Cat's Claw Peninsula

The Cat's Claw Peninsula is a geographical region situated in the continent of Haven in south-western Rathnir. In it is the nation of the Realm of Athinikas and owning most of it is the Ashai Crownlands. Within the Ashai Crownlands is Elys, Montroig and Boulderov, which all own territory within the Cat's Claw Peninsula.

Etymology
The name of the peninsula originates from it's shape, after the Chevkri riders landed on it and mapped it out, they thought it looked like a Cat's claw and named it so, completely unaware crabs exist for some reason.

History
Main article: Chevkri Republic

Formation of the Sindimlemi Dynasty
The Sindimlemi Dynasty was created in 5400 BJC by Qadrog Nahar Sindimlemi via the union of the Elekfini, Chevkrlemi and Kezklarfini peoples due to the Ardatian invasion of the Cat's Claw peninsula. The Elekfini had lost much of their territory in the peninsula, as the Ardatians had advanced deep into their lands. Despite no Ardatian records existing of this invasion, which completely baffled historians and archaeologists, many texts exist from the Elekfini side documenting the invasion. The Ardatians had reached the Aether river and the Urusian mountains when a united Sindimlemi army advanced from Umbria back into Coolioland. Him and his forces retook the important Elekfini city of Azhakli, which was very quickly named the capital of the Sindimlemi Dynasty. He consolidated control of the outskirts of the city before continuing his campaign, pushing the Ardatians all the way to the Curço river.

However, the Ardatians did not simply go on the defensive. They had taken control of the entirety of the Zhaitker Cape, and so they landed in what is modern-day Russantia and went on the offensive. This lead to a halt of operations in the west and the Sindimlemi going back on the defensive. The Ardatians managed to advance all the way to Mount Pinkos before a Kezklarfini garrison, outnumbed 10 to 1, stood their ground on Mount Pinkos and successfully delayed the Ardatian advance long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Thanks to this incredible act of bravery, the Ardatians were pushed back all the way to the Russantian Dunes. The Ardatians eventually decided to evacuate, slowly moving out of the Cat's Claw peninsula, avoiding confrontation with the Sindimlemi. When all of their territory was retaken, Qadrog Nahar surveyed his territory and established border forts to consolidate his power and control his borders.

End of Nahar's rule
Qadrog Nahar I spent the rest of his rule rebuilding his territories and strengthening his grip on power within the Kingdom. He additionally dissolved the local militias of the individual tribes and instead created a national garrison system and integrated many members of the militias into the Sindimlemi Army. In the south, he founded the city of Makralemi and delegated the affairs of administrating Chevkrlemi territories to nobles that he sent to live within the city. In order to properly administer his territory, which was vast and thus difficult to keep stable, he allowed nobles to rule over chunks of territory that he distributed, mainly to native tribal leaders but sometimes sending Elekfini noblemen to foreign territories, which sparked small uprisings in the country which were quickly put down. He would die in around 5350 BJC.

Rule of Qadrog Nahar II
Qadrog Nahar II, the son of Nahar I, ascended to the throne right as his father died, being coronated one year later to his death. He quickly faced problems from Elekfini nobles in foreign lands, who faced frequent uprisings. Instead of ceding to native demands, he instead decided to reform the National army in order to better handle these uprisings. He seperated the army into two sections: The Royal Forces and the National Guard. Many of the militiamen that were relegated to the national army were sent to the National guard, and much of the army was given to the National Guard, which in itself was seperated into three different armies, corresponding to their local cultures. The Royal Forces included the elite of the Kingdom's troops and the men from Azhakli and the cities surrounding it and the Aether river. Nothing else worthy of noting here happened during his reign.

Geography
The Cat's Claw Peninsula extends around 1800 blocks from continental Haven into the Kushite Sea and is surrounded by the Baldic Sea to the West, the Kushite Sea to the North the Rough Sea to the East and the Zhaitker Strait to the North-East. To the south, the Urusian mountains seperate it from Rexhelm and to the south-east the Gigney river seperates it from Dande. The eastern and the northern parts have well-developped plains while the western and southern parts are mountainous. The highest mountain on the peninsula is Mount Zhaskgrod.

Because the western and southern areas tend to be mountains, most of the rivers tend to run north or eastward, with the main exception being the Gigney river. Important rivers include the Aether river, the Fursten river, the Sunnerian river and the Curço river. Only one of these rivers has hosted large civilizations, with that being the Aether river. The Eastern coastline has marks of an ancient mouth of a river, especially near Russantia.

Demographics
The Cat's Claw peninsula, as of 307 TE, has a total population of 64.1 million people. (Montroig: 24.7 million, Aetheria: 25.8 million, Ashai: 13.8 million). The Cat's Claw has many ethnic groups within it, however the biggest one is the Athinische, numbering at about 15.2 million. However, these are not the only ethnic peoples living within the peninsula. The Alfheimi, Montroigans, Boulderi and Elysene also live within the peninsula, however smaller they are than the Athinische.