Drakestan
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| Flag of Drakestan | |
| Motto: Draco Fortis | |
| No Map Available Yet | |
| Region | United Dragon Realms |
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| Capital | High Weyr |
| Official Language(s) | Drakestani |
| Leader | Arkyan Bluedrake |
| Population | 3,100,000,000 |
| Currency | Scale (Drakestani) |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The Commonwealth of Drakestan is a large, economically powerful nation located in the United Dragon Realms. The name of the country is derived from the largest of the commonwealth's member states, and means Land of the Dragon in the country's native language. Historically this name was given to all of the surrounding lands by the native inhabitants, but since the formation of the commonwealth has been largely limited in use.
Contents
History
Pre-civilization
Drakestan has been inhabited by dragons since the beginning of civilization. Whether the dragons that inhabited the region are indigenous or migrated from some other location is a subject of much debate, with many scholars throughout the area pointing out that no evidence exists of a migration from other areas and thus claim the region to be the de facto origin of the dragon race. There has also been argument that, while related, the dragons of the region are genetically distinct from dragons located elsewhere and should be classified as a completely different species.
Early dragon inhabitants of the area appear to have been nomadic hunters, living generally isolated from one another and traveling to follow the food supplies. At some point in their history the dragons developed a tolerance for fruit and grain in their diets (effectively becoming omnivores) and, coupled with the advent of domestication of common food animals such as cattle, early dragon communities began to form in the region. During the Bronze Age, rich mineral deposits were discovered in Drakestan and cities began to spring up around these deposits, most notably cities like High Weyr and Serythys.
The relatively cold, northern climate of Drakestan proved to be burdensome for many of the dragons who had come from the south, and as a result more cold-tolerant races of dragons, primarly the blue and silver dragons, flourished. Feudal type societies were constructed around the various cities, bringing about the advent of various small kingdoms ruled by families and tribes who had become rich off the area's natural resources and through trade with other parts of the dragon society.
Feudal Kingdoms
A number of local conflicts erupted over the next several centuries, although the kingdoms in the area that would become Drakestan managed to coexist with each other peacefully. Eventually the smaller and poorer kingdoms were annexed by the larger nations until 5 kingdoms - Drakestan, Serythys, Aurekkis, Sherestan and Kardestan - were the major power brokers in the area.
The mineral wealth in the northern nations caused a power imbalance that was largely tolerated for many decades, although relations with the nations in the south slowly began to sour. The Great Three Year Winter, an event in which a three year shift in prevailing winds caused unnaturally cold summers in the northern kingdoms sparked a massive and dire famine in the area. The southern kingdoms of Sherestan and Kardestan enjoyed fair weather had massive stores of food but continued to suffer from lack of wealth while the northern nations of Serythys and Aurekkis starved in spite of stockpiles of valuable minerals. In a deal largely mediated by the largest, central nation of Drakestan, the nations decided to put aside their differences and share their resources between them.
The social and economic barriers between the five nations rapidly dissolved over the next several years, and in the Great Conference at High Weyr, the ruling families signed a mutual accord of free trade and defense. A ten-year rotation was set up in which each of the kingdoms would essentially make regional decisions, consolidating the power.
The Early Commonwealth
Shifting power every two years proved to be cumbersome, and after a short period of time a central government was established in High Weyr, the capital city of the kingdom of Drakestan. After some discussion and contention the government was named the Commonwealth of Drakestan. Much of the power of the five member states remained in their hands and were still ruled by hereditary leaders. The provisional leader of the Commonwealth - called the Governor at this time - was "elected" by the five ruling families.
Regional elections were sometimes contentious affairs. For a time only members of noble families were nominated for the post of governor, and arguments among the various families as to whether a nominee was truly of royal heritage or not were common, as were accusations of favoritism and vote-buying between the families. Many of these accusations were well-founded with facts.
Several times the contention among the kingdoms over gubernatorial elections threatened the stability of the young Commonwealth, with member nations threatening to withdraw from the accord and go out on their own. A compromise was eventually reached when, instead of voting governments nominating governors the position was opened to any resident of the five nations, who would then campaign based on their own merits. While favoritism was often displayed in terms of voting for candidates from their own nations, much of the dissention had been cured.
Shift to Democracy
The notion of commoners in government quickly became popular among the citizens of the various nations. Fueled by stories of other nations abandoning a hereditary form of government, there were many pushes among the nations themselves to change government types. The southern nations were quicker to embrace the notion, with Kardestan adopting a constitutional monarchy and shortly thereafter, Sherestan abandoning the monarchy altogether and electing a president.
The mineral-wealthy, powerful families ruling the northern nations were less eager to embrace the idea. There were talks of comopromise governments among the ruling class in Drakestan, while the remaining nations continually shot down any suggestion at all.
The advent of popular elections in the southern countries did create a problem for the Commonwealth, however. Candidates for commonwealth governorship began to campaign among the voting populace of those nations, since they were the ones who would be voting for the governments who selected the commonwealth leadership. Citizens of the northern nations began to complain of a lack of representation and being ignored by the governors. In an attempted compromise, Drakestan instituted a popular election there to select which candidate their government would vote for in Commonwealth elections while retaining the unelected local government.
The compromise would not last long, however. Pressure for popularly elected governments mounted in the northern countries, and when the elected governments in the south did not collapse as the monarchies had predicted, the force of change was too strong. In an unprecedented show of regional support, the three northern nations simultaneously dissolved the ruling monarchies and vested the majority of federal power in the central Commonwealth government. The southern nations quickly followed suit, and thus was born the Modern Commonwealth.
Modern Commonwealth
The Second Great Conference at High Weyr resulted in a massive restructuring of the government. The five original nations of the Commonwealth were renamed provinces and were organized with democratically elected provincial governments. These in turn were subdivided into smaller units called counties. The majority of local government was vested in counties while the provinces were put in charge of regional affairs. The central Commonwealth government was granted a number of federal responsibilities but refrained from assuming too much power.
While the majority of the populace was satisfied with this change, a number of lackluster governments were the first to lead the nation and quickly wound up voted out of office at the next election. There were worries of unrest among local regions and even fears of a dissolution of the Commonwealth again, when the leader of the then-controversial Reform Party, Arkyan Bluedrake, went on a massive campaign promising a reduction in government powers and an increase in economic freedom and stability. Gaining success in large part by using massive family resources to spread the word and travel about the nation, the Reform Party gained a majority of the seats in the next election and Bluedrake was subsequently elevated to Prime Minister.
Change was indeed swift. The government at the federal level was massively downsized, relegating many of its previous functions back to the provinces, or even down to the county level. Income taxes were outlawed and government spending on military was all but eliminated, with the government negotiating defense contracts with neighboring, allied nations. After a short period of turmoil the experiment turned out to be a success and the government was elected to a second term. During this time, economic prosperity and growth in the nation hit record levels, and by maintaining the peace and stability, Arkyan was able to be elected to an unprecedented third term.
The Great Hurricane
As the constitution of Drakestan did not have an clause for term limits and dragons tend to have immense lifespans, the Reform Party and Prime Minister Arkyan Bluedrake were able to easily secure a fourth and fifth term. Prosperity increased and continued and the popularity of the ruling government increased. The country quickly made its transition into the modern era, rapdily industrializing and becoming one of the most potent economies in the world.
Due to it's cool, northern climate, Drakestan is not usually subject to tropical weather. However a freak hurricane developed off the coast midway through the government's fifth term. Deemed as merely a curiosity no one took the storm seriously until it made landfall on Kardestan Island, causing severe damage to the prestigious University of Drakestan. Reports of massive explosions on the campus left the island only minutes before power was lost and the area effectively cut off from the rest of civilization.
Unexpectedly the storm strengthened into previously unseen size and intensity and turned to head directly for the mainland. Largely unequipped and unprepared for such an event the government rushed to issue evacuation orders to coastal areas and institute emergency procedures. The storm had the unusual trait of being extremely electrical, and as a result power grids quickly went down even before the full brunt of the storm arrived, and bit by bit the country was plunged into darkness and communications with the rest of the world were lost.
When the hurricane passed, the devestation left in its wake was beyond believable. The landscape seemed stripped bare, any sign of civilization completely erased. Foliage and even the topsoil seemed to have vanished, leaving behind nothing but bedrock in its wake. The storm refused to weaken even after making landfall, heading north and destroying the nation, leaving nothing behind. With the exception of a narrow strip of land along the southern border of the nation, the entire country was literally wiped off the map overnight.
Efforts to explain the phenomenon were futile, as were attempts to recolonize the land afterward. The landscape had been so fully stripped that it was incapable of supporting crops, and even the rivers had been stripped down to the bedrock and flowed in completely new, unknown courses. In deference to the great losses suffered, no mining operations were opened in the north and the country largely abandoned as a graveyard. The remaining, unaffected areas to the south did attempt to reform as the Republic of New Drakestan, but the effort was short lived and eventually requested annexation by neighboring countries.
The Reappearance
Almost exactly 27 years after the horrific disaster, the country rather mysteriously reappeared almost exactly as it had been before, save for obvious hurricane damage in several cities. Literally overnight, the cities, forests, and rivers all reappeared exactly where they had been decades before. The appearance of the country on satellite images was assumed to be either a hoax or a freak error until power was restored in the capital and the government of Drakestan requested emergency aid from their neighbors, many of whom had ceased to exist as seperate governments in the meantime.
No one in Drakestan was aware of the passage of so much time, and scientists were again at a loss to explain the phenomenon. The currently prevailing theory is that, in the initial destruction of the University of Drakestan, a freak power surge somehow overloaded the experimental particle accelerator beneath the school, which was completely destroyed in an unexplained explosion. The theory states that somehow the explosion infused time-altering particles into the hurricane itself. While this theory is completely unproven, no alternatives have been postulated.
The infrastructure recovery of the nation was swift but expensive, and it did not take long for the government to get back on its feet. It has taken some time for the citizens of the country to come to terms with the incident and the fact that they lost twenty-seven years of time.
Thanks in part to the government's swift response to the disaster, it was elected to a sixth term. During this term another series of changes were instituted, which saw the government's priorites shift a little bit to more environmental protection and youth education, and more controls put in place for corporations. While somewhat unpopular with large companies, the changes were welcomed by the recovering nation and went on to elect the government to a seventh term. During this term, Arkyan Bluedrake, while maintaining the position as Prime Minister, has stepped down from many of his duties and given much of the power to his cabinet, which has been largely intact for the duration of the seven term government.
Government
Drakestan is divided into five main provinces: Sherestan and Kardestan in the south, Aurekkis and Serythys in the north, and then the large central province of Drakestan. These provinces are largely self governing and autonomous, defering to the central government on relatively few issues. Provincial governments are largely modeled after the central, federal government. The provinces are further subdivided into 10 counties each. The political power of counties has largely been replaced by municipalities in modern times. Independent of municipal boundaries, each county is yet again divided into districts for parliamentary representation. District boundaries are not considered permanent, and districts may be resized, divided or even eliminated during the decennial census in order to preserve proportional representation. Each county, however, must contain at least one district.
The federal government consists of a bicameral parliament. The legislative arm of the parliament is known as the Chamber of Lawyers but this name has fallen out of popular use, and is now often referred to as simply the Congress and its members Congressmen. There are 501 seats in the Congress, each seat filled by a representative from each district throughout the country, and thus in theory each represent a roughly equal number of citizens. The congress is elected as a whole by popular vote in each district. There is no constitutionally set limit to the length of a term for a single congressional government, but rather lasts until congress is dissolved.
The dissolution of congress may come about in a number of ways. The most common is by a vote of no confidence, in which over three-fifths of the congress (minimum of 301) votes to dissolve the congress. By tradition, governments have tended to dissolve themselves after a period of 10 years, though governments have been known to last up to 30. Also fairly common is a vote of dissolution coming from the Chamber of Senators (see below), which again requires at least three-fifths (31 or more) to enact. This act of dissolution must be ratified by a simple majority in Congress. Less common is a provincial decree, in which the governments of at least 3 of the provinces file a joint resolution for the dissolution of congress. This method does not require a ratification in Congress. Two as yet unused methods are via Supreme Court rule or a direct vote of the people, both of which also require no ratfication in the congress.
Congress, as the legislative body, is empowered to pass bills into law. It is forbidden to pass any legislation that is not deemed to be national on scale or otherwise infringing upon provincial rights. Bills must only pass by a simple majority, but then must also pass a majority vote in the Senate before becoming law, and are always subject to review by the Supreme Court. The congress also elects a Prime Minister, who is seen as the de facto head of state. Traditionally the PM is the leader of the ruling party. While the PM may introduce legislation he is barred from voting on it (except in the case of a tie). The Prime Minister selects a cabinet from among the members of the Congress, who serve in a primarily advisory role. While the PM has certain executive powers, such as authorizing national budgets and handling state emergencies, he is largely viewed as a figurehead.
Current cabinet positions, in order of succession (should the PM resign or be unable to serve) are : Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Secretary of Education, and Secretary of the Interior. Additional cabinet seat holders are given title of Undersecretary and are not officially in the line of succession. They are, in on particular order : Defense, Health, Agriculture, Energy and Legal Affairs.
The second arm of the parliament, known as the Chamber of Senators (or more commonly the Senate) is largely a review and ceremonial body. Comprised of one senator from each county elected on five year terms, the primary function of the Senate is to ratify bills passed by the Congress. A tie is not possible as a 3/5 majority is required to overrule the Congress. Senators are also given a number of other powers, such as the ability to declare war, accept or reject nominees to various positions such as judges and ambassadors, and force a dissolution of the Congress.
Geography
To be written
Economy
The economy of Drakestan has long been one of the nation's defining characteristics. With a per capita GDP that outstrips any of the others in the region by a wide margin and places the nation among the strongest economies of the world, the nation has been known to place a substantial emphasis on economic and commercial development.
Initially Drakestan's economy was highly reliant on mineral resources. Significant amounts of precious metals such as silver and gold in the nation's northern regions sparked a number of "gold rushes" and an influx of inhabitants to the area. Subequent discoveries of other minerals - most recently the country has seen several large uranium mining operations open their doors - have ensured the important place of mineral wealth in the Drakestani economy.
As populations grew, however, focus shifted from mining to manufacturing. Abundant natural resources gave the country an early foothold during the Industrial Revolution, a foothold the country has been unwilling to relinquish. While still diverse, over time the focus of national industry had shifted to the manufacture and sale of automobiles. Prior to losses suffered during the Great Hurricane, Drakestan was ranked among the top few exporters of automobiles in the world, on more than one occasion acheiving the top spot worldwide. While the country has slipped from preeminence in the industry it still remains one of the driving points of local economy.
Recent and successful movement into commercial services has allowed the country to wean itself from dependency upon manufacturing, but with a cost. High wealth rates among its citizens combined with nonexistent income taxes and a focus on commercialism has meant that Drakestani citizens have a rather large appetite for spending, which outpaces production and has forced the country to rely heavily upon imports. The staggering trade deficit facing the nation has become a point of concern among many economists.
Culture
To be written
