Second Kingdom of Vizzetia

Vizzetia, officially the Second Kingdom of Vizzetia (Vizzetian: *Seciano Reino di Vizzetia*) is a large country located in Southern Danterra which spans a total of 3,067,694 ast of territory making it the 3rd largest nation on Danterra. Vizzetia consists of 17 Duchies which have a combined population of approximately 49,000,000.

Vizzetia has for long been considered the central hub of art, culture and philosophy. During the Cysterian period it was considered the centre of technology in the empire, this allowed for the rapid expansion of the City of Vizzetia which is now the capital of the Kingdom and holds 3 million people. The only other city to hold more than a million people is the so called Western Capital - Vittoría founded by King Vittorio II.

The Second Kingdom of Vizzetia is only in existence since the events of Queen Contessina III's Coup in 1345, prior to this Vizzetia was known as the Second Republic of Vizzetia.

## Etymology

The most common justification for the name of Vizzetia comes from the Geografica by Cysterian scholar Alebari Tine. In his geographic chronicle he describes the lands east of Cysteria as "Era Vizzetea" - Land of Vizzeti. Other writings support this idea as some refer to characters such as "Visseti", "Vazzeti" or "Visetti" all of which proclaim him the man who unified of the west. Upon conquest of the region Cysterian administrators recorded several people calling themselves Vizzeti (or forms of the name) including the ruler who named himself son of Vizzeti - though it could have been interpreted as descendant of Vizzeti. It can however, and is generally accepted that Vizzeti was an ancient pre-Cysterian ruler of the west, and Vizzetia was simply a Cysterian exonym for the region that belonged to his people. Vizzeti himself has also become popular in Vizzetian culture, he is often used to portray courage and strength in art, music and poetry.

## History

### Pre-Cysterian

Not much is known of the Pre-Cysterian history of the lands of Vizzetia, in fact all written sources from the time come from Cysteria. It is physical archaeological sources that show what life in Pre-Cysterian Vizzetia was like. The regions of Barrigni, where the city of Vizzetia now stands has been inhabited for a very long time, in fact some of the oldest human remains from Danterra were discovered there. it is suspected that the region was once the floodplains of a large river that eventually resulted in the creation of the Great Vizzetian lakes, this is known as the Girone Theory. These floodplains provided the early inhabitants with the fertile land to grow crops as well as fresh water to catch fish. There is also evidence of Pre-Cysterian battles occurring amongst the early nations and tribes of the region. It is important to note that no unified form of government existed in this region until approximately 300 FI when the tribesman known as Vizzeti untied the region under himself and established the first form of government. From Cysterian historical works one can infer that Vizzeti's form of government included a group of powerful, hereditary tribesmen which took seats at his council and helped him rule his relatively large areas. This kingdom lasted for some 400 years and is known as the Kingdom of Vizzeti (note: not to be confused with Vizzetia).

### Cysterian

In the year 125 it was Emperor Augoston II of Cysteria who made contact with the Kingdom of Vizzeti, it was also him who created the term Vizzetia. Augoston was not fond of foreigers and therefore did not consider compromise with the natives, therefore he demanded that the tribal king of Vizzeti's Kingdom known at the time as Alarus II hand over his territory and swear fealty to the empire. It is likely that the early Vizzetians simply did not understand the terms but nevertheless, they refused. Augoston spared no time and ordered Alarus and his family killed. Following this brutal display of power Augoston fought on for a further 2 days against Alarus' brother Respiane who continued the anti-Cysterian cause even after his own kingdom fell.

Upon conquering the Kingdom of Vizzeti, the lands were established as the Cysterian Governate of Vizzetia with its capital in Barrigni. Augoston appointed his close friend, Casimae as the first lord of Barrigni, Governor of Vizzetia. Quickly it became clear to Cysterian authorities that Vizzetia was a very good long-time investment. This was for several reasons, amongst this; the fact the Vizzetians were of the same ethnic background as Cysterians, their land was very fertile and its ground produced many minerals including much needed gold, gemstones, iron and marble.

The year 192 was a very important year for Vizzetia, mainly because this was the year in which the cities of Barrigni and Colonesta united in the Treaty of Unetti. The two cities were located at opposite sides of the Isthmus of Vizzetia and were both placed upon two ends of the short river Nerlecia which the city of Vizzetia now stand upon. This close bond between the two cities as well as a reliance on each and others trade pushed the authorities to unite. The region between the two cities which had now become a suburban are for both Barrigni and Colonesta was named Unetti and became the new centre of the city. As part of the treaty the two cities agreed to adopt the common name Vizzetia, their old names becoming districts.

As the governate grew in power and population it quickly became the second largest duchy in the empire other than Cysteria-Tritarea itself. in the 233 Census it was recorded that the City of Vizzetia was the third largest city in the Empire, behind Zirettia by only a few thousand. The next year the Emperor himself, Rinfaldo II visited Vizzetia and proclaimed the city "The Capital of the West" which is a term often used by Cysterian Restorationists to justify Vizzetia's claim on the Empire of Cysteria. Rinfaldo's visit created a new trend amongst the Cysterian elites known as the Vizzetian Craze which was a cultural movement spanning music, art and poetry which embraced Vizzetian identity and culture. It is considered that this movement is what sewed the seeds of Vizzetian Nationalism amongst it's population. This craze saw the construction of several villas, palaces and castles which are now major attractions in the Melissane Valley south of Barrigni which still attracts rich nobles and merchants today.

#### The Vizzetian Struggle for Independence

In 256 the League of Free Vizzetia was founded by the children of rich nobility in Barrigni and central Vizzetia. The group was immediately outlawed and many members left, however the true believers moved underground and began acting through illegal means. It was at this time that the league gained support amongst common folk who began feeling the plight of Cysterian taxation. Tax inequality within the empire is a commonly cited reason for the downfall of Cysteria, this is mainly due to the amount of tax income being sent to the capital compared to that being spent on various other regions of the empire. The league worked closely with other opposition groups such as the Cult of Fochius, the Ispolinian Nobility and the Free merchants Guild of Zaramae.

By the early 300s the League had immense support to the point that Cysterian nobility and officials were forced to move out. This status quo continued for some time but tensions continued to rise and in 304 the League attacked the Cysterian regiments stationed in Vizzetia killing almost half of the soldiers. Emperor Cysterian III 'The Great' surprisingly responded by meeting with the leaders of the various movements and offering them a deal granting greater autonomy to the regions they were advocating for. This included crowning a ceremonial King of Ispolin as well as the formation of the Vizzetian Council of Representatives to lead the goverante. This deal seemed to relieve the tensions and as with many issues, times seemed to be getting better for Cysteria. However the assasination of Cysterian III completely destroyed any plans of peace between the rebels and the Imperial government. Upon the death of Cysterian and the beginning of the Cysterian civil war Vizzetia inicially pledged their support to Republican Cysteria however after the assassination of the Head of Senate and open rebellion by Ispolin, Vizzetia too planned to declare independence. However, only days between the plan codenamed "Operation Aranae" the leader of the League, Alazio Tervoni was captured by Bramean forces, and Braemus I, leader of Imperialist Cysteria recognised the strategic and economic profits of having Vizzetia on his side. So in a brutal killing spree, his red cloak killing squads swept through the cities of Vizzetia killing any and all suspected of working with the League.This culling known as the Night of the Red Cloaks could have resulted in the death of up to 5,000 people, many of whom were innocent. This effectively removed any sort of organisation and populistic charm that Tervoni provided. Braemus believed he had Vizzetia in his grasp but the nationalist movement did not die - it simply fractured. The league continued to exist until the death of Braemus II and the dissolution of Cysteria however it never had a single leader, and the death of Tervoni caused the various nobles who had previously supported him to turn on eachother.

By the time Braemus I was on his deathbed in 362 the league became a loose alliance of Vizzetian nobles who together advocated for the liberation of Vizzetian people - not a unified Vizzetian state as before. Those nobles who disagreed with this Vizzetian break-up and those who had personal and blood feuds with other nobles simply left the league and persued their own goals of independence. For the last 35 years of the empire, Imperial troops were almost completely removed from Vizzetia and instead focused on Cysteria where the weakened Imperialists and Republicans continued to fight, despite both having neither the army, or the legitimacy to call themsleves an empire anymore. And in 397 when Braemus II died childless and the Cysterian Republic revoked its imperial claims Vizzetia was truly free - but not in the sense that the founders of the League envisioned over 100 years ago.