The Archregimancy
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| Flag of The Archregimancy | |
| Motto: Slouching Towards Bethlehem | |
| Mapping a dreamed nation is impossible | |
| Region | The Dreamed Realm |
|---|---|
| Capital | The Grand Lavra |
| Official Language(s) | Old Church Liturgic |
| Leader | the Archregimand |
| Population | small, but expanding |
| Currency | tithe |
| NS Sunset XML | |
The Archregimancy exists on a dreamed plane which only occasionally intersects with ordinary physical reality. Its population consists solely of Orthodox Christian monks and celibate priests, many of whom are rumoured to be dreaming the nation into existence as they medidate - in a process possibly inspired by hesychastic prayer. Should the number of monks meditating the nation into existence fall below a certain - unknown - figure, the nation would simply cease to exist.
Those few travellers who have managed to penetrate the Dreamed Realm report that the Archregimancy, despite the ascetic nature of many of the monks, welcomes visitors so long as they respect the unique culture and environment of the nation. Many monasteries, hermitages, and small churches dot the landscape, which varies from the lush forests where the lesser spotted auroch (the national animal) frolics through to harsh mountains and desolate deserts - which are favoured spots for the more austere hermits.
Curiously, football seems to be fantastically popular with the Archregimancy's population, and a league exists which pits many of the leading monasteries against each other. The Archregimancy even entered a team into the 24th Nationstates World Cup, which narrowly failed to become the first debutant team to qualify for the tournament proper in nearly 50 years. The nation then went on to co-host the sixteenth Cup of Harmony with fellow Orthodox nation New Montreal States. The footballing adventure continued, with the squad invited to the pre-WC 25 'Jeremy Jaffacake Jamboree' invitational tournament in Kaze Progressa and Audioslavia, and the WC24 squad returning to action in WC25.
The national squad qualified for the World Cup finals for the first time in World Cup 27, but lost all three group matches. By World Cup 28, the nation was successful enough on the footballing front to co-host the tournament, once again with New Montreal States. The Archregimancy then reached the quarterfinals before losing to Tadjikistan, but the otherwise-successful tournament was marred slightly by the Spaam football federation complaining about its failure to qualify for the tournament proper.
In World Cup 29, the Archregimancy achieved new prominence through the publication of the surviving excerpts of the now-famous play The Defeat of Tessan.
One mystery which continues to baffle those rare visitors to the Dreamed Realm is where all of the monks and priests come from - no women or children (except for the very occasional officially accredited female visitor) have ever been seen in the Archregimancy. A possible clue lies in the ancient Codex Frosticus, a copy of which was smuggled out by one particularly intrepid visitor. According to the latter document, the Archregimancy is actually controlled by the mysterious and reclusive Alasdair I Frosticus, and serves not only as a vast hermitage and seminary for that nation's clergy and monks, but also serves as a gateway through which the latter nation can still be reached. The Codex Frosticus speaks of portal somewhere in the Archregimancy which serves as the nexus between the two nations of the Dreamed Realm.
If the Codex is correct, the Archregimand himself is the sole secular figure in the nation, the personal representative of the Basileus Alasdair I Frosticus in the Archregimancy.
Others, however, believe the Codex to be a clever forgery, designed to distract outsiders from the true purpose of the Archregimancy, though what that purpose might actually be is a matter of considerable dispute.
