[hider=WIP - The Gahlee Confederation] [img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/735316037674729513/793074672861970472/gahleeflag2.png[/img] [h3]Name of Nation:[/h3][b]The Gahlee Confederation[/b], for non-Gahleekane'chr speakers. For speakers of the native tongue: Gahleechoday'chrrrchr, lit. Place That Is Home [hider=Rolls] [b]Land Area:[/b] 7 The Gahlee have territorial claims that are more desolate than not, with little coastline to work with. [b]Land Fertility:[/b] 8 Limited regions are useful for agrarian purposes due to the heavily mountainous nature of the areas where most of the Gahlee dwell. [b]Natural Resources:[/b] 20 The areas where the Gahlee dwell have some of the largest undeveloped resource deposits on the planet. The areas surrounding them not even counted, when they themselves are also digustingly resource rich. [b]Social Development:[/b] 9 While the society of the Gahlee is technically very peaceful and cohesive it is also functionally very inefficient, and the easily-influenced pathological nature of the Goyagahlee, the predominant species of the population, produce idiosyncrasies that make governance difficult despite the geographical isolation and safety of the Gahlee lands. [b]Technological Development:[/b] 13 Exposure to the outside world has led to rapid developments, stymied due to the lack of centralized academic traditions among the Gahlee people. [b]Industrial Development:[/b] 9 The Gahlee's strong spiritual connection to their pristine lands make them more resistant to industrialization despite their exposure to many other industrializing nations. [b]Total Economic Strength:[/b] 19 Business, plain and simple. Most of their ties with the Celestial Realm are in the form of mutually beneficial development of land, resources, and markets, meaning the Gahlee communes are almost all flush with state industry cash. [b]Land Power:[/b] 4 Small skirmishes between communes are not unheard of, but for the most part the Gahlee do not practice militarism as a nation. [b]Naval Power:[/b] 1 Despite their economic lifeblood being the sea they have little federal interest in developing a formal naval presence, depending on the protection of allies from pirates. [b]Air Power:[/b] 11 Due to the flying nature of the majority of their peoples there is some societial interest in the arts of aviation, and investments are being made into acquiring and reverse engineering the air forces of allies, primarily due to curiosity and experimentation. [/hider][hider=Traits] [b]Gaia's Homestead[/b] - Their homeland is blessed due to their strong spirituality as a peoples, giving them better land fertility than might be expected and improving their ability to ask favors of their gestalts in cases of domestic and defensive need. Caveat where industrial development past a point is extremely difficult because pollution of their lands will cost them the favor of their pantheon and reduce civilian trust in government oversight of land development. [b]Boiling Cauldron[/b] - With the majority of the Gahlee population being friendly and influenceable to the point of pathology, Gahlee overall will pick up innovations from foreign nations faster, at the cost of being vulnerable to internal social division due to the easy spread of other conflicting religions and ideologies. [b]The Many Crystal[/b] - Ugodidi'whdagah as it is also known is a highly powerful and versatile form of the Gahlee's native magical font, that as an alchemical component and as a magical foci has not yet been explored to its true potential. The Many Crystal implies that technological development by the Gahlee will produce unique and powerful dividends but that it will be more difficult to undertake in the first place. [/hider][hider=Issues At Present] In general, the pursuit of these various policy agendas by the federal governing body of the Confederacy will run into issues of equitable and efficient implementation given the culture of decentralized power within the nation at large. [list] [*] Significant infrastructure overhauls for nationally critical systems such as telecommunications and electricity grid. [*] Further northward expansion of outposts into the desert regions to fully develop the potentially lucrative oil export component of their economy. Southward expansion into the also resource-rich rainforests has been debated at length and is generally not favored by the current iteration of Tsunee. [*] Continued opening up of the isolated mountain regions where the majority of their population lives such that foreigners will be able to expand their business interests deeper into the resource-rich areas of Gahlee. [*] Implementation of a universal education system, including formal academia to drive technologic innovation. [*] Gahlee's diplomatic personnel are broadly interested in promoting international peace by way of implementing some form of global organization inspired by Gahlee's traditional methodologies of negotiation. [/list] [/hider][hider=People of Interest] [b]Violetta[/b], or Aliheli'chrr'usidiye, [b]Secretariat of Defense[/b] - A batfolk in her mid 30s, whose full Gahleechoday'chrrrchr name roughly means 'happy hair' reflecting her most notably unruly and captivating feature. Born abroad to parents who had emigrated to Dastria, Violetta fought abroad in the first decade of her adult life as a member of Le Forza. This experience has led to her having a more cynical and worldly view of the dangers to the Gahlee than many of the native Gahlee she serves alongside in the Tsunee's executive branch. She is indeed more paranoid than her composure and discipline imply, but her strict dedication to her job and effectiveness in developing beuracracy impressed her peers into appointing her to a tall-order task: developing a federal blueprint for a modern military force. [b]Aliheli'tsunee'chrrr[/b], or [b]Ali Chernyshyova[/b], [b]Secretariat of Urban Development[/b] - Ali is by countenance mostly a Volyudki, but by upbringing a Goyagahlee. Several generations ago her family were landowning nobles displaced by the revolution, with the survivors displaced and ultimately settling in Nyagah when it opened in the 1700s, among the first settlers seeking land and opportunity in the foreign place. The Chenyshyovas developed a successful general supplier business and became a local political dynasty, highly regarded among the batfolk. Appointed by Diga's personal lobbying, Ali's influence is stronger than most might first assume as the urban areas of Gahlee are where the majority of industrial development and business interest occur, so Ali's pick of projects and mandates have significant national import. Ali was trained by the traditions of her lineage to believe in the efficacy of heirarchical rule and centralized command, affecting both her actions in local affairs within Nyagah and significantly shaping foreign affairs of the state. [b]Igeegah'digatisdiganotsa[/b], or [b]Diga[/b], [b]Tsunee Representative of Haunavnige'hau'chrr'equauwevni[/b] - A goatfolk in her late fifties. She has thus far served three full terms representing the largest membership commune in all of Gahlee- one of several constituting Nyagah- and this makes her one of the longest serving active representatives. Foreigners typically call her Diga. She is one of the most famously competent within the frequently chaotic and disorganized Tsunee legislative body, and though not the Speaker is generally considered as influential de facto due to her extensive connections within Tsunee's diplomatic corps, over a quarter of whom are appointees she either made personally or lobbied for. As a key figure within the supermajority coalition of All People Party, her relentless advocacy for opening Gahlee to more foreign business interests is particularly influental as to the present direction of the Confederacy. [b]Hawinianu'chrrigeegah'wghgiyatiha[/b], Tsunee Representative of Chrrrchr'ugodidigahlee'waniugidaliwgh - A young, brash goyagahlee barely a year into her adulthood, who spent her youth apprenticed to the shaman of her commune, a small and remote village in the far north of Gahlee. She has only been a representative as of this session of Tsunee. She deigns to not speak to foreigners and regularly recuses herself from voting on matters of foreign policy in protest. She is a rising star in the Central Person's Congress, a charismatic and beautiful voice and face who draws a lot of public attention and sympathy in certain sectors for her outspoken views on the corruption of the current religious establishment selling out the natural beauty and pristineness of their nation. Hawinianu, a name she personally dislikes as she considers it a very disrespectfully foreign concept to shorten traditional Gahlee names, is not xenophobic and does fully endorse the Tsunee mainline effort to open their inner lands to tourism, but this is because she believes foreigners have a lot to learn from the properly represented aspects of traditional wgh'gahlee culture. She is fiercely against industrial development, and wishes to withdraw Gahlee from the Sphere. [b]Ugodidi'vagatadisgitisgi[/b], [b]Traveling Historian[/b] - A chipper and bright-faced batfolk, born male but identifying as agender, who in their early 20s left their small commune to travel the world. Their ambition is to learn new languages and author what they hope will be a textbook detailing the history of foreign nations and peoples that will serve their own people well. They are quite intelligent, are a ploygot, and have excellent memory. But they are also not particularly sharp, being even more naïve than the already typically gullible Goyagahlee traveler. They do not readily conceptualize the crucial differences between primary and secondary sources. They often adopt temporary names in their travels depending on the country they are travelling through. [/hider] [h3]Government:[/h3][b]Quasi-communalist confederation[/b] [hider=] The Gahlee peoples are highly decentralized, with fluid-membership communes of anywhere from 1,000 to 40,000 citizens operating physical territories and the resources within via [b]direct democracy[/b]. Historically, leadership of these communal units are elected primarily to handle bureaucratic, legal, and treaty affairs with other communes. Each commune up to present day decides on their own form of leadership, from single ambassadors to whole councils representing a balance of local industry interests. [/hider] [b]Federalist, state-owned-enterprise empowering market socialism[/b] [hider=] With the recent development of broader economic and social ties with the outside world the Gahlee communes near-unanimously centralized diplomatic power and some forms of economic power and oversight (land development, for example) into a central entity legally recognized by foreign business interests as a corporation for liability purposes. Gahleetsunee'chrr, or [b]Tsunee Limited[/b], is the functional governmental body of the Gahlee as far as outsiders are concerned unless operating within the territory of individual Gahlee communes. The leadership of Tsunee is elected from a rotating collection of differing communes for five-year terms without term limits, with national-vote recall of representatives as a guaranteed right superseding individual commune laws. Tsunee would best be described as a [b]parliamentary republic[/b] system of governance in practice- all bureaucratic personnel hired as needed by Tsunee serve at the discretion of the Tsunee's elected leadership. Tsunee's legislators all theoretically have the authority to empower and appoint members of the executive branch, however for practicality's sake the leadership of any given department usually amounts to around ten to twenty personnel given administrative purveyance: a [b]secretariat[/b] and some amount of deputies. Parties coalesced largely around this element of political power. Floor rules dictate that each operating coalition within Tsunee receives a [b]proportional[/b] amount of assignments to executive positions, with internal party debate determining which appointees they will advance. Tsunee Limited possesses a wealth of [b]unilateral powers[/b] at the discretion of its commune constituents, with radical change possible through simple majority vote. For example: broad monetary policy falls under the purveyance of the state enterprise. It is also capable of operating [b]its own investments[/b] and projects, with the caveat that all independent profits produced must be divvyed back into the communes quarterly. [hider=Party Strength] [b]All People Party[/b] (~70% of representatives) A big-party tent consisting of two plurality parties: The Democratic Assembly (~25% of all reps), and The Green Party (~35%); along with some independent representatives. The Democratic Assembly constitutes representatives who are primarily from urban and high-population communes such as Nyagah's constituencies, geographically being clustered along the banks of The Twin Rivers. The Green Party represents those primarily motivated by advancing anti-industrialization and anti-pollution initiatives, often representing representatives picked from highly religious communes. The Green Party and Democratic Assembly work together on the presupposition that the economic and technologic opening up of Gahlee must be persued in a ecologically focused manner, with the Green Party incentivized in lending their support due to having significant say in the Democratic Assembly's growth and business oriented policy making. The APP represent a highly [b]foreigner-friendly[/b] coalition. [b]The Central Person's Congress[/b] (~20% of representatives) More inland, more rural, and generally more [b]isolationist[/b], the somewhat disorganized CPC represents the primary opposition to the APP. By platform they are broadly skeptical of further economic growth, foreign influence, and further federalization, with some elements within their ranks even calling for the dissolution of Tsunee. This position is in fact more popular than it was upon Tsunee's founding, with a growing [b]traditionalist[/b] backlash against the perceived social consequences of Tsunee's founding and empowerment. The religious rhetoric of the CPC is particularly unusual, as the bulk of powerful religious leaders are affiliated with the Green Party and thus with the party in power. This leads to some members of the CPC circulating threats of a more aggressive tenor of [b]schism[/b] within the Gahlee's primary religion despite functionally following Vagata as their countrymen do. [/hider][hider=Judicial Customs] The judiciary officials of Gahlee are appointed exclusively [b]locally[/b], by individual commune leaders. As with all local affairs the judicial appointments are not standardized under a single set of guidelines. Some communal leaders maintain that the power of the judiciary rests within their own position, others will seperate that power and empower other elected or appointed members of the community or use majority votes of the population, so on. There is no established precedent for the power of [b]judiciary review[/b]. The final say on interpretations of Tsunee's laws remain purely within the purveyance of Tsunee's legislative body itself. What the judiciary of Gahlee is empowered to do is review individual cases that appear to violate a given law of Tsunee or of the commune and produce verdicts. Due to this each court trial is relatively unique to its own context, as the judiciary is not empowered to produce precedent between cases. Sufficient appeal of a verdict, often by majority vote by the community under that court's jurisdiction, has led several times in recent history to the prosecutor and defendant appealing their cases to Tsunee directly for review, where there is potential to adjust the law as needed. [/hider] [/hider] [h3]Species:[/h3] [b]Total Population[/b] ~ 22,000,000 [b]Goyadhwgh'gahlee'chrrrrrchr, Goyagahlee for non-speakers[/b] (~67% of total population) [hider=] Also known colloquially as batfolk, Goyagahlee are strictly speaking of a different ancestry than many of the other humanoid races, but are capable of forming [b]interspecies children[/b] with those capable of sexual reproduction due to the quirks of their biology- batfolk gametes are partially mutable and can shift to emulate the genetic code of other humanoid species to such a degree that compatibility is achieved. Batfolk children of mixed heritage thus prototypically look far more like the non-Goyagahlee parent- notably, the wings of mixed Goyagahlee are almost always lost and often useless among those who improbably keep them. None of this of course is verbatim known to the scientists of this world because that's a bit too advanced. Goyagahlee are phenotypically [b]very short[/b], and only the 99th percentile of their population will reach even 152 cm in height. They are a [b]short-lived[/b] species, with the average batfolk generation lasting 40-50 years. They mature quickly: being considered mature adults at the age of 10, and they rarely age in a deleterious way until the final year or so of their life. All able-bodied Goyagahlee are capable of [b]unassisted flight[/b] for up to a few hours at a time. They have notably strong [b]disease resillience[/b] relative to most of the world due to their internal tempuratures naturally burning higher than average- this comes at the cost of [b]high metabolic requirements[/b], the average bat eats and sleeps more than most of their peers in civilization. Goyagahlee have a idiosyncratic psychology as a species. They are described as being almost [b]pathologically friendly[/b] towards others, and to a dangerous extent [b]easily influenceable[/b] and prone to groupthink. These traits make their social units highly cohesive but also mean foreign ideas often spread easily in their ranks, leading to recent sources of conflict within their nation despite their tendencies towards being [b]peaceful and docile[/b] otherwise. Their particular brand of sociability is anxious and nervous- colloquially, introductions to batfolk are often described by the bat in question being extremely talkative and awkwardly clingy, with the Goyagahlee in question only relaxing as familiarity is established. Traditionally, any individual who expresses batlike features in their countenance, even if few, are considered Goyagahlee for census purposes. [/hider] [b]Wanigehwgh'gahlee, Wanigahlee[/b] (~10% of total population) [hider=] The goatfolk, a descendant of early humanoids that adapted through blessings from their gods to the rugged mountains of the modern Gahlee territory. In contrast to their batfolk peers, Wanigahlee are more psychologically typical and diverse, but cultural tendencies evolved symbiotically with the Goyagahlee have led Wanigahlee to generally being taught in the household from a young age to be very [b]stubborn[/b] and to assert authority in social interactions. They are looked up to by the Goyagahlee as [b]natural leaders[/b] in society. Wanigahlee are covered in a coat of soft, [b]cashmere-like fur[/b] that can be grown out relatively thickly without regular shearing. Shearing a goatfolk is a mildly pleasant experience for the individual, and often leads to positive social bonding. As a result goatfolk usually trust only friends and intimate partners to shear them fully if not themselves, and the value of Wanigahlee fur is quite high as an export due to [b]quality and rarity[/b]. [/hider] [b]Igeeighwgh'gahlee'chrchrchrr, Igeegahlee[/b] (~5% of total population) [hider=] native humans and dwarves [/hider] [b]Igeeighwgh'chrchrr'nyagahlee'chr, Igeenyagahlee[/b] (~18% of total population) [hider=] immigrants [/hider] [h3]Culture:[/h3][hider=Child-Rearing] Raising of children is typically [b]communal[/b] in nature. There are two common systems typically practiced by the majority of communes: The children will live in the defined household of their [b]birth parents[/b] primarily. In this system other adults will be free to enter and exit that household at the invitation of the birth parents, to assist in the child's development and nurturing. A child may elect, at times variable depending on local commune law, to singly emancipate themselves from their birth parents' care. If they elect to do this they may or may not be required to select a new set of adoptive parents to take care of them for the remainder of childhood. Some larger communes, such as the hubs of Nyagah, offer orphanage-esque services through organized worker's unions of trained educators and religious authorities. Else, the children themselves will often have [b]no defined household[/b], with the adults of the commune maintaining open households and caring for the children by sharing responsibilities with other adults. Children elect where they wish to stay, and may sometimes keep to themselves as autonomous units within the commune with only some adult supervision. The latter system is considered the more traditional one by the historians of the Gahlee, with the single-household style of parenting having become more popular among the Gahlee in the past millennium as more resource extraction and organized industry led to individual households of partners or polycules having more personal property as defined under The Law of Peace that could be shared with children they maintained closer, more intimate bonds with. [/hider][hider=Architecture] Historically, the design of Gahlee buildings was very open and emphasized the vertical during the periods where the tribe members were solely Goyagahlee. 'Floors' would often be more a suggestion due to little need for floor space, consisting of anchored hemp rope or thin timber or bamboo beams for the batfolk to dexterously balance atop of, flitting between levels at their leisure. When the goatfolk became Gahlee, the egalitarian batfolk would quickly adapt to the need to construct buildings to the ground and with more solidity, incorporating full walls and doorways and the like. The open-sky veneer of Goyagahlee friendly buildings would be maintained in a variety of ways. Common designs include open rooftops that can be blanketed by canvas when needed in inclement weather, and large skylight-like fixtures. Up to present day, even with the incorporation of better building material, this tendency has remained in the native Gahlee architecture. Buildings are often wider than they are tall, with the vertical dimension in building being reserved for flourish and detail more than practical purpose. [/hider] [h3]History:[/h3][hider=General Timeline] [i]~3000 BA[/i] The batfolk and goatfolk native to the Ugodidi'gahleeigeeigh form sufficiently common tribal and social bonds through intermarriage to be considered a functionally singular culture. [i]~800 BA[/i] Signing of [b]The Law of Peace[/b] ends what had been many centuries of infrequent but bloody local conflicts between tribes due to disagreements over territory and water rights. The Law of Peace is functionally an oral constitution that forms the basis for peace and cooperation, along with providing frameworks for local organization and communal ownership rights between the Wgh'gahlee. Whoever dictated the original terms of peace understood the inherent collectivist nature of their peoples and understood that it could be set in stone within generations. [indent]That anonymous person declined to record their name in history, believing their work would last longest if disconnected from the legacy of an individual and turned into a cultural artifact of almost mythical import. The Law of Peace largely remains an oral tradition passed on between generations, though Tsunee maintains some [b]written copies[/b] of the constitution for archival purposes.[/indent] [i]~1480s[/i] Discovered by the outside world. [i]~1590s[/i] The coastal communes that would be the future site of Nyagahleeigeeigh would see its first refugees, who were openly accepted, integrated, and granted housing and food assistance by a collective task force mobilized between the communal leadership. This would mark the humble beginnings of private ownership and enterprise on Gahlee soil for the first time since the signing of the Law of Peace, as the highly agreeable Goyagahlee were disinclined to strip foreigners arriving on their soil of their own culturally-expected rights to property. [i]1733[/i] The port city of Nyagahleeigeeigh becomes a legal regional entity, combining the main port where foreigners would embank with several local communes that had sprouted up to provide services to those foreigners. [indent]This also particularly marks the date of the first commune electing, by a slim majority, a generational immigrant as a communal leader. A member of the exiled House of Chernyshyova, who was merely one among a council of five. In contemporary Gahlee oral and written histories this event is considered the precedent that established citizenship by presence as stare decisis in the Law of Peace.[/indent] [i]~1820s[/i] Regularization of trade and diplomacy between the mainland Gahlee people at large and foreigners operating in Nyagahleeigeeigh, though without a central authority on the part of the Gahlee. [indent] The Chernyshyova family, who by then already had significant clout as the main artery of trade and finance in their commune, would be a significant voice in establishing the oral treaties that allowed for trade to penetrate further inland.[/indent] [i]1849[/i] First Gahlee Gold Rush, leading to massive immigration and growth in Nyagahleeigeeigh. Deceptively named- the rush, while sparked by gold, was also led significantly by interest in other minerals and in general business opportunities in the opened-up lands of the Gahlee. [i]1893[/i] Tsunee Limited founded by convocation of all but three Gahlee communes. [indent]To compromise with leaders in the religious community leery of another intercommunal power structure developing, Adangh, due to it's primacy as a center of religious importance, was declared the capital from which Tsunee would operate.[/indent] [i]1906[/i] Tsunee Limited enters into a formal treaty with member nations of The Celestial Realm, focused on naval protection of shipping lanes and expanding ease of access for business interests into operations within Gahlee, along with additional gift payments from Gahlee to other allies. [/hider] [h3]Territorial Claims:[/h3] The territory roughly constituting Gahleechoday'chrrrchr is in large part an [b]agriculturally sparse[/b] land, dominated by a large stretch of [b]desert[/b] and a grand [b]mountain chain[/b] known as [b]Ugodidi'gahleeigeeigh, the 'Many Tall Homes'.[/b]. The majority of the Wgh'gahlee dwell in scattered mountain and plateau dwellings along rivers and lakes fed by seasonal snow melt, belts of habitability among the otherwise rugged mesas and slopes that define the majority of the Gahlee heartland. Gahlee is surrounded to the south beyond its coastlands by more unclaimed lands, a region of heavy rainforest with massive resource extraction potential and some of the greatest fauna and flora biodiversity in the heimisphere. [b]Adanghdohadah'gahleechodayayeli'chrr. Known to foreigners as The World Tree, or Adangh.[/b] (~2 mil population) [hider=] The de facto and recently de jure [b]capital city[/b] of the Gahlee Confederacy. Adangh is known as the World Tree simply due to its size, sprouting from the [b]tallest mountain in Gahlee[/b] (Igeeigh'nyaulis'chrchr) Adangh is by dimensions the size of a metropolis and it's silhouette imprints on the horizon on a clear sky day from most inhabited parts of Gahlee not hidden in valleys or on the coast. Adangh has paramount spiritual importance to the Gahlee as the place where the material and the spiritual meet strongly. Adangh is, inevitably, sitting on one of the [b]largest untapped deposits of magical crystal[/b] on the planet, and is the one spot in Gahlee where development by foreign companies is completely off the table for discussion. Adangh's large population is split into the jurisdiction into a multitude of communes split onto different branches of the tree, and strictly speaking is by size and lack of coordination between the communes [b]a region onto itself[/b] as opposed to a proper city. The actual meeting place of the leading council of Tsunee is not fixed, and all the commune units have hosted Tsunee meetings, often without pretensions as it is rare that communes are interested in building ostentatious places for their leaders to meet. Diplomatic convocation at Adangh is thus rare. The city is friendly to [b]tourism[/b] and visitors, though difficult to reach without chartering planes due to not being located on one of the main rivers that drain into the coastline. [hider=Elevator Project] Gahlahditiawidehdi'igeeigh, translating precisely to 'carrying up through tallness', is a public-private infrastructure project being bankrolled by investments from several of the largest communes of Adangh, to the effect of constructing the first ever mechanical elevator in Gahlee lands. More specifically, an elevator that upon completion would set world records for [b]carry capacity and longest vertical journey[/b], with designs intended for the speed and smoothness of journey to be powered by a crystal-network that will emulate natural magnetism to reduce mechanical friction to negligible. The world tree's elevator will be a significant boon to journeys both within the tree's boundaries and from the tree to other distant parts of the Confederacy. Goyagahlee find [b]passive gliding[/b] significantly easier on their bodies and can sustain it for upwards of a day- thus, the topmost levels of Adangh would allow for [b]long-distance travel[/b] in a comfortable and pleasurable way. [/hider][/hider] [b]Nyagahleeigeeigh. Sometimes known to foreigners as Nyagah.[/b] (~6.8 mil population) [hider=] The sole functioning port city of the Gahlee Confederation, along with being its only significantly populated city not founded within its mountainous regions. Nyagah is a bustling city of commerce, a [b]melting pot[/b] with significant influence from many other foreign nations, from architecture to street culture. Nyagah is the [b]diplomatic center[/b] of the Gahlee Confederation, and the Tsunee handle most international affairs from various offices and embassies all located here. Nyagah is functionally a [b]mutually-founded settlement[/b], with adventurous Wgh'gahlee having departed the familiar safety of their mountain homes to found new communes that formed the basis for the now sprawling metropolis. The effort to found Nyagah, indeed, would later form the foundation for the legal collaborative efforts that led to the pseudo-federalization of Gahlee under Tsunee. The city grew rapidly due to the expansion of business interests in Gahlee resources and markets in the last half-century and hosts the overwhelming majority of long-term resident [b]immigrants[/b], who under national law have full citizenship. Nyagah is a hub for innovation in both the positive and the negative sense, and the foreign influences that shape and sometimes distort Gahlee culture due to the fast generational turnover lead to Nyagah being significantly less serene and idyllic than the remainder of the country. It is in veneer a typical port city, nationally holding the highest rates of activities that some other foreign nations would consider as crime such as [b]prostitution, gambling, extortion, and smuggling[/b]. [/hider] [b]Uwewitali'gahlee'chrchrr, 'The Twin Rivers' region[/b] (~14.2 mil inclusive of Nyagah) [hider=] The rapidly developing region of Gahlee, restricted to coastline or to the shallower, less mountainous regions as defined by the watershed of two of Gahlee's major rivers. This area is host to the majority of the industrialization being pursued within the nation, leading to a diverse, economically hot region where a lot of instability is also beginning to fester due to industry pollution and ideological tensions creating issues among many local religious leaders. Uwewitali'gahlee'chrchrr is part of the [b]Wghwitali'chrr[/b], 'The Many Rivers'. The geography of Ugodidi'gahleeigeeigh creates massive monsoon rainfall in the regions to its south, which produces both the southern rainforest and a complex series of feeder systems for a winding network of rivers that cut through the flatlands largely south of the Gahlee's claimed territories. The Twin Rivers are indeed among the smaller of the Many Rivers, the majority of which extend farther into the jungled areas than the Gahlee are typically willing to develop a presence for religious and practical reasons. [/hider] [h3]Economy:[/h3] [b]Official Currency[/b] None adopted legally. However, the [b]Alkan Appunti[/b] is de facto accepted in almost all transactions. [b]Import/Export[/b] Gahlee's underdeveloped industrial capacity leads to its primary interest in imports being finished products. 90% of Gahlee's steel is produced abroad by its various trade partners as a cut of Tsunee's profit in exporting the necessary raw resources. Domestic demand for modern luxuries and conveniences continues to explode year-on-year, and thus Gahlee is also often interested in the knowledge trade, trying to incentivize foreign academics to provide expertise in various important infrastructure projects. [h3]Natural Resources:[/h3] Land development in Gahlee, in terms of known resource deposits, is federalized through Tsunee management of individual commune lands. Thus over 60% of Gahlee land is considered legally federal land by some loose, oft unenforced definition, even if communes already have developed that land for other purposes. In all listed resources Gahlee's untapped deposits are anywhere from top 5 to most abundant globally, counting undiscovered and untapped resource wealth. [hider=Resources Gahlee Already Is A World Class Exporter Of, Or Approaching Status] Fertilizers Gold Iron Ores Lead Limestone Silver Sulfur Zinc Zircon [/hider][hider=Resources Gahlee Could Be A World Class Exporter Of] Anthracite Coal, All Grades (state limitations on extraction) Bauxite (underdeveloped) Copper (underdeveloped) Magical Crystal (state limitations on extraction and usage) Manganese (underdeveloped) Nickel (underdeveloped) Oil (with further state expansion) Potassium (underdeveloped) Rare Earth Minerals (when in wider use globally) Rubber (with further state expansion) Timber, High-Grade (with further state expansion) Titanium Ores (when in wider use globally) Uranium (when in wider use globally) [/hider][hider=The Many Crystal] Ugodidi'whdagah is the manifestation of the inherent power of the Gahlee lands. It forms as a crystal with a unique lattice, slender and webbed with veins almost as the leaves of a plant. These crystals are most commonly found underground, either clustering in stalactite and stalagmite-like structures in caverns or in veins that Gahlee miners will call the 'arteries of the world', roughly translated. Sometimes however the crystal can also symbiotically bud from the earth as something akin to a spore to germinate and grow on flora or fauna, or even Wgh'Gahlee themselves (though this is a particularly rare occurrence and is usually removed for reasons of comfort). The frequency of the Gahlee's magical crystal is common enough so as to be used [b]decoratively[/b] in a way similar to precious gemstones and gold leaf, often forming aesthetic centerpieces for public works projects. Beyond this, the practical applications of Many Crystal are primarily as a [b]reagent[/b] in a multitude of processes. The Many Crystal, refined by a number of processes that often involve magical intervention and industrial production of other reactants in tandem, functions by 'shedding' its generic form to take on new hues and properties dependent on the processes it is refined by. This results in the crystal taking on properties of nature and earth. The potential of the Many Crystal is very broad: it can exert forces such as magnetism, conductivity, and mechanical motion, and it can emulate properties such as combustability and even biological processes in an inorganic context. For instance, the Many Crystal 'aligned' to treated crude oil and blessed could be 'burned' like petrocarbons with a fractional energy output but at a much slower and sustainable rate of decomposition. The Many Crystal could be converted into a profusion of future technologies such as circuits and superconductors with extensive research into the unlocking of it's natural-force mirroring properties. The [b]primary issues[/b] with this needed research are several: the Gahlee's lack of a formal academia, the Gahlee religion edifying the Many Crystal to such an extent that foreign companies have difficulty acquiring extraction and development rights, and the sheer complexity of the research needed, where the Many Crystal is often arbitrarily inert even to processes that have been established to work. Using the Many Crystal often demands the [b]heavy intervention of mages[/b], meaning scaling it for mass production is tricky. [/hider] [h3]Technology:[/h3] In some regards the Gahlee Confederacy maintains [b]parity[/b] with the outside world, having [b]medical technology[/b] and socialized distribution of such that their healthy lifespans are proportionally equivalent to the global average- inherently shorter lifespans of the Goyagahlee accounted for. With well-ingrained magical tradition their [b]agricultural[/b] capability is also capable of sustaining a population above the actual quality of their land. They internally developed strong understanding of techniques such as crop rotation, the synthesis of fertilizers, and even crude forms of theoretical technologies such as hydroponics and aeroponics. However in other regards their society was never put through external stressors that would incentivize developments in other fields of applied technology. They have only recently developed any form of steelmaking and still cannot produce quantities sufficient for national demand. They lack widespread adoption of many critical forms of infrastructure such as weapons manufacturing, electrical grids, telecommunications, and the general capacity for assembly line production. Crucially for the efficiency of their nationalized resource extraction their native understanding of mining techniques including heavy machinery is below par, reliant on their business ties with foreign corporations. [hider=History of Science] The sedate and idyllic nature of their highly communal society prior to discovery by the outside world led to the Wgh'gahlee being slow to to develop in some regards: for example, their usage of ferrous metallurgy was infrequent and they never independently developed even the crudest insight into the steelmaking process. In other regards their cultures high tolerance for independent thought and communal encouragement of individual pursuits led to their society maintaining parity and even significant accomplishments in certain fields where Gahlee were naturally inclined to be inquisitive, such as in the study of their natural surroundings. Wgh'gahlee spiritual leaders for example developed, through extensive observations and sharing of knowledge between communes, writings that detailed a functionally correct understanding of evolution theory and genetic inheritance a full century before contact with the outside world. These traditions led to improvements of Gahlee agricultural traditions and medicine such that they were considered at par with their global peers upon the normalization of their relations with the outside world. [/hider][hider=Education System] Gahlee children are traditionally taught up through the equivalent of a sixth-grade level primarily through oral traditions passed on by apprenticeships, and education is [b]non-compulsory[/b]. Both these facts are of course dependent on the individual commune approach to education, if one exists at all. In present day Tsunee is pursuing a [b]national mandate[/b] of universal education, with plans for offering education-for-all up through a ninth-grade level equivalent and placing emphasis onto a holistic form of education including sciences and mathematics. The rollout of this plan has met little resistance from most communes due to a broad societal agreement as to the value of improved education, though the implementation has slowed due to debate and negotiations over the extent to which potentially developing federal education standards will be incentivized, if at all. A small number of [b]private universities[/b] have been founded by immigrants in Nyagah, and are being studied by Tsunee as the blueprint for a [b]public higher education system[/b]. [/hider] [h3]Social Development:[/h3][hider=Legal Overview] [hider=Political Laws] [b]Political Parties[/b] - Theoretical multi-party, functional single-party by supermajority coalition.[hr][b]Religious Policy[/b] - Freedom of worship, inclusion of Gahlee majority religion teachings by other religious organizations is actively encouraged. [hr][b]Trade Unions[/b] - Non-mandated, membership in relevant decentralized local cooperatives is culturally near-universal. [hr][b]Immigration[/b] - Internationally de jure open borders, no legal requirements for immigration and citizenship. Domestically, freedom of movement is federally enforced and communes cannot hold individual members against their will. [hr][b]Slavery[/b] - De jure outlawed. [hr][b]Public Meetings[/b] - Full right of assembly granted. [hr][b]Press Rights[/b] - Freedom of press, no laws against libel enforced. [hr][b]Suffrage Rights[/b] - Full voting rights are granted to all in Gahlee borders. [hr][b]Refugees[/b] - Citizenship by presence, as all other foreigners. [/hider][hider=Economic Laws] [b]Trade Policy[/b] - Free trade, many outstanding trade agreements. [hr][b]Military-Economic Policy[/b] - None at the federal level. [hr][b]Tax Rate[/b] - Taxes not universally implemented at the federal level. Foreign operating businesses face light value added tax models but typically receive generous exemptions. [hr][b]Minimum Wage[/b] - Not enforced at the federal level. [hr][b]Maximum Work Hours[/b] - Four day work week model enforced for both domestic and international businesses, no universally recognized weekend days. [hr][b]Child Labor[/b] - De jure outlawed. [hr][b]Pensions[/b] - None implemented at the federal level. [hr][b]Unemployment Subsidies[/b] - Universal basic income, universal housing assurance. Federal government investments produce dividends divided among all citizens. [/hider][hider=Social Laws] [b]Safety Laws[/b] - Regulations and guidelines established per commune, enforced with federal policing assistance where requested. [hr][b]Health Care[/b] - Universal single-payer. [hr][b]Pollution[/b] - Very strictly regulated and enforced at the federal level with significant input from religious leaders. [hr][b]Education[/b] - Ongoing development, intended universal free secondary and higher education. [hr][b]Penal System[/b] - Penalties for crimes vary by commune. [hr][b]LGBTQ Rights[/b] - De facto equality under law. [hr][b]Gender Rights[/b] - De facto equality under law. [hr][b]Minority Rights[/b] - De facto equality under law, de jure full citizenship by presence. [/hider][hider=Military Laws] None established at the federal level. [/hider] [/hider][hider=Postal Services]The Gahlee have a long tradition of [b]courier services[/b] between even the most distant of communes being provided by Goyagahlee who will fly long distances to bear messages and gifts. Recently due to the increasing importance of coordination implemented top-down to meet development goals and distribute social services, this loose network of individual couriers has been expanded and [b]federalized[/b], becoming one of the larger departments within Tsunee with thousands of employees including postmen and women. The [b]workload[/b] of the average courier can be intense, with many correspondences required for official government business and with individual Wgh'gahlee trying to start their own small businesses also adding to the demand for mail and package delivery. Couriers are thus generously compensated with hazard pay and overtime. Tusnee have, as part of their exploration of a nationalized air service, have extensively negotiated with the postal service department as to the potential of further bolstering the postal service with [b]courier planes[/b]. There has been some controversy over this, with some local unions believing this would lower their benefits due to the competition. The blowback has been sufficient enough that the Tsunee have for now backed off the development plan. [/hider][hider=Citizenship]The Gahlee Confederacy has long permitted [b]citizenship by presence[/b], with Tsunee only formalizing this once only verbatim law. Foreigners who so much as step onto the shores of Gahlee are legally due the rights to vote and to collect on the socialized provisions of Tsunee and more local governing bodies such as housing and healthcare. Only recently as the population of Gahlee has started to grow at an exponential rate have there been considerations for putting certain limitations on these entitlements such as requiring a period of naturalization. Nyagah's constituent communes, for example, now require appearing on successive census records (taken every two years in Nyagah) before granting citizenship. However, the nation at large maintains the tradition of unconditional citizenship by presence. Gahlee citizenship is permanent for both native-born citizens and those who are formally granted it by the relevant Tsunee bureaucratic institution (under formal headship of the Secretariat of Peoples). Gahlee allows for multiple citizenships, and will welcome those born abroad to its citizens. Thus, there are likely a number of people born abroad to those who have visited Gahlee and acquired citizenship who are also technically citizens of Gahlee as well. Gahlee citizens living abroad do not receive benefits nor [b]absentee ballots[/b] from the state, though this is more for lack of distributive infrastructure than for intent, and the foreign policy corps of Gahlee considers it a priority to establish a network for providing citizens overseas with their dues. [/hider] [h3]Military:[/h3] The people of Gahlee have [b]no historical[/b] form of organized martial culture. Prior to the establishment of Tsunee and in large part after, the use of state violence was rare domestically and unheard of internationally. Disagreements between communes erupting into some form of limited warfare occurred often enough that some individual Wgh'gahlee found their productive calling in being warriors, who traditionally would voluntarily operate for multiple communes as a form of [b]mercenary[/b]. Gahlee society includes unique traditions of violence such as those slain in battle being honored by their killer with gifts to the surviving family. Implements of ground and naval war such as artillery and cavalry, and even the simple concept of guns, remain mostly [b]alien[/b] to the Gahlee people's understanding of warfare and combat. The natural advantages of the Goyagahlee such as their agility and innate flight along with their tendencies towards being good subordinates mean they have the ability to be [b]elite fighters[/b] by most international standards if properly trained, to the intrigue of those willing to consider their options from a military perspective. The rare batfolk who emigrated from their country to pursue a personal passion for warfare has often made their name in individual battlefields in the recent past. [b]Army:[/b][hider=] [hider=Bwiwgh'wgh] Equivalent of commune champions and veterans. Most frequently armed with adapted Dastrian semi-automatic firearms that are designed to be low-recoil, small bullet, quite poor at anything besides very close range, along with often using ceremonial, sickle-like blades that while concealable are also fairly difficult to kill with. The Gahlee's most typical infantry-like fighter given their lack of a formally trained or centralized military, Bwiwgh'wgh are agile and scrappy and use flight fully to their advantage. [/hider][hider=Atsisdewgh'tsunee] The federally-established [b]police force[/b] of the Gahlee peoples. The Tsunee's policing units consist of relatively well-trained and organized soldiers focusing on domestic enforcement. In theory at least, these troops do not operate on behest of the Tsunee themselves and are instead empowered by the laws that provide them authority to respond to requests for assistance by individual communes. Though they are, by mission and armament, focused on non-lethal [b]de-escalation[/b] tactics the Atsi have become one of the most controversial facets of Tsunee's authority. They have been accused of [b]police brutality[/b] in some of the incidents they have been called upon to handle, even on some occasions by foreign businesspeople who have formally complained that Atsi involvement led to unfair workplace closures and intimidation of their employees. There has also been rumor of the Atsi being involved in state-sanctioned [b]espionage[/b] against communes considered probelmatic by Tsunee. Broadly, the CPC universally oppose the Atsi's continued operations, and they are highly controversial even within the APP. [hider=Standard Issue] Stun Baton - Anagalisga'alewisdowgh Boltier The Boltier is a successful prototype currently not sold on any market and authorized for distribution solely to active members of the Atsi. An alchemically-treated and processed shard of Many Crystal mounted in the handle of the stun baton operates as a battery with an incomplete circuit. Upon contact of both exposed electrodes in the baton's tip with the target the circuit completes and powerful direct-current will discharge into the target's body. In theory the shock is delivered at 0.25 microcoulombs, however the weapon's discharge rate does fluctuate up to very painful levels. The reasons for this are unknown, but it adds fuel to the fire of anti-Atsi sentiment among detractors. The crystal battery rapidly loses its charge upon a single usage and can only be recharged over an extended time period by the intervention mage, with a technological form of recharging not yet developed. [/hider] [/hider] [/hider] [b]Navy:[/b][hider=]Typically the most experience with the water that an average Wgh'gahlee will have in their lifetime is [b]sports or fishing[/b] in one of the many rivers of Ugodidi'gahleeigeeigh that most communes will be founded alongside. Using the rivers even as networks for [b]transportation[/b] is an uncommon activity except among those who find a living as traders and merchants. Goyagahlee can of course fly for all but the most lengthy journeys across their lands, and Wanigahlee traditionally stick to journeys along the sparse road networks of the mountains despite the difficulty and danger of such journeys as compared to travel by boat. Thus, Gahlee [b]shipbuilding traditions[/b] are scarcely found among its population. Indeed, the majority of cargo vessels that traverse the Gahlee river networks' for purposes of trade and commerce are of [b]foreign[/b] build and operation. Gahlee peoples are disused to the mindset and training required of able sailors, and remain generally disinterested save for the occasional individual exception. [/hider] [b]Air Force:[/b][hider=]Goyagahlee have the inherent sense of the skies to make for [b]ace pilots[/b], and most are comfortable piloting modern planes even with [b]little training[/b]- mostly just to adapt to the more limited range of motion of machines compared to their own bodies. The Tsunee have begun developing a domestic [b]aviation program[/b], including recruiting pilots and financing the purchase of a compliment of prop planes from other nations, some of which are armed for practicing dogfight-esque combat. This program has an internal goal of pioneering aviation technology that might allow for planes with more seat capacity to improve foreigner access to the high mountainous regions of Gahlee. Some of their research has led to the conceptualization of the [b]turboprop engine[/b], with both purely mechanical and mechanical-magic hybrid designs having been drafted, though the concept as proposed has yet to have found support in the form of budget or foreign collaborations that will likely be needed to bring it to fruition within the decade. [/hider] [h3]Religon and Magic:[/h3][hider=The Gestalt] Vagatahiuwoduhi'chrrchr'nyavagatahiuwoduhi, translating verbatim to 'knowing the beautiful and the not beautiful', referred to as [b]Vagata'nyavagata[/b] for the relative ease of foreigners in conversations of theology, is a being who for the Gahlee encompasses [b]all things[/b]: all nature, all people, all genders, all species. They are conceptualized as representing the [b]diversity[/b] of nature, the many behaviors and shapes of flora and fauna, and the infinite complexity of their relationships and interactions, along with representing the place of the Wgh'gahlee themselves in the vastness of the world. It is believed that the spiritual energy of Vagata'nyavagata exists in all things on earth, and respect of nature and the natural order is paramount. Killing and conquest, while also aspects of the natural order, are not to be undergone lightly. In the oral traditions of the Gahlee people their god has [b]many children[/b] birthed both asexually and sexually- through reproduction with the many myriad things of the earth- and these children are themselves spirits and gods in their own right. Vagata'nyavagata views time in a manner non-linear, and common wisdom posits that they are at once timeless and mortal, older and full of wisdoms yet unlearned by their children, yet also a child themselves parented by their own children who must yet learn and grow. It is this dichotomy that the Gahlee believe makes their religious beliefs [b]fully compatible[/b] with others. The deities worshiped by the other species of the world belong to their own pantheon through their infinity of connections with all the world around them. Individuals and communal religious leaders, thus, find no incongruity in canonizing [b]other spirits and deities[/b] within their own practices, even as superior in power and importance in someway to Vagata'nyavagata, though it is always the case that veneration of the being that personally watches over them and their lands will be passed through generations. [/hider][hider=Religious Leadership] One of the rare facets of Gahlee society where equality is not de facto assumed, it is a traditionally universal belief among the Gahlee that women are more in touch with the spirits of the land than men. The religious leaders of the Gahlee thus follow a [b]matriarchal meritocracy[/b], where young women who show the most magical promise are recruited into the high social positions of being shamans and spiritual advisors to the political leaders of the communes. [/hider] [h3]Foreign Relations:[/h3][list][*]Ratified members of [b]The Celestial Realm[/b]. [*]They are as of yet not signatories of the [b]Medan Accords[/b]. [*]Poorly represented with low clout in the [b]Celestial Court[/b], due to their recent entry into the Sphere and their general inexperience with managing foreign affairs.[/list][hider=United Alkan Republics] A key ally given the maritime and capitalist nature of the Alkan producing deep interest in the Gahlee peoples. Particularly, the Gahlee and Alkan have mutual agreements to launch joint-expeditions of resource exploration into the vast unsettled desert area between their lands, as it is believed from initial surveys that a vast wealth of oil waits for development. [/hider][hider=Morric Sultanate] Fellow recent inductees to the Sphere. The Gahlee's diplomatic corps adheres to a doctrine of following the Sphere's largest powers in the succession crisis. Many Gahlee in the know hold personal sympathies for [b]Bitar[/b], as she represents the most familiar form of leadership to Gahlee culture, but their support rarely becomes anything tangible. [/hider][hider=Volunteer Medic Corps] A significant element of Gahlee's positive regard among the citizenry of other nations is their sizable division of highly-trained healers, both religious and areligious, who operate in loose networks beyond their borders. They number in the tens of thousands but generally lack any form of [b]hierarchical organization[/b], leading them to sometimes be slow to appear at critical events like battlefields and areas with outbreaks. Sometimes individual groups of Gahlee will settle in an area long term, providing long-term coverage and care at no cost, at least where economically possible. Those wgh'gahlee joining these medical missions that are religious are [b]rarely evangelical[/b], given that Gahlee culture as a whole does not incentivize spreading its beliefs. The medical tech of the Gahlee is world-class, so the Gahlee's presence typically produces positive outcomes. One of the primary issues most of these volunteers will run into regardless of the specifics of their mission (or lack thereof) are [b]logistical[/b]. The Gahlee methodology of medicine depends often on the herbs of their land that have unusual properties, or on the intervention of their mages and the Many Crystal. Thus, they can often find themselves running out of supplies in the field at inopportune times due to their lack of higher-up organization, as the volunteer corps have no connection to Tsunee, nor even a formal name applicable to their ranks. [/hider] [h3]Misc. Info:[/h3] [hider=OOC Permissions/Preferences] Always open to PM. [list] [*] Members of Gahlee can be used as NPCs and citizens of other nations. [*] Domestic events within Gahlee can be invented by other players for background in other posts and events, though I'd prefer to be asked first. [*] Open to national collapse due to external events, with discussion. [/list] [/hider] [/hider]