Beloslavia

The Duchy of Beloslavia is a Korolian realm within the Empire of Ischanor, and the Kingdom of Lisvar. It was founded by refugees primarily from the United Crowns of Czervoslavia-Veldion, Nebskoslavia, Csardom of Korolia and the Duchy of Gdanyc.

Name Emytology
The name "Beloslavia" comes from two Korolian words: Bel (meaning white) and Slava (meaning glory/fame). When the Korolian migrants from Rathnir arrived on the new land, they named the land Beloslavia for a few reasons. The colour white was chosen because of the plain Korolian flag. The Korolian flag is a blue-white-red tri-colour. Nebskoslavia comes from its founder, whose name comes from the word Nebeski, meaning blue. Czervoslavia comes from the word Červen meaning red. So the last colour on the Korolian flag was white. The ending "Slavia" was used because that's the ending that the two first Korolian countries had - Nebskoslavia and Czerovslavia.

The flag
The flag carries as much meaning as the name. The five red strips represent the five major Korolian nations: Czervoslavia, Nebskoslavia, Veldion, Gdanyc and Nova Žemja. The four white strips symbolise the four major and ancestral Korolian cities: Nebskogrod, Ignatava, Slouttawa and Zlatoport. The eagle on the coat of arms is the Nebskoslav eagle, symbolising the first Korolian nation, but it is also the crest of House Korol, the almost ancient ruling and founding family of all Korolians. The crown on top is the Korolian Crown, it has previously been used in the flags of Czervoslavia, Veldion or the II United Commonwealth.

The Duke
The Duke, or at this moment, the Duchess, is the head of state and the head of government of Beloslavia. She represents the interests of Beloslavia in the Imperial Diet of Ischanor. The Duchess is tasked with managing the functioning and governance of the entire realm. The succession is carried out per the traditions of Korolians - the oldest child inherits every title. The current Duchess is Zofia Svletanna Korola, with her full list of titles being:

"The King of Czervoslavia and Veldion, Csarina of Nebskoslavia and the United Commonwealth, Duchess of Beloslavia, Durania and Ignatava-Ludova, Countess of Ignatava, Ludova and Svedurian, Lady of Slouttawa and Krasni Zamek."

Most of these titles belong to Rathnir or Eldham, with only the one of Beloslavia still being relevant. Nevertheless, they are still being used in all official ceremonies.

The Ducal Court
The Ducal Court is composed of all the nobles and advisors of Beloslavia. The nobility carries out all of the day-to-day management of their lands, so usually their advice and input is always appreciated. The nobility titles are also inherited per the Korolian tradition of the eldest heir inheriting every title. The other advisors are people who are considered to be experts in their field. They are hand-picked by the Duchess and their composition may vary. There is no requirement for the number of advisors. The nobility and the advisors together give their counsel, should the Duchess ask for it. This way, more people can be a part of the decision-making of the Duchy.

Language
Beloslav culture is simply Korolian. Back in Rathnir, Korolians could be divided based on where they lived. The most visible division was in language - Nebskoslavs and the people of the United Commonwealth spoke the Standard Korolian, Czervoslavs and Veldians spoke Czervoslav-Korolian and Gdanycians would speak Gdanycian-Korolian. But ever since all of those groups migrated from Rathnir together, all of the dialects got mixed and now, the vast majority of Beloslavs speak the Standard Korolian.

Faith
The Korolians could always be divided by faith. There are two main Korolian churches - The Church of Ehway and Vjara Nebska. Both of these operate on similar ideals and beliefs, with the major difference being the existence of Ehway. Ehwaists believe that Ehway has created the entire world, that he is the creator and that he created all the other gods to help him guide the people. They believe that in the end, everything in the universe answers to Ehway. Vjarans deny the existence of Ehway at all. They do not believe that such a being has ever existed. Instead, they worship all the other gods, which in Ehwaism are considered only secondary to Ehway. Besides that, they both believe that all the other religions are just different interpretations of the same story, but theirs is the correct one. This division, unlike the language division, has not died. The two churches still operate in Beloslavia and they both have a large amount of followers. This is the reason why they both are accepted as the official religion of Beloslavia.

Traditions
Korolians, owing to their history of constantly defending their lands from foreign occupation, are very fond of traditions and their cultural heritage. During the migration from Rathnir, a large effort was made to collect and preserve all the cultural items such as books, arts or other items of significance. Zofia Svletanna Korola, the Duchess, made sure to bring over everything that was in the Korolian library. This is why now, we can still enjoy storybooks made by the Kovals or Dr. Pavlik's historical documents. Items such as the legendary Crown of Nebsk were also preserved.

The people themselves still want to stay true to the traditions started by their ancestors. Most of them are followers of either Vjara Nebska or Ehwaism, they go to church whenever needed, and they don't challenge the social structure that has been in place for generations. Unfortunately, many local traditions were lost, because of the mixing of all the Korolians.

Možestava
Možestava is the capital and the largest city of Beloslavia. It was the first settlement of Korolians in the New World. It is a coastal city.

Tarnogrod
Lipanogrod is the second largest city in Beloslavia.

Želazogrod
Želazogrod is a small town focused on mining and farming.

The dream
In 1112 ACA, the King of Czervoslavia, Zofia Svletanna Korola had a dream where Ehway visited her and warned her of the upcoming world's ending. But, he also told her that he would guide her and her people to a new place, a new world where the Korolians would start again. He told her to gather as many people and as many ships and sail westwards until they saw a huge sea storm. To swim into the sea storm and wait, for on the other side, a mighty, but good and just Emperor will greet her and her people.

Some doubt that the dream has happened, it's mainly a religious thing. Nevertheless, the King was a very religious person, so she took it seriously. She sent word to the entire Korolian world that they needed to leave and gather all ships in Ignatava, the capital of Czervoslavia. Surprisingly, a lot of people were showing up. In a couple of weeks, thousands of ships were gathered, the absolute majority of them being civilian and private ships.

The ships
Most of the private ship owners would force others to pay for spots on their ships. Some would let in anyone they could. But the Crown Ships, owned directly by the King were reserved only for the government, for as much of the Korolian intelligentsia as possible and all the cultural items that could fit onto the ships. Shortly after, the huge navy sailed out.

The voyage
They sailed westwards, as the King was told, and they passed the New Nebskoslav Archipelago, which was considered to be the furthest known land to Korolians. And they indeed saw a huge sea storm. It was terrifying, but they, especially the King trusted in Ehway, so they swam into it. It was a horror. Waves raging, lightning everywhere, unbearable rain and strong wind everywhere. A couple of smaller ships were sunk. A couple of ships tried to back away but with no success. The people were struggling to see what was going on. Eventually, they would all black out. Due to the chaos, it isn't known if everyone blacked out at the same time or not, but nobody remembered what happened a few minutes after they sailed into the sea storm.

Arrival on the "New World"
The people woke up. All the ships were clean and tidy and they were swimming towards some shore. It could be visible from the moment they woke up. They only barely managed to stop the ships before they entered shallow waters. As they set foot on the new land, they founded their first settlement, which they called Možestava, from the Korolian word "može" meaning "sea". At first, it was a very temporary settlement, but the scouts have composed maps of the nearby regions which did not match any of the existing maps at all. This is when they realised that there would be no coming back for a very long time. After hearing this, the King and her government hailed the new land "Beloslavia", a name which the region still carries.

The scouts have also discovered nearby lands. Most notably, they realised that the region their settlement was in was surrounded by the Empire of Ischanor. The King was considering making contact, but she realised that since it was an entirely new world, the languages would be completely alien, and nobody would speak each other's language. The scouts have also found other interesting information. One of the neighbouring regions was called "Volkore". The name was very familiar, as Volkore also came from Rathnir and the Volkorites, actually shared a lot of history with Korolians. So, the King has decided to make the first contact with them.

Joining Ischanor
Volkore was already a part of the Empire. Its people, or rather its elite are made of the Valkyries. The Valkyries are gifted with a very long life, to the point where most of them would remember leaving Rathnir a century ago and would remember the languages they used there. Fortunately, there was someone who knew Korolian and was able to translate it to other languages. He was also able to start teaching Korolians the Ischanic language, as well as assist in negotiations between newly founded Beloslavia and the Empire of Ischanor.