Principality of Greater Tersinop
The principality of greater Tersinop is a large country in the southeast of Abkhazia. The lush, warm region is seen by many as a center of culture and innovation where people tend to appreciate the beauty of life. Though a deeper look reveals these to be privileges of the upper urban class with many peasants living a life that doesn't quite live up to the country's reputation.
The thousand color valley
Suspicondo perilaric
Totznaro
Gulnaga and Seropa, two Halfling innovators in magic and alchemy honored in marble on a square in the city of Ceuto
Etymology
The state is named after the province of Tersinop, previously one of the most populous and wealthy regions of the Abkhazian empire. The name Tersinop is derived from old local languages that eventually fused with common to form the Velici dialect and translates to "The two-sea bridge".Geography
The principality of greater Tersinop stretches over the previous province of Tersinop, in the center, most of Hod in the west as well as Malayed in the south east. The landscape of Tersinop and eastern Hod is lush and warm with rich vegetation, though often dry and prone to fires in the summer. Most of the country is rich in agriculture as it is the source of many of the most desired fruits of the continent. The very west of the country is more wet and swampy with many small rivers stretching over even floodplains. The very south east, in the previous province of Malayed is a swampy jungleland, the home of tribal groups collectively called the Lizardfolk. While the people of Tersinop would certainly prefer for everyone to forget about its existence, there is one place though which does not fit the idyllic nature of the country: "Suspicondo perilaric", also known as the "strange dangers", a weird arcane anomaly in eastern Hod. Very little seems to make sense to the common mind in this region where people report of physical anomalies, weird creatures and eerie sounds that already made many unsuspecting visitors lose their mind and never return from it.History
The lands of Tersinop and Hod have been amongst the most populous and popular regions of the continent for centuries. Tersinop, the original homeland of the halflings was quickly overtaken by humans coming from the west, who forced many shortfolk to move to the regions of nowadays Rayfort and Soleriant. Despite this, some regions of Tersinop have a Halfling majority to this day. The city of Totznaro was founded by human settlers as early as 50 AGF and for many years it was the undisputed center of power in the east until slowly losing that power to Markut in the north. However, the region still remained one of the most wealthy areas and an important breadbasket of the Lopesa empire. After the Wrath of Gods plunged the realm into chaos the regions of Tersinop and Hod remained loyal to Khania and the economic power of Markut, Tersinop and Hod allowed the eastern empire to weather the shock significantly better than its western counterpart. The monarchs of Khania ruled the remaining realms for another 40 years until the troublesome years surrounding the rule of Queen Falima I. that led to the military defeat against Zeprikan, the fall of Kuznez and the subsequent Markut revolution in 918 AGF. The Lords of the southern realms of Khania strongly disagreed with the revolutionary ideas that sprung up in Khanias capital, and subsequently blockaded and fortified all crossings over the mighty Liberina river and enacted strict censorship within the southern realms to prevent the spread of revolutionary ideas. When the revolutionary government in Markut consolidated, it formally dissolved the empire of Khania and replaced it with a republic, which caused the southern provinces to declare independence as a new state named the "Principality of Greater Tersinop". As it became clear to the new Markut government that the feudal ways were engrained more deeply in the southern people's minds, they reluctantly relinquished their claim on the southern provinces to avoid a civil war and a two-state solution was formally established. In the following years, while the two governments had their disagreements, the two countries significantly improved their relations and are nowadays again considered strong allies and trade as well as vibrant cultural exchange are thriving. In 922 AGF another crisis shook the young state. Unusual occurences were reported from the eastern region of Hod. The sky over the land began to darken, the soil turned black, crops were failing, the earth started to shake and many locals hastily fled the area, which shockingly slowly expanded. The princeps seemed more concerned by the panic that spread among his citizens than with the actual phenomenon. Clerics of Sarenrae, sent by the inquisitor of Soleriant investigated the area but none of their findings were made public. What happened next is disputed but the inquisition announced that they had found the source of the corruption in the two coastal cities Ceuto and Felilla and requested full authority in these cities to root out the source of evil. The principes of the two cities refused, to which the inquisition responded with a swift coup that deposed the principes and put the servers of the sun in charge. The actions of the inquisition within the two cities were never fully disclosed but after a mere few days, the corruption stopped spreading. The supreme princeps demanded the servants of the sun to hand the cities back to his control, a demand that Soleriant refused due to concerns that the corruption would rapidly spread again were the cities to be handed back to Tersinop. The supreme princeps reluctantly agreed to Soleriant controlling the cities temporarily, which is why the two cities are sun exclaves to this day. The corruption was kept stable in size ever since, though it never disappeared, and is now known as suspicondo perilaric.Politics
The country is organized into a smorgasbord of counties, dukedoms, fiefdoms and dioceses, the rulers of which all hold the title of inferior principes which act comparably independently. The highest political power lies in the hand of the supreme princeps, the king of Totznaro, to which all rulers swore allegiance to.Culture
The society of greater Tersinop is resting on a base of habits, unwritten laws and tacit agreements that locals usually naturally learn during their upbringing. For foreigners, who first visit the region these rituals are often difficult to grasp. Life in Tersinop takes place in public. Some would even go as far as saying: "To the people of Tersinop, life is a stage." To be seen and to display ones wealth, skills and talent in front of as many people as possible is seen as an effective way to improve one's reputation. Every man and woman can rise to the top by forging social networks with the powerful, only to abruptly plunge to the bottom should they be publicly disgraced. Therefore, managing ones reputation is seen as one of the key virtues of life and a skill to learn as early as possible. This obsession with public reputation also led to a surge of people thriving in fields like arts and music, professions that would usually be seen as less useful and a waste of time in other regions of Abkhazia. Consequently, the capital of Totznaro in particular but many urban settlements in general, emerged as vibrant cultural centers, fostering a unique and influential artistic and intellectual environment. The cities' culture thrived on a blend of classical knowledge and humanistic ideals. Tersinop became a hub of intellectual pursuits, promoting the study of literature, philosophy, and science. The state's rich culture is characterized by a passion for beauty and a celebration of human potential. While this progressive mindset is thriving in the cities, most of the rural population, far away from the social contacts to the powerful, are constrained to a simple life that lacks most of the fancy character of the urban society. This, however, does not mean that the rules of reputation and representation are not employed to the same extent at even the lowest level.
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