NationStates Jolt Archive

Crown Prince Damoen Wasterin had become isolated to the point of ridiculousness, often leaving the Royal Palace in Astevane in the middle of the night by private helicopter to fly to unknown destinations, some say a remote sacred monastery. The only person who saw him was his Personal Valet, and his spiritual advisor Lama Oaiue from the Makan Buddhists , a small minority religion of only 11% in a nation that was 40% Agnostic or Nonbelievers. Though Aerion did not have an Oriental culture, or an Asian people Buddhism had been imported to a few tribes of the early nomadic Aerionian culture.

Many claimed the Lama that the High Lama had assigned to be the Prince's personal spiritual advisor was a brain washer, and others a sorcerer who had the Prince under control. The general public did not know either way, kept in the blind as the daily wage slaves they were, they only knew the Prince had not made any public appearances and it outraged them that the Prince had not yet taken the Throne to become their King, he remained the Head of State and Royal Regent though did not make any decisions it seemed as of late. The general public had considered that the Prince had weakened the Monarchy, the only thing standing between them and total domination by the megacorporations and the corporate elite.


Current State of Affairs

With the absence of any authority, to the point where the Prince no longer even held meetings of his Privy Council (cabinet), running the nation had been left up to the Great Officers of State, the Royal Governors, and the large Royal Bureaucracy which was often filled with corruption by the megacorporations. Government officials were often bribed by multiple organizations and individuals, mostly megacorporations and their executives.

The Royal Governors, 20 for each of the 20 provinces of Aerion, governed from their Governor's Palace in their respective provincial capital. Often they did not govern though, holding court and living in luxury, while their own officials easily bribed by the megacorporations often ran the province, and the provincial offices of the Royal Ministries. The Royal Governors had some authority, but the Royal Government was actually a very centralized authority with for instance the Ministry of Education directly managing schools down to the local level, and police forces directly managed by the authority of the Department of Public Security of the Ministry of the Interior.

The effect of centralized authority however did not help the Royal Government, as the megacorporations only had to bribe powerful government officials to have effects on a local level. However, top level government officials such as those on the national level generally were not so easily bribed, being forces of power in their own right, and often "bargained".

Though quiet and controlled on the outside, with the megacorporations vying for power as they always did, and the common citizen enduring the same day to day wage slavery those who would rebel against this very closed society were growing in number.

Despite the extensive public surveillance by the Royal Government, and the megacorporations themselves rebellious factions were growing in number every day, especially with the lack of a real King to make the people feel secure against the megacorporations. The Aerion People's Liberation Army (APLA), often considered a communistic terrorist group, was rumored to have cells in every city and town, even after a large blow dealt to them by the Royal Government when they had supposedly killed King Wasterin X in a terrorist attack. The APLA is in reality a somewhat socialistic group, wishing for democracy for the common Aerionian, considered itself an enemy of the Royal Government and the megacorporations who they both see as wrongful oppressors. Their methods are often terroristic but they say this is because they are in a war even if it is not recognized there will be casualties.

With all this, the Aerionian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had decided it needed to keep up diplomatic relations with other nations, and keep the Grand Kingdom of Aerion’s international profile even if the

About Aerion

Politics
Current Head of State: Crown Prince Damoen Wasterin

Aerion is a monarchy with strong elements of capitalism. It is ruled by the King, and his appointed Privy Council.

The Privy Council consists of the Nine Great Officers of State, Ministers, Deputy Ministers, and general Privy Councillors whom the King appoints.

The First Great Officer of State, the Lord High Steward, is the Head of Government. He runs the day to day government, and serves as the Royal Regent in the case of death or the incapacitation of the King.

Aerion is dividied politically, and geographically into twenty provinces. Royal Governors govern each of these provinces, with the Royal Ministries having provincial level authority over certain areas of provincial government.

The King has firm control over the megacorporations of Aerion. By Royal Decree, every large corporation in Aerion must grant 10% ownership to the King. Also, a Royal Representative must sit on the Board of Directors of each corporation.

Current State of Affairs
Crown Prince Damoen Wasterin is presently the Head of State, having not yet taken the crown.
The 10% Royal ownership of all large Aerionian corporations is in the hands of the Crown Board, composed of members of the Royal Family who control the assets of the Crown while there is no one Monarch.


Megacorporations and Monopolies

Huge megacorporations hold monopoly over the majority if not all goods made in Aerion. They are a part of people’s daily lives. The majority of the population live, and works under the megacorporations. The most widely used term by the public is that the majority of the population of Aerion are “wage slaves”, and that the small upper class are their masters. Megacorporations control, police, and nearly independently govern their holdings. Many “human assets” as they are called by the corporate elite live in massive apartment blocs owned by megacorporations. Megacorporations literally almost run the cities where they are headquartered, able to pay off the majority of local officials.

Corporate warfare is common, and takes many forms including corporate espionage. As long as they do not cause too many deaths, or the warfare does not become open the Royal Government turns a blind eye to such activities.

While the megacorporations are traded publically on the Aerion National Stock Exchange (ANSE), often the founding families of a corporation will hold the majority of the stock in that corporation, or single individuals such as corporate officers hold the majority of the stock creating an corporate "elite" which make up the majority of Aerion's upper class.

The Monarchy is able to remain in power by laws which are heavily enforced, stating that the Crown is to own 10% of every major corporation within the Grand Kingdom of Aerion, though sometimes it owns more, and that an Royal Representative shall sit on the Board of Directors of such major corporations. When there is no King of Aerion, blood members of the Royal Family sit on the Crown Board which controls their holdings. The Royal Family also has the strong support of the people as a legitimate institution, and also through extensive use of Royal propaganda.

There is a constant struggle, however, between the Royal Government and the Megacorporations for power. This struggle has not yet emerged into open warfare, but takes many subtle forms.

Ethnicity and race

Aerionian - 70%
-Eastern Aerionians - 40%
-Western Aerionians - 60%
African - 15%
Caucasion - 5%
Arabic - 2%
Elven - 2%
Other - 5%

Aerionians
Most Aerionians are of two ethnic groups, the Eastern Aerionians and the Western Aerionians. Both have pretty much the same physical features, a mixture of Arabic and Italian features. These features are tanned skin, sharp angular facial features, dark hair, and brown eyes. Eye color variations due to intermixing are more common in Eastern Aerionians, but are considered something of a marker of beauty but looked down upon by some Western Aerionians. Western Aerionians are however considered the "lesser" people, with Eastern Aerionians making up the majority of the nation's "elite". The Royal Family is Eastern Aerionian.
The term "Aerionian" may cause some confusion as it refers to an ethnic Aerionian as well as those of other ethnicities living within Aerion.