Read below about the most important events in Sedunnic political history. The list will be updated continuously. So far it covers events from Sedunn's consolidation up until 1141 CE.

Questions and comments welcome here until I know how many parts there will be (will have to split the content into multiple posts due to length).

Late Iron Age: Consolidation
The ancestors of the Sedunners had settled the plains of what was to become Sedunn in several waves of migration from the slopes of the Limmvasd Mountain Range as the swamps and wetlands of the lowlands dried, leaving behind fertile soils.

By the end of the Iron Age, several significant cities had emerged, predominantly south of the Setru River. The five most important trade cities (Loennvem, Kodull, Goends, Ullenst and Setra), were each ruled by a sjemelkrem (a chieftain) and his clan. The cities were part of an extensive trade network stretching across the mountains on the south-western corner of the North-Eastern Continent, and while this made them thrive, they were also under immense competition both from other Sedunnic and foreign cities.
 

To consolidate their resources and remove the internal competition, the five most powerful clan leaders, called the Brothers. met at the mouth of the Setru River, an area which neither of them claimed, to chose a common leader - a king (dellm in Sedunnic, meaning "above head"), to rule the lands which the Sedunners inhabited. According to the semi-mythological Maksob Chronicles, the first king was called Hjeatt. The exact year is unknown, the surviving records only mention it occurring at summer solstice.

The clan leaders also decided to found a new city as a common political centre where they met, which was to be known as Grovne (meaning "important river crossing"). They decided that the clan leaders would meet in Grovne in place specially built for this purpose, a "forum", to elect a new king after the passing of the current king, and that future generations would do the same.


Until 500 CE: More, further, faster
More and more cities were allowed to send representatives to the Grovne Forum as they were founded and grew. The period is characterised by vivid trading and cultural and scientific flourishing in the "mediterranean" sea.

Grovne was still a small city, especially compared to Loennvem in the south, which had become one of the most important trade hubs in the mediterranean sea, trading cupper and silver from the mountains nearby with the Tanisians on the eastern end of the sea. During the period it was suggested several times that the Forum should be moved there. It was decided that the fate of Grovne was to be decided by the next person to be elected king.


500 - 520: Internal rivalry
When the wealthy major of Kodull, Puen Aerlije (Puen IV) was elected king, Sedunn was highly polarised over the possible relocation of the capital and the Forum. As Puen IV failed to address the issue as promised, tension grew and the threat of cities in the wealthier south forming a separate state loomed. In 507 the king was found dead in his bed, likely murdered. Ymmn, a wealthy trader from, also from Kodull, was hastily elected king.

Ymmn I, who had been the favoured candidate by the southern cities, soon chocked them by announcing a new city was to be founded not far from Loennvem, likely trying to splitting the power and trade between them. The move was tolerated at first, but as more and more people was about to move to the new city, called Flered, Loennvem sent military forces to destroy it in 516. They face little resistance and Flered burned to the ground.

The king was reluctant to punish Loennvem, and fearing a civil war, Loennvem stood down. The parties agreed Grovne was to remain the capital of Sedunn if Loennvem was granted exclusive rights to the trade on the mediterranean sea.


520 - 600: War and decline
In a competition for trade power, Sedunn was invaded by neighbours in 520. After a series of battles mainly in the Sedunnic lowlands, Sedunn wins a pyrrhic victory avoiding annexation. However, badly damaged by the war, Sedunn entered a period of isolation and was knocked out of the lucrative trade.
 


600 - 800: Recovery
The country slowly recovered. In the 620s, thanks to new methods, rich deposits of iron and gold were found around Kodull and further north. The many rivers flowing west provided good means of transporting the metals to more populous areas where they could be processed and refined. The economical centre of Sedunn moved northward. Cities like Goends and Lityre thrived.

While regaining its once leading position in the mediterranean sea was slow, Sedunn was able to expand its trading along west coast of the North-eastern Continent, meaning an economical upswing for the cities along the Vetem Coast, including Grovne. King Ymmn II revived the idea of a competing city for Loennvem, and refounded the city of Flered in 677. Loennvem did not react the same way this time.


800s: A new continent
New shipbuilding techniques allowed longer voyages on open water. Sedunn competed with nations like Tanis on mapping the two known continents. Following the coast south and further out on open water, Sedunnic sailors soon found previously unknown lands: the Polar Continent.

Offering rich fishing waters, the southern ice-free coast on the eastern peninsula were settled by the Sedunners from 821. In 869, the Vastraenn Colony was founded, and was put under the direct control of the kings.


1141: Out of many, 10
The increasing number of cities meant that the Grovne Forum was getting cramped and electing new kings was complicated. Therefore, in 1141, and to also rationalise administration, ten provinces were introduced on the Sedunnic mainland. With the reform, the system that the five clan leaders had introduced over a thousand years before was abolished.
 

The reform also introduced the "household vote", which meant that every Sedunnic household could cast one vote each every 10 years to elect representatives to the new province councils. Then in turn, each province council sent representatives to the Grovne Forum as advisers to the king and elect new kings when the old died. Vastraenn remained outside the system.