Nesaria

> "*This land is honey, but my own land is even sweeter.*"
> ― Nesarian proverb
>
>

Location of Nesaria in purple, the Coastal Colonies in light purple, and the Borderlands in striped purple

### Government

De Jure Constitutional MonarchyDe Facto Parliamentary Democracy

### Ethnicity

Nesarians, Eshérians, Cortathians, Mortanis, Shengemese Limkas, various immigrant groups

### Religion

Mostly Elvetan with significant Orthodox Christian minority, and various other small religious minorities

*Not to be confused with Nesarian Empire.*

**Nesaria** is the founding nation of the Nesarian Empire. Despite never being the most populous country of the Empire or the most economically powerful, it has always occupied special ceremonial and political signifiance, acting as the leading nation of the Empire and sharing its capital with the Imperial capital. It is the only country within the Empire which the Emperor is the head of state of, and he is also nominally the head of government, though in truth this position has belonged to the Chief Sheriff ever since the Bloodless Revolution. Its state religion is Elveta, and its national animal is the Rexada.

The name Nesaria literally translates as Human-Land; it is the Eshérian corruption of Old Elvic *Nasai Areá*. Despite the name, Nesaria is one of the more racially diverse nations of Inecuria. It is primarily comprised of Humans, hence its name, but it is also home to the Eshérian branch of the Elves, the Mortani Orcs, a local sub-race of Boglings, a culturally distinct population of Vampires, and a significant population of Limkas living in Shengema, the world's largest Limkian city.

Nesaria is split into three distinct administrative and geographic regions: Nesaria Proper, which comprises the actual country of Nesaria within the Nesarian Basin; the Coastal Colonies, the Nesarian colonies on the eastern coast facing the Pacific Ocean; and the Borderlands, an utterly uninhabitable region of hyper-arid desert which cuts off Nesaria from the rest of the continent.

Nesaria at the 2018 census had 80,604,307 citizens, making it the third-most populous country in the Empire. Of this population, 74,204,119 or 92.1% reside inside Nesaria Proper, and the remainder live in the Coastal Colonies. This makes Nesaria the third most populous country of the Empire, behind Kalzuranur and Onshi.

Nesaria's history can be divided into two distinct eras; Pre-Unification and Post-Unification. Although the distinction between these two eras is clear, the exact date of when one era became the next remains disputed. Most historians put the date either at the end of the Mortian War (469 BC / 1031 INC) or at the end of the War of Succession (77 AD / 1577 INC); the difference comes down to whether historians consider the Republican War and War of Succession part of the unification wars. Prior to unification, Nesaria was characterised by extraordinarily intense interstate conflict and the near-constant presence of war, whereas after unification, Nesaria was characterised by remarkable peace and stability, only broken by the the Time of Troubles and Civil War - albeit to devastating effect both times.

## Geography

Nesaria (that is, Nesaria Proper) is contained entirely within a region sunken into the Borderlands known as the Nesarian Basin, cut off from the rest of the world by the Great Cliffs. Despite being surrounded by the supernaturally hot and arid Borderlands, Nesaria itself has a mild temperate climate. This is undoubtedly maintained through magical means, as there is no scientific explanation for why Nesaria's geography is the way it is.

Before the advent of air travel, the only way in and out of Nesaria was the Ramp of Mathados, completed at an indeterminate point in the very early 1st century AD, which has since been expanded several times and is now fitted with roads, several rail tracks, and a system of elevators to carry both people and cargo.

The most prominent feature of Nesaria is Lake Jerutina, a large inland sea lying in the approximate centre of the country. Though not true drinkable freshwater, Lake Jerutina has very low salinity; its salt content is approximately 2 ppt, making it safe for agricultural use. The depths of Lake Jerutina open into an almost entirely unexplored network of submerged caves and tunnels, which in all likelihood connect to the colossal tunnel complex of Shengema.

Nesaria is split into nine traditional Duchies. Though the exact borders of these duchies have shifted over time, the general region of each duchy marks out a distinct cultural group of Nesaria with its own traditions, customs and history. Duchy is generally the preferred English translation, though the terms Earldom, Shire and Province have also been applied to these entities, and none of these terms are strictly incorrect.

The Duchies of Nesaria each belong to one of two broad groupings of the Upperlands and the Lowerlands. Ascaria, Cafania, Infria and Cortath belong to the Upperlands, whereas Mortia, Merilia, Savetta and the inhabited portions of Eshér belong to the Lowerlands. Heran is regarded as a transitional zone that is simultaneously part of both regions.

The Upperlands generally have a colder and wetter climate, have rougher terrain and are richer in natural resources such as iron, tin, copper, silver and especially amber. The Lowerlands have a warmer climate and are mostly flat outside of a few distinct mountain ranges that jut out from the surrounding lands. Though not as blessed in natural resources - outside of Mortia, which historically had extremely productive iron mines before the ore veins were completely devoured - the Lowerlands almost entirely consist of arable land and the soil is noticeably more fertile, whereas the Upperlands have significant swathes of land that are unsuitable for farming and are instead given over to pasture. The warmer and drier climate of the Lowerlands is also more suitable for growing highly valued fruits such as grapes and tomatoes.

The two regions have cultural differences as well as geographic. In general terms, the Upperlands retained more of its pre-Elvic native character than the Lowerlands, keeping many native traditions and carrying over more words and linguistic quirks from native languages; this is true even of Ascaria, despite its ancient reputation of being highly Elvicised. The key exception is of course the Mortani Orcs; they defy the trend of the Lowerlands, stubbornly holding on to their unique culture and heritage.

### Ascaria

Located along the centre of Lake Jerutina's southern coast, Ascaria (lit. "First-Land") is the smallest duchy, but also the most populous and wealthy; its capital, Capera, is the most populated city of Nesaria by a significant margin.

Ascaria's northern coast is largely inaccessible due to the sheer Ascarian Mountains which lie along it, but its eastern coast is renowned for its white sandy beaches. More mountains form Ascaria's southern border with Infria, and both the eastern border with Cafania and western border with Infria are formed by Ascaria's two most famous features; the colossal and immeasurably ancient Great Walls. In antiquity, these walls - combined with the mountains - put Ascaria in a uniquely strong position of being extremely easy to defend whilst also being open to trade with the rest of the country.

The Ascarian Mountains also hold the entrance to Shengema, the large underground complex that houses the Limkas of Nesaria. The subterranean geography of Shengema is explained in its own page.

### Heran

Like Eshér, Heran is a transitional zone between the Upperlands and Lowerlands; its northern reaches are decidedly within the Lowerlands region, but its southern parts have many Upperlander characteristics, both culturally and geographically. The name of Heran is directly lifted from native Nesarian, and its meaning is lost to time.

The territory of Heran mostly - though not fully - corresponds to the ancient Republic of Heran (sometimes also termed the Oligarchy of Heran), a powerful state of pre-unification Nesaria which is mostly remembered for its stalwart alliance with Mortana during the Mortian War, and for the abnormally high prevalence of slavery within its borders, which the sources indicate was disliked even by the infamously pro-slavery Mortanis.

### Eshér

*Main article: Eshér*

Eshér occupies a somewhat awkward position, both geographic and cultural terms. It is the transition zone between the Upperlands and the Lowerlands, having both cultural and environmental traits of both but not fully either one. The majority of the duchy is made up of the Eshérian Marsh, which is actually a brackish swamp and not a true marsh, which to this day continues to provide virtually all of Nesaria's salt.

The Eshérian Marsh is very sparsely populated, only containing somewhere around 2% of the duchy's population. Only a few hamlets lie along the two Marsh Paths, the only roads through the Marsh, which were built along the most solid and dry ground. These hamlets are typically centred around taverns or inns which historically served as resting houses and way-stations for travellers through the Marsh.

The rest of the population lives in various towns north of the Marsh, in an area predominantly made up of meadow and woodland. The largest of these towns is the capital city of Yaliva, which holds around 40% of the duchy's population. Yaliva is thought to be the Eshérian cognate word of Elifana, the dominant island and traditional capital of Saveria. Both of these names roughly translate as "Elf Home".

### The Borderlands

The Borderlands are the lands immediately surrounding the Great Cliffs and stretching out between the Rulcarian and Cisenilan Mountains, forming - as the name would suggest - a border around Nesaria. The Borderlands makes up the majority of the surface area of the country of Nesaria, encompassing a vast area several times the size of Nesaria itself. The desert which makes up the Borderlands is not the hottest, but it has been conclusively proven as the driest place on the planet, with absolutely no rainfall and negligible humidity. Many scientific explanations have been attempted for why rainclouds avoid the Borderlands like the plague and why groundwater seeps away in moments, but most are satisfied with the explanation that these properties are magical.

The soil in the Borderlands is a dull grey with a faint beige tinge. The soil is loose and flows easily, but it is not as fine or fluid as sand. Standing amidst this loose soil are many black spike-like jagged rocks reaching up to six metres tall, similar in appearance to ice penitentes but far more chaotic in their form and placement. The number of these black spikes across the entire desert is not known, but is estimated to be in excess of two hundred million.

Historically, this hostile and utterly desolate environment was enough to keep the neighbouring Asmocarians away from the edge of the Great Cliffs, and it almost convinced Emperor Athdus III to turn his legions back home as he thought that the world outside Nesaria might truly be nothing more than a wasteland. With a great deal of effort, a mighty road was laid through the Borderlands by the Nesarians, completed in 106 AD, which remains to this day the only road through the Borderlands - though, of course, it has been upgraded numerous times, and it now sports a motorway with six lanes per side and nine train lines; four dedicated to passengers and five to cargo.

## Government

*For more detail: Government of Nesaria*

Nesaria's official head of state is the Emperor of Nesaria, but in practice he interferes little with the governance of Nesaria as he is primarily concerned with the Imperial Government and ruling the Empire as a whole. Nesaria has no true singular head of government, instead being collectively ruled by the Great Magistrates - often referred to as the Cabinet by non-Nesarians - whose members are elected individually rather than all at once in a general election.

Nesaria operates on a somewhat garbled combination of representative democracy, direct democracy and autocratic rule. It has a bicameral Parliament, consisting of the elected Assembly of Sherrifs and unelected Council of Lords, but the legislative process also involves the People's Assemblies (of which there are several) and all laws must ultimately be approved by the Emperor - or more frequently the First Lord, an individual appointed by the Emperor to act in his stead in Nesarian politics when the Emperor is indisposed (which is most of the time), often an heir or close relative of the Emperor. Executive power chiefly lies with the Great Magistrates, but they may be overruled at any time by the Emperor.

Changes have been made to the system over the centuries, but it is ultimately founded upon the political system established by Emperor Mathados IV when he founded the Nesarian Empire. Mathados combined the Ascarian traditional system - itself a syncretic fusion of Elvic and native Nesarian political norms - with some elements of the Republic he had overthrown and destroyed, as well as taking inspiration from the Chiefdom of Mortana.

## Flag

The flag of Nesaria is a purple saltire with a golden sun in the centre, on top of a white background.

* The golden sun represents King Yacela, leader of the Gods. The sun is his symbol.
* The purple saltire has two meanings. The purple colour represents the monarchy, and the shape of the saltire derives from the shape of two crossed swords, a symbol that broadly represents some form of defensive warfare in Elvic culture. With these two meanings combined, the purple saltire represents the Emperor's unyielding defence of Nesaria and its people.
* The white background represents the purity and truth of the Gods.

Before a legal distinction was made between Nesaria and the Nesarian Empire under the rule of Emperor Athdus III, this flag was also the flag of the Nesarian Empire, and it was historically the flag of the Kingdom of Ascaria.