Erserce
The plains of Erserce on the coast of western Asdauria have been home to nomadic horsemen for millennia. Erserce today is politically divided between the Aurician Empire and the nomadic states of Ebernia and Igdiria. Erserce is a very gently sloping land of plains and low hills, flowing out to the Pallathantic Sea. The northwest coast with the Bay of Sealgo bears hills of some considerable elevation--they are the outlying presence of the foothills of the mighty Jaggudorn Mountains farther to the northwest. The great Tayhoyre River runs through the historic region of Erserce and is the natural boundary between the Aurician Over-Province of Near Erserce and the Eloarian March. The Ibrew River is considered the southeast boundary of the historic region. The Aurician Over-Province of Kandhoria lies across the mountains and is not regarded as part of historic Erserce.
Climate and Features
Erserce is warm in the summer with sultry days along the coast and cold in the winter, especially in its heartland where moderate snows are the norm in late winter. The land is well watered from the sea to the southeast and by great storms that roll in from the north. Agriculture and livestock are crucial to the economy of Erserce. The great Tayhoyre River flows southwesterly through Erserce until it passes through swamps and then drains into the Sea of Magdaia, an inlet of the eastern Pallathantic Sea. The Tayhoyre is navigable by river barges through all of Erserce and a great source of communications and commerce. The Baliphut River passes in the same general direction and drains the westernmost strip of Erserce where the land is ridged with hills. Erserce is bounded to the northeast by the Vadsinkoinen Forest. The principle cities of Erserce are historic Orlangissa on the Tayhoyre River, Samona, the provinical capital of Near Erserce, Thruda, the provincial capital of the Eloarian March, Zarzade, West Zhiricuma, East Zhiricuma, Raspala Thra, Gnatto, Stregno, and Dervest.
History
Erserce has a long history and few historians remember the ancient Kingdom of Arisparikohos over three thousand years ago. Since the Yophenthean Empire and the later Kalikán Empires, native Erserceans have rarely ruled themselves. The continual threat of invasion from the Brasen Horde and its nomadic allies forces the people of Erserce to rely on imperial Aurice for protection, and so they seldom have serious regard for independence. The land has ever been a place of war or foreign rule. Erserce has historically been a separate political entity from Aurice until 2561 when it was annexed by Vice-royal Duke Baimund Kaligär of Aurice during the New Kalikán Empire.
Ersercese Nationalism
Today, there is a strong movement in Orlangissa for Ersercese independence from the Aurician Empire.