This article is about the sovereign state, for the physical island, see Tira Vella
"Fair winds and fair seas ferry us home, for Tira Vella be their home as well."
—Pelias Solou
The
Tira Vellan Republic (
Tira Vellan: Δημοκρατία Τίρης Βελλής, /ðimokraˈtia ˈtiris ve(l)ˈlis/), commonly known as
Tira Vella (
Τίρη Βέλλη, /ˈtiri ˈve(l).li/), is an island country comprising the island of
Tira Vella as well as the Gyaros Archipelago, Ala Rena Islands, several other minor islands, and the further outlying Macria Islands. Tira Vella is surrounded by the Great Southern Ocean to the south and east, the Tumanian Ocean to the west, and the Gyaros Strait to the north, separating it from
Sossis. The Macria Islands more than 500 kilometres to the west of the main island are the furthest incorporated territory. Power is largely centralised in the Gold Coast and Gyaros where most of the population lives and the economy is centred. Tira Vella is split into seven themes: Arpia, the Gold Coast, the Grey, Gyaros, the Macria Islands, Notachora, and Toloen. The Gold Coast is further split into Heprous, Boeupsia, and Tirassia. Tira Vella also has vast overseas holdings of various relations and levels of autonomy to the home islands. Its capital and largest city is
Caithos; other major cities include Agratios,
Artheno, Corriava, Corrivi, Diasmos, and Myraco. Rela Varamitios in Notachora is the largest city outside the Gold Coast and Gyaros.
History
Early History
The island of Tira Vella has been inhabited for thousands of years, with the first known peoples of the region being Karanesians and
Kaschehane, with Tira Vella likely being the Karanesian homeland. Some time in the first millennium BCA two different groups of Oecumeno-Davanian peoples arrived in the island: the
Arxians and the
Tira Vellans.
During the Bronze Age, the island appears in Horil records as
Korjmuz, a name still retained in the
Horil language as
Xorinal. During this time, the island was inhabited by Karanesians,
Arps in the southwest, and possibly the
Kaschehane in the Toloen.
Records from the
Dvekmenu Empire indicate both the Karanesians and Arxians lived in city states until the conquests of
Menrūš-hadi, who went on to conquer over a dozen cities and crown himself king of kings of the
Arxian Empire in 336. His heirs would go on to conquer the entire Gold Coast and parts of the Toloen and Notachora. By the time of Menrūš-hadi the Tira Vellans had already begun moving into the northern Gold Coast.
Tira Vellan States
The mid-sixth century saw a revolt of the Tira Vellans while the Arxians were occupied with a war against Dvekmenia. The Tira Vellans achieved their independence but quickly fell to infighting. Arxia reconquered some of its lost territories and the Tira Vellans coalesced into four major states: Agreponta, Boeupsia, Heprous, and West Vellia, known collectively as the Tira Vellan Tetrarchy.
The eighth through tenth centuries saw raids by the
Skorbunds against the states of the tetrarchy and Arxia. The
Pyrrhonian War between West Vellia and the
Héljasfjal Skorbunds led eventually to the
Fey Wars. The Skorbund raids ended by the close of the tenth century, and Boeupsia began to become ascendant. In 1060, Polemos the Great of Boeupsia began his campaign to unite the Tira Vellans, completed by 1068. Following this, he pivoted and brought the full force of a united Tira Vella against Arxia, beginning with the Gyaros Islands and ending with the Lyracan Peninsula, ending the empire. He pushed further into Notachora before being
Tira Vellan Republic
Δημοκρατία Τίρης Βελλής
"Για πάντα κάτω από ήλιο και φεγγάρι"
"Forever under sun and moon"
Government
Mixed Parliamentary Republic
Capital
Caithos
Languages
National: Tira Vellan
Theme Level: Agian, Arpish (Alsan, Bagat, Olkhash), Southlandish
Demonym
Tira Vellan
Currency
Tira Vellan Florin (ϕ)
Preceded by
Old Tira Vella
Notachora colonies
Arp tribes
Agians
Kaschehane[debated]
assassinated. This first united Tira Vella is referred to by historians as
Old Tira Vella, centred on the now-capital city of
Caithos. This period saw unsanctioned colonising expeditions of the Notachora and western
Trati and the conquest of the Toloen from the Kaschehane. Old Tira Vella was largely contemporary with the
Varani Empire, involving itself at various times in the
Fey Wars and the Menivun Accords. Tira Vellan merce- naries often fought in wars on the
continent and Tira Vella became increasingly politically involved with the regimes of Sossis.
Dreshan Rule
This increasing involvement would lead to trouble. In 1576, Derash under Fyodor II and I invaded Tira Vella during an interregnum, making a claim to the throne by way of his wife (
jure uxoris), the older sister of the late Tira Vellan king. Following the Dreshan Conquest, Tira Vella was ruled in a personal union by the monarchs of Derash for about 150 years. After the death of Gyedrys in 1718, different succession laws in the two kingdoms saw different monarchs succeed the thrones of each kingdom. Eron II of Derash invaded to take the kingdom from his cousin Luk I (Louko I) in the Eronite War (often called the Lukine War in
Dvekmenia), which lasted until 1720 and saw a Tira Vellan victory, making them once again an independent kingdom, though retaining a monarchy from the Skorbund-Dvekmenu House Dresh. The period of the personal union and the independent Tira Vella saw the conquest of the whole of the island of Tira Vella:
the Grey, Arpia, and the remains of the Toloen and Notachora.
During the disastrous and despotic rule of Amenander which saw multiple failed invasions of Derash which bankrupted the country, the nobility rebelled against the king in the First Manor War of 1970, ending with the Bill of Rights and Priviledges which limited the power of the monarch and granted certain powers to the nobility. A Second Manor War would follow in 1972-1974 following Amenander's refusal to honour the Bill, ending again in a victory of the nobility and establishing Parliament as a fixture of Tira Vellan power. A Third Manor War in 2049-2053 would see a royal victory which would scrap many of the provisions of the Bill.
Civil War and Republic
Following the Third Manor War, the monarchs refused to call Parliaments and ruled without check, to the dissatisfaction of the nobility. They were not disempowered, however, and when Luke III called for a muster for a war in the Dischitar in 2120, the nobles refused unless the king called a Parliament, which he refused. The nobility formed their own Parliament outside royal authority and the Tira Vellan Civil War began. Besides the Royalists and the Parliamentarians, regional factions like the Southern Confederates and the Agian Independents also fought in the war. The Parliamentarians were victorious over the Royalists by 2128, which culminated in the execution of king Luke III for treason and the creation of the Tira Vellan Republic, ruled by the nobles of Parliament. The rest of the royal family was exiled to Derash. The republican forces fought the various independence movements across the country until 2140 when the Southern Confederates were completely defeated and the republicans were uncontested. Several royalist rebellions would break out in West Vellia between 2145 and 2200, each put down by the republic.
After six years of parliamentary rule, it became clear to many that a single leading figure was needed, and so they turned to Eneos Haspeth. After significant debate, he was confirmed as the first ephor (sometimes translated as “steward”) of Tira Vella. He would rule as ephor until his death in 2162. After his death, his second son, John was made ephor. This move was not without controversy, as many feared they had simply recreated the monarchy. These fears were founded, as John frequently butted heads with the nobles of parliament. In 2170 he was removed as ephor by parliament in favour of his younger brother, Cyreon the Reformer. John did not have enough support to risk war to keep his position, opting to peacefully retire from public life. Cyreon pushed parliament to create the Gerousia, an advisory body of elders which would oversee and check the other bodies of government, to formally instate the Common Assembly as a formal part of parliament, and expand the office of ephor to include a second member. Cyreon then co-ruled with Alexander of Nixos until his death in 2201, having founded the basis under which Tira Vella would continue for the next four-and-a-half centuries.
The following centuries saw Tira Vella look increasingly east, reconnecting with the Tira Vellans of
Trati and trading extensively with the ascending states of
Eussis. Besides this, the ascendency of the
Varaso Empire was by now evident and undeniable even to the western
Oecumene. The First Varaso-Areltyan War had begun in 2085, and several more followed in the centuries following. Though Tira Vella had relinquished any claims to lands in Derash following the overthrow of the monarchy and exile of its
house, Tira Vellans and Dreshans still viewed each other as bitter enemies, and some in Tira Vella hoped that Varaso expansion into Sossis might bring them into conflict with Derash.
The 2250s and 60s saw Trofiriya, the largest and most powerful state in Sossis, descend into civil war after Varas invaded Areltya in the Sixth Varaso-Areltyan War. Varas took control of Areltya and southern Trofiriya, though only for a short time before they regained independence. Quickly the Dvekmenu world descended into chaos. Tira Vellan mercenaries again became highly prized on the continent, and Tira Vella was more than happy to profit from the chaos, only officially involving themselves to halt the expansion of the
Sunaïds.
Kale's Revolt in Notachora between 2460 and 2468 led to a reorganisation of state structures in Tira Vella with the creation of the theme system and the controversial plantation of veterans who suppressed the revolt in Notachora. The first devolved government was created in Notachora in 2490.
The 2460s through 90s also saw the
War of the Holy League in Sossis, in which the
Holy Enzimian Empire and its
Furanist allies within Dvekmenia fought to spread their faith through the continent. Tira Vella remained officially neutral, but provided financial support and mercenaries to the anti-league alliance. The Holy League won the war and Tira Vella signed the Treaty of Zapadloke in 2499. As they were not officially party to the war, they were not forced to pay any indemnity, but they were forced to forgive some of the loans they made to anti-league states. They were as well allowed to keep their religion of Octonism, but some restrictions were placed on their usage of
magic. Tira Vella quickly became a refuge for pagans and magicians from all over Oecumene.
Modern History
In 2560 Caros Chaspeth sailed south from Rela Varamitios and made landing in Blackrock, then ruled by the
Xioun Empire. The Chaspethian Exchange between Oecumene and
Aresra, including the
Great Plagues, began.
Tira Vella had begun to develop a rivalry with Enzim over influence in Trati and Chazderma, Trati especially given the mixed
Varaso and Tratian Tira Vellan population. This competition led Tira Vella to intervene on the behalf of the
Tratian Confederacy when Enzim invaded Baluarte in 2606, leading to the creation of the
modern Tratian state.
Tira Vella’s support of Trati and its imposition upon Trati’s new government and forced abolition was largely the responsibility of the Commons. The Lords had been rather uninterested in the conflict, and especially of making a Tratian state, but the Gerousia intervened on the side of the Commons to abate growing tensions between the Lords and Commons.
The dissatisfaction of the commons continued to mount, however. By this point the feudal system had eroded away, and most people now paid tax directly to the state, rather than through the feudal patronage system. However, the Lords Assembly still held power over the finances of the state, and the ephors, pulled from the nobility, sided frequently with the Lords against the Commons. This matter came to a head in much the same way the previous civil war had: over the matter of money for an army. The Second Civil War (also called the Commons’ War) sought to remake the constitution of the realm and grant further power to the Common Assembly. The Commons were victorious against the Lords as the Lords were unable to keep up funding for their armies, as much of the nation’s wealth now lay with the mercantile classes. Reconciliation after the war involved the passage of the General Settlement in 2650, which remade the Tira Vellan constitution. Among its provisions, the office of the ephors was to be open to the commoners, with one ephor to be elected by the Lords Assembly and confirmed by the Common Assembly, and the other (the Cyreonian ephor) elected by the Commons and confirmed by the Lords. The power of the purse would now be vested in the Common Assembly, with the Lords only being allowed a veto if a veto vote was called by the Gerousia. While before the General Settlement, the republic was largely a closed oligarchy of the high nobility and priesthood, the General Settlement gave the merchant class a much larger voice in government.
Tira Vella would also support the Taminil Revolution from 2693. While nomially to further the interests of the
Taminil people and the spread of liberal ideals, the government quickly turned against the Provisional Republic in favour of the monarchy. Though popular support in Tira Vella still favoured the republicans, those in government feared further support for the republic would drag other states into the conflict against the Taminils for fear that a successful revolution might trigger similar revolutions in their own countries. The monarchy, on the other hand, did not present a threat to the prevailing order; it simply politically divorced the Taminils from
Alvoradã.
Contact and exchange between Oecumene and Aresra continued following the Chaspethian Exchange, with naval powers like Tira Vella and Trati becoming extremely wealthy from trade with Aresra and especially Then. However, populations still recovering from the Great Plagues, there was a lack of further exploration or any real colonisation.
It was Ros that discovered Ulera in 2701. Very quickly the countries of Oecumene became interested in exploration, expansion, and colonisation. Power dynamics in Oecumene began to shift from the more central powers like Enzim,
Areltya, and the
Sunaïds to the more navally inclined periphery.
Taminily, quickly becoming a powerful state, began to become an imperial rival. Ros and Taminily quickly aligned in attempting to check Tira Vellan expansion and colonisation.
The War of Areltyan Succession saw Tira Vella side with
Dvekmenia, a long time rival, against its once allies Taminily and Ros, signalling the shift that had occured since the start of the colonial era. Tira Vella was on the losing side of the war and was stripped of its Uleran colonies. Twenty years later, Tira Vella fought for
Vastmark's independence from Ros during the Vessian Revolution.
The Hao Rebellion saw the warlord Hao Mika overthrow the An Dynasty in
Then and attempt to establish a liberal, anti-Oecumenical dictatorship. Tira Vella was pulled into the conflict when Hao invaded their colony in Blackrock, which quickly dragged the other Oecumenical powers in as well. The war lasted spilled into Oecumene itself during the Great Revolt, when several Oecumenical states saw internal revolts or revolutions. The war ended in 2810 with the surrender and capture of Hao by a Tira Vellan-led coalition army and the Congress of Tungsang. The congress was largely an attempt to restore everything to
status quo ante bellum, restoring the An Dynasty; returning colonies; and attempting to restrain revolutionary and liberal movements, in the hope of creating a lasting peace. Treima, having revolted against Enzim during the Great Revolt, was allowed to remain independent and neutral with Tira Vella as a guaranteur.
The peace would largely hold, with a few minor wars like the Dacian War and Dvekmenia's invasion of Saryovos, but as industrialisation saw a second wave or acceleration of colonisation in Aresra, it threatened to breakdown. The great powers met in 2858 to 2859 for the Congress of Caravan in Tira Vella where they sought to come to an agreement on the partitioning of Aresra. Peace held between the great powers through the Narrows War and subsequent Areltyan colonial expeditions and the First Chazhdurm Emergency. The Second Chazhdurm Emergency would begin in Deadfire 2891 with Enzim's siege of
Khatyanghatar. Tira Vella would publicly decry Enzim's use of mustard gas shells against the city in Lit Hearth. The crisis escalated when several rebel leaders escaped into Treima. Enzim demanded they be handed over as enemy combatants. Treima responded that they had no legal requirement to extradite the men as Chazderma was not a sovereign nation nor did the events in Khatyanghatar classify them as a belligerent nation and that their neutrality instead demanded they do not extradite them. Enzim responded by blockading Treima. Tira Vella viewed this as a violation of Treima's sovereignty and neutrality, of which they were a guaranteur, and delivered an ultimatum to Enzim to cease the blockade. Enzim held that the men in Treima were still issuing orders to rebels in Khatyanghatar and that they would not cease the blockade until the men were at least held in Treiman custody. On 11 the Dusk 2891 Enzimian warships fired upon and sank a Treiman vessel apparently attempting to leave the blockade, killing 26. The following day Tira Vella issued a declaration of war against Enzim, igniting the
Great War.
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