[img]https://i.imgur.com/yL84sX0.jpg[/img]


Nation Name: The Union of Zeeborg-Fallia

Type of Government: Federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. Three chamber parliament, consisting of the lower house (Kamber’af Minskin/Chambre du Peuple), the upper house (Kamber’af Hearen/Chambre du Seigneurs) and the Royal Court (Keningskip/Conseil Monarchique). 

Head(s) of Government: 

H.R.M. King Vulfram of House Wittykr-Marla, Head of State. 
Priminister Borb V. Ginderling, Head of Government. 
Holy Father Frische Pomello, Head of The Church of Zeeborg-Fallia.

Economy: 

Imports: Firearms, Explosives, Electric Parts, Automobiles, Specialty Metals.
Exports: Milled Stone, Grain, Yarn, Silver, Cement, Steel, Canned Foods, Machine-Tools/Parts, Music.

Much of Zeeborg-Fallia is agrarian in nature, with over half of the population employed in the agricultural sector, or as farmers to fill their own food demands. In recent times however, through government subsidies and education programs, there has been a calculated, planned increase of migration from the countrysides to city centers. In addition to this, with the advent of fertilizers and better farming techniques, food production increased beyond consumption rates, and encouraged the produce export industry, and the invention of various processes to treat, preserve and can food stuffs. The mineral sector is the next largest, the country being blessed with deep reserves of iron and coal but not much else, as a result, the quarrying of rock and sediment forms an unusually large part of the mining sector. A caveat to this however is silver, for which the country has two large deposits, in the proximity of the capital and the second city, the latter being the more plentiful. As far as heavy industry is concerned, most manufacturing takes place in the metropolitan area around the capital, due to the grand canal that allows goods to be transported out to the Meer and on to the world at large. The most prolifically produced luxury goods in Zeeborg-Fallia are those related to music, instruments, gramophones, vinyl records, microphones, high-quality cabling. Song, Poetry and The Spoken Word were and continue to be an important part of daily life, as such a well skilled community of craftspeople emerged to fill the niche. Zeeborg-Fallia also has control of a small but renowned merchant fleet, docking at ports along the banks of Lacq Meer, and flying the flag of the merchant navy. Most merchant navy ships often engaging in ocean whaling when out at sea, and generate added revenue from the valuable oils, meat, ambergris and highly prized scrimshaw. It has an operational tonnage of almost 4 million long tons.


Primary Species: 

98% Human (Zeeborgish 61%, Fallians 36%, Other 1%), 1% Elf, 1% Other, a few Giants.

Population: 

30,000,000

Culture:

Zeeborgs (Singular, Zeeborg or Zeeborger; Plural, Zeeborgish) are traditionally stiffer, quieter, and more reserved than their southern neighbors, they are concerned with functionality and efficiency. This is reflected in their personal appearances, blacks, white, beiges and greys are the de facto colors that make up what is acceptable (and economical). The Zeeborgs speak Zeeborgish, as a first language, a consonant filled language unusual due to the brevity of sentences and words, it is considered the least funny or romantic of the languages by all in Zeeborg-Fallia. To the south of them lie the other significant group, the Fallas (Singular, Falla; Plural, Fallians, Fallas) who are a stark contrast to the Zeeborgs. They are a more open, merry, and less drab people than their northern cousins, and have produced the vast majority of the poets, musicians and artists that have come to fame in Zeeborg-Fallia. Expectedly, as if the two groups have different uniforms, the Fallians dress in a wider range of colors, patterns and styles. Their language is lilting and filled with long, windy words and a love of plurals, even their syntaxes make it so that sentences are unusually long, despite this it is agreed that their language is more pleasant to the ear, but this does not mean one is richer than the other. There are however cultural norms that cross the divide of culture. Personal marksmanship is a critical part of the development of a male in Zeeborg-Fallia, and is often drilled into people from a young age, producing generations of competent marksman. If the rifle is the right arm of a Zeeborgish-Fallian man, the the dog is the left. Most households have some kind of dog, this stems from a long tradition of training and breeding dogs for hunting, shepherding and guarding. They developed a role in pest control with the advent of international trade, bringing in invasive species of birds and rodent. For a woman however, cooler heads prevail, they are often there to undo the mess of their menfolk, and as such they hold a well loved place in society. Being matrons of the home as well, as a national average, women are more likely than men to complete secondary school, and traditionally form the support men need to go be reckless. As such, most mothers and wives tent to know something about patching people up, and have taken this into advantage, most nurses, apothecers and general practitioners of medicine are women. In terms of education, every citizen has the right to free primary education, which involves Arithmetic, Zeeborgish, Fallian, and an Elective. Secondary education involves a small degree of specialization, and is of a more rigorous level, and is often different regionally, in contrast to Primary education which is prepared by the state. There are only three major universities in Zeeborg-Fallia, two in Zeeborg and one in Fallia, both teach in both languages but tend to have higher acceptance rates from students in their regions. Nevertheless, tertiary, university level education is very uncommon still. Despite having a written language, a significant amount of the knowledge and mediums of storing information are sound based, on record, or recording cylinders, and recently on experimental punchcard audiographs. Most articles of writing come with an audio counterpart, and in some cases are more popular, especially for poems and short stories. The proliferation of recording equipment and sound expertise also lead to the boom in the music industry, where before you were limited to where you could go and listen to music, now it is not unusual for households to have small libraries of music.

Religious and Other Beliefs:

The Church of Zeeborg-Fallia, is monotheistic faith, composed of a body of clergy of which one (Currently Father Frische Pomello) is first among equals. The theology of the church centers around the belief of a singular, omnipotent deity, Got, Lord of Worlds. They preach from the scripture that is believed to be the word of Got, and from the Anthology, a collection of volumes of analogies regarding the lives of saints and those chosen by Got to pass down his words from on high. The Church’s area of influence is subdivided into Ecclesiastical Provinces and Parishes, in descending size order. Parish priests are representatives of the Church at the local level, who performs baptisms, gives sermons and religious lectures, manages the church’s school and hospital, and collects census data on deaths and births in their parish. Ecclesiastical Priests are the parish priests for their particular parish, but have the added role of managing the regional coffers of the church and when the Holy Father passes on, elect a new one from among themselves. All priests are technically civil servants, due to the census data being collected by the governments from them, and because they run government primary schools and hospitals from their premises. A distinct part of the church is the Monastic Order, groups of priests who live in seclusion in places of sanctuary or divine importance and dedicate their lives to Got, they vow poverty and detach themselves from material possession. They often send members among them to preach itinerantly, and are renowned for the goods they produce, like wines and wood carvings and dyed fabrics and leathers. Martial Chaplins are also almost exclusively monks, as such most monks go through a level of militia training. 

Location/Territories:

Climate: 

The country experiences mild temperatures, temperate throughout the year, snow arrives in Decumber and recedes in Ganuary. Rain is most prevalent in spring and autumn, summers rarely exceed 30 degrees centigrade. The south of the country is divided from the north by a series of woodlands and hills, dividing two relatively flat planes, though the south is more hilly, approaching mountainous at the southernmost border. The north is marshy, though much has been reclaimed for agriculture, and is dotted with prominent hills. The climate dries up and elevation increases closer to the northern frontier, which is mostly rolling fields of tall grass and small patches of forestation.

Military: 

Garde Civique/Borgwach: 77,000 personnel, 100 x 3” light field guns, 250 x belt-fed machine guns, magazine bolt-action rifles, hand grenades, revolvers. Basic volunteer forces, professional soldiers whose sole jobs are to soldier. They are characterised by their black great coats, silver buttons and buckles, heavy packs and black hats.
Garde-côte/Kustwacht: 1500 personnel, 100 x patrol boats, 10 x 9” Coast Guns, 60 x  6” Coast Guns, tube-fed lever-action carbines, auto-loading pistols, shotguns. Dressed in white and blue, the coast guard protect and monitor the comings and goings of merchant ships, boarding all of them before they come to port.
Gendarmerie/Miltêr-Plyse: 85,000 personnel, Shotguns, Single-shot breech-loading rifles, revolvers. The police of the country, they wear dark blue uniforms trimmed with silver, often wearing black leather rain cloaks and constabulary hats. For times when more force than their revolvers or truncheons is neccssary, they often dawn chest plates and arm themselves with rifles and shotguns. 
Gardeduroi/ Keningwacht: 10,000 personnel, magazine bolt-action rifles, automatic pistols, hand grenades, light machine-guns, light/medium morters, automatic shotguns, melee weapons. The king’s guard is the elite military institution in Zeeborg-Fallia, with the best equipment and training, they are the cream of the crop, the most capable soldiers are skimmed out of training and are put through the rigorous process of becoming a king’s guard. The main differences between the Civil Guard and the King’s Guard uniforms are that the KGs carry much lighter packs, have more ammunition pouches, and have colored feathers in their hats. They are designed to be mobile, fast and effective, and are currently exploring the idea of motorization.


Magic Prevalence/Usage and Elemental Alignment: Basically nothing. Few individuals have trinket abilities, though not banned by the church, they look down at it.

History/Background Info:

De Sintoarloch/la Guerre de Scor/The Cinder War: The Cinder War is remembered in the sychy of the nation as a final dance, an epic battle for which they gave their all but it was not good enough. To their credit though, they held back the Elves for far longer than they had any right to. It was the Summer of 1719, and on her Northern Frontier, Zeeborg-Fallia was facing harassment from Illinderisch soldiers on her forts and towns, no one took much from it as the two countries had been hostile for years, a dispute over sea access. The garrisons in the north were enough to brush off the attackers. But without hindsight, the idea that these attacks were simply the pokings and proddings of a probing hand were inconceivable. Until on the 22nd of Ly, the Illinderisch launched an attack on the border fort at Bierblek. First hand accounts, though scarce, agreed that the fort fell in days and had been surrounded and overwhelmed before messengers could be sent out to warn the rest of the chain of the impending invasion. The Elvish armies left Bierblek in ruins, those who couldn’t escape or stay hidden when it was stormed were hunted and killed ruthlessly. The initial wave of attacks sent a shock through the nation, as forts all along the border fell in a similar fashion to Bierblek. By Vember all the forts in the frontier had fallen, much to the surprise of the Elven generals, who did not anticipate such vigorous defence or lack of willingness to surrender. This bought the Zeeborgs more time, as they bolstered the towns and cities to the south, dug fortifications and blew bridges. The Illinderisch high command were furious, they were making progress, but they would not reach the capital before winter snowfall came. The Elves sent an appeal, an ultimatum to the Fallians, whose land had yet to be occupied or otherwise wracked by the slowly approaching war: “Join us, and fight against your Zeeborgish overlords, and you will be guaranteed amnesty and lenient treatment.” The Fallians refused, instead taking up arms with their Zeeborgish cousins, it is noted that after the ultimatum, the number of Fallian soldiers heading to the front had soared rapidly. In the end, the Fallians were rewarded for their steadfastness, and the crown-prince took a Fallian commoner as his wife. Winter slowed the Elvish offensive down to a halt, during their retreat from the invader, Royal Engineers torched forests and caved in coal mines, livestock was hurriedly shepherded behind the lines and any crops or orchards still remaining were burnt to nothing. Skirmishers did their best to hamper supply routes behind the enemy lines, and the few months of snow and rain were made miserable for the Elven Army. However, in that winter the elves too would strike blows. The then king was visiting soldiers at the front line, much to their fanfare, when he was picked off by an Elvish sharpshooter. In anger, the troops launched an offensive against the Illinderisch lines, but were ultimately futile in changing the pitch of the war. Instead the Elves counter attacked, and sunk deep into the country, until finally they reached the walls of the ancient capital. Where not even the great guns, bombards and mortars of the walls and castle were enough to keep the war-furious invaders from breeching and finally ending the war with the capture of the newly coronated king. An unconditional surrender was signed, though the king was allowed to stay. In the next few weeks the elves imposed a new constitution on Zeeborg-Fallia, weakening the power of the king and establishing a parliament and cabinet to keep the power of the popular monarch in check. Additionally, to further aid their conquest of other lands, the elves demanded reparations of money and men to fight in their distant wars, the defeated nation could not say no. This vassalage set the stage for the next few hundred years, as the country recovered from the violent events and picked itself back up. Modernity had arrived and hope returned that eventually, one day, they would be free from the yoke of the Illinderisch. But still, the shadows looms over the country, and when the elves come to collect their due, the nation collectively scowls and carries on with its business.