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_MER 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.

Pre-history
The land we would currently call the Federal Republic of Cognia used to be quite sparse and arid, the only life clinging near the rivers and forests to the east of the nation, such life included many species still around today like the Cognian Ground Worm, notorious for ingesting a large amount of copper into their diets, turning them a greenish hue, Korkhian Snake, which is named due to its prevalence in early texts of the Korkh people, and Wajdu's Boar, a type of boar only found in the dark oak forest in Cognia's east, it derives its name from the fact that many people believe them to be spiritual and complex, which is why it has been recently added to Cognia's flag.

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, after the sacrifice was successful, and the hole opened, 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 traveler Athaz discovered the new world which UNK had emerged from. 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
2 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.

Post Merge Cognia
After the merger between the Federal Republic of Cognia and Garxijos Yawos was finally put into action, not much else happened within Cognia's borders, as the area they inhabited wasn't the most developed area, as almost all resources funneled from Cognia went to the refurbishing of Garxijos' capitol Garxeto. It is also during this time that some Luxites focused more on Rathnir, people like Peter5885 didn't see the merger coming before it was too late and decided to focus on their beliefs in Rathnir. This lack of many people coming to the area culminated into a golden age for the CoG, but a slow process of malfunction in Cognia, as its government sought to improve the union, not Cognia.

Dormancy
Despite many new Lux developments being made inside the union, the history of Cognia ever growing larger by the time, nothing happened with the state as its government collapsed and it leaned between inactivity and brief revival. This state of dormancy lasted until January 21, when the dominos fell in place for something far more drastic than anyone could've anticipated, the total collapse of the Confederation of Garxijos.

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.

Post-Collapse
After the collapse of the Confederation of Garxijos, and re-establishment of the Federal Republic of Cognia, a crisis between the Rattican Empire and Cognia occured, the Rattican wanted Cognia to convert to the religion of Ratism, a proposition which was swiftly denied by Cognia and led to the Rattican declaring war on the nation of Cognia, however this was short lived as Cognia agreed to build a single secluded statue of the Rat King in exchange for a non-aggression pact with the Empire, and to this day no conflict has come between the nations since. Another crisis emerged when the founder of Cognia, UNK_MER went dormant without much talk about why, as the de-facto leader of Cognia this was a massive hit to national pride, so months later ACasualWalnut, a previous Ombudsman, decided to take things into his own hands and declare himself de-facto leader, which shortly after he renamed to Adhyaksh, he also renamed the Ombudsman to Pratinidhi and moved the capitol to Cutusios, which helped him localize the government to the place he directly oversaw.

Cultural Shift
Despite the previous cultural style of Cognia being unclear, juggling between industrial or more traditional, ACasualWalnut decided to adopt a style that spoke to him, and he thought fit Cognia as a whole, this style was a Mughal/Hindi style that set apart the nation from others around it. He also centered much of the cosmetic stuff around it, adding a boar to the flag and investing into more lavish building projects, all of this combined to make a style that is definitively Cognian.

Leadership
Cognia's government is a direct democracy headed by a leader called the Adhyaksh, the Adhyaksh's delegates known as Pratinidhi, which help balance the nation and aid the leader, the role of Pratinidhi is chosen every couple of months in an election. 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.

Cities
Cognia has a total of 4 cities under its control, each with their own different origins and leaders...

Cutusios
The current capitol of Cognia located to the south, founded by ACasualWalnut during the time of the Confederation of Garxijos originally as Temox it has been through many phases of dormancy, decay, revival, and now as a hub of impressive architecture and many plans, many of its current structures have been remade since its time in the CoG, and these locations are still around and include, the warehouse, the portal room, the smeltery, the shop, and a temple.

Buchwych
The former capitol of Cognia and its first city located to the north, Buchwych was founded by the founder of Cognia himself, UNK_MER, and has been growing swiftly until his disappearance, now it lays semi-dormant with the cold streets being lifeless most times.

Hohenschonhausen
A large fort city in the center of Cognia, founded by Icke during the days of the CoG, it takes up an entire island within its walls and provides many faculties for anyone stationed there, it also includes many locations like a watchtower, a couple houses, and a large stone gathering area.

Heiwa
A small farm city in Cognia located in the east, founded by ELTrojan5116 its original structures were created during the CoG under the name, "Brethil," it now only encapsulates the farm structure on the ground and not the floating islands above it.

Mainland
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. 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 Yunria, a Uraki vassal.

Islands
Cognia has 2 islands, ranging from large, to small, the largest to the west of the mainland known as Korkh's Garden, is comprised of 2 climates, savannah and desert, which are inland and costal respectively. The smallest south of Korkh's Garden known as Boar's Cradle, is entirely desert land with nearly no life on it whatsoever.

Architecture
Although past Cognian architecture was mostly industrial style towers, massive breweries, and other such structures, modern Cognia's style has shifted to a more Indian inspired style starting in the nation's current capitol Cutusios.

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, and also believes in another god exists in the Lux pantheon known as Saanjh, the god of dawn, however not much is currently written about this god.

Cognia
The flag of Cognia is a tri-color flag consisting of 2 red edges and a white center, the center of the flag features the Lux symbol showing their close connection to the religion, as well as a boar to indicate their connection to nature and balance. The red on the flag is representative of the red sand, a common biome in Cognia, as well as blood to represent the people sacrificed to keep Lux strong, and the white represents peace and thought.

Cutusios
The Capitol city of Cognia, Cutusios, features a bi-colored flag with yellow on the top section, black on the bottom, and a circle in the middle with a graphic of wind on the inside. The wind represents the god Cutu which is said to have saved UNK from the void, the black represents the void, and the yellow represents wealth and prosperity.

Buchwych
The former capitol of Cognia, Buchwych, features a bi-color flag with a majority of the flag being composed of orange, and a black triangle on its side near the hoist, as well as a white book within it. the orange likely represents the sand and terracotta, and the black could mean the void, or the valley which is where Cognia gets its name, in a similar sense the book re-enforces that statement, as Buchwych means "book valley."

Cognia
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 founding city of Buchwych, which began to feature cogs prominently on its buildings.

Cutusios
The name Cutusios derives from 2 words, the first is Cutu, the name of the god of wind in Tenebris' court, and the second word is Luxios, to imply that Cutusios is a city like Luxios.

Buchwych
Buchwych is likely a Korkh combination of words, the first is Buch, meaning book, and the second is wych, meaning valley, to imply that Buchwych is an enlightened city amongst the vast desert land.