Post by Isus Jarode on Mar 23, 2007 20:39:03 GMT -5
Formerly a Republic, the Federation of Bremelia stands as the smallest nation of the Terran world. Surrounded by its neighbors with one quarter of its border to Lucia and another quarter to the Shussei Corporation, Bremelia has commonly seen itself as a boxed-in, vulnerable land, and often resists conflict and violent encounters through compromises, treaties, and plain neutrality.
Geography: A region of plain and barren terrain, Bremelia is well known for its rich resources and grassy valleys. The nation's border with Lucia is buffered by a large, western set desert, full of sandy dunes and rocky trenches. On the edge of its lands to the east lies the Shussei borderline, with the small town of Greyton and a large mass of plains and mountain terrain picking through the distance. Sandwiched between these two barren details, however, lies a massive and fertile valley that leads to Bremelia's northern edge, bordering to another neutral province. Finally, south of all the borders and dissecting Bremelia's equator lies a comfortable coastal region, with the majority of the Bremelian population residing.
On a peninsula striking away from the median tip of the coastline resides the nation's former capital of Temperance. Surrounded by crashing tides and grainy beaches, the former glory of this civilization now lays in tatters from the memories of the old war, its stone and iron structures of building strewn all across the mounds. Old research stations lay dormant underneath the rubble, waiting to be rediscovered. Sitting off nearby floating on the coast resides Silviana, the largest port town in Bremelia.
The nation's new center of government sits at the heart of the region itself; surrounded by hilly grasslands and warming winds, the city of Effusion acts as Bremelia's capital. Less than one century old, the district represents a sort of material symbolism of the nation's ideology: moderation of magic and technology. Skyscrapers that strike stories high, comfortable (yet obsolete) vehicles and shops selling a mix of industrial and articulated goods, the influence of Shussei is magnificent; however, the power of magic is not alien to the capital, as Lucian Wizards gain profit and followers through their research sites and presentations.
At the core of the capital rises the Vanquil Tower, the central governing center of the land. Surrounding the government as a ring live the wealthy business owners and representatives of Shussei Corporation, their homes rivaling Vanquil's size. Ringing around those buildings lay the Middle Class and the Wizards of Lucia, another ring lies the businesses and residences of the working class, and the final ring acts as the servicing sector, with railways and automobile reconstruction sites. Residing at the very edge of the city, in a suburb of sorts, is the headquarters of the Order of the Alchemist.
Government: In its past, before the Certamen War, Bremelia was a well established Democracy, just as the nation of Maia was as well. Led by a Chancellor - head of the Legislative Parliament - the nation was liberally led as to keep the peace of Liberty as the primary right of all citizens. Representatives were voted to represent each region, and then they elected their own nominees and cut the choices down to two leaders of the two most powerful parties of Parliament, before the people would elect their Chancellor through these four choices. The head of State could remain in power for as long as they were elected, but often stepped down after a circuit of a decade or less for the purpose of purifying the government, or due to scandal. The government was surprisingly effective, and due to its peaceful belief of accepting all ideals and faiths, the nation became a powerful moderate of magic and technology in a blended hybrid.
However, after a few centuries of success, the Certamen War finally came. The invasion of the Maian armies into Bremelia's north-eastern region left the peaceful land in conflict, as those who supported Maia's pro-business and pro-technology agenda were suddenly unsure of how to react, while the pro-magic citizens begged for the hierarchy of Lucia to involve themselves in Bremelia's aid. As Maia and its dominant Shussei Corporation spread closer toward the nation's center, the Lucian forces marched across the Myrra Desert and engaged their new enemy. Years of land battles ensued, and eventually the production of air forces led to mass bombings and dog fights; later still, in desperation, the Shussei Corporation's naval fleet sieged the capital of Temperance, destroying it.
After several years of terrible war, the two superpowers were forced to sign peace. Neither side was able to gain land from its campaigns, and both were required to help aid in the reconstruction of Bremelia. In the midst of the chaos, the Bremelian Republic fell apart, leading to an economic depression and a brief, but fierce, civil war. Regions were spread apart and given their own governments by the reconstruction forces, and after the rise of the new capital - the city of Effusion - a Federation government rose up.
Using a Federal system, the national government was elected squarely by the separate regional delegations, who were sparsely elected by their local citizens. The central government was left to keep solely to foreign affairs, while the weak regional governments were left to deal with everything else. The result was a continuance of economic depression and reliance upon the two aiding superpowers, and through loopholes and a few laws passed through Bremelia's "Equal Rights" policy, both nations of Lucia and Shussei quickly captured powerful lobbyist positions in the new Bremelian Federation, quickly leading to corruption, foreign influence, entire sectors of Bremelia being sold to foreign factions, and a constant political struggle over the preference of magic or technology.
Now a century passed, Bremelia has become a literal puppet, tugged left and right from its struggling economic investors of Lucia and Shussei who, behind the scenes, wish desperately to create an extended arm and shield of their nation, an ally that could side with them in the event of another great War. The lands are beginning to split: the western regions are rising to become highly pro-magical, and the east is forced to become pro-technology to survive. Trapped in the middle of it all remains loyalists to the old ideologies of moderation, but even these men and women are losing faith, and giving in.
Military: After the fall of the Bremelian Republic, the nation's offensive forces were recharged to act as pure defensive militia for the "sake of public safety." Armed with weapons, vehicles and equipment that are several decades out of date, the Bremelian military garbs itself in navy blue uniforms, their hips still holstering sabers or outdated pistols. Their structure, however, is the worst part of the ordeal: the military was spread out into "regional guardsmen" without a proper national commander, breaking communication between the various units indefinitely. Fortifications on the Shussei and Lucian borders are not even controlled by their regional military, as the "peacekeepers" see to overseeing those defenses.
The equipment of the various regional guardsmen varies on the influence of the local preference to magic or technology, however, each unit can often be seen with reasonably well built Sabers for both ornament and combat, a simple slow-fire rate hand pistol with nine rounds, a rifle with sixteen shot-magazines and a bayonet, a chain-gun turret, and an unsophisticated tank design. Units of the east tend to carry more advanced weaponry or technology, such as cellular communications or computer graphics, where as the west have been trained in the basics of magic manipulation to do battle. Those units caught in between are often forced to take bits and pieces of both.
The various regional guardsmen are controlled as units by their local regional parliaments, and cannot be elected generals. A central government officer - often appointed because of his connections to one superpower or the next - appoints these men and women themselves.
People and Culture: Mixed between the ideologies of Lucian and Shussei politics, the Bremelian people find themselves caught in between the frays of opinion. On the one hand, each and every Bremelian openly accepts the belief of Equality and Liberty, something that has always stood as their strongest principles. However, the Certamen War brought much strife to the land, the mass majority came to believe in a pacifistic, defensive value as well. Therefore, Bremelians tend to look the other way at the thought of corruption in their government or the thought of a threat to their moderate way of life.
As various regions are influenced to prefer one end or the other, the political sways of Liberal and Conservative no longer exist; to Bremelians, it is now the alignments of Magic and Technology. Since both alignments openly result in either liberal or conservative viewpoints all at once, Bremelians often find themselves apathetic to political events, as the Moderate balance always succeeds. However, the old ways of blending Magic and Technology to create a singular third power have subsided; the belief now is to choose one alignment over the other and bring preference to it, while still developing the second alignment. This has clearly led to the inaction and underdevelopment of the regions.
Therefore, the eastern cities and towns tend to adopt very "futuristic," industrial clothing styles and economic materials, as the west tends to follow Lucia's ways. Religion is not an issue regarding either side, however, each side tends to have a strong majority in Lucia's or Shussei's religions accordingly.