Region of Selene

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This thread will be dedicated to what outsiders know about Procellia. As the great meeting RP continues more information about the kingdom will spread outside of her borders.
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According to legend the empire began as a single walled town on the island of Procellia (for which the city was named), which was ruled by a wise and kind dynasty of rulers. For over a hundred years the town grew, expanding to cover half of the island and during this time the people came to love their rulers. This love was put to the test when their third ruler, King Obbal died. The day after his death, as the people mourned before the altars of their gods a high priest came crying from the temple to announce to the people that the gods had banished the King to hell because he was too proud.

The people of the town were enraged at their beloved leader being shunned by the gods, denied their audience. For two years the city fell into a faith crisis, with several holy men being burned alive for expressing support for their King's banishment. It is said that as the town prepared to burn the last priest at the stake the fire at his feet began to change form, refusing to burn the man. From these strange flames emerged a monstrous beast of hell, thirty feet tall and so deformed he resembled no known things.

The creature announced himself to be the king of hell, and he was displeased at the lies spread by the gods. The beast shouted at the shaking citizens for their rash behavior and the killing of those who were ignorant of the truth. For the next six days the king of hell sat among the Procellians and taught them the true nature of things. That the gods were vile and sadistic, whereas the demons accepted all into their halls with open arms. That the gods demanded perfection from those on the planet, but demons embraced imperfections and did not judge those who were harmlessly different such as the witches, twins, disabled, birth marked, homosexuals and others who had been sacrificed to appease the gods in years past.

The nameless king declared that if the people of Procellia bowed to him and his kind, then he would bless the land and protect them. With tears of joy everyone from the Procellian King to the animals bowed to accept his offer. Satisfied of their devotion he touched the new human King, turning his skin white, his eyes red and his hair whiter still.

"I and my kind shall make deals with the souls of the unborn, and those who we choose to rule you will be given this mark. The priests of this nation shall forever seek out those we have marked, and we shall tell them what the destiny of the marked are."

And thus, as the story goes, the king of hell left the Procellians. And in celebration they marked that year as the start of their calendar so all may remember and celebrate their eternal oaths with the demons.





*The Procellian Calendar begins at year 0, which equates to roughly 3,000 BC. They claim their civilization is 10,000 years old but the evidence for this claim is sparse at best.
The City of Afgurla

*Executive summary from book*
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The city of Afgurla was founded in 2632* on the tidal island of Ruslisna in the Narase Sea. Originally founded as a fishing port the city soon became a center for commerce and trade with Selene due to its unique location and access to international shipping lanes. With their prosperity growing rapidly the ruler of the city, Lady Momi, began to invest heavily into creating a city of science. Using tariff money gleaned from Selene imports she built Procellia's (then) biggest university and a library that rivaled that of Procellia City's Royal Library.

From this tradition of education came a boom of progress, as advancements in math and physics became a normal occurrence. During winter, when the port was frozen solid, Afgurla's scientists would without fail be out on the ice conducting experiments about everything from friction to testing the human body's endurance.

However, tragedy struck in when in the year 2986 the Selenian Navy launched a surprise attack on the city. The navy arrived at high tide and completely surrounded the city, which at that time did not have walls. While the mainland launched the "burn and evacuate plan" Afgurla was under siege with no escape. The initial siege lasted for a week before Selene's head admiral lost his patience after finding out about what the mainlanders were doing. In a fit of rage he ordered the city attacked with Greek Fire, and set ablaze. The inferno raged for weeks inside of the city, fueled by the city's many elaborate wooden buildings for which it had been famed. Trapped by the blockade the city's citizens died, either from the fire or at the hands of the ruthless navy.

By the end of summer Selene had taken control not only of the ruins of Afgurla, but the whole province. However, because of the "burn and evacuate" plan the admiral found himself in control of a region that had abandoned their homes and burned the crop fields as they ran into the mountains. With winter fast approaching he knew he couldn't try and follow the Procellians into the mountains, and he couldn't leave because they lacked the provisions. Stranded in the barren low lands the Admiral did not even have access to forests for wood to make fire and they had burned down the only place that could have housed all of them (Afgurla).

Although no Procellian records of what transpired afterwards exist, since there were no Procellians to record it, an abundance of evidence shows that the winter was hard on Selene's navy. Many villagers, returning after the spring frost reported that the temples and shrines had been completely destroyed and many had stale blood and skeletons within the stone walls. Many experts suggest that the navy must have taken over the temples and shrines because they were often the largest structures in a town, and the troops sleeping inside got trapped by blizzard snows tried to claw their way out.

According to the diary of a returning Lord of a large town that had been abandoned, the town's grave yard had been dug up and the bodies exhumed. He also referenced many other towns having the same gruesome scene play out in their villages and towns.

Surrounding Afgurla its self were the remains of all but one of the ships that had originally sailed to Procellia. A local priest who inspected the wrecks noted that they were permanently marooned because the ice sheets that had covered the harbor had ruptured their hulls. It appeared that everything above the frozen water line had been stripped for fire wood.

After the devastation caused by the invasion the Dras at the time, Dras Nachu, ordered the borders closed and all outside communication ended. She also ordered the nation prepare for the potential of another invasion.

With the city of Afgurla was rebuilt in the centuries following, becoming a megalithic fortress designed to fight a whole armada. Procellian engineers designed the whole city to be completely impregnable, with thick walls that towered three hundred feet above the water and traps that would kill anyone trying to scale the walls.

In the eras following the city once again has become a center of knowledge, and a testing ground for experimental architecture of all varieties. The city now boasts many skyscrapers of unique design, such as one that resembles a spiral and another that features golden glass. Although very little in the modern city is older than a century, due to constant rebuilding to accommodate its growing population, it has never forgotten its roots as a center of learning.

*Dates are in Procellian Calendar. Year 0 is 3,000 BCE
Religion in Procellia
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From its founding Procellia has been an officially religious state, first for the now long forgotten God's of Procellia, and then Demonism.

Demonism is a very loosely managed religion, with different people worshipping various demons. Many towns even have shrines dedicated to one or two demons they believe protect their town.

However religion plays a vital part in the royal family. Albinism, in Procellia, is called the mark of the demon. It is believes that those who have the condition have been chosen by a demon to serve as the leaders of Procellia.

The state church, when a child with the mark of the demon is born, takes the child from the parents and prays. They then announce what demon the baby has been bound with, and what their destiny shall be. This often means that members of the same royal household are not indeed related, with the church being in charge of assigning who will govern at every level.

The royal family, by the religious, are seen as holy and worshipped as proof of the oath with the demons made almost 9,000 years ago.

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However the country, after multiple wars over the matter, also has a huge atheist population. With most of the south being atheist majority.

Procellia has played host to a large atheist population for as long as records go back. This has led to multiple cases of civil war within the country, and the creation of an elected government to appease the atheists.

The third religion in Procellia is isolated to a single province in the far south of the Kingdom. The religion, Urrubianism, is a relic of Procellia's era of trade. Originally a pagan religion that survived the rise of Demonism, it was very heavily influenced by a monotheistic religion from Selene and has now become the only monotheistic religion in the continent.

The survival of the religion was decided during the fourth theocratic war, when the Pope (the leader if their faith), declared for eternity that God blesses the royal family and chooses them to govern their earthly lives. In exchange the government made the religion legal.

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Procellian Culture: Formalities
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The formalities of Procellia can be broadly drawn into two regional trends.

In the no-nonsense to the point western territories formalities are generally very minimal. In day to day practice a light bow, and the usual apologies and etiquette are about all most people will offer. This even extends to the highest levels, with formal greetings being only rarely used. In atheist majority areas many people don't even use titles, but instead generic honorifics such as sir or ma'am.

In the east formalities become more common. Between strangers formalities are the norm, and humility is expected. Towards members of government however many long standing traditions remain intact. This is especially true in the cities that are majority religious, where citizens will even go so far as to avert their eyes to avoid disrespecting the nobility.

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The Province of Urru
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The Province of Urru is located on the southern peninsula in The Empire of Procellia. The province has been part of Procellia since the first theocratic war, but ethnically has has always been distinctive from the mainland.

The official languages of Urru are the national language of Procellian and the native language of Urlandish. Compared to the soft sounds that distinguish Procellian, Urlandish is very harsh and is frequently called angry sounding.

Do to its location Urru was one of the major trading regions with the west up until the era of blissful isolation, which left a permanent mark on the heritage of the province. By the start of the era of blissful isolation western missionaries had converted most of the Province to Roman Catholicism, causing tension with the demon worshipping and atheist mainland.

Three hundred years later this boiled over into the fourth theocratic war, which lasted over a century. The war virtually decimated the whole province, as the wealthier mainland burned churches to the ground and executed those who refused to abandon their faith.

The Pope at the time, Pope Vasdun II, negotiated a peace treaty between the three parties in 6532. It was in this treaty that the religion officially became Urrubianism, and that the Pope declared the Dras, and The People's Assembly to be the chosen governors of Urru. And that it was god's will for the nation to never be divided again. I'm exchange the now reformed Christianity was added to the list of legally protected religions.

In modern times the Province has become a semi autonomous region, complete with its own legislature and governor. This expansion of rights began two hundred years ago during the socialist revolution. The citizens of Urru actively opposed reforms on the federal level, and complained about being forced to go along with a new system they felt didn't align with their religion.

Out of concern the issue could reignite old tensions The People's Assembly agreed to allow the Province more autonomy. However, the federal government reserved the right to pass laws they must abide by if they failed to provide for their citizens, and the federal government remained in charge of all noneconomic functions, which meant the Province still had to send delegates to the federal assembly.

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Urrubianism
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Urrubianism is the domestic language of Urru. The religion can trace it's roots back to early Catholic priests, who came with trade ships from the west.

Although still considered a Christian sect it is one of the smallest at a mere 50 million. It is also very distinct from its brethren do to its isolation from other Christians. The Bible held by believers contains two more books than the mainland Catholics, books that were added by various Popes over the ages.

They also interpret the Bible in a much more materialistic fashion, with a core belief being that God rewards those who are devoted with money. This gives followers of the religion a very hard nosed mind set towards the poor, since they believe they are either faithless of being punished by God for sin.

The whole religion of Urrubianism revolves around a related secondary belief, that the best way to show god your devotion is thigh hard work. Using gifts given to his followers to bring glory to his name nobody can hold a candle to the productivity of a religious zealot from this faith.

Over the years the religion, influenced by its bigger neighbors, Demonism and Atheism, additional beliefs have been added. Demonism introduced the idea of divine selection of rulers, which has now become a standard doctrine at Sunday mass. Atheism introduced the idea of focusing on the present life, though in the hands of the Urrubians the idea became more about making money than the Atheist "take it easy" approach.

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The Procellian Economy
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With the exception of Urru private enterprise is strictly limited in the Empire. As part of their socialist revolution their economy is now run by state companies, which are managed by workers and their unions.

This unique system of worker run companies allows competition between different companies, while under the watchful eye of the federal government. Under their socialist system the nation has also adopted central planning, though after some trial an error the Central Planning commission has now begun delegating goals to unions without specific numbers. Which has allowed more local control over production.

In addition the government issues "Necessity Books" to every citizen annually. These books are catalogues of the offerings of the national industry's and using the vouchers in the book the citizens pre-order what they want for the next year. This includes all necessities that are nonperishable such as clothes and school supplies. During this six month shopping window citizens order their items online and this demand is factored in to the central planning.

Although many people criticise the lack of options, with most items only having four or less variants, the system has been kept for its stability. Unlike Urru, where the economy is notorious for dramatic ups and downs, the homeland sees very little economic change even at the worst of times.

Their central planning has also reduced waste down to a small percentage, since excess is limited. It is not unheard of for factories to close down for three months and send their employees on paid leave simply because they've met their quotas and the central planning commission doesn't have any work for them.

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Procellia City
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Procellia city is the capital of the Empire and one of its oldest cities. Founded in 0 according to the Procellian Calendar, it also is one of the few unwalled cities in the Empire.

The city is built on a series of rocky islands in the middle of a large Glacial Lake. This unique situation has given the cities many grand and beautiful canals which snake through the city.

The city's skyline however is very low compared to other cities because of a law limiting all buildings to half the height of the great cathedral built on one of the city's three hills.

(OOC: it looks like Paris but with more canals)

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The People's Army
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As a relic of historic traditions the Empire has one of the most extensive draft systems in the world, with all able bodied men and women serving from 18-22 years old, before being given the option to return to civilian life. At any given point roughly 10% of the population are officially active duty, though in recent decades due to a lack of necessity waivers allowing people to serve as "reservists" are very common.

The People's Army consists of two main branches, the land defense force and naval defense force. The land defense force is the largest branch and is tasked with maintaining the nation's powerful nuclear arsenal, as well as the other functions of a modern army. The naval defense forces, while modern, are very small compared to those of Selene and many other powerhouses on the mainland. This is mostly because the naval forces were designed to protect trade, not engage in face to face combat.

Procellia has no air force to speak of, since their limited air craft is intended for logistics support it was tacked onto the naval forces. Though in recent years there have been calls to at least build bombers, the People's Assembly has never granted funding for it.

The areas where Procellia truly stands out are in cyber security, logistics and defense. Their national internet is one of the most secure on the planet, and has only been hacked into once in its half century of existence.

It's logistics forces are masters of handling everything from feeding cities in the frozen tundra to emergency planning that has made natural disasters a managed problem within the empire.


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A picture tour of Procellia

Procellia city

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Leos'mal

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