Nara

The Flag of Nara

The Kingdom of Nara is a nation which lies along the eastern shores of the Sea of Souls, west of Rotharia, and adjoined to the wilds. Nara is an old nation, being founded as the original colony of the Athiian Empire, before even the Rotharian Imperium. Nara is a warm, mountainous country, with very little flat land to be found beyond the coasts. Famous for its beautiful vistas, and roaring rivers, Nara is one of the few nations in Halas to have not suffered heavily from the Phage Crisis, thanks in part to the heavy influence of the Rotharian Imperium, who had long outlawed the use of magic by the public.

Nara officially has a King (Vasiliás), though for the last century Nara has been subject to the Rotharian Imperium, with the King serving merely as a figurhead for the Rotharian Senate, who truly hold the reigns of the nation. Nara is most famous for the recent push to colonize the Wilds, being one of the only nations to undertake the monumental task. With the help of Rotharian investors, and conditions bordering on slave labor, the Kingdom of Nara has been able to establish several successful, large towns on tamed land, serving as a beacon of the growing colonization craze.

## History

### Colonial History

Nara began its early history as a colony of the Athiian Empire. The Athiians were very interested in expanding their empire, and collecting new resources, and materials to trade in their grand markets. Nara was unique to the arid Athiian Plains, as it was a lush climate, rich with ore. Where in Athiian, metals like iron and silver were uncommon, they came in great abundance in the mountains of Nara. Additionally, various crops unique to Nara ignited a spark in the Athiian minds, foods such as potatoes, and sugar were discovered in Nara, and the insatiable hunger for these foods drove the initial colonization of Nara.

The Athiian settlers first landed in a location which is now the city Aspóhoma. The initial settlers established the city as a launching point for expeditions further into Nara, seeking to find greater wealth inland, and for cartographers seeking to map the distant shores of the peninsula. Aspóhoma grew from a small village quickly, becoming a major hub for traders seeking to make their fortunes importing new world metals and crops, and as time passed, the wealthy merchants sought to expand their fortunes by creating their own colonies, through which they could export goods to other merchants, and collect on the taxes of their citizenry. Around this time, other major colonies began to sprout out, such as Kýmina, Loútra, Voúzi, and Astérion. Of these early colonize, Voúzi rose to become the most prominent, becoming the administrative capital of the colonial region.

In spite of the massive economic growth of the Athiian Empire in the following centuries, as the new colonies of Hera, Rotharia, Alba, and Odessa entered into the Empire, unrest began to grow at home. The Athiian Senate grew worried that the empire had begun to overextend itself, and that it would no longer be able to sustain its massive reach in periods of instability. The Senate chose to put an end to further colonization projects, for fear of losing what they already had, though the collapse of the Athiian Empire had already begun.