Province of Petrodis

The **Province of Petrodis** is a province of the Thornian Empire, previously Great Thornia. Its territory stretches across the southern half of Aphthonis, from the Dobresian highlands and lowlands in its west, to the Meros peninsula to its east. During the formation of the current Thornian Empire, Dobresia gained the disputed region of Septia. Its capital is Petrodis, located on province's south-west coast.

The province is the second most populated in the empire, and it is the largest administrative subdivision by land area in the world.

## History

### Twilight of the colonial regime

The province was formerly known as Aphthonis. The region rapidly shifted between being an Umic or Thornian colony, being a subject autonomous state, and being an independent state. Throughout this period, its government was dominated by the same Umic Thornian elite that captured the territory from local tribes.

In April 2022, all provinces of Aphthonis lost their autonomy and all governance responsibilities have been passed to the regional government of South Aphthonis. The colour purple was adopted as the province's colour, as seen in the South Aphthonis banner. In late April, the province was briefly dissolved (along with South Aphthonis) and its territory was merged with the other Aphthonic provinces and the Province of Elysia to form Metropolitan Thornia. This move was unpopular enough to warrant a reversal by the government. The Province of Petrodis was the lone Aphthonic province to be revived, and it gained all the territories of the former South Aphthonis.

In December 2022, as part of the reformation of Great Thornia into the Imperial Federation of Thornia the province was elevated to a *voranate*, a new tier of administrative subdivision that granted even more autonomy to the existing provincial government. The military also gained significant new powers as part of the reforms.

### Tsapansal State (December 2022 - 18 March 2023)

In late December 2022, the provincial government was toppled by an alliance of the tribal groups of South Aphthonis. The new tribal regime renamed the territory to the Tsapansal State, but did not declare unilateral independence from Thornia. The regional assembly, which retained the name of *National Assembly*, continued to serve as a limited legislative body. The Tsapansal sponsored rebellions in Boravia, Travonnia, and Trabonia. The Boravian rebellion was the only to succeed, whilst the Travonnians and Trabonians (now known collectively as the Trabovonians) combined their forces and pushed their policies to a new extreme deemed intolerable for the Tsapansal.

The Tsapansal and Boravia were forced to join forces with the rump Thornian regime (itself an uneasy alliance of Thornian nationalists and Umic nationalists in Cataracta) after the Trabovonians began hiring mercenaries from the Chen Empire en masse. There were fears by all three members of the coalition that the Chen would use their mercenaries as a gateway to eventually put their own troops on the ground, and to eventually bring much of Umia into the Chen orbit.

The ensuing war to bring the Trabovonian revolt to an end and expel the Chen mercenaries proved to be a tough fight. The speed and success of the Tsapansal campaign to overthrow the old provincial regime was not repeated on the battlefield. A mutiny by a large portion of the Tsapansal Army and their defection to the Trabovonian cause under the banner of the Sovereign Sons led to the weakening of the tribal army and a protracted siege in Dobrado. The Siege of Dobrado cost the Tsapansal much of its resources and led to widespread malnutrition in Sovereign Sons occupied Dobrado. A surprise attack by the Trabovonians deep into Dobresia led to the rest of the Tsapansal Army revolting against its own government and requesting for extensive Thornian aid, as well as partial political re-integration.

The coalition eventually won the war against Trabovonia and the Sovereign Sons, but the mismanagement of the army and the state caused much of the populace to demand for the return of Thornian rule. Despite this, the National Assembly of Tsapansal still voted overwhelmingly against a return to Thornian rule. Many Dobresian assembly members were assassinated over the following days, leading to mass panic amongst members of the public. The Tsapansal Army's command lost control of its troops as many de-mobilised brigades were hastily reformed on their own and voluntarily mobilised into Dobresia. Fears of a civil war led to the Tsapansal government conceding almost all executive power to the Thornian Army. The Thornian Army's advanced intelligence capabilities helped to uncover an extensive network of Sovereign Sons sleeper agents (largely made up on sympathisers and veterans of both sides of the war) which was swiftly taken down through arrests and raids.

### Monarchy regains control (18 March 2023 - Present)

On 18 March, the Tsapansal regime disbanded itself and ordered all Tsapansal Army members to report to Thornian officers. The Crown of Thornia formally took legal control of the province and grouped it with the provinces of Elysia, Boravia, and Galinisia into the Lands of the Crown of Thornia.