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 late 1500s. 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, which became independent following Kiravian military withdrawals in 1818.

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.

Etymology
The term "Paulastra", and its predecessor "Paulastria", first appeared in the 16th century as a general term for southern Crona; it is one word among many similar terms relating to Paul Aster and Aster's expedition, such as Paulastra, Paulaster's Land, Asteria, Asterland, and the like, which were used in both a specific and general romanticized sense for the area. The term was selected after the independence of the former Kiravian colonies in the area, which previously had no collective name prior to their unification in the 19th century.

Axerka Dáltaskáma (Farpoint colony)
In 1584, Kiravia established a small colonial settlement in eastern Crona, one of its first. The settlement, called "Dáltaskáma" in Coscivian and "Farpoint" in Ænglish, was a Pharisedom primarily made up of Ænglish people fleeing Levantia after the Great Confessional War. The colony was established by the Imperial Cronan Plantation Company (modern Imperial Cola) for the cultivation and exploitation of the, with the Ænglish settlers largely being used as agricultural manpower in an arrangement, though some Cronan indigenous day laborers were also used dating back to the colony's establishment. The Company owned and governed the colony until 1621, after which time it was sold to the government of Kiravia, though the Company remained in the colony and was an inexorable part of its culture and society going forward.

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 the large plantations, limited land grant areas for smallhold farmers, 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.

After the Beaver War, Kiravia was mostly without peer or legitimate rival in South Crona, and after the war the presence of the Kiravian military within its colonies began to recede. Without a geopolitical rival in the area, the government in Kartika gradually began to cede governing authority over the three colonies to the XXX Company in the mid 1750s.

National League of Crona and independence
Within the context of increased company control over the South Cronan colonies, several new ideas began to proliferate throughout the Cronan colonies in the 1760s. Historians cite two sources for these: concepts and thinkers related to the Kilikas Enlightenment from Kiravia began to spread, but the recently incorporated Urcean settlers of the Julian Belt continued to adhere to their traditional worldview on society and government, viewpoints that spread to the Coscivian heritage settlers as well. Together, these ideas became prominent in the three Cronan colonies of Farpoint, Songun Coast, and North Cape, many began to question both the pragmatic effect and philosophical 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 societies 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.

In 1811, the National League of Crona adopted a tricolor flag with purple, white, and green on it. The green represented Kiravia and the nation's Coscivian background, the purple represented Urcea and the nation's Levantine background, and the white represented the peace between them. The flag, intended to symbolize a new nation born from different traditions, would go on to provide the colors of the flag of Paulastra following its independence.

The departure
Between the 1780s and 1810s, the National League of Crona grew in both size and sophistication. Far from being just a correspondence committee, the National League not only kept up agitation with local colonial governors but also had a fully formed lobbying presence in Kartika. Amidst the backdrop of agitation by the settlers, native tribes also began to organize. Their methods, beginning in 1796, oscillated between violent raiding and political pressure, with the specific approach varying by tribe. As of the 1810s, tribal peoples still occupied a vast majority of the land area in what would become Paulastra, with colonial authorities governing relatively narrow strips between settlements. In 1817, these efforts reached a head as much of the attention of the government in Kiravia was consumed with pacifying colonial settlers and keeping tribes peaceful. The pressure exerted combined with XXX, a near-catastrophe that shook the core of the Kiravian people and government. In the wake of this trauma, and in order to better marshal their resources, the Kiravian government secretly decided in March 1817 to unilaterally withdraw from its northernmost three colonies along the Songun, instead focusing its limited attention on keeping the southern Cape provinces peaceful and prosperous. A decision was made that, as part of the withdrawal, the Imperial Cronan Plantation Company would remain in place within the new de facto independent states, ensuring that profit would continue to flow back to Kiravia independent of the political or military situation on the ground. This decision was largely kept secret, though various leaks and rumors found their way back to National League leadership. These rumors reached a fever pitch when it became evident in mid-December that military assets were being steadily concentrated in the Cape colonies and withdrawn from the Songun. Regardless, "the departure", as it became known, as a shock to nearly every colonial and tribal alike, as the Kiravian flag was quietly lowered and the colonial government apparatuses boarded ships and sailed away on 31 December 1817. Authority was handed over to prominent locals or National League chapters that night, often with mere hours or minutes notice. These locals and chapters struggled to form provisional governments in the ensuing years.

Civil war
Following the sudden withdrawal of Kiravian forces, 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. The ensuing civil war would last from 1818 to 1823, causing significant economic hardship, humanitarian devestation, and permanently altering relations between the colonial and native peoples.

As the violence escalated, the leaders of the National League deposed the three state governments in 1820 and formed an emergency government to handle the civil war that had engulfed the countryside. This action set aside the political structure which had divided future Paulastra for nearly three centuries. Instead, the Provisional Republic of the Songun was formed, merging the political apparatus of the National League with the administrative apparatus of the provisional state governments. The Provisional Republic prosecuted the war to its conclusion. During the war, it took the step of establishing its formal legal independence from Kiravia, which readily recognized it. The 1821 Unilateral Acceptance of Independence has been noted by historians to be the only colonial independence document ever conceived that accepted, rather than declared, its own independence.

Establishment of the Monarchy and Constitution
As the civil war approached its conclusion, leaders of the Provisional Republic of the Songun met in Farpoint in January 1823 to discuss the formation of a new constitution and permanent government for the new nation. During this period, it also convened a special committee to choose a permanent name for the nation. Several options were considered - New Urcea, New Kiravia, Songunia, and several variations of Paul Aster's Land - before the name "Paulastra" was chosen. Paulastra had been used commonly in a romantic sense to refer to much of southern Crona, and it is one of the many names tracing its root back to Paul Aster.

Finding a King
With the Constitution established in 1823 and taking effect on 1 December 1823, the Kingdom of Paulastra was officially under a regency until such time as a King could be found. Several candidates were considered, mostly nobles of Dericania or prominent Kiravians, but ultimately it was decided that a Urcean noble would best suit the new Kingdom due to the heritage Paulastra shared with Urcea. Accordingly, in 1824, King Niall V sent his chief advisor and cousin Corio de Weluta to Paulastra to assume the throne, which the regent and supreme minister formally offered him on 2 Feburary 1824. Corio de Weluta, now 48, had a long and distinguished career in service to the Apostolic King of Urcea. He earned military fame in the Second Caroline War, being one of the few successful Royal Army generals of the conflict, and would go on to serve King Niall V as Procurator and in other roles from 1810 until his arrival in Paulastra. In that role, he helped Niall draft the Great Bull of 1811, a charter of civil rights that Paulastrans sought to emulate within their own country. Well liked and respected in both Levantia and abroad, Corio was welcomed with enthusiasm to Paulastra. Attempting to bridge the divide between Levantine and Coscivian cultural backgrounds, Corio assumed the Coscivian regnal name King Arathvesur I of Paulastra upon his coronation as King on 18 February 1824. It would inaugurate a period of rule by House de Weluta in Paulastra which would last for three monarchs.

Continued native wars and indigienous relocation
Once the Kingdom of Paulastra was established as an independent state and the civil war had concluded, policymakers of the new Kingdom were forced to resolve issues related to the continued presence of the tribal people. It was decided that peaceful coexistence was likely not possible, beginning a century of forced relocation and land clearance.

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.

New Royal dynasty
With the accession Queen Arathvesura in 1858, it was apparent that House de Weluta would soon be succeeeded by another royal dynasty in Paulastra. Upon her accession, she was considered the most eligible bachlorette in the Occident. Several suitors were considered abroad, with the possibility of a distant relation within the Urcean main line of House de Weluta receiving the most attention by both the Queen and her advisors. However, in 1862, the leading politicians of Paulastra began to instead advise the Queen to marry into a prominent local family, especially one of Coscivian origin if possible. This would give Paulastra the prestige of establishing its own "home grown" dynasty, and would also continue the work of unifying the Levantine and Coscivian cultural elements of the country. Accordingly, on 22 May 1864, following a long search, Queen Arathvesura married Silvin Xerokom, the scion of one of the most wealthy and prestigious Coscivian-descended families from Farpoint. As part of the effort to establish a prestigious, Paulastran-oriented dynasty, the Queen issued a proclamation on 1 January 1865 that all children born of her and her husband would be part of the new "House of Newaster". Her first son was named Paul; both the new dynastic name and heir's name were references to Paul Aster, with the Queen trying to deliberately establish a "Cronan" royal dynasty. Following the Queen's death on 5 August 1890, Paul I Newaster became the first King of Paulastra from the dynasty.

Besides attending to dynastic concerns, Queen Arathvesura was an active monarch, and is considered one of the country's more successful rulers.

Tribal conciliation and dynastic concerns
Significant efforts were made to rehabilitate the relationship between the majority Occidental ancestry Paulastran society with the indigineous people who lived both in Paulastra and Washakara beginning in the 20th century.

During this period, the ruling House of Newaster lacked eligible male heirs. Paul I had died without issue, leading his brother King Arathvesur II to reach a relatively unconventional solution as part of the overall conciliatory approach towards the indigenous population of the country. He married his three daughters to the sons of prominent tribal chiefs within the country, with his eldest being married to a member of the Tuskane tribe. With permission of the Pope, Arathvesur then adopted all three of his sons-in-law in order to continue the dynasty in name as well as gene. Although all three were then passed over for inheritance, any of their children would remain in the line of succession in the maternal line. Accordingly, when Arathvesur II died in 1952, he was succeeded by his grandson - King Paul II of the new House of Newaster-Tuskane.

Demographics
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Ethnicity
Paulastrans view themselves as a single, Paulastran ethnicity, although most Paulastrans and even the official census department differentiate based on "pre-independence heritage". This means that most Paulastrans define themselves officially as either Levo-Paulastran (relating to Urcean or Levantine ancestry) or Kiro-Paulastran (relating to Coscivian ancestry), but most scholars agree these definitions do not reflect any real division in society or national culture. The vast majority of people in Paulastra view themselves as ethnically Paulastran along these lines. A small amount of indigineous peoples exist within Paulastra, as do various other Cronan peoples. Small communities of so-called "direct Coscivians" also exist, both as recent diaspora communities and as isolated Songun-area populations.

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Culture and Society
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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