Aradór

Aradór (Classical Arazi: [ara'dɔːr], Bantazi Arazi: Aredaor [ərə'daʊr]) is a state located in Souther Gondala, bordered by the Western Sea in the West and encompassing the Bay of Thrig. The country's history is extremely rich and well documented, being the forerunner of Gondala for most of its history.



Etymology
The word Aradór is a transliteration of the Arazi name for the state. The word is derived from the name of a single tribe of Southern Asats - the Aradis - and is ultimately related to the name of the city of Araero (Arazi: Arairo [ara'iro], Bantazi: Hereìro [əˈrirə]).

Geography and Climate
All around the Bay of Thrig, Aradór enjoys mild Mediterranean climate with a lot of sunshine and enough rain. Further north temperatures can approach zero during Winter but rarely reach or fall below it.

North Central Aradór has a strip of land called the Dry Belt that has smaller amounts of precipitation than the surrounding area, making it less fit for agriculture and settling but encouraging extensive use of irrigation. The Dry Plain is a large area (more than half of Aradór) mostly in central Aradór that is characterised by flat terrain and large grasslands, with forests being rare. The climate and soil is especially fit for farming cereal grains there.

The Between-Rivers area, the land between Haltwen and Eduin is known for being much greener than the typical Aradór's landscape, filled with lush forests and meadows, having occasional lakes and marshes.

Most of Aradór is an even land, with slight uphill movement in Central Northern Aradór, where the land rises to meet the Nelean Highland, and a few solitary but very eccentric hills in the Between-Rivers area.

Economy
Aradór's primary production is, of course, agricultural, but the wood industry, aquaculture and metal industry also play an important part of its economy.

Plants
Aradór's primary production is agriculture – the Dry Plain is heavily cultivated for cereals, of which primarily wheat, but also rye, barley and oat to a lesser degree, supplying both Aradór and foreign countries with grain and bread as well as beer. Proso has been successfully introduced in the Dry Belt.

Other vegetables grown in Aradór include: lettuce, cabbage, carrot (deep purple), beetroot, radish, several varieties of beans, peas and lentils. The Arazi grow such spices as onion, garlic, parley, thyme.

Important introduced species include: tomato, bell pepper (from Sephir), aubergine, cucumber, soybeans, watermelon and melon (from southern / eastern Gondala).

Beer making tradition goes back to prehistory in Aradór. Nevertheless, the wine industry is more important, reaching back to the early years of city state of Araero, before 8th century 4A, as Southern Aradór was one of the first places to adopt vineyard farming from the people of Plains of Édain and perfect the wine fermenting tradition.

Aradór is also a major hemp growing state, producing it for both fibre and consumption as a recreational drug, a widespread practice by the noble men of Asàel. Another major industrial crop is flax, primarily used for clothing.

Trees
Yet another important crop in Aradór are olives, primarily used for making oil but also for consumption fresh or pickled. The cultivation of olives had started even before the Asatic settlers populated Aradór; it is most prominent in Southwestern Aradór north of the Bay of Thrig, as well as on the Inner Isles and the Sister Isles. The trade of olive is was very important during the early stages of Aradór's history and propelled the development of both land and sea routes along the Bay.

Orchards of apples, apricots, peaches, pears and pomegranates form an important part of the agricultural industry, apples and pears being used to create an alcoholic beverage (“cidre”) mostly consumed in North-Western parts of the country and exported to Northern neighbours, especially Coedor and Low Tarmanion. Sporadically, figs, almonds, cherries and persimmons are also grown.

Lifestock
Cattle, goat and sheep are widely bred in Aradór both for milk and meat. Chicken, pheasant and geese are also bread for meat and eggs, and peafowls mostly for the feathers.

Horses are bred for transport, workforce and also meat and milk, though neither of the two are very common. The breeding of pigs is relatively limited.

Wood industry
Wood industry is flourishing in the Between-Rivers area, where there is enough humidity for forests of oak and other trees great as a building material and source for crafting furnitures. Growing, cutting, milling and exporting wood is an important occupation in the Between-Rivers, apart from wine farming in the south.

The Arazi lumberjacks grow, harvest and transport wood, using it as fuel and building material. Around 3000 4A, wood and charcoal became extremely important source of power and wood was also used to manufacture paper, as advances in paper-making technology allowed more efficient domestic production that doesn't rely so heavily on papyrus -based paper import from Amurón

Aquaculture
The waters of the Bay of Thrig are used as a great place to fish; artificial fisheries have also been created, allowing Aradór's fishermen to catch more fish than in other places, ensuring Aradór's dominant place in the fish market of Southern Gondala.

Metal industry
Aradór's artisans are very skilled in working with precious metals like gold and silver and are reknown for their outstanding jewellery. Technological advances in the 31th century lead to an increase in high-quality metal production, including steal working.

Aradór imports most of its raw metal ores, but not all - iron can be found in abundance in Eastern Aradór (on the left coast of Eduin), where the city of Dünantse is the center of iron working and steel production of whole Aradór; following 3000 4A, Dünantse has also become an important center for production of aluminium.

Glassblowing has also always been a speciality of Aras, as this technique was invented in the 6th century in Araero.

Kingdom of Araero
Main article: Kingdom of Araero

The Arazi history begins approximately in the year 0 4A, when a settlement in place of later Araero was established by migrating people from the East. The earliest name of the town is Taldeone ['thalteune].

Over the next few centuries, related people settled along the Bay of Thrig and Eduin, forming other towns, villages and communities and mingling with the scarce native population. Because of the turmoil of the age, most of the settlements were heavily fortified.

Taldeone slowly increased its power over surrounding territories by means of warfare and economical power (it controlled the Eduin delta and Estern parts of the Bay). Somewhere around the 5th century the settlement was already referred to as Arhayiros, the ancestor of the modern name.

In 727 4A, warlord Baphuerá (Bafera), lord of Araero, began an large scale campaign to conquer and incorporate nearby city states to create a uniform kingdom. Bafera was successful in obtaining control over many city states long the shore of the Bay and in Between-Rivers by 740, the year he proclaimed himself the King of Aradór, using an archaic name for land - *dwóri (from Proto-Asatic *dwāsri, a variant of *t'rāsdi).

In the 8th century several other city states gained control of larger territories, namely Syáru, Sańo and Lüme. These three states made an alliance with Araero in 768 to help defeat and conquer other hostile cities. This campaign ended up as the War of Union, a war that lasted for a century. It started as the Alliance of Araero vs some cities that wanted more control over the coastal area, but ended up leaving no neutral states – all were engaged either on the side of the Alliance or the Rebels, how they would later be known.

The alliance won, uniting all the lands that were then considered “Arazi” - not yet including Bay Arazi, Shanida and Wórs.

However, by the 11th century, Aradór had already incorporated Bay Arazi and most of Shanida, with Wórs remaining as an enclave of sovereignty. Having established strong centralized government just like Aradór, Wórs and Nelea were the only threat to the Aradórs monopoly of power in Southern Gondala, as Coeric tribes were still struggling with each other.

Asatic Empire

 * Main article: Asatic Empire

In 1412 4A Araero initiated massive campaigns to seize control over Wórs and the rest of Shanida, making a pact with Nelea. After the successful war against Wórs the then-current king of Araero turned to Nelea, arranging an assassination for the king of Nelea and its whole royal family. The ensuing chaos was then used by the Aras to conquer Nelea. This marked the beginning of the Asatic Empire of Aradór.

In the following five centuries several generals and kings managed to capture all the Coeric lands and even the Northern land of Duin and Ponael Ína. The most notable general was Mastutá, who lead his armies to Duin Ína and succeeded. Emperors later were quick to change, either because they died in battle or were assassinated, poisoned or down-right executed by other high ranking persons.

The situation changed when emperor Luidare fan Relesári came to power in 1778 and established a close group of trusted friends and family members as his advisors and closest people. Luidare was not only not killed,but he managed to get his son up the throne, thus starting the only successful Arazi dynasty of the Asatic Empire.

During the 20th century, turmoil rose in the north of the Empire because of harsher winters and famine, sending waves of riots throughout the Empire in protest of the despotic emperors. The 21st century saw more peace for the people, but the times were no easier. Economical crisis accompanied with inexperienced emperors and restless Machoric people – the Seturhs and Quolats – made the situation in Asatic Empire very unstable.

In 2117 princess Araiśa fan Relesári became the new Empress after the death of her father, who had (possibly) lung cancer. She tried to stabilize the situation in the Empire, ordering army to stop the resistance of Seturhs and Quolats and actively tried to promote the economy. However, her attempts were sabotaged by internal conspiracies.

There was a huge revolution in 2135, when a group of warriors, believed to be either Quolats or from Ína, infiltrated the Queen's bodyguard and slit her throat, sending the Empire in absolute chaos. By the end of the year Ponael and Duin Ína had become independent as a single state. Araiśa's brother Atsa fan Relesári ascended to the throne but never was proclaimed the Emperor of the Asatic Emperor. In stead, he was named “dudźa fan śórtizi Arazi tśuCöyarase” - King of the Lands of Aras and Coers.

Asàel
Main article: Asàel

This was the beginning of Asáel, a loose union of several small lands ruled by noble houses who often waged war on each other, the most prominent battles in Aradór probably being for the Between-Rivers by the Nummurezi, Astfelizi and Büradizi families, while the technically ruling Rin-Relesár dynasty hid in their palaces in Araero and their villas in northern Shanida.

In 2377 Magorion began a series of well planned attacks on Asáel's more distant provinces, by 2378 having already taken most of Northern Shanida and Western Coedór. The Asàelese council (see more on Asàel) found the lands not so important to be worth the effort of saving them, and this was the signal awaited by Magorion. Having amassed large armies, Magorion slowly gained more and more territories eastwards until by 2436 4A the armies were getting ready to lay siege on Araero and Coed. However, the Asatas then gathered their forces and stopped the invasion, though couldn't take back their lands.

Asàel was nothing but a thin strip of land around Eduin until 2533 when a massive Arazi uprising started in the conquered lands, soon followed by similar movements in other territories, resulting eventually with the reconquering of all the Asatic lands from Magorion in 2538.

After the Asàelese War of Freedom, strong nationalistic movements started were started by both Aras an Coers, resulting in the splitting of Asáel into two states – Aradór and Coedor – already in 2556.

Kingdom of Aradór
Main article: Kingdom of Aradór

Shortly before the collapse of Asàel, Empress Davíno used her new-found support of a few but prominent noble families (notably, the House of Nummure) to push through reforms that expended the authority and power of the monarch of Aradór.

After Coedor split away in 2556, King Scata (reing: 2555 - 2575), grandson of Davíno, removed the "tśuCöyarase" part of his titles, effectively admitting he has no claim of Coedor. His successor, Mantanu fan Relesári (reing: 2576 - 2609), Queen of the Aras, officially renamed the state Aradór after the largest of its remaining provinces.

In the following years Aradór was characterised by a power struggle between monarchs and the nobles, as well as a steady albeit somewhat slow increase of authority of the throne. Around the middle of the 27th century the internal situation in Aradór had become stable enough for the state to focus outward. In an attempt to establish direct trade routes with the southern economies, Arazi sailors explored and mapped Southern Gondala. A few explorers set out west and eventually made contact with the Burutore on the Brother Islands.

In 2671, King Cawpe III fan Relesári finally officially disbanded the Council, seizing full control over governing the stable, essentially making Aradór an absolute monarchy. The move saw little to no resistance; the general population had already endorsed an ideology calling for a strong and powerful monarch to restore the glory of the Asatic Empire; this movement, branded Imperial Romanticism, was especially perpetrated by such thinkers as Audatśe Satse and Buila Awałe.

In 2735, an Arazi expedition, lead by Captain Yóna Naugela, discovered the continent of Sephir. During the following few decades, the coastal regions were explored and Arazi colonies established on the continent. An economical system similar to mercantilism was implemented throughout Aradór, with state regulated trade, support for local manufacture and lowered tariffs for exports among other features.

In mid 28th century, gas lighting started appearing in major cities; the invention of steam engines rapidly increased manufacturing output of local factories a few decades later.

However, already by the 2830s, different ideology reached Aradór from Coedor, calling for relaxing of state control over economics, increasing individual rights and liberties. The spread of this new ideology was facilitated by the construction of Misfetśu Tśusòyiz, a train-track between Araero and Coed, in 2833. Many of the state enterprises were sold to private entrepreneurs; Aradór's colonies in Sephir were granted significant autonomy in 2852; slave trade was outlawed in Aradór and it's colonies in 2887, slavery as such - in 2913.

2853 was also the year that the constitution of Aradór was adopted, severely limiting the power of the Monarch.