Corvus, officially the Corvus Confederation, is a playable nation in Centaura. It is bordered by Cetus to the east and Riaa to the northeast.
Etymology
The name "Corvus" arrived early during the Libran conquest of the region. Legionnaires reported to have spot a giant bird like creature, some dubbed it "Kreofaia". After the unification of the region in the 1600s, the Khorins would adopt the name Corvus for their realm to correspond with Astranism.
History
More lore can be found on the official lore document.
Formation
Corvus was formed in the 1600s, unified by the Khorin Dynasty as a confederation.
Contemporary
The Corvus Confederation was the rump state formed by Northern Corvus after the annexation of its southern territories by Cetus. Their ideologies and political beliefs, before its annexation, reflected with Antares' (both had similar ideals) and they were de facto allies of each other.
As the new lack of coal impacted Corvun society, crime rates began to rise over the next two decades. The majority of cities in Corvus saw widespread violence — food prices drastically increased, leading to increased robberies and lawlessness in the streets.
The Corvun Army was deployed to maintain order alongside the ineffective police departments. However, many soldiers would end up engaging in lawbreaking activity and accepting bribes. They were no better than the civilians whom they were supposed to police. However, the northernmost regions of Corvus were barely affected by the chaos of urban centers. This was where the wealthy lived; they were more well-mannered and lived better lives. Their wealth meant they could afford the high food prices and other commodities.
Eventually as time went on, enough intelligence had been gathered by Corvun spies in Cetus to determine that the Cetan Army was critically undermanned. Armed with this information, Corvun forces crossed over the Cetan border in 1908, beginning the Southern Corvus War, with many soldiers fueled with a thirst for revenge for the suffering the Cetans had inadvertently caused their nation.
Assimilation into Antares
With Corvun forces struggling against the Cetus tortoismen, and Corvus’ close ties with the Antares Imperium, an agreement was struck between the two countries; Antares would join in the war in exchange for Corvus to be assimilated by the empire.
Shortly after the war’s conclusion, Antares army garrisons were set up in the majority of Cetan cities, beginning an occupation. Corvus was granted the South Corvus region, restoring their borders to its size prior to Cetus’ annexation, while the remainder of Cetan territory was directly assimilated into Antares. Furthermore, Corvus was assimilated into Antares as a puppet, now known as Skorpii Corvus (also known as Skorpivus/Scorpius Corvus).
Skorpii Corvus was allowed to maintain its own military, and would participate in campaigns against Columba and Riaa throughout the Centauran war. Notably, Corvun zeppelins and bombers were effective against Columban forts within the mountains. The Corvus military underwent reforms as well, and received training from Antares officers, as well as higher quality equipment supplied by their parent state.
In 1917, Corvus attempted an attack on Columba from the west, but a panhandle territory of Riaa disallowed any further movement. Since Antares was not yet ready to fight Riaa, all efforts of invading Columba from the west were set aside.
From 1912 - 1923 an Antares military detachment was present in most Corvun cities to assist in improving infrastructure, safety, and government structure. As a result, the standard/quality of living increased drastically, and the populace grew to view their new parent state in a favorable manner. AIA garrisons within the Cetan region were reassigned in 1934, in order to reinforce Antares' campaign against Columba.
Politics
Map of Corvus, 1886.
The Corvun Confederation used to be a splintered group of regions independently ruled over by lords, until the House of Khorin kickstarted a period of unification in the 1600s that consisted of political marriages, alliances, and conquests in order to establish the unified Corvun Confederacy.
Corvus would soon grow to be strong trade partners with Antares, who shared similar values and ideology. This partnership would grow even closer from a political marriage between an Antarean Crown Prince, Aran Tau, and a Corvun Princess, Anna Khorin. In a period of stress caused by the Southern Corvus War, the Corvuns agreed to a partial union with the Antares Imperium in order to conquer Cetus. The Khorin family and most noble houses were allowed to maintain partial rule over what became known as Skorpii Corvus.
Prior to the union, the House of Khorin maintained a federal monarchy, allowing each region's lords a degree of autonomy to govern their own lands. However, the Khorins still had the final say in any political matter. A council of these lords convened bi-annually, but could also be called for an emergency session. In these sessions, lords would raise any issues/matters they had, allowing for open debate & discussion, where the final say in the matter would be settled by the King. Each region had their own police forces, alongside a standing federal army & royal police corps.
The reigning King of Corvus during the events of the SCW was King Oliver Khorin, married to Queen Consort Katherine Khorin. He retained his position into the establishment of Skorpii Corvus, where his son, Henry Khorin, would take over until the Liberation of Centaura in the 1960s. Corvus's capital city was Ravo, located in the north.
Infrastructure
Civilization
Prior to the Cetan annexation of South Corvus in 1886, the people of Corvus were respectable and well-mannered, the polar opposite of what many would know Corvuns to be like in the 1900’s. The confederacy of Corvus prior to 1886 could be summarily split into three areas:
- The north, where the wealthy and nobility lived.
- The urban centers, where more than half of the population lived.
- The south, where resources from farms and mines supplied the country.
The cities were orderly; each had their own police department and many businesses operated normally. The people of Corvus mainly worked to get through their lives and take care of their families. In the 1870’s, the nation had begun industrializing. Cities began converting to steam-powered machines for electricity, and these were all fueled by coal. By 1882, 80% of major urban centers had been converted to run on steam-powered generators. Electricity was a great thing for the Corvuns. With the abundance of coal from South Corvus, it seemed as if everything could run on electricity for a very long time. The Corvuns were actually one of the first countries on Forma to build a nationwide power grid.
1886 War
At the same time, Cetus had began their maritime ambitions and required materials to build their ships. South Corvus held a great amount of iron and coal, and the Cetans saw that the Corvuns underutilized the iron supply. Since trading also proved too costly for the Cetans, they decided to invade and annex South Corvus in 1886. The removal of South Corvus from Corvun control impacted the cities almost immediately. Power plants began running out of coal, and with nearly all urban centers relying on coal plants for electricity, there was too much demand and little to no supply. With half of the country’s coal reserves were in South Corvus, which had just been stolen by the Cetans. The transportation industry was severely impacted, as trains no longer had the means to keep their engines running. To make matters worse, the food sources from the South Corvus farmlands were cut off.
Only a few mines in the north were able to keep producing coal, but the amount being mined was unable to keep up with the consumption rate of the cities. Within a month, the Corvun power grid failed, and all cities underwent a blackout. The Corvun government was in panic. For the first few hours, not a single city in Corvus had access to electricity. Telegraphs were also disabled as a result, and the Corvun government was unable to communicate with the public. A decision was made to send messengers on horseback to each city in order to notify the Corvun population of the next steps.
In short, electricity was no longer available, and citizens now had to use candles or old outdated gas-powered lamps for lighting. Power appliances were non-functional, and the government was not sure how long the outage would last, but it lasted decades. For the first week, citizens were unable to live life normally. Since the trains were inoperable and could not bring food en mass to the cities, the price of food began to rise. Within a year, bread and raw vegetables were the only food items on the market. Restaurants had closed down, as did most businesses.
Aftermath
As prices continued increasing, so did the crime rate. Corvuns desperate for money and food began resorting to violence to get what they needed. Food storages were broken into and robbed, and even random people on the streets were mugged. Food became almost as valuable as money, if not more valuable. The breakdown of civilization led to the deployment of the Corvun Army into the cities, where they would act as law enforcement in lieu of the police department. However, the soldiers, too, felt the impact of poverty.
By 1900, Corvun city streets were the most dangerous places in the country. Murders and rapes were a common everyday occurrence among the civilian population, and the Corvun Army itself saw a decline in its ability to enforce the law. Civilians began forming themselves into different “families”, similar to street gangs. Each family’s goal was to provide for their own people as best as possible, and each had a small territory in their city. Melee skirmishes often broke out in the streets when one family encountered another. Those who were not aligned with a family were constantly attacked and robbed, sometimes just outright killed for nothing.
Prelude
In order to survive well in Corvun cities, one had to be very aware of their surroundings. There was also one unspoken rule that almost every city dweller followed: stay out of the open. Nobody wanted to attract attention to themselves, so the best way to move around the city was to avoid the main roads and take lesser-known streets and alleyways. With many citizens following these rules to survive on a daily basis, government officials began to wonder if these were good qualities for a soldier.
The social instability of the urban centers did not seem to be a bad thing for the government. In 1905, the Corvun government realized they could potentially use the anger and frustration of the citizens to enlist them into the Army in an effort to retake South Corvus. Additionally, their survival instincts from the cities could also help them live through a firefight. In just 3 years, the number of personnel in the military quadrupled. Propaganda was instilled into the soldiers, and they all agreed that the Cetans were to blame for their hardships. Thus, they would show no mercy to the enemy
Military
See more in: Corvus/Military
In the wake of the 1886 Cetan annexation of South Corvus, the Corvun Army became a key instrument to stability and the reclamation of South Corvus. Despite Corvus' smaller population, their army was much larger in size than the Cetan Imperial Army's, thanks to revanchist
rearmament and recruitment of citizens eager to inflict hell on the Cetans for creating their atrocious living conditions. This would be a deciding factor in the initial stages of the Southern Corvus War.
Equipment
 Corvus Confederation
| |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapons | Handguns | Malleus | |
| Rifles | T05 | ||
| Submachine guns | T09 | ||
| Melee | Club • Southwestern Ensis | ||
| Special weapons | Anti-Tank Rifle • Flamethrower • Mortar | ||
| Utilities | Grenades | Grenade • Smoke Grenade | |
| Support | Bandage | ||
| Miscellaneous | Uniforms | Corvun Uniforms | |
Trivia
- Originally in the lore, Corvus assisted Antares in the Aquilan Campaign, though this was changed for unknown reasons. We can presume that the Corvun soldiers were simply ordered not to participate by Corvun/Antarean high command as they were needed in their homeland to supervise the reconstruction of Corvun society.