The nation of Ascavia is named after its capital, like many other nations. Formerly it was known as Ascavios and part of the Setic Empire. Even though the city lay close to the capital, the people in the region were an independent lot. Lying at the mouth of the great river Talaeieo it got a lot of influx from the inland inhabitants of Shaoge, unlike Setios itself, which didn't lie at the mouth of a big river, but only had a large natural harbor. For the main land of Shaoge was heavily forested and mostly peaceful. Wars and conflict were rare. But instead of developing the land when the population rose, the younger children chose to travel to the coast, usually following the flow of the main rivers. Because of this Ascavios got a slow but steady influx of new inhabitant with few ties to the Setic Empire.
When the Setic Empire crumbled under the onslaught of the First and Second Chui Invasions and the empire showed itself to be weak in defending itself, Ascavios took the initiative and declared itself independent in 2356, renaming itself Ascavia, like most of its people often preferred to do and to weaken its old ties with the Setic Empire. Shockingly, the Setic Empire had trouble to field sufficient troops to contend the secession. Part of the reason was that other southern cities followed the example of Ascavia, causing the Setic Empire to quickly lose its grip on the rebelling provinces.
The new nations just as much fought against each other as against the Chui until the Rubiad Empire started unifying the Chui. This threat made the rivaling nation decide to bury their enmity and form the Eastern Alliance in 2571. Combining their forces they were capable to thwarting an advance of the Rubiad Empire to the north, although it did manage to conquer the southwest of Shaoge, which was too far away to defend and never part of any of the nations.
