Second Kingdom of Enqusqo

The Second Kingdom of Énqusqó, also known as the Empire of Énqusqó, is the longest ruling polity to have existed on the Énqusqan peninsula. From its founding in 957 to its eventual demise at the hands of Salian colonial efforts in the late 17th century, it left an important cultural mark on the south of Vidina and the nations on the Kidal Sea. Many reforms of government, law, art and religion arose during its over 700-year-long existence.

War of Flowers
The founding of the Second Kingdom in 957 CE marked the end of the War of Flowers. The war was won by the young princess Póo Mín Tsel of Cílonyósqu after a protracted siege of the palatial complex of Tsétlaxó, which was made the new capital of the empire to boost prestige and legitimacy. Styling herself after the mythic Kings of the First Kingdom, she took a fourth name, Shémútli, a title that became inherited by her descendants. Many scholars have mistakenly mistook the titular nature of the name for a family name, as such the Póo Mín dynasty was historically referred to as the Shémútli dynasty by foreign scholars.

Early history
The early history of the Empire saw a series of political, cultural, artistic, legal and military reforms. Special focus was given to the construction of a fleet of 370 grand war canoes, the largest single navy to sail in the Kidal Sea before the 19th century. This navy was used to steer trade towards the cities of the Empire, sinking or commandeering ships that refused to enter port to pay tariffs. This strangle hold on trade in the region lead to many small wars with neighbouring cities on islands in the Kidal and along the coast of Énqusqó resulting in expansion of the empire's borders.

Golden age
The reign of the Póo Mín dynasty at the inception of the empire is considered to be the true golden age of Énqusqan advancement and prosperity. The period lasted for century after the founding of the Empire by Póo Mín Tsel in 957 to the death of her granddaughter Póo Mín Nyáru in 1057.

Póo Mín Tsetli
Under the reign of Póo Mín Tsetli, the now unified Énqutsa people experienced a golden age. Legal systems were installed that still hold precedent in modern governance of the peninsula. The previous kings of the various city-states now under her control reigned only through enjoying the support of the clans who held land. Póo Mín Tsetli deepened this system to allow the cities a higher degree of autonomy, she would rule at the behest of the rulers of those cities, who would in turn rule at the behest of the clans. Modern scholars often consider Póo Mín Tsetli to be one of the earliest Urbocentrist thinkers and it is speculated she took this approach to rule after examples set by the Empire of Tar-dinuu. Due to this bottom up structure, the empire in many ways resembled a modern federal state and the powers of the Crown were limited by the unwritten rules that bound the Crown to the Cities. In 970 CE, 13 years into the reign of Póo Mín Tsetli, the first census of a population on the peninsula was conducted, known as the Grand List. This endeavour was taken so that the Crown could more effectively govern and tax her new populace. It recorded names of all peoples over the age of 15 who had been within her borders for more than one year, this included slaves and foreigners.

Póo Mín Tsetli spearheaded societal change amongst the Énqutsa people as she was the first Énqutsa woman to ever hold both lands and titles on such a grand scale. Traditionally, there was a division of inheritance between men and women in Énqutsa society. Land was inherited matrilineally, whereas titles associated with political offices were inherited patrilineally. The political situation in which Tsetli found herself prior to the War of Flowers provided the opportunity for her to be the first woman to lead an army. Laws and societal taboo prevented women from trespassing into the lands held by another clan and as such diplomatic and military affairs were the domain of men. After conquering Tsétlaxó, she initiated a set of legal reforms during the unification of the legal systems of the two kingdoms that come to form the Second Kingdom. Amongst these reforms came changes to the inheritance of titles. The [LAW] established a system of absolute primogeniture in the inheritance of office. This law is thought to be the first gender equality law ever written. She also prevented her children from taking their father's house name through the creation of another law, instead continuing her father's house of Mín. The law established the concept of the royal dynasty wherein the children of any monarch should retain their forebear's clan and house, an effect that would apply to already living children upon a monarch's coronation.

Along with her reforms to the military, navy and society of the peninsula under her rule, Póo Mín Tsetli fostered a more tolerant approach to poetry, often favouring and sponsoring poets who didn't conform to the traditions of the previous century. Two new poetic forms arose from her patronage of poets at court.

Póo Mín Tún I
Empress Póo Mín Tsetli died in 1004 CE, aged 73, and was succeeded by her eldest child, Póo Mín Tún. He was 42 upon his coronation and had spent much of his youth by his mother's side on naval conquests. Many records from the time describe him as a very ambitious man who dreamed of uniting the whole Kidal Sea under his rule and in the first 12 years of his reign he made some success towards this goal, conquering cities along the western coast of Énqusqó as far north as the Zyíron Gulf. In 1017 a tsunami in the Kidal Sea devastated the Empire's navy and economy, which was almost entirely formed from coastal industries and trade. The King spent the remainder of his reign quelling local rebellions and rebuilding communities. Some scholars believe he went into a deep depression after seeing the devastation of his Empire. Many contemporary accounts suggest he became increasingly neglectful of his duties and the daily functioning of the Empire largely fell to his only daughter Póo Mín Nyáru. He threw himself from the cliffs of the palatial complex in 1026 after a reported episode of mania at the age of 64. His 37-year-old daughter Póo Mín Nyáru was crowned Queen within hours of her father's death. The timeline of events surrounding his death has lead to speculation about foul play by later historians.

Póo Mín Nyáru I
Under Póo Mín Nyáru I, the Empire recovered greatly from the damage of the tsunami and the poor management of her father. She expanded the land forces of the state, creating a formal standing army trained in jungle warfare. After a bloody 10 year-long campaign, the central and eastern regions of the peninsula came under rule of the Empire. These military campaigns were followed by a period of peace and the rebuilt navy patrolled the Kidal maintaining the trade monopoly and hunting pirates. This peacetime lasted throughout the reign of Nyáru I and the benefits were felt beyond the Kidal Sea as trade, although heavily tariffed, flowed freely and free from piracy. The export of Énqutsa art, culture and religion reached its first peak during this period and being well versed in Énqutsa literature and song was a sign of high nobility and education in courts as far as [DISTANT VIDINA].

She had been a more controversial monarch than even her grandmother had been. Nyáru I had refused to marry a man for her first marriage, instead marrying one of her childhood friends, the poet Zéeya Lín Tsa. This was considered especially taboo at the time and many contemporaries were concerned that she had failed her duty to ensure a smooth succession and the continued legacy of her grandmother. Modern scholars take a much more sympathetic approach to her rule and, along with her wife, she is considered an important historical figure to homosexual women around the world.

Fall of the Póo Mín dynasty
Póo Mín Nyáru was without issue upon her death as neither she, nor her wife had produced any children at the time of her death. The resultant succession crisis lasted for 10 years between 03/09/1070 and 17/11/1080 and is known as the Pentaregnum. In the first year of the crisis there were three major players for inheriting the throne that factions formed around. First, with the weakest claim, was the claim of Zéeya Lín Tsa, who claimed she had a right to rule through her marriage to Póo Mín Nyáru and she was appointed as the Lady Regent by the court, although this decision was seemingly done reluctantly. The next claimant was a lady called Póo Mara Zula, who had become the new matriarch of clan Póo after the death of Póo Mín Nyáru. Under the reformations that Póo Mín Tsetli had created to inherentence law, women inherited political titles on the same grounds that men did and as she stood to inherent all the land of clan Póo, she believed that she was also entitled to the throne. Clan Póo had become exceptionally influential after the rise of Póo Mín Tsetli and a large force from the urban core of the Empire backed a Póo ruler on the throne. In 1071 this force mobilised against the palace in Tsétlaxó and lay siege to it, the second time the palatial complex had been under siege by a Póo army in just over a century. In the spring of 1072, Zéeya Lín Tsa renounced her claim and title and allowed Póo Mara Zula to ascend to the throne.

Póo Mara Zula's reign was plagued with dissent from the start. Whilst many at court welcomed the new queen as a rightful ruler, there were those that actively sought to have her swiftly deposed. Letters exchanged between various courtiers and members of high society show that there was a feeling of opportunity amongst the other powerful clans and houses of the Empire. House Xyóo was one such house who maintained immense power, especially within Tsétlaxó, despite the soured relations with the crown brought about by the overthrow of Muú Xyóo Tín by Póo Mín Tsetli. As part of the efforts taken by Póo Mín Tún to solidify his power after the 1017 tsunami, he had married off his son Póo Mín Xyun to a man in house Xyóo. Whilst Póo Mín Xyun did not directly sire any children, his husband Qa Xyóo Lí had fathered several. The eldest of these was named after Va Xyóo Tín and on 23/07/1074 with the assistance of some defected royal courtiers, he pressed his claim and declared himself King Va Xyóo Tín II of Tsétlaxó and subsequently demanded the abdication of Póo Mara Zula.

The city of Tsétlaxó descended immediately into chaos, with the city under siege from the armies of Clan Póo stationed beyond the walls and the palace under siege from the Va Xyóo forces inside the city. Disease and looting were common during this time. After a fire broke out that consumed half the city in flame in 1075, the forces defending the palace capitulated. Taking advantage of the chaos of the fire, Póo Mara Zula ordered her husband Na Mín Lí to flee with her child and heir Póo Mara Lí to Cílonyósqu with the remaining members of court who were loyal to the throne. After taking the palace, Póo Mara Zula was imprisoned. Decreased moral amongst the Clan Póo troops and the spread of the fire into the camps around the walls saw the siege of Tsétlaxó deserted.

From exile in Cílonyósqu, Na Mín Lí positioned himself to become the Lord Regent and began a campaign of rallying the support of the cities within the Empire. In retalliation to the growing support for Póo Mara Lí's claim, the trail of Póo Mara Zula was cancelled and instead she was beheaded atop the palatial complex in Tsétlaxó by Va Xyóo Tín II before being thrown into the sea. With the completion of the act, retribution for the execution of Tín I by Tsetli I was gained by House Xyóo. Despite this being intended to intimidate the cities, the opposite occurred and the people turned quickly against the newly restored Kingdom of Xyóo. The next four years consumed the Empire in chaos, ending with the ritual burning of Tín II and the restoration of the Póo Mara dynasty on the throne, ending the Pentaregnum.

Stagnation
The state of the Empire after the Pentaregnum was dire. The navy had been severely damaged and piracy had become rife along the important trade routes that fed the Imperial coffers. The 6-year-long regency of Na Mín Lí spent much of its effort re-establishing the Empire and its position on the Kidal to ease the burden faced by Crown Prince Póo Mara Lí when he came to ascend the throne. Although never re-attaining its size during the Póo Mín dynasty, the Imperial fleet managed to regain control over the Kidal sea and trade began to be directed back towards the heartlands of the Empire. The return of wealth through trade and taxation allowed the privileged noble-merchant class to expand.

Póo Mara Lí was considered by contemporary sources to be have been a fair and just ruler, focusing on expanding the wealth of the holdings under his domain. New infrastructure projects were started under his comission, including an expansion to the University of Tsétlaxó and the construction of several new aqueducts, ports and causeways in the imperial heartlands. Alongside the work performed by his father during the regency, the brief 18 year reign of showed promise for revival of the Póo Mín prosperity.

His heir, Póo Mara Lí II, ascended to the throne in 1107 at the age of 19 with much celebration across the Empire. Lí II had spent his youth touring the country to learn rulership from the various governors of the Empire's city states. He had also spent much time in the Royal Fleet of the Grand Navy, engaging in several trade and political delegations with neighbouring states as well as pirate hunting expeditions. He continued his interest in both good governance and naval supremacy into his reign. Many of the projects commenced under his father's reign came to completion under the continued support of Lí II's Crown including planned expansions to the Grand Navy. According to records there were 263 Tsúu and 557 Tévu within the Grand Navy under Lí II.

Póo Mara Lí III was Invariably described as 'brash' by his contemporaries. His reign saw harsher regulation of trade through the Kidal Sea. By the age of 22 there had already been 6 attempts made on his life by disgruntled factions at court. The last attempt had left him blind in his left eye. Lí III decided to break from the tradition of his two predecessors and thought the lack of outward, direct power projection would inevitably lead the Empire into a period of stagnation. This prompted several naval incursions in north Tiridinia along the Kidal coast. Lí III also sanctioned the establishment of trade posts across the Empire's trade routes which became an important factor in the continued dissemination of Énqutsa culture and language. The growing threat of war and the impact that would have upon the noble-merchant class of the Empire, alongside worried pleas from neighbouring rulers forced the hand of the Court. In 1164, before commencing a session of Court, several prominent politicians and courtiers seized the king and drowned him in the pools of the Merchant's Garden, the usual location of Court when the weather was fair.

By the 13th century the institutions of the Empire had become corrupt and complacent. The monarchs had begun to lose the respect of the populace and the imperial court had become a stage for sycophants. This, alongside heavy taxes that had been implemented to fund the lavish lifestyles of the ruling class, had lead to general unrest. Additionally, rivalries persisting from the Interregnum began to manifest as religious tensions between the patron deities of neighbouring cities.