The Blue Star Empire
The Blue Star Empire is one of the main driving forces in Ysgard, having been the first faction to establish a foothold on the island. Blue Star as a whole has had a much more prolific existence on the mainland, however...
Known Settlements in the Blue Star Empire
- Sunderfell (Capital)
- Jaggedcliffe (Village)
Settlements on Ysgard owned by the Blue Star Empire
- Frumpton (Fledgling Town)
Structure
At the head of the empire is the Emperor, currently Orlath Azure, who succeeded his father after their death two decades ago. Naturally making his house, House Azure, the royal line that rules the empire.
Following the ultimate authority of the Emperor are the major noble houses that control a vast majority of the towns and cities within the borders of the empire. The major houses are as follows.
- House Solgrain
- House Elboreth
- House Esyerin
- House Dornae
- House Vathred
- House Longbottom
- House Ilboreth
- House Astrolae
- House Verduras (Dishonored and removed from its seat of power)
Culture
Food is undoubtedly one of the largest focuses of the Blue Star Empire - natives of Blue Star adore food in all its forms and variations, and some noble houses are known for their.. considerable size.
That being said, Blue Star is still known for their expansionism, and with that - their armies.
Not nearly as militant as The Pal'vryn Empire or certain parts of The Kingdom of Andrial, Blue Star still holds a very heavy reverence for military might and strength (The Royal Guard being the height of military fanaticism). While Pal'vryn focuses on keeping the Plague Lands at bay and Andrial is more of a metaphorical Phalanx, Blue Star fits a more "adventurous" sort of stereotype - which is why so many adventurers come from Blue Star.
Exploring the unknown and bringing civilization to it is nearly a fetish for Blue Star and its people. If the Empire had a choice in the matter, the entire world would be under their banner, and they'd most certainly try to figure out how they could start working on the Feywild and the Shadowfell next. This of course has caused more than a few issues between them and Andrial, of course, but this is also the reason why they were the first ones on Ysgard and also why they were willing to try again after the spectacular disaster that was Holmond.
With those two things in mind, Blue Star natives have a tendency to be both very accommodating to others while also subtly trying to subjugate all of the lands around them. Most natives from other kingdoms joke that Blue Star took "The way to a man's heart is through their stomach" a little too literally, and are thus very cautious about a Blue Star noble bearing gifts of food.
On one occasion, such a gift from an Emperor of Blue Star was little more than a declaration of war in disguise. A gift to what was claimed to be "their new loyal subjects."
Andrial was not pleased, and to this day, there is animosity between the two kingdoms.
Public Agenda
Expansionism. The Blue Star Empire wishes to see their banners go from sea to shining sea, and they're not very quiet about it. They are also extremely unapologetic about it, and as such proudly proclaimed their intentions to all of the kingdoms the very instant Ysgard was discovered.
Assets
Blue Star is large enough that it can cover all sorts of climates and biomes - This makes it very easy for them to grow and raise whatever crops and livestock they may need to facilitate their reverence for the creation of food.
They do have about an average amount of lumber and metal, but unfortunately it is all rather mundane and common despite all of their swathes of land - it appears the concentrated kingdoms on the main-land seemed to have chosen lands far more abundant in some of the rarer resources.
However, as a result of their expansionism onto Ysgard, they've begun importing Ysgard-Oak from the newly discovered island, and it is clear that they intend to do the same with Ysgardite once it is.. researched more by those still on the island proper. This makes some of Blue Star's neighboring kingdoms understandably nervous.
History
While there are many conflicting accounts as to how Blue Star was founded exactly, as even the oldest elves were not born at the time of its creation, one thing is universally agreed upon - The instant Blue Star was able to establish relative safety in Jaggedcliffe, they immediately sprung out in all directions like ants, proclaiming lands to be within their borders before they even had any sort of might to back their claims up.
While it took a number of years - centuries even - for written record to catch up with Blue Star's history, most of what is known is told by Elven Oral Tradition, as such, the information listed below may actually be incorrect in its minute detail. Historians urge everyone who read the second-hand retelling of events to keep in mind that these are all through the perspectives of the elves who told them - and may have been warped and misremembered as it traveled through families. Elves may remember their own histories perfectly, but Blue Star was founded by humans.
While Blue Star was expanding and growing, The Kingdom of Andrial had suffered from a split in their government, the defectors heading off to block off the Plague Lands and creating what we now know as The Pal'vryn Empire. This prompted Blue Star - despite still being somewhat in its infancy, to send a gift of sorts to Andrial in its weakened state.
This gift was important - Blue Star, having more than understood the significance of food and sustenance in keeping your people strong and happy, decided that such a gift to another Kingdom, particularly to their king, would be an impossible-to-refuse deal-maker that was sure to win them Andrial's undying loyalty and fealty. This banquet full of some of the greatest food this empire may even have yet to truly surpass was delivered straight to the King of Andrial's palace. The diplomat is famously said to have announced the emperor's intentions outright.
are second only to the Elven Praetorians of Legend (EXPUNGED FOR CLEAR BIAS)
((More to come.))
"The wondrous Blue Star Empire invites you to join under our banner with this gift above gifts. Food from all corners of our lands, expertly crafted and cared for by the finest chefs in all the known planes that we generously bequeath to you, our new loyal subjects."Understandably, the King of Andrial was far from pleased, seeing this as a declaration of war should they refuse (and refuse they did). The foreign men were banished from the palace and the lands, and the Emperor of Blue Star took this as the greatest offense that has ever occurred to anyone, and promptly proved Andrial's suspicions right. The first war between the Blue Star Empire and the Kingdom of Andrial began. Heavy casualties were suffered on both sides and most importantly - the original capital of Blue Star, Jaggedcliffe was sacked by Andrian forces, prompting Blue Star to enter peace-talks with Andrial before further damage was suffered. Jaggedcliffe, however, never seemed to have fully recovered, and never truly grew any larger than a village when it was resettled many decades later. Perceiving the war ultimately as a loss, Blue Star doubled its efforts on creating a military, and established the Royal Guard of Blue Star along with its stringent requirements, all with the obvious intent of creating a sort of ultra-talented set of super soldiers incase the need should ever arise again. Naturally, very few were both qualified and up to the task, and somewhere along the line, the requirements and regiments got harder and harder to the point of near draconian cruelty. The Royal Guard still, however, manages to hold some of the most formidable soldiers throughout Blue Star's land,
Education
Literacy is relatively common amongst townspeople and citizens, as the making, tasting, and sharing of food is almost romanticized to the point of religious fervor in Blue Star - it's a wonder the entire kingdom isn't round enough to roll over all their competition, but as a result - most people learn how to read and write; in order to make and share recipes. This of course has the added bonus of allowing them to read and write other things, and keep organization at a near unprecedented level in regards to written record, but this is only possible because of the higher standard of living amongst the aforementioned towns and cities.
Out in the countryside, literacy is deemed far less necessary - recipes are shared by word of mouth, as villages rarely have enough people to warrant the necessity of massive tomes of written record, and teaching reading and writing would take time away from the families who require extra hands on the farm or in their workshops and whatnot. Literacy wasn't full on abandoned, but more often than not, those that taught anything were only taught the bare minimum to be able to read merchant orders and the like - simple nouns appearing frequently enough that even the simplest peasant can read "carrot" and understand that a carrot is being asked for - even if they don't understand what "Order of" means.
For our people, and for our lands!
Type
Geopolitical, Kingdom
Capital
Alternative Names
Blue Star
Demonym
Starlan
Leader
Leader Title
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Traditional
Currency
Adenian Mint - Platinum, Gold, Silver, Copper coins. Usually stamped with Blue Star's emblem.
Major Exports
Food, usually highly sought out around the mainland.
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Friendly
Tepid Terms
Dragons Wings was created from a soldier from the Empire, after all. Even though Dragons Wings is neutral, they know where their leader called home. Unfortunately, things are a bit tense after talks of treason and Dragons' Wings.. independence.
At War
War is no stranger between Andrial and Blue Star, and after some events on Ysgard, war has been formerly declared by Andrial.
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