South Cedronia, officially the Kingdom of Cedronia is a state in eastern Seres with sovereignty over the south-eastern lands of the former Commonwealth of Cedronia. Led by Crown-Prince Ares dom Reynar and the alliance of the Royalist Coalition for the Restoration of Cedronia, the Kingdom of Cedronia is the second most powerful faction in the Cedronian Civil War and a chief opposition to the Nationalist government. South Cedronia is a constitutional monarchy with its capital in the city of Ninespire. South Cedronia is bordered by Free State, North Cedronia and the Arcana Bay Clique to the north, the Revolutionary Free State and the Co-Operative Parishes of Kusharidan to the west, and Ashkal to the southeast.

The Kingdom of Cedronia was proclaimed in 1631, with Ares dom Reynar as its first and current Master-King and Tedric Veldon as it's Prime Tribune. Its sovereignty has been recognized by Ashkal and various other nations apart of the Northern Bloc. South Cedronia's origins can be traced to the Ashkali colony of Syras. After the Seresian War of Liberation, and the following Wars of the Successors, the country of the Commonwealth of Cedronia was formed in 1472. In 1628, the Seresian Revolution overthrows the monarchy in the north and proclaims the United Seresian Republic of Cedronia. At the same time in southern Cedronia, a coalition of royalists and industrialists form a rival government in Ninespire led by the last surviving member of the Reynar Dynasty, Ares who proclaims the dissolution of the Commonwealth and the formation of the Kingdom of Cedronia.

The beginnings of the Cedronian Civil War occurred in 1630 with an uprising by the newly organized National Liberation Front for South Cedronia, armed and supported by North Cedronia, with backing mainly from the Celestial Hegemony. Larger escalation of the insurgency occurred in 1636 with Ashkali intervention and the introduction of the Ashkali military. Fighting peaked up to that point during the Holiday Offensive of February 1639. Later on, the initial guerrilla war turned into a more conventional fight as the balance of power became equalized. In 1642 an even larger, armored invasion from the North commenced during the Easter Offensive following the Ashkali ground-forces withdrawal and had nearly overran some major northern cities until beaten back. Immediately following the end of the Northern Invasion, both the Kingdom and the USRC were heavily depleted of manpower causing a power vacuum in much of Cedronia. At the same time, the unionist uprising that had plagued much of Seres that year arrived from the Great Plains, causing a series of breakaway states to form in an effort to protect themselves and gain power for themselves.

Currently, the Kingdom only has control over the south-eastern portion of Cedronia. While the kingdom has a small, professional army, with the withdrawal of the Ashkali military, the kingdom has been forced to rely heavily upon its slave army, militias, and mercenary groups. Larger companies such as the Crimson Eagles and the White Company are often employed to fight in large scale battles against other factions while smaller companies such as the Poor-Fellows and Dunn's Guns are employed by smaller lords or villages. Due to a large amount of foreign support from nations such as Ashkal or entities like the Black Table Company, the Royalists have been able to hire a large army of mercenaries to aid in their war to restore royalist control over all of Cedronia. However much of that support is dwindling with domestic and political unrest plaguing the Ashkali Isles and the seemingly unending advance of the Revolutionary Free State. Because of this, the Kingdom pays the mercenaries in loot stolen from Northern lands but with a deadly and viral plague forcing the North and South to have an unofficial ceasefire, much of the mercenary bands have taken to ravaging the kingdom itself in an attempt to pay for themselves.

Background[edit | edit source]

Geography[edit | edit source]

Government and Politics[edit | edit source]

Like it's predecessor, the Kingdom of Cedronia is more or less a de facto (but not de jure) elective constitutional monarchy. The master-king is elected from within the bloodline of the Cedron Raesar dom Vossus, which is currently within the House of Reynar. A council of nobles from the oldest and most prestigious families and religious leaders of Cedronia elect the master-king, usually the first-born son of the reigning master-king.

Despite being a constitutional monarchy, all of the executive and judiciary, including much of the legislative power, rests within the master-king. The king is the head of state and directly controls the foreign affairs and defense portfolios. The master-king also appoints the prime minister from the legislature and also appoints a minority of legislators to both chambers of the parliament with help from an advisory council.

Parliament[edit | edit source]

The Cedronian legislature is the bicameral Royal Council of Cedronia, consisting of an upper chamber, the Council of State and a lower chamber, the Royal Consultative Council . Political parties are banned. The upper chamber has 71 members, appointed by the Master-King from among prominent Cedronians; it has only advisory powers. The 84 members of the Royal Consultative Council are elected by land-owning and wealthy Cedronians to serve four-year terms, but the Master-King makes the final selections and can negotiate the election results.

Domains[edit | edit source]

While the monarchy of Cedronia may be completely under the domain of the Reynars, the other great houses remain content to make their voices heard through the Royal Senate - a legislative body consisting of representatives from each of the 13 great houses as well as notable and powerful noble houses of lesser stature. The Senate oversees taxation and the creation of a national treasury, orders the foundation of new colonies, and funds overseas exploratory expeditions as well as public works projects at home. Meanwhile the monarch remains the commander of the armed forces, supervises and approves all diplomatic missions and foreign policy actions, and under situations of extreme duress can also take on any or all responsibilities of the Senate after a vote of 2/3 of its members.

Kingdom – constituting the whole country. This is led by the Master-King and his staff of ten Genii, as well as a Grand Exchequer (treasurer) and Grand Scribe, whose duty was to keep lists of the subordinate officers and archive all activies. The Genii, Imperial Exchequer and Scribe are appointed by the Master-King.

Realms – Consisting of 11 regions, realms are ruled by a Grand Duke who was assisted by eight Hydras, as well as a Grand Exchequer and a Grand Scribe, whose duties were identical to those of the above officers on the imperial level. All officers were appointed by the Grand Duke.

Dominions – a Dominion was construed as "a county or number of counties" designated by the Grand Duke. There were a maximum of six provinces per realm, but the Grand Duke could create more with the permission of the Master-King. The Dominion was headed by a Great Lord who was assisted by six Furies, a Great Exchequer and a Great Scribe, all of whom were appointed by the Great Titan.

Provinces – Its area of jurisdiction was a canton which was defined as "extending in all directions to a distance midway between the location of the County and the nearest County thereto" unless otherwise directed by the Grand Duke or Master-King. It is supervised by a Grand Giant, who was assisted by four Goblins, a Grand Exchequer, and a Grand Scribe, all of whom were appointed by the Grand Giant.

Name	Location	Current Head	Status	Loyalty	General information
House of Reynar	Ascension Bay	Example	Alive	Royalist	Example
House of Cassian	Paros	Example	Alive	Royalist	Example
House of Taggard	Naxos	Example	Alive	Royalist	Example
House of Levon	Leros	Example	Alive	Royalist	Example

Military and paramilitary[edit | edit source]

The Royal army is composed of the more elite and well-funded shock troops known as Knights, who make up 20% of the army and the more common, untrained Common Army which makes up 60% of the Royal army. The other 20% are composed of various mercenary groups. The Knights are meant to be used as the arm of decision in maneuver warfare. These Knight troops are usually trained for combat from their infancy and therefore makes them a formidable opponent to all who oppose the Master-King. Many have a almost fanatical and relentless dedication to fitness, physical conditioning, endless combat training and diet. It is even possible for knights to be disciplined by superior officers for neglecting to keep their physiques and fitness sharply honed to the highest possible standard, however this is rare, as poor physical conditioning would be seen as an affront to one's family and reputation.

For the attritional warfare that currently dominates the Civil War, the Royalists make use of peasant soldiers, who make up the bulk of the Royalist military power. While these soldiers are usually less trained than those of the Nationalists due to six-month deployment times and general lack of funding, their numbers make up for these shortcomings.