Flag:
Nation Name (long): The Kingdom of Soramra
Nation Name (short): Soramra
Population: 23,451,000 (2021 estimate)
Total GDP: 90,286,350,000 SHD
GDP per Capita: 3,850 SHD
Currency: Soramran Fyrk (ƒ)
Demonym: Soramran
Language: Soramran
Species: Humans (91%), Elves (7%), other (2%)
Religion: The Ginnarri faith
Capital: Saberak
Largest City: Saberak
Government Type: Semi-constitutional monarchy, on paper. The monarch has a role in the Executive, serving as head of state and government both, but they are theoretically still accountable to the National Assembly, an elected unicameral parliament of 300 seats, which has the power to amend, propose, pass or reject laws, as well as has to approve the monarch’s cabinet following each election. The monarch traditionally appoints a Prime Minister to help manage the affairs of government, but that position does not have formally defined powers.
In practice, however, this element of democracy is largely ceremonial. Following the 2012 military coup d’état, 75 of the 300 seats are direct appointments by the military, which largely dominates Soramran politics. Though it has in recent years lost ground to reformist parties, military-linked parties still provide the Armed Forces with key decision-making power to thwart any democratic oversight.
The Priory does not occupy a direct role in the executive or legislative branches of government, but as the ultimate authority on religious matters it possesses a vast influence in politics anyway, through large religious parties such as the PartyName. Moreover, the Priory’s upper echelons have an informal but decisive say in the appointment of judges, which are selected by the monarch.
As a result, Soramran national politics are largely dominated by the monarchy, the military and the church, with a precarious role for the democratic vote.
Leader(s): King Arnlaug Kaloyan
Legislature: The National Assembly
Two-Letter Code: SO? I think that’s still available, but if it is not, please let me know.
Three-Letter Code: SOR - same story as the above.
Motto:
National Anthem:
National Animal(s): The wolf
National Plant: Ash tree
Historical Summary: (I will revise this as I go, especially after having a more defined map claim - this is a very rough early structure) - The Kingdom of Soramra as a unified nation originates in the late 1200s, by which time the majority of Soramran kingdoms had been incorporated under the reign of King Simeon I. While the lands of the Soramrans were united in culture, language and religion, it was not until the reign of Simeon, Prince of Genem, that it would become a nation. A ruthless conqueror and ambitious statesman, Simeon accelerated the military reforms that had been initiated under his mother, Princess Ralica of Genem and in 1283 launched the invasion of Veredin, the most powerful kingdom in what would later constitute Soramra. Following its defeat and subsequent conquest in the summer of 1285, most of Veredin’s former vassal states bent the knee to Simeon I. A campaign of subjugation under the banner of the Ginnari faith took place between 1287 and 1295, until Ginnari clerics proclaimed Simeon as Simeon I, the rightful ruler of Soramra, as proclaimed by Heaven. However, royal power remained relatively fragile, in spite of the elevation of many of Simeon’s allies and kin to positions of power. While the Soramran realm would survive two successions unscathed, things would come to a head upon the death of Simeon’s grandson in 1336. The War of the Seven Regents erupted over the question of regency over the young heir, a series of wars and conflicts that lasted 16 years and ended the unity of Soramra as a nation. While nominally the Queen, Ralica I, retained her position as the rightful ruler of Soramra following the end of the last Regency Council, in practice the various fiefdoms that Simeon I had granted to his former allies and vassals had become autonomous states of their own as a result of the degradation of royal authority. Royal decrees were ignored, and various civil wars were fought between nominal vassals of the Crown.
With the decay of royal power, it was the clergy that gradually came to hold the fragile state together. Beginning in 1382, religious and moral authority over the Ginnari faith gradually came to be vested in the Congress of Scholars, or simply the Congress. Initially, the Congress was a meeting called by Prince Zadir of Saberak to discuss what had angered Heaven so as to cause the floods of 1379 and 1381, followed in both cases by famine. However, as the foremost scholars on religious matters had been gathered in one place, it was the wish of King Yharlan I that the Congress remain to advise the royal family. By the 1450’s, the Congress’ power had grown to eclipse that of the dwindling authority that the crown held, instituting half a century of peace.
In 1560, following the fall of the Diarchy, the Congress was disbanded and replaced with the Priory, named after the Priory of Dano, where Simeon I supposedly took shelter from his enemies, living as a monk for three months.
The industrial revolution arrived late in Soramra. With it, the increasing urbanisation and population growth, came increased social unrest, as the poor living standards of the workers and the increasing economic and social inequality laid bare the repressive, classist and socially stratified nature of Soramran society, with the nobility and the Priority dominating the political and economic scenes. The Genem riots of 1843 shocked the nation, plunging the city into chaos before the Royal Army violently and brutally suppressed the riots, furthering the unrest that was building. The failed Revolution of March 1846, when young officers of the military led a failed seizure of the capital Saberak, was likewise violently put down, triggering a three-year civil war against insurgents in Zitovka. Though each of these rebellions were defeated, scholars generally agree that Queen Svetla’s Great Reforms, announced in 1853 and derided among the more radical elements of the revolutionary movements as “the False Revolution”, were prompted out of fears that a future revolt should succeed. The reforms opened various economic sectors up to the small but growing merchant class, heavily reduced some of the nobility’s privileges and removed the restrictions on advancement within the Royal Army for those not of noble descent. However, this stirred resentment amongst the upper echelons of military leadership, causing them to conspire with Crown Prince Telerig. On the 2nd of August, 1863, the military forced the Queen to relinquish her power to Prince Telerig, though they stopped short of a formal abdication. Telerig undid many of the reforms that his mother had instated, but not all of them, and unrest remained.
[I swear I will get to filling out more of this as time goes on, and discuss/revise with neighbours/interested parties]
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I am not entirely sure where I’d like to be placed on the map, and am generally terribly indecisive, but I was informed I could simply provide the rough sketch of what I’m thinking of and the cartographers would be able to place me if accepted. If possible, I’d like a decently sizable area with a temperate climate, mountainous, forested and located in the northern hemisphere. I’ve spoken more with Dead on discord about this, if that’s fine.