Bardany

The Kingdom of Bardany is a  located in Western Merovia. Made up primarily of two large islands and several smaller islets, Bardany has no land borders with any other nations. The islands which compose the kingdom are separated from the Merovian continental island of Pansia by the Straits of Brissent in the east, which holds the maritime border between Bardany and Vassia. The Nebaultic Ocean lies to the west of the country.

Bardany is a with a, in which the Monarch is the  and the Prime Minister is the. The Parliament is divided into the hereditary House of Lords and the elected House of Commons, with the Monarch appointing the Prime Minister on advice of a  within the lower House of Commons and hence forming the Government. The powers of the Parliament are officially checked by the Royal Ombudsman, and in turn, the powers of the Monarch are checked by the Lords Council on Royal Affairs, both of which serve to insure that the actions of the other are within constitutional limits. This system of government, known as the Lionheart system, was developed throughout the history of the kingdom by a series of constitutional enactments, with the most important documents of constitution being the Baronial Charter of 1103, which established the parliament, and the Lionheart Reform of 1416, which introduced popular elections as the source of government.

The human history of Bardany begins with the migrations of early Vinnic peoples to the islands around 15000 PV. The isles would resist conquest until the Helian invasion of Bardannia in 12 EV, in which Bardany, then known as Bardannia, was organised as a province of the First Helian Empire. In 423, the islands would gain independence following the First Pansian War, and would subsequently be divided into small, warring kingdoms in a period known as the Quadrarchic Regency. In 849, the Third Pansian War spilled over onto the islands, with the Rondalan invasion of Bardany led by John the Conqueror as a result of the Vassian occupation of the Rondalan homeland. Despite initial resistance, the Kingdom of Bardany was eventually formed, and in 854, John was crowned as the first recognised King of Bardany. In 858, in an act of goodwill, John took part in the Helianist Schism, an act which secured an alliance with the Vassian Empire and aligned Bardany with the new Alexandrianist Church. The rule of a Rondalan monarchy eventually became accepted by the people of Bardany, but continued noble resistance eventually resulted in the War of the Barons in 1098. In 1103, the Baronial Charter ended the war and established the Parliament, a legislature which was initially composed of the nobility of Bardany; a move which successfully eased tensions between the Monarchy and the nobility.