Duchy of Knassaint

The flag of Knassaint

## Geography

Map of regions of Knassaint

**Knassaint**, officially the **Duchy of Knassaint**, is a country in the central east of Ef'thar.

## Etymology

The real origin of the word "Knassaint" has been lost to time, however there is a legend that explains it. The legend says that long time ago, during the times when the Vinitican Empire existed, there was a man named Knash. He has served Viniticia faithfully and in return, the Emperor has granted him a vineyard that was named Knassaint, after Knash. The legend also says that during the founding of Knassaint, the people who have founded it have met in the same vineyard where they discussed the terms of foundation of the nation and hence the nation was named after that vineyard. It is not known how many of these are true, but if the vineyard has ever existed, it is long gone now due to the time.

## History

### Early History

Before Knassaint was founded, the land was a part of the Vinitican Empire. The information on how Vinitica gained the land is lost to time. However, historians speculate that Knassaint was important southern trade hub of the Empire. Wine production became very popular in Knassaint, mainly due to good climate for it.

### Founding

Knassaint was founded during the collapse of Vinitica. Representatives of each town and landowners in the region, according to a legend, all have met in a vineyard named Knassaint (hence the name). They discussed the terms of the new nation. Since landowners were invited there as well, they pushed for a very decentralised government system, so the first Kingdom of Knassaint was formed as a feudal state with elective monarchy. The landowners became Dukes, Counts and Barons of their respective land and every time a King died, they would gather up and elect a new one. It is important to note, that only the nobles (aka landowners) could candidate for the title of King.

### Kingdom's Decline

As the ammount of nobles was large and each of them wanted the new Kings to best represent their interests, with the time it was becomming harder and harder for each candidate to gather support. If the candidates wanted to really stand a chance in elections, they would have to promise a lot of privileges and concessions to the nobles. And since the central army didn't exist and the nobles held all the military power of Knassaint, the new Kings couldn't back out of their promises, as the nobles would have easily overthrown them. So the King's powers grew weaker and weaker with each election, until the title of King stopped having any real meaning.

### Abolition of the Kingdom

House de Lavaurette was one of many of noble houses. They held the highest title a noble can get, "Duke". Their duchy was quite rich and had a powerful army. Young Cédric de Lavaurette always hated the Kingdom and how it was ran since the days he understood politics. He wanted to see a change. When he became a Duke after his father's death, he immediately started preparing his soldiers. He invaded one nearby county, and then another, which wasn't a weird thing at all, it was quite common that the lands would sometimes wage wars between each other. But Cédric wouldn't stop. His Duchy grew larger and larger and by the time the rest of the Kingdom got concerned about it, he controlled about 1/3 of the Kingdom. He was very popular among the common people and soldiers of conquered lands would often join him, as he offered much better conditions and pay. Seeing him as a threat, the King and some of the biggest Lords, formed a coalition against him, so the conflict evolved into a whole civil war, with other Lords picking sides and pledging their loyalty either to the King, or to Cédric. Later Cédric managed to besiege Beaumont and he managed to conquer it. He arrested the King for "treason" and some people say that he broke his crown and threw it away, marking the end of the Kingdom. It wasn't the end however, the civil war was still going on. But he already proclaimed the Duchy of Knassaint (with himself in charge), because he believed that Kingdom would mean instability, weak government, corruption, etc. Some Lords have surrendered to him, but some didn't, and those who didn't have been bloodily crushed.

### Cédric de Lavaurette's reforms

First of all, he abolished elective monarchy and placed an absolute monarchy, with house de Lavaurette as the ducal house. The house rules till this day. He downgraded the Kingdom to the Duchy. He abolished all priviliges of the Lords and has replaced all the unloyal nobles with new ones that were loyal to him. He formed a central army to support his reign and he has banished the Lords from having their own armies.

## Geography

### Physical Geography

The geography of Knassaint varies greatly, from the lowlands of Sude with its beaches and forests, to the river of Centrale and surrounding hills. To the great mountains of Vestui.

### Biodiversity

The area of Knassaint is covered in a thick forest rich in diversity featuring a variety of plant species such as Birch, Pine, Oak, Mangrove and a variety of flower species.

The beaches in Sude serve as a breeding ground for marine turtles and the ocean features a big kelp forest while the More mountainous regions of Centrale and Vestui are home to goats and sheep.

### Climate

The climate of Knassaint is very stable and balanced. Because it is near the ocean it gets rains more often than landlocked countries. Due to this, it is also much less colder during summers, with average temperature being around 20 C. During winters however, it is not too cold, with average temperature being near 5 C at sea level, Though it can get as cold as -5 in the mountains.

## Economy

Knassaint's main trade partners are Val Peqin and Amaca. As Val Peqin is almost fully surrounded by mountains but on La Princiueva river, on the border with Knassaint, it is almost fully dependant on Knassaint in terms of importing and exporting products. Amaca however has many trade routes, so products exported from Knassaint to Amaca may end up in entirely different parts of the world.

Knassaint's main exports are wine and wood. The two biggest vineyards in Knassaint are Arbourg and Deaur, both located in Sude region.

## Demographics

### Language

The language of Knassaint is Knasish. It's origins can be traced back to the old Vinitician, however due to large influence from various, sometimes even exotic people, every day comming in and out, the language (as well as the culture) have distanced themselves from Viniticia and have became what they are now.

### Race

Ethnic race of Knassaint is human and the nation doesn't have much other races in it, rather a small group of immigrants from other nations. All government positions are held by Knasishs. The Knasish people don't have a negative view on any other race, as due to nation's location a lot of different life forms are comming in and out of it.

## Culture

### Architecture

Architecture of Knassaint is very special. It is made up by small townhouses, on top very colourful, made of various materials, but on bottom grey, made of stone. They also have specific tall roofs, with decorations on the sides. They make up a portion of all towns, but mainly of Beaumont.

There is not really any common pattern for the houses on the countryside, however decorations on sides of the roofs are still visible there. Although in most cases, these decorations aren't as big as the ones in towns. But of course there are exceptions, such as the Arbourg vineyard of which even the Duke wouldn't be ashamed.

Fort de Sévère is worth mentioning, it is the strongest stronghold in all of Knassaint, possibly one of the strongest in the world. Its' great design allows it to withstand years of siege, without any outside help. It is fully self-sufficient with enough resources to survive over 5 years of siege. The star shape of the fort maximises defensivness against cannonballs, sometimes even allows to deflect them, it also grants a good view of all terrain around it, allowing for better planning.