Cassia
| Cassian Confederation Kåssisk Folkeforbundet (Aldsegian) Rotirontatiéntho (Agveke) | |
| Flag | Coat of arms |
|---|---|
|
File:Cassian emblem.png |
| Motto: Bygg denne verden rettferdig "Build this World Righteous" | |
| Anthem: Åh, himmel og vind som styrer hånden "O, heaven and breeze that guides our hand" | |
| Locator map | |
| |
| Capital city | Jorvikstad |
| Largest city | Kånestak |
| Official language | Aldsegian |
| Other languages | Agveke and Kamnaka |
| Ethnic group | |
| Religion | Orkanan (Nysunna majority, Mellanhand minority), Others |
| Demonym(s) | Cassian |
| Government | |
| Government Type | Federal consociational participatory republic |
| Fører | Øje Tekaronhjókken |
| Lord Martial | Erlend Ambroðring |
| Legislature | Storrådsbrann |
| Establishment | |
| Area | |
| Population | |
| Economy | |
| Economy type | Mutualist, semi-syndicalist |
| Currency | Cassian Gyllen |
| Other information | |
| Driving side | right |
| Internet code | .kss |
The Cassian Confederation (Aldsegian: Kåssisk Folkeforbundet, Agveke: Rotirónt:atiéntho, Kamnaka: ulahunangax̂ tumansiqix̂), formally referred to simply as Cassia (Kåsse), is a sovereign state in western Altaia, hugging the entire Discovery Coast and much of the Altaian Range. It is bordered to the east by 160 and 161, the south by Stolvic Commonholds of Grunland and Mirapan, and the west by that of New Hoffnung. Its capital is Jorvikstad, and its largest city is the financial center of Kånestak.
Cassia staunchly holds itself as a cosmopolitan and liberal bastion of the continent. Beginning as a union of rebelling Imperial Stoldavic colonies (the Covenant of the Unbound) and the native Akwekaha, modern Cassia would eventually consolidate and survive to the modern day as a cohesive nation; an identity bound together on shared values such as direct democracy, stewardship and the réttlætisanda, the national “moral code” underlining the country's strong civil rights. The constitution reflects this; being a federal participatory republic, whose governance is derived both from of the indigenous Altaians and the republican ideas of the Aldsegian Rising. Its cities and communities are clustered into larger “cantons” which are represented in the Great Council Fire, its unicameral legislature.
Since the latter half of the 77th century, Cassia has enjoyed a high standard of living. It continues to maintain a strong manufacturing capability, though it has also redefined itself as a convenient trade passage for goods coming from the Shangti to Anaria, often serving as a diplomatic and financial haven for the Great Powers between Altaia's oceans. Cassia has been noted for its strong custody of its natural resources (owing to strong land use and taxation laws), predominance of renewable energies, and high levels of urban density even in the rural areas; though an economic imbalance between the coastal and interior cantons still remain.
The "marriage" of Stoldavians (mostly Aldsay and Dolmer) and Akwekaha Keshkwit constitute the bulk of the Confederation's national identity. Modern nationalist narratives often allude to the traditions and mythology of the old Akwekaha and the legacy of the Pioneer Sunna colonists. Language and popular culture has followed along these lines, with Aldsegian and Agveke bearing official status, and native culture has risen in visibility in most media since the last decade. Cassian religion is predominantly Orkanan, predominantly under the Sunna sect (Stift of the Brethren). Mellanhand, and even Stellist (alongside non-Orkanan) populations have been a rising trend since the last century, thanks to immigration. The native precolonial faith, Enekenism is still practiced in rural communities, with a recent burst of following in the cities. Syncretism of the two faiths have also led to new traditions, such as the Great White Brotherhood.
Geography
"Cascadia" ('CAUSE EVERY TIME WE TOUCH, I GET THIS FEELING)
History
Prehistory
Classical era
- Keshkwit culture develops in the Discovery Coast
- Great period of strife
- The Peace-Pipe and the First Foundations, rise of Enekenism
- Akwekaha Confederacy and the Trans-Discovery Coast Trade System
Anarian contact and colonial period
- Atregonian exploration
- Treaty of Gustav and Okwahojanara (Chief "Good Wolf")
- The evacuation of the First Brethren, and the feast of salvations
- Colonization of the Discovery Coast
- Unequal relations with central government and the Keshkwit, being cut off from the coast, distruption of the Trade System, repudiation of treaties
- Sunna spreads in the Far North; high levies of taxation, imposition of slavery
Revolution and the Old Confederation
- Aldsegian Rising influences the First Cassian Rising
- The Brethren ally with the Akwekaha; other members of the Trade System join the fight and wage war against the Stoldavic Empire
- Treaty becomes constitution: conflicts over land use, early geoist ideas
- Early industrialization; steam in the coasts, water/hydraulics in the inlands
- Land use conflicts continue: unequal relations with the central government and the Keshkwit tribes; "second repudiation of the treaties"
- Age Of Barons, aristocracy holding Imperial-era supremacist values/biases for some reason
Modern Cassia
[As was the trend at the time, the industrial revolution brought forth rapid economic and technological development, as well as massive poverty and inequality. The Age of Barons, as it would be called, was defined by such, with a federal government was rife with corruption and nepotism. Powerful political families dominated Cassian society with their economic interests, while waging skirmishes with Wolgos and Haverist forces at the frontiers. By the 7450's, a mass-populist movement instigated the Tellan Rising, overturning the old system and enacting a series of political and economic reforms. ]
- Creation and prioritization of a land tax and progressive tax
- Redistribution of Baron-owned land to farm workers (smth smth 40 acres and a mule), breaking up of businesses owned by deposed politicians
- Prioritization of smaller businesses and syndicalist organs, reformation of corporate law and strengthening of equal contracts
- Formal, unified standing army is finally established, shifting from the State Guards (Valdstyrkene)
- Abolition of the upper chamber of the parliament, lower house becomes the Great Council Fire as deference to the Akwekaha constitution; parliament in turn is expanded in a bid for better representation
- "Special status" of Keshkwit states abrogated in favor of statehood, restoration of the Brethren-Akwekaha treaty
- The Telwotti are enjoined with the restored treaty, giving them equal status and statehood
- Abolition of the early Commonwealth law discriminating against the Mellanhand and the Sadarenes, Rettlætisanda is enshrined
[At the time, the Rising was associated with the wave of revolutions in Anaria as well; leading to the rise of the Arvorian Socialists and the Haverists. Cassia would remain at an unease over the political developments of its neighbors; and thus pursued a policy of Armed Neutrality, until complications in the Pan-Anarian War prompted it to join the Alliance in a bid for self-preservation. A newfound sense of nationhood followed as the rather green Active Force managed to defend its territory from the United League (ie. Winter, Vietnam War). When the present war was upended by the rising threat of the Wolgos Bind, a more confident Cassia led the charge of the scourge's northern front, dividing north Altaia's influence with Kamura.]
- Formation of the Langisvei
- Rise in immigration
- Continued suspicion over the Orderist states
- Further political reforms, alliance with Arvor and Sokoku
- Era of Good Feelings: everyone dances the macarena
Government and politics
Three key documents comprise the Cassian constitution: the Articles of Covenant, the native Saga of Unending Peace, and the revolutionary Treaty of Binding and Communion. The documents of the constitution has only been fully revised under the Tellan Rising. At its most basic, Cassia is a federal participatory republic, officially a union of clans and tribes (stimmen, ken'tara'okòn:'a), which are formally coalesced into cantons (landet).
The Fører (roiá:nerekó:wa, lit. “great chief” in Agveke) serves as the head of state, sharing power with the Lord Martial (krigsherre or hsken'rakehtekó:wa) and the Home and Foreign Secretaries (velds- og utenlands hånder) over its executive cabinet and the legislature. Said leadership, officially referred to as the aksel og eiker, the “Axle and Spokes”, is directly elected by the people. The Axle and Spokes answer to the Great Council Fire (storrådsbrann or otsénhake'kowa), the national legislature. It is comprised of one representative per a static ~50,000-person constituency (totaling it to 1140 seats). The Tender of the Fire (brannsvokter), a traditionally female position, serves as the convenor of the Great Council Fire and its representative to the Axle and Spokes.
A general rule is that Cassia's government works on a spectrum between representative democracy at the national level, and direct democracy at the local level. Latter bodies are deeply participist institutions, mainly embodied by a stim, both in the tribal and religious sense. Each canton has a similar makeup of its executive and legislative governments, albeit the foreign secretary and the Tender of the Fire is replaced by the more ceremonial Keeper of the Treaties (edenesvokter). Cantonal council fires convene the leaders of the stimmen. Unlike the indigenous stimmen in which citizenship remains bound by blood/marital ties, non-native stimmen are more civil institutions tied to public registration. Both bodies utilize direct democratic procedure, convening localized and consensus-based popular assemblies (folketing). While federal and canton legislation is formally the purview of its council fires, citizenry can also legislate by means of petitions and counter-petitions, of which can only be fielded in the legislatures in a minimum of signatures (depending on the canton).
Foreign relations
The Foreign Office (utenlands håndshus) serves as an executive body in the Confederation's central government. Cassia's primary priority has been the maintenance of its sovereignty and its influence in northern Altaia; particularly in cultivating a pan-Altaian trade system that bypasses the Stolvic Commonwealth and manages the overland trade between the Stolvic and Shangti markets. This system is most embodied in the "Langisvei" (lit. "Long Way"), a set of highways, airship routes and tunnels that straddle from Kusawen to the Discovery Coast. Being a midway point between both continents and blocs has become the key role that Jorvikstad has championed from the Post-Scourge period onwards, whether it is on trade or diplomatic matters.
Sharing common heritage, Cassia has strong, "brotherly" ties to Aedeland. With the Langisvei, the country also enjoys strong trade relations with Kamura and Nestor, and to a lesser extent with Arvor, the latter two being important hemispheric partners especially on matters of their respective defense industries' research and development. Nestor itself has been valued by the Cassian federal government as a vital waypoint for Davaian and Anarian trade.
The Stolvics, since the Great War, has long been deemed a critical security risk due to their interests in Altaia proper. This long-standing suspicion can be traced back to a political dispute between Haverism and the Tellan revolutionaries; which would conclude violently in the Kanestak Putsch of 7XXX. The events of the Great War and Hoffnung's transition to Orderism further alienated Jorvikstad from the Stolvic Commonwealth as the ideological rifts between the Modernist governments became clear. Cassia today pursues a policy of containment against the SOC, and actively uses the Langisvei as a sort of counterweight to Hoffnung's influence. A key exception to this rule has been the post-Haverist republic of Sokoku, of which, alongside Arvor, shares the strong ties with the Confederation out of shared interests and sensibilities.
Military
The People's Force (Aldsegian: folkestyrkene, Agveke: rotisken’rakéhte, FS/RK) serve as the official armed force of Cassia, divided between the Navy, Army and the Expeditionary Force. During the country's early history and the Age of Barons, the military is often a temporary affair, of which an army is amassed from the cantons' militias. After the Tellan Rising, a national, standing army was organized from the revolutionary forces and allied militias. The modern KF serves as the federal government's own militia (or national guard), concerned with securing the Commonwealth's integrity and national interests in Western Altaia and the Stolvic Ocean. Much of the KF's operations and tactics are centered on mobile and assymetric warfare, emphasizing efficiency in logistics while leveraging the country's natural and geographic advantages. In the local level, the Canton Guards (hird) serve as the premier uniformed service, though ultimately subordinate to the KF and the federal government since the Tellan Rising.
Economy
The Gyllen is the official currency of Cassia, though lacking a central bank, each state manages its own mint to produce cash, all of which are regulated by the Axle and Spokes through the Ministry of Trade and the Treasury.
Since the Tellan Rising, Cassia's economy was fundamentally overhauled from the cartel-like rule of familial conglomerates called Althusen ("old houses") to the predominance of syndicates, associations of trade unions and peasant associations (arbetabonden) which control much of the traditional industries that power the confederation proper. Most farms and factories in Cassia have operated autonomously from one another and are managed democratically by its workers as a syndical concern (bondeselskap); with overarching labor federations serving as their primary representative in the national and global market while providing them coordination and mutual assistance. Some such federations, such as the General League of Toilers and the Great Moiety of Fishermen in the North are subsidized to maintain its dominance in the market in the face of foreign businesses. Recent data suggests that around 79% of Cassia's economy is held by these syndicates, while the rest are either from state concerns or private smallholders.
Lumber, fishing, energy, ammunition, foodstuffs, and rare earth minerals are the predominant exports of Cassia, while its imports come in the form of iron and luxury goods.
Culture
Most observers (and Cassians themselves) have largely described the country as a "composite nation", a marriage of three cultures; the native Keshkwit and Telwotti, and the colonial Stoldavians. Such a unity has long been the clear defining point for Cassian identity, alongside their shared history of resistance (Cassian War of Independence, Tellan Rising). Cassians themselves are considered to be proud, fiercely independent and self-reliant; albeit tinged with indignation.
The Cassian mindset tends to revolve around the social-ethical philosophy called the Rettlaetisanda (Old Stoldavic for "Righteous Spirit"), which obliges a moral duty to tend for and protect the sanctity of the land and of the people that live in it. This also entails a sense of Sunnic justice, which values the dignity of those with a soul.