Boreala

The Empire of Boreala, also known as The Republic of Boreala or just Boreala, was a republic in northern Perama Eria during the later half of the Third Age. It was founded in 1568 LE, and lasted until it was defeated in 2026 by the forces of the Gods during the war between Humans and the Archaeids. Its capital was Marstalos, located in the south of the Empire, on the Ganmedes River.

The Kingdom of Boreala
At the beginning of the sixteenth century LE, the region of Boreadon was made up of mostly independent city-states. In the north, the city-state of Gosten was suffering from intermittent raids from the Broltems. The Broltems were a barbarian tribe of the northern Tennemars, a mountain range on the eastern edge of Boreadon. Dal Gost, the ruler of Gosten at the time, had amassed considerable wealth and status by way of large amounts of gold mined from his family lands. He amassed a mercenary army and used it launch a counter attack on the Broltems, bringing the surviving barbarians into his army.

With his forces strengthened, Dal Gost invaded the city of Dares to the south. He was killed in battle, and the city of Gosten was without a ruler. The general of Dal Gost's army, Deoras Mars, had his troops forcibly remove his son from Gosten, and named himself the ruler of Gosten. With the army at his side, there was little use contesting this declaration.

Rewarding his men with land as they went, Deoras Mars moved his army south, and was able to conquer Orwey in the south. With the entirety of western Boreadon under his rule, he named the new federation of city-states Boreala, and himself King, in 1563.

Daleshom-Dimhau
In 1550 LE, the city-states of Dimhau and Daleshom in western Boreadon faced imminent invasion from the south by the ambitious Kusovic army, led by the fearsome warleader King Talden. Their respective leaders came together and forged a loose alliance, mainly to fend off the growing number of raids. But by the 1560s, most of Talden's forces marched southward, to take Montbrom and Lasfal.

It didn't take long after the threat subsided for Cedrich, ruler of Daleshom, to find the alliance no longer necessary, and in 1564, he pulled his half of the army out of Dimhau, then attempted to take the formerly allied city by force. Resulting in heavy losses and a stalemate, this rivalry continued for years, and eastern Boreadon became an easy region for King Deoras Mars of Boreala to conquer in 1568 LE.

Republic of Boreala
When then general Deoras Mars founded the Kingdom of Boreala, he did so with the knowledge that it would not last without a drastic change from the simple, hereditary form of monarchy found in Gosten and other Boreadonic states. When not leading his army, he spent the first few years of his rulership gathering around him a loose association of various civil servants and educated individuals. He tasked them with drawing up plans for the organization of a new government.

What they came up with was more or less a republic, and the Empire of Boreala remained as such until its collapse in 2026. The supreme governing body was be made up of four elected officials from each of the main regions of Boreala: Gosten, Broltem, Dares, Orwey, Daleshom, and Dimhau. This group, the Borealan Senate, would answer only to Deoras Mars himself, and after him, a chief executive elected from the 24 Senators. The Senate served as the legislators of the Empire, and the elected leader, known as the Praetor, was the commander-in-chief of the army as well as the chief judge and legislator of the Republic. Deoras Mars served as the first Praetor of Boreala until his death in 1625; after him, Praetors were re-elected by the Senate every five years.

Secularism
Deoras Mars was also aware of the growing influence of the Archaeids, who by then were more or less viewed as Gods by the humans of Perama Eria. He outlawed any and all worship of these Gods in Boreala. Then, from among the various authors of the laws which established the government of Boreala, he founded a group called the Tomekeepers, a secular group of luminaries with two distinct functions. They aided the Senate (many of whom were Tomekeepers themselves) in matters of state and policy, and were charged with enforcing the ban on Archaeid worship.