Seneca Islands: Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox settlement

|name = Military Rectory of the Seneca Islands

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|native_name_lang =

|settlement_type = Overseas territory of [[Urcea]]

|image_skyline =

|image_skyline = World Trade Center San Salvador.jpg

|imagesize =

|image_alt =

|image_caption =

|image_caption = Enuzha'Thaan

|image_flag = SenecaIslandsNEW.png

|flag_alt =

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|nickname =

|motto =

|image_map =

|image_map = SenecaLoc.png

|~~map_alt~~ =

|map_width = 250px

|map_caption =

|map_caption = Location of '''Seneca Islands''' (green) in western [[Crona]] (gray). Other dependencies of [[Urcea]] and [[NSTA]] members are depicted in light green.

|pushpin_map =

|pushpin_map_alt =

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The Seneca Islands are comprised of the two "main islands" - East and West Seneca - as well as dozens of smaller islands in the chain, almost all of which are uninhabited and uninhabitable, mostly including rocky outcroppings. Sitting approximately halfway between the {{wp|Tropic of Cancer}} and {{wp|Arctic Circle|Boreal Circle}}, the Seneca Islands enjoy a temperate, woodlands climate that made it an ideal center of fishing and maritime activities, including shipbuilding, during the age of sail. The coasts facing the north and west of the islands are extremely windswept, making them largely unsuitable for construction of ports or beaches, and are largely characterized by harsh cliff faces overlooking rough seas. The south and eastern coasts of the islands, however, see largely calm seas and gently slope into the sea forming beaches and useful harbors. A majority of the population of the islands are clustered in cities on the eastern shores. The only major harbor outside of this region is Zakan Rot, which sits in a large natural harbor on the north-eastern corner of West Seneca and sits across from East Seneca to the northeast. The oceanic "''Straits of Mel'ana'tuuzhen''" separate the two islands and provide the natural harbor of Zakan Rot a strategic location for trade.

The two main islands are largely similar to one another in climate. West Seneca is approximately twice the size of East Seneca. West Seneca has the larger population, but East Seneca is more densely populated both due to the natural size difference but also due to less wartime devastation. Accordingly, East Seneca is significantly more urbanized whereas West Seneca has a greater agricultural sector, but West Seneca also features more major ports and shipbuilding facilities. Zakan Rot, on the northeastern tip of West Seneca, was the largest city on the islands prior to its [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing]]. Enuzha'Thaan, on the southeastern tip of West Seneca, is now the largest city and serves as the center of political life on the islands.

The two main islands are largely similar to one another in climate and are both characterized by hilly and mountanous topography. West Seneca is approximately twice the size of East Seneca. West Seneca has the larger population, but East Seneca is more densely populated both due to the natural size difference but also due to less wartime devastation. Accordingly, East Seneca is significantly more urbanized whereas West Seneca has a greater agricultural sector, but West Seneca also features more major ports and shipbuilding facilities. Zakan Rot, on the northeastern tip of West Seneca, was the largest city on the islands prior to its [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing]]. Enuzha'Thaan, on the southeastern tip of West Seneca, is now the largest city and serves as the center of political life on the islands.

==History==

The history of the Seneca Islands is long, dating back to the earliest human settlement of northwestern [[Crona]]. Like other parts of [[Varshan]], the Senecas have a significant [[Varshani historiography|issue with sources]]; records and narratives relating to the period in which the Senecas were part of Varshan are opaque, sometimes intentionally so. Unlike other parts of Varshan, however, the Senecas had a several hundred year period in which they were ruled by arrivals from [[Audonia]] who kept relatively strong records which survive today. The rest of the Senecas' history has to be parsed from contradictory and confusing Varshani records which account for dark time as well as what archaeological evidence suggest. The museum of Senecan history, which included a large number of non-digitzed records and artifacts, was almost completely destroyed in the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing]] of the 2020s, requiring contemporary historians to examine secondary sources which often include journal entries vaguely describing now lost materials.

===Prehistory===

The popular origin story of the people of the Seneca Islands is recounted in the so-called "''Saga of the Senecas''" (first translated in Occidental languages in 2004). In this story, purported to have occurred ten thousand years ago, a group of fishermen and their wives departed for a "great hunt" of a massive {{wp|whale}}, with the fishermen in the lead group of boats and the women (sometimes translated as families) in the second group of boats. The massive whale outsmarted the fishermen, though, and in a storm the whale destroyed the sails of both groups of boats, stranding the fleets off the coast. The story then states that [[M'acunism|Makuahine]] took pity on the group of sailors and their families and erected islands around the groups of both boats, with the fishermen's boats becoming West Seneca and the family boats becoming East Seneca.

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===Conquest by Anzo===

The 11th century sources are generally scarce but attest to, along with some archaeological evidence, the decline of the ''Hō-Rikkyō'' and extended conflict with the nascent mainland empire of [[Zurgite Varshan]]. Varshani records and stories attest to the naval superiority of the Hō-Rikkyō as well as their ability to continually procure mainland mercenaries to fight for them, indicating that the Hō-Rikkyō were likely still wealthy as the Crona-Audonia trade facilitator. Almost nothing is known of the final conquest of the Senecas by Anzo, but modern scholars have suggested that the members of the Hō-Rikkyō order were incorporated into the early version of the [[Varshani caste system]] given the types of names in 12th and 13th century records of the Senecas' [[Varshani_caste_system#Warriors|warrior castes]] that eventually appear to have died out. A minority of scholars have claimed significant Buddhist influence on the emergent [[Orthodox Arzalism|Orthodox Arzalist]] faith as evidence for the survival of the members of the Hō-Rikkyō, but these claims are extremely contentious and not held by a majority of Varshanologists. Worth noting is that chronological problems exists for the traditional narrative of the incorporation of the Senecas into Varshan due to the [[Varshani_historiography#Žuqul_problem|Žuqul problem]] and [[Varshan#Anzoite_period|controversy about medieval Anzo]], which has invited alternative theories that the Hō-Rikkyō were fighting off the rising city-state of Anzo, rather than a monolithic continental empire, with the conflict largely occurring as between two equal powers. This theory has been used as a possibility to explain the length by which the Senecas held out in a supposed long war between the Hō-Rikkyō and Anzo.

From its conquest and incorporation into Varshan, the Senecas appear to have become a largely irrelevant backwater for the next several centuries. Little is attested of the place beyond the occasional visit to Anzo by a Senecan, and archaeology suggests most Audonia-Crona trade that once came through the Senecas ceased.

===Golden age of Cronan shipbuilding===

===~~19th century decline~~===

[[File:Picture of a kai-sen at Tokyo National Museum Image Archives, ID C0070617 A-9899.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Depiction of a 17th century Varshani warship, the type built en masse in the Senecas before the [[Orixtal Crusade]].]]

~~===Emergence~~ of ~~Zakan Rot~~ as a ~~trade center===~~

[[Aster's expedition]] greatly altered the course of history in central [[Crona]], inaugurating the [[Zurgite_Varshan#Žuqulid_Revolution|Žuqulid Revolution]] and [[The Hunt (Varshan)|the Hunts]] which gradually diminished the previously powerful [[North Songun civilization]]. As [[Zurgite Varshan]] grew increasingly hostile and militant, efforts to create a large naval force became paramount in what was previously a predominantly land-based power. Paranoia about Occidentals arriving unannounced on Crona's shores, as had happened with [[Paul Aster]], led to a transformation of the previously backwater Senecas into a massive hub of shipbuilding between about [[1450]] and [[1650]]. Significant numbers of slaves were imported to the islands to begin constructing a series of drydocks and ports while substantially deforesting the islands during that period. As a result, Varshan transformed into the premier naval power in [[Crona]], a status it would retain until the [[Orixtal Crusade]] in the 17th century. The Senecas constructed large number of both war and trade ships, greatly enriching the still-predominantly Audonian-descended higher castes of the islands. This enrichening had the practical effect of ensuring interest in Hō-Rikkyō descended art and cultural mores, with Audonian-inspired artists receiving significant patronage during this time.

===Decline and resurgence===

The destruction of the Varshani navy during the [[Orixtal Crusade]] and subsequent end of the [[Zurgite_Varshan#Chazxin_dynasty|Chazxin dynasty]] in [[1702]] inaugurated a precipitous decline in further interest in maintaining Varshani naval power. Most of the islands' shipbuilding slaves were sent back to the mainland by [[1715]] to focus on rebuilding Anzo and other projects. The port infrastructure sat unused and began to rot as many priests and other high-caste individuals began to desert the islands. By [[1750]], the Senecas had returned to their position as a relative backwater.

[[Varshan]] around the period of the [[First Great War]] sought to modernize and gain access to Occidental technology, weapons, and techniques of warfare, but had relatively little to offer as a closed state. At the turn of the 20th century, it was decided to open the Seneca Islands generally - and Zakan Rot specifically - as the sole port through which Occidental traders could import and export goods in and out of Varshan. The opening had the effect of turning Zakan Rot into a world trade city nearly overnight; the small, sleepy port city of 10,000 in [[1895]] became a booming economic center of 250,000 by [[1930]] at the dawn of the [[Second Great War]]. Until the 1970s, the islands remained an important western commercial outlet, during which time the islands were once again closed to outside trade, but some other Cronan countries were permitted to trade there until the islands became a miltary hub in the 21st century.

===21st century defense plan===

With the outbreak of the [[War of the Northern Confederation]], the government of [[Varshan]] began a rapid rearmament and defense construction project in addition to a reevaluation of its military doctrines. As part of this rearmament effort, the shipbuilding industry in the Seneca Islands received a massive influx of government funding in order to help construct a navy which could sufficiently defend the Varshani mainland. Foreign experts became a common sight in the Senecas, ranging from individuals clandestinely brought in by [[Ardmore]], [[Veltorine people|Veltorine]] exiles, or persons victim of the [[enslaved relative scam]]. Static defenses were also constructed on the islands in addition to a large-scale purchase of anti-shipping missiles which were stationed on the islands. The defense activity significantly improved the local economy and improved living conditions across every [[Varshani caste system|caste]], but also resulted in a large influx of slaves and construction of slave camps across the island. The local economy became increasingly reliant on large-scale shipbuilding efforts and slave labor. By the time of the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the islands were one of the top destinations of slaves captured in the [[Invasion of Cetsencalia]].

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As envisioned the previous decade by Varshani military planners, the Seneca Islands became a prime target of Occidental forces during the [[Final War of the Deluge]]. As the islands could threaten sea lane access to the [[Nysdra]] and provided a convenient point of invasion into the interior of [[Varshan]], the islands became a strategic priority for [[Urcea]]. Planning began in June 2021 for an operation to take the islands.

Following a series of naval victories by the [[United Republic Navy|UR Navy]] and the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]], the [[Urcea|Urcean]] [[Royal Marine Corps (Urcea)|Royal Marine Corps]] landed and established a beachhead on the islands on 30 December 2021, beginning [[Operation Jonah]]. The operation was focused first on securing West Seneca, which was largely pacified by 24 February 2022. Following the fall of the island, the [[Varshan|Anzo regime]] [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|detonated an atomic bomb]] in the city of Zakan Rot, causing massive economic and demographic disruption throughout the island. The bombing killed more than 120,000 and injured another 200,000 or more. Military operations were put on hold as West Seneca was severely devastated. A multinational relief effort began to help survivors as the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal and Imperial Army]] was unable to accommodate the large numbers of hospitalized and severely wounded. Relief and reconstruction efforts continued for several years. The bombing caused permanent economic disruption to the island due to the loss of both victims and refugees in addition to the extensive physical damage. The bombing had the effect of alienating the residents of the Seneca Islands from the Varshani cause and identity. Reconstruction and resettlement of downtown Zakan Rot began in mid-2023, but the prospect of the city becoming a major harbor in the 2020s was ruled out by Urcean and local officials.

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===Integration into Urcea===

After the end of the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the Seneca Islands became the center of significant de-Arzalization efforts. The territory also became the administrative headquarters of Urcea's [[League-occupied_Varshan#Urcean_zone|Temporary Military Rectory for Central Crona]], the Urcean sector of occupied Varshan.

After the end of the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the Seneca Islands became the center of significant de-Arzalization efforts. The territory also became the administrative headquarters of Urcea's [[League-occupied_Varshan#Urcean_zone|Temporary Military Rectory for Central Crona]], the Urcean sector of occupied Varshan. In [[2024]], a new democratic local government system was put in place.

Significant efforts to remediate the economic and demographic catastrophe caused by the bombing consumed most public administrative efforts in the years after the war, including a worldwide aid and development program. As Nysdra-region and Varshani agriculture began to rebound in the late 2020s, Urcea offered a limited time economic incentive to the residents of the islands, allowing them to exchange [[Ratzas]] for [[Taler]]s at a 10-to-1 exchange, far more generous than the 70-to-1 exchanged pre-war and the 500-to-1 exchanged post war. This cash infusion, combined with improving economic climate elsewhere, began a Seneca rebound. The significant remilitarization of the island and reconstruction of port infrastructure in support of the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] allowed the urban economy to resume its pre-war function, albeit on a much smaller scale. By [[2034]], the islands had recovered to roughly 60% of their pre-war territorial domestic product.

The rise of Enuzha'Thaan inaugurated the further decline of Zakan Rot. Though the city had been cleared of rubble and debris with its port and streets rebuilt, interest in continuing major economic activity in the city evaporated. The relocation of economic and political activity to Enuzha'Thaan inaugurated a period of mass exodus of remaining firms from the city. Zakan Rot, in the [[2030]]s, is lightly populated with {{wp|squatting}} becoming a serious issue. The Military Rectory has considered appropriating the city en masse in order to facilitate refugee and veteran resettlement, though the proposal has received only passing consideration by the current island local government.

==Government==

[[File:Syracuse City Hall.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Rector House, home of the Seneca Islands government]]

The Seneca Islands are organized as a [[Government_of_Urcea#Overseas_Possessions|military rectory]] of [[Urcea]]. On May 19, 2022, the military rectory was established following [[Operation Jonah]] and humanitarian recovery that occurred after the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]]. [[Martin St. Clair]], as overall commander of [[Armed_Forces_of_the_Apostolic_Kingdom_of_Urcea#Far_Western_Command_.28WES-COM.29|WES-COM]], was appointed Military Rector, but he immediately invested oversight and authority to the Interim Administration for the Seneca Islands while retaining nominal authority as Military Rector. In January 2024, with the end of the war in sight, the Rector decreed the dissolution of the IASI to replace it with a permanent Military Rectory governing body, which held elections in February 2024. Martin St. Clair was replaced by Lec. Pri. [[Aedan Frantone]] as Military Rector in early [[2027]], with Frantone soon replacing St. Clair as commander of WES-COM following the latter's retirement.

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==Economy==

The economy of the Seneca Islands is considered to be {{wp|developing economy|developing}}. Prior to the Final War of the Deluge, the Senecas were among the most prosperous parts of [[Varshan]], with a modern shipbuilding sector serving as the impetus for a large urban service sector and adjacent industries. However, the normal effects of war - disruption of trade and economic activity, bombing, military needs outstripping civilian market needs - combined with the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] led to the complete implosion of the Senecas economy between [[2020]] and [[2024]]. Virtually all productive service sector firms closed after the bombing, either due to significant loss of assets or because of lack of customers. Between [[2022]] and [[2024]], most large scale economic activity virtually ceased during the occupation, and most economic interactions took the form of barter exchanges. In 2022 and every year thereafter until about [[2032]], the Seneca Islands were the largest recipient of Urcean aid per capita of any location in the world, as most food as well as finished goods needed to be imported to the islands until [[2026]]. The economic conditions (as well as the bombing-related public health effects) precipitated a massive outmigration of refugees to [[New Harren]] and abroad, easing the need for aid somewhat but collapsing the availability of local labor.

The economy of the Seneca Islands is considered to be {{wp|developing economy|developing}}. Prior to the Final War of the Deluge, the Senecas were among the most prosperous parts of [[Varshan]], with a modern shipbuilding sector serving as the impetus for a large urban service sector and adjacent industries. However, the normal effects of war - disruption of trade and economic activity, bombing, military needs outstripping civilian market needs - combined with the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] led to the complete implosion of the Senecas economy between [[2020]] and [[2024]]. Virtually all productive service sector firms closed after the bombing, either due to significant loss of assets or because of lack of customers. Between [[2022]] and [[2024]], most large scale economic activity virtually ceased during the occupation, and most economic interactions took the form of barter exchanges. In 2022 and every year thereafter until about [[2032]], the Seneca Islands were the largest recipient of Urcean aid per capita of any location in the world, as most food as well as finished goods needed to be imported to the islands until [[2026]]. The economic conditions (as well as the bombing-related public health effects) precipitated a massive outmigration of refugees to [[New Harren]] and abroad, easing the need for aid somewhat but collapsing the availability of local labor. Economic reconstruction efforts, combined with cash infusions from currency exchange, also eased the economic crisis. By [[2034]], the islands had recovered to roughly 60% of their pre-war territorial domestic product.

[[File:Damages after 2020 Beirut explosions 1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] and subsequent reconstruction efforts have been the defining event of the Seneca economy in the 21st century.]]

~~As Nysdra-region and Varshani agriculture began to rebound in~~ the ~~late 2020s~~, ~~Urcea offered a limited time economic incentive to the residents of~~ the islands~~, allowing them~~ to ~~exchange~~ [[~~Ratzas~~]] ~~for [[Taler~~]]s at ~~a 10-to-1 exchange, far more generous than~~ the ~~70-to-1 exchanged pre-war and~~ the ~~500-to-1 exchanged post war~~. ~~This cash infusion~~, ~~combined with improving economic climate elsewhere~~, ~~began a~~ Seneca ~~rebound~~. The ~~significant remilitarization~~ of the ~~island and~~ reconstruction of ~~port infrastructure in support of~~ the [[~~Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy~~]] ~~allowed the urban economy to resume its pre~~-~~war function, albeit on a much smaller scale. By~~ [[~~2034~~]], the ~~islands had recovered to roughly 60%~~ of ~~their pre-war territorial domestic product~~.

The bombing of Zakan Rot had the effect of completely reorienting the economic center of the islands. Zakan Rot sits on the strait between the two Senecas and, necessarily, sat at the center of the islands' transportation networks. Its bombing, however, led to Enuzha'Thaan (at the southeastern tip of West Seneca) becoming the major economic hub in the vacuum producted by the bombing. The placement of the Urcean administrative headquarters at Enuzha'Thaan accelerated its meteoric rise within Seneca economic life. This reorientation necessitated major reconstruction of the road and rail networks to accomodate additional traffic to and from the city, creating a micro [[improvement economy]]-style development phase in West Seneca between [[2027]] and [[2031]]. Enuzha'Thaan has now fully supplanted Zakan Rot as the economic heart of the Seneca Islands, and most major investors have abandoned Zakan Rot for Enuzha'Thaan.

===Special Outer-Nysdra Exclusionary Trade Agreement===

In [[2030]], a trade agreement was signed with [[Burgundie]] and approved by the [[Nysdra Sea Treaty Association]] (NSTA) relating to trade between the Senecas and [[Iles Evangeline]]. The agreement authorizes [[Burgundie]], through the [[Iles Evangeline]], to import an unlimited number of goods into the Seneca Islands, which is normally subject to the trade restrictions established by NSTA. The agreement established the [[Burgoignesc North Levantine Trading Company]] (BNLTC) as an intermediary firm based in the Seneca Islands that would handle importing of goods for further sale into the NSTA exclusion zone. The amount of goods imported in the exclusion zone through the Senecas is subject to an annual valuation cap (AVC) determined by formula under the terms of the agreement. The AVC is equal to 1/50th of the total annual value of goods imported to the Nysdra every year by [[Urcea]], further modified every year by an index number which calculates the cumulative domestic growth of manufacturing of NSTA participants. This formula is intended to allow for [[Economy of Burgundie|Burgoignesc commerce]] to flow into the region while ensuring domestic economic capability is not damaged by the trade. Within the Nysdra, the agreement is intended to increase consumer variety, drive down the costs of goods (to a limited degree), and to further drive the development of domestic competitors.

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In [[2034]], the population of the Seneca Islands was 8,581,966. This represents a significant decline from the islands' pre-war population of 11,502,593 as recorded in [[2021]]. The [[Final War of the Deluge]] generally and particularly the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] inaugurated a massive wave of people leaving the islands as refugees, particularly to [[New Harren]] and elsewhere in the Nysdra. Prior to the [[Final War of the Deluge]] and abolition of the Caste system, the Seneca Islands were notable within [[Varshan|Varshani]] society for possessing the highest percentage of [[Varshani caste system|both kinds of warrior castes]] per capita due to the significant naval militarization in the early 2010s. Although it did not possess the highest percentage per capita, the islands were among the leaders during the period of enslaved persons per capita as well in order to support the shipbuilding industry.

===Rikkyō calligraphy===

One of the most well-known cultural artifacts of Seneca society is the so-called "Rikkyō calligraphy", a type of both writing and art which was developed as a synthesis of [[Oyashima]]n and Varshani writing styles following the incorporation of the islands into Varshan. This style, which descends from the Hō-Rikkyō period, includes text characters from both languages as well as rich colors and imagery typically used in Varshan. The style became refined and standardized by about 1600 AD, after which time it became extremely fashionable in the court in [[Anzo]]. Documents in this style became known outside Varshan in the 1800s but only became widely available in the Occident, both originals and reproductions, after about 1920. The style was originally maintained by temple stenographers in and around ~~Enuzha'Thaan~~ in a closely-guarded and passed-on methodology, but it has since been copied and reproduced by many artists both Cronan and international. Today, this style of calligraphy commonly appears in Levantia and elsewhere as a generalized stand-in for the "exotic nature" of central Crona and Varshani society. Since the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the islands have become the site of niche tourism of artists and others seeking to obtain and commission true originals of this style, and many pieces are created and sold for export, playing an important role in the transition of the islands to its post-Varshan economic position within [[Urcea]].

One of the most well-known cultural artifacts of Seneca society is the so-called "Rikkyō calligraphy", a type of both writing and art which was developed as a synthesis of [[Oyashima]]n and Varshani writing styles following the incorporation of the islands into Varshan. This style, which descends from the Hō-Rikkyō period, includes text characters from both languages as well as rich colors and imagery typically used in Varshan. The style became refined and standardized by about 1600 AD, after which time it became extremely fashionable in the court in [[Anzo]]. Documents in this style became known outside Varshan in the 1800s but only became widely available in the Occident, both originals and reproductions, after about 1920. The style was originally maintained by temple stenographers in and around Zakan Rot in a closely-guarded and passed-on methodology, but it has since been copied and reproduced by many artists both Cronan and international. Today, this style of calligraphy commonly appears in Levantia and elsewhere as a generalized stand-in for the "exotic nature" of central Crona and Varshani society. Since the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the islands have become the site of niche tourism of artists and others seeking to obtain and commission true originals of this style, and many pieces are created and sold for export, playing an important role in the transition of the islands to its post-Varshan economic position within [[Urcea]].

[[Category: Urcea]]

[[Category: Varshan]]

[[Category: Subdivisions of Urcea]]

[[Category: IXWB]]

[[Category:Map Completion Project]]

[[Category:Map Completion Project (Completed)]]

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-{{wip}}
 {{Infobox settlement
 |name                    = Military Rectory of the Seneca Islands
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 |native_name_lang        =
 |settlement_type         = Overseas territory of [[Urcea]]
-|image_skyline           =
+|image_skyline           = World Trade Center San Salvador.jpg
 |imagesize               =
 |image_alt               =
-|image_caption           =
+|image_caption           = Enuzha'Thaan
 |image_flag              = SenecaIslandsNEW.png
 |flag_alt                =
@@ Line 19: / Line 17: @@
 |nickname                =
 |motto                   =
-|image_map               =
+|image_map =         SenecaLoc.png
-|map_alt                 =
+|map_width                   = 250px
-|map_caption             =
+|map_caption =        Location of '''Seneca Islands''' (green) in western [[Crona]] (gray). Other dependencies of [[Urcea]] and [[NSTA]] members are depicted in light green.
 |pushpin_map             =
 |pushpin_map_alt         =
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 The Seneca Islands are comprised of the two "main islands" - East and West Seneca - as well as dozens of smaller islands in the chain, almost all of which are uninhabited and uninhabitable, mostly including rocky outcroppings. Sitting approximately halfway between the {{wp|Tropic of Cancer}} and {{wp|Arctic Circle|Boreal Circle}}, the Seneca Islands enjoy a temperate, woodlands climate that made it an ideal center of fishing and maritime activities, including shipbuilding, during the age of sail. The coasts facing the north and west of the islands are extremely windswept, making them largely unsuitable for construction of ports or beaches, and are largely characterized by harsh cliff faces overlooking rough seas. The south and eastern coasts of the islands, however, see largely calm seas and gently slope into the sea forming beaches and useful harbors. A majority of the population of the islands are clustered in cities on the eastern shores. The only major harbor outside of this region is Zakan Rot, which sits in a large natural harbor on the north-eastern corner of West Seneca and sits across from East Seneca to the northeast. The oceanic "''Straits of Mel'ana'tuuzhen''" separate the two islands and provide the natural harbor of Zakan Rot a strategic location for trade.
-The two main islands are largely similar to one another in climate. West Seneca is approximately twice the size of East Seneca. West Seneca has the larger population, but East Seneca is more densely populated both due to the natural size difference but also due to less wartime devastation. Accordingly, East Seneca is significantly more urbanized whereas West Seneca has a greater agricultural sector, but West Seneca also features more major ports and shipbuilding facilities. Zakan Rot, on the northeastern tip of West Seneca, was the largest city on the islands prior to its [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing]]. Enuzha'Thaan, on the southeastern tip of West Seneca, is now the largest city and serves as the center of political life on the islands.
+The two main islands are largely similar to one another in climate and are both characterized by hilly and mountanous topography. West Seneca is approximately twice the size of East Seneca. West Seneca has the larger population, but East Seneca is more densely populated both due to the natural size difference but also due to less wartime devastation. Accordingly, East Seneca is significantly more urbanized whereas West Seneca has a greater agricultural sector, but West Seneca also features more major ports and shipbuilding facilities. Zakan Rot, on the northeastern tip of West Seneca, was the largest city on the islands prior to its [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing]]. Enuzha'Thaan, on the southeastern tip of West Seneca, is now the largest city and serves as the center of political life on the islands.
 ==History==
+The history of the Seneca Islands is long, dating back to the earliest human settlement of northwestern [[Crona]]. Like other parts of [[Varshan]], the Senecas have a significant [[Varshani historiography|issue with sources]]; records and narratives relating to the period in which the Senecas were part of Varshan are opaque, sometimes intentionally so. Unlike other parts of Varshan, however, the Senecas had a several hundred year period in which they were ruled by arrivals from [[Audonia]] who kept relatively strong records which survive today. The rest of the Senecas' history has to be parsed from contradictory and confusing Varshani records which account for dark time as well as what archaeological evidence suggest. The museum of Senecan history, which included a large number of non-digitzed records and artifacts, was almost completely destroyed in the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing]] of the 2020s, requiring contemporary historians to examine secondary sources which often include journal entries vaguely describing now lost materials.
 ===Prehistory===
 The popular origin story of the people of the Seneca Islands is recounted in the so-called "''Saga of the Senecas''" (first translated in Occidental languages in 2004). In this story, purported to have occurred ten thousand years ago, a group of fishermen and their wives departed for a "great hunt" of a massive {{wp|whale}}, with the fishermen in the lead group of boats and the women (sometimes translated as families) in the second group of boats. The massive whale outsmarted the fishermen, though, and in a storm the whale destroyed the sails of both groups of boats, stranding the fleets off the coast. The story then states that [[M'acunism|Makuahine]] took pity on the group of sailors and their families and erected islands around the groups of both boats, with the fishermen's boats becoming West Seneca and the family boats becoming East Seneca.
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 ===Conquest by Anzo===
+The 11th century sources are generally scarce but attest to, along with some archaeological evidence, the decline of the ''Hō-Rikkyō'' and extended conflict with the nascent mainland empire of [[Zurgite Varshan]]. Varshani records and stories attest to the naval superiority of the Hō-Rikkyō as well as their ability to continually procure mainland mercenaries to fight for them, indicating that the Hō-Rikkyō were likely still wealthy as the Crona-Audonia trade facilitator. Almost nothing is known of the final conquest of the Senecas by Anzo, but modern scholars have suggested that the members of the Hō-Rikkyō order were incorporated into the early version of the [[Varshani caste system]] given the types of names in 12th and 13th century records of the Senecas' [[Varshani_caste_system#Warriors|warrior castes]] that eventually appear to have died out. A minority of scholars have claimed significant Buddhist influence on the emergent [[Orthodox Arzalism|Orthodox Arzalist]] faith as evidence for the survival of the members of the Hō-Rikkyō, but these claims are extremely contentious and not held by a majority of Varshanologists. Worth noting is that chronological problems exists for the traditional narrative of the incorporation of the Senecas into Varshan due to the [[Varshani_historiography#Žuqul_problem|Žuqul problem]] and [[Varshan#Anzoite_period|controversy about medieval Anzo]], which has invited alternative theories that the Hō-Rikkyō were fighting off the rising city-state of Anzo, rather than a monolithic continental empire, with the conflict largely occurring as between two equal powers. This theory has been used as a possibility to explain the length by which the Senecas held out in a supposed long war between the Hō-Rikkyō and Anzo.
+From its conquest and incorporation into Varshan, the Senecas appear to have become a largely irrelevant backwater for the next several centuries. Little is attested of the place beyond the occasional visit to Anzo by a Senecan, and archaeology suggests most Audonia-Crona trade that once came through the Senecas ceased.
 ===Golden age of Cronan shipbuilding===
-===19th century decline===
+[[File:Picture of a kai-sen at Tokyo National Museum Image Archives, ID C0070617 A-9899.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Depiction of a 17th century Varshani warship, the type built en masse in the Senecas before the [[Orixtal Crusade]].]]
-===Emergence of Zakan Rot as a trade center===
+[[Aster's expedition]] greatly altered the course of history in central [[Crona]], inaugurating the [[Zurgite_Varshan#Žuqulid_Revolution|Žuqulid Revolution]] and [[The Hunt (Varshan)|the Hunts]] which gradually diminished the previously powerful [[North Songun civilization]]. As [[Zurgite Varshan]] grew increasingly hostile and militant, efforts to create a large naval force became paramount in what was previously a predominantly land-based power. Paranoia about Occidentals arriving unannounced on Crona's shores, as had happened with [[Paul Aster]], led to a transformation of the previously backwater Senecas into a massive hub of shipbuilding between about [[1450]] and [[1650]]. Significant numbers of slaves were imported to the islands to begin constructing a series of drydocks and ports while substantially deforesting the islands during that period. As a result, Varshan transformed into the premier naval power in [[Crona]], a status it would retain until the [[Orixtal Crusade]] in the 17th century. The Senecas constructed large number of both war and trade ships, greatly enriching the still-predominantly Audonian-descended higher castes of the islands. This enrichening had the practical effect of ensuring interest in Hō-Rikkyō descended art and cultural mores, with Audonian-inspired artists receiving significant patronage during this time.
+===Decline and resurgence===
+The destruction of the Varshani navy during the [[Orixtal Crusade]] and subsequent end of the [[Zurgite_Varshan#Chazxin_dynasty|Chazxin dynasty]] in [[1702]] inaugurated a precipitous decline in further interest in maintaining Varshani naval power. Most of the islands' shipbuilding slaves were sent back to the mainland by [[1715]] to focus on rebuilding Anzo and other projects. The port infrastructure sat unused and began to rot as many priests and other high-caste individuals began to desert the islands. By [[1750]], the Senecas had returned to their position as a relative backwater.
+[[Varshan]] around the period of the [[First Great War]] sought to modernize and gain access to Occidental technology, weapons, and techniques of warfare, but had relatively little to offer as a closed state. At the turn of the 20th century, it was decided to open the Seneca Islands generally - and Zakan Rot specifically - as the sole port through which Occidental traders could import and export goods in and out of Varshan. The opening had the effect of turning Zakan Rot into a world trade city nearly overnight; the small, sleepy port city of 10,000 in [[1895]] became a booming economic center of 250,000 by [[1930]] at the dawn of the [[Second Great War]]. Until the 1970s, the islands remained an important western commercial outlet, during which time the islands were once again closed to outside trade, but some other Cronan countries were permitted to trade there until the islands became a miltary hub in the 21st century.
 ===21st century defense plan===
 With the outbreak of the [[War of the Northern Confederation]], the government of [[Varshan]] began a rapid rearmament and defense construction project in addition to a reevaluation of its military doctrines. As part of this rearmament effort, the shipbuilding industry in the Seneca Islands received a massive influx of government funding in order to help construct a navy which could sufficiently defend the Varshani mainland. Foreign experts became a common sight in the Senecas, ranging from individuals clandestinely brought in by [[Ardmore]], [[Veltorine people|Veltorine]] exiles, or persons victim of the [[enslaved relative scam]]. Static defenses were also constructed on the islands in addition to a large-scale purchase of anti-shipping missiles which were stationed on the islands. The defense activity significantly improved the local economy and improved living conditions across every [[Varshani caste system|caste]], but also resulted in a large influx of slaves and construction of slave camps across the island. The local economy became increasingly reliant on large-scale shipbuilding efforts and slave labor. By the time of the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the islands were one of the top destinations of slaves captured in the [[Invasion of Cetsencalia]].
@@ Line 134: / Line 141: @@
 As envisioned the previous decade by Varshani military planners, the Seneca Islands became a prime target of Occidental forces during the [[Final War of the Deluge]]. As the islands could threaten sea lane access to the [[Nysdra]] and provided a convenient point of invasion into the interior of [[Varshan]], the islands became a strategic priority for [[Urcea]]. Planning began in June 2021 for an operation to take the islands.
+[[File:ZakanRotCloud.png|thumb|right|200px|Varshani forces [[atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|destroyed Zakan Rot with a nuclear device]] following the seizure of the Senecas by Urcean forces]]
 Following a series of naval victories by the [[United Republic Navy|UR Navy]] and the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]], the [[Urcea|Urcean]] [[Royal Marine Corps (Urcea)|Royal Marine Corps]] landed and established a beachhead on the islands on 30 December 2021, beginning [[Operation Jonah]]. The operation was focused first on securing West Seneca, which was largely pacified by 24 February 2022. Following the fall of the island, the [[Varshan|Anzo regime]] [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|detonated an atomic bomb]] in the city of Zakan Rot, causing massive economic and demographic disruption throughout the island. The bombing killed more than 120,000 and injured another 200,000 or more. Military operations were put on hold as West Seneca was severely devastated. A multinational relief effort began to help survivors as the [[Royal and Imperial Army (Urcea)|Royal and Imperial Army]] was unable to accommodate the large numbers of hospitalized and severely wounded. Relief and reconstruction efforts continued for several years. The bombing caused permanent economic disruption to the island due to the loss of both victims and refugees in addition to the extensive physical damage. The bombing had the effect of alienating the residents of the Seneca Islands from the Varshani cause and identity. Reconstruction and resettlement of downtown Zakan Rot began in mid-2023, but the prospect of the city becoming a major harbor in the 2020s was ruled out by Urcean and local officials.
@@ Line 144: / Line 151: @@
 ===Integration into Urcea===
-After the end of the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the Seneca Islands became the center of significant de-Arzalization efforts. The territory also became the administrative headquarters of Urcea's [[League-occupied_Varshan#Urcean_zone|Temporary Military Rectory for Central Crona]], the Urcean sector of occupied Varshan.
+After the end of the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the Seneca Islands became the center of significant de-Arzalization efforts. The territory also became the administrative headquarters of Urcea's [[League-occupied_Varshan#Urcean_zone|Temporary Military Rectory for Central Crona]], the Urcean sector of occupied Varshan. In [[2024]], a new democratic local government system was put in place.
+Significant efforts to remediate the economic and demographic catastrophe caused by the bombing consumed most public administrative efforts in the years after the war, including a worldwide aid and development program. As Nysdra-region and Varshani agriculture began to rebound in the late 2020s, Urcea offered a limited time economic incentive to the residents of the islands, allowing them to exchange [[Ratzas]] for [[Taler]]s at a 10-to-1 exchange, far more generous than the 70-to-1 exchanged pre-war and the 500-to-1 exchanged post war. This cash infusion, combined with improving economic climate elsewhere, began a Seneca rebound. The significant remilitarization of the island and reconstruction of port infrastructure in support of the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] allowed the urban economy to resume its pre-war function, albeit on a much smaller scale. By [[2034]], the islands had recovered to roughly 60% of their pre-war territorial domestic product.
+The rise of Enuzha'Thaan inaugurated the further decline of Zakan Rot. Though the city had been cleared of rubble and debris with its port and streets rebuilt, interest in continuing major economic activity in the city evaporated. The relocation of economic and political activity to Enuzha'Thaan inaugurated a period of mass exodus of remaining firms from the city. Zakan Rot, in the [[2030]]s, is lightly populated with {{wp|squatting}} becoming a serious issue. The Military Rectory has considered appropriating the city en masse in order to facilitate refugee and veteran resettlement, though the proposal has received only passing consideration by the current island local government.
 ==Government==
+[[File:Syracuse City Hall.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Rector House, home of the Seneca Islands government]]
 The Seneca Islands are organized as a [[Government_of_Urcea#Overseas_Possessions|military rectory]] of [[Urcea]]. On May 19, 2022, the military rectory was established following [[Operation Jonah]] and humanitarian recovery that occurred after the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]]. [[Martin St. Clair]], as overall commander of [[Armed_Forces_of_the_Apostolic_Kingdom_of_Urcea#Far_Western_Command_.28WES-COM.29|WES-COM]], was appointed Military Rector, but he immediately invested oversight and authority to the Interim Administration for the Seneca Islands while retaining nominal authority as Military Rector. In January 2024, with the end of the war in sight, the Rector decreed the dissolution of the IASI to replace it with a permanent Military Rectory governing body, which held elections in February 2024. Martin St. Clair was replaced by Lec. Pri. [[Aedan Frantone]] as Military Rector in early [[2027]], with Frantone soon replacing St. Clair as commander of WES-COM following the latter's retirement.
@@ Line 160: / Line 172: @@
 ==Economy==
-The economy of the Seneca Islands is considered to be {{wp|developing economy|developing}}. Prior to the Final War of the Deluge, the Senecas were among the most prosperous parts of [[Varshan]], with a modern shipbuilding sector serving as the impetus for a large urban service sector and adjacent industries. However, the normal effects of war - disruption of trade and economic activity, bombing, military needs outstripping civilian market needs - combined with the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] led to the complete implosion of the Senecas economy between [[2020]] and [[2024]]. Virtually all productive service sector firms closed after the bombing, either due to significant loss of assets or because of lack of customers. Between [[2022]] and [[2024]], most large scale economic activity virtually ceased during the occupation, and most economic interactions took the form of barter exchanges. In 2022 and every year thereafter until about [[2032]], the Seneca Islands were the largest recipient of Urcean aid per capita of any location in the world, as most food as well as finished goods needed to be imported to the islands until [[2026]]. The economic conditions (as well as the bombing-related public health effects) precipitated a massive outmigration of refugees to [[New Harren]] and abroad, easing the need for aid somewhat but collapsing the availability of local labor.
+The economy of the Seneca Islands is considered to be {{wp|developing economy|developing}}. Prior to the Final War of the Deluge, the Senecas were among the most prosperous parts of [[Varshan]], with a modern shipbuilding sector serving as the impetus for a large urban service sector and adjacent industries. However, the normal effects of war - disruption of trade and economic activity, bombing, military needs outstripping civilian market needs - combined with the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] led to the complete implosion of the Senecas economy between [[2020]] and [[2024]]. Virtually all productive service sector firms closed after the bombing, either due to significant loss of assets or because of lack of customers. Between [[2022]] and [[2024]], most large scale economic activity virtually ceased during the occupation, and most economic interactions took the form of barter exchanges. In 2022 and every year thereafter until about [[2032]], the Seneca Islands were the largest recipient of Urcean aid per capita of any location in the world, as most food as well as finished goods needed to be imported to the islands until [[2026]]. The economic conditions (as well as the bombing-related public health effects) precipitated a massive outmigration of refugees to [[New Harren]] and abroad, easing the need for aid somewhat but collapsing the availability of local labor. Economic reconstruction efforts, combined with cash infusions from currency exchange, also eased the economic crisis. By [[2034]], the islands had recovered to roughly 60% of their pre-war territorial domestic product.
+[[File:Damages after 2020 Beirut explosions 1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The [[atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] and subsequent reconstruction efforts have been the defining event of the Seneca economy in the 21st century.]]
-As Nysdra-region and Varshani agriculture began to rebound in the late 2020s, Urcea offered a limited time economic incentive to the residents of the islands, allowing them to exchange [[Ratzas]] for [[Taler]]s at a 10-to-1 exchange, far more generous than the 70-to-1 exchanged pre-war and the 500-to-1 exchanged post war. This cash infusion, combined with improving economic climate elsewhere, began a Seneca rebound. The significant remilitarization of the island and reconstruction of port infrastructure in support of the [[Royal Navy (Urcea)|Royal Navy]] allowed the urban economy to resume its pre-war function, albeit on a much smaller scale. By [[2034]], the islands had recovered to roughly 60% of their pre-war territorial domestic product.
+The bombing of Zakan Rot had the effect of completely reorienting the economic center of the islands. Zakan Rot sits on the strait between the two Senecas and, necessarily, sat at the center of the islands' transportation networks. Its bombing, however, led to Enuzha'Thaan (at the southeastern tip of West Seneca) becoming the major economic hub in the vacuum producted by the bombing. The placement of the Urcean administrative headquarters at Enuzha'Thaan accelerated its meteoric rise within Seneca economic life. This reorientation necessitated major reconstruction of the road and rail networks to accomodate additional traffic to and from the city, creating a micro [[improvement economy]]-style development phase in West Seneca between [[2027]] and [[2031]]. Enuzha'Thaan has now fully supplanted Zakan Rot as the economic heart of the Seneca Islands, and most major investors have abandoned Zakan Rot for Enuzha'Thaan.
 ===Special Outer-Nysdra Exclusionary Trade Agreement===
 In [[2030]], a trade agreement was signed with [[Burgundie]] and approved by the [[Nysdra Sea Treaty Association]] (NSTA) relating to trade between the Senecas and [[Iles Evangeline]]. The agreement authorizes [[Burgundie]], through the [[Iles Evangeline]], to import an unlimited number of goods into the Seneca Islands, which is normally subject to the trade restrictions established by NSTA. The agreement established the [[Burgoignesc North Levantine Trading Company]] (BNLTC) as an intermediary firm based in the Seneca Islands that would handle importing of goods for further sale into the NSTA exclusion zone. The amount of goods imported in the exclusion zone through the Senecas is subject to an annual valuation cap (AVC) determined by formula under the terms of the agreement. The AVC is equal to 1/50th of the total annual value of goods imported to the Nysdra every year by [[Urcea]], further modified every year by an index number which calculates the cumulative domestic growth of manufacturing of NSTA participants. This formula is intended to allow for [[Economy of Burgundie|Burgoignesc commerce]] to flow into the region while ensuring domestic economic capability is not damaged by the trade. Within the Nysdra, the agreement is intended to increase consumer variety, drive down the costs of goods (to a limited degree), and to further drive the development of domestic competitors.
@@ Line 173: / Line 185: @@
 In [[2034]], the population of the Seneca Islands was 8,581,966. This represents a significant decline from the islands' pre-war population of 11,502,593 as recorded in [[2021]]. The [[Final War of the Deluge]] generally and particularly the [[Atomic bombing of Zakan Rot|atomic bombing of Zakan Rot]] inaugurated a massive wave of people leaving the islands as refugees, particularly to [[New Harren]] and elsewhere in the Nysdra. Prior to the [[Final War of the Deluge]] and abolition of the Caste system, the Seneca Islands were notable within [[Varshan|Varshani]] society for possessing the highest percentage of [[Varshani caste system|both kinds of warrior castes]] per capita due to the significant naval militarization in the early 2010s. Although it did not possess the highest percentage per capita, the islands were among the leaders during the period of enslaved persons per capita as well in order to support the shipbuilding industry.
 ===Rikkyō calligraphy===
-One of the most well-known cultural artifacts of Seneca society is the so-called "Rikkyō calligraphy", a type of both writing and art which was developed as a synthesis of [[Oyashima]]n and Varshani writing styles following the incorporation of the islands into Varshan. This style, which descends from the Hō-Rikkyō period, includes text characters from both languages as well as rich colors and imagery typically used in Varshan. The style became refined and standardized by about 1600 AD, after which time it became extremely fashionable in the court in [[Anzo]]. Documents in this style became known outside Varshan in the 1800s but only became widely available in the Occident, both originals and reproductions, after about 1920. The style was originally maintained by temple stenographers in and around Enuzha'Thaan in a closely-guarded and passed-on methodology, but it has since been copied and reproduced by many artists both Cronan and international. Today, this style of calligraphy commonly appears in Levantia and elsewhere as a generalized stand-in for the "exotic nature" of central Crona and Varshani society. Since the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the islands have become the site of niche tourism of artists and others seeking to obtain and commission true originals of this style, and many pieces are created and sold for export, playing an important role in the transition of the islands to its post-Varshan economic position within [[Urcea]].
+One of the most well-known cultural artifacts of Seneca society is the so-called "Rikkyō calligraphy", a type of both writing and art which was developed as a synthesis of [[Oyashima]]n and Varshani writing styles following the incorporation of the islands into Varshan. This style, which descends from the Hō-Rikkyō period, includes text characters from both languages as well as rich colors and imagery typically used in Varshan. The style became refined and standardized by about 1600 AD, after which time it became extremely fashionable in the court in [[Anzo]]. Documents in this style became known outside Varshan in the 1800s but only became widely available in the Occident, both originals and reproductions, after about 1920. The style was originally maintained by temple stenographers in and around Zakan Rot in a closely-guarded and passed-on methodology, but it has since been copied and reproduced by many artists both Cronan and international. Today, this style of calligraphy commonly appears in Levantia and elsewhere as a generalized stand-in for the "exotic nature" of central Crona and Varshani society. Since the [[Final War of the Deluge]], the islands have become the site of niche tourism of artists and others seeking to obtain and commission true originals of this style, and many pieces are created and sold for export, playing an important role in the transition of the islands to its post-Varshan economic position within [[Urcea]].
 [[Category: Urcea]]
 [[Category: Varshan]]
 [[Category: Subdivisions of Urcea]]
 [[Category: IXWB]]
-[[Category:Map Completion Project]]
+[[Category:Map Completion Project (Completed)]]

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