Name of Nation:
The Lancian Empire, or informally Lancia
Government:
The Lancian Empire is headed by the Kaiser or Kaiserin if the ruler is female, Lancia’s word for Emperor/Empress. In full the title of Kaiser/Kaiserin actually stands for Kaiser/Kaiserin of the Lancian peoples, but it is shortened due to the length of the title . The Kaiser is the ultimate authority, and while there is a parliament as well as various governmental agencies and other titles from former Lancian states within the Empire, the Kaiser can always override their decisions. The Kaiser can also revoke any titles from those he deems unfit for them and grant them upon new noble families.
Economy:
Lancia has openly embraced industrialization, thanks in part to generous subsidies by the government. Many private companies operate factories, mainly in the far North and Far South of Lancia were power from rivers is readily available. The Lancian Government does operate a few of its own factories and other production centers, mainly for supply the military and government offices, but they usually do need to buy supplies from these companies during war time.
Away from the large rivers of Lancia there is plenty of work to be found on farms, as well as in mines to harvest the various materials necessary to build firearms and other tools. There is also plenty of work to be found in Lancia’s ports, mostly working on fishing trawlers. There is also a growing shipbuilding industry as well as, and work to be found on merchant ships carrying goods from the Lancian factories to other parts of the world.
It is also to be noted that Lancia enforces high tariffs on certain goods and low tariffs on others. They are completely fine with foreign goods. However foreign companies are generally not accepted to have property or other investments within Lancia. All requests for either have to go to the Kaiser, and he tends to deny them.
Military:
The Lancian Military is divided into two branches, the Imperial Armed Forces, and the Imperial Navy.
As per the warrior tradition of Lancia and her people, the Imperial Armed Forces are a vast well trained and well funded force. Lancia’s Generals are known for being some of the best military minds in Edoniras, and the Imperial Forces are feared and respected by Lancia’s enemies and allies. The Imperial Armed Forces also has many battle-hardened veterans to bring to the field.
The Imperial Navy is not the best amongst Edoniras, however it still has sturdy hulls and sailors. While not receiving much attention and funding, the sailors are still decently trained and know how to hold their own in a battle. The Kaiser has in recent years devoted more attention to expanding the Lancian Navy, as it is quickly becoming clear to Lancia that a well-trained and well-funded Navy is also necessary to help maintain the Lancian state.
Description of Culture:
Lancia, do to it’s status as a Empire, has many cultures and ethnicities. However the largest culture and the culture which is the Empire’s namesake are the Lancians. The Lancians are at their very core, warriors. Honor and glory in battle are things that are always touted by Lancia and in writings from Lancian authors. Lancians are also very hard workers in their cultural ideas, any many scholars say without that the Lancians would not have the vast Empire they do today. The Lancians are also very nationalistic, often glorying the state and the Kaiser. The Lancians also glorify veterans of war, particularly those who wield the Iron Cross. The Iron Cross is a military award that can only be granted by the Kaiser and is only given to those men and women who go far above and beyond in war. A interesting idea observed in Lancian culture, at least as of late, is that women are equal to men. While one would think that due to other parts of Lancian culture they would not respect this idea, it has prevailed. Their is many women who have even earned the Iron Cross and served proudly in the Armed Forces.
The religion that most Lancians follow is a split-off of the monotheistic New Faith followed by the Norians in their later years. It respects all Lancian traditions and has a pretty standard set of morals for a religion to have.
History:
Lancia as it known today was founded by the Wilhelm Dynasty. Ruling over the Kingdom of Pruzkin they saw the other Lancian states constantly warring with each other and began a mission to unify the scattered Kingdoms, Duchies, and Free cities into one state. Along they faced much resistance, from both the Lancian states themselves and foreign powers who sought to keep Lancia divided for their own ends.
It was not until Alena Wilhelm, who after the death of her father, became the ruling Queen of Pruzkin and the matriarch of the Wilhelm Family, that Lancia finally became unified. Her life was spent in political maneuvering, backstabbing, and wars to unify the Lancian state. It was finally towards the end of her life that her goal stood accomplished. The Lancian Empire finally came together, and she was crowned it Kaiserin.
Trouble was afoot as despite some of the Lancian Empire’s early economic policies which were generous, a exodus lead to the formation of Numburg far away. While the exodus did not remove the Lancian Empire from it status as one of the great powers of Edoniras, it had a noticeable effect on the fledgling Empire’s strength.
Kaiserin Alena finally died, and wrote on the first line of her will that “So long as Numburg remains an independent state, we can not truly claimed their rests a unified Lancia.”. Despite the fact the Empire had allowed the exodus many nobles of the Empire encouraged the new Kaiser, Gabriel, to use force to unify the Empire. Kaiser Gabriel saw this as a last resort believing that unifying Numburg by force would only cause trouble for Lancia in the end.
With his own son and a Empire to run, Kaiser Gabriel has begun efforts to build relations with Numburg while managing the Empire and keeping it strength growing. However is efforts have met resistance, but he continues them none the less.
Territory:
While areas vary, a small mountain range rests in the South with the rest of the area being comprised of plains and hills, as well as plenty of fertile farmland.
Other: