Duvos

The Empire of Duvos is one of the two major countries (the other being Seesai) and commands the largest population. It is located northwest of Portia, bordering with the city of Lucien and the states of Ethea and Meidi.

Its primary method of negotiation is using force. Duvos collects weaponry to bolster their armies in an attempt to conquer the world. As a result of its technical advances and practices, Duvos is known for having smog, an unusual sight above most other civilizations since the end of the Age of Corruption.

Alliance of Free Cities
Duvos periodically threatens the Free Cities, especially towards the city-state Lucien, due to its close proximity with the country.

Ethea
"The High Princess of Ethea, Alessa, issued a statement saying: "We are negotiating with the Empire of Duvos with hopes for a long term settlement over the Orzu issue. However, we will not accept the actions of the Empire against our citizens at the site. If these actions continue, we will have no choice but to fully defend our sovereignty.""

- Tensions Rise Between Duvos and Ethea

Ethea borders Duvos north of the continent. Tensions have risen between the Empire of Duvos and the Principality of Ethea over the Orzu Ruins. The Orzu Ruins has been a site of contention between Duvos and Ethea for the last twenty years. Tensions rose when Duvos placed an army in front of the ruins, preventing anyone from entering.

Seesai
"First Minister Ma-lei said in a statement: "Seesai is fundamentally against any state that takes aggressive action against other states. In this case, it is clear for all to see that Duvos has once again blatantly disregarded inter-state rules and violated the sovereignty of Ethea. We strongly denounce this action and demand that Duvos troops immediately withdraw to their own territory.""

- Seesai Warns Duvos

The neutral country of Seesai is the second largest country in the world. Seesai strongly denounces the actions of Duvos, often disputing its border issues, though vowed to peacefully resolve the issue in recent years. Recently, Duvos began deploying its military and claiming rights to the Orzu Ruins in Ethea, causing tensions to rise there. Military conflict is highly probable if relations continue to decline. Seesai claims that there are no current plans to deploy Seesain military against Duvos over the border situation at Orzu.

Military
Duvos commands the largest army in the world. The country has a vast amount of weaponry to use in force negotiation against other countries and city-states.

Duvos has a history of using the military to gain advantages. In the past, Duvos and the Alliance of Free Cities went to war over resources at the ruins of Lucien (which almost entirely destroyed Lucien itself). That war ended as a "draw", and there is currently a peace treaty in place.

Connections to Portia
Not much is known about besides the following:
 * Aadit came to Portia as a refugee of the border crisis between Duvos and Ethea.
 * Alice and Jack came to Portia as refugees of the war over Lucien.
 * Gale saved Russo's life during the war over Lucien (they were both soldiers).
 * Duvos Winter Punch, Duvos Pepper, and Duvos Powder comes from there.
 * Military Uniform Pants and Military Uniform Top are old uniforms of the Duvos army.
 * Sam's father was in the war with Duvos, which is what made her so passionate to join the Civil Corps and protect her city.
 * Remington used to be a part of the Lucien Civil Corps, until he took an arrow to the knee in a border conflict during the war.
 * Liuwa suspects the player to be a spy for the Duvos Empire when they first meet.

News reports
The following stories are published in the Portia Times during the game:

"Going by history, there is no question that the Orzu Ruins belongs to Ethea, one of the oldest existing states. In fact, Ethea existed as an entity very soon after people went underground after the Day of Calamity 330 years ago. While the extent of the borders of Ethea is debatable, since for so long it existed as a loose confederation instead of a political union, there's no debate when it comes to the Orzu region. Etheans have dived in these ruins for the last 250 years. Even Peach mentioned going there in his journals. Duvos does not have anything to stand on for their claim, other than they have an army stationed there. While people have different speculations as to why Duvos is interested in these ruins, I think they're after the large amount of power stones and industrial engines under the Orzu Ruins. One must remember that Duvos fought a war with the Alliance of Free Cities over the ruins of Lucien for these exact same resources. Even though that war technically ended as a draw, Lucien was almost wiped out while the Empire barely suffered any structural damage. In the bigger geopolitical picture, Duvos wants to gain a distinct advantage vis-a-vis Seesai. While it has less people and less resources overall, Seesai has good to great relations will almost every state on its border, except Duvos. I think the Emperor of Duvos wants to disturb or break this balance of power anyway he can to reach hegemony. That's why we have the current contentions at the Orzu Ruins. What is strange however is the deafening silence coming from Atara. Ethea is not a part of the alliance; they are, however, the cultural home of our ancestors. Even though we have just signed a treaty of peace with Duvos, it does not mean we can just stand by while our friends face an existential threat."

- The Portia Times, "Analysis of the Orzu Ruins Situation" by Professor Longstone of the University of Atara

"Tensions have risen to their highest in years between the Empire of Duvos and the Principality of Ethea over the Orzu Ruins. The ruins has been a site of contention between the two states for the last twenty years. Tensions started rising when Duvos placed troops at the entrance to the ruins, blocking anyone not from Duvos from entering. The High Princess of Ethea, Alessa, issued a statement saying: We are negotiating with the Empire of Duvos with hopes for a long term settlement over the Orzu issue. However, we will not accept the actions of the Empire against our citizens at the site. If these actions continue, we will have no choice but to fully defend our sovereignty. On the streets of Grace, people are gearing up for conflict, with many throwing support behind the government. Ugo, a shop owner said: We're all gearing up for this fight, if Duvos think they can just walk all over us, they're in for a beating!"

- The Portia Times, "Tensions Rise Between Duvos and Ethea" by Dispatch from Ethea Capital Grace, Reported by DuMont

Trivia

 * As an April Fool's joke, the developers announced a sequel to called My Time in Duvos, serving as a darker, spiritual successor set in the northern lands of Duvos. The fictitious game was set to release on 13/13/2020 on the Steam news, and 2/31/2077 on the image description - both dates do not exist on the Gregorian calendar. The pre-order link led to a real game called Ever Forward.