Paulastra

Paulastra, officially known as the Imperial Kingdom of Paulastra, is a constitutional monarchy located within Southern Crona. Paulastra shares a border with the Arcerion to the North-West, The Cape to the South.

The Imperial Kingdom has been a monarchy since the end of the war of unification. It's capital is the City of Farpoint, which is also the nations largest city. With the cities of Channel-side, Midpoint and Eastpoint ranking from 2nd to 4th in that order. Paulastra is divided into 5 administrative regions labeled as Provinces with each province divided into a number of Counties. Although having more significance during the early period of the Imperial Kingdom, the provinces are now merely the local governments of each region.

Many indigineous Cronan peoples lived in what would become Paulastra prior to the arrival of the Coscivians in the age of discovery. Established as a by Kiravia in southern Crona, Paulastrans and scholars alike point to the later conquest and integration of the Urcean Julian belt colonies after the 18th century Cronan Beaver War as the origin of the Paulastrans as a distinct people. The addition of many Urceans and other Levantines to a Coscivian settler colony lead to the creation of a unique culture that would set apart Paulastra as an Occidental Coscivian nation.

A highly developed country, Paulastra owes its development to its healthy free market economy and strong economic growth over the years, and has used it's size and economic clout to maintain stability in Southern Crona.

Colonial reorganization and rent wars
In the aftermath of the Cronan Beaver War, the vast new territories of Kiravian North Crona required reforms to the colonial administration. The Farpoint Colony was expanded significantly to include most of the new Julian belt territories, but the southern Julian belt was included within the Songun Coast Colony. The Coast Colony, which existed in this expanded form from the end of the war until 1752, was partitioned, with the eastern part of the Colony becoming the Far North Cape Colony that year and a small central segment being added to the Farpoint Colony. As part of an overall strategy of colonial conciliation, most colonial administrators in the new Far North Cape Colony were of local Urcean or otherwise Levantine origin, creating a political and economic system which would benefit the small Levantine minority in the colony. This situation lead to the three decades of so-called "rent wars", a low level armed conflict between the new Levantine economic masters and the mostly Coscivian tenant farmers.

Although the territory was divided de jure between the three colonies, besides major land grant regions and urban centers, most of the territory of the three colonies was under the de facto political control of native Cronan peoples, who continued to reside in the area alongside the Coscivian and Levantine settlers.

National League of Crona and independence
As concepts and thinkers related to the Kilikas Enlightenment became prominent in the three Cronan colonies of Farpoint, Songun Coast, and North Cape, many began to question both the pragmatic effect and philsophical basis for rule from Kartika. The first group to organize around these ideas was the Farpoint Correspondence Society, which was briefly suppressed by colonial authorities but later allowed as a conciliatory measure. Similar societies sprung up among the educated elite of the major cities of the colonies, and in 1784 the various socieiies formed the National League of Crona, an organization that not only intended to lobby for greater political autonomy in Crona but also conducted research and debate about their own national identity. In time, the National League would come to be a pseudo-political party and even a geopolitical organizing entity. Efforts to reach out to the Cape colonies for inclusion in the National League met with only limited interest.

Civil war
Following independence from Kiravia, the National League of Crona found itself suddenly free of foreign rule. The sudden nature of independence meant that the National League, which remained a political organization only loosely tying the officially separate three states together, had little preparation for the establishment of a permanent political order. Native peoples and colonial settlers in three different states suddenly found themselves no longer unified by a common identity and government. Besides the three states, many tribal nations existed within the National League's territorial sovereignty, and many of these argued that their agreements remained with Kartika rather than any new local government. Both the states and tribal nations sent representatives to Farpoint to discuss the formation of a new government. Theses talks failed as tribal leaders each claimed ownership of the lands of what would become Paulastra with each tribal leader wanting complete control over the lands at the expense of the other tribes and settlers. The country side soon found itself in total chaos as the tribes fought for dominance.

As the violence escalated, the leaders of the National League deposed the three state governments and formed an emergency government to handle the civil war that had engulfed the countryside. This action quietly set aside the political structure which had divided future Paulastra for nearly three centuries.

Southern Islands Conflict
The kingdom has owned the colony of the western islands since about 2 years after the unification of the kingdom. Coastal cities of the newly unified kingdom were being raided by people from the islands to the west. While the King tried his best to build and organize strong coastal defenses after the subsequent raid and sack of a major coastal town the king realized that if stronger action was not taken he would lose power and the kingdom would become undone. So he ordered a call up of soldiers in order to invade the island nations and bring them into the fold. At which point his ordered the formation of ten battalions of his newly expanded king’s guard to lead the attack on the islands. The invasion and takeover of the islands went was rather quick, however some of the natives of the colony refused to submit to the king’s rule and formed an organized resistance, they continued to take up arms against the Kingdom and brought about a frustrating and protracted military campaign. After several major military victories 5 years after the invasion the islands were officially conquered and brought into the Kingdom as a colony of Pauldustllah. However while the natives of the islands were considered subjects of the kingdom they were not granted the full body of rights and privileges granted to those of the main land this is due to the fact that the kingdom suffered major losses of soldiers and noblemen. So in order to keep the Nobility from grumbling and as punishment for the rebellion the king granted those subjects on the colony half citizenship.

As a result of this, underground organizations were formed with the goal of overthrowing Kingdom rule in the colony. These groups did their upmost to undermine the rule of the kingdom through anyway possible. Over the year this led to several uprisings, each of which was eventually put down by the Kingdom. Each time a rebellion occurred over past grievances new ones were formed. This is because neither side was willing to play by many rules during the rebellions, which is common during times of civil insurrection. This led to an almost unending cycle of hatred between the two sides and a continued solidification of resolve by both sides to defeat the other. Over time most residents of the islands became used to imperial rule and became unsupportive of rebel groups making it harder for them to operate out in the open. However they managed to survive and continue to create conflict on the islands.

Over the years several reforms were made in order to ease tensions and to keep the loyalty of those subjects living in the colony who were claiming loyalty to the crown. The colony was eventually annexed into the empire making those lands official equal to those of the main land and no longer a colony. The new Western Isles province was for the first time allowed to be represented by proxy in the national government however; citizens of the colony could not send their own people. The second was the abolishment of the half citizen scheme, which official made those subjects of the colony full citizens, with a few exceptions. Finally 20 years ago after the last uprising was defeated, Citizens of the province were finally allowed to vote for ministers to represent them in the national congress (Citizens House) as part of a peace plan to bring about unification of the kingdom and bring the citizens of the isles into full citizenship of the kingdom. The peace accords accepted the full surrender and amnesty of any subject currently in rebellion against the Kingdom in return for an oath of loyalty and for the granting of full rights due to any citizen of the kingdom. both chambers of the legislature agreed to consolidate many of the military positions currently in the former colony as well as a general drawdown of combat forces currently stationed there to fight rebels, although military bases remain in the kingdom for defense of the kingdom those forces stationed there are not for conduction combat operations in the former colony. This was thought to be a good way to promote peace and unity throughout the former colony as of last year for the first time in history a man from the colony was elected as the Prime minister of the citizen’s house. The peace accords have held throughout the last 20 years. As time advances people believe that the peace accords will hold and that the previous uprising will truly be the last.

The kingdom has never given up control of the island nation and in modern times this would be impossible. This is because the islands stand directly in front of the kingdoms sea access, making them a strategic asset both for the economy of the kingdom and for its defense. Control of the waterways is paramount in the event of war with a long time enemy of the kingdom both of offensive as well as defensive strategy. Also the thought that by allowing the islands to become independent would allow a hostile nation to be formed right off the shore of the mainland. Culturally people from the mainland have many historical grievances against the rebels making the thought of giving up the islands deeply unpopular. The first is that the people of the islands historically attacked the kingdom first and as such they lost the war that followed and got what was coming to them. Secondly the cultural memory of the kingdom has never really gotten over the casualty list from any of the previous uprisings and the mainland see the continued ownership of the islands important to ensure that those lives lost have not been for nothing and see it as a fitting payment of revenge. As for those from the islands who are against the idea of imperial rule. They have been taught by many generations of their ancestors to oppose imperial rule for invading the homeland and for the killing of their people. While the rebel groups all claim to want to expel the kingdom from the islands, the groups are all fractious and often in competition with each other. No one single group has enough power to claim to be the representative of the resistance movement and none of them have put forth a plan to rule once their stated goal of freeing the islands of the kingdom are met.

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Paulstran culture is an Occidental culture with mixed influences, primarily descending from both Coscivian and Urcean origins as a result of the nation's history as a. While Coscivian serves as tbe primary influence, many significant cornerstones of Urcean culture - such as strong adherence to the Catholic religion and many specific traditions - are present in Paulastran culture. This blend of influences is most obvious in the majority language of Paulastra, Songun Ænglish, which includes the basic linguistic and pronunciation structure of the Urcean Julian Ænglish while heavily incorporating the Coscivian vocabulary. The blend of influences is such that many observers have referred to Paulastrans as "Occidental Coscivians" due to the baseline social mores held in common with most other Odoneru basin nations.

Paulastran culture has incorporated elements of indigineous culture, particularly with respect to cuisine and terms for flora, fauna, and locations. The indigineous peoples of pre-colonization Paulastra share common ancestry with the people of Washakara, many of whom were forcibly relocated there.

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Apology Shoe
Ledgend has it that the Marble Emperor gave his foot to the Coscivian people as a way to measure things, His foot was never returned. Every year Paulastrans give an offering of a single left sided shoe at the local copy of the Marble Emperor Statue every year as an apology to the Marble Emperor for the crimes of their ancestors. The shoes vary in cost and fanciness and is based on what a Paulastran is able to afford. These shoes are considered sacred to the Paulastran people and are generally not bothered or otherwise molested when left at the Statue. It is also considered a felony to steal an Apology Shoe.

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