The High Kingdom of Lencenor (Artegonon Imarlanni in Old Lencori) was the state that united all the Lencori tribes after the fall of the Lencori Empire, putting an end to the 45 year-long Lencori Warlord Period.
Formation[]
The Lencori Warlord Period had endured for 45 years when Lorenan the Great, who had risen as king of the Lorentish two years prior, defeated the last Gawedi warlords at the Battle of Rosefield. Acclaimed by the Lorentish, Sormanni, Tretunic and Iochander soldiers under his command, he was sworn fealty by his fellow Sormanni and Tretunic kings right then and there, with the king of Iochand doing so a few weeks later. The king of the Entebics, the strongest Lencori realm after the newborn High Kingdom, only joined Lorenan after the betrothal of their young children, Prince Caylen and Princess Herlinda, and so the original borders of the High Kingdom were set.
The realm would expand twice:
- After the victory of Lorenan the Great against the Gawedi army of Prince Ulric the Eagle at the Battle of Red Reach, with the High King becoming the Protector of the Small Kingdom.
- After the death of High King Lorenan, when his eldest son High King Ruben I invaded Carneter and split it with his vassal king of the Tretunics. At this point, the rule of the High Kingdom extended from the southern edges of the Dragon Coast to the coast of the West Dameshead, and from the Sormanni Hills all the way to the Lorentish Approach, next to the Dragonhills.
Governance (525-600 AA)[]
Despite its huge size, or perhaps because of it, the Lencori High Kingdom was very decentralized, even for feudal standards. All the vassals of the High King were kings of their own kingdoms, and while none dared defy Lorenan the Great while he lived, his descendants had a limited influence outside of the Kingdom of Redfort.
The internal divisions were as follow:
- The Kingdom of Redfort, Lorenan's Demesne, with the capital of Lorentei at its heart. It extended from Rosefield to the north to the mouth of the Bloodwine River in Wineport to the south, and from the middle course of the Bloodwine to the west to the Deruwren Forest and the Roilsard to the east.
- The Kingdom of Enteben, with its capital in Enteben itself. It extended from the northern edges of the Sormanni Hills to the south to the northern edges of Westport Bay and the High Ording to the north, and the from the Westcoast to the Bloodwine river.
- The Kingdom of Redwood, with its capital in the Rewanwood. It extended from the High Ording to the south to the middle course of the Middanroy to the north, and from the western edges of the Redwood to the Redgate of Rubyhold and the Duchy of Exwes to the east.
- The Kingdom of Iochand, with its capital in Roynoms. It extended along the western coast of the High Kingdom, from Westport Bay to the Dragonhills, and had the particularity of being the only vassals of the High Kingdom whose rulers were gnomes despite ruling over a large Iochander Lencori population.
- The Sormanni Kingdom, with its capital in what is now Sornaire. It dominated the Sormanni Hills and the island of Firstsight, as it had done from times prior to the Damerian Republic.
- The Tretunic Kingdom, with its capital in Tretun itself. It extended from the northern edges of the Roilsard to the Tretunic hills to the south, all along the eastern coast of the Bay of Wines. After the conquest of Carneter, it extended east to the Gorge.
- The Halfling Small Kingdom, with its capital in Barrowshire. It controlled all the Small Country, including Beepeck, Minsford and the land that would later become Eaglecrest.
- The Kingdom of Carneter, with its capital on Carneter itself. It extended, after its conquest by High King Ruben I, from the Deruwren Forest to the coast of the West Dameshead, and from the Gorge to the Widderoy. Despite being an internal division of the High Kingdom, it was held by the High Kings of the House of Rubentis, becoming an extension of the Kingdom of Redfort.
These internal divisions endured while Lorenan, his son Ruben I and his greatgrandson Ruben II ruled. The untimely death of Ruben II would see the title of High King fall on the shoulders of the 10 years old Emmeran Rubentis and spark the War of the Three Roses, where the three kingdoms of the descendants of Lorenan (Redfort-Carneter, Redwood and Enteben) fought against each other for 22 long years as other realms like Iochand and the Sormanni and Small Kingdoms drifted away from their influence.
Signed on the 3rd of Tearfall of 622, the Treaty of the Redfort put an end to the war and to the High Kingdom of Lencenor in its original form, and began the period of the Lord Regents of Lencenor.
The Regency of Lencenor (622-869 AA)[]
With none of the Lorentish dynasties being able to force the other two to recognize them as High Kings, the Regency was established in the old lands of the Lorenti tribe: those ruled originally by Lorenan the Great. The lords of this area would meet at the Redfort to elect a Lord Regent after the death of the previous one and elect one amongst them as Lord Regent for life.
The duties of the Lord Regent included, but were not limited to:
- To protect the regalia of the High King of Lencenor. These included the Ruby Crown of Lorent, Lorenan's Rose Banner and the throne itself in Lorentei.
- To keep the peace between the heirs of Lorenan, and hold the core of the High Kingdom so none would turn it against the others.
Despite the Lord Regents theorically holding power over all kings in Lencenor and having the duty to keep the peace, in practice they barely had any power outside of their borders and so the High Kingdom, while not defunct, was little more than a formality.
The Electors of the High Kingdom were the following:
- The Mayor of Lorentei.
- The High Priest of Highcour.
- The Castellan of the Redfort.
- The Count of Oldport, of the House of Oldport.
- The Count of Rewanfork, of the House of Harascilde.
- The Count of Lorencilde, of the House of Crownscour.
- The Lord of Lorenan's Rest, of House Certis.
- The Count of Castfort, of the House of Aldegarde.
- In the case of a tie, the king of Rubyhold would be consulted.
The first Lord Regent was the Mayor of Lorentei, yet down the line the House of Harascilde would retain the regency, turning it into an hereditary title after the year 747 and controlling the heart of Lencenor up to the year 869, when Derhilde Reaverqueen took the Redfort after two years of siege and killed the last Lord Regent, Caradan III the Brave
Derhilde Reaverqueen and the War of the One Rose (869-900 AA)[]
Upon conquering Redfort, Derhilde took the Ruby Crown and crowned herself as High Queen of Lencenor, dissolving the regency and causing the kings Lorevarn I of Redwood, Caylen VIII of Enteben and Lorenan III of Carneter and Dameria to form a coalition and declare war on her.
With Derhilde's defeat, she returned the Ruby Crown to king Lorevarn II of Redwood, who would then go on to unite Redwood, Enteben and the lands of the old Kingdom of Redfort into one new title: the Kingdom of Lorent, wearing the Ruby Crown and the High Kingdom's regalia while officially dissolving the High Kingdom of Lencenor.
Cateogry:Countries