An-Yneaith
An-Yneaith is the primary human nation within D'hennex, from which most other human territories split and formed. Currently ruled by King Irai Maoilirian, An-Yneaith is beset by enemies all around, and struggles to regain its lost lands.
History
The southern land started out as a barbaric place, with warring tribes, similar to what it is today except more nomadic than feudal. Amongst the humans were also powerful undead knights and wizards, many of whom began to take their own small kingdoms with their power.
One tribe, the tribe of the Emerald Dragon, rose to power under the leadership of Chieftain Anrai Brugh, who was a charismatic and powerful man. Brugh united several other tribes under his banner and gathered a host of powered warriors, securing for himself a large domain, expanding it through diplomacy when possible and through violence when diplomacy failed. Eventually, Brugh drove the undead lords into the southern marshes and united the continent under his rule, declaring himself King of An-Yneaith, an old southern word that translates into Emerald Dragon, to reflect his tribal heritage.
The southern continent used to be known simply as An-Yneaith, after the kingdom that united the entire land. The elves had their own name for the land, but they stayed in their forests and generally let the humans have their fun. The southern part of the continent has always been marshlands though, and difficult to establish cities and castles as are common throughout northern An-Yneaith, and as such was generally left unoccupied by human and elven forces, instead being left to the undead lords that had fled after Brugh's rise to power.
Many, many generations passed, with the Emerald Dragon continuing to fly over most of the continent, although several tribes that lived near the borders of the original An-Yneaith territory spoke of secession or rebellion. These quarrels disappeared, though, when the undead lords of the southern marshes suddenly marched upon the human lands, a host of skeletons and zombies trampling over the unprepared border tribes. The current king, Saoidhe Brugh Ain, raised a host of warriors and managed to drive the undead back into the marshes, but this time he sought to destroy them once and for all, rather than allowing them to simply escape as they had generations ago.
The Army of An-Yneaith marched through the marshes, finding nothing for miles, until a black tower became visible in the distance. Assuming this to be the stronghold of the undead (in reality, it was merely one of five such strongholds; this one was controlled by a powerful undead knight that called itself Kalar Baen), King Ain sent his army against the tower, determined to crush it into nothingness.
Instead, a swarm of undead rose from the surrounding lands, annihilating the Emerald Dragon soldiers. King Ain himself managed to escape, sending pleas for help by magic to faraway lands, as he feared Kalar Baen's forces would move again northward -- which they soon did, crushing the nearly defenseless humans.
Alaris answered by unloading a transport of automatons, led by three Mechanikkars -- a class similar to the prison Overseers of today, with massive control of the automaton forces of the Alaran military. With the help of these Mechanikkars, King Ain was able to fend off Kalar Baen's forces, but when another of the undead lords -- Kalar Rythor, an ancient lich-king -- joined Kalar Baen's forces, the war ground to a stalemate, and eventually both human and undead forces simply withdrew into their respective kingdoms.
Although the Mechanikkars and their forces had been decimated -- the southern marshes were, and are now currently, littered with machinery and automaton junk -- they had orders from Alaris to attempt to subjugate An-Yneaith, that Alaris might take the vast natural resources available to the land. The Mechanikkars had not counted on the magical prowess of King Ain's advisors, however, and combined with help from several elven detachments -- as the automatons had marched into the forests as well as through the plains and hills of the human lands -- King Ain was able to destroy the automaton force and send the Mechanikkars fleeing back across the sea. However, King Ain was mortally wounded in a battle with the Mechanikkars themselves -- powerful psions all -- and he passed away within the month, despite the administrations provided by both wizard advisors and tribal shaman.
Left in disarray, as King Ain had no clear successor -- he had never married -- the kingdom was plunged into turmoil, as several tribes immediately broke free, disappointed in the failure of An-Yneaith forces to protect them from the undead and determined to create their own defenses, eventually forming into feudal territories that warred with one another. The remnants of An-Yneaith itself retained several still-functional automatons, and eventually the advisors cracked the locks and protections around them and found themselves able to command the machines, which is likely the only reason An-Yneaith itself still stands today.
Geography and Climate
An-Yneaith is a temperate, mostly flat region, with low hills and sparse forests dotting the plains. The southern boundary of the region is the no-man's land buffering An-Yneaith and Drovinia. The northern boundary is the Opil Strait, across which Kallinstrate lies.
Political Climate
Domestic
The current line of Kings, the Maoilirians, came to power in the flurry of secession and warfare after King Ain's death. King Irai is seen as a weaker ruler than past kings, as he has not yet attempted to reclaim lost territories, but the fact that his advisors have not simply begun to call the shots speaks to some subtlety in King Irai's person. King Irai has not yet born a child, and as he is nearing middle age his family supporters grow worried while political enemies such as the Brugh and Cellan families, each of which laid claim to the throne during the upset after King Ain's death.
Foreign
An-Yneaith conflicts with just about every other nation in D'hennex. The elves are hostile toward An-Yneaith emissaries and forces, though their isolationist tendencies have ground the conflict between elf and human to a halt. The Drovinian Reaches are a constant source of strife, as undead and necrotechnical creations skirmish with border forces. The demonic territory of Fel Nobel and seceeded territories such as the Demosthene Ascendancy and Kallinstrate are also concerns to An-Yneaith. Kallinstrate seems especially worrisome to the King of An-Yneaith, given its proximity and military strength, and political agendas are carried through history texts that differ greatly from those in Kallinstrate concerning the formation of that territory. Diplomatic relations between An-Yneaith and Westphalia have been much smoother than those between An-Yneaith and its other former territories, perhaps due to the religious ties between these two nations.
