Yavania

Yavania, officially the Duchy of Yavania, is the second largest province within the Kingdom of Tarneos, within the Third Akratian Empire. It is located in the north-western Tarneos region of Sparwood's Akratian Peninsula. The Duchy of Yavania is the direct successor to the states of Yavanistan and Atridia, the territory of which have been incorporated entirely into the modern Duchy of Yavania.

The royal family of House Tarnaros has ruled over parts of the Tarneosi region for almost three years continuously since March of 2021. The state has gone through many evolution's over the years but is descended from the United Empire of Akratia, and venerates Akratian tradition, culture, and language. The modern Kingdom of Tarneos was founded on July 4th, 2023, by Ayedren Lechnios-Yavanov, the region's de-facto dictator since October of 2022. Currently, Tarneos is a region inside of Akratia. Yavania is a duchy within this Kingdom, and became as such once Ayedren formed the Kingdom. The ruling duke is Ayedren Lechnios-Yavanov's son, Julius Lechnios-Yavanov, and Yavania is therefore also led by House Tarnaros.

Late-stage Old Yavaniism
Yavanarad (Later renamed to Yavania) had always, since its inception, been ruled by a league of old aristocrats from the various most prominent families both in the city and from the nearby town of Atridia. These individuals had long since outgrown their homeland of Yavanarad and Atridia, and spent the majority of their time in other parts of the peninsula, using their enormous wealth and power for self-enrichment, leaving Yavanarad and Atridia themselves to fall into a depression and severe drop in activity. The only remaining aristocrat active in the city of Yavanarad itself, was SimpleKnight, the founder. After completing a demolition of the original city, and constructing a layer of dirt above what remained of the lower city, later dubbed "Old Yavanarad", SimpleKnight would turn to the leader of the Tarneosi Commonwealth, Ayedren Lechnios-Yavanov, in order to nominate a new leader. Ayedren had the perfect man in mind for taking on a mantle of leadership within such a decentralised region as Yavanarad. This new leader was his son, Julius Lechnios-Yavanov. With Nair under the control of Ayedren's daughter, Juliana Lechnios-Yavanov, and Yavanarad now under that of his son, the entirety of Tarneos lay under the de-facto command of House Tarnaros. It would take until Tarneos' reestablishment as a region within the Pirate Dominion of Tortuga however, separate from Monterre, for these vestigial, self-serving, and incredibly expensive, old guard aristocrats to be removed from the power they so blatantly and openly abused.

The Great Yavani Purge
The Old Yavani guard and aristocracy, all being prominent/founding members of the semi-popular "Nationalist party" in Tarneos, had long been secretly lifting money from Yavanarad's central funds to spend on gambling and other selfish ventures. This caused the Yavani central funds to have to be moved in its entirety out of Yavani hands, and into Tarneos' capital of Aspeia's funds. This ended the final aspect of the "separate but equal" former Tarneosi Commonwealth. The Commonwealth from this point only existed in name, and was entirely governed from Aspeia under the Commonwealth's leader, Ayedren Lechnios-Yavanov. By May it became clear to all in the Lechniosi portion of government, that the Old Yavani guard were nothing more than vestigial, all power was in the hands of Lechnians, and even Yavanarad itself was controlled de-facto by Julius Lechnios-Yavanov, Ayedren's son. A plan was concocted in secret, as for Tarneos to rise, the Old Yavani guard had to fall. With great power comes great responsibility, and they had been ignoring their responsibilities for too long unchecked. Their corruption and debauchery stood in the way of the nation's greatness, and the time had come to put an end to it, once and for all. Swiftly in July of 2023, Lechnian and New Yavani guards, accompanied by a few old Akratian officers, began in Nair, first pushing up and storming the walls of Atridia, easily overwhelming the small force of Neo-Atridian guardsmen, and pushing past the church to seize Atridia's central square. Terron of House Atris, son of the founder of Atridia and nominal "Karl of Atridia", had been asleep at the time of the attack, and was awoken hastily by his personal guards, who then tried in vain to hold the united forces of Tarneos off from within the basement of the Atris' family home in northern Atridia. Ayedren himself had arrived by this point, having taken the newly constructed route across the hills from Aspeia into Atridia, and he immediately assumed command, leading the attack on Terron's home. Hearing all this commotion from across the river, the prominent Old Yavani's "Had Name" and "Pranav", living in Old Yavanarad underneath what would become New Yavania awoke. With haste, they rallied the few men they could who hadn't already sided with Tarneos and with Julius Lechnios-Yavanov, and pushed up through the remnants of the old wall, occupying the construction site of the future city of New Yavania. They would meet no resistance, as all loyalist forces were still occupied in Atridia. The Old Yavanis would hold the walls, newly reconstructed by Julius himself, awaiting an attack. Back in the basement of the Atris' family residence, Terron's men had all fallen to those of Tarneos, and upon reaching the back of the basement, they saw that Terron had already escaped through one of the many secret tunnels beneath Atridia. A small search party was sent down to retrieve him, and eventually they would corner him. Ayedren himself would be present at the moment of his execution via firing squad, his last words being "Long live Neo-Atridia, long live Yavanarad!", and with that, the last member of House Atris would fall. Terron's body would later be buried alongside his father outside of Atridia's church, where his body would remain until the arrival of Iristor's comet. However, despite having all of Atridia occupied, Ayedren and Julius were well aware that the Old Yavanis in the central city itself would have already moved to occupy it, and while Tarneos certainly had a numbers advantage, they didn't want to risk a full frontal assault, this was a purge to drain the Yavani swamp of leeches, not a full blown civil war. In light of this, Julius would take a task force through the bordering Yavani port of Kaichakra, with a semi-prominent Old Yavani named "Reinaldr" surrendering immediately upon seeing sight of Tarneosi troops and joining them, as well as allowing for the bloodless occupation of Kaichakra by arriving Lechnian reinforcements from across Lake Tarneos. Julius' men would subsequently link up with a few able-bodied volunteers from the northern village of Dardaneia, founded by Julius prior to gaining power of Yavanarad, and together with the main force of his father Ayedren's men in Atridia, and the Lechnian reinforcements in Kaichakra, the attack on the central city would begin.

Due to careful planning, a multi-pronged assault, overwhelming numerical superiority, and weak Old Yavani morale, the central city fell with ease. Had Name and Pranav would be executed on the spot, not even being given the dignity of death via a firing squad, as per Tarneosi tradition. The few remaining Old Yavani/Nationalist party forces, including notably VL, Sam Liberium, QProxima, and Arthur Harrow, were pardoned by Ayedren despite their treachery as an act of goodwill and reconciliation. This however, didn't stop Sam Liberium and QProxima from leaving Yavanarad, with QProxima only returning almost a year later, and Sam never being seen again within the borders of Tarneos. At that, the Great Yavani Purge was over. SimpleKnight, founder of Yavanarad, was abroad at the time of the purge, and despite Ayedren offering him an official pardon, he would decline, and too would never return to Yavanarad, or Yavania, in his lifetime. With Terron now dead, and House Atris extinct, "Reinaldr" would be made the new Karl of Atridia. Filling his previous role as Karl of Kaichakra, would be Julius' young and promising son, Jodakrai Lechnios-Yavanov. Also, in honour of their recent contributions, the small village of Dardaneia would be officially made a Karlship, with leading citizen "Rafa" being made the first Karl of Dardaneia. A few months later, following the construction of a monument in Atridia dedicated to those who died in the Yavani Civil War between a defiant Kaichakra and Old Yavanarad long ago, as well as the renaming of the lands as a whole from Yavanarad, to Yavania, news would reach Tarneos of the death of Simpleknight. He passed away peacefully in his sleep of old age, in the nearby city of High Hermitage. His body would subsequently be brought as part of a grand procession through Kaichakra and Yavania, and into Atridia, then being buried beneath the monument to that civil war, where it, just as Terron's body, would remain till the end of Rathnir itself. The reign of the Old Yavanis was over, and from then onwards, Yavania would be firmly in the hands of House Tarnaros, and of the newly declared Kingdom of Tarneos, led by King Ayedren Lechnios-Yavanov.

The New Yavani Renaissance
With the majority of the Old Yavanis gone for good, and those remaining out of any positions of power, Yavania could blossom freely without the restrictions of an out of touch, complacent and wasteful old aristocracy. Yavania, as it was steadily built from the ground up, became a hub for culture, learning, and brotherhood. Thriving under its newfound freedom. Julius Lechnios-Yavanov, and his wife Rafaia Lechnios-Yavanov, would move into the "Grand Ducal Palace" soon after the end of the purge, it being the first building in the main city completed. As Duke of Yavania, Julius would institute many reforms to encourage trade and economic as well as social development within the duchy, such as opening a food bank in the duchy's spawn hub, providing cheap Baked Potatoes to any and all Yavani citizens so that they may never go hungry again. Yavania's prosperity was clear to all, and it quickly became the 2nd most populous city in the Kingdom.

New Yavani Architecture
Tarneosi architecture is very distinct, each town has its own unique style based off its geographical location and the whims of its leader. Aspeia is primarily built out of deepslate which is found in abundance on the local coastal fault line. Atridia is built of oak wood from the Tarneosi forests and stone quarried from the nearby mountains. New Yavania is built out of sandstone found along the coastline of Tarneos lake and the river that snakes between New Yavania and Atridia. Nair is built in the style of Sake Den, the capital of Charm, as Duchess Juliana was educated there during her childhood. However, the Tarneosi also have many common structures within their cities, making their cities unique and easy to identify.