Federal Republic of Cognia

Cognia, officially the Federal Republic of Cognia, is a nation located in the Northeastern corner of Eldham. It was formally established after the dissolution of the Ellysian Empire during the Second Coalition-Ellysian War. The nation was dissolved when it merged with Garxijos Yawos to form the Confederation of Garxijos on July 21st, 2021, but re-emerged following the dissolution of the latter on 22 January, 2022.

Cognia Before Eldham's Discovery
The modern day area that comprises the Federal Republic of Cognia was mostly vacant for its history with not much reason to settle as the blistering conditions and lack of rich resources didn't make the area the most strategic to settle down in, there was only one real force to ever settle down in the mesa and its surroundings, and that was the native populations which named it, Korkh. Not much is known at all about this native population, other than they didn't build much, and were destroyed by some force before UNK and the Luxites ever arrived to the area, however their writings inspired the name and writing styles of those same Luxites who would cross the region.

The Korkhian Cataclysm
The event which led the area composing of modern Cognia to become entirely lifeless is just as mysterious and forgotten as the life it extinguished, but there are some theories. Firstly due to the high frequency of dragons before they became extinct in the region, its possible they could've destroyed any Korkh settlement they came across, the problem with this theory is simply that Cognia is quite far from most dragon territory, and would be semi-pointless to travel to, of course the second theory and probably the most accepted one, is a civil war between the Korkhians which destroyed their entire civilization, either way it is not known what happened to the Korkh people, other than something wiped them out.

The Void
Back on Rathnir a tiny bit before Eldham would be discovered, the goddess of light Lux was freed in ritualistic sacrifice by 3 men, heir to the Solisios throne Peter5885, The current Shah of Solisios Beast_Killertje, and Sepbo UNK_MER. Together they helped free Lux by throwing UNK into the void with riches galore in order to give Lux the power to shatter the barrier which had closed the hole and Lux was saved. However inside the void was a different story, while during the event it was common to believe UNK might have been absorbed by Lux inside the void and possibly added to her Eternal Flame, quite something different happened. UNK floated through the void unharmed by the fall, and sat there for an unknown amount of time, until a child of the void god Tenebris, Cutu showed himself to UNK and since he had been worthy of ascension, Cutu spared him from the void and spat him out onto the barren mesa, which UNK dubbed Cognia.

Founding
When UNK_MER had been launched from the void by Cutu, coincidentally the traveller Athaz discovered the new world which UNK had landed on. Many new settlers wishing to expand their empires or religion came to the continent including Peter5885, and ninjaofthesea13, which quickly helped UNK off of his feet and begun to make a Lux colony in the new world, many new players also joined the new country of Cognia, and after a long while of planning, construction, and mining, the city of Buchwych was formed.

Expansion of Buchwych and Establishing of Whitpoint
The newly migrated settlers to Buchwych started construction on the mesa's many plateaus which allowed for natural protection from invaders and banditry. This however would be a fruitless endeavor as bandits eventually started finding their way onto the top of these plateaus and started carrying out numerous bandit raids of Buchwych. The bandits were eventually fought off and the city became more developed, allowing for these attacks to be prevented all together.

With a new sense of tranquility in the city, homes and structures began popping up en masse and new residents came to the city. Eventually, one member named urmumcantswim left the city of Buchwych and founded the city of Whitpoint. The two cities were aptly connected by a bridge.

Ellysian Annexation and Liberation
After the end of the First Coalition-Ellysian War, the powerful Ellysian Empire was banished to the sparsely populated Northeastern corner of the map. While this liberated many peoples, it put Buchwych in direct harms way. After the Ellysians began to expand their newly grasped territories in an imperialistic mannerism, they annexed Buchwych without consulting them first and ignored any claims that they did not own them. This resulted in them existing in a gray area under direct unofficial control of the Ellysian Empire for an extended duration of time.

When the Second Coalition-Ellysian War broke out, the Second Coalition (now known as the Anti-Radical Syndicate) fought back the Ellysian Empire and dissolved it. After this, the former Ellysian territory was split into five administrative zones that were governed by nations that assisted in the war effort. Buchwych and Whitpoint were located within Zone Three, and after talks with the governors of the zone which hailed from the United Socialist States of Eldham, they were permitted to start anew with their nation and finally establish the Federal Republic of Cognia without opposition.

Garxijos Yawos Merge
Several months after the founding of the Federal Republic of Cognia many people within the nation wished to expand the borders of the new republic, through diplomacy or force, however none of these loose ideas were ever really accepted or acted upon until 2 particular players joined the nation, Buoyo and ACasualWalnut both seeing promise in the nation to Cognia's west, Garxijos Yawos. The merger document was drafted shortly after by ACasualWalnut and the capitol building was undertaken by Buoyo until July 7th 2021 when the 2 nations became one as the Confederation of Garxijos, which would go onto incorporate many more states into their borders.

Collapse of the Confederation of Garxijos
7 months after the founding of the Confederation of Garxijos due to many arbitrary factors including an fort by the state Helsia, a massive socialist movement known as the Socialist Provisional Government which later absorbed into the Uraki Imperium under false pretenses, and Garxijos Yawos separating on their own into Uraka, there was only one state left which had not signed or participated in any separatist groups was the Federal Republic of Cognia, which after the dissolution of the CoG declared independence on the 22nd of January 2022.

Government
Cognia's government is a direct democracy headed by three de facto leaders, known as Ombudsmen. Elections take place every three months. Each month, one Ombudsman takes the spot as the "main leader" of Cognia, despite technically being on the same level as the other ombudsmen, who would act as a way to balance the leadership. Cognia, after its independence was gained, only lasted two months before being merged with Gaxijos, forming the Confederation of Garxijos. This meant that only one election was ever held in its existence. Regardless, after the government overthrow months after the merger, Cognia regained independence and now adopts its former government style.

Geography
Cognia is mostly located within mesas and savannahs cut by occasional rivers, to the east of the land is also a variety of environment such as jungles, plains, and even one of the rarest formations on Eldham, floating islands. It is located in the interior of a thick bay on the continent. The nation comprises of four cities, Buchwych, Whitpoint, Hohenschonhausen, and Cutusios. To the west outside of Cognia is the union between the 2 former CoG states of Pancioni and Garxijos Yawos which were absorbed into the Uraki Imperium, and to the east and south across the river is the Confederation of Anarchist Communes.

Religion
The religion of Cognia is known as Narism, a branch of Lux that believes in the balances of the forces of Light and Dark, and between Lux and Tenebris.

Vexillology
The flag of Cognia features white in the center with two small dark red stripes to both the left and right sections of the banner. In the middle is a symbol originating from Lux to show their close connection to it.

Etymology
The name of Cognia is derived from the root word, "cognitus", which may have come from the mysterious language of the Korkhs. The word cognitus translates roughly to "to know". This word was chosen due to the branch of Lux, Narism, being based on knowledge, hence Cognia. Future players would later misinterpret the name of Cognia as referring to literal cogs. This new interpretation of the name "Cognia" would ultimately become the basis for the theme of the Confederation of Garxijos (often abbreviated as COG). This would even be embraced by Cognia's capital and founding city of Buchwych, which began to feature cogs prominently on its buildings.