From Antiquity to the Present Day

The history of the country now called Karnetvor starts approximately 2500 years ago, when the region was first populated. Not much is known about the first inhabitants of the land, besides that they shared a common language, the now called Ancient Russian/Karnetian, from which the modern Karnetvorian, Resentinian and Russian languages originated.

The country's written history starts in the 1st Century CE, when the land became a province of the Austral Empire. The Austral Empire was a powerful state that once controlled more than half of the Western Continent. It spread its own language, Austral, for all its territories; its modern form would become the standard lingua franca in many parts of the world. It also spread the Latin alphabet, and numerous technological and cultural advances. The territory of present-day Karnetvor was part of the province of Southern Russia, with the city of Drižny as its capital.

As with every province, the Imperial Government sent ethnic Australs to settle and populate the land. They controlled all political power, and the natives, which called themselves Karnetians (in Ancient Karnetian, Karnetskiy; "[people] of the eagle") were made second class citizens. The two groups (and other minoritary groups, like the Spaninols in the south) initially co-existed peacefully, but soon the Karnetians, who were the majority, started claiming equal rights. When the Empire disintegrated in the 5th Century CE, the Karnetian people gained control of the territory, and Southern Russia was divided into numerous kingdoms and city-states. As a compromise, the Karnetian leaders allowed the Australs living in the land to remain there, as long as they swore allegiance to the respective kingdom they were in.

The most important states of this era were:

• the Kingdom of Corisia: Founded in the year 572 CE, it controlled the east of the former Southern Russia. It prospered under the Farakad Dinasty (680-1096), and was the unrivaled economic and military power in the region for three centuries. Its capital was the city of Hyreil.
  
• the city-states of Fiseland and Karotiá in the southeastern coast. Both states, even if they were similar in estructure and power, were completely different from each other; Karotiá was heavily militarized, and Fiseland relied more on diplomacy. Both states had a bitter rivalry, and fought near constant wars between them. They were eventually conquered in 1097, as both were weakened by all the years of warfare. Besides their own cities, they controlled some surrounding territory, which changed hands constantly.
  
• the Jetikyan Empire: Founded in the 6th century CE, in the southernmost portion of Southern Russia (bordering present-day Noctenos), they used a powerful and well organized military to conquer most of the western half of present-day Karnetvor. It tried to conquer the entire region, but their expansion was stopped by Corisia in 831 CE. It outlived most of the states of this era, but was eventually forced to retreat from the territory.
  

The situation changed in 850 CE, when a warlord named Peter Fedorovich converted to Christianity, took control of the old capital, Drižny, and declared himself King of the Karnetians, with the name Peter the First, founding what is called the *First Kingdom of Karnetia; sometimes called the first predecessor of modern Karnetvor. King Peter and his descendants, the Petrović Dinasty, expelled the Jetikyans from the territory of present-day Karnetvor, and by the year 989 Karnetia had conquered the western half of the country, putting it in direct conflict with Corisia. Conflict between the two powers was inevitable.