Puppet Nation Jistav

Puppet Nation Jistav (傀儡国ジスターヴ) is the country formerly under Demon Lord Clayman's control. Jistav is a mountainous region consisting of scarce vegetation and valleys. Initially a recreation of the Ultra-Sorcery Kingdom of the Elves built by Kagali, it was later divided into two separate territories for both Kagali and Clayman but was later successfully merged under Clayman's reign, after the defeat of its founder. Clayman gradually expanded the territory since Kagali's defeat, however, following his death, Jistav stopped existing as a single nation and was temporarily delegated to Rimuru Tempest before being annexed by Milim Nava as one of her new dominions due to Rimuru's refusal to take over that territory.

History
In the distant past, the Ultra-Sorcery Kingdom of the Elves was once prosperous, but by its own stupidity, called upon its destruction after angering Milim Nava, and was wiped out overnight. The elven survivors went on to spread across the land and walked down different paths. Driven away by the Chaos Dragon, they sought refuge from their elven ancestors. Those with power explored and settled in the wilderness before building new kingdoms. Some escaped in secret, became reclusive, and lived away from civilization. Kagali was one of them.

Kagali, preceding her days as a Demon Lord, managed to survive Milim's wrath and was among the few left of the elven royal family. She escaped to a distant land to build a nation in the image of her birthplace, managing to preserve its technology and recreating physical copies. Kagali's greatest accomplishment was the fortress city and capital of Amrita, which she built using all her memories of elven magic and technology to recreate a fraction of her people's glory days. The nation that was born as a result was the Puppet Nation Jistav.

A few hundred years ago, Kagali challenged the self-proclaimed Demon Lord Leon Cromwell. Amrita fell to ruin due to her defeat to him, and Clayman's castle was built atop the ruins in order to prevent thieves from looting any valuables, though Amrita's leftover automatic defenses would serve their purpose if necessary. After Kagali's defeat, her subordinates willingly submitted to Clayman, and her territory was passed on to him which he ruled until his death. The other Demon Lords didn't object to this decision, thus the merging process concluded smoothly. Nobody knew that this was just a precautionary plan of Kagali, which she devised for special times like this and was preparing Clayman in advance for the role of receiver.

As time went by, Clayman gradually expanded Jistav's territory and became a recognizable force to be reckoned with, as one of the Ten Great Demon Lords.

Clayman's Castle
Clayman's Castle (クレイマンの城) is the castle that acted as Clayman's primary base and residence, originally belonged to Kagali when she was the ruler of Jistav. Upon her death at Leon Cromwell's hands, Clayman soon took over the castle in her stead.

The castle itself acted as Clayman's primary power base and headquarters, where he plotted out his operations and held meetings with his associates, including the members of the Moderate Harlequin Alliance and other Demon Lords.

The castle's exterior can be described as somewhat ancient, but no less monumental. The enormous palace had enough space to contain all the Dark Elves. The sturdy marble walls are fully decorated with harmonious ornamentation, accentuated by large windows with stained glass, moldings, and wrought iron. Windows on the high-pitched roofs are complemented by graceful canopies. The perimeter of the castle is lined with towers connected by arched viaducts made in the same monumental style and constructed of the same materials, nevertheless the castle town-dwellings for Majins was not present. The castle, as well as the neighboring towers, possess iconic expressive gothic spires on their tops.

In the meantime, while the castle's exterior had a character aimed closer to restraint, the interior was opulent, replete and festooned with a variety of frescoes, gold inlays, exotic furniture, collection of artwork, rare magic items, brought in from around the world.

The paragons of luxury would be Clayman's Personal Office and Conference Room. Clayman's Personal Office is a broad, expansive, and incredibly decadent ornate room. It consisted of an extensive window, along with boysenberry curtains with gold on both sides, that served as a natural source of illumination for the office. Its floor is secured in a lush carpet color of cerise. Being the workplace for Clayman, it included a lavender throne with gold upholstery together with an expensive desk perfected by ornaments of gold and an aubergine sofa with a petite round table nearby, where a bucket with wine could be seen. On the desk, the greenish magic table lamp is present. For convenience and security, all the papers and documents automatically were disappearing from the desk, concealing them in Clayman's spatial sub-space. On one side was standing a Crystal Ball holding table. Not only it was a commodious tool of communication, but it also allowed Clayman to observe the reports of subordinates in real-time. The ceiling and walls made of marble were overflowing with gorgeous monograms of gold, in the same manner as entrances to the study including the doors. A masterful chandelier hanging in the middle of the room also lent the room a lavish grotesque. Not only golden ornaments were decorative elements of the room. The statue of a grotesque gargoyle placed behind on another side of a desk added its unique and also gothic appearance to the room. The chamber's deliberate paintings, so-called Artifacts, were its original touch. Those Artifacts were created by skilled Bismarck, a great artist from the realm of Demon Lords. Visual masterpieces were manufactured with such realism, that it appeared that the mythical beasts trapped by brush were alive, stirring slightly in their poses, from time to time.

Conference Room is a vast, gorgeously designed chamber. It's floor is covered in a luxuriant carpet weaved by the team of proficient team of artisans. The large round table in the middle featured wood carved from a fragrant tree, that provided a pleasant, woodsy smell. The table could comfortably seat a dozen of guests. The chairs arranged by the table were all the height of luxury, being considered difficult to procure even by higher-end nobility. The ingenious fireplace also created it's special charm. The one wall was featuring elegant Artifact. The quality instilled into each piece was enough to overwhelm anyone, notwithstanding the purpose of chamber was meant less to impress, but rather more to rob the visitor of any desire to resist the will of their host.

Clayman had a special cellar dedicated to his wine of quality. The wine preserved in there was a hundred-year-old vintage, old enough even to taste the time itself and labor put into it, not including its precious astonishing aroma. Only the most carefully picked examples that were strictly maintained as the classiest merchandise, reached Clayman's cellar. It was carefully kept in great care, stored to ensure only the highest of quality, waiting ever so patiently to be served for its master.

Clayman, having a sophisticated taste for the finer things and at the same time being the man of manners and culture, had in his possession a large number of musical instruments, such as the grand piano. They all were used for his large symphonic orchestra, which consisted of the most sophisticated musicians personally selected by Clayman. Such kind of chic could be afforded by court royals in this world.

Clayman's mansion also had an Arena shaped like a form of coliseum. Its purpose was to serve as a training ground for martial arts and magical techniques. It was mostly used by Demon Lord Kazalim and his subordinates.

After Clayman's downfall, management of the castle was on Dark Elves.


 * -|Light Novel=

Wetlands
Before reaching Clayman's Castle, it is necessary to traverse the lush yet bottomless wetlands. They act as an environmental barrier and simultaneously function as the first line of defense of Clayman’s headquarters. Right here was located an automatic defense mechanism created at that time by Curse Lord Kazalim, that bounded Adalman, the Index Finger of Clayman's Five Fingers for nearly a millennium to this land. Not only this gesture from Demon Lord Kazalim's side allowed Adalman to live all this time, but also turned him into a rather powerful Majin, due to his evolution from Wight into Wight King and bond with every soul present here. The Legions of Undead created and led by Adalman were also located here.

Beyond these wetlands are several murky swamps from the surface of which gas is bubbling out. They are creating the cloud of mysterious mist, making the surroundings seem even eerier. The moment you wade into these moorlands, the habitat starts to disappear in the thick fog plummeting visibility to nearly nothing making it nearly impossible to navigate and observe the suspicious surroundings without additional Skills that increase awareness and visual capabilities.

The mist located here not only decreases visual awareness and confuses the sense of direction, but it also creates a Spatial Interference to lure unlucky intruders from any direction straight into the circle of dozens and thousands of undead soldiers under Adalman's command, that were concealed by the same mist. Additionally, the fog is blocking out Magic. Without the ability to teleport out or communicate trespassers are left to their own.


 * -|Anime=

Ruins of Amrita
Underneath Clayman's castle laid the cavernous ruins of Amrita, accessible via an enchanted giant gate that was located inside the castle, which only Clayman could open previously. The Dark Elves weren't allowed there and were only able to enter the upper floor. The giant gate to the second level of the ruin was enchanted with ancient magic and could be opened by solving a coded spell. The true worth of the ancient ruins was the magical defense mechanism for the city set up by Kagali. Unlike the city on the surface protected by Adalman, Amrita was mainly guarded by Kagali’s spells and her numerous golem carrying several Unique-Grade equipment.

There is a settlement for the Dark Elves that lived within the ruins.

The ruins were divided into three levels, with the deepest one serving as a crypt. The first level acted as the treasury, which was transferred during Clayman's reign, and has since been used as living quarters.

If the first floor was illuminated by linking it with the orbit of the sun, the middle floor which had magic candlesticks on the stone walls would emit faint inextinguishable light created by magic. The middle floor greatly differed from the upper floor mostly because of the usage of stone walls with fabulous murals painted on them, replicating the life of the elven ancestors, narrow corridors, and low ceilings. The second level also consisted of some more invaluable trophies, such as Unique-Grade gears, treasures, jewels, and other riches.

The third level was where the closely guarded crypt lay. Presumably, the corpses of Kagali's fallen elven brethren were buried there, with a possibility that the crypt also contained the bodies of the royal family, given that Kagali was a former royal. The crypt was also where the Dark Elves stored many treasures, including valuable murals, weapons, gold coins, and some stellas (a very rare and extremely expensive valued currency). The corridors that lead to the crypt still guarded by numerous enchanted dolls, were programmed to allow only certain biological life-form patterns, repelling any intruders who didn't match them through the golems and even going so far in order to defend the crypt to building his castle atop the ruins to prevent any graverobbers from stealing valuables.

Currently, after the events of Majin Behind The Scenes arc, the crypt is damaged beyond repair.

Valley of Death
A path winding through rugged and jagged mountains. It is a rough, unfastened, not paved dirt road that provided passage between Clayman’s territory and the Eastern Empire. Despite this treacherous road being laden with monsters along with various undead creatures, traces of Clayman’s subordinates using the road regularly had been found. Hidden entrance to another world, Kumara's homeland — “The Mystic Village", was also located here, between the foot of the mountains on the Jistav side and the forest on the imperial side.

Military
Clayman's troops could be divided into two separate groups of armies.

For offensive maneuvers, Clayman used an army that consisted of 30,000 various Majin and other non-human beings varying from rank B to A. By being able to use his predecessor’s legacy, knowledge, and magic, Clayman was capable of improving the combat capabilities of his subordinates by utilizing spells and artifacts, as well as recruiting Majin who craved power by wealth. Clayman excelled at luring Majin by using great amounts of wealth and then manipulating them. They were led by Yamza, who was the Middle Finger of the Five Fingers. By being loyal enough to his master, he was given the position of Commander-In-Chief of Clayman's army.

The second group consisted of approximately 10,000 undead minions and soldiers created and led by Adalman. Legions mostly consisted of skeleton swordsmen and various zombies. The most prominent figures in this army, besides Adalman, were: proficient and noble warrior - Death Knight that could be ranked as an A- only by his swordsmanship skills; and immune to death, rampaging Death Dragon. The usage of magic mist allowed them to create an ambush for hostile trespassers. They primarily served as the defensive forces for Clayman's castle.

For espionage and intel gathering, Mjurran and Pirone usually acted as Clayman's spies. Apart from them, he also had a group of subordinates specifically for these purposes, who often wandered through various regions around the world, allowing him to gather information more conveniently for his own ends.


 * -|Anime=

Eastern Empire
The Eastern Empire had no particular interest towards Jistav initially, though some years after Amrita's establishment they did attack it once, and its defenses failed. Years following Kagali's demise and Clayman's ascension as one of the Ten Great Demon Lords, the Empire began a trading relationship with Jistav through Damrada with Clayman purchasing many high-grade weapons and other equipments for his army. However, the Empire's true intention was to use Clayman in conquering the Great Jura Forest by having him crush any threats to their conquest, and for this reason, Tatsuya Kondou – head of the Empire's Intelligence Bureau – placed Clayman under mind control, forcing him to focus on destroying the Jura Tempest Federation as well as defeating the Storm Dragon Veldora Tempest, who had once foiled their invasion of the Great Jura Forest in the past.

Armed Nation of Dwargon
Jistav also had a trading relationship with the Armed Nation of Dwargon and would trade many high-quality weaponry and others for Clayman's army. Despite Clayman being known to be a ghastly man, Dwargon continued trading though they were highly cautious while doing so. However, following the revelation of Clayman being the mastermind behind the allied attack on the Jura Tempest Federation, Dwargon was hostile towards the Demon Lord and supported Tempest in their plans to defeat him.

Holy Empire Ruberios
Clayman considers the Western Holy Church to be a mysterious organization and wishes to learn about it's secrets. In order to do so, he sent Laplace to investigate the Church, but his infiltration attempts failed twice. Ruberios, on the other hand, has never interacted with Jistav.

Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion
Through ancient history, the Sorcerer’s Dynasty Sarion shares an ancestral connection with the Puppet Nation Jistav. After the catastrophe of where the original elven kingdom was annihilated by the wrath of Demon Lord Milim Nava, a portion of the elven nobility had chosen to abandon the last surviving royal of their original homeland, eventually forming their own individual kingdoms that then united into the current Sorcerer’s Dynasty Sarion. The remaining elves who chose to remain loyal to the Princess, followed her and eventually established the Puppet Nation Jistav, becoming the Dark Elves.

Economy
Puppet Nation Jistav established a completely different economic distribution compared to other domains ruled under Demon Lords. Clayman is the only one of the few rulers, who knew how to exploit financial situations and even Rimuru had come to acknowledge his potential genius when he heard how Clayman treated his territory's economy. Unlike other ruling Demon Lords, Clayman was the only one who allowed free and legal commerce. Establishing trade relationships with almost every country around the world through the use of merchants. By being one of the only countries with a free independent trade system, Puppet Nation Jistav had a decent amount of merchants placed all over the Magic Continent. The economy was a pressing concern for Clayman, furthermore, his domain had a working monetary system in operation.

For most of Jistav's agricultural output, Clayman primarily used slave labor. However, not everything was domestically produced. Some of the items were supposed to be imported beyond Jistav's borders, such as fruits, bread, and dairy products as well as other consumable goods. These products couldn’t be teleported by magic, so they were transported physically. In order to store exported products, Clayman had bases all over the world, most of which were warehouses. He bought them personally with the goal to store goods such as wine, fruits, and other stuff bought from the Eastern Empire. This could explain how he was able to feed the Orc Army consisted of 200,000 orc troops.

No less important source of income for Clayman's exchequer was selling the heirlooms and artifacts buried beneath the first level of Amrita's ruins. The ancient relics, artifacts, treasures, sets of Unique-Grade equipment and weaponry, and golden coins alone cost an entire fortune. Only selling a minuscule portion of them was enough for anyone to live like the nobility for centuries.

Trivia

 * Interestingly enough, Clayman never considered himself to be the ruler of Jistav. He always considered the territory to be Kagali's and stated that he was taking care of it until her return.
 * Kagali had planned to restore the ruins of Amrita back to their glory days after she handled the issues she and her allies were facing. However, following the crypt's destruction, she was discouraged from doing so.
 * In Tensura Nikki, it was revealed that Clayman's castle has a name "Shadow Castle", where he regularly held Demon Lord conferences, which were more informal versions of Walpurgis Banquets. They also included fancy tea parties and palatable Clayman's own hand-made pastry.
 * Clayman's castle was created not just as a base of operations, but as a secondary layer of protection for the ruins of Amrita that lies beneath it. It was more specifically built to protect the crypt within the third level of the ruins from possible graverobbers or thieves.
 * The majority of Jistav's citizens are Dark Elves, with a large portion of them in the slave class. Apart from them, there were also demi-humans and some Majins as well, with most of these Majins being recruited by Kagali and a much larger number by Clayman himself.
 * Jistav is known as the Land of Puppets due to its ruler, Demon Lord Clayman largely being known as "Marionette Master" and his methods of inducting subordinates as well as his treatment towards them.
 * Jistav is actually a recreation of the Super-Magic Kingdom of the Elves that were built by Kagali, or rather the ruined city of Amrita.
 * Kagali owned another territory where she had built a castle and a research facility containing Otherworlder summoning technology. Following her defeat, Leon Cromwell took over the castle as his own until he left after the Hero Chronoa's attack.