Fathred's Confederation

Fathred's Confederation - known as Kingdom of Etrand at the time - was a short-lived state compromising mostly of today's Kingdom of Etrand, existing between 1138 BEKE and 1106 BEKE.

Birth and Rise
Founded by the now-legendary Fathred the Great, the state was first a rather unstable one, and almost constantly under attack. First, Fathred had to defend against a High Elven invasion in 1136-1135 BEKE, then led a failed campaign against the South in 1125 BEKE, being defeated miserably by the armies of the so called "Phoenix Emperor" from whom later Emperors of Neressa claim to descend.

After the failed campaign of 1125 BEKE, tribal rebellions broke out against Fathred, which seemingly rocked the foundations of his kingdom, however he firmly suppressed them all. Having won back the confidence of the subject tribes, he immediately begun to reshape the system of his loose confederacy into a much more centralized, and - although not intended at first - paternal monarchy.

Looking at Hulra and even Froturn for inspiration, he created the first legal system in Etrand, and attempted the creation of a work of sacred book consisting religious rites and practices. The latter, in the end became more like a collection of several hundreds of books, as he feared that dogmatising the faith of the people would only encourage fanaticism, something which disgusted him even before the High Elven invasion.

His ultimate goal, however - to eradicate the image of the 'rule of the strongest warrior' from the minds of the people - was something that he never fulfilled, and when he died around 1110 EKAE, what he built begun to crumble.

Decline and Collapse
There was little question that one in his family would rule: his blood has won the oath of the tribes, however, it proved to be of little value in the end. Fathred himself chosen a succession based on seniority, as respect of one's elders for him seemed like the logical choice of beginning his grand plan. His uncle's son, Radistis was therefore his legitimate successor, but his own firstborn son, Valamir disagreed with his decision, and made his move to take the kingship for his own. On the funeral of his father, he struck down Radistis with his handaxe, only to be killed by one of his brothers, Guthbard, for desecrating their father's will and memory.

Different tribes supported different candidates, the disagreements grown into feuds, and the feuds into bloodshed and kinslaying. Eventually by 1106, the succession war was won by Guthbard himself, but he could not enjoy his newfound throne for very long - a second High Elven attack in which Guthbard lost his life meant the death of the short-lived kingdom. Still, what seemed like a path out of Froturn's own dark age, turned out to be a ravine, as the human tribes quickly regrouped, if only to crush their common enemy once more. The battle in which the reigning queen of Froturn herself was cut down, caused such turmoil that it practically saved the tribes of Etrand from retribution for a whole millenia.

Conclusion
After the death of Guthbard, the state fell into complete disarray. Not even the remaining sons of Fathred had enough strength to keep the state together, and most of them were concerned primarily with their own power rather than the survival of the Kingdom.

Later, Etrand would see a decade of unity once more during the Great War between 846 BEKE and 833 BEKE, but no united state would form or another eight centuries.

It took another millennium after Guthbard's death for a unified state in Etrand to form, and that one came at a bloody cost.

Legacy
Despite it's short-livedness, Fathred's Confederation did play a very important role in the creation of an Etrandish identity, one that transcended the various tribal boundaries.

Another legacy of the state was cultivating the seeds of anti-Elven sentiment among the Humans of not just Etrand, but also Hulra, leading to the current state of affairs where Humans are not considered true Elves, despite their ancestry.

While Corlagon's successors would try to suppress the Fathred-cult in Etrand early on to appease the High Elves of Froturn, later kings would openly embrace the legacy of Fathred (despite following a High Elven religion), and portray him as a symbol of Etrand's sovereignty, rather than a pagan warlord who refused to be an earlier Corlagon.