Astorian Khanate

Astorian Flag

The **Astorian Khanate** or Astoria is a state in the North Eastern corner of the known world. It is led by Khan Jensen Naryshkin alongside a council of assorted advisors and chiefs representing clans that make up the settlements of the Khanate.

## Pre-History

### Formation

The Astorians and its subgroup of Syndrians migrated into the accessible world somewhere from the northern hemisphere as nomads. Not much is known about early Astorian history save for word of mouth and a few written sources, the oldest of which being the Stercorist Texts. The texts describes Astoria as being founded by a Tribal peoples hailing from a cold northern land, lead by a Naryshkin prince. The texts further describe that a noble under the prince received prophetical messages as to where to settle but the validity of the claims were questioned until it was determined that the lands outside the Prophetical Lands were seen as "scarred" and "firebombed" when the prince inspected, causing an end to a minor conflict between the followers of the Prince and the Prophet that ended with deaths on both sides.

### Early settlements

The Prince led his peoples to what is known as Old Astoria. The texts cite that there was a hostile beast unworthy of any name which is known by Astorian tradition to be the first border conflict involving a lone creature in a run-down castle whose original inhabitants had long since abandoned its walls. The Astorians settled without conflict until the unworthy beast swore fealty to a neighboring peoples whose name has long since been lost, after swearing his new allegiance the beast alongside a small warband set out and raided a village north of the castle. Due to the beast being a liability to its own liege, it was not supported in the dispute and eventually the castle fell to the Astorians under the name of Rosehill. A Syndrian noble, likely the Prophet or a relative of the Prophet took residence and owned the castle, leading to one of the few sedentary structures that is known of old Astoria.

The Prince would eventually be declared an Archduke after swearing fealty under the protection of an Empire located south of the Astorians, here it is where the Astorian peoples have their first recorded nation, The Archduchy of Astoria. This status amongst the southerners was reinforced when the Archduke married a wealthy countess that was the presumptive heir of the Empire. It was said that when the countess was touring the capital with the Archduke the Prophet was having another message with the divine. The marriage ceremony went well and peacefully, but the afterparty followed with extreme amounts of alcohol and violence, unseen in the Empire before. The aftermath saw the capital caked in blood and vomit, and at least two revellers would tragically join the funeral that was to be held mere hours later.

This was not to last and eventually it was known a large war happened but the state was relatively unaffected but migrated out anyways. The state briefly placed the prophet as the archduke when the founder fell ill. Around this time almost everyone save for a few migrators from before the settling was circumcised by a man that worked with a bar owner who was witness to a prophecy miracle that cured him of his muteness. There was reportedly paramilitary arming and training that occurred in the backrooms of the bar as well.

### Current settlements

During the migration of the Astorians, it was found by another prophecy their new settlement locations and began to settle. Astoria was founded once more and it was proclaimed the seat of the new Khanate. A relative of the prophet settled Medeelelev west of the capital and another settlement of Xapx founded by a noble with political and marital connections to the Khan. Xapx would later be ceded when an incident with Drakkaheim occurred and four Drakkaheimers were killed in a border incident. The Drakkaheimer exclave of Vaungaurd in which the border skirmish took place was then ceded to Astoria thus ending the enclave issues.

## Government

The government of the Khanate is currently led by a Naryshkin noble named Jensen. The government functions by having landed nobles and advisors who typically are also nobles or distinguished citizens that then formulate most of the diplomatic and domestic actions. The state is influenced by the stercorist ecclesiarchs who have some influence as the entire state follows the faith.

## Culture

The Astorian and Syndrian peoples are mostly not possible to distinguish with the largest differentiator being tendency to own a toilet. The peoples of Astoria have traditions originating since time immemorial including the production of alcohol and the consumption of what is only known as "Black Tar Heroin" which is known to always end up sending the drinker to the floor but is considered mandatory as rite of passage for every Astorian coming of age and or immigrating into state. There is also known to be a tendency to own a basement cellar. The tendency to own a basement cellar is not linked to owning alcohol stores.