Bolczienkasvenschalov
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| Flag of Bolczienkasvenschalov | |
| Motto: "Ey! Whada YOU lookin a'?" | |
| [1] | |
| Region | Texas |
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| Capital | Carpathigrad |
| Official Language(s) | English, Texan, Carpathian |
| Leader | Grand Duchess Katerina Luisa Carpathia von Bolczienkasvenschalov |
| Population | 284,005,357 citizens as of the latest census |
| Currency | The Bolmark |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The land of Bolczienkasvenschalov was first settled in the period known as the "Dark Ages" when several small rickety boats landed at the mouth of the Danube River loaded with folks fleeing an outbreak of the Black Death. A settlement was formed on the right bank of the river, and through some miracle, the people survived the first winter. Through the next few years the settlement was improved, to the point that it could actually be called a town. The prospect of survival as a people was still in doubt for the first dozen years, however, until the Year of Bounty, when the weather was so favorable the crops seemed to triple in size from those of the year before. On the backs of that blessing, the town continued to grow and prosper. All the land within 2 days travel was settled and cultivated. Wild cattle were taken and domesticated around the end of the second decade, and the first crude dairies and ranches began to appear.
In the year 35 AL (after landing), the forceful and charismatic leader, who had brought the group of refugees out of certain death to this new paradise and seeming life of plenty, died. His name was Georg Carpathia. In his honor, the townsfolk renamed the town Georgrad.
A period of exploration and expansion began in 42 AL, with expeditions ranging up river and in both directions along the coast. Tribes of savages were encountered, some friendly, and some belligerent. A settlement upriver from Georgrad was created as a center for trade with several of these tribes. New rivers were discovered, and new settlements and towns established. By the year 128 AL the people had settled what is now the Duchy of Zagora as far as the present city of Gracistaya and over to the hill country northwest of present day Zagoragrad; the Duchy of Plavenichov; the Duchy of Carpathia as far up the Danube river as Lake Carpathia; and the Duchy of Balaton along its eastern shore as far as Mt. Bolczienka.
Over the next several hundred years the savages were alternately absorbed into the culture of the Georgians, or wiped out in a pogrom of near-genocide which has been, to this day, rationalized by the phrases "civilizing the savages" or "manifest destiny". By the year 475 AL, the area encompassed by the present day Grand Duchy was settled.
Between 475 and 612 AL uncounted Baronies, Duchies and Counties were formed, attacked, invaded, assimilated and overthrown. This is the period known as the Tumult. Warfare between neighbors was almost constant in one location or another. The Tumult ended in 612 AL, on Unity Day, when the Dukes of the Twelve Duchies signed the Treaty of Carpathigrad. Ludwig, Duke of Carpathia, envisioned a Grand Duchy, with the Twelve Duchies united under one rule. In 615 AL, Ludwig arranged for the kidnapping of the heirs of each of the other 11 Dukes, holding them hostage for the signing of the Second Treaty of Carpathigrad. That treaty would make Ludwig the Grand Duke of a united Twelve Duchies of Bolczienkasvenschalov, a name taken from Ludwig's ancestral home on Bolczienka Island. He preferred the term Grand Duchy to Twelve Duchies.
Ludwig's plan backfired. When the 11 Dukes arrived, with soldiers posing as domestic retainers a battle began in Castle Carpathia. Duke Ludwig was killed but the other Dukes were able to rescue their children. Duke Ludwig's son Ivan fled for his life, then being 17 years old. A company of Carpathian Guardsmen went with him, and they found refuge in the mountains northwest of Carpathigrad. The 11 Dukes installed Ivan's younger sister, Natalya, on the Carpathian throne. She was only 9 at the time, so a regency council was installed to govern until she reached her majority. The council was comprised of 11 men, each one loyal to one of the other dukes. This was done to ensure the daughter wouldn't grow up and try to do what her father had failed to do. Two years later a horde of barbarian savages swept across the Volga River and around the eastern end of the Caspian Sea and began pillaging and plundering everything in sight. The Carpathian Army was the strongest in the Twelve Duchies, but with Natalya still only 11 years old, and no experienced leader to command them, they too fell back before the onslaught. Castle Carpathia was sacked and Natalya was taken captive.
When Ivan heard this news, he led his company of Guardsman on a raid to rescue his sister. He was so successful that only 4 of his men were killed in the operation, for over 300 of the barbarians slain, and they escaped back into the mountains to their unknown refuge. As the Horde swept south down the Danube, the 11 Dukes realized they were overmatched by the barbarian leader. They sent emissaries to find Ivan and ask him to take command of the "Bolczienkan Army", a force not yet created, but named in the message to evoke Ludwig's dreams for his nation. Ivan agreed, conditional on the 11 Dukes signing the Second Treaty of Carpathigrad, making Ivan Grand Duke of Bolczienkasvenschalov. After a few days of hemming and hawing, which saw the sack of several more cities by the Horde, they finally agreed.
Grand Duke Ivan rallied the forces of the 12 Duchies and drove the barbarians back across the Volga. The war was bloody and took another 5 years to achieve final peace.
Two years later, in 624 AL, Ivan died of a lingering complication from a wound received in battle, and Grand Duchess Natalya, now 18, took the throne.
The Grand Duchy has survived several small insurrections over the past 180 years, since Natalya was crowned, and still stands today much as it did right after the signing of II Carpathigrad.
In 627 Natalya gave birth to her son Ludwig. In 650 Ludwig's son Wilhelm was born. Natalya ruled until her death in 671, at the age of 65. Ludwig was 44 when he took the throne as Grand Duke. In 678, Wilhelm's son Stanislaw was born. In 692, Stanislaw's daughter Margaret was born, then being the 4th generation of Carpathians living at the same time. In 696, Ludwig died, at the age of 79, and Wilhelm was crowned at the age of 56. He ruled until 722 when he died of Lung Disease at the age of 82. Stanislaw was crowned Grand Duke at the age of 54, and that same year Margaret gave birth to her son Vladimir, in her 30th year. Eight years later, in 730, Stanislaw died, and Margaret was crowned at the age of 38. In 757, Vladimir's daughter Katerina was born. Margaret ruled until the age of 71, when she passed away in her sleep in 763. Vladimir was 41 when he became Grand Duke. In 779, Katerina had a son, Johan. In 800, Johan's bride gave birth to Georg, and for the 2nd time there were 4 generations of Carpathians living. In 801 Vladimir died at the age of 79, and Katerina Luisa Carpathia was crowned Grand Duchess at the age of 48.
The current year is 806 AL, and can be found by subtracting 1200 from the Gregorian Calendar year.
