League of Anacan
| Continent: | Far East |
| Capital: | Anacan |
| Population: | 59,380 (4th) |
| Regions: | 5 |
| Government Type: | Republic |
| Prime Minister: | Maltheo Olik |
| Minister of Defense: | Alpha |
| Grand Justicar: | ShaddarRim |
| Minister of Finances: | Alaina Selemnir |
Contents
Overview
The League of Anacan was a peaceful, honourable and prosperous little realm on the Antoza Coast. It counts among its neighbors Lasanar to the north, the Antoza Commonwealth to the south and west, and Svunnetland to the east. It is among the younger realms of the Far East, and up until it's violent end, had not been involved in wars, scandals or strife.
The Duchy of Anacan
- The City of Anacan
- The County of Lenamaziel
- The County of Zarimel
- The County of Ansopen
- The Barony of Pates
History - Peace, Piracy, War
Since known times Anacan always was the center of the trade and embarking ships in the Far East; her central location and open people contributed to that. For long, there had always been peace. Anacan, Taop and Azros did have their city-wars, bandits did raid the outer villages sometimes, but never had there been a major conflit for almost 200 years.
Until that day, the day when black sails could be seen coming from the horizon; the pirate raid. Since Anacan never had any major conflict the Kings never took time to build any walls. This mistake would now be felt. The Pirates destroyed all the ships within the great harbor; women were raped; children were taken as slaves and for fun and any boy older looking then 13 to 14 years was butchered.
Luckily the pirates never destroyed the city; they made sure the city could rebuild and restore so they could raid her again. From all the gold that was left, the king ordered a pallisade wall to be made and everybody old enough to help, helped. The King ordered a few scouts to find mercenaries for the defense for their town: although not that well-equipped, these soldiers could fight.
But the rich and influential not only let their king create an army, they created a whole new group of soldiers: The Anacan Blue Guards. Not the best-trained soldiers, but they had enough training to know how to use their equippment: Chaimail, long swords, good and large shields, closed helmets but with enough openings to not block their view. These soldiers were perfect for the defense of the city.
And when the pirates came again they were repelled, and from the prisoners the King could tell there was only once place these bandits game from: Batesaor. From the confiscated pirate ships they sailed and when the reached Batesaor, they city was looted and to the dissatisfaction of many officers and nobility, the inhabitants butchered.
Waging war was expensive, even for such a rich city as Anacan. So the King attacked the cities of Azros and Taop, taking all the lands around them with them. The King got a taste for blood and war.....he had a never-satisfied hunger for power; the King became a warmonger. So after he had the coast under one banner he attacked Palnasos, thinking the Svunnetlanders were unprepared for any assault.
His soldiers got butchered; more and more the Antozian people got unhappy and some tried to revolt: all were crushed and killed. When the King finally died, the Antoza Coast was in a bad shape, torn by war and revolt; hunger because of bad crops, poor because of the Antozian-Svunnetland war. So a peace was signed between the coast and the Empire. And from that day on Anacan was Svunnetland territory ... but the people of the coast would get another change.
History - The Commonwealth Era
The Antoza Commonwealth, through war or diplomacy (this author is not certain which), came to control the City of Anacan. Anacan became the Capital of Antoza for a time, and later lost strategic importance as the Palace of Antoza was moved to Taop.
During the later period of its days in the Commonwealth, Olwe of Toren created a name for himself by fighting and defeating the riverine piracy which still occasionally plagued the coastal villages. It was also during this more or less peaceful time that the fortifications of Anacan were built-up, from a small motte-and-bailey castle, to the addition of a reinforced keep, to a highly defensible stronghold.
History - The Age of Anacan
When Duke Olwe of Toren, under guidance from the Blind Antozan King Lu'an, seceeded the City of Anacan, the League of Anacan was formed. Among the regions which joined the League were Lenamaziel, then and now the most bountiful of farmlands in the Far East, ensuring that the League would never starve. Anacan City itself is the third largest and wealthiest of cities, is well-defended and an ideal nexus of commerce and trade.
The basic motivation was that Olwe, and other nobles, felt that the Antoza Commonwealth had lost its sense of purpose and even honour. Lu'an, like Olwe a convert to Communionism, helped to inspire the secession and was among the first 10 nobles to join, giving the new realm a legitimacy not shared with other historical secessions (which tend to be more violent in nature).
This did not mean that Olwe wished harm to the old realm, and indeed, today the League and Commonwealth are allies. The League is at a state of de facto peace with all realms and, along with the Antoza Commonwealth, is a home of the religion of Communionism.
History - The Fall of Anacan
The League was ruled by Olwe for a time, and then the "Blind King" Lu'an. When Maltheo was elected Prime Minister, things began to take a turn for the worse.
Almost immediately, Maltheo discovered that other realms were cold or hostile towards the League. Diplomatic messages were returned unopened or simply unanswered. He managed to form an alliance with Greater Aenilia, but efforts to create peace with other realms proved fruitless.
The end came swiftly. The Antoza Commonwealth, under Corey, along with Soliferum (under Conan, Maltheo's bitter rival) and the Sanctum of Casshern planned and executed an invasion under flimsy pretexts. Corey's involvement was seen by Maltheo as a particularly horrible betrayal, since Corey was a member of the same faith, and the two had gotten along well when they served in the same realm. But Corey's silence proved the key to the attack taking Maltheo by surprise.
Attempts to forge an alliance with Svunnetland, using Maltheo's connections with Ariana and Morthwyl, proved futile. Outnumbered three to one, and with Lasanar always lurking to the north, the war would not have a happy end. Forseeing this, and enraged, Maltheo accepted a duel to the death with Valius, then King of the Sanctum of Casshern and, like Conan, an outspoken detractor of Maltheo and the League. Maltheo was killed.
Successive leaders of the League were unable to change the turn of events. In a relatively short while, the League was conquered and utterly destroyed.
History - A last breath
'The Blind King' Lu'an was one of the last to defend Anacan. He killed ShaddarRim who he saw as a infidel, a non-believer and the human example or pure evil. Standing infront of the palace gates Lu'an and 80 of his bravest knights and soldiers stood. The stairs were stormed by hundreds of soldiers from the Commonwealth, Soliferum and the Sanctum. Lu'an and his knights were able to hold of the attackers for over 2 hours when finaly 'The Blind King' Lu'an Prime Minister of Anacan and Valius King of the Sanctum drawed swords. Valius one of the best swordfighters in the Far East was killed by Lu'an in a duel but it didn't matter for the outcome. Anacan had fallen en Lu'an seeked asylum within Svunnetland where he died a few years later at the age of 36 and all alone.
War - The first and final struggle
League Of Anacan had the highest Combat Strength count in the continent, mainly due to the heavy militia it had placed in all regions, this coupled with a powerful and coordinated mobile army would have been more than enough for the League to hold its own at least for a while, however the government of Anacan refused to order the movement of the mobile army to defend its regions, letting the multitude of realms wipe out the militia and take the regions. Mainly out of fear of leaving other parts of the League exposed, this however was the undoing of Anacan, in the war the Anacan Lions moved to fight only once and that was in Pates a region adjacent to the capital. A lot of these failings can be traced back the political unrest and insecurity that came with the constantly shifting government. (Reported by Dionysus Of Anacan)
