Moskav
Moskav is a nation locked in endless battle with those who would take their homeland from them. Their land is one blasted with an endless winter and their leader Tzarina Anastasia the Ice Queen may well be the most powerful human mage on Zirael, wielding the power of winter itself.
History
Truda was a peaceful and beautiful land of towering mountains and open plains. It was kept from the elements by the power of the waystones present in the volcanic mountains.
When the Loxodon invaded, the Moskavites were unprepared and began losing badly.
As Lipkov, the largest settlement east of the mountains fell, Tzarevna Anastasia journeyed into the mountains and drained the power of the waystones into her staff. The volcanoes grew silent and lava flows froze to obsidian streaks on the mountainside and a new age of winter began on Truda.
Snow and ice permanently set in and the Moskavites suffered as the towns and villiages of the mountains became uninhabitable, but Anastasia's gamble paid off. The Loxodon advance was slowed to a crawl as they were completely unused to these new freezing conditions. Tzarevna Anastasia took this opportunity to lead her people west and begin fortifying positions beyond the mountains.
Her father, the Tzar Igor the Bear refused to leave the religious capital of Aurillia in the now frozen mountains. He and his mighty bear Ursun along with the bravest of his winged hussars swore to hunt the mountains and make the invaders pay for every step they took in their advance. The fierce blizzards and freezing temperatures make venturing into the mountains near impossible and Igor and his brave retinue have not been seen in over a decade.
It is said when the wind blows down from the mountains it brings with it the roars of a mighty bear.
With her father gone Anastasia took up the mantle of Tzarina and rules the Moskavite peoples, wielding her great Staff of Winter from within the walls of the citadel palace of Stovaya.
Territories
The areas to the west of the mountains Truda and lands in The Hinterlands, sandwiched between Sollen and the Hinwald.
Religion
The Moskavites follow the state cult of Auril, Godess of Winter. It was through her power that Truda stayed a paradise for centuries, and it was through her power that the island fell into ice and snow to slow the invaders. However in the last decade a new sect has arisen. That of the Great Orthodoxy.
Lead by the Grand Patriarch, the priesthood of the Great Orthodoxy holds as much power as the Boyars with a deep control over the common folk. This means the Boyars have to appease the priesthood or risk civil uprest.
With the Tzarina's focus localised on Truda and her edicts few and far between, the Grand Patriarch has become the de facto leader of the people of Moskav more so in the Ironan territories where Anastasia's influence is less.
Worship
In Moskav, whilst some people have shrines to individual gods, and many others follow the state cult of Auril, the majority of churches and cathedrals are dedicated to the Great Orthodoxy and are to the pantheon rather than to specific deities.
Type
Geopolitical, Empire
Capital
Demonym
Moskavite
Leader
Head of State
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Power Structure
Feudal state
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Related Ethnicities
Comments