Algarve
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Algarve was a kingdom of Derlavai. It was an important participant in the Derlavaian War. It was ruled by King Mezentio for most of the Derlavaian War.
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History
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Algarve's begins with the so-called Algarvic tribes that inhabited most of south-central Derlavai centuries (or possibly millenia). These tribes caused the dissolution and destruction of the ancient Kaunian Empire. In the absence of the Kaunian Empire, the Algarvians carved numerous nations for themselves. Among the descendants of these "Algarvic nations" are Sibiu, Lagoas and Algarve proper. Modern Algarve unified during Thaumaturgical Revolution. The new nation of Algarve and its former constituent duchies and counties and princedoms held deep-seated animosity towards the Kaunian kingdoms to the east, and harbored special resentment towards the Kaunian remnant in its north-western western neighbor, Forthweg.
Six Years' WarEdit
During the Six Years' War, Algarve was defeated by the coalition including Unkerlant, Valmiera, Jelgava, Sibiu, Lagoas, and, Kuusamo. Algarve was forced to cede territory to its victorious foes. The Marquisate of Rivaroli and the Duchy of Bari were separated from Algarve, with the former being annexed by Valmiera and the latter being constituted as an independent Duchy with a puppet government controlled by the Kaunian kingdoms. Many of Algarve's northwestern-most provinces were added to the newly-created Kingdom of Forthweg. The Algarvian people burned with resentment for the next generation, which set the stage for the events of the Derlavaian War.
Derlavaian WarEdit
In the years after the Six Years' War, Algarve had rebuilt its military power, and the fiery young King Mezentio ascended to the throne after his father died. The world also saw the large-scale taming and use of behemoths and dragons. When Alardo, Duke of Bari died without an heir, Algarve annexed the Duchy of Bari and sent in its army to enforce that action, prompting Algarve's old enemies, Sibiu, Valmiera, Jelgava, and Forthweg, to declare war on Algarve. Lagoas would declare war when the Valmieran offensive failed. The war began slowly for Algarve's allies, but Forthweg collapsed against the first determined Algarvian offensive. Unkerlant invaded Forthweg from the west, speeding up its demise. Next, Sibiu collapsed when Algarve launched a surprise attack. Next, Algarve launched an offensive into Valmiera through the rugged country of the northern frontier. Valmiera collapsed in a few months and surrendered to the Algarvians, who promptly re-annexed the Marquisate of Rivaroli. Jelgava was defeated by a large-scale airborne offensive, with Algarve's dragon force flying its troops over the mountains. Algarve's main ally during the war was Yanina, although Yanina quickly proved more of a burden than a boone. Within a few months, Algarvian troops were sent to support the Yaninans against Lagoas in the Land of the Ice People.
Despite the substantial resources tied down throughout the continent, Algarve sets its eyes on Unkerlant. Ironically, Swemmel of Unkerlant was contemplating attacking Algarve when Algarve and Yanina launched a massive offensive into Unkerlant. The attack proved a strategic and tactical surprise. Large numbers of Algarvian and Yaninan troops crossed the border, heavily supported by dragons, behemoths, and egg-tossers. The offensive begins almost perfectly, with massive casualties inflicted on the Unkerlanters. However, the offensive began to stall in mid-autumn, prompting King Mezentio to begin a new phase of the war. Captured Kaunians from Forthweg were taken to "victory camps" and killed. This "special magecraft", collected life-energy, created substanial magic which broke the Unkerlanter lines and enables the Algarvians to take the offensive again. However, the slaughters brought Kuusamo into the war against Algarve.
The new offensive swept west across the plains of Unkerlant, reaching the suburbs of the capital, Cottbus, as the fearsome Unkerlanter winter began. The attack was halted outside the capital, where Tealdo and some of his squadmates were able to see the spires of King Swemmel's palace in the distance. However, the Battle of Cottbus began, which saw the Algarvian army mauled and defeated.
The frontline stabilized before spring. The roads and plains of Unkerlant became a hopeless morass of mud, impassable by troops and behemoths alike. This hiatus in the fighting enabled the Algarvians to stabilize their front and mass new reserves. The Unkerlanters opened the summer campaigning season with an attack on the city of Aspang, near the border with the Duchy of Grelz. This attack was cut off and decisively defeated, with heavy casualties. Unkerlanter forces retreated southward, toward the Wolter River and the city of Sulingen. The Algarvian campaign in the south was intended to capture the Cinnabar-rich Mamming Hills.
Concurrently, the battle for the Land of The Ice People escalated, with Algarve deploying a field army against the Lagoan troops there. Kuusaman dragonfliers and soldiers entered the battle as well. The Algarvians sought to wipe out the Allied forces on the Southern continent by using their slaughter-fueled magic. The spell backfired because magic worked differently in The Land of the Ice People than on mainland Derlavai, destroying the Algarvian forces there instead of their Lagoan and Kuusaman enemies.
Meanwhile, Algarve launched a massive attack on Sulingen. The Unkerlanters defended the city to the last man, and King Mezentio showed a similar willingness to sacrifice his army for the city. The Unkerlanters launched a winter counteroffensive that cut off those Algarvians in and around the city; subsequent relief attempts failed and the front stabilizes with Unkerlanter forces having retaken Durrwangen. King Mezentio decided to stake everything on a massive offensive to cut off the "Durrwangen salient". The attack failed and Algarve's reserves of behemoths, men, and dragons were quickly expended. Unkerlanter's offensive retook most of their lost territory. At the same time, Kuusamo and Lagoas liberated Sibiu from its Algarvian occupiers. They then landed troops in Algarvian-occupied Jelgava.
With its enemies closing in from both west and east, Algarve continued its genocide against those Forthwegian Kaunians under its control. Algarvian troops launched a desperate counter-attack in northern Valmiera, which collapsed. Next, Unkerlanter offensives into Yanina prompted that nation to realign itself with Algarve's enemies, stranding a large number Algarvian forces within Yanina. The Unkerlanters launched an enormous offensive in Northern Unkerlant which takes them to the original start-line of the Algarvian offensive three years before.
Unkerlanter forces continued eastwards and ultimately reach the line of the Skamandros River, finally launching an offensive over it which encircled Trapani and reduced most of that city to rubble. With the allies having overrun most of Algarve, King Mezentio ordered Sidroc, a member of the Algarvian-aligned Plegmund's Brigade, to kill him. With Mezentio dead, his brother, Mainardo, ascended long enough to surrender unconditionally to the allies, ending the Derlavaian war in the east.
In the immediate aftermath, each of the victorious Allies separately set up its own puppet King of Algarve in the terrritory under its occupation - a brother of Mezentio in the Kuusamo-controlled East Algarve, an Alagarvian nobleman unconnectred with the former royal family in Unkerlant's West Algarve.
SocietyEdit
Algarve was an absolute monarchy, but actually exhibited more democratic characteristics than many of its enemies. Algarve had a powerful nobility, like its Kaunian counterparts, but the commoners were not oppressed. The Algarvian military was similarly open. Although many Algarvians believed that Kaunians are an ancient enemy and that the Kaunian genocide was Algarve's long-deserved revenge against its Kaunian oppressors, there were some who condemned the massacres. An underlying irony was that much of Algarve's social, political, and cultural foundation comes from the hated Kaunian Empire.
Generally, Algarvian people are red-haired and fair-skinned, with mostly green eyes.
Literary CommentEdit
"Algarve" is the name of Portugal's southernmost province, which was the last to be (re)conquered from the Muslims; the name is itself of Arabic origin.
The kingdom parallels Germany's role during World War II. Much of Algarvian culture resembles that of Italy, particularly their food, customs, and language.
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