Ilois

The Ilois Republic is a nation located on the continent of Ditarre. It is bordered by the Usybork Republic to the north and the A'Roastad Empire to the south. While technically a Human-majority country, it is also one of the world's most diverse, with large non-Human populations especially on its east coast. Its capital is the city of Ilois.

Early history, 500 BT-300 BT
The Iloisa region was first settled sometime after 500 BT. Some of the Uzeb people of the Uzoch region further north simultaneously migrated to the Nokina Peninsula in the east and to the Ditarre plains in the south. The former group became the Nokin people, and the latter group became the Iloisa. These three tribes existed somewhat independently for several centuries until the formation of the Iloisa Empire in about 200 BT.

Iloisa Empire, 200 BT-476 AT
The disparate tribes became united under the flag of Iloisa by about 150 BT, which grew due to enormous agricultural advancement over time. It was ruled by the Imperial Family for its entire history. Prior to becoming a colonial power, the Empire also occupied a section of the Ra'Acen Isthsmus, including the Elven city of Ygasa Vardo and several other territories that would later become part of the nation of A'Roastar. At its peak during the Iloisa Conquest, it was the second-largest empire on the planet.

Beginning in about 32 BT, the Empire attempted to expand to the Frozen Continent. Several families, military personnel, and scholars were sent to the yet-uninhabited area to settle the region in the name of the Empire. The expedition failed, but a young Bytu became fascinated with its environment and would return on several independent expeditions throughout his lifetime. On his final expedition, he met the last Angel, Arrkea, who gave him the essence of the Tulkon. Bytu would travel the world, spreading knowledge and keeping the peace. An unexpected byproduct of Bytu's travels was a more interconnected world: cultures began to learn and trade with each other more often. During his lifetime, Bytu led a wave of immigrants to the Phocahn Peninsula on the Garden Continent, founding the Phocahn ethnic group.

At one point during the lifetime of Tulkon Kytoya, the Iloisa Empire nearly entered a war with Orcanth over ownership of the Nokina Peninsula (which had received many Orc immigrants, giving Orcanth territorial claims to the region) but Kytoya stepped in to prevent it.

In the 400s the Iloisa Emperor was Grytu, who succeeded his mother Empress Ylema. Grytu was eager to pursue a policy of expansion, which many people and leaders inside the Empire began to espouse especially after nearly going to war with Orcanth several decades earlier. An important factor in the success of an expansion would be the support of the Tulkon; however, the current Tulkon, the Dwarf Rum, disavowed his support of the Empire's expansionary policies after his confirmation in 448 AT. Grytu began a campaign of genocide against the Dwarves to kill Rum so that he would be reborn inside the Empire. The genocide also had the purposes of claiming territory on the Onor Peninsula and sending a message to the world's other nations. The campaign was a success, and ended after the deaths of Rum and 80% of the Dwarven population. The genocide marked the beginning of the Iloisa Conquest, a set of conflicts of expansion waged by the Empire.

During the conquest, the Empire founded colonies on Dae Ydelhiad and the Onor Peninsula, while also waging battles on the Garden Continent and the coasts of Orcanth. Rum was reincarnated as Ytinise, an Uzeb Human born to anti-expansionist parents who were killed by Grytu's agents. Ytinise was subsequently adopted by Grytu, and by age 20, she became the Empire's top general. During the Conquest, the Empire spread a lie that the Tulkon was only supposed to serve the Ilois Empire, a lie that was spread systemically in Ilois' education system and throughout public knowledge.

In 471 AT, Ytinise had a change of heart after learning the true purpose of the Tulkon. She travelled to her native Uzybad, where she started a coup and declared Uzybad's independence as the Usybork Republic. This sparked uprisings against the Empire not only in the Human lands, but also in Dae Ydelhiad and Onor. The Onor Insurgency was led by the Balgro, who became one of Ytinise's biggest allies. The Empire officially fell in 476 AT, and Grytu was imprisoned until his death in 485. All colonies were removed from the other nations, and Ytinise helped establish positive relations with those targeted by the War. Ytinise also drafted a plan for the Usybork Republic to be broken up into multiple states if it ever became too imperialistic.

Usybork Republic, 476 AT-700 AT
The next 300 or so years were rather uneventful in Ilois. The post-Ytinise Tulkons kept the peace well. While some lamented the fall of the Empire, most Iloisa were eager to be free of Grytu's oppressive rule.

Ilois IHS, 700 AT-2905 AT
In 700 AT, the Usybork Republic went to war with Orcanth over ownership of the Garden Continent. The conflict threatened to embroil other countries, so Tulkon Bodor split the continent in two. He also decided that Usybork had reached a point where it should be split, and so the country was reformed into the Republic of Independent Human States.

Tulkon Bodor's immediate successor, Epi'hu, used his political career to become the leader of Usybork. He proclaimed independence from the RIHS and reformed the country into the Kingdom of Usybork in 800 AT, and conquered the Ilois IHS and the Nokina IHS. He also had intentions of conquering all of Ditarre. Epi'hu was killed in 809 AT and the Kingdom was split apart. Ilois and Nokina rejoined the RIHS, but the Kingdom refused to rejoin. The Kingdom of Usybork would ally with the RIHS during the Global War and the Second Invasion of the Demons during the 40-Year War, but once the conflicts ended in 1192 AT, they resumed their rivalry. In 1406, the Kingdom reconquered all Human territories, destroying the RIHS. In 1536, the region of Honsin, formerly known as Phocachirsk, declared independence from the Kingdom, triggering an international incident. Epodora, the first Tulkon in over 300 years, helped quell the conflict and allowed Honsin to become an independent kingdom. In 1593, the Kingdom of Usybork declared war on the Kingdom of Honsin. Tulkon Sakyge, a native of Honsin, fought back, and crippled Usybork's navy. Usybork surrendered and the country was again split apart. Honsin, Ilois, and Nokina reformed the RIHS, but Usybork once again refused to become a member state. The Usybork IHS was eventually reformed in 1937, completely restoring the RIHS.

In 2880, the RIHS, ruled by immortals Ino and Etesh, joined Zetopa's Empire of Orcanth. The Ilois IHS, unwilling to be a part the Empire, broke off from the RIHS, triggering the Zatem Crisis, nearly starting a war. Ilois was eventually allowed to keep its independence by Emperor Zetopa, who was not yet ready to start his war. The other ex-members of the RIHS became known as the Human Protectorates.

In 2896, the Empire of Orcanth became the Immortal Empire, starting the Immortal War. Ilois was one of several nations, including A'Roastad, Ynofora, Norte-Muldox, Keghotogh, and Kepet, to form an alliance against the Immortal Imperial Forces. Ilois along with Norte-Muldox focused their efforts on bringing down the Protectorates in a large campaign that ended in 2898 AT at the Siege of Usybork. The RIHS was thus reformed, and fought for the Free Alliance for the remainder of the conflict. In 2905 AT, a temporary ceasefire was declared, but it was a ruse orchestrated by Zetopa to decimate their armies while off guard. The members of the Free Alliance surrendered, and became part of the Empire. However, Von Hamobora, at the time unaware that she was the Tulkon, tracked Zetopa and his allies to their remote base in Nen Ren and singlehandedly destroyed the Empire's High Command along with its Emperor, crushing the Empire in one fell swoop and freeing the world from its control.

Ilois Republic, 2905 AT-
After the Immortal War, the RIHS was disbanded and its members, including Ilois, became fully independent republics. Ilois was a signatory of the Onor-Ynofora Codes. Many immigrants and refugees moved to Ilois, diversifying its population.

In 3033 AT, the Colitzl Pandemic took a heavy toll on Ilois, killing 1 in 2 infected. Tulkon Ico, himself a citizen of Ilois, sacrificed himself to cure the disease.

Demographics and Culture
Ilois is one of the world's most culturally and ethnically diverse countries. Most of its cultural influence comes from its native Iloisa population, but influences from the other four earthly peoples, especially Onor, Nodal, Keghotuhr, Uzeb, Nokin, Ydelhiads, and A'Roafans, are clearly present.

Prior to the Immortal War, Ilois was relatively homogenous, with only small populations of Uzeb, Onor, and Ydelhiads from neighboring countries on Ditarre. The city of Ygasa Vardo was known for being the only non-Human majority city in the country. Upon the declaration of the Empire of Orcanth, many citizens of its newly annexed territories fled to other countries. Ilois, after declaring its independence from the RIHS, became a safe haven for many of these refugees, most of whom stayed in Ilois permanently. It kept this status through the end of the war.

Religion
The nation of Ilois has been, for most of its history, a Tulkonist nation, which came to it via the Nokina peninsula from Keghotogh in about 100 AT. Prior to Tulkonism's dominance, most Iloisa worshipped the god Ukohah, who originally came from the ancient E'Ash pantheon. Ilois has also been influenced by Pantulkonism from nearby Nokina. Daeism first came to Ilois in about 1200, when Ydelhiad Elf refugees settled in the south. Daeism became extremely popular in the south of the country, and remains so to this day as the country's second most popular religion.

Tulkonism is the most practiced religion in the country, followed by Daeism, Pantulkonism, Prophetism, and Savatism.