Principality of Myaneska

Ruled by an ancient tiefling prince and wracked by civil war, Myaneska is most famous for its wine - Myaneskan wine is so valuable wine merchants travel in heavily fortified caravans.

The vineyards stretch to the horizon, carpeting the rolling hills of Myaneska. Down the well-maintained road comes a caravan of heavily armored wagons, accompanied by even more heavily armed mercenaries on horseback. Vigilant for snipers in the occasional copse of trees, the guards escort the wine train to the merchant city of Cirayn, capital of Myaneska...
..."All roads lead to Cirayn" is a saying common in the south whenever anyone mentions Myaneska.

About Myaneska

Myaneska was once the eighth Principality of the Kingdom of Rhean. Part of the Carentan Forest, the area was settled over a thousand years ago by ancient Alousian tiefling refugees fleeing the aftermath of the demonic invasion that tore ancient Alousia apart. When the Kingdom of Rhean was founded by refugees from the Halaanic Wars in 317 A.C., the scattered villages of the Ainaar Valley joined them.
Myaneska is where most tieflings are found outside of the far distant Second Alousian Empire. The name 'Myaneska' comes from 'Myana', a legendary tiefling folk hero from the time of the tieflings' Alousian exodus.
Between anti-tiefling hostility and being he only landlocked principality in Rhean, Myaneska was largely considered a backwater. So when an independence movement arose in the 800's A.C., Myaneska was able to peacefully secede from Rhean with only token concessions.
The current Prince is Azourh Maar IV, the son of Elian Maar's tiefling nephew Azourh Maar III. Prince Azourh IV can trace his ancestry to both the half-elven royal house of Rhean, and to tiefling members of the old Alousian royal family who fled to Rhean after the destruction of the Empire. Prince Azourh is centuries old (though he looks younger). He has ruled for 143 years, ever since his father Azourh III disappeared.
Because suitable tiefling spouses are difficult to find outside of the west, over the centuries, many tiefling families have found themselves promoted to the Myaneskan nobility in order to provide husbands and wives of suitable blood and rank. In part because of these en-noblements, Myaneska has a large number of low-ranking nobles: there are more barons and knights here than almost anywhere else, and certainly more tiefling barons and knights. With a large number of nobles and a small country, there is not enough land for the entire nobility to have territory they are responsible for. More than a few Myaneskan nobles are landless, and often make their money as merchants in international trade.
Myaneska is most famous for their wine. Wine exports are the largest single source of revenue for the crown, and Myaneskan wine merchants range far from home in heavily guarded caravans.
For the past decade, a civil war has wracked Myaneska, pitting the eastern provinces against the rule of House Ainaar and Prince Azourh.

The Six Great Houses

The Principality of Myaneska is subdivided into six territories called 'czrn'. Teh word is originally from the ancient Alousian word for 'house' or 'estate'. It most closely translates into Common as 'duchy'.
Each czrn is governed by a coalition of noble families organized into a House with a formal hierarchy. The leader of each House serves as the Czrnamir or 'Duke' of their Czern.

Houses of Myaneska

While there are only six great Houses, each House is made up of numerous Myaneskan noble families. They are almost always jockeying for power and position within the noble hierarchy. The names of the six Great Houses were established a thousand years ago when the tiefling Alousian refugees first settled the Ainaar Valley. Over centuries of adoption, marriage and inheritance, only one Great House is ruled by someone of the same name. That is only due to chance as the Ilian family reclaimed the title of Czrnamir from the Amrissa dynasty four generation ago, having been out of power for centuries.
The six Myaneskan Great Houses are:

• The House of Ainaar, whose Czrnamir is Soverign Prince Azourh Maar IV, ruler of Myaneska.
• The House of Cthona, whose Czrnamir is Lord Ardric Marasha. Cthona is the poorest and least populated Czrn. Lord Marasha is neutral in the civil war.
• The House of Dathyr, whose Czrnamir is Lady Bashra Omeryn, currently a revolutionary leader trying to depose Prince Azourh. Dathyr is powerful enough that is can be used as a base of operations for revolutionary forces.
• The House of Ilian, whose Czernamir is Lady Ravaine Ilian, conservative supporter of Prince Azourh.
• The House of Thisinia, whose Czrnamir is Lord Araman Haranestra. Thisinia is neutral in the civil war, relying on their trade networks with Rhean and K'Shanah-Ch'rth to buy off both royal and revolutionary forces.
• The House of Ysri, whose Czrnamir is Lady Osona Malancthon. Lady Osona joined the revolution to otherthrow Prince Azourh. Most of the civil war's fighting has taken place in western Ysri.

History

Myaneska was founded in 874 A.C. when it peacefully seceded from the Kingdom of Rhean. Eastern Rhean was historically the home to a large refugee population from the Second Alousian Empire. After the rift to the lower planes opened in the Ancient Alousian Empire 1,300 years ago, a horrific few decades known as the 'Rape of Alousia' resulted in the first tieflings - thousands of them. Withing a generation there were tens of thousands. Many Alousians unjustly blamed tieflings for the Empire's subsequent collapse. Lynchings and pogroms became common. Many tieflings and their families fled south to the coast of Shan then east, taking ships to Mazrendaram and Rhean.
Over the centuries, many Alousian tieflings and their descendants settled in eastern RheanRhean, nestled between the untamed Carentan Forest and the caishenic kingdoms of the South.
Old Alousian tiefling families eventually came to control the greater Ainaar Valley - the Ainar River and the river that feed it - in what is now Myaneska. The more powerful, ruthless, and/or lucky families became the local nobility.
When the Kingdom of Rhean was founded 22 years after the end of the Halaanic Wars (in 319 A.C.), the Myaneskans were close allies. They joined the new kingdom without hesitation, a situation that lasted just over 500 years. In the early 800's A.C., an independence movement began.
After decades of organizing, in 848 A.C. the independence movement convinced the reluctant Myaneskan nobles to secede. The rebels were led by the tiefling Elian Maar, Prince of Myaneska, who was in turn supported by the six Myaneskan noble Houses and by the independence movement itself. Prince Elian broke his oaths of allegiance to King Harspen III of Rhean and his successors, confident that the Myaneskan people were behind him. A statue of Elian still graces the main plaza in Cirayn.
Before their secession turned to war with Rhean, Prince Elian sued for peace, which led to intense and prolonged negotiations. Years passed as Prince Elian and King Harspen slowly came to an accord. In the end, the rebels got their own country, establishing the independent principality of Myaneska, with Maar staying in power as Prince. While Myaneska won its independence, Rhean got economic returns. In exchange for peace, Myaneska agreed to pay tribute to Rhean for 300 years, impose no taxes on Rheanese imports, and supply an undisclosed amount of Myaneskan wine for the Rheanese Court.

Civil War

For almost twelve years, a civil war has raged in Myaneska between supporters of Prince Azourh, and those who want to depose him, led by Countess Bashra Omeryn. The rebels claim that after almost 150 years of rule, Azourh IV is both corrupt and cruel. They claim that when he isn't executing dissenters, he's raiding the treasury to throw lavish, debauched gatherings and ignoring the needs of the Myaneskans. Azourh's support claim that these are all lies, and that his enemies invent supposed crimes to hide their jealousy and lust for power.
Both sides rely on the wine business for funding, and a strange stalemate has settled in. One side’s wine merchants are fair game for raids by the other, and therefore wine caravans only travel heavily armed. The vineyards themselves, however, are such a long-term investment that neither side wants to see them damaged, expecting to claim them for themselves. Therefore, much of the country is ‘immune’ to the war, and frequent cease-fires are called.

Myaneska and the Death Curse

[ADD: flare-up of the Civil War. Is Prince Azourh missing?]

Sovereign Prince Azourh Maar IV of Myaneska

Lady Bashra Omeryn, Czrnamir of House Dathyr and revolutionary leader.

Maps

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  Myaneska, Principality of (geographic)

• 

  Myaneska, Principality of (political)

Major Populations half elves, half orcs, humans
Minor Populations caisheni, elves, fey, gnomes, halflings, ogres, orcs, tieflings
Ecology warm, Meditteranean climate dominated by hills, forests, farmland, and vineyards.

Type

Geopolitical, Principality

Demonym

Myaneskan

Neighboring Nations

• Hierophancy of Tvor
• High Kingdom of Nymera
• Kingdom of Dvin
• Kingdom of K'Shanah-Ch'rth
• Matriarchy of Rhean