Varangia

Varangia

Flag of Varangia
Motto: Varangii Semper Liberi
[1]
Region	Wysteria
Capital	Muscovy
Official Language(s)	Varangian, Wysterian
Leader	Tsarina Anastasia I
Population	29.3 bil
Currency	UCA Argent
NS Sunset XML

Varangia is the envy of nations, the sparkling jewel of the south, a beacon of hope to which peoples the region over are drawn--Antonin Charamodinov, 18th Century Poet

Lands fit for an Empire

Varangia is an empire comprised of five states in the region of Wysteria and beyond. The states are subdivided into two geographic groups: the Imperial Core and the outliers. Those states which immediately surround the imperial capital of Muscovy, Galicia-Volhynia, Fridwald, and the Steppe, comprise the imperial core. The other four states,Lodmeria, Florenzia, Polonija, and Rusiya are called the outliers.

Lyons, Center of the Empire

The imperial core rests on the continent of Lyons, located in the southern hemisphere of Wysteria. To the north, the Empire is bordered by the Queendom of Turnipstan. Varangia's territory includes the large island of Galicia to the south and Sumi Island to the west.

On the eastern coast of the continent, where the borders of Galicia-Volhynia and Fridwald meet sits the capital of the Empire, Muscovy. Founded in the year 2000, Muscovy emphasizes the emergence of the Imperial system of governmental organization after the ages of the Kingdom, Commonwealth, and Constellation systems of governance. Founded on the site where the Isan prophets set foot upon the continent of Lyons, Muscovy represents a spiritual and administrative rebirth to Varangia. Muscovy is often referred to as the Diamond of the South for its extensive use of glass and steel structures in its architecture and the wealth it has generated as its population explodes.

Several important geological and hydrologic features dominate the territory of Varangia. The Bashkan range runs down the spine of the Principality of Fridwald. To the east, the Litovan range is a formidable group of mountains straddling the Principalities of Galicia-Volhynia and the Steppe. In the Steppe, the Letana River dominates the landscape, bisecting much of the Principality along an east to west access. In Volhynia, the Voltava river runs from the northwest to the southeast, providing the sediment for the delta on which one of the Empire's greatest cities, St. Eudoxia, sits.

Major Outlier Geography

The Principality of Lodmeria is located in the region's northern hemisphere on the continent of Franconia. Several major islands ring Lodmeria proper, which are largely inhabited by the nation's minority populations. The Principality is also covered with large swaths of forest.

Florenzia, another Varangian principality, is located on the far southern continent of Polarverta. The Red Range cuts the oblast of Baltica in two, effectively dividing the nation into an eastern and western half. In the east, narrow coastal plains give way to flat and fertile continental plain. To the west, sparsely populated tundra hold untold mineral wealth and is the home of most of the empire's petroleum extraction operations.

History

Pre-History

Isa, Great Mother

Little is known about the history of the Varangian people before the great migration to the island of Galicia. However, in recent years linguists, archeologists, and historians have begun to piece together a theory of ‘common origin’ which explains how Varangians, Kosmanian, Steppemen, and even Melcelenians may have originated from the same stock of ancestors and evolved into separate peoples.

The continent of Isa, in the far southeast of Wysteria was home to a large empire. This empire inhabited all of the territory between the Peninsular Mountains and the Great Western Divide to the West, all the way south to the coast, and east to the Magro Mountains. Surrounding it along the periphery were minor kingdoms that largely paid tribute to the Great Isan Empire. From the archeological evidence, the Isan Empire grew from a small kingdom centered on the Nasisur River delta and subsequently absorbed surrounding chiefdoms, and eventually kingdoms until it became the dominant national entity on the continent. In the east, they encountered a race of great horsemen, and through a treaty, the horsemen (now the Steppemen) entered into service as the cavalry for the empire.

As the empire became more homogenous and powerful, it began to look outside of Isa for resources and new and exotic goods. The state religion, Orthodoxism, also began a program of conversion of non-orthodox natives of other continents. Thus, Isans began to establish trading colonies in untouched lands or began to mix with the local populations. In the north, they contacted the ancient Melcelenian population during the Thorinic Dynasty. This proved disastrous, as the contact evolved into open welfare between the Isan proto-state established by traders and missionaries and the Empire of Melcelene. The Isan state was eventually defeated and traders eventually avoided Alderon altogether.

The nations that are today known as Galicia-Volhynia and Kosmania were established by settlers from Isa. These Galicians and Kosmanians came from the Isan provinces of Voranz and Kosmos, respectively were adjacent to one another and were centrally located in the densely populated north of Isa. Archeologists and linguists have conclusively linked the two peoples, despite their geographic dispersion, as descendents of a common people. They theorize that at some point before the fall of the Isan Empire, the northern provinces became overpopulated and desperate colonists, hearing of rich lands on the other side of the oceans, set sail to establish new lives in these far away paradises.

With their advanced knowledge of agricultural techniques, the Voranz left first. They sailed west and eventually landed in what is now known as Turnipstan. Finding the land already settled by the predecessors of the modern Turnipstani people, the Voranz drifted south throught Lyon and eventually settled in what is now known as Volhynia. Heavily wooded, Volhynia offered little arable territory. As soon as arable land ran out, a majority of the Voranz sailed for the island they could see off of the Volhynian shoreline. This island came to be known as Galicia.

Early History

Era of the Clans: From Cowherders to Kings

These Voranz that settled along the coasts of the island of Galicia around the year 954 were herders of cattle and musk ox. Galicia was fertile, and many of the nomadic herders became farmers. After several decades of the development of Galicia, the Varangians formed clans along family lines. Rich soils and predicatable weather brought bumper crops and a larger population. As the population increased, so did the conflicts between the clans. Soon, the Varangians began to resort to conflict and eventually wars to settle disputes. The Varangians became divided, war-like people. Clan chieftains rule these early Varangians and often fought amongst themselves for pride, booty, and territory. Relations between the chiefdoms were fluid; alliances were created and destroyed as wars raged for control of the island of Galicia. The fiercely independent clan chieftains sought sole authority over their peers, and if they could not attain this for themselves, united with their fellow chieftains to balance the power of a rising chieftain.

The period between 952 and 1610 A.D., is known as the Era of the Clans. While politically divided, the Varangians shared roughly the same language and the same culture. They were patriarchal and bellicose. They worshiped four gods, Akhtan (god of agriculture), Menathan (goddess of war), Jagodar (god of living men), and Dzhuzen (god of the sun). Their economy was based on sustenance agriculture, of which the majority of farmers raised wheat.

Early Varangians developed a complex writing system that consisted of forty-eight distinct phonetic characters. The sheer complexity of the alphabet and the syntax meant that only religious men and clan nobility learned how to read and write. This early language was known as Vlavonic.

Ancient clan legends told of a day when the Vladimir, or powerful peacemaker, would come and bring peace to the lands. This prophecy was fulfilled in 1573, with the birth of a young chieftain named Riurik Silnyrukji (Riurik, the Strong Hand). Born into the Silnyrukji clan, he became clan leader at the age of twenty-three, with the death of his father, Lars. Riurik was a wise leader, and a talented swordsman. By age thirty, he had acquired the territories of clans adjacent to his own and incorporated them into his clandom, Volynsky. Yet, even with the rapid emergence of Volynsky, clan politics remained fluid. In 1610, the rapid rise of the rival clandom of Orel’ prompted Riurik to take military action. He led an alliance of Varangian chiefdoms on a crusade to unite the Varangian people under one leader. He spent the next five years pacifying the island of Galicia, eventually bringing it under his control. For his success, he was crowned king in 1616. Riurik took Skaya Marinkaya, one of the daughters of his crusading allies, as his bride. In 1625 they bore a son, Vsevold, thus establishing the Silnyrukji dynasty and the beginning of the Era of Unification.

Era of Unification: Dawn of a Dynasty

The death of Riurik in 1642 left the throne of Varangia in the hands of his untested son, Vsevold. Vsevold was as well educated as could be in the nascant kingdom, but inexperienced in the day-to-day affairs of managing a state. His inexperience was compounded by his disdain for the mundane details of ruling, and he often withdrew from the court of the Varangian capital, Volodymyr. Vsevold was an avid militarist; obsessed with uniforms, regalia, and parade marches. However, since peace had reigned in Galicia since the last independent tribe was defeated in 1615, the Kingdom of Varangia had little use for a standing army and had let it atrophy. This changed in 1649, when Varangian colonies on the southern coast of Volhynia called upon the king to send troops to protect their settlements from marauding barbarians. King Vsevold took action, pouring money into the army and building a large naval force. With these enhancements, the new Varangian army and navy battled the insurgent tribes across the southeastern corner of Lyons, eventually forcing them to seek refuge in the Litovan Range. The defeat of the barbarians was the pinnacle of Vsevold’s rule. He married the daughter of a highborn Varangian noble, and in 1652, she bore him two children, a daughter named Anna-Lissel, and the heir to the Silnyrukji throne, Riurik II. At or about 1650, during the rule of King Vsevold, three missionaries came from what is then known as the Isan Empire. These missionaries brought with them the Orthodox ministry. Besides spreading the Orthodox gospel in Varangia they worked to simplify the cumbersome Vlavonic alphabet and writing system. These missionaries, now regarded as Saint Stanislaus, Saint Olber, and Saint Victor, established the predecessor to the United Orthodox Church and the modern Varangian alphabet.

Before his death, Vesvold converted from paganism to the Isan Orthodox church. As a show of brotherly solidarity, the Isan Orthodox Church made Varangia a metropolinate, and installed a metropolitan in Volodymyr Volynsky. On his deathbed, King Vsevold ordered his nobles to convert the populace to Orthodoxism. The nobles attempts at converting the Varangian populace was met with stiff resistance. As protests mounted, the nobles mandated that all children had to be baptized Orthodox. As the decades passed, the slow die off of adherents of the polytheistic religion gave way to new generations of Orthodox believers.

The death of Vsevold in 1681 brought Riurik II to the throne. Although there were no clear threats to the kingdom, Riurik II continued to pour money into the military. He established a royal guard, the Streltsy, which continued to grow until it had half as many men as the regular standing army. Although they were smaller in terms of manpower, the guard was better trained and better paid. They swore allegiance to the King, rather than to the state, and buttressed the King’s near absolute authority over the state.

Meanwhile, the population of the Kingdom, especially on the island of Galicia continued to grow. Major cities in the east and south of Galicia began to emerge as future bases of power for their feudal overlords who could challenge the Silnyrukji dynasty. Additionally, the overcrowded cities began to hemorrhage nobles and people looking for lands. These emigrees sailed across the straight seperating Galicia from Lyons and settled in the southeast corner of that continent. They collectively named these settlements and the other earlier settlements, 'Volhynia'.

To undercut the support of the emergent Galician power centers, Riurik II chose to marry the Crown Princess of one of those cities, Elizabeth Semyonskji, of Przemysl, in 1687. She bore him a son, Stephan, in 1692. Unbeknownst to Elizabeth, Riurik II had an affair with one of her ladies in waiting, Marta Chubai, the Duchess of L’ver Oblast, and she bore him an illegitimate son, Lars. When Elizabeth discovered the infidelity, she banned Marta and Lars from the court, and forbade Lars to bear the Silnyrukji name. However, by sparing their lives, Elizabeth established a minor line that would one day succeed her heir to the throne of Varaniga. Lars took the nom de guerre, Halych.

Riurik II died in 1700. At the time of King Riurik II’s death, Stephan was only eight years old. Elizabeth, therefore ruled in his name as regent until 1717, when she handed the throne to her son.

The reign of Stephan is widely regarded as the golden age of the old kingdom. Under his mother's guidance, Stephan was classically trained and developed into a generous patron of the arts and education. He decreed that school should be compulsory for all children until the age of fifteen. Stephan also established the first two universities in Varangia, the Elizabeth Regina University and the Imperial Varangian Military Academy. He built libraries, churches, museums, and conservatories. He was very popular amongst his subjects. Following his father’s footsteps of marrying nobility from rival power centers, Stephan wed Maria Sykanduchka, the Princess of the new city of Terebovyl, in the southeast of Volhynia. Maria gave birth to two sons, Riurik III and Victor in 1724. Riurik III, being the elder son, ascended the throne when Stephan passed away of old age in 1743.

Riurik III shared some of his grandfather’s (and namesake’s) infatuation with military grandeur. But rather than fund the army, Riurik III lavished money on the navy. He reasoned that a powerful navy would protect the heavily populated island of Galicia from invaders. Although Galicia never been invaded, the nobility supported the strengthening of the navy and constructed one with a tax levied on them. Riurik III used the now robust navy to explore Wysteria in search of exotic luxuries and military glory. It was not unusual for Riurik III to leave the day-to-day governance of Varangia to his brother, Victor as he embarked on adventures to distant lands. In 1750, Riurik III wed Crown Princess Natalja Danitza of Vokovysk, and bore a son Voljin.

During one of his fantastic voyages of discovery, Riurik III’s vessel sunk in a storm in the waters northeast of Lyons. Varangia’s rules of ascension were such that the brother of the king could ascend the throne if he were of majority age before an offspring of minority age could ascend the throne. That brother could rule Varangia until he died. If the brother bore no children, the throne would be returned to the family of the minority offspring, in this case the family of Natalja of Vokovysk and her son by Riurik III, Voljin.

With this understanding, Victor was crowned King in 1751. In 1752, he wed the Crown Princess Gretl Andura of Vokovysk, who became pregnant with Victor’s offspring. Victor reigned in spending on the navy and redirected it towards a beautification of Volodymyr. He rebuilt all the royal and governmental buildings in white marble shipped from the Litovan range in Volhynia. Victor also stipulated that all new construction in Volodymyr must also be of white marble. It was during the rule of King Victor that the Orthodox Church reached its zenith. Faced with the collapse of the Isan Empire and the Isan Orthodox Church, the new Varangian Orthodox Church retooled their image as the one true Orthodox church of Wysteria. Galicia and Volhynia were made seperate metropolinates and the Metropolitan of Galicia was the most powerful orthodox leader throughout the region.

King Victor Silnyrukji died prematurely in early 1753 of disease. His wife, Queen Gretl was in the final stages of giving birth as King Victor took in his last breath. Conflicting accounts do not reflect which happened first, the death of Victor, or the birth of his son, Galyn, but the timing of each was to bear on who claimed the throne. The Grand Princess Natalja claimed the throne on behalf of her son by Riurik III, Voljin. She contested that Victor died before his son was born, forfeiting Galyn’s claim to the throne. Queen Gretl asserted that Galyn was born before Victor died, and thus the throne belonged to him. The dispute intensified as Natalja summoned the Terebovyl militia and rallied the Streltsy to support her claim. She sent the Terebovyl militia/Streltsy force to kill Gretl and Galyn. Word of the Queen’s murderous plans stirred the population of Galicia to rise in Galyn’s defense. More importantly the army rose against Grand Princess Natalja, and mobilized to meet the militia of Terebovyl and Streltsy.

Gretl and Galyn sought refuge in the Star Monastery in the foothills beyond the city limits of Volodymyr. Outside of the monastery, the army of Varangia congregated to defend Gretl and Galyn. The militia of Terebovyl made its way up towards the monastery and engaged the army in battle. After an hour tentative attacks and counter-attacks, the army charged through the middle of the militia’s lines and routed them. Upon hearing the news, Crown Princess Natalja and Voljin, along with much of Streltsy, fled from Volodymyr and boarded ships provided by the navy (who declared loyalty to the Crown Princess) and sailed for Terbovyl on the continental portion of Lyons (known as Volhynia).

For several years after the battle of the Star Monastery, Varangia was without a king. Most of the nobles on the island of Galicia pledged their allegiance to him (which is how the island got its name) . The continental portion of Varangia was in the sphere of Voljin (which is how the area came to be known as Volhynia). Although Galyn and Voljin ruled in their respective territories, they did not truly command the complete allegiance of their landed nobility. Only through the maintenance of large standing armies were the young princes able to subjugate the nobles into serving as their cavalries and maintain order in their lands.

Confederacy and Sovereignty

With three nations in the Heartland and the increasing prospect of becoming a major stakeholder in the region, the leaders of New Varangia, Lituva, and Greater Masuria decided that decision making needed to be streamlined.

Ivan Andreyic, at the time the Colonial Foreign Minister of New Varangia, petitioned the Imperial Valorum in Muscovy, Wysteria for a significant devolution of competencies to a parallel government based in Vostock. Frederico Bossi, the Guarantor of the Valorum, and a strong proponent of devolution to principalities pushed the measure through the Valorum, thereby giving the three Varangian colonies what amounted to de facto independence from the empire. Independence was formalized in the Imperial Bull of 2005, when Regent Pyotr Orlov proclaimed that a Tsar chosen in the Heartland should be considered the equal to himself. From that moment on the colonies in the Heartland would henceforth be known as the Confederated Varangian Nations of New Varangia, Lituva, and Greater Masuria or simply, the Varangian Confederacy.

Politics and Elections

The government of the Varangian Confederacy was founded as a constitutional monarchy. Personal rights and governmental competencies are codified in this document. Analysis and interpretation of the document provides the theoretical basis for the government and its relationship with the governed.

The Primera Carta

This all important document from which all Varangian law and political theory in the Confederacy is based is called the Primera Carta, or First Charter. The Primera Carta is actually two parts, the fanciful "mechtat" (the prophetic tale which lead to the founding of the first Varangian Colony) and the more solemn political text of the charter proper. It is considered organic, that is, it is more than a static document written at the founding of the first Varangian colony, it revisable when a three-quarters vote of the legislative branch (the Confederate Duma) agree that changes need to be made to the document.

The contents of the Primera Carta outline which competencies the three constituent states and twenty-four palatinates would retain or divest to the central government. Amongst those they must divest are the competencies for the printing of currencies, administration extra-confederate trade, foreign policy, intelligence, and war making. States retained the administration of eduction, health, labor, transportation, and energy.

Organization

The "Primera Carta" establishes a system of checks and balances by dividing the government of the Confederacy into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The Confederacy is also organizationally structured into four levels: the confederacy, the principalities/archduchy, the palatinates, and the baronies. When the "Primera Carta" was first drafted, the palitanate was the strongest unit of organization and thus, scholars and Carta experts agree that the power sharing framework established in the Carta strongly favors the palatinate to the degree that the Confederacy is less an organization comprised of two principalities and an archduchy then a confederacy of twenty-four palatinates.

Geographic Organization (largest unit to smallest):

1. The Confederacy

2. Principality or Archduchy

3. Palatinate

4. Barony

Confederate Democracy and the Confederate Duma

The Confederacy elects its leaders democratically. To become enfranchised, one must simply be aged sixteen or older, a citizen of the Confederacy or its possessions, and register in their municipality. They may vote once every two years for all members that will represent their palatinate in the Confederate Duma. Members of the Duma are called Boyars and the leader they elect to represent them is called the Chancellor. The Chancellor selects a group of advisors to head the various High Commissions that administer the day-to-day operations of the central government. These advisors are known as Commissars and together they form the Privy Council.

The Duma has just held an election and the results follow. As the largest party in the Duma, but without a true majority, the Social Democrats formed a coalition government with the Kosmanian People's Party. The resulting joint venture, named the "Justice Coalition", has yet to announce its Comissarial appointments.

The Executive Branch and Tsar Konrad I

The Executive is known as the Tsar. Previous to the establishment of the Duma via the Primera Carta, the individual legislatures of the Principality of New Varangia and the Archduchy of Greater Masuria met in joint session in a body called the Amalgam. Amongst the last duties the Amalgam was tasked with before it dissolved was the identification of an executive who would rule as a dynastic monarch. After much deliberation, the body chose the Archduke of Thoreida, Florenzia in Wysteria, Lord Konrad Ilysha Federov. Tsar Konrad I as he would be called is an avid supporter of the arts, and has an advanced degree in Art History

The Supreme Soviet

Justice in the Confederacy is based first and foremost on laws explicitly spelled out in the Primera Carta. Established precedence then becomes the source for law, and when new law is needed interpretation of the intent of the Primera Carta comes into play.

To interpret law vis-a-vis the Primera Carta, a court of final appeal was established. It is called the Supreme Soviet. The Soviet is comprised of nine sovietniks whose terms run for up to forty-five years. The Soviet is arranged like a ladder with each sovietnik taking a step up every time the top sovietnik must rotate off the ladder. Currently, the ladder looks is as follows (C-Conservative; M-Moderate; L-Liberal):

1. Yegor Chernomirdin, retired CEO of Karetny Energetics (C)

2. Sviatopolk Rasmussen, partner at Rasmussen, Vogel, and Kazmarov, LLC (M)

3. Liliana Wunderwahl, district attorney of the city of Burzen (L)

4. Riurik Haiden, retired governmental official (M)

5. Alexander Krivinos, retired governmental official (M)

6. Maria Molotovna, professor of law at Elizabeth Regina University (L)

7. Annalisa Gehlert, founder and CEO Varangian Refugee Union (L)

8. Marius Sikunduchkis, partner at Haider and Sikunduchkis, LLC (M)

9. Artur Teplo, orthodox church metropolitan of Rossel (C)

Economy

The Varangian Confederacy has an economy based on capitalist principles. Its domestic policies have focused on aggressive growth and the states that comprise the Confederacy boasts some of the largest gross domestic products aggregates, highest gross domestic products per capita figures (Lituva and New Varangia tied for second, Greater Masuria, fifth), and strongest exchange rates per $NS (Lituva and New Varangia tied for second, Greater Masuria, twelfth).

Through diplomacy, the Varangian Confederacy has urged its neighbors and trading partners to decrease barriers to trade and has signed full free trade agreements with the Grand Federation of Liverpool England and the Community of PopularFreedom.

General economic statistics

Note: All economic statistics based on NSEconomy, accessed on AUG 16, 2006

Currency: Krona (currency code: K); 1 K = 100 kr (kronishka)

Exchange rate: 1 K = NS$1.91

Gross Domestic Product: NS$ 379.325 trillion

GDP - per capita: NS$ 38,062 (Greater Masuria), NS$ 43,986 (Lituva and New Varangia)

Exports: NS$ 42.788 trillion

Unemployment Rate: 2.65% average across the Confederacy

Religion

The charter from which laws and rights protect and serve the citizens of Varangia guarantees freedom of religion. However, in practice, most inhabitants of the Confederacy are Eastern (Varangian) Orthodox. The Eastern Church is the legacy of the original settlers from the Varangian Empire in Wysteria. The church is governed through a heirarchical structure, atop which sit the "princes" of the Easter Church, the Patriarchs. Amongst them, the Patriarch of Muscovy is considred first amongst equals.

The following religions are practiced in the Varangian Confederacy:

Society, culture and related issues

Varangian society is quite closed. The language is difficult to learn (much less to master)and those with accents are assumed poorly educated. Since the best jobs go to the best educated people, those who do not read, speak, and write in Varangian well often find themselves on the lowest rung of the economic ladder in the Confederacy.

Traditionally, Varangians are very dour and hardworking. Originally descended from Wysterian-Varangian stock, the Heartland Varangian culture is tremendously affected by the previous groups exposures to harsh winters and living by scratching the land. This way of "clinging" on to existense has permeated the ethos of Varangian culture: it is evident in the prose, music, visual arts, and spoken tongue.

Varangians are also extremely industrious. As latecomers to both regions, Varangians for generations have had to sacrifice so that their nations could take the "great leaps forward" and join the vanguard of economic powers in the Heartland and Wysteria. Due to the sacrifices of these generations of industrious Varangians, hard work is still greatly valued and economic success is viewed as an extremely positive value. Conversely, laziness, individualism, and admitting defeat are frowned upon.

Foreign Policy

The Confederacy has until recently, been a minority stakeholder in Heartland geopolitics. The position of non-interference and non-engagement with fellow nations or the region in general was representative of the awareness within the Confederacy that domestic issues (crime, unemployment) should be dealt with first.

With the emergence of three powerful economies and a renewed urgency by the Tsar for a stronger military, the Confederacy has shrugged off its mantra of inactivity to engage other nations to achieve its interests. Primarily, the Confederacy has sought to flex its economics muscles in order to attain deals that will allow domestic corporations greater market share. The outcome of this arm of its foreign policy is evident in free-trade deals with the Grand Federation of Liverpool England and the Community of Popular Freedom.

The Confederacy also puts great faith in the skill of its diplomats to establish working relationships with nations with whom the Confederacy has never dealt with. It is the belief of the Confederacy's High Commission for Foreign Affairs that active engagement with all nations, regardless if their interests run paralell to its own, preempts any misunderstanding that could possibly lead to conflict. This arm of the Confederacy's foreign policy is evident in its Treaty of Friendship and Territorial Sovereignty with the Kingdom of Herconia.

Finally, the Confederacy's diplomats strive to enrichen existing relationships by creating more robust treaties which cover economic liberalization, strategic coordination, and even cultural exchange. This "upgrading" of existing relationships can be illustrated by ongoing negotiations with the Most Serene Republic of Vassfforcia for a multi-themed agreement.