Kistello Patria

Kistelleti Coat of Arms

**Kistello Patria** is a nation located on the Biamona Peninsula. The nation shares a border with ---. The people of Kistello follow the religion of Gremalism and operate as a Theocratic Merchants Republic.

## Etymology

The name Kistello Patria roughly translates to "A fortress-like homeland" in a mixture of Sylvic and Old Vinitican. "Patria" is a Sylvic term that is not just a word, but a concept that stems from nomadic Sylvic culture referring to a desired new land for the Sylv to settle on. "Kistello" is the adjective form of the noun "Kistelti" which is an Old Vinitican term for fortress. In this case, the name "Kistello Patria" refers to the homeland of the Sylv that is described as being a fortress due to the city being built in a defensible valley.

## History

### Biamona

Before the arrival of Vinitican peoples the most prominent people group in the region were the Biamonics (meaning "White Mountain Folk") living on the peninsula. A lot of history from this time period has been supressed and destroyed by the Viniticans during their occupation in order to assimilate these peoples into the Vinitican culture. Many of the gods of the Vinitican pantheon originated in some form from different Biamonic faiths existing in the various city-states and tribes. The Viniticans initially arrived on the very northern tip of the peninsula building a small port. After a raid from local Biamonics on the port a large fort was built to protect the port. This is commonly considered the founding of the city of Kistello as the name originated from the fort just referred to as "Kistelta". This colony would eventually establish itself as a city-state that would become a part of the Vinitican Commonwealth. Vinitican influence would not extend further southward until the establishment of the Vinitican Empire.

### Vinitcan Empire

Upon the establishment of the Vinitican Empire one of the first territories that would be invaded would be the Biamonics which would become a part of the Kistelta Province. Despite the rough terrain this was reasonably easy as there was no united Biamonic front to stand against his invasion. As one of their first conquests the Viniticans would make a large effort to assimilate the Biamonic people. Various Biamonic traditions, celebrations, and gods were adopted into Vinitica to establish a unified culture. There was also heavy suppression of the language in favour of a dialect of Old Vinitican that would come to be known as Kistelleti.

A large shipyard would be constructed in Kistello where a majority of the Vinitican navy would be built. The Kistelleti became renowned for their expertise in ship building which would become pivotal to Vinitican Naval dominance. This would lead to Kistello becoming so crucial for Vinitica that, when the empire fell apart during the Vinitican Civil War, the province would take advantage of the chaos and their naval supremacy to massively extend their territory (even taking the region of the former capital of the empire). During this time Kistello would establish itself as the "Inheritor of Vinitica" and carry the name of Vinitica.

### Kistelleti Vinitica

Even after the establishment of various new nations upon the collapse of the Vinitican Empire, Kistello would make an effort to reunite this empire. This involved conquering and striking deals with former colonies of the empire. Kistello would also attempt to expand westward into the Kestrian region utilising its advantageous position at the mouth of the Marmos Strait. This iteration the empire would not reach quite the same levels of success and expansion as the previous but would be noted for its strength, stability, and wealth. This would come to a sudden stop after a critical failure during a military campaign northward up the river Sned. While trying to conquer the Snedian lands of Halga the Kistelleti army would find themselves betrayed by the Anroyans blocking their passage back out of the river and would discover that their military was ill suited to the wet and marshy geography of Halga. This allowed the Halgans to completely destroy the Kistelleti army. Kistello would scramble to replace these soldiers but the damage was done, not just to their military might, but their reputation. Almost every region of the empire at this point would secede marking the end of the Vinitican Empire.

### Dark Ages

An unforeseen weather event lead to the tides, which the Kistelleti had become so proficient at recording, completely changing leading to an incident at the docks involving two merchant ships crashing into each other. The standardised lunar calendar quickly became totally redundant making it far more difficult for the dock workers to manage to imports and exports of the town. To make matters worse the amount of --- ships began to shrink and tin imports became more scarce. The last --- ship left port on the year 133 (Post Dawn).

The people of Kistello saw the correlation of the changing of tides and the reduction of merchant ships arriving and believed that something has happened to the moon god Gremal. A myth took hold about how Chafilia, the god of trickery and cats, had usurped the throne of the moon and had cursed the people of Kistello for worshiping her predecessor, Gremal. It was believed that one day Gremal would arrive and lead their people to a new age of prosperity.

During this period the bronze foundry became redundant and eventually closed down which collapsed the economy of the colony. A gas leak led to the mines having to be closed which was the catalyst for the dissolution of the colony of Ariatris and a massive decline in population. Most guilds in the region had to either leave or find new industries and businesses to prosper from. Many families would combine in this time.

### The arrival of the Sylv

The year 186 (Post Dawn) was marked with the sound of a large crash just over the hills from Kistello. Investigating this led to the discovery of a crater with a small person at the bottom. The people believed this must be Gremal finally landing after falling from the moon and so they were taken back to the town and nursed back to health. After being nursed back to health, Gremal would end up performing miracles such as clearing the gas out of the mines. They would end up leaving the town before returning nine days later with a group of people known as the Sylv.

These people arriving came with their belief in a concept they called Patria. Their interpretation of this was that at some point a god would lead them to a new homeland for them to settle. A figure from that crowd, Wrenne B. Piatzo-Vileti, believed that this must be Patria as Gremal had lead them to this place. The Kistelleti, trusting in the will of Gremal, accepted these foreign people. A deal was struck where the Sylv would be able to settle in a spot further up the hills on land loaned from the Kistelleti and the two would join together as one nation named by the two peoples in a combination of their languages as Kistello Patria.