History of Unuvun and the Nautical Peace

Udarshe Civilization

It's the 8th millenium, and the Unuvi have finally gotten their island under control and begun cultivating mad amounts of rice. Everyone's really excited about this new 'civilization' thing, so they decided to found a city called Re to try it out. They developed this complex oral legal tradition known as the Seva because nobody had taught them how to write yet, and they decided, hey, maybe we should have a ruler too. So this one guy said, I'll be the ruler. And he was. And then his son became the ruler. And then that guy's son. And then that guy's son decided, hey I want a legacy. So he built a mound. And then his son became ruler, and he built a mound too. But it was a little bigger. Eventually these mounds turned into pyramids, and they kept getting bigger and bigger, and taking longer and longer to make. They made a really huge one that took more than 20 years, and it was the biggest of them all. It was called the Shzaehrualsh-auchi, because that the king who ordered it be made was Shzaehrualsh. But people didn't really like Shzaehrualsh, so they decided to stop making pyramids after he died.

Nowadays, the ancient pyramids are all surrounded by cities. But they're still there, because pyramids are really hard to burn down. Sometimes there are skyscrapers hundreds of meters tall right next to these pyramids.

The Haki Watchman was established around this time period. They are required to face towards Haki at all times. A series of messengers asks the watchman for status updates, and the watchmen are required to reply "Nothing to report." This continues to this very day.

The Declination of Crab is a tradition carried out when a foreign head of state visits the Nautical Peace. At formal dinner, a plate of crab is placed on the table. To show that the two nations are at peace, both the Emperor and the foreign head of state decline to eat the crab. In Unuvi culture, to "steam the crab" is to threaten conflict, while to "decline the crab" is to try and defuse a tense situation. When someone is unknowingly tricked or deceived into doing something against their personal morals, they are said to have "eaten the crab." Something and/or someone who is used against their will to further the agenda of someone else is termed a "crab."

Age of Exploration

Invasion by Idetka (9,315-9,334 Y)

Invasion years (9,315-9,321)

After the Great Famine of 9,312, the Pazhil Dynasty was significantly weakened. It was during this time that Prince Saeran of Idetka launched his invasion of the island. Saeran's invasion lasted 14 brutal years, during which he was aided by mercenaries and privateers from throughout the Shattered Islands and even Meó.

The invasion ended in the near-complete destruction of the Pazhil imperial line, with the exception of young Princess Rzame, who was saved from an arrow by a kiya's neck and made her escape to the island of Suvi.

Eight Years of Suffering (9,322-9,329)

During her exile on Suvi, Rzame sought to amass an invasion force capable of removing prince Saeran from power in Unuvun. She was able to do so under the promise of abdicating from the royal throne, thus ending the Pazhil Dynasty's rule over Unuvun, and allowing the Htaevic King Arbin to take the title of emperor. Ever since ascending to the throne, the ambitious Arbin had wanted to reclaim the title of emperor for the Htaevic dynasty, in hopes of one day reforming the ancient Htaevic Empire.

Thunder on the Imperial Plain (9,330-9,334)

On 9,330/0/50, Prince Saeran was assassinated by Pazhil loyalists, causing Idetkan-ruled Unuvun to fall into a chaotic period known as The Thunderstorm. Idetka quickly named a successor, General Siho Endaya, however he was killed by Pazhil loyalists mere weeks after Saeran's assassination during the Storming of the Imperial Octagon.

On 9,330/0/83, Princess Rzame returned to Unuvun accompanied by Arbin, and many Pazhil loyalists were unsatisfied with her calls for peace, as they did not believe that Arbin had the legal right to take the Unuvi throne. They split off into their own faction, the Sayammians, a reference to the ancient democratic city state of Sayamm that existed in the 9th millenium. In their New Constitution, the Sayammians demanded democratic checks and balances on Arbin's power, with some of the more radical revolutionaries calling for the eradication of the monarchy altogether.

After the routing of the Idetkans, the fighting lasted for two more years until the Sayammians finally surrendered in the Compromise of 9,334. Emperor Arbin, exhausted from war, allowed for the formation of a parliament headed by a handpicked ambassador of his choice, much like the system that already existed in the Third Htaevic Kingdom.

War of the Crab Prince (9,349-9,358 Y)

Crab Prince Incident

After Emperor Arbin began to consolidate his power over Unuvun, tensions between his imperial cabinet and the powerful razuku that controlled much of Unuvun's land began to rise. Arbin was taking every opportunity possible to dismantle the control that the razuku had over their territory, and had managed to end several of the most ancient dynasties.

One razuku who had managed to keep control over his princedom was Prince Suekasui (sway-kaw-swee). He ruled over the small city-state of Rvarshen (ruh-var-shen), located on the northern edge of Unuvun, close to mainland Delezia. As a result, Rvarshen had experienced significant piracy over the past few centuries. Its convenient location made it a common stopping point for foreign envoys on their way to Zhavei.

In 9,349 Y, Prince Vahkètto of the First Meó Empire stopped at Rvarshen on his trip to Zhavei, where he was to discuss his recent conquests in the Shattered Islands with Emperor Arbin. During the early morning of 9,349/1/69 Y, mere hours before the Meó delegation was set to arrive, Suekasui and his male harem all passed away in a massive sexual orgy. Shortly before falling into unconsciousness, Suekasui called in his royal court in order to name an heir. In his delirious state, Suekasui declared that his pet crab Azu would be the new heir to the Rvarshen throne.

After his death, his closest royal advisors fiercly debated whether or not they could actually follow through on his appointment. The legality of appointing a crab was unclear, but it was unlikely that it could be challenged, according to the castle lawyer Ufshi Kije at the time. Suekasui had no close relatives that could be appointed to the throne, and since he was homosexual, he had no eligible children of his own either. The Rvarshen royal court determined that Arbin would have bulletproof pretext for appointing a Htaevic puppet as the new razuku of Rvarshen, and that the only way to stop this would be to indeed follow through and coronate the crab.

Kije drafted a message to Arbin and stamped it with the Imperial Seal of Rvarshen. He reasoned that Arbin would have no choice but to accept the coronation of Azu onto the Rvarshen throne, as rejecting it would be rejecting the will of an Imperial Seal and would greatly harm Arbin's legitimacy as emperor, and possibly give the remaining razuku a rallying cry for rebellion. The message was sent off on the fastest kiya the royal court could find, in order to beat any other rumors of Suekasui's death.

During the night of Suekasui's death, a tavern worker, Hina Kenachetu, was hired to help clean up the disastrous mess left behind by the orgy. She had recently moved to Rvarshen, having fled Fihanoshai after murdering her step-father, step-sister, grandmother and the local shaman, and as such had no knowledge of Prince Suekasui's royal crab. She picked up Azu and dropped him off in a bucket in the kitchen, not knowing what else to do with him. Later in the morning, Kije and his fellow members of the royal court attempted a desperate search for Azu, but none were able to find him. They got news of Vahkètto's arrival in Rvarshen, and as such decided to have him dine first while they attempted to find the crab.

As many of the chefs had been in Suekasui's harem and had passed away alongside him several hours prior, several chefs from the Rvarshen city docks were drafted to make a meal for the whole royal court to enjoy alongside the envoy from Meó. One of these chefs, Rejirvei Sasual, specialized in cooking crabs and decided to boil Azu, conveniently placed in the kitchen, as the main course of the dinner. Sasual would use his notoriety to later found the Nautical Ihyai Company, one of the most powerful corporations to ever exist.

During the unveiling of the main course, several members of the royal court allegedly began to feel extremely nauseous, realizing that Suekasui had forbidden crab from being served in the castle ever since an incident several years prior. However, none of them spoke up as Vahkètto began to devour Azu's royal flesh. One quickly found pretext to get up and ran over to the kitchen, and spotted Azu's intricate crab armor near the stove. The dinner was artificially lengthened as the royal court secretly conversed, trying to figure out how to best handle this disastrous turn of events. It was decided that a castle gardener known as Sayesa Sayesan would deliver the bad news. Sayesan explained to Vahkètto that, not only did he commit regicide, but also technically cannibalism. Vahkètto became enraged, as his father had committed both regicide and cannibalism in order to inherit the Meó throne, and the prince had desperately seeked to distance himself from his father. He pulled out his sword and beheaded Sayesan on the spot in one, clean swipe.

War

And so began the War of the Crab Prince. The city of Rvàshen was bombarded by the Meó prince’s fleet, and the Unuvi princedoms responded in kind with a coordinate attack on Meo holdings along the coast of the supercontinent. The pirates tried to get in on the action, but were caught between both sides and utterly annihilated for being on neither of them. They would later learn their lesson and go on to rent their services to both sides to maximize profit.

Aftermath

With a total of over 100,000 green-haired casualties in the War of the Crab Prince, the jusha class of Unuvi society was exhausted by war. Htaevic Emperor Arbin carefully tried to rein in the princedoms under a new feudal state with the declaration of the Second New Constitution, a document that gave him the power to hand-select the powerful razuku, that controlled much of Unuvun's land. Additionally, the document expressly forbid the 'appointment of crabs and all other animals into positions of power.'

Arbin's calculated risk greatly angered many of the razuku and he called in the army of his Second Htaevic Empire to Yuuvei in hopes of being able to quash revolutionary fervor. It was during this time that the Sayammians regrouped and infiltrated the Htaevic government over Unuvun in a number of key positions, including several very high ranking parliamentary roles.

Restoration of the Imperial Line

On 9,357/0/12, Htaevic officials raided parliament seat-holder Chena Tise's house under the suspicion that she was aiding the revolutionary cause. Although Sayammian arsonists set fire to the house, they were able to recover key documents that held a list of Sayammians active in the city of Racheinu Chihyu. Emperor Arbin apprehended many of these individuals and declared a public day of execution the following week. In an event known as Foiled Execution, several dozen Kiya-riding Sayammians accompanied by several hundred rogue jusha and over one thousand peasants revolted at the scene of the execution, overcoming the Htaevic troops and preventing the death of all but two prisoners.

Simultaneously, the Sayammians wrote and released a document called Declaration of a Nautical Peace that called for the installment of 23-year old Fihano Pazhil onto the throne of Unuvun in order to 'usher in a nautical peace in which the green-haired folk of this maritime island shall become naïve to the horrors of war.' Thus began the Second Thunderstorm, a year-long revolt during which almost the entirety of Unuvun rose up against Emperor Arbin. Arbin, unable to quash the rebellion, fled the island from the port of Serzilea and returned to the Shattered Islands. After Emperor Fihano rose to the throne of Unuvun, he collaborated with his Sayammian supporters to draft the Unuvunese Constitution, a document that incorporated many revolutionary ideas such as a unified measurement system, as well as many old ideas derived from the governmental system of Sayamm and other similar democracies.

Exploration of Ivinis (9,368- Y)

See: Exploration of Ivinis

Initial exploration and settlement

Vzhani's three voyages to Ivinis

In 9,368 Y, explorer Arnppe Vzhani left the port of Rae and begun sailing westwards towards the continent of Ivinis. At the time, Ivinis had begun to become filled with various Nokhtan settlements up and down its eastern seaboard. No indigenous peoples had been found, however there had been a wealth of new animals, plants and insects discovered in the preceding century. As such, Vzhani was granted funding by the Nautical Peace to chart out the southwestern coast of Ivinis in order to find potential places that the Nautical Peace could build settlements.

In 9,375 Y, the first colony ships were sent to the island of Rvitaria. Gradually, more and more were sent until the port of Yuechua was well-established as an Unuvunese foothold in Ivinis. It would later become the hub for further expansion deeper into Ivinis.

Settlement of the Vie river basin

Discovered for the Unuvi by Flicha Fihano, the massive Vie river captured the imagination of the Unuvunese. The Nautical Peace soon began sending colonists to secure the mouth of the Vie, and rapidly begun constructing a large port at Daifihanoshai as the true extent of the river system became known. Rivalling many of the large, fertile river basins on Pangaea, the Vie watershed would become the focus of Unuvunese colonization efforts for the next several centuries. As Nokhtan colonies began to sprout up to the northeast of the Vie, the Unuvunese began work on the grand Daifihanoshai Castle, one of the largest traditional Unuvunese castles still in existence.

Lasletsa

Lasletsa Declaration, also known as the Green Gate Declaration, was an imperial declaration in 9,435 Y that asserted both that Hakiism was punishable by the death penalty and that citizenship required green hair. The term "Green Gate" is a reference to the famous Lasletsa temple complex in Unuvun, the main place of worship of Haki in traditional Unuvi mythology, and a place where only green-haired people have been traditionally allowed to visit.

Discovery of Lavaank

ensnared in the forbidden fifties -- an Unuvi merchant ship on the way to Edeto is caught in a horrendous storm and sent flying past the subcontinent, coming upon a new, virgin land called Lavaank by the local Tana people.

The Dream of Democracy

The Autumn Fall. In late autumn, the Imperial family gathered in the court for a family portrait. Unbeknownst to them, disloyal nobles in cooperation with Veiivinis revolutionaries had placed dozens of barrels of gunpowder nearby, which exploded and killed all members of the Imperial family except for young Prince Hau and his older brother, Prince Imrahen. The botched coup attempt led to the dismantlement of the Hatluyi royal house and made Prince Hau despise the nobility. Imrahen would later inherit the throne and pursue policies of reconciliation with the nobility.

The Western Rebellion. Much of Veiivinis revolts from Nautical Peace control and forms their own independent nation known as the Veiivinis Alliance, leaving only the city of Daifihanoshai and outlying regions in Unuvunese control.

The Prince of Determination. Prince Hau grew to despise Emperor Imrahen for how leniently he treated the nobility and the Veiivinis Alliance. With the assistance of his right hand man, Ventus the Second Obliterator, he orchestrated the assassination of his elder brother and successfully pinned the blame on the Berjuda royal family. Emperor Hau subsequently ascended to the Ocean Throne and began preparations to invade Veiivinis. Ventus had convinced his aging father, General Blotz, to hand control of the Imperial Army over to him.

The Butchering of Chancellor Pig. Emperor Hau, looking to grow Unuvun's power in the face of Rokhtaera's meteoric rise, deposes the head of parliament and replaces her with a pig. Parliament continues to refuse to launch an invasion of Veiivinis, which prompts Hau to butcher Chancellor Pig and demand that each member of parliament either eat a strip of its bacon or vote in favor of declaring war on the Veiivinis states. The declaration of war subsequently passes parliament by 43-0 vote, cementing Emperor Hau's dominance over the Nautical Peace.

The Eight Handed Tactician. Under the command of Ventus the Second Obliterator, the Nautical Peace launches its invasion of Veiivinis. Over the next five bloody years, over two million people died in the fighting as the Nautical Peace threw their entire weight into reconquering their former colonial holdings. Ventus' strategic brilliance allowed the Nautical Peace to effectively attack Veiivinis on multiple fronts at once, earning him the fearsome title of the "eight handed tactician."

The War Behind the Castle Walls. It was no secret that Emperor Hau was a strong believer in Sayammian democratic ideals. Growing up, he witnessed first hand many of the atrocities the nobility committed behind the scenes. Though he cooperated with the aristocracy in order to focus on conquering Veiivinis, afterwards he began a decade long power struggle against the nobility during which hundreds of assassinations occurred on both sides. In the end, the nobility was dismantled and replaced with a mostly democratic system with strong checks and balances.

To Every Man a Golden Throne. Also known as the 'Heroic Age,' this time period after the reconquest of Veiivinis saw the rapid industrialization of the Nautical Peace in order to catch up with Rokhtaera and Meó, as well as radical political reform. Some policies, such as the establishment of the Official System of Units, and the creation of a comprehensive system of rural districts and national parks, were highly successful policies that continue to this day. Other policies, such as the abolishment of marriage and the outlawing of dinosaurs, provoked significant civil unrest until compromise was reached. Though the dismantlement of the aristocracy was highly disruptive to Unuvi life, Emperor Hau put so much political capital behind the goal that it became a third rail which no political opponent of his could touch.

Obliterator in the Octagon. The last Unuvunese royal family, the Enares, stormed the Imperial Octagon and attempted to bargain with Emperor Hau for their royal line's survival. Enraged by the killing of his daughter, Emperor Hau ordered the storming of the Octagon and the "obliteration of the last vestige of the monster of nobility." Obliging, Ventus the Second Obliterator led the charge into the Imperial Octagon and personally killed Prince Vralu, Queen Ferzi and Duchess Sayiŋa, ending the Enare royal bloodline once and for all.

ROUTE 1:

The Emperor Machine. Near the end of his life, Emperor Hau announced that he would step down as ruler of the Nautical Peace. He feared that the Imperial Court had grown far too powerful, and that the Nautical Peace could repeat history by slowly devolving into aristocracy once more. To prevent this, Hau commissioned the creation of the Emperor Machine, a large, eighty foot tall anthropomorphic machine resembling an Unuvi shaman. In collaboration with parliament, he passed legislation that stipulated the emperor of the Nautical Peace be chosen as follows: each party member of parliament may write the name of one person on a ballot card and place it inside of the Emperor Machine. The Emperor Machine will then shuffle the cards and select one at random, with the person whose name is on the selected card being crowned the next emperor of the Nautical Peace -- with an eight year term limit.

Legally, the Emperor Machine is the regent of the Nautical Peace. The chosen 'emperor' is legally an assistant who is expected to carry out the will of the Emperor Machine until one day "the Machine shall become advancèd enough such that it shall attain the collective consciousnèss of the Unuvunese people and rule over the Nation itself in a sublime singularity." This power is known as the Mandate of the Machine, and in recent years it has become hotly debated as artificial intelligence continues to grow in power exponentially.

The Black Rose. The First Ganuoan-Unuvunese War is often used to mark the end of the Unuvunese Heroic Age. The Nautical Peace hastily attempted to block Ganuoese expansion deeper into the interior of Edeto, provoking a long, five year conflict with more than 200,000 deaths during which little territory traded hand. The conclusion of the war saw northern Edeto remaining firmly in the Ganuoan sphere of influence, while the Nautical Peace was left dealing with major revolts in southeastern Edeto that led to them eventually pulling out from that region altogether. The Nautical Peace shifted their focus towards investing in Ivinis after the discovery of large coal, oil and gold deposits in the Ivini Backbone.

ROUTE 2:

something something edgy. emperor hau assassinated at world's fair, son ascends to throne and convinces the peace to launch a war against country that did assassination, etc

Second Age of Exploration

"We Come in Peace, from the Peace". The Samtlie-6 Mission was the first manned landing on Haki by the Nautical Peace. Hundreds of millions of people watched worldwide as the lander crashed into the Yešče Plain, starting a firestorm that surrounded Captain Lufain and Commander Mahkika as they climbed out of the lander. With almost all supplies lost, Lufain and Mahkika would become the first humans to attempt to consume Haki flora and fauna as they would need to wait for at least three weeks for supplies to arrive from Pavala.

Do Me a Favor. The Samtlie-7 Mission launched in great haste, seeking to rescue the two men left stranded on Haki during the Samtlie-6 mission. Many had speculated about what exactly would happen to a human being were they to take their mask off on Haki. It was already known that Haki's atmosphere was theoretically breathable, however it was unknown how Hakese bacteria would affect a human being over the long term, as well as whether or not Hakese plant and animal life were digestible. After a successful landing, the world was shocked to discover that bother Lufain and Mahkika were alive, having survived off Hakese megafauna in the three weeks since their crash landing. The two astronauts returned to Pavala on the Samtlie-7 lander, bringing some of their foraged food with them.

The Master Ship. The Master Project was a top secret rocketry project led by the Naborsi engineering prodigy Shimh Hâo and the Unuvunese industrial magnate Tehchuka Flaneybi. Nabors and the Nautical Peace generously poured tens of billions of dollars a year into the development of a sub $100/kg transportation system to Haki. The result was a two staged reusable rocket system to get to Haki, with the upper stage being able to return to Pavala by itself due to Haki's lower gravity. Thanks to the development of the Master Ship, the Nautical Peace was able to begin work on a large city on Haki to serve as a base of operations for its ulterior motive, to lay claim to large expanses of the planet. [Are we entering the future? Does Pavala canon stop here?]

the sibling crosser -- Dadu Ultraheavy Industries releases the Strawberry 5, the wildly successful commercial spaceplane that can take up to twenty people to Haki and back. With one-way tickets to Haki plumetting to $80,000, the Nautical Peace's spaceports are about to get a whole lot more crowded.