Copake

The Republic of Copake is a country in Crona. It was established in 2025 from lands of the Venua'tino mandate of the League of Nations. The peoples of Copake have shared cultural similarities since the medieval period, when they became politically divided following the end of Quetzen trade city hegemony. The establishment of the League mandate in 1967 began a fraught process of state building which culminated in the Republic's independence in the 2020s.

Although not formally organized as such, Copake is considered by many nations and observers to be a benefactor confederacy under Urcean leadership. Copake is a member of the Nysdra Sea Treaty Association.

Etymology
Copake is thought by most etymologists to mean "snake pond" in the Eastern Venua, originating from Cook-pake, or Ack-kook-peek. Many historians and local sources are divided on what this term signifies, but most believe it to originally be a tongue-in-cheek reference to either the geopolitics or culture of the people living in the region as opposed to a real geographic feature.

Geography
Copake sits at the northeastern corner of the Nysdra Sea in northern Crona, and is one of the world's northernmost countries. The country is divided into a southern peninsular region which shoots out into the Nysdra Sea and curls to the southeast, and an inland region which extends in a hook shape from west to east. The peninsular region has a very low-lying coast, but the rest of the country is relatively uniformly flat in terms of topography. The nation's climate is primarily, with only the peninsular lowlands experiencing warm temperatures during the peak of summer. Accordingly, the coastal lowlands are the primary population center of the country. Much of this region is deforested and has several major population centers relative to their latitude. The climate in this region and ready availability of fish has allowed Copake to sustain a very large population relative to its latitude; it is comparably dense to Vithinja in some portions of the country. The majority of the inland region is heavily forested with and other comparable trees.

Early history
Although Eastern Venua'tino had been settled by various peoples since at least 1000 BC, Copake is the first independent state established in this territory. Major cities and tribal nations were subject to the so-called Venua Empire in, and the region faced loose Quetzen hegemony during the medieval period. The rise of a unified Quetzenkel and end of the Quetzen mercantile cities lead to a period of self rule and lack of centralized state organization, and from then on the modern country's borders has largely been divided into shifting leagues of the country's major population centers. Despite the political division, the region developed a generally cohesive culture with some local differences, and developed a shared language known internationally as "Eastern Venua".

State formation and mandate
In 1967, the League of Nations voted to establish an international mandate over Venua'tino which would eventually come under the protection of Urcea. Of the land so designated, Copake made up the majority of the habitable, non-tundra territory within the Mandate. The Urceans began a the project of forging a federated state in Venua'tino with the Coastal Coalition in the 1970s, which many of the cities in southern Copake had been prominent leaders in. The failure of the Coalition in 1979 led to a period of multilateral engagement between Urcea and local polities, temporarily shelving the concept of a state in Venua'tino. The beginning of The Deluge reinvigorated the idea of statehood in Venua'tino, and Urcean leaders began to pursue the idea of partition to create a state or states in the area. Negotiations began to transfer sovereignty to a self-governing state began in 2015 against the backdrop of the Deluge.

In 2019, a major conflict broke out between the tribes and cities of Eastern Venua'tino, ostensibly over broken agreements between once-rival tribes. The Royal and Imperial Army began an occupation of the entire Eastern Venua'tino region that year, ending the conflict and beginning negotiations for the establishment of a new, confederated state. Negotiations broke down several times in both 2019 and 2020, leading to low level skirmishes, before negotiations resumed in earnest in the autumn of 2020. With the outbreak of the Final War of the Deluge, troop levels were drawn down and negotiations once again came to a halt as many local parties refused to consider a confederation agreement similar to New Harren until Urcea proved itself able to protect its Cronan allies. Negotiating breakthroughs occurred in 2023 and by 2024 the Treaty of Halfway was signed by the major local parties, establishing the Republic of Copake on January 1st, 2025. International experts and local parties collaboratively spent 2024 laying the groundwork for the basics of a state.

Government
Copake is currently governed by a as the process of constitutional drafting is ongoing. Its present form of government could be described as a, with the two subnational units in the country retaining a broad degree of autonomy. The country has been administratively divided into urban areas and nomadic peoples, called "Regions" and "Ranges", respectively. Most analysts, and many local officials, have indicated that the permanent constituion of the country will gradually draw down local autonomy, and most project the establishment of a relatively loose. These units have representatives gathered which constitute the Northeastern Provisional Assembly, the nation's provisional legislature. The Assembly has elected Melun Alacantan to serve as President of the Provisional Republic, a position with limited executive authority.

The country has presently been described by some as a benefactor confederacy inasmuch as the presence of Urcea remains an outsized influence over the affairs of the provisional government and its continued role in preventing internal disputes within the country. The Government of Urcea has pledged a gradual drawdown of military forces upon the enactment of a constitution.

Culture
Despite centuries of being organized under different polities, necessary trade and proximity interactions have made Copake's regional cultural groups relatively closely aligned.

Copake culture is noted as being extremely oriented towards a sense of geography and place, especially with respect to the Nysdra Sea. With the introduction of Occidental style maps into the country, the term "Northeastern" (its position in the Nysdra Sea) has become a common adjective used to describe things related to Copake. Although the preferred adjective for cultural, national, and individual purposes remains "Copaish", "Northeastern" is used to describe some government and public institutions, such as the military. In this context, "Northeastern" is often used in the same sense that other countries might use "National" as an adjective for their institutions, such as "national army" or "national government".

Demographics
Copake is the most populous country on the northern part of the Sea of Nysdra.

Religious Demographics
The Venua Faith is native to Copake and is its most predominant religion by far. Despite its ubiquity, as a non-organized, non-centralized religion, theological views vary greatly within the Venua framework among the residents of Copake. As a non-organized religion, the Venua Faith has also proven susceptible to missionary efforts by the Catholic Church, which has established a small but growing presence in the country - 3.4% as of 2030. Similarly, Collegiate Protestants have also made inroads with 1.2%, but due to culutral opposition and lack of support from a major patron, such as Urcea, its missionary efforts have lagged far behind that of the Catholics and it has limited cultural penetration. Arzalists, M'acunists, and other Cronan indigenous religions also exist in Copake to a small degree.

Economy
One of the major historic industries of Copake is fishing. The Copake economy is considered developing.

The post-independence construction of local infrastructure in support of the neighboring International Nature Preserve has made Copake a minor tourist destination and one of the major entrypoints for the Preserve by international travelers. The presence of these tourists and travelers, and the businesses erected to offer services to them, has had a major positive impact on Copake's economy.

The city of Tekuma, on the central peninsula of Copake, is the largest economic driver of the country. Significant foreign investment has been made to connect Tekuma to the rest of the country by rail and road, creating a minor construction industry.

Military
In practice, Copake has no armed forces. However, legislation enacted by the provisional government has organized the Northeastern Army and Northeastern Air Corps, which it intends to be fully staffed and equipped by 2040. The Northeastern Army is envisioned to be comprised of 9,000 men organized into three brigades. The Northeastern Air Corps is intended to be comprised of 1,200 men primarily operating helicopters. The Copake government has reached an agreement to buy significant military surplus from Urcea to initially equip the military and is actively contracting with manufacturers in Urcea for replacement parts as well as upgrades. Like many other Cronan armed forces, the three brigades of the Northeastern Army are intended to be incorporated within larger Urcean Royal and Imperial Army formations as part of NSTA's Defense Coordination Initiative. In the event of invasion, the Northeastern Army is intended to delay any invading army and ensure Copake's sovereignty remains in tact until the arrival of the Royal and Imperial Army in force.

Copake is a participating member of the Nysdra Sea Guard (NSG), which serves as the nation's navy along with other full members of NSTA. Copake, as a new nation without a significant maritime tradition, has sent many fishermen to Levantia for training in naval affairs in order to take part in the NSG.