Halfway

Province of Halfway
Province of Urcea
Flag
Location of the Province of Halfway
Country	Urcea
Cathedral City	Koureiros
Government
• Governor	Bridget Quinius Aulus (NP)
Population  (2014)
• Total	10,582,573

Halfway is a province of Urcea in the Sea of Canete. It is considered part of Urcea's Insular region. Initially settled as part of the Ancient Istroyan civilization, Halfway long sat at the crossroads of Latinic, Istroyan, and Audonian civilizations before its conquest during the Crusades and establishment of the Principality of Halfway, which imparted on the island a definitive Levantine identity. In 1474, the Principality was inherited by the Apostolic King of Urcea, though it remained a separately governed entity until it was incorporated into the crownland of the Kingdom of Crotona in 1660. Reorganized as a province in the late 19th century, the island's population strongly associates itself with the Urcean identity, partly due to the nearly 500 years of association between Urcea and the island and partly due to the resettlement of Urcean mainlanders to the island.

Halfway today serves as a major military installation for the Urcean military, particulrly the Royal Navy, but also is a popular tourist destination for Urceans and many other visitors from abroad. Though the islanders view themselves as fully incorporated within Urcean society and nationality, the island nonetheless retains a significant Istroyan character and legacy. In modern geopolitics, Halfway serves as an important bridge for Urcean policymakers to Sarpedon, allowing it to project soft and hard power into the easten part of that continent.

Etymology

The etymology of Halfway is not generally known. The original Ancient Istroyan authors use a number of names for the island but primarily just refer to the city-states that existed upon it, using terms such as the "Island of Koureiros" and other city-states dependent on context. Adonerii people and the later Great Levantines used the term Alvenensis, the earliest documented form of "Halfway", though the source and meaning of this term is unclear. "Halfway" as a term emerged likely from Gothic sources probably from the Urlazian Kingdom and introduced into Ænglish later during the medieval period. A minority of scholars have suggested the "-way" originates as an Audonian corruption during the island's brief control by allies of the Oduniyyad Caliphate, but this position has largely been characterized as speculation.

History

Halfway has been home to continuous human settlement since the earliest emergence of early modern man, and has been home to agricultural societies for thousands of years. Halfway was the site of some of the earliest cities of the ancient Istroyan civilization. Istroyan civilization thrived on the island for centuries, even during the reign of the Latin Kingdom and subsequent control of the island by Caphiria. The Istroyan civilization of antiquity on the island is considered to have ended with the arrival of the Oduniyyad Caliphate and its allies to eastern Sarpedon, some of whom conquered Halfway and ruled it as an independent Emirate. The destruction of the island's major cities and disruption of its economy by the arriving Audonians not only ended the island's ancient history, it also weakened it significantly allowing for its liberation during the First Crusade. Halfway was ruled by Levantine nobles from the 1080s until 1474 when it was inherited by Urcea's House de Weluta. It has been ruled by Urcea since. As one of the longest-settled provinces of Urcea, which includes several periods of independence, Halfway has among the most storied histories of all Urcean territories.

Prehistory through Caphiric conquest

Archaeologists have uncovered significant early human activity on Halfway. While there is no consensus date for the rise of urbanization on the island, it is agreed that complicated urban centers based around fishing and trade developed very early on after the rise of agricultural civilization in Sarpedon. Traders from Halfway are attested to in Urlazic archaeological inscriptions as early as 1750 BC. By the time the Adonerii entered their peak, Halfway was considered to be an "old", respected trading island. The island's early political situation, which probably included semi-nomadic pastoral tribes in the interior, coalesced into six major cities by or before 1000 BC: Koureiros, Elatia, Pertoulo, Damasa, Chasini, and Pedino, though all had earlier, non-Latinized names and other nicknames which appear common in the historical record. All six cities are among oldest continuously settled cities in the Occident.

In the period 854-850 BC, the cities of Halfway were conquered by the Messisorian Kingdom based on nearby Herciana. The Messisorians had begun to exert more influence and authority over the cities of the island in the preceding century, falling in and out of the Messisorian orbit as clients. The emergent wealth and stability within that Kingdom led to a direct campaign against Halfway in the 850s. Koureiros led the defense and held for two and a half years before falling in a siege to the Mesissorians in June of 851 BC; most of the elites of the city were slaughtered or sold into slavery in mainland Sarpedon. Following the savaging of Koureiros, the remaining cities only put up half-hearted resistance, with many peace parties within those cities eventually gaining power by the end of 851 BC. In 850 BC, all of the cities of Halfway recognized the King of Messisoria as their overlord, ending the conflict on the island and beginning a half millennia of rule from Herciana. During the Messisorian period, the island was governed relatively loosely; a garrison of soldiers from Herciana was stationed on the island and paid for by the local cities in addition to a tax paid to the King, but otherwise the cities retained autonomy from one another. During the Messisorian Kingdom's peak, Halfway was a safe core part of the Kingdom, away from the conflicts on the mainland with Sarpic peoples and other Istroyan city-states. This period saw many men of Halfway serve in the Kingdom's armies on the mainland, having the practical effect of bringing mainland cultural innovations to the island. The island also served as a buffer for the capital in Taxades and Herciana itself against piracy, and by 600 BC a major Messisorian fleet was stationed on the island.

In 313 BC, the island was attacked and swiftly conquered by the Latin Kingdom. The quickness of the conquest was attributed by Latin historians as due to the absence of the island's Messisorian garrison due to combat with Caphiria on the Sarpedonic mainland; in any case, the Latin Kingdom assumed control of the island but largely left its local Istroyan culture in tact. The Latin King Sabinus created the role of Archon of Alvanensis to govern the island following its conquest. In practice, the Archon was always the senior urban magistrate of the city of Koureiros, chosen sometimes by heredity and sometimes by election among the local nobility. The Archon would govern the island absolutely on behalf of the Latin King, largely bringing about the end of the autonomy and political culture of the island's other cities. The Archonate would become the primary governing institution of the island for the next millennia, and it brought about consolidation of the political power of Koureiros over the other cities of the island. The island would again undergo a period of stability and another half-millennia reign under the Latin Kingdom, during which time Christianity appeared on the island. The island was conquered by Caphiria in 287 AD but the Archonate remained in place, only with the Imperator now receiving veto power over the local selection of an Archon.

The Caphiric period saw the maintenance of the political system but saw a revolution in cultural and economic life. The island's role as a center of trade was greatly expanded, and for a time nearly all exports headed east or north from the First Imperium were first imported into Halfway. The First Imperium government began to transform the architecture and infrastructure of the island to meet the requirements of a major Imperial settlement. An influx of Latin-speaking administrators and traders began to relocate to the island soon after the conquest, gradually transforming the island into a bi-lingual place. Due to its emergent trade-based wealth, the island became an attractive target for Gothic pirates (both from Urlazio and Levantia, including Canaery). When the Urlazian Kingdom was established by Goths in modern Urlazio in 324, the island once again became a major anti-piracy buffer, with a significant portion of the First Imperium's navy based on the island; these fleets generally interdicted piracy in the eastern Urlazian Sea but also worked to protect all trade coming in and out of the island. Halfway became significantly militarized by the First Imperium by around 400. From then, it became symbolic of Caphiric military power in eastern Sarpedon, and the presence of the legions on the island increased the influence of the Latin language which became the primary language of government and business by 500.

Halfway Emirate

The establishment of the Emirate of Halfway led to the construction of many buildings with Oduniyyad architectural stylings, such as the Emirate Palace in Koureiros, built 912.

Halfway remained an important military and trade installation of the Caphiric First Imperium by the 9th century. The island had been a critical point in defeating the advances of the Oduniyyad Caliphate in the 7th and 8th centuries, as the fleets based in Halfway provided a strong defense of the eastern Imperium from seaborn invasions. By 800, the Caliphate had largely given up trying to take Thessia or Halfway due to this strong presence, leading to a century of gradually slackening military standards on the island. The fleet and defense forces on the island were generally neglected such that only a quarter of its peak strength was seaworthy by 860. An attack by forces allied to the Caliphate in 882 nearly succeeded in taking the island despite the fact it was initially only intended as a raid; the Oduniyyad forces took two of the six cities and were barely halted outside the gates of Koureiros. The 882 attack did not raise alarm among the leaders of the First Imperium as it was understood to be evidence of Halfway's continued impregnability and another victory stalwart defense against Islamic forces; the historical record is unclear if the Imperators or their advisors understood the full depth of that year's campaign. The news of the raid spread quickly throughout Caliphate-occupied eastern Sarpedpon, where Halfway became known as a soft target that could fall to a determined attack.

In 889, the ghazi Sa'id al-Mulk gathered a large force of mercenaies, native Istroyan mariners, and personal familial allies into a force of around 10,000 men and invaded Halfway. Some scholars believe al-Mulk had been a participant in the 882 campaign or had otherwise spoke to survivors because he decided to besiege Koureiros first in order to destroy the main Caphiric garrison and fleet as well as decapitating the island's administrative apparatus. The city held for eight months as the Archon sent increasingly frantic pleas to Venceia for aid, calls that went largely unanswered as it was thought Halfway was too strong to be taken. On 14 April 890, Koureiros surrendered to al-Mulk and its residents were spared but the Imperial fleet stationed there was destroyed and the Legionaries stationed there were sold into slavery in eastern Sarpedon. The Archon was induced to recognize al-Mulk as Amir, nominally transferring his own authority. Emir Sa'id I next methodically reduced and took the remaining five cities on the island in the summer of 890, all of whom surrendered relatively quickly once the scope of the disaster in Koureiros became apparent. By the end of the year, Sa'id was the undisputed master of Halfway. An Imperial delegation sent in February 891 to accept his obescience to the Imperator and offer him a nominal magistracy was killed with their heads sent back to Venceia. A punitive campaign against the island was launched in 892; Caphiria's veteran naval forces in the east had been effectively eliminated with the fall of the island, and the force sent to take the island was destroyed in a naval battle in August 892. The small amount of soldiers that did land managed to move around the interior of the island shielded by the Pinefor jungle but were ultimately captured and sold into slavery. The First Imperium turned its attention to other matters following the punitive expedition's failure, giving Sa'id de facto recognition as master of the island.

The Emirate of Halfway was a transitional period in its history. It had destroyed a nearly-milennia old governing apparatus, and new Audonian administrators - as well as Sarpics and others from the Sarpedonic mainland - were brought in to govern the island's cities, deposing the autonomous self-rule of the native mercantile families. New mercantile elites rose from the class of the transplanted administrators. The Emirate period saw a major investment in infrastructure and new architecture throughout the island, as some crumbling old Churches and Pagan temples in city centers were demolished and replaced with new Mosques with the very best architects from eastern Sarpedon and Audonia as their designers. Emir Sa'id built the Emirate Palace in Koureiros, one of the best-adorned surviving medieval palaces in eastern Sarpedon. The island maintained its role as a center of trade, with tariffs now filling the Emir's treasury, but also became a center of piracy. Seaborne raiders from Halfway consistently harassed the Caphiric shore as well as Canaery, further enriching the al-Mulkid dynasty. The wealth of the new dynasty ensured its survival, allowing the small independent Emirate to maintain a large enough fleet and mercenary army to ensure its survival. The Emirate did not attempt to seriously proselytize the population to Islam, though some ambitious mercantile elites did adopt Islam in order to better do business. However, the Emirate government was overtly hostile to the practice of ancient Istroyan and Caphiric paganism, adherents of which still made up a minority of the island's population. Accordingly, most scholars now believe that Christianity benefitted from the Emirate period, as many persecuted pagans decided to adopt the Christianity of their friends, neighbors, and family, rather than the Islamic faith of their oppressors.

The al-Mulkid dynasty ruled Halfway for several generations. By the end of the 11th century, its rule was generally stable; it had normalized relations with Caphiria and gave nominal tribute to the Oduniyyad Caliphate of which it was not de jure a part. The reign of the al-Mulkids would come to a sudden end in 1084 with the call for the First Crusade. The plan for the First Crusade as devised by Emperor Carles II, Emperor of the Levantines, called for an advanced force of crusaders to take Halfway to serve as a staging point for the invasion of mainland Sarpedon.

Crusader state

In mid 1084, a crusading army led by Guy of Idalè arrived on Halfway. Guy had been Count of Idalè but, following the call for the First Crusade, took the cross and gave up his county to the Pope. The force Guy would lead was made up of the best members of the Holy Levantine Empire's military aristocracy, including both noble cavalry and veteran infantry. Guy led the force ashore in July of 1084 and immediately attempted to take Koureiros. Emir Aziz II sallied forth from the city and repulsed the crusading army, which took heavy casualties but remained in tact. In September, Guy and the crusading army took Elatia and established it as its primary base of resupply. An Emirate force attempted to besiege the city that month but was intercepted and repulsed. In October and November, Guy took Chasini and Damasa and now controlled about half the island. He began to recruit local Christians to reinforce his army. As Levantines, the crusaders were used to the concept of wintering and waiting for campaign seasons, but in equatorial Halfway no such precaution was needed. Accordingly, Aziz II surprised the crusaders on 2 January 1085 at the Battle of Martyr's Gap, defeating the larger crusader army camped at the outskirts of the Pinefor jungle. Aziz II then besieged the crusader army in Damasa from 5 January through March. Imperial agents had infiltrated Koureiros and distributed enough bribes to induce an uprising, forcing Aziz to break off the siege. Guy's forces pursued and attacked the Emirate army in mid-April 1085, crippling its ability to inflict further offensive damage but failing to destroy it or capture the Emir. A second, long-siege of Koureiros ensued, lasting from April through October 1085. Facing starvation, the residents of Koureiros killed Aziz in his bedchamber and opened the gates to the crusaders. Guy was proclaimed Prince of Halfway by the Pope in November 1085 and assumed control of the island, establishing the Principality of Halfway.

The establishment of the Principality only presaged greater troubles on Halfway related to the First Crusade. The larger crusader force led personally by the Emperor began to arrive in Halfway's different ports beginning in late November 1085. By the spring of 1086, more than 120,000 crusaders were on the island, causing significant hardship for both the army and the locals. Prince Guy I was forced to balance the interests of the army and local prominent families, distancing the Prince from the Emperor but creating goodwill among local leaders. The crusading army began to rob and pillage the countryside looking for food and supplies, forcing Guy to push them further into the Pinefor jungle where many crusaders perished from malaria. After constant negotiating, Guy managed to get the crusaders off the island by the end of summer 1086 as they moved onto Thessia. The Principality gained a negative reputation among crusaders and Levantine nobility, and Guy was viewed negatively in Levantia for decades afterwards.

After the crusading army crisis had passed, Guy began to build the island's administration and reform society along Levantine lines. Guy divided the island into six counties with each including a major city, with borders roughly shaped as wedges running through to peak of Mount Pinefor, with the County of Koureiros remaining with the Prince. Additionally, the land in the island's interior were divided into nominal estates for farming according to the Levantine model. The unsuitability of the interior for agriculture, however, meant that many of the new nobility were immediately destitute. Manor lords became nominal titles by the end of Guy's reign, with Levantine transplants selling their "manors" and "estates" to prominent native merchants for a small figure and returning to Levantia. From this period on, "Pinefor Manors" became the common means of social mobility within Halfway society, as any individual with enough money could buy their way into titular nobility. A few industrious merchants attempted to make use of the land they held in the interior, with few success stories, though the enclosure of the island did contribute to the reduction of jungle by 15% between 1050 and 1750. In order to ensure the Principality's longterm success, Guy brought in several other of his Bergendii countrymen to rebuild and operate the Principality's fleet. For the next four centuries, the Principality's military fleet would be unusually professional and take on a distinctly Bergendii character that established it as above its similarly sized peers, ensuring the Principality's independence. The longest lasting of Guy's reforms was the institution of the Great Court, an advisory body of the new lords of the realm that would assist him in governing the island. The Great Court, in this form, was comprised of a small clique of senior knights and prominent mercantile officials (lords of the Pinefor Manors) that provided feedback and suggestions to Guy as he solidifed rule over the island. The Great Court would survive Guy I's death in 1112 and would serve as an important source of advice to subsequent Princes of Halfway. The institution would receive formal rules and recognition in 1231 and would be reformed several times to eventually include democratic representation and two chambers; today it serves as the Provincial legislature.

The Principality would long outlive the lifetime of Guy I. Following its establishment in 1085, it would follow in the line of long-lived Halfway regimes (excluding the Emirate), surviving in some form for another six centuries. The line of Guy I of Idalè finally died out in 1474. The final count, Hughes VI, secured a marriage alliance with Urcea and Canaery by arranging a marriage between his sister and the Apostolic King of Urcea Donnchad II. Hughes VI's only child, his son Guy, died as his ship sank in a storm in 1463. His younger brothers Carles died from a resurgence of plague on the island in 1470. With the death of Hughes VI, the principality went to his nephew Niall IV, the Urcean king of House de Weluta. From then on, Halfway would be ruled by the Julian dynasty. Though the island would be governed from Urceopolis instead of Koureiros, most of the institutions of the principality would remain the same for the next two centuries as the island retained legally distinct from Urcea, effectively being governed as a personal union. During this period, the Great Court was reformed several times largely along the lines of the Concilium Daoni, adopting both its procedure as well as members who represent the classes of freemen and peasants. The union-era Great Court was by no means representative but did, like the contemporary Daoni, work to give most major social groups an advisory voice in governance. Unlike the Daoni, the Great Court took on significant administrative power during the 15th century; the remoteness of the court in Urceopolis required significant autonomy, and though the Apostolic King would send Principal Vicars, the Great Court began to aggregate significant authority to itself.

Geography

Mount Pinefor and its adjacent range and highlands, picture here, dominate much of the central part of Halfway.

Halfway is a roughly triangular island in the Sea of Canete, sitting about two hundred miles to the east of northeastern Sarpedon. Halfway has an area of about 10,600 square miles. The island is situated just below the equator. The island was formed from an ancient volcano, known as Mount Pinefor and the associated Mount Pinefor range, which is the primary topographical feature of the island. Mount Pinefor sits at the center of the island, with the island's highest point being roughly its geographical center; Mount Pinefor gently slopes down from the island's center to a ring-shaped coastal plain that makes up the island's coasts. Accordingly, the island's bays and harbors are well suited for human settlement and commercial applications, giving Halfway its historic reputation as a trade center.

Due to the island's location relative to the equator, Halfway has a tropical wet climate. Resulting from this, human settlement is more densely focused on the external plain of the island, as the area around Mount Pinefor is dense, wet jungle not well suited for human life. The peaks themselves are covered in shrub brush rather than dense foliage made up of trees.

In terms of its political geography, Halfway is divided into five counties and one consolidated city-county, Koureiros. Each of the five counties is broadly coterminous with the metropolitan area of five of the island's six major cities. They are Elatia County, Pertoulo County, Damasa County, Chasini County, and Pedino County, each being named for the County's major city center.

Economy

Halfway's economy is primarily reliant on tourism given its tropical location, safe environment, and built-up infrastructure. The island's pink sands are considered to be iconic and a major tourist draw; many huge resorts dot the nation's shoreline. The economy is also dependent on the Armed Forces of the Apostolic Kingdom of Urcea, whose major presence on the island since the Occidental Cold War has been enhanced. The demilitarization of Lariana in the wake of the Assumption Accords has lead to an increased military presence on the island, strengthening the local economy. Urcea's major Royal Navy base for the east Sarpedon theater is located on Halfway, where it has been since 1905.

Besides tourist and military sources, a major cornerstone of Halfway's economy is the presence of the Royal Orbital Service and Space Command (ROSSC), Urcea's space program. The ROSSC's primary spaceport, the Lucás IV Starport and Launch Facility, is on Halfway, whose advantageous near-equator location allows for easy orbital launches. Consequently, the technology sector is very well developed on the island as many engineers and engineering firms have relocated to the island since the ROSSC's establishment in 1952. The ROSSC's service to other Levantine nations, such as Burgundie, has only served to further develop the island's economy and reliance on the technology sector, and the Government of Urcea has taken special care to use some of the fees assessed for ROSSC services for use in development of the island.

Historically, Halfway served as a center of trade between the Istroyan south, Caphiric west, and Levantine northeast. In the era before the early modern period, traders on Halfway would serve as intermediaries between Levantine and Sarpedonic mercantile interests, making a tidy profit conveying products between the two continents. As the range of trade ships and power of states on both continents increased, the importance of the Halfway mercantile classes waned significantly. Despite this, the island's historic reputation and infrastructure as a major port remains in the 21st century.

Demographics

In 2014, Halfway's population was estimated to be 10,582,573. Of these, the vast majority identify themselves as Urceans, speak Julian Ænglish, and are members of the Catholic Church. However, 82% of the island's population self-described themselves as having part or entirely "Istroyan ancestry". Additionally, the Julian Ænglish spoken on Halfway is spoken with a regional accent reminiscent of other places in northeastern Sarpedon, as is the case with many residents of the Urcean insular region. Additionally, significant vocabulary additions from Istroyan have created what some have referred to as the "Halfway dialect", though many of these terms have entered common use as slang throughout Urcea since becoming prominent in Halfway.

Government

Halfway is a Urcean province. As a province, Halfway as a chief executive known as a Governor and a bicameral legislature known as the Great Court. Like other provinces, the Governor of Halfway has extensive powers to propose laws to the legislature, execute the laws of the province and Kingdom, and to set forth executive policies while appointing a large number of public officials. Elections in Halfway take place every five years in conjunction with the national elections.

The Great Court has existed in several forms since the establishment of the Crusader principality and is arguably the oldest provincial legislature in Urcea. In its current form, the Great Court has an upper chamber, the Lion Chamber, and a lower chamber, the Principal Assembly. The Lion Chamber, so called for the large room in which the highest knights and lords of the Principality once convened to discuss military affairs, is comprised of 18 High Magistrates. The Principal Assembly, the lower chamber, has 82 members. Both bodies, as per Urcean law, elect their legislators in specific legislative districts determined after every decennial census. The Great Court is unusual from other Urcean provincial legislatures not only due to its vintage but also by its nomenclature; nearly all other provincial legislatures simply use the terminology of "Legislature", "Senate", and "Assembly", giving Halfway a unique signifying tradition.

Politics

Halfway generally leans strongly towards Urcea's National Pact. Three of its four seats in the Concilium Daoni are considered to be "safe" National Pact seats, with only the district encompassing Koureiros usually being held by the Solidarity Party and its predecessors. Accordingly, Halfway is considered to have "solidly leaned" towards the National Pact in every Procuratorial election of the 21st century, and the Province hasn't elected a non-Pact Governor since the 1970s. In the 2030 Urcean elections, National Pact Procuratorial candidate Conner Scipio Salderio won 58% of the vote to incumbent Solidarity Procurator Livio Iarnán's 40%. Similarly, both houses of the Great Court have long-running Pact majorities; after the 2030 election, the Pact held 54 of 82 Principal Assembly and 12 of 18 High Magistrate seats. Nearly all non-Pact support on the island comes from Koureiros and its environs, including the vast majority of all non-Pact provincial legislators.

Sports

Halfway does not have a team from any of the Urcean major leagues, but teams from the major leagues as well as college sports are very popular in the province. The University of Koureiros is the most popular sporting institution on the island. UK, as it is known, is generally competitive at the highest levels of Urcean college basketball on a perennial basis. The primary inter-island competition is at the high school sports level. Indoor ice hockey at the school level is very popular among both students and spectators due to the island's hot climate. Matches in the Halfway Hockey Varsity Association - HHVA - are well attended and feature the largest on-island sporting arenas; attendance of 2,000 or more for a weekly varsity hockey match is not uncommon.