Tyvia

A map of Tyvia.

Tyvia is the northernmost island in the Empire of the Isles, ruled by a quasi-military tribunal: the High Judges.

Its terrain is harsh, and its climate is persistently cold. The cities of Tyvia include: Alexin, Caltan, Meya, Pradym, Samara, Tamarak, Wei-Ghon, Yaro, and Dabokva, the island's capital city.

Culture

Tyvian culture is one that mixes survivalism and refinement. While Tyvia is cold and boasts a hostile ecosystem, its residents are known to be skilled in the culinary arts. In particular, Tyvian foods (such as whale meats and fine wines) are exported all over the Empire, and are enjoyed by both commoners and nobles alike. Tyvian art, from architecture to fashion, has been described as "ornate and complex".

Tyvia also produces exceptional metal ore, something sought after by Piero Joplin due to its superiority over Gristol's native metals. The Overseers of the Abbey of the Everyman also use Tyvian ore to craft their sabres.

The Isle of Tyvia suggests that the nation maintains a somewhat isolationist standing, claiming that "Tyvians are proud of their customs, food and history, and have little concern for the Isles to the south". However, the book also notes that the people of Caltan share much with those from the isle Morley, which stand in close proximity.

Government

As a result of Tyvia's alliance with Gristol to stop the Morley Insurrection, Tyvia was granted a certain autonomy from the Empire by its recent rulers. This allowance further expands Tyvia's independence, both culturally and politically.

Tyvia is ruled from the Citadel of Dabokva, within the People's Chamber. It is in here where a small council of sixteen sits, called the Presidium, made up of eleven men and five women. They are obedient to the High Judges, each a Secretary for the People of Tyvia. Council members are voted in democratically, however there is only one political party, fielding one representative from each district of Tyvia.

The High Judges hold the real power, also ranked as "Secretary for the People of Tyvia", they are considered senior council members. They rule Tyvia with an iron fist, they themselves being set to three members: Secretary Cushing, Secretary Taren, and Secretary Kalin.

Tyvian law prohibits citizens from acting against each other, thus in order to police the populace and enforce their iron rule, the Presidium employs a secret police unit called Operators. Operators wear featureless black uniforms and flat, opaque black metal masks. Their citizenship stripped, identity concealed behind the masks, Operators are anonymous agents, who are never seen by ordinary people. They come at night, and can make people disappear without a trace.

Prison Camps

"[…]we sentence you to a lifetime of freedom."

—Secretary Kalin

Tyvia utilizes penal labor camps located in the nation's center for incarceration, some of which have no surrounding walls to contain prisoners; a prisoner is considered free if they choose to flee. However, due to the area's harsh climate, no escaped prisoner has survived the trek to civilization in recorded history. The prison guards' only functions is to keep order in the camps and to punish prisoners who did not fulfill their job quotas, as they are ordered not to stop fleeing prisoners. The guards themselves are rotated to the camps in long tours. Due to the cold climate, they wear the heavy winter uniform of the Tyvian army, consisting of a fur-lined greatcoat, a wide-brimmed hat, a scarf woven from the pelt of a saber-toothed black bear and red snow goggles.

Varying in size, ranging from small camps of a few dozen convicts to prisons the size of a small town. They also ranged in functions. Convicts of lesser offenses are doomed to harvest lumber; but lumber camps were not penitentiaries, merely "correctional" facilities. Prisoners might even one day return to society - a ghost of their former self, their rebellion worked out of them. Other prisons exist, such as quarries or mines. Utyrka being an infamous salt mine, to be sent to one of these camps would be to disappear. But, to be sent to a prison camp is to be granted freedom.

Trivia

• Tyvia seems to be based on the countries of North and East Europe, for example Sweden (climate), Russia (names), Poland (pears) and Ukraine or Georgia (wine). Other portions of Tyvia, as evidenced by the city of Wei-Ghon, seem to be based off East Asia.
• Tyvia produces a fine red wine that can be found during various missions; for instance, Thaddeus Campbell attempts to assassinate Geoff Curnow with a poisoned glass of "Tyvian Red".
• Tyvian poison was used in an assassination attempt against Corvo Attano.
• A particular type of bone charm, made in Tyvia, is created from ice Seal tusks.
• Other notable fauna include tundra wolves and saber-toothed black bears, whose fangs were also used to craft bonecharms before whaling began.
• The nonlethal elimination in the first mission of The Knife of Dunwall involves Daud securing his target in a shipping crate bound for Samara, Tyvia.
• The thief Bluehand Jane was given a ten-year sentence at the Tyvian labor camp Utyrka.^{[citation needed]}
• There is a painting found in several locations throughout Dishonored of a whaling ship anchored on a large ice shelf. It is christened, "Tyvia". 
• Anton Sokolov hails from Tyvia, as is noted by the Heart and in a book detailing his involvement with Bundry Rothwild.
• Although Tyvia possesses a rather inhospitable climate, it appears to have more cities/settlements than any other isle in the Empire.
• Tyvian Ore is found throughout Dunwall and is worth 20 coins per piece.
• Corvo can consume Tyvian pears to regain health.
• The people of Tyvia long for the return of the Princes, who once ruled the island.
• Operators act as a secret police for the Tyvian government--anonymous agents, their citizenship stripped, their identities concealed behind flat black masks.
• Voting in Tyvia is compulsory for the entire adult population.
• Tyvia is beset by bandits, by revolutionaries, enouraged by exiled Princes.
• An overheard discussion revealed that it is commonly held among the Grand Guard that wages in Tyvia are twice those in Serkonos. It is unknown whether this is actually the case.
• Due to its northern location, Tyvia spends half the year in total darkness.
• The first hero of the Tyvian state, as well as one of its founders, was Karol Topek. In the many years following his death, he has since been commemorated with a large mosaic in his likeness in the Citadel of Dabokva.
• The Tyvian city of Samara bears the same name as a real-life Russian city.

Gallery

Tyvia on a map, dated 1837.

Tyvia.