Ostmark

The Reich of Ostmark (Ost: Das Östmarches Reich) is a kingdom to the east of Emberglow. Its people, the Oster, are the descendents of those men who settled the Embar region thousands of years ago, but who spread eastward. The region in which it is located is called the Ostland, which meant 'east land'.

It is led by His Serene (or Imperial, or Illustrious) Highness, the Kaiser. The present Kaiser is Friedrich Nikolaus IV. He is yet to come of age, so the Kingdom is ruled by his uncle, Herzog ("Duke") Claus von Thalheim.

History
The Reich was founded three centuries prior to the foundation of the Kingdom of Emberglow, following several decades of violence among a group of warlords calling themselves Freiherren ("Barons").

During the first Awakening of the 6th Era, around 886 years ago, two events occurred within a month of each other: the end Time of Telvirin and beginning of the Time of Vindarion in Emberglow, and the publication by Freiherr Heinrich Klaus von Schmetz of the famous pamphlet Hinsichtlich der Vereinheitlichung der Völker und die Gewährung von Adelsstand ("Concerning the Unification of Peoples and the Grant of Nobility").

This paper was not a call to lay down arms, but rather for alliances to come together against greater enemies. The anti-Embari feeling at the time was strong, and many of the Freiherren felt moved to ally against what they perceived was a greater threat. Concerning the Unification of Peoples put forward the argument that the cause of the hostility within the Ostland was due to the "unnatural presumption of equality among the Highborn" and that a hierarchy of nobility ought to be established, with a supreme head established and a dynasty to rule, selected from among the upper echelons of the Highborn.

To be continued...

Embari-Oster War
Coming Soon

Present Day
Relations between Ostmark and Emberglow are friendly now, and their noble families will often intermarry, although the more hierarchical system of nobility in Ostmark means it is sometimes difficult to work out appropriate marriages. Those called 'Baron' in Emberglow are considered in fact to be of a higher rank by Oster standards.

The present Kaiser, Friedrich Nikolaus IV, is a second cousin, once removed, of King Constantine. The two share an ancestor  in Queen Ilaren of Emberglow, whose daughter Princess Sophia married the man who would become Kaiser Hans Christoph II.

The Kaiser has an elder sister, also named Sophia, who is the Duchess of Ausberg-Reinplatz. In Ostmark, women cannot be the head of a family, and so her younger brother inherited the throne.