The Reign of Emilio Gonzales
Nation Overview & Government
While originated as the united island of Quiso, Emilio Gonzales’s empire has grown far, far beyond its original birthplace. While Emilio Gonzales is the Inheritor of the Sun, and the Pachanova, as well as main military leader of this empire, there is also a republican system of governors democratically elected below him, though he still approves of their appointment. As far as most day to day politics are concerned, however, his wife, Queen Tatiana, is given most of the responsibility.
Ethnicity
Gonzales’s seat of power, Quiso, is populated by Quesanos, a mix between people who initially settled the island a millennia ago and people from the mainland who showed up about four hundred years ago. Quesanos speak a language very similar to/that is Spanish. Gonzales’s mainland holdings are populated by the white people who colonized Quiso a few hundred years ago, many of whom speak a similar language. Additionally, the capital city of Porto is populated by various immigrants from around the continent, mainly the island to the south of Quiso, Isa.
Geography
Though the mainland is somewhat frigid, Quiso is contrastingly tropical, with the interior of the island being a fertile grassland, and the borders being jungle, with a mountain range that dominates its northern edges. This climate is caused by the warm, tropical, Pachahuaca current that flows from the east, which brought the initial settlers to the island. The mainland northern mainland holdings tend to be cold, while the southern mainland holdings, though not as temperate as Quiso, are somewhat warmed by the Pachahuaca current. The island colony of Castillo is contrastingly a frozen boreal forest, covered in lumber camps, fishing villages, and naval forts.
There are three large cities on Quiso: Los Blancos, Porto, and Huaca. Porto is the administrative and economical capital of the empire, being situated in a southern jungle, and with a metropolitan population hovering around a million. Los Blancos was the seat of power under the Caudillos, at the time known as Rio Verde, named for the river that runs through much of the interior of the island, as well as through the city. Despite the name, the river itself isn’t green; rather, the land that surrounds the river is extremely fertile. Los Blancos, the full name being Ciudad de Los Blancos, has a population of around 100,000, down from 250,000 under the Caudillos. Huaca, the final major city, is the historic and spiritual capital, being the capital under the Pachas, situated around a fortress in the northern mountains of Quiso, with a population of 300,000, having risen in recent years. In total, the population of Quiso is somewhere around six million.
The mainland holdings, meanwhile, are largely a breadbasket, with no cities rivalling the size of Porto, and in total make up around another six million.
The island colony of Castillo, meanwhile, is contrastingly unpopulated, with a total population of around a hundred thousand, with about half of these being in the military. The largest settlement on the islands is Presidio Frio, a naval fortress on the northeastern coast of the main island of Castillo with a total population of around 40,000, and a civilian population of 10,000.
Culture/Society
Among the Quesanos, there are four ethnicities, which were the basis for treatment under the rule of the Caudillos: The Blancos, Nativos, Blanquitos, and Mestizos. Blancos are descended from almost entirely the white settlers of Quiso from four hundred years ago, and made up the Caudillos. They are the second smallest ethnicity in Quiso, and speak a dialect of the Quesano language closer to the language the white settlers brought with them. While they don’t really make up a majority anywhere, their populations are centered in the central grasslands of the islands. Blancos largely do not support Gonzales, and overwhelmingly supported the Caudillos during the revolution and the civil war that followed. Many were killed in the course of the war.
Mestizos are by far the largest ethnicity on the island, being the mixed descendants of white settlers and island natives. They speak the ‘standard’ Quesano language, and are also culturally a mix between mainland and island customs. They make up the majority in Porto and most of the coast, as well as the grasslands, and are also a large portion of the mountain population. They largely support Gonzales, though some wish for a more democratic government.
Nativos are the natives of Quiso, having arrived there a thousand years ago in the same wave of migration that brought the Isa to Isang. While they mostly speak Quesano, many speak Puezdae, the native language of the island. Natives make up the majority in many parts of the mountains, and are about half of the population of the mountain city of Huaca. Their native religion dictates that their god, Pachahuaca or ‘Sun-Master’, chose Quiso to rule the world, and for the Pachas (suns) to rule it, and gifted Quiso the Pachahuaca current to set it apart from all other lands. While many natives still worship Pachahuaca, it is almost out of good faith and habit at this point, though under Gonzales, it is starting to be taken more seriously. Nativos almost unanimously support Gonzales, and were a large portion of his support base during the initial parts of the civil war.
Blanquitos are the group of people Gonzales was born into, and by far the smallest ethnic group in Quiso. When the Blancos initially settled Quiso, most of them settled either on the coast, or by the Rio Verde. A small group of them, however, moved into the mountains, and adopted the customs of the natives, though still retaining some of their own. While for a while they acted as an intermediary between the natives and the blancos, when the war between the Pachas and the Caudillos broke out, the Blanquitos largely sided with the Pachas. Because of this, when the Caudillos won, they rejected the Blanquitos from the privilege of being labeled a Blanco, and made them into a separate ethnic group. The Blanquitos now live as a part of the native communities in the mountains, with a distinct culture and way of speech. Though they largely marry among themselves, they have intermarried a fair amount with the natives, and the average Blanquito is 80% from the mainland and 20% native. A notable part of Blanquito culture is the Izque, a sort of militia organization which for a while just acted as a fraternal social club, until Gonzales became a part of it. Blanquitos are the most adamant supporters of Gonzales.
Culture in Quiso also largely depends on the environmental part of the island one’s from. The parts of the grasslands farthest from the Rio Verde are known for their Gaucho culture, a culture of horsemen who live by honor and justice, Porto is a hub for multiculturalism and liberalism, the mountains are known for being austere and traditional, and the Rio Verde area is really just everything in between. Porto is also home to many immigrants from around the world, namely Isa and Auerbruck.
The mainland, meanwhile, is populated by people descended from the same group of people who the Blancos are descended from, as well as reflecting the cultures of the nations they border. Support for Gonzales in the mainland depends; partially on how far from the sea they are, and partially on what they status was before and after Gonzales. Usually, the poorer groups and racial minorities are largely supportive of him, as well as women, while the wealthier people and nationalists dislike him.
The colony of Castillio is very mixed. When it was claimed by Gonzales, it was almost completely depopulated, with about a thousand natives from a culture similar to Alba’s. Though these natives haven’t been massacred or their lands confiscated, as more and more settlers from Gonzales’s other land showed up, tensions with them have grown. Most of the civilian settlers come from Gonzales’s mainland holdings, with the exception of a sizeable Blanquito population, while the military garrison is mostly Quisano.
Economy/Industry
Historically, the Island of Quiso has produced coffee and cotton for the consumption of the rest of the continent. Since the downfall of the Caudillos, this coffee and cotton has begun being manufactured into finished products. Due to the warm waters that surround it, Quiso is a poor place for fishing, but Castillo produces a large amount of fish and lumber. Gonzales’s mainland holdings mainly produce wheat and cattle, and there are some tracts of land for cattle in Quiso as well. While Gonzales has begun manufacturing arms, which are standard in his army, these arms aren’t good enough for export. The main thing Gonzales is lacking in his territory is metals and minerals, which have to be imported, mainly from Auerbruck and Emruen.
Military
The absolute authority of the military lies in Emilio Gonzales, who also commands the largest and main army of his empire. Most people in the military are Quisanos, though a growing number are from the mainland. Guns and artillery, as said before, are manufactured domestically, and are not completely up to par with the rest of the continents’. This is the main weakness of Gonzales’ army, with it being extremely well organized and discipline. While Gonzales still has influence over the sizeable navy, since he is not an experienced naval commander, he delegates much of that responsibility to his 24-year-old daughter, Celeste, who is referred to as ‘Admiral Gonzales’.
During the days of the Caudillos, the military worked in a strange way. While each caudillo raised their own armies, there were central schools which produced officers, who were then sought out by the caudillos to serve in their armies. Because of this, Quesano officers have historically been very skilled.
As far as cavalry goes, historically, the main cavalry backbone of any army in Quiso has been made up of bands of Gauchos, the horsemen who ride on the dryer plains of the island. The Gaucho regiments in the Caudillo and revolutionary armies were very disorganized, with officers being sent into the plains to gather up as many gauchos as he can. Under Gonzales, the Gauchos have been organized and their equipment standardized, acting as light, skirmisher cavalry, armed with carbines, a pistol, and a light saber. Gauchos still make up the backbone of the cavalry, lancers do exist as well, and though mostly have a Gaucho upbringing, are known as ‘Lanceros’. As time goes on, more and more of those in the “Gaucho” regiments were raised in a non-Gaucho lifestyle.
Infantry wise, infantry equipment and training is also standardized under Gonzales. Most soldados carry a bayoneted musket, while Gonzales has also institutionalized the use of riflemen. With hunting being an important part of the Blanquito culture, rifles were used regularly in Gonzales’s community growing up, and were standard in the Izque. Gonzales proliferated the use of the rifle when he came into a larger command, rifles being more accurate and with a farther range, though since they have a slow reload time, he still only uses them for special skirmishing regiments. He also has adopted certain drills and exercises from the Izque and made them standard throughout the army. While the rifles manufactured are based on traditional Blanquito rifles, the muskets are based on designs from the Corax Dominion.
Artillery designs are also based on designs from the Corax Dominion, although with some of Gonzales’s own input, as well as input from his father-in-law, Mario de Zaragoza, the inventor of the cotton gin.
History
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Relations
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Characters
Optional section. Put any info about any special characters here: kings or queens, military leaders, and hero “badasses”.