Thanan Provinces

**Thana** has 17 mainland provinces. The following which are: **Mayús**, **Lena de la Flor**, **Conquistador**, **Cristo**, **Milán**, **El Dorado**, **Persépolis**, **Lemuria**, **Iva-Lisá**, **West Medici (Médici del Oeste)**, **East Medici (Médici del Este)**, **San Marco**, **Aple (Pronounced app-leh)**, **Prisca**, **De los Lagos**, **Versailles de la Costa**, and **Nueva Costa**.

   Each one of these provinces have their own special accent, culture, governmental administration, and special export; something that makes them stand out. By culture, they each have their own traditional clothing, food, slang, anything that falls under culture. However, they have many similarities. One, is that they all speak Spanish. Others are that they all praise the federal province that does not count with the other 17, Asurá, are loyal to the reigning monarch of Thanagaria, have the same basic foundations for clothing and food. The other provinces apart from the mainland provinces and the federal province of Asurá, there are 5 additional provinces that are located in Thanagaria’s possession, the mainland island of Isla Rica and the other biggest of the thousands of islands; west Napoli and east Prosi. In mainland Isla Rica, to the west is Bocanegra and to the east is Muñeca Norte, the province separating the two being Athén-Plat.

## Isla Rica

Isla Rica, called the Genesis Island by the natives that sailed there thousands of years before the Thanagarians “discovered” the island in the year 800, was simply divided into two parts from the moment it was founded by the natives. Since the natives to Isla Rica came straight from mainland Thana, they speak a language extremely close to Thanan (Spanish), that language being Teleo (Portuguese). Teleo, called that by the Isla Rican natives, is simply called Ricano by the Thanans, later also by the natives themselves. The natives (let’s just call them the Ricanos) established an absolute monarchy consisting of a king and queen, but with a twist. The island was split in half, the king ruling one side, the queen ruling the other. Every month, they would come together in the middle of the island to speak, talk, and make heirs. And that is basically how the island was governed until the arrival of the Thanans. When the Thanans arrived, they thought the system to be foolish, ineffective, and simply unorthodox, and so they arranged a meeting between the King and Queen, King Agostinho and his Queen Aline, upon their arrival in 800. They “convinced” the rulers to renounce their claim to Divine Right to Rule, and surrender all power and wealth to Thana. When they did that, they then became simple figureheads, to make it seem as if the Ricanos still had a sense of sovereignty. One of the changes the Thanans implemented on the island was the division of land and the placement of small leaders of each distribution that would look to Asurá for orders. With that, the 5 provinces of Isla Rica were born.

## Bocanegra

Bocanegra was officially founded, its borders agreed upon and drawn in the year 803, with the esteemed General Alejandro de Persépolis y Santa Cruz and his ministers, as well as an immune delegate on direct behalf of the Emperor at the time, Emperor Joel-Felipe. General Alejandro is quoted later in life, “Once an empire begins to grow too much out of the central state, it becomes too hard to control and is doomed to collapse. It is only a matter of time.” (Cuando un imperio empieza a crecer demasiado fuera del estado central, su caída es inevitable. Sólo será cuestión de tiempo). After his time at Isla Rica, he regretted everything he did and ultimately killed himself or was poisoned by enemies. Bocanegra was named the name it was named is because, the entire west of the island of Isla Rica is covered in extremely black sand due to the abundance of volcanos, thus creating black rock. There is a festival once a year celebrated by the indigenous Ricanos where they cover themselves in black rock and celebrate their dead ancestors buried in the rock or at sea. Out of all of the Isla Rican provinces, Bocanegra is one of the most conservative, strict, and most opposing to Thanan rule, which incited many rebellions throughout centuries. The first governor of Bocanegra was an extremely religious man named Martín de Vino (b. 758-d.823; governor from 803 to 823) who began the construction of many Thanan-styled buildings and established long-distance trade routes between Isla Rica and Thana.

The black sand from Bocanegra became extremely popular all over Thana, especially in the capital, as a substance for paint, hair and fabric dye. This natural export made Bocanegra one of the richest of the provinces but also contributed to the hatred/contempt the Ricanos of this province had for Thana.They were stealing basically the cremated remains and sacred sand and rock that had been there for thousands of years! Finally, el Gobernador de Vino was assassinated by a “rogue” indigenous  man who poisoned him with a substance made from the same export he exploited. The second governor, Governor Patricio Sebastián Beltrán Lorá(b.784-d. 844; governor from 823 to 838), was a ruthless man who thought that all of the indigenous people should be wiped from the islands, and that everything they built and stood for should be blown away and rebuilt in the way of Thana, the “true” way. He massacred tens of thousands of native Ricanos, took their lands, and gave them to the rich Thanans who supported his cause.

Extreme corruption and ignorance towards the natives caused for this information not to be told to the reigning ruler at the time, Empress María de Asurá. Until finally, at someone’s conscience, news of these massacres and thefts reached the Empress who immediately (not immediately to them in Isla Rica, communication was slow) revoked his power, emptied his bank accounts, and issued a warrant for his arrest. He was arrested by the very people who supported him weeks earlier and then taken prisoner on a boat headed to the capital. There, he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to life in death at the age of 54. He died in prison at 60. The next governor was more true to himself and to those around him, and upheld law and order; he continued to grow Bocanegra economically as well as territorially through trades and treaties. This growth has continued to the current year 1531, with the current Governor Ricardo del Amor Velasco, (b. 1491-present; Governor since 1521).

**Main Exported Resources:**

* Sugarcane
* The black sand
* Fruits such as pineapple, coconut, banana, guava, papaya, mango, plaintain, plums, apples, etc.
* Adorned pottery such as vases, bowls, jars, etc.
* Crude oil, turned into kerosene; fuel
* Coffee
* Tobacco

## Athén-Plat

Athén-Plat was founded the same year in which Bocanegra was founded, 803. But there is a twist involving the foundation for this province. This province was where the palace of the Queen of Isla Rica was, the Palace being called “The Den” during her reign because of the extreme fear her people had for her, often calling her a Wolf, thus her palace became The Den. The Den, built in 572, some 228 years before the Thanan arrival in 800, by the Queen’s ancestors, King Paõlo Sugar(b. 537- d. 595, reign: 567-595) and his Queen, Queen Tala (b. 545 - d. 617, reign: 567-617). The queen at the time was named Bella, her husband being Justín. Bella was born in 771 into the royal family of Isla Rica, to Queen Isabella and King Luis. Bella was the eighth of thirteen children, making her utterly unlikely to inherit the throne, but she had a dream. And that dream was to rule. And as soon as possible, too. She was an antisocial person when young and hated everyone, including every one of her siblings. But the sibling she hated most was the Crown Princess, the one who would become Queen in her own right one day. And because of this she hated her. Bella dabbled in many things, from archery to hunting to..poison. By 12, she mastered the arts of poison, concocting secret poisons and killing as many living things as she could; starting from bugs and ants to cats, dogs, and eventually horses and so Bella thought she was ready to put her plan into action. One night, she crept into her older brother’s room and opened a small green phial.

She opened the green phial and dropped about 2-5 drops of the green substance over her brother's face, some falling into his eye, mouth, and nostrils. His skin immediately turned white and he developed white bumps over his face, more developing all over his body. She sneered and left her brother's room, doing the same thing to her other two older brothers and one of her older sisters. All four of them. Dead, in a matter of 20 minutes. She then crept back into her room, and went to bed. The next day, it was a horror scene. The entire nation was in mourning, and her parents, servants, and siblings were heartbroken. Four of their nine children were dead. What happened? The physician classified the cause of death as Tolliocinitis, a common disease in the slums of Isla Rica. Figuring that some of the food in the palace was tainted with the disease, half of the palace’s servants and staff were fired and banished. A month later, Bella‘s mother, the Queen, died of a broken heart although the official cause of death was a..strange new virus, no one knew what it was. Now, her father had to rule the entire island by himself and an army of ministers and advisors. A year later at 13, Bella married her 20 year old brother, leaving three left of her siblings, one of them being the Crown Princess. At 14, Bella was tired of waiting. She did the same thing she did two years ago to her two older sisters, killing them and one of their spouses, as one of the sisters was pregnant. Once again, the cause of death was Tolliocinitis. Now at 14, she was second in line. She confronted her older sister, the Crown Princess, after the funerals of her sisters and confessed what she had done, as well as two years earlier. Her sister was horrified, hurt, surprised, and angry. The Crown Princess was going to have her arrested until Bella said something, “No one would believe you. You are the Crown Princess, it makes sense you would want your siblings who already had children, and would have children, out of the way because you are still unmarried with no children. If you leave now, I won't have the guards search your chambers, finding a 5 year old mountain and laboratory of poisons”.

Utterly frightened for her position and still shook for what her sister did and just said, she left, fleeing and hiding out in what would be Bocanegra. She thought she would be safe surrounded by guards and the sacred black area but she was wrong. Her sister “exposed” her anyway, causing her sister to be found, arrested, and publicly executed. In a span of 2 years, Bella managed to murder 6 of her siblings, rocketing her to first in line with her brother husband. In 786 at 15, Bella’s father died, making Bella and her brother King and Queen. At 15, Queen Bella was the youngest queen in Isla Rican history. She ruled with an iron fist, having hypnotized her older brother into giving her all of the power behind the scenes. She raised taxes, took land from the disobedient rich and bestowed it upon herself. Rumors went around by 790 after 4 years of reigning that Bella was murdering wealthy courtiers. She would sleep with them for several weeks, fleecing them for everything they had, and then poison them, robbing their jewels and leaving them unclothed, making it seem as if though prostitutes had done it. But because Bella had such a hold on everyone and everything, no one dared stand up to her, fearing what she would do to them. Things like this continued until 800, when the Thanans arrived right on the shores of Athén-Plat. When they arrived, Queen Bella was immediately informed. She at first thought it was a trick, trying to get her away from her throne so some rebels could take over the palace.

But after the Thanans came knocking at the door of her gigantic, lavish palace on a hill overlooking the entirety of Athén-Plat, she was forced to believe. The leader of the Thanans, the General Alejandro de Persépolis y Santa Cruz, was taken immediately with Queen Bella, writing about her face later, “Her face is the work of art I want to stare at all day and night. Her skin was a rich tan, her eyes a large, dark caramel brown, and her lips were like the beautiful, radiant red petals of a rose (Su cara es una obra, la cual quisiera ver todos los días y todas las noches. Su piel estaba perfectamente dorada del sol, sus ojos eran como caramelos, y sus labios estaban radiantes y bellas como los pétalos rojos de una rosa).

**Main Exported Resources:**

* Sugarcane
* Tobacco
* Rice
* Fruits such as pineapple, coconut, banana, guava, papaya, mango, plaintain, plums, apples, etc.
* Whale blubber, from the millions of whales surrounding the waters of Isla Rica, (this province has a monopoly over whale blubber which is used for candles, soap, etc)
* Coffee
* Rice and bread grains
* Gold