Sovereignty of Vestus

The Sovereignty of Vestus, formerly the Kingdom of Vestus, was a militaristic and totalitarian state located on the Vectis Peninsula south of the Kingdoms of Tenval and Kestalor. Historically a minor buffer kingdom between the spheres of Aldera and Kestalor, Vestus was invaded and occupied numerous times throughout the Fifth Age as emergent states vied for supremacy. As Aldera's influence waned and new kingdoms emerged, including Tenval, Palus and Vanadia, Vestus found itself able to expand and protect its borders. The growing power and significance of the Kingdom of Vestus led to a war with the much larger Kingdom of Kestalor in 5A 1437, which resulted in a bitter Vestusian defeat and the ignoble reduction of the Kingdom to little more than a Kestalorian puppet state. Vestus re-emerged as its own entity following the Navinian-led Kingdom of Iadria's decisive victory over Kestalor in the Blackbriar War of 6A 309, the terms of which greatly weakened Vestus' overlord and freed the small country. The Iadrian-backed Kingdom of Vestus would not last long, however. Militarist sentiment quickly grew in re-established Vestus, spurred by anger at its neighbors for years of occupation and awe of the industrially-equipped and highly trained actions of the Navinian armies that liberated the Kingdom. A popular military coup toppled the monarchy in 6A 364, reforming Vestus into a 'Sovereignty' led by a figurehead Sovereign Prince but controlled by a council of generals and military noblemen. The Sovereignty of Vestus withdrew from the world over the ensuing years, establishing a totalitarian and centralized system of government unlike any other in the region and painstakingly militarizing along the lines of the Iadrian Royal Legions. Vestus would fight several small wars against Tenval, Kestalor and Vanadia throughout the 5th and 6th centuries 6A, expanding its control to surrounding islands and establishing a formidable navy. The Sovereignty's ambitions would come to a head in the aftermath of the Celliden Civil War, which ended in 6A 607 with the total collapse of Kestalor's royal government. Despite their historic enmity, Vestus quickly joined with Tenval in the Novarian Alliance and advanced on their collapsing northern neighbor, eager to realize their territorial ambitions. Iadrian armies simultaneously moved in from Blackbriar, and the War for Kestalor began.