Vespatia

Vespatia (pronounced Ves-pay-zhah) is an archipelago off the coast of France and Spain, say by the crook of the Pyrenees, but far enough so that the Mainlanders can't see it, and the Vespatians can't see Europe. Vespatia is relatively small, roughly the size of North Ireland, but since it is an island chain, the land mass is actually smaller, but it's livable. On Vespatia there are a few dynamic kingdoms, dynamic because their political boarders and autonomy are constantly changing. Right now there are Six kingdoms: Soothron, Zuagland, Hurdonia, The Orient, Berza, and Kapital. The Orient is a kingdom in divide, with Yamanaka to the south and Punnicherri to the north claiming independence. Kapital is actually a union between the Kingdom of Kapital and the Kingdom of Vixeto, but Kapital is the bigger of the two.

Geography and Climate
Vespatia's geography is varied, but there are seven main islands: Plupzervosovot, Trafamia, Cherleto, Bobaran, Zuaginsel, Onziem Colonia, and Sadrabia. The north is very cold, as all norths are, and is covered in snow for most of the year, even though in France there is none. This is due to unique weather patterns in Vespatia. The center is rather like New England, with snow in the winter and nice summers. The south is rather like southern Spain, dry hot summers, wet winters. Plupzervosovot is the central island, and is by far the largest. The others surround it, in a clock-like way. Going from the north in a clock-wise motion: Zuaginsel, Bobaran, Onziem Colonia, Cherleto, Trafamia, and Sadrabia. A single mountain-range is on the right side of Plupzervosovot, but other than that Vespatia is rather flat, with the occasional hill or two. A desert occupies central Sadrabia and parts of west Plupzervosovot. Due to the flatness of the land, the kingdoms enjoy more unity than the ancient Greeks did.

Culture
The cultures of Vespatia can be split up into 5 types: Northern, Southern, Native, Eastern, and Amazonian.

Northern
The Northern culture is rather barbaric by Vespatian standards. They live much like the European mainlanders... from the 1100's. They live in small, tight nit communities where feudal lords reign supreme. Honor isn't valued much, and warfare between northern clans can be bloody and savage. The northern cultures do have one unified hero, though. Zuag the Goateater was the first person to unite the clans, through brilliant reforms and politics, but he was suppressed by the king and executed. He is considered a martyr for the northern peoples, and many families have paintings of him in their huts. Marriage between first cousins isn't taboo, but it does lower the intelligence level of northerners... Kingdoms that are part of the northern culture are Zuagland, Berza, and Kapital. Regions that are part of the northern culture are Punnicherri (north Orient) and northern Hurdonia.

Southern
The Southern culture is the most "cultured" culture of Vespatia. Most of the southerners live in large manor-houses, usually on plantations of cotton, wheat, and tobacco. Slavery is common in the southern kingdoms, usually Oriental and Native prisoners-of-war. The more poorer southerners live in apartments in cities, but due to the richness of the soil and the relatively small family sizes of southerners, cities have usually no more than 60,000 people. Honor is relatively important, but no more so than in other western European cultures. Wars are only fought if needed, and are usually quick. The only kingdom right now that is part of the southern culture is Soothron. The only region that is part of the southern culture right now is Yamanaka.

Native
All the other cultures are relative newcomers to Plupzervosovot, as colonization by the other Vespatians didn't happen until the late middle-ages. The Native culture is the most advanced culture in Vespatia. It has many modern conveniences, like television, radio, computers, etc., and also have many futuristic machines, like short-range teleportation devices, mechs, and lasers. The natives are a dying race, as diseases from the outer islands have been ravaging the natives, making it possible for Plupzervosovot to be colonized by the islanders. Many islanders have expressed sympathy to the natives, and joined their ranks, thus leading to the only native nation, Hurdonia.

Eastern
The Eastern culture is the most tradition-driven culture in Vespatia. The easterners, who actually live in the west, but since the Vespatians haven't contacted mainland Europe, their maps are a bit... off. The traditions of the easterners are much like those in Asia, though the easterners are Europeans. Honoring family values, the town, and the country is a big thing in the eastern culture, and not doing so is highly inadvisable. The eastern culture also values capitalism, something that the other cultures puts on the back burner. Trade is the number one job in eastern towns, and this has lead to the massive amount of money that easterners have. Class in eastern towns is rather limited to the merchants on top, and everyone else is under them, but doesn't mean that non-merchants are poor. The only kingdom right now that is part of the eastern culture is the Orient. No regions are part of the eastern culture-sphere.

Amazonian
As the name suggests, the Amazonian culture is entirely run by women. Vixeto is the only region that the Amazonian culture flourishes. Vixeto is almost completely devoid of men, which does bring up the obvious question: how do they reproduce? The answer is that Vixetosian slave traders go into southern Zuagland and enslave enough men to keep the population afloat until the next year. Enslaved men are only kept for roughly a year or two, and are then released back to Zuagland. Males born in Vixeto are kept until they reach puberty, and are then brought to Zuagland and put up for adoption, which the Zuaglandish take apon themselves rather well. The only men, until recently, that were allowed into Vixeto were enslaved Zuaglandish men, priests and other church members (most Vespatians are Catholic, one of the only things they get from their mainland cousins), and boys under the age of 12. But now that Vixeto is part of Kapital, Kapitalian troops are stationed in forts throughout Vixeto, even though they have an army of their own, Kapital is worried that if the Vixetosian troops were captured, they would be raped. Besides all of the above, Amazonian culture isn't much different than the northern culture, and also share the same amount of admiration of Zuag the Goateater.

History
The history of Vespatia can be traced back to the late middle-ages, when literacy hit an all time high in Vespatia, 5%.

Early History
First writings in Vespatia date back to the late 1400's to an unnamed Oriental scholar. He wrote that a large island to the west (even though it's really east) had been spotted, and the warriors sent to explore it never came back. That was the last writing found, and the next was dated back to 1563, which was written by the Soothronian explorer Hiram the Bumbler. It described the new found lands to the north, which was the same land found by the Orientals. We now know this land was Plupzervosovot. We can only guess what happened in that laps of history from the late 1400's to 1563, but what we can guess was that the native population was far more advanced than the islanders, as reports from Hiram state that the natives used "small metal balls shot from a loud sticks and trees" to kill the islanders who came to explore, which we now know as guns and cannons. The explorers who ventured into Plupzervosovot requested assistance against the well entrenched natives, and so armies of Soothron, the Orient, and Zuagland were sent over to take land for the three kingdoms. After bloody fighting on the three fronts, the three island kingdoms were almost on the brink of the wars coming to their homes. But then something amazing happened, as General Simon of the Orient battle reports in his journal:
 * The native foe doth stood infront of I and my men, and I on my horse of white did charge. "Thine day of death is neigh!" screamed I at the metal tigers and behemoths. 'Tis then didst I spy that thy enemy was slain already.

What Simon was describing was the effects of diseases not native to Plupzervosovot, the bane to any native population in the world. It was then that the three island nations started to colonize Plupzervosovot.

The Orient War
The Orient, with it's trade-driven culture, was the first to realize the importance of exploiting the surviving native population and the resources in the land. They set up missions in the 1570's, on the coast to convert the natives, who were atheists, into God-fearing Catholics. It worked, and the influence of the Orientals was grand and far reaching in the beginning. It wasn't until the 1590's that Zuagland and Soothron had any interest in Plupzervosovot, until they saw the riches brought back by Oriental traders and merchants. A massive land grab movement happened, and in 1612 most of the land in Plupzervosovot was taken by the three kingdoms. This lead to tention between Zuagland and the Orient, who shared a very close border. Seeing that the north held pine trees and other things only found in colder climates, the Orient raided southern Zuagland settlements and took some land for themselves too. Zuagland sent in some troops to fend off the Orientals, but the riches of the new lands the Orient had made them able to make better weapons and improved armor. The Zuaglandish had nothing more than stone axes and animal skins. As the Zuaglanders were pushed back to the coast of north Plupzervosovot, the Orient decided to attack Soothronian assets on the island. Unfortunately for the Orient, the Soothronians had prepared for the fight, and drove them back to their current borders. The Orientals surrendered, and in the peace agreements gave back all land taken from the Zuaglanders. In order to keep the kingdoms from attacking eachother again, the three set up a mediator kingdom in the center called Kapital, to act as the central government of Vespatia. Peace was restored, but in the north, Zuagland's monarchy was faced with a problem.

Zuag the Goateater
After the Orient War, the peoples of Zuagland was placed under heavy taxes by the monarchy. This was due to the fact that the royal treasuries that were used to defend the Zuaglandish colony was used up fast to try and advance their weaponry. In a small village in Zuaglandish Plupzervosovot, a man named "Zuag", which in Vespatian means "Victory" (thus, Zuagland means something on the lines of "Victoria" in Vespatian), came out of the woodworks. He at first was a terrorist, as he killed goats for food, as he was poor due to the taxation. When the royalty and local lords wanted him dead, he decided to lead the people against the monarchy. He rallied a small militia to storm the capital, but it was crushed by the now up-to-snuff Zuaglandish army. Zuag was put on trial and was convicted of leading an armed insurrection against the Kingdom of Zuagland. He was executed by beheading in 1636. Around this time, something hit the shores of Bobaran Island, which was owned by Soothron, that was about to shake the whole archipelago.

Germans
In Germany, around 1636, a wealthy man by the name of Peter Schneider bought some land in the Americas and wanted to use it to grow tobacco. But he needed people to work on the plantation. So, he hired 30 men and 10 women to travel from Germany to the Americas. They all got abord his private cargo ship, and sailed from Denmark to Brittany, and then headed off to the Americas. But a storm blew them off coarse, and they hit Vespatia instead. They had his Bobaran Island, and found that it was barren, and not good for growing tobacco. So they repaired their ship from local trees and such, and set sail due west, and they hit Plupzervosovot. The Germans found the rich soil good for growing tobacco, and to this day in eastern Plupzervosovot tobacco is the number one export. The Germans grew in numbers, and were eventually discovered by Oriental merchants who were in the area to trade with Soothronian ports. The Orient set up trade with the "Allémanians", as the Germans were called by the Orientals, and subsequently by all of Vespatia now. The Allémanians became a powerhouse, due to trade with the Orient and the population boom that occured. They then set up their own kingdom, per the Orient's request, and became the "Kingdom of Allémania". They then shared a border with the Soothronians, which did not go unnoticed by them.

The Samon War
The Soothronian monarchy, at this time now, were afraid of the Allémanians. A prosperous nation to the north with better land than Soothron meant that they would not be able to out due the small, new nation. As King Thiana of Soothron put it in his royal memoirs:
 * Those blasted Allémanians to the north mock us Vespatians. We were here first, and yet they make more money than even me!

In 1732, almost 100 years after the Germans hit Vespatia, Soothron invaded Allémania by sending in hordes of soldiers in to raid and pillage the villages of the Allémanians. What they found was strage. They expected to see Oriental style buildings, but instead found Soothronian style buildings. No matter, the Soothronians were taking Allémania by force. In response, the Orient send it's large navy in to blockade and bombard major Soothronian ports. Now Soothron got itself in a jam, with two fronts to it's war, which was being called the Samon War. "Samon" in Vespatian means "Beautiful Woman", which was used to describe the lands of the Allémanians. The Soothronians called apon Zuagland to help, and Zuagland sent in large amounts of troops into Northern Allémania, via Kapital. The Zuaglandish troops helped out the Soothronian troops, and in a joint effort, took the Allémanian capital. The "western front" was over, but the "eastern front" was still in full swing, with large naval and land battles being taken place between the Orient and Soothron. In order to tip the scales, the Orientals requested Kapital to join them and to attack Soothron. It was known that Kapital had the largest and most advanced army in Vespatia, so that would help a great deal. Kapital declined, and the Orient then gave the Kapitalians an ultimatum: either join with the Orient, or be invaded. The Kapitalians invaded the Orient before the ultimatum was over, and pushed the Orientals to a scant few forts on the coast of Plupzervosovot. The Orientals surrendered, and was given back all of its taken land in return for large reparations. Things in the "west" were calming down too, with the Allémanians now submitting to the Soothronians. All was well, until a group of Zuaglandish troops began to dig around a small village in Soothronian occupied Allémania.

The Allémanian Holocaust
What they found was a mass grave. Many more were soon discovered all across Allémania, and all the clues pointed to the kingdom who ordered the genocide of Allémanian civilians and soldiers: Soothron. It was a travesty for the Soothronian military, and many of the higher-ups were put on trial, most were executed by firing squad. In the "Peace Act of 1746", Soothron had to disband almost two thirds of its army and pay back the surviving Allémanian peoples. They did this by giving them half of their land in Plupzervosovot, making Allémania one of the most largest and rich kingdoms in Vespatia. Over 190,000 Allémanians were killed in the Allémanian Holocaust, roughly one fourth of their population.

Two New Nations
In 1750, the territory of Vixeto, which was part of the unclaimed lands set aside for the natives, was given "kingdom" status as it finally became interested in international politics. Not much was known about them, except for their culture. In 1759, the territory in central Bobaran and the coastline of the unclaimed territory was bought by a very rich Zuaglander by the name of Michael Tuag, and became the Kingdom of Hurdonia, the only nation run by the natives. Between those times nothing much was happening in Vespatia, but in the early 1800's, this was all about to change.

The Zuagvoler
We all know that the industrial revolution took place in the early 1800's, and this is also true in Vespatia. Guns were first used by the kingdoms, even if the natives had them a few hundred years ago. And with the guns came ideas. In Zuagland, one person had a very ingenious idea how to use gunpowder to rain terror on the enemy, who-ever it may be. That man was Thomas Vintag, a Zuaglandish scientist. He had experimented with helium before, making little balloons. He thought if he combined the lighter-than-air gas and a cannon, he could make the most devastating weapon ever made. He called it the "Zuagvoler", or "Victory-ship" in Vespatian. It was basically a large zeppelin with a very large cannon on the bottom. Production began in 1812, but major setbacks happened, when Michael discovered that his workers were very uneducated, as he said in his diary:
 * These people make me wonder if I was adopted.

Michael sent word out to the scientific community in Soothron to help out, and they agreed. After the humiliation of the peace act, a lot of Soothronians wanted to change the world and it's dark and sinister image. The construction of the Zuagvoler was kept secret, but a leak would lead the Orient to dispatch a covert mission to destroy the Zuagvoler before it was finished. A small boat landed on the island the Zuagvoler was being housed, with 5 Oriental spec. ops. on board. Armed with the best muskets and a fuse bomb, they snook into the hanger. The were about to explode the bomb, but a worker spotted them, and they ran back to the boat. The Zuagvoler was finished a year later in 1814. It's first target was an Oriental village on Plupzervosovot. It was able to destroy a few buildings before the Orientals began to take pock shots at it. The Orient didn't retaliate, and thought of it as just retribution for their covert operation.

The Cantonese War
Vespatia, despite being isolated, did trade outside the archipelago. Mostly in the Chinese region of Canton, as it had exotic resources, and cheap labor. In 1832, news of the Zuagvoler reached Canton, and the Cantonese government wanted to buy it so that it could lead an armed revolt against the Qing government in Beijing for not helping out the poor people of Canton. Zuagland, the owner of the Zuagvoler, didn't accept the offers that Canton gave. Infuriated, Canton sent over a few shiploads of pirates to harass Vespatian ports. Unfortunately for the Cantonese, they raided Soothronian and Hurdonian ports. Soothon and Hurdonia sent over a few ship fulls of troops to invade Canton, and took parts of the city. By 1839, over half of the city was taken. Beijing didn't send aid, as it now knew Canton's intentions. Dire for help, Canton calls apon the assistance of Thai guerrilla fighters. The Thai insurgents reached Canton a few months later, and start dwindling Soothron's and Hurdonia's defenses. Horror stories of Thai and Cantonese torture camps and rampant use of opium within the ranks made the Vespatians leave the city. It was a sad day for Vespatian-kind, and is considered Vespatia's Vietnam.