Antias

In the recent history of humanity's presence on Ilunia, few states have been as influential as Antias. As the founder and political head of the Confederation, her President Consul Lothair Durazzo IV wields unparalleled influence among her allies, and as such has some of the finest troops in the entire organisation. Just as her allies were, Antias was once under the dominion of Ostia, but having rebelled has successfully exerted her own influence - notably the Confederate Oberlands Expedition, and the beginnings of the Confederate-Empire War. Now with the many crises to be dealt with and the war beginning to rekindle, Antias must work with the alliance if she is to have any hope of victory.

=History=

Early History
Early Antias is often considered unknown by prominent historians today. The first text was believed to have been written at about 289.-717 on the Republican Calendar, or approximately 123 BTE on the Ostian calendar. The city of Antiabaris, now lying in ruins, was the first evidence of a large settlement in Antias. The Information Flood, .-600 to -400 is when historic texts became recorded at the site in large enough numbers to be understood. The city of Antiabaris is often considered the center of the Laverocci Culture, a somewhat advanced culture of town dwellers that built walled burghs around the city of Antiabaris. Laverocci was conquered by Ostia around the year -300, after the local tribes had already fallen.

The Jefuitori elements of society tend to claim Laverocci was the first advanced Human settlement and that the culture was very similar to modern Jefuitori culture. The common belief now adays is that only the former is true.

Before the Invasion
Prior to the Jefuitori invasion, Antias was a relative backwater. Despite a relative wealth in the cities, the province's distance from the capital and the remoteness of some villages lead to a corrupt Bureaucracy and high taxes to make up for money lost. Antias at the time was almost completely Geldarian, with a relatively small vampire population due to the territory's distance from Ostia.

Jefuitori Migration
The Jefuitori have unknown roots. It started at the end of the Human population boom, when Humans got to outnumber the Vampires by a large margin. The Archivian Order generally supports the idea that they were merely descendants from the old Laverocci Culture, but the common belief of those who don't conform to the Archivian ideals, and of most foreign historians is that the Jefuitori were migrants from the Northlands, where Humans are originally rumored to have migrated from. It's generally agreed that at least half a century before the full blown invasion, Jefuitori had already migrated to Eastern Antias en masse. The Vampires viewed the group as hostile, and eventually something that needed to go. In the 4.298 incident, the prominent buildigns of the Jefuitori Quarter were sacked by Ostian-aligned Militias with the consent of Governor Vollic.

Invasion
The first sight of the double eagle banner on Illunia was, according to folklore, on 18.347 on the Antian Calendar. The actual date is unknown, and disputed by as much as 3 years. What is known is that a large, unified body of Jefuitori warriors landed on the Eastern shore around Dalanovia under the command of King Itrespecci II. This came at a bad time for Ostia, which was already experiencing a Human revolt in Kaffspar.

Itrespecci rounded up already dissenting elements of the Geldarian population and campaigned for a dozen years in the countryside. Neither side had much success. While the Vampire army was heavily outnumbered, but possessed elite and high quality forces. The Jefuitori communication between the elite and peasant forces was terrible, as few of the Primary Knights spoke Geldarian. The only advantage of the Jefuitori was their weapon, Bound Demon Familiars, which would prove useful in the coming weeks.

The invasion force was notorious for slaughtering prisoners, mainly because the language barrier prevented effective interrogation. Before the invasion, the Jefuitori were merely called 'Sea People' or 'Suit Merchants' by the common Geldarians. As early as 224.347, Ostian texts refer to them as 'Jefuitori', or Marauder in Ostian.

The decisive turning point in the war was at the Battle of Camario, in which Itrespecci decisively defeated the Ostian army in a dry field. After the battle, the Antian army turned towards Dalanovia. They found a cheering populace and a few decapitated vampire heads as they entered the main streets showered with flowers. 3 weeks prior to their arrival, the Vampires had already fled the city, minus a diplomatic team. The team negotiated a peace with Itrespecci in exchange for granting what is now Antias virtual independence as a voivode of Ostia.

From Empire to Republic
Itrespecci would be the first and last King of Antias. He would rule for only 2 years before he passed away, leaving a power vaccum. His eldest son was only 7 when he was crowned King, and the court and regent plotted for increased power in government. In the Diserto Accords, the Fatomici and Caporelli carta agreed to a new distribution of power in Antias. The Fatomici family would take the official title as President-Consuls, or Presidiators of Government while the Caporelli would essentially become Shogun-esque leaders of the military. The accords also created the National Assembly, which would prove vital in the follwing weeks.

Chaos in the Assembly
The Jefuitori Old Culture called for scheming and backdoor deals, as well as dramatic plots. The natural disclusion of the majority Geldarians from the First Assembly naturally meant almost everyone had their own thought out agenda. While Geldarians were somewhat clueless of the idea of a republic and were generally in favor of Kings and monarchs, Jefuitori liked governments they could influence.

Andronikus Polimicci
The members of the national assembly disliked the idea of the Fatomici family holding hereditary rule over the government, and were quick to depose it. This triggered Geldarian riots in Dalanovia, forcing the assembly to pick a new Presidiator, Andronikus Polimicci. Polimicci was very popular amongst the assembly members, but his treatment of Geldarians as inferior made the rioters regretful that they ever took to the streets. After the Geldarian elements of the army lined up in front of Assmebly house the Assembly was forced to pick a new Presidiator on 354.353, Lothair II.

Lothair II
The Assemblic Chaos as it was to be called greatly weakened the position of the Presidiator. The Supreme Marshal became stronger than the Presidiator and had a greater appeal to the people. To counterbalance this, Lothair went reforming. The first reform was to dissolve the First Assembly and introduce the Second Assembly, which included Geldarian. Despite this, the Second Assembly's official language was Jefuitori, and many of the prominent Geldarians, mainly army officers didn't participate due to a language barrier. The second was to create the Antian Constitution, granting rights to 'all citizens' (unsurprisingly elves, lizards, vampires, and other non humans weren't included). However, this made the Geldarians a little happier.

Midolisi Act
The last and final reform, the Midolisi Act redistributed the power base. The Jefuitori had established themselves as powerful Merchants, but had failed to purchase large tracts of land. The lands formerly owned by vampires, which comprised of over 99% of all land in Antias were seized and directed to the state. Due to a chaotic bureaucracy, they had been inefficiently managed, and the nation aws on the brink of famine. The Midolosi act granted proven Geldarian families Aristocratic status and made them permanent landholders. Power in government was shared by 3 Assembly houses, the Domain of Arbitrage, or Sjesset, which was comprised of powerful mainly Jefuitori merchants, or Bourgeoisie, the Domain of Advancement, comprised of important intellectuals known as Pashas, and the Domain of Nobles, comprised of the Geldarian aristocracy. 2 weeks after establishing his last reform, Lothair would die on a hunting trip.

Canaletto I
Upon Lothair's demize, his son Canaletto was quickly re-elected in an almost mock election by both houses. The aging Tamicci Caporelli was quick to come to a concensus with Canaletto, giving up his position as Grand Marshal in exchange for the single lagest share in Antian mercantile business to pass on to his sons. The position of Grand Marshal was then transferred as a duty of public service, usually given to a Jefuitori commander in the military.

The Revolts
Around the year 367 the revolts in the other Vampire held Human territories began kicking up. Antias was determined to assert itself as a regional power, and thus was obliged to send help. The Grand Marshal sent an expedition led by Zalicci Pasha into revolting Human lands to assist in the revolts. What's often called the Second Jefuitori War is ironically termed, as most of Zalicci's men were Geldarian outdoorsmen. Still, they managed to train forces from all borders in Guerilla Warfare, playing a crucial role in the success of the revolts.

Formation of the Confederacy
As all the other Human states freed themselves from the Ostian Empire, Canaletto saw a window of opportunity. He was quick to found the Confederation headed by the Presidiator of Antias. The original Confederation was nearly defunct due to the reorganization of the newly freed states, but later became an effective diplomatic body.

Andronikus I Durazzo
When Canaletto passed away, the Confederacy was merely a diplomatic body controlling the foreign policy of the Human states. Antias had nominal control over it, but little realistic influential ability in the politically unstabe Human nations that surround it. Andronikus is mainly remembered for centralizing the Confederacy and getting all the member states to adopt the same flag. The Antian Primary was renamed the Confederate Primary and became the official elite force of the Confederation.

Lothair IV Durazzo
Lothair was the first son of the ruling family. He was raised as an intellectual and a merchant at the same time. After his father's demise in 342.441, Lothair took power. The first years of his reign were marked by idelness, but recently numerous decisions have been made regarding the status of the Confedereacy and of Antias.

=Economy=

With the reforms of Lothair Durazzo, Antias has the second highest estimated per capita wealth in Illunia, second only to Ostia.

Agriculture
Often considered a neglected area, Agriculture has had little attention paid to it.

Industry
Antias is famous for producing high quality and high skill goods. The production of these goods was greatly accelerated by the mass introduction of the Guild System by Lothair IV Durazzo. Recently, casting of metal has also seen improvement due to a large investment by the government into cannon casting techniques.

Trade
Prior to the reign of Lothair IV, banking in Antias was almost completely dominated by Ostia despite Antias' large racism. Now adays, the State Banking Guild managed by the Council of Bey has become the nation's most prominent bank. Recent expansion into other Confederate territories has led to fierce competiton between the expanding State Banking Guild and Thornvald Bank. After a diplomatic conference, these disputes were settled by a trade agreement between Antias and Ostia.

=Culture=

Antias' culture is mainly split into 2 parts, the Geldarian culture and the Jefuitori culture. While Geldarians form over 95% of Antias' population, most of the upper class has learned to adopt the Jefuitori culture, full of Straveci Violins and elegant silk dresses.

((WIP))