Re-Estize Kingdom

Re-Estize Kingdom (リ・エスティーゼ王国) was a human nation in the New World with an estimated population of nine million and one of three nations neighboring Nazarick. It was a failed state, suffering from a near-constant political disorder and civil unrest.

Background
The Re-Estize Kingdom, usually simply referred to as "The Kingdom," is located west of the Azerlisia Mountains, north-west of Nazarick, with an estimated population of nine million. It was one of the many nations founded following the defeat of the Evil Deities over two hundred years ago. Though one of three major human nations neighboring Nazarick, the Kingdom is currently suffering from the political disorder due to a confrontation between the Royalty and Nobility factions. The situation is quite severe, virtually dividing the country in two.

Political Intrigues
According to Gazef Stronoff, the Kingdom was plagued by inept nobles ever since its founding. Protected from hostile demi-human nations by natural barriers and neighboring countries, the Kingdom was relatively peaceful. However, this peace left the nation weak to corruption from within.

By the time the former king, Ramposa III, came to power the Kingdom was already suffering from extreme political corruption due to the mistakes of previous kings. Throughout his reign, he tried to reform the Kingdom, but to no avail. As the king aged, his ability to exercise his authority deteriorated and thus nobles got more say in matters. This eventually resulted in the government splitting between a Royalty Faction and a Nobility Faction. The only reason the situation didn't escalate into civil war was due to the efforts of Marquis Raeven, a patriot with connections to both sides.

There was also a conflict of succession. Though long since time for the King to abdicate, he refused to do so out of fear of either of his sons, Crown Prince Barbro or Second Prince Zanac, becoming a nobility puppet. Each brother also desired the throne for himself, sparking a bitter rivalry.

Annual Wars
The peaceful period came to an end when the Baharuth Empire declared war on the Kingdom. Fortunately, the situation did not escalate into all-out war, and instead of the two nations merely engaged in small skirmishes at the Katze Plains every year. However, these annual wars took place during harvest seasons, slowing the food-production due to peasants being drafted and slowly consuming the Kingdom's strength. By the time the Kingdom realized the Empire's aim, it had already fallen into decline.

Despite the desperate situation, however, many nobles failed to grasp the true severity of it and refused to take it seriously. Some nobles were even betraying the Kingdom by leaking information to the Empire.

Criminal Underworld
In addition to the political problems, a large criminal group named Eight Fingers was undermining the Kingdom from within. Thanks to the enormous amount of money they had acquired, the organization was able to bribe several nobles and even royals into aiding their illegal activities. Communities throughout the nation also worked for them, letting their fields be used to plant illegal drugs in exchange for money. The Eight Fingers' influence was so great that they virtually controlled the entire nation from the shadows.

Golden Princess
Third Princess Renner attempted a structural reform of the Kingdom, an endeavor that earned her the epithet "Golden Princess." However, most of her suggestions, such as crop rotation, were shot down by the nobles, who feared any changes could threaten their power. She was at least able to abolish slavery, though there are still a lot of unofficial slaves in the criminal underground.

The Undead King Arc
Receiving the news that several border villages were being destroyed, King Ramposa III sent Gazef Stronoff and his Warrior Troop to investigate. The Warrior Troop's vice captain deduced this to be a trap set by the Nobility Faction to eliminate Gazef and weaken the Royalty Faction. He thus advised the Warrior Captain to retreat, but Gazef insisted they protect the citizens.

The troop eventually arrived at Carne Village, only to be attacked by the Slane Theocracy's Sunlight Scripture. The troop lured the Sunlight Scripture away from the village and fought them, but were overwhelmed by their magic. They were saved, however, by a mysterious magic caster named Ainz Ooal Gown, who teleported the troop to safety and proceeded to defeat the Scripture. Afterward, the troop returned to the Royal Capital.

The Dark Warrior Arc
E-Rantel, a border city and one of the Kingdom's most important regions, came under attack by the death cult Zurrernorn, who attempted to turn the entire city into the undead. However, they were stopped by a new Adventurer Group called Darkness before they could implement their scheme.

The Bloody Valkyrie Arc
E-Rantel once again faced danger when a powerful vampire was spotted near the city. In response, the Adventurer's Guild dispatched two teams, Darkness and Kralgra, to confront it. Although Kralga was wiped out, Darkness returned victoriously and was made the Kingdom's third adamantite-ranked adventurer group.

Meanwhile, in the Royal Capital, Gazef was reporting to the king and the nobles what occurred in Carne Village. Although the King was grateful for Ainz's aid and wanted to personally meet him to extend his gratitude, several nobles were suspicious of the masked magic caster's origins and wished to capture him for interrogation.

The Men in the Kingdom Arc
& The Men in the Kingdom II Arc Princess Renner hired the adamantite Adventurer group Blue Roses as part of a campaign to rid the Kingdom of Eight Fingers. They enjoyed several early victories, with Blue Roses destroying drug transplantations of villages allied with them and the Princess' forces disabling their brothel in the Royal Capital. Their success convinced Gazef Stronoff and Marquis Raeven to aid them; the latter also hired Darkness as additional support. They set out to eliminate all of Eight Fingers' hideouts in the Royal Capital and once again enjoyed initial success.

Unfortunately, the mission went sour when the Royal Capital came under attack by a demon known as Jaldabaoth. In response, Princess Renner halted the Eight Fingers suppression mission and assembled a large coalition of Adventurers to fight off the demon. Momon of Darkness fought Jaldabaoth in single combat while the remaining Adventurers fought off his demon army, with the palace guards, led King Ramposa III himself, joining when they were in danger of being overrun. Meanwhile, Second Prince Zanac helped civilians evacuate. In the end, Jaldabaoth retreated when the odds were no longer in his favor.

In the aftermath of the Demonic Disturbance, Momon became a national hero. Also, because the King and Prince aided in the defense of the Royal Capital, both the Royal Faction and the latters claim to the throne had gained more support. Unbeknown to the Kingdom, however, the attack was merely a distraction while Nazarick took control of Eight Fingers. Worse, their "victory" came at the cost of countless lives, with a large portion of the city's populace and resources having been taken by the demon army.

The Invaders of the Large Tomb Arc
Though it was time for the Kingdom's Annual War with the Baharuth Empire, Emperor Jircniv decided not to invade this year as the Kingdom was already in a weakened state from the "Demonic Disturbance."

The Magic Caster of Destroy Arc
During a meeting between the factions, King Ramposa III announced that the Kingdom had received a declaration of war from the Empire and the newly founded Sorcerer Kingdom, led by Sorcerer King Ainz Ooal Gown, demanding they cede E-Rantel. Knowing that they did not stand a chance against Ainz, Gazef advised his liege to give in to the demands. However, with the Royalty Faction finally having superior influence following the Demonic Disturbance, the King could not afford to appear weak. Thus, after some squabbling, it was unanimously decided to go to war.

Around this time, the Kingdom's economic instability had begun to take its toll. According to predictions, peasants would likely start dying from starvation due to failed harvests and food shortages. Commoners also started to catch on to the Kingdom's situation, with rumors even reaching frontier villages like Carne Village.

Two months later, the Royal Army confronted the Imperial Army at the Katze Plains. An additional force, led by the Crown Prince Barbro, was sent to Carne Village to gather intel on Ainz. However, talks with the villagers turned violent and resulted in the crown prince's death at the hands of the village's demi-human inhabitants. Similarly, at the Katze Plains, the battle was over before it began as Ainz wiped out most of the Royal Army with just a single spell. In an attempt to turn the tide, Gazef challenged Ainz to single combat. Unfortunately, the Warrior Captain lost the duel along with his life.

Following the war, the Kingdom's leadership unanimously decided to cede E-Rantel. Because the Royal Faction refused to heed Gazef's warning, they took most of the blame for the disaster. As a result, the balance of power shifted again; this time in favor of the Noble Faction.

The Ruler of Conspiracy Arc
Due to the heavy casualties of the Massacre at Katze Plains, the Kingdom was left with a massive amount of orphans and widows. Moreover, many survivors were traumatized and unable to live normal lives. In response, Princess Renner build an orphanage in the Royal Capital to provide a home for the orphans and jobs for the widows, hoping others would follow her example.

The loss of both Gazef Stronoff and Prince Barbro caused King Ramposa III to fall into a depression. Similarly, Marquis Raeven was among those traumatized by the massacre and retired from politics. As a result, Second Prince Zanac, now the Crown Prince, assumed command of the Royalty Faction. As he struggled to rebuild the government, his biggest concern was how to proceed with relations with the Sorcerer Kingdom. Fortunately, news that the Sorcerer Kingdom would be sending a diplomatic envoy instantly solved this issue.

As the Sorcerer Kingdom's emissary, Albedo, visited the Royal Capital, a low-ranking noble named Philip used the opportunity to establish relations with the new nation. Gathering second and third-born noble sons who came to power after their siblings were killed in the Annual War, he founded a New Faction that supports the Sorcerer Kingdom. Unbeknownst to Philip, however, Albedo had set the whole thing up with help from Eight Fingers. She also ordered the organization to export large quantities of food to the Sorcerer Kingdom.

The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom Arc
and The Paladin of the Holy Kingdom II Arc Envoys representing of the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army visited the Royal Capital to request for the Kingdom's aid in retaking the Northern Holy Kingdom. However, everyone they approached turned them down; primarily because the Kingdom was still recovering from the massacre at Katze Plains.

The Witch of the Falling Kingdom Arc
On top of failed harvests, the loss of E-Rantel's farmlands and a sizable chunk of their labor force in the Massacre at Katze Plains had all but guaranteed that the Kingdom would face famine in the future. The Sorcerer Kingdom offered humanitarian aid, which they couldn't afford to refuse. However, this influx of food deflated prices, preventing nobles from making profit. This, in turn, led the New Faction to turn on their benefactors and rob the transports. As a result, the Sorcerer Kingdom declared war on the Kingdom.

After receiving the declaration, the King called for an emergency meeting. Given the difference in strength, the Kingdom had to sue for peace. Also, the New Faction was ultimately not punished, as it was assumed that they were [Charmed]. Instead, the King offered up his own life to appease the Sorcerer King. However, it fell on deaf ears and Prime Minister Albedo declared that their invasion would proceed in one month. Thus, the Kingdom began preparing for war. However, it was clear that they could not win and and evacuations began.

Unbeknownst to the Kingdom, the date given for the start of the conflict was an elaborate ruse and, while they prepared, the Sorcerer Kingdom secretly marched their armies over the border and began conquering territories, massacring the inhabitants to prevent news from spreading. Similarly, several nobles, including Marquis Raeven, were threatened into defecting. This way, the Kingdom lost it's eastern and northern regions without even noticing, cutting the nation off from its allies and isolating the Royal Capital.

The Kingdom finally became aware of the situation after the Battle of E-Naüru. Despite this though, the King still hoped to settle the conflict diplomatically. This prompted Prince Zanac to stage a coup d'état, placing his father under house arrest while he assumed leadership. Although the truth was covered up to avoid mass panic.

As the Sorcerer Kingdom's forces marched on the Royal Capital, King Regent Zanac issued a call-to-arms to defend the city, though few actually answered. Rebuilding the Royal Army by drafting all the capital's able-bodied men, the Kingdom confronted the Sorcerer Kingdom. However, the nobles quickly saw that this battle was lost and opted to assassinate the Prince in another attempt to appease the Sorcerer King. However, the Monarch was disgusted and had the remainder of the Kingdom's military wiped out.

At this point, the Kingdom had already lost, and the capital fell with little resistance. Afterward, the Sorcerer Kingdom's forces spread out to take the remainder of the country. The nobles who didn't respond to Zanac's call-to-arms intended to just surrender. However, after seeing the nobility's rotten nature through their betrayal to the prince, the Sorcerer King resolved to massacre all territories that hadn't already surrendered. As a result, only the domains that had previously been threatened into defecting were spared.

In the end, by the time the conflict was over, 90% of the Kingdom's population had been killed and all the nation's landmarks were actively erased by the Sorcerer Kingdom. All that remained was the Royal Palace, which was spared to serve as a warning not to antagonize the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Culture
The Re-Estize Kingdom was a feudal state with a hierarchical structure. At the top stands the king and the royal family. Next comes the nobility, who possess major landholdings in the kingdom, and at the bottom are the serfs.

Titles and even professions are all hereditary. Social advancement in the kingdom seems to be very unlikely as any progress made is always hindered by the nobles, who fear that such changes might endanger their power and stations. In fact, it is not uncommon for small wars to break out between the nobles themselves to protect their interests.

The Kingdom had a deeply rooted belief that strong cavalrymen are what defined a successful warrior. As a result, many people, especially nobles, looked down on magic. This also meant that, unlike the Slane Theocracy and Baharuth Empire, the Kingdom had no magic caster in its military nor a centralized magic academy, forcing the few who did want to learn the craft to seek alternative sources. This belief began to change following the Massacre at Katze Plains, but nothing could be done about it as the Kingdom's downfall began.

As a monarchy, the eldest son usually inherits everything once the father retires. This is because if the estate should be divided, eventually nothing would be left after a few generations. Therefore, the eldest son inherits everything, the second son becomes his helper, and any younger sons are forced out once the eldest takes over. In fact, parents would usually only conceive another son to act as a "spare" in case the first or second dies. However, many second or third sons became knights, most notably a Royal Knight, as they had little to no chance in inheriting their family's estate. Meanwhile, women seem to be used as tools to acquire marriage alliances. As for commoners; it is not uncommon for them to outright abandon their children.

The Kingdom followed a Guild-Based system which means that each city has its own guild and has its own rules. One tradesman that was a master in one city would be considered a junior in another.

Religion
The Kingdom's citizens adhere to the worship of the Four Great Gods, along with a compilation of minor gods.

Education
The literacy rate among citizens of the Kingdom is very low. Usually, every soldier stationed at a checkpoint are required to read and write. Literacy is also a desideratum for adventurers where, in order to gain entry into the Adventurer's Guild, a literacy test must be taken as part of the requirement.

On average only of those born of nobility, royalty, and high profit earning merchants would be provided with the necessary education.

Politics
The Re-Estize Kingdom was a feudal monarchy ruled by the king at the top, followed by the nobles ranked by their sphere of influence; commoners have no representation. Policies were decided at conferences between the King and the nobles. The king and great nobles together owned 60% of the Kingdom's territory whilst the remaining 40% belonging to lesser nobles.

Each noble was free in how they ruled their domain. Free travel was mostly prohibited, with citizens having to pay poll taxes or using transits. Nobles were similarly in charge of their domain's security and infrastructure. However, due to nobles usually not caring about such things, most of the Kingdom's roads were badly maintained and unprotected. Princess Renner had been making strides to improve these areas, but what little she managed to accomplish was not nearly enough.

The independence between domains is also where the problems with the Kingdom government came into play: a complete lack of unity. This system made each domain basically a nation on its own, resulting in a decentralized government where each domain prioritizing its own needs. Also, because nobles were ranked by their spheres of influence, it was possible for them to even challenge the king by pooling their resources.

Due to the immense corruption, the Kingdom's government eventually split into different blocks, with each constantly trying to overpower the others.


 * Royalty Faction - One of the two initial factions; consisting of supporters of King Ramposa III, they aimed to keep the nation united whilst reforming it from within.
 * Nobility Faction - One of the two initial factions; consisting of various powerful nobles, their primary aim was to amass more power and wealth whilst protecting their current standard of living. To this end, they were loyal to the King only on the surface whilst openly undermining him and the Royal Faction.
 * New Faction - Formed following the Massacre at Katze Plains; consisting of the second and third-born sons who came to power after their elder siblings died, like the Nobility Faction, their primary aim was to further increase their own power. However, they went even further by refusing to follow the Kingdom's power structure.
 * Independents - Nobles who were not allied with any faction.

The Kingdom at least kept records on its citizens. However, these documents were usually full of mistakes and thus unreliable.

Military Strength
The Re-Estize Kingdom's military is composed mostly of militia, with its soldiers just being drafted peasants. They receive a government-issued weapon, no armor, and extremely sparse training. Only the Kingdom's so-called "elite forces," knights, and the private forces of certain nobles have received proper training.


 * Royal Army: The Kingdom's so-called army. However, it is really just a ragtag bunch of individual armies put together whenever the call to arms is issued. As a result, there is no unity; although the King is in overall command, the nobles don't necessarily have to listen to him.
 * Warrior Troop: The Kingdom's most elite force led by Warrior Captain Gazef Stronoff. During Annual Wars, Patriots will usually join this group.
 * Marquis Raeven's Adventurer Team: Marquis Raeven's private force of former orichalcum-ranked adventurers.
 * Boullope's Militia: Marquis Boullope's private force created to be a rival to the Warrior Troop.
 * Royal Knights: These are the main guards and high level soldiers who are given the duty of protecting the Royal Castle. They were also responsible for also protecting the Royal Family. They are considered to be one of the few group of Soldiers to receive proper training on how to use a sword due to them primarily being consisted of second or third born noble sons who could not inherit their elder brothers titles, lands or wealth.

Unlike the military of Baharuth Empire, Slane Theocracy, and the Holy Kingdom, the Kingdom's military is virtually devoid of proper magic users which very few people, such as Marquis Raeven's Adventurer Team, have ability to use magics. This was a grieve error in judgement because this made the military weaker than their neighboring kingdoms.

Foreign Relations
The Re-Estize Kingdom was the most geographically secure country, facing no territorial encroachment from the aggressive demi-human nations that plagued its neighbors, making it by far the most peaceful nation; relatively speaking. However, the Kingdom's seclusion from the rest of the world left it weak to stagnation from within and its corruption eventually spread to other nations.

Argland Council State
The Argland Council State was the Kingdom's northern neighbor and its last remaining ally before its downfall. Both countries acknowledged the Sorcerer Kingdom's threat and attempted to form an alliance. Unfortunately, talks could not be finished before the Kingdom's downfall and were abandoned due to the belief that the Council State wouldn't aid them since they technically instigated the conflict.

Karnassus City-State Alliance
While the full scope of the Kingdom's relationship with the City-State Alliance is unknown, some citizens considered migrating there before the nation's doomed conflict with the Sorcerer Kingdom. The fact that King Ramposa III believed they would grant his children amnesty implies they had strong ties.

Sorcerer Kingdom
Until the official declaration of war against the Kingdom in alliance with the Empire, both the Kingdom and Nazarick had no official relations with one another. Afterward, they became enemy states and fought against each other in the annual war which resulted in devastating losses for the Kingdom, including the death of its strongest warrior and the ceding of E-Rantel, and reducing its governance into near-total collapse.

Once the war was over, the two nations opened formal relations and tried to form a peaceful and productive cooperative relationship with one another. Some nobles are even conspiring to sell out the Kingdom with the new country in exchange for more power and control. However, many still see the Sorcerer Kingdom as a threat and keep a close watch on it while the nation recovers its strength.

Inevitably, the two nations came into conflict once again after Philip of the New Faction attacked one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's carriages. The result was the total destruction of Re-Estize and erasure of its culture, history, people and landmarks from the world.

Upon its conquest, the only remaining structure of the Re-Estize Kingdom is the former royal castle of Ro-Lente, which was spared solely to be an example to be used to show the error and danger in antagonizing the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Baharuth Empire
The Kingdom and the Empire were in a state of war. The only way their nation can resist the Empire is by drafting a greater number of troops than them. Though losses on both sides were minimal, the conflict between the two nations has only been prolonged because the Empire never fully committed the entirety of their forces to the war, instead of engaging in a war of attrition to weaken the Kingdom and later conquer it with minimal losses.

Aside from the annual war, many nobles refuse to accept Emperor Jircniv's legitimacy and refer to him as "False Emperor." This is because he acquired his position by rising through the ranks rather than birthright. In addition to that, the tension between the two countries only increased further due to the massive power obtained by the Criminal Syndicate based of the Kingdom, Eight Fingers and their gradual invasion into the Empire's Underworld by selling their highly addictive and harmful Black Dust to the Empire's Populace. This have already gotten several of the Empire's people addicted and receiving a steady flow of cash from it.

After the most recent battle at the Katze Plains, the Kingdom believes that the Empire must truly hate them to the core for calling upon the Sorcerer King to cause such a massacre. Later, after nobles attacked one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's transports, the Empire condemned the Kingdom.

Dwarf Kingdom
The Kingdom has not attempted to forge any national-level ties with the dwarves and there has been almost no contact between the two nations for over two centuries. However, the mining city of Re-Blumrushur is known to make small trade deals with the Dwarves.

When the Sorcerer Kingdom declared war with the Kingdom, the Dwarf Kingdom fully supported the nation's justification and even put their nation's seal on the official declaration document.

Slane Theocracy
Official relations between the Kingdom and the Theocracy are more or less neutral. However, some of the nobility were willing to conspire with the Theocracy to kill off Gazef Stronoff and had no problems in killing the Kingdom's citizens while doing so under covert operations.

Furthermore, there are people within the Kingdom that detest their treatment of non-human races. Despite this, the Kingdom's human civilization would have been wiped out long ago if it was not there, so they view the Theocracy as a necessary evil. According to the officials from the Theocracy, the territory around E-Rantel originally belongs to the Theocracy.

When the Kingdom's defeat during its second conflict with the Sorcerer Kingdom was all but certain, the Theocracy sent its Black Scripture to the doomed country. However, rather than provide aid, they were instead sent to recruit powerful Adventurers; offering them a new life within the Theocracy's borders. In the end, while a few refused, many others accepted the offer and migrated to the Theocracy.

It's likely that despite silently condemning the Re-Estize Kingdom, the Theocracy did not disclose this decision in an international level was in order to not agree with the Sorcerer Kingdom.

Roble Holy Kingdom
It's unknown what kind of relationship that the Re-Estize Kingdom had with the Holy Kingdom. Being distant from one another, there is at least trade between the two nations. Recently, the Kingdom turned away the Holy Kingdom Liberation Army, who pleaded for help against Jaldabaoth, due to the nobles being unwilling to open another war front so soon after their defeat at the hands of the Sorcerer Kingdom.

After the Holy Kingdom's liberation, the Kingdom sent a diplomatic envoy to attend the coronation of the new Holy King. However, they were turned away, showing that relations had fallen apart due to their previous refusal to provide aid. After Re-Estize nobles attacked one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's humanitarian aid transports for them, the Holy Kingdom condemned the Kingdom.

Dragon Kingdom
After nobles attacked one of the Sorcerer Kingdom's transports, the Dragon Kingdom condemned the Kingdom. The Kingdom's leadership believed that the reason why the Dragon Kingdom sided with the Sorcerer Kingdom was because the powerful nation simply offered more appeal compared to their relatively weak country.

Trivia

 * At some point in the past, the Kingdom and the Empire were one and the same nation before they eventually separated and became two different nations.
 * According to a Tweet from Maruyama, the total land area size of the Re-Estize kingdoms territory is equal to about half the size of modern-day France.

Gallery
Królestwo Re-Estize