Baelland

The Republic of Baelland is nation that sits along the western end of south coast of the Red Continent. It has been inhabited first by the Baella people, who would later share it with colonists from the Lucan Empire. Baelland was first united by the Pagan king Hognus the Brave in 1135, but would become a Christian nation after the Baellandic Crusade, which lasted from 1300 to 1314, and ended in victory for Baelland against the combined Christian armies of Red Continent. Baelland became a republic in 1834 after the death of King Ulric II. Johan Bjallmarsson was the first President. It is a federal state with that is governed as a parliamentary democracy.

History
Main Article: History of Baelland

Clan Period
Main Article: Clan Period in Baelland

Written history of Baelland goes back to the mid-2nd Century BCE, written by the Lucan scholar Antius Vandarii, but the most substantial histories were written by Pagan scholar Garolf of Fraedenholm in the 10th Century AD. Much of Baelland's early history is a mix between known fact and legend. But what is known is until Hognus the Brave became the first king of Baelland in 1135, the country was divided up between various clans. All clans, including most Baellanders today, are decended from the Baella people, a once nomadic people who came from the Blue Continent in the 5rd Century BCE. Inter-clan warfare was constant, but the clans became united one time prior to Hognus. The Lucan Empire was expanding, founding colonies on the Padragsson and Kjalfort Peninsulas. They came into conflict with the Baella clans (see Lucan-Baella War) in a war fought between 186 and 173 BCE. After a peace deal was signed, the clans went back to fighting one another.

Kingdom of Baelland (1135-1834)
Baelland was finally united after Hognus the Brave defeated all rival kings in 1135. He declared himself king and founded the House of Garlsson. The Garlssons would rule Baelland until 1302, when King Gunnar Garlsson died at the age of thirty-two.

Baellandic Crusade (1300-1314)
In 1300, Grand Cardinal Armand VcMaragan declared a crusade a Baelland, which was the only pagan (Vaargist) state in the Red Continent (*Bodvar also was pagan, but wasn't unified). A crusader army led by Leopold Taussar of Troppwold (later crowned King of Baelland) landed on the northern tip of the Padragsson Peninsula. Avangard fell in 1302, and King Gunnar was killed in the siege's final assault. He was replaced by twenty-year-old Lukas Hvaldar, Jarl of Haldeborg, Gunnar Garlsson's newphew, and de facto King of Baelland. He led a successful campaign of hit-and-run tactics against the crusaders, and successfully defeated a large crusading army at the battle of Kfaaltun in 1305 and again at the battle of Haedarstad in 1308. In 1310, he defeated his cousin Tore Olafsson, Jarl of Valleborg and rival claimant to the throne. The last major battle of the war in 1313 was fought just outside the walls of Padraagkoping. Hvaldar's army defeated an army made up mostly of Marian Order knights and men-at-arms, led by Grand Master Stylan Argov. The Marian army was destroyed, and all captured Marian Knights were executed in punishment for the order's brutality during the course of the crusade. After the crusade, Baelland was at peace until the Red Ocean War in 1768, and Lukas Hvaldar was crowned king, founding the House of Hvaldar.

Conversion to Christianity (1524)
In 1524, King Jurgen Hvaldar declared, in a speech to the Hus Jarlene, the Edict of Avangard. The Edict ordered the mass conversion of the population to Christianity, but not to the Terran Church, which the Baellanders still distrusted. The Edict was passed by the Hus Jarlene unanimously, but was for a time resisted by the people. It was carried out in the end, though a part of the population continued to hold onto the old Pagan traditions of Vaarg.

Red Ocean War (1768-1792)
Main Article: Baelland in the Red Ocean War

Baelland was briefly invaded by Lacoria in 1769, after King Joris Hvaldar declared support for Abudar. Joris was sent into exile, ending the Hvaldar dynasty, the longest ruling dynasty of any nation in the world. Joris was replaced by his rival, Ralof Vignar, Jarl of Feldtkoping. He sent 20,000 men to fight for the Lacorians in Bodvar, 6,500 of which were killed or wounded.

Death of Ulfric II and the Republic of Baelland
In 1834, Ulfric II Vignar died. He was unmarried and childless. No House wanted to become King, and it was voted in the Hus Jarlene to elect a President. Various parties were formed, and the Nasjonalforsamling was formed. Johan Bjallmarsson of the Venstre was elected to be Baelland's first president and was sworn in as such in 1835.

Republic of Baelland (1834-present)
The new republic was to remain neutral in all military conflicts in the 19th Century, but would take part in the Great War. Baelland would send 120,000 men to fight once again in Bodvar and the border between Mandora and Kranzvaal. After the Great War, Baelland would be at peace for almost the entire century.

Baelland's last major military involvement to date was in the Liberation War against Communist Abudar. It send 100,000 men, 150 aircraft, and 15 ships to conflict zone. 2,500 soldiers were killed or wounded, twelve aircraft were shot down with five pilots lost, and two ships were damaged with 264 hands killed or wounded. The nation, as well as both the Hus Jarlene and Nasjonalforsamling, was split on the issue. President Harald Karstrom, leader of the Hoyre, strongly supported military intervention, and was re-elected in 1996. He was commended for his war-time presidency, but was evicted by the Hus Jarlene after an SD vote of no confidence was passed in both the Hus Jarlene and Nasjonalforsamling. Since then, the country has been ruled by the SD and it's leader, Hjorn Jarlsson.

Geography and Climate
Baelland is world famous for it's vast expanse of deciduous forests and nearly constant rainfall. The sun does not shine on average for 300 days of the year, and rains or snows for 189 of those days, making Baelland the wettest and coldest nation on the continent.

Government and Politics
Baelland has a multi-party system, dominated by the Venstre (Liberals), the Hoyre (Conservatives), and the ruling Sosialistisk Demokratene (Socialist Democrats or SD). The Baellandic parliament is called the Hus Jarlene (House of Jarls), which contains 200 seats. Each seat represents the top 200 cities and towns based on population, though cities like Avangard and Haldeborg contain five seats themselves. The ruling party holds the most seats, which can either be a minority if under 100 seats, or a majority if at or over 100 seats. Just above the Hus Jarlene is the Nasjonalforsamling (National Assembly), which reviews and votes on bills and laws passed in the Hus Jarlene. If a bills is passed in the Hus Jarlene but not in the Nasjonalforsamling, the bill must either be dropped or amended.