Kingdom of Alvaros

The kingdom of Alvaros is a country situated in the north of Arros, along the Thoskal sea, and nestled between the Dorroman mountains to the west and the Alvaros mountains to the east. It is a relatively cold and hilly country inhabited by a modest population of less than 15 million people. Nonetheless, is is one of the most powerful kingdom on the continent thanks to the high percentage of mages in their population as well as their advances in magic and technology. Its capital city, Aleida, is said to be one of the most beautiful city on the continent, and contains a magic academy and two university.

History

Humble Origins

Around the year 2000 BC, the first Alvarosian tribes leave the The Ghoro Marshlands and travel to the north-east. They establish themselves in present day Alvarosia and organise themselves into small tribes and domains. This would last for about 1000 years, as these small states slowly aglomerated together, until the kingdom was finaly established in the year 907 BC. It was a paigan kingdom, with a fate closely resembling that of its neighbour to the west, the Confederation of Ru'mensh.

Choranism, wars and Expansion

However, this wouldn't last too long as a new fate, Choranism, was rapidaly spreding throughout the continent from the west. In the year 766 BC, the Kingdom finaly converts to Choranism and outlaws paigan beliefs. Meanwhile, the kingdom had considerably expanded its borders and now occupied a large part of north-Central Arros. It mainly expanded to the east, conquering the lands beyond the Alvars mountains and the Heorians living there. It also expanded south, which meant that they had numerous wars with the Eglazians and Lauralians, and later with the Essanian Empire. Eventualy, the lands to the south were lost to the expending Essanian Empire.

Loss and Devastation

As for the untamed lands to the east, their grip slowly loosened as their armies were focused on the south, trying to protect their core territory from the Essanian Empire. In the year 403 BC, they finaly lost those lands after a quick revolt by the native Heorians, which established the kingdom of Heoria. Alvaros would then enter a period of turmoil as the Rumalians to the west and the Thengorians to the east would team up to take them down. They would be unsuccessful, but Alvaros was left battered and weak.

Isolation and refugies

Thankfully, the region would soon enter a period of calm, which helped Alvaros, who entered a period of isolation, recuperate its strenght and focus on protecting their core territory, mainly by expanding castles and fortifications around the major cities, such as Tolyani, Voltei and the capital, Aleida. During this time, they were periodicaly forced to pay tribute to the Essanian empire during that time, which they hates, but the successive monarchs realised that it was for the best. The first waves of foreign mages began to trickle into the country by this point, around the year 200 BC, as the situation for them in the Essanian Empire grew ever more complicated. The kingdom decided to take advantage of the steady flow of Mage refugies and the Magic academy of Aleida was created. It was modeled after the one in Palynor, but maily focuses on Soulbound magic, instead of elemental.

The Fall

The period of isolation would be cut abruptly in the year 21 BC, as the kingdom was attacked by hordes of mysterious beings, later known to be Blighted Monsters. They entered the war against them, mainly coordinating with the kingdom of Kavasia in numerous battles against them.

Present Day

When the war was over, a treaty was signed between themselves and Kavasia, setting up the border between the two and a political alliance. The kingdom was left in a very good position. In the wake of the war, it had a huge number of Soulmages, its infrastructure wasn't too damaged and it had an alliance with the new dominant power of the continent.
Since then, Alvaros has enjoyed mostly tranquility as the only danger on their borders in the Kingdom of Northengor, who still lauches raid parties into Alvaros. The kingdom itself is prosperous and strong.

Demography and Population

General Population

The country has a relatively low population compared to some of its neighbours, mainly the Kavasian Empire and the Ru'menshi Confederation. Nonetheless, it still houses millions of people, most of those are of Alvari ethnicity. 

Mage Population

What makes this country stand out demographycaly are the proportions between Humans and Mages. If fact, some scholars from the Capital, Aleida, estimate that as much as 10% of the country's population may be composed of mages, which is about 8 times more than in most other countries. The only other coutries that may have proportionaly more mages within their populations are the Kingdom of Nan-Tao and the Confederation of Ru'mensh.

Territories

The kingdom of Alvaros is a moderatly large coutry situated along the south of the Thoskal sea, squeezed in between the Alvars Mountains to the east, the Doroman mountains to the west, the vast interior prairies to the south, further inland the continent and the Thoskal sea to the north. The land is relatvely flat along the coastline and around the capital and contains the best agricultural land. However, the land gets progresively more rugged the further south, eat or west one goes, going further south, pass the foothils of both the Dorroman and Alvars mountains, the land opens up to the Roynian plains. The east and west is dominated by hills, cliffs and deep valleys, all of which are covered in thick forests. The south-west is dominated by the northern parts of The Ghoro Marshlands, while the south-east, around the city of Hersa, hosts flat land covered in patches of woods and farmlands. Notably, this region in the south-east, used to be the kingdom of Eglazia, which was destroyed during The Fall.

Military

Infantry

The kingdom has a small population and rugged terrain, with much of the land not suited for agriculture. This means that it cannot sustain having a large standing army and many levees during times of war or many cavalary units, as does Kavasia to the south, or rumalia to the west. However, this small army is said to be some of the best infantry units in Arros, only rivaled by the Naurish army. This is because nearly all citizens, mage or not, are required to attend the military academy in the City of Tolyani in order to train in archery and swordfighting. The kingdom pays the cost. Another thing that boosts the infantry's power is the fact that despite its small size, it has numerous mages in its ranks, all of who are trained in both mundane combat (archery/Swordfighting) and magic combat. Indeed, even Shapeshifters have their own units within the army, which is a rare sight in Arros outside of Rumalia.

Navy

They have a small navy that is mainly used to patrol their coastline along the Thoskal sea and to keep the Thengorian ships away.

Air force

While the country is very rich, both in ressources and money, it doesnt have a large airforce to reflect that reality. This is largely because winged ships have trouble in the cold and since Alvaros is reliably colder half of the year, they didn't bother getting too many of them. The few they have are stationed in the cities of Hersa and Aleida.

Mercenary

The kingdom relies very little on mercenaries, as their native born population of mages is sufficient and most are enroled in the kingdom's standing army. They nonetheless have a small number of Kavasian mercanary, who mainly help with the protection of the eastern border with Kingdom of Northengor.

Religion

The vast majority of the country practices Choranism, specificaly the branch of Choranism from the city of Raune, in Naurcia.

Foreign Relations

Allied Countries

The Kingdom of Alvaros is relatively isolationists. As a result, they do not have many allies or enemies. The allies that they do have hovever have been for centuries. The most powerful is undoubtebly the Kavasian Empire to its south. The Kingdom of Heoria, situated on the other side of the Alvars mountains are also a respectable ally, as it the Kingdom of North-Shorai.

Enemy Countries

However, they do have one enemy state, which is the Kingdom of Northengor, with whom they have a long running border dispute over the valleys of the Northern edge of the Alvars mountains. Small squirmishes are common between the two army, but neither seem to have the apetite for a large scale war.

Neutral countries

The kingdom of Alvaros doesn't view the Confederation of Ru'mensh as either an ally or a enemy. Most residents of the kingdom have favorible views towards them, but the kings's court and the noble of the country are wary of an alliance between them and the Kingdom of Northengor, which would be largely unwinnable for them. Thankfully, the confederation does not seem intrested in war and so this possiblity seems farfetched. The kingdom of Gysia recently invaded one of Alvaros's ally, the Kingdom of North-Shorai, which agered some noble in the country, but the Queen of Alvaros is of Gysian origins, meaning that at least neutral relations were kept.

Agriculture & Industry

Agriculture

The kingdom does not have very much agriculture for its size. Only the southernmost provinces, near the Kavasian border and the flat lands around the capital have fertile soils. The north of the country's agriculture is dominated by root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots and beets, while grains like wheat and oats are grown in the south.

Fishing

The Thoskal Sea, along the kingdom's northern coast, is very rich in marine life, including fish. These can be fished in abundance all along the coast. In fact, fish constitute a major staple food of the kingdom, like in most other places in this region of the continent.

Forestry

Much like its neighbours to the east and to the west, the Kingdom of Alvaros is nearly entirely covered in forests. The trees that compose those forests grow very quickly compared to other places on the continent, which allows for consistant large scale lumber production. All this timber is mainly exported south, to the Kavasian Empire, who is comparatively very forest deficient, as most of their land is composed of prairies and grasslands.

Mining

Both the Dorroman and Alvars mountains are rich in minerals and ores. The numerous mines around the City of Voltai, situated amongst the foothills of the Dorroman mountains, extract enournous amounts of Iron, copper and zinc that make the city and the kingdom very rich. The city is also known as the Brass City, as it produces huge amounts of the alloy, which the kingdom then exports or uses for many things, including Talisman production.

Talismalurgy

A good portion of these refined metals end up in Aleida, where they are used to craft Talismans. This is not done in a specific place in the city, but rather within multiple smaller shops around the city and even in some others. Each are specialized in only one or two types of Talisman, and no more. These shops are collectively known as the Alliance of Talismalurgic Guilds of Aleida, or ATGA for short. On all the Talisman they produce, these innitials are branded onto the metal, confirming its origins.

Infrastructure

Sea Ports

The capital, Aleida, is the only city with a large port. Most international imports and exports by sea pass through Aleida's port. The City of Tolyani also has a port, but it is much too small and is mainly used to house military vessels.

Airports

Both the cities of Hersa and Aleida have airports. The one in Hersa is bigger, despite the city being smaller and not the capital. This is because Hersa is on a more favorable location for Winged ship transit lines as well as being significantly less cold than the capital.

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

City of Aleida

Demonym

Alvari/Alvarosian

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Official State Religion

Choranism

Related Traditions

• Brekken
• Festival of the Last Moon

Controlled Territories

• City of Aleida
• City of Hersa

Neighboring Nations

• Confederation of Ru'mensh
• Kavasian Empire
• Kingdom of Heoria