The Empire of Falastur

Imperial Motto: Alis Grave Nil
Emperor	Matthew VI
Imperial Lord Governor	Simon Mountjoy (since 2004)
Assistant Lord Governor	James Lackland-Smith
Date of Proclamation	1803
Headquarters	Terila
Official language	English, plus regional and ethnic languages
Currency	Havanaro (~H~)
Date of Proclamation	December 4th, 1803

The Empire of Falastur can be divided and sub-divided into several parts, of varying status in the Empire. The status of the different lands of the Empire are largely defined by the period in Falasturian history in which they were incorporated under the crown of the Emperor, and the internal policies in action during those periods. Furthermore, it should be noted that the while the Empire is rigidly defined in its member states, though they vary in status, there exists a sizable number of countries in Common Association with the Empire, sharing many diplomatic, economic, and sometimes cultural ties with the Empire. Many of these are easy to recognise as in Common Association, such as those who have been granted official Protectorate status (and thus are self-governing, but have surrendered their foreign policy to Falastur). Others, however, share more subtle bonds, such as close economic policies for financial betterment, or the controversial but (in places) highly successful technique of pursuing close friendships with the Empire in order to gain influence over their surrounding states. There are also not a few accusations in the international community of the establishment of puppet of satellite regimes in various regions, although if these claims are true, then the links between Empire and satellite are well-disguised.

Members of the Empire

The Unified Provinces of Falastur

At the top of the scale, the Empire is headed in Terila, on Falastur Island, where all the most important Government buildings are to be found. Falastur Island is the most important of all the lands of the Empire, even though it is home to only 956 million. The other islands of the Falastur Island Group are home to the remainder of the 3,674 million population, and they are second in importance only to Falastur Island - being host to several of the largest cities of the Empire of Falastur, and declared free from the Empire longest ago. Alongside them are 3 distinct and vast stretches of land, along with 4 smaller areas, which combined with the Falastur Island Group make up the nation of Falastur itself, known as the Unified Provinces of Falastur. However, they are rarely known by this name as most international events involving Falastur either are of relevance to the whole Empire, or to the capital.

Naming Confusions

The Unified Provinces provide by far the most confusion when the average person with no knowledge of Falastur's inner workings speaks of the country. This confusion is, of course, well-grounded, since three closely-related but substantially different subdivisions share very similar names, if not the same, due to the historical lines of thought and self-promotion of the rising name in world politics of Falastur. The name "Falastur" is readily applied to three different bodies of the Empire.

The Empire of Falastur

The Empire is, naturally, the overarching political unit - all three "Falasturs" are part of the Empire; it being the Unified Provinces of Falastur (see below) and all territories under its control or influence. Within the Empire, the Unified Provinces of Falastur are the central structure, while all other lands in the Empire are technically possessions of it, or dependent countries of some sort. All countries, states, etc. included in one of the categories in this article are officially and legally part of the Empire. The name Falastur is applied to the Empire generally in politics, (where the foreign policy of the Unified Provinces generally is mimicked by the rest of the Empire, making it essentially included in the Unified Provinces' dealings), and a few infrequent other occurences.

The Unified Provinces

The Unified Provinces of Falastur, as stated previously, are the focal point of the entire Empire. The Unified Provinces are home to all the administrative buildings of the Empire which deal with Empire-wide institutions and initiatives, as well as a good deal other Falasturian and international organisations. The Unified Provinces is a federation of eight subnational entities, each a Kingdom in its own right and in Personal Union with each other, although legislation has bound them much closer together, into a single entity. The Emperor of Falastur is simultaneously King of each territory, and also High King of the Unified Provinces. However, it should be noted that the Kingships over each Province (also technically accurately, though much less-commonly referred to as Kingdoms) are entirely ceremonial, and the High Kingship, while a sovereign office, is nowadays increasingly treated as a ceremonial position as the Unified Provinces are increasingly seen as First Among Equals inside the Empire, as opposed to a seperate entity from it. The name Falastur referring specifically to the Unified Provinces is generally only used within the Empire, typically to describe social events or news reports of note occuring therein, although increasingly the foreign confusions over the name of Falastur are creeping into common acknowledgement within the Empire, and so the term the Unified Provinces or just the Provinces is not uncommon. Due to the aforementioned difficulties comprehending the complexities of the system, outside of the Empire, the Unified Provinces are generally named by their full name, the Unified Provinces of Falastur.

The Kingdom of the Falasturian Islands

If the Unified Provinces are the epicentre of the Empire, then the Kingdom, or Province, of the Falasturian Islands is the epicentre of the Unified Provinces. The Kingdom extends only to the islands of the Empire in the Atlantic Ocean, located around the Tropic of Capricorn. The Islands are home to the vast majority of the Imperial Government buildings, and is a huge financial hub, not only to the Unified Provinces and the Empire, but indeed to much of the world, especially those countries occupying land near to any part of the Empire. The Kingdom is generally only referred to under the name Falastur very occasionally, as inside the Empire it is more correctly known as the Falasturian Islands, or just the Islands. Outside of the Empire, it is rarely spoken of as either the Unified Provinces or the Empire tend to take precedence in news reports or casual conversation, though when something of importance to do with the Islands alone occurs, foreigners commonly confuse the Falasturian Islands with the Unified Provinces, and thus address them as Falastur, oftentimes causing much confusion.

The Dependencies of Falastur

The Dependencies of Falastur are a quite vast number of lands big and small, who rely on the Empire to keep them upright, yet are not totally under the control of the Empire. The Dependencies almost solely are former States under Imperial Control, and a small few of them even hold their own miniature Empires, although the Empire of Falastur tends to try and weave a form of control into these territories, and many Dependencies are faced with a ruler who makes virtually all of his or her political decisions based on advise from or legislations made by the Falastur Government. However, the Dependencies have the power to decide their own fate, usually with the right to elect a Government if they wish or are allowed it. Further than that, the average "lives" of the Dependencies are independent from Falastur, and the citizens of each dream of one day watching their Country emerge a World Power, not merely a free State.

The Dependencies are largely states annexed during the latter periods of Falastur Imperialism. These countries largely were pre-industrial countries with a central government and forms of social structure and organisation that made them technologically inferior to Falastur. However, to earn Falasturian attention, these states held resources, strategically advantageous locations and were deemed "worthy of Falasturian support".

The Colonies of Falastur

The Colonies of Falastur are next in the list. These are Nations under complete control by the Emperor, or his lackey-Governors, but these Nations manage a fragment of superiority over the Dominions as the Colonies are Islands colonised by the Holy Empire, and not Nations conquered and subdued by it.

The Colonies were some of the earliest takings of the Empire of Falastur. Lands spread around the globe and largely populated with tribal natives, the Colonies grew from small groups of trading ports to span tens of thousands of square miles, and became trading centres in their parts of the world. While the first conquests of land were largely run at the end of musket and bayonet, leading to slaughters of the local populations, the losses mounted up for the Falasturian Army, and the Empire became a pioneer in diplomacy with local peoples, annexing the land in peace and giving natives citizenship and local freedom. Due to this, many Colonies have high native populations, and to this day there are many tribes still living in the rural areas of the Colonies, as they did before they were taken over by Falastur.

The Territories of Falastur

Bottom of the list are the Territories of Falastur. These lands essentially have the status of being part of the country of Falastur. They are ruled almost directly by the Emperor, with almost no semblance of independence at all. Their citizens often have few rights, but have been taught to live their lives happily. After all, their status ensures a peaceful and safe environment, and they are free from trouble from outside aggressors by the protection of Falastur. If nations, particularly those with a population under 100 thousand, but occasionally much larger countries on the point of collapse due to inside problems are often given the opportunity to be integrated into the Empire as a territory at the last moment, saving them from falling apart and becoming the land of a more oppressive and opportunistic dictator, (as there are so many around). In fact, the Empire is becoming a world benchmark for the backward, 4th world countries, seen as a country dedicated to the upholding of countries that could not survive on their own.

The Dependencies are mainly countries not annexed through conquest, although some rebellious states are given dependency status. Instead, they are largely countries which in the last century were offered Falasturian protection, and found themselves drawn further and further into the Empire.

"The Cultures"

The Cultures refers to two types of member in the Empire - tribal nations, and technologically-inferior nations. Tribes and technologically-inferior nations can essentially be seen as the same in some ways, as both are essentially (potentially) modern nations at some point of their evolution, however the official Governmental definition of a technologically-inferior nation is one that can meet at least 75% of a codified set of "civilised behaviours", including have a well-defined national boundary, regularly carrying out trade and diplomacy with other states, and having some example of a Governing institution (i.e. one capable of taxation, or having some manner of "civil servants" or Nobles who make sure that laws are enacted throughout the state. While it has not yet been recorded, and it has been seen as detrimental to specifically instruct tribes of this "to-do list", provisions have been made by the Falasturian Government for recognising such advancement if it is ever seen.

Owing to Falastur's later policy during the great Colonial Era of Friendly Colonisation, a procedure involving making excessive offers of generosity and friendship to befriend all local tribes in a claimed area, then persuading them to first sell some tribal land, then accept Falasturian suzerainity, a surprisingly large number of tribes exist within the Empire. Further, the policy of minimal intervention allows tribes inside the Empire to exist as they would have given no outside influence, and thus a large number of these tribes still reside in huts, hunt with bows and spears, live by their own laws, and otherwise continue their "uncivilised existence" uninterrupted. Some tribes, however, do make the conscious decision to request "civilisation" from the Empire, beginning a slow but steady process of technological advancement to bring them up to modern standards, and those tribes now fully civilised currently exist as city-states within the Empire, their status considered a crossover between Dependency and Protectorate.

The same doctrines were also historically applied (and very occasionally still are today, though the rate of expansion of the Empire has much decreased of late) to non-tribal but technologically-primitive cultures brought within the Empire. Some, infact many of these, existed as quite extensive Principalities before inclusion into the Empire, and there are even a couple of examples of small Empires being wholly integrated into the Empire. Due to this, and a prevalence of natural resources in many locations, these countries are believed quite capable of (eventually) progressing technologically, and they are left to do so without aid in most fields. However, due to percieved difficulties in fostering a more advanced country in future, with an entirely different set of technological advances (from creating their own), every now and then Falasturian scientists and liaison officers attempt to gently push these cultures into adapting down Falasturian lines. These methods have been criticised over the years, for deliberately refusing to help these cultures by advancing them, and for insisting that their advancements are made according to Falasturian specifications, however it has been decided after extensive studying and investigation that this method is the safest and fairest, and so the Government openly refuses to reconsider. There currently exist within the Empire several of these cultures, ranging from a handful of Kingdoms at about the technological level of Dark Age Europe's standards, all the way to a late-Industrial Revolution-era Empire.

Falastur and the Cultures

In the cases of both tribes and technologically-inferior countries, due to their positions in the Empire and the doctrine of minimal intervention, their lands are heavily-protected by Imperial Law, preventing various acts, such as immigration (though emigration out is not forbidden), or even tourism. However, in the cases of a couple of these cultures, observation posts or hidden surveillance cameras have been permitted around the Cultures' settlements. These have designed to be totally unintrusive and as undetectable as possible by the residents. The surveillance posts are visitable by high-paying tourists and academics, while the surveillance tapes are usually opened to public viewing across the internet, providing a rare and valuable view back centuries into the everyday life of historical cultures.

The Cultures are kept almost totally seperate from contact with the world, with the exception of a small liaison team who stay in permanent residence in the capital of each culture, adopting the culture and language of their wards themselves. The teams are tasked with simply ensuring that the cultures are untroubled, and have a way of communicating with the Empire of Falastur if they so wish or need. While the Empire places virtually no restrictions on the Cultures, they are, however, expected to observe respect for human life - while the death sentence is permitted at the decision of each individual Culture, acts of excessive Government-sponsored brutality are strongly frowned upon, and can lead to temporary sanctions against the Cultures. Also, the levels of diplomatic contact that each Culture is allowed to maintain with the outside world are restricted to prevent the Cultures becoming overrun with outside influence; the monitoring of their diplomatic contact being a flip-side of the minimal contact doctrine. However, the Governments of the Cultures, especially those more advanced, are generally content with their lot, not least because, due to the methods of Falasturian colonisation and integration of the Cultures, the Empire traditionally would arrive in a region of the world where numerous Cultures existed, before integrating much of the region (if not all). Consequently, most Cultures only border other Culture countries, and diplomacy between the Cultures is much more free and open that contact with the outside world. As a part of ensuring that the Cultures can advance themselves "naturally", wars between Cultures are permitted by the Falasturian Government, provided that no abuse of human rights is seen, and indeed, mirroring European history, wars are very frequent in areas where no single Culture can dominate its surrounding Cultures. In the very rare occasions when Cultures seek to colonise lands overseas themselves, no restrictions are placed on the voyages of colonisation or exploration, though oftentimes, the Falasturian Government will instruct its liaison officers to inform the Cultures of where they can colonise (giving them no other help, however). Usually this land is uninhabited Falasturian land, although occasionally Cultures are close enough to totally unclaimed land to be able to colonise it themselves, in which case this is the preferable option for the Falasturians.

Common Associates

Protectorates of Falastur

Falastur also has under its wing a small number of Protectorates.