Kingdom of Adava (Ah-Dah-Vuh)

Adava is the gateway to Southern Desmia. It is a perpetual warzone of Ishkibism and Orthodox Desmianism, too close to the city of Kenahai to be Desmian but too close to continental Desmia to be Ishkibite. The Silver Crusade, the endless Orthodox war for Kenahai, rages eternal in the West - and now also in the East, against mountain Ishkibites and rebels hiding in the neighboring kingdom of Fediken. Many ishkibites also live in Adava itself, working the fields and openly showing their faith. This is contested territory, held together by feudalism and foreign coin. 
A century ago, the Kingdom of Adava seemed primed to exist on its own terms, as a hybrid Ishkibite-Orthodox state. The Silver Crusade has devoured that dream; it is devouring more and more of the country as well. Political stability, local economics, food surpluses, social cohesion, all of it has been given as sacrifice to the Crusade, and yet it takes more. Heresy rises among the discontented masses, the infrastructure of the land decays where it doesn't serve the war. The court is a constant hotbed of intrigue, increasingly dominated by foreign actors. The crusader-marshal seems convinced that the Silver Crusade can be ended in their lifetime, and is going all-in with Adava's resources - but if that gamble doesn't turn out, Adava may return to being the free-for-all it once was.

Structure

Adava is a feudal monarchy that is supported and empowered by the Silver Crusade bureaucracy. The Inquisition and Crusader Marshal have official legal power here. If the monarch wants to revoke a title or go over the nobility to pass a law, they can ask for the Chief Inquisitor and Silver Marshal to stamp the order instead. Even though basically all of the nobility has their roots in the crusade, they tend to resent the actual crusading brass - not only can the Silver Marshal help the monarch wield extra-legal power, but the Crusade is actively minting new nobles while failing to provide new lands for them. These new nobles are first in line to receive any confiscated lands, and often lobby against the old nobility at every turn. The Crusade generally gets whatever it wants in terms of resources, and will often completely strip nobles of their lands if they are caught withholding from the war effort. Supporting the Crusading logisticians are the Adavan inquisitors - while the Conclave's inquisition is temporary, the Adavan inquisitors are here permanently. 
Where the Crusade isn't looking, the nobles rule with near total autonomy. Each noble has supreme rights over their lands, as well as a base of legally-bound serfs that can be used to undercut the free peasantry. Many of these serfs are Ishkibite communities, who are typically forbidden from ever being anything more than serfs, making them very useful tools of the feudal lords. So, essentially, you have a three-way battle between the old nobility, the new nobility, and the local Orthodox peasantry. It should be unsurprising that the Adavan royal court is famous for its intrigue. 
The current monarch is King Arkosa Zaripass I, an old man that has softened from years of ruling. Some say that his crusading spirit has faded, and that he harbors sympathies for the heretics of his kingdom. Others say that he is simply a pragmatist preaching temperance. Most of his small council disagree with him on just about everything, and he seems to be the last voice for de-escalation left in the Adavan government, but his long rule and open mind has made him popular across the countryside. Arkosa has lost everything to the Crusade - his children, his wife, even his dog - and he has only just met his most recently designated heir. That would be Princess Midia Zaripass, a woman who is no more thrilled to be heir than Arkosa is to have her. Midia is a war-priest, a crusader who offered herself to the engine of war in body and spirit when she was 17. She is not a logistician even, and has thrown herself like a living sacrifice into countless battles only to emerge alive. The very idea of governing has thrown her into despair, but she is the only viable candidate left who won't lead to a succession crisis. Her candidacy terrifies the Ishkibites of the land, who often call her "The Blood Knight", a nickname that evokes equal glee from Adava's Seruvian heretics.

Culture

Accomplishment, Status, and Faith

To an Adavan, you aren't born or raised Orthodox - you earn your Orthodoxy. An unaccomplished Orthodox person is basically an Ishkibite: cowardly, low-status, and suspect. To have battle experience is to be a full person; to be taken seriously, you need money, a kill-count, or some sign of veterancy. "Humility is a shield for mediocrity," they say, "All failures of virtue lead to heresy." A heretic is young, poor, naive, and green around the ears; send them into the crusade, and they'll become Orthodox. Young people are always pushed to prove themselves, to be loud and wear their honors proudly. 
There is a fixation with heresy, specifically Ishkibism. Half the country is made up of Ishkibite serfs who are kept unarmed and under the watch of feudal lords, and the state's tolerance towards these heretics creates a background anxiety that has intensified sharply in the last half century. The threat of being reclassified as an Ishkibite (which is technically not legal, but mistakes happen) makes the Adavan Orthodox desperate to prove themselves - and there is a kind of meritocratic spirit here. No matter how foreign you are, kill enough demons and heretics and you're an Orthodox hero. In this meritocracy, the ends always justify the means. Even conspiring with demons is acceptable for an accomplished person to do - a hero must do whatever is necessary to win the war, and it is wrong for lesser warriors to question that. This can be complicated, of course, if that hero shows any doubt in the cause - while accomplishment proves Orthodoxy, even Kiru could be corrupted in his prime. While this approach might excuse a few ill-doings, it is also an attitude of flexibility and tolerance; Adavan culture is remarkably open-minded in the right contexts. 
Adavan crusader reputation varies regionally. While some Adavans have a reputation abroad as glory-hounds, those who go to other crusades have a reputation as either wide-eyed idealists or cynical sellswords - the Silver Crusade and Emerald Crusade exert an overwhelming pull, and only those with a very extreme reaction to their upbringing have the willpower to break free and head North for war. Adavans do have a reputation for being kind of cocky and proud wherever they go, though. 

Everyday Life

Age and status is a big thing in Adavan business and society; you always perform reverence to your superiors in any formal social space. Accomplishment culture has infected a lot of daily life. Courtship, for example, tends to be imagined as "winning" someone - and those with no wins to their name are seen as romantically undesirable by the mainstream. Etiquette around boasting is weirdly ritualistic; you keep your boasts to specific social circumstances, and everyone else refrains from interrogating those deeds and does their best to show awe. There is a lot of positivity in this - you hype your friends, you clap for strangers, you give compliments. If that positivity is not reciprocated, it can be perceived as a slight.
Privacy is to be respected in Adavan culture; while it is tolerable to ask about one's deeds, don't ask about the other parts of one's life uninvited. There is a strong sense of honor here as well, and many Adavans have had their share of scuffles over minor insults. The Adavan honor-duel is one of fists and wrestling, and you don't aim to kill. It is about performing violence, not actually causing serious harm.
Food in Adava is all about pork with sauces. Pulled pork sandwiches, glazed ham, pork chops, all are crusader's meals. Beef, especially brisket, is the meal of nobles. Throw in some spices, some pickles, and some onions? Now we're cooking! Adava's access to Izekran spices markets makes its cuisine excellent, and its large ranches provide plenty of meat for those who can afford it. Of course, not everyone can afford meat at all, especially nowadays.

History

Early History (-500 to 500)

Early Adava was a land known for its opposition to Desmia. The Northern islands were full of raiders that would regularly said across the straights into Inara, and they developed a very nasty reputation among the central Desmians. When Desmian merchants tried to purchase dryad sacrifices, turning human and dryad populations against each other, the Northern Adavans had a novel response: regardless of whether they turned against their dryads, they would do their best to sail into Southern Desmia to raid them back (often, to sell them to a new merchant). The Southern Adavans actually saw their dryads take control, and these new kingdoms were labelled the "Southern Mathari" by ancient Desmian scholars (though they never proved to be much of a threat, and the term faded away over time). The Adavans used their traditional religion and political structures to rally against Desmia, and they managed to control much of the Inaran coast until about 100 ME. 

The Modern Era brought many changes to Adava. The Desmians organized to drive them out of Desmia and stop their raiding, which led to the collapse of the Adavan warrior elite; and, at the same time, the religion of Ishkibism was spreading like wildfire. The Desmians kept pressing in from the North, invading the islands and launching raids that some scholars have called the "original Silver Crusade". The Ishkibites punched back with paladins, political coordination, and a spy network of Ishkibite cats. The evangelism of Ishkibism seemed to win more hearts and minds than the Desmians, and the Ishkibites were more coordinated. The Desmians were fully driven from Adava in 230 ME, and the Adavan princes began patrolling the waters, crushing any developing Desmian fleets in the South. Ishkibite naval dominance allowed them to conduct a missionary campaign into Desmia over the 200s and 300s ME. While Desmians were well-prepared to fight off Adavan invaders and spurn their human missionaries, they weren't prepared for cats; the cats of Adava organized with a passion, and became the backbone for Ishkibal's soft power campaign into Desmia. In 380 ME this evangelism campaign attracted enough Desmian attention for them to begin the Silver Crusade, a perpetual war against the Ishkibites of Izekra. The Adavan princes united in opposition to these armies, and became a single unified state - the Adavan Sacred March. 

The First Fall (500 to 900)

The Holy State of Rukray dominated Adavan politics from 400 to 700 ME. The Adavans slowly came to resent Rukrin dominance, though - the heirs of Ishkibal were focusing too much on Kenahai, were siphoning off massive amounts of resources, and denied Adavan priests and princes any voice in government. The Desmian threat was also waning - after the Desmians launched another invasion in 660 ME that failed miserably, they suddenly stopped attacking altogether. In 740 ME, a coalition of Adavan, Feniket, and Naraketan priests demanded a voice in the church. When they were denied this, they called on Ishkibal himself for help, and demanded that he either offer them a new Temple or risk their continued loyalty. Ishkibal granted these priests their request, as long as they swore to continue working closely with Rukray, and the Eastern Temple of Ishkibism was formed. The Eastern Temple reflected more of the communal values that Adavans and Nariketans shared, and was ruled by a council of priests from across Eastern Izekra - in many ways, the Temple is similar to the Perpetual Conclave of Desmia only centuries earlier. 
Adava became its own kingdom during the split, and ended up decentralizing over the next century. The Desmians were raiding once more, but now in something of a free-for-all that made unified defense rather difficult. Adava adapted to warding off a multitude of small raids, only to be blindsided by large invasions in the 850s through 890s. While the Ishkibites tried to rally against this crusade for Adava, it was a very bad time for it: the Rukrin were still fighting their civil wars, and the Desmians were having a moment of increased unity and enthusiasm. When Ishkibism attempted a grand counter-offensive in the 860s, an unexpected champion emerged among the Desmian invaders: Kiru Kolona, the greatest duelist to ever live. Kiru slew the Eastern Eminence, defeated the greatest Ishkibite druids, and even pursued the Ishkibites into the Southern mountains. For a moment, it seemed that Adava was doomed to be Orthodox territory.

The Reconquests (900 to 1490)

What Kiru took, the Holy Republic of Pakray squandered. While the Adavan coast was overwhelmingly Orthodox-held by 900, the occupiers struggled to actually convert any of the conquered peoples. Few attempts were even made; the occupiers only wanted to kill dryads, attack Kenahai, and tax the lands. While this initially worked wonders in pacifying the region (as it largely left people alone), Pakrayan elites became more and more invasive over time, burning and looting Ishkibite temples while doing little in the way of building. A shadow government of sorts began to form, temples and local elites who actually helped maintain the irrigation and the roads and who were entirely Ishkibite. Orthodox control was slipping, but the distant Pakrayan government didn't even realize it. In 1080, a great Ishkibite crusade marched from the Southeast into Adava to liberate it from Desmian occupation, and the people of Adava rose up to join them. The paper tiger of Desmian occupation crumpled quickly, and the Ishkibites soon pushed the Pakrayans to the Northern peninsulas of Adava. They would have finished them there, restoring the pre-Kiru status quo, if it hadn't been for Saint Gwenen, the Traitor Saint. Gwenen Dragaroz was a populist Pakrayan lord who was given an army and told to crush the rebellion in Inara - despite the military knowing that Adava was falling. Gwenen ignored his orders and refused to kill other Desmians, and instead sailed his fleet down into Adava to reinforce the last holdouts in the North. He found a situation that was far worse than the Pakrayan elites had imagined, and called on other Pakrayans to abandon their war and join him in crusading. He reconquered much of the North, and his men crowned him the king of the independent kingdom of Adava.

Unfortunately for Gwenen's kingdom, the Ishkibites assassinated his heirs and quickly put pressure back on the Desmians. The young kingdom pledged itself as a vassal of the Kingdom of Inara, and soon became dependent on it to survive. In 1150, the Silver Crusade, which would periodically supply Adava with men and resources, stopped providing support - there was a better crusade, the Emerald Crusade, that had opened in Western Izekra. Almost instantly, the Orthodox kingdom of Adava began shrinking, and the Ishkibite kingdom of Davakrin in the South began expanding. Starting in 1240, the Inarans began withdrawing from Adava as well - the Orthodox kingdom simply became independent in 1360. It rejoined Inara in 1400 in exchange for reinforcements, but then seceded again in 1450 after Inara failed to deliver. Over the 1400s, the Orthodox strategy seems to be to try and hold the Northern coast, and even that was starting to fail. 

Crusades and Desolation (1490 to 1740)

The independent Adavan kingdom immediately began calling for help, but the continent was mostly distracted until 1490, when it sent a grand silver crusade fleet into Adava. The plan was to support the fleet after it landed, but most of the coordination was done by the Koshikari Dynasty, which was (unknown to all) about to be struck by a surprise Kivishta invasion. The Silver fleet was a bit of a political mess, a coalition of mercenaries and small companies tied together by Koshikari political influence. As the dynasty was pulled into another continental war against Ishkibites not long after the fleet arrived in Adava, the fleet was basically autonomous and under-funded. While they initially saw success in the North, the crusaders were quickly being boxed in- and no one particularly wanted to settle in for a war of attrition. A charismatic Feywilder mercenary named Sebra of Okina ended up leading the crusaders away from the fortified West and South, and to the Southeast. There, they conquered a new realm known as Fediken, where Sebra became Queen. Unsupported by the Orthodox Desmians, Sebra ultimately made Feniken into a neutral state rather than a crusader state; while a portion of her army revolted at this, this was a small number that were easily crushed - the most zealous returned to Desmia to fight the Kivish, and the rest were disillusioned enough to settle for neutrality. 
As Adava withered, many refugees fled to Fediken, which became a syncretic mixture and Desmia's friendliest port in East Izekra. After the failure of the 1490 crusade, the Conclave approved of a new approach to Adava: the Desolation Order, which was in effect from 1509 to 1740. The Desolation policy shifted crusading priorities from occupying Adava and settling it, to simply making it unusable as an Ishkibite asset. By making the absolute destruction of Adava the goal, crusaders were free to slaughter human villages, demolish irrigation, and slaughter any livestock they saw - giving them an advantage over their enemies that actually wanted to inhabit the land. By generating endless chaos and instability, the crusaders were able to collapse the Ishkibite Kingdom of Davakrin, bit by bit. Five small Desmian holdout kingdoms along the coast and islands served as the launching points for these campaigns. The Desolation policy did a great job of insulating Southern Desmia from Ishkibite evangelism or aggression, but it also hardened Adavan Ishkibism against Orthodoxy. In the Orthodox strongholds, religion went a different way - they became hotbeds of Seruvianism. Many in the strongholds wanted Ishkibite humans to be officially designated as demons, both to morally legitimize the campaigns of genocidal terror and to allow those who participated in them some share of glory. A number of Seruvian conversions and minor rebellions began to flip the Desmian strongholds entirely towards heresy in the 1650s, causing the Conclave to respond with a 'corrective force'. The Adavan League was founded in 1670 to unite the leaders of the five strongholds and keep heresy in check. 

Renewed Silver (1740 to 1900)

In 1740, the Kivish were on the decline, and heresy seemed like it was starting to become a larger problem for Desmia. The Adavan League strongholds were not helping with Desmia's religious unity - they were breeding grounds for heresy that constantly drip-fed both Ishkibism and Seruvianism into the crusading system. Finally, the Desolation Order was lifted in 1740 and a new silver fleet with new priorities was sent into Adava to create a Silver March - a crusading kingdom that simply was the Silver Crusade. The old elites of the Adavan League were brutally suppressed, and all power was given to the new elites. The initial fleet won militarily, but was hamstrung by the total infrastructure collapse the Desolation Order had brought. The crusade's leaders sought to win hearts and minds by turning the soldier's efforts towards rebuilding irrigation canals, roads, and farms. A new Orthodox state was on the rise - though the Ishkibites also were being given a chance to rebuild now. 
The success of the Silver March was an inspiration - especially when exaggerated by Conclave propaganda. Orthodox peasants seeking a better life sailed to Adava seeking free land and a life of prosperity, which economically bolstered the Silver March but introduced all new sets of problems. Violence between the rebuilding Ishkibites and Orthodox escalated sharply after 1800, especially since a new set of crusaders were eagerly lining up to conquer themselves new lands. As the violence escalated, the old Seruvianism began to resurface - Orthodox peasants wanted their conquered Ishkibite neighbor's lands. Seruvian lords enable this behavior, building loyal bases by allowing their followers to steal land and property from any family that predated the 1800s colonial push. Ishkibism began to be assigned by blood rather than faith, which ironically pushed many Izekran Orthodox towards Ishkibism. A civil war broke out in the 1860s, and the Knight Commander of the Silver March was revealed as a heretic to the Conclave. The March was dissolved for a secular government, but Adava was left perpetually unstable. 
But the Orthodox were not the only unstable ones - the Ishkibite kingdom in the South was also going through a very messy civil war. A charismatic priestess-crusader named Saint Larra Zaripass, Saint of Unity (made a saint by the Perpetual Conclave in 1980) rose in the South, among the Orthodox converts there. Saint Larra built a base of followers in Izekra that seemed to succeed wherever the new crusaders failed - and, in 1871, Larra was made Crusader-Marshal of the Silver Crusade despite dubious Orthodoxy. Larra came from a partially Eastern-temple ishkibite family, and used her knowledge of the Ishkibite schisms to divide the Adavans - she promised support for the Eastern temple, and even limited rights to demon-refuge in certain designated areas. She appealed to Desmian populism and Ishkibite sectarianism, and it was by her hand that Adava was finally unified into what it is today (roughly) in 1882. 

Modern History 

The boom of the 1880s through 1960s is now greatly romanticized by some. Ishkbites and Orthodox did not engage in large-scale violence; the landscape seemed to bloom in agriculture. The Silver Crusade was ever-present, but didn't take as much of the country's resources as it does now. Adava became the wizarding capital of Desmia, as Kobold attracted to ranching opportunities and lenient religious policies brought their magical arts and were subsidized through a royal academy - Saint Gwenen's Academy of Magical Arts. Adava, a march outside of Desmia's continental heart, was seen as a more acceptable place to experiment with dark magic than in Rengurka or Kalmana, and the Conclave encouraged many Desmian wizards to head to Adava. 
Of course things weren't ever ideal, and the decline began immediately. Saint Larra was quick to use serfdom as a way to move communities out of the public eye, and that practice escalated as tensions increased over the 1900s. The Silver Crusade inevitably divided the population along religious lines, and the divide between the Eastern Temple and the Rukrin Temple of Ishkibal was difficult for the monarchy to maintain while crusading. The monarchs began sending their children to Pakray for marriage and education, which cut the Ishkibite ties that let the monarchy work its magic. The alliance with the Kingdom of Fediken, which was a key strategic move for Saint Larra, decayed and then broke. This wasn't entirely a top-down collapse; the population was also radicalizing, stratifying, and become more crusader than Adavan. From 1961 to 2014, Adava has been the site of a war of attrition, a nightmarish slog that has consumed more and more of Adava's government and economy. In 1980, the Perpetual Conclave tried re-invigorating war enthusiasm by beatifying Queen Larra (while outright denying that she ever worked with Ishkibites), but this was only temporarily successful.
The near-mandatory participation in it by all Orthodox residents has divided the people and increased hostility towards Ishkibism. The old systems that brought economic prosperity are now collapsing under the weight of an unwinnable war - the only hope for Adava's economy is the destruction of Rukray (which is tantalizingly possible, but also less likely than the leadership believes). And, to point dissent away from the state, the nobility has increasingly turned the Orthodox commoners against the Ishkibites - replicating the mistakes of the past perfectly. Already, Ishkibite re-armament movements are in motion, which the Adavan state is struggling to restrain. If it wasn't for the ability of the aging Adavan king, Arkosa Zaripass I, the country would already be in a civil war.

Demography and Population

Around 1 million humanoids live in Adava. Almost all of this population is Human, though some are Vespers and Haltia. About half the population is part of the unfree enserfed class.

Territories

Adava is 317 miles long and 117 miles wide. Most of this territory is covered in warm, flat plains, though the coast and Northeastern flats are covered in subtropical forest. The area surrounding the large lake Mirik in the South is also densely forested.
Small islands dot the coast, and two large islands off the Northeastern peninsula are densely settled: Serat and Sarsaka, 16 and 32 miles off the Adavan coast and each almost being 50 miles across.

Military

Adava's forces are the vanguard of the Silver Crusade; the Empire of Avana  can bring the big guns, but Adava clears the path. Their warriors are mostly lancers, a mix of heavy and light cavalry. Those unable to afford horses and armor tend to stick to spears and bows, which works well for the border garrisons. The military is basically a religious institution. Only Orthodox Desmians are allowed to have above a certain quality of weapon and the Ishkibites are allowed to train, but can only have so many iron or steel weapons very person. Even a whiff of heresy is enough to be denied access to weapons, and strict punishments are in place for any who sell weapons to those not clerically confirmed. 
It can be hard to fully extricate the Silver Crusade as a whole from Adava's royal military.

Religion

Political Religion

Adava is a very Orthodox Desmian country, but it is more tolerant of heretical subjects than most continental Desmian kingdoms. Adava's Ecclesia is basically synonymous with the government, as it governs the priesthood of only Adava and Fediken, and it controls the courts completely. Ishkibism is allowed in certain communities, especially Ishkibism of the Eastern Temple. Those communities are barred from owning land or property and can only exist as serfs, but they are allowed to continue existing without forced conversion or restrictions on their practices. Ishkibite evangelism is illegal (though, in practice, extremely common).
Adavan priests justify the state of affairs both via pragmatism and through the School of the Sharpened Point - a way of thinking about corruption that imagines demonic influence trickling downwards from a supreme source; if you cut out the demonic elites, their lessers will naturally either wither or purify over time. This is not a pacifistic school. In fact it is very ambitiously militaristic, as it believes that the world can be conquered and purified through more focused violence; wars should be started with every false faith and every demonic horde, but they should be prosecuted with greater tolerance towards the general public. The School of the Sharpened Point has been accused of harboring Ishkibites, and even had a scandal where Ishkibites supposedly helped suppress outside viewpoints in the state university in 1980s (though the allegations were never fully proven). 
The School of the Sharpened Point is the traditional Adavan viewpoint, but it is not the only one active in the Adavan Ecclesia. The Pakrayan School of the Holy Shield (ascetic militarists) and School of the Divine Mystery (intellectual specialists) are also both common here, and wield substantial political power.

Common Religion

Many locals revere The Traitor Saint, Gwenen of Pakray as the patron ancestor of Adava. Gwenen is the saint of introspection, spiritual duty that transcends legal duty, and the responsibility of charity that all Desmians have towards one another. Gwenen's name is everywhere here, and some even call the realm "Gwenev" out of respect. Some worship Kiru, Saint of Tragedy and patron of doubt (and cobblers) instead, for his role in conquering Adava - though many Adavans consider this insulting and even heretical, and instead claim that the kingdom started purely by Gwenen's hand. Then there is the new cult of Queen Larra, Saint of Unity, the newly beatified ancestor of the new Adavan government. Larra is a lesser ancestor, but her worship is popular among those whose families have been in Adava for centuries - she is a bit of a symbol of old roots and old families, as opposed to the incoming crusaders. Lastly, you've got The Shadekeeper, the Orthodox cat who slaughtered many Adavan Ishkibite cats and was beatified for it. A name only known to cats, and often with some fear.
Then there are the Ishkibites, the majority of whom follow the Eastern Temple of Ishkibal. This Temple has its own prayers, rituals, and hierarchy; it is not tied to Holy Kenahai, but insists that the Holy City is wherever the hearts of the faithful lie. They tend to be more communal, and have a more representative structure in their priesthood. Many Adavan ishkibite cats revere Owlstripe, king of spies, who championed Ishkibism to cats everywhere around the world. 
Lastly, there are Seruvians here. All the conditions are present. There is public resentment, there is priestly incompetence, and there is an imminent fear of Ishkibism taking over society. So, naturally, Seruvians tend to crop up in many unexpected places.

Foreign Relations

Adava's diplomacy is almost entirely dominated by the Silver Crusade. Once, the kingdom had alliances with other states in Northern Izekra, but now those friendships have soured. Most notably, the Kingdom of Fediken to the Southeast has become hostile to Adava - the two even fought a brief war in 2009, which turned out surprisingly poorly for Adava. Orthodox power in the Southeast has been slowly declining since the 1980s, but Adava is too chained to the Silver Crusade administration to adapt with the times. 

Agriculture & Industry

Adava is an agricultural realm for the most part, with some cities along the coast plugged into the industry of the Silver Crusade. Most people grow wheat, maize, and sorghum; many ranch sheep, goats, cattle, and horses. Agriculture blooms around the coast and in the area surrounding Lake Mirik in the Southern interior; ranching and shepherding dominates the spaces in between. Adavan warhorses are known for their size and quality - an Adavan thoroughbred stallion can smash through all but the toughest infantry lines. 
Adava is the only Orthodox realm to grow Divine Contact incense in any substantial amount; they export this incense to the Desmian priesthood, and there are numerous regulations around any non-priests using it. 
Most of the manufacturing is small-scale artisan work managed by crusade-affiliated guilds.

Trade & Transport

The Silver Crusade is everything for Adava's trade, a conclave-subsidized lifeline to the continent. Many of the new unlanded nobility act as merchants, and are given grants and privileges by the kingdom to do so.

Education

Adava's educational system is garbage - Desmians care a great deal about educating their commoners on the continent, but not here. Here, wealth is necessary to buy access to any education; many priests try to teach basic reading and writing, but that's about the limits of their ambitions. The Ishkibites actually do a much better job of teaching their communities - while their serfs may be poorer, they aren't actually less educated. 
The greatest university in Adava is Saint Gwenen's Academy of Magical Arts, the most experimental and innovative magical college in the Orthodox world. No dark art or heretical craft is too demonic to not be tested here; no idea is too twisted to be labeled "heresy" here, as long as it is for the sake of scholarship and kept safely in the private halls. Saint Gwenen's makes a point of not teaching theology for this reason. Their innovation has earned them great wealth and power. In the late 1900s, Saint Gwenen's innovated a standardized form of combat magic known as eldritch knighthood, a kind of arcane art that blends with and builds on one's swordsmanship. While others had done this, none had made the system easily teachable. This art attracted the attention of the Darzan University, which offered them power and knowledge in exchange for a lasting partnership. Saint Gwenen's has only drifted further from Orthodox standards of virtue and proper belief, but the power it has received has made it too valuable to the Perpetual Conclave to risk losing. They aren't any kind of heresy and they contribute to the crusade, so they are really more of impious eccentrics than any threat to public morality. Nonetheless, busybodies have pestered the Academy enough for them to isolate themselves from the general public and the priesthood. 
Saint Gwenen's greatest mage and star professor is the Imon Basalar, greatest living eldritch knight and hero of the Emerald Crusade. Imonen is infamous in Southern Izekra as a pirate, raider, cut-throat, and slaver, but he is known back in continental Desmia as a wealthy hero whose demon-kill-count is ridiculously high. He helps keep the Academy properly Desmian. 
Saint Gwenen's is entirely private and focused on magic, though. If you want a public education in law, theology, or medicine, try the Sikoran Ecclestiastic University. Once, Sikoran Ecclesiastic was a fine university, innovative and on the rise. However, moral panics, budget cuts, and the wealthy increasingly sending their children to Pakray have drained SEU of its money, reputation, and talent.

"Silver Before All Else"

Founding Date

1882

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Alternative Names

Davakrin, Gwenev

Demonym

Adavan

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Feudal state

Currency

Kidon uses Asalay Dungeon Coinage: Gold Dragons, Silver Eagles, and Copper Bulls

Major Exports

Horses, warriors, textiles, food, Divine incense

Major Imports

Steel, lumber, stone

Official State Religion

Orthodox Desmianism

Location

Izekra

Official Languages

• Desmian language

Neighboring Nations

• Holy State of Rukray
• Kingdom of Inara