Ahalia

= Second Duchy of Ahalia = The Second Duchy of Ahalia, commonly known as Ahalia or formerly the Kingdom of Ahalia, Empire of Ahalia, and Second Kingdom of Ahalia is a province of the Vulperium situated on the eastern side of the continent of Arsine. It is a former colony of the Imperial Archonate of Viodoxa and was formed by Viodoxan settlers in Eldham and eventually grew into the modern Kingdom, currently inhabiting four towns.

Founding and Early Development
Around August 2021, one of the Viodoxan Synkletos (ministers), Paulos Zevedeos, instructed his relative, Theo Zevedeos, to purchase land in Eldham for a Viodoxan colony. They would go on to purchase a desert territory from the Oban Empire for $65,000. A group of Viodoxan, led by Theo Zevedeos would set sail for the new lands. The settlers constructed a small outpost they named Jepola. The influence of the Aura Tribe would remain with the settlers, as their culture of Viodoxa merged with the natives, forming a merged culture and language known simply as Ahalian.

Construction of Jepola began swiftly after the settlers' arrival. Headed by the future Basileus, Theos Zevedeos, the town began building large scale structures, including the famed Library of Jepola. This early period of development was slowed by a lack of settlers, after many seemingly died of various causes. After the main buildings had been created, Jepola suffered a series of unrelated attacks from various bandits, depriving Jepola of resources that it desperately needed. This compelled Theos to order the construction of a large boundary wall, which would go on to surround the entire town. During this period of construction, Viodoxa would merge with the Empire of Yimmu-Audal and Soleannen Empire of Escharia to form the Triumvirate of Denumain, including Ahalia along with it. It was around this time that a second settlement was discovered, lead by the wanderer MineRabbit. It was agreed between the two towns that they would merge together to form the joint governing body of the Duchy of Ahalia, with Theos Zevedeos as it's duke.

Declaration of Independence
After the formation of the Duchy, reports began circulating about the attack on the other Viodoxan colony, the Duchy of Klea, by the Duchy of Goondium. The Battle of Sun's Gate was a complete disaster for Viodoxa, leaving the Goons with a foothold in Klea. This alerted Ahalia greatly, causing Theos to begin a period of armament and a mass recruiting campaign. Refugees from all over Eldham would come to Jepola and join the Duchy. The population of Ahalia boomed, providing a massive boost to defense and its ailing economy. Subsequently, Ahalia, and Jepola especially developed incredibly quickly, and this prompted Theos to reform the government. He created the guilds system and established a legislative council to advise him on all matters. Diplomatic ties began to be established between the Duchy and several other governments nearby, such as with the Zamotz Union and the Kingdom of Heloisa. The bond between Viodoxa and it's colony was stronger than it ever was, until the Second Goon Invasion of Klea. This resulted in a total collapse of the Duchy of Klea and a swarm of Viodoxan refugees headed for Jepola. This stoked fears that Ahalia was next, and these fears continued up until independence.

The Ahalian government began doubting it's connection to Viodoxa due to a lack of support and attention to the Eldham colonies, especially after the fall of Klea. Anti-Viodoxan sentiments spread throughout the populace, and these were only inflamed after a stranger arrived at the town. This was the King of Atlechia, part of the Zamotz Union, who was just visiting the town of Jepola on friendly terms, before he casually stated about his offer to purchase Ahalia from Viodoxa. This confused the government, as no such agreement took place between Ahalia and Zamotz. It was revealed that the Atlechian King had consulted Archonate Yazov of Viodoxa instead of the Ahalian government and reportedly agreed to sell the terriotory for a total of $65,000. This enraged many of the Ahalians, prompting Duke Theos to begin seeking a sponsor for an independence decree. Negotiations between the A.W.E and the Duchy began with the idea of Ahalia joining the Empire as a vassal state being agreed upon. However, before these negotiations concluded, the Viodoxan government suddenly collapsed, fracturing into several splinter states. Without a central government to serve, Ahalia declared independence, declaring Theos as the Basileus.

The Golden Age of Ahalia
Following the declaration of independence, the Basileus and Nikatoi began solidifying the Ahalian state, beginning by drafting a constitution and reforming the economy. The entire government was reformed with the Nikatoi being reformed into a legislative body, rather than an advisory body. A position of Supreme Judge was invented, as well as the guarantees of the rights of citizens. Alongside this, the population boomed once more, providing a massive economic support to Ahalia, leading to a new set of fortifications to be built surrounding the city. Using the new economic funding, Wambold O'r Cymoedd would negotiate a deal to purchase lands from the Kingdom of Atlechia, negotiating personally with King Swenking, previously being seen as a diplomatic impossibility. The pair negotiated for days, and a bargain was struck. Ahalia would annex the region known as Outer Ahalia for the sum of $70,000. This would double the land size of Ahalia and strengthen the relations between Ahalia and Atlechia even more.

Proceeding the expansion, Ahalia had developed immensely. This prompted the government to start showing off the might of the nation to it's neighbours, doing so by aiding it's neighbours in wars. The first of these was the First Elbian-Valdreach conflict, where several Ahalian soldiers assisted the Elbian people liberate their lands. After joining with the White Keys and Yakuza, the Ahalians marched into Tvear, the capital of Valdreach. They met no resistance, and swiftly occupied the town and castle, before declaring victory. The second conflict was the Atlechian Invasion into Agoge, where the Kingdom of Atlechia had declared the NMC to be an illegitimate nation and claimed it's lands. Ahalia would send volunteers to assist, and raid the valuable mercenary treasures. Atlechia, being the primary attacker, brought 3 soldiers to the fight, while Ahalia, the assistant in the war, brought 7. The two nations occupied the lands to little to no resistance and earned a lot of war spoils. Many scholars would deem this era "The Golden Age of Ahalia" due to it's incredibly expansion in population and culture as well as high activity and cultural experiences.

The Ahalian-Atlechian Crisis
(see wiki for more info)

Following the New Moon Company's demise, Ahalia continued to grow richer by the day, all in the meantime watching over the border to see what Atlechia would do with the lands Ahalia had desired. After waiting weeks upon weeks, nothing meaningful would happen, and the claims were suddenly removed one day, to which Ahalia decided to annex the lands and integrate them into Ahalia. This angered Atlechia greatly, sparking the Ahalian Atlechian Crisis.

Declaration of the Empire
Upon the striking of the new year, the A.W.E would declare war on the Second Empire of Plagatea, at the time an Ahalian ally. Subsequently, Ahalia would be the first of many nations to side by their ally in the fight against the Entente, pledging everything they had to fight. This was rendered meaningless when the conflict ended somewhat peacefully, and Ahalia never got a chance to fight in a major war.

Meanwhile, Ahalia became one of the founding nations of the Dinas Pact, with Wambold Zevedos originally proposing and forming the idea. The Pact pledged for permanent peace among them, but this would change when the Uraki Imperium declared war on the North-East, which included Ahalia's ally, the Kingdom of Jabal. Ahalia would join the war to assit their ally, prompting the Pact to vote to join the war. However, Ahalia recognised what it perceived to be corruption and infighting among the coalition that was formed, causing them and many members of the Pact to leave the war and resume a peacetime.

Upon the new peacetime for Ahalia, it would enter a period of sem-stagnation, with growth stunted and the population demoralised. This would prompt Theo Zevedeos to reorganise Ahalia into an empire, which prompted discourse among many scholars about it's small size, as well as confusing many citizens. Shortly after the declaration, Ahalia's allies Helos and Vladigrad would request to join the Empire, for protection purposes as well as to deepen the ties between the nations, to which Ahalia agreed, with both states becoming provinces of the Empire. Later on, Ahalia would also purchase the Province of Varos from Santos, as per the request of the governor. This would reinvigorate the declining Ahalian populace, and prompt a new era of culture and patriotism. With this new valour, Ahalia began deepening it's foreign influence, involving itself in the Iron War as well as forming new alliances and beginning diplomacy with it's neighbours.

Meanwhile, a group of Helosan nationalists formed an organisation dedicated to bringing down the Empire, citing that Helos had lost all sovereignty when they had joined. They became a headache to Theo, as well as Provincial Governor Bitter Dovialka, who eventually sided with the organisation. Helos would leave the Empire without consulting the government, a violation of the constiution, and got protected A.W.E, who also announced it's intention to curb Ahalia's growth. Despite this, Ahalia would eventually unite with the Duchy of Sinterland, a breakaway state from Viodoxa, much like Ahalia was. Uniting the former Viodoxan colonies was a main goal of Ahalia, and this unification would help to achieve that goal.

The Ahalian Civil War
(see wiki for more info)

Theo Zevedeos would eventually sicken, plagued with the Illness of the Desert. His condition made him unavailable to rule, which he insightfully understood, and abdicated from the throne, giving it to Fousas Zevedeos. This would anger Wambold Zevedeos greatly, despite Fousas being the previous heir to the throne. This prompted him to openly declare rebellion, and he commanded the Ahalian peoples to rise up to his cause. Many citizens would take sides in the conflict, but many tried to remain neutral as best as they could. The civil war would culminate with the Battle of Dinas, where the Ahalians would shed each other's blood other the throne. Wambold's Ahalia would have more volunteers, but were ill-equipped, and stood no match against Fousas's army. Wambold would be injured during the battle, and he and his supporters fled. Eventually, after the war, Theo would reclaim the throne once more after his sickness had concluded. Following the civil war, Sinterland would declare independence from Ahalia.

Revolution
Upon Ahalia's weakened state under the civil war, Theo realised that many nations wanted to snatch Ahalia's lands from them, and so decided to unite all Ahalian territories with the Serene Republic of Novastonia, despite not consulting his people, and would later die of old age, while Fousas fled the royal palace. This prompted a massive revolt from various Ahalian nobles and merchants, whom sought out the closest heir to the throne they could find that would support them: Wambold, the pretender who claimed the throne during the civil war. These nobles would have the backing of Swenking of Atlechia, who was eyeing the Ahalian lands and saw this as a perfect opportunity. The peoples that supported them held large scale protests as the nobles marched on Dinas, and placed Wambold on the throne, declaring the Second Kingdom of Ahalia. Vladigrad and Varos would both declare independence from the dying Empire, leaving Ahalia back to it's original borders before the Empire.

The Second Duchy
During the Revolution, Wambold would be in contact with the King of Atlechia, Swenking, recognised as Ahalia's long time enemy. The two would plan an uprising against the Empire mere hours before Ahalia joined Novastonia, with Swenking wishing for Ahalia to enter into the Atlechian realm. During the revolution, Swenking would get the idea that Wambold promised to join Atlechia in exchange for military support, while Arindor would argue that this never happened. Regardless, military action would never occur as the revolution ended diplomatically. Swenking would request Ahalian unification with Atlechia time after time, with Wambold toying with the idea but ultimately deciding against it. This angered Swenking, and so he built a coalition consisting of many nations and declared war on Ahalia.

Ahalia's military might was no match for the coalition Atlechia had gathered, and so seeked peace, but was rejected, with Swenking demanding Wambold to step down so he could appoint a king of his choosing. However, during the talks about Ahalian-Atlechia unification, Swenking would mention his intention to invade and annex the Vulperium, a long time ally of Ahalia's. This gave Wambold an idea: Seeing as both Ahalia and the Vulperium would be embroiled in war with Atlechia, why not unify the two nations to expand their defences? Wambold would contact BeastlyBrock, Grand Valar of the Vulperium, and he also agreed to the proposal. And so, Ahalia would join the Vulperium as a Duchy, establishing the Second Duchy of Ahalia.

(see wiki for more info)

Atlechia would be infuriated, with Swenking writing a hasty announcement to the nations of Eldham that most agree caused major national embarrassment for Atlechia. He would later send an ultimatum to the Vulperium, demanding an apology and the lands of Ahalia, to which he was ignored. Atlechia then declared war on the Vulperium, but was later beaten at the Battle of Lazodi. Upon the war's conclusion, Ahalia would be granted the Atlechian lands of Pentamorea, greatly expanding the nation.

Simultaneously, Wambold would step down as Duke of Ahalia due to popular demand from the people, allowing Megateck to take his place.

Wambold's Coup
Time went on, and Ahalia continued to stagnate. It did attempt to establish new towns with the new religious site of Phoenia and the island of Keylon, gifted to Megateck by Westeros Durradayne, but Atlechian squatters maintained ownership of the claims in the west. Upon this stagnation, a faction of old imperial hardliners had grown noticably loud, culminating in the victory of Fousas in the election for the position of Count. This was to the dismay of Wambold, who saw Megateck as a weak ruler, and so demanded him to step down, threatening to invade Ahalia with a massive mercenary army. Unknown to the Ahalian government, this army did not exist and Wambold was entirely bluffing, but Megateck would believe Wambold. Regardless, he refused, forcing Wambold to back down and surrender, to which he would be exiled from the nation, never to return.

The Second Duchy of Ahalia
Under the Vulperium, Ahalia is led by a Duke and a Count. The current duke is Mega Kericos, but previous dukes included Arindor Zevedeos.

Constitution of the Empire of Ahalia
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fY7p4ifnSsTnApOsKFAUdeAOVe6U9LS2HagWFwgc6Wk/edit?usp=sharing

Government of the Empire of Ahalia
The Empire of Ahalia was a monarchial empire, led by the Autokrator's Theo Zevedeos, Fousas Zevedeos and Wambold Zevedeos. The Autokrator serves as the Head of the Executive and Head of State, as well as the Chief Diplomat of Foreign Affairs for the state. The Porphyrogennetos is the heir to the throne, and upon the resignation or demise of the Autokrator, the Porphyrogennetos will take over and assume the position of Autokrator. The government also consisted of the Synkletos, consisting of the members:


 * MineRabbit
 * Haider Zevedeos
 * Wert
 * Radislaw Rejewski
 * ExpCake
 * Wambold Zevedeos

The Synkletos were led by the Ekprosopos, who was elected by the entire populace of Ahalia. It was a majorly ceremonious role and served as the Autokrator's mouthpiece to the Council. The Ekprosopos's were Wambold O'r Zevedeos and ExpCakes.

There was a second council, the Ahalian Lords, made up of the Synkletos, the Provincial Governors, the Ministers, and Special Advisors.

Provincial Governors were the governors of each of the Ahalian provinces, and were in charge of the lands that have been assinged to them by the Autokrator. They held complete jurisdiction over the lands, but still served the Ahalian Crown and the Autokrator.

Ministers were responsible for various aspects of the Ahalian state.

Mayors ruled over each town and had full jurisdiction over their town, but still served the Ahalian Crown and the Autokrator.

Provinces of Ahalia
There were a total of five provinces within the Ahalian Empire. These were:


 * The Province of Ahalia, founded upon the declaration of the Empire, 21/01/2022
 * The Province of Helos, joinedd Ahalia upon the declaration of the Empire, 24/01/2022
 * The Province of Vladigrad, joined Ahalia as a province per request of leader, 25/01/2022
 * The Province of Varos, joined Ahalia as a province per purchase as request of leader, 31/01/2022.
 * The Province of Sinterland, joined Ahalia after negotiations, 05/02/2022.



Geography
Ahalia is located on the continent of Arsine, on the eastern coast. It borders the Kingdom of Atlechia. It's other neighbours are the Razuni Sultanate, the A.W.E and the Vulperium. The terrain of the Province of Ahalia is entirely desert, with a large mesa to the north, with a river seperating the Empire from the Pentamorean mainland. It consists of (idk) towns, Jepola, Rochdale, Dinas, Kekrifalia. Jepola is the capital, and consists of the main facilities of Jepola, surrounded by a large wall which is the main defense of the town. Jepola has two entrances, to the south which leads to the South Bridge, the Jepola-Rochdale Bridge and the Jepola-Rochdale Highway, and to the east, which leads to the Jepola Docks.

Religion and Culture
The Empire of Ahalia has one official religion, Guhenism. Guhenism was introduced to Ahalia by the original Viodoxan settlers, with it being the main religion of Viodoxa. The Guhenist Church sits high upon a hill in the center of Jepola, with other Guhenist shrines appearing in other Ahalian cities, such as Dinas, Kekrifalia and Vladigrad. Currently, Theo Zevedeos was at one point the Stefani of the Guhenist Church, and promotes Ahalia as the new centre of Guhenist religious ideas, prompting it as a pilgramage site throughout Eldham and Rathnir. Ahalians are not forced to worship the goddess Guhen, but are guaranteed the right to the freedom of religion.

Culture (to be continued)