The History of Hyspia - Vicente Murietta II

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The History of Hyspia

By Vicente Murietta II

Cesar de Rivera, first King of Hyspia

(R. 1790-1795)

 

Hyspian history is something that is often overlooked by other human scholars. Spanning from the 1790s to the modern era, Hyspia and its populace have carved a name for themselves in the history of the descendants. We shall start with the first permanent Hyspian settlement of Tierra Natal and the reign of Cesar de Rivera. Cesar de Rivera had become the Chieftain of the Hyspians after being elected following the uncertain succession of his predecessor and had many new plans that came with his position. For decades the Hyspians had wandered the northern mountains of Arcas with no home to call their own. They were a culture of isolationists, fearful of outside contact and without a faith to guide them. Cesar I decided that his people would roam the continent no longer and he led his people south into the Arcasian Wildlands where only bandits, exiles, and other wandering souls dwelled. Where many saw an uncivilized forest, Cesar saw a new opportunity for his people.

 

Under Cesar’s command the Hyspians migrated from the mountains and into the center of the Wildlands. They began to cut trees, clear out bushes, and erected their tents. Only this time, the tents would turn into houses, for the Hyspians would have their first permanent settlement. Cesar gazed upon the newly settled land and proclaimed that his new seat of power would forever be known as Tierra Natal - Hyspia’s mark on the world had begun on that fateful day. The first town hall of Hyspia was constructed and within it was the first throne that a Hyspian would sit upon. In the first court of Hyspia, Cesar issued a proclamation known as the Declaration of Hyspian Nationalism, a document which proclaimed the elevation of the new Hyspian state from a mere tribe into a monarchy - a Kingdom. Thus, Cesar de Rivera was proclaimed Cesar I, King of Hyspia, marking the beginning of his reign as the first monarch Hyspia and the Hyspians had ever seen.

 

With a new title came new problems. As mentioned earlier, the Wildlands was filled with Bandits and other exiles from the various Kingdoms of Arcas. If the new Hyspian state was to establish its authority over its newly claimed lands, then it would need to clear out these bandit hideouts. Cesar’s pretext for war would be handed to him on a silver platter after a Hyspian citizen was beheaded within the city’s walls. Using this murder as justification, Cesar ordered the creation of the Hyspian Monarchist Army with command being given to Juan Mendez, Cesar’s new Hand of the Crown. The newly formed Monarchist Army encountered a wandering gang of Bandits not far from the City’s walls and, under the leadership of the Hand of the Crown, engaged the Bandits and shattered them after a brief battle. Not long after, the bandits retaliated whilst King Cesar was absent and negotiating with the Kingdom of Norland and raided Tierra Natal. This raid caught the Hyspians off guard, as most of the army had accompanied the King to ensure his safety in the meeting with Norland. The Bandits slew the defenders, raided some of the houses, and made off with the loot they had gained. Once the outraged King Cesar returned home, he ordered that Juan Mendez organize the army and march north of the capital to locate and mark any bandit camps or outposts they spotted. Unfortunately Juan Mendez perished in a sanctioned duel, and thus command was given to his son Carlos Mendez. The operation was largely successful as they managed to locate a handful of bandit camps and engaged small patrols of bandits in battle.

 

Unfortunately, King Cesar would not live to see the fruits of his labor. Not long after the Hyspian Expedition, King Cesar was assassinated by a Hyspian farmer by the name of Pedro Gonzalez who had slain the King out of anger regarding the King’s refusal to place him in charge of the government’s agricultural sector. A mere 5 years into his reign, the King’s life had been cut short. His only child and heir, Antonio de Rivera, was a boy of merely 5 years at this time and was quickly whisked away to the Kingdom of Norland due to a prior agreement with Norland’s Monarchy to shelter each other’s royal families if necessary. Hyspia was placed under a regency which immediately began a continent-wide manhunt for the one who had slain their King.

Antonio de Rivera, second King of Hyspia

(R. 1795 - 1811 F.A./15 S.A.)

 

With the death of King Cesar came the ascension of King Antonio, a boy of merely 5 years at the time of his Father’s demise. Obviously the Kingdom could not be ruled by a boy, and so Hyspia was placed under a Regency council led by a man named Hernan Vlastos. Hernan came to power in a tumultuous time for Arcasian history - the Continent was undergoing its destruction, and the Regent had to ensure that the Hyspian people built their own fleet to escape the continent. The Hyspians, not being a sea-fairing people, had to largely build their boats from scratch on the southern tip of the Wildlands. Many of these boats were hastily made and so, when the time came to flee, some ships sunk and caused many hundreds of Hyspians to drown. As for the young King Antonio, he was safely aboard a Norlandic longship and was transported to the new continent of Almaris unharmed. Once the continent of Almaris was fully settled, the Hyspian people found themselves in the southern half of the continent within Sutican lands. It is there that they struck a deal with a local Baron of Santegian origin - help construct a new town of Osanora, and the Hyspians would have a place to stay. Regent Hernan Vlastos accepted, and the Hyspian people assisted greatly in the construction of Osanora.

 

After the completion of Osanora, tensions immediately began to rise between the ethnic groups living within the city. Hyspians and a people known as Caelians had both made their homes there, and the Caelians distrusted and disliked the Santegian Baron of Osanora. These tensions eventually came to a head after a group of Caelians attempted a Coup upon the Baron of Osanora. This attempt was thwarted by Carlos Mendez who gathered the Hyspians and fought the Caelian usurpers. After slaying the Caelian leader, the survivors fled from the town and migrated north into the Heartlands of Almaris. Nonetheless, this brief conflict brought renewed tensions between the Hyspian inhabitants and the Santegian Baron. Like the Caelians, they distrusted Santegian leadership and felt as if they were the majority yet had little say in the Barony’s government. Just when it seemed tensions would cause yet another internal conflict, the Regency and Barony made an agreement. Power would be shared between King Antonio’s regency and the Baron so as to ensure both were equal. 

 

Returning back to the underage Monarch, he had been spending the early years of Almaris living in secret in the Kingdom of Norland’s new capital of Varhelm. It was there that he was tutored by Hernan Vlastos’ sister as well as a handful of Norlandic scholars. It is this time that the King spent growing up in Norland that exposed him to the Red Faith, the Norlander’s primary religion. Antonio would receive a dominantly Red Faith education, despite the majority of his people being Canonist by the time of Osanora’s completion. The Regency Council knew of this and feared that a religious conflict would occur if King Antonio remained in Norland any further and so the young King was brought to Osanora to the dismay of the Baron. Conspiracy theories within the Baron’s court grew, particularly that the Hyspians intended to violate their agreement and place Antonio at the helm of Osanora when he came of age. Whether such conspiracies were justified or not remains unknown, however the Osanoran government began to slowly give its favor towards resident Santegians instead of the majority Hyspian population. Outraged, the Regency Council called upon the Canonist Church to intervene in this affair. Despite the Church’s best efforts, their presence only served to enrage the Baron and his overlord, Trade Prince Mika of Sutica. While previously Osanora had been allowed to settle its own affairs, the fears of a resurgent Canonist population in Sutica were enough to convince the Trade Prince to intervene personally. He ordered the expulsion of the Hyspians from Osanora on the basis of having brought the Church into regional politics. The Regency (now under then-bishop Francisco Altamirano), not wishing to spill blood, accepted the eviction and made their way to the Kingdom of Norland. 

 

Calling upon their previous agreement, the Norlanders allowed the Hyspians into Varhelm and gave them a building from which to use as an enclave and embassy for Hyspian refugees. Even so, the Hyspian population would grow to be too large for a mere building to house them all, and so King Antonio personally made a request to the King of Norland, Halvar Edvardsson, to grant the Hyspians land within Norland. King Halvar agreed on the condition that King Antonio convert to the Red Faith. King Antonio, now a teenager and almost young adult, debated this decision heavily with his close friend and advisor Carlos Mendez. Eventually Antonio decided upon accepting the condition and was brought into the Red Faith within the hearth temple of Varhelm. When Bishop Francisco heard of this, he attempted to rush to the Temple in order to stop the conversion, yet he was too late. King Antonio then stripped Bishop Francisco of his place as regent and instead gave that position to Carlos Mendez, now being named Hand of the Crown. 

 

Outraged at what he believed to be a betrayal, Bishop Francisco and House Altamirano left the lands of Norland and returned to the southern deserts of Sutica. While at first Antonio brushed off and accepted Bishop Francisco’s leave, he grew outraged when he learned of the Excommunication of Brev, a document posted by the High Pontiff excommunicating King Antonio and proclaiming that now-Cardinal Francisco Altamirano would be crowned as the new King of Hyspia. Antonio declared that this act was treason against his Crown and that he would seek out Francisco and his followers to meet them in battle. Jerrito Mendez, the brother of Carlos Mendez, was given control of the reformed Hyspian Nationalist Army and ordered to wage war upon the Altamiranos. The Altamiranos, called the White Hyspians for their belief in Canonism, called all faithful Canonist Hyspians to their side whilst the Crown, called the Red Hyspians for their belief in the Red Faith, called forth all loyalist Hyspians. King Antonio’s operations were based out of the newly founded village of Nueva Tierra whilst White Hyspian operations were based out of Osanora and later Cartagena. Skirmishes were waged against both sides with neither side wishing to commit to a full-fledged battle for fear of greater powers such as Haense becoming involved. At the same time, Antonio married Carlos’ niece by the name of Sofia Mendez and they had one Son by the name of Cesar II de Rivera. Nonetheless, a Heartlander commander by the name of Gustaven von Halsfield (An anti-imperial insurgent) pledged himself and his men to Antonio’s cause under the promise of bringing Francisco alive to Nueva Tierra. Gustaven’s scouts quickly located the Cardinal-King in Orenian lands and rode out to seize him. After a brief battle, Francisco was captured and brought in chains to King Antonio’s capital of Nueva Tierra. After a brief argument back and forth, Antonio personally beheaded Francisco and cast his head into the fire in full sight of the horrified Carlos Mendez who had previously abdicated as regent. Carlos, also a Canonist, informed the Haeseni of the execution. Enraged over the killing of a Cardinal, Haense sent an ultimatum to Norland. Execute King Antonio, or they would do so themselves. The Norlandic crown yielded under the pressure and amassed an army to arrest King Antonio. When the Hyspian King heard of the army summoned against him, he considered fleeing and continuing on as an insurgency, yet he chose to submit himself. He was granted a chance to defend himself in a duel, and the King was slain by a Norlandic warrior with his body hung on the Ashwood tree to make an example.

 

Cesar II de Rivera, third King of Hyspia

(R. 15 S.A. - 27 S.A.)

Following the death of King Antonio, Hyspia was once again placed under a Regency Council with Queen-Mother Sofia at the helm as the new King Cesar II was merely a year old at the time of his Father’s demise. Immediately following Antonio’s death, Queen-Mother Sofia reached out to the remaining Altamiranos in order to discuss a cease-fire. After some discussion, the Altamiranos agreed to give up their claim to the Hyspian throne as long as the infant King Cesar II would be baptized. Queen-Mother Sofia agreed, and the Hyspian Schism was brought to an end with the majority of Hyspians recognizing the reign of the de Riveras once more. Even so, the Schism had irreparably damaged Hyspian society. Many Hyspians were still scattered after the many skirmishes and raids that had displaced them, and it took many years for the Hyspians to gradually return to one place. Even then, the population of the Hyspians would never rise to its pre-schism peak during the reign of the de Riveras.

 

Nonetheless, Cesar II’s regency went to work. It was discovered that the old Baron of Osanora had passed away and in his will had gifted the town of Osanora to the young King for the Hyspians to use as a new capital. With that, the Hyspians moved from the frigid town of Nueva Tierra to the much warmer climate of Osanora which the Hyspian people were more suited for. Osanora found itself filled with life once more with Hyspians filling the streets. Although the early reign of King Cesar II was largely eventless, it is during these early years that Queen-Mother Sofia passed away and her place as Regent was taken up by her cousin Ser Carlos Mendez. Nonetheless, the Hyspians found themselves comfortable in Osanora. When Cesar II became a teenager, new tensions were sparked between the Hyspians and the Qalasheen folk who roamed the deserts directly south of Osanora. A particularly violent tribe of Qalasheen claimed that the Hyspians were on Qalasheen lands, and so skirmishes were sparked between the two sides. Ser Carlos appointed a man by the name of Vicente Murietta as Captain of the Hyspian Army, and under Vicente’s leadership the Hyspian army was drilled and equipped in preparation for battle against the Qalasheen. After a few more skirmishes and threats of open war, King Cesar II personally went to negotiate with the Sheikh of the Qalasheen. After almost coming to blows, peace was agreed and the leader of the warlike Qalasheen tribe was handed over to the Hyspians and executed. 

 

Despite the calm reign of Cesar II so far, there was turmoil in the wider realm of Sutica. Trade Prince Mika had been deposed yet again in favor of a new Elven princess who intended to bring Orcs into the city and make Sutica a vassal of the Iron Horde. Not wanting to let this happen, Hyspia conspired with other Canonist lords of the region and all agreed to press the claim of Georg Barclay, a relative of the former King Corwin von Alstreim by marriage. Cesar II ordered the mobilization of the Hyspian army and, led by Vicente Murietta I, the Hyspian host joined the other Canonist lords in successfully overthrowing the Sutican government and placing Georg Barclay on the Sutican throne as Georg I. The following Sutican Civil War saw no effect on the Hyspian population, and as a result is not being touched upon in this document.

 

Another event that took place during Cesar II’s reign was the Fall of Luciensburg. While this did not directly affect Hyspia’s lands, Vicente Murietta I led a detachment of Hyspian soldiers in the defense of their fellow Canonists. A great battle was waged by the Canonist soldiers against the invading Ratiki, but eventually Luciensburg was overwhelmed. Vicente himself was killed in the fighting and the Hyspian soldiers withdrew from the battle following his death.

 

Even with the relative peace and prosperity, Hyspia was not nearly as populated as it once had been in the earlier years of King Cesar II’s reign. As a result, Cesar II and his council members made the difficult decision of dissolving the nation and becoming the Archduchy of Hyspia underneath the Sutican crown. With the dissolution of the Crown, the first Hyspian polity was effectively brought to an end as the Archduchy had neither the popular support to continue nor the economy to sustain planned reconstruction of a new Capital as Cesar II had originally intended. When the Kingdom of Sutica was dissolved and replaced by the Principality of Savoy, the Archduchy of Hyspia was further demoted from an Archduchy to the Barony of Rivera. This angered many Hyspian nationalists and those who had remained now left the rump Hyspian state, including the House de Pelear. Nonetheless, factors outside of Cesar II’s control had brought about this change, and there was nothing he could do but adapt to them. Thus brought about the end of Cesar II’s reign as the leader of the Hyspian people and the beginning of the time period known as The Interregnum.

 

The Interregnum

(27 S.A. - 78 S.A.)

The Interregnum is a period of Hyspian history that spanned over 50 years where the Hyspian population was scattered, disorganized, and leaderless. The Barony of Rivera did not have the support to keep the Hyspian population together, and so a handful of noble houses wandered across Almaris to find a new place to settle. Two of these houses who are key to Hyspian history are the House of Monet and the House de Pelear. The House of Monet, a family that had fought alongside King Antonio I in the Hyspian Schism, had migrated to the newly formed Kingdom of Elysium and formed the Barony of Del’Mar. The House de Pelear, a family that had fought alongside Cardinal Francisco Altamirano in the Hyspian Schism, had migrated to the Grand Kingdom of Urguan and formed the Barony of Arenisca. 

 

The Baron of the Areniscans, Javier de Pelear, despised seeing what The Interregnum period was doing to the Hyspian people. He feared that if Hyspia were to continue on as a leaderless people then the Hyspian culture would cease to exist in its entirety. Javier called together the leaders of influential Hyspian houses including but not limited to the House of Monet, House de Rivera, House of Altamirano, and House of Mendez. It was there that the Hyspian houses agreed that should a Hyspian state have the opportunity to form that the Hyspian leaders would band together to reunify the Hyspian people. 

 

It is in this meeting that Javier met the Baroness of Del’Mar, Frisket Monet. Both Javier and Frisket were widowers, and the two quickly found comfort with one another. A few years later the pair became married, binding the Areniscan and Del’Marian people together. From their union was born Cesar de Pelear, a man who would later become known as the one who reformed Hyspia.

 

In the time of The Interregnum, the Hyspians found themselves caught in many large-scale conflicts. The Hyspians living in Arenisca found themselves caught between two juggernauts in the Urguani-Orenian war, yet the Hyspians did not back down from this conflict. Siding with their Urguani lieges, the Areniscans under Baron Javier fought in several of the key battles in the war. Though the presence of the Hyspians did not exactly tip the scales, the war gave the Areniscans the experience they would need to later fend for themselves. (Note: A handful of Hyspians fought for the Holy Orenian Empire, but these two Hyspian groups did not exactly come to blows with each other on their own nor was there any bad blood following the war’s conclusion.)

 

Eventually, the de Pelears moved from Arenisca to Del’Mar after raiding parties sacked the Barony of Arenisca. From there they stayed in Elysium for many years until the outbreak of the Iron Horde-Elysium War. Cesar de Pelear, now an adult, did not want his people to be caught in a new war that he was uncertain they would survive. After convincing his parents to allow him to lead their followers from Elysium, Cesar set out with a caravan of Hyspians and made his way to the abandoned lands of Savoy. There, Cesar and his family’s followers colonized the abandoned city of Niseep and declared the creation of the Viceroyalty of Hyspia - the first politically independent Hyspian polity since King Cesar II. Thus, The Interregnum was brought to an end.

Cesar I de Pelear, First Viceroy of Hyspia & Laurelie de Pelear-Vuiller, first Vicereine of Hyspia

(R. 78 S.A. - 115 S.A.)

With the end of the interregnum and the declaration of the Viceroyalty of Hyspia, the Hyspian people could at last reorganize under one crown and one nation. Many are curious as to Cesar I declaring a Viceroyalty instead of a Kingdom, but the answer was found in one of his journals. In one page, Cesar explained that he created the Viceroyalty as something detached from the Hyspia of the de Riveras. He wished for something new, and something not connected to the traumas of the Hyspian Schism. He also explained that he did not wish to come into conflict with any surviving de Riveras over the title of King, so he opted to create a new title altogether.

 

Cesar I’s reign was a period of reconstruction and consolidation. Missives were sent out summoning all remaining Hyspians to the capital of Niseep, which soon became populated by former Red and White Hyspians alike. Cesar himself took up a great effort in rebuilding Niseep, which for some time had fallen into ruin. The area he paid most attention to was the Niseep Undercity, which at first had a deep chasm which posed a risk to any inhabitants. Cesar and his workers worked tirelessly to fill the chasm, and when it was filled no Hyspians would be capable of hurting themselves again. He also cleaned up much of the ruin and rust around the city, and made Niseep as a whole more habitable for the Hyspians.

 

Cesar eventually married Laurelie Vuiller in the year 87 S.A. The two had taken a liking to each other in a Balianese ball and, after a period of courting, became wed to one another. The birth of their firstborn, Francisco de Pelear, remains disputed. Laurelie herself claimed that Francisco had been born in Balian, whilst Cesar claimed he was born in Niseep. Either way, the couple would go on to sire three more children, with Sofia de Pelear later on becoming the Queen of Haense.

 

One major event of Cesar I’s reign was the Drought of Niseep, which killed Hyspia’s crops and livestock. This sudden event, and the inability of the Hyspians to prepare for it, caused Cesar to seek alternatives for his people’s settlement. After moving the Hyspians to the Balianese capital for a brief time, Cesar came into an agreement with the King of Haense. The Hyspians would be given the Silver Isle, formerly home to the Haelun’orians, so long as the Hyspians gave an oath of fealty. Cesar accepted, and the new capital of Ciudad de Plata was established.

 

Over time, Cesar’s personal health began to wane. He became sick often, and his physical state deteriorated to the point where he often had to use a cane to walk and spent most of his time in bed. Due to his physical state, he would eventually abdicate his throne to his eldest son, Francisco I.

 

Upon the abdication of Cesar I de Pelear, his eldest son, Francisco I took the mantle of Viceroy. Francisco’s reign conveyed a time of relative peace in Hyspia. No major conflict, strife or battle took place at this time. However, internal matters within the family, unfortunately, were not spared in peace.

Francisco I de Pelear, Second Viceroy of Hyspia

(R. 115 S.A. - 145 S.A.)

 

The Reign of Francisco I was, on a grand scale, relatively peaceful. His reign consisted of the development of Hyspia underneath the dominion of Haense, and Ciudad de Plata saw an increase in its population in the coming years. Following his brother Alejandro’s brutal assassination of Cesar I, Francisco initiated a manhunt for his Brother and eventually Alejandro was caught and killed.

 

Francisco’s reign saw the transition from Almaris to Aevos, where he and his Hyspian subjects constructed the city of La Dorada. Once more his reign consisted of peace and tranquility with the Hyspians continuing to prosper under his guidance. However, he was known to have taken a hard line to his opponents as seen with how he had handled his rogue brother Alejandro. It is during his reign that his Sister, Sofia de Pelear, would go on to become Queen of Haense via marriage to Georg I of Haense.

 

Francisco gradually began to take a backseat in Hyspia’s administration as he grew older and preferred to leave the day-to-day ruling to his heir, Cesar II de Pelear. Unfortunately his firstborn child, Esperanza de Pelear, had predeceased Francisco and thus made Cesar II the heir to Hyspia. Nonetheless, the realm had high hopes for Cesar II’s reign and he was widely popular among the Hyspians. Whilst Francisco was still Viceroy, he worked to increase Hyspian autonomy within Haense and laid the groundworks for Hyspia’s eventual independence under Cesar II many years later.

 

Francisco would go on to abdicate his Crown in the year 145 S.A, the same way his own Father had abdicated to him. He remained within Hyspia with his family until he was later captured by Cultists and, along with his son Javier II, was killed by a Manticore. The realm now sits in the hands of Cesar II, whos reign is still to be written.

 

Cesar II de Pelear, third Viceroy of Hyspia

(R. 145 S.A. - Present)

[TheBigBubbles 702]

Blanca-Francisca De Pelear gets a flier to the face thanks to the wind.

[Javert 5594]

Just now, TheBigBubbles said:

Blanca-Francisca De Pelear gets a flier to the face thanks to the wind.

Vicente II makes a note to just...hand them out next time. He admittedly got a bit too excited about finally finishing the piece.

[_RoyalCrafter_ 3302]

"Hyspians are ah historicalleh loyal people," The Grand King commented as he read through the history. "Oi'm glad they were once on our lands n' 'ave since then grown teh become ah formidable nation" He closed the book. "Oi should have this transcroibed in kept in teh librareh."