House Avian



House Avian, alongside House Erie and House Eyrie, is one of the three houses that emerged from the collapse of the Duchy of Verenia. A small and relatively new country located in Central Griffonia, House Avian is led by its founder Lady Katrina Avian.

Will House Avian manage to rise from the shackles of feudalism and linguistic divide and survive through the upcoming storms? Or will it remain a footnote of history in the rise of some greater realm?

Lore
House Avian, as a separate realm - is a new concept in the long history of Griffonia.

Duchy of Verenia
For hundreds if not thousands of years, the plains of Tarrin, the region where our noble house is currently located, were but mere extensions of various other states. No great lords and realms were born in these wild grasslands, or at least knowledge of such empires was lost after the Kingdom of Aquileia extended it’s borders east.

However Aquilean dominance over these plains wasn’t eternal and unquestionable. Many others desired these lush grasslands, now filled with rich towns and cities, most notably house Eyrie of Duchy of Verenia. Of course while the so proclaimed “Lords of Sun and Moon” were powerful, their might was nothing compared to the one of Discrets. Such status quo would be changed with the rise of the champion of Boreas - Grover I of Griffonstone. The ambitious king desired to unite all of griffonkind under his banner and thus set out on a great campaign of conquest and subjugation.

When the time has come, Verenia under duchess Adelina willingly joined the Grover in his campaign and was one of the first to bend the knee to the future Emperor. During the war with Aquileia. the forces of Verenia fought bravely and valiantly and Grover I rewarded Adelina with a half of the Tarrin region, nearly increasing the size of Verenia three times.

This realm remained relatively rich and prosperous during the Imperial period, even if certain problems - such as the inability to advance and modernize at same pace as certain other regions and the ever growing animosity between the nobility which was split between Aquileans and Herzlanders. Even the attempt of eliminating such problems by spreading members of Eyrie across the realm only lessened the problems and in some cases even worsened them, as part of the royal family assimilated into the regions assigned to govern, creating the cadet branch of Erie.

Erie-Eyrie Feud
The culmination of this slow decline would come after the Griffonian revolutions and the counter revolutions that followed. Verenia was devastated by not only the republicans of the Heartlands, but also by the surge of Aquilean revolutionaries. This completely devastated the realm as many of it’s nobles and even members of house Eyrie and the cadet branch Erie were executed, leaving an old, now childless monarch on the throne and 2 potential successors with an equally valid claim - Iovinus Eyrie and Duke Vincent Erie. Successors, who on the death of the duke, were unwilling to bend and admit the other to be superior and decided that blades were better at deciding such matters than words, declared war on each other, splitting the state into two.

Foundation of House Avian
At first it seemed that Vincent would win, with the larger part of the former realm behind him, however due to actions of Lady Katrina Avian, this didn’t happen. Being the aunt of both pretenders to the throne and unwilling to participate in a conflict between her dear nephews, she broke off her own would be state, proclaiming herself the matriarch of the newly formed House Avian.

However such a choice had quite the negative result. With Avian domains leaving House Erie, depriving them of substantial amount of troops and industry, the front of the kinslaying war stagnated, resulting in over a decade of bloody warfare. Not to mention that such swift breaking up of the Duchy of Verenia resulted in the newly created House Avian facing countless problems themselves - most notable of which is the ever growing cultural and linguistic divide and antagonism between the non-noble population. Of course this isn’t even mentioning the perilous position of existing between Heartlands and Aquilea.

Starting Situation
House Avian starts off in an extremely weak position. It has a tiny industry (1 civilian and 1 military factory), a tiny army, low ponypower, and is surrounded by potential enemies that might invade the country in the future. It is however politically very stable, which gives it a high political power growth early on.

Avian starts with three weak divisions:
 * 1 Infantry Regiment (6 Infantry battalions + support artillery)
 * 1 Household Regiment (2 Infantry battalions)
 * 1 Knights Regiment (2 Knight battalions + support artillery)

Threats and Opportunities

 *  House Erie and  House Eyrie: The two other houses that emerged from the Duchy of Verenia, Avian will have the possibility to ally with, vassalize and possibly even annex them in the Avian Intergigantes path of the politics tree.
 *  Kingdom of Aquileia: House Avian is one of the many targets of Aquileia's expansion focuses.
 *  Griffonian Empire: A resurgent Griffonian Empire will gain a war goal on Avian in its reconquest focus tree.
 *  Griffonian Republic: The Republic may invite House Avian to its faction.

National Focus


House Avian's starting focus tree, from left to right, consists of an air force branch (Form the Avian Aviation Auxiliary), an army branch (Avian Military Act), a political branch (Convene the House Council), and an economy branch (Acknowledge Social Problems).

Politics Tree
The political branch of the focus tree divides into two branches right after the first focus:
 * Go with Count Ehrenreich: Count Ehrenreich and his policy of armed neutrality is adopted, unlocking the Pursue True Neutrality side of the focus tree.
 * Go with Viceroy Joachim: Viceroy Joachim and his proposal to reunite with Erie and Eyrie is adopted, unlocking the Avian Intergigantes side of the focus tree.

Pursue True Neutrality
Pursue True Neutrality is the isolationist path for House Avian. This side of the focus tree rapidly expands Avian's industry, military, and land fortifications. The drawback is that Avian will lose out on the opportunity to ally with and vassalize House Erie and Eyrie, which may weaken the country in the long run.

Avian Intergigantes
Avian Intergigantes is where most of Avian's flavor events and opportunities of expansion lie.

In this path, Avian seeks to end the Erie-Eyrie rivalry and reunite the three houses. The first section of the focus tree focuses on Avian working to bridge the Erie-Eyrie divide by expanding cooperation in research, economic, and social matters. Notable focuses include Support the Tripartite College, which grants an extra research slot.

The next section of this path will see Avian ending the Erie-Eyrie rivalry for good with friendly events. The next section of the path sees Avian, Erie, and Eyrie forming closer relations on matters like military, intelligence, and fortifications.
 * Eyrie-Erie Treaty of Friendship will permanently end the hostility between House Eyrie and House Erie.
 * The Intergigantes Tripartite will create the faction Intergigantes Tripartite, and invite Erie and Eyrie to it.
 * Pursue Full Integration will turn Erie and Eyrie into vassals of House Avian as Avian proposes to take up the mantle of leadership and unite the three houses under one leader.
 * Form the Tripartite Legion will deploy three trained and equipped "Tripartite Legion" divisions, consisting of 6 infantry battalions, 3 knight battalions, and recon company.
 * A Common Military Leadership will promote the leaders of the three houses, Katerina Rivertail, Iovinus Eyrie, and Vincent Erie to field marshals.
 * The Second Winterfest Ball will see the three houses celebrate their unity by launching another, larger Winterfest Ball.

Here the story takes a turn: violence suddenly erupts during the Second Wintefest Ball, plunging House Avian into a civil war. The civil war is resolved through events, and one of three factions will emerge victorious: the Communists, the Loyalists, or the Militarists. An additional faction-specific branch of the focus tree will be unlocked following the civil war.

Communist Path
If the Communists emerge victorious, Erie and Eyrie will be immediately annexed upon the completion of the civil war events. Integigantes Tripartite will be disbanded, the national spirit Enlightened Feudalism will be removed, and most of the royalist generals (Iovinus Eyrie, Vincent Erie, Katrina Rivertail, and Trubach von Zypressen) will be made unavailable.

The Communists' branch of the focus tree grants some small bonuses across the board. The final focus, Socialist Technocracy (unlocked after "Finalize Industrialization" and "Finalize Education Reform" from the economy tree are finished), grants an extra research slot, increases societal and scientific deveopment, and cores all Erie and Eyrie territories. This focus is the only way to get the fifth research slot as House Avian.

Loyalist Path
If the Loyalists emerge victorious, Trubach von Zypressen will stop being a general. Unlike the Communists and the Supremacists, Erie and Eyrie will not be immediately annexed.

The Loyalists branch of the focus tree starts with purges of the military and the aristocracy, adding some negative effects. Later focuses will liberalize the country and add some positive bonuses.

The final focus, Permit Local Elections, will change the ruling party to the Harmonist Federalists party, and remove natioal spirit Enlightened Feudalism.

Militarist Path
If the Supremacists emerge victorious, Erie and Eyrie will be immediately annexed upon the completion of the civil war events. Iovinus Eyrie, Vincent Erie, and Katrina Rivertail will stop being generals, and Intergigantes Tripartite will be disbanded.

The Militarists' branch of the focus tree is currently the largest and most advanced post civil war focus tree branch for House Avian.

Declare the Kingdom will see dictator Trubach von Zypressen declare the creation of the Kingdom of Verenia and name himself Kaiser Trubach von Zypressen I. The focus will core all Erie and Eyrie territories and remove the national spirit Enlightened Feudalism.

Following the declaration of the Kingdom of Verenia, the next section of the focus tree branch grants war goals on the Free Territory of Adelart,  Pomovarra,  City of Flowena,  Kingdom of Griffonstone, and finally the  Griffonian Empire.

Integrate Copperhill will core the Stone Highlands province of Griffonstone. Reinstate the Kingdom will release the Kingdom of Griffonstone as a puppet state of Verenia. Form the Archduchy will release the Archduchy of Flowena on Adelart, Pomovarra and Flowena (with all their territories cored), as a puppet state of Verenia.

The Kingdom of Verenia has special decisions to manage its conquered territory.


 * The original core provinces of Greifenmarschen and  Yale Rectorate can be cored through decision. The province of Helheim from the  Griffonian Empire can also be cored through decision.
 * Verenia can release new puppet states on conquered territories in order to expand the Zypressen dynasty. These new puppet states do not follow the pre-conquest borders exactly, and as a result the released puppet states may own some colony states.
 * Verenia has decisions to cede specific territories to the two puppets it created through the focus tree. Territories ceded this way are immediately cored by their new owners.
 * The original core provinces of Blackrock's Bandits can be ceded to the puppet Kingdom of Griffonstone. The province of Creeper Mountains will not be cored by Griffonstone however.
 * The provinces of Glensi and Falcontown from County of Greifwald, and the provinces of Westkeep and Illeagle from  Marquisate of Westkeep can be ceded to Archduchy of Flowena.



Militarized Neutrality and Isolation or Foreign Politics.
At almost the beginning of the game, House Avian needs to choose its foreign politics way that affects everything that will happen later.

A comparison of the benefits of the two key trees are shown below.

Technocrats, Loyalists or Militarists.
If Avian goes by the way of Viceroy Joachim for 1120 days (full tree) - it will get an event, that gives the following options for your Politics Focus Tree modification: A comparison of the benefits of the three trees are shown below.
 * Communists Tree
 * Harmonists Tree
 * Supremacists Tree

Military Leaders
Army Commanders