The Freethinkers
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| Flag of The Freethinkers | |
| Motto: 'Our strength is our courage, our honour, our unity.' | |
| No Map Available Yet | |
| Region | Haven |
|---|---|
| Capital | Navarre |
| Official Language(s) | English |
| Leader | HRH King George IV |
| Population | 1.458 Billion |
| Currency | Mintel = 100 Coppers |
| NS Sunset XML | |
Overview
The Sensible Commonwealth of The Freethinkers is a large, centrist nation spread out across numerous territories and islands. With the main island, 'Mainland' located in the Equatorial Atlantic, it also maintains large colonies in Haven in the North Pacific and owns the Fargon Archipelago in the far North Atlantic.
Because of its position, the Freethinkers became, by necessity, some of the most accomplished mariners and ship-builders around, and the shipyards at Navarre and other ports have produced some of the most famous ships in history, including the mighty Doujin Class Super Dreadnought. The skills inherited from previous generations lead to The Freethinkers becoming both the UnAPS Naval Warfare directors and becoming one of the founders of the Organisation of Maritime Powers.
As can be guessed, ship-building and arms-manufacturing are staples of the economy, although banking services and telecommunications are also big business. The relatively harsh climates of almost all of The Freethinkers' territories means the Commonwealth as a whole is a large net importer of foodstuffs and other primary goods.
History
The Beginning
Though there are numerous reports going back to the late Middle Ages of lost ships being stranded and lost near a large desert island, (some of the Legends of Atlantis are based upon this, according to some scholars), the first confirmed sighting (and landing) occured on the 17th July, 1654 when an expedition seeking passage to South America from England came across the Eastern shore of the Freethinkers, 'a lande barren and torne, a deserte seeminglie abandoned by the Lorde Himself,' the Captain of the expedition, Sir John Barham, noted in his Journal. After taking supplies and noting the location, the ship completed its voyage and returned to England.
Immediately an expedition was mounted by the English (and soon enough the Spanish as well) to chart and then colonise this seemingly uninhabited island in a strategic point in the mid Atlantic. The first settlement, Pebble Landing (named after a natural harbour formed by a long arm of pebbles on the South-Eastern shore), was founded by the English on the 1st June 1656, and this date is now celebrated as a national holiday in The Freethinkers.
The Spanish were not far behind, however, and just before Christmas in the same year, the town of Navarre was founded on the Northern Shores of Mainland. More and more colonists arrived from both nations, and eventually the tensions inherited from their mother nations plunged the colonists into an all-out war, latter known as the 'War Of The Mainland', in 1670. In order to preserve peace, England and Spain agreed to help niether side in order to maintain the balance of power in Europe, leaving the colonists to fight a series of brutal battles by themselves. Eventually, after a series of inconclusive battles, the English managed to gain an upperhand and the last Spanish troops surrendered Navarre in the Autumn of 1672. The following Spring, Spain decided to concede all claims to the island to the English.
The New Arrivals
By 1700, the population had risen to half a million people, and almost all of the island had been charted in some way through a series of dramatic expeditions that also uncovered some of the large, previously mythological beasts that roamed the island's interior. A network of roads had also been establish, and 25 years earlier Navarre had been made the main port and capital of the colony.
Immigration to the islands was increasing. Large amounts of land (although somewhat worthless), high civil and political rights by the standards of the day (including a representative assembly), religious tolerance (though this was due more to the isolation-inducing geography and the difficulty of surviving in general which forced everyone to co-operate) and bountiful offshore fishing and mineral stocks all attracted settlers from many different parts of the world. The first Vampires settled into Pebble Landing and Navarre around this time, according to their history.
The colony's most important immigrants, however, were a large number of agnostics and freethinkers from the various Christian nations of Europe, attracted by the previously mentioned lack of intolerance, and over time their numbers became so great they became the dominant individual group on the colony by the mid-Eighteenth century. Initially worried, many colonists began to try and place restrictions on the new arrivals, but to no avail. In the end, tolerance and mutual respect kept tensions from becoming too high, and the constant slurs from the Homelands regarding the 'nation of the Freethinkers' were taken at their word, with the nation adopting the title in a show of defiance.
