Vithinja
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Viþinjske Samwärckens Köningsrigge Zyndicatist (Ruþí) Viþjinsk | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
Motto: 'Fhremodt imot himmlvägnen' 'Forwards towards heavens road' | |
Anthem:
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| Capital | Rolvsvik |
| Largest | Tår Bringär |
| Official languages | Ruthi |
| Recognised national languages | Ruthi, Siarvish |
| Recognised regional languages | Caeric |
| Ethnic groups (2025) |
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| Religion |
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| Demonym(s) | Ruthan, Ruthie |
| Government | Unitary Syndicated Constitutional Monarchy |
• King | Rolv XI Sortvit |
| Rolv XI Sortvit | |
| Magnus Tornsson | |
| Rikart Ragnersson | |
| Sten Vikqvist | |
| Ingrid Fridsdotr | |
| Riordan Mayor | |
| Lina Birgitdotr | |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,099,191 km2 (424,400 sq mi) (rank here) |
• Water (%) | 6.83% |
| Population | |
• 2028 estimate | 70,900,000 58,000,000 full citizens |
• 2027 census | 70,442,491 |
• Density | 61.1/km2 (158.2/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | $3,662,103,641,565.74 $3.662 trillion |
• Per capita | $51,987.14 |
| Gini (2027) |  37.9medium |
| HDI (2027) |  0.891very high |
| Currency | Ruthan korunmärck (ʍ) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+0 |
| Date format | yy-mm-dd |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +61 |
The Syndical Cooperative Kingdom of Vithinja (Ruþí: Viþjinsk) often simply referred to as The Cooperative is a constitutional monarchy located in Kiro-Borealis, but is more politically connected to the Northern Levantian region of Ultmar and it's various nations. It borders Caergwynn in the south among the vithinjan isles. Crossing the Kilikas Sea to the far west lies the island nation of Kiravia, while crossing the sea southwards one can find the lands of Faneria. Vithinja holds the only land crossing from Kiroborea to Levantia via the Vithins-Awraidd Bridge Project, a large set of bridges and underwater tunnels connecting the Kiroborea mainland to most of the Vithinjan isles and ending in northern Caergwynn. The Vithinjan capital is the City of Rolvsvik, despite being only the 7th largest city in the nation. Rolvsvik holds importance as the historical seat of power of the various royal lines of the nation as well as being the religious center for the Church of Rolv. The two largest cities are Tår Bringär and Cärssund, both of which lie within the vithinjan isles. Tår Bringär has long been the economic capital of Vithinja as it holds a large and deep natural harbor well placed for both safety and trading purposes. For most of Ultmar history the city benefited from strategically defensible geography, avoiding devastation from the many wars that plagued the Ultmar mainlanders, but since the great war it has fallen in favor somewhat compared to these mainland harbor cities. Vithinja has a population of ~70 million people. The vast majority of the population lives either in the vithinjan isles, or the more temperate southern coastline, but the northern lakes region still holds small population centers. These northern population centers are important to help extract the large wealth of the northern lands.
Vithinja is a relative newcomer among the nations of today in it's current state, only existing in it’s current form for the last 200 years. On the other hand the culture and traditions of a united northern nation has existed for almost a millennium. One of that nations largest issues is caused by large variety in cultures, religion, traditions and more recently ideologies, leading to the nation never truly being able to achieve stability. The nations origins is a tale of two very different peoples fighting each other for the reign but almost always united against foreign threats. The first traces of the two groups arriving in the north date back as far as 700 CE. From the evidence they were not the first people to live in the Vithinjan lands but whatever natives came before are long extinct. It is believed that the first group of settlers who would become the Ruthans left their homeland in western Levantia to sail for new lands in the north, while the celtic origins are even less certain. Both peoples started settling many of the islands along the northern coast of Levantia as well as finding the lands of Ruthinja. (Ruþí:Fhres-Ruthirí) While the Ruthan people have generally been the rulers over both peoples the Guerigogled have almost always outnumbered them, to the confusion of many scholars.
The vithinjan population is mainly divided into the Ruthans, the former ruling people as well as the Guerigogled (Ruþí: Gärgöthe, Siarvish: Siargogle) often shortened to Guerigs, who make up the majority of the population. While they once had huge cultural differences the two cultures are well integrated together in the modern era, making religion and ideology the more common cause of cultural differences than ethnicity
While not being a very populous country, thanks to a combination of large quantities of natural resources with a high security for companies to extract them today, as well as good shared control of the northern Levantian maritime trade together with Caergwynn, the Vithinjan people are quite well of. Maritime trade is especially secured thanks to the city of Tår Bringär, which holds the deepest and among the largest harbors in Ultmar trade.
Vithinja is a part of the League of Nations and the Kilikas-Boreal Cooperative Zone.
History
Tribal Chiefdom Era
The Vithinjan lands in Kiro-Borealis once housed small tribes of a somewhat unique culture. Little remains of these natives as most of their history is lost with only small amounts of archeological evidence that they ever even existed.
Two legends from two very different cultures speak of how the beautiful lands of Vithinja was once first discovered. The Ruthans take their name from the leader of the first settlers, Ruth, who left his home in western Levantia to explore the north, searching for a new home. At first he settled the island of Nordland, but near the end of his life he left to discover the Ruthinja mainland.
From the other side of Levantia a group of gogauls lead by three brothers lead a small group of settlers to cross the ocean towards the Vithinjan isles. The legend goes that the three brothers traveled with a sizable fleet of settlers north of Levantia to find rich unsettled lands. When they found the first large island the first brother settled, stating he would build a great city there. His brothers both decided to continue on, searching for better lands. The remaining two brothers discovered another large island, this one with a large natural harbor. The second brother stated he would build a greater city than his older brother there. The youngest decided again to continue, leaving with only a small remaining group of settlers to find even richer lands. They ended up finding a huge island, even richer than the first two in everything one would need to build a civilization. He settled there, and within his lifetime, he had conquered both of his brothers and built himself a small nation of his own.
These two original groups of settlers are believed to have arrived in Vithinjan lands as early as 750, but it wasn't until 825 that these tribes made up large enough numbers to really start affecting the other tribes and nations in the region except for small raids. The few original settler tribes quickly expanded, spread then splintered into numerous smaller tribes. Using their understanding of seafaring they traveled south in small warbands to find the wealth of the northern peoples of Ultmar. These tribes living in the harsher lands of Kiro-Borealis soon became dependant on these stolen resources brought home by their raiding, as they quickly outgrew the meager resources of their frozen homeland. Despite having substantially different pagan beliefs the nordgeaths and gogauls both sailed south to fight the more prosperous mainlanders. This unified warrior tradition started a process of religious and cultural intermingling that would help unify these very different peoples under a single national idea.
This unity was far in the future however, as these two groups of tribes quickly came into a number of small conflicts spanning most of the 7th century between the early tribal alliances over the most prosperous lands of what is today eastern and southern Vithinja. These wars only really had two winners: The many tribes who would've been the target of these warriors if they were not busy with their infighting, as well as the most recent group of settlers in the region, those who would soon call themselves the protectors of christians in these far northern lands: Caergwynn. Only a few years before, in the 860's a few of the local northern tribes had converted to christiandom, before being conquered by a powerful boreal tribe. These invaders from beyond the continent barely lasted ten years before the Caeric knights made examples of them, with their arrival in Ultmar in the 870's before launching powerful counter-raids to weaken the boreal tribes ability to terrorize Ultmar. In these attempts they were able to subjugate many of the island tribes, making up a good third of all the northfolk.
Although records are still quite uncertain of the exact time, somewhere between 860 and 880 it is believed that the first nordgeath raiders would find a peculiar friendship with a people far from their homes. While resting in the small village that would one day be named the city of Tdrassäl, on the island of Vonein, strange sails were spotted in the distance. Although they first prepared to fight, they soon realized the strange new arrivals looked more like themselves than the heavier arms of the soldiers of the southern empire. Seeing little wealth to steal and a hard fight to gain it, they chose instead to meet these strange southerners and find if their was value to be found through words. These men where often referred to as Corsairs, and they knew much of extorting wealth from those far to the south of the realm known as Ultmar by the southerners. This meeting would be the start of a strong bond developed through the trading between two people who very much understood each other.
Unexpectedly the arrival of the powerful Caeric princedom and it's dominating navy actually improved things for the boreal tribes who escaped the subjugation of these northern templars, as the threat forced them to grow more capable in warfare as well as improve their navigation capabilities. As a new method of using the stars was discovered and spread they were now able to make longer journeys than ever before. This lead to the discovery of new unspoiled and poorly defended lands far further south than they ever dared travel before, the most enduring reaching as far as the Vandarch. With their improved war-making and new sources of plunder, the few bravest among the tribal chieftains become much more powerful, consolidating what was once hundreds of smaller tribes into the nine viking lords, as they were called by the southerners. All of these changes would finally be fully established in the first quarter of the 8th century, as two of the nine lords would leave their homes en-masse for new homes, taken from the peoples of Ultmar. The first of these found themselves in what is today northern Fiannria, and would hold their own almost until the millenium shift. The second left only ten years later, after hearing of the first ones success, finding their own corner of what is today western Faneria. They would hold out far longer, a small number of their descendants still making up a small minority within the modern Fanerian nation.
A small tribe simply known by the name of their dynastic clan leader strong chieftain named Ruth, whose father had become the third of the nine viking lords in today's Ruthinja. He started his rule just before the millennium shift. Before his father had died in battle, leaving him to rule in his 22nd winter, he had watched as the peoples of the north went from hundreds of small tribes to only nine. He had also seen how the christians, despite being brutally murdered by his people only for attempting to spread their ideas, would continue traveling north to spread their beliefs. He did not strongly believe in the ideas they spread but he could see how the ideas were spreading through some tribes, especially through mothers and children. By the time he came to rule he would continue to watch as the southern missionaries slowly made more and more progress towards their religious mission. As he consolidated his leadership in his region over the first ten years of his rule, he could not ignore his fascination with this war of ideas.
It was nothing but a curious interest though until the day he met with the viking lord to his east, and found that he had converted to the southern faith, in part to make an alliance with the Caeric knights of northern Ultmar. A plan was taking shape in the aging chieftain named Ruth. He would convert to the new faith and encourage the weaker tribes who had already converted to turn on their lords, allowing him to grow far more powerful than any of the other viking lords. They would inevitably all join together against him, as he would be too much of a threat. He would never be able to stand against them alone. But he would be part of christiandom, and he had seen how they defended their faithful.
His plans did not all go to plan. After accepting his baptism what was suppose to be an simple overwhelming of the more christian celtic tribes turn into a bloody ten year long war. The powerful state he had planned to shape was severely weakened. At first it looked as if it would help avoid the great coalition from the other lords, but it only delayed it as his first few victories against his neighbors soon turned the rest against him. This was the moment where all would be tested. He reached out a hand to the northern knights of the holy cross, those who he once viewed as his greatest threat, the Caerics. He knew that he would have to kneel to the southern power, but he had come too far to see his great task unfinished. The deal was struck, he would accept their rule, but he would have the aid to defeat the remaining pagans. With the aid of the knights he was finally able to unite all but the most distant of the tribes, and his rule of the north was complete. All that remained was to ensure his rule was his alone.
Ruth the first he was named. Only two year later he would be slain before seeing the last part of his great purpose fulfilled. He rebelled against the Caerics only a year after being named king of the lands then simply called Borealis. In the decisive battle against the princedoms knights, he and all but one of his sons would be slain, but his warriors would still claim victory. The last of his sons, Ragnar, would rename both himself and the kingdom he now ruled over after his father and oldest brother: The Realm of Ruth, Ruthinja.
His fathers war against the Caerics had lead to his Excommunication, one that was immediately passed onto himself. He would spend most of his life consolidating the new kingdom and fighting in a series of civil wars. The end result was a kingdom that was only christian at the highest and lowest levels, where a christian king ruled pagan lords ruling over christian servants. The tribal system that had always existed in the region would maintain itself, only giving small concessions towards their ruler. The continuation of the raiding culture would ensure that every Ruth to rule over the tribes would find themselves excommunicated within the first years of their rule, severely harming the dynasties legitimacy among the people who made the unification possible. By the year 1050 the larger conflicts had at subsided, and it was clear that the north would be ruled as one realm, under one king.
Tribal Kingdom Era
Ruthinja being a newly united kingdom quickly established a strong rivalry with the principality that enabled it's creation in Caergwynn. Over the next 50 years many wars were fought over control of the Vithinjan isles, changing the line of control over the prosperous territory. This would cause damage to the isles wealth and power that wouldn't be fully regained for 200 years. The many wars fought between the Ruthans and Caerics over these islands was the main external matters that the kingdom of Ruthinja would face as a unified force. When not fighting the caerics the many tribal chieftains in Ruthinja would go out and raid together with the free tribes of Nordska. Sometimes small internal conflicts would also flare up but the crown made sure to involve itself in these internal matters to help enforce stability.
Overtime the feudal system would spread it's influence over most of the Vithinjan isles as well as south-eastern Ruthinja, mainly among the closes celtic regions to the Ruthinjan and Caeric bases of power. Outside of these regions the notherners maintained a more elective tribal order, with meetings of the various tribal rulers to decide their next course of actions. The fact that the king was never invited to these tribal meetings was a slight that lead to civil war more than once, yet some tribes would not bend to the crowns dominion.In the the kings of Ruthinja were never able to destroy these old tribal systems, mainly because the best warriors for his armies came from these lands as well as the economic boost from their raiding helping boost the wealth of the barren lands the crown ruled. The continued excommunication that these raids caused however were a severe problem for every new king.
The end of the Caergwynn wars around 1100 resulted in Ruthinja securing most of the isles, as the Caerics turned to deal with other rivals on the mainland. This lead to a period of peace that allowed the tribal rulers raiding to escalate. It wasn't more than 10 years after this prosperous time began that a Nordskan lord left their homes behind in an invasion of other Fhainnic lands. It only took until th early 1120's for some of the most powerful tribes in Ruthinja - seeing the success of the Nordskans - to gather in spite of their king, in numbers the crown would not dare face, and left in the first invasion targeting the somewhat new state of Culfra. This action going unanswered by the ruler would not be forgotten by his subjects.
When the most powerful of the kings vassals, previously promising to baptize himself, declared only a month before 1129 that he would lead the first ever Ruthinjan invasion of the inland sea others called the Vandarch, the king prepared to crack down on this clear rebellion. However, the lack of legitimacy lead to many of his other vassals turning against the crown as he prepared for a civil war. The kingdom would end up on the brink of collapse as the invasion left them behind, seeking glory in far away lands.
The following civil war would last for the next 20 years, only being interrupted once the first of the Ultmar Crusaders started to arrive. When the next Ruth was declared, his uncle having been slain by the rebels he struggled against, he declared himself the defender of the Pagan traditions of the boreal lands. This was the only thing that protected the kingdom from total collapse, as the southern islands were lost to the invigorated Caerics supported by southern crusaders. If the Gallowglass wars in the realm of Culfra did not cause difficulties for the northern crusaders that may have been the end of the Ruthinjan kingdom, but they held out through the many attacks, most of the battles against the christians ending before 1180, finally allowing the kingdom to recover.
But there would be no recovery. In the time that the Ruthinjans had been constantly fighting both foreign and domestic enemies, the tribal rulers of the Nordskans had relished in their plundered wealth and felt little of the many conflicts ravaging their western neighbors. This prosperity was successfully united not through conquest by a foreign faith, but an alliance of electors among the tribal leaders selecting a rulers amongst themselves. This first ruler was elected only a few years before the arrival of the crusaders. They would lend their brothers in faith assistance throughout the next forty years, helping protect the north from the southern incursion. After this however, it became evident how weak the Ruthinjan kingdom had become. The electors gathered for an important decision, and unanimously decided that they would conquer their brother-realm, to ensure that the christians would never gain another foothold on their continent. When their fleet first sailed into the Ruthinjan capital, they were let in as the reinforcements they previously represented. Only the kings own guard protected him from the betrayal of their brother-kingdom, and the war of one-night ended without ever seeing the suns light.
The new Nordskan kingdom would immediately run into issues however. Their own system being built fully out of the tribal electoral system was ill fit to rule over the more feudalistic parts of Ruthinja, and found little legitimacy among the local tribal rulers. The Ruthinjan lords had learned one thing above all from their own kingdoms struggles. The simple ability to ignore their rulers expected loyalty and only rise against him when he would attempt to enforce his rule. For a time the lords were left alone, as the king was busy fighting off the Caerics once more. This would cause further issues, as the king was slain by the Caeric knight. His heir would rule over one of the strangest times in the history of the north. This silent insurrection by the lords was finally addressed, caused another civil war in the nation, only lasting a few years before the most powerful of the Ruthinjan lords made a move that would change the way of the north for the next hundred years. He made an alliance with the Caeric principality, forcing the king to his negotiating table. The crown had to give substantial concessions to the western lords, leading to near autonomous vassals, who may bow and call him king, but would only help him in times of war against the southerners, and even that only to a limited extent.
The kings of the Nordskans found themselves in a strange political game over the next 100 years leading up to the middle of the 12th century. One where his own subjects made up two very different groups. One would barely listen to a call to arms, mostly spending their time raiding or even leaving for southern lands in large numbers. The other was constantly making political maneuvers based on the power struggle between the Nordskans and the Caerics. The region never really being loyal to either and constantly undermining the regional power of both in the Ruthinjan lands. This period also meant relative peace in the region, allowing for much growth. Such growth soon lead to overpopulation of the frozen lands, being further complicated by the winters growing harsher in the early 12th century. The solution to this issue was a simple one long since practiced by the northerners: invading the southern lands. This period is thus the golden age of invading settlers, attacking everywhere along the Ultmar coast and including the only invasion ever to attempt to invade the HLE.
At the end of this period the kings tribal lords at home one day simply deposed him and disbanded the kingdom as a political entity. This quickly lead to a war between the various now independent lords of Ruthinja and the Caers. One that would have likely lead to the expansion of the Caerics domain, where it not for it's unfortunate timing with the Great Plague of 1347.
Holy Kingdoms Era
The Great Plague was a calamity devastating most of the southern nations, In the late 15th century a number of people had started to criticize the catholic church, spreading a new wave of reformist ideas. One of the people who found these ideas fascinating was a young christian duke name Rolv. Despite his christian upbringing he was heavily involved in the old traditions of the ruthan pagan faiths. Because of this he saw an opportunity present itself with this new wave of reformists. Together with a group of christian scholars who held similar beliefs, he created a new set of rules for a branch of christian beliefs, that would be acceptable to those holding on to the old faith of the north. He formed the Church of Rolv, although the name came long after personally naming the faith as the northern church. With this new political tool he was able to garner a lot of support from other small rulers, conquering those who would not bow in quick succession. He chose to name himself the ruler of two separate kingdoms, the kingdom of Ruthinja, claiming all that the old kingdom held, as well as the kingdom of Vithinja, laying claim to all of the islands the caerics had taken. While his home town lay in Ruthinja he would move the capital to the largest city on the Vithinjan isles to further enforce his control over the islands. After accomplishing all of this it is said he gave his crown to his grandson during the winter of 1512 and then walked out into a blizzard, never to be seen again.
1500-1800
The kingdom of Vithinja fought many wars with the many nations surrounding them, mainly in an attempt to gain full control of the northern Levantian trade.
After many wars fighting their neighbors and the monarchy being forced to leave the country Vithinja started down the path of collapse again. The only thing that loosely kept the nation together was the declaration of a federal republic in the early 17th century.
The Unforgotten Peace
The 100 Year Republic - Country was lead by a republic that attempted to change the nations values to be more multicultural and peaceful. ~1850-1950
The Great War - With the arrival of the great war the republic attempted to stay out of the war. However this only lead to those still following the old warlike culture resurrecting the monarchy and taking over the country through a hostile coup. ~1950
Third Kingdom - After the Great War the monarchy was struggling with recognition. The country was approaching a civil war. A powerful organization of Syndicalists approached the King with a demand of abdication. The monarchy levied the last of their power to reject this proposal, attempting to reach a compromise. The syndicalists had collected a lot of support by advocating for a peaceful power transfer, which in the end lead to what is today known as The Vithinjan Compromise.
Syndicalization
After several years of pain an suffering, the Second Great War ended with Vithinja on the victorious side. This was not as well felt in the nation as one may usually expect, in large part because several holdings that belonged to Vithinja before the war were handed to Caergwynn, since Vithinja had legally already ceded them in the VITH_EARLY_PEACE_EVENT. While this is often seen by experts on the subject these days as inevitable, considering the large caeric populations in the areas, that is not how the people of the nation perceived the end of the war. With the military junta only ever being accepted because of the republics quick settling after the VITH_PEARL_HARBOR, the legitimacy the government had been able to maintain through the war as a fight for the fatherland was completely gone. A new civil war was brewing, in a nation that had already suffered deep wounds from the last 50 years of conflicts. The start of political upheaval with protest turned riots by various political movement, turning more radical and partisan by the day.
This could have very well been the end of Vithinja as a unified nation, was it not for two greatly influential individuals and their strange friendship. Ruth Sortvit was only a cousin to King Rolv X. With Rolv having his own children sibling there was no way Ruth should ever had a chance to ascend to the throne, even if it held only religious influence at the time. So he instead spent his life as a well studied political scholar. It was during these days at the Cärssund University. This is where he made friends with Gunnar Folgvig, a man soon to become famous for his famous book Red Snow, White Blood, a book describing a system of government based on the unions, or Fack as they are called in Vithinja. Neither of them expected the book to become a centerpiece of the socialistic factions during the post-war crisis. Folgvig found himself being pushed into the leadership of the populist movement, with most of the leaders around him starting to discuss the coming conflict with the two strongest other factions: the ruling military junta and the rising royalist movement trying to place Rolv X in power. Many believe that it was Gunnars wife, Helga Himladotr who suggested that he should attempt to make Ruth the leading figure of the royalist movement so that "We can celebrate Christmas this winter with white stained streets, not red." Folgvig traveled to meet his old friend, found himself in a small skirmish between armed partisans, got his left ear shot off but arrived in Rolvsvik otherwise unharmed. His request to his friend to become the representative for the royalist came with one well understood implication: Ruth, having been a scholar for most of his life, would have to challenge his cousin, a trained duelist, to single combat in accordance to old traditions. While those traditions would easily have been ignored and dismissed under most other circumstances, the importance of appearance during the crisis meant that it was unlikely to be dismissed.
(Ruth miraculously wins duel [Might have cheated somehow])
(Ruth and Gunnar creates the "[White-Red Meeting of Concordance]", where they agree to the "[Syndical Compromise]", the founding document of the modern Vithinjan state)
(Vith becomes an isolationist nation that hates all of their neighbors, with a closed of economy)
(Period of isolationism lasts officially until the [1982 Arctic Nuclear Flash], where the League of Nations proved beyond reasonable doubt that Vithinja was responsible. The following sanctions and loss of international statement combined with strong pressure from far too many sources leading to Vithinja entering a short period of political turmoil)
End of Isolationism
The [Diplomatic Crisis of 1983] lead to a lot of political turmoil in Vithinja. While most foreign involvement was done in as much secrecy as possible today there is little doubt of the impact in the nation. While figures like [Magnus Tornsson] today speak of the period as only an internal reorganization, the political support that he and his newly established Cooperative movement received was greatly disproportional to his popularity only a year before. The end result was the same however. Vithinja received a new ruling alliance, as the sudden death of Riordan II and rise of Ruth XII is still viewed with suspicion to this day, considering Riordans three children all passed away during the same period and Ruths close relation with Magnus. All of this was finalized in the "[Dismissal of 1984]", where King Ruth XII ordered a sudden full elective cycle. The results of this cycle are viewed with suspicion by some, in part since it resulted in the replacing of more than half of the National Assembly, and all but two of the National Chancellors, with Ruth XII being one of the exceptions.
This period directly after the 1984 change of government is often referred to as the "[Vithinjan Economic Miracle]", where the Vithinjan economy finally started opening up for proper international trade for the first time since the Second Great War. This period saw the Vithinjan economy nearly double its GDP over the next 16 years, in large part because of population growth both from an increased birthrate but more importantly from previously highly regulated or outright banned immigration. Even though the rules for immigration in Vithinja are far harsher than many other nations to this day they still experience a lot of immigration in large part thanks to their extensive rules being quite easy to fulfill for the vast majority of people if given enough time.
Recent History
One of the many changes that ended up as a result of the Vithinjan economy opening up to international trade partners while minimizing the chance of a war breaking out was a new perceived need for those in the nation seeking a chance to fulfill their religious obligation to partake in the art of violent combat. As the nation could not officially support any such efforts either this lead down a path these northern people had not walked down in a long time: Mercenaries. From 2001 to 2007 there was a large surge in the creation and sale of mercenary work to distant contractors. While this lead to some complaint from foreign partners there was little issue until the start of The Deluge. While Vithinjan mercenaries early on in the conflict mainly served the League forces, a lot of issues started coming up when journalists started to come out with proof of war crimes committed by some mercenary forces. This was however not the most controversial event by Vithinjan mercenaries. That would be the BRIBE_EVENT_NAME where multiple full companies of mercs were paid an almost absurd bribe to join with the Varshan forces.
Geography
Vithinjas varied geography is both a blessing and a curse. Although large portions of the lands are difficult to impossible to inhabit, they hold some of the most beautiful landmarks to be found in the world. Between the innumerable fjords covering the coast to the northern villages surrounded by the sights of huge tall mountain ranges, large glaciers that glimmer in the sunlight and if any visitor is lucky, the wondrous northern lights. This would make it a better tourist location if the temperature didn't drive most foreigners away.
Climate
The climate in Vithinja is defined by the separation between the warmer coastal regions including the Vithinjan isles, the fjord covered northern coastlines the northern mountainous regions and the subarctic lake regions. The nations economic centers have always been tied to the coastal regions, with very little agricultural lands excluding the Vithinjan islands. A few local grains being hardy enough to survive the boreal summers thanks to the north-blowing winds. The coastlines nearest joining the two landmasses of Vithinja together however are constantly a target of the cold arctic winds from the north.
Politics
Governing System
The Vithinjan syndicalist way of governing has been classified by experts as Hierarchical Top-Down Syndicalism, with some extra complications from the Monarchical Exception and it's institutionally-enforced anti-liberal Neotribalism. This definition can be broken down as thus: Syndicalism as in the establishing of a system where people may freely form organizations that hold political influence to affect the legislative and executive powers and process of the state. Hierarchical as in these organizations being expected to form smaller joint organizations with representatives from each, who work together to help take care of matters that is in each of their interests, continuing upward as is necessary to join all organizations together at the highest point. Top-down as in these organizations were first created with a set of leading organizations above, whose powers where then divided into smaller portions for which new organizations attempted to be established, creating astarting point for the Syndicated systems powers that were then handed down a ladder of smaller organizations until it reached the local level.
In effect the syndicalist government functions as a hierarchy of unions each of which may function as either an executive or legislative, but usually both branches for part of the nations laws. The powers of each union is based on what has previously been agreed to be delegated to that level of the hierarchy from above. These powers include both serving as the executive branch for any issues the representatives bring from the legislative decisions of their own unions, one step down in the hierarchy, as well as serving as part of the legislative branch for any higher unions they send representatives to. One of the main purposes of this division of power was to ensure the each part of the government could take care of their issues swiftly and effectively. The national council refers to the members of the highest point in the hierarchy and they hold only executive powers, including the first level of delegation of all state power towards the lower branches. While some may worry that this would simply lead to the national council holding full authoritarian power, they are limited by the constitution to some degree, most importantly as they do not control the length of their terms. As each representative must be chosen by a union at the lowest level before they are able to start climbing the hierarchy, any representative who is seen as failing in their duty to the lower unions may simply be replaced, no need to even wait for an election as the folkmoot held to determine the representative may be called at any time by those making the decision. This representative election is generally not referred to as an election as it is not a choice of the majority, as this is considered democratic republicanism, something that the state specifically attempts to distance itself from. Instead it is rather an agreement that is not protested by any member.
Current Ruling Body
Despite attempting to generally distance themselves from party-like organizations as to not appear too democratic the current Vithinjan government can generally be split into certain factions. While each of the members of the National Council is and individual and may choose to not follow the lead of others in the same faction, these factions give a general idea of the power balance among those leading the nation.
The largest faction is the Syndical Cooperatist [Pink], usually shortened to The 'Cooperatists'. They are lead by Chancellor Magnus Tornssen, who is famous for being the creator of the Cooperatist movement and helped move Vithinja away from their previous isolationist direction after the 1983 Vithinjan Nuclear Test. Since 2019 he has been the single longest leading chancellor, leading the reds since 2007 continuously while also leading them between 1991 and 1999. He is nearing 40 years since he first achieved a position in the national council at the young age of 28. Among his achievements he has successfully pushed Vithinja from mostly domestic economy to a vibrant export based economy, while also helping improve relations with foreign partners nearly universally. His critics points out that he has continuously promised to cut down Vithinjan military spending for over 25 years with little success, although more significantly he is often a target of both internal and external environmentalists who point out how he is the main reason for Vithinjan environmental policy being by modern standards especially abysmal considering it is a mainly train-based economy. The Cooperatists as a whole hold 67 seats in the national assembly, mainly from the reds and the blues, but has supporters from every collar-union except the blacks. Currently the Cooperatists are alone in controlling more than one of the Chancellor seats, as both blue-chancellor Rikart Ragnersson and new-chancellor Lina Birgittdotr are important figures in the faction. Thanks to this near majority in the national council gives them great executive powers as long as they can convince a single other faction to work with them on whatever issue may be in question. This is helped by most other factions having greater disagreements with each other than the Cooperatists.
Boreal Syndicalists [Red]... 48 seats... lead by green-chancellor Stem Vikqvist.
Traditional Monarchists [Dark Blue]... 43 seats... lead by black-chancellor Rolv XI Sortvit, the King.
National Syndicalists [Brown]... 42 seat... lead by white-chancellor Riordan Mayor.
Syndical Environmentalists [Green]... 21 seats... lead by pink-chancellor Ingrid Fridsdotr.
Liberal Monarchists [Light Blue]... 8 seats... lead by white-representative Aron Watch... He is most famous for being the first representative to get into a brawl with his own chancellor, Riordan Mayor, over an attempt to pressure white-representatives into supporting the national syndicalists.
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Among the unions the seven highest level unions that all under unions are subdivisions of are all based on the concept of collar colors that was a pretty popular concept as the syndicalization took place. At first there were only four collar-unions that represented the nation, but today that number has risen to seven. They are as follows: the blue-collar union, the white-collar union, the red-collar union, the black-collar union, the green-collar union, the pink-collar union and the new-collar union.
Among these the reds and blacks are considered special. The reds generally represent those who should directly support the syndicalists who created the current nation. Because of this there are many additional rules to high level members of these unions. Similarly the blacks represent the powers and interests of the royal family, having all higher level representatives among the black-collars being determined by the king directly. It is not law but tradition that no member of the royal family should take the position as union representative.
The strangest and probably most important two unions below the high seven is the Union of the Lower Courts and the Higher Justice Union. These both represent the courts, one representing the higher courts and the other the lower courts. Despite their obvious connection they belong to different higher unions. The lower courts belong to the red-collars and the higher courts belong to the black-collars. This is because of one of the compromises in the constitution, where the syndicalists received control of the sub-regional courts while the king remained in control of regional and national courts.
Constitution
The Vithinjan constitution is an unorthodox work as it is a product of three origins. The constitution borrows a few things from the constitution of the Vithinjan republic, however this is the smallest component in the text. Secondly and thirdly it is sourced from the compromise between the government of the royal Sortvit family and their supporters as well as the national syndicalists that make up the nations labor unions. This has caused the constitution to have proved over the years to be a convoluted mess that contradicts itself in more than a few places. Because of the constitutions contradictory nature most of the time the national council and the king both simply use the powers that previous rulers have used, avoiding actions that may cause a constitutional crisis.
Anti-liberal Neotribalism
National Syndicalism
Ever since the syndicalization the movement has been splintered into a few main factions. One of the strongest of these factions have always been the national syndicalists. Their beliefs differ from most other syndicalists substantially, with one of the main differences being embracing a lot of the nations traditions, to many members even including the monarchy. Most controversial among their beliefs is the idea of ruthan superiority, causing substantial tensions with the gergole population.
Citizenship and Residents
Because of a lack of democratic institutions the idea of citizenship doesn't quite exist in Vithinja. However there is still a way to affect the political makeup of the nations leadership. This comes in one of two ways: members of a union or members of the military. To be an official member of the military a Vithinjan needs to be a full time serviceman. Reservists who want the power to elect need to join a union. The difficulty of joining a union varies greatly by profession and region. All of this effectively means that if only members of the military or members of a union are considered citizens about 82% of all Vithinjans above the age of 16 are citizens, leaving 18% to simply be residents.
Because of the mostly professional requirements for effective citizenship Vithinja is often considered to be a great place to immigrate too for people who have the right skills. It can take as little as a month to go from seeking a temporary residency visa to becoming a union member.
As there are quite a few who believe that either joining a union is too difficult or simply that there should be a union for those who could be classified as residents, there is a modern civil rights movement in the nation that in part advocates for these changes.
Military
The Vithinjan military can be divided into three distinct organizations: The Royal Army of Vithinja, The Union of the National Reserve and the Guards of the Revolution. Some would only consider the first two as actual members of the military and the third as a paramilitary organization, especially since the constitution contradicts itself when describing them.
Economy
Vithinja exports marine vehicles, engineering products, refined steel products as well as pharmacueticals and medical equipment. Vithinja also produces mostly for domestic needs: Weapons...
Resources
Vithinjas natural resources is mainly made up of a mixture of aluminum, fish, iron ore and crude petroleum. A lot of these resources are used to produce more refined goods for export.
Energy
Vithinjan energy is largely made up of hydroelectric and geothermal power, with the difference mostly being made up by nuclear power plants. As the economy generally produces a surplus Vithinja always looks to export whatever energy it can. Their main energy trading partner is Caergwynn.
Infrastructure
While large parts of the world started moving over towards building roads for cars, the Syndicalists of Vithinja stubbornly leaned away from car travel and towards trains. Because of this Vithinja is one of the worst places in the world to bring a car, but has some of the best railway connectivity of any nation. It also has one of the lowest per capita carbon emissions thanks to the lack of fossil fuel use both in transportation and power generation.
Taxes
Taxes in Vithinja are collected from the unions by the unions with the exception of the military tax, which is collected from everyone. Because of a convoluted taxing system when it comes to income tax Vithinjans pay a very sizeable tax rate which looks way less to the majority who is uninformed of the details of the taxing system. Vithinja has a pretty standard tax rate on inheritance and a huge tax rate on land ownership that is not owned by a union.
Military Industrial Complex
Because of the remnants of a strong warrior culture Vithinja has always had a loose view of weapon ownership. Since the Syndicalization this idea of privately owning a firearm has continued to be encouraged, with the exception of those who could be seen as residents, for whom owning a firearm is illegal. Vithinja has one of the highest rates of firearm ownership, with over 125 firearms for every 100 people.
Demographics
Population
The Vithinjan population is officially broken up into three main demographics with a secondary break up based on languages. These three demographics are: the Ruthans, who make up just over 22% of the population; the Gvergoles, who make up almost 42% of the population; lastly the Ruth-Gvärs, who make up about 32% of the population. The numbers for these demographics are exact as it is a component of every persons recorded information at birth for the governments identification data.
Language
The official and most spoken language in Vithinja is Ruthi, a gothic language very unlike most other gothic languages. This is the expected language to use for any official work like research. Almost as common but not always allowed officially is Siarvish, a celtic language with a lot of similarities to Caeric. While in some regions one can easily live only ever speaking Siarvish it is difficult to achieve great success without also learning Ruthi. Both of these languages may be taught at schools but most schools either teach Ruthi or both.
On the Vithinjan isles, especially in the south there are many who still speak Caeric. While recognized as a regional language it is often discouraged, usually by the higher levels of unions, to use the language outside of private matters.
Religion
Vithinja is a religiously divided nation, caught between the royal Church of Rolv, the many who still follow the catholic church as well as the idea of abandoning the old beliefs often pushed by important members of the unions.
Church of Rolv
The church of Rolv is a branch of protestantism with some quite radical differences. It has added clauses for means by which one can enter into heaven that include military service and sacrifices for the good of ones people.
Education
Education in Vithinja is completely controlled by the government, as private schools have been made illegal by the union of education. While the government attempts to specifically encourage certain education paths, these efforts have generally lead to educating way more members than needed into a narrow field. Recently new efforts have been made to address these issues.
Health
Vithinja features a very extensive public healthcare system. The union of healthcare holds a lot of influence and has at numerous occasions pressured other industries towards decisions that would assist public health. One of these choices is a complete ban on smoking and huge efforts toward reducing drinking. Despite these efforts both smoking and drinking are still publicly practiced in many communities. Tobacco smuggling is an extremely profitable black market in Vithinja because of these efforts.
Crime
For being a nation in modern times Vithinja features a large indirect punishment for pretty much any crime: increased difficulty to join a union, which makes everything from getting a job to finding a partner more difficult and may lock one out of the political process. Despite this the number of people convicted for a crime has been hovering around 2.5% up until the last two years, where it has slowly increased to 3%. It is often noted that 95% of convictions are against those considered residents.
Culture
The Church of Rolv
The Church of Rolv is the largest religion in Vithinja. While it is often classified as a Lutheran protestant branch together with most others, there are many who disagree with this classification as it has little in common with any other branch. While it was created in the same period of reformation as most other early branches it differs in it's originator and purpose. These difference also greatly expand over time, as the directions of the branches are incomparable.
The Church of Rolv is a unifying faith based in the idea that the old Paganism of the Vithinjan natives is not incompatible with the Christian faith. Instead the old pagan ideas are simply a failure to communicate some of the many ideas behind christiandom. As gods full teachings have been in part corrupted or forgotten, the old pagan beliefs can be used to help guide and understand what parts of the old and new testament is true and what the true expectations upon the rulers, representatives and followers of the divine are.
One of the most important differences as thus is the distinctions, comparisons, separations and representations of rulers chosen by god and angels serving as his messengers mean. One of the distinctive beliefs is that the christian idea of angels generally being male is incorrect, that there is a separation between the two kinds of representatives for god. Those who spread gods name to foreign lands serve as the traveling messengers on missions in gods name. As those angels are male, so is the priests who now represent them. Meanwhile, for those who stay in the various communities, maintaining gods connection to his followers, those angels and their representatives must be women.
Within the ruling family there was two things made very clear: The rulers are representatives of god, just like the kings of old, no divine representative is needed to grant this right of rule if once family has been given this role. Thus the royal family of Vithinja as seen as holding the right of rule within their blood. This means the whole family, there is no room to waste the royal blood of children just because they are women. The idea and roles of the royal rulers family is in parted separated by sex but mainly by what must be maintained. The Kings task is to rule all. He must not be specialized, and any faults he has must be accounted for. But only the royals may rule. Thus he must ensure his family can make up for any fault. As such the remaining siblings and children must all be made to serve the role of ensuring all the tasks of the king have a skilled expert ready to serve as the kings hand. While the exact nature of what these expert roles are has varied greatly over time, a few specific roles have been maintained almost since the faiths establishing. The first of these is the kings heir. The heir is the oldest son who has not been defeated at a fair trial of the heirs choosing. As the king rules all, one can not be king if they cannot ensure their own win when choosing their field of battle. Second is the Valkyran and Valkyrian. The Valkyran is the royal most capable of leading offensive warfare. He ensure that the capabilities necessary to defeat an enemy completely is always available to the king. The Valkyrian represent the defensive understanding that any army attempting to march on their capital will find itself against an impenetrable wall while withering away from skirmishers devastating their supply lines. She ensures that the king may feel safe sending most of his armies to invade their foes, as outnumbered 40-1 his Valkyrian will still ensure there will be no victory for any invader.
Arts
Literature
Vithinja features a lot of literature of various kinds from the time before the Syndicalization. However, with the new form of government most kinds of artistic literature are now discouraged
Music
Traditional North-Gothic and North-Celtic music are still an important part of the modern nations culture. Most musical productions in Vithinja today is either sourced from one of these two traditions or a more modern and partially controversial mix of the two.
Media
News and stuff
Early Cinema
Current Cinema
Sports
Hockey
While many other nations take the most interest in football the household sport in Vithinja has been hockey ever since the commercialization of the radio. This applies to both field hockey, which is more common to be played by youths and in private, as well as ice hockey, which is more popular professionally and gets more media attention. Vithinjan hockey referees are often less strict with more violent acts than what is common internationally, leading to Vithinja having by far the most penalty time assigned to them, to the point that they almost double the runner up nation. This has however not prevented Vithinja from becoming one of the most successful nations in international hockey.
Tourism
Veterans
Vithinjan Tourist centers are often especially targeted at veterans. This is in large part because of support from the church of Rolv, who spends some of their income on efforts to attract and convert veterans.
Cuisine
Much of Vithinjan cuisine has been based around a mix of fish, hardy vegetables and grain mixed with rare meat from hunting. Because of the relative lack of farmlands there was never much room to raise cattle, leading to a near complete lack of cattle based food for a large portion of their history. By the time these products became more common they generally imported the way to cook meals together with the meat.
Holidays
Despite celebrating holidays like Christmas and Easter unlike most catholic nations vithinjans have incorporated their old pagan traditions into these holidays.
On top of that vithinjans also celebrate some of their own holidays. First of these holidays is Midsummer, which takes place during solstice. Earlier in the year, about a month before Easter, the Farewell takes place. At the start of fall the Union is celebrated.
For non-religious holidays vithinjans celebrate their national day on December the 14th. Although some consider this day to be religious, being a celebration of Rolv I ascension into Sainthood. Additionally the Syndicalization is celebrated on May the 3rd.
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