Lycia

Lycia is an Eastern Mediterranean Coastal Nation, officially known as Lycia, was founded on May 7th, of 2022 (known in Lycia as independence day, from the Hittites) by the current state ruler Deachine. Lycia shares a land boarder with Lesbos in the Ionian/Doris region, and maritime border with Minoa, Cyprus and Lesbos. The country hosts a population of 53, comprising of one active leader being that the leader of the state, and NPCs. The population is majority 99% ethnic Hellenes (Greeks), the countries population is projected to quadruple in the near future.

History
Lycia's founding was started by Greek settlers moving from the main land and Ionia, mostly due to their home lands disagreeing with their political beliefs. After a couple generations the region adopted their own Hellenic culture and in May 2022, the city state of Lycia was born. Near by coastal island's such as Rhodes and the Cyclades were also included into the state's region as large portions of each island were controlled by Lycian officials and higher class men. Additionally, Lycia had gone through multitude of developmental phases and even a couple of population declines due events such as the Romanian raids, Seljuk raids, and Mississippian raids. These events are recalled as the raids of Halikarnassos since the raids took place on the coastal town within the same span of 2 years. Furthermore, the most recent event was the land dispute between Lycia and Minoa over a rock in the Aegean that Lycia controls.

Economy and Society
Lycia is a developed nation with little to no export other then precious stones and fish that the state is abundant in, while its internal economy consists of agriculture goods, metals, lumber (rare wood for the region such as oak), coal, and precious gems such as emeralds or diamonds. Lycia's growth has become exponential due to the rapid increase in population and land expansions as the state's main goal is to develop nearby regions which thereby expedites the nation's growth. Moreover, the nation has been excepting human rights based on the stoic school of thought, and has abolished capital punishment for the most par as the state will not deport citizens to different lands to keep their belief's or actions from tainting the Lycian ways.

The society aspect of Lycia is filled with rituals and practices, for instance, morning baths, working all day but taking a break at noon to escape the heat, sacrificing pigs to Zeus once a week, or for the growing Christian population they practice at home in private.

Government and Foreign Relations
Lycia is an unitary elective monarchy. It is a member of the Greek Economic Union (GEU) and a member of the official Mappercraft discord server.

Lycia-Minoa Proxy Conflict
Additionally Lycia is in a cold war with the Hellenic state of Minoa, located south west of the main land, which is dubbed the Lycia-Minoa proxy conflict with a friendly competition based around stealing one another's tourists, boats etc. as well as the occasional banter and shit talking towards each other's respective countries. However, the state has had recent conflicts such as city state offenses/defenses as a show of strength and prowess, where the loser is the first to back down and revokes any claim they have to one another's land.

Astakida Conflict
During the afternoon of the 12th of June, 2022, a minor conflict and skirmish occurred between the powers of Lycia and Minoa over the island of Astakida. The island's legal claim by Lycia was challenged by the ruler of Minoa as rightful Cretan land. However, Lycia contested Minoa in a battle in the sea and on land for the island, which resulted in a humiliating defeat for the Minoans and the island was left under Lycian control.

Lycia
The geographical region of Lycia serves as the starting point of the states growth, and all national operations are still conducted there, except for meetings with foreign officials.

Krya
Lycia's first town, it serves as a one of the state's food sources and main resource storage for the nation. Moreover, the settlement has a mine and the upper parts of the mine contains a railway station that goes from it to Milet k Myus, a station for the iceway that connects the state to the state of Minoa and in the lower parts a Nether portal for access to underworldly materials.

Babadag
The third sight the state built, which is home to the Library of Lycia, and the nation's Temple of Zeus. It is a region meant for study and ritual practice of the state's main Hellenic religion.

Dodecanese
This region of islands is the most eastward region of the Aegean sea, and Lycia owns most of them including the island of Rhodes, except for Karpathos, and Kasos as the city state of Minoa owns the two.

Rhodes
The island of Rhodes is home to the Fortress of Rhodes which is known as the last stand of the civilized world, it is the most fortified location in all of the state as the whole island has been turned into one massive fort. Additionally, the island has a port on its most northern tip.

Cyclades
This region is a group of islands located in the center of the Aegean sea and is owned by the state of Lycia, the islands remain un-inhabited as the islands are too rigid or small. However the one island that has been developed is the island of Amorgos.

Amorgos
A long thin islanded located in the most eastern part of the Cycladic island region, is home to a hand full of among us statues. These statues are known as one of the wonders of the Greek world and were constructed in early May of 2022.

Doris
The Doris region was the second region that Lycia had merged with, which hosts most of the larger settlements in the nation, and ports for trade as the region boarders Lesbos in Ionia.

Knidos
This was the first village of Lycia, it has a population of 5 and was based on the town in Santorini. The settlement's main income comes from different goods such as metal work, looming, and stone work.

Halikarnassos
The town of Halikarnassos was the second settlement the state made, with a population of 11 and was the first area of major trade. The settlement's main source of income is the production of leather based goods and fish as they are a coastal town. Additionally, the settlement houses the Tomb of Alexander the Great, in the mountain located east of the village on the main road that passes through the entire western coast of state.

Milet k Myus
This settlement of the state is the largest one yet, it has a populace of 19 and hosts the Palace of Lycia and the Arena of Doris. The settlement's main income is from meats and leather tanning as the area has some of the best leather workers and butchers in all of Lycia.

Labraunda
Labraunda is a smaller farming village that supplies the nation with wheat, potatoes and sweet berries which is used for making the state's famous sweet red wine.

Caria
The region of Caria was the third region to merge with the state of Lycia and houses two settlements, and the largest distillery in Lycia.

Kibyra
The largest settlement in Caria, with a population of 14, hosts the nation's largest brewery, which manufactures Mamos beer, Ouzo, Hellenic Whiskey and Red Wine. The settlement is located in a valley between four mountain ranges within Caria.

Araxa
Araxa is a small farm town with a populace of 3, it supplies the distillery in Kibyra with the wheat needed for making Mamos beer, and Hellenic Whiskey. The town is known to have inhabitants emigrate and later return to the village depending on the time of year.

Lycian Structures
In Lycia there are currently a total of four important sights, the first being the Library of Lycia, the second is the Temple of Zeus, the third is the Palace of Lycia, and the last is the Arena of Doris.

Library of Lycia
The Library of Lycia contains works from all around the Hellenic world, it hosts an ender chest, enchantment room and study, which are open to the public for use. The library even has a second floor which is holds even more work ancient texts, with a reading lounge and music box open for public use. Additionally, the architecture of the library is based of the real life ancient Lycian buildings, where the structure is carved into the mountain side, and the exterior has columns which then hold up a carved out box like frame of stone that surrounds the outside of the building.

Temple of Zeus
Considered one of the wonder's of the Greek world, the Temple of Zeus is the only but largest sight of worship to the state's chosen deity. In Lycian fashion, the structure was built into the side of a mountain in Babadag, with five marble columns holding up the marble exterior roof of the temple. Additionally, the exterior roof of the temple shelters a miniature statue of Zeus that was manufactured in Minoa. The inside consists of two rows of sets of four columns, which which hold up the ceiling. The columns themselves consist of marble, carved in Hellenic fashion, with the centers being made of gold and outer parts of glow stone. The floor and ceiling consist of two different stones (diorite and andesite), but the floor also has diamond patterns running through it made of gold, dyed clay, lapis and amethyst crystal. In the back of the temple, a statue of Zeus based on the actual on from real world antiquity, sculpted by the leader of Minoa, Pixonstate, rests there. The favour Zeus has given the state for producing such a wonder for him, is seen as foreigners show their favoritism to his temple, additionally, sometimes you can find a turtle on shore admiring the structure and its said that it is Zeus himself.

Fortress of Rhodes
The fortress was constructed in early May of 2022 due to possible threats of barbarians from central Europe invading the civilized Hellenistic world of the near east. The fort took three days to construct, as the first day was dedicated to creating the outer walls, then terraforming of the landscape outside of them, then on the second day the construction of the inner walls, and on the last day giving the fort functionality. The fort is made up of different stones, that being mainly cobble stone, and deepslate cyclopean bricks. The fortress's design was meant to be taken down as it is meant to be the final stand for the Greek world against barbarians that wish to bring an end to civilization, like all the times before (bronze age collapse, fall of Latin Rome, Islamic conquests in the near east).

Tomb of Alexander the Great
The tomb is found in the most eastern part of the settlement in Halikarnassos and is fashioned in the Mycenean style of tombs. The shape of the tomb is based off the bee hive and is built into hills or the side of a mountain in this case, the exterior consists of a few structural components, the walls made of cyclopean stone brick that hold up the sides of the earth/stone so that it does not collapse in on itself sealing the tomb and a walk way for visitors to walk on. The interior consists of a cyclopean stone brick floor on the edges and deepslate brick on the inner part of the floor. Moreover, the walls of the inside of the tomb are also made of cyclopean stone brick including the ceiling all the way up forming a slight arch. At the center of the interior of the tomb rests a Greek styled sarcophagus which house the mummified remains of Alexander the Great's body. Additionally, Lycia was the chosen city state to house Alexander the Great's body because of the failure for the near east Greek powers to determine who should hold onto the body, so in other words Lycia took responsibility in the end to ensure the body's safety.

Palace of Lycia
The third largest project the nation has ever constructed, is the Palace of Lycia, it was constructed in the Hellenistic style of Antiquity, using different light naturally coloured stones, such as marble, and diorite. The rest being darker materials such as clay and sand based stone for contrast. The building has three floors, the first being the main floor which hosts a kitchen in the most furthest back room, with a stair well that leads to the servants quarters (houses eight servants), a center room where Greek officials will eat with one another and a front lounge room which has two water falls, and two tables for guests to rest at. The second floor is the recreation part of the palace, which has a center table for important discussions and balconies with seating arrangements for guests to socialize at. Lastly, the third floor houses the bedrooms, the smaller one being the guest's room (has a queen sized bed), while the larger one is the host's room, which has a king sized bed, chest storages, sink, meeting table, balcony and other commodities that a ruler would wish for. Furthermore, the palace makes use of red and blue paints to highlight the building's structure and to bring it more to life with contrast. The roof is also made up of a clay tiles which gives the roof of the palace a somewhat reddish-orange colour.

Agia Theodora Vasta
The Agia Theodora Vasta is a church located on the mountain East of Halikarnassos near the Tomb of Alexander the Great. The church is based on the one in real world Greece, where the trees grow out of the church and their roots do not touch the ground, but instead are all hair thin, threading through the stones of the church to its base where water can be collected from the fresh water spring that runs beneath the church. Moreover, some of the trees that grow out of the small church weigh over a ton, so it is a miracle that it has yet to collapse in on itself as the walls were not meant to support such a weight. Additionally, the church itself was dedicated to The Holy Virgin Martyr Theodora of Vasta, due to how the story goes; during times of war, male family members would be taken from the region to defend against attacks, Theodora having no brothers, wanted to save her father from having to join the army, so she disguised herself as a man and took his place. Later a woman would develop a lust for her as she did not know that Theodora was a actually a woman, and the woman out of anger of being turned down claimed that Theodora had impregnated her. The results of this was that the state commanded Theodora to either marry the woman or be executed, she could of chosen to prove she wasn't capable of impregnating the woman, but since that would mean revealing her identity, that would of lead to her father having to take her place, so she chose to keep her identity secret and take the execution punishment. Upon the day of execution, she prayed to God, “Let my body become a church, my blood a river, and my hair the trees.” The spot she was executed on gave birth to a fresh water spring, which soon turned into a river that still exists in the modern day and eventually a church was later built upon that spot out of respect for the fallen martyr.

Arena of Doris
The only arena found in the nation of Lycia, located in the most north eastern part of the settlement Milet k Myus in the Doris region, was one of the last projects for the state. Its structure is circular in nature, with an open roof on the top. It comprises of several different stones, but all the same as the ones used in all the buildings of Milet k Myus. The interior has a small center circle that is elevated from the ground, where two fighters will fight for an audience to watch, from either one of the two bleachers located on both sides of the arena. Additionally, the bleachers are access from the outside of the arena by stairwells, which also have water which spectators can used to clean themselves off or drink as it is from the interior of the nearby mountains. Lastly, the back of the arena houses a statue that was found in the northern part of the Doris region, which was restored by the famous sculpture and leader of Minoa, Pixonstate.

Statue of Zeus
The Statue was built in may 2022, however due to poor record keeping the exact date of its erection was not recorded. Additionally, the work was inspired by the real life one, and constructed by Pixonstate. The statue is made up of different kinds of materials, the cloths being of sand stone, with the edges painted red including the shoes, and both stones have patterns carved into them. The body consists of polished diorite and, the crown, spear and Nike (goddess of victory, and the different ancient dialects of Greek including the modern dialect, use the word for victory) made of sandstone. Moreover, the thrown which Zeus is sat upon is made of marble, with the bottom part painted blue.

Statue of the Lost
The Statue of the Lost was found in northern Doris in early June of 2022, it is thought to have been built by hired native Greek sculptures in the region during the time of the Achaemenid Empire, whom were hired by a local Persian. It is unknown as to why the local ruler would of wanted the statue for, but as of mid June of 2022 it was restored, now resting in the Arena of Doris. The statue consists of two types of stones and two kinds of clays, the body is made of marble, while the cloths utilized sandstone and clay, that was painted in two different shades of red. Additionally, the spear in its right hand is made of sandstone and the tip of clay, the tip painted blue while the shaft painted in red. The which the statue holds in its left hand is made of sandstone and clay which was painted over with blue/red in the center. Lastly, the shield is is in the fashion of the late bronze age Greek shield fashion, which would of been found in Mycenae parts of Greece.

Miniature Statue of Zeus
This statue is a miniature statue of Zeus, which was sculpted in Minoa and imported into Lycia, it rests under the exterior roof of the Temple of Zeus. The design was also used in Minoa's temple dedicated to Zeus, which was the first temple to be built for Zeus in all of the Greek world. Additionally, the design was created by the leader of Minoa, Pixonstate.

Statues of Amorgos
The statues of Amorgos were build in early May of 2022, they are symbols of peace and prosperity as they serve to remind the populace that there are imposters among us, so in order to keep the peace, they must be vigilant of possible people that could be an enemy rather than a friend or even neutral. The statues are made of red clay, a wool like substance coloured light blue, and a torch situated in between the legs of each statue. They were designed by the ruler of Lycia, Deachine.