[b]Name of nation:[/b] Sorenio Republiqa duo Azula Coatl or The Flowering Republic [b]Name of leader:[/b] Rodreigo Moreango Pedro duo Montagonea [b]Brief introduction to leader:[/b] Rodreigo Moreango Pedro duo Montagonea, referred to as well as the Duego Rogreigo, Moreango, or Pedro is the current head – Patrico – of the Montagonea family, a wealthy family cartel trading abroad in exotic spices, porcelains abroad and salt at home. Elected as the Duego of the Republic of the Azul Coast in his fiftieth year. A coldly moral man, he presides over the Flowering Republic with an unwavering sense of what he considers to be ethical. Over his seventeen year tenure he has had three major heads of the oligarchical families put to death over perceived violations of the Republic. While this has netted him a lot of his enemies, the expansive breadth of the Montagonea family and its wealth as access to its own substantial private army has thus far retained a sense of political balance within the streets of the capital of Porto Saolo Grosso. [b]Name of other character: [/b] I would really rather save this for when the IC starts. I have my reasons. [b]Culture:[/b] The Sorenio Republiqa duo Azula Coatl is not also known as the Flowering Republic without reason. Nestled in the eternal summer of the south the inhabitants – rich or poor – enjoy a enriched livelihood in the fertile river valleys of its provinces and a rich abundance that makes even the poorest seem as modest merchants to many outside visitors. A culture built on a religion of festival, it is not entirely unusual to come to the Republic and find it in the midst of, or setting up for a procession in honor of one of the people's twenty-four patron Santos duo Suano, the Saints of the Sun. The festival atmosphere and the eternal bloom of its streets and countrysides has spawned a diverse and rich culture varying broadly by region to region, or in the city of Porto Saolo Grosso by district. It is said that every morning the people are woken by song, and stimulated by coffee at a breakfast of bacon and fruit. Wine, red, rich and sweet by lunch with honeyed bread. By dinner, rich beer over beef and vegetables and rich plums. The Republic speaks many different dialects and several languages collected almost as if by adhoc, an effect of the Republic's colonial history as its merchant and plantation families reach beyond the Republic's borders in search of unbroken earth beyond, or land to pull out from under a feudal baron's demesne to expand the horticultural and viticultural ambitions of the Flowering Republic. [b]Religion:[/b] The principle cult of the Republic is the cult of the son and its twenty-four saints, each marking a beginning of and end of a month in a rally race through the years. Marked with parades, flowers, and feathers many devout worshipers use the time to clean up the homes. Celebratory dinners to the saints are often held in the home, with small portions of food set aside during the festival time for the spiritual ascendants to partake in, should their souls so choose. Doorways and landings are scrubbed clean with water, and by the end of festival all food which had not been eaten is given to the beggars. The cult of the Sun is not the only religious entity though. Scattered in the rural highlands and valleys is a smattering of other observances to the natural world in which communities live. The cult of the fish, the tiger, the tree, the orchid, the stars, the moon. Referred to often as The Pagan Communities by the affluent of the cities where the Cult of the Sun is strong. This however overlooks the transient nature by which faith is often observed among much of the people. [b]Attitude to magic:[/b] Attitudes to magic can be summarized as two competing schools of thought. Salvation of the spirit vs Salvation of the material. Magic is not looked down upon by the people of the Flowering Republic, either treated indifferently or with reverence depending on where one comes from. But the study of magic has turned less from its utility as a means to, “send up sparkling roses, like some street juggler” but more towards its implications and furthering them. There is much more in its philosophical meditations. While in the course of this the study of magic and its philosophy its worldly impact has not gone unobserved, while complicated the baubles and implements used to study or come from study have entered into private consumption by the wealthy classes of the study, such as Scopiomagio; implements for the long-distance communication between distant parties. The attitudes towards magic are emblemized within the two major academies of the realm, the Academio duo Escolatoir and the Academio duo Importo. [b]Brief history:[/b] The Republic was born out of the corpse of another, ancient Empire. When this old Empire fell, its extant governates, colonies, and subjects wrestled sovereignty from one another. The warlords that rose came to sack the capital, and stole away with its memory, its wealth, and its importance finishing any and all hope it had to march along into time. The extant territories, now sovereign coalesced into feuding baronies and minor lordships as the private villas and estates became countries unto themselves. In this time, Porto Saolo Grosso came to think of itself as the last bastion of that old way. Renowned at the time of its empire for its vistas and rich soils it was already better placed than most and subject to neighboring jealousies. Initially itself ruled by a feudal nobility, though it would come to a bloody end. In the time of the dynasty though, the independent city was bolstered against invaders in a succession of small wars leading to great success. These wars brought a great amount of land and wealth into it. As well as the mercenary companies formed out of the old captains and the old guard of the old Empire and their sons. In these early wars the call for soldiers turned the old noble to refer to the unemployed former military, and the income brought in service enriched the pockets of the company commanders and their leading officers. After the wars, these men were in position to take in some of the land spoils acquired and started a transition from war fighting to farming and agriculture. Their immense political clout forced an imbalance between them and the fledgling nobility that became poorly handled. Over a century later, the Estadio Famílias – private landholders not recognized as feudal kings – embarked on a rebellion against their rulers in protest over a lack of recognition. While singly not as powerful as the king or the counts, they amassed together such an impressive wealth they were able to overthrow the feudal nobility and elected a Republic among themselves, naming it Sorenio Republiqa duo Azula Coatl on paper, but also proclaiming it the Flowering Republic. Since then the priority of the realm has been the management of itself and its access abroad. As a Republic built on land ownership, the political pressure from rising or established families often leads to a call to acquire additional territory to increase the franchise. [b]Military:[/b] Since the abolition of the old feudal order the old militia and levee system has mostly been abolished. Though with the sizable wealth many of the large families of the Republic hold it's not uncommon for them to possess even a small private armed force, the larger ones operate entire companies on their own as security against piracy or their rivals. A standing army is thus maintained as the Compativa Duego – the Duego's Retinue – to form the backbone of the army. Common levies are still often time raised, but are not considered the main body of the military force and are purely supplementary; given basic training and given the most readily usable weapons. The filial retinues and the Compativa Duego are often more readily equipped and professionally trained at owner's expense. Armed with the state of the art arabesques and trained in swordsmanship they are the vanguard of the mercantile interest. [b]Government:[/b] The Sorenio Republiqa duo Azula Coatl is by no surprise a Republic. Access to Republican politics is invested in land ownership, with the definition of land spanning from farm fields to owning a galleon of significant size. This how ever means that often the unlanded or uninvested sons of voters can not themselves vote until they inherit, and to prevent scoffing remarks of the Flowering Republic being a country of old men there is often increased pressure to find means to enfranchise the sons of voters, especially those of the strongest families. There is no party in the Republic. Only family. [b]Main sources of income:[/b] The Republic trades in many things. Southern spices including such things as cinnamon and black peppercorn or salt and sugar. The fisheries off-shore are considered rich and are of some importance with salted, preserved fish being an important export commodity for northern markets. The interior of the Republic has its gold and silver mines, which are vital for the Republic's mint and are not owned by any of the families, but strictly as an aspect of the government itself as a vestige of the feudal demesne; bonds and loans issued by the Serene Council – or du Serenado – are based off of the output of these mines, the reserve of precious metals, and current circulation. Of other importance is the production of wine and beer in the Republic, with the vineyards accounting for a sizable total of the Republic's agriculture export. Otherwise, agriculture is primarily for sustaining the Republic itself, a blockade would not starve them as designed. [b]Current goal:[/b] As needed, when called for: increase the franchise by accepted means, to retain the balance between families.