Forensatha
25-09-2008, 12:55
=============
Introduction
=============
Forensatha is a small, stable nation located within the North Pacific. With a population of only five million, but with plenty of room for growth, the nation maintains a mostly rustic community, often allowing citizens to supplement foodstuffs from farms with items they pick themselves from nature. Culturally, the nation tends towards an attitude that the community is more important than the individual.
Once inside the nation, one should be mindful of the internal social structure. The society itself is divided into the nobility, military, citizenry, and slavery castes. People are not incapable of moving between castes, as slaves can marry into nobility and the citizenry and military castes are not unknown for people moving between them. The nobility control all major businesses and handle the running of the nation, the military handles law and order and all emergency actions, the citizens handle most jobs, and slaves typically handle anything from manual labor to being functionaries of the nobility.
The nation itself is mostly wilderness, with the occasional secret lab or military base hidden in remote locations.
============
Geography
============
Forensatha is, for the most part, dominated by woodland, with forests covering the western two-thirds. The eastern half sports mostly grassland, with a single extinct volcano dominating the skyline. The eastern half also sports a number of lakes, with a river that runs east to west, and a number of hotsprings, remnants of the more turbulent geological history.
The nation sometimes experiences minor earthquakes, but currently lacks any qualified geologists to ascertain the likelihood of renewed volcanic activity.
Also, it should be noted that Forensatha lacks any radioactive materials, as far as anyone knows.
===========
Government
===========
The primary ruling body of Forensatha is the Imperial Family, which is responsible for making laws, declaring war, creating the national budget, assigning research priorities, and sitting in judgement over court cases involving nobility. The Imperial Family itself is an elected position, with the Twelve Houses that make up the nobility electing which House will be the Imperial Family for three generations. The current Imperial Family is the House of Cats.
Each House is responsible for a particular industry of society, as follows:
Dogs- Crime prevention, crime investigation, private investigation, censorship.
Pigs- Restaurants, produce selling, grocery stores.
Roosters- Gambling and weather forecasts.
Dragons- Military personel, military equipment, military training.
Oxen- Transportation of goods and materials, automobiles.
Sheep- Agriculture.
Horses- Petroleum products, power plants.
Rabbits- Sports, dramas, adult entertainment.
Serpents- Espionage, assassination, specialized guards for the Imperial Family.
Monkeys- Waste treatment and disposal, water supplies.
Rats*- Espionage.
Cats**- Genetic engineering, scientific research, diplomacy.
*Allegations of criminal activity have not been proven.
**Used to be the Houses of Cats and Tigers until the two merged.
=============
Legal System
=============
The foundation for the nation is the Articles of Imperialism, which list the rights, duties, and freedoms of every aspect of society and serve as the primary guide for how the nation is to be run, governing everything from how many soldiers the Imperial Family may use for personal guard to how many slaves the average citizen may own. The Articles of Imperialism also govern how the Imperial Family is elected as well as the marriage practices of the nobility. It is only the Articles which overrule the Imperial Family in matters of law.
Slavery is, under the Articles, a complex relationship to the rest of the Empire. While citizens, soldiers, and nobility have far more freedoms, slaves have the most protection under law. The Articles outright forbid the maiming or killing of slaves for any reason except self-defense and outright spell out what punishments are acceptable and what ones are not. Under the Articles, anyone found to be mistreating a slave risks execution (which is only found elsewhere as a punishment for treason and assault upon the Imperial Family) or enslavement themselves. It also makes a special note that the Imperial Family may, as a punishment for someone who mistreats a slave, make the offender a slave and wave the protection of the Articles for them. And slaves are legally allowed to own slaves, though they can still be executed for mistreating a slave they own. It's also under the Articles that a slave gains instant freedom and equal social status to a nonslave that they marry.
The nobility has another complex relationship with the Articles. While the justice system normally relies upon the jury, the Imperial Family may sit in judgement over any court case any time they feel like and their rulings cannot be overturned unless they disagree with the Articles. The Imperial Family's reign is also extended for three generations if the last generation marries someone from another House. Notably, even though it isn't a law, the Houses do not mix bloodlines, prefering to marry citizens or, more frequently, slaves than other nobles. There is also an unspoken rivalry between the Houses of Rats and Serpents.
==========
Military
==========
At current, the Forensatha military is mostly emergency forces, consisting of 132,000 volunteers who act as guards for the Imperial Family and deals with whatever emergency situation pops up. The nation, at current, has no need for the military to be armed to deal with external powers, due mostly to being ignored thus far.
=========
Trade
=========
Natural supplies: Wood, steel, coal, silicon, some minor oil supplies (sufficient for nation's requirements at this time only), possible future geothermal power.
Local industries: Agriculture, production of computer equipment, vacation industry related to the natural springs in the area, production of some plastics.
Supplies sought: Gold, copper, diamonds, military equipment, military vehicles.
Services sought: Something to straighten out the nation's communications nightmare.
=========
History
=========
No one is exactly sure when Forensatha was, as a nation, established... mostly since no one bothered to write it down. The Articles of Imperialism were established in 1797 CE, written by the thirteen most powerful families of the region after the collapse of the previous government due to disease. The families then set themselves up to run the nation. Reasons as to why they dropped their family names and took on those reflecting the Zodiac, with the addition of the Cat, are long forgotten.
The nation's reliance upon slavery itself started out from the nation importing slaves. The Twelve Houses, upon seeing their system of slavery was not sustainable, quickly wrote a new code, seeking to remove the abuses that they knew would create a rebellion among the slaves. The resulting change, while not entirely accepted at first, has served to keep the nation stable, even if it lacks a major population.
=============
Communications
=============
Most communications are handled via the internet, which the House of Cats made mandatory upon the rise of the technology. The presence of television, cellular phones, and radio is allowed, with many of those items considered secondary by the government when a state of emergency comes about.
The communications industry is, mostly, divided into pieces, with each House providing individual access to their own parts of each. Thus, there are always at least twelve television stations, twelve radio stations, twelve national newspapers, twelve phone service providers, and twelve internet service providers. For the most part, the nation does not have any communication access involving telephones to the outside world due to this lack of cohesion. It also lacks internal area codes, with each House having a different code it uses in place of an area code for telephone numbers. The Imperial Family currently seeks to create a unified communications system to make contacting outsiders easier.
National Codes:
Mail- 4245553264
Web TLD- .efor
============
Population
============
At current, Forensatha boasts a population of five million, most of whom are descendents of the original settlers, often appearing European or Asian. The population tends to be heavy towards the 20-30 age group. A lack of proper medical facilities within the nation keeps the average lifespan from getting higher, due to a lack of access to treatment for a multitude of diseases.
Introduction
=============
Forensatha is a small, stable nation located within the North Pacific. With a population of only five million, but with plenty of room for growth, the nation maintains a mostly rustic community, often allowing citizens to supplement foodstuffs from farms with items they pick themselves from nature. Culturally, the nation tends towards an attitude that the community is more important than the individual.
Once inside the nation, one should be mindful of the internal social structure. The society itself is divided into the nobility, military, citizenry, and slavery castes. People are not incapable of moving between castes, as slaves can marry into nobility and the citizenry and military castes are not unknown for people moving between them. The nobility control all major businesses and handle the running of the nation, the military handles law and order and all emergency actions, the citizens handle most jobs, and slaves typically handle anything from manual labor to being functionaries of the nobility.
The nation itself is mostly wilderness, with the occasional secret lab or military base hidden in remote locations.
============
Geography
============
Forensatha is, for the most part, dominated by woodland, with forests covering the western two-thirds. The eastern half sports mostly grassland, with a single extinct volcano dominating the skyline. The eastern half also sports a number of lakes, with a river that runs east to west, and a number of hotsprings, remnants of the more turbulent geological history.
The nation sometimes experiences minor earthquakes, but currently lacks any qualified geologists to ascertain the likelihood of renewed volcanic activity.
Also, it should be noted that Forensatha lacks any radioactive materials, as far as anyone knows.
===========
Government
===========
The primary ruling body of Forensatha is the Imperial Family, which is responsible for making laws, declaring war, creating the national budget, assigning research priorities, and sitting in judgement over court cases involving nobility. The Imperial Family itself is an elected position, with the Twelve Houses that make up the nobility electing which House will be the Imperial Family for three generations. The current Imperial Family is the House of Cats.
Each House is responsible for a particular industry of society, as follows:
Dogs- Crime prevention, crime investigation, private investigation, censorship.
Pigs- Restaurants, produce selling, grocery stores.
Roosters- Gambling and weather forecasts.
Dragons- Military personel, military equipment, military training.
Oxen- Transportation of goods and materials, automobiles.
Sheep- Agriculture.
Horses- Petroleum products, power plants.
Rabbits- Sports, dramas, adult entertainment.
Serpents- Espionage, assassination, specialized guards for the Imperial Family.
Monkeys- Waste treatment and disposal, water supplies.
Rats*- Espionage.
Cats**- Genetic engineering, scientific research, diplomacy.
*Allegations of criminal activity have not been proven.
**Used to be the Houses of Cats and Tigers until the two merged.
=============
Legal System
=============
The foundation for the nation is the Articles of Imperialism, which list the rights, duties, and freedoms of every aspect of society and serve as the primary guide for how the nation is to be run, governing everything from how many soldiers the Imperial Family may use for personal guard to how many slaves the average citizen may own. The Articles of Imperialism also govern how the Imperial Family is elected as well as the marriage practices of the nobility. It is only the Articles which overrule the Imperial Family in matters of law.
Slavery is, under the Articles, a complex relationship to the rest of the Empire. While citizens, soldiers, and nobility have far more freedoms, slaves have the most protection under law. The Articles outright forbid the maiming or killing of slaves for any reason except self-defense and outright spell out what punishments are acceptable and what ones are not. Under the Articles, anyone found to be mistreating a slave risks execution (which is only found elsewhere as a punishment for treason and assault upon the Imperial Family) or enslavement themselves. It also makes a special note that the Imperial Family may, as a punishment for someone who mistreats a slave, make the offender a slave and wave the protection of the Articles for them. And slaves are legally allowed to own slaves, though they can still be executed for mistreating a slave they own. It's also under the Articles that a slave gains instant freedom and equal social status to a nonslave that they marry.
The nobility has another complex relationship with the Articles. While the justice system normally relies upon the jury, the Imperial Family may sit in judgement over any court case any time they feel like and their rulings cannot be overturned unless they disagree with the Articles. The Imperial Family's reign is also extended for three generations if the last generation marries someone from another House. Notably, even though it isn't a law, the Houses do not mix bloodlines, prefering to marry citizens or, more frequently, slaves than other nobles. There is also an unspoken rivalry between the Houses of Rats and Serpents.
==========
Military
==========
At current, the Forensatha military is mostly emergency forces, consisting of 132,000 volunteers who act as guards for the Imperial Family and deals with whatever emergency situation pops up. The nation, at current, has no need for the military to be armed to deal with external powers, due mostly to being ignored thus far.
=========
Trade
=========
Natural supplies: Wood, steel, coal, silicon, some minor oil supplies (sufficient for nation's requirements at this time only), possible future geothermal power.
Local industries: Agriculture, production of computer equipment, vacation industry related to the natural springs in the area, production of some plastics.
Supplies sought: Gold, copper, diamonds, military equipment, military vehicles.
Services sought: Something to straighten out the nation's communications nightmare.
=========
History
=========
No one is exactly sure when Forensatha was, as a nation, established... mostly since no one bothered to write it down. The Articles of Imperialism were established in 1797 CE, written by the thirteen most powerful families of the region after the collapse of the previous government due to disease. The families then set themselves up to run the nation. Reasons as to why they dropped their family names and took on those reflecting the Zodiac, with the addition of the Cat, are long forgotten.
The nation's reliance upon slavery itself started out from the nation importing slaves. The Twelve Houses, upon seeing their system of slavery was not sustainable, quickly wrote a new code, seeking to remove the abuses that they knew would create a rebellion among the slaves. The resulting change, while not entirely accepted at first, has served to keep the nation stable, even if it lacks a major population.
=============
Communications
=============
Most communications are handled via the internet, which the House of Cats made mandatory upon the rise of the technology. The presence of television, cellular phones, and radio is allowed, with many of those items considered secondary by the government when a state of emergency comes about.
The communications industry is, mostly, divided into pieces, with each House providing individual access to their own parts of each. Thus, there are always at least twelve television stations, twelve radio stations, twelve national newspapers, twelve phone service providers, and twelve internet service providers. For the most part, the nation does not have any communication access involving telephones to the outside world due to this lack of cohesion. It also lacks internal area codes, with each House having a different code it uses in place of an area code for telephone numbers. The Imperial Family currently seeks to create a unified communications system to make contacting outsiders easier.
National Codes:
Mail- 4245553264
Web TLD- .efor
============
Population
============
At current, Forensatha boasts a population of five million, most of whom are descendents of the original settlers, often appearing European or Asian. The population tends to be heavy towards the 20-30 age group. A lack of proper medical facilities within the nation keeps the average lifespan from getting higher, due to a lack of access to treatment for a multitude of diseases.