Arda

Officially the Five Kingdoms of Arda. Arda is a large continent in the North Atlantic. Formerly the seat of power for the Metus alliance, Arda has recently undergone drastic changes and is now largely under the control of Konrad Althalon.

Arda refers to itself as a "federated Empire," with five different states each with their own monarchs. Khand and Far Harad have a parlimentary body, but it excersizes little actual power and the monarchs there usually accept Althalon's pronouncements. When combined, the five Ardan states have a healthy economy with an emphasis on mining, arms manufacturing, and construction.

Arda

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Flag of Arda
Motto: All Glory is Fleeting, but Defeat is Eternal
Region	Arda
Capital	Daturias
Official Language(s)	Dunlending, Southron, Easterling
Leader	Angsiyan Konrad Althalon
Population	c. 9.3 billion
Currency	credit
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History

Arda contains the landmass formerly known as Middle Earth, and has been inhabited by a myriad of races ranging from Men to Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits. Originally the seat of power for Melkor, the Dark Lord was overthrown by his Lieutenant Alkanphel, and fled into the Void, his physical form destroyed.

During his tenure as the Ardan soveriegn, Melkor perpetuated a number of conflicts on the rest of the world, and successfully turned aside a number of invasion attempts of varying intensity. Arda first made itself known during the One Ring conflict, during which Sauron had launched a wide-scale genocide of the Elven race. Despite his forces being turned away from Mordor, Elven persecution was furthered by Melkor during the subsequent invasion of All Elves, which effectively destroyed that nation.

Immediately following the One Ring incident, Melkor started the Arda Alliance, which consisted of a dozen or so other nations in a mutual defense pact of sorts. All of Melkor's alliances were marked by the fact that he insisted on near-complete control of them, and the Arda Alliance was no exception. Due to internal political pressure from the region, however, Kalessin was designated as a co-founder and also enjoyed extensive powers over the alliance.

Melkor breifly sought to colonize Mars, purchasing a good deal of territory from the Dominion and other local powers, though never joined the Duma. Although his presence on the Red Planet was never confirmed, some sources suggest that Melkor actually travelled there, raising a protective mountain range around Minas Morion. Pressures in Io and at home pressured these holdings, and the Martian population responded with Operation: Roundhammer, which quickly succeeded in expelling Melkor and his servants from the Red Planet.

Eventually Arda, The Reich, and the GDODAD joined forces to create the Metus alliance, over which Melkor also insisted he preside. The structure of Metus was such that Melkor (and indeed, Arda in general) was rarely called upon to aid either other party in international conflicts; although the Reich and GDODAD were obligated to provide military and monetary aid for the Ardans should they find themselves beleagured.

Metus rarely acted as a cohesive unit against other world powers, owing primarily to their perceived dominance over Earth and a relative lack of spaceborne assets. Most of Metus' most vocal opponents (such as the Triumvirate of Yut) maintained a healthy physical and technological distance with Arda and its subsidiaries, and was largely immune to their military pressures as a result.

Metus never saw organized military action against Triumvirate member states: Arda always acted against them autonomously in the rare instances where these circumstances arose. Several years before Alkanphel's rebellion Arda launched a marginally successful invasion of Menelmacar, who had always been Arda's chief rival on Earth itself. Eventually the invasion was turned aside, which bred unrest within Arda's military, and many suspect this led to a fundamental grassroots change that facilitated Alkanphel's rebellion.

Rebellion

The Maia Alkanphel launched a rebellion against Melkor several years after the invasion of Menelmacar for a number of reasons. Enlisting support from Ardan officers in every branch of military, Alkanphel himself was surprised at the support he managed to gain with very little effort. Spurred to action by the publicity of his relationships with DLN sovereign Nathicana d'Aquisto and Sirithil Nos Fëanor, Alkanphel feared terrible reprisals and sought to strike at Melkor pre-emptively.

Originally, Alkanphel had conceived of the operation as simply a tool for him to distance himself from Melkor's regime and possibly to flee the continent. He never had any tangible designs to seize control of the Ardan continent proper, but instead he sought to launch a coup against several important regional offices in order to hamper Melkor's overall control of Arda. Upping the ante just before Alkanphel could commit his coup, Melkor had Nathicana capture and chained her to Thangorodrim, reminiscent of his treatment to Hurin during the First Age.

Knowing this would entice Alkanphel to rescue her, Melkor launched an ambush on the rescue effort, led by the Balrog Kanorûin. Anticipating this move Alkanphel and Devon Treznor, with the help of Easterling armies, fought through the vanguard and mounted Thangorodrim successfully. Alkanphel and the Balrog slew each other as they tumbled down Thangorodrim, although the Maia's body was never recovered.

Perhaps the greatest boon to Alkanphel's movement was the enlistment of Warlord Konrad Althalon who, as well as being a formidable and experienced military commander, harbored great doubts about his future under Morgoth. Despite his reputation as an Army general, Althlon also excersized a great deal of authority over Arda's burgeoning aerospace assets. In a series of fierce battles with Loyalist fleet commander Ahadi Il-Amir, Althalon succeeded in neutralizing the Loyalist fleets, keeping the ground armies (which he would later command) relatively free from airborne or orbital harrassment.

For a time, the ground war was commanded by Khaled Sudani and Ogan Sourn, representing the Haradrim and Easterlings, respectively (despite Sourn being a Dunlending general). The rebels quickly gained and held a tentative dominance in the south central portion of Arda's main western landmass; with strongholds in Khand and Southern Dunland.

Emergence of Daturias

Daturias, the capital of Nova Rhûn, rose to prominence in the later years of the rebellion as a major marshalling point for rebel forces from all kingdoms. Owing to its size and relative proximity to the plains of Anfauglith, Althalon spent much time in Daturias and eventually took up residence there. Situated between the Anduin and Rhovanion south of the Grey Mountains, Daturias served as an excellent defensible position owing to its position relative to the Misty Mountains to the west and the Grey Mountains to the north. Attacks from Angband were forced either to strike through the gap between the two mountain ranges, or to circle around to the east of the Grey Mountains, which would allow the Daturias garrisons ample time to prepare.