Älved

6, 54, 124
Zwíe Älvidske Ídgenis Deuxième Confédération Alvedique / Second Alvedic Confederacy
Flag
Anthem: Mi Älvidskar (We Alvedians)
Capital	Adventikum
Largest city	Telldorf
Official languages	Alvedic, Mergan, Franquese
Nationalities	Alvedic 96% (about 2/3 Adventians and 1/3 Romandians), other 4%.
Demonym	Älvidsker (Alvedic)
Government	Federal State
Area
• Total	166'300 km2
Population
• Estimate (TBD)	TBD
• Density	TBD/km2
HDI (2019)	0.675 medium
Currency	Alvedic Franc (ALVF)
Drives on the	right
Internet TLD	.alv

Älved or Alved is a country in northeastern Uletha.

It shares borders with Darcodia, Vyzesh, Brevinia, Neberly, Bois-Unis and Karamsk.

History

First settlers

Lost between the Mergan-Neberlian gaermanic sphere, the Darcodian-Ispelian latin sphere, and the Escadian-Karolian ugric sphere, Älved has been a sparsely populated territory for a long time, out of reach of most commercial roads and historic civilizations of the northeastern Ulethan mediterranean seas.

Eventually, merchants and explorers ventured further north as time passed by. As Ingerish speakers colonized the whole Neber valley, and as the Surian civilizations supposedly established commercial outposts in Karamsk and Latania, the Älvi valley eventually went colonized by Mergan settlers too, establishing their first permanent settlement in the mountains of Aldland, away from the disease-ridden swamps of the Älvi Valley. Several outposts like Telldorf, Adventikum, or Adventsillett were made on the way between the colony of Aldland and the rest of the world.

Little is known about the origin of Franquese colonies in Northeastern Uletha. Alvedic researchers assume that the first settlers of Romandia, as well as the countries of Arcantonia, Labourgesse, or Justinique, originally came from Ataraxia, either through the sea or through Ispelia. The region of Bois-Unis was colonized by a mix of Neberlian, Latanian, and Romandian people, but eventually the Romandian culture stayed.

Nomadic Vyzadian people, supposedly from the far northern lands, have been all around too, now they have their own country of Vyzh-Ulz and still speak their own specific language. They are recognizable with their particularly blonde hair and pale blue, almost white eyes.

As for Brevinian, they are related to Karolian and Escadian, their region is located on a commercial route connecting the Karolian sphere, the Escadian sphere, and the northern seas, passing through UL079 as well.

The Confederacy

According to Darcodian archives, the region was conquered and added to the greater Darcodia. But after a long period of instability, Alvedic, Romandian, Vyzadian and Brevinian people fought for independence.

The first Alvedic Confederacy was a federation of the four historic nations Adventsland, Brevinia, Vyzadia, and Romandia (the northeast known as Forestia or Bois-Unis being a sparsely populated dependency of Romandia at that time). Then, following political unrest between the nations it became Alvedic Union for a short time, with a somewhat authoritarian government and a unified language made from all the local dialects, Alvedic, slowly being pushed into education and administration.

Due to their remoteness, most regions of the country have been very isolated in the past, and the lack of development during the Darcodian era led to frequent clashes between the fragmented populations and cultures. During the XXth century, the Älvi valley, Thürsland, and the maritime provinces have seen an economic expansion, due to the rail connection between Darcodia and Neberly, crossing Älved.

Civil War in the Union

Due to the weak Confederate government and the failed Union government, there have been riots everywhere in the country between pro-Union, pro-Confederate and independent factions, especially in the most remote parts. Eventually independentist movements won over the place, due to the limited manpower of the Union facing internal tensions in "core" Älved too. Alvedic Union split up, forming the new independent countries of Brevinia (or Brevinfeld) and Vyzadia (or Vyzh-Ulz) on the west. All central and southern Romandia remained loyal to the power of Adventikum, whereas all the northeast part of Romandia, hostile to the Union and more on the side of Neberly due to economical opportunities, made secession and formed the federation of United Woodlands (Bois-Unis).

Second confederacy

The second Alvedic Confederacy is made of all former Adventsland and Romandia except all the northeast part who declared independence as Bois-Unis (United Woodlands)

Flags

Flag of the 1st Alvedic Confederacy Flag of the Alvedic Union Flag of the 2nd Alvedic Confederacy

Geography

Dry, continental climate with various features: small mountain ridges, long hill ridges, big plains, and big shallow lakes with marshes. The climate is more temperate in the Älvi plain due to the lakes, and harsher in regions like Norrbunden or Mittelälved.

The biggest lake, Bärniseien (Bear Lake) has a maximal depth of ~ 15 m and has a very variable level. In the autumn or winter it can even split into 3 different lakes, leaving large swamp areas on the sides. During the high water season, small boats can cross it entirely from northeast to southwest. Bärniseien generally freezes during the winter.

The tree line in Älved is about 1200-1400 m. The highest point is Gottspferdsattel or Saddel (about 3000-3500 m), an isolated ridge of big summits in the Oberthürser Alps.

People and languages

The majority of the population is composed of Adventians (speakers of Mergan dialects) and Romandians (speakers of Franquese dialects). There are Neberlian and Brevinian minorities in some towns, as well as a few Vyzadi left in the northern swamplands.

Alvedic language (a Gaermanic language constructed from all Mergan and Franquese dialects plus common Brevinian and Ingerish words) was pushed by the government of the Union. At the fall of the Union, citizens of Älved voted for keeping Alvedic as administrative language, and prevalence of Alvedic as 2nd language is now common throughout the country, and as 1st language on the rise too. There are still regions which are predominantly standard Mergan-speaking.

The two regions of Delta have had an hybrid language between Darcodian and Alvedic. It's almost completely extinct today, but it's still visible in town names and folk songs.

Transport

Due to high prices, climate conditions, and even traditional and religious values in some areas, Älved's road system is largely underdeveloped outside the main international highways. The amount of vehicles per capita in Älved is one of the lowest in Eastern Uletha. It is so low that even the road classification system has been remade to describe public transportation lines and fret lines, so that those get the funding first. This fashion might extend to the neighbouring countries Brevinia, Vyzh, and Bois-Unis.

Public transport by road is a mix of bus companies and private-owned minibus or shared taxi lines.

Rail network is reliable, though it can be slow. The national company ÄBB manages most of the rail network. There are some narrow-gauge local and scenic railways too. Adventikum has a tram network too.

The roads in Älved:

- marked with MOTORWAY are freeway sections around cities.

- marked with TRUNK are the main international road system, used for fret and long distance.

- marked with PRIMARY are the main national road network and bus system. Frequent long-distance and local bus lines operate on them. They are paved in priority.

- marked with SECONDARY are the local connections to villages. Local bus lines operate on them at regular schedule. They might be paved or not.

- marked with TERTIARY are roads of least importance. In the cities, they describe local bus service. In the countryside, they describe infrequent/seasonal service. They are generally unpaved, except in larger towns.

- marked with UNCLASSIFIED have not yet been classified above (= mapping is not complete).

- Tracks are generally impassable with standard vehicles.

Provinces

Cantons of Älved

Name	Capital	Lang.	Area (in km2)	Population (2020)	Density (2020)	Local development index	High definition mapped zones
Adventia	Adventikum	AL	-	-	-	above average	City of Adventikum
Aldland	Stýra	AL	-	-	-	rich area (highest)	Whole region, especially near the Althurm
Älvbach	Älvbach	AL	-	-	-	above average	-
Arpitinia	Guarera	AL	-	-	-	low	-
Arthland	Arth	AL	-	-	-	low	-
Bärnhafen	Bärnhafen	AL/VY	-	-	-	average	City of Bärnhafen
Centrale-Romandia	Corbière	FR	-	-	-	below average	-
Delta	Brava	AL	-	-	-	very low (lowest)	-
Grande-Rocadia	Rocade	FR	-	-	-	above average	-
Lacustria	Eburodun	AL	-	-	-	above average	-
Mittelälved	Silsee	AL	-	-	-	below average	-
Maritime-Romandia	Mist	AL	-	-	-	average	Murogne region
Norrbunden	Ísdalna	AL	-	-	-	low	-
Paradisem	St. William	AL	-	-	-	below average	-
Pergy-Châtres	Pergy	FR	-	-	-	average	-
Port-Loup	Port-Loup	FR	-	-	-	average	-
Suurland	Adventsillett	AL	-	-	-	below average	-
Telldorf	Telldorf	AL	-	-	-	above average	-
Thuliland	Týll	AL	-	-	-	low	-
Thürsland	Grundbach	AL	-	-	-	above average	Füllberg countryside
Tözlár	Olchemler	AL	-	-	-	rich area	-

Economy

Agriculture, logging, livestock, fishing, tourism and some mining. Some parts of the country remain largely undeveloped.

Metal industry, wood industry (woodwork, paper and carpentry) are the most proficient industries. Microtechnology is somehow well-developed in the Älvi basin too.

Aldland is the richest region, being considered a "holy land" and one of the oldest permanent Alvedic settlement, they get an additional benefit from tourism including religious tourism.

Education

- University of Thürs.

- University of Adventikum, on the eastern side of Adventstop, in the capital city.

- International IT School in Pregmatsch.

Points of Interest

- Old city of Adventikum (detailed area)

- Although isolated in the mountains, the canton of Aldland (literally: Old land) is one of the oldest permanent settlement area and the geographical center of Alvedic culture. It is home of a particular variant of the religion, and the temple on Felthurm mountain is a pilgrimage site. (large detailed area)

Trivia

Origins

I, SwissCrusader, have been into worldbuilding, drawing maps and stuff, since my late childhood, and also later on. Some were used in homemade RPG's, or custom maps for diverse game mods (which have been lost and not been released in general).

At some point, during maybe 2 years, I also had very lucid dreams that were happening in some fictional world that looked a lot like the real world where I lived (Western and Central Europe) and there were connections between different places in different dreams, sometimes I dreamt being twice in the same imaginary city with the exact same features during 2 different nights... and well somehow I managed to connect all these things and to map the world I was dreaming about, and this was for example the base used for the city of Mist.

So I can say that some imaginary land was imagined by me (Aldland area), while some other parts (Maritime-Romandia) were in me and I've seen them in my dreams very clearly. And some parts are actually made from scratch, specifically to fit within the OGF world, like Brevinia which relates to neighboring Karolia, or Bois-Unis which was made to fit within the Neberly design all around.

I created this country of Älvedic Confederacy (obvious reference to Helvetic Confederacy in the real world) from bits and bobs of what I can remember of these imaginary worlds, with some adaptation to OGF's constraints, like the fact that it takes place in a modern world context.

Placenames

I use mostly random generators I made myself, but sometimes there can be a hidden meaning in one name or another.