Cartonia

**Last Harmonious Reign** | Vulpus (Vixen VII)701-709

**Cartonia** is a formerly unified conglomeration of diverse kingdoms in the northern half of the Cartonian continent. Each nation is governed and occupied by a separate species. Before the War, the kingdoms were bound together in a political union known as the Harmony Crown. This union was dissolved in 709. However, Cartonia is still the name given to the nations as a group, and the continent as a whole.

## Geography

The Kingdoms of Cartonia are located in the upper half of the Cartonian continent. They are bordered in the south by the Vixen Cliffs, which cut horizontally across the land. The area beyond the Cliffs is known as the Expanse, and is deserted and inhospitable. For this reason, the Kingdoms have never settled beyond the Cliffs. Much of the southern territory is unexplored and difficult to navigate.

Cartonia is home to many rivers, mountain ranges, biomes, climates, and terrains. Two major islands are located off the western coast, and are ruled as Eusuchia and Equine Isle. The Pinnacle Ice Sheet, located north of the continent, melts and provides drinking water for the Kingdoms, passing primarily through the Macaw Delta and down the Cartonian River to the Vixen Cliffs.

Cartonia is surrounded by oceans, much of which is tormented by powerful and destructive hurricanes and cyclones.

Each nation is governed and occupied by a separate species, and permanent habitation in another nation is strictly regulated.

After the War, large swaths of land were deemed uninhabitable due to their former use as heavy battlegrounds. Areas where trench warfare was persistent suffered the most, as unexploded ordnance made the land unsafe as well as biologically dead.

## History

### Pre-History

Most of what is known about Cartonia centers around the years up to and after the War. The entire continent was settled centuries prior to the war, and was originally comprised of far more species than the present. The first tribes were disorganized and extremely aggressive. It is known that these species came to Cartonia after the demise of the human race.

### Formation of the Kingdoms

Tribes consolidated into Kingdoms, and in order to protect the purity of their species, the Great Cartonian War broke out. Borders began to be defined, and the present-day Kingdoms slowly took shape. The belligerent Kingdoms sought to destroy others, and many species were wholly exterminated. The Great Cartonian War raged for ten years, until a tenuous ceasefire was organized by Ozzy and Roanoke, the last koala and last raccoon, who had taken refuge on an island in the Gulf of Cartoon. The duo formulated an idea for continuous peace, a system that would soon be known as the Harmony Crown.

### The Harmony Crown

The remaining nineteen Kingdoms united to form the Harmony Crown, a nominal title that passes between nations every ten years on a fixed rotation. Though some nations were initially skeptical of the Harmony Crown, all have since embraced it, leading to a prolonged period of peace spanning over seven centuries. Ozzy was the Harmony Crown's first wearer, then Roanoke, and then the Crown passed to the Kingdoms. Though the physical Harmony Crown weathered over the years, the institution prevailed. Predominantly through luck, circumstance, and a mutual desire to uphold peace, the Harmony Crown did not falter.

The final Harmonious Coronation occurred in Vista, Vulpus, on January 1, 701, when Ewan I of Canis passed the Harmony Crown to Queen Vixen VII of Vulpus. The Harmony Crown was abolished in 709.

### War

On December 24, 707, Crown Princess Victoria Vixen was suddenly assassinated by a duck from the Kingdom of Mallardia. On Christmas Day, the Kingdom of Vulpus issued an ultimatum to King Swan XX of Mallardia, threatening war if the steep terms were not met. This triggered a series of alliances to rush to Mallardia's aid. When the ultimatum expired unmet on New Year's Day 708, Vulpus invaded Mallardia at the southern City of Dückzig, and the War began.

Scuridiae entered the War on the side of Vulpus on January 5. Trenches were dug in Mallardia in the summer of 708, and soon the conflict was categorized as a war of attrition. However, on February 28, 709, Queen Vixen VII dissolved the Harmony Crown. As a result, Leprolia, Bovo, Equine Isle, and Phantine declared war on Vulpus. These four Kingdoms, plus the already warring Canis, Mallardia, Eusuchia, and Willie consolidated into the Granite Bloc alliance. Vulpus and Scuridiae, plus new allies Cervidium, Psittancyna, Capricon, and Felexa formed the Summer Sun alliance. By March 4, only four neutral nations remained on the continent. The Summer Sun recruited one of these, Gallix, which reluctantly joined only for its own protection. After King Poultrus III of Gallix betrayed the alliance to avoid a harsh conscription notice on his citizens, Gallix was invaded and occupied by Vulpus and Cervidium. The King was executed and Gallix became the first nation to become a victim of the War. Vulpus occupied the east, while Cervidium occupied the west.

The final three neutral nations (Porcinia, Simeone, Ursus) joined the war in 710 after Vulpus deliberately sunk the ship carrying Queen Ana III, the child Queen of Simeone. This illegal act of regicide against a neutral power forced the last three dominoes to fall. All three nations joined the Granite Bloc. Simeone, devoid of royal dynasts, reorganized into the continent's first republic.

Capricon became the first Summer Sun nation to surrender, which they did unconditionally in 711. By that point, nearly half the royal family had been killed by Granite Bloc forces, and King William X had perished from an infection sustained in the trenches. After the final King Edward XIV signed the official instrument of surrender, Capricon was divided into six occupation zones, to be administered by Willie, Simeone, Phantine, Leprolia, and Canis. The Hornover royal family was placed under house arrest in a cottage in Baahaa.

In 712, the Kingdoms were shocked to learn that the Summer Sun had turned on Felexa and invaded. The sudden betrayal was months-in-planning, designed to eliminate another weak link from the alliance and regain control of the Capricovian border. The invasion took the Granite Bloc and Felexa by surprise, and the entire country soon fell under occupation. The Granite Bloc was pushed back into Capricon. Unfortunately for the Summer Sun allies, the Lazoy royal family had escaped into Leprolia. Fallen Queen Roxanne II established a government-in-exile in Canis amongst refugees and defected officially to the Granite Bloc.

The War came to a temporary standstill between 712 and 715 when a lethal plague was discovered in the trenches of Ursus. Officially UNVI-712, the War Plague spread as a pandemic across the entire continent and infected every nation. Exacerbated by trench and wartime conditions, the plague was especially deadly. Every royal family was affected, and countless died. Among the list of the deceased were Emmeline of Capet, Edward XIV, Queen Libby Connelly and Queen Grace Rose. The virus did not discriminate against old or young, or healthy or ill. Anyone was susceptible, and there was no cure. A vaccine was not discovered until the end of 714 and not rapidly deployed until 715.

A turning point came in 716 with the Summer Sun victories over Mallardia and Willie. Vulpus attempted to stamp out both royal families, but failed despite the brutal executions of Swan XX and the Mus Royal Family. Both nations established governments-in-exile. The two nations were later annexed into Vulpus.

In 718, Canis became the first nation to legalize interspecies marriage.

In 720, Stag Ellis of Cervidium was murdered by his wife, Deirdre Elkton, who in turn died at the hands of her son, Stag Barrow. Deirdre was revealed publicly as a BioFreak, or someone who had been biologically mutated to control the elements. The deer alleged that interspecies sex caused these mutations, when in actuality they were caused by gruesome experiments. Widespread panic and fear of BioFreaks ensued, in both the Granite Bloc and Summer Sun kingdoms.

In 723, both Eusuchia and Equine Isle were conquered by the Summer Sun. This effectively ended the oceanside theater of war and shifted all fighting to the mainland and the few nations left standing.

By 725, only seven nations remained. The last three Granite Bloc nations were Ursus, Simeone, and Canis. Toward the end of the year, Vulpus published an edict proclaiming the foxes as the superior species on the continent. Canis fell in November 725, and so Ursus and Simeone helmed the Granite Bloc until the war's conclusion.

In November 725, nearly all exiled royals mounted a daring escape from Cartonia, culminating in a brutal confrontation with Vulpus and Vixen VII at the Vulpus Dam. The Dam was deliberately destroyed, killing the Vixen Queen, and pushing over 500 refugees beyond the Vixen Cliffs.

The War continued into 726. Simeone fell first, then Ursus. On September 1, 726, the War was declared over.

### Flight of the Royal Heirs

The War lasted 18 years. In 725, toward the end of the War, a convoy of royals, their heirs, and their allies fled Cartonia and traveled south, establishing the community of Toontown. Contact between Toontown and Cartonia would not be reestablished until over 320 years later.

## Trivia

* Cartonia's name is derived from the word "cartoon." As the whole series is based on the game Toontown, which depicts cartoon characters, the author wanted the original home of the people to reflect their make.
* The flag of Cartonia is blue with a compass and an eighteen-pointed star. The blue on the flag was inspired by the flag of the United Nations. The eighteen-pointed star represents the eighteen nations under the Cartonian flag.