II 490 - IV 689
Emblem of Kardunash
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| Type | Absolute monarchy (before III 12) Absolute diarchy (after III 12) |
| Capital | |
| Head of State | Lord of Kardunash (until III 12) Land Lord (after III 12) Sea Lord (after III 12)
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| Legislature | |
| Language |
Preceded by Kardunash under Deshenite rule | Succeeded by |
* For most of Kardunashi history, the Council served a purely advisory role. By the end of the Kingdom, it had become a formal legislative body.
The Kardunashi Kingdom was a monarchy centered on the city of Kardunash which existed from its independence from the Deshenite Kingdom II 600 to the founding of the Kardunashi Sea Empire in III 700. The Kardunashi Kingdom survived the Great Flood due to Urshu I, its powerful sorcerer king.
Following the death of Urshu I, the rule of the kingdom was divided into two monarchs: the Lord of Land (Land Lord) who governed the city and island of Kardun (called the Realm of the Land in official documents), and the Lord of Sea (Sea Lord) who was the governor of the kingdom's few oversees territories (called the Realm of the Sea in official documents). These monarchs were descended from Urshu's two children, Qarnaim I and Beldhanno I.
Over time, the power of the Sea Lord began to eclipse that of the Land Lord as the kingdom's overseas empire grew. As such, the Land Lord became an increasingly weaker and weaker position, though it still drained the treasury via feasts, tourneys, and vanities.
Early on, the Meradarathi Empire emerged as the chief rival of Kardunash in the east, as Kardunashi expansion in the Sea of Gold encountered Meradarathi colonies. Three major wars would be fought against Meradarath, with the Third Meradareen War ending with sole Kardunashi dominance on the west coast of Yekare. It would be shortly after this war that Sea Lord Hana II would land her fleet in the Gulf of Nys and found the city of Nys. The sustained Kardunashi presence on Yekare also led to a new rivalry between Kardunash and the Nemishite Empire.
The period traditionally associated with the Sea Empire began with the reign of Sea Lord Quarta I, who took the throne after her father, Hannilcar I, died under suspicious circumstances. Blaming the Land Lords, Quarta began a campaign to usurp the authority of the Land Lords, and wiped out the entire House of Qarnaim. She then took sole rulership of the empire, retaining her title of Sea Lord.
Land Lord Arishat I (left) and Sea Lord Beldhanno I (right)