Kingdom of Corrapaise

The Kingdom of Corrapaise was a nation in the Sundered Steppe from 210 472 – 82 475. It was founded by Phyharan Arceneaux in 210 472 and was ruled by the absolute monarchy of the Arceneaux Royal Family for its entire history.

After the passing of Queen Phyharan, Queen Corra Arceneaux I inherited the throne as the second Monarch of Corrapaise. During her rule, she changed the paradigm set by her predecessor and created a surveillance and police state borne from her paranoia, as well as the creation and expansion of the nation's armed forces, the Corrapaise Army Legion. The Legion terrorized the region in the Assimilation of the Steppe. During this era of the Army Legion's activity, the first of many hostilities between the Kingdom of Corrapaise and Wistergradt began, which eventually resulted in the Corrapaise-Wistergradt War hundreds of years later during the rule of King Cyprus Arceneaux IV.

In the later years of the war, the University of Corrapaise began to publicly share its disapproval of the conflict and the monarchy. Eventually, with a large portion of the Corrapaison population that no longer believed in the effectiveness of the monarchy, the University and its followers defected from the kingdom to the south and founded the Domain of Corrapaise. The Kingdom was unable to sustain their war effort without the support from the University and the population that left with it. King Cyprus IV continued to lead a severely weakened Army Legion against Wistergradt, but only 3 years later, the Kingdom and its entire government along with nearly all of the remaining population followed suit and went south to reunite the Kingdom with the other portion of the population that had previously abandoned it.

Upon the Kingdom and Royalists' arrival at the newly founded civilization started by the University of Corrapaise, tensions between them and the University's followers, the Rationalists, began to rise as both groups and their leaders had laid claim to the right to rule the new land. Weeks later, the Corrapaison Civil War began.

After a year of brutal conflict between the Royalists who supported the Monarchy's claim to rule Corrapaise and the Rationalists who supported the University's claim, the Royalists conceded defeat after being completely outmatched by the magic utilized by the Rationalists, despite the Royalists maintaining a large and consistent troop advantage even until their surrender. King Cyprus IV was reported to have suffered severe traumatic disorders from sending his soldiers and supporters to consistent, cruel deaths with few victories. On 24 Autumn, 82 475, the Treaty of the Lake was signed, formally ending hostilities between Royalists and Rationalists, resigning any claim the Kingdom of Corrapaise had to any land or people of Faugresh, and properly dissolving the Kingdom and its government.

Founding and Early History
In the Summer of 210 472, Phyharan Arceneaux and her followers the Doctrineers, believers of The Doctrine philosophy created by Phyharan, founded the city of Phyria in the region now known as the Sundered Steppe. Phyria began as a small township comprised of the Doctrineers and the Arceneaux family. Phyria's population, already loyal to Phyharan and her family, were in full support of her when she assumed leadership of the settlement. A large manor was built for the Arceneaux family by the townspeople and upon its completion Phyharan gave a speech from the manor balcony declaring herself Monarch and Phyria the center of the new Kingdom of Corrapaise, named after her daughter Corra Arceneaux I.

The following decades saw the rapid expansion of Phyria and the influence of the Kingdom. Phyria's population went from 50 people to over 1,000 in the span of 10 years. This was the result of aggressive efforts to get people who lived in the Sundered Steppe to permanently relocate to Phyria. This effort was lead by the Doctrineers who spread the ideas of the Doctrine to as many as they could, proselytizing their beliefs across the region. The effort was deemed a great success as many relocated to Phyria and more joined the Doctrineers in their effort to convert others, making the spread of the Doctrine more effective. Not all who were preached to bought into the philosophy or migrated to Phyria, as relocation was not conducted by force. In 50 years, the population of Phyria had exploded to nearly 10,000, the vast majority of the new population being willing migrants. During this time, Phyharan had expanded the role of the Monarch to extend to the rule over royal departments and offices that controlled a moderate police force and public services which oversaw construction of roads and homes. Positions in these offices were granted to loyal individuals, many of which were members of the original Doctrineers. At age 89, Phyharan passed away from natural causes.

Corra Arceneaux I inherited the monarchy at age 64. Corra would reign for 93 years, her long life on account of her elven ancestry. Corra's rule brought fear into the lives of Corrapaisons. Corra possessed extreme paranoia over perceived threats to her and the Kingdom. She created a secret police agency that operated at her direction which she used to spy on citizens and royal officials and carry out extrajudicial executions to anyone perceived as a threat, including dissenting citizens and critics of the monarch. Political purges occurred within government carried out by the secret police. During this time, all of the original Doctrineers would be executed. Government offices experienced frequent turnover as public servants were repeatedly fired or killed, with increasingly loyal and obedient individuals appointed in their place. Fearing threats to Corrapaise from foreign invaders, Corra created the Corrapaise Army Legion. However, the Legion never served its stated purpose, and was used as a force to continue the spread of The Doctrine. The Legion pillaged non-compliant communities and forced them to relocate to Phyria under threats of violence and death. During this era of Legion activity, the population of Phyria experienced a second boom, reaching 50,000. Over the course of several years, unrest from the new population grew, erupting in riots that spread in parts of Phyria. Individual riots and demonstrations were quickly suppressed by law enforcement, but further, escalating riots soon took their place. By the end of the turmoil, hundreds of rioters and demonstrators had been killed by law enforcement. Several weeks after the violence subsided, a former rioter snuck into the royal manor and assassinated Corra in her sleep. The killer was never found.