Hittite Empire

The Hittite Empire was a Season 9 nation centered in the Eastern Mediterranean. Founded on the first day of the Ninth Season, the nation has seen rapid expansion and controls one of the largest territorial expanses in the season. Originally led by Sungross, it used to control four cities and five citizens in total, though thwas was not always the case. It fell on the 26th of March, 2021.

Its capital city was Antioch, located in the northeastern pocket of the Eastern Mediterranean. It was unique in its design, as the city was embedded into the cliffsides of the Anatolian peaks, overlooking vast amounts of land. The region surrounding Antioch was famed for its natural beauty, even if the city design itself left some room for improvement. Vast tracts of land were also claimed by Antioch to the north, but most of these claims were at best nominal, and were more to signify where the influence of the Hittites begins and ends in the region. A small town within Anatolia called Hattusha and a small fort on the path to Byzantion called Fort Samuel existed there as well.

Although it follows no official religion as of yet, the country was majority Canaan Pagan. Its government was split into the citizens of towns at the bottom, governors of towns in the middle, and the King at the top. Though the governors hold no legwaslative power, their advice was important to the maintenance of the state and the every-day business of nation running. Tyre, its second city, was known for its artificial wasland which was currently a work in progress. Byzantion, its recently reconquered city, was being renovated to fit the Empire's needs. Athens was the Empire's newest city, and Alexandria was expected to join the fold in the future as well.

The Empire was allies with Imperio del Dragon and United Values.

History
The founding of the Hittites dates back all the way to the first day of Season Nine. Though some wished for the nation to be called Hattusha, this name was discarded in favor of the Hittite Empire, to symbolize far grander claims and to distance itself from the dejure capital of the nation in Northern Anatolia.

Antioch was to be founded first by sungross, then eventually Tyre by a_wild_tooger and Malleokid. Byzantion was also founded at this time by SamuelFreeman at the straits of Constantinople.

Civil War
Nearly one day after the founding of the nation, many things in the governance of the nation became contentious issues. The season's first tax on cities was introduced by sungross, totaling a sum of $15 daily to help pay for the upkeep of the nation. Though this was eventually accepted by the Governor of Tyre, Tooger, this was hotly debated by Samuel of Byzantion, who wished for this tax to be removed. Though the tax issue was finally settled after some debate, Byzantion continued to mistrust the central government.

After this, a joke started in the capital of the Roman Empire by DeathCow and Samuel become a serious policy issue temporarily. "Gay Rights" as they were called by Samuel were pushed by him until the King was forced to concede point and "legalize" homosexuality. Malleokid was not happy with this result, and even though the law made no effect on the day-to-day governance of the nation and its people, it was an effective front for the real issue at stake - Byzantion, or more accurately Samuel, wished to become the King of the Hittite Empire.

This would eventually kickstart a conflict, or rivalry, within the Empire, with the true cause of it being that Samuel had grinded for far longer than either Sungross or the citizens of Tyre, and thus had better gear to negotiate more autonomy with. Though conflict was on the horizon, the sudden implementation of rule to "ask any admin for clearance for any type of CB" caused a petition to void the war in favor of the defenders. Though nominally the conflict was over, Byzantion and the Empire were still at each other's throats, and war was soon to come.

Battle of Byzantion
After several days of building up strength, sungross gathered three other players together - Tooger, Malleo, and newcomer Hairy_Sonic, to lay siege and conquer Byzantion. After realizing the siege immunity timer was still up, the four attacked the city anyway. Tooger set up cannon positions to the south of the city while Malleo, sungross and Hairy directly attacked the city walls. Texan players meanwhile came to the aid of Samuel, setting up positions in the city and hastily repairing holes in the walls.

After some time shooting arrows back and forth, Samuel leapt from the walls and attempted to 1v1 Hairy, but was surprised to see sungross and Malleo come to his aid. Samuel died outside the city walls, along with one of his allies. The remaining Texan forces evacuated the city as Tooger's cannons broke through the walls of Byzantion, leading to a Texan/Byzantion defeat. Mihail and Samuel worked out a deal with Sungross as the Hittites began to gather allies from Mexico (Imperio de Dragon), and came to an agreement around three hours after the battle. It was resolved that Samuel be allowed to gather an invetory's worth of items from the city and destroy one of the skyscrapers there, then surrender the city to the Hittite Empire.

Post-War
The Hittite Civil War was the largest war fought in Season 9 up until then. Over nine people fought in the conflict, drawing in the North American countries of Mexico and the people of Austin. Though it was short lived, there was much controversy over the ignoring of the Siege plugin, which Deathcow attempted to mediate by giving the defenders their items back. Eventually, however, the war's result would lead to a reunification of the Hittite Empire, and the banishment of Samuel.

Sungross would spend several days trying to repair the city and bring it to further glory by reconstructing its walls and redstone gates. Two historical sites have been setup on the old locations where the Texan skyscraper and the remnants of the "Texan Capital Building" still remain. There have been some plans to recreate this old building into a true capital for an even greater Empire, but this has not come to pass.

Cypriot War
Several days after the Civil War came to a close, the Hittites began to focus on securing their frontiers. One notable piece of territory that had been antagonizing Hittite claims in the region, Alexandria, would be this focus. Their small but noticeable claim on the island of Cyprus was the perfect justification for the Hittite King to go to war on the 25th of March, 2021, but was interrupted by the Great War, which they were forced to pull out of the day it started due to hairy_sonic switching sides.

The Great War and the Roman-Hittite War
The Great War, while not itself destablizing for the Empire, was the perfect way for hairy_sonic to betray the Hittites in the middle of the Battle of Paris and attempt to extract revenge on sungross. The Hittites were therefore compelled to white peace with the Germans and leave the war, but this did not save them from hairy_sonic's sights.

Hellbent on destroying the Hittites, hairy_sonic, after taking the English throne, convinced the Romans to declare war on the Hittite Empire. After doing so, the Hittites voted to voluntarily disband the Empire and its towns.

This event would come to be known as the Fall of the Hittite Empire.

Fall of the Hittite Empire
After voting to disband all its towns and the nation, the news of the Hittite's destruction spread like wildfire throughout the server. Many were in disbelief as one of the strongest and longest-standing Empires in Season 9 suddenly vanished in a day.

The remnants of the Empire fled to Cuba, where the former Hittite King relcutantly requested to join the Roman Empire.Seizing this opportunity to grow the Empire and take in one the more prominent members in teh server, DeathCow accepted the offer, letting sungross found the new town of Constantinople on the ruins of Antioch and whatever was left in Byzantion.

The rest of the former Hittite Empire, Tyre and Athens, founded the nation of Georgia, and attempted to attack the small town of Mobile. Mobile joined the new Kingdom of England and beat them with the assistance of hairy_sonic.

Domestic Politics
The Empire was noted for having one of the few tax systems in the server. It levied a $25 tax on all its cities, generating enough revenue to fill half the daily nation upkeep of 100 dollars.

Though it was forced to concede "gay rights" during the opening phases of the Civil War, it rescinded this legislation and founded an alliance with Mexico and UV to "defend anti-gayness".

Antioch
Antioch is the capital of the Empire and is one of the largest cities in the Season. It has a protective wall surrounding it, and is mostly integrated into the form of the mountain in which it sits. It's steps can carry a player to the top of either "Capital Hill" to the north, or "Israel Hill" to the south. To the west, on the island of Cyprus, there exists a small colony under Antiochan rule. To the north in the mountains of Anatolia, a town called Hattusha, with a fort just to the west called Fort Samuel, exerts claims in the region for the Hittite Empire. There is a single "road" of torches that allows travelers to pass from Antioch proper to Byzantion in a very short amount of time.

Tyre
Tyre is the second city of the Empire. It is governed by Tooger and is a territorially large town. Malleokid inhabits this city as well, and was recently joined by Hairy_sonic. It is famed for its WIP artificial island, which is currently the site of the construction of a mysterious statue. Tyre is known for being the holy site of Canaan Paganism, where Malleokid founded the religion. It is also the site of a large animal husbandry and transportation business, mostly specializing in Alpacas and horses.

Byzantion
Byzantion is a city in the Empire that declared independence following the declaration of the Hittite Civil War to Depose Sungross. It has a set of Blackstone walls with intricate redstone doors, and has several buildings including a Texas-themed building. It was part of the Republic of Texas for several days following the Hittite Civil War, though it was recaptured on the 23rd of March. It is currently directly administered by Antioch, and is currently being managed by one of Antioch's citizens, goktug.

Athens
Athens is a territorially large city owned by new player Plachollix, simply known as Huggz. The town is very new, boasting only a few buildings, but is a top producer of potions and other war materials.