Uwcharedian government, now defunct
Uwcharedia is a puppet state of Swynfaredia that Swynfaredia mainly uses as a useful place to send their favored Squib children, so they can have a place where they can own land and pass it on to their children.
Even with the expansion into New Uwcharedia (better known as the Wooly Slopes Province), the nation is overstuffed with squibs and the children and grandchildren of squibs. There are a lot of nobles with fancy titles and only tiny pieces of land.
Structure
Uwcharedia is top heavy with an unreasonably high number of nobles. All the nobles are Swynfaredian squibs or the children of Swynfaredian squibs. Both Uwcharedia are sliced into many small holdings with a noble lord or lady having exclusive income/tax rights from that land.
Because a lot of nobles are trying to squeeze every possible copper piece out of a small piece of land, there are a lot of land and resource disputes between neighboring nobles. Duchess Nia and her husband Duke Neifion spend a large portion of their day mediating disputes.
A lot of the nobles don't own land at all, though they still have greater social status than commoners, at least on paper.
Culture
Uwcharedian nobles copy Swynfaredian cultures as much as they can afford to mimicking architecture, clothing, religious practices, and other cultural aspects of their homeland.
Commoners tend to follow the general folksy and somewhat backwards practices of Borderlander humans.
Public Agenda
To provide a place for the non-sorcerous offspring of Swynfaredian dragon blood nobles a place to live in comfort and prosper.
Assets
The lands of Uwcharedia and New Uwcharedia are fertile but they are overtaxed, both figuratively and literally.
They get a lot of material support from the land of Swynfaredia, especially House Goirsonad, primarily in supplying them with weapons and paying more money for Uwcharedian exports than the goods are acutally worth.
History
When the Swynfaredians conquered what is now Old Uwcharedia, they intended to create an autonomous nation for a relatively small amount of Squibs.
Over the generations, two things changed. First, it's not autonomous because it relies on material aid from the land of Swynfaredia to stay afloat and they have to borrow battle sorcerers from Swynfaredia to keep their military.
Also, more generations of dragon blood wanted to send their Squibs here meaning the area quickly became over crowded with Uwcharedian nobles.
House Goirsonad helped Old Uwcharedia conquer the Wooly Slopes Barony which was rechristened "New Uwcharedia" but this was a temporary solution because once Uwcharedian double in size and could sustain most of their noble class, Swynfaredia took this as a go signal to send a new wave of Squib immigrants in.
Part of the ongoing rivalry beteen House Goirsonad and House Numaness is that Numaness wants to cut off Uwcharedia and let them stand or fall on their own merits and Goirsonad wants to keep up their support and eventually help them annex more land in the Border Baronies Region to alleviate the over crowding issues.
Demography and Population
Uwcharedia’s original province has about 53,000 commoners and about 4,500 nobles.
Uwcharedia’s Wooly slopes province has about 38,000 commoners and about 3,800 nobles.
The nobles are about 95% ethnically Swynfaredian and 5% mixed Swynfaredian. Most of them are the grandchildren or great grand children of sorcerers and sorceresses.
The common people are roughly 70% Borderlander humans, 10% Swynfaredian humans, 20% other.
In the Wooly Slopes province, most commoners work in herding or directly support herders with only a tiny number of farmers.
The original Uwcharedian province economy is based roughly two thirds on agriculture and one third on herding.
Territories
Uwcharedia controls old Uwcharedia often simply called Uwcharedia and New Uwcharedia, more commonly called Wooly Slopes Province.
In theory the rough wilderness between the two provinces are their national territory but it is very difficult to patrol or claim this land and most Uwcharedian nobles don't want to put in the effort to do this.
Military
All of the nobles are supposed to be combat trained and ready to defend the realm, but of the roughly 8,300 nobles split roughly equally between the two provinces, some of them are too young or too old to realistically serve in a military fashion. Even among the able bodies adults, some neglect their combat training out of cowardice or laziness.
Roughly 4000 men and women are combat ready (between both pro4inces). About 400 are considered elite (6 combat dice) and 800 are considered militia level (4 combat dice) while the remaining 2800 are considered professional level (5 combat dice).
Because they have so many feuding nobles, the soldiers are not particularly well coordinated, but due to political and economic support from Swynfaredia, especially House Goirsonad, they are well equipped where even the poorest fighters are equipped almost as well as knights in other lands (minus the horses which are impractical in the rough terrain).
In theory there is a peasant militia too, but it's a Paper Dragon as the nobles and peasants don't really trust or like each other.
Religion
Maylar worship is forbidden here as it is in Land of Swynfaredia. Worship of the rest of the Nine is not restricted but it is not especially encouraged.
The Swynfaredian Children maintain a modest temple near the realm's only true castle and they have the Duchess' ear.
There is a small Korus temple or two, but no real substantial religious buildings bigger than shrines. Like most ethnic Swynfaredian humans, the Uwcharedians are generally not very pious but there are always exceptions and Uwcharedia has proportionally more pious Swynfaredians than the actual land of Swynfaredia.
They had a resistance movement led by the Lanterns but after the Children helped the nobles hit one of their meeting places, the Lanterns have largely pulled out of Old Uwcharedia and relocated their remaining manpower to the Wooly Slopes Province.
Foreign Relations
On paper Uwcharedia is an independent realm but in reality they are a puppet state of Swynfaredia, and Uwcharedia would collapse in a couple of years if Swynfaredia cut off their material aid.
In the general the individual Border Baronies do not get along, but Uwcharedia has made more enemies of thier neighbors than most.
For starters, Uwcharedia is controlling TWO Baronies under one government which is a faux passe in Border Baronies politics, and this has raised valid concerns that they aren't going to stop at conquering two baronies.
The Principality of Red Streams believes Uwcharedia is scouting them out for a next conquest.
The Barony of Bees has accused Uwcharedia of sheltering reagent poachers.
The Baron of Merchant Principality of Centrum resents merchants using Uwcharedian trade routes to circumvent his road tolls. He also is concerned that if Fumaya falls to Swynfaredia, Centrum will crushed between the hammer of Swynfaredia and anvil of Uwcharedia.
Many of the Border Baronies hold no grudge against Uwcharedia but none of them would be considered Uwcharedia's allies.
Agriculture & Industry
Most of the nobles control a small piece of farmland or grazing land. The richest nobles tend to control a small piece of timberland (which has timber and reagents or a solid fishing hole.
Really, the commoners do all the work and the nobles leave them with barely enough to live.
Trade & Transport
There are lots of rivers but none of them are really naviagable. Most trade in and out has to be through mule trains over winding mountain roads.
Sometimes, reagents are flown out by flying sorcerers carrying bags of holding and sometimes high end luxury goods are flown in the same way.
Mainly wool goods and reagents flow outwards and metalwork tools and assorted luxury goods flow in. The kingdom of Swynfaredia is their only true trading partner and House Goirsonad monopolizes most of the trade between Uwcharedia and the homeland.
1607 - 1837
Type
Geopolitical, State
Alternative Names
Swynfaredian Puppet State, Swineherdian Puppet State, Land of Squibs
Demonym
Uwcharedians
Leader
Head of State
Government System
Oligarchy
Power Structure
Client state / puppet state
Economic System
Traditional
Currency
Major Exports
Wool goods and reagents.
Major Imports
Metalwork goods and luxury items
Official State Religion
Parent Organization
Location
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Comments