Ildernia

The Ilders, officially the Græssiate of the Ilders and also known as Ildernia, is an vassal state of Sylvania in southern Onthukhan that shares a river border with Atlechia.

The Ilders were first settled by Litans in the 1570s, where they founded a colony that would later expand to include today's Ilders and Neubaykonia Proper. Although the colony would fall during the Litan collapse, the Litans returned to the Ilders during the Baykonian migration and founded the town of Ilderburg. The Ilder would eventually fall under the control of the Honsiates in Ilderburg and later form the Ilders part of Ildernia until its dissolution in 1822. It remains under honsiate control ever since and is regarded as the current Ildernian state.

The Ilders is a unitary semi-constitutional monarchy ruled by the de Honse family, with Chárlobert Víslo de Honse as its current Græz.

Etymology
The name "Ildernia" comes from the Litan word for Eldham, Ilderna. The term "Ilderna" comes from "Ensle Derna", which means "Last Island", which is likely what the crew of the expedition referred to the land they discovered, believing it to be the end of the world. According to legend, this was then corrupted as the people who listened to the crews' tales of their discoveries thought they said "Ens Ilderna" meaning "Over in Ilderna". As such, when the Litans migrated with the Baykonians to Eldham, they referred to the new land as "Ilderna", which later would become the Litan name for all of Eldham. Following the establishment of Ilderburg, the Ilder started to refer to the larger island south of it and its plural form would eventually give name to the two islands.

Another theory is that "Ensle Derna" refers to the Ilders, then Pouldenia, being the last place of Litan civilisation to fall. It is believed, though unconfirmed and unlikely, that Pouldenia held out longer than any other place during the Litan Collapse. Yet another theory is that "Ensle Derna" refers to the Ilders becoming the last remnant of Litan civilisation, rather than it being the last to fall, which is also unconfirmed and remains unlikely.

Pre-migration
Little is known about the history of the Ilders up until 1571, when the Litan explorer Hubert Litennis de Poulden discovered the islands. The islands were subsequently colonised as Litan settlers formed the colony of Pouldenia. The Ilders would serve as the centre of this new colony, whose lands roughly corresponded to the entirety of the Ilders as well as Neubaykonia proper. The colony waged many wars against the natives and operated plantations where slavery was practiced, as was common practice among Litan colonies at the time. The colony became self-governing during the 1600s and would prosper until the Litan Collapse, when it most likely fell. No traces of the colony remained when the Ilders were rediscovered by de Honse.

Prince-Barony of Ilderburg and the County of the Ilder (1705-1780)
Enthof Island, the island on which Ilderburg currently lies, was discovered in 1705 during an attempted expedition to Litania by Seved Driets de Honse. According to legend, the expedition got caught in a storm which put them off course and would lead them to discover what would eventually become Neubaykonia. Upon realising this error, the expedition returned to Birkenport, where King Peg of Baykonia got word of the discovery and initiated the Baykonian Migration to the newly discovered lands.

Ilderburg would be established shortly after in 1706 and quickly became one of the more prominent towns of Baykonia as the residence of the powerful Honsiate House, who wielded great political influence in Baykonia until the Baykonian Collapse. In 1734, shortly following the death of Seved, a group of Litan refugees led by the son of Seved Driets de Honse, Áletsánder Svintersbrœick de Honse, settled in Ilderburg. During Áletsánder's short reign he renamed Ilderburg to "Litansburg" and enacted policies aimed at turning Ilderburg into a new Litania. Most of his policies would be reversed following his death by his son Hubertus Perrier de Honse in 1737.

Hubert pursued reintegration with the rest of Baykonia and established the Ilderburg Company with the aim of providing resources for a future manufacturing sector in Ilderburg. Although the Company successfully acquired a colony on the southern tip of Zamotz named "New Birkenport", the venture failed and the colony was subsequently abandoned. In a bid to restore the standing and prestige of House de Honse, Hubert successfully acquired the Milland after a dispute following the death of its Count Joseph Richardson. Hubert also launched a successful expedition to Salameberg in Rathnir in 1759 with the intent of restoring Baykonian control over the town. He was joined by the Duke of Sunovia, Josep Thorne, with whom he became friends.

In 1751, Hubert promulgated a constitution for Ilderburg, establishing the Public Assembly as a legislature for the town. However, due to Ilderburg's low population, the experiment failed and thus ended with Hubert's self-coup in 1770, following which he unified his lands into Ilder Litany. Two years later, in 1772, Ilderburg would merge with New Salameberg to form Baykonford. The merger lasted until the Baykonian Collapse, when both towns became separate again due to them now being in separate nations. Josephsburg would be established shortly after the merger.

Græssiate and Kesriate of Ildernia (1780-1822)
The Græssiate of Ildernia was established in 1780 as a province without its own Deputy, instead sharing a Deputy with nearby province. It rejected Biglrab's dissolution of the constitution in 1786 and with that became de facto independent, with Revreia joining Ildernia two years later. Attempts to reconsile King Biglrab of Baykonia and Græz Hubert of Ildernia were initially successful until Hubert's death in 1790. Reconciliation broke down following the Ilderburg Incident of 1791 between Biglrab and the new Græz, Hugo Ildernestes de Honse. Ildernia gained formal independence later that year and became a Kesriate.

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Early Hugic Era (1790-1822)
In the late 1780s, Kuzinan citizens frequently raided Bimont, taking equipment and materials from the town. This led to a deterioration of relations between the towns of Bimont and Kuzina that would initiate tensions between Kuzina and Bimont. The Ildernian government demanded that Kuzina ceased its raids towards Ildernia though these demands yielded few results. Tensions would further escalate in 1792 when the leader of Kuzina built a cathedral on Ildernian territory. Believing that the Kuzinans were building a fort, the Ildernian government demanded that they demolished the build and relocated it. The government official was met with violence and was driven away from the construction site.

Following this incident, the Kesr informed his cousin the King of Thorovia about the build and the incident, as Kuzina was still a part of Thorovia at the time. Negotiations were held, where the Ildernian government wanted to see the cathedral relocated while the Kuzinans sought to purchase the land. The Ildernian government was initially willing to grant a building permit for the construction of the cathedral for a cost of 400 Erbies but this was rejected by the Kuzinans who viewed it as arbitrary. The Ildernian government later sought a relocation of the cathedral while the Kuzinans sought to purchase the land the cathedral was built on. The Thorovians initially sought to help Kuzina relocate but later opted to seek a land purchase instead.

Negotiations broke down in 1793 as Kuzina declared independence from Thorovia. Thorovia declared a state of war on Kuzina and Ildernia followed suit. The war would not amount to much as Thorovia was dissolved a few months after the war started and the only fighting that occured was a skirmish between Kuzinan forces and Bimont militia in which the Bimont milita managed to temporarily repel the Kuzinans from the cathedral and hindered their expansion beyond it.

Fearing further loss of territory, Ildernia became a vassal of the Velerian Empire in 1796 initially as the Velerine Græssiate of Ildernia, though would revert to its Kesriate status four years later to make its status equal to the rest of Neubay. Ildernia would be a part of Velerin for 21 years, during which it practiced de facto independence and could reject laws enacted by the central government through Article 3 of its vassalisation treaty. Ildernia was neutral during the Velerin Civil War and was one of the few nations to never declare independence from Velerin, remaining a part of the Empire until its dissolution in 1817.

However, joining Velerin would not prevent further loss of territory. The Mayor of Bimont would declare his intention to step down however was put on hold for decades as the Kesr failed to find a valid replacement for him. Due to the Mayor of Bimont's dislike of Kuzina and pre-existing border disputes, tensions once again flared up in 1801 as Kuzina claimed that Bimont was claiming Kuzinan territory, a claim refuted by the Ildernians as the Kuzinans claimed the border between Kuzina and Bimont was the road going through it while the Ildernians claimed it to be the cliffs south of it. Eventually, both sides came to an agreement via the Treaty of Kuzina (1803) where the officials borders were agreed upon. However, the Mayor of Bimont refused to abide by the treaty, rendering the treaty ineffective.

In 1805, after years of frustration between the Kesr and the Mayor of Bimont due to the former's failure to find a replacement, the latter's refusal to abide by the Treaty of Kuzina and Ildernia's inefficient and weak government in general, the Kesr expelled Bimont from Ildernia and let it become an independent state. The following year Revreia was sold to Baykonia for 16,000 erbies as holding it was deemed to be untenable. Following this, Ildernia saw a minor administrative reform where all remaining counties were put under the direct control of the Kesr in Ilderburg.

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Geography
The Ilders is made up of two islands: the larger Ilder Island to the south and the smaller Enthof Island to the north. Both were natural islands however the Enthof has been expanded to the extent that it has completely lost any semblance of its former natural shape and is often mistaken for being an artificial island. The Enthof is also the isle on which Ilderburg lies, which is the reason for its expansion and also why it is the only populated island in the Ilders, with the Ilder Island not having been populated for decades. The Ilder Island is split in half, with its western half being desert and its eastern half being deforested grasslands.

The Ilders lack any political subdivisions and all of it is therefore governed directly by the Græz, however real control is only exerted over the Enthof as the Ilders often lies neglected, leading to the establishment of multiple squatter settlements there that have since long been abandoned.

Politics and Government
The Ilders is a semi-direct democratic semi-constitutional parliamentary monarchy, governed by a cabinet headed by the Græz. The members of the cabinet are elected by the Bœrgientsa of the Ilders, an assembly that any Ildernian citizen may partake in. The Bœrgientsa of the Ilders is also the legislature of the Ilders, possessing the sole power to legislate laws and taxes, though such require the signature of the Græz to enter effect.

The ruling family of the Ilders, House de Honse, has a long tradition of Liberalism, which under the Baykonian era took the form of Tulipanism. Honsiate Liberalism has their roots in Tulipanism and the first Prince-Baron of Ilderburg, Seved Driets de Honse, who founded the Tulipanist ideology. Although the Liberalism employed by the Honsiates has varied greatly over time, it usually carries the same principles and ideas such as a preference for strong institutions rather than a strong leadership, individualism, personal autonomy and liberty, popular sovereignty, freedom of public discourse and press as well as the notion that the primary objective of government is not to lead people but to support them and uphold their rights.