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<HEAD><TITLE>3480</TITLE>
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<h3>3480 — The present day</h3>
<h4>Eretald</h4>
Key to <b>Caďinorian principalities</b>:
<br><i>From Ešan eastward</i>— <b>Bš</b> Bešbalic, <b>Be</b> Benécia, <b>H</b> Hroth, <b>Pe</b> Peleu, <b>M</b> Mútkün, <b>I</b> Isiza
<br><i>From Verduria southward</i>— <b>K</b> Krasnaya, <b>Ž</b> Žésifo, <b>Pa</b> Pakšohan
<br><i>From Žésifo eastward</i>— <b>S</b> Solhai, <b>V</b> Vimínia, <b>La</b> Lapiri, <b>Lc </b>Lebcaizura
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<img src="http://www.almeopedia.com/almeopedia/mediawiki/images/1/19/Onvadhra.jpg" align="right" width="175" height="228" title="Onvaďra 2ë">
<a href="Javascript:parent.al('Onva%C4%8Fra_2%C3%AB');">Onvaďra 2ë’s</a> <i>autogolpe</i> abstracted the problem of the <b>Verdurian</b> succession: where previously claimants fought it out with armies, they now contested in the courts. Her opponents argued that her accession was simply illegal; she claimed that, possessing sovereignty <i>de facto,</i> she had merely assumed it <i>de jure,</i> just as Caleon had, and for the same reason, the good of the nation. Her case was weak, but what was undeniable was her mastery of Esčambra procedure, <a href="Javascript:parent.al('Verdurian_law');">Verdurian law</a>, and where necessary force (the Palace Guard once seized all the documents and papers of the Esčambra commission assigned to the case). She managed to prevent any effective action against her, and in the meantime continued to govern— well enough, it was said.
<p>Upon her death, in 3420, the courts found it necessary to rule that she had been lawfully Queen, though she had not taken power lawfully.<font size=1><sup></sup></font><font size=1><sup></sup></font>For this reason her reign is known, not as a dynasty, but as the Usurpation of 3404.</sup></font></sup></font> The alternative was legal chaos: sixteen years of laws would have been invalidated if Onvaďra had not been Queen, including hard-fought laws affirming the Esčambra’s right to select the monarch in cases where there is no designated heir who has come of age.<font size=1><sup></sup></font><font size=1><sup></sup></font>This was Onvaďra’s one miscalculation: she expected her son Getemil to succeed her, but she died before he had reached the age of majority.</sup></font></sup></font>
<p>The Esčambra’s new choice was <a href="Javascript:parent.al('Vlaran');">Vlaran Vleteon</a>. He was a compromise— a mere baron— since none of the great nobles would allow each other to be elected. However, he proved to be capable and decisive. He recaptured Célenor and Zelm, and reasserted effective control over the Western Wild and Denisovič.
<p>The great lords may have come to regret their compromise, since Vlaran also reduced their legal privileges over their own lands, and compelled them to live in Verduria city if they wished to exercise their vote in the Esčambra. Even without these maneuvers, however, their power was declining— the richest men in Verduria are now merchants and factory owners.
<p>These last are a new class. The <b>factories</b> which had sprung up in the last centuries are mostly concerned with metal: ore refineries, steel mills, makers of instruments, tools and utensils, weapons, nails. It has already occurred to Verdurian manufacturers to make metal coaches and even metal-plated ships; the <a href="Javascript:parent.al('Steam');">steam engine</a> was perfected in the 3450s. A recent invention is the oil lamp; street lighting schemes are already underway.
<p>Land warfare is still based on the sword and the horse; battle at sea, on the sail-driven wooden man of war (the plated vessels are still rare and have not been tested in battle). <b>Gunpowder</b> is known, but firing technology remains crude and dangerous. Cannon are now routinely used in seige warfare, but the few guns that exist are bulky, awkward to load, and almost as dangerous to the shooter as to the target. (One reason for this is certainly the lack of major wars; the Lé of Arcél have gone much further in developing reliable muskets.)
<p>Vlaran was succeeded in 3462 by his son <a href="Javascript:parent.al('Alric');">Alric</a>. Alric has been an exception to the general failure of second kings in Verdurian dynasties. Like most modern Verdurian kings, he has been content to let commerce and industry develop, rather than seek conquests in Eretald. The reduction of the nobles from vassals to landowners, has continued, punctuated by the defeat of the duke of Šerian’s rebellion in 3470.
<p>The Obenzayet are now organized as the kingdom of <b>Obenzaya</b>— though this formulation is perhaps a bit grandiose. The king lives in Vižaya and rules the settled Obenzayet who live along the Neši river; in case of war he also commands the nomadic Obenzayet tribes to the south.
<p>The lords of <b>Hroth</b> rebelled from Mútkün in 3425; the realm of <b>Caizura</b> divided in 3440. If there has been little other warlike activity in Eretald, this is partly the result of Verdurian diplomacy: the Verdurians have been concerned with the steady growth of <b>Dhekhnam</b>, and have enrolled most of their neighbors into an alliance against the possible expansion of Dhekhnam into Eretald.
<p>It is no business of the historian to predict the future, but a confrontation between Verduria and Dhekhnam seems inevitable. So far as can be judged, the two states are fairly evenly matched. This is an enormous compliment to Verduria, for it is far smaller; but it is more densely populated and more advanced technically, and its Navy is the best in the world. But Dhekhnam is very large, and its armies could go far by mere numbers and brutality. Nor should it be dismissed as merely primitive; it too knows how to use explosives, and the Dhekhnami, unlike the Munkhâshi, are canny diplomats, excellent traders, and good sailors.
<h4>Xurno</h4>
<p>After five centuries, the fanaticism of the Revaudo revolution in <b>Xurno</b> has of course damped down. A controversy such as the Prose Wars would be unthinkable in modern Xurno. It is said that where once Xurnese artists were also rulers, now Xurnese rulers are also artists. True, Xurno’s rulers are as hardheaded and closed-minded as those of any other land. On the other hand, it is still a country where exceptional artistic talent can be parlayed into a political career, where actors, painters, and scholars live in palaces rather than garrets, and where little boys can be seen engaging in poetry slams.
<p>It has not occurred to the artist-rulers to institute universal education, or to combat poverty and disease. Still, the average peasant is certainly better off than he was under the <i>nyew</i>. He is no longer in thrall to the local noble; his land is inalienable so long as he occupies it. However, he has benefited most from the Revaudo policy that the land is to be made beautiful. For this reason (rather than for any moral or economic benefit), canals and paved roads have been built, trees and flowers planted, dumps buried, and shantytowns replaced with apartment blocks.
<h4>Dhekhnam</h4>
<p>The Dhekhnami have intervened in Lenan as well, inducing the northern tribes of Lenan to declare their independance as Sejnihal. When these tactlessly offended their Dhekhnami advisors, they were replaced by more tractable lords, turning the kingdom into a client state. Sakro is almost as docile.
<p><b>Lenan</b> itself, distrusted by the other Lenani states, is seeking allies elsewhere, and has so far lined up alliances with Xurno and Qey, though it is uncertain how helpful these could be. The remaining Lenani <i>teje</i>, Lumbai and Bamburitra, retain their traditional ties to Skouras— not least because the Tžuro, rather than keeping herds of animals themselves, prefer to buy their cheese, yogurt, beef, and leather from the Lenani. These ties are however sometimes strained, as the Lenani adhere to a much stricter form of Jippirasti than the modern Tžuro.
<h4>Elsewhere</h4>
<p><b>Čisra</b> rebelled against Barmund in 3420, and expelled the Luṭair from the Minṭu archipelago in 3472, reducing Luṭay to little more than its home island of Jecuor.
<p>In the south, the most successful states have been Čeiy, Šura, and <b>Belšai</b>, which has continued to absorb admiring neighbors (lately, the Sevisor principality of Meniŋ, on the upper Xengi, and the remains of the Bendasti Tej). It is in this unlikely place, landlocked high in the Ediri mountains, that northern ideas such as the <i>žuyse onteca</i> have found the friendliest reception. (The Xurnese, whose own scholarship is ancient and impressive, have been more reserved; the Littoral states, dependent on maritime trade, consider the northern countries to be rivals and therefore enemies.)
<p>The Gurdagor were pushed entirely out of the Čia lands by 3420. The resulting state of <b>Naeŋ</b> is now the most powerful of the Čia states, due to its larger population, its position on the sea, and the shrewdness of its rulers. For instance, in order to reduce disputes and give each of their trading partners an interest in maintaining the balance of power, of every four ships that leave Naeŋ, one must be Gurdagor, one Xurnese, one Verdurian or Čeiyu, and one Uṭandal.
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