Edropia

Edropia, officially the Federal Republic of Edropia, is a nation in Laraniem. It is located on the continent of Atrapis and borders Vae Cloaca and Southern Hagston to the north, Seurland to the east and Phoenix City of Fire to the west.

Edropia consists of the twelve states Atrilia, Cromerania, Crosshaven, Drefort, Eastgralia, Halmere, Milchester, Newmarsh, Norwick, Surwick, Thornhampton and Westgralia. Edropia's capital city, Drefort, is located on the southern coast and makes up its own city-state.

Edropian paganism (4000 BCE - 18 CE)
The first signs of human settlement go as far back as the early Neolithic era around 10,000 BCE but it isn't until 4000 BCE that first evidence of Edropian culture can be found, a long extinct religion known as Edropian paganism, which first developed in the Drefort area. These pagans saw nature as holy and worshipped a number of different deities, all representing an aspect of nature. The god of water, Eteros was the principal god as water was seen as the basis for all life and the pagans considered the Raimen river, which was the only source of fresh water at the time to be a gift from him.

The pagans also dedicated the main temple complex in Drefort (or "Tharia" as the pagans called it) to him, which was first established around 2000 BCE and occasionally expanded throughout the next thousand years, making Drefort the unofficial capital and most important settlement of the religion.

The pagans referred to their territory as "etro ropia", which translates to 'holy land' and is most likely the origin of the name Edropia. The religion spread all over modern Edropia up until the bronze age, giving the nation its name, culture and love for nature.

Cloacan era (18 CE - 601 CE)
In 14 CE Edropia consisted of a number of different tribes with similar culture and religion that traded with each other and coexisted peacefully without a government or military. So when the Cloacan Empire sought out new territory and invaded Edropia in late 14 CE the tribes didn't have high chances of winning. Despite this the Edropian tribes managed to fight off the Cloacan armies for a while, using the woods for surprise attacks and reusing gathered Cloacan equipment in battle. The war also encouraged many tribes to form military alliances and basic local governments. By every month however more tribes had been occupied and the resistance lost more and more manpower. By 18 CE the Cloacan military had reached Drefort, the most important and one of the last remaining settlements and with the fall of Drefort, Edropia was now under Cloacan rule.

The Cloacan Empire set new technological standards like building cities out of stone, vastly improved road infrastructure and a local government. It wasn't all beneficial however as their religion and language were banned to promote Cloacan culture, with the temple complex in Drefort burnt down and many of the old pagan stone tablets and parchments destroyed. By 350 CE the old Edropian religion and language had been driven to extinction but the population was still reluctant to give up their culture completely. A new language had developed, mixing the old pagan language with the Cloacan language to create old Edropian English which was spoken up until the development of modern Edropian English in the 16th century.

The Cloacan religion wasn't popular either with many regions forming their own minor religions instead thus making Edropia consist of hundreds of small religions, almost all of which were very disorganized and later forgotten as there is barely any written evidence left. By 352 CE the religion Pretarism had developed in the area of Octralia (today: Crosshaven) which was the first organized Edropian religion since the paganism. The name comes from the old Edropian English word "pretare" which means 'protest' as it acted as opposition against Cloacan rule while promoting Edropian independence. Pretarism renounced the old beliefs, completely abandoning the idea of polytheism for the concept of one true god.

The religious symbol became the cross as many Pretarists were crucified by the Cloacan Empire as punishment and deterrent. Because of this they had to pray in secret, essentially becoming a secret organization quietly spreading all over Edropia. As the religion spread the population grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Cloacan rule and so protests and general unrest became more and more common in the 6th century. Other Cloacan colonies also grew increasingly resistant ultimately leading to its collapse in 601 CE, ending its reign over Edropia.

Middle Ages (601 - 1468)
After the fall of the Cloacan Empire, Edropia stood without government. The overwhelming majority wanted a unified Edropian nation but nobody could agree on what it would look like and who the leader should be. The lower and middle class longed for a republic while the upper class wanted a monarchy and constantly quarreled over who most deserved to be the king. After months without any agreement or progress many aristocrats were ready to take the matter to the battlefield, hiring mercenaries while farmers and commoners took arms themselves to fight the aristocrats, leading to the Great Civil War (601 - 608).

The civil war was an all-out brawl with everyone trying to to conquer and hold as much territory as possible. Despite a few alliances and peace treaties the constant battles never seemed to stop and by February 608 Edropia laid in ruins and the population was left immensely exhausted. Food was extremely sparse, especially after the last harsh winter, and so many of those who didn't fall in battle died of starvation. Even the aristocrats were running low and so they reluctantly signed the peace treaties despite the war seeming undecided as no unified Edropia had been established.

Finally in peace again the population slowly started to recover and Edropia rebuilt. And now that the Cloacan rule was over the Edropian culture was no longer being oppressed which lead to a cultural boom and growing popularity of Edropian old English names, with cities being renamed, receiving their modern-day names, and many people changing their Cloacan surnames. It also meant that that Pretarists could freely practice their religion, making it the state religion of all Edropian countries.

The war saw the formation of new powerful empires, the most notable of which were the Kingdom of Gralia, named after its first king Cynebald Gralus, the Archbishopric of Crosshaven, which was the origin and capital of Pretarism, and the Drefort Merchant Republic which developed into the richest and most important center of trade and exchange in Edropia.

The people knew that this peace was only temporary however and a new era of constant wars, continuous arms races, growing militaries and ever expanding fortresses began. By the 11th century Edropians had perfected their martial culture with mining and blacksmithing becoming the core elements of the Edropian economy. Edropia had very high amounts of ores and wood and the people had become excellent blacksmiths, allowing them to craft high quality weaponry, armor and tools for a very low price, often exporting them to foreign countries like Hagston or Seurland. This lead to Edropia becoming famous for its blacksmithing all over Atrapis, further strengthening Drefort's position as trade center. Edropia also experienced the rise of chivalry which made Edropian knights some of the most feared warriors in Atrapis, dominating the Edropian battlefields up until the invention of gunpowder.

Renaissance (1468 - 1670)
The Renaissance was a period of cultural and scientific revolution that officially began in Edropia in 1468 with the invention of the printing press in Drefort. The printing press allowed books to be copied much faster and cheaper, drastically sinking their prices and making them widely available to even the lower classes. The popularity of books greatly increased alongside a literacy revolution with books taking central part in culture and entertainment. The growing demand for literacy was followed by a universal wish for education, causing the first basic school systems to appear. The improving education in return lead to new scientific methods and discoveries in chemistry, biology, physics and mathematics.

With the scientific revolution came new inventions like gunpowder, reforming warfare forever, and new ship designs and food conservation methods that revolutionized naval navigation. These new naval technologies allowed previously long and expensive trade routes to be done by sea, making them shorter, less expensive and much more profitable. As a result trade with Hagston flourished which lead to excellent relations and cultural exchange, mixing the two languages into modern Edropian and Hagstonian English in 1550 - 1600.

New weapons like cannons and muskets gave the most technologically advanced countries a clear advantage in battle, making Edropian rulers realize the importance of science and technology, encouraging them to further increase education and research fundings.

Neopaganism (1670 - 1760)
On June 3rd 1657 old pagan stone tablets and parchments were found in Matford, in a previously unknown underground area. At this point not much was known about the old pagans and all pagan manuscripts were believed to have been destroyed during the Cloacan era and so the discovery gained attention all over Edropia, with many historians being fascinated about the findings. In order to accurately translate them however more pagan manuscripts were needed and thus dozens of groups of scientists looked all over the nation for new pagan remnants, leading to the birth of modern archaeology.

This series of events was followed by great interest of the public in old pagan history and so, when more manuscripts were found in the following years and successfully translated by 1668 the public was curious to find out what was written on them. The translations were printed on books and distributed all over the nation, becoming an instant success in just a few days. The fascination in old paganism then lead to the Neopagan movement around 1670 with its height in the 1730s.

Neopaganism, or Edropian Neopaganism as it's known outside Edropia, was an Edropian artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement characterized by its revival of ancient Edropian pagan values and veneration of the dead. It is considered the most important art period in Edropian history, as it affected the culture the most. The paintings, poems and music of this time all focus heavily on the beauty and calmness of nature and old rituals and traditions of the Edropian pagans. Many famous Edropian landscape paintings are from this period, like the famous 'Tranquility Meadow' by Wesley Howell (1693 - 1757), one of the best known Neopagan painters.

The Neopagan movement gained a lot of popularity and caused the public to respect nature a lot more, reviving the old pagan's love for nature to a degree and even somewhat promoting pacifism, making wars more frowned upon and thus harder for rulers to get away with. Neopaganism later naturally developed into Cronotism, another important art period, by the beginning of the industrial revolution.

Industrial revolution (1760 - 1844)
The industrial revolution began around 1760 when steam engines were drastically gaining popularity and increasingly used all over Edropia. The development of modern medicine caused immense population growth and new technologies lead to the rise of factories, mass production, improving efficiency and increasing urbanization. Coal grew gradually more fundamental, especially after the invention of the first steam engine locomotive, with the first experimental railroad built between Honcord and Dedrode in 1825.

The climbing importance of coal ultimately lead to the rise of Cromerania as a major Edropian power, as the areas surrounding Honcord had extremely rich deposits of coal, making Cromerania the leading exporter for coal and turning Honcord and Dedrode into new economic centers. Honcord and Dedrode became the fastest growing cities in Edropia in the 1810s, with Honcord even surpassing Drefort's population by 1832. Cromerania had always been an important power in Edropia, most notably for its fishing industry, but Gralia was the undisputed leading power with the biggest military and huge influence all over Edropia. The sudden shift in powers however, with Cromerania even surpassing Gralia in terms of military strength in 1836, ultimately divided Edropia in half as the rivalry between the two nations grew and new alliances developed.

By 1831 two new major alliances had emerged, the Southern Edropian Alliance (SEA) and the Northern Edropian Alliance (NEA). The SEA was lead by Cromerania and included Drefort, Milchester, Atrilia and Halmere, while the NEA was lead by Gralia and included Thornhampton, Newmarsh, Norwick, Crosshaven and Surwick. Tensions grew between the two alliances and a war appeared more and more inevitable finally resulting in the Gralo-Cromeranian War (1838 - 1844).

The industrial revolution was also an important period for art however due to the development of Cronotism out of the Neopagan movement. The name was inspired by the Edropian pagan word "cronote" which means 'to sacrifice' and widely popularized by Andrew Glover, arguably the most famous Cronotian artist. As the name suggests the core concept is the sacrifice of nature for urban life, as the industrial revolution was widely unpopular with most citizens during its beginning. As industrialization continued however it became continuously harder to deny the benefits. Modern medicine for example had drastically lowered child mortality and increased life expectancy while new economic practices provided jobs and made goods widely available, decreasing poverty and widening the middle class.

Because of this the population started to see industrialization as a necessary evil rather than something to avoid, which they expressed in the art of the time. Poets longed after lost nature while criticizing the dullness of urban life, painters worked with contrasts by mixing gray and green and musicians composed music that started off peaceful and content but turned increasingly monotone and mechanical. All of this was to "make the observer feel what we are sacrificing" as Andrew Glover explained.