Ovre Ardal

The Kingdom of Ovre Ardal is a nation in Orbis located in southern Eos. It shares a single sea border with the country of Theothanosia in the north-east, formerly Jerusalem.
Ovre Ardal was founded by Matteo and Connor in 1598 BCS following the collapse of Dromcabalea, with both desiring to found their own country as a refuge from the collapse of their former motherland and to be as far removed from worldly politics as possible. They first settled in an unoccupied area northeast of the former Dromcabalea, negotiating a deal with Occidentalis to have control over the underground portion of said territory, as they had initially planned to only build underground. Afterwards, they moved to a desolate corner of the world in southern Eos, where the country remains to this day.
Ovre Ardal is the first and only country in Orbis history to have most of its territory be artificial, counting four large artificial islands upon which all of its cities (besides Sneedston) are located. It is also the only country in Eos to have constantly retained its independence and official neutrality since its foundation, with even Deepnest having been reintegrated into Dromcabalea for a short period of time. It is often considered a beacon of Eosan civilization, and remained untouched through most of the world's most consequential and destructive events, such as the Great Dauk War, the Great Belegaer War and The Rapture.
== Etymology ==
Ovre Ardal borrows its name from the real-life Norwegian village of Ovre Ardal, from which it also takes its flag. This is because the country itself is a spiritual successor to another nation founded on a different geopolitical server by Connor and Matteo several years before Orbis: the server was hosted on a map of Europe, and the two founded their country where the village of Ovre Ardal is in the real world.
== History ==
=== Foundation ===
Following the collapse of Dromcabalea in 1598 BCS, two of its members, Connor and Matteo, abandoned their native land. Connor had the intention to quit from Orbis altogether, but Matteo convinced him to settle alongside him in a different place, where they could be removed from the world's politics and problems and develop in peace. They first chose a spot very close to Dromcabalea, just north-east of the defunct country, and were in the process of bargaining a deal with Occidentalis, the new occupiers of the small territory, for joint control over it. However, Connor put an end to negotiations as he had discovered another location, much more isolated and much more suitable for underground settlement with an immense subterranean cave system, in the southwestern corner of the world, in the middle of the ocean. As such, the modern country of Ovre Ardal was founded.
Connor and Matteo began developing their territory by building a small, perfectly flat sand bank in the middle of the ocean, where they built very rudimentary farms and generators. However, Ovre Ardal's first moment of relevance would only come later, when Matteo designed and built an immense deepslate arch overlooking the ocean and welcoming visitors to the island. A small port was also built just in front of the arch for people to park their boats and have a clearer view of the gate.
At first, the two inhabitants of Ovre Ardal had only planned for the sand island to be an entrance to the underground caverns, where the true development of the country would take place, and built an abandoned mine-themed path to the deepslate caves accordingly. However, their plans for the country would only grow more and more, while ironically ignoring the underground caves which they settled the country for to begin with. 
=== Development and Great Dauk War ===
After finishing the entrance to the underground, Connor and Matteo planned to build a completely new island on top of the already existing sand one, flanked by cliffs on all sides to redirect all incoming travel to the arch. The construction of the island, which at that point was the biggest artificial island in Orbis history, took several days, and dozens of double chests of dirt and stone, which the members of Ovre Ardal had to either request from foreign countries or dig on their own. When it was finished, however, the country now had a large, empty island upon which they could focus their building projects and developments. The sand island underneath, often referred to as "Old Ovre", still remained as a spot for the members of Ovre Ardal to smelt and farm stone.
During this time, however, an event of global importance took over Orbis politics and forced the involvement of the newborn country as well: the Great Dauk War, declared in 1589 BCS. An Orb intervention against the aggressor, the Dauk Empire, was requested, and required the votes of the Orb member nations, which included Ovre Ardal itself as well. As the disparity between the votes in favour and the votes against intervention shrunk, members of both the Dauk Empire and Columbia tried to bribe Ovre Ardal into voting for their respective sides, eventually culminating however in Ovre Ardal abstaining from the vote, and the Orb intervention passing. 
Ovre Ardal remained neutral during the war, but a member of the GSF and one of Connor and Matteo's closest friends, NotAdata, was invited to the country to become an official member after the end of the war. Adata agreed, and joined Ovre Ardal soon after, being promoted to the position of leader alongside Connor and Matteo, turning the country into a triarchy. Sneedston, a small wooden village built and developed by Connor, also gained city status at this point, becoming Ovre Ardal's first city.
=== Flourishing and construction of God Valley ===
With another person joining Ovre Ardal and the world settling into a situation of relative peace, Ovre Ardal flourished more than ever and moved onto even more ambitious plans. Around this time, a second artificial island was built next to the already existing one, which houses a large kelp farm from which Ovre Ardal draws most of its income. Furthermore, construction of an enormous artificial mountain on the southern side of the main island began and, with the revolutionary discovery of EasyPlace mode, was finished in around 24 hours. It is on this large mountain that Matteo began planning and designing the country's most ambitious and beautiful build, retaining such status to this day: God Valley, a castle so enormous it would classify as a city, and as Ovre Ardal's capital, on its own.
The castle's layout was designed and detailed over the course of a week, and then constructed in survival mode on top of the mountain over the next five days, thanks also to the help of the outsider but friend Anything64. Upon completion, God Valley immediately obtained city status and was declared Ovre Ardal's capital. It lacked an interior, but Matteo built several interior rooms to give the castle substance, although much of the city remains without an interior to this day. Shortly after, in 1557 BCS, Soy, a former member of Dromcabalea and Ridbilliyyah, joined Ovre Ardal, invited to the country based on his superb building skills and his belonging to the VV community. However, he was not granted a leadership position, and Ovre Ardal did not transition to a tetrarchy.
=== Further Development and appearance of Sarmisegetuza ===
Ovre Ardal continued developing after the addition of Soy, with the latter building a new island in the north of the country's seazone to house a town named Yakubiyyah, designed by him and built with the aid of 64, which obtained city status in 1526 BCS. A tavern and a couple of houses were constructed on the main island, as well as a ziqqurat-themed storage facility that today stands amongst Orbis' largest, counting more than a thousand double chests. 
During this time, another prolific builder and friend of Ovre Ardal, Don Alfonso AKA Cof, had been entertaining the idea of joining Ovre Ardal, due to the general inactivity and instability that was plaguing his country of Rovoda. Cof was eventually convinced to join the country, but had to fulfill an agreement with CiaoMoro to construct more roads for the country. However, this was not possible due to Rovoda's very high overextension, and Cof, once the city's terrain was properly flattened and prepared to be moved, joined Ovre Ardal soon after in 1550 BCS and moved the entire city of Sarmisegetuza into the waters of the country, becoming its third city. The island that houses Sarmisegetuza is the largest in Ovre Ardal, and also contains a beach and a hill.
=== The Great Belegaer War and the Fall of the Triarchy ===
Later on, after a long period of crisis within the country of Elysia that saw it being splintered and weakened, MixedMA of the GSF annexed the country and prepared for imminent war against its rival Anthropia. Knowing that an all-out conflict was near and wanting to fight in a war after a long time of peace, Connor and Adata left Ovre Ardal to join the GSF and aid in the fighting. This made Matteo the sole and supreme leader of the country, and called the nation's neutrality into serious question, as most of its members were clearly on the GSF's side. Nevertheless, Ovre Ardal remained officially neutral through the tensions. When the Great Belegaer War, waged by the Empire of Solomon (the new name of the GSF) against Pindorama (the confederation between Anthropia and Caelum), began and an Orb intervention against the GSF was requested, the country abstained from the vote. 
After the end of the war, which resulted in a Pindoraman victory, Connor and Adata were allowed back into Ovre Ardal, taking several double chests worth of war loot with them but also raking up an immense debt: 200 thousand in total as reparations to be paid to Normandy per the treaty, and around 5 million as debt owed to 64 by Connor. During this time, Matteo also constructed an immense clock tower just east of the main island and 64 worked on a large Maus tank on the island of Yakubiyyah.
=== Present Day ===
Today, Ovre Ardal is still developing, albeit at a slower pace than before due to the beginning of school for its members and the start of the Eternia Minecraft server parallel to Orbis. New builds are being constructed at a consistent pace, although far smaller than their immense counterparts that serve as the cornerstones of Ovre Ardal.
== Geography ==
Ovre Ardal's territory is almost entirely artificial, although one of the country's cities (Sneedston) and a few scattered houses also reside on the natural parts of the country. Four major artificial islands have been constructed in the country, each of which has its own name and is under the unofficial jurisdiction of each of its members, except Adata.
* Verkal Ânhaln (Castle Island) is the first of Ovre Ardal's major artificial islands, and it lies directly above the old sand bank that made up the core of the country. It houses the capital of God Valley, as well as builds such as the clock tower (in a smaller island connected to it via a bridge), the ziqqurat-themed storage room, the arch (which looks over a sandy beach) and the crop farm. It is under the unofficial jurisdiction of Matteo.
* Bydhûm (Place of Farms) is the second of Ovre Ardal's artificial islands, built to house the country's kelp farm which produces most of its income. Plans to build a city on this island are underway. It is under the unofficial jurisdiction of Connor.
* Yakubhaln (Yakub's Land) is the third of Ovre Ardal's artificial islands, built by Soy upon which sits his town of Yakubiyyah, as well as the Maus tank under construction by 64. It is the northernmost of Ovre Ardal's islands, and is under the unofficial jurisdiction of Soy, though 64 also has permission to build on it.
* Ânhaln-az-Lusa (Island of Light) is the fourth of Ovre Ardal's major islands. Unlike the other islands, Ânhaln-az-Lusa was moved from the country of Rovoda to Ovre Ardal, as per Cof's request, and then moulded to fit the theme of Ovre's other islands, with a more natural shape and steep stone cliffs. It has the largest sandy beach in Ovre Ardal, and houses the city of Sarmisegetuza. It is the largest island in Ovre Ardal and is under the unofficial jurisdiction of Cof.
* Sneed-Dhûmankon (Sneed's Domain) is a small natural island south of God Valley, which houses the town of Sneedston, Ovre Ardal's first city. The entire island is developed, with very little open territory left. It is under the unofficial jurisdiction of Connor.
== Government and Politics ==
Ovre Ardal is officially a monarchy as of the present day, though it had two different systems in the past: a diarchy, led by Connor and Matteo, and then a triarchy, between Connor, Matteo and Adata, when the latter joined the country. Matteo assumed supreme leadership over the nation after Connor and Adata temporarily left to fight the Great Belegaer War on the Solomon Empire's side.
De facto, however, all five members of the country have equal say in its proceedings and decisions, and the very few political actions taken by Ovre Ardal go through everyone first. The five members of Ovre Ardal are known colloquially as the Gorosei (Japanese for "Five Elders"), as a reference to the popular anime and manga franchise One Piece, of which every member of Ovre Ardal is a fan of, and the Room of Authority located within God Valley serves as the center of Ovre Ardal's government. Every one of the five members has the special title of "Warrior God", followed by a unique specification for each of them.
The core of Ovre Ardal's foreign policy is official neutrality in any and all international conflicts that befall Orbis. It is an Orb member state, but has abstained from most of its proceedings dealing with conflicts and conflict regulations. It and Deepnest are also the only countries in Eos to have never participated in a war. Ovre Ardal belongs to no alliances, defensive pacts, independence guarantees or vassalages, and its only official relation with the outside world is a permanent non-aggression pact with Varnamia. Nonetheless, the neutrality of Ovre Ardal has been called into question a couple of times, such as when Adata was invited to Ovre Ardal in the middle of the Great Dauk War, in which Adata sided with the GSF, or when Connor and Adata left Ovre Ardal temporarily to fight for the Solomon Empire in the Great Belegaer War.
Although Ovre Ardal has no embassies or official missions in other countries, it enjoys neutral or amicable relationships with the rest of the world, having particularly strong ties with Deepnest, Dromcabalea, and Varnamia to a lesser extent. Members of Ovre Ardal have often aided in Dromcabalea's construction projects and in Deepnest's immense excavation project, and a great underground railway connecting Deepnest to Ovre Ardal (as well as the other Eosan countries) has been proposed and approved, but was never undertaken.
== Culture ==
Culturally, Ovre Ardal shares many qualities of the archetypal VVer, such as overall low intelligence, love for One Piece and a strong sense of brotherhood between VVer countries. It also has great love for large, majestic builds, and has a very strong work ethic, getting many of the country's greatest builds done at lightning-fast pace.
Nominally, Ovre Ardal is a Dwarven country, sharing the same blood as their northern kin Deepnest. However, instead of building underground, it has focused its efforts in reclaiming the sea and building new earth above ground, asserting its dominance over the wilderness in their own way. Its islands possess Dwarven names. The people of Ovre Ardal don't observe any particular religion, though there are a few local cults: Soy, the builder of Yakubiyyah, dedicated the city to the god Yakub, while Sneedston was named in the honor of Sneed, a farmer villager who lived in the city but who was accidentally murdered by the Dromcabalean Nick_UA.
The greatest enemy of the state in Ovre Ardal is, indeed, Nick himself, due to his continued crimes against the people of Ovre Ardal, from the murder of two underground named mobs to the accidental grenade killing of Sneed the villager in 1552 BCS. As such, the Gorosei of Ovre Ardal have placed a joke bounty over his head of 5,564,800,000 Berries.
Ovre Ardal is officially a closed country, only allowing fellow VVers to join as they are the people that Ovre can trust the most. After reaching five members, with Cof being the last addition, it has stopped letting anybody in, VVer or not, claiming that the country was full and that it was getting too packed with artificial islands, not having enough space for more people. The many requests to join Ovre Ardal from foreigners have almost all been turned down as a result.
== Sports ==
Ovre Ardal is a founding member of the OIFF, the Orbis International Football Federation, which presides over the Orbis World Cup hosted every couple of weeks, as well as regional tournaments such as the Eosan Cup. Despite its small size, Ovre Ardal has an active football presence, having placed third in the 1st World Cup, fifth in the 2nd World Cup and third again in the 1st Eosan Cup. Ovre Ardal's national team usually consists of Matteo and Connor as attackers, with a third member in defense, which has historically either been Cof, Adata or 64 as a substitute.
== List of Members ==
* Matteo_Games (1598 BCS - Present)
* ConnorGorski (1598 BCS - 1529 BCS, 1525 BCS - Present)
* NotAdata (1587 BCS - 1529 BCS, 1525 BCS - Present)
* soy_y (1557 BCS - Present)
* Il_Don_Alfonso (1550 BCS - Present)
== Gallery ==
File:GodValleySunset.png|God Valley at sunset.
File:SarmisegetuzaPanoramic.png|Sarmisegetuza.
File:YakubiyyahShaders.png|Yakubiyyah.
File:SneedstonPanoramic.png|Sneedston.