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Name: The Drastonian Empire

Flag/emblem:

Demonym: Drastonian

Description: The Drastonian Empire is a growing Empire on the continent, and this means that the quality of life is growing for many. Though it goes through varying levels. In the villages life is still rural, many are who serfs work the land for a minute percentage of the profits and their homes. There are a few who are wealthier, such as the local smith or physician but there may be only one of each per village. Alongside the human population are the ‘Indentured Species’, meaning that anybody else of another race, apart from human, caught inside Empire territory is forced into servitude. Each Indentured worker is given a one hundred and twenty five hour working week and in exchange they receive one fifth of a hovel, two meals a day and two working outfits. In the towns there is a similar set up except the number of men and women working in industry is much higher, there is also more men and women working on public projects and the number of Indentured workers living on slums, on the out skirts is higher. Again in the cities this is scaled to a much higher extreme. The slums around cities are fairly huge, the number of men working in industries is high and the public works are fairly effective. With a large force of slave labour it allows more money to be spent on improving the lives of the citizens and reduces the costs of farming and logging. Making food and rural products fairly cheap, though iron products and imported goods a little more expensive. All of the cream of the ventures has given the royal family and administrative powerhouses quite a very high quality of life.    

History: To be fleshed out with others.

 
Government: Constitutional Monarchy – The Drastonian Empire has a single head of state, an Emperor, who comes from a long family line of Emperors. The Emperor has divine right to make any law, or veto any law passed by a parliament, however if a total consensus is reached in the parliament then the Emperor cannot veto a law, or must allow his own law to be vetoed. The parliament is selected by the Emperor every fifteen years from a list of candidates. A requirement to be a candidate is to have held a position of administration for a minimum of ten years, to be older than thirty five and to have property/asset value in the Drastonian Empire equal to, or double, the national average. An administrative position is filled through a ‘first past the post’ method of election where males, over twenty one, who own property can put one vote towards a candidate of their choice. Anyone who has the right to vote has the right to run as a candidate and administrations are broken up into counties. Each city or town is its own county and then a maximum of three villages can also make up a county. With each county surrounding lands are also included.  

Economy:“I would much rather my wealth grew up to me from the dirt, than I be forced to dig it out myself.” – Source Unknown
The Drastonians have never been ones to scar their land with deep trench mines or large logging encampments. Instead they choose to beautify their land with huge rolling fields of crops. Grains, fruits and vegetables are cultivated in carefully planned expanses of farmland that allow for the careful development of more heavily populated locales of urbanisation and industry. The Drastonians know that the world needs to eat and this is where most of their wealth comes from, large depots filled with crops ready for transport to the farthest reaches of the continent. Alongside this the finest spices are grown, cash crops, that allow the Empire to supply some of the finest people and families with the spices that let them enjoy their hedonistic lifestyles. However with steady population growth the control of the food market is shrinking. Instead the Empire is beginning to expand its development of industry and refined goods. Iron is useless unless a man makes it into a sword, just as gold is worthless until it can be turned into coin. Smithies and workshops are subsidised and supported, in exchange the government reaps reduced costs when buying up the stocks that are produced. These savings are then used to offset the cost of such massive imports of raw materials, and finally the finished goods are then sold again, giving over a fair profit too the country. Industry is also self-sufficient in regards to its wood needs. Large forests of hardwood are maintained and cultivated, much like crops, so that they can maintain the growing industry and survive for generations to come. Though some small share of the hardwood is available to export it is not a number one reason for wealth.       

Religion: The Maxis family is worshipped as being ‘god-like’ however no actual deity is promoted and so there is no state religion. Most are allowed to follow their own faith, except Indentured workers who are allowed no faith. 

Geography:
Will expand further north to take up more space if needs be and am also happy to be moved.

Population: 7,200,000

Demographics:
Gender breakdown: 54% Male – 46% Female
Ethnic breakdown: 68% Human – 12% Dwarf – 8% Elf – 2% Other 
Citizenship Breakdown: 78% Citizenship – 22% Indentureship
Primary Language Spoken: 87% Drastonian – 13% Other (Unofficial)

Notable Locations:
Drastonia – The nation’s capital and the hub of all life in the Drastonian Empire. Also the location of the ‘Floating Palace’, the imperial home of the ruling family and the traditional base of government, though the real home is almost always the Houses of Parliament. Population numbers around 16,000. 
Golden-Fields – The home for most of the Indentured Servants and the location for the most heavily farmed land. Alongside this there is a number of barracks’ so as to keep the Indentured in line. The population is around 20,000. 
Drason-Port – The home to the Imperial Navy and the nearest port to Drastonia, a hub for trade and transport in the Empire. The population is 11,000 at the most.

Personalities of Note:
Imperial Family - Emperor Titus Maxis IV (32)
Princess-Consort Eliana Maxis (24)
Prince Titus Maxis V (6)
Prince Julius Maxis II (4)
Princess Julia Maxis (4)

Parliament – Chief-Elector Quintus Halus (48)
Elector Octavus Hastii (56)
Elector Tribius Lucitii (51)
Elector Flavius Lucitii (45
Elector Stracuss Scorpia (42)

Army – Lord-General Commander Lucas Lucitii (41)
Lord Commander Quintus Macro (37)
Lord Commander Stafus Bastii (38)

Navy - Lord-Admiral Commander Tritus Halus   

Institutions:
The Maxis family - The Imperial Family for over twenty generations now.
The Lucitii family – A proud and noble family who stretch back to the founding. Have always been in the politics and administration, as well as military branches.
The Ordos – The Secret Police used by the Imperial family for whatever purposes his Imperial Majesty wishes.
The Admiralty – A board and school that trains and prepares those tipped for naval promotion.
The Founders League – A board and school that trains and prepares those tipped for army promotion.

Military
Organisation: The military is a professional establishment with a great deal of career soldiers, making it an effective fighting force. Alongside the professional army every citizen is expected to fight as a Levy if the need arises, although every citizen has the right to elect an Indentured to fight instead of them in the times of war, which almost every citizen attempts. An average soldier will be given an iron helmet, leather gambeson with iron pauldrons and leather graves. Alongside this each man receives a dress cloak that is the royal shade of purple. Each man is given a long sword and after this a man’s skills are judged and he is then put into a branch, be it archer, sword or cavalry regiment. Organisation and discipline are foremost alongside being the most advanced. It is for this reason that a standard uniform/inventory is kept for each man. Marines have a similar uniform however it is blue, to show the connection to the navy rather than army. The Empire employs no one doctrine, instead allowing for each general and officer to employ their own tactics to the situation as they see fit. However officer’s training school does teach a set few base doctrines. The navy is a big part of the Empire as they have a rare supply of hardwood which allows them to skilfully craft an effective flotilla that will perform above your standard lumber. 
Troop Total: 85,000 men full time. 
Army: 
40,000 Spearmen
15,000 Long bowmen
6,000 Mounted Lancers
4,000 Mounted Knights
2,000 Engineers
4,000 Other staff
10,000 Indentured labourers
Navy: 1500 sailors, 800 marines and 700 other staff. 3,000 men in total.
10 Caravels, with a crew of 30 men each.
10 Carracks, with a crew of 75 men each. 
15 Galleys, with a crew of 30 men each.
None of the above include if a compliment of marines is added, which is around 40 men a compliment.
Other: The Empire boasts a fair sized collection of siege engines. A few trebuchets and siege towers remain in storage, being maintained, in parts. Meanwhile plans for ladders and rams are stored for creation in the field. As well as this the Empire maintains a secret police known only as The Ordos. It is a fairly small group of elite soldiers who work in secret carrying out the Emperors will, there is an air of mystery and fear that surrounds them and many of their missions are covert. Though they do little outside of the Empire, within the Empire they are a powerful tool. 

Other
Growing unrest within the Indentured is becoming a problem. With other species now making up almost a quarter of the population they are a large group and if there was a mass revolt, the army would be in fairly big trouble. Already several more outspoken slums are becoming unruly, with fights and stand offs occurring from time to time. There is also a large number of bandits operating in some of the more remote regions of the Empire and this is having a very adverse effect on trade and the transportation of goods around the Empire.


ESSENTIALS
Population Density (Population - 7,200,000) - Regionally Dense; A good amount of manpower for the military and economic purposes, with social infrastructure strained more at a regional basis. Civic projects range from affordable to expensive. The nation requires a stronger economy to sustain itself.

Economy - Stagnation - The economy is performing adequately, though there is room for improvement. There are certain limitations on the economy that are bottlenecking real growth, such as a restriction in investment capital or insufficient demand, however. There is some unemployment and economic unhappiness among people in the lower income brackets, and there is a degree of criticism in what can go wrong, even if it hasn't gone wrong yet.

Urbanisation - Semi-urbanised: There are several towns and a few cities present, ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand inhabitants.

Technology - Modernizing: The industrial infrastructure is in the process of improvement, and this is a teething process. But the economy is seeing increased activity because of this investment. New technologies are becoming domestically available. However, there is a degree of dependence on imports, including in terms of the expertise to modernize the economy. Metallurgy is limited to iron products.

Domestic Political Stability - Growing unrest in cities

GEOGRAPHY
Largely consists of plains and hills, with tropical areas.

RESOURCES
Mineral Deposits - Minimal deposits of metals and minerals.

Valuable Mineral Deposits - Trace deposits of rare earth metals, predominantly silver, some marble quarries.  

Unique Materials - Spices, hardwood

Agriculture - crop and small livestock based, food surplus that is decreasing over time

MILITARY
Military Focus - Decent army and navy, good infantry and cavalry ratio (5:1) 

Military Recruitment - Volunteer Force Military, levies in wartime

Reliability - Levies are of decent quality, generals play politics

Military Size - small core of professional units: requires some upkeep, easy to equip/supply quickly, seasonal levies

Military Technology - Rapid Modernization, your nation does not lag behind the rest of the world, and even sets the standard on some levels.

Military Training and Morale - Highly Trained; High Morale, levies are of good quality but low morale

Military Leadership - Competent; Rose to their positions through experience and battlefield exploits

Military Reputation - Popular domestically; considered small but capable by foreigners

Siege Equipment - Developed, seasoned corps of engineers and sappers; Loyal and capable
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