Eutopia was the name of a
Human kingdom that spanned the western edge of modern-day
Carmelyn province. Ruled by a reportedly incestuous family of nobles, Eutopia was a righteous and cliquish country centered around the city of
Thyatis. At its height in the late 9200s, Eutopia had among its vassals the Kingdom of
Aeliyn, the Principality of
Beryl, the County of
Lacoria, and was involved in a loose confederation with the rival Aelyrian fiefdoms of [wiki]Kaldira[/wiki and
Camena. Eutopia was annexed by Aelyria following
Emperor Constantine's marriage with
High Queen Jaedah of
Aeliyn, as a part of "securing Jaedah's dowry", which included Aeliyn, Beryl, and neighboring Eutopia. The Eutopian Royal City of Thyatis experienced a cultural decline shortly thereafter.
Origins
During the
Barbari invasions beginning in 8300s, tribes and clans of human warriors descended upon Northern Carmelyn, establishing sedentary bases of operation, such as
Arkdün (modern-day
Archadoon), and using those settlements to raid the city-states in the fertile lowlands of
Ioannolia. After the decline and subjugation of Arkdün by the
Kingdom of Aelyria, the smaller hamlets and villages settled by the Barbari peoples began to coalesce into benign countries, exchange roving warfare for organized nationhood. On the western edge of Carmelyn on the
Sea of Eunesia, the city of
Thyatis emerged as a center of power under the ambitious
Eclipse Family. Transforming the fishing village into a stone-covered township of pools and fountains, the first Eutopian Kings sought to create a legacy for their people more successful than the ultimately failed barbaric city-states witnessed in previous years. Borrowing much from an open exchange with the fiefdoms of
Aelyria that would seek to colonize the newly conquered northlands, Eutopia flourished as a stable and prosperous, though tiny, kingdom by the sea.
King Starfire
The most notable of the early Eutopian Kings was
King Starfire Eclipse, whose ambitions frequently exceeded his small kingdom's capabilities. Envisioning Thyatis as a potential geopolitical counterweight to the emerging strength of
Aelyria Prime, King Starfire drew up an ambitious colonization program in an effort to control more of the newly submissive lands of Carmelyn. In the early 9200s, he channelled all of his country's tax revenues into incentives for local chieftains, merchants, and petty nobles to establish new settlements as vassals of Eutopia. However, Eutopia lacked the political maturity - as well as the sovereign institutions - necessary to execute upon a complex subjugation strategy. Early colonies, such as
Lacoria, operated under dubious political status: on the one hand, they were nominally a part of Eutopia and bore a moral and economic debt to Thyatis; but on the other hand, due to Eutopia's lack of any credible organized army, they were free to establish relationships with foreign powers and operate as de facto autonomous city-states.
Order of Carmelide
King Starfire was overthrown by a series of successive revolts that ended up pitting different members of the Eclipse family against each other, and over the course of two years there were more than a dozen different pretenders on the throne at any given time.
Eutopia
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