Levia

Levia is a desert town in the archduchy of Míyenxin in Sylvania. It is known for its desert landscape and builds, as well as the mountain found in the middle of the town. It is situated in the far west of Míyenxin along the border with Redoriv. The town is the religious site of Sheep and contains a number of monuments dedicated to the religion.

History
The area now known as the Levian Desert had long been considered inhospitable and desolate. No towns, except for the occasional squatter, had managed to live in the region. The region had long been a part of Castellum under the different Aristii powers governing there, but Levia itself has never been Aristii. The culture and lore of Levia is built around this idea of isolation and unknown.

Pre-history
The Levian desert was originally settled by Catfolk, who found the river containing freshwater fish a welcome source of food. Life here was much more difficult for the Catfolk than in other regions of Castellum or anywhere that any animalfolk lived. The Catfolk had to adapt and the ancestors of the Xápmála(Sand Clan) began to hide underneath the dunes to protect themselves from the harsh sun, rarely peaking out to fish in the river. Even if other catfolk passed through the area, the desert catfolk stayed out of sight, resulting in a life of isolation.

Later on groups of Qelim'qar catfolk began migrating to the desert. They remained a minority among the population compared to the vast number of Kasitai desert catfolk but they still had a major impact on the town. They shared their secrets of desert life to the Catfolk here, since they had been longer adapted to a desert landscape.

Brimmingham
The major governing body over the Levian desert for much of its history was the merge town of Brimmingham, between Torrington and Favre. Neither of these towns ever expanded into the desert, but Torrington to the south ended up getting very close. This town maintained the region for much of its history.

Riverfelt
One old district of Torrington was called Riverfelt. It was a small disconnected town with a few buildings northwest of Torrington itself. The town was abdonned and eventually filled with sand. Adherents believe that this town used to be inhabited by ancient Sheep believers, and that the town was flooded as a curse from the god biqabQ0b for dwindling faith. The ruins remain today and are considered the birthplace of the Sheep religion.

Desert Squatters
The only town to ever be settled in the desert was a strange desert squatter. After founding the town they adopted a sandstone build style. A common feature of the town was statues, including a large sandstone person holding a torch. The mayor built up the town a considerable amount, but in reality the builds were very ugly. They eventually choose to leave the server, but before doing so tried to sell the town to outside powers. They were unsuccessful. The name of the town has unfortunatly been lost and the town was later razed to the group. All that remains is the sandstone human on the outskirts of what was the town.

Founding of Levia
Levia was founded in 265 T.E. along the banks of the river. The two founding member were Austevoll and RenIsRaw. The name Levia was based off a theorized tribe of people who briefly settled in the area and revived the Sheep religion. They were known as the lev. The religious intention was there from the start and Austevoll quickly started on building a mountain to their gods. In the meantime RenIsRaw terraformed the area around to make the mountain look taller, as well as collect many building blocks.

Shortly after its founding, Levia encountered the problem known all too well by squatters. Austevoll recieved a message from Winteke the leader of the Republic of Aristios, an archduchy of Sylvania. They were on their land and they should join Sylvania or leave at once. This wasn't a hostile message at all and was a regular occurence, but the two founders freaked out. They finally managed to calm down when they were informed there were no taxes in Sylvania.

Work continued on Levia as walls were built surrounding the town and recruitment increased. A monument to the Q0b was built inside the mountain and several houses were beggining to pop up. Speed roads were being built across the town, and a road connecting Levia to Yaika was built. Another short connection was made to the road to the south going to Redoriv. The player Cosmic became the right-hand of Austevoll while RenIsRaw took the title left-hand. Levia was growing and all was good.

The Island Dispute
Levia had no governing power at all, despite being the second most active claim in the province. Luckily that changed when Austevoll was added to the Nine Lives Council, the new governing body of the newly renamed Nyaristios. With this promotion came a motivation to begin reaching out to other powers. The population of Levia is concerningly ethnonationalistic and expansionist and wanted more power and land to go to the city. At times the people almost seemed like they wanted to start a revolution against Sylvania. Luckily, a strong adoration for the people in Nyaristios helped to calm down these impulses.

The people still wanted more power for Levia, and in addition they wanted land to expand to. Ever since the town's founding RenIsRaw wanted the peninsula to the north. Levia couldn't use this land because it belonged to the Redorivian state of Tuhrifel. Austevoll hatched a plan to take this peninsula from the incredibly innactive state. He first contacted the president at the time of Redoriv, Lone, to test the waters on a border change. He proposed a small border change to the southern border to see if it would work. It went through the house. Austevoll then began to exert power over the peninsula by asking if he could repare the neglected land. The Redorivian very much liked this idea so he began tending to the land, much like he did with the deserts back in Nyaristios.

Eventually the tatics became less subtle. He built a massive river between the Redorivian mainland and the peninsula, making it an island. Realizing what he was doing was stupid, Austevoll decided to reach out to Moriik from Tuhrifel, asking if he could buy the land. Much to Austevoll's dismay Moriik declined the offer. The citizens of Levia were nearly in outrage, but eventually calmed down after being told Tuhrifel was considering building a town there were they could connect. They infact did not build a town there and a squatter briefly found themselves at home there.

Note on the Island Dispute
Levia does not want to take over Redoriv. Please do not concern yourselves. We have upmost respect for those of Tuhrifel and understand why they rejected the proposal. We are still somewhat annoyed over the fact that they have only ever used it as a sand mine(which we repaired) and still cling on to it so tightly, but it was wrong of us to try and yoink the land without asking nicely first. There is infact no actual drama. ILY REDORIV PLEASE LET ME STAY A CITIZEN.

- Austevoll

Míyenxin
Nyaristios renmaed itself to Míyenxin to help establish its own identity on the server and distance itself from any claimants to the Empire of Aristios. With this move Levia could begin to associate itself more culturally with the archduchy. Levia was never Aristii, and thus had no desire to associate with the archduchy if it were Aristii. There were fears that if Levia were to become Aristii, people who never lived or had any claim to Levia would begin to see it as their rightful land. Levia began adopting elements of nyaoist ideals while maintaining their lev0 culture and Sheep religion. Some changes included the Levia catgirl café and the meow garden as well as just a general affinity for cats.

Culture
The lev0 culture is a very new one and continues to develop day to day. A common aspect of the culture is religious devotion. Levians will often visit monuments to ask the Q0b for help in their daily lives. This often includes favors or blessings. Elements of Azinra Ramoñexe or Secular Nyaoism are very popular among the Catfolk population. They continue the pratices associated with catfolkism in a secular fashion. This is a common trait among all desert catfolk, their isolation has led to a large disconnect with the religion.

Food
Potatoes with fish are a delicacy in Levia. They can be found at all parties and events in Levia.

Once a year adherents of Sheep eat a piece of hay to honor the gods, but this food is never eaten outside this religious event.

Root vegetables are scavenged for beneath the twigs of dead bushes. They are then used in dishes with salmon.

Kǎoyúpèi'miànbāo is a catfolk dish that includes a grilled/baked fish and any type of bread.

Language
The two dominant languages in Levia are lev0 and a desert dialect of Ramoyáña. lev0 is used in all religious contexts as well as local bureaucracy and writing in the city. It is also used in day to day life, but only inside the walls of Levia. The language has no influence outside the city. Ramoyáña is used in all trade and relations outside the city. Most of the population speaks it as a second language, but it is not uncommon for catfolk to have moved to Levia from other parts of Míyenxin. In those cases Ramoyáña would be their first language.

Original Banner
This is the original banner of Levia. It was used to represent Levia before the official flag was created, and was the inspiration for its creation. It can be found hung all across Levia.



Plain Design
This is the first flag design for Levia. It was based off the original banner for Levia. It finds itself in use today as a small symbol to represent citizens of Levia in the Míyenxin discord server.



Textured Design
This is the official flag of Levia. It is used to represent Levia in any political scene. It draws its design from the Levia banner, featuring the small cracks of the brick pattern.