I'm just going to pop down my WIP NS, you will notice that the history is blank, I'll be adding in some text book stuff but also some important events between my country and others. [b]The Tsardom of Ventium[/b] Flag: (Optional) [hider=Government and Economy] Type of Government: The government of Ventium is an Elective Monarchy, meaning that the people choose the next Tsar/Tsarina from the offspring of the previous leader. However it is not as simple as that, there are many laws/rules/regulations that are enforced, here are some: - A new leader will be elected if any of these criteria are met: death of the current leader; abdication from the throne by the current leader; the current leader becomes unfit to rule. - Candidates for election must be offspring of the out-going leader (Be they legitimate or otherwise). - A candidate must be 21 or above to participate as a candidate. - There must be a minimum of 4 candidates, if the out-going leader has less; the needed amount may be chosen from nieces or nephews; if there is offspring below 25 the election can be postponed until they become of age; if this is the case the country is to be lead by the out-going leader/his or her spouse/an interregnum. - Once a leader has been elected, the previous will aid as an advisor to the new for 6 months to brief the actions of the previous government. - A leader may only marry another Ventian, making the children pure Ventian, the partner will hold no power unless granted, the partner can come from any class. Head(s) of Government: - His Imperial Majest, Tsar Voltus Ventus, Lord Treasurer, Supreme Commander of a The Armed Forces (24) - Her Eminence Regina, Tsarina Marie Despereaux, Spouse of The Tsar (19) - Her Excellency, Tsarette Katerina Ventus, Sister of The Tsar, Minister of Foreign Affairs (36) - His Excellency, Tsarum Leopold Ventus, Brother of The Tsar, Commander of The Royal Guard (33) - His Excellency, Tsarum Ampov Ventus, Brother of The Tsar, Minister of Mining and Industry (28) - Her Excellency, Tsarette Agnes Ventus, Sister of The Tsar, Minister of Agricultural, Mariculture and Forestry (22) Economy: The Ventian Economy is metal based, the value of the currency is directly proportional to the value of silver, gold, platinum and palladium within the treasuries and foreign currency reserves. The royal treasury, reserve and mint are all controlled by the sovereign, to ensure that prices cannot be tampered with, this is done keeping the interests of the Ventian people in mind, keeping prices stable by limiting inflation and deflation. The economy is built on the back of primary and secondary resources, shelling out ores, metal bars, timber and lumber for gold, silver, platinum and palladium, the reason why heavy industrial products aren't traded out in a mass scale is due to the way industry functions. What little factories the country has are all state owned, not only factories but mines, railroads and docks are all state owned; agriculture to a certain extent is also state owned, meaning the state owns and employs people to work on their farms. There are three denominations in the currency, Crowns, Shillings and Pennies; there are 20 Pennies in a Shilling and 12 shillings in a crown. 1 Crown can be taken to the federal reserve and be cashed in for 1 oz. of gold or 40 oz. of silver; 1 Shilling can be cashed in only in silver at a rate of 3.3 oz. per Shilling; And 1 Penny can be cashed in for nothing but a Penny bond unless there is an equivalent in Pennies of Crowns or Shillings. With this system the economy is self regulating, when people need money they can exchange their gold for it, this would balance out ability to demand and supply, reducing inflation and keeping things affordable for those on fixed or low incomes. [/hider] [hider=History, Demographics, and Culture.] Primary Species: Human, almost all of which are white, with browns and blacks being the most prevalent hair colors, and browns and hazels being the most prevalent eye colors. Male Ventians grow to become 6'2 on average and females 5'6. Population: 43,678,100 (1903 Census) Culture: The Ventian culture has been described to have three main pillars, Conservatism, Modesty and Tradition. Conservatism in the form of looking after what they have, not seeking change where it is not needed and in everyday life, people aren't seen wearing bright colors on the streets and everything is neat and in it's place, some would call Ventians plain, they prefer unassuming. Modesty is another large part of their culture, if you have something don't flaunt it, men and woman don't wear expensive looking things often to increase unity and stop division between classes; one example of this was the royal wedding between Voltus Ventus and Maria Despereaux, when she had a dress made, Voltus ordered a dress to be made for every woman in the land and paid from his personal funds, just so everyone could look nice and not be jealous of each other. Finally Tradition, there are many customs and norms that have been steadfastly followed by the Ventian people for hundreds of years, some of these include woman never cutting their hair and men wearing trench coats outside, almost all people observe these rules, even the Tsar and Tsarina; this pillar is said to be interchangeable with loyalty or respect, as they have remained loyal to their tradition or respect them by carrying them out to this day. Religious and other Beliefs: Ventian Monoclasticism is the dominant religion in Ventium, it asserts at the core of it's belief that there is only one all seeing, omniscient God and he controls the ebb and flow of the universe, dishing out blessing and punishment as he see's fit. The religion teaches it's followers to be patient, respecting, tolerant and worldly; to constantly seek out knowledge for the betterment of the faith and all mankind. The holy text of Monoclasticism, The Book of Monoclast, contains the words of God, to be precise his instructs to all his people, wisdoms and lessons, morals and ways to live one's life, they are all written within The Book of Monoclast. History: [b]Medieval Era[/b] The period between the 5th and 11th century CE was a turbulent time in Ventian history, it was a time when small feudal states ruled over the majority of what is today mainland Ventium. They were constantly waring against each other. [/hider] [hider=Geography, Agriculture, and Industry] Territory: (Be considerate of others, but also be aware we need space filled. Put your map claim here.) Climate: The south of Ventium generally receives milder weather then the north, due to it's geographical proximity to the equator, the south received on average 600mm of rainfall a year, with some areas having general highs and lows. Due to the Ventian Coastal Vault, a large mountain chain that takes up most of the southern coast, oceanic winds cannot penetrate over and into the interiors of Ventium, this means that most if not all of southern Ventium receives little wind; however winds do on occasion come from the south west, coming over The Fuscum Sea and to the southern border but it is negligible due to most of its energy being expended traveling over uncultivated land. Much of the southern interior, namely the areas to the south west, are marsh the rest being grasslands that are used for cultivation; massive earth work projects are currently taking place in the western marshes to divert the water flow for irrigation and reclaim the unarable. The south has large forested regions, of which most are protected by the king due to them being his property, there is a wide variety of trees in the south but almost all are nonconiferous trees like Jacarandas, Birches and oaks; the only place where coniferous trees like pines mix with nonconiferous are the footlands, an area of land at the foot of the northern highlands, just south enough for leafy trees to grow. To the north of the sweeping southern plains comes the snowy highlands, the north of which is completely frozen over all year round and gradually getting warmer the further south one goes; Ventium's mineral wealth comes from valleys and mountains of the rugged north. As for wildlife, Ventium boasts a modest amount of animal species, things like Deer, Foxes, Hares, Timber Wolves and smaller rodent like mammals tend to live in the southern forests; In the north animals like Gray Wolves, Mountain Goats and Moose tend to be more common, though rare animals like Mammoths tend to live at the northern most extremes, where it is always cold. In the footlands, where the two world converge, animals tend to mix and cross species tend to be more common, like Deer-Moose and Graytimber Wolves; however a creature specific only to the footlands is the Ventian Mountain Lion, a reclusive animal that only appears a few times but is none the less very dangerous. Agriculture: Is a large part of the Ventian economy, due in part because of the large swaths of fertile land and also because of a relatively small industrial sector, though the government is officially not in control of agriculture, it extends de facto power over it through rules, regulations and massive government owned farms. It supports regional markets and trade in local produce, it does this by promoting the importance of supporting farmers and by insuring good prices for none state produces relative to that of the market. In the early 1800's canals were dug, cross crossing Ventium, hundreds of miles were carved out of the earth. They were initially used to transport people, goods and materials but once the rails were completed in the late 1800's, they fell into disuse until they were repurposed for irrigation and opened for public use, everyone who lives by a canal owns one of the long, thin, quiet motor boats that have become easily recognizable as Ventain Canalers. A growing sector of the agricultural economy is fish farming, the sea based version of cattle rearing, over fishing in the early 1900's and unsustainable fishing methods lead the sky rocketing of fish prices and the decimation of the wild fish stocks; opening their waters to foreign trawlers to fish as much fish as they could take, now Ventium has comprehensive schemes to bring back wild fish and is encouraging fish farming to decrease dependency on foreign fish and their own dwindled stocks. Industry: Ventium doesn't have many factories, the only ones there are are arms, chemical and munitions factories and they are state owned but what Ventium does have is a huge artisan community. The government has taken advantage of the skills of the artisans and encouraged them to produce the products the country needs, different provinces and municipalities have different artisanal skills, some are better at working metal and some at making leather products. The government has allotted each province a production goal, to produce this much of this by this time, artisans apply for production licenses and these will guarantee that the government will buy their goods at a set price; with this assurance they are encouraged to produce more because the government is obliged to buy it. The government however does have control over how much is made, by decreasing and increasing prices of products, artisans can be encouraged and discouraged from making certain goods and instead turn to things that make more money. Though having a license is optional for artisans, as they can still make products but won't have a guarantee that they will be bought. Due to all factories being owned by the government, when artisans want to open large workshops or foundries or what-have-you, they have to apply for government permission; the property has to be between 30,000 and 50,000 square feet and can only employ 110 workers in total, a person can only own two of these large workshops and there is a set amount that can be functioning in each province at any one time; alternatively most artisans work from the home. At the end of a production cycle, the products of each province are collected, distributed, stockpiled or sold by the government. Though the government has a strict quality programs, setting out specifications for the products produced, if products don't meet these requirements, they are not bought. Though there are licenses that guarantee one's products are bought by the government, the licenses only apply to essentials like buckets, ropes, barrels and spades, luxury goods like jewelry and fine clothes have no licensing, however things like simple wrist watches and common clothes (trousers, shirts, overalls, tenchcoats, etc.) do have licenses ensuring tailors and small-smiths have work. The Ventian Chemical industry is a growing branch of the economy, already producing a large amount of chemicals for near to nothing, Using sea water to electrolysis chlorine and Main Exports: Iron Ore, Iron Bars, Steel, Copper Bars, Tin Bars, Coal, Lumber, Silk, Cotton, Grain, Wool, Paper, Chemicals. Main Imports: Heavy Industrial Machinery, Natural Gas, Precious Metals, Luxury Products, Complex Electronics. [/hider] [hider=Royal Ventian Armed Forces] Army: - Standard Infantry Section (Smallest None Special Forces Divisional Unit): A Section consists of 10 Infantry man, recognizable by their Olive-Drab, felt trench-coats and dark brown berets, the berets have regimental patches sewn onto the front indicating regiment, battalion and company of the soldier. Overtop the trench-coat, a soldier would have a combat harness on, with front facing pouches for ammunition, grenades and other equipment; on top of that they would wear their backpack; in cold weather they are provided with gloves, thermals and scarves. Within a section, there are 9 designated rifle men, they carry the standard issue Vz .32 (M1 Carbine), chambered in .32 and a 9mm pistol (Browning Hi-Power), three of these rifle men have specialized roles, one is a combat medic, the other a radio operator and the last a Grenadier, armed with a Vr-42 rocket launcher (M1 Bazooka), the grenadier doesn't carry a handgun or entrenching tools due to the weight of the Vr-42 and its ammunition; the only non rifleman is the squad gunner, armed with a Vmg-22 light machine gun (FM 24/29), they too are not given a handgun or entrenching equipment due to carry load. - Scunedigarian Fusilier Corps (Affectionately dubbed The Colonial Rifels): Are elite Ventian rifle men, they are trained to operate in hostile, unforgiving conditions and deep behind enemy lines; their tactics are based heavily off of asymmetric guerrilla warfare, mobility and shock factor. All go through an intensive one year training program, taking them around the empire to train in extreme climates and conditions, making them highly versatile and durable. They have a distinctive uniform that differs from that of the standard soldiers, they wear khakis to start with, often due to the warmer climates that they operate in, shorts and shirts in high temperatures; however they do have cold uniforms in the form of fur jackets. A very distinct part of the uniform is the iconic leather slouch hat, a wide brimmed hat, with one side of the brim pinned to the cap with the crest pin of where they come from (dominions, colonies or core Ventians). Over their uniforms, they were a pouched bandolier, in the cavalry style, as opposed to the harness that standard soldiers have and wear backpacks over top this, on their lefts there are holsters for standard issued 9mm pistols, and to their rights they have sheathed Scunedigars ([url=http://m.imgur.com/RIC0Utw.jpg]Short Sabers[/url]). As for their primary weapons, they are armed with older model Vz .30-06 (M1 Garand), due to their ruggedness, higher power ammunition and accuracy, though with a reduced fire rate. - Mechanized Dragoons: Are the modern day Ventian cavalry, fast, mobile and frankly a bit scary, much like other parts of the Ventian armed forces, The Dragoons feature tremendous shock value. They are based off the traditional Ventian mounted unit, The Cuirassier, though the living, breathing horse has since been phased out of active service and replaced with mechanized steeds, rugged metal horses driven by pistons and pneumatic actuators and clad in aluminum alloy plates. Their riders are elite cavalry men and woman, trained in equestrian arts and drilled to be the best; They ride low in their saddles, using pressure plates on either side of the horse to turn, removing the need for traditional reigns and allowing the rider to stick closer to the machine and make his/her shape less easy to shoot at. - Royal Navy: Royal Aeronautic Corps: [/hider]