Difference between revisions of "Pantocratoria"

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Pantocratoria

Flag of Pantocratoria
Motto: Pour Dieu et Son Empire
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Region	Pantocratorian Archipelago
Capital	New Rome
Official Language(s)	French, Greek
Leader	Emperor Andreus I Capet
Population	About 3 billion
Currency	ducat
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Pantocratoria is the largest nation in the Pantocratorian Archipelago. It was founded by a group of refugees (the Knights of the Order of the Pantocrator and their families) fleeing the Ottoman Empire after the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The Pantocratorian Imperial line (the House of Bourbon-Comnenus-Palaeologus) sees itself as an extension of the Roman Emperors of Constantinople (see Byzantine Empire). It also claims descent from the Bourbon kings of France through Emperor Louis I, who was, Pantocratorian scholars claim, the missing King Louis XVII of France, who disappeared during the French Revolution.

Culture

Pantocratorian society is culturally, economically, and linguistically diverse. In the rural countryside of mainland Pantocratoria, Greek-speaking Pantocratorians predominantly work in the agricultural sector. They are typically poorly educated, and earn less than their metropolitan compatriots. In Pantocratoria's cities live highly educated, comparatively affluent French-speaking Pantocratorians. In outlying islands, most notably the Exarchate of New Jerusalem, live so-called "Pantocratorian Indians" (and people descended from inter-marrying between European Pantocratorians and Aboriginal Pantocratorians), who tend to speak Greek and depend on fishing and other marine industries for their income.

Pantocratorian cultural institutions, architecture, art, and music are generally a synthesis of earlier Byzantine influences and later French ones. Pantocratorian architecture is famous for its ability to immediately evoke affection or expressions of distaste from non-Pantocratorians, with its odd clash of styles forming a mis-matching whole, with components from the Byzantine, baroque, rococo, and occassionally gothic styles all shamelessly thrown together without a thought of visual cohesion. Pantocratorian artwork tends to the religious subject matter of the Byzantine, in the heroic pre-impressionist French style.

Religion

Pantocratoria is a Roman Catholic country. The vast majority of its population is devoutly Catholic (the exact percentage is not actually known since the Imperial Census doesn't ask - all citizens are assumed to be Catholic), and the institutions of the state are inseperably intertwined with the Church (the Church, through the Pantocratorian Congregation for the Protection of the Creed, is Pantocratoria's electoral body). Although technically legal, it is virtually impossible for anybody outside the Catholic clergy to obtain the proper permits to erect a religious building (in a nation of around three billion people, there isn't one official mosque outside of the embassies of Moslem countries).

Significant strains exist with the Pantocratorian Catholic community however, over the issue of the French rite. Before 1593, Pantocratoria used the Greek rite. Early Pantocratorian history was marked by conflicts between those who believed that the Pantocratorian Church should be in communion with Rome (and therefore be Roman Catholic) and those who believed that the Pantocratorian Church should be in communion with the Patriarch of Constantinople (and therefore be Greek Orthodox). The tensions were perpetuated by the use of the Greek rite employed by Greek Orthodox churches. Emperor Demetrius VII Comnenus decided to make a clean break and forced the whole Pantocratorian Church to change to the Latin rite. After the Second Vatican Council, Pantocratoria's bishops adopted the Novus Ordo in French to use throughout the entire empire (some dioceses with substantial Greek speaking minorities also offer Novus Ordo Masses in Greek in addition to their ordinary French language services). Given the nation's substantial Greek speaking minority, the cause of the Greek rite hasn't been forgotten in the four centuries since it was set aside - it was even a political issue, its re-establishment being part of the Constantinople Party's election platform in the second 2004 election for the Imperial Parliament.

Military

Pantocratoria's military is a massive but inefficient institution. The purchasing of posts is commonplace, as is promotion through nepotism. The position of commander in chief of the entire Imperial Navy (Lord First Admiral) is a hereditary one. The organisation is haphazard at best, and effectively prevents Pantocratoria from deploying anywhere close to its full strength in foreign wars.

Imperial High Command

The Imperial High Command consists of two dozen officers whose identity is secret and who are rotated in and out of the High Command every decade, and a handful of officers with hereditary, permanent posts (including Lord First Admiral Phocas of the Bosphorus). It is an offence for anybody to reveal the identity of a non-permanent member of the Imperial High Command, past or present, punishable by a maximum penalty of life imprisonment in solitary confinement. This shady group of commanders meets in a bunker deep underneath New Rome, the exact location of which is a closely guarded secret. This secrecy means that individual members of the Imperial High Command cannot be associated in the public imagination with Pantocratoria's military victories - leaving the Emperor and the Imperial Government as the only possible recipients of any reflected glory. The Imperial High Command's only interaction with the field is by the way of an advanced supercomputer named MATER, which provides the High Command with all the information on which it bases its decisions and issues all orders on behalf of the High Command.

Imperial Army Legions

The vast Pantocratorian Army is organised into legions of varying sizes and capabilities. Legions are formed along geographical lines, so that the men and women in a legion will all come from the same region. There is virtually no uniformity in terms of equipment or internal structure or capability. Some legions (for instance the Fifth Provincial Infantry Legion) are capable of independent operation, with a wide variety of capabilities and equipment. However, although all legions are theoretically capable of operating independently without support from any other formation, legions like the Fifth Provincial Infantry Legion are rare. Although many legions, especially the more poorly equipped ones, are equipped with Pantocratorian produced arms and vehicles, there are some notable exceptions. Almost the whole of the Imperial Equites Legion is composed of ex-Syskeyian vehicles.

Imperial Navy

The Pantocratorian Imperial Navy is a relatively modern and well-organised one, if somewhat undersized for a nation the size of Pantocratoria. The pride of the Imperial Navy is the flotilla of Wraith frigates purchased from Excalbia a few years ago. Its operational flagship is HIMS Imperator Andreus, although the peacetime flagship is HIMS Constantinople, Lord First Admiral Phocas of the Bosphorus' ancestral floating home. The Imperial High Command has recently undertaken a joint naval development and production program with Excalbia to address the deficiencies in the Imperial Navy - the Mark V naval development program will see the delivery of:

• 3 Majesty class carriers to be commissioned HIMS Southport, HIMS Manuel le Franc, and HIMS Marly.
• 12 Samuel II class cruisers to be commissioned HIMS Phocas, HIMS Varangian, HIMS Roi-Soleil, HIMS Condé, HIMS Constantine XIII, HIMS Angelus, HIMS Bulgaroktonos, HIMS Chrysoloras, HIMS Princess Anna, HIMS Despot, HIMS André le Grand, and HIMS Aube.
• 12 Daniel III class cruisers to be commissioned HIMS Theodora II, HIMS Louis I, HIMS Dauphin, HIMS Dauphine, HIMS Pelopenies, HIMS Constantine XXIII, HIMS Richelieu, HIMS Exarch, HIMS Princess Irene, HIMS Saul, HIMS Drakopolis and HIMS Virge.

Imperial Air Service

The Pantocratorian Imperial Air Service is fairly modern and well-organised but lacks long-range strike capabilities. Like the Navy it is undersized. The primary fighter aircraft of the Imperial Air Service is the F/A-18 Superhornet, and the primary bomber aircraft is the Mirage 2000 (both 2000N and 2000D variants).

Politics

The Pantocratorian Imperial Parliament is a single-chamber parliament of 540 seats, with each seat corresponding to either a parish or bishopric, depending on population (each seat represents approximately the same number of enrolled voters). It has no constitutional authority, since Pantocratoria doesn't have a constitution, however, a general understanding exists whereby the Emperor appoints the leader of the majority in the parliament as the Imperial Chancellor. The Imperial Assent is required for all acts of the parliament to become law, and it is possible for the Emperor to govern independently of parliament, as the present Emperor did for much of his reign. Only members of registered political parties may run for seats in parliament, and until recently, the laws governing the registration of political parties were sufficiently restrictive so as to exclude the vast majority of the population from being able to form a political party (these laws were repealed in 2004). The Church is the Empire's electoral body, with ballots being cast in a citizen's parish after morning Mass. The Pantocratorian Congregation for the Protection of the Creed oversees elections and announces results. The composition of the present Pantocratorian Imperial Parliament is as follows:

Political parties

History

Pantocratoria's history is long and storied. Apart from the complete history of the Pantocratorian Imperial Line, the following is a list of Pantocratorian historical articles:

• The Knights of the Order of the Pantocrator
• The First Pantocratorian Crusade
• The Christmas Conjuration
• The Second Pantocratorian Crusade
• The Third Pantocratorian Crusade
• The First War of Insolence
• The Fourth Pantocratorian Crusade
• The Second War of Insolence
• The Treaty of the Child Bride

Facts

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The Imperial Coat of Arms. (more information about Pantocratorian imperial heraldry)

Government

• Country Name (local short form): Pantocratorie (French), Παντοκράτορια (Greek)
• Country Name (local long form): Le Saint Empire Auguste de Pantocratorie (French), το Οσιος Σεβαστος Παντοκράτοριας Αυτοκρατοριας (Greek)
• National Motto: "Pour Dieu et Son Empire" (French), "Θεος ενεκα και Αυτου Αυτοκρατοριας ενεκα" (Greek)
• Government Type: Monarchy, with a democratically elected parliament which governs with the monarch's permission
• Head of State: His Most Catholic and Imperial Majesty Emperor Andreus I Capet
• Head of Government: The Right Honourable the Imperial Chancellor Dr Thibault Drapeur
• Official/Predominant Religion: Roman Catholic
• Allies: Excalbia, Lavenrunz, Langeais, and Syskeyia

Treaties/Organisations

• Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty
• Trade Network Association

Economy

• Currency: Pantocratorian Ducat (∂) (∂1 = $1.72 approx)
• Gross Domestic Product: ∂67.5 trillion ($116 trillion approx)
• Trade Surplus: ∂153.6 billion ($264 billion approx)
• Primary Industry: Agriculture
• Largest Company: Peacock Motors

See also: Pantocratorian taxation system

Foreign Ambassadors

• Ambassador to le Royaume Danaan Élevé du Rêve Résurgent, Princess Marie
• Ambassador to le Saint Empire d'Excalbie, Marquis Jean-Pierre de Nouvelle Thessalonique
• Ambassador to l'Empire Teutonique de Lavenrunz, Sir Henri Angelus
• Ambassador to the Holy See, Sir Thierry Gregorius
• Ambassador to le Dominion de la Virginie Supérieure, Sir Pierre de Thrake
• Ambassador to la République Syskeyienne, Louis Aya
• Ambassador to la République Démocratique Knootienne des Pays-Bas, Henriette Terravelli
• Ambassador to les États Confédérés des Villes de Mikitivity, Jeanne Laskaris
• Ambassador to la Fédération Invincible Populaire des Armes Militaires de GMC, Isabelle Angevin-Thrakian
• Ambassador to la République Populaire d'Eurusie, Markos Catafrank
• Ambassador to the United Nations, Monsignor Hugh de la Morée