Second Empire of Bardonia

The Second Empire of Bardonia, also known as the Second Empire, the Bardonian Empire or simply Bardonia, was a collection of nations in Syltör. It was the fifth government of the nation of Bardonia. After the First Empire's collapse during the Ferrymen War, the Second Empire was a period of reconciliation, gradually rebuilding Bardonia's territorial size & influence. Under the leadership of Mobius, Bardonia would see new highs & new lows in population & stability.

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.

Bardonian Collapse
Many of Bardonia's former Grand Council perished during the Ferrymen War or died afterwards from their wounds (most notably The Chancellor, Uni). This led to a massive power vacuum leading to multiple movements and overall chaos. Soon after the announcement of Uni's death, Jacw claimed the throne and acted as the Emperor of Bardonia. He then ceded his power to ElevenMantis, Prince of Bardonia. During his coronation at New Dorasterrock, he was assassinated by Mobius who mysteriously made it out of the battle alive despite survivors seeing him perish. Mobius then crowned himself Emperor of Bardonia and formed an oligarchy of his closest allies (who become part of The Grand Council) and forms a system nearly identical to the prior government.

A Rough Beginning
The new government had a rough start. The capital city of New Dorasterrock and the city hosting the Bardonian armoury Auron's Peak had both declared independence in the same day. This left the country a shell of what it formally was. The Empire also lost the provinces of Andorn, Avalon, Heli, Wivamovia, Skjoldrbrodir and Savras, leaving the nation with less land than it ever had in its history. Rumours of a civil war spread across what was left of the nation. Nobody knew what was going to happen to Bardonia and outside thought that it was the end for Bardonia. After negations were made between the two sides (Mobius, Ice and Axyr on one side; Crezyman and ElevenMantis on the other) the war was called off and a figurehead "Chancellor" role with no power was created.

The country, being as weak as it was, was still somewhat feared due to the reputation of the previous administrations. War with Valle over the territories of the Sand Republic gave the Second Empire a brief spike in nationalism, but other than that victories for the Bardonian government were few and far between. On top of this, the Second Empire got itself involved in the Andorn Crisis, using its newfound puppet of Wivamovia to struggle with the Ryzani Republic over the territories of Andorn. Bardonia would eventually reconvene with the Holy Syltor Empire, restoring Bardonian control over northern Syltor. Bardonia would continually clash heads with Ryzan during this period, during the Owynndor Crisis & Baykonia, culminating in the May 5th Incident, where Bardonia almost went to war over a false attack from the Tsardom. Entropy worshippers would claim responsibility for the attack, but the incident set a precedent within Ryzan over how willing Bardonia was to invade them, whether that be with facts or fiction.

Bardonian Reform
After months of unorganized government, a citizen decided to pitch a reform idea to Mobius and the Grand Council. With the help of the Grand Council and officials Andrew was able to draft the Bardonian Reform Act. The Reform Act had helped to cut down on issues like de-centralization, among many others. With the situation both domestic & international cooling off after the Ferrymen War, the Second Empire focused further on internal issues, with the Reform Act reaching the Senate in a matter of days. During this time, the Prophet came to Bardonia. He was made Emperor the same day and approved the Reform Act. After these changes were made, the government decided to officially end the Second Bardonian Empire and they reformed themselves into the Third Empire.

Government
The Second 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


 * Mobius

Grand Council


 * Grand Lieutenant Ice (I_ce) - Lead Bardonia internally and occasionally acted as a diplomat. Not much before becoming Grand Lieutenant, Ice was an ordinary citizen who rose the ranks after Jacw recommended him to Uni at the end of the previous Empire. Ice took on nearly all of the burden of running Bardonia internally which caused him to burn out by the time the Third Empire started. He was often referred to as "second in command" due to how vocal and active he was although he was initially intended to be below Grand General Axyr.
 * Grand General Axyr - Lead the Dandelion Guard, Bardonia's military. After the loss of the Auron's Peak armory, Bardonia had very few sets of armor. He grinded nonstop to make new sets which strengthened the nation. Not wanting any more responsibility, this is what he mainly focused on.
 * Grand Architect Crezyman - The once Bardonian President and nationalist became not anti-Bardonia but anti-Mobius at the start of the Second Empire. He actively tried to dismantle Bardonia thinking that Mobius would run the country into the ground. After eventually joining back, he was forgiven and worked as a diplomat.