Zeshinava: Difference between revisions

Lady Ava, otherwise known as Avanira Fonsphorum (Avenɛra Fөnzvюrum in Zeshen), was a Slavic migrant from the Principality of Truřov that immigrated across the continent when Pope Gregory VII called for the reconquest of Istroya from the Oduniyyad Caliphate. Her father, Otislav Fonsphorum (Otaꙉѧlѧv Fөnzvюrum in Zeshen), took the call to arms when she was only 5. Ava begged her father not to leave, but out of religious obligation he travelled to Istroya among countless other thousands of Catholic men beckoned by the pope, leaving his home empty of a patron. To Ava's dismay, she had to remain in Truřov to help her family. Upon a fatal incursion by Oduniyyad raiders however, Ava was left among the few survivors in her village, with the fallen bitterly contesting their homes and livelihoods. In the grief she was left in by her family's passing, she set out to southeast Istroya to campaign alongside her people and seek retribution against her father for his abandoning of the family. Answering the call for aid from Despot Abcis III, Ava joined the ranks of the Iddryitine army under the name Adam. She fought with her legion to retake the outlying islands of present-day Zeshinava and distinguished herself as a skilled soldier considering her small stature. She would set herself apart however in the Siege of Kronzciny, seeking to liberate the people of the caliphate rather than expelling them. Moved by the families left behind by soldiers like her own, she led the people of Kronzcony to the safety of the Iddryitine-controlled shores and pled for the mercy of the Iddryitine authorities. In both fighting the cowardice of the caliphate and commanding compassion to the army leadership she earned herself the respect of her fellow soldiers. She would go on to meet with the occupying forces at the behest of her superiors, wearing a hijab in a show of tolerance and revealing her womanhood. She negotiated the defection of the occupying Muslim forces, and upon bearing the legitimacy of the Iddryitine armed forces and local Muslim ruling class, she proclaimed the Zeshen Kingdom, with occupying-leader Addas al-Ahzmira becoming King Addas, and Ava becoming Queen Ava. The two married, and their kingdom would bear the name of the woman that negotiated its foundation: Zeжcihnω Ava, or in English, Lady Ava.

The Zeshen Kingdom continued to aid in the reconquest of Istroya from the remaining Odduniyad Caliphate and independent emirates. As the crusades came to a close however, the Catholic Church cracked down on Zeshen Kingdom and declared Lady Ava a heretic for wearing men's clothes and marrying a Muslim man. She risked being tried for blasphemy and excommunicated from the Catholic world unless she repented for what she had done. She repented for her wearing of men's clothing and agreed to resign from bearing arms. The Church forbid her from divorcing despite her husband being a Muslim man, but the Zeshen Kingdom was restructured into a grand duchy with the Christian Despot of the Iddryitine Despotate, Theodoric Abcis. Theodoric was crowned Archduke of Zeshinava and converted to Catholicism. Lady Ava became Grand Duchess Ava, and her husband Addas Al-Ahzmira becoming the Grand Duke. Though on roughly equal footing, it was expected that Ava would lead the state with Theodoric rather than Addas, with the Grand Duke title only serving as a technicality on Addas' name. The Iddryitine Despotate remained in the form of the Free Cities of Sydona which would stay under the exclusive control of Archduke Theodoric. This situation allowed Lady Ava to avoid persecution, excommunication, and potentially revolution at the hands of a population angered by her heretical actions, she still remained out of the good graces of much of the Catholic world and was largely forced to resign to the more traditional role of the female leaders of the Middle Ages.

=== Southern Trade Dominance & Feudal Zeshinava ===

Following the collapse of the Caliphate in Sarpedon the new Grand Duchy of Zeshinava would assume the role of the trade hub of the south of the continent. While other major powers were mired by internal conflict through this period, the southern islands would maintain their place as trade hubs despite a new authority. While the Free Cities of Sydona shied away from interaction with the Muslim world, Zeshinava would lean into its position as a bridge between cultures and continents. This served to placate the subservient Muslim population of the officially Christian country and allowed conflict like the inquisitions through the rest of Sarpedon to be avoided, though not without disapproval from the Catholic Church. Formerly at odds with the Caliphate, Audonian rulers would remain amicable with the Grand Duchy as to maintain a semblance of influence on the continent. This further angered the religious population, and the Church used this to their advantage to gain influence against the Caliphate. The Church, for its part in the Crusade, proclaimed control over the lands the crusaders of the Zeshen Kingdom recaptured from the successor to the Caliphate within Zeshinava's modern territory: the Absurid Emirate. This once again divided Zeshinava's government but ensured a pause to the accusations of heresy against the royal family of the Grand Duchy.

 

Zeshinava was in turmoil amidst this conflict of leadership. Nobility was unestablished in the wake of the Caliphate's exit from southern Sarpedon and while the royalty of the land was largely recognized it lacked the capability to exercise authority on smaller scales. This led to a more amicable cooperation between the Church and the Grand Duchy where rather than the Zeshen royal family controlling the land other wealthy crusaders became lords.