Khijovia

Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia Khıjœvïænne Æšcaeē Raēgə
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "Vīəra unīəva Laexxe seþþ' Mætriannə jmørre" "Love of the Motherland is our only Law"
Anthem:  Khıjœvïænne Aemınærïe Hyjnnə The Preclarous Khijovian Anthem
Lands and surroundings of the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia
Capital	Kleitore
Largest	Xoviah
Official languages	Khijovian
Recognised regional languages	Teutorian, Aldorian, Klettorian
Ethnic groups	Humans (100%)
Religion	Aravianism
Demonym(s)	Khijovian
Government	Feudal Constitutional Monarchy
• Ascended King of Khijovia	Arcadion II
• Ascended Queen of Khijovia	Carevia I
Legislature	Royal Parliament
Establishment
• Foundation of the Ascended Kingdom	1611 AR
Area
• Land Area	385,270 km2 (148,750 sq mi)
Population
• 1611 AR estimate	~34,275,100
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Per capita	41,850 Shonnenors (46,220 USD)
Currency	Shonnenor (SHN)

Khijovia (Khijovian: Khıjœvïæ [kɪjəʊviə]), officially The Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia, is a feudal constitutional monarchy located in northwestern Pelia (in a geographical region usually known as the High West) with Kleitore as its capital city. The nation has a population of about 34 million inhabitants and occupies the entire historical region of the same name, including territories of the Clastoclite mountain range and the Recondian Arcipelago, and bordering to the south with Prestore. The Ascended Kingdom was founded in 1611 AR by Arcadion II shortly after the collapse of the Khijovian Federation and after the return of the Zenonian Dynasty. The State is divided according to the Jovianic Feudal System into 27 administrative regions corresponding to the territorial units of the main Khijovian aristocratic houses. A strongly spiritual society, Khijovia has always had a very special relationship with the magical arts.

Etymology

The etymology of the name Khijovia has always been the subject of reconstructions not only by linguists, but also by historians, traditionally attentive to the question; not always, however, we are faced with etymologies in the strict sense, but with hypotheses that are based on considerations extraneous to the specifically linguistic reconstruction of the name, and which over time have formed a rich corpus of solutions, among which there are numerous that refer to popular traditions (such as the mythical existence of an ancient king named Khjvonnə).

It is thought that the name derives from the word Khyjvīə, an exoethnonym with which the Coritians designated a tribe that inhabited the bordering region of Aldoria. It is also hypothesized, however not in contrast with what has been said, that this people worshiped the simulacrum of a pagan divinity, Khœvă. According to this hypothesis, the name would therefore mean "inhabitants of the land of Khœvă".

A further hypothesis instead maintains that the origin of the name is simply the semantic union of the word Kheutonic, a qualifying adjective of uncertain etymology which referred to the Holy Kheutonic Empire, with the term Jovianic, which referred to the Jovianic Order and its doctrine.

History

A crossroads of numerous prehistoric cultures, ancient Khijovia saw the birth and flourishing of a multitude of independent city-states that thrived for hundreds of years, eagerly preserving their culture and language from outside meddling and influences. Following the collapse of the city-state system around 277 BR, the Khijovian territory was occupied by numerous nomadic peoples coming from the North, thus initiating the so-called Barren Ages and ending the Archaic Phase of Khijovian history.

Khijovia was then conquered and divided into multiple governatorates by the Kveutonic civilization in 87 BR, becoming one of the most important economic and cultural centers of the Holy Kveutonic Empire. Having reached its maximum expansion in the "heydays" (800-825 AR), the Kveutonic empire then dissolved in 902 due to the continuous invasions of barbarian peoples from the east, thus creating new independent statelets throughout the Upper West and sanctioning the birth of ancient religious-monastic military orders: among these was the Jovianic Order, which operated on the Khijovian region for more than a century until its disappearance around 1056.

Starting from 1152, the Grand Duke of Klettoria Zenon the Great launched a campaign of national unification and managed to defeat the rival House of Arenia for hegemony over Khijovia, then reuniting the agglomeration of territories into a single Kingdom on July 11, 1161: the Kingdom of Khijovia. Although hundreds of years of reign, on January 28, 1534 the Zenonian Dynasty was driven out in a coup d'état and the Khijovian Federation was founded. However, Federalist Khijovia had a short life as, with the return of the Zenonian Dynasty in 1610, the young prince Arcadion II managed to obtain power and bring the monarchy back to the country: on 3 July 1611 the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia was founded.

Ancient Age

The first settlement of the Khijovian territory dates back to about 70,000 years ago by the Acreatics, a nomadic people whose only remaining archaeological site is preserved in Yvernia on the Pletorian coasts. The Neolithic revolution did not excessively change the lifestyle of the Acreatics, who continued to base their subsistence on hunting and collecting shellfish.

Starting from the sixth millennium AR, however, this population settled in the surrounding plains and mountains and, due to the mountainous nature of the territory, transhumant farming developed while agriculture appeared later. The beginning of metallurgy in Khijovia gave birth to the cultures of the Copper Age: thus the Venatorian culture was born in the north, the Khantan culture in the center and the Komravian culture in the south. The Bronze Age led to the development in central Khijovia of the Xomian culture while the Iron Age gave birth to the Kleitite culture on the River Thevre.

Geography and climate

At 695,622 km2, the Confederation stands at the middle in terms of size for countries in Sparkalia, similar in size to Meria or Japuile. In terms of latitude it's current southern borders coincide with the southern borders of Choslow or the northern borders of Axeut, while it's northernmost point lies roughly in accordance to the central-northern of Choslow. The confederation is unique in not sharing a border with any given nation, having hundreds of kilometres between it and the closest nation, the Golden Domain.

The geography of the Confederation is very varied, however mostly comprising the mountainous southern areas, the hill-covered north and steppes making up much of the interior; around 20% of the country is forested and a similar amount is desertic in nature, with the whole of the confederation lying within the Polykariote-Eukariote Limes, encompassing the whole of it, a region of Sparkalia where strange and seldom seen flora and fauna inhabit, almost entirely in isolation from the rest of the world. The highest peak of the country is the Snowcrown, with the average height above sea level in the country laying around 1.000 metres above sea level.

Due to the surpising levels of volcanic and seismic activity in the mountain ranges, it is thought that the lands that the Dze inhabit once were separate from Pythia, drifting southwards as time passed; however there is also the theory that refutes this, suggesting that the lands inside the P.E.L. were always part of the continent and that, in colder periods, the P.E.L. stretched further to the south. The continental plate in whee the P.E.L. is located is also home to some of the most ancient Zircon crystals found to date.

Climate

The lands of the Dze are sometimes referred to as the "Land of ice and fire" (Old Dze: "Ŋq̇enyyŋt'e'y ẋƚe", referring to the harsh winters it is subjected to and the volcanoes in its tall mountain ranges. Due to the ocean currents and wind cells, the country is known to drop as low as -50ºC during winters on the glacial areas, with temperatures in the summer averaging to 18ºC to 21ºC. In the winter the whole country is subjected to the Bight Anticyclone, however, due to the rugged mountainous south, the country is home to several microclimates in its valleys, supported as well by minor geothermal activity which has caused for warm water springs to appear in the interior, creating warmer climates in spite of the anticyclone phenomenon.

The country also has on average 103 cloudless days, more concentrated in the spring and summer and it's a nation with high atmospheric pressure on average. Precipitation is also more notorious in the north and west, with the southern valleys being classified as a cold desert or arid steppe, the most precipitation occuring in the Cloudspear peninsula at an annual average of 630mm and the least happening in the Dlał̣ desert in the south at 97mm of annual precipitation.

Most climates in the coastline are humid continental or oceanic, while the vast array of coastal hill systems create a primary rain shadow effect in all areas except for the westlands where these climates are more prevalent. The mountain ranges create a secondary, larger, rainshadow effect which allows for the creation of steppe, sub-arctic and humid continental climates in the interior, with a limited amount of cold, desertic climates in the furthest inland regions due to the massive continentality effects of the Pythian landmass; lastly, the mountains themselves are home to a tundra climate due to their altitude and position.

Wildlife

Main article: Wildlife of the Dze Confederation

The rain shadow effect has created a myriad of small deserts in the south below the Greater and Lesser Southern Ranges. Due to the abundance of creeks and rivers however, as well as glacial lakes, the country is surprisingly humid in most places, despite the coasts having hills and the rapid ascension of the Dze plateau. The microclimates allow for a great range of wildlife diversity in these enviroments.

As noted by Solarian explorers, all fauna and flora inside the confederation belongs to either Haplokariota or Polykariota, two domains of life found nowhere else on the planet, with the evolutionary history of these being unclear, however it is theorized that Haplokariota split off from the rest of the life tree early, evolving a secondary domain, Polykariota, as life became more complex and macrofauna more prevalent. The Voiditen expedition of 1612 named and categorized over 3000 species on a single year. The reasoning behind the P.E.L. is unknown, but it is theorized that the lands inside it used to be insular in nature and as it clashed with the main Pythian continent, it created a line of contact that shifted until the geographical barriers divided them enough to give clear cut lines between Polykariote and Eukaryote, this theory is however only the more popular of many regarding this miraculous development.

Demographics

Although the total population of the Confederation is unknown, the most accurate estimates carried out in 1610 by the Tsǫt'aan in the Great Meeting estimated the population at 7 million, with a sizeable human population acounting for 2.1% of that number, making it one of the least populous countries in Sparkalia with an estimated population growth of 1.19% and a potential fertility rate of 3.9 children per Dze woman and 3.3 per human woman, with the national average at 3.6 per woman. The Dze make up 97.1% of the population in the confederation, with the human minority inhabiting the far western and southern reaches of the land and isolated pockets in the Hammerfall peninsula; in ancient times the percentages were much less disparate due to constant human invasions and migrations, but in recent times most of these invaders have been pushed back, with only human ethnic groups allied to the Dze remaining.

Languages

There are more than 100 languages spoken in the Dze Confederation, most of these belonging to the Dzenic Languages and some other smaller families spoken by human groups; another thing to note is the 10 Lingua Francas spoken between people of different groups, of which the most widely used is Old Dze.

Religion

Dze follow a set of religious practices collectively known as Tẋeẋuq, called Dze Shamanism or Ngunism by outsiders, which seem to stem from a common ancestral religion of which the descendant traditions have only slightly diverged from. Humans on the other hand follow many different religions, including Tẋeẋuq, with the most widely practiced being Zheduktsu, of which around 50% of the human population adhere to.

Government and politics

The Dze rule themselves in a Confederation, with the central figure of the Tsǫt'aan, who is elected for life during one of the Great Meetings held annually at the Leaf Lance Valley; these meetings are held by the Tsǫt'aan and the 147 T'aannyyŋ (chiefs) of each dze and human clan and nation.In these meetings most of the things discussed relate to potential land disputes after geographical changes, the management of conflicts, movement of animal herds and so on. When a Tsǫt'aan dies, the Great Meeting elects amongst the most worthy of candidates, usually from the direct family of the last Tsǫt'aan, which are valued in their worth by their intelligence, strength and craftsmanship, with whoever excells the most at these three categories being elected, be it man or woman. The current Tsǫt'aan, Xanaaq̇ut, ascended to power by unifying the local confederations between 1584 and 1598 AR. The Tsǫt'aan however is not a supreme monarch, with most of the governing being done at the local level.

Foreign relations

With the isolationist nature of the Dze and their human allies, very few have traversed into their lands in the past from proper nationstates, the only three so far known have been expeditions by Santi Rasta in 1611, by Nova Solarius in 1608 and later again in 1611-1612, by Zÿlwahl and Voidkree in 1612 as well and an accidental crash landing in 1612 of a crew from Tepror, all five of were successful in bringing peaceful relations with the outside world or peaceful contacts.

Military

The Confederation relies upon the Ł̣eewŋq̇enyw for territorial defence and incursions into enemy territory, comprised of a semi-permanent base of professional soldiers, and the Q̇tenyw, known as the Dze Rangers, for the more permanent guarding and patrolling of the lands. The core of the army is comprised by what can be described as "mounted infantry", with warriors being taught to be proficient in mounted and foot combat.

Economy

The economy of the confederation is almost exclusively driven by herding, small-scale mining and manufacturing, with blacksmiths and weavers being the two predominant jobs outside of herding. Mining is done on a very limited scale and usually just to provide the blacksmiths with the materials necessary for their craft. Other than that, the economy of Dzeia is very much underdeveloped and in pre-industrial capabilities, due to both their technological level and their way of life.

The most proliferating crafts among the Dze are weaving, smithing and carpentry.

Culture

The most notable aspect of Dze culture is their semi-nomadic lifestyle, widespread among the entire race and even some human groups allied to them, which has lended itself to unique cultural practices, however this blend entirely present in human groups, as the Dze themselves are predominantly a culturally conservative species.

Visual arts

Visual art has been historically created for religious purposes or for the decoration of tents to mark out the individuality of a Dze. The most common style of painting is the Ḿẋłẋy or "traditional style", similar in pattern and manner to a Zurag. Although most Dze practice different forms of crafts, it is viewed in a positive light to have knowledge in the making of a Ḿẋłẋy, if only for decorative purposes, to mark one's own distinctive identity.

Architecture

Although the Dze themselves do not build stationary homes, humans within their lands are sometimes sedentary, with unique architecture styles that bear evident influence from Dze tent designs. The most prominent of these is the Gyampi Tsak of the Mong Lak people, designed to inhabit the rainy hills of Hammerfall peninsula and that arose in the early 1st milennium BR.

Dze homes themselves are usually called ẋeeḿt, a word that has a broad meaning but is generally understood to be a type of tent, which are mostly circular with a dome-shaped roof or entirely dome-shaped with a few variants being more conical in shape. The ẋeeḿt is the foundation for all Dze-inspired arquitecture, such as the Khet Tsekh.

Music

The Dze, due to their vocal abilities, have integrated bitonic singing into overtone, creating a tritonic chant of infrasound and two audible pitches. Combining what the Dze call "Qiŋuq", silent speech, and audible speech they are able to transmit both a mood in the song and to give it an intended effect in its listeners with the silent speech, being the infrasound component and able to have physical effects in those who hear it. The Dze have several variants of fiddles, made of animal gut and hair, whose use ranges from storytelling to every day music, as well as several varieties of drums and flutes.

The music styles in Dzeia are mostly comprised of ⁴
₄ and ⁷
₈ time signatures, with the most prevalent musical styles being the Long Song, Overtone Singing and a style of music similar to a Taximi.

Cuisine

Dzeii cuisine predominantly consist of meat, dairy and fats with small contributions from wild vegetables and herbs. The most common dish is smoked meats, be it of a land or aquatic animal's meat.

The extreme climatic conditions has influenced the cuisine in the lands, specially for the nomadic peoples where access to vegetables is less standard; for these great majority of peoples the vegetables have, due to their wild nature, extremely sophisticated cooking methods; spices however are a common part of the cuisine of several groups due to the prevalence of the types of plants throughout the land as well as the extensive trade networks present in the land. Dzeii cuisine is also very noticeable for the prevalence of fruit and herb deserts and drinks.

Sports and festivals

The main festivals practiced in the confederation are the Dze Lunar Year, occuring on the 20th of Nox, and the Solar New Year, occuring on the 25th of Nox, with the period between these festivals being called the Birth of the Five Great Ones, which are a collection of highly revered ŋuŋnyyŋ. The most common sports practiced in Dzeia are horseback riding, archery, wrestling and a game similar to polo.