Revision as of 11:06, 14 March 2007

Ellyriand

Flag of Ellyriand
Motto: "ACTA NON VERBA - Action not words."
No Map Available
Region	Region
Capital	Anphelion
Official Language(s)	Latin, High Gothic
Leader	Imperial High Chancellor Adalric Cassius Lothar
Population	1.088 billion (on NationStates) 172.9 Million (In Character)
Currency	Sercen (SER)
NS Sunset XML

The Greater Imperial Reich of Ellyriand, or simply the Empire, is a highly militaristic empire which is currently in the process of democratization.

Ellyriand wants to forget the monstrosities of the past rule of Emperor Haideran I, and look’s eagerly into the future

Political outlook

The Greater Imperial Reich of Ellyriand is a Federative Empire employing simultaneously the concepts of centralized and powerfull political decision in the hands of the Chancellor and his Government, which is cooperative with the various federative provinces of Ellyriand, protecting at the same time the social rights of the laboral classes, in a kind of Corporativism which is supervised by the State itself, and the concepts of both inner and limited Democracy, which are representent by the Imperial Assembly, the voice of the people of Ellyriand.

Government of Ellyriand

The Imperial Ruling Council and the Imperial High Chancellor make up the Government of Ellyriand.The Imperial Ruling Council includes the heads of all executive ministries, appointed by the Imperial High Chancellor from the ranks of the Imperial Nationalist Party.

The Imperial High Chancellor, or simply known as Chancellor, is the title of the Head of State and Government as well as Speaker of the Assembly and Chief diplomat of Ellyriand. The Chancellor serves a term of seven years and can be re-elected four times. When a Chancellors term expires, the Assembly votes to elect the new Chancellor. He can be removed from office by a vote of no confidence upon the vote of two-thirds of the Assembly.

The Chancellor has the power to declare war, to grant pardon and to conclude agreements of peace, alliance, and participation in international organizations; upon the request of the government a simple parliamentary majority is required to ratify such actions, agreements, or treaties.

In the event a provincial government fails to fulfil its obligations under the charter or Imperial law, the Chancellor can use armed force to compel the province to do so. The Chancellor may dissolve the parliament, dismiss the government, suspend certain articles of the constitution, issue a proclamation or declare a state of emergency. Furthermore, in the event of a serious threat to public safety or national security, the Chancellor can take measures — including the use of armed force — to restore law and order, and can suspend civil rights if necessary. The Chancellor is required to inform the Imperial Assembly of these measures and the Assembly can nullify such a decree.

Imperial officials and civil servants (including ministers) are appointed and removed by authority of the Chancellor, who also has supreme command over the armed forces.

The Imperial High Chancellor determines the political guidelines of his government and is responsible to the Assembly. The Imperial government (cabinet) formulats decisions by a majority vote — in the case of a tie, the Chancellor's vote is decisive. The Assembly can accuse the Chancellor or any minister of wilful violation of the Charter or Imperial law, said case to be tried in the Supreme Court.

Legislature of Ellyriand

Ellyriand elects a legislature by universal suffrage of all citizens over the age of 18. The Imperial Assembly (curia imperialis in latin), some times also known as the Curia, has 300 members, called Assemblymen, elected for a four-year term by a system of proportional representation through open list multi-member districts. The Imperial Nationalist Party (INP) is the only legal party in the country. The Chancellor is the head of the INP. Members of the Assembly and provincial government are immune from arrest or investigation of a criminal offense except with the approval of the Chancellor. Laws can be proposed by a member of the Assembly, the Imperial government or the Chancellor and are passed on the majority vote of the Assembly. The Chancellor has the power to decree that a proposed law be presented to the voters as a referendum before taking effect.

Departments of the central government include:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Internal Order

Ministry of War

Ministry of Education

Ministry of Health

Ministry of the Environment

Ministry of Sience & Technology

Ministry of Agriculture & Forestry

Ministry of Intelligence & National Security

Ministry of Transport & Communications

Ministry of Culture & Progress

Ministry of Finance

Ministry of Provincial & Municipal Affairs

Ministry of Trade & Industry

Ministry of Energy

Ministry of Labour

Ministry of Justice

Culture

The culture of the Ellyriand has been militaristic, ascetic and minimalist since the end of the Second Republic Era. These aesthetics are encouraged throughout Ellyriand by the Ministry of Culture & Progress. Ellyriand does not particularly suppress artistic culture, as it is primarily interested in military and political dominance, but artistic culture is loathed upon.

Emperor Haideran I’s rule emphasized ethnic Ellyriandi supremacy, with other ethicies subjected to slavery. Antislavery laws were repealed and legislation legalizing the persecution of other ethicies was passed, when Haideran I formed the Empire of Ellyriand in the 1920s. As a result, the vast majority of the government officials were composed of Ellyriandis. A high degree of male chauvinism was also seen in the Early Empire's military and government. Combining this with the ethnic persecution, the Early Empire was often referred to Hell-on-Earth. Exceptions to this male chauvinism where rare, but existed. Some argue that while the Emperor was unquestionably xenophobic, there is little to suggest that the Imperial Officials where.

Since the fall of Haideran I and his advisors in the 1930 -40s the Empire has opened up. Equilaty, Democracy and Anti Slavery and Ethnic Persecution Laws of the Second Republic Era where returned after the Civil War (1947 – 1971), but the Early Empire’s culture has left it’s mark in the modern Imperial culture, and it’s dark legacy lives on.

Law Enforcement, Security & Intelligence

Law enforcement in Ellyriand consists of the Police and various governmental security agencies.

Police in Ellyriand are an apolitical body under the general supervision of an independent agency, the Imperial Police Agency, and free of direct central government executive control. They are checked by the Imperial Security Bureau and monitored by a free press. The police are generally well respected and can rely on considerable public cooperation in their work.

The Imperial Security Bureau

The Imperial Security Bureau, abbreviated ISB, is a key intelligence organization of Ellyriand. It is separate from, larger than, and often rival to the Imperial Bureau of Intelligence, or Intel. It is based in the ISB Central Office in Anphelion. The ISB is under the juristiction of the Ministry of Internal Order.

In addition to operating as a standard intelligence agency, the ISB is charged with national security and maintaining morale and loyalty among members of the Imperial Armed Forces and Police. The ISB stations moles among the officers of all military units in the Imperial Armed Forces; their duty is to report on any possibly treasonous activities or sentiments present among others in the units (especially the commanders), and to execute them if they acted upon them. The ISB serves more of a police function than the Imperial Bureau of Intelligence, with a more public presence. ISB operatives are not afraid of identifying themselves as ISB agents.

The ISB Central Office is in the Imperial Capital, Anphelion. All communication and coordination is handled through the Central Office.

Imperial Security Bureau consists of five subdivisions:

Surveillance: Surveillance is the largest branch of the ISB, with nearly 35 percent of all personnel in the Bureau. The quality of agents in Surveillance, however, is not always great. A good portion of Surveillance agents are candidates straight from the Sub-Adult Group, but these are poorly trained, albeit eager and promising. The rest are made up of properly trained agents from various agent training centers.

Surveillance is tasked with uncovering beings or activities harmful for the Empire. Many of Surveillance's targets are later turned over to Investigations for more thorough action. Surveillance is also responsible for instilling fear into Ellyriand’s citizens, so that they would think twice before assisting any rebellious/criminal acts.

Investigations: Investigations is the skillfully superior branch of the Imperial Security Bureau, when compared to Surveillance. Many Modification agents and proven agents from Surveillance make up Investigations. Agents of Investigations are always in direct communication with the Imperial Armed Forces, allowing them to call on a massive amount of firepower and resources should the situation require it, so they could take down threats with considerably faster response time and effectiveness.

Internal Affairs: The Internal Affairs branch is the group responsible for watching the Ministry of Intelligence & National Security (MoINS) and the Intel, another example of multiple layers of control and authority overlapping one another in Ellyriand. The MoINS, Imperial Police Agency, Ministry of Internal Order (MIO) and the Enforcements branch of the ISB, are all key targets of Internal Affairs.

Internal Affairs calls their field agents "keyns", while they call their investigative staff "dirtbugs". The division has also developed their own collection of terms to differentiate between the ways they conduct a specific investigation.

To "audit" is to conduct an investigation in which the target and everyone around him knew the investigation was being conducted.

"Finesse" is conducting an investigation by asking the target's help in rooting out other traitors in the hopes they would give away incriminating evidence in their eagerness to point the finger at others.

"Scattering" is the method of grabbing someone whom you have no evidence of foul play of, and then observing the behavior of the person's associates to see if any of these react in suspicious ways.

"Crustbusting" is the method of harassing a suspect in the hopes he would do something criminal.

"Cultivation" is the method of allowing a suspect with only minor wrongdoing to proceed unhindered so agents would catch the suspect and any associates in a larger crime, and "irrigation" is covertly staging events so a "cultivated" suspect would have a greater opportunity to commit a larger crime.

Finally, to "Corner" is to set a suspect up in a no-win situation in which he must commit a crime. The Internal Affairs agent will then promise to forgive the crime if the suspect does a few favors; favors which inevitably cause the suspect to commit some other crime.

Interrogation: If a subject caught by Investigations is suspected of still hiding the information the ISB wanted to know, the subject is shipped off to the Interrogation branch. The information they uncovered is sent to Investigations. The subject, however, disappears, and no one outside Interrogation is really willing to find out just what happened to them.

Enforcement: The Enforcement branch provides specialized muscle for the ISB. They occasionally operate for Internal Affairs, but most often they are working for Investigations. Enforcement is the only division that hires people who were not members of any state organization, which has earned the suspicion of the Internal Affairs division, who are worried the use of unindoctrinated personnel is too risky.

Nevertheless, Enforcement is thus able to increase the amount of available talent, and perform brutal, but effective, operations the Imperial Police Agency rather not participate. In addition, Enforcement does its best to protect its operatives from unwarranted interferences from the Internal Affairs division, though a permanent tension exists between the two groups that no one could avoid.

The Imperial Bureau of Intelligence

The Imperial Bureau of Intelligence, abbreviated IBI or Intel, is an elite intelligence agency of Ellyriand. It is the rival to the larger Imperial Security Bureau.

Unlike the Imperial Security Bureau, Intel personnel are not organized according to a military-style system of ranks. Rather, they are assigned on a case-by-case basis. They are formally addressed as "Agent (Name)", in lieu of a rank.

Imperial Intelligence consists of seven subdivisions:

Select Committee: The Select Committee is the highest level of command within Intel and oversees all of the activities of the Imperial Bureau of Intelligence. The Select Committee formulate strategies for the various bureaus and present them with a set of goals and very broad grand strategic considerations and request them to plan an effective strategy. The Chancellor and the Minister of Intelligence & National Security is a member of the Committee.

Adjustments: Adjustments is the most elite branch of Intel, with the exception for the Select Committee, which directly controlls Adjustments. Adjustment agents are called in when the Select Committee feels that a critical situation has slipped from the control of Intel, and that the situation is beyond the normal capabilities of the bureaus, yet is not completely hopeless in resolving. Agents of Adjustments will receive orders directly and in person from the Select Committee. The Select Committee will inform Adjustments what the problem is, what resources are available to find a solution to the problem, and the Adjustments team will then solve the situation. No record of their orders are ever kept and no mission files exist.

Internal Organization Bureau: This bureau's mandate is to protect Intel's security from outside threats as well as from those from within. The Internal Organization Bureau also waches over the Ministry of Internal Order.

Analysis Bureau: The analysis bureau is a sub-division of Intel, their duty is to gather information from all the other divisions and begin analyzing the data for any patterns. To determine whether any of the information is of relevance, the bureau has access to the best encryption as well as decryption experts known.

Bureau of Operations: branch of Intel, the Bureau of Operations is charged with handling surveillance, infiltration, counter-intelligence, and assassination missions.

Imperial Inquisition: The Inquisition is a secret division of Intel consisting of suberb agents known as Inquisitors, or "truth officers". The operations of the Iquisition are unknown.

Destab Branch: Destabilization, or Destab Branch, is a black ops division of Intel.

Intel is responsible for covert operations in Ellyriand. The agency has a strong reputation: it is said that the ISB never succeeded in intercepting and decoding a single Intel document. Whereas the ISB investigates morale and coordinates the military with the Ministry of Internal Order’s objectives, Intel an older organization that specializes in external espionage.