron Bivoy the Lard, back to the mortal plane of existence. After a terrible lightning strike, in the spot where the sacrifice stood before, the spirit of Bivoy materialised in flesh, and explained to the attending Lardburgians that they must elect their new Caeron directly.

In the old chapel of Lantstein, built by Kerplis and Lant in early 2019, the crowd gathered and voted for who their next Caeron would be. There were two candidates: The incredibly wealthy and conservative general, Lord Petr Elernel, famous for his victories in the Siege of Lardburg, who promised no taxes and free public infrastructure to be funded from his massive fortune, and the up and coming Bowph, who helped Kerplis with the colonisation of New Lardburg, and unlike Petrolinek, was part of the Stoneworks community.

With a close vote of 6:5, Bowph won the election, forever changing Lardburgian history and shaping up the future of Reyllea. He was soon crowned the Caeron of Lardburg and Reyllea by Bivoy the Lard himself, who then finally ascended forever from the corporeal plains, and chose Null as his Steward.

With this new ruler being the first Lardburgian to not come from the ancestral home of Servrik, but be born in Rathnir itself, a new era was upon both the Lardburgians and Reyllea as a whole. Mistic, the Ningal of Theios-Essukdal, reformed the Archduchy of Reyllea into the Archduchy of Coenia, meaning Home, by separating the mainly Lardburgian mainland from the Pontaniedian island of Rhodia, making it a Free County. Lardburg was named the capital of Coenia, and the Caeron, previously just ruling over the Lardburgians, now began ruling over the Reylleans as well, forming the Coenian identity, which replaced the original Lardburgian culture for most original Lardburgians.

The War of Lardburgian Independence
When the War of Lardburgian Independence, ending with the siege of Old Lardburg, resulted in a victory by the rebelling League of Free Lords, The Archduchy of Coenia, which was by this point integrated into the Empire of Aldovir, split into the Caeronate of Lardburg and Caeronate of Carn. Bowph Continued to rule over the Caeronate of Carn, while Peter became Caeron of Lardburg. This split is sometimes referred to as the Lardburgian Schism.

The Archduchy of Coenia was officially succeeded by the Caeronate of Carn with the creation of the Empire of Aldovir.

Structure
The government of Coenia combined the meritocratic feudal system of Theios-Essukdal with the Clan-based Elective monarchy of Lardburg. The position of Caeron is elected by the Lords of Lardburg, the powerful families which originally ruled over Lardburg. The Caeron answers to the Ningal, but maintains a degree of autonomy with their decisions. A Caeron rules for life, but may decide to step down, or be dethroned with a majority vote by the Council of Lords.

The Caeron may designate Counts, who may then grant city charters to new Sahrads, just like in the system of mainland Theios-Essukdal, with the addition that the council of lords may veto any decisions they largely dislike. This system is in place to keep the fragile balance of power in check, and to ensure the Caeron does not become an authoritarian, autocratic ruler. The Archduchy is split into two counties, the County of Kongleon and the County of Rosecella. The Sahrad of Lardburg has a special place in the system of government, since they are also usually the Steward of the Caeron.

The capital city of the Archduchy is Lardburg, made up of the boroughs of the Old Town and Moncheir, which was previously a separate settlement, with Lantstein (previously Laychestershire) being the capital of the county of Kongleon. The Caeron rules from the old keep in Lardburg.

For more information on how the Lardburgian elective system works, check out the Lardburgian wiki page.

Language
The official languages of Coenia are Audalad, which was brought into Reyllea with the arrival of StoryStudio, and retained some importance, and Lardburgian, spoken by the majority of the population. The Reyllead dialect of Lardburgian is however so different from the Old Lardburgian language, that while there are some similarities, the two languages are not mutually intelligible. Some members of the old nobility still speak Old Lardburgian as their primary language.

Culture
The Coenian culture makes up the majority of the inhabitants of Coenia, as many of those who originally self-identified as Reyllead or Lardburgian decided to convert after the grand gathering, but a small minority of both groups still exists. For example, Kerplis, the predecessor to Caeron Bowph, still claims himself to be Lardburgian. The Pontaniedian culture, which was previously somewhat prominent along the eastern coast, has almost completely disappeared from the realm, small remains of the original culture however still remain, mostly seen in the Coenian architectural style.

The Architecture of Coenia is best exemplified by the cities of Icanscella and Lardburg. Icanscella, mainly the part formerly known as Rosecella, is an example of the old Reyllead architecture, which still remains somewhat prominent in the southern parts of Coenia. Lardburg, on the other hand, is built in the style of the Carnian renaissance, following the ancient principles of the architecture of the long lost city of Carn, which was the predecessor to Lardburg.

The greatest of the Lardburgian clans, house Elernel, are the de facto rulers of Coenia. Other powerful clans, like house Ravensrock-Elernel, or house Bloodystone, retain significant influence and sway through extra votes in the electoral system.

Religion
The official religion of Coenia is the Blue Flower cult, an ancient Lardburgian cult that worships the blue cornflower and Bivoy the Lard. Another important religion is Theiosism, a form of Sakrelism, and the state religion of former Theios-Essukdal. The symbolism of the Blue Flower is very significant to Lardburgian and Coenian culture, even to those who worship Theios, so much so that it has been placed on the flag of the Archduchy.