Lumeno

Lumeno is a city and associated city state, officially the Grand Duchy of Lumeno, on the coast of northern Khanji, Nieden. The city state is located in an arid desert region known as the Dunes of the Soaring Dragon, encompassing most of the peninsula it is on. To the south Lumeno borders Noxvyvras, to the north-east the Kingdom of Arcan, and the the west the Lunari-controlled enclave of Adwa.

Lumeno was once a member of the Silver Coalition, though it was not a founding member. Its independence became contended when the Silver Coalition was replaced by the Sterling Crownlands, but eventually Lumeno consolidated its sovereignty and its territories expanded through much of Khanji, before being peacefully conquered by the Kingdom of Axum. Eventually after conflicts between Axum and Aljazair, the Sultanate and later Republic of Alamayn was formed, part of which the city remained with brief contests by foreign powers for most of its history. When Alamayn fell apart after being invaded by its eastern neighbors of Greater Plagos, the remaining Alamayni government sold most of its territories to the highest bidders in what is known as the "Great Alamayni Collapse". With help from the former mayor of Lumeno, the Kaerfels dynasty got its hands on Lumeno and transformed it into the Grand Duchy of Lumeno. Independent for a while under Grand Duke Spoken Kaerfels and then his son Lukaerys Kaerfels, held in personal union with the Principality of the Midlands within the Holy Helmian Empire and then the third High Kingdom of Daelyria, Lukaerys ceded the Grand Duchy to his younger brother Aemon Kaerfels, who not long after decided to join the Third Escharian Empire as a vassal nation in September 2023.

History
Lumeno was founded on 11/27/2020 by Gratreedi. The city had modest origins, with only the humble homestead of the First Citizen Lapras172. The land officially joined the Silver Coalition during this early stage. The land grew swiftly into a small town upon the arrival of MadMiner363, thefatfellow, Head of Construction Shadow_Knight_84 and Secretary of State A_Winged_Pikmin. The citizens then got to work making many public and private buildings including their own houses, a town meeting hall, a library, and a nether portal. A traveller named FreezerBurn joined following this period, although he shortly splintered off to form the nearby settlement of Castellum following his arrival.

Following FreezerBurn's forming of Castellum, he created a long border of cactuses to designate the border between Castellum and Lumeno without consulting with anyone from Lumeno. For this reason, thefatfellow (with help from others) made the incredible tower of Tartarus in an effort to intimidate Castellum into submission. Following Castellum's sharp decline in manpower and ressources, Lumeno absorbed the city and made a pledge to itself to improve the land in the future.

Meanwhile, the coup within the Silver Coalition was underway, and while Lumeno was initially complicit in its terror, its citizenry soon realized an incredible opportunity: The opportunity to make people do Tartarus duels! Thus, Lumeno proposed a challenge, known to Lumenese historians as the "Tartarus Gambit", to the Silver Coalition. Instead of a war deciding the fate of Lumeno's independence, a best of five set of Tartarus duels would! The first king, Avreham Basha, boldly accepted the offer. However, the king was assassinated a short while later in the Battle of the Silver Citadel, resulting in Darkblade being crowned king. Shortly following his coronation took back Avreham Basha's acceptance, electing instead to decline.

The Great Extinguishing
Axum's fast growth lead it become regional rivals with the ancient nation of Lumeno, on whose land the Axumites had settled. Axum's desire for territorial expansion and fear of the former Silver Coalition's return lead to repeated conflicts with Lumeno. These culminated with the Great Extinguishing on May 8th, 2021, in which the rulers of Axum and Lumeno fought to the death atop the great tower of Tartarus. This saw the death of Lumeno's King A_Winged_Pikmin at the hands of Ts'Adik'Ani Luke6556 and the incorporation of the nation of Lumeno into the Axumite empire. The City of Lumeno would come to be an important source of glass and sugarcane, trade goods Axum would come to value greatly in their dealings with Aljazair.

Economy and Agriculture
While the city of Lumeno lacks a lot of fertile land, it does what it can with its little soil to grow mostly potatoes. They also grow wheat on occasion to feed small amounts of livestock, which is used more often for the materials they provide than for their meat. The Lumenese citizenry also has a habit of ravaging the nearby plains of Castellum, allowing them to quickly gather large amounts of leather, wool, and meat. Due to an abundance of sand and coastline (thanks to the Ridulce and Ertili Rivers), the city is able to produce a large surplus of glass and sugarcane. However, the city currently has neither the infrastructure nor the relationships to sell its goods effectively. These goods are offered by Lumeno will be sold in a commercial district.