Rasyvias

Rasyvias, located in the lowlands of Higashi's deep south, is the nation of the Rhyioji, though it is inhabited greatly by humans as well, and there are colonies and individuals of other races. As such, the Rhyioji are elevated above other races in this area, with even a Rhyioji orphan considered above the humans, and there are severe punishments for members of other races who harm a Rhyioji. Humans are allowed to coexist freely with the Rhyioji, but other races are forced to stay within their established colonies, and expansion is quickly halted. They are ruled by the Sinyukanra, a select group of wealthy aristocrats, the heirs to high noble families, who control practically every facet of life in Rasyvias, although they do not bother commonly with minor incidents or daily affairs. While life is generally good for the Rhyioji, and for the humans and other races who obey their restrictions, those not of the nobility have little say at all in affairs of the state, and those who rise above themselves are punished severely.

Rasyvias was formed by survivors of the destruction of Ivicharros, an ancient empire which fell when its founder and ruler, Darran Garyone, perished in battle. They fled across the ocean, and, after creating the magics of the Rhyioji race, warred with the Lake People who inhabited the region, and conquered a new nation.

Fall of Ivicharros
Rasyvias was preceded by the great ancient empire of Ivicharros, forged by the conquests of Darran Garyone. Darran was a high noble from an ancient country on Nishi, which broke out in a civil war when the king was poisoned by another nation's ruler. Darran attempted to gain power in the war, and nearly succeeded, but was ousted by a coup amongst his men, who were paid by a rival for the throne. Leading his own army, Darran and his followers were forced into exile, but were able to gather reinforcements from the disgruntled men of the new king, as well as those of the tyrant who had poisoned the old king. Darran then assassinated the tyrant, and rose to power in that nation, easily regaining power in his home country. In a series of conflicts known as the Wars of the Empire, Darran was able to conquer all of Nishi, forming the great empire Ivicharros. It lasted many years, but eventually Darran, whose reputation had kept the nations bound to him, fell sick, and the empire's upkeep fell. As his state grew worse, it became apparent that he was most likely seeing his last weeks, and after some time without improvement, several lords of nations within the empire staged a rebellion, attempting to break free of the empire before Darran's death brought vicious struggles for power. Intent on seeing his empire whole again before his death, Darran called upon the sages of the Rhyioji whom he had refused, intending to go to his death at his appointed time, and commanded them to heal him. He began to recover, but was told to rest for a few days to complete the recovery. Refusing these instructions, Darran, determined that he should halt the rebellion immediately, rode hard for the the sites of battle. As he joined the battle, the enemy began to falter and flee, seeing that the one they had thought dying was riding against them, but the leaders, knowing their lives were forfeit, led a desperate attack against Darran. Darran led the final charge, but as he howled his battle cry, the words faltered in his throat, and he was struck by a sudden coughing fit, that did not let up, as the sickness struck again. His guard down, the opponent's prize archer was able to land an arrow in Darran's right lung, an instant before the man doubled over and dropped his reins, suffering spasms of pain. He fell off his horse, and as the enemy armies regained morale and charged, Darran was trampled by the retreat of his own men, his body carried by the last to retreat. This rebellion and later civil war would come to be known as the Downfall of Ivicharros.

In a secret stronghold, as the empire collapsed into civil war, the barely-living Darran gave instructions to his son to flee across the ocean, to the less-inhabited lands in the south of Higashi, and to take with him all the loyal men and Rhyioji who would follow him. Gathering these, the son, Paetrich, made his way to the coast, the last of Darran's empire to fall, and took the royal fleet's ships across the sea to Higashi. Along the way, some amongst the Rhyioji began to think that they, as the more magical and in their minds superior of the two races, should lead, and could not see why Paetrich should be in charge. In response, Paetrich went to the eldest of the Rhyioji, the last of the first generation, who had extended his life with magic, and asked if, with his magics and memories of the original creation of Rhyioji, he could not make Paetrich one. After securing vows that the Rhyioji would be hailed as the rulers in the new kingdom, and that Paetrich would forgo the humans as his people, the eldest performed the secret ceremony, before passing away, and taking the secret of its doing to the grave with him. Upon discovery of the transformation, both the humans and the Rhyioji were forced to accept Paetrich, who changed his name to P'hensor, a Rhyioji name, as their leader. Within days of this, they arrived in Higashi.

War of Conquest
Arriving in Higashi, they found that the settlements around the Camel's Bay had been struggling not to be conquered by their nearby enemies, who wished to exterminate them, and were glad of protectors, easily subjugated. After fortifying the Bay, they advanced further into the mainland, claiming the open land between the Bay and the Eye of the Marsh as their own without much resistance from the few inhabitants, and beginning the War of Conquest. While P'hensor has planned strike the less civilized enemy before they could organize themselves, he had not realized that, uncivilized though they were, they were militaristic and as such had a well-organized army. The Lake People, as P'hensor and his men termed them, were highly offended by the taking of the lands that they had formerly held, and struck with force before P'hensor could move further inland. When the invaders discovered that the advance force they had sent to force the Lake People back and gain the resources of the Eye of the Marsh had been defeated, they sent a second force, made primarily of Rhyioji magic-users, to win a presumably easy victory. While the Lake People's force had only a single magic user, far inferior to those of the Rhyioji, the Lake People carried with them a secret weapon that forced the invaders to retreat back towards the Bay. This weapon was the strange creatures of the Lake People, their war-beasts since time out of mind, which were quite unlike the other creatures found in Higashi. Strange beasts like bears but with reptilian builds, and tough, lizard-like skin, as well as beings like leopards with the buils of lizards, and copper-colored scales in place of fur, and great wingless birds with hair and vicious beaks. The most fearsome trait of these creatures was not their appearance, nor was it their not-insignificant value in combat. It was the fact that they were resistant, to varying degrees, to magic. The invading army was forced to send warriors with extreme skill to kill the beasts, as well as some few powerful magic users who could affect them. They were able to break through and conquer the Eye, where most of the creatures which the Lake People had domesticated were corralled. P'hensor's men subsequently destroyed these, making the further conquest easier. The war was far from finished, however, and raged on with many valiant battles, and losses for both sides, until the invaders gained the upper hand, and the Lake People marshaled all of their forces into a vast army at their greatest castle and new capital. The invaders marched upon it, and the culmination of the war took place at the Siege of Rosemar.

Rosemar was the greatest fortress-city in the entirety of southern Higashi, a great fortified city with many towers and siege devices used to wreak havoc with attacking armies. At its center the Core of Rosemar, a semi-spherical fortress, surrounded by fortifications, had never been taken by any force, its walls never breached, its men never betrayed. It was said that as long as the Core was occupied, the empire that held Rosemar was the empire that would outlast time itself. Not knowing of the defenses and undefeated nature of the Core, the P'hensor believed that Rosemar would be a difficult battle, but that once he breached its walls, it would not be able to hold against his armies. After a short skirmish known as the Battle of the Rose Walls, as it never passed the outer gates of the city, P'hensor realized that he had been misinformed as to the strength of the city's defenses, and left a force camped a short distance away from the city, to ensure that the siege was not broken, while he withdrew the rest of his army farther, though close enough to reinforce the siege, if need be. He then sent a magic user, one of the far-reduced number that he had after their slaughter by the creatures of the Lake People, and sent them across the sea, using their magic, to seek aid from the Watchers, the name given to the group of Rhyioji who had chosen to remain in Nishi.

The Watchers, made primarily of two groups, the Berserkers, who were insane warriors who enjoyed the war of Nishi, and the Nab'el, a high class of Rhyioji who stayed because they believed that to flee was to become refugees, which they considered below their station, at first refused this messenger, believing that nothing good would come of aiding P'hensor. The messenger, however, recited a string of words in the Rhyiojan language, a high tongue then known only to the Nab'el and the first generation, which P'hensor had had the messenger memorize without understanding what it meant. After considering it for a time, The Nab'el spoke to the Berserkers, and both consented to cross the sea to Higashi and aid P'hensor.

Upon their return, they found that, using his magic-users and captured beasts, P'hensor had managed to keep the Lake People confined to their city, but could not take Rosemar, and that there was an underground well, as well as a cavern, equipped with mirrors to direct the sunlight, where food was grown within Rosemar. The Lake People were thus trapped but with food and water, and the city would not fall. The Nab'el's leader, seeing this, brought with him the leader of the Berserkers and asked to speak with P'hensor. As they spoke in private, it was revealed that the offer in Rhyiojan had spoken of powers granted by a secret talisman that the last of the first generation had given P'hensor, which granted the powers of the first generation. P'hensor confirmed this, and told the leaders that the last of the first generation had given him two, one for the Nab'el, the chosen people of the first generation, and one for those that P'hensor would choose, which were the Berserkers. He told the Berserker leader that his people would be the warriors of P'hensor's people, and be famed as champions, and told the leader of the Nab'el that his people would be the nobility, the leaders of the people. After securing oaths of loyalty from them, P'hensor granted them the talismans, which exploded into energy and granted upon the two peoples of the Rhyioji the powers of the first generation. This power, which had also been granted himself, P'hensor explained, was the power to summon the S'herlor to give aid in battle. The Berserkers, whom he now dubbed Archons, were given the power to cloak themselves in the energy of the S'herlor, to change their form and give themselves new abilities while using their power, and the Nab'el, whom he stripped of the name and simply called the class of the nobility, were granted the ability to better control the S'herlor, to change them as they would and use them in the Arts. Massing the ranks of his magic-users with the summoners of the S'herlor, and surrounding Rosemar with his fearsome, bloodthirsty warlords, the Archon, P'hensor began the bloodiest segment of the Siege of Rosemar, storming the walls from all directions, and half destroying some segments. While he took the walls and conquered the city, forcing the survivors of the Lake People's armies into the Core, he suffered heavy damage himself, though not on such a scale as his opponents, and was forced to camp much of his army in the outer area of the city while preparing his final assault. That final assault would take place within the week, the assault upon the Core itself.

After an initial attack on the core with the most powerful of his Archons was proven utterly ineffective, serving only to kill the commander of the Archons and severely wound many of his best warriors, P'hensor was forced to admit that, despite his military power, he would not be able to conquer the Core by normal means of combat. Following this realization, he resorted to utilizing magic, calling together his S'herlor-connected followers, and began to plan for the destruction of the Core. The next day, at dawn, when the guard on the Core was changing, P'hensor lead a full-on assault of the Core, attacking from both the East and the West. Each prong had a contingent of magic-users with them, which assaulted the defenders of the Core from a distance. While the Core was hurrying to mount its defenses, P'hensor himself, along with a larger contingent of battle-trained S'herlor-connected men, assaulted the open North face of the Core, utilizing their more advanced control over the S'herlor to change the texture and density of the wall, breaching it with ease. However, even as it reformed, returning to its normal state, a trap within the Core went off, killing a great number of the nobles. However, the survivors were able to open the gates, and Archons flooded in, routing the Lake People, and ending the War of Conquest. P'hensor then went on to create and establish the government, beginning the country of Rasyvias.

Geography
Rasyvias's location in the far south of the continent gives it a geography of primarily lowlands, with few hills and no significant mountains to speak of. It is sometimes known as the Lake Country, as it possesses four lakes, one of which is the great Lake Yajū, the largest lake on the planet. There are many grasslands, which intertwine with bogs and marshes throughout the region, though there are more marshes towards the coast. The center of the country, between and around the Twin Lakes, there is a plain with sparser vegetation, although by no means a desert. The far east of the nation is a tropical forest surrounding Lake Yajū, with denser foliage to the north, and a more open terrain to the south of the great lake. The border of Rasyvias is slightly past the northern shore of Lake Yajū, leading across the continent to the Camel's Bay, as it is called by the Rasyviasi.

Government and Politics
Rasyvias' government is that of a plutarchy, the implementation of both plutocracy and oligarchy at the same time. In this form of government, rule is restricted to the wealthy, and a small group of individuals holds the power. In Rasyvias, a distinct system has emerged for the structure and perpetuation of the government. It is rather simple, yet unique from the governments of other nations. Rasyviasi titles are granted based on the merit of wealth, with specific numbers as to how many of each rank of nobility there may be. The fifty wealthiest in Rasyvias are granted the title of Hyor, the highest rank of nobility, the next one hundred the rank of Kraes, and the next one hundred the rank of Seir, the lowest rank of nobility. If person's wealth rises or lowers beyond a certain point, then they can bypass the ranking system and be raised or lowered to a different rank, changing the number of nobles. For humans, they must be extremely wealthy to be granted a noble title, even if they are within the required number of wealthiest people, and the other non-Rhyiojan races cannot become nobles at all.

The four wealthiest in the nation, while retaining the title of Hyor, are inducted, mandatorily, into the Sinyukanra, the four-person group that has executive power over all of Rasyvias. While not even the Hyor can gainsay the Sinyukanra, the more powerful a person's position in the nobility, the more influence they have, and even the Sinyukanra can be persuaded by several powerful nobles. The Sinyukanra has a number of titles for members, more than four, referring to the possible positions, which are never all filled at once. A Sinyukanra where none of the members have a defined position is called a Rykuin, the Rhyiojan word for Balance, for it means that all of the four Sinyukanra members have equal authority in all areas. Currently, the Sinyukanra positions that are filled are Sinyukadel, the member with the most authority and first among equals, Sinrekyadar, the most powerful magic user of the Sinyukanra, Senyavmat, the greatest politician amongst the Sinyukanra, and Serghamen, the religious leader of Rasyvias. The unfilled positions are Sinramdal, the ultimate military leader of Rasyvias, which is currently deferred to the head general in the Armed Forces, Serkyulin, the wealthiest, which is currently a tie between the Sinyukadel and Senyavmat, and Soryukrait, the Archon master, currently deferred to the head of the Armed Forces.

Notable Locations
Most of Rasyvias' notable locations are bodies of water, as befits the Lake Country. First and foremost is Lake Yajū, the largest lake on Earth, which sits in the east of the country, close to its northern and eastern borders. To the west, mostly above Rasyvias' northern border, but partially within the country, is the Camel's Bay, a large bay, with many inlets, that strangely resembles a camel, humps and all. Other bodies of water include the Eye of the Marsh, a lake slightly below the Camel's Bay, and the Twin Lakes, situated in the center of the country. The capital, Rosemar, is a great fortress city positioned slightly to the east of the country's center, and Erletherin, the largest city, lies to the northeast of Lake Yajū.

Military
The military forces of Rasyvias are not quite as modern as those of most other countries. While they possess a number of highly advanced technologies, some of which are utilized militarily, their military is atypical in its build. They have no air force, merely a small number of planes utilized for defense, which are not officially part of the military. Despite this, they have a number of ciger-shaped planes, powered only by electricity stations along the ground, which transport civilians across the nation at great speed. The navy has no true offensive ships, relying on the services of the government-hired military company, Terrikriss, for any possible needs of naval attack. Instead, the navy is made of speedy transport ships, and a number of Atlantis-class Fortress-ships, a class of ships made for usage as marine bases. They are considered the epitome of defense-ships, heavily armored, with the larger ones serving as veritable fortresses, and are partially submergible, with only the very top remaining above the water. They are perfect for equipping with weaponry, and for long-term stationing.

The main focus of Rasyviasi military is on the ground forces. The Rasyviasi Army is made up of three main divisions: the Rasyviasi Infantry, the Rasyviasi Armored Forces, and the Rasyviasi Rhyioji Force. The Rasyviasi Infantry consists of fighters on foot, armed with weaponry and protected by magic-enhanced shrouds, which provide as much protection as the bulkier gear of most other infantries. While they usually possess only various guns, some units are specially trained with other forms of weaponry, most notably the mechanical oscillator, a small device carried by specially authorized infantrymen which, when activated, utilizes pressure to cause localized shaking, on a large enough scale to knock down a house. Another of these devices is the Smart Weaponry line, produced exclusively for Rasyviasi by Terrikriss, which includes special bullets which lock on to a target and scan their environment before firing using a system of laser sensors, and use an on-board computer to determine their trajectory as they go, allowing them to strike their target. The Smart Weaponry also includes grenades which detect when they are at the correct proximity to their target to detonate. These are used exclusively by specially trained small units, due to their expense.

Historically, the Infantry's officers were members of the Rasyviasi cavalry, which used horses and armored rhinoceroses, but the cavalry has been disbanded as technology advanced. Their replacements, the Rasyviasi Armored Forces, are unaffiliated with the Infantry, unlike their predecessors. The RAF use tanks and other armored vehicles. The current favored class of tanks, used for most generic units in the RAF, is the Arkatsen, a heavily armored, slower-moving tank, although there are lighter tanks used for speed. Another highly favored war gear used by the RAF is the Rosemar X Annihilator, a system, attachable to tanks or other vehicles, which uses a system of of scanners and sensors to detect the glint of sun off of a reflective surface, such as a gun or even an enemy's retinas, and target it with a bright red laser, allowing for easy picking off. The device also has a highly advanced defense system, which uses microphones to detect the shot, and can determine the speed and direction of the bullet, pinpointing the location of the shooter and type of gun. The final touch to the Rosemar X is a system that sends out a pulse in the direction of the shot, intercepting and prematurely detonating or halting the progress of the assault. While the expense of this device causes it to be rare, it is extremely formidable, and very difficult to defeat.

The third and final branch of the Rasyviasi Army is the Rasyviasi Rhyioji Force. Despite the name, not only Rhyioji may serve in the RRF, but the majority of members are Rhyioji, due to their higher percentage of magic users when compared to the other races in Rasyvias. This is the smallest branch, and is considered the most elite, with much intense training and little action. The members of this branch are all magic users, either of normal magic or of the magic connected to the S'herlor.