The Salenth Kingdom is a major scalago kingdom on the planet Derantu. Located at the western shore of the continent Berros, it has a long history marked by consistent rivalry with his neighbor, the Thraundlus Kingdom.
Geography
The Salenth Kingdom lies in the southwest of the continent Berros, the south a long stretch of beach that rises to a more rocky cliff terrain as you go east. The west side is marked by a long bay that nearly cuts the kingdom into a north and south half, with the kingdom’s capital at the innermost point of the bay through which a river flows. This makes the southern half a wide peninsula to the west, much of which is farmland. The Salenth Kingdom lies on fertile land where a rainbow of plants grows all across it.
The east edge of the Salenth Kingdom is a stretch of forest that ends at a mountainous, arid steppe, which is where the Thraundlus Kingdom begins, making the forest a natural boundary. To the north is a swampland that few inhabit and is often referred to as the only eyesore of the kingdom. Some plans to convert it to a more attractive area have been put forth but usually were turned down for the sake of the native creatures or other scientific purposes of the swamp.
History
The Salenth Kingdom has a long history and has been around for some seven thousand years, going through two major calendar changes during that time. It was founded by scalagos from the east side of Berros who were pushed out by encroaching dringers, traveling to find a new place to call home. After traveling the desert and mountains they discovered a fertile land on the western shore and created a new home, laying claim to the land from the shore to the mountains.
After about a century of peaceful building of their new nation—and here the story becomes sketchy—according to the Salenth Kingdom archives and history books, King Millard 1 murdered his parents and older brother to ascend to the throne, ruling as a greedy tyrant until his sister led the nobles to throwing King Millard out. She became Queen Nyla 2 while Millard took his cronies to the mountains and set up the Thraundlus Kingdom; a war broke out that ended in a stalemate that left a kingdom broken in two.
This generally resulted in years of back-and-forth struggle. Though the Salenth Kingdom believed it had a right to the Thraundlus Kingdom land and that having an enemy kingdom next door would destroy them, the Thraundlus Kingdom became entrenched enough that there was nothing but to allow their existence.
Legends and old records tell a long tale of infighting, outfighting, and supposed use of magic—there’s even a set of edicts, one ancient and banning the use of magic, and one lifting this ban. It’s believed now it has something to do with the view of queens and the belief that one cruel queen was actually a witch or something.
The Salenth and Thraundlus Kingdoms also had a varying relationship, sometimes becoming allies and sometimes breaking their trust. Usually the latter. Sometimes one kingdom or the other successfully invaded and occupied the other; sometimes they went to war but there was no clear victor.
On at least one occasion an outside force took over both kingdoms, as was the case with the first invasion by the thiipites of Keurn from the sea. This was accomplished with a giant robotic Kraken that the thiipites disguised as some form of deity-monster that ruled, but when it was exposed the thiipites were driven out. Both Keurn and the Thraundlus Kingdom would continue to invade on occasion. However, eventually Keurn came looking for peaceful relations, and the two started trading, beginning a scientific revolution in the Salenth Kingdom.
The Salenth Kingdom became a powerful nation on Derantu as the world came together, increasingly connected and integrated, but at one point a war spread throughout Derantu, with many pointing to an argument between the Salenth Kingdom and Keurn as the sparking point. After the war and in an attempt to stop another such conflict an international organization was formed, with the Salenth Kingdom a founding leader in it. It was about this time that a representative government was formed so that citizens could elect officials to lead alongside the monarch.
As the Salenth Kingdom grew in power, the Thraundlus Kingdom grew bitter and a cold war began between them. During this time Derantu first established contact with Zhop and Mintop, and this cold war extended to these new worlds. However, disaster struck when under Queen Brynna 2 hundreds of missiles were accidentally launched by the Salenth Kingdom. The Thraundlus Kingdom was damaged to the point of falling from being a global power. Some claim the missiles were shot on purpose, while others rumor that Brynna 2 was distraught over it and on her deathbed requested that the Salenth Kingdom do everything they can to assist in rebuilding the Thraundlus Kingdom. This, however, was never done.
The most recent major conflict was the great war between Derantu, Zhop, and Mintop. The Salenth Kingdom fought to keep Zhop from invading the other planets, during which the Thraundlus Kingdom invaded the Salenth Kingdom. Zhop proved poor allies and turned on the Thraundlus Kingdom when it was expedient, causing Zhop to lose its allies on Derantu and allowing the tide of the war to change. When the war ended and a peace treaty was drafted the Salenth Kingdom helped create the Planet Peacekeeping Power to avoid another such war, remaining one of the most powerful countries on Derantu.
Culture
The Salenth Kingdom prides itself on scientific and cultural advancements. Though it is old it considers itself on the forefront of the future, with many scientific advances and robotics coming from it. They have also been a major power on Derantu for many years, often at the consternation of their rival, the Thraundlus Kingdom. The Salenth Kingdom is also big on scalago heritage and generally accepts all scalagos looking to live there, even those on Zhop that don’t even have ancestors that ever set foot on Derantu.
The kingdom leadership is a source of pride for many citizens. The kingdom embraced the concept of a philosopher king (or queen!), and future monarchy rulers are given an extensive education and training, organized by both royalty and elected officials. While the king and queen are the rulers, a group of elected officials share power and are able to propose and veto laws. While real power remains with the king and queen, there are steps in place that can be taken to remove them from power if it is deemed necessary. Of course, some people say it’s unrealistic to think such steps would actually succeed and that the king and queen could overrule it if they really wanted to and the only leaders who this would be used on would stop it, but, come on, it’s unpatriotic to suggest the monarchy retains all real power and it’s only through the generosity of a string of good monarchs that the people have any say in how the kingdom is ruled, come on!!
The list of rulers is long and for various reasons incomplete. There’s no reason to go over them here. but as of Wandering Fortunes the current rulers are King Vito 17 and Queen Iris 2; their daughter is Princess Serani, assumed to be the future Serani 6. They’ve ruled for 6 years since 994 when Queen Jasmine 15 died.
Duth Olec's Cuckoo Cosmos 