Argevau
Archduchy of Argevau l'Argevau
| |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
 Location of Argevau in Messenia | |
| Capital | Câtébiau |
| Official languages | Embute (Argevan dialect) |
| Recognised regional languages | Savamese |
| Religion | Cairony |
• Argan | Reformer Argevan |
| Demonym | Argevan |
| Government | Parliamentary respublic and constitutional monarchy |
| Lioûnie | |
| Legislature | Parliament of Argevau |
| Historical outline | |
| Area | |
• Total | 9,035 km2 (3,488 sq mi) (124th) |
| Population | |
• 2019 estimate | 966,700 |
• Density | 107/km2 (277.1/sq mi) |
| Currency | Aurel |
| Time zone | IAT M |
The Archduchy of Argevau (Embute Archiduchie dé l'Argevau, Savamese Archiduché d'Argevau) is a doubly-landlocked country in northern Messenia located at the core of the Cairan Heartland. Argevau is bordered, clockwise from the north, by Saint-Calvin, Brex-Sarre, and Rochardy.
The country is a full member of the Savamese Customs Union and the Embute Council. Formerly one of the foremost centres of silver mining and silversmithing in all of northern Messenia, Argevau is now a major banking hub in the Sabamic economic sphere and Messenia thanks to its bank secrecy policy and attractive taxation regime, both implemented during the Justinian Miracle.
Etymology
Argevau takes its name from the Val d'Argent, through which flows the l'Ardjanti river. The valley (Vau d'Argentarie), and the river are named after the many silver (Sabamic: argentum) mines that have been exploited in the area since pre-Sabāmanian times. Until the 18th century CE the region was known as Argentaria or l'Argentavau; the latter evolved into l'Argenvau, then l'Argevau, and became the most usual term. Argevau, without the leading l' which is the standard form in Ellish, is borrowed from Savamese usage.
Geography
Argevau is located in the southern Cairan Heartland, straddling the foothills and the first crests of the Galban Massif (Embute Massif gualbeis); the country is located on the north-eastern sector of the Montangne Plianche, the crestline of which forms most of the border with Rochardy and separates Argevau from the watershed of the Dives, an early left-bank tributary of the Génestre. The highest point of the Montangne is Mont L'Elbon at 1,097 metres above sea level.
Toward the lowlands of the Sabamic Plain the country is wedged between the Sarrel, which forms its border with Saint-Calvin, and the Seulette, which makes most of its border with Brex-Sarre; the tripoint between Argevau, Saint-Calvin, and Brex-Sarre is at the confluence between the Sarrel and the Seulette. 70 kilometres south of the tripoint, the border with Brex-Sarre is marked by the spectacular Seulette Gorges, as well as a series of falls. The northern quarter of the count lies below 500 metres of elevation, and is relatively flat compared to the remainder; in this region is concentrated most of Argevau's agriculture.
The eponymous Val d'Argent is formed by the river l'Ardjanti, the course of which falls entirely within the territory of Argevau. The l'Ardjanti forms a salient valley that carves a narrow passage into the surrounding plateau abutted against the Montangne Plianche; the country's capital, Câtébiau, is located in one of the meanders of this valley, occupying a commanding and easily defensible position about 50 kilometres south of the confluence between the Sarrel and the l'Ardjanti.
History
Post-war Argevau and the Justinian Miracle
As Argevau emerged from the Long War period into the strictures of the climatic catastrophe of the late 1950s and early 1960s, in many important respects the country was teetering on the edge of the abyss. The silver industry, which had been the mainstay of its economy for centuries, was in disarray, with most local mines at or close to exhaustion and funds for further searches lacking, and the country’s limited agricultural industry crippled by ongoing adverse weather conditions.
The young archduke Ouistinien III, who had succeeded to the throne on the unexpected death of his brother Martin in 1957, had spent most of his formative years being educated in nearby Savam, and had returned home with a clear belief that a pivot away from old industries – and a political and commercial alliance with the Savamese – held the key to Argevau’s future prosperity and security; but with his parliament being suspicious and deliberately obstructive, he had been unable to make much headway in these plans. However, with the impending opening of a new parliamentary session in 1964, Ouistinien now threaded this constitutional needle by decamping to Quesailles and effectively “going on strike”. With the parliament legally unable to sit, he arranged for the publication of his personal manifesto in Argevau’s leading newspaper. Completely outflanked and with public opinion swinging solidly behind the archduke, the government collectively resigned, allowing Ouistinien to take his country directly in hand.
Over the next few weeks Ouistinien put in place what was arguably the first outright technocratic government seen anywhere in Messenia. In the tenor of the times, the move was perhaps not surprising – several countries, including Savam and Argevau’s near-neighbour Emilia, had flirted with or succumbed to autocratic rule in the immediate post-war years – and there were understandable fears over Argevau’s future. However, Ouistinien went out of his way to allay any such suspicions, and was demonstrably keen to depict himself as “the CEO of Argevau SN”, as he was described in an interview with the Quesailles magazine Cahier des Actualités in 1967.
True to his intentions, Ouistinien took early steps to hitch Argevau’s star to Savam’s wagon. Before the end of 1964, negotiations had begun for the country to be admitted to the Savamese Customs Union (itself only formed in 1961), as well as giving up its own currency, the écu, in favour of Savam’s aurel. This was probably a logical step in returning to a hard currency, as the écu had depreciated drastically in the period of Ouistinien’s reign, and in early 1964 was officially trading at É250 = ₳1 (with black market rates as much as three times this level). Another important measure was passing a law allowing banks from outside the country to incorporate daughter companies in Argevau, and granting them extensive protections against the kind of public accountability routine elsewhere. These provisions were initially made available only to Savamese banks, but were extended to their counterparts in other SCU countries between 1968 and 1975. In the present day Argevan banks enjoy a reputation for secrecy and discretion rivalled only by their competitors in Västrahamn and Eichenhain.