Principality of Rasalhague

Principality of Rasalhague
Faction Profile
Time period:	mid-2200s - c. 2510
Classification:	Minor power
Controlled systems:	9
Capital world:	Rasalhague
Ruler title:	Prince
Military:	unknown
Secret Service:	unknown

The Principality of Rasalhague was a minor interstellar nation formed in the mid-2200s. A small and peaceful state, it was attacked in 2330 by Shiro Kurita's Draconis Combine and eventually subdued. The Principality remained a vassal state for the next century and a half before it was formally united with the Combine, becoming the Rasalhague Military District. Though brutally repressed Rasalhagian nationalism never died out, and in 3034 the Principality found new life as the Free Rasalhague Republic.

History

Founding and Conquest

In the mid-23rd century, thousands of colonists from the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway and Finland fled the economic woes of their homelands for the stars. They ended up colonizing the planet Rasalhague and eight of its neighbors, worlds that were as far as possible from the repressive Terran Alliance government. These nine worlds joined together under the Rasalhague Consortium, which was soon renamed the Principality of Rasalhague. The Principality deliberately maintained an isolationist and neutral stance in interstellar politics during its independent existence.

In 2330, Coordinator Shiro Kurita decided to expand the Draconis Combine's borders and chose Rasalhague as his next target. His brother Urizen Kurita began the assault that year, and initially the Combine campaign resulted in the conquest of several Rasalhagian worlds. In 2334, however, a Rasalhagian victory on New Bergen ended with the seizure of a massive Combine stockpile of arms and equipment; this windfall ensured that resistance to the Combine would continue for another three decades. In 2367 Tenno Kurita finally proclaimed the Rasalhagians defeated and withdrew most of the Combine forces in the region.

The Dragon's Vassal

Though officially an independent state, the Principality spent the next century and a half as a subjugated ally of the Combine. Military governors, usually drawn directly from House Kurita, ruled over the Principality from the Governor's Palace on Rasalhague. The Rasalhagians did not tamely submit to the Combine, however. In December 2375 native terrorists killed the governor Vladimir Kurita, almost his entire family, and Tenno's sister Omi Kurita. When Vladimir's surviving son Jason assumed the governorship, the vengeful ruler ordered random executions to avenge his family. Jason's actions heralded many years of brutal repression against the Rasalhagian people.

In 2421, when Nihongi Von Rohrs seized power in a coup, Jason Kurita wholeheartedly supported the usurper against the legitimate branch of House Kurita. Jason's actions finally convinced his illegitimate nephew, Daniel Sorenson, to raise a popular rebellion against his uncle, deposing and killing him. As the son of their former High Chieftain, Daniel received the support of Rasalhague's population and he pledged to end all oppression of his subjects. Until his death in 2487, Daniel spent his reign in opposition to the Von Rohrs dynasty, but in other respects was completely loyal to the Combine.

Unification with the Combine

Rasalhague continued balancing opposition to the Von Rohrs family with its loyalty to the Combine after Daniel Sorenson's death. His grandson Blaine would go on to play a key role in restoring the legitimate branch of the Kurita family to power.

In 2494 a young envoy from the Combine, Martin McAllister, met Blaine and his daughter Illiyana on Rasalhague, and became smitten with the latter. After Martin and Illiyana were married, the two men began preparing to both unify Rasalhague with the Combine and end the von Rohrs' reign of terror. Throughout the 2500s, Martin, who had moved to New Samarkand, passed on information to Blaine and laid the groundwork for a coup. Meanwhile Rasalhagian troops were prepared for a diversionary attack into the Combine. Finally, in 2510, the Rasalhagians struck across the Combine's border; the subsequent diversion of units from the Combine's interior weakened the defenses at the Von Rohrs' palace. Martin and his troops then stormed the palace and executed the entire Von Rohrs family, after which Martin publicly revealed his genetic credentials as a legitimate member of House Kurita.

On Pesht the new Coordinator met with Blaine Sorenson and in a grand ceremony the two nations were formally united, ending Rasalhague's history as an independent power for over five centuries.

Politics

Each of the Principality's worlds was organized into a loose structure of clan-oriented families, from which a single varldherre was elected annually to rule the planet. In turn, these 'world-lords' nominally owed allegiance to the Prince of Rasalhague, who was elected every ten years. In reality each clan was practically autonomous, and the Prince held little real authority. In interstellar affairs, the isolationist Principality was famously "conspicuous by its absence."

After its conquest by the Draconis Combine, the Principality was ruled by a military governor appointed by (and usually drawn from) House Kurita. Nonetheless, the Principality was still considered an independent state in political affairs; its governor, Adam Kurita, signed the Ares Conventions in 2412 on behalf of Rasalhague. Rasalhague also maintained its own army and was strong enough to serve as a haven for exiles from House Kurita during the Von Rohrs family's reign.

Notes

Planets known to have been a part of the Principality of Rasalhague during the existance of the small nation include Kufstein, New Bergen, Predlitz, Radstadt, Rasalhague, St. John, Thule and Trondheim.

Maps

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  Principality of Rasalhague in 2319

Bibliography

• Era Digest: Age of War
• Field Manual: ComStar
• Historical: Brush Wars
• House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)