Formal Nation Name: Grand Principality of Talavera
Informal Nation Name: Principality of Talavera
Shortened Nation Name: Talavera
Flag: https://i.imgur.com/2hpO4qt.png]hereCoat of Arms/Other Symbols: Ponferrada armsGovernment Type: Principality
Current Leader: Grand Prince Gabriel de Ponferrada (born Gabriel Miranda Cano de Ponferrada y Jimenez de Lombey)
Population: 2,100,000
Capital: Ciudad Calnegre
Location: Purple. Black dot is the capital.Military Population: -200 Princely Guard
-800 sworn knights
-3,000 men-at-arms
-8,000 spearmen
-5,000 archers
-4,000 Ligeros (light cavalry) = 21,000 total
History: After Siegfried was triumphant and the power of the Elves broken, one of the Emperor's wartime companions, Rodrigo Silvercloak, returned to the southern lands in which he had been born a slave. The liberated humans south of the Amarante River (now the Principality's northern border) had little to unify them besides their common tongue, Talavc. Rodrigo spent the rest of his long life consolidating the tribes under his rule, but not without great difficulty and conflict. His heirs were unable to hold the loose confederation together, and for the first three centuries of the Empire, Talavera would be known as the
patchwork-within-the-patchwork. Individual families found it impossible to rule the region, especially in the west, with its strong regional identities and independent-minded mountain clans. As a result, Talavera often found itself puppeted, dominated or partitioned by realms immediately to its north.
It was not until the rise of Álvar Narváez in the late 4th century AE that Talavera came into its own. A mere hedge knight at twenty-two, Álvar Narváez, rose to beyond-legendary status when he led a successful charge against northern invaders at the Battle of Perjada. Thereafter, his long and storied military career became intricately bound up with the history of the nation. Narvaez's army grew and grew until it was by far the most powerful in all of Talavera, answerable to no one save Alvar and the Emperor himself. Beginning with the capture of San Villaricos in 378, Alvar won battle after battle against a succession of confederations arrayed against him. His campaign of unification progressed apace with notable victories at La Solana (381), Aldea de Rey (384), Montijo (388) and Cavaleira (390). By the end of the century, Alvar had all of Talavera bending the knee to him, allowing the general to crown himself 'Grand Prince' in 402 with virtually no opposition.
The House of Narváez ruled Talavera for centuries, surviving even the fall of the First Empire and the Year of Chaos in 874. Many Grand Princes of the house, noble and ignoble alike, have strode across the pages of Talaveran history. No other family has defined the national identity and course of history in the Principality as much as they.
But their rule was not eternal. In 941, Grand Prince Carlos VI died without a direct male heir. Talavera ruptured into factions supporting either his nephew Alfonso (a bastard), his cousin Luis Antonio (a Borvian heretic) or his trueborn daughter Isabelle. A decade of civil war utterly ravaged the Principality and shredded the once-powerful Narvaez family. Alfonso was slain in battle in 948, and Luis Antonio was assassinated for his heresies by a militant priest the very next year, leaving Isabelle the sole claimant to the throne.
All would not be well, however. The primary male lines of House Narvaez were extinct; the various cadet branches had been exiled, wiped out, financially ruined, or a combination thereof over the course of the war. Isabelle could not lean on her relatives when it came to asserting her authority. She was forced to accept a marriage with Enrique Moncada, Duke of La Ibara, who had been one of her most steadfast supporters.
It was clear from the moment they were married that Isabelle's consort would be the dominant political force. None of the aristocracy thought this objectionable; Enrique was a competent soldier and was well-known as a steady hand and wise administrator.
In 954 Isabelle gave birth to a son, Pedro. Just three years later, she fell victim to a winter plague and died. Not one lord lifted a finger when Enrique initiated a rapid coup and eliminated the last remnants of House Narvaez, explicitly installing his family in power. Thereafter, Pedro would rule as Pedro III Moncada, not Pedro III Narvaez.
But the Moncadas would not prove as durable as their predecessors. During the reign of Pedro's grandson, Felipe, an enormous rebellion erupted against the Moncadas. Felipe was considered an atrocious ruler, an insane animal who was a puppet of the universally despised Bishop Del Granado. Exceedingly high taxes and the horrific behavior of their own Grand Prince were two of the main catalysts for the rebellion.
But the spark that set it off was the fate of Maria Ponferrada. Del Granado had arranged the marriage in 1017 as a way to bind one of the more powerful western mountain houses to Felipe, but his subsequent abuse and then alleged rape and murder of young Maria drove the enraged Ponferradas into open rebellion. For a majority of the nobility, this had been the excuse they had all been waiting for. By the end of 1019, Sancho Ponferrada, Maria's younger brother, was marching on Ciudad Calnegre with 20,000 men from across Talavera. After a lengthy siege, Sancho's army invested the gates, broke into the ancient citadel and slaughtered the Moncadas to the last man, woman and child.
Sancho's closest rivals in the rebel army had for the most part met with suspiciously convenient deaths in the penultimate assault, leaving the young lord with enough political clout to claim the Princeship for himself.
That brings our account of Talavera close to the present. The Ponferradas have ruled since Sancho's Rebellion in 1020. They have in that time been mostly loyal vassals of the Greywelfs, supporting them for the sake of stability. But now that the Imperial family's power hangs by a mere thread, some Talaverans would rather see a king, rather than a Grand Prince, sit in Ciudad Calnegre.
RP Example: I believe you know me
Name: Gabriel Miranda Cano de Ponferrada y Jimenez de Lombey
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Home Nation: Talavera
Allegiance paid to: Nominally the Emperor, but of course Gabriel will act in his homeland's best interest, no matter what that may mean.
Appearance: Personality: Don Gabriel is a well-spoken and charming orator, generally able to converse with fellow nobles and foreign dignitaries alike with ease. He is known to be quick to laugh and is rarely visibly angry, preferring rhetorical games to shouting matches. Gabriel enjoys the company of those who are similarly conversant. Scholarly interest in history is one of his consuming passions, as well as the exchange of stories.
Skills: Gabriel's greatest skills lie in the administration of his realm and engaging in political maneuvering. He is a well-respected statesman, orator, and writer. It was through Gabriel's initiative that Talavera was able to improve upon and broaden its deteriorating network of roads. Gabriel also has a knack for acquiring money wherever he can find it; personally constructing tax schemes to maximize revenue is his specialty. Although he is a fair swordsman and has a competent understanding of basic military affairs, he is not, by nature or training, a general, and so most matters of war are the domain of his younger brother.
Weaponry: rapier and dagger
Biography: Gabriel was born in the Ponferrada ancestral seat at Arriondas, high in the mountains. He was the second son of Grand Prince Tadeo and was groomed to be a supportive administrator for his older brother Hernan, who, it was assumed, would inherit the throne. Fate, however, had other designs.
As Gabriel rose to adulthood, his father naturally began casting about for a bride. He finally settled on Lady Ximena of House Arrieta, an important coastal vassal. They were married in a lavish ceremony in 1198. Although the marriage was arranged and the two newlyweds barely knew one another, they gradually learned to tolerate, and then appreciate, the other, even if the feeling never reached 'love.' Gabriel's firstborn daughter Dominga was born in 1202.
In 1207, the vastly influential Ferrero family openly challenged the Ponferradas for the first time. They had been building their power base in the east for several decades, and their tremendous wealth allowed to hire thousands of foreign mercenaries. Thus when war erupted that spring, the Ponferradas were caught off guard and lost a number of pitched battles, one of which Hernan was killed in, leaving Gabriel as heir.
Gabriel was not a soldier. But with his father sick with grief and loyalist morale low, the burden of the war lay squarely on his shoulders. Gabriel knew that his battered forces were now outnumbered and probably overmatched by the rebels. He responded by directing his generals to avoid all pitched battles and string the enemy along on wild goose chases, leaving their columns vulnerable to raids. In a matter of months, he constructed a wide spy ring and skillfully employed it to spread disinformation and exploit rivalries between rebel leaders. As 1207 turned to 1208, the Ferreros' funds finally ran dry and their mercenaries abandoned them. A divide emerged between the rebel lords, some of which merely wanted greater autonomy, while others desired the elimination of the Ponferradas. Some in the former camp began negotiations with Gabriel, while others gradually began peeling their forces away and marching home.
The Ferreros knew that they had to win decisively, and soon. Tadeo had passed away and Gabriel was the new Crown Prince. They had to overthrow him before he could establish his authority. The rebels once again attempted a siege of Ciudad Calnegre, but were repeatedly struck from behind by loyalist companies. After a rainy three weeks during which the rebels sat miserably in the mud, Gabriel suddenly and without warning led a vicious sally from the city gates. The surprise attack swept the rebels back . . and into the enveloping wings of arriving loyalists.
In the aftermath of the crushed rebellion, Gabriel came down hard on House Ferrero and much more gently on their less zealous allies. The male Ferreros were executed to a man, and their duchy was partitioned between neighboring polities and a slew of newly knighted soldiers. For other rebel houses, Gabriel merely extracted a heavy one-time tax, confiscated a few castles, and issued a full pardon. Talavera needed to heal, and the example of the Ferreros was more than enough to keep every vassal in line.
Thereafter, Gabriel's authority as Grand Prince was near absolute. There were no more direct challenges, allowing Gabriel to skillfully play his rivals against one another and reduce them by every bloodless means imaginable.
It is now 1221. Peace has returned to Talavera, and Gabriel sits securely on his throne, watching his children grow as the binds that hold the Empire together come apart.
RP Example:Notes:
(Ximena Ponferrada, formely Arrieta)(Wife, 38)
(Dominga Ponferrada)(daughter, 19)
(Manuel Ponferrada)(son and heir, 17)
(Tatiana Ponferrada)(daughter, 14)
(Fidelia Ponferrada)(daughter, 13)
(Joaquin Ponferrada)(son, 10)
(Don Tadeo Ponferrada)(father, deceased at 61)
(Lady Mariana Ponferrada)(mother, deceased at 67)
(Don Hernan Ponferrada)(brother, deceased at 34)
(Don Emilio Ponferrada)(uncle, deceased at 46)(Don Alfonso Ponferrada)(brother, 34)
(Lady Sofia Ponferrada, formerly Contreras)(sister-in-law, 29)
(Francisco Ponferrada)(nephew, 9)
(Elvira Ponferrada)(niece, 5)
(Don Felix Ponferrada)(uncle, 56)
(Don Javier Ponferrada)(cousin, 27)
(Lady Joanna Ponferrada)(cousin, 24)
Name: Alfonso Ponferrada
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Home Nation: Talavera
Allegiance paid to: Nominally the Emperor, but his own family comes first
Appearance: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/im ... 1459960560Personality: Alfonso is known to be gruff, humorless, and prone to periods of brooding. His ill temper is not driven by alcohol however; Alfonso does not drink or smoke, and has little taste for women. Even so, he has a deep and abiding love for his family, although he is incapable of showing it.
Skills: Alfonso is a man born and educated for the execution of war. From his early teenage years, he has committed himself to exploring every facet of strategy and tactics. He has a masterful understanding of how to command troops and where and when to use them properly. Alfonso also has a reputation as a skilled swordsman. However, he immediately finds himself at least a little out of his depth when it comes to anything besides military affairs. Charisma tends to evade him, and the finer points of politics and administration are all but alien concepts to the man.
Weaponry: Ancestral longsword
SkinstriderBiography: WIP
RP Example:House Name: House Ponferrada
House Sigil: http://awoiaf.westeros.org/images/9/93/House_Brax.PNGHouse Words: ¡Vida al Sur! Life to the South!Allegiance Paid to: The Emperor
House Seat: (Map location required, picture of Castle/town appreciated)
Approx Number of military at command: The Ponferradas have a standing force of about 3,000 men (Princely Guard, knights and some men-at-arms), but wartime levies can expand their forces to 21,000 men.
History of the House (At least two well written paragraphs please):