The Stratocracy of Yepkau is a realm located in north-eastern Eniru. Recognized by its mountainous geography, lush forests and mountain villages, the Stratocracy was a powerful realm, developing top Second Era technology, and contributed enormously to the transition into the Third Era. Its national animal is the Mammoth, the national language Leri and the royal banner being blue.
Map of Yepkau and neighboring realms.
First Era[]
Early period[]
Through the earliest periods of the World of Quadossier, the north-eastern region of Eniru was nothing more than a home to thousands of little tribal kingdoms simply consisting of villages and their surrounding areas.
The only thing that seemed to connect the tribal villages at the time was the Leri language, which allowed tribes to communicate and trade with each other.
The Great Revolutions & Unification[]
When the Ghoumanji people in the deep south rose up in rebellion, declaring a nation for their ethnic race, rebellions across the whole continent of Eniru were ignited, including the region of Yepkau, and attempts were made to unite the Yepkie people into one nation.
Blue, the banner of Yepkau.
The rebellions, like all the others on the continent, were successful, and halfway through the First Era, the Stratocracy of Yepkau was formed, ruled by a Strato who was also the head of the army. After the Strato's death, the strongest of mind out of his or her children were chosen to become the next Strato, and so on after that the death of that Strato, making a royal bloodline.
The nation was then split into autonomous sub-regions, with each one assuming control over a different sector of Yepkau's economy and government, one of the primary reasons behind its relatively high stability throughout most of its history.
Local village guards stand bravely defending their mountain-pass village against a giant.
Rocky Wars & Border Conflicts[]
After the Ugani Realm, home of the Trolls & Giants, attacked a Yepkie village, the Strato declared war on Ugani, splitting the army into Army Group North and Army Group South, commanding Group North himself. They began by advancing into the realm's northern mountains, while Army Group South traversed through the rough mountainous terrain.
The giants marched further west, utterly destroying Yepkie villages defended by no more than 8 guards on average. Meanwhile, Army Groups North & South finally connected, and had the Ugani troops trapped and surrounded.
The Ugani trolls surrendered, and were all executed, while the Giants refused to fall without a fight, but they soon defeated the remaining enemy giants soon after, and although there were no Ugani attacks for a while, they suddenly struck again, now supported by the Dahr Realm, who supplied them with weapons and even their own creatures of darkness.
The Ghoumanji Realm, the Dahr's arch rival, upon hearing this, immediately offered help & support to Yepkau with weapons and equipment, which was gratefully accepted and used. The wars finally ended for good when the trolls hid in the mountains, and the remaining Giants retreated to Ugani's eastern coast, while Yepkau took some territory enriched with minerals, leaving the majority of Ugani alone, in case the Trolls & Giants launched a surprise attack in response.
Second Era[]
Interwar period & Kuksberry Incident[]
The Rocky Wars ended shortly before the ending of the First Eniru War which marked the beginning of the Second Era. After both wars ended, relations between the Ghoumanji and Yepkie drastically improved, and they formed an alliance shortly after, and began trading with each other, enhancing their economies.
For the first half of the Second Era, the continent of Eniru was mostly peaceful, with the only known conflicts occuring at the time being the minor Lapedi-Diponite war, and the seemingly endless Tahoma-Isani war. Back in Yepkau, the economy was booming from a Diamond Rush, and things remained peaceful in the realm, right up until the Kuksberry Incident.
The small Yepkie-Dahr border, where the incident occured.
In the incident, Dahr troops were spotted gathering at the short mountainous Yepkie-Dahr border, as witnessed by Josef Langenstein, a local village-boy. It was also said that the original guards stationed in the area were killed by Dahr archers and whisked off, as part of their disappearance.
This caused worse tensions between the realms of Yepkau and Dahr, which led to Ghoumnajiius, Dahr's well-known rival, provided subsidies to help increasing the size of Yepkau's army & border guards. Dahr responded to this by tripling the troops stationed on its borders with Yepkau and Ghoumanjius, further escalating the incident.
Meanwhile on the Ghoumanji's western border, the Empire of Isani, another rival of Ghoumanjius, began improving its already cordial relations with the Dahr realm, and announced their alliance shortly after. Then all the nations on the island of Aagrillus, save Lapondo, aligned with Isani & Dahr, forming the Kharos Pact, while all the realms on the Hevensti-speaking island of Geneve joined the Ghoumanji-Yepkie alliance, forming the Great Confederacy.