In ancient [[Corumm]] dwarves and pygmies were seen as people that had been cursed by deities at birth or whose parents were being punished for some transgression. These beliefs led dwarves to be shunned or exiled from their communities at best and persecuted or killed at worst. Ancient Daxian religions sometimes made use of dwarves in rituals, and many times the dwarves did not make it out unscathed. There are ancient records that document attempts to cure dwarfism by officials. These attempts included rearranging a dwarves organs as it was believed the limbs had shriveled due to poor blood circulation and moving bigger organs to the chest would somehow remedy this. While these attitudes and superstitions changed very little through the centuries, the arrival of Christianity and its doctrines of mercy and equality before God saw some limited shift in public attitudes. Still, dwarves could usually only make a living as objects of fun and derision, working as part of entertainment troupes or 'freak' shows, as servants to the wealthy or as menial laborers. Significant official changes in the societal status of dwarves only came about with the advent of the Qian dynasty.
| '''[[Kiravian Federalism#Themes|Theme]]''' || [[File:Ancient Flag of the Cook Islands 1973.svg|text-bottom|frameless|upright=0.1]] [[Kiravian Federalism#Themes|Federation]]
|-
| '''Capital''' <br><small>(and largest city)</small>|| [[Pontevedra]]
'''Argévia''', officially the '''State of Argévia''' ([[Kiravic Coscivian|Kiravic:]] ''Ārka Argévia'') is the southernmost [[Kiravian]] state on the west coast of Great Kirav. It borders [[Metrea]] to the north and [[Korlēdan]] to the east, facing the Sound of Æonara, an arm of the [[Sea of Odoneru]] in the West.
The last Daxian dynasty is known to have included through its history a significant number of members born with dwarfism and it banned the killing of dwarves, who were often preyed upon for the supposed miraculous properties of their body parts. Noble-born dwarves were not the only ones able to attain high office in this period, but base born dwarves too served as royal eunuchs, bureaucrats, craftsmen and there even was a dwarf who attained the rank of fleet admiral. The Qian court created many positions that were filled exclusively with dwarves. The Keeper of Imperial Shoes was a dwarf responsible for the crafting, storage and maintenance of the Emperor's shoes. Likewise the Stool Groom was a dwarf official who maintained the imperial stocks of toiletries, assisted the Emperor in his personal hygiene and excretion if necessary, and applied perfumes and lemon scented oils on the monarch after the deed. The High Gardener was a dwarf official who maintained the [[Imperial Lemon Grove]] and other palace gardens. These positions were salaried ones and prestigious for they kept these office holders in constant close proximity to the monarch. For their protection and patronage of dwarves the Qian came to be known as the dynasty of dwarves.
[[File:Lord minimus.png|thumb|Don Juan Fonseca, [[Pelaxia|Pelaxian]] ambassador to the Imperial Qian court from 1652 to 1670. Foreign dwarves were especially well received as envoys and diplomats.]]
The favor of the Qian was not reserved for domestic dwarves, foreign ones were also appreciated and feted. The [[Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth]] was the first to take notice of this trend by sending Don Juan Fonseca as its first ambassador to the court of the Qian. A dwarf of noble descent, Don Juan succesfully negotiated for the opening of economic relations between the two nations and stayed in his post for eighteen years, becoming somewhat of a socialite who mingled with [[Mirzak]]'s upper crust and maintained several mistresses. Other nations followed suit through the years such as [[Kiravia]] in 1715 with ambassador plenipotentiary Iğuriv D.S. Tōmtor, the diminutive envoy introduced Kiravian whiskey and the game of checkers to the court.
==Geography==
The patronage of dwarves by the Qian backfired harshly after the collapse of the imperial system, as dwarves were equated with the old dynasty and seen as complicit in the corruption and mismanagement of the nation by the late Qian rulers. While some dwarf officials were indeed corrupt and self serving, the vast majority of the dwarven population were entirely ordinary citizens. Many dwarves were forced out of the cities and denied employment during the early years of military rule. The promulgation of the Basic Law banning many forms of discrimination and the rising military oppression helped dissipate any residual ill will against dwarves as they were later seen as just as oppressed as everybody else. In modern day [[Corumm]] dwarves are mostly treated as any other citizens, although some still choose to form their own separate communities. Such is the case of dwarf section of the town of [[Lunara]], populated and run entirely by dwarves. The Basic Law also grants dwarves some notable benefits such as exemption from service in the military and protections against being tossed or labeled emergency food supply.
Argévia has a north-south orientation, spanning the southernmost extent of the Atrassic coast of Great Kirav. Its eastern border follows the ridgeline of the [Name] Mountains, the southernmost spur of the Western Highlands.
The climate of Argévia is temperate oceanic in the northern coastal extremes, but mostly temperate oceanic submediterranean transitioning to mediterranean pluviseasonal oceanic as one goes south. Some drier inland regions are mediterranean pluviseasonal continental. From south to north, the state spans from the mesomediterranean to thermotemperate/thermo-submediterranean to mesotemperate thermal belts.
==Government==
Argévia is a {{wp|semi-presidential|semi-presidential republic}} in which the government is responsible both to the Legislature and First Executive (governor). The State Legislature of Argévia is {{wp|bicameral}}, comprising an upper house known as the Auditorium, which exercises most actual legislative power, and a lower, primarily deliberative house known as the Argévian Assembly. The 80 members of the Auditorium are elected every four years by {{wp|alternative vote}} from geographically mutable constituencies redrawn every 16 years according to population. The 100 members of the Argévian Assembly are elected biennially at-large by mixt-member proportional representation. The First Executive is elected every six years by alternative vote, and is limited to two consecutive terms plus a third non-consecutive term. The First Executive is recallable beginning in the fourth year of his first term or the third year of his second or third term. Members of the Auditorium who have served more than four terms may be recalled in the third year of any subsequent term. While Auditorial recalls are rare (nine recall elections in history, two of which succeeded in removing the Auditorian from office), proposals to recall the First Executive are mounted fairly frequently. Six Argévian First Executives have faced recall elections, and three of these were voted out of office.
{{Wide image|Jilinuniversity laboratory.jpg|500px|3=<div align=center>Cabinet Secretariat building in Pontevedra</div>|dir=rtl}}
Like the other states of Western Great Kirav, Argévia has a long tradition of direct popular input in the political process. Argévians may participate directly in the legislative process by proposing laws to the Auditorium (either by petition or ballot initiative) and by voting in the numerous referenda authorised by the legislature every session.
Though the [[Institute for Republican Health]] ranks Argévia favourably as a "Competitive" state, praising its term limits, vigorous use of direct democracy, frequent elections, and poorly entrenched partisan interests, it notes concerningly low levels of voter information and voter turnout. Argévians are known for having a culture that does not take politics very seriously, frequently electing fringe and joke parties or independents with extreme, incoherent, or parodical platforms to the Argévian Assembly. An IRH study found that only about half of the Auditorium had any meaningful prior experience in politics, law, local government, or management/administration, and that those that did had (on average) significantly fewer years of experience than legislators in other West Coast states and [[Korlēdan]].
[[File:Irish Hills in spring, SLO County.jpg|thumb]]
Major political challenges in the state include the Auditorium's failure to balance the budget and the government's failure to spend within the limits of that budget, leading to a gradually mounting public debt despite impressive economic growth. Argévian authorities have been subject to severe criticism nationally for their poor enforcement of federal and state drug laws and for its (in the words of [[Irasur Mérovin|Prime Executive Mérovin]]) "half-arsed attempt at prison and sentencing reform: Decrowding jails by avoiding jail sentences even for dangerous offenders, and failing to follow up on promises of a 'rehabilitation-focused' justice system by implementing all of the lenient parole and release terms but not actually providing any rehabilitative programmes."
==Economy==
From the 21160s to 21190s, Argévia rapidly transitioned from an economy based primarily on agriculture to a diversified, service-based economy supported by strong media, entertainment, tourism, foreign exchange, food processing, and alcohol sectors. Proximity to the major Kiravian trading partners of [[Paulastra]] and [[North Amerigo]] across the Æonara Sound has allowed [[Pontevedra]] to surpass [[Escarda]] as Great Kirav's third-largest cargo port by annual volume (behind [[Saar-Silverda]] and [[Valēka]]). Pontevedra houses a bottling and distribution facility for Paulastrani-owned [[Imperial Cola]], as well as an aircraft component plant owned by an Amerigan firm.
[[File:Kelowna city view 2017.jpg|thumb|some city idk]]
===Tourism===
Argévia's long coastline and agreeable climate (warmer, sunnier, and drier than most of Great Kirav, though still temperate) have long made the state a popular destination for vacationers from the colder, darker, and rainier states, particularly the populous Northeast and North Coast. With the emergence of the West Coast club scene, the establishment of Pontevedra as a film and media production hub, and the commercialisation of {{wp|golf}} (historically a club-oriented and relatively exclusive sport in Kiravia), Argévia rapidly gained even more to offer visitors from Eastern and Northern Kirav empowered by the falling prices of domestic air travel.
Golf resorts. Seaside resorts. Marinas. Ski resorts in the northeast. Spas and country/natural retreats. Luxury hôtels.
Argévia welcomes an estimated XX million non-business visitors from other states and an estimated X00,000 from foreign countries annually. According to the Argévian Business & Market Executive, the tourism industry and tourist spending accounted for about 28% of the state's GDP in 21205.
===Entertainment Industry===
[[File:Bryan Kearney A State Of Trance Festival Argentina 700.jpg|thumb|Kiravian hard-trance DJ Ciarán Síocháin performing at TechnoBabel in Sigovrea]]
[[File:Golf La Toja, Primer Campo de Golf diseñado por Ramón Espinosa, 1968..jpg|thumb|St. Stephen's Green golf course, Milesia]]
[[File:Pars Hotel lobby.jpg|thumb|Grand Condor Hôtel, Pontevedra]]
Pontevedra is the heartland of the Kiravian club scene. Building on the vibrant electronic music culture of the west coast, heavy tourist traffic, and good repute among foreign travellers, Pontevedra has more nightclubs, dancehalls, licenced urban raves, and concert venues per capita than any other Kiravian state. These clubs range in character from exclusive and morally questionable "bass skyscrapers" catering to the Hekuvian élite to upscale urban dancebars to beachside party spots, to barely converted warehouses pumping out only the grungiest "tech-tonic acidcore", "garage nightmare-step", and "military-industrial complextro".
Pontevedra is locked in competition with [[Valēka]] for the title of Kiravia's music capital. Since the 21180s, the decentralisation of the Kiravian recording industry and the emergence of the Club Coast as the residence of choice for the rich, autotuned, and famous led many Kiravian independent labels and a large number of subsidiaries and imprints to relocate to Pontevedra, where a thriving DIY production culture was already generating vinyl libraries worth of unsigned content.
The Pontevedra metropolitan area is also the hub of the Kiravian film industry. All but one of the companies classified as "major studios" by industry analysts are headquartered in the area, which also hosts most of the country's sound stages. Urom gambling.
Along with the libertarian overseas colony of [[Daridia]], Pontevedra is one of two locations for Kiravia's small domestic pornography sector. Like all other Kiravian states, Argévia classifies any exchange of money or readily liquidated assets for sexual services as prostitution, and prostitution remains illegal in the state. However, the state has selectively decriminalised such transactions, provided that 1) payments are made by a third party who does not personally receive sexual services, 2) the services are cinematically or videographically recorded with the intent to distribute commercially, and 3) there is no violation of the state's general film studio regulations. Producers are routinely assessed civil fines for violating the prostitution law, but in a manner that functionally amounts to a licensing fee.
===Drugs & Black Market===
Most economists agree that a considerable portion of Argévian economic activity and earnings are not documented in official statistics due to their illegal or extralegal nature. Argévia's booming club scene, tourist traffic, and extensive trading contacts with [[Pelaxia]] and [[Heku]] have combined with lax law enforcement to make the state the capital of the Kiravian recreational drug industry. Smuggling of other goods, both illegal products and simply untaxed ones, is believed to occur on a large scale at the state's sea- and airports, despite Federal promises to ratchet up customs enforcement.
Argévia constitutes the southern spur of the wider [[Great_Kirav#Zone_E_-_Greater_Farravonia|Farravonian]] cultural region, which extends along the west coast of Great Kirav from Cape Cedar, Argévia as far north as [[Venèra]]. As with other parts of the region, Argévian culture is generally described as casual, innovative, creative, inclusive, and comparatively optimistic.
===Ethnosocial Groups===
The single-largest ethnosocial group in the state are the [[Ethnic groups of Kiravia#Serradem_Coscivians|Serradans]], though their share of the population is smaller than in the other Farravonian states. The Azurians, descended from an early group of Southern Coscivian settlers, have played an important role in Argévian history and culture, along with other Southern Coscivian groups who arrived afterward, including Korúnans, Lusans, Ardónians, Purgónians, Paisonic Coscivians, and Eskean Coscivians. Argévia hosts large transplanted communities of various small Coscivian groups native to the Western Highlands, such as Tebnans, Ayembrem, Ilkhans, and Cyptovians.
Significant numbers of [[Kir people|Kir Coscivians]] from Mid-Oceanic and Mid-Continental Kirav began moving to the state after the end of Kirosocialism, attracted by Argévia's rapid economic growth while many industrial areas in Etivéra, Váuadra, and elsewhere struggled to adjust during the liberalisation process. Kir people can be found throughout the state, but are mainly concentrated in the suburbs of its major cities.
Æonaran Coscivians and Umcarans have long-established communities in Argévia's port cities, reflecting centuries of trade and travel between Argévia and Æonara.
Argévia has the largest ethnic Tryhstian population by percentage after the [[Tryhstian Littoral]], and the second-largest by raw numbers after Cascada. Tryhstians played a major role in the exploration and settlement of Argévia, and their language, cuisine, and customs continue to influence general Argévian culture.
The nations with the largest number of citizens living in Argévia as expatriates are (in order): Caphiria, Paulastra, the Cape, Cartadania, and Aciria.
===Religion===
[[File:Loma Linda University Church 01.jpg|thumb|Catholic Church of Sts. Faro & Fiacre in County Farónin]]
Despite its reputation for cultural liberalism, Argévia is not significantly less religious than the rest of the Kiravian Federacy. This has contributed to the state's nickname ''Hekuvia Baldarê'' ("[[Caphiria]] on the [Æonara] Sound"), as Argévians somewhat resemble Caphirians in combining a strong religious identity with more liberal attitudes towards certain activities. Argévians do, nonetheless, tend to have a {{wp|universalism|universalistic}} and often {{wp|syncretism|syncretic}} approach to religion. The ''vìutiaskrálin'' ("independent congregation") and {{wp|emerging church movement|emerging church movements}} are strong and growing, especially in urban areas of the state.
Although the [[Rosary Belt]] that stretches across much of the West Coast does not extend into Argévia by most definitions, Catholicism is still the largest religion in the state, and there are several rural and micropolitan areas of Argévia that strongly resemble the Rosary Belt in terms of the role that orthodox Catholicism plays in everyday life.
Coscivian Orthodoxy is the second-largest religious denomination, followed by Ruricanism, Komarism, Independent Orthodoxy, Reformed Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Mormonism, the Bahá'í Faith, Islam, and Sikhism. Metrea is an important centre of ''[[vìutiaslrálin]]'' ("independent congregation") activity, even in rural areas, despite the fact that the ''vìutiascrálin'' have traditionally been an Eastern and urban phenomenon.
The [[Church of Dodd]], which believes that the [[Corumm|Daxian]] leader [[Prib Dodd]] is a divine being, is headquartered in Pontevedra.
[[Category:KRV]]
[[Category:Semi-presidential republics]]
[[Category:Sub-national Regions in Kiravia]]
==Notable Dwarves==
===Digen Youdu===
One of the more well known dwarves of the middle Qian period was the dwarf Digen Youdu who was a member of a cadet branch of the Imperial family and distant cousin of Emperor Lizong. As a learned man of noble blood, he was given a position befiting of his station in the palace, initially as Chief of the dwarven eunuchs (Youdu was not an eunuch himself and had a family of his own). Reputedly he helped thwart a conspiracy against the Emperor who as a result saw him as trustworthy and rewarded him with further offices such as Keeper of the Royal Seal and Overseer of the Imperial Zoo. As a confidant of the Emperor, Digen had many rivals executed. Later he would be given the task of building the Emperor's new summer residence in Zoushi.
[[File:Dwarf Viceroy.jpg|thumb|Digen Youdu, Dwarf Imperial Viceroy of Ganshu and Admiral of the White Sea]]
Upon completion of the palace Youdu was rewarded with the post of ''Dwarf Imperial Viceroy'' of the coastal province of Ganshu and a tenth share of the incomes of its ports, something unheard of for any official before him. As Viceroy he arrested many corrupt officials, developed the road network and built a new port, fostered the local economy and revived local fishing. He employed in turn many dwarves in his administration of Ganshu as tax collectors and customs officials. When Metzettan pirates began raiding in the nearby waters, Youdu built up a provintial war fleet of thirty ships and led it in person against the pirates. He smashed the pirate fleet at the Battle of Beihai Cove and pursued its remnants all the way to the coast of south [[Tanhai]]. He bombarded the harbor of Sheyin for supposedly selling supplies to he pirates and only stopped when offered twenty tons of silver. Digen proceeded to ravage Tanhai's coast for three months before returning to Ganshu. For this action and the tribute gathered, Digen was named Admiral of the White Sea and became the first of several dwarf officials to hold active military commands. The fleet under his command participated in continued efforts to erradicate piracy and gave naval support to the army of Lord Mu in [[Rusana]]. After his death and according to his wishes, the office of Dwarf Imperial Viceroy of Ganshu passed to his second son Digen Chim who was also born with dwarfism.
===Lu Chin===
[[File:Dwarf director.jpg|thumb|Film director Lu Chin]]
Lu Chin is a renowned Daxian film and documentary director. Born with a crippling case of lilliputianism and weak bones, he started his career in the show business playing the mascot of a powder laundry detergent company. The simple mascot costume consisted of a detergent box with a cutout for Chin to poke his face through and two holes in the bottom for his legs. Chin's moving performance as the charismatic box of soap gained him many fans.
[[Category:Corumm]]
[[Category:IXWB]]
[[Category:IXWB]]
[[Category:2022 Award winning pages]]
Revision as of 01:26, 29 April 2023
Elderly Daxian dwarves
In ancient Corumm dwarves and pygmies were seen as people that had been cursed by deities at birth or whose parents were being punished for some transgression. These beliefs led dwarves to be shunned or exiled from their communities at best and persecuted or killed at worst. Ancient Daxian religions sometimes made use of dwarves in rituals, and many times the dwarves did not make it out unscathed. There are ancient records that document attempts to cure dwarfism by officials. These attempts included rearranging a dwarves organs as it was believed the limbs had shriveled due to poor blood circulation and moving bigger organs to the chest would somehow remedy this. While these attitudes and superstitions changed very little through the centuries, the arrival of Christianity and its doctrines of mercy and equality before God saw some limited shift in public attitudes. Still, dwarves could usually only make a living as objects of fun and derision, working as part of entertainment troupes or 'freak' shows, as servants to the wealthy or as menial laborers. Significant official changes in the societal status of dwarves only came about with the advent of the Qian dynasty.
The last Daxian dynasty is known to have included through its history a significant number of members born with dwarfism and it banned the killing of dwarves, who were often preyed upon for the supposed miraculous properties of their body parts. Noble-born dwarves were not the only ones able to attain high office in this period, but base born dwarves too served as royal eunuchs, bureaucrats, craftsmen and there even was a dwarf who attained the rank of fleet admiral. The Qian court created many positions that were filled exclusively with dwarves. The Keeper of Imperial Shoes was a dwarf responsible for the crafting, storage and maintenance of the Emperor's shoes. Likewise the Stool Groom was a dwarf official who maintained the imperial stocks of toiletries, assisted the Emperor in his personal hygiene and excretion if necessary, and applied perfumes and lemon scented oils on the monarch after the deed. The High Gardener was a dwarf official who maintained the Imperial Lemon Grove and other palace gardens. These positions were salaried ones and prestigious for they kept these office holders in constant close proximity to the monarch. For their protection and patronage of dwarves the Qian came to be known as the dynasty of dwarves.
Don Juan Fonseca, Pelaxian ambassador to the Imperial Qian court from 1652 to 1670. Foreign dwarves were especially well received as envoys and diplomats.
The favor of the Qian was not reserved for domestic dwarves, foreign ones were also appreciated and feted. The Carto-Pelaxian Commonwealth was the first to take notice of this trend by sending Don Juan Fonseca as its first ambassador to the court of the Qian. A dwarf of noble descent, Don Juan succesfully negotiated for the opening of economic relations between the two nations and stayed in his post for eighteen years, becoming somewhat of a socialite who mingled with Mirzak's upper crust and maintained several mistresses. Other nations followed suit through the years such as Kiravia in 1715 with ambassador plenipotentiary Iğuriv D.S. Tōmtor, the diminutive envoy introduced Kiravian whiskey and the game of checkers to the court.
The patronage of dwarves by the Qian backfired harshly after the collapse of the imperial system, as dwarves were equated with the old dynasty and seen as complicit in the corruption and mismanagement of the nation by the late Qian rulers. While some dwarf officials were indeed corrupt and self serving, the vast majority of the dwarven population were entirely ordinary citizens. Many dwarves were forced out of the cities and denied employment during the early years of military rule. The promulgation of the Basic Law banning many forms of discrimination and the rising military oppression helped dissipate any residual ill will against dwarves as they were later seen as just as oppressed as everybody else. In modern day Corumm dwarves are mostly treated as any other citizens, although some still choose to form their own separate communities. Such is the case of dwarf section of the town of Lunara, populated and run entirely by dwarves. The Basic Law also grants dwarves some notable benefits such as exemption from service in the military and protections against being tossed or labeled emergency food supply.
Notable Dwarves
Digen Youdu
One of the more well known dwarves of the middle Qian period was the dwarf Digen Youdu who was a member of a cadet branch of the Imperial family and distant cousin of Emperor Lizong. As a learned man of noble blood, he was given a position befiting of his station in the palace, initially as Chief of the dwarven eunuchs (Youdu was not an eunuch himself and had a family of his own). Reputedly he helped thwart a conspiracy against the Emperor who as a result saw him as trustworthy and rewarded him with further offices such as Keeper of the Royal Seal and Overseer of the Imperial Zoo. As a confidant of the Emperor, Digen had many rivals executed. Later he would be given the task of building the Emperor's new summer residence in Zoushi.
Digen Youdu, Dwarf Imperial Viceroy of Ganshu and Admiral of the White Sea
Upon completion of the palace Youdu was rewarded with the post of Dwarf Imperial Viceroy of the coastal province of Ganshu and a tenth share of the incomes of its ports, something unheard of for any official before him. As Viceroy he arrested many corrupt officials, developed the road network and built a new port, fostered the local economy and revived local fishing. He employed in turn many dwarves in his administration of Ganshu as tax collectors and customs officials. When Metzettan pirates began raiding in the nearby waters, Youdu built up a provintial war fleet of thirty ships and led it in person against the pirates. He smashed the pirate fleet at the Battle of Beihai Cove and pursued its remnants all the way to the coast of south Tanhai. He bombarded the harbor of Sheyin for supposedly selling supplies to he pirates and only stopped when offered twenty tons of silver. Digen proceeded to ravage Tanhai's coast for three months before returning to Ganshu. For this action and the tribute gathered, Digen was named Admiral of the White Sea and became the first of several dwarf officials to hold active military commands. The fleet under his command participated in continued efforts to erradicate piracy and gave naval support to the army of Lord Mu in Rusana. After his death and according to his wishes, the office of Dwarf Imperial Viceroy of Ganshu passed to his second son Digen Chim who was also born with dwarfism.
Lu Chin
Film director Lu Chin
Lu Chin is a renowned Daxian film and documentary director. Born with a crippling case of lilliputianism and weak bones, he started his career in the show business playing the mascot of a powder laundry detergent company. The simple mascot costume consisted of a detergent box with a cutout for Chin to poke his face through and two holes in the bottom for his legs. Chin's moving performance as the charismatic box of soap gained him many fans.
