Khijovia

Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia Khıjovïænne Æšcaēe Raēgə
Flag Coat of arms
Motto:  "Seþþə vīəra Raehxxa nīəva Matrïænne jmørrə" "Love of the Motherland is our only Law"
Anthem:  Khıjovïænne Aemınə Hyjnnə The Praeclarus Khijovian Anthem
Lands and surroundings of the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia, 1613 AR
Capital	Kleitore
Largest	Xoviah
Official languages	Khijovian
Recognised regional languages	Teutorian, Aldorian, Koritian
Ethnic groups	Humans (100%)
Religion	Aravianism
Demonym(s)	Khijovian
Government	Feudalistic Constitutional Monarchy
• Ascended King of Khijovia	Arcadion II
• Ascended Queen of Khijovia	Carevia I
Legislature	Royal Parliament
Establishment
• Foundation of the Ascended Kingdom	July 3, 1607 AR
Area
• Land Area	1,386,546 km2 (535,348 sq mi)
• Water (%)	5,8
Population
• 1613 AR estimate	51,085,900
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$ 225,000,000,000.00
• Per capita	$ 4,405.00
Currency	Shonnenor (SHN)
Date format	dd/mm/yy
Driving side	right

Khijovia (Khijovian: Khıjovïæ [kɪjəʊviə]), officially the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia, is a feudalistic constitutional monarchy situated in northwestern Pelia, with Kleitore serving as its capital. It shares its borders with the Federated People's Republic of Kyldigard to the north and the Kingdom of Prestore to the south, while the Kesper Sea lies to the west. With a population of approximately 64 million inhabitants, Khijovia occupies the northern part of the High West region and holds the Recondian Archipelago in the Wintry Ocean, along with various colonial territories in southwestern Pelia. Established in 1607 AR by Arcadion II following the collapse of the Khijovian Federation and the return of the Zenonian Dynasty, the Ascended Kingdom is divided into 27 fiefdoms and a special administrative district. Known for its deeply spiritual society, Khijovia has maintained a unique connection with the magical arts throughout its history.

Etymology

The origin of the name Khijovia has long intrigued linguists and historians, prompting diverse reconstructions. While some theories delve into etymological roots, others are steeped in historical narratives, including the intriguing notion of an ancient pre-Shuffle king named Khjvonnə in popular traditions.

One prevalent theory suggests that the name stems from Khyjvīə, an exoethnonym used by the Koritians for a tribe residing in the neighboring Aldoria region. Another hypothesis, not mutually exclusive, proposes that these people venerated a pagan deity, Khœvă, making the name signify "inhabitants of the land of Khœvă."

Alternatively, a distinct theory posits a simpler origin—the semantic fusion of Khvıəyūtœnnə, an adjective linked to the Kveutonian Empire, and Jyovïæhnnə, associated with the Jovianic Order and its doctrine.

History

Despite the fact that much that's prior to the Great Shuffle is largely shrouded in mystery for Sparkalian historians, the rich cultural and historical legacy of Khijovia has remarkably survived through archaeological sites, written artifacts, and enduring traditions. This wealth allows us to reconstruct the history of the Khijovian region with remarkable fidelity.

During ancient times, Khijovia served as a crossroads for numerous neolithic cultures. Thriving city-states emerged during the Era of Ruin, preserving their cultural identity and language staunchly against external influences. The collapse of the city-state system around 277 BR ushered in the Barren Age, marking the end of the Archaic Age in Khijovian history. Notwithstanding the upheavals in the rest of Sparkalia, Khijovia remained isolated, relatively unaffected by wars and famines until the catastrophic Abheric Wars and the subsequent rise of the Syhric caste. Despite suffering continental amnesia during the Great Shuffle, Khijovian culture persisted.

In 289 AR, the Kveutonian civilization conquered and divided Khijovia into governatorates, making it a crucial economic and cultural hub within the Kveutonian Empire. The empire reached its zenith around 400-425 AR but dissolved in 502, leading to the formation of independent statelets and religious-monastic military orders, including the influential Jovianic Order. Over the centuries, city-states transformed into feudal lordships, giving rise to Khijovian principalities, duchies, counties, and marquisates.

The Grand Duke of Klettoria, Zenon the Great, initiated a national unification campaign in 1152, defeating the rival House of Arenia and establishing the Kingdom of Khijovia on July 11, 1161. Despite centuries of rule, the Zenonian Dynasty faced a coup on January 28, 1534, leading to the formation of the Khijovian Federation. However, in 1607, with the return of the Zenonian Dynasty, Prince Arcadion II reclaimed power, founding the Ascended Kingdom of Khijovia on July 3, 1607.

Primordial Aeon

Prehistory

Approximately 35,000 years ago, the first known inhabitants of the Khijovian territory were the Acreatics, a nomadic civilization whose existence is primarily evidenced by the archaeological site of Yvernia along today's Pletorian coasts. Yvernia preserves remnants of an intricate funerary complex, featuring over 20 tombs with associated burial items. The Acreatics had distinctive burial practices, arranging skeletons with heads facing East—a potential symbol of rebirth. Skulls were adorned with red ocher, signifying a return of blood and life to the deceased. The complex walls displayed propitiatory rock paintings, depicting shamanic rituals.

Burial for the Acreatics was a magical rite, aimed at preventing the disturbance of the deceased's soul and facilitating its transition to new life. This culture marked the initial encounters with magical arts in the Khijovian region. The prevalence of Venus figurines in the tombs hints at a matriarchal social organization, emphasizing women's connection to fertility and reproduction.

Despite the Neolithic agricultural revolution, the Acreatics maintained their reliance on hunting and shellfish gathering. Around the twelfth millennium BR, climatic shifts prompted their migration from coasts to surrounding regions. The mountainous terrain led to the development of transhumant farming, eventually giving way to settled agriculture. This marked the end of nomadism and the permanent settlement of the Acreatic people across the Khijovian region.

Protohistory

The advent of agriculture and livestock, providing a surplus of food, led to a significant demographic increase and the emergence of the first housing agglomerations. During this phase, the matriarchy gradually faded as the need for male military leaders arose to defend villages, ushering in a transition to a patriarchal society. The onset of metallurgy in Khijovia marked the Copper Age, giving rise to distinct cultures: the Venatorian culture in the north, Khantan culture in the east, and Koritian culture in the central-south. The Bronze Age saw the emergence of the Xomian culture on Axiomia island, while the Iron Age gave rise to the Kleitite culture near the mouth of the Thevre river. These cultures, stemming from the Acreatic people, shared a common language but spoke different dialects, often unintelligible to one another.

Around 1400 BR, the large village centers evolved into cities, establishing an interdependent relationship with the surrounding countryside. Rural areas produced goods to sustain urban centers, while the cities provided defense for villages. Job specialization's development led to a social hierarchy, with the ruling class of specialists forming the foundation for the future aristocratic caste.

Era of Ruin

To officially mark the beginning of Khijovian history was the epochal invention of writing by the Koritians around the year 1300 BR, founders of the city of Xoviah and considered the first to have used writing in the High West. Urban centers of the Khijovian region would take the form of independent and self-sustaining city-states and, thanks to a strong isolationist policy, would thrive for almost the entire duration of the Era of Ruin. These city-states, although culturally and linguistically similar, organized themselves into different types of states:

In some cities, power was exercised in the name of the deity by theocrats, the priests who were considered those whom the gods had destined to govern the city, and therefore there was no separation between political power and religious power. The theocrat, being the executor of the divine will, assumed full political authority, led the army, and administered justice. The sovereign was also supported by a caste of priest-officials, the hierarchs, who met every ten years in a general assembly to elect the new state theocrat among its members, and who distributed the lands to be cultivated among the population. The temple of the eponymous divinity, in addition to being the seat of the theocrat, served as a center for the organization of work, a warehouse for foodstuffs, and the place of the city's treasury. In these cities, private property was essentially unknown, as the lands belonged to the community and everyone contributed to public works. In other cases, however, this theocratic system would have degenerated in such a way that the theocrat was considered not only the representative of the gods, but was himself a god come down to earth whose sacralization legitimized the exercise of his power. To legitimize the unlimited powers of the absolute theocrat was the powerful priestly caste of large landowners who had a strong influence on political life and whose high priest served as grand vizier of the sovereign. Therefore, from a political point of view, the Khijovic absolute theocracy manifested itself in forms of autocratic government fundamentally based on priestly legitimacy.

Other cities, on the other hand, turned out to be monarchies, the result of a probable evolution of the theocratic system, in which a distinction was made between political and religious power. In conjunction with this process of separation of sovereign power, the kings of these city-states strengthened their ability to intervene in social and economic life, directing their activities in a much more centralized way. In some cases, this action of consolidation of the royal power also entailed the assumption of an expansionist policy of conquest, aimed at enlarging the territory. These kingdoms rested on a well-defined ideology of monarchical power, which would also be transmitted to the subsequent state organizations of Khijovia, and similarly to theocracies, even here it was believed that the gods conferred power on the sovereign but that, although the result of a divine gift, the power of the king was separate from the religious one. This change therefore meant that the temple, hitherto the governing center of the state, was replaced as the fulcrum of power by the royal palace. In this state order, citizens were considered mere subjects and a possession of the sovereign, even if it should be emphasized that considerable privileges were in any case reserved for priests.

Some city-states would instead have based their state structure on a timocratic principle of landed or military aristocrats who ruled in a small general assembly, the kledia (klaēdïæ). The members of these assemblies were all part of an exclusive caste, and each of them could inherit a seat of power. The kledia elected every two years seven specialized magistrates who exercised administrative, religious, and military functions and who, once finished with their office, became part of the so-called council of sapients - the ghrontia (ghrœhntïæ) -, the supervisory body and supreme court. In addition to these purely aristocratic institutions there was the drarchia (đrahrchïæ), a minor consultative assembly of some of the members of the less well-off classes of the population. In aristocratic cities, the title of citizen, which implied the possession of political rights, was the prerogative of adult males who owned the land, and among these, only the large landowners actually had political power, being able to aspire to the high offices of the city. In an economy based on agriculture and livestock, wealth was evidently measured in the amount of land owned. The enormous power of the great aristocracy greatly limited the possibilities of small landowners and excluded all other individuals from the life of the city, subjecting them to their domination.

Finally, when a city-state was governed by the people it was considered as a "democratic" city. Democracy was created later in time, towards the end of the League Phase, and was the result of a long evolutionary process born from the aristocratic system. The democratic transformations began when, by concession from the aristocrats in order to avoid popular revolts, the weight of the people within the institutions was strengthened. Eventually, following a series of concessions, the drarchia in which the people could assert their numerical superiority would become the most important political body of the city and so the kledia was essentially deposed together with the ghrontia. The magistracies here were drawn among all citizens except women, people from other cities, serfs and slaves, while military and financial positions remained elective. Citizens of democracies, in addition to having equal right to speak in the people's assembly and tribunal, enjoyed equal legal rights, while aristocrats were essentially excluded and marginalized, dispossessed of their large estates, forbidden from participating in political life, and in some cases, proscription lists were put in place for their exile and their possible elimination. These very radical measures resulting in demagogic populism adopted by the "democrats" were such that some of the democracies were named kakistocracies by the other city-states. In the end, the Khijovic democracy was never realized in its purity as various elements of the other different state forms were co-present, and the democratic government was the result of a hybrid balance between the political forces that supported the various institutions of the city.

This forced coexistence of different and conflicting state systems would somehow last for the entire Archaic Age of Khijovian history, and although diplomatic relations between the various city-states would remain peaceful, clear political tensions would still pervade latently the souls of the cities, forcing them to conciliate through an intricate and dense network of alliance pacts and leagues, the only remedy to avoid a disastrous intranational war.

Geography

Physical Geography

Physical Map of Khijovia

Belonging to a larger geographical region called the High West, the Khijovian region features one of the most substantial ranges of landscapes of the Pelian continent. Bordering the Kyldegardian region to the north, Khijovia is completely enclosed to the east by the Clastoclite range and to the south by the Stornic massif. The Khijovian soil has a wide range of characteristics and has a prevalence of hilly areas compared to mountainous and flat zones, with the average altitude of the territory of about 730 meters above sea level.The mountain ranges extend throughout the eastern part of the nation, in fact a good part of the western side of the Clastoclite system belongs to Khijovia. The highest Khijovian peaks are found in the central Clastoclites, where there are numerous peaks exceeding 4500m including the impressive Mount Eletherium (5790m), the highest mountain in the Clastoclite range. The Khijovian mountainous territory has also been shaped over time by an ancient glacial mass dating back to the Cenozoic which has left long moraines flanking the western Clastoclite slope, forming in the meantime also wide higlands in the north and a multitude of shallow valleys among the southern hills.

Topographic Map of Khijovia

The plains of Khijovia include the Catridian plain, an alluvial expanse formed by the Thevre river and its tributaries which extends up to Pyrisia, the Betronic plains, uplift plains along the coasts of Androvia and of Charonthia, and finally the Platic plain, an oblong flat valley of tectonic type which surrounds the Axiomia Lake and which runs from Cassiopia to Carcassonia.

Most of the Khijovian isles are collected in small archipelagos, such as Cheronia off the Charonthic coasts and Recondia, a polar archipelago lying within a deep lagoon connected to the Wintry Ocean and surrounded entirely by ice cap glaciers.

Geology

The geology of Khijovia is very complex: the current physiographic and geological structure of the region in which it lies and the adjacent marine basin is the result of numerous ancient geo-dynamic events which can be traced back, in a nutshell, to the collision between two lithospheric plates, the Kesperian plate and the northern Pelian plate starting from the Late Cenozoic. The eastern Kesperian margin, at the time an emerged subcontinent, collided with the Pelian continent, giving rise to the Clastoclitic chain and the accretion of marginal microplates.

The presence of significant and active Neogene volcanism and the relatively high seismicity testify to the complex geo-dynamically active structure of the area, and make it one of the most active geological regions of Pelia. In this structure, after about a century of studies, geologists recognize two fundamental paleogeographic domains separated by the Clastoclitic line: the Pelian domain in the broad sense, specifically the western accreted margin of the northern Pelian plate, and the Kesperian domain, constituted by the whole of the High West and the Kesperian marine basin. The High Western domain is formed by a system of Kesperian vergence nappes mainly made up of carbonate and mixed sequences that develop to the south in the Stornic massif, which lies on a tectonic line separate from the Clastoclitic one.

From a stratigraphic point of view, the sedimentary rocks emerging in the north of Khijovia - which can be dated based on their paleontological content - are of age between the Precambrian and the Quaternary. Low-grade metamorphites emerging in the south-eastern part of the country, consisting of sandstones alternating with pelites, are dated approximately to the Cambrian; however, most of the sedimentary cover emerging in the Khijovian territory is post-Paleozoic.

The complexity of the geology of this region, such that in a relatively small area there is a high diversity of geological characters, together with the presence of numerous active endogenous and exogenous phenomena, has meant that the Khijovian territory has been the cradle of part of the geological thought of north-western Pelia.

Volcanism

Khijovia is a volcanically active country, and over the years its volcanic and plutonic activity has left important evidence in the geological areas concerned. Preeminently, the presence of the convergent boundary between accreted microplates to the north of the country has generated the most active volcanoes in the High West; in fact, the collisional interaction between these plates has as its main effect the subduction of the Charonthic crustal plate and its progressive fusion within the mantle, with consequent ascent of magmas within the crust and to the surface via the volcanoes of the Cheronian Archipelago.

Evidence of volcanic activity is found starting from Palaeozoic rocks up to the present era, and volcanism is widespread not only in the most evident form of volcanic bodies easily recognisable on the mainland as such due to their morphology, but also in the typical lakes and islands of volcanic origin, the extensive areal diffusion of rocks of effusive volcanic origin, and other endogenous activities linked to the presence of molten or cooling magma near the surface, such as: hot thermal springs, hot muds, fumaroles and CO2-rich springs. Modern oceanographic research has indicated the continuation of volcanic phenomena, even extensive ones, in the underwater environment.

The most persistent eruptive centers of Khijovia are Mount Rhont (960m), Mount Stronio (820m), Mount Sibon (1,780m) and Mount Kratov (1,030m); the first two belong to Cheronia and present explosive-type eruptions, while the remaining are found respectively in Atredia and Garganthia, and both erupt effusively. Due to their location in densely populated areas, active Khijovian volcanoes are kept under close national surveillance.

Numerous other volcanic centers have seen eruptions in historical times, or in any case in geologically recent times. Among the list of dormant volcanoes that have recently erupted are Mount Rhetron (680m) off the coast of the city of Pletoria, Pyrisia, and Mount Ascarion (740m) at the southern tip of the Chondian peninsula. In addition to the volcanoes on land, there are numerous underwater volcanoes still active in the Kesper Sea. For example, about ten miles west of the mouth of the Thevre river, there is the Coprion, which rises 1,670 meters from the seabed and whose summit is only three hundred meters below the surface of the water. The volcano last erupted thousands of years ago, but is still considered active and potentially dangerous, as any collapse of the volcanic edifice could trigger a large tsunami.

Seismology

Due to its particular geodynamic situation (product of the convergence of the Kesperian plate with the Pelian plate), the Khijovian territory is frequently subject to earthquakes, giving it the record in the High West for these phenomena, as most of the destructive earthquakes that occurred in the region affected Khijovia. The analysis of the focal movements indicates that they are mostly distributed along the areas affected by Clastoclitic tectonics, where they are caused by movements along faults. In the eastern Kesper Sea, the distribution of hypocenters, up to a depth of 500 kilometers, would indicate the presence of a Benioff plane given by the subduction of the Kesperian lithosphere. The strongest earthquake ever recorded in Khijovia, with a magnitude of 8.1, occurred on December 25, 1532 along the central Clastoclites, with destructive and deadly effects extending to much of eastern Khijovia.

Georesources

From a mineral perspective, there are numerous mineral deposits of various types, such as mercury, antimony, lead, zinc, silver, iron, manganese and minerals for industrial uses such as pyrite, fluorite, asbestos, and bauxite; however, the deposits that can be economically exploited with current Khijovian technology are relatively few, although the activity on evaporitic salts, cement marls, clays and feldspars for the ceramic and refractory industries is still important. Another typical mining activity for Khijovia is related to its famous and numerous marble quarries, and the extraction of pumice, obsidian, talc, and especially coal, a fundamental fossil fuel of which vast deposits are exploited to fuel the national means of transport, namely the aethermotives.

The numerous natural outcrops of bitumen, oil and methane present in the national territory, known since ancient times, indicate that the geological conditions necessary for the genesis and accumulation of hydrocarbons are present in the Khijovian subsoil. This presence meant that hydrocarbon exploration and production began in Khijovia just a few years after the first contemporary oil well was drilled in Kyldegard, currently developing with extensive research and exploration activity and production of natural hydrocarbons.

Khijovia holds the largest hydrocarbon reserves in the High West, whose deposits are mainly distributed according to three tectonic-stratigraphic and geochemical systems: methane of biogenic origin present mainly in the Plio-Pleistocene terrigenous series, thermogenic gas mainly in deposits within the terrigenous sediments of foredeep of Oligo-Miocene age, and oil contained within the Mesozoic carbonate series. Currently, annual oil production is around a thirty thousand barrels and it is estimated that around a billion barrels of oil are found in deposits yet to be discovered.

Ecosystem

Thanks to its rich geographical diversity, the Khijovian region hosts a varied collection of unique biomes that make the national territory one of the most characteristic and peculiar of the whole of Pelia, presenting an articulated biotic whole that makes the Khijovian ecosystem so very fascinating and highly biodiverse.

Politics

Administrative Regions

Region		Map of the Khijovian Administrative Regions
1	Klettoria
2	Luriah
3	Pyrisia
4	Qaylasiah
5	Atredia
6	Chondia
7	Charonthia
8	Androvia
9	Ketheria
10	Iverniah
11	Kharpovia
12	Venatoria
13	Profania
14	Koritia
15	Bellatoria
16	Cassiopia
17	Corkovia
18	Aldoria
19	Teutoria
20	Garganthia
21	Kalkhovia
22	Carcassonia
23	Sopholenia
24	Karkarovia
25	Kenveciah
26	Akrocanthia
27	Recondia
*	Axiomia