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WIP but almost done.

The Commonwealth of 
Greater Sylvania

Government

Sylvania's government is heavily based on the old constitution of the old America, three branches with a mix of new world flare, some call its a "despotic republic" or something close. The executive branch is called the Administorum, the legislative branch is the Senatorum and the judicial branch referred to as the Ministorum. It functions very much like the old America, even in bureaucracy, trading inefficiency with adaptability and back up plans. People directly elect representatives of their local area to the Senatorum who act as their voice in theory, even tribal groups who settle within the Commonwealth's lands have a representative although the position in tribes is much more hereditary or nepotistic than more civilized areas.

An interesting diversion from what the constitution says, the Ministorum also acts as the main religious authority of the Commonwealth. This is explained as in the old world, the Judicial branch would translate the Constitution for each case but now that the Commonwealth uses the Constitution, or the religious terminology for it, the Articles Divinicus, as their holy scripture. Thus they ensure that the Constitution is held up in both legal and religious ways and even have their own chamber militant unit, the Soritas.

The capital of the Commonwealth of Greater Sylvania is Independence, built from the ashes of the old world city of historic Philadelphia. The general location of the three branches is known collectively as Independence Hall or just "the Hall" with the each of the buildings of power are referred to as halls; the Senatorum is located in the People's Hall, the Minidsotrum is in the Hallowed Hall and the Administorum finds home in the Union Hall.

Leader

The official head of state is not called the president, but actually called the Penn King. The story behind this is due to mistranslations of the constitution and the very former name of the state. The founders of Sylvania knew that "Sylvania" meant something like "woods" or "forest" but were unsure of what "Penn" meant. Because they found his name littered across their capital, Independence, (known in the old world as "Philadelphia"), they suspect that he was some person of importance and assumed that William Penn's surname was actually a title, hence Penn King.

Along side the Penn King, there is also the Penn Prince (Vice President) and the High Counsel (Presidential Cabinet) who assist and advise the Penn King in his duties. The spouse of the Penn King is referred to as the Penn Maiden with the spouses of the Penn Prince and the High Counsel called Penn Ladies. While uncommon, should a woman take power in any possession which warrants the Penn title, the nouns are flipped for appropriate gender reference.

An important note (and perhaps the greatest difference between the Commonwealth's method and that of old America's), instead of electing a single person every four years, the Commonwealth comes together to elect dynasties. Such dynasties are often from an important position such as the military brass or a Senatorum family. In place of regular elections, the Commonwealth uses "Electoral Inspections" every five years which basically is a giant vote on how many people approve of the Penn King's methods and results. Should they pass, they can go on to rule until death and pass the title on to an heir (after said heir undergoes an Electoral Inspection). Should they fail, the Senatorum takes over and the Commonwealth is basically as close as it becomes to a democracy to fill the power vacuum until a new dynasty can be elected.

Penn King <-> Penn Queen
Penn Prince <-> Penn Princess
Penn Maiden <-> Penn Sire
Penn Lady <-> Penn Lord

The current Penn King is Alexander Ironwood, a 50 year old former soldier and officer turned politician, hails from Independence proper.

Demographics

Sylvanians
Ohains
Amish
Yorkers
Jersan

Religion

Religion plays quite a large role in the Commonwealth, mostly due to how unique it is. The official church religion is Americanism and essentially turns the founding fathers into gods as well as famous American figures (especially those from the Revolutioanry-era) into saints. Of the founding fathers, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson are the triumvirate; Washington is the God of War, Courage and Freedom, Franklin is the God of Knowledge, Wisdom and the Arts and Jefferson is the God of Justice, Morality and Ideals. with Washington being the "president of the gods". Each one also represents a branch of the government, Washington is the Administorum, Franklin the Senatorum and Jefferson the Ministorum.

As one might expect, the Constitution is considered the holy scripture of Americanism and if officially known as the Articles Divinicus. The older Articles of Confederation while not practiced in orthodox Americanism, has as an official name of Testament Divinicus but is considered to be an "outdated" draft of the Articles Divinicus. Irony is not something that the Commonwealth is very good at noticing at times. The reason why there is no questioning of Americanism violating the separation of church and state policies is another case of such irony blindness. It is because that the Constitution is both a holy book and a government document, Americanism by extension does not violate said clause as its just "holy governance".

The Ministorum which acts as both as the supreme court and high church also has its own chamber militant group, the Soritas. More commonly known as the Founder's Daughters or the Brides at Arms, they were created through an interest loop hole in a decree which had formerly banned the Ministorum from having men at arms after certain events had transpired. Technically there was no mention of not letting women serve as chamber militants for the Ministorum.

High Iudex Alvero XI currently serves as the head of the head of the Ministorum, making him both religious head and the largest player in supreme court trials.

History

Like many places, the true roots of the Commonwealth are shrouded in mystery and uncertainty but according to current records, the original founders where the survivors of "the Great Purge", where it was later believed that the Founders came down from the heavens to wipe away the America which was long gone and needed to be restarted in their eyes. 

The first few had found themselves working out of the old National Constitution Center where they had "discovered" the blessings of the Founders and the "original" constitution which they had copied to form the basis of their own society. It was because of this, the fact that they had a proper working of government and organization which they would be able to fight off and absorb the many tribes and settlements that had surrounded them. Or so the story goes.

In truth, the first few years were rough. As the new found settlement tried to get its baring straight, translating the old "holy texts" from their decrepit states to somethign legible, their people argued and bickered over who should do what and what was the proper way of doing things. Even their religion wasn't unifying them as several sects of Americanisms would label one another as "heretics". The entire settlement was divided and fractured, not caring for anyone outside their own circle and they suffered for it. The newfound "commonwealth" was set to die before it was even born.

But then, salvation came from the most unlikely of places, one bandit chief named Longbell. Longbell lead a small, up and coming bandit gang, hoping to push his way through to the big leagues through all of the established tribes and gangs. He created a cunning plan on how to exploit the Commonwealth's situtation by providing them all much needed protection while extorting them for it and secretly looting their goods while they slept.

But something struck Longbell one evening as he was about to sleep, something in his head told him to forget the path of robbery and evil and instead help the poor souls get their act together. The chief pushed those thoughts aside and resumed trying to sleep, but in his dreams, he claims to have been visited by the Founders who let him "see the light". The following morning he was a completely different man, converting to Americanism and making the rest of his gang do the same. He would then begin to reorganize the fractured commonwealth by force, using his experienced and well armed bandits as his private army to exert his will.

It was extraordinarily quick and brutally efficient. In under half a yeah, Longbell had wiped the slate clean and reunified the commonwealth by force. Once the reunification was done, he began to work on the foundations of the modern Commonwealth. The three branches of government, the standardized text of Americanism, rebuilding of what was destroyed, driven by his devotion to the Founders, Longbell worked amazingly swift to build the Commonwealth not in his imagine, but what he imagined the Founders would have wanted. He would later crown himself "Penn King" and be renamed Jefferson "Longbell" Goodwill.

The now Penn King Goodwill later would set out on conquering more once everything had been settled and nearing completion in the domestic area. Penn King Goodwill would employ all manner of tactics, honorable and underhanded to unify the greater Phillidephia area before expanding into what was New Jeresy and bits of Delaware; his conquest of centeral PA was swift and brutal as most settlements there lacked the ability to even counteract the massive army that Goodwill had amassed. The true challenge happened when he came across the

Economy

Sylvania's economy resembles what its old world counterpart was like to a good degree. A mix of a bountiful agricultural fields in the middle of the commonwealth with strong industrial base of coal, iron and some trace amounts of other minerals makes the nation-state strong economically.

Much of the farming that is done is purely for food, the most common being wheat, corn, pumpkins and mixed vegetables. However, there is a small of rapidly expanding tobacco industry which has provided a suitable cash crop base for the commonwealth. Given the small amount of land allocated to herding, most meat consumed and traded is either various types of wild game or fish of both fresh water and salt water varieties. The ample forests which the nation state is named after also gives large amounts of available timber and mushrooms beyond its hunting grounds.

In terms of heavier industries, the once derelict steel mills of the Rust Belt are active once more, turning iron and coal dug from the Appalachian mountains into hardened steel, although at no where near the rate of old world mills. Most of the technology which had made the alloy so efficiently is no longer working or have been converted to much more time consuming, if not dangerous, manual machinery. These mills still manage to provide enough to arm and supply Sylvania's army and civilian population.

Territory & Geography

Beyonds its urban centers built up on the ruins of old world cities, Sylvania is known for two other types of terrain; forests and farmland, maybe a bit of mountain too. The vast woodlands are what once gave the land its name and is also said to be what gives Sylvanians an innate sense of direction as well as sturdy hardiness. 

With relation to waterways, the most notable is obviously the Atlantic ocean; old tales tell of a land beyond the endless blue horizon, a new world one could say. However, no one has ever dared to try and sail it all the way there, or at least survived to make the trip back. Beyond that, there are several basins and harbors, natural and manmade, which are fed either by the ocean or rivers which have tributaries of its own. Such minor waterways are regular to small hamlets, villages and outposts.

Military

Famed for its solid armor and heavy infantry, the Commonwealth is known for its heavily armored soldiers and swift light infantry. There's quite an interesting difference in appearance between light and heavy infantry, the latter taking an appearance closer to that of the bluecoats of the American continental army while the heavy infantry look more like traditional knights and men-at-arms.

The army itself is mostly a volunteer army, although there are hints of conscription in its ranks. Each soldier is given a linen or wool gambeson and a backpack with a sleeping roll and various other amenities; those of more noble birth are given a simple breastplate as well. Most soldiers will also often try their hardest to obtain some more bits of armor and protection to try and increase their longevity, the easiest way to distinguish between a new recruit and a veteran fighter is the appearance of the army.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, aka Saint Friedrich is the "god" which looks over the army, just as he did once in history. The Penn King retians the title of Commander in Chief.
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