The Vatuvu

The Vatuvu (from the Vatavu river), indigenously known as Abuvixè, is a small country on the continent of Dihara. It is bordered on the East by the Sea of Azad, and surrounded by the Xabéritchi mountains. They pride themselves on being one of the longest running continuous monarchies in the world.

Antiquity
The first settlers of Abuvixè were proto-Adwans who came from what is now Adwa. They went beyond the Xabéritchi mountains and into the Vatavu river valley and they settled with the local people, these peoples fused into one. The first kingdoms appeared in what is now Abuvixè around the 1200s BC, the region was fractured into a multitude of warring kingdoms, the indigenous church formed at this period as well. Around the 600s BC, the Tchégawi church chose to crown the king of the largest kingdom as Kutchégi gawiwi (which can be translated as emperor, or holy monarch), as such they gave him legitimacy to conquer the rest of what is now Abuvixè, he then assimilated, by conquest and diplomacy, the other kingdoms. The subsequent Kutchégi gawiwi gave favor to the church, over time they would replace the nobility, except the kings of the old kingdoms who became sort of governors or local administrators.

Middle ages
Around the first century AC Abuvixè entered into a war defending against the Adwan empire's attempt at making them one of their tributary states, this war inspired Abuvixè's doctrine of isolation and self-sufficiency for the following centuries. Of course private ventures traded with nearby nations such as Adwa and Abayad (via the sea of Azad). This commerce with the east brought Aranism to Abuvixè and a sizable community formed, this new original religion intrigued the Kutchégi gawiwi who secretly converted to Aranism. As per requests from the Aranist community in Abuvixè and the Kutchégi gawiwi an "army" of Aranist missionaries came to convert the Abuviti from the 1010's to the 1050'c AC. The converted Kutchégi gawiwi turned away from the old Tchégawi church and gave his favor to the new Aranist church, this new church took the name of the previous, indeginous church. Later, it became an integral part of Diharan Rite Aranism.

Flag


The vatuvian flag has a ratio of 3:1. It is composed of a square taking up the third of the height of the flag, and three bands taking the rest of the height and a fifth of the width. It has a thin golden border, the bottom half is bordeaux coloured, the top is a milky white, and there are two sideways green triangles, these parts are separated by a thin golden cross, finally there is a golden eight-pointed star in the center of the square.

There also exists a simplified version of Abuvixè's flag, it is used on maps, documents, or anywhere where using the normal flag would be too contraining. This simplified version is a square, it is divided in four equally sized triangles. The bottom one is bordeaux, the top one is milky-white, and both side ones are green, in the center of the square there is a golden eight-pointed star.

When it comes to symbolism the bordeaux colour represents royalty and the power of the king, the green represents life and prosperity, the milk-white represents Aranism and the nation's purity. the golden strips are a representation of the national metaphor for the Vatavu river wich is considered to bring wealth and greatness to the country. The star is a pan-aranist symbol, it could also be considered to represent the mythical star that is told to guide rulers when in crisis.

Naming
The naming conventions in the Vatuvu are linked to the family and genealogy system. Family names are tied to the place of origin of the family, to properties owned by the family, or a special trait a family has (although this last one is rarer). As families get bigger it becomes difficult to trace one's lineage and inheritance, as such parts of the family add another name so as to specify wich part of the family they are, these names often are linked to a property owned by this part of the family or a property they can inherit. For personal names the system is different, it usually is a name of a founding or glorious ancestor, or a great person in history (such as a king or a saint). As personal names get used and reused in the same family nicknames have been usedmore and more in order to specify the exact person. An example of these naming conventions is Mixili "Tavi" Xéluse alè Vataluse pu, this translates to Mixili "the tall" "Oasis" "of the river", the wachiro gi's family originated in the north of Abuvixè around an oasis hence this name, the part of the family from wich he comes from moved and bought a property near a river, that is where they got this second name. His first name is in refference to saint Mixili the burned, a popular saint in the Vatuvu. As for his nickname, wich helps differentiating between him, his brother, his paternal uncle, and his great grandfather, is quite self-explanatory.