Marebanni

Marebanni, officially the Confederation of the Marebanni (Dalkic: Welgwynd Malaipanni) is a country located near the center of the continent of Vikressia. Clockwise from its metropole, Marebanni is bordered by Vatanolde in the north, Sawirn and Hagevrin to the east, the State of Tomorrow and Keldary Demarcation in the south, and PLACEHOLDER. Ellanou Gex is the capital and largest city in the country, as well as the site of the country's founding.

Originating from the Eleabric highlands as a disparate collection of semi-nomadic warring tribes, the first semblance of unity between the tribes began during the Madiyyan invasion of XXXX DATE, during which the Madiyyan Empire launched an invasion into the eastern foothills of the Eleabres in a planned gradual conquest of the entire Eleabres Range. Unable to resist against the more developed empire while disparate, the Eleabric tribes of the lowlands fought a retreat back into the highlands. This sudden territorial conflict had caused further internal division between the tribes, yet would provide the necessary political climate for Cannámestr, a chieftain of the Ullmhór tribe, to rise to prominence - who established alliances with the retreating tribes, fostered diplomacy between the tribes of the low and highlands, and eventually promulgated the Concord of the Highlands to unite the Eleabric tribes against the invading Madiyyan forces. Unanimously declared as the leader of the united tribes, he would lead a counter-attack on the Marebannians, culminating in the Battle of the Torcaethé Pass where the Madiyyan invasion was decisively routed.

With the abrupt end of its ambitions of conquests in the Eleabres, the Madiyyan Empire would opt to declare its holdings in the Eleabric foothills a Madiyyan march and the Eleabres as a "barbarian frontier", a cessation of active hostilities which allowed the Eleabric tribes time for consolidation into a coherent political unit under the command of Cannámestr, leading to the formation of the Confederation of the Marebanni - the first step towards the assimilation of all Eleabric tribes under the Marebannian identity of modern times. This Confederation would exist in a position of constant tension for the rest of Madiyyan history, periodic skirmishing by both sides preventing the buildup of enough forces to contest one another's position in the Eleabres. When the Madiyyan Empire collapsed in XXXX DATE, Marebanni led a reclamation of the Eleabric foothills and would open expansionary expeditions westwards to developed territories in the power vacuum. These expansions eventually stopped as post-Madiyyan states established themselves and as Marebanni clashed with Vatanea during the Great Northern Wars, turning Marebannian ambitions eastwards to the Transeleabric Steppe. However, frequent crusades by the nascent Knadian powers would slow any large-scale plans of expansion, especially as Vatanea succeeded in bypassing Marebannian holdings through the north and gained access to the Transeleabric territories during the Great Seeding.

In the following period of history, Vatanea would establish itself as the primary geopolitical rival of Marebanni, especially as both powers competed for influence over the Transeleabric tribes. Marebanni would assimilate numerous tribes in adjacent territories, whereas Vatanea proselytized Knadianism and established several saintly states under its influence. Marebanni would gain an advantage as Vatanea was considered heretical by Knadian authorities for a time and had suffered the Boreal Crusades, opening the path for the Marebannian Transeleabric War where Marebanni would achieve its greatest territorial extent as of modern times when it managed to conquer the XXXXXXXX. The resurgence of Vatanea when it reconciled with Knadian powers halted this streak of success, a campaign of reconquest forcing Marebanni out of its new acquisitions. Marebanni entered into a period of decline and isolationism after its losses, its influence overshadowed by Vatanea as the latter power consolidated its religiously homogenous holdings in the Transeleabric Steppe and established itself as Vatanolde in XXXX DATE. The existence of Marebanni would be threatened in the outbreak of the Revolutionary Ages and subsequent Vermilion Decade, as Transeleabric populations under its rule were influenced by nationalist rhetoric and revolted, many joining the newly formed humanist states to Marebanni's east. The Eastern Eleabric Crisis would decide the fate of Marebanni as the humanist Hagevrin and Sawirn launched a joint invasion of the country, Marebanni nearly collapsing if not for the timely military intervention and aid of Vatanolde. When the war ended witht he ratification of the Treaty of Keldary, Marebanni would reach reconciliation with Vatanolde and the wider traditionalist powers of western Vikressia.

Today, Marebanni is an electoral monarchy according to a Constitution of Marebanni, with territories mostly centered around the Eleabres Range. Since its reconciliation with Vatanolde and the clerical powers of Vikressia, adherents to Knadianism has become a sizable minority within Marebanni, while Marebanni itself has aligned itself with clerical powers on geopolitical issues throughout the Vikressian Detente.