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After 109 CE, written and archeological records detail that the varied people of Andora began to cooperate and form larger polities, resulting in the period between 348 CE and 1215 CE being referred to as the Principality Era. The region was broken up into a number of petty kingdoms and other feudal states.
The largest and most powerful Andoran states were Avantana, Cartavedra, Eleuvros, Grejona,
The Andora region was often in conflict. The Nine Brothers, as more contemporary sources name them, warred with each other and sometimes themselves. Disputes were common over land rights, resources, and familial animosity, though a notable exception would be the Orange War of 1032 between Liti and Grejona. This conflict had roots in an argument over which state began processing and exporting orange fruit preserves first.
=== Feudal Conquests ===
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Culminating in the Battle of Pinoa, the Avantan forces proved better trained and skilled than their adversaries when they trapped the Pinoan army against the city walls and decimated them. The new nation that de Naranza carved out would become known as Caza de Caziyho, and his line would rule over it as it transitioned to simply Caziyho, and by the modern day, Casilló.
The states of Cartaverde, Eleuvros,
Maria’s grasp of military tactics and the support of many powerful families ensured she met little resistance as she consolidated Cartaverde, Eleuvros,
=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Battle of Montaperti.jpg|thumb|200x200px|Section of an illuminated manuscript on Andoran conflicts, circa 1291]]
Casilló and Réal had little contact in their first century. The natural barriers of the Nevadres mountains made travel restricted between the states, so it was in
Instead of reaching a trade agreement, the kingdoms decided it would be less costly to strongarm each other. These shows of martial force quickly made it apparent that neither would be willing to give in to demands. Different religious practices exacerbated tensions; many Arranzic nobles were Andoran Deusists, while most Reórans were Royal Orthodox Deusists, including the king at the time, Marius Alejandro I.
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The differences between their military preferences - Casilló with heavy wedges of armored horse supported by pike, and Réal with squares of swordsmen and halberdiers flanking crossbows - meant neither side could maintain an advantage when the time came to push into enemy territory. Arranzic charges were difficult in narrow valleys and on rocky slopes in Réal, and the heavy Reóran crossbows could pick off disoriented horses. In open spaces, the Reórans would be outranged by Arranzic bows, and the cavalry of Casilló had the maneuver room to sweep up and envelop the enemy foot.
Notable conflicts of the Horrible Two-Hundred include the Invasion of Valle de Maria; an occupation and massacre of an economically important Reóran valley, the War of the Red River; a twelve-year conflict over much of the territory of Grejona which was the furthest Reóran territory ever expanded east, the Sieges of Eleçeron; a successive series of assaults and counter-assaults against the
Though the period of warfare lasted two and a half centuries, it was not a stalemate. The Arranzic territories had direct access to the Concordian Ocean, while the Réorans were limited to overland trade routes, of which there were few. Casilló was thus able to slowly grind down the resources and manpower of Réal and offset their own losses via imports. By the mid-sixteenth century, Réal was regrouping their professional soldiers and levied militia. The Réoran nobility was restricted to raiding and small-scale skirmishes.
[[File:Philip II of Spain portrait.jpg|thumb|200x200px|Portrait of King Félipe I of Casilló, 1551]]
=== Conquista===
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On 12 March 1557, Félipe I invaded the Réoran province of Marsabale, part of the Duchy of Palda, with an army of almost 14,000 troops. This set off the '''Thirty Years’ Bloodshed''', also known as the '''Conquista'''. The use of firearms and cannons allowed the Arranzic forces to further conquer Camplata and L'vontre provinces. The Duke of Palda was able to marshal his army and engage Félipe I while the king was consolidating the loot gained from Camplata. The king won the battle, but it proved costly and slowed progress. This stall allowed the rest of Réal to prepare for war, and the Conquista changed from a swift professional conquest to a general war of sieges, raids, and pitched battles.
==== Raids and Knights ====
[[File:Badge of the Order of Calatrava.svg|alt=The Order of Santa Claudia is a cross with each bar tipped with a red flor-del-lirio, the Andoran Lily|thumb|180x180px|The badge of the Chivalric Order of Santa Claudia]]
A large portion of the Thirty Years Bloodshed was raiding and counter-raiding. Akin to the earlier skirmishes of Andoran conflict, frontier territories between the belligerents would often be assaulted by mobile bands of soldiers and mercenaries. These raids were part of a larger strategic goal of depriving the opposition of food, manpower, fortifications, and supply lines. Certain enterprising raid captains would take their forces deep into hostile territory to strike at less-defended towns and outposts, catching their garrisons unaware. As a consequence, more and more towns on both sides of the war began to build up their militia and defenses. The need for capable soldiers to manage and command these defenses became serious; most knights and high-quality mercenaries were already committed to important garrisons or expeditions. This situation led to the creation of three Orders of Chivalry. These Orders differ from the two already-established Andoran Orders, the Order of the Eagle and the Order of the Sepulchre, in that they can be joined rather than membership being a bestowed honor.
In Réal, King Marius Sancho created the Chivalric Order of Eleçeron in 1563. This Order was open to all who displayed good bearing, love of the Kingdom, and skill at arms. The smaller population of Réal and their history of warrior queens meant that membership was not restricted by gender. Many notable knights of this Order throughout the Conquista, including Jaquelin of Santo Juan and the Blue Knight, were women. In Casilló, King Félipe created the Chivalric Order of Málama and the Chivalric Order of Santa Claudia. The Order of Málama was founded as a way to enoble commoners who displayed the means to equip and maintain the lifestyle of a knight, in order to have competent commanders for frontier and conquered garrisons. The knights who joined this order are referred to as 'Knight-Mayors,' or more derogatorily as 'Muddy Knights.' This Order did prove effective despite its detractors, with several successful defenses of Arranzic territory credited to Knight-Mayors. The Order of Santa Claudia was established as an all-women order of knights with the authority to marshal small militias in their home territories. Primarily founded as a means of rear-line defense against raids, the women of the Order gained a reputation as fierce fighters and authority figures. The Militia of Conzelaña, for example, was officially made the Twenty-Ninth Royal Irregulars Company for their skill and bravery under the command of Marta Lilía of Conzelaña.
==== Mercenaries ====
The conflict saw involvement from large numbers of mercenaries hired by both nations. Réal retained several large pike companies from the areas of what is today Celannica, and hired coastal raiders from several coastal Novaris states. Casilló hired large numbers of Cryrian sell-sails, which operated on raids up the major rivers into Réoran territory and helped defend the coast. The cultural impacts of these companies can be seen across Andora. The shipbuilding techniques of the Cryrians heavily influenced later Corric ship designs. Some mercenaries decided to settle in Andora after their contracts concluded. Today, significant populations of Corric people can trace some ancestry back to Cryria and Celannica.
In 1571, Casilló finally gained the upper hand in the conflict. Félipe I had started a river campaign using Cryrian mercenaries to destabilize the Réoran interior. Squadrons of ships would be sent up the largest rivers into Réal's territory to raid the countryside and destroy any fortifications guarding the waterways. Although not initially very successful, the continued expeditions drew troops and attention away from other areas while also incrementally accomplishing their objectives. Since Réal had no large shipbuilding industry or heritage, they were constrained to building more castles and forts along the rivers. This further diverted labor and supplies that could have been used to fortify the frontier regions. The mercenary ships did not have to destroy every castle; they were there to hold the focus of the Réoran military response.
[[File:View of Grol (Groenlo) in 1595.jpg|thumb|200x200px|Rendition, 1788, of the Northern Sieges]]
==== Escalation and Conquest ====
After four years of continuous river raids and small land skirmishes, Félipe I began the next phase of the strategy. The lands between the provinces of Cartavedra and Liti had always been the least-rugged terrain between the two kingdoms, with few mountains to impede travel. Both sides had fortified their sections accordingly. Réal had diminished their defenses in this area to focus on the river attacks to the south, and Casilló took advantage of this. Coastal garrisons had long served as the reserves for the Arranzic lords, but the king had them training while not fighting. This left them hardened and very fit for duty. The majority of coastal troops, nearly 40,000 were marched north to Liti and then west to the border of Cartavedra to siege the weakened forts. These Northern Sieges lasted three weeks, and by the time that word had reached the strengthened river garrisons, the Arranzic cannons had already broken through the defenses.
These Sieges coincided with the largest naval action of the Conquista. Cryrian ships alongside significant portions of the river-capable Arranzic fleet were sent up each major river at dawn the day the Sieges were to commence. This hamstrung the Réoran troops; with no way to counterattack the riverine forces directly, nor take advantage of the weakened garrisons of the coastal Arranzic territories, they were forced to sit as static defenses and engage their enemy in place. The frontier defenses, meanwhile, were still largely independent and separated from the overall command structure. They had been formed to defend their territory, not attack the enemy ''en masse.'' This, combined with contemporary travel time, meant they were unable to be used as a reactionary attack force.
The northern Arranzic forces, which had been bolstered at the front by all but one regiment of the King's Own royal troops, began a rolling encirclement tactic. This method was deployed on a strategic level as well. The leading edge of the front would be maneuvered south to wrap around an enemy position, be it a fortification, town, or group of soldiers. The forces further back in the lines would act as a reserve in case of enemy counter-maneuvers, but would otherwise move past the encirclement to become the front of the next encirclement. The forces that had previously encircled the enemy would pacify the opposition and then rejoin the front to become the reserve. Working on both a micro and macro level, this wave-like motion allowed the forces of Casilló to occupy much of northern Réal. This was made easier by the nature of the Réoran mountain ranges, which would obscure troop movements between valleys. Réoran troops, uninformed as of yet about the tactic, would move in a straight line to engage hostile troops encircling a town, only to be attacked in the flank or the rear by more troops emerging from a neighboring valley.
[[File:San Romano Battle (Paolo Uccello, London) 02.jpg|thumb|180x180px|Section of ''A battle near a bridge,'' 1591, showing the duel between Count Burgí and King Félipe I]]
By the time that the Arranzic advance had reached the Ourá River, they had occupied the entirety of Cartavedra. The river fleet on the Ourá had been stymied by the twin castles of Otia, near present-day Vizos, which mounted a chain between them and heavy artillery. The Arranzic troops successfully demolished the northern tower and allowed the fleet to take the southern bank stretch unopposed. Thus controlling the bridge at Vizos, the army was able to cross the Ourá and continue the campaign. Félipe I, however, decided to consolidate his gains. He sent half the Ourá fleet east, to head up the Azuré River. A sixth of the army was sent back to occupy Cartavedra, while the rest was allowed to rest and recuperate on the north bank of the river.
This gave the lord of Otia, Count Burgí who had not committed his cavalry to the river defense, to attack the bridge. Félipe I, not wanting to lose the largest river crossing in a hundred miles, led his own cavalry to stop the Réoran's demolition attempts. The Battle at Vizos Bridge was the largest single cavalry engagement of the Conquista, with 400 medium and light Réoran horsemen engaging 700 heavy and medium horsemen from the Arranzic army. After several complex flanking maneuvers and counter-maneuvers across the plateau, the Réoran horse managed to separate their opponents line into three. The Arranzic riders took losses from crossbow fire and javelins, and were unable to fully utilize their massed charge capabilities in the small and uneven field on the southern end of the bridge. Count Burgí, a respected military mind and fighter, personally engaged Félipe I in mounted combat. The Arranzic king took several significant blows but held himself long enough to sever the saddle straps of his opponent with his sword. Count Burgí fell and was subsequently trampled. The remaining Réoran horse quit the field soon after.
Incensed by his wounds and the possibility of the advance being stymied, Félipe sent the bulk of the army ahead after a week of rest, while he and a detachment of royal troops remained at Otia to recuperate. The Arranzic forces faced less resistance as they moved south along the western half of Réal, as soldiers were garrisoned mostly in the east. By 1577, they had endured losses of estimated 4,000 troops, and in turn captured 20,000 and killed 18,000 more. Advancing deeper into the Réoran heartlands proved more difficult. The mountains became harsher and the defenders more trained and fanatical. The Sieges of Descarai and Vazara were the longest and bloodiest battles of the whole Conquista; they lasted 2 and 3 years respectively with a total loss of life around 40,000 military and civilian casualties. A significant obstacle the Arranzic forces needed to overcome was the terrain being unsuited for large-scale cannon bombardment. Locations with both line of sight on fortifications and flat, even terrain to transport and deploy cannons were scarce. Sieges that should have taken weeks or months stretched on and on, and gave time for defending armies to rally.
The provincial lords of Eleuvros stripped garrisons of trained soldiers and conscripted most able-bodied men to meet the army that had flanked them in the rear. Historians posit that if the terrain was not so difficult for both sides at the Sally at Vazara, when the Duke of Eleuvros and half the province's lords descended on Félipe I and his army, who by this time had reconsolidated, then the Arranzic troops would have routed. The battle ended with a loss of 3,000 men on the Arranzic side, 8,000 Réorans, and the surrender of the city. This battle froze the army in place for another year as their numbers had been diminished through battle and garrisoning occupation troops they no longer held a numerical advantage. The river fleets, which had been mostly destroying infrastructure and bogging down troops up to this point, began ferrying seasoned front-line troops further into Réoran territory to launch small sieges and bolster the king's army.
Casilló secured the capitulation of Eleuvros in this advance and took significant defensive forts in Imodé. Simultaneous assaults on towns from land and river led to more surrenders and what is estimated to be a fourth of Réal's total military strength laying down their arms. By 1581 the kingdom of Réal had been reduced in free territory to Marsalvano and the western portions of Imodé King Marius Sancho had by this time summoned all available lords to defend Marsalvano and the capital city, though only a third of those available joined him. The rest either did not reply or cited threats to their own lands. At this point in the war, Félipe I was able to call upon an estimated 45,000 professional soldiers with a further 120,000 conscripted infantry and 25,000 mercenary troops, with the rest of the Royal Arranzic Armed Legions serving as defensive or occupational troops. He also had the various mercenary sailors and fleet marines making up another 10,000 troops. In contrast, Marius Sancho had approximately 20,000 professional soldiers across his remaining territory with 9,000 available for maneuvers, and around 40,000 conscripts and 8,000 mercenaries, mostly pikemen from Celannica. The defenses of the capital territories of Réal were formidable but never battle-tested.
The city of Eleçeron did not have sufficient defensive works to repel an assault by river, which the Río Dorado being the largest in the region, posed a significant threat. Construction was begun on a river wall with an enormous gate in 1582, as the Arranzic army marched closer to the city. The strategy, however, was not to take the capital immediately. Félipe I instead directed his lords and generals to capture all remaining territory under Réoran control. He and the royal troops began an encirclement of the eastern portion of the city, and soldiers from the Duchy of Giroruña were disembarked on the western bank several miles downriver to begin the encirclement of the other half. Facing limited resistance due to almost two-thirds of the remaining Réoran soldiers occupying Eleçeron, the Arranzic army was able to conquer the rest of Marsalvano and Imodé by late 1583.
[[File:1579 Siege of Maastricht - Aranjuez Palace.jpg|thumb|275x275px|''The Siege of the Royal City'', 1600]]
Marius Sancho ordered the continuation of the work on the river walls. With no outside resources and no quarries within the city, this involved demolishing buildings within the walls and dumping the stone into the river. The populace was incensed by this and the rapidly dwindling food stores being monopolized by the thousands of soldiers. When the Arranzic army began shelling the fortifications with cannons on board ships in the river, the laborers stopped work and refused to return, leaving the river walls half finished. Félipe I sent heralds repeatedly to the city asking for surrender, but they returned each time with ruder and ruder replies. Félipe I attempted to personally negotiate the surrender and brought his sons Arturo and Félipe with him to the walls. Marius Sancho outright refused to surrender or entertain the though of a settlement, despite the protests of his own son Enriqué. A Réoran crossbowmen, apparently intending to kill Félipe I, instead shot Arturo, which killed him within seconds. Marius Sancho killed the archer on the spot, audibly shouting about how the death of the Arranzic crown prince had doomed the city. Félipe returned to his camp and ordered a continuous bombardment of the city walls until all cannons had run out of either ammunition or powder.
The Thunderstorm Siege lasted for four weeks, and involved a round-the-clock artillery barrage that remains the longest single artillery engagement in Andoran history. Félipe I had brought nearly 300 guns of varying sizes, with a further 34 on board ships in the river. Eleçeron was attacked from the nearly all directions. Fortifications, earthworks, and siege platforms were erected to give cannons better firing angles on the city walls as well as buildings within. It is estimated that over 80,000 cannonballs, grapeshot, and mortars were fired onto the city. Care was taken to avoid damaging civilian homes, with royal observers being assigned to each battery and the authority to execute any crew that hit a non-military target intentionally. The East and West Royal Gates were recorded to have been hit 4,000 times combined, and the Réoran Guard Barracks almost 1,000. Neither structure survived into the modern day, and only 12% of the city walls of Eleçeron exist currently. The barrage was so powerful and so loud that soldiers were rotated to the encampment lines, 2 miles distant, after only 3 hour shifts. Contemporary Réoran accounts describe a never-ending lightning storm, with earthquake-like impacts being able to be felt everywhere in the city and the constant roar of thunder permeating even the cellars of the Royal Palace.
After all ammunition had been exhausted, the Arranzic armies were ordered to advance. Félipe I had issued orders that no enemy soldier was to remain alive at the end of the day. They encountered little resistance, with most of the still-surviving Réoran soldiers surrendering on the spot. Most were simply killed immediately, and those taken prisoner were executed when they reached the war camps. The civilian population was ignored for the most part; those that confronted the Arranzic troops were imprisoned. The Royal Palace of Eleçeron was stormed by Félipe I himself, along with his household troops. The Carratéo Royal Bodyguard, a force of five hundred men as well as nearly seven hundred soldiers occupied the building and put up a ferocious resistance, dying to a man but killing 657 of the two-thousand strong Royal Arranzic Guard. All those living in the Palace were killed either in the fighting, or afterwards. This included all members of the House of Carratéo, save for the sole child, Princess Alicia, making the family functionally extinct in the male line.
== Geography ==
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[[File:Aloe vera farm Tenerife 6.jpg|thumb|200px|A greenhouse in Marsalvano growing bananas and aloe]]
Agriculture is the second-largest employer in the country and the largest economic contributor, at 10.4% of GDP. Casilló y Réal has an abundance of fertile soil at different elevations and acidities, making about 36% of the nation able to be used for agriculture. The culture of farming is deeply ingrained into Corric culture. Many cities still possess farmland within their municipal limits, and often neighborhoods have communal gardens. Casilló y Réal is the largest exporter of olive oil, citrus fruit, cereals, and tobacco in Novaris, with the production of these goods making up 28% of all agricultural output. 22% of farmland is used for animal husbandry, with an additional 14% used as permanent pasture. Many animals are raised for their secondary products instead of their meat, with cheese, wool, milk, and manure contributing 7% of the agriculture exports. The nation is the largest breeder of horses in Novaris, with 200,000 head foaled in 2020.
Corric farmers are adept at crop rotation. Largely due to limited rain and lower soil quality, historical agriculture in Andora relied on several staple summer winter crops. Many farms would have maize, fruit trees, wheat, and olives planted during the summer, and rotate in beets, cabbage, carrots, and pax fruits for the generally mild winter. This practice has grown to a point where most cultivated land in the nation harvests twice a year.
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