User:Ozycaevias/Sandbox/MormonConcept
Elessia, officially the Lands of Elessia and Presepe, is a country located in Occidental Auressia along the Hemetrian Sea. It is surrounded by the Hesperian Ocean to the west, Hemetrian Sea to the east, Sortenza to the south, and other Auressian states to the north. More than half of its population of 26 million are centered around the seven major cities of Citaviola, the largest and the nation's capital, Presepe, Castellu-Sud, Viridoram, Petranera, Boscusecu, and Punente. Elessia is majority Fiorist, though there are significant Perendist and Morist minorities. It is a Theocracy governed by the Communal Fiorist Church, nominally under the principles of Theodemocracy.
The first cities in what would become Elessia date back to antiquity, with ancient city states of Vetus Portum (now Viridoram) and Petranera dating back to as far as 1200 BCE. Between 413 and 330 BCE, the city states would be conquered or annexed by the First Sabarine Empire. Soon after, the cities were organized into the provinces of Lidomale and Hasena, which would become part of the core imperial lands during most of its history. By the late 6th century, however, invaders from the South and instability within the empire would see most of the peninsula fall to the Hassab. Eventually the lands would be reconquered by the Second Sabarine Empire.
As the influence of the Second Empire waned in the peninsula, Elessia would once again be broken into city-states. The Kingdom of Sortenza would annex Petranera in the 17th century. In 1702, the cities of Citaviola, Viridoram, and Boscusecu would sign a treaty of confederation, creating the Duchy of Elessia. Petranera would be acquired from Sortenza after the signing of the Treaty of Capulia, and soon after the eastern city of Punente would join under threat of invasion. During the turn of the 19th century, instability would boil over in the cities of Petranera and Citaviola into an open republicanist revolt. This would eventually be suppressed, though not before a group of refugees, fleeing the fighting and destruction, made their way into the ##Desert## and founded a small commune. Having been led by ##Founder##, a man claiming to have a spiritual connection with a yet unknown god, this group would become the core of the new Fiorist religious movement. By 1860, this new faith had spread across Elessia, supplanting local Perendist and Morist belief.
During the First Great War, Elessia maintained armed neutrality. Despite protestations from both the Coalition and Galene League, the country kept its ports open to all combatant nations. The militarization of the nation would continue to intensify in the interwar years as nationalism increased. Soon after, Lanzism would sweep through Elessia and result in a close partnership between it and Palia during the Second Great War. As Elessia's militarization was focused on appearance of might, rather than true power projection, its war effort would collapse after the Battle of Montigné and the coalition invasion.
Post-war, Elessia's venture into democracy was rocky and faced consistent issues of widespread corruption, lingering neo-Lanzist sentiments, and the reconsolidation of power under the Communal Fiorist Church. After the Church reasserted itself and dissolved the secular institutions, it has been embroiled in a large scale insurgency with a coalition of various anti-regime groups. While the government retains control over the country broadly, insurgents are still very well armed and have carved out control of territories, especially outside of the major cities. This, as well as its cooled relations with neighboring countries due to its embracement of authoritarianism, has had a devastating impact on Elessia's economy. As of 2023, it has one of the lowest standards of living in Auressia.
Notes
Fiorism is a syncretic faith between Perendism and Morism, originally taking the more strict doctrine of Perendism and combining it with the broad folk traditions associated with Morism. Bringing together things like Perendism's Rites and Morism's water worship would be an example of how Piorism's traditions and ceremonies would have originally combined the two. The culture in this area is some flavor of Italian or adjacent (depending on location according to the plots sheet, I'm fine with going with what's there or developing something to fit a spot), historically being a cultural anchor for that cultural group. Given its proximity to Palia,
Elessia could have shifted into Lanzism and sided very closely with Palia during GW2. It could have historically been an intensely militarized nation, very much in the way many authoritarian states are, where the perception of military might is more important than actual capability, making it a potential paper tiger that gets smacked down hard. The modern internal conflict here wouldn't be an all-out civil war, but rather a major conflict between government forces and insurgent groups. While the government retains control over the country broadly, insurgents are still very well armed and have carved out territories that they control (similar to Myanmar or, potentially, Mexico).