Coval Islands

The Coval Islands (: Ilhas Covais), known also as the Covales, is an autonomous Watanese province and volcanic situated in the Abayadi Sea. Located nearly 780 km south of the mainland, the Covales make up the southernmost region of Watan. The province is composed of 6 main islands and is located on the boundary between the Ventoran and Abayadi plates.

Its main industries are, , , , and , which is becoming the major service activity in the region. The government of the Covales employs a large percentage of the population directly or indirectly in the service and tertiary sectors. The largest city of the Covales is Tradine. The culture, dialect, cuisine, and traditions of the Coval islands vary considerably, as the remote islands were settled sporadically over a span of several centuries and by numerous cultures.

There are six major islands in the Coval archipelago, in order from north to south being Tobé, Sania, Pementos, Viale, and Forsorcé. Though only composed of 6 major islands, there are more than 25 islands under Watanese control in the archipelago. All of these islands are formed by volcanic activity, with Tobé being the most active overall in the island chain, having erupted 88 times in the past decade; however, Forsorcé has been widely regarded as the least hospitable island in the island chain due to its habit of expelling violent in all directions.

The climate of the Covales are in contrast to mainland Watan, having a predominantly with scattered  as well. It is generally wet and cloudy.

Early history
Due to its isolated location and harsh conditions, the Coval Islands have been largely uninhabited for much of history. It is widely regarded that the Covales were first discovered by Kashar traders in 405 BCE, though no permanent settlement was established, likely due to a volcanic eruption sending plumes of smoke which repelled any potential settler colonies. Though these accounts were not recorded in word, rudimentary maps of the islands of Tobé and Sania have been uncovered dating back to the year aforementioned. More evidence of the Coval Islands came about during Manuak expansion in ~340 BCE. Indications of Manuak settlement on the Covales are sparse, though small items such as anchors and bricks have been recovered from 4 of the 6 islands; all of which coated in ash dating back to the time of estimated settlement, which supports the theory that these settlements may have been wiped out due to from nearby volcanoes. From this point onwards, the Coval Islands would be uninhabited for several centuries afterwards.

Though uninhabited, the Covales would remain known to seafarers and nearby countries alike, however they were still deemed not worth settling by local monarchies. Their volcanic activity was known to sporadically fill the sky with ash once every few years, famously being documented in ancient poems, paintings, or mythology in and around Watan (then the Duchy of Watan), Threazari, and Ventora from 100-1000 CE. This volcanic ash also supplied itself and mainland Alutra with fertile soil.

The Covales' brutal pyroclastic flows destroying any attempt at settlement was an infamous legend throughout mainland Alutra, gaining somewhat of a mythos. It was for this reason that the Covales remained formally unclaimed by any country until 1290 CE, beforehand being only informally owned by Ventora. In June of 1290, Ventoran navigator and Baron of Limorango Vincenc Sania Resa received a permit from the Ventoran crown to formally explore the archipelago on behalf of Queen Emiliana. Over the next 2 years, Sania would embark on several expeditions to the islands, documenting the geography and geology of the islands, as well as his main task of planting the Ventoran flag on the archipelago. After returning to the crown with his studies, it was decided that the island Sania - named after the navigator - would be settled under the Ventoran flag.

Ventoran settlement
The location of Sania was picked because of the belief that the town's location would be secure and safe from potential volcanic eruptions; the settlement being located in an inlet between several tall cliffs on the southwestern edge of the island. Initially, 40 people would be sent to live on the island, however within 4 years approximately 200 more would be sent to Sania. By 1300, Sania boasted a population of approximately 310 inhabitants. A secondary settlement, Emiliana, would be founded on the northern coast of Sania, although much smaller in both size and population. While Sania was populated by residents of Ventora paid to move to the island, Emiliana was populated by Ventorans who moved to the island upon their own volition. The Coval Islands earned status as an autonomous duchy in 1303.

Though flourishing in population, Sania struggled to prove itself worthy economically. While seemingly an important position central to the Abayadi Sea, the danger of pyroclastic flows limited the islands' usefulness in terms of colonial possessions, and the proximity to Ventora's mainland rendered the islands not useful in this sense either. In 1311, the Covales lost their autonomous status and were instead labeled under the autonomous Duchy of Watan. 17 years later, Watan would peacefully gain independence from Ventora, bringing the Covales along with it under its new flag.

Destruction of Sania
In 1333, only 5 years after Watan's independence, inhabitants of Sania would begin to voice their concerns about the increasingly frequent earthquakes and other volcanic activity on the island. Though Sania's main volcano Basâmara perpetually leaked smoke, reports of an inflated clued Sanians into believing that a large eruption was soon to occur. While some took this as a cue to flee the island, others trusted Sania's location to be protected against any potential pyroclastic flow. In July of 1333, 2 months after a precautionary evacuation was declared, approximately 650 people still remained on the island out of a previous 1,260. on the morning of July 29, a small tremor would turn into a massive explosion as Basâmara let off its second largest eruption ever recorded. The blast immediately shattered all of the windows on the island, and likely deafened many inhabitants as well. Sania's location would prove to be among the worst locations to be during the eruption, and the pyroclastic flow from Basâmara's eruption would destroy the entire settlement in a matter of seconds. Out of 650 inhabitants, only 3 survived—those 3 being away from the boundaries of the town at the time of the eruption.

While Sania was demolished, the secondary settlement of Emiliana did not meet such a fate, and became a point of refuge for survivors on other points of the island not affected by the eruption. Its small port would be the main base of operations for ships carrying refugees and supplies. Emiliana would come to accumulate a 0.5-meter layer of ash, as would the entire island and surrounding islets. Basâmara's smoke cloud drifted over mainland Watan and Ventora, raining ash for several weeks onwards. The initial blast by Basâmara could reportedly be heard all the way from Queluz. Meanwhile, Emiliana would become the interim capital of the duchy.

Secondary settlement
The devastation that befell Sania prompted local governments to invest in a new settlement to become the duchy's capital.