Principality of Ritilia
Diplomatic Relations
History
In the early 1290's LE, the Ebawecci humans had settled, mostly along the Ettomep River. While there were several states, there were really two axes of power: Denbe and Suisbiumtebwa. The Awotcovus of Denbe was a shrewd and savage warlord named Ritilius Ettomep (named so because his family had settled along the river generations before). In the north, the Awatcova of Suisbiumtebwa was Qemwinba Suisbium. Iccimtebwe and the Westmarch were ostensibly neutral.
In 1294 LE, the balance of power shifted when Bedaiccus, the Awatcovus of Iccim, believing he had to choose one side or another to avoid being crushed, swore fealty to Ritilius. Ritilius accepted Bedaiccus' fealty, styled himself Vonuscidus of "Ritilia," and renamed the seat of Denbe "Ritilium." Suisbium responded by attacking and capturing the Westmarch seat of Evtuet.
Ritilius, however, was as canny a politician as he was a military man. He enlisted and secured the fealty of the Jal goblins, who dwelt east of the Ettomep in 1301 LE. He established human rulers over them, but otherwise granted them rights and protection. The following year, with the help of his new goblin subjects, he conquered Degetebwa.
In 1303 LE, Qemwinba responded by sending a secret military expedition eastward from Evtuet, which captured Isbo. Ritilius was unwilling to leave his enemy so close to his capital, so he immediately responded, recapturing Isbo that very same year.
In 1305, Ritilius captured Bemcedotebwa and invaded the Westmarch, besieging Evtuet, which fell the following year.
Both sides of the conflict had expended a significant proportion of their resources, so in 1307 LE, they met in Gantebwe and signed the Accord of Gan, fixing their borders and creating peace between them.
Eighteen years later, in 1325 LE, Qemwinba broke the peace, attacking and capturing both Bemcedo and Dege in a surprise campaign. She followed it up by besieging Iccim just before her death in 1326, but Ritilius marched to the city's relief and broke the siege. For the next seven years, there were small-scale skirmishes and probing attacks both directions, but no significant engagements. Ritilius received a minor wound in the fighting, but it became infected and he died a few days later.
In 1333 LE, Vonuscida Cetara, Ritilius' son and successor, recaptured Gan and Dege. By 1339, she had cut off all access to Suisbiumtebwa, instituting what amounted to a siege of the entire tebouwa.
Qemwinba's own successor, Awatcovus Palpurus, was forced to submit to Ritilian sovereignty. House Suisbium was forced into exile in Calpi, all except for Abavsus Suisbium, who was living in Evtuetebwa. He personally swore fealty to Cetara, and renamed his house Evtuetu. Ironically, his son, Awbetius eventually went on to marry a member of the Ritilian royal family - Bater̂ua Cila Eitasibabum, the Awatcova of Stoacca (one of Ritilius' granddaughters).
Peace reigned through Ritilia, save for occasional probing attacks from Calpia in the Westmarch. In 1364 LE, a tribe of kobolds called the Rënzhëksirn, desperate for protection from monsters in the Cumbu Mountains, swore fealty to Vonuscidus Edopus. With this act of fealty, the current makeup of Ritilia was completed.
In Bists of 1429, agents of the Dolorous Rapture (the religious group devoted to Tilgun, the Cruel Empress) magically tainted the water supply of Suisbium with the arcane plague known as The Bleeding. Though the sources of infection were quickly neutralized, the damage was quickly done, for over fourty thousand had been infected. In the end, over 33,000 Suisbians died of the plague.
Maps
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Principality of Ritilia
The Principality of Ritilia is second only to the Calpian Empire in importance on the Tunsaccian subcontinent.
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