Lyonia

Lyonia, officially the Lyonine Empire and the Commonwealth of Realms, is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy located on the southern shores of Vesperia in a subregion known as Elysia, bordering the Mar d'Oree to the East, the Lyonic Channel to the South and the Fale Ocean to the West. The nation consists of five semi-autonomous realms, each ruled by a hereditary monarch in conjunction with a local elected legislature. The Federal District houses the Capital city of Lyo and is situated in the south on the coast of the Lyonic Strait. The Federal District is bordered on three sides by the Kingdom of Fiore.

The Lyonine Empire enjoys warm relations with its neighbor Acronius though centuries of conflict hampered that for a long time. It's other neighbor Odentia maintains mild relations with the Empire. General foreign policy is built upon trade relations and cultural understanding with nations abroad.

Etymology
The name Lyonia or the Lyonic Realms likely comes from the lions that used to roam the mountains and the plains long ago. While most of them have died off due to encroachment of humans or through hunting, their legacy endures. The names were applied to the area for the first time in historical records dating back to the Interregnum of the 3rd Century and could also have been used due to the wide use of lions in heraldry at the time.

First Great War
While the Lyonine Empire had steadily been warming in relations to the Kingdom of Acronia since the Not Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th Century. Some bumps along the way and lingering sentiments over past grievances would have prevented the Empire from being able to formally embrace an alliance with the Kingdom of Acronia. As tensions in the world steadily increased and war seemed more inevitable the Empire took more and more steps to assert itself as a neutral nation should hostilities break out. There were political and economic reasons for not siding one way or the other but also for Helene I the matter was also personal as her husband came from Volgaria, her son's wife and the future Empress TBD came from Stasnov along with other familial relations on both sides.