Rilvania
Once a small nation to the east of Svogan, Rilvania has unexpectedly managed to build itself into a regional powerhouse, despite its comparatively short lifespan.
Rilvania exists both in the mountains and on rolling hills. In the heart of the nation, it's cities and towns are nestled in between great peaks, like little gems hidden away in the fog. A tenuous system of roads connects these urban centers like capillaries against the forces of nature. The mountain passes have provided, on occasion, a bastion against outside forces. The stern soldiers of the nation able to hold them against even the largest of armies. The only limiting factor is the stores of food they maintain within the mountain passes, and the extremely restricted fields and orchards that they can sustain with the limited space.
The nation would collapse, however, without its outer territories. High altitude rolling hills where the nation's staple foods of carrots, potatoes, and barriers are grown. Most visitors to the country are less familiar with the culture of the 'lowlands', and more with the idea of the fog-covered mountain retreats, despite its importance to the survival of the nation. Quaint-yet-quiet.
Its people are hardy but withdrawn around outsiders. Making it hard to truly gather information about the culture. Even if one should live alongside them for an extended period, it can seem that they never truly warm up to the person in question. While this is partially true, it is not the whole truth. It is simply considered incredibly rude to burden others, especially outsiders, with one's own problems and feelings. As such, they maintain a respectful distance. After all, everyone has their own issues.
In territorial issues, the nation will not move. Its people and government will not stand for concessions of any kind. More than likely related to their limiting food factors. As a small nation, incursions by their larger nations have been common, even in it's short lifespan.
Militarily, they've always somehow managed to field an equal force to their invaders, and yet have never needed to institute conscription on the populace. Volunteers have always filled out the ranks, and violent beasts created by gods of the nation bolster their fighting force, giving them phenomenal staying power, as well as the ability to harass and harry forces much larger than themselves. Many legends indicate that Lady Scherzer herself is responsible for the Gift that allow for the creation of these beasts, though conflicting accounts exist like everything else involving the Lady Scherzer. They have not taken direct aggressive action in the majority of their short history, winning territory from the nations that have attempted to take everything from them. Snagging stretches of land to
Structure
Given it's short lifespan, the nation does not have a long history of nobility, but Lady Olesya has no qualms about rewarding loyal subjects with titles and land. With it's gains in the last half-century, there's plenty to be handed out to those deserving.
Culture
As mentioned earlier, the culture of Rilvania is at it's core: Insular.
They do not cut themselves off consciously, but the end result is the same. Distrustful of their neighbors, and often viewed as gruff or straight up cold due to that outlook, they are more tolerant of outsiders that don't originate from countries next to them. Indicative of their outlook simply being a result of the pressure that their neighbors push onto them.
A wandering of the mind can easily postulate on what they would be like if they didn't have armies breathing beating down their doors every few decades.
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