Gradoslavl was founded in an area near the river of Triman. This area had been partially plundered and partly conquered by Frakians. When it was freed by the hero Mikula, the locals elected chiefs in the various settlements. The chiefs should protect the villages and in return were given power. These chiefs formed a confederation that they called Gradoslavl and wanted it to be a unified country, like Frakia. The chiefs could however not decide on a leader to rule them, each wanting themselves to hold the position. Finally, with the intervention of the church, they agreed upon holding an election, however all the chiefs voted for themselves. To solve this they decided to invite a Vesantian admiral, Ammirateus, to be their leader. Ammirateus set his own men to be a nobility over the villages and started war with the settlers in the north and with Vesans and was unpopular. The bride he took rejected him and fled to Dubrovo. While Ammirateus was away at war she took his throne with the help of the northerners from Dubrovo and Ammirateus became a pirate. There were several clashes betweeen the Gradoslavians and Ammirateus before he was finally slain by Dragoslavas son Jaroslav. The confederation grew strong under the rule of Dragoslava and the people wanted to keep her line in charge of Gradoslavl, proclaiming Vsevolod Kniaz of Gradoslavl. Under Dragoslavas son Jaroslav Gradoslavl grev mighty. He had peaceful relations to it’s neighbours in the north, the Drevnedubian freemen and managed to form a non-agression pact with Vesans, having to give the Vesanians rights of tax free trade at a tradepost on the river where merchants from Drevnedub also came to trade with Gradoslav. The Frakians however were not pleased to find a new power to the east of their land. Being good followers of Svarog, they could not attack Gradoslavl without pretext, however they snuck soldiers onto Gradoslavian march and staged a fake attack on Frakian villages from there. Jaroslav amassed his bogatyr and the local militias, and led a frontal assault against the Frakian invaders. Jaroslavs army was massacred by the superior Frakian forces and kniaz Jaroslav killed. Several border villages, where some had remained loyal to the Frakian overlords of old joined the invaders, as well as many commoners who were forced into the Frakian ranks. Jaroslavs son, Izislav, tried to raise an army, but had to withdraw all the way to the river, where a trade post for Drevnedubian and Vesanian merchants used to land. There he decreed he would make his last stand, and his warriors formed a shield wall. The Frakian king was overjoyed by this, as he saw that even with heavy losses, he would overrun the remains of the Gradoslavian army. It is said that he bragged that he would slay the Gradoslavians and then plunder the merchant ships coming down the river. There was however not merchants on the ships sailing down the river, but Drevnedubian warriors that had heard of the war between Frakia and Gradoslavl. As the Frakian knights charged the wall of Gradoslavian shields, arrows from the boats rained down on them, and then the Drevnedubians, armed with boar spears, longshields and axes charged against the cavalry. Frakians had never seen footmen charging mounted knights and panicked. Their line was broken and they retreated. The Drevnedubian warriors called themselves Bogatyr and were led by a man called Bereslav who were elected war leader by the Drevnedubians. Izislav called Bereslav kniaz, and said he was his equal. Together the combined force of Izislav and Bereslav drove the Frakian invaders out of Gradoslavian territory Izislav named the tradepost Jarslav in honor of his slain father, and decreed he would build a city there to strengthen the ties with the Drevnedubians, who should have Gradoslavls eternal friendship and gratitude, and also be exempt from taxation on trade. While Bereslav and the Drevnedubians were willing to defend Gradoslavian territory, they were reluctant to follow the Gradoslavians into Frakian territory to end the invasions. A border guard was set up with Drevnedubian and Gradoslavian bogatyr, an arrangement that worked well while Izislav were kniaz. His son, Slavolub however wanted to end the threat from Frakian and sought other allies. He married a Vesanian princess and secured Vesanian support against Frakia. In return, the Vesanians were given permission to search for iron in the marches to the east, and take the land as their own. During the reign of Slavolubs daughter kniaginia Vasilisa peace and trade agreements were reached with Frakia. Under her rule, Gradoslavl remained neutral and even seceded territory to the Black Magi to avoid a war with them. Kniaginia Vasilisas policy was opposed by the church, and matriarch Olga tried to influence the nobles to join with Drevnedub in the war against the Black Magi. However, with the Black Magi seeming to have the upper hand, the nobles preferred neutrality. Kniaginia Vasilisa was succeeded by kniaz Ladamír who was very enthusiastic about everything Frakian. He had traveled to Frakia to be knighted by the Frakian king while his mother ruled Gradoslavl and lived there for several years. Ladamír married a Frakian princess and returned with Frakian knights to Gradoslavl when his mother died. He changed the bogatyr guard of the kniaz to resemble the Frakian knights and started organizing tournaments, like those in Frakia, himself participating in the tournaments on several occasions. The Frakian knights were given land and titles in Gradoslavl and became part of the household guard of the kniaz together with, but at the same time separate from the bogatyr. Ladamírs son, kniaz Mstislav continued the trend of following Frakia, and created laws making the peasants bondsmen to the nobles. Matriarch Olga protested this, saying it was not in accordance with the teachings of Svarog to have bondsmen, but kniaz Mstislav would not abolish his oppressive laws, in stead he demanded that the church should ow fealty to the kniaz, and that the kniaz should appoint a patriarch after Frakian tradition. This brough about a civil war between state and church, with the bogatyr of the kniaz siding against the kniaz with the church. In return, the Kniaz proclaimed the disbandment of the bogatir and created knights sworn only to the king, in Frakian tradition, recruited from the nobles. The land and property of the bogatir was confiscated and given to the newly created knights. Both sides in the civil war were reluctant to attack the other, as the armies were of equal size and who would win was uncertain. At the same time, the Black Magi attacked the border of Gradoslavl. Pressed with war on two sides, the Kniaz tried to negotiate peace with the Black Magi and gain their support against the church. The eldest son of the Kniaz, prince Dobroslav exposed this to the people and opposed his father with the help of the common people, forcing him to drop negotiations with the Black Magi and in stead let the prince negotiate with the church. The bogatir of Gradoslavl pledged fealty to the church and laid the foundation of what later became the beggar knights. Kniaz Dobroslav eventually deposed his own father and formed an alliance with Drevnedub by marrying the daughter of the kniaz of Drevnedub. The province waged a long war against the Black Magi after kniaz Dobroslav reached a peace settlement with the church. Conquering Kardomir and then being elected kniaz of Drevnedub, he laid the foundation of Triman. The line of Dobroslav gave Triman the 3 good tzars and a time of stability, with tzaritsa Miroslava succeeding the throne after Tzar Dobroslav.