Teokratiyan, Teokryian
When the first settlers arrived in what would become the Teokratiyan empire, they likely could not even dream of what their first small settlement would become. Now host to several hundred thousand members, Teokratiya's capital of Illichvia hosts one of the most incredible sights in the world: The Citadel. Made from marble and with four spiral minarets, which are gilded, Illichvia is the home of the Bishop-King Petoyr IV, as well as the rest of the clergy that makes up the ruling class of Teokratiya.
Government:
The Holy Teokratiyan Empire has a simple form of governance. The Bishop-King is ruler over the Church and the Crown, having been given divine right to rule. Below him is the Grand Bishop, who is elected up from the senate of cardinals and is a rank below the king. His duty is to ensure that the king, even in his infinite wisdom, is kept in check, and that the cardinals always have a voice that is
almost as powerful as the king. Should the king do something the wider church and kingdom disagree with, it is the High Bishop who has the rather dangerous job of dissuading him from that course of action, and it is a thankless job- many a king that has turned tyrant has executed the Grand Bishop for his so called 'heresies.'
Thankfully, the current king, Bishop-King Petoyr, is, whilst a stern and more militaristic than many would like, a king who has listened to his cardinals. These cardinals are a group of highly important clergy, elected up from the church, and agreed upon by the king, who act as his advisers. Whilst they have no particular field of expertise themselves, they can call upon a vast amount of worldly experience, many of them having risen all the way from the ranks of a common preacher over a long life.
Any decrees handed out by the king, once they are vetted by the Grand Bishop and cardinals, are then handed down to the knights, who rule over large swathes of farmland. As most of the population of the empire lives rurally, this means that whilst the king might have the most power, the practical day to day power lies with the knights. Although it would be theoretically possible for said knights to form a parliament of sorts, the one time that this was attempted, it plunged the nascent empire into a long and bloody civil war. By the end of it, no parliament was formed, and since then, nobody has wished to risk another such period of conflict.
Finally, below the knights, are the common preachers. Each village and hamlet has temple, and these temples, beyond being the spiritual heart of these settlements, are also where some of the only literate (and magical) members of society live. Anyone with any signs of magical ability is trained to be a clergyman (or woman, His judgement is fair on those who work for Him,) and they ensure that the village follows the rulings of the kingdom as closely as is possible.
Economy:
Teokratiya is an empire based on agriculture and mining, in that order. Farmland dominates what is tilled, and what is not tilled is mined. From salt flats to huge iron deposits, the bountiful resources that an empire the size of Teokratiya holds are being used to their absolute fullest. Craftsmanship in the empire is simple, preferring form over function, and whilst artisans are few and far between, Teokratiya boasts some of the best blacksmiths and shipwrights in the world, and they need to be. Huge merchant fleets haul drugs and steel alike to across Albion, supported by the navy and the military wherever they go.
Religion:
Obviously, being the theocracy that it is, The Holy Teokratiyan Empire has a rather large religion, and has a dedicated secret police- the Teokratiyan Inquisiton, that works on making sure that His light is followed.
Teokratiya follows a simple religion. There is one God, who has no name. He was the light who gave mankind intelligence over beasts, culture and artisanship. He gave mankind magic, and for that, mankind must be eternally grateful towards Him. Worship of Him involves prayers, festivals and feasts, with the most important one being the Solstice Festival, which occurs once each year in the Teokratiyan calendar, on the longest day of the year. This, despite its grandiosity, is a quiet festival, and involves much praying, and is counted as a day when nobody works. Since the harvest has yet to start, this is an easy thing to make time for.
Outside of this, each family is obliged to go to the temples twice each week- one at the ebb of the week, exactly three days after the holy day of Karok, and once on the 'flow,' of the week, during the holy day.
To Teokratiyans, magic is a holy thing, granted by Him in order to allow humanity to prosper. Because of this, magic is an important, if slightly downplayed part of Teokratiyan religion. Those with magical aptitude make up the substancial clergy, and the more powerful and adept one is in manipulating magic, the heigher up the ranks of clergy one will find him or herself in. To Teokratiyans, magic is magic.
Geography:
The vast percentage of the population lives in the southern parts of Teokratiya, in the warmer parts of the Empire. In the north, vast forests and harsh tundera make excellent labour camps for convicted criminals, but the more mild southern plains, still cold, but warm enough for a growing season that allows for crops to be properly grown. The exception is the capital, the most northern of the three great cities, deliberately situated around the great mountain of Brezjeck. The only other main cities within the country are located on the coast, and are tradig cities primarily.
Population: 5,000,000
Demographics:
Teokratiya is a human nation first and foremost, and any demihumans that do live there are minorities. There are few true distinct minority group in Teokratiyans, as most are decendants of the original colonists, Teokratiyans ethnically being pale, and generally having light hair and dark eyes. Linguistically, they speak and write their own language, Rossian, with few speaking languages from neighbouring states or Zialony.
The largest minority group are the Zialony population within Teokratiya, although most are well intergrated and cause little trouble. The true industrial unrest comes from the Duzjek peoples, who are of a different religion to the rest of the country, and cause trouble whenever the inquisition isn't on the warpath.
Notable Locations
Illichivia: The capital of Teokratiya. The largest city, and the most northern of the three main cities, it is an overwhelmingly busy place. The Citadel- home of the church and royalty in equal measures, takes up the center of the city, and the only magical academy, as well as the base of the inquisiton is located in Illichivia.
St Grezchev: Like most settlements, this city is a coastal port. Stretching around it is masses of opium farms, and it is also the base of the navy within the country, making it a very prosporous place indeed. The Iron Docks are the main attraction within St Grezchev, where boats of all shapes and sizes fron across the world find themselves moored. There is even the occasional commonwealth cutter.
Personalities of Note
Confessor Gregori Hažchev: Some men are brutal. Others are pious. Others are just, some are corrupt, and some are a thousand other things. Hažchev is none of these. He is a young, magically gifted individual who recently passed his twenty-second name day and has never killed a man. He is nervous, but eager, however expects that the current calm of the inquisition shall last. Unfortunately for him, the Inquisition has begun to hear rumours, and a purge is fast approaching.
Lady Anastasia Vellas: Between Velikorussia and Zialony, there has always been a tense, terse friendship. The amount of espionage and shady trade deals, back ally assassinations, publicly flaunted marriages and other skullduggery, both quietly hidden and throw out for the whole world to see, is legion, but publicly, the two countries have ambivalent, yet at the same time amicable, relationships. Lady Vellas, minor noble and consort to Mikhail Tjeck, is but another example of the so-called 'cultural flow' between the two. However, she is actually a Zialony countess from an extinct line of nobles and has been using her position as a spy for her home government. Her piety is less than perfect however, and with a purge fast approaching, she must be careful not to reveal too much in the times that are coming.
Bishop-King Petyor IV & Queen Jurgita: Stern. Militaristic. Uncompromising. Such is the nature of King Petyor. He is the man that dragged the country, kicking and screaming, through the civil war, and is the one that managed to bring the fire of gunpowder to the inquisition. Bar the Lord-Confessor himself, he is the single strongest spellcaster in the realm, and can trace his lineage to the very first settlers. His wife, Jurgita, is another example of a stern leader. One of the heirs of an otherwise minor noble family, she caught the attention of the king some years before he was actually king. When his betrothed died, she made moves to become the queen, and succeeded.
The Lord-Confessor: His name is unknown to all but a few. His face is guised in darkness. His guns are merciless. The Lord-Confessor is not only the head of the shadowy Inquisition, but one of the great generals in Teokratiya. He is not a man to be trifled with.
Institutions:
The church is obviously the largest non-military institution in Teokratiya, without a doubt, and the structure of it is detailed above, in the appropriate section. However, it is important to note that the church controls one incredibly powerful body that is distinct from itself.
This, is the Inquisition. The Inquisition is not part of the church, but is a seperate entity althogether, albeit an extremley religious one. The Inquisition is lead by a Lord Confessor- a mage of extreme proficiency, and the Inquisition itself is an incredibly wealthy organisation. Almost every high-ranking is a are lord and bring crude firearms to conflicts, although all are at least capable spellcasters as well.
There are two more powerful organisation within Teokratiya:
The Merchant's Guild, who ensure that trade within Teokratiya never dries up. Every carriage, boat, bale of hay or crate of opium or slab of salted meat has been catalouged and valued by the Guild. Not that this effects much, other than the accuracy of the taxes that the kingdom can levy.
Military:
Organisation: The knights, and their small cadres (each knight has about 100-500 fellow fully trained soldiers that follow them into battle,) are full time, profesional soldiers. Militiamen, who train during the summer months when the fields need neither sowing or reaping, fill the rest.
The Teokratiyan army follow two tactics: 'Overwhelming Wave,' a battle style that involves mass charges by heavy and light infantry, with shock cavalry support to smash through enemy lines, then wheel around and encircle the rest of the forces, when attacking.
Their defensive tactics, 'Scorched Earth,' uses the vast amount of uninhabited ground in Teokratiya as a barricade to enemy forces. The army will fall back in an ordered fashion, destroying anything and everything they pass. When the enemy are deep within Teokratiyan territory, they can simply advance upon the often needlessly worn out forces, and decicively wipe them out.
The type of equipment varies upon if one is part of a Knight Cadre, a militiaman, or a Confessor. Knights typically wear full plate armour, and act as shock cavalry as well as elite heavy infantry, militiamen act as the mainstay medium and light infantry, composed of vast groups of pikemen and crossbowmen, as well as the increasingly common new 'line infantry' formations, and Confessors act as distuptors and light infantry, using firearms and swift skirmishing tactics, as well as being the main magical forces at Teokratiya's army.
Troop Total: The total amount of knights and the small bands of soldiers that follow them to war is small, however in times of war, around 100,000 men and women can call themselves members of the Teokratiyan forces. This doesn't include those who work as guards for towns and villages, the partisan forces that can be raised, or the Inquisition's confessors, who often march to war alongside the army.
Army: Around 80,000 men make up the army.
Navy: Around 20,000 men make up the navy, however navymen are highly trained and the Teokratiyan navy has excellent quality, modern boats.
Other: (Such as siege equipment, internal security, important mercenaries, spies, etc.)
Other:
Line Infantry: Out of the king's own pocket, comes the Line Infantry. Financed at rather high costs, they are the best of the militiamen, who are given muskets and drilled to march and fight in formation. Many a tide of battle has been changed by the cry of 'present! Fire!'
