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fluffiest_archadian
Nation States.
There are five principle countries in the three-continent region of Ivalice:
Dalmasca:
Capital City: Rabanastre.
Other Important Cities: Nalbina Fortress.
Ruler: Formerly King Raminas (deceased), currently under Archadian occupation beneath Emperor Vayne Solidor and Consul Amondsham, rightfully Queen Ashelia (believed deceased).
A small constitutional monarchy situated on the Rozarrian side of border lands between Rozarria and Archadia. Ruled by the descendants of Dynast-King Raithwall, a semi-mythical king who purportedly united all of Ivalice using the power of three shards of deifacted nethicite, since the collapse of Raithwall's united Ivalice, it has recently come under Archadian occupation after its king, King Raminas B'nargin Dalmasca, was purportedly assassinated by the captain of his own guard, Basch fon Ronsenberg, during a treaty signing between Dalmasca and Archadia at the Dalmasca-Nabudis border fortress of Nalbina. Dalmasca is purported to hold the Dusk Shard, one of Raithwall's three pieces of nethicite, but have resolved never to use it. Culturally, Dalmasca bears similarities to 8th to 13th century Baghdad, Decapolisian Damascus, and Jacobean Britain.
Nabradia:
Capital City: Nabudis.
Ruler: Unnamed Nabradian King (deceased), Lord Rasler Nabradia (deceased), currently uninhabited territory.
A small constitutional monarchy situated on the Archadian side of the border lands between Rozarria and Archadia. Historically ruled by another branch of Raithwall's descendants, and the keepers of the Midlight Shard, one of his three pieces of nethicite, it has recently become uninhabitable, following the detonation of the Midlight Shard by Judge Magister Foris Zecht during the Siege of Nabudis. Prior to its destruction, its prince was wed to the princess of Dalmasca.
Archadia (and the Archadian Empire):
Capital City: Archades.
Ruler: Formerly Emperor Gramis Gana Solidor (deceased), currently Emperor Vayne Carudas Solidor.
Originally a small city-state during the time of Raithwall, Archadia flourished during the reign of the Dynast-Kings, becoming a powerhouse of technological innovation and military might. Following the collapse of that kingdom, Archadia began a period of outward expansion driven by a desire to impose its own laws on other nations within Ivalice. Some hundreds of years ago, an emperor of House Solidor instituted the Order of Judges, and since then Archadia has been reigned by an unbroken line of Solidor emperors, backed by politically and magically powerful Judge Magisters. Culturally, Archadia is similar to Jacobean Britain and the Roman Empire.
Rozarria (and the Rozarrian Empire):
Capital: Ambervale.
Ruler: Unnamed Margrace Emperor.
Also originally a small city-state during the time of Raithwall, Rozarria, like Archadia, began an outward expansion after the fall of the Dynast-Kings, driven mostly by a need for resources and slaves. Rozarria is surrounded on all sides by jagd, areas where Mist-operated machines cannot function, but it itself is an almost entirely non-magical country, utilising oil to power its machines. Culturally, Rozarria is similar to Francovite Spain and pre-Civil-War America.
Bhujerba:
Ruler: Marquis Halim Ondore IV.
A purportedly neutral state, Bhujerba is a large sky-city, floating above the Naldoan Sea, kept aloft by its magicite-rich rocks. It is the de facto leader of the Purvama Dorstonis (or Sky Continent Dorstonis), and since it has a policy of neutrality, often acts as an ambassador between other nations. Bhujerba is ruled by a Marquis, with the current one being Halim Ondore IV, who was (either by blood or treaty, it's not clear which) King Raminas' of Dalmasca's brother. Culturally, Bhujerba is similar to 17th Century India, the Majapahit Empire, and Upper Normandy.
Major Power Players.
Archadia - War-seeking Faction.
Vayne Carrudas Solidor:
Doctor Cidolfus Demen Bunansa (deceased):
Judge Magister Noah Gabranth:
Judge Magister Bergan (deceased):
Archadia - Peace-seeking Faction.
Gramis Gana Solidor (deceased):
Larsa Ferrinas Solidor:
Judge Magister Drace (deceased):
Archadia - Neutral and/or Self-serving.
Judge Magister Ghis:
Chairman Gregoroth:
Liberation Army - War-seeking Faction.
Marquis Halim Ondore IV:
Liberation Army - Peace-seeking Faction.
Princess Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca:
Basch fon Ronsenberg:
Balthier / Judge-Lieutenant Ffamran Mied Bunansa:
Reddas / Judge Magister Foris Zecht (deceased):
Rozarria - Peace-seeking Faction.
Prince Al-Cid Margrace:
Neutral - Peace-seeking Faction.
Gran Kiltias Anastasis (deceased):
The Nabradia-Dalmasca Alliance, the Fall of Nabudis, and the Occupation of Dalmasca.
As the war between Archadia and Rozarria grew more fierce, Nabradia and Dalmasca, neutral countries who sat between the two empires, came to fear that they would become targets for invasion from either country. Seeking to secure their position, they arranged a marriage between their respective heirs, Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca and Rasler Heios Nabradia, believing that a more secure alliance between the two nations would dissuade Archadia and Rozarria from invading either of them.
This turned out not to be the case, and shortly after the wedding, Archadia attacked Nabudis, the capital of Nabradia. The battle was short, as Judge Magister Foris Zecht, purportedly acting against explicit orders, activated the Midlight Shard, releasing an explosion of Mist which destroyed both the Nabradian forces and any Archadian forces still in the city, and transformed the city into an undead-infested necrohol, as well as promoting the rapid growth of the forests around it.
The now inert Midlight Shard was delivered to Archadia, and taken for study by Doctor Cid, director of Draklor Laboratories.
Dalmasca moved to secure Nalbina Fortress, a border fort between Nabradia and Dalmasca, with the defense led by Prince Rasler and the captain of the Dalmascan guard, Basch fon Ronsenberg. Nalbina fell, and in the fighting, Rasler was mortally wounded by an arrow and died.
Raminas was then offered terms of treaty by the commandant of the Imperial fleet, Vayne Solidor. Dalmasca would remain a sovereign state, but would be allied with Archadia in the event of a Rozarrian invasion - in this way, both Archadia and Dalmasca would be protected from Rozarria. At the treaty signing at Nalbina Fortress, however, Raminas was assassinated by Basch fon Ronsenberg.
In the aftermath, Princess Ashe committed suicide, leaving Dalmasca without a rightful ruler. To stave off a Rozarrian invasion, Archadian forces took the capital of Rabanastre to hold under military occupation.
Basch fon Ronsenberg was released into the custody of Raminas' brother, Halim Ondore, the Marquis of Bhujerba, who executed him.
(Note: In actuality, Raminas was assassinated by Judge Magister Gabranth, Basch's twin brother, under orders from Vayne - Basch would later be imprisoned under Nalbina Fortress by Archadia, with Vayne informing Ondore that Basch had been executed and encouraging him to take credit for it, only to reveal to Ondore that Basch was alive, thus granting the Empire leverage over him, since by revealing that Basch lived it would appear that Ondore was sheltering his brother's murderer.
Princess Ashe, meanwhile, had not committed suicide, but rather vanished underground to avoid being used as a puppet ruler by Archadia. Vayne also suggested to Ondore that he be the one to announce her suicide, knowing that this would make it appear that Bhujerba was allied with Archadia.)
Vayne Solidor's Consulate of Rabanastre, the Bhujerba-Resistance Alliance, and the destruction of the Leviathan.
For two years, Dalmasca would remain under Archadian occupation, and Bhujerba, while technically still neutral, would act as a de facto vassal state to the Empire, providing vast amounts of magicite from its mines to Draklor Laboratories and acting as an informant to Archadia.
Vayne would become Consul of Rabanastre, using his position to push for more intense searches to locate the Dusk Shard - a search that would ultimately prove fruitless, as it had already been stolen by a small band of thieves, and found its way into the hands of Princess Ashe.
Ashe would shortly thereafter be captured by Judge Magister Ghis, who planned to use her in a scheme to overthrow Vayne and put himself forward as a viable candidate for emperor. After being freed by Ashe's former companions, Basch and company would later approach Ondore and utilise his connections to rescue Ashe. However, the Dusk Shard ended up in Ghis' hands in the process, and was sent on to Doctor Cid.
Ashe would then decide to seek proof of her royal claim in the form of the Dawn Shard, the last nethicite piece left by her ancestor Raithwall. While this shard would also end up in Ghis' hands, in a bid to 'test' it he accidentally destroyed both his own airship and the entire fleet he commanded.
With the destruction of the Archadian 8th Fleet, Vayne's consulate was thrown into disgrace and he was recalled by the Senate to Archades, with the Senate deciding that he would have to pay for Ghis' failure with his own life.
At the same time, the destruction of the fleet represented an opportunity for Rozarria and Bhujerba both. Rozarria began amassing its forces under the guise of martial exercises and sending soldiers of its own to bolster the Resistance, while Marquis Ondore stepped down from public life due to 'ill health' to become the new leader of the Resistance, providing it with military support from Bhujerba.
The Assassination of Emperor Gramis, Dissolution of the Senate, and the Assassination of Gran Kiltias Anastasis.
Shortly after Vayne's return to Archades, his father Emperor Gramis was murdered through poison, with Chairman Gregoroth of the Senate taking responsibility for the crime before taking his own life. In light of Rozarria's aggressions, the Ministry of Law declared Vayne autocrat until the crisis was over. When she protested this, Judge Magister Drace was declared guilty of treason and executed by Judge Magister Gabranth.
While this was going on, Ashe and Larsa Solidor would meet with Al-Cid Margrace, a prince of Rozarria, at Mt. Bur-Omisace, the holy mountain of the head of the Kiltian faith, Gran Kiltias Anastasis. The three formed an alliance, whereby they would avert war between Archadia and Rozarria by placing Ashe on the throne of Dalmasca with the backing of the Gran Kiltias. In this way, they would remove any pretext for Rozarria to declare war (since they would no longer be able to claim they were restoring security to Dalmasca after attacks by the Resistance) and create a buffer zone between the two empires.
While Anastasis sent Ashe to retrieve the Sword of Kings, an ancient blade gifted to Raithwall by the gods, which she could use to destroy the nethicite in Archadia's possession and thus prevent them from using it, Al-Cid and Larsa stayed behind to hammer out the specific workings of a treaty.
This plan would be interrupted when, under the pretext of rescuing Larsa from the hands of radicals, Judge Magisters Bergan, Gabranth, and Zargabaath besieged the mountain, with Bergan killing Anastasis while Gabranth took Larsa with him. Bergan himself would later be killed.
Without Anastasis' backing, Ashe would be unable to assume the throne of Dalmasca. Shortly thereafter, the Resistance rebranded itself the Liberation Army, and openly began martial exercises in the border-skies. Rozarria, however, had seeded it with agents of its own, who were meant to ignite tensions between the Liberation Army and Archadia and draw the two into war, which Rozarria could then use as a pretext for invasion.
