Austurland



Far in the South-East of Griffonia, the nation of Austurland lays. It is a feudal realm inhabited by Deer to the south of the River Federation, where old traditions are still ever-present, and where vikings still terrorize the seas, and berserkers ravage across the land. Austurland is a decentralized monarchy born from their homeland of Kingdom of Olenia, when a group of settlers left for Griffonia long ago, fought with Wittenland and, with the spoils given to them, created their own nation.

For many years, the nation has been rooted in a four class system, and while Austurland has proudly kept the ancient ways those very same traditions threaten to give it a premature end. Now, with the reign of a new and mysterious ruler, Jarl Ygritte Bylgjasdóttir, the winds of change may finally blow through the deer lands.

Whether it be for the better or for the worse, it is certain that the coming years will shape the future of Austurland and its place in the world.

Lore
After the year 143 ALB, massive change occurred in the homeland of the deer. Peace was made with Equestria, bringing an end to the lucrative raids. As the kings consolidated their power, many nobles were enraged by the possibility of losing their power. Unable to directly take back their rights, they took to the seas in search of wealth, and began the colonization era.

Colonization Era
The deer began to move west under the leadership of Hoef Derickson, crossing the waves and settling many small islands they came across and the larger island of [REDACTED]. Channelling their roots they began to raid the exposed sea lanes of South Griffonia and North Zebrica, plundering them for their wealth. In Griffonia, this period continued for almost two centuries with limited colonization of islands, and plundering of loot from merchants and noble estates. The deer did however begin to hold influence in the trade of the region under a succession of sea-kings. Through the expansion of Lake City, and all the events of the eastern lands, they remained a constant factor, always ready to raid and pillage

The Princely Civil War
The deer’s position in the region began to shift, though, when Lake City’s empire began to fracture. The Riverbank Griffons began their revolt against Lakeish authority and their fight for freedom. Seeing an opportunity for great plunder, the de facto leader of many of the deer in the area, named Hårald the Trotter, took his ships up the Evi River and sailed into the heart of the Gryphian Host, sacking the main city of Kaiv. Disappointed by the relatively small city and expecting more plunder Hårald began to scour the countryside for anything he could take, eventually meeting the main Cossack Army lead by Kirvan Shirko. The griffon offered the deer a large sum of money, now called an Austurgeld, to strike at an Imperial Pony army nearby. The griffons and deer would meet the Lakeish ponies on the field near a settlement called Coltava. Both the Imperials (unknowing of the presence of the deer) and the Cossacks were unprepared for the unusually cold winter to come, but it was the element of the deer. A messenger was sent from the Commander of the Lakeish forces to the Hetman demanding the army’s surrender and the reincorporation of the steppes into the River Empire. This was, of course, refused, leading to a tirade of insults incredibly thick and vulgar upon the Lakeish name, so much so that it is said to have made nearby wine turn sour. This slander was so vile that it provoked the Lakeponies to attack. The battle was ended swiftly. After hearing of the presence of deer, whose agreement with the Cossacks had by then ended, King Haysil II, affectionately called the Lakepony Slayer, dipped into his deep treasury and signed a contract with the deer, eager to put them to use continuing to cull the Prince's armies. As of hearing of the defeat at Coltova,  Kingdom of Wittenland decided it was their time to break off from the Lakeish Authority, and assert themselves as an independent kingdom.

A Permanent Presence
Though the deer fought hard, the armies of the Princedom were numerous and Haysil could not afford the army forever. After hearing of one final Lakeish attack, with the intention of wiping all the revolting states out in one cruel blow, Haysil took a desperate step. He offered the deer a small barren plot of land to the South-East where they would rule as lords, in exchange for taking this last army down. While Hårald’s goal had always been loot, he was now a bit older, and decided that if nothing else this would be a good base to strike out from if he so wished. Moving his army north, Hårald joined with the armies of all the revolting states. Ponies, griffons, and deer fighting side by side resulted in the complete demolishment of the army of the Prince. Fulfilling his contract he now moved south to claim his land. He would not be anywhere near Lake City when the Prince of Rijekograd surrounded the capital and forced Sacred Song’s surrender, thus ending the war. Hårald would pretend to serve the throne of Wittenland for another few years following the death of Haysil, but after seeing the clear decline of Wittenland's authority over their kingdom, he would make it one of his last acts as the first Jarl of Austurland to tear up his obligations and establish Austurland as a truly independent country, and it would be his heir. Tyrian Gullhorn, who would sign the pacts that would ensure that Austurland would never be thrown back into the sea. These agreements with many of the Riverlands states said that the deer would not strike up the river at them if the ponies never attacked Austurland. Against all odds, the agreements held, and so Austurland remains ever vigilant and ever conscious of their past.

Decisions of the Jarl


Austurland's starting focus tree is a relatively short one, with every focus taking only 5 days. However, the decisions made here will decide which path the country will take after it is completed, starting with the very first focus. Austurland is unique in that you get to choose the backstory of the Jarl, with "Our Jarl" starting an event chain which chooses her traits and the nation's political path, as well as minor changes to her portrait.

The backstory that you choose will also affect the three starting national spirits, "Warrior Loyalty", "Commondeer Discontent" and "The Nobility's Opinion". Depending on the choices you made, they can range from good to terrible in their effects, and will change as you progress down the starting focus tree. The traits that you have will determine what the outcome or which choices you have for the various focuses, and which of the two mutually exclusive focuses you can do.

A few select focuses, depending on your level of support from certain groups or the choices you make in them may alter the focuses you receive for the next tree. After you finish the last focus, the tree will change to the next, along with the three national spirits changing into new ones you may have to remove via decisions or focuses.

The Rule of Law


Going down "For The Commondeer" path will unlock the democracy path for Austurland. Depending on the stance towards the Monarchy in the previous focus tree, Austurland will either become a constitutional monarchy or a parliamentary democratic republic.

With the first steps taken towards transforming Austurland into a democracy, there is quite a bit left to do before the elections can take place. The first section of the tree will have to be fully completed before you can elect a political party, and the branches will change depending on your stance towards the Bill of Rights, Land Ownership and Thralldom during the previous focus tree.

Once elections are held, you will be able to choose from the different political parties: the unfortunately named and socialist ASS party (Communist), the liberal AU party (Harmony), or the conservative religious AI party (Non-Aligned). Should you have chosen to keep the monarchy instead of abolishing it, the AI party will be replaced with the conservative monarchist KP party, and the election will only provide an unremovable political advisor (the prime minister to Queen Ygritte) instead of causing a full change in the head of state. The small side focuses are available to all paths, and focus on increasing your science base and fully abolishing Thralldom (if the slow abolishment of Thralldom was chosen) or building social welfare (if the immediate abolishment of Thralldom was chosen), respectively.

Once you complete one of the political branches, new decisions for diplomacy will be unlocked. If you are a complete republic, then you will be able to declare war via decision on Barrad Magocracy and  Free Towns of Gryphus, should they or you own  Kása Free State land. However, if you are a constitutional monarchy, you will also get a decision to declare on Kasa itself, though it is possible that they will declare on you instead. You can return Barrad to Kingdom of Wittenland, as well as core Kasa and Gryphus once they reach 40% compliance.

If Lua is in charge of Kasa, then eventually you will get an event where they offer you friendship. Should you deny it, they will declare war on you. If you accept, however, then a treaty of friendship and non-aggression will be signed. This will also unlock a decision to propose a Kasa-Austurland Confederation between the two nations, which can result in you annexing and coring their land.

The economy tree further increases your science and industrial base, gives an additional research slot and grants various research bonuses, factories and national spirits.

The Rule of the Jarl
Going down "For The Crown" path will unlock the monarchist path for Austurland.

After cementing the Jarl's rule over the country and beginning to isolate and remove the nobility from power, Ygritte must still finish stabilizing Austurland and bring the nation and army into the modern era. Much like the democratic tree, the first section of the political focuses must be finished before you can stabilize the nation or work on the economy and military trees. The left branch of the first focus tree section changes depending on if the nobility were convinced or forced by Ygritte's Huskarls to step down from power, which in turn depends on Ygritte's relationship with the military in the first focus tree.

After your power is cemented, the path splits into two. One has you creating a constitution and appointing a Prime Minister who will handle the more tedious parts of ruling a nation, as well as taking a liberal shade of ruling while still maintaining a large amount of power. The other takes inspiration from Giulio Beakolini in Wingbardy, where a strong Jarl with military force makes use of careful propaganda to truly rule. Both paths share the central part which increases your science base, removes illiteracy and grants a research slot.

The final focus will proclaim the Kingdom of Hreindýraland, crowning the Jarl a queen and unlocking new diplomacy decisions which are identical to the ones available to the democratic path.

The economic tree changes based on your position on thralldom in the previous tree. If you abolished it or put forward a plan to slowly phase it out, it mitigates the effects of the spirit you receive until it is finally removed. If you chose to keep the institution instead, though, it increases the positive effects of the spirit.

Rule of the Strong
To unlock the Kratocracy path for Austurland, you need to choose the Berserker background for Jarl Ygritte. Once the initial focus tree is finished, you will load in this tree instead of the normal monarchist or republican path. With the nobles no longer recognizing your authority as Jarl, a new order is needed. An order that will come with the help of your warriors and berserkers.

This focus tree splits into three branches before reconverging at the bottom. The left path allows you to begin raids against other countries for loot to invest into your country and grants various army buffs. The center focuses on getting rid of the negative "Foringjar Resistance" modifier by destroying the nobility, and the right path increases your research capabilities as well as finally solving the former thrall issue one way or another. The last focus proclaims the Kingdom of Hreindýraland and unlocks diplomacy decisions identical to the other paths.

The kratocracy path also has a special economic tree compared to the other options. It is rather straightforward, with a choice to let the economists and traders continue to run the economy or having warriors do it instead. The first option will give a research slot and have focus effects similar to those you would find in the other economic trees, while the second option gives a lot of military factories and reduces production cost of tanks, motorized and guns.

SSR Austurland
Establishing SSR Austurland requires you to go down the Rule of Law focus tree while keeping the monarchy in the starting tree, as well as gradually phasing out Thralldom and putting the KP party in power during the elections. The ASS party, outraged at the outcome and accusing the nobles of rigging the elections and planning to reinstate thralldom, merge with the visiting Olenian communists to form the NSSF party and attempt to coup the Jarl. If successful, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Austurland will be proclaimed, under the Olenian revolutionary Gulrain Lisvaldr.

As soon as you become communist, all your previous national spirits with the exception of illiteracy and thralldom will disappear and be replaced with "Reactionaries On All Sides" which will cripple the country until you can lessen and remove it by purging various groups. Other parts of the tree include renaming states and cities to the Olenian language, gaining a research slot, completely ending thralldom and spawning two free motorized divisions. Finishing the tree will unlock the Austurland diplomacy decisions.

The economic tree is focused on collectivizing the economy, giving a negative national spirit when you begin the tree. This will remain until you reach the bottom of the tree which turns it into a positive one. The tree also upgrades your science base and industrial status, and gives a research slot. It is recommended to not start on the tree until you have time to focus on it, as to ensure you can finish Collectivization as soon as possible.

Military Tree
Large= Small= The military tree for Austurland will look different depending on if you got the support of the Huskarls in your army reformation plan. If you were unable to convince them, then the focus tree will be noticeably smaller and the buffs it grants will not be as powerful. If you were successful in your efforts, though, then the full tree will be loaded in, which will give many research bonuses, a few national spirits, free planes and the final research slot. For this reason, the support of the Huskarls can be considered the most important of any faction, as it has the most effect on your future options.