Atrassica

Atrassica is an island territory of the Kiravian Federacy located in the North Aquilonem Ocean (known in the Coscivian world as the Atrassic Ocean, from whence the colony's name is derived) off the coast of the Western Apalachnee Federation in northeast Punth. The native population of the island is made up of two tribal groups, the Massapíkva and Minnéola.

History
Humans first migrated to Atrassica, presumably from mainland North Punth, during the last glacial maximum. At the time of the island's discovery by Coscivians, it was inhabited by two tribal groups, the Massapíkva and Minnéola, with close linguistic and genetic relationships to the peoples of the nearby Western Apalachnee Federation and Nanseetucket.

Although it is unclear who from Hesperic Ixnay was the first to discover Atrassica, it began appearing on maps in the 1580s AD. Kiravian merchants, seasonal fishermen, and missionaries visited the island from 1594 onward, and the island was formally claimed for the newly-reorganised Kiravian Federacy in 20802 by the Atrassica Act. For the first half-century following the annexation, Kiravian settlement was largely confined to the coasts, and merchants, fishermen, and missionaries continued to account for the bulk of the colonists, as more Kiravians were drawn to the inland areas of Great Kirav opened for settlement by the Continental War and the Lesser Punth colonies of Rovaīon, Porfíria, and Avenica. At this stage, relations between the settler society and the indigenous were generally peaceful. From the 20820s through the 20890s, colonial officials negotiated a series of agreements with various indigenous leaders to establish formal Kiravian suzerainty over the Massapíkva and Minnéola, although it is now believed that the two parties had vastly different interpretations of what they had agreed to. Coscivian Orthodox and Insular Apostolic missionaries succeeded in evangelising parts of the native population, and some native communities near the coasts gradually assimilated into Coscivian civilisation, but for the most part the two societies remained independent of one another until the 20930s, when a larger generation of Atrassica-born Coscivians and a new wave of immigrants from Great Kirav pushed the Kiravian pale of settlement deeper into the hinterland. Competition for land and resources between the settlers and indigenous resulted in the Massapíkva War (20935-201936), which ended in the final subjection of the Massapíkva to direct Kiravian rule and precipitated the submission of the Minnéola to the same the following year.

The Kiravian Atrassic Trading Company, based out of Saar-Silverda, played a major role in the settlement and development of Atrassica. The company's base at Ɣēmpramonta (Eng. "Thunder Bay") formed the nexus of a trading network connecting Saar-Silverda with Port Hyannis in Nanseetucket and a chain of other trading posts along the coast from Apalachnee to Telonaticolan to Titechaxha and Kelekona.

Colonial Administration
Atrassica uses the Governor-council-conference form of government found in many other Kiravian territories. The head of the executive branch is the Governor, who is appointed by the Prime Executive of the Kiravian Federacy. The Governor exercises most executive functions through a collegial body known as the Executive Council (Rektikirstuv), but also possesses a number of prerogative powers which he may exercise independently. The Executive Council includes two Councillors elected by the legislature, one Councillor elected by the citizenry (who holds the title of Territorial Auditor), and a variable number of others (usually 5-9) appointed by the Governor. The traditional leaders of the Massapíkva and Minnéola tribes also have a standing invitation to attend meetings of the Executive Council but do not vote.

The territorial legislature, known as the Legislative Conference (Áldakrāstax Róatnūra), is a unicameral body elected by every three years, returning one legislator from each of the territory's 45 countyships. The Legislative Conference is nonpartisan, and the territorial charter bars any official recognition of political parties.

In terms of structure, local government in Atrassica resembles the situation in Devalōmara and [Neighbouringstateland]. Below the countyship level there are three classes of municipality - city (sar), borough (vestra), and village (dasa) - as well as civil townships and off-reservation indigenous villages with more limited powers and functions. However, countyship governments in Atrassica are significantly stronger than those in Devalōmara, and are responsible for important services such as education, public health, road maintenance, and a great deal of policing, as well as overseeing local economic development. Like other federal subjects in Punth, Atrassica has codified the special status of Settlement Movement communities, many of which are located in the island's interior. Although not municipalities or civil townships, settlement trusts are considered civic bodies, have special tax status, and have their affairs governed by a special Coöperatives Court.

Society & Culture
Atrassica has a population of over 3.5 million.

The majority of the population are colonists, and most of the colonial population have family histories on the island dating at least three generations back, though many are more recent transplants from Great Kirav or elsewhere in the Federacy. The indigenous population is officially enumerated at 22.8% of the total, though the actual number of Atrassicans with substantial indigenous ancestry is much larger, as persons of mixed descent with Coscivian or other colonial ancestry in the male line are considered Coscivians, as are some indigenous communities that adopted Coscivian lifestyles and cultural norms early in the territory's history. Most of the older Atrassican families have ancestral roots in Cascada, Ilfenóra, Devalōmara, [Statenexttoit], the North Coast of Great Kirav, and Æonara. Accordingly, Æonaran Coscivian and Arnórian Coscivian are the most spoken Coscivian languages in the territory after Kiravic.

Many smaller Coscivian ethnic communities live in the island's interior, in ethnically homogeneous and coöperative/communal "movement settlements". These include Rísuvic Coscivians, known for their complex polysynthetic language, Qihuxian Coscivians, and an intentional community of the small Ârunav Coscivian ethnic group founded in a remote forest for the purpose of reviving their critically endangered language.

Around 9.5% of Atrassicans are of Finno-Ugric ethnicities, including Fenno-Meridians, Rhuonic Finns, Kormaks, and Malakkas. Several Finnic-speaking localities can be found on the east and northeast coasts, and there are Finnic quarters in the larger cities.

Economy
The Atrassican economy has historically been based in the extractive and mercantile sectors, relying mainly on the island's rich natural resources and as a trade link between Great Kirav and the west coast of North Punth.

Atrassica's early economic and population growth was due in large part to agriculture. The island's climatic similarity to much of Central and Upper Kirav, combined with its level topography and fair soils allowed Kiravian farmers to easily put familiar crops and agricultural techniques to work on the island. Potato, cereals, hops, and sugar beets are the principal crops, and hogs account for most of the island's livestock. A substantial share of Atrassican farmers, both Kiravian and indigenous, continue to farm for household subsistence, though most are now integrated into the market system. Some of the most productive agricultural enterprises in Atrassica are coöperatives located in Movement Settlements.

Atrassican breweries, making use of local produce, have long exported beer to the countries of western North Punth, especially Nanseetucket.

Countyships
Atrassic County County Lattaren County Mérovin County Forest County McCain County Lake