Caliane

Caliane, officially the Empire of Caliane ( Caliantene: Royace de Calianne) is a sovereign nation located in western Avanor. It borders Strandlaand and Gelenia to the north, the Midlands to the east, Augustine to the south, and to the west by the Mithran Ocean. The nation is home to a population of 145'980'271 people, with a land area of LAND AREA km², making it the most populated nation on the Avanoran continent, and one of the top ten worldwide. The federal capital is located in Calise, though other vital cities include the largest city of, Rosair, as well as the cities of Mortier, Colossy, Braves, and Roualuire.

Caliane has a long history. Settled in the 12,000s BCE by the Auene peoples, and conquered by the Avanoran Imperium during the classical period, it acted as a breadbasket and population centre. It was reconquered by the Augustine Imperium in the late 400s, being integrated in 502. It remained part of the second empire throughout the early Middle Ages, before becoming an independent entity in 1117 with Gustave I as its first monarch.

Caliane is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a democratic government. The head of state is Emperor Gilliet V, who is also simultaneously the head of the Caliantene Empire, the modern political union that replaced Caliane's vast colonial empire before the Great War. Caliane is a Great Power, and has a highly developed, prosperous, and innovative economy, with important world companies such as Tableau, Rosair Pictures, and Le Pen CO., being world leaders in their respective industries. The nation utilizes its influence through the Caliantene Empire to effect world policy, and is apart of such world organizations like the Union of Nations, the Avanor Union, and the Avanoran Defense Organization. As a Great Power, the nation is also a member of the World Council, and has overseas military bases in numerous countries, and is in active conflicts in numerous territories throughout Korasha. The country is known for its luxury goods, perfumes, agriculture, thriving tech sector, financial services, and high quality education system.

Etymology
The name "Caliane" was first used by Caliantene writers in the 1200s on maps of the Avanoran continent.

Prehistory
According to archeological evidence, Caliane was originally home to the Auene people, who inhabited Avanor's southwestern regions. Evidence points to their arrival into the Avanoran continent sometime in the 12,000s BCE, though they often came into conflict with the Thanic peoples, who arrived around the same time and inhabited the regions to the north and east. In the 3000s BCE, the arrival of the Paravantene Empire, with its hunger for trade and expansion, launched several expeditions into Caliane, though failed in their attempt to found colonies in the region as they had done in Augustine and Nalore.

One of these colonies, Augustine, soon grew into a powerful metropolis in its own right. Inhabited by Auene peoples and adopting several Paravantene cultural and political concepts, the city expanded its influence, using mercantile soldiers it purchased in Caliane to subjugate the Nalorene in several wars from 1690–1650 BCE. The newborn Avanoran Imperium turned its focus to Caliane in its desire for trade and power, subjugating the Auene tribes in numerous campaigns in the 1500s BCE. Throughout the following centuries, Caliane was an extremely profitable province: being on the frontlines, its mercenaries protected the Imperium from raids from Thanic peoples in the north and east. Additionally, its fertile regions provided the empire with a large amount of its food, as well as large tax revenues from trade. The Imperials, for their part, brought with them the written word, imperial architecture, law, economics and currency, city planning, and much more. In this period as well is when the Divine Sanctum spread through the populace, which remains the majority religion of Caliane to this day. In this period, Caliane's mercantile families grew rich, living in manor houses in the country, building beautiful cities and monuments to themselves - but this wealth was not to last.

The Imperium's expansion had stopped, and soon the families of the Imperianstrium, the governing body of the empire, grew quarrelsome. The families had always been plagued by greed and backroom deals, but it grew incontrollable in beginning in the 500s BCE. Families would work to promote their own interests, rather than that of the Imperium, refusing to collect taxes on the rich, and letting their mercenary forces go unpaid. By the 300s BCE, Khudari raids on southern trade routes over the Summer Sea led to several conflicts which put pressure on imperial control over their own trade routes, while raids from the Thanic peoples in the north and a lack of pay from the capital forced the mercantile families of Caliane to defend their own region, even further weakening the Imperium's authority in the region. By the time the Imperium collapsed in 1 BCE, it had been absent from Caliane for centuries.

Low Middle Ages
According to legend, Gustave the Gardener was a man of mystery who was said to make the land bloom with flower, fruit, and wheat wherever he went. He was said to wear a crown of lilies, and left a blooming orchard wherever he went. It is said that from him, many noble families and villages formed, and his construction of the Celline Palace and its famous maze of climbing roses in Calise laid the groundwork for Calise to assert its dominance in the region in the years that followed. Legends state it was Gustave the Gardener who first united the many towns and kingdoms for the first time against the Thanic invasions from the east, pushing them back to the Midlands in several wars throughout the early middle ages, and as such, he has become a folk hero for the Caliantene, despite the story largely being debunked. To be certain, it was the city of Calise who organized its families against the Thanes, though it was likely a former mercantile family, rather than a magical fertility god.

Many of these Thanic peoples who were not repelled either settled into Caliantene towns and cities, or married into their noble families. Their languages, while abandoned, heavily influenced regional dialects of Caliantene, with variations such as Loire, Haut, Mortier, and northern dialects. Around these dialects formed numerous petty kingdoms which largely grew to prominence by 500 CE. These petty kingdoms largely warred with one another until 611 CE, when Aurellius II marched into the Loire region and began the Imperial-Caliantene Wars, which lasted until 616, and resulted in the unification of the Loire into the new Augustine Imperium. Over the next several years in numerous campaigns, the Augustine conquered Caliane and absorbed it into the new Imperium.

While in the Augustine Imperium, Calise became a major centre for administration in the region, church authority was solidified, and a new system of nobles and peasantry was created through the laws of the Imperium - bringing the institution of serfdom to the region. Attempts made by Clatula I in 752 CE to standardize the Auene languages as one tongue by enforcing standardized spellings in the Book of the Divines led to scholars writing sounds out phonetically in their own dialects in order to differentiate their tongues from the old Imperial one, largely having the unintended consequence of solidifying the rift between the Nalorene, Augustine, and Caliantene languages by 950 CE. By 1105 there was a question of succession: the old Emperor, Arellius III, was in failing health, and his wife had given birth to twins, Gaivus and Ortillius, who were the younger siblings to his daughter, Gaiva. To settle the dispute to his succession, Aurellius III called the Council of Nervis in 1105 to settle the dispute between his children and ensure lasting peace in the Auene spaking realms.

The Council lasted for three months, with the Imperianstrium hearing arguments from all three claimants to the imperial throne, as well as from lords throughout the empire on who should sit the throne, while Aurellius III realized war would break out if the question was not resolved. Finally, after all arguments were heard, Arellius III decreed that, upon his death, his empire would be split in three: Nalore would pass to his son Ortillius; Caliane would pass to his son Gaivus; while Augustine would pass to his daughter, Gaiva. This agreement was agreed to, and, upon his death in 1117, it took full effect - making Caliane an officially independent nation. Gaivus took a more caliantene name: Guiame, and became King Guiame I of the House of Alene.

Despite the throne of Caliane being passed to Gaivus, several of the regions in Caliane split off to form new regions: forming the Kingdom of Loire, the Kingdom of the Auelle, and the Kingdom of Levant. Gaivus adopted the name Gustave in order to take the appearance of the mythical Caliantene hero, but he only ruled the regions immediately surrounding Calise. In the end, this became known as the Kingdom of Caliane.

High Middle Ages
Gustave I was the first monarch of Caliane, though in reality his nation did not control much of the area outside of Calise, which soon became the national capital of the new kingdom. His reign was one of peace and stability within his administered lands, though relations with other Caliantene kingdoms became icy as Gustave I repeatedly claimed dominion over all of of the lands of modern Caliane. It was he who, in 1123, proclaimed the Noble House of Anois as the official house of the monarchy in Caliane, attempting to unify the realm under his authority. His son, Jean I, succeeded in establishing its dominion over the surrounding provinces of Muelle, and Tourant, then progressively expanded outwards from the "Hauts-de-Capitol" region today into other regions that spanned from Calise to Braves and even the Levant, covering half of the modern Caliantene mainland. Tensions continued to began to grow between the Augustine and Caliantene between the 1180's to 1190's, and soon the two came to conflict when Caliane's King Jean I died and his son, Loys I, became king in 1183. As Loys younger brother, Guiame, was passed over as claimant for the Augustine throne in favour of Nactos of Nervis.

Shortly thereafter, the daughter of Nactos, Auria, stood to inherit the rights to the rule of Liguria, a small duchy between Caliane and Augustine. Loys the Daring, the second son of Loys I, sought to oppose her in favour of himself, the male heir. When Nactos V granted the duchy to Auria, the First Ligurian War was fought when Loys the Daring marched into Liguria in 1191. He became known as "the daring" when he stormed the heavily fortified town of Valcia, and succeeded, despite odds being against him. This, however, was a trap. As his forces were garrisoned in the city, Auria's forces surrounded the city and barred the city gates, and lit the city ablaze. Loys and his forces burned to death, and for her ploy, she became known as Auria the Cunning, though the First Ligurian War was an Augustine victory in 1197.

Loys I as such soon strove to prove he was the rightful heir of the Caliantene throne, and entered his forces into the Loire, beginning the Loire Wars which lasted throughout the 1200s and 1300s. The war lasted through the reigns of King Loys I,King Loys II, and King Henryet I, and borders between the two kingdoms shifted back and forth on several occasions before a truce was negotiated with Caliane ending the Middle Ages at its largest extent to that point, largely only missing the Loire proper from its realm. Additionally the Scarlet Plague struck Caliane in this time and killed nearly 29 million people, as it ravaged through the country and the rest of Avanor.

Early Modern Period
''Despite his attempts at solidifying his realm, however, he allowed relative autonomy to the nobility under his reign, granting them the right to collect taxes, although at a rate the monarch set, and maintain relative control of their holdings. However, with his death in 1148, his son Jean I took the throne, and this independence came to be a problem, as Jean fought with the nobility on taxation and the raising of armies throughout the beginning of his reign.''

''Meanwhile, in 1151, the death of King Olaurae I in Nalore left the Nalorene throne without a clear heir - as he had no children. As such there were two options considered for an heir: the former king's sister, the Princess Bemere, or his cousin, the Prince Guiot of Braves, who had never set foot in Nalore. The lords of Nalore crowned Bemere Queen, though Prince Guiot argued that it should be him on the throne, as he was the only male heir alive. He gathered his forces with the aid of his uncle, King Jean I, and marched to Nalore. Emperor Clecino II of Augustine, meanwhile, secured a marriage pact with Nalore, and as such found themselves allied against Caliane in the war which came to be known as the Five Years War beginning in 1152. The Caliantene attempted to move into the north of Augustine, taking the Ligurme Region by the spring from the Augustine forces, reaching the banks of the Ligure River. The fighting in the Ligurme Region would last for the rest of the war, as Caliantene troops continuously failed to make further gains towards Nalore, while causing massive casualties on both sides until, finally, as it became clear that neither side would be able to win the war, the Treaty of Nervis signed away the right of the throne of Nalore from the House of Anois, or any Caliantene nobility, and vice versa. Additionally, in exchange for ended hostilities, the Caliantene agreed to withdraw from the Ligurme. Despite this defeat, the fighting of Caliantene troops from all over the kingdom against the Nalorene and Augustine solidified a national identity, and allowed for greater national unity.''

''Jean I was replaced by Loys I in 1188, who became known as Loys the Pious. His dedication to the Sanctum led to the faith becoming the official religion of the monarchy. He is known to have raised taxes on brothels and taverns across the kingdom in a move known as the Pillow Tax in order to fund the construction of numerous Octrys throughout the realm. He was said to walk barefoot in the capital, meet out judgements and make r''

''ulings from the throne in the company of eight Octums, and even was said to have washed the feet of orphans and beggars in the soup kitchen's of Calise. Rather or not he did any, or all of these things, the idea of him as the holiest king to sit the throne in Calise has endured into the modern era. He died of old age in 1220, and soon after his son Jean II took the throne. The reign of Jean II would be marked with the arrival of the Scarlet Plague in Avanor in 1230, and its spread throughout the continent and into Caliane. The disease would come and go in waves, going into remission several times and killing nearly 53% of Avanor's population in the process.''

The Scarlet Plague began to ravage the country in the beginning of the 1300s as infected ships and goods from the ports of Augustine bring the illness inland. The plague would not be a single break out incident, but would be a prolonged

In 1385, with the death of King Loys II,

Gilliet I's war with Augustine in the Second Ligurian War between 1388-1390, despite being short lived, as well as resulting in a Caliantene victory, cost the royal treasury money - as their funds had already been depleted by the droughts and lack of productivity during the Scarlet Plague throughout the 1300's. As such, the crown attempted to levy more taxes on the landed nobility, causing uproar over the king's spending. This led to several students of the emerging Great Reformation to call for limitations on the king's powers, and several protests in cities across the nation by the growing mercantile class put pressure on the king to end his absolutist rule. Gilliet I, however, would die before any reforms could be made, and his son, Gustave II, took the throne in 1422 - and with him bringing an end to the Middle Ages in Caliane.

Exploration & Colonization
Gustave II was a student of the reformation, and as such was more willing than his father to embrace reforms. It was Gustave II who signed the Edict of Mortier in 1428, which finally gave the gentry an elected parliament, called the Estate-General, with powers over the purse and war. Further, the first Caliantene university, King's College, was established in Calise, bringing with it students to study philosophies, sciences, law, rhetoric, and other emerging studies. This led to more educated peoples entering the mercantile class and populating the cities such as Mortier, Calise, Rosair, Braves, Colossy, and others.

As news of Augustine exploration down the Korashan coast brought back tales of distant lands, Caliantene explorers, armed with new nautical technology started by the Nalorene and improved upon by the Augustine and Caliantene, set sail, beginning in 1433. Several trading outposts were established down the western Korashan coasts, with Caliantene sailors often competing with Augustine and Nalorene settlers to establish territory in the continent. This would be until Gelenian sailors sailed further west and discovered Larania. The promise of such an unexplored continent led Caliane to dispatch several explorers to the continent, such as Estienne Morel in 1442 who explored northeastern Larania and established Épives, and Henri Bachelot who landed in the swamps of southeastern Larania to establish the settlement of Saint Henri.

Economy
Caliane is a highly advanced social market economy with high levels of income and productivity. With an annual GDP of 7.47 trillion Credit Argents a year, the nation is Avanor's second largest economy, and one of the world's top 10 economies.