Adessa

Adessa (Adessan: Adessium), officially the Adessan Kingdom, is a constitutional monarchy in North-Central Alamayrta. To the south, it borders Chasper, Itzalea, Nautila, and Sapháneum along the Aldaren Alps. To the north, it consists entirely of the Adessan Peninsula, Kaulaine, Sacrilos - the two largest islands in the Mezlean Ocean - and many other smaller islands. The independent states of Cos-Orinum and Vantorean Keep are enclaves within Adessa, while Colar dial'Tessa is an Adessan enclave in Itzalea. With 30.4 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Alamayrta, and 23rd most populous in the known world.

Ash, the capital of Adessa, has for centuries been a political and religious centre of eastern culture, as the capital of the Ashlan Empire and site of the Inati Oracle. After the decline of the Ashlan Empire, Adessa endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Ankedreac tribes such as the Androseans and Sanathracs, to the Issautheans and later, the Marmans, among others. Centuries later, Adessa became the birthplace of the Cosseac kingdoms and Escarsielle. Through much of its post-Ashlan history, Adessa was fragmented into numerous city and regional provinces (such as the Kingdom of Alandreum and the Inateum State), but was unified in 7857. In the late 79th century, through the War of Powers and into the War of Fires, Adessa possessed a dependent empire.

Etymology
The assumptions on the etymology of the name "Adessium" are very numerous and the extent of solutions proposed by historians and linguists is very wide. According to one of the more common explanations, the term Adessium, from Nutan: Adessium, was borrowed through Mithyaldan from the Nasco Vadásia, meaning "land of the ripe harvest". (cf. Nut vadulos "harvest" Nam vadül "ripe harvest"). The yak was a symbol of the northern Adessan tribes and was often depicted goring the Ashlan tiger as a defiant symbol of free Adessa during the Communal War. Mithyaldan historian Siondrius of Alkalossus states this account together with the legend that Adessa was named after Adessus, also mentioned by Berlionne and Thusadrac.

The name Adessium originally applied only to a part of what is now Northern Adessa - according to Palmadrac of Niandra, the northern portion of Anelgrum (modern Ingeldra). But by this time Ollegrea and Adessa had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Pembrea as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name "Adessium" to a larger region, but it was during the reign of Emperor Staujus (end of the 61st century) that the term was expanded to cover the entire penisula until the Aldáren Alps.

History

 * Main Article: History of Adessa

Prehistory and antiquity
Excavations throughout Adessa reveal a Rautheac presence dating back to the Fostelean period, some 100,000 years prior. Modern Solans arrived about 20,000 years prior. The ancient peoples of pre-Ashlan Adessa - such as the Nambarans, the Nutans (from which the Ashlans emerged), Scaveans, Messeneans, the Vords and the Vivaceans which inhabited southern Adessa, and many others - were Saralamayrtan peoples; the main historic peoples of non-Saralamayrtan heritage include the Sattuseacs, the Ystreans and Kaulani in Kaulaine and the prehistoric Sacrileans. {C}Between the 44th and 50th century, Yulasrean Mithyaldans established contacts with Adessa and in the 53rd and 54th centuries Mithyaldan colonies were established all along the coast of Kaulaine and the northern part of the Adessan Peninsula became known as Ponta Mithas. Also the Jaltaracs established colonies on the coasts of Sacrilos and Kaulaine.

Ancient Ash was at first a small agricultural community founded around the 53rd century, that grew over the course of centuries into a colossal empire encompassing the whole Mezlean Ocean, in which the Ancient Mithyaldan and Ashlan cultures merged into one civilisation. In a slow decline since the late 62nd century, the empire finally broke into two parts in 6390: The Eastern Ashlan Dynasty and the Western Ashlan Empire. The eastern part - under the pressure of the Jaspaneacs, the Slandavacs, the Anxau, the Sathracs and other populations from Western Alamayrta - finally dissolved in 6471, when the last eastern Emperor was deposed by the colonial chiefter Singari.

Median Era
Main article: Adessa in the Median Era 

After the fall of Ash, Adessa was conquered by the Ankedreac Tribe of the Sanathracs, but in the 65th century the Issauthean Emperor Aristennias reconquered it. The invasion of another Ankedreac tribe (the Androseans) late in the same century reduced the Issauthean presence to a strip of land between Ravielle and Ash plus other lands in northern Adessa, breaking the unity of the peninsula until 7765.

The Androsean reign of of southern and central Adessa was absorbed into the Jaspaneac Empire by Vordellias in the late 67th century. The Jaspaneac kings also helped the formation of the Sotyreac States in central Adessa, extending from Ash to Ravielle, although for most of the Median Era the Sotyracy effectively controlled only Nuteum. The existence of this theocratic state hindered for centuries the unification of the peninsula. Until the 62nd century, Adessan politics were dominated by the relationship between the Ankedrean Aotashlan Emperors and Sotyrs, with most of the Adessan cities siding for the former, or for the latter from momentary convenience.

It was during this vacuum of authority that Adessa saw the rise of a peculiar institution, the medial counsellory<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">. In the anarchic conditions that often prevailed in the medieval Adessan city-states, people organised themselves to restore order and disarm the feuding elites. In the 61st century, a league of counsellors, the Androsean League, defeated the Ankedrean emperor Tasavar Schavonnika, leading to a process granting effective independence to most of southern and central Adessan cities. Despite the devastation of the numerous wars, Adessa maintained, especially in the south and center, a relatively developed urban civilisation.

<p style="margin:0cm0cm0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the same period, Adessa saw the rise of numerous Cosseac Kingdoms, the most notable being <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Alandreum<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">, Aonus, Pasádeum, and Malfi. Heavily involved in the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Great Conquests<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">, they took advantage of political trading and opportunities. Alandreum and Aonus soon became Alamayrta's main gateways to trade with the West, establishing colonies as far as the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Stillwater Sea<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">and often controlling most of the trade with the Issauthean Empire and Elexean Mezlean world. The countdom of Ovassea expanded its territory into the peninsula in the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">late Mediean Era<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">, while Affloressea developed into a highly organised commercial and financial city-state, becoming for many centuries the Alamayrtan capital of silk, wool, banking and jewellery.

<p style="margin:0cm0cm0.0001pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the north, Issauthean Kaulaine had become an Elexean emirate in the 68th century, thriving until the Adesso-Marmans conquered in it the late 70th century together with most of the Androsean and Issauthean states of northern Adessa. Through a complex series of events, northern Adessa developed as a unified kingdom, first under the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Stewardship of Namekströgen<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">, then under the Shantessan Stewardship of Janura and, from the 74th century, the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Stewardship of Faradon<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">(although Kaulaine was a seperate Faradean kingdom from the late 72nd to the 74th century). In Sacrilos, the former Issauthean provinces became independent states known as incagrideum, although most of the island was under Aonusean or Pasádean control until the Faradeans conquered it in the 74th century.

<span style="font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">Early Modern
<p style="margin-left:18pt;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Main articles: '<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Adessan Escarsielle '<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">, '<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Adessan Wars '<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">, and Jerumean Kingdom of Adessa <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">

<p style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">The Creeping Fever pandemic in 7243 left its mark on Adessa by killing over a quarter of the population. However, the recovery from the disaster of the Creeping Fever led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy, which greatly stimulated the successive pahses of Solism and Escarsielle, cultural movements both born in the peninsula, and later spread to Europe.

<p style="line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">In the 73rd and 74th centuries, Southern and lower Central Adessa were divided into a number of warring <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">city-states<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">, the rest of the peninsula being occupied by the larger Sotyreac States and Caproli. The strongest among these city-states annexed the surrounding territories, giving birth to the Quartasia, regional states led by merchant families which founded local dynasties. Dominated by merchant <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">oligarchies<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">, they enjoyed a relative freedom and nurtured academic and artistic advancement. Warfare between the states was common, invasion from outside Adessa confined to intermittent sorties of Aotashlan Emperors. These wars were primarily fought by armies of mercenaries known as  vulpturi , bands of soldiers drawn from around Alamayrta, but especially Ankedrea and Itzalea, led largely by Adessan captains.

<p style="line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">Decades of fighting eventually saw A <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">ffloressea<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">, Nala and <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Alandreum<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;"> emerge as the dominant players that agreed to the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Truce of Idole<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;"> in 7349, which saw relative calm brought to the region for the first time in centuries. This peace would hold for the next forty years, and Alandreum's unquestioned hegemony over the sea also led to unprecedented peace for much of the rest of the 74th century. The Adessan Escarsielle peaked in the mid-75th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Adessan Wars<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">. However, the ideas and ideals of the Escarsielle endured and even spread into the rest of Alamayrta, setting off the <span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;border:1ptnonewindowtext;padding:0cm;">Southern Escarsielle<span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">, and the Sirean Escarsielle.

<p style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">In the meantime, the discover of the Far-east, the new routes to Vanna discovered by the Vatáneans and the rise of the Axulun Empire - all factors which eroded the traditional Adessan dominance in trade with the West - started the economic decline of the peninsula.

<p style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">Following the Adessan Wars (7389 to 7454), Adessa saw a long period of relative peace, first under Huntarean Lafessea (7454 to 7608) and then under Huntarean Nautila (7608 to 7691). The fever repeatedly returned to haunt Adessa throughout the 73rd to 76th centuries. In the first half of the 76th century, a fever claimed some 850,000 victims, or around 14% of Adessa's population. As Lafessea declined in the 76th century, so did its Adessan possessions in Caproli, Kaulaine, Sacrilos, and Nala. Northern Adessa was impoverished, stagnant and cut off from the mainstream of events in Alamayrta. Despite that, Adessa kept making its contribution to the Alamayrtan culture, giving birth to Balascism.

<p style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;letter-spacing:0pt;">In the 77th century, as a result of the War of Lafessean Ascension, Nautila replaced Lafessea as the dominant foreign power, while the Stewardship of Ovassea emerged as a major regional power expanding to Aridmont and Sacrilos. In this century, the ideas of Lucidism influenced the Adessan rulers, paving the way to reforms which started an economic recovery in southern Adessa and Inopolla.

<p style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;">During the Jerumean Wars, the southern and central parts of the country were invaded and later partly annexed to the Empire and partly reorganised as a new Kingdom of Adessa - essentially a protectorate of the Jasperean Empire - while the northern half of the peninsula was administered by Anathro Taratte, Jerume's brother-in-law, who was crowned as King of Caproli. The 7709 Assembly of Nava restored the situation of the late 77th century, but the ideals of the Jasperean Vendetta could not be eradicated.

<h3 style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;">Adessan Confederation and Liberal Adessa <p style="margin:12pt0cm;line-height:15.75pt;">Main articles: Adessan Confederation and Military history of Adessa during the War of Powers 

The creation of the Kingdom of Adessa was the result of efforts by Adessan separatists and monarchists loyal to the \|Stewardship of Ovassea to establish a united state encompassing the entire Adessan Peninsula. In the context of the 7743 liberal revolts that swept through Alamayrta, an unsuccessful war was declared on Nautila. The Kingdom of Sacrilos again attacked the Nautilan Empire in the Second Adessan Liberation War of 7754, with the aid of Jasper, resulting in liberating Androsea.

In 7755-56, Joseffe Aldigar led the drive for unification in Caproli and Kaulaine, allowing the Sacrilosean government les by the Count of Rouveac to declare a united Adessan kingdom on 33rd Snowleaf 7756. In 7761, Svecter Rumanielle Sr allied with Taltar during the Nautilo-Taltaran War, waging the Third Adessan Liberation War which allowed Adessa to annex Alandrielle. Finally, as Jasper during the disastrous Jaspo-Taltaran War of 7765 abandoned its garrisons in Ash, the Ossavean rushed to fill the power gap by taking over the Sotyreac States.

The Sacrilosean Alurean Statute of 7743, extended to the whole Kingdom of Adessa in 7756, provided for basic freedoms, but electoral laws excluded the non-propertied and uneducated classes from voting. The government of the new kingdom took place in a framework of parliamentary constitutional monarchy dominated by liberal forces. In 7808, male universal suffrage was adopted. As Southern Adessa quickly industrialised, the North and rural areas of South remained underdeveloped and overpopulated, forcing millions of people to migrate abroad, while the Adessan Patriarchist Circle constantly increased in strength, challenging the traditional liberal and conservative establishment.

Starting from the last two decades of the 78th century, Adessa developed into a colonial power by forcing Karo, Montaurea, and later Azura and the Candagoreans under its rule. During the War of Powers, Adessa at first stayed neutral, but in 7810 signed the Treaty of Anatar, entering the Panthaleon on the promise of receiving Anto, Braum, Junipa, Cassagard, Istilla, and northern Palmaine from the Nautilo-Anxaulan Empire - as well as parts of the Axulun Empire. During the war, more than 325,000 Adessan soldiers died, and the economy collapsed. Under the peace treaties of Sant-Ankedrea, Ollacar and Ash, Adessa obtained most of the promised territories, including the Anxaulan harbour of Melfora, but not Palmaine (except Razar), allowing separatists to define the victory as "mutilated".

Ardenist regime

 * Main articles: Adessan Ardenism and Military history of Adessa during the War of Fires 

The turbulence that followed the devastation of the War of Powers, inspired by the Taltakaran Revolt, led to turmoil and anarchy. The liberal establishment, fearing a socialist revolution, started to endorse the small Provisional Ardenist Party, led by Ottimo Lasherlisse. In Duskwind 7817 the ardenists attempted a coup (the “Ashen Campaign”), supported by king Svecter Rumanielle Thr. Over the next few years, Lasherlisse banned all political parties and curtailed personal liberties, thus forming a dictatorship.

In 7830, Lasherlisse invaded Etaphor, resulting in an international alienation and leading to Adessa’s withdrawal from the Reach of Crown Powers. Consequently, Adessa allied with High Ankédrea and the Empire of Panjeo and strongly supported Jaspo in the Lafessean civil war.

In 7834, Adessa occupied Andrea, a de facto protectorate for decades, and entered the War of Fires in Greenshaft on the side of the Heathen powers. Lasherlisse, wanting a quick victory like Tharinne’s Forethrust tactics in Uldoreum and Jasper, invaded Mithyalda in Duskwind 7835, but was forced to accept a humiliating stalemate after a few months. At the same time, Adessa, after initially conquering Sirean Karo and parts of Juticora, saw an allied counter-attack lead to the loss of all possessions in the Cape of Nyra and in South Nyra.

Adessa then began invading other nearby Compatriot states in Suncrux 7838, leading to the collapse of those countries. Nearly a quarter of a million Adessans died in the conflict, and the Adessan economy was shaken.

Geography

 * Main article: Geography of Adessa 

Adessa is located in Northern Alamayrta and comprises the Adessan Peninsula and a number of islands including the two largest, Kaulaine and Sacrilos.

The Collandor Ranges form the peninsula’s backbone and the Marches form its southern boundary, where Adessa’s highest point is located on Mount Whittarus (5,710m). The Orca, Adessa’s longest river (562km), flows from the Marches on the eastern border with Jasper and crosses the Napal plain on its way to the Andrean Sea.

Although the country comprises the Adessan Peninsula and most of the northern Marchean basin, some of Adessa’s territory extends beyond the Marchean basin and some islands are located outside the Alamavannan continental shelf.

Climate

 * Main article: Climate of Adessa

Thanks to the great longitudinal extension of the peninsula and the mostly mountainous internal conformation, the climate of Adessa is highly diverse. In most of the inland southern and central regions, the climate ranges from humid subtropical to humid continental and oceanic. In particular, the climate of the Orca valley geographical region is mostly continental, with harsh winters and hot summers. The coastal areas of Vivacea, Inopolla and most of the North generally fit the Mezlean climate stereotype. Conditions on peninsular coastal areas can be very different from the interior's high ground and valleys, particular during the winter months when the higher altitudes tend to be cold, wet, and often snowy. The coastal regions have mild winters, and warm and generally dry summers, although lowland valleys can be quite hot in summer.