Sovian (Ethnicity)

Before I begin this article, this page refers to "Sovia" as the civ race, rather than the collection of Sovian Nations that have existed in past.

Sovia is a group/nation in CivClassics which is one of the biggest groups and has one of the most influential cultures on the server. Almost one person from nearly every active nation has been in Sovia at some point. While Sovia spent the majority of the server without a city or land, they briefly owned the lands of Verda for a few months, building a city prior to the Nyasaland invasion. Sovia-Verda now ceases to exist, with the remaining Sovians living in Icenia or New Sovia.

Formation
Sovia was formed on Devoted 2.0 on the 1st of May 2016 by Henry_VIII and Laikalike. The nation was mainly composed of newfriends, until a brewer called Pirater from the cities of Vegas and Red Sand decided to help them and join. Due to the admins setting one of the spawn regions near Sovia, Sovia had a rather large population of over 20 people at its peak. What made Sovia unique is that there was no cohesive theme for the city, and it was originally a mix of Medieval and Communist architecture (despite being a Monarchy). A distinctive landmark of Sovia was the Obsidian Tower, with the trench and bastions provided by ashnwill and the tower built by Pirater. Originally, Sovia was renowned for its seed industry (which eventually was replaced with the string industry by Pirater in Civclassics 2.0).

Now lead by Pirater and SwiftFizz, Sovia is one of the most relevant and marvelous nations on the Server. A common misconception is that Sovia is named after the Soviet Union - it was actually named after a butterfly genus. Sovia has a diverse culture, influenced by the many types of people in the group today. As of the 16th of February 2019, the Sovian Illuminati group chat has over 150 total members - one of the biggest groups in the server.

End of Devoted
Due to Pirater's meteoric rise in popularity during the Fractured Nation Era - some Sovians were afraid that the country would soon become a dictatorship. As an Oxeyean, Pirater abdicated to Oxeyean Skyland (very close to Sovia city, but to the north) from Sovia City. Gathering support, the Skylandic citizens under Pirater launched a battle in Sovian Kingdoms - pearling many of the Sovian leaders who hadn't already quit the server at this point. After a few hours of skirmishes in the Sovian streets - Pirater became leader, improved living conditions by tearing down communal housing, and also built castles and luxurious housing. The surviving Sovians agreed to form one nation - which became the Sovian Republic. Sovia eventually went underground during the great war of the server (Pirates vs Agora) - and they all ended up quitting or living in the Sovian Underground Bunker (due to a tip off that some of the people on the non-Pirate side were hunting Pirater). Sovia fell into slight activity around now, because Pirater thought it would be funny to join the pearled people's nation of Swedend and jumped into a trench calling someone gay. This got Pirater pearled for a few weeks, but once Pirater was freed - Sovia immediately began mining, amassing a large wealth of almost 2 stacks of diamonds. Injured by raiders, Sovia eventually had to join the neighboring nation of Arbosia in a union. The server ended with Pirater as the last Sovian (in exile near Pirate Bay), willing to continue the legacy of Sovia as far as the Civ Genre would last.

Civcraft 3.0
While Sovia did not have an actual nation on here by the name of Sovia, they had a small Illuminati which was fairly active - however it was not yet as big as the Illuminati we all know and love. Pirater was in Aegis near the start of the server, however decided later on to move to Mt. Augusta, where Pirater and Tomw9981 (another active Sovian) decided to construct a really huge house. This annoyed a lot of people, which drove Pirater into exile in the house due to fear of getting murdered. Here, Pirater began some of the most influential books and devised some of the most influential ideas in Civcraft history. The idea of the Piraterocracy was groundbreaking, and eventually found its way into Sovia. The nation of Fremdberg was a Sovian Front in the Shrek Shard, and this is where Pirater lived after Mt. Augusta. People such as The_Hobbyist and many others tried to get Pirater kicked out of Mt. Augusta due to the fact Pirater was part of Aegis earlier on and they don't like the huge house built by the two remaining Sovians. Eventually, the server closed and Sovia moved to Devoted 3.0.



CivClassic 1.0
Sovian Illuminati members Pirater, Magmus and Tomw9981 decided to establish the city of Fjalland on this server. Fjalland was a beautiful nordic-style mountain city, mainly built by Pirater and Tomw9981. They had lots of awesome things, like a floating ship and fancy houses. While fairly inactive, Fjalland still managed to remain more active than the rest of the server since everyone else was busy playing the other server. Due to the fact that nobody else was playing the server, Fjalland declared victory. This was Sovia's first ever victory royale on a Civ Server. This is also where the Sovian Illuminati first became a widespread group.

Devoted 3.0
Early on in Devoted 3.0, the two Sovians, Pirater and Tomw9981 decided to settle in the small town of Yoahtl. They had a really cool brewery that was built into the face of a cliff using CastleGates. Later on, Pirater joined the COAC, which Sovia was a part of for all of Devoted 3.0. Eventually, StateApparatus found them some land, and the Sovian Commune was established. The commune was an anarcho-communist nation, however, it still supported the idea of Piraterocracy (a key aspect of Sovian culture). The Sovians (now including OliScrat and TommySalads), decided to build houses on the Archipelago where the commune was located. While Sovia didn't really do much on this server due to Pirater's almost year-long inactivity, this was their third city. Sovia remained fairly undeveloped and a humble archipelago until the end of the server. The only real achievement of Sovia on there was overthrowing the oppressive Liechtenstein regime.

Early CivClassic 2.0
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few""-Pirater on Sovia's reach and Impact."Here is where Sovia became the Sovia we all know and love today. The original Sovian Settlement was underground, and ran by Pirater and Swaggy_, it was known as "The Rift". However, after Swaggy_ was prison pearled by known hackers and her pearl was sent to a vault (which shouldn't have been allowed), she quit, leaving just Pirater. Around this time, the SovianIlluminati group from CivClassic 1.0 was revived, and many other people were added. The first few members were Pirater, Swaggy_, Neptun3 and Magmus. Sovia ironically made terrorist threats to try to end the illegal/rule breaking pearling of Swaggy_, but it was no use and she eventually quit, leaving Pirater as leader of the rift. Somehow, Pirater lost an entire nation, and eventually moved near Etherium and Rhodesia and lived in a bunker next to Neptun3's after building a mushroom farm. In this period, SovianIlluminati became the active group chat that it is today.

After Neptun3's pearling and banning, Pirater moved to Verda and continued leading Sovia from there. Eventually, Pirater met squareblob in Verda, and they began launching an offensive against Lexington in the new war. Several sovia-posts were made about the war with Lexington, and Sovia even declared victory - becoming the first nation to beat Lexington in a war. Pirater and squareblob approached the Lexington vault one day, where Pirater was very close to killing bewsiej and sintralin but got blown up by a creeper (Pirater was only wearing prot shoes, because full prot is kinda overpowered). This era showed the strength of Sovian Meme Power, and the Sovians donated supplies to Peter in the end. Sovia went on lots of awesome adventures, such as claiming the center of the world, and also denouncing people and making memes.

Golden Age of Sovia
Around 2018-2019, Sovia gradually picked up pace and reached ~155 members. Sovian Culture gained worldwide recognition, and Sovia now has land and a lucrative String Industry. Many Sovians are amongst the wealthiest players on the server. Sovia now has embassies in several cities, and is held in the minds of many as one of the greatest and most influential nations in all of Civ History. Never before has a nation brought so many people from each side of every conflict together while also staying true to its ideals and history. Sovia is one of the few nations preserved for years through (mainly) the work of one person and their supporters. The Sovian Quarter was established in Mt. Augusta, where you can buy things from Pirater and wjkroeker. There was a small coup, but Sovian Agent perriwinkleblast managed to pearl the perpetrator and restore order. The culture of Sovia is so influential, one of the server's brews (Sovian Chorus Ale) was named after it. Through complex 4D chess strategies, Sovian Leader Pirater became First Lady of Mt. Augusta temporarily (through marriage to Godomasta), Oligarch of Sovia-Verda, and leader of The Rift. The great nation of Sovia now dedicates its time to spreading wholesome values across the server and is dedicated to the principles of truth and justice.

Nyasaland attack
After the golden age had settled down, darkness fell once more upon the Sovian lands. The entire world began to combust like a tinderbox, tensions were high between all the alliances. The conflict between Mir and NATO raged, with Pirater and the Sovians being caught in the crossfire multiple times. The battles raged on, with no respite. In one incident, Pirater was pearled by Mirian forces in Mt. Augusta after documenting the raiding of machinemaker's bunker. In another incident, Pirater was attacked by a suspected NATO member and UNC forces in Tel Aviv after trying to secure some quality LOOT. Now disliked by both sides on the conflict and also the UNC, Pirater suspected pearling was approaching. These events culminated in the now infamous YouTube series known as "Escape from Tel Aviv/Nyasaland", where Pirater would constantly escape from Tel Aviv, with the final episode being an attack on Nyasaland.

This attack was staged by Soviakorps (a seperate entity to the State of Sovia), who (allied with the channers), joined in on the Channer attacks on Nyasaland. These attacks were an attempt to free Lakuupiippu from Nyasaland, where he had justly been imprisoned for a few months. After dealing severe damage to the city of Palgrave, Pirater (ordered by Tacilus) had fled to the closest vault on the radar trying to exchange the pearl of vriskalicious, knowing that no matter the direction taken it would result in certain death (there was little room for potions, as the Sovians each carried half-full inventories of TNT, leaving only room for essentials). Despite doing rather little damage which was repaired in a few days, the Sovians were sentenced to multiple month sentences, originally 9, however they were eventually reduced. Pirater had recieved sentences from both Mir and Nyasaland, which may potentially last up to 5 months combined.

Sadly (or gladly for the UNC), Pirater was pearled by marcox18 while trying to find somewhere relatively secure to attempt to ransom the pearl for GamePhobic (a Soviakorps Fighter pearled after lagging out in the Palgrave attack). After this point, several individual Sovians carried out an obsidian bombing of Crowsroost, capital of Sovia-Verda, as a way to prevent it being used by invading forces. Nyasaland had mistook the involvement of 1 resident/leader (out of 3) of Sovia-Verda meant the whole nation was involved, invading a mainly innocent nation for the actions of one of its members. Sovia-Verda had fallen with no resistence, due to the remaining 6 Sovia-Verdans lacking prot and adequate gear to launch an uprising. The lands were granted to the inactive former Queen Magmus, who had previously resigned from the throne and had been replaced by the Oligarchy. However, after the attack on Rhodesia, SwiftFizz was kicked out of UNC - and decided to make the nation of New Sovia in the +- with Pirater.

New Sovia
The nation of New Sovia is lead by SwiftFizz, with Pirater as monarch (as dictated by Sovian tradition). Standing alone against intimidation against imperialists and the majority of the world, New Sovia has continued to prosper. The number one export of New Sovia is memes, with number two as military innovation. New Sovia is a leader when it comes to innovative technology which may in the future of Civ be Meta-Changing. The New Sovians are isolationists, jaded by the cruelty of the world and Nyasaland's imperialist invasion of Sovia-Verda. They are peacefully trying to live, despite the world being against them. They hope to be a world-leading nation within the next few months, and once all members are unpearled, they can hopefully live free of conflict in their homeland, without being forced out by brutish invaders once more. With the renowned Sovian Work Ethic, which has compelled nations such as Rhodesia and Pirates (from Devoted 2.0) to employ Sovian workers, it is guaranteed that the city will be one of the most impressive in the server once development begins fully. The New Sovians have no intention of raiding, but only desire to keep to (and redeem) themselves and be a light of guidance to the people of Civ, who can possibly learn a thing or two from New Sovia.