Aukalnia and Sartland

Aukalnia and Sartland, formally the United Republics of Aukalnia and Sartland (: Aukalnijos ir Sartijos jungtinės respublikos, : Aukalnijas un Sartijas Apvienotās republikas), often known informally as simply Aukalnia, is a located in Eastern Artemia. With an area of 101,996 km2 (39,381 sq miles), Aukalnia and Sartland is administratively divided into the two respective republics of Aukalnia and Sartland and a single at Ažytėnai on the Boreal coast. Aukalnia and Sartland borders Gardarike to the south, Yarova to the east and Kironia to the west. In 2018, the estimated population of the country was 4.3 million people. The two official languages of the state, Aukalnian and Sartish, are the only two living languages in the of the  language family.

Etymology
The country’s name comes from the two historic regions of Aukalnia and Sartland. Aukalnia, or Aukalnija in the Aukalnian language, derives its name from aukštas kalnas meaning ‘high mountain’ and the common suffix –ija is often added as a descriptor of place names. Whereas Sartland’s native name of Sartija stems from the word sārts meaning ‘ruddy’, which is most widely believed to originate from the country’s iron-rich terrain. In older texts, dating back to the 13th century, Sartland was known as Sartve or Sartvi, the latter being the name of an ancient.

Early history
Human settlement in most parts of Aukalnia and Sartland only became possible following the thawing of ice from the last glacial era some 12,000-10,000 years ago. However, has determined numerous prehistoric villages along the River Skaidrus within the southern interior of the country, such as Kazimierava, were first settled by  approximately 25,000 years ago. These earliest inhabitants of Aukalnia and Sartland would have relied on subsistence methods of survival, namely hunting, gathering and fishing in nearby bodies of water. Between the period of 1000-500 BCE, a transition from hunting-gathering-fishing subsistence to single farm-based settlement began.

During the middle, the Aukalnians and Sarts warred with each other, as well as with the , , and with the expanding to the south-east. Accordingly, it was during this time that the indigenous peoples of the region started to organise into political units. Throughout the early centuries CE, the Aukalnians and Sarts fought with Slavic Christians who waged a series of  in the East Boreal region.

Grand Duchy of Aukalnia
The Grand Duchy of Aukalnia was an Eastern Artemian state that existed from the 13th century CE to 1801, when the establishment was toppled during the Aukalnian Rebellion with the support of the Vojiskiy Empire. The Grand Duchy was founded by Aukalnians but went on to include Sartland, Kryzhelovschina, and parts of Peremorovka and Gardarike. For most of its existence, it was the greatest rival of the Vojiskiy Empire and one of its antecedents, the Peremorovkan Hetmanate. In the late-14th century CE, Grand Duke Vitalijus the Strong-kneed converted to and adopted Catholic King of Aukalnia as his secondary title.

Throughout the 15th century and 16th centuries, the Grand Duchy expanded territorially, unifying with Sartland in 1431, Kryzhelovschina in 1483, and pushing the Peremorovkars east of the River Bily in 1576 following their victory at the end of the Aukalnian-Peremorovkan War. The dynastic union of the Peremorovkan Hetmanate and the Tsardom of Yarova in 1692 proved to be a major security risk to the Grand Duchy, however, the Plantations of the Dzyunakaz in the 17th century postponed any immediate advance from the now-united enemies. Grand Duke Modestas II of Aukalnia failed in his attempts of achieving a nonaggression pact with the Vojiskiy machine and, in 1734, within weeks of crushing the last-standing strongholds of the Dzyunakaz, Yarova invaded Kryzhelovschina.

The Grand Duchy suffered a decisive defeat in a conflict now known as the Four Day War, and the entirety of the Kryzhelov traditional homeland was ceded to the Vojiskiy Empire. After this, the Grand Duchy fell into gradual, yet considerable decline, losing control over swathes of land to Gardarike from the mid-18th century onwards. In a strategic ploy to gain access to the Boreal Ocean and pull the Grand Duchy into Yarova’s sphere of influence, the Vojiskiy Empire started provided weaponry and ammunition to Aukalnian and Sartish rebels during the peasant Aukalnian Rebellion of 1801. In the winter of that year, the Vojiskiys also dispatched a sizeable expeditionary force of 25,000 troops and, fighting alongside rebels of various ethnic groups, Grand Duke Modestas II was dethroned as a result of the Fall of Ažytėnai on 21 December 1801.