A Little Lesson -- States of the Confederation

There are no detours and only little stops as you make haste for Lothelsabourg. Your mother's wedding did not occur sooner in order to inform family members and other noble affiliates of the upcoming occasion. You send three men to go straight back to Ostgrenze and inform Lord Dietrich to assemble a retinue of his own and proceed to Lothelsabourg. Toscana is not as far from Lothelsabourg as Ostgrenze is thus the travel time is shorter and made shorter by your fast pace.

It's capital city of Temz was a wondrous city. Franz Jacques' family really did some good on their land. It isn't long until you see the banners, flags and crests of several of the visiting and attending the wedding. "Huh, I had not thought there'd be a lot coming here." You comment. "There are crests from Frankia, some from the Kingdom of Driton who must have sailed across the Driton Channel to come here.

"There's also from the Confederation." Otto points out what you already see. "The bigger, more powerful states of the Confederation anyway."

"Ah yes... there's the Duchy of Rheinland." You think about that state. The Duchy of Rheinland was named after the river that cut through it. The Rheinland shares a border with Lothelsabourg to the south. It's ruler the Grand Duke is an old man who lost his heirs at sea on their way back a diplomatic mission to Driton. He has kept his realm stable and fairly wealthy. But its military was weak. The Duke is also your grandfather's cousin. If the time comes, you can stake your claim to his lands. But it could start a war with other claimants. You know for a fact there are.

"The Duchy of Nornover." The north-westernmost territory of the Confederation. It's sizable coast gives it potential for a trading fleet. It's current Duke is said to be incompetent and self-indulgent. His heir was no better, lacking any interest in the state of his land and the people living on it. Rumors of discontent has spread around the Confederation. He has two daughters but they were still one and two years short of marrying age.

"The Duchy of Falenwest." The state laying in between Rheinland and Nornover. Falenwest is a particularly interesting piece of land. But the gist of it is that it owes Ostgrenze an incredibly huge sum of debt since the time of the start of your grandfather's reign. Your grandfather Arminius had played an extremely risky gamble answering their pleas for help. It paid off in the end. Falenwest was essentially vassalized. Men from Falenwest were often recruited to fight in the Ostgrenze army though those men were trained less and were stationed in less strategic points. This was done in case Falenwest got bold. None of their men would know the more important points of Ostgrenze. Currently, they were in an interesting political situation.

The Kingdom of Nederbel lay just west of their borders. It is a neutral kingdom and one that serves best as a neutral.

"Baddemburg, Wurten and Bayern are here too." Otto says while pointing at the banners of those three countries of the Confederation. "Three of the five southern states of the Confederation are here. But most of the northern states are absent."

You enumerate those states, "Schlestein, Saschen, Lenmeckburg, Demagburg, Linberburg, Thurimar, Furthess," you had to find a way to get these states under your control. Duchies, Principalities and Margravates, "and of course, Bohi and Sudreich."

Bohi and Sudreich are currently the most influential and prestigious of all the states in the Confederation under the rule of equally influential families. Like Ostgrenze, Sudreich is a kingdom. Bohi is a Grand Duchy. Both are bigger than Ostgrenze. At least for now. They are the largest obstacle to unifying the Confederation under your kingdom. "Sudreich and Bohi are the only southern state that didn't come to the wedding."

Otto remarks bring you out of your thoughts, "I did not ever consider the Arch Duke would plan to have so much guests."

"It's the wedding he and my mother have waited for, Otto. I think he wants to go big for her."

"To be wealthy and to be able to provide such an event for the woman you love." Otto is impressed by the Arch Duke's actions. "He must truly love your mother." He states. "It's something akin to a fairy tale, my King."

"All the more reason to hope for a fitting ending." You tell you men. "Now enough talk. We must get to the Arch Duke's castle. With our arrival, we can get this wedding started. I'm Lord Dietrich will not take too long getting here."