Smontanya

Smontanya, also known informally as Uzkiloya, is a country located north of Varla and ruled by the Zorrizto dynasty since 1689. It is an absolute monarchy, but on its way to reforming into a parliamentary monarchy. It is currently ruled by Burugogor XI Zorrizto.

Uzkiloya was officially founded in the year 517 by the famous Sorillian warrior Uzkiloi. SInce the 1970s, Smontanya is also known for its metal exports and also has a rising 3rd sector.

Foundation and Uzkiloi the sorillian warrior
Most historians date the birth of Smontanya back to 517 although some argue that it happened later in the 6th century. Uzkiloi was a warrior from the sorillian horde who earned his fame and had an entire army under his command. At some point, for reasons we do not know, he broke off from the horde and headed north with his family, his men, and many settlers to create his own dynasty. The new kingdom was known as Uzkiloya.

Uzkiloi is said to have died in the year 548 or 549, as his son Mockoberd became his successor that very year.

Liberation of the Zorrizto and fall of the Uzkiloi dynasty
The Zorrizto are an ethnic group that inhabited the north of current day Smontanya and still does to a smaller extent. The first records of their existence date back to the 1st century by ancient Troiyan travellers. By the 8th century, the Zorrizto were vassals to the old Catuvinans who historians say were related to Troiyans but disappeared. According to the Uzkiloyan records, the zorrizto were frequently raided by the Catuvinans, and thus asked the Uzkiloyan king Uzkiloi IV to be liberated. At this point, the Uzkiloi dynasty was starting to tumble, and the king saw this as an opportunity to reaffirm his power and become popular among his people.

In 756, Uzkiloi IV launched the attack against the Catuvinan enemies and by the next year, he successfuly pushed them out of Zorrizto territory and incorporated it to his kingdom.

The new territorial gain ensured the reign of Uzkiloi IV, but caused instability in the long term, worsening the situation of the Uzkiloi dynasty.

In the year 926, the last Uzkiloi dynasty king, Uzkiloi VIII, was overthrown and the Gnar dynasty was stabilished with Gnar I as the first king.

The 200 year crisis and the Zorrizto genocide
The Gnar dynasty only lasted until 997 and for the next 237 years, powerful families, mainly sorillians, fought over the throne of the Kingdom. At last, in the year 1163, the Garvon dynasty came into power after six month of siege on Uzkiloikrav and the royal fortress in the heart of the city. Although the previous kings did call themselves Uzkiloyan, the Garvon are considered as the first ethnically Uzkiloyan kings, thus ending the age of sorillian kings.

In the next years, privileges were slowly taken away from the Zorrizto population, who had been thriving in Uzkiloya and had already influenced the sorillians with their culture, giving birth to the Uzkiloyan tradition and culture we know today. Despite this, Garvon's son and heir Eugnon deemed them as the cause of all of the kingdom's problems and the 200 year crisis. That's why he ordered all zorrizto in sight to be slaughtered. The genocide took place over the next five years and the survivors fled to the mountains where they couldn't be hunted down. The zorrizto cities were left empty and had to be resettled by Uzkiloyans. Garvon II ended the slaughter in 1210, but the Zorrizto were still persecuted, and thus stayed in the northern mountains, settling in small villages. The Zorrizto also formed an underground kingdom of their own with the Zorrizto prince as the head. This was the beginning of the Zorrizto dynasty.

Feudal system and conflicts
Under the Garvon dynasty, a feudal system was put in place in south Uzkiloya. This gave more power to the vassals and made keeping the kingdom together easier. Mines were also opened after the discovery of many mineral deposits. This improved the country's economy. The scripture and knowledge that the Zorrizto left behind was also used for the benefit of the Uzkiloyans.

The Zorrizto, meanwhile, became organized, and their underground monarchy got a bigger grasp over the zorrizto settlements and also influence over northern Uzkiloya through (often illegal) business.

In 1497, the Garvon dynasty was left without a heir and was succeeded by the Eugnon dynasty (not to be confused with Eugnon I Garvon). For the next century, Uzkiloya entered a decline and the population became more disatisfied with their royalty. In 1671, the mining cities revolted, followed by some of the vassals and other cities, starting a long civil war that would only end when the Zorrizto returned to the scene.

Zorrizto uprising and takeover
It had almost been 500 years since the Zorrizto were slaughtered by the Uzkiloyan monarchy. The zorrizto prince Mendeku IX gathered all of his subjects to announce that, taking advantage of the civil war that was happening, they would rise up and march towards Uzkiloikrav. The Zorrizto got in touch with many revolting factions to get their loyalty and support. They also got aid from foreign mercenaries. Menedeku promised his allies a stable and self sufficient kingdom for both Zorrizto and Uzkiloyans, which he could only achieve with their support.

On February 6th 1688, the Zorrizto army and allies gathered in the city of Inyuri to march south. The army found no opposition throughout the first half of their journey, although, according to many accounts, the Uzkiloyan inahbitants were shocked at the sight of so many Zorrizto at once. Eugnon V managed to gather an army with the vassals who had stayed loyal but was still inferior in numbers, so he planned an ambush on the Zorrizto on a tight passage between two hills. His tactics didn't work out though, and his army had to retire ahead of time. Both factions faced eachother at the battle of Garvongrat which took place at the outskirts of the city with the same name. The battle was a clear vicory for Mendeku, and the Eugnon army retreated to Uzkiloikrav. There, they fortified the city and the royal fortress for their last stand. They also took all the grain from the surrounding farms for the soldiers. They estimated that the siege would last for arround six months just like in 1163 when the Garvon besieged the city. Eugnon V gave a speech to his men in an attempt to boost morale:

"You find yourself here to defend your king, for I am the only hope for Uzkiloya to live on. Stay here and give your life if you truly respect our fathers, Uzkiloi, Garvon, and Eugnon who pushed these lice back to their caverns in the mountains like they deserved. Leave if you want to be remembered as a traitor to your name and your land, if you would rather kiss the hand of the zorrizto prince than preserve Uzkiloi's realm. I bear the same name as the slayer of the zorrizto for a reason, and i will slay as many of them as it takes to defend this city and retake my kingdom."

After the winter was over, the Zorrizto army showed up at the gates of Uzkiloikrav. The siege had begun. Defying all predictions, the walls fell only a week into the siege thanks to the introduction of firearms and artillery by the mercenaries. A bloody battle took place in the city for the next five days and most of the city was leveled to the gorund as a result. Some women and children were able to flee the city beofre the city fell, but most died on the spot. Eugnon was wounded in battle but was captured by the Zorrizto in time. Unaware that their king had been captured, his guards made their last stand within the walls of the royal fortress,where all died and many burned to death. When the battle was over and the smoke settled, the Zorrizto army and the surviving citizens witnessed as the Uzkiloyan king kissed the hand of Mendeku I Zorrizto, king of the brand new kingdom of Zorriztonia.

Uzkiloya was officially over.

Early Zorriztonia and the great debt
Following the zorrizto takeover of the country and the creation of Zorriztonia, the new zorrizto monarchy had many issues at hand. They found a country destroyed by years of civil war and many regions still revolting. Mendeku I had to ask his allies to stay arround for a year in order to supress all the revolts and seize control over the entirety of Zorriztonia. He appointed zorrizto lords in the regions that had opposed him. Mendeku also had lots of debt to the mercenaries and also needed funds to rebuild the infrastructure of his country, and he lacked this money. Mendeku ordered all of the Uzkiloyan kings' tombs and mauoleums (from Garvon onwards) to be looted for valuables, and he also used Eugnon's treasureas payment. The debt would take almost 50 years to entirely pay. Zorriztonia's Ozpetrovi neighbors were also raided for loot at times.

The zorrizto also raised the first professional army in the history of Smontanya to avoid further civil war and for defense. The feudal system was also removed overtime in favor of a centralized kingdom thanks in part to this new army.

The capital was also in ruins after the war and it had to be entirely rebuilt form the ground up. For this job, Mendeku brought the best Zorrizto masons and builders who stayed in the city and make up a majority of its population to this day. On top of the old royal fortress, the Zorrizto built an opulent palace that stands there to this day, surrounded by the manors of influential nobles and protected by his personal guard.

The country steadily recovered from its years of decline and war and literacy went up along with the population.

Zorriztonian period and war with neighbors
By the early 18th century, Zorriztonia was once again a thriving kingdom, with its capital, farms and mines rebuilt.

By the 1720s, the zorrizto nobility would end up adopting Uzkiloyan as their language to make communication with Uzkiloyans easier and to look friendlier in the (mostly poor) Uzkiloyan population. All of the zorrizto in Uzkiloikrav and many of the zorrizto from northern Zorriztonia would also adopt Uzkiloyan as their language shortly after. The zorrizto tongue would end up being lost arround the end of the 1780s, with names and terms being the only evidence of it ever having existed.

The Zorriztonian army also granted stability and both defensive/offensive power. Mendeku's son and heir, King Bake I saw this as an opportunity to expand. First, the nearby Ozpetrovi tribes were occupied and icorporated into zorriztonia. This granted the country more manpower and resources, and in exchange, the zorrizto built the first Ozpetrovi cities for them and civilized them. Over the years, a lot of current day Ozpetrovina would also be under the influence of Zorriztonia and later Smontanya until the creation of Ozpetrovina itself, but it never officially became part of the kingdom.

In 1791, the recently created republic of Varla attacked from the south. At first, the Zorriztonian army was able to hold the line and even advance, but by 1795, Zorriztonia was forced to give up some of its southern territory which it would never get back. After that fiasco, the Zorrizto monarchy called an end to the expansionist experiment and would instead turn into an isolationist country overtime. Their only foreign affair would be their Ozpetrovi vassals and the mineral exports, although they still wouldn't exploit their mineral deposits enough to compete with other countries until well into the 20th century.

Isolation and the start of Smontanya
In the 1820s, Zorriztonia was probably the most isolationist country in the continent. To hold stability and ensure the future of Zorrizto rule over the country, the king Buruhan III gathered all of his advisors and nobles for a historic meeting. The meeting was to decide the future of Zorriztonia, specially to keep the loyalty of the Uzkiloyan population to their Zorrizto masters. These were the decissions taken
 * Zorriztonia was to be renamed to Smontanya.
 * Uzkiloyans and Zorrizto were now equals. They were now able to gain important positions like the Zorrizto, except for the position of king.
 * Uzkiloyan was adopted as the only official language of the country.
 * Finally, a new national flag would be designed to reflect these changes.

These changes proved to be effective as Smontanya still continues like that to this day. Hadn't they adopted these policies and the Uzkiloyans could've revolted, and they were the majority of the country's population.

Ozpetrovi independence and early 20th century
In the 1890s, negotiations started to unite the Ozpetrovi tribes under one banner. At frist, Smontanya, which still controlled a large part of Ozpetrovina, refused, but at last they agreed to pull out of Ozpetrovina with a few conditions that benefitted the kingdom. Smontanya was also paid a large amount of money as one of the conditions. On december 15th 1900, Smontanyan troops abandoned Ozpetrovina and returned to their native country. Later, on June 1st 1901, the federation of the untited tribes of Ozpetrovina was declared.

For the first decade, relations with Ozpetrovina were excellent, with Smontanya even aiding Ozpetrovina with food supply and infrastructure, but in the mid 1910s, arguments emerged regarding Zorriztonian Ozpetrovia which had been conquered during the Zorriztonian period and was still part of Smontanya. Ozpetrovina demanded transferral of the region but Smontanya refused several times.A border conflict took place on October 5th 1923, where many Smontanyan and Ozpetrovi soldiers died. Ozpetrovina later threatened with launching an invasion of Zorriztonian Ozpetrovia. The smontanyan monarchy and the army concluded that defending the region would take many unnecessary lives and that it wouldn't be viable, so they decided to hand it over peacefully. On the morning of January 27th 1924, Smontanyan soldiers and officials were nowhere to be seen. They had abandoned all the cities and towns. This came to the shock of the citizens who hadn't been warned about the date of the handover. Many zorrizto citizens and Ozpetrovi nobles haistily left their homes and fleed to Smontanya as fast as they could. A mass migration followed. By next week, when the ozpetrovi had occupied the entire region, many cities were half empty, and entire farms and fields abandoned. Zorriztonian Ozpetrovia was shortly renamed.

This new defeat and the mass migration causeda crisis that lasted until 1932. On 1927, the Smontanyan army was also reformed into a more modern army. Soldiers were uniformed, given newer weapons, and were more disciplined. Despite this, the army was still pretty weak and aged, with no tank divisions and with the very few vehicles they had being imported from other countries.

The last 30 years and the start of reforms.
In the 1950s, things were changing in Velizka. The Ozpetrovi oil boom, rapid modernization and innovation, growing unrest between Uzkiloyans and the Zorrizto and more. When Burugogor came to the thorne, he knew that hings had to change. Smontanya was vulnerable to foreign invasion and manipulation, they had to become a strong and self sufficient country. He gathered a board of experts to craft the gradual transition of Smontanya into modernity.

First Reforms
First of all, power was centralized. Instead of a noble ruling over each region, the governors would be elected by the inhabitants of said region and appointed by the King. A new royal advisor was also appointed and would now lead a gabinet. In the future, the advisor will take the role of prime minister and will be elected by parliament. The nobility was understandably upset by the changes but they couldn't do much about it as the king had absolute power over the army. For now, the king would still be the absolute monarch, but will become just a figurehead after 1988.

After the new system was put in place and the different ministries of the nation were set up, the construction of new infrastructure began. In 1958, the first highway in smontanya was opened. The housing ministry also created new regulations and the first apartnemnt buildings were constructed. Cities were also paved and public spaces set up. The first notable concrete structure was the national stadium at Uzkiloikrav in 1958 as well, which was still built with primitive wooden scaffolding. The railroad system was also expanded and the frist airports and airfileds built.

In 1960, the ministry of defence took control over the army and updated it with tank divisions and an air force. This created new jobs in vehicle factories and Somontyanya was, for the first time, producing its own military vehicles.

The first big power plants were opened to bring cheap electricity to the masses. Before opening up the country to foreign companies though, local companies had to be able to compete. The first Smontanyan car company was created to mass produce cars for the common people. Many other companies were created as well to supply the low and the growing middle class with commodities.

The ministry of education opened up public schools across the entire country to educate the children for modern jobs and create a national Smontanyan identitiy.

A lot of the mines became private and also bought modern equipment to exploit the mineral deposits. Smontanya was once again a major mineral exporter.

At last, in 1970, the country was opened up to foreign travel and trade.

Varla border crisis


On November 5th 1982, two trucks loaded with Varlan soldiers crossed the border with Smontanya and shot up the twho border guards. Three smontanyan soldiers saw from a nearby watchtower and called the nearest garrison just when the Varlans opened fire against them.

"-What is the matter"

"-The varlans! Fucking Varlans shot the guards!"

"-Excuse me, can you repeat that?"

*gunfire noises*

"They have opened fire! Varla! Two trucks loaded with Varlan soldiers. Reinforcements! Now please!"

Reinforcements arrived 30 minutes later. One of the men in the watchtower had been wounded. A long gunfight ensued. 10 Varlan soldiers were killed and 11 captured. There were 6 Smontanyan casualties. The prisoners weren't released until one year later. This event worsened relations with Varla even more.

Start of foreign relations
Smontanya strengthened its relations with ozpetrovina, leaving past differences apart. Ozpetrovina would be an important ally as they had become the lead oil exporter in Velizka. Smontanya also stabilished good relations with Sentriziya as Varla was their common enemy. The kingdom also joined the OFPS in 1984.

Transition to democracy and future


The Smontanyan Parliament was founded in 1984 and will replace the current absolute monarchy when the first democratic advisor is elected in 1988. The king will mostly be a figurehead from then on.

Smontanya is on its way to becoming one of the world's lead mineral exporters and also has a growing tourist sector, tourists who wish to see the country that has been closed off and untouched for the last 100 years.

Regarding the army, it is currently a competent force capable of defending the country. Troops are also sent to other countries for training and sometimes even military aid.

Politics
Smontanya is currently transitioning to a parliamentary monarchy. The king will transfer his authority over to the democratic bodies in 1988. These democratic bodies are the Smontanyan government and the Parliament.

Smontanyan government
The government consists of the royal advisor who does the duties of prime minister, the vice-advisor and the respective ministers of each ministry. The government was created in the 1960s and its main duty is to rule over and mantain the nation following the laws and constitution. As of now, the king has authority to veto any decission taken by the government or even enforce the policies he wants. This will change after 1988 as well, and the government will also be voted upon by the parliament after general elections.

The current government is led by the advisor Byn Aren, a member of the Smontanyan Democratic Party founded by himself.

Smontanyan parliament


The parliament hosts representatives of each region, with representation based on each region's population. The representatives are elected by the people of the respective region. The duty of parliament is to pass laws which will be enforced by the government, take certain decissions and vote on proposals by each party. The goverment also needs a majority vote by the parliament to be put in place.

The parliament was created in 1984 after general elections were celebrated to determine the representation of each party. and is formed by the main 3 parties and a coalition of smaller parties.

political parties
These are the main parties present in the Smontanyan Parliament after the elections in 1983:

1. Smontanyan Democratic Party


The Democratic Party was founded in 1980 by the royal advisor of Smontanya, Byn Aren. It's meant to serve as the ruling party until the parliament gets to elect a government. Some argue that the party will only last through the transition and will then divide, but others believe in the future of the party as the moderate choice for voters. Popular opinion on the government is satisfactory and so is the opinion about the party.

2. Socialist party of Smontanya


The socialist party has its origins in the late 60s but was formally stabilished in 1979. The party also includes members of other ,smaller parties that were incorporated into the SPS. Its main ideology is considered to be social democratic, but the party does have ties to other socialist regimes across Velizka. It is the party with most representation in parliament, only behind the democratic party. Its main voters are lower class, usually Uzkiloyan farmers and workers because the party promises to improve their conditions and pay more attention to their needs. Thanks to their large representation in parliament and the border clash with varla, the Smontanyan government decided to join the OFPS in 1984.

3. Nationalist party of Smontanya


The predecessor to the party, the Zorrizto Union, was founded back in the early 60s by the Zorrizto aristocracy that had lost their control over the kingdom's institutions. The original goal of the Union was to regain authority over Smontanya and promote zorrizto culture. The party we know today was founded in 1978. When this happened, many smaller groups broke off from the old Zorrizto union, with the most notable being the current day Coalition for Zorriztonia, whcih seeks to restabilish zorrzito dominance and "reconquer" the land taken by Varla and Ozpetrovina. The Nationalist party is seen as more moderate than its predecessor, but still gives some priority to zorrizto culture and tradition. On top of that, the party is ran by members of promient Zorrizto upper class families. Their main voter base are middle to high class citizens, mostly Zorrizto.

Religion
The majority religion of Smontanya is Kvazism, which is mostly practised by Uzkiloyans and other Sorillians. Many Zorrizto noble families do practice the religion as well though, but it's usually their own interpretation. Kvazism in Smontanya in general differs a bit form the conventional religion. More importance is given to Uzkiloi (Uzkiloi as also considered a holy man in other countries, but to a lesser extent). There are also influences form Zorrizto mythology. Zorrizto Kvazism involves Zorrizto tradition and zorrizto legends, and kvaz is worshiped more as a divine being than a Sorillian commander. Most Zorrizto from modest families, specially in the mountains, still believe in zorrizto mythology and reject Kvazism.

Kvazist societies on Smontanya include the Kvazist association of Uzkiloya, the Smontanyan Kvazist union, the Kvazist Zorrizto society and the Kvazist party (no representation in parliament).