Difference between revisions of "Qalustan"

Latest revision as of 07:04, 10 April 2007

Qalustan

Flag of Qalustan
Motto: Non Servitam
Region	Vranith Mountains
Capital	Luntat
Official Language(s)	Qalustani (official); English, French
Leader	President Zanwar Qal
Population	80 million
Currency	Qalustani Crown
NS Sunset XML

The People's Republic of Qalustan is a large, environmentally stunning nation. Its compassionate, intelligent population are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The country is landlocked, but the mountain range in which it sits, the Vranith Mountains, is rich in natural resources.

Geography

Qalustan is located in the Vranith Mountains, and is entirely landlocked. It is composed of six provinces: Vran’i, Jauen, Qleon, Atsjor, Zaxa’l and Mohab. The region is quite cold for much of the year and rain is common, but there is a great deal of plant and animal life which thrives in the forests.The highest mountain in Qalustan is Mount Tharoon, which is regarded almost religiously by many Qalustani.

History

The Vranith Empire was founded in the year 1128 when the warlord Hb’enig Drah built a fortress to defend the Valarax Valley against invaders. This fortress was later to become the city of Hb’en, capital of Atsoj Province, and the capital of the Empire for many years.

Christianity had arrived in the region in around the year 550 AD, but it was only after the Empire’s formation that the Vrani Orthodox Church was created. Through it, the Imperial Family was able to keep a stranglehold on the people of Vranith for many centuries.

In the eighteenth century, the country went though some major political upheaval. The balance of power shifted, with the Emperor losing some powers which were given to a Council of Nobles, and the nation’s capital was moved to Luntat, at the foot of Mount Tharoon. As the highest mountain in Vranith and the legendary location of the hermitage of Saint Engbur, it was thought to be a holy place. It was also the location of Luntat Cathedral, to which many Vrani already made a regular pilgrimage, and the government saw this as an opportunity. They began taking a census of all the pilgrims and using this data to tax them.

However, all that changed in 1972 when the Empress Tbenjubha, the first woman ever to rule Vranith, was crowned in Luntat Castle. The church strongly disagreed with this, but Tbenjubha had the support of the nobles, and so they were overruled.

When the Empress grew tired of not having the total support of the Church, she founded one of her own. The Reformed Church of Vranith took over Luntat Cathedral in 1976, and that was when the old church began to leave the country. Most left of their own accord, but those who refused were hunted down and put to death by the army during a relentless campaign from 1977 to 1980, known as the Hebhanjini (the “Washing”, or “Cleansing”).

In 1999, however, the rebel group known as the People’s Hand, led by Colonel Zanwar Qal, formerly of the Imperial Army, staged a daring attack on Luntat Castle. Aided by resistance cells inside the city, they staged a successful coup. The Empire was no more, and the socialist nation of Qal’s dreams was born, and named Qalustan in honour of its founder.

Politics

Main Article: Politics of Qalustan

The Qalustani government is composed of the President, who is the head of state, and a bicameral legislature. The two chambers are the Senate and the Council of Wardens.

The Senate has 84 seats, 76 of which are occupied by senators elected every five years. The remaining eight are Senators-for-Life. Only two of the seats are occupied so far; plans are for them to be given to former Presidents on their retirement. The leader of the party which holds a majority in the Senate is given the title of First Minister, and has a place in the President’s cabinet. The Senate is presided over by one of the Senators-for-life or, in the event that all are absent, another senator chosen by the First Minister.

The Council of Wardens is composed of 350 seats. Their occupants are elected every four years. The majority leader in the Council is known as the Chief Warden, who, like the First Minister, has a place on the cabinet. The Council is presided over by the Speaker, who is elected each year from among the Council by its members. In the 2001-2005 term this was the Chief Warden, but he was unseated in the 2005 election by Jetra Gbhu’n (Yethra Geboon), a female Warden from the Libertarian Party.

In the first free elections, held in 2001, Qal was elected president with a 79% majority. The following year, his Democratic Socialist Party won 57 seats in the Senate and 210 in the Council of Wardens. This changed somewhat in the 2005 Council and 2006 Senate elections.

Culture

The Vrani (now Qalustani) people have a rich cultural history. Even during the time of the Empire, the people always had a strong attachment to the mountains which often came before their loyalty to the Emperor. Mount Tharoon in particular is a symbol of the nation and is viewed with great reverence.

There is also a strong family culture, in which elderly relatives and ancestors are treated with great respect. Arranged marriages are not uncommon even in urban areas. Families keep contact with one another across great distances, and this culture has a place in politics as well; there are definite Socialist families, as well as Libertarian, Conservative and Imperialist ones.

Relgion is very much discouraged by the atheistic government, but it still exists. Unofficial Orthodox and Reformed congregations remain from times past, as well as a small Catholic population. The Qalustani Evangelical Church is a more recent organization which already has sizeable support in the country. There are Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist populations as well, and since the fall of the Empire the old, traditional beliefs of the Vrani people have returned to fashion – Vransmorst-voé (usually translated “New Vranism”) is becoming increasingly popular. One movement in traditional Vranism is the Siblinghood of Mishfish, a group of monks which has built a temple somewhere in the Vranith Mountains.

In addition, however, President Qal is revered by a large percentage of the population as a saviour of the nation. Copies of the two books he wrote before the revolution exist in most Qalustani households, as well as his book on the coup itself. (See Zanwar Qal).