Flag:
Nation Name (long): Republic of Astela
Nation Name (short): Astela
Motto: Arditi!(Literally, “To dare,” or “The Daring Ones”)
National Animal: Nightingale
National Flower/Plant: Iris
National Anthem: Salva la Patria
Capitol: Altarme
Largest City: Altarme
Demonym: Astelan
Languages: Norvian
Species: Majority human
Population: 7,000,000
Government Type: Unitary Republic under de facto military rule
Leader(s):
President of the General Unity Government and Chairman of the National Security Council- Moreno Reo
Formation: 1907
Total GDP: 53 billion USD
GDP per capita: 7,571 USD
Currency: Astelan Aureo
Calling Code: 666
ISO 3166 code: AE
Internet TLD: .ata
Historical Summary:
The year is 1907. The shadows of the Great War have finally begun to encroach upon the Novaran mainland, and a final flurry of telegrams is exchanged between the Volscine court in Charlottesborg and its embassy in Lucroza. Approximately 24 hours later, open fighting erupts in the streets as pro-Volscine elements attempt to topple the government and prevent the nation’s alliance to Tretrid. 72 hours afterwards, the defeated putschists retreat to the one place their forces still held strong - the Province of Astela.
Long considered to be nearly as Volscine as Volscina itself, the survivors of the would-be coup reorganized in the coastal city of Altarme under the protection of loyal elements of the armed forces. There they declared the formation of the General Unity Government, the one true government of Celanora, now in alliance with the Empire even as open warfare erupted. For the next decade Astela existed at the front lines of the brutal conflict with all that it brought. A little over a quarter of the population perished in the fighting, and what had once been a prosperous territory was reduced to little more than ruins by the time the guns fell silent. For the GUG however, there was to be no return to Lucroza. Faced with its failure to reclaim all of Celanora by the end of the war, it allied itself closely with Volscina throughout the Novaran Cold War and retained its claim as the rightful government of its homeland. The powerful military government created in the crucible of the conflict remained in place and gradually expanded to dominate every level of politics and industry as it monopolized Astelan reconstruction.
To outsiders, Astela was doomed to forever persist in this strange limbo. This may well have been the case, save for the Volscine CIvil War. The collapse of its greatest patron left Astela isolated and the GUG struggling to retain power. Compromises once thought unthinkable were made - A Cryrian-brokered peace was signed with Celanora, and Astela formally declared itself as a wholly separate and independent nation.
The resumption of trade between the two nations helped stave off a collapse, but the much hoped for shift towards democracy never materialized. Nor did Astelan ties with the neighboring remnants of the Volscine Confederation continue, as the GUG’s harsh measures towards the waves of Secceran refugees that crossed the border came to light. Many had been heavily abused by security forces or else were forced into labor camps, and rumors persist that the GUG made arrangements with sapient traffickers and other criminal enterprises in order to acquire desperately needed hard currency. Under the table exchanges of goods for food with the Milofite regime to the south further sustained the Astelan regime at the cost of international isolation.
Today Astela remains an oddity and an anachronism of both the Great War and the Cold War, now surrounded by governments that hold it in varying degrees of distaste. It has sought out new patronage from the Volscine Empire even as tensions with Seccera remain high and further relations with Celanora uncertain. The military remains in control of the still economically dilapidated country and increasingly plays host to radical elements that survived the Civil War. The potential for any change here remains a great unknown,
