Alvarez Empire

The Alvarez Empire (アルバレス帝国 Arubaresu Teikoku) is a large country located in the Western Continent, Alakitasia.

Description
Alvarez Empire was founded at an unspecified time period by Zeref Dragneel, who subjugated 730 guilds of Alakitasia by martial force and crowned himself Emperor by the name of Spriggan. It started out as a small nation but over the years it absorbed many other guilds and nations until it finally became the huge empire that it is today. Zeref created this empire for the sole purpose of defeating Acnologia, obtaining Fairy Heart, and annihilating Ishgar. His plans regarding with Fairy Heart once captured remain unknown.

Localization
The Alvarez Empire is located on the western continent of Alakitasia. It lies towards the west across a vast ocean that traveling there by boat would take about ten days to reach. The exact borders are not known, but it is said to span a large portion of the landmass.

History
Although the exact nature of the diplomacy is unknown, there is a great sense of hostility between the continents of Alvarez and Ishgar, even though there are known individuals who have immigrated from Alakitasia to Ishgar, such as Alzack Connell and Bisca Connell, as well as Beth Vanderwood. In year X781, Alvarez attempted to wage war on Ishgar's countries in a bid to capture Fairy Tail's most sacred artifact, Fairy Heart, only to have their invasion halted after being subjected to the might of Etherion and threatened with Face, both controlled by the Magic Council. However, Zeref admitted that he quelled the unsanctioned war himself. In the year X783, the empire and the countries of Ishgar severed all diplomatic relations.

Administration and Government
The state of the current regime is a monarchy, ruled and overseen by Emperor Spriggan. The current form of the empire was created from the union of 730 Guilds of the continent, who have all merged together into a singular military force. Similar to any empire it is an autocracy, and as such, the Emperor's word is law. The empire can even exercise their authority on smaller territories that are not under their control such as Caracole Island. The Empire seems to be able to function normally despite the constant absence of its' Emperor, who departed Alvarez for some time before returning. The Emperor also employs a personal guard, composed of the twelve strongest Mages of the continent, known as the Spriggan 12.

Society & Culture
In Alvarez, they have their own unique card game called "Rejenca"; Minister Yajeel stated the key to the game is to not let one's "Goddess" fall into enemy's hands. Various material highly regarded in Ishgar are rurally unknown in Alvarez (i.e. eastern reading literature such as Sorcerer Magazine aren't available or accessible in Alvarez) but they are known to have their own magazines providers; likewise gaming circuits such as the Grand Magic Games are also unknown to their people. Fashion apparel for women are widely recognized that they have a more bare and suggestive connotation, instead of the norm of a clothed and an unrevealing aspect towards it.

In Alakitasia, there are stated legends that the month of August is revered as the month of natural disasters, so the citizens tend to live a more upright and law-abiding lifestyle during its duration. Alvarez also celebrates the holiday called Respect for the Aged Day (敬老の日 Keirō no Hi) on which it is a day, held in the month of September, where the elderly are honored and revered. The citizens of Alvarez glorify and praise Zeref with great admiration and love as their emperor. Some of the Spriggan 12 have been seen to reside inside of Vistarion's palace, while some rarely ever appear inside the city's walls. Some, if not apparently most or all, of the Spriggan 12 appear to have knowledge of Zeref's past, such as his real name, his relationship with Mavis Vermilion, and his future plans, thus showing a great level of trust between them.

Military Power
Because Alvarez is a massive militaristic empire, they possess humongous armies that their numbers extends above 2,300,000 strong. Emperor Spriggan is not the only commanding officer of these armed forces, as he possesses his own elite group of powerful Mages: the Spriggan 12. Composed of twelve elite Mages with strength comparable to of the level with Ishgar's strongest Mage, God Serena, they are willingly able to lead his armies to war as well.

Their forces are not limited to just humans, but the Machias (a machine-like race with magical abilities) race as well. They have hundreds of advanced warships that go by sea or by air. They are also equipped with many high powered guns and artillery that can serve for both bombardments and anti-air defenses, with some ships specifically designed as command ships for the Spriggan 12. They also serve as carriers that holds numerous troops ranging from hundreds to thousands, even for the purpose of ground assaults.

Unlike Fiore's military forces, Alvarez's soldiers are better trained and possess Magic Power that is not to be take lightly. Soldiers that are under the command of one of the Spriggan 12 possess their own unique features, characteristics, and uniforms. For example, Ajeel Ramal's troops are draped in attire with scimitars, Wahl Icht's troops are cloaked in black wizard-like robes with staffs, Brandish μ's troops are fully armored with spears that have Lacrima at the tips. and lastly the Northern and Southern forces, commanded by Bradman and Dimaria Yesta, squadrons appear to have leather clothing with skull shaped masks and fully-armored knightly attire possessing blades and spears alike respectively. In the Emperor's personal army, the soldiers have dark armor with magical staffs that can cause things to burst upon impact and even fire magical bullets. Some of Spriggan 12 have control of their own squads and as such possess their own elite Mages in the form of captains and soldiers that are willingly able to combat in difficult fights. The number of those Mages are various and are not set numbers.

The strategies that Alvarez's armies follows have been formulated by Zeref who spent most of his immortal life preparing for the "Dragon King Festival" or "Ragnarok" by Alakitasian perspective. His strategy is almost frightening, for he was able to move his forces in all directions of Fiore while distracting Fairy Tail with a vanguard to the opposition in less than an hour. They even conquered Fiore's neighboring country Bosco and destroyed every single one of their guilds. With his strategies combined with the Spriggans' power and the Alvarez military might, they overwhelmed the strongest of Fiore guilds on the first day of the invasion. For the armies' tactics, it isn't enough to just defeat their enemies but to demoralize them as well such as taking their beaten bodies and string them up to crosses and poles humiliated for all to see.

Zeref's personal guard, the Spriggan 12, are unique in that they are given full autonomy, roaming around the continent as they please without any repercussions, even with some blatantly disobeying his orders or summons. Because the Spriggan 12 are the strongest fighting force in Alvarez and are on par with Ishgar's strongest Wizard, they can perform such incredible feats: Brandish's Mass Manipulation allows her to change the size of a small island to just a size of a stepping stone, the Desert King Ajeel can produce a sand storm large enough to engulf the entire city of Magnolia, Dimaria can serenely pause an entire battlefield with a click of her teeth, Wahl can create a cannon that can reach its' target from over 400km away, the same distance from off the shores of Hargeon Town all the way to Magnolia, and so on. Alvarez's might is so terrifying that even the Magic Council who governed all of Ishgar did their absolute best to avoid a war they believe they cannot win.