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POPULATIN’ OTALIN, OH YES I AM!

Your Name(s): Scaramouche Fandango
Country Number: 5
Country Name: Nippon
Geography: The Nipponi are people of the foothills and plains, primarily, rather than the mountains, which they revere as the home of the gods.They have no word for the mountain range itself; they consider it bad luck to have the arrogance to name the gods' home themselves. Individual mountains may be named for gods, though, in order to attract a particular god to that mountain to bless the nearby villages, and some mountains are named for five or six gods! They have no major cities in the mountains; those are all situated in the plains, especially near the ocean and river. They call the river "Aimizu," or beloved water, for it runs wide and fairly slow near the cities, and it is a source of much food and wealth, as well as a means of travel. The ocean is Nipponno Omizu, big water of Nippon, and it, too, is revered as a sacred place.
Based off of? Japan
Describe the Culture: The Nipponi, as they call themselves, are a generally peaceful, agreeable people. They have a great emphasis on aesthetic pleasures, and why not? After all, are they not living in the most beautiful land on this planet? While Nippon is peaceful, they do have an excellent navy; after all, if there was an invasion, it would likely come from the sea. Both the sea and mountains are sacred; Nipponi mythology has it that the gods live in the mountains, and a sacred volcano is the gods' meeting place. A mountain festival is held every year, with pilgramages to to shrines at the foot of the mountains, where the people pray for the gods' blessing. Religion is very important to the Nipponi, but theirs is a loose, joyful religion with one main tenet: Honor the gods, and they will look kindly upon you. Children are dedicated to the gods in a New Years' Festival- this festival lasts for one week, with the New Year on the last day. It is on this day that children receive their official names- until that time, the family comes up with a special nickname for them. Each city or village has its own festival to commemorate its founding; this can last from just a day to almost two weeks, depending on the size of the city, and it means a day free from school for all children, increased wages for workers, and a visit from a member of the royal family- the Chrysanthemum Ruler herself visits the largest cities, while the tiny rural villages get a visit from perhaps a princess. There is also an Arts Month- a month where the arts are specially celebrated and artists are singled out from their communities as being personages of importance. The Nipponi see art as more than just a pretty thing- art tells the story of a people and of a community in a way that the history books cannot. Daily rituals and ceremonies include the Hedoran Tea Ceremony, a specific way to serve the afternoon tea, and the greeting of the ancestors, which is the memorializing of the recent and important dead each day at breakfast.

Capital City: Kojira
Describe the City: A bustling metropolis that seems to be one big arts district, Kojira is the largest and most famous of the Nipponi cities. It is the largest port city in the country, perhaps in all of Otalin (they haven't taken a census in years), but its wide streets and district-style organization make it difficult to get too terribly lost in. Famous for its beautiful red-roofed buildings (an ancient city ordinance dictates that all buildings must be built in the classic Nipponi architectural style and have red roofs), ornate courtyards, and of course, the grand ancient royal palace. Kojira is a very rich city; the cost of living here is quite high, so those who cannot afford it, such as those who clean the streets or work in its shops and restaurants, tend to live in the less-expensive nearby suburbs and commute on a short-range steam train. Kojira's public transportation system is the only one of its kind in the country; several small steam engines pull small (standing room only!) cars around the outskirts of the city in order to reach its various districts and suburbs.

Other Major Cities: Minya, Hedora, Rodan, and Kaijin are the largest non-capital port cities. Minya and Hedora are river cities; Rodan and Kaijin are on the ocean.
Describe the Cities: Minya is a port city on the river famous for its goldfish. A hobby among the Minyan elite is the breeding of fancy goldfish which sell for exorbitant sums. During the nine-day Minyan Founding Festival, three days are dedicated celebrating the fish. Minya is the sleepiest of the major cities; life seems to move slowly here, and good manners are a trademark of each resident. Hedora is known as the tea city; also located on the river in the south of Nippon, it is the warmest major city, and wonderful tea trees grow here. They have developed a ritual way to serve the tea with exaggerated movements and a kind of patience that even the well-mannered Minyans sometimes find exacting. Hedora is a city of wooden buildings and fragrant gardens; it, like Minya, is peaceful. Rodan, however, is not peaceful. Not at all. This loud, modern city fully embraces Eurlakian culture and even has many Eurlak-syle buildings and airship docks. Rodan is the youngest of the major cities, and was the first open to airships, as it was the first to have really tall buildings. It is said to be home to the best theatre in all of Nippon. Kaijin is a city of many shrines; it is dedicated to the gods of the sea and is the largest fishing city in the country. The buildings here are stone, and fairly utilitarian, and its founding festival only lasts a day, even though it is a large city. Kaijin people tend to be very practical and hard-working, and though the city is one of the wealthiest in Nippon, perhaps second only to Kojira, you probably wouldn't know it from how even the upper class refuses to lounge about.

Current Ruler: Rin Emiko, Chrysanthemum Empress. She is a kind, venerable old woman who loves her people and has done much for the lower classes, especially the farmers. Set to rule after her is her son, Rin Gamera, a man in his late thirties who is bookish and smart.
Describe the Government: The government is headed up by an emperor or empress, depending on the gender of the eldest child of the former emperor or empress. While the Chrysanthemum Ruler (the official title of the leader) has many advisors, they are believed to be descendants of the gods themselves, and thus, their word is law. However, their family is very important, for if they believe that the Chrysanthemum Ruler is behaving badly, public chastisement is quite a common occurrence. This, more than anything else, keeps the ruler in check!

Main Income Sources: Nippon's primary resources are its excellent rice farms, fisheries and forests, and so these are its chief exports. However, the Nipponi also export a lot of art. Between their wood block prints and their exotic theatrical stylings, traditional Nipponi artists do exceedingly well abroad. Tourism in the major cities, especially Rodan and Kojira, is also a source of income for the country.

Describe the Economy: Nippon is very much a self-sufficient country, as much of the land is used for farms. While not everybody has great excesses, nobody starves. The currency of Nippon is the yim, and paper money hasn't caught on. After all, paper has little worth, and just doesn't feel real. Coins, however, not only have an intrinsic value, but are also beautiful. A whole class of goverment-employed moneysmiths has cropped up, and they painstakingly carve and decorate coins to the exact specification of the Chrysanthemum Ruler. Yim coins are incredibly valuable, both at home for their relative rarity and abroad for their collectibility. A single yim coin can buy a week's worth of food in some places, so especially in rural areas, the barter system is still held in high regards here. Taxes can be paid with foodstuffs, especially rice and grains, and it is not uncommon for artists to have patrons who feed them in return for paintings, or for an author to chronicle a family history while living under that family's roof. There is a rough class system with the sustenance farmers and fishermen, 'untouchables' (people who take the dirtiest jobs, such as butcher or street cleaner) and the general urban poor at the very bottom, construction workers and other skilled laborers (like plantation-style farmers and commercial fishermen), architects, merchants, policemen, folk craftsmen, and unrefined artisans in the middle, successful actors and musicians holding a rank above them but below the upper class, which is comprised of successful painters, authors, and low nobility (some would call them the idle rich; they are relatives of the Chrysanthemum Rulers), and the top artists are considered the highest echelon of actual society, right below the palace staff and the Chrysanthemum Rulers themselves. Priests and other religious hold a special place in society; the state religion is akin to Shinto, and while the priests have no money or material possessions, they are never refused what they ask for. Most of the country are workers of the lower class; there are more farmers and fishermen than all kinds of artists combined. As seen from their class system, the arts are very important to the Nipponi; they have spent centuries refining them, and consider a nation's artistic values to be important when judging them for trade relations.

Brief History (optional): The history of Nippon is well-documented in the nation's art and theatre, but here's a brief summary: Long ago, before modern memory, there were just the gods. The Queen of the Gods, Nami, and her consort, Nagi, had many children, but Tseru and Sunoo liked the land of their parents and decided to stick around. Sunoo decided he liked the sea, and named it his domain, while his sister, Tseru, chose to remain on the land. Together, they created many animals from the various plants; Tseru took the buds of the willow and created the furry beasts, while Sunoo took seaweed and created eels, and used rough stones to create fish. Then, from these animals, the two pooled their resources and created Joto, the first Chrysanthemum Emperor, and his wife, Riki of the Sea. They prospered, and were happy, and they had many children, who took husbands and wives from other lands. While the native Nipponi were happy, their husbands and wives were not. They were not content with listening to Joto, and so they split into warring factions who fought for control. The Chrysanthemum Emperor was safe in his palace, however, for it was impenetrable, and after decades, when the husbands and wives were all warred out, he called for a treaty in his ancient age that would hopefully prevent all future warring. However, there were always squabbles for land. This bothered the Chrysanthemum Rulers, and eventually Kishi, the first Chrysanthemum Empress, came up with a way to bring this to a halt. She channeled her country's energy into creating works of beauty, not works of violence, and now all squabbling takes place on the canvas or on the stage as opposing nobles compete to commission the most works of beautiful art rather than hold the most land. Meanwhile, the land is in the capable hands of the farmers, loggers, and fishermen, who know how to work it to its best capacity. It has continued essentially this way until the modern era, in the reign of the Chrysanthemum Empress Emiko.
Anything Else? Sometimes it helps to think of Nippon as an expanded version of Tokyo (which is a small farming village) during the Edo and Meiji periods.

POPULATIN’ EURLAK, OH YES I AM!

Your Name(s): Tuatha De
Country Number: 6
Country Name: Kieva Rus

Geography: Kieva Rus is a large country, covering a vaguely triangular area between the two major mountain ranges of Eurlak and the one in northern Otalin. It has a history of successfully repelling any attempted invasions from the Eurlak front, thanks in part to those mountains and in part to the brutal winters. The Otalin border is a little more vulnerable, at least geographically speaking.

Kieva Rus mostly consists of vast areas of fertile steppe to the south, with heavy forests to the north, with tundra only along the very furthest northern reaches. The large mountain ranges at each border host rich mineral resources, as well as effectively dividing Kieva Rus from its neighbors. While it boasts no major rivers, a dense network of small streams and ponds provide fresh water. Most of Kieva Rus has only two seasons, winter and summer, with autumn and spring only brief transitions between extremes of low and high temperatures.

With such a range of biomes, from coniferous and broad-leaf forests to grassland and even tundra, Kieva Rus has a wide variety of animals. The interior boasts numerous types of small mammals, ungulates, and predators thereof, as well as hundreds of species of birds. Kieva Rus is the home of the Przewalski’s Horse, one of the few undomesticated horse species. Dolphins and whales can be found off the northern coast, and tigers can be found in the far eastern regions. The brown bear is considered the symbol of Rus.

Based off of? Russia
Describe the Culture: The Kievan people tend to be practical, traditional, self-sufficient, and proud. They preserve their folklore and handicraft, even with culture from other parts of Eurlak beginning to slip in. Kievan fairy tales are renowned and treasured, taking ancient pagan beliefs and converting them into folklore that is sufficiently compatible with orthodox Church beliefs. The Kievan Orthodox Church of the Authority (generally just called either Kievan Orthodox or the Church) is very widely accepted, and has been the national religion for centuries. There is an extremely strong emphasis in the culture on submission to the Church, the Tsar, and the Authority.

Kievans are hardy folk, capable of weathering most extremes and continuing on with their lives. Their cuisine is hearty – black breads, pancakes, fish and poultry, soups and stews, often paired with beer or vodka. While Kievans have the unfair reputation of being stolid, serious folk, this isn’t true. Jokes and anecdotes are common, both light and black humor, as are puns playing off the richness of the Kievan language, and even potentially dangerous political satire can be found as an expression of the human spirit. Kieva Rus has also produced many truly stunning works of poetry, literature, and music.

Kieva Rus has had a history of… problems with various mentally unstable and deficient autocrats running the country. While he doesn’t seem crazy, precisely, lately Tsar Pyotr has been implementing some drastic changes to the nation. While many are hopeful that greater contact with the rest of Eurlak will bring days of prosperity, many traditionalists are resentful of the extreme steps. Somewhat alarmingly, these dissenters tend to be brutally silenced. Despite these problems, the Kievan people are ferociously loyal to Mother Rus, and will tolerate no insult to their country.

Capital City: Muscovy
Describe the City: Muscovy is not a port city, but it is positioned on a major road, serving as a trade route to other countries. It is a large and surprisingly metropolitan area, in stark contrast with the farms and forests that make up most of Kieva Rus. It has been sacked on numerous occasions in the past, and each time repaired and rebuilt better than before. It is known for its stunning cathedrals topped with distinctive onion domes, as well as its newly bustling trade; while Kieva Rus has no Magika-powered airships of its own, Muscovy has built an airship port in hopes of attracting more pilots from Eurlak.

Other Major Cities: Ra-Gorod, Vostok, St. Victorinus, Rossiysk
Describe the Cities:
-Ra-Gorod was the original capital of old Kieva Rus, back during the Golden Age, and many still consider it a symbol of all that Kieva Rus was and could still become. It was from Ra-Gorod that the princes of Kieva Rus pronounced their first written code of law; here where there were paved streets and a sewage system while many parts of Eurlak were still primitive. While parts of the city have become “modernized” (inasmuch as anything in Kieva Rus is modern) there are still many beautiful examples of old architecture dating back centuries. The oldest palaces and cathedrals in Rus are all here, showcasing the masterful woodwork and scores of small domes that characterized the masterful architecture of the time.
-Vostok is the major city farthest to the east, nearly in Otalin. If one is looking to hire Cossacks, this is generally the place to go – they patrol the Otalin border, and often congregate here.
-St. Victorinus is brand-new by the standards of cities, built under Pyotr’s reign in the western Eurlak style. Perilously close to border of Scaandiva, there are whispers that Pyotr intends to declare St. Victorinus the new official capital, though nothing has been made formal yet.
-Rossiysk is the largest port city on the Valkan sea, and as a result it acts as a gateway of sorts to the rest of Kieva Rus. While the rest of Kieva Rus has relatively few foreigners living there, Rossiysk is actually relatively liberal and cosmopolitan, welcoming traders and merchants from all countries.

Current Ruler: Tsar Pyotr I
Describe the Government: Mostly an autocracy under the Tsar, a position which is passed down by heredity in long dynasties. Kieva Rus has an… unfortunate history of mentally unstable tsars and vicious fights over succession. For ages, the nobility formed a representative assembly/advisory council called the Duma, but under Pyotr’s revolutionary changes, the Duma has been replaced with a new 10-person Senate. This has not gone over well with the nobility.

One might expect that with the numerous periods of instability in their past, Kieva Rus would have a weak government. In fact, quite the opposite is the case. The central bureaucracy is remarkably solid, having spent centuries functioning despite poor rulers, stupid rulers, mad rulers, foreign-controlled rulers, no rulers… They can pretty much take care of themselves. Regardless of who is in charge and what bullshit they are spouting, the Kievan government workers will keep plugging along, making sure that all the cogs in the machine keep turning.

Main Income Sources: Export of natural resources – timber, minerals, agricultural produce such as wheat, rye, oats, etc. Rus also has a few rare, precious mines for coal and metal ores remaining, though it is unknown how much longer these will last. The products of these mines are hoarded jealously, and only sold for exorbitant prices. They are also well-known for making the best vodka in the world. The BEST. Ignore what those damned Scaandivans say.
Describe the Economy: Kieva Rus, up until very recently, has retained a highly isolationist attitude. As a result, they are mostly self-sufficient, with the majority of the population being subsistence-level farmers. Serfdom is state-mandated. the ruling class, the bolyari, serve as landlords, but are required in return to serve in the military. The peasants work the land, frequently using the same methods as their ancestors without the aid of modern tools. Serfs are tied to their domiciles, and are not permitted to move from landlord to landlord. With access to both the Valkan Sea and the treacherous Northern Ocean, Kieva Rus also produces many talented sailors and fishermen, capable of navigating the hostile northern waters to pull in valuable Arctic fish and marine mammals.

Interestingly, while the relationship between the bolyari and the serfs is a fairly traditional and straightforward one, there is a third social class: the Cossacks. These military hosts, taking their name from the ancient ruler Cossik, act almost completely independently, roaming the more rural areas as police, protectors, and border guards. They are highly valued as soldiers. While most Cossacks are loyal to the Tsar, there are also rogue mercenary groups.

Brief History (optional): In the early 9th century, several tribes of eastern and northern Eurlak crossed the mountains and founded a new city, Ra-Gorod, under the rule of a man named Cossik. They gradually expanded their territory eastward and southward, until they controlled several major trade routes between Eurlak and Otalin. Kieva Rus was in a golden age during this period of a few centuries – literacy was high, the capital city had paving and a sewage system, the law system did not use capital punishment and gave property rights to women. However, like all golden ages, this one could not last. With the decline or destruction of several trade routes in the mid-13th century stripping Rus of its wealth and prosperity, and vicious infighting among family members of the ruling family hoping for a chance at succession, Kieva Rus eventually fell into near-ruin. However, this is where the history deviates from our world’s Russia. Where on our world, Kieva Rus expanded to include too many diverse ethnic groups and splintered into smaller regions and principalities, in this world Kieva Rus stayed at a moderate size. Halted by the mountains on one side and the borders of Otalinese states on the other, Kieva Rus never grew out of control. Thus, it never completely dissolved.

A massive invasion from one of Otalin’s nomadic tribes destroyed one of the eastern cities and wiped out a large part of Kieva Rus’ population. These Tartars held rule of Kieva Rus for several centuries. They were eventually repulsed, but with the ruling dynasty already flagging, this was time for a change. The capital city was switched from Ra-gorod to Muscovy. Revival of the Orthodox Church of the Authority ensued, and the age of tsars and autocracy began. One mentally unstable ruler was followed by a mentally deficient one. The last of Cossik’s dynasty was finally lost, resulting in a chaos of succession and false claims generally referred to as the “Time of Troubles.” Finally, the Kalamov dynasty took control and re-established order.

Tsar Pyotr I has only recently come to power. Unlike his predecessors, he is fascinated by the ways of western Eurlak, in particular some of the newer modernizations like factories and airships, that he feels could benefit Kieva Rus. He has visited a few of the western states, and seems to be interested in expanding Kieva Rus’ power and contact with the outside world. As of right now, it’s unclear what his ultimate goal is… The only thing that’s certain is, he has a plan, and he is laying the foundations for something big.

Anything Else? Done in partnership with Gift’s Scaandiva. Hope this is okay. :3