Lutoborsk
Lutoborian Imperial Realms ⰎⰣⰕⰑⰁⰑⰓⰔⰠⰍⰋ ⰂⰑⰎⰑⰄⰀⰓⰋⰂⰠⰍⰋ ⰂⰑⰎⰑⰔⰕⰋ Ljutobors'ki Volodarivs'ki Volosti | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: ⰨⰃⰑ ⰒⰓⰉⰍⰎⰀⰄⰑⰏ Ⱑ ⰒⰅⰓⰅⰏⰀⰃⰀⰣ ⰐⰅⰂⰋⰃⰎⰀⰔⰕⰂⰑ Joho prykladom ja peremahaju nevihlastvo "Through his example I vanquish ignorance" | |
 Location of Lutoborsk in northern Outer Joriscia (including the Marshalates of the Lutoborian Banner) | |
| Capital | Hremel |
| Largest city | Undugsk |
| Official languages | Lutoborian language |
| Ethnic groups | Lutoborians, Moujiques, Pitenets, Dengs, Vaduls, Joghs, Muzans, Mandrivniks |
| Religion | Vaestism |
• Banner | Wide North (Lutoborian) |
| Demonym | Lutoborian |
| Government | Federal respublican empire |
• Vozhd | Vladibor XIII |
| Founding | |
| 1038–40 | |
| 1135 | |
| 1313–16 | |
| 1636 | |
• Renunciation of polcovodate | 1775 |
| 1855 | |
| 1988 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,401,035 km2 (1,313,147 sq mi) (4th) |
| Population | |
• 2015 census | 239,432,893 |
• Density | 70.4/km2 (182.3/sq mi) |
| Currency | norka, (norky, pl.)Ħ |
| Time zone | Vaestic day IAT - J reference |
Lutoborsk (Lutoborian: ⰎⰣⰕⰑⰁⰑⰓⰔⰠⰍ[?] Ljutobors'k), officially the Lutoborian Imperial Realms (Lutoborian: ⰎⰣⰕⰑⰁⰑⰓⰔⰠⰍⰋ ⰂⰑⰎⰑⰄⰀⰓⰋⰂⰠⰍⰋ ⰂⰑⰎⰑⰔⰕⰋ, Ljutobors'ki Volodarivs'ki Volosti; often referred to as the Lutoborsk in Ellish), is a country in northern Outer Joriscia. Clock-wise from the south-east it borders Cadasy, Sebagy, Doyotia, Rasintia, Domradovid Joriscia, and the Rastovid Confederacy, and from across the Tchokbyl Sea, Kiy. Lutoborsk is the largest country in Outer Joriscia by area, at 3.4 million km², and the largest non-Steppe state in Messeno-Joriscia. It covers a diverse geography from the sub-tropical south, the grasslands of the greater west, and the forested continental north; a striking feature is the Vlodoman Inland Seas, the largest lake system on the continent. With a population of 239 million the Lutoborsk is the most populous country in the Civilised World, ahead of the Savamese Empire. It is a Great Power, and a member of the Panarchate that governs Vaestdom.
Etymology
The name 'Lutoborsk' is derived from the Lutoborovids, the main branch of the Yarovids that conquered the country in the 11th century. They ruled over the eponymous Lutoborovid Confederacy, the first major post-Secote state in south-central Lutoborsk, during which the region became associated with their dominion. 'Lutoborsk' or 'Lutoborovid [lands]' became accepted as both a geographic designation in colloquial language, and a political patrimony in official titulature. It was inherited by the Aborovids who claimed a genealogical relationship with the Lutoborovids, and later in the Polcovodate era, the name was emphasised and promoted over the main Aborovid title of the 'Flank State', now seen as rustic and archaic. This was conveniently served by the new legitimating title of Polcovode of the Lutoborsk as granted by Great Neritsia, originally intended to only refer to the late Aborovid realm's geographic aspect. With the prodigious expansion of the empire in the early modern era on one hand, and the strengthening of regional identities on the other, 'Lutoborsk' is now considered to only mean the formal Vaestic political entity and whatever culture defined specifically in connection to it.
Geography
Physical geography
Lutoborsk is the largest country in Outer Joriscia by area, and the largest non-Steppe state in Messeno-Joriscia, with an area of 3.401 million km². Its size, location at the edge of the great Joriscian Steppe, and general north-south orientation make it a very diverse country geographically and climatically. Indeed, Lutoborsk covers a band of latitudes from 50°N to 24°N, spreading from quasi boreal temperate in the north to subtropical in the south through the temperate and horse latitudes.
The country comprises almost entirely of what is called the Dzoghic Peninsula, roughly defined as land east of the line from the mouth of Siauresa River, on the Bay of Gergotea of the Gulf of Joriscia, to the delta of the Sluch River, on the Gulf of Ondozero in the Blaisine Sea. The southern coastal regions of the Banner-State are collectively known as Unscany, bordering on (and sometimes including) Greater Doyotia spanned by the marshalates. The northern Tchokbyl coastal regions are known as Kadalkhia. The Esperasian island of Daskhye is the empire's only notable distant possession.
The Dzoghic Peninsula further projects into the Homul Peninsula, where Lutoborsk's easternmost point is Cape Vladibor I. The greater interior is occupied by the Joghunmal Plain, the eastern-most expansion of the Steppe contained into the basin of the Sluch. The Joghunmal plain is separated from the Shid River basin by the Mataki Hills, a discontinuous chain of small hills rising to 300 metres above the lowlands at most. The Matakis are mostly contained within the territory of the Rastovid Confederacy with the Sluch forming the boundary. The rest of the country is composed of coastal basins separated from the Joghunmal plain by ridges and mountains, and the Dovhyi Tableland.
The most important of those mountains chains is the Nebo Ridge which run from Cape Koljutsij in the Blaisine Sea to the Lower Nadrova. Geologically the Nebos are the northern continuation of the Areef mountains belt which separate Outer and Inner Joriscia. The Nebos reach their highest point at Mount Synyak at 1,402m above sea level, near the southern end of the ridge; other higher-altitude areas are concentrated in the central (Mount Vysoka at 1,375m) and northern part (Mount Dantser at 994m) ranges of the ridge.
East to the Nebos, the Homul Peninusla is bisected longitudinally (along an West-East axis) by the Gorgany Ridge, which reaches up to 900m above sea level. On the southern side of the Gorganys the Vydovets Hills separate the Vadulid Plain to the east from the Mezhadchenye River alluvial plain to the south-west. The Mezhadchenye basin is itself separated from the Lower Nadrova by an eastward projection of the Nebos.
Further to the south the Lower Nadrova valley is bordered by the Chornohora Ridge, which is generally divided in two sub-range segmenting the Undughu Coastal Plain in two regions. The Chornohoras also form the eastern boundary of the Siauresa River basin, which is bounded in the west by the Areefs proper. The Areefs' highest point in Lutoborsk is Mount Rebra, 2,562m above sea level, at the tripoint between Lutoborsk, Rasintia, and Domradovid Joriscia.
The Dovhyi Tableland is a large plateau connecting the northern range of the Areef Mountains to the Nebo and Chornohora Rigdges, although it is classified by geologists as a piedmont plateau. The plateau's average altitude is about 650m above sea level, placing it higher than both the Siauresa basin to its south and the Joghunmal Plain to its north. Nonetheless, the plateau forms a natural passage for travellers from the Steppe to northern Outer Joriscia, and vice-versa. The upper basin of the Nadrova River covers most of the tableland's western areas, while the east belong to the Upper Siauresa. The plateau abuts directly against the southern edge of the Vlodoman Inland Seas and the upper Nadrova valley, often plunging directly into the lakes and providing spectacular vistas like the Cliffs of Kotivka.
Climate
Vlodoman Inland Seas
The Vlodoman Inland Seas are the largest lakes system in Messeno-Joriscia, ahead of the Great Lakes. They are volcanic in origin: a string of supervolcano calderas; other tectonic processes and water erosion have since contributed to enlarge them. The lakes are squeezed between the Dovhyi Tableland to the south and the Nebo Ridge to the north, and allow an easier low-altitude passage between the Joghunmal Plain to the north-west and the coastal plain to the east via the Lower Nadrova. Due to their volcanic origin, the Seas have striking landscapes at the interfaces with the Dovhyi Tableland and the Nebo Ridge, such as the Cliffs of Kotivka and the Wall of Sadove, respectively.
There are six major lakes and dozens of smaller ones; the largest by-far lake is the eponymous Lake Vlodoma, which represent 80.8% of the surface area of the whole inland seas. The lake system is called "inland seas" because of the size of Lake Vlodoma (which is 593 km long in its longest dimension, and 386 km wide) and, importantly, the salt content in the water is about 25% higher than typical freshwater (but still lower than oceans). The drainage basin of the Seas is synonymous with that of the Nadrova River, which provide the only outlet to the ocean. The Nadrova washes volcanic soil from the Seas, making the Lower Nadrova one of the country's most fertile region.
History
The Lutoborsk has a rich history as the greater northern interface between the civilisations of southern Outer Joriscia, the Inner Joriscian steppe, and the long coast of the northeastern subcontinent. For most of its early history it was dominated by the Undughu civilisation and the Joghic Hegemony, who roughly controlled coastal and interior regions respectively. The presence of nearby Chotar was strongly felt, with the Undughu Empire created and many other parts of Undughu culture and religion reshaped under Chotarian influence, though this ran up against nativist opposition.
The region was conquered by the Secote Empire in the 11th century, which brought Secote culture and the Sirian religion. Vaestism started to spread slowly in Lutoborsk from the 15th century, and efforts to resist its spread by the Sirian rulers of the Aborovid Confederacy eventually culminated in a period of religious strife in the 17th century which led to the establishment of Polcovodate Lutoborsk, the first form of the modern Lutoborian realm. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, the country expanded under the reigns of two long-lived Vozhds Vladibor V and Vladibor VI into a massive Vladiborovid personal union of converted and conquered Vesnite states. With the Tardy War, it saw the end of Sirian and other pre-Vesnite cultures in north-eastern Joriscia, with the destruction of Great Doyotia and the Khuikh states.
Starting in the 19th century the empire's loose Plinth State, dominated by knyazchiks, was challenged by imperialist movements that tried to establish a strong central government based on Vaestic ideals of autocracy. The Presidential era saw internal tensions combine with foreign military setbacks to promote modernising reform. But against the realities of the empire's constitution, this led to what was effectively a 'second Tardy War' between independent northern Joriscian states in the 20th century, culminating in the Lutoborian Civil War. The newly established imperialist regencies of Svorad of Nemasy and Dobromir Sillis navigated the Lutoborsk through the Long War, and the Holay War against Kiy, establishing a united but fragile federation. After Dobromir's ouster in the Confection of 1988, the power struggles of the Catabolism ended with major reforms that consolidated both formal and effective foundations of federal-imperial unity since the 2000s.
Government and politics
The Lutoborsk is a federation of states adhering to the Banner of the Wide North and recognising the Vozhd as Standard-Bearer and Emperor. At this imperial level the Vozhd is represented by the Lutoborian Court, which makes policy and appoints officials at this level. The states have their own governments and laws, officially determined free of imperial influence since the Confection (and effectively so even longer).
Disputes between state and imperial power, though still stereotyped as a feature of Lutoborian political dysfunction, have been mostly ended by the Confectionary constitution and the formation of political forces durably connecting across the states. While the unification of the Lutoborian states under imperialism was the main engine of politics in the 20th century, the excesses of the imperialist regency-dictatorships has promoted confectionism as the main concern today. Since the 2010s the Watchmen's Party has dominated Lutoborian politics, promoting more active federal interventions to uphold 'confection' as an ideal of social harmony rather than cynical political reality.
Foreign relations
The Lutoborsk's main historical ally, and generally its most intuitive partner, has been Agamar: the latter played a significant role in the conversion of Lutoborsk to Vaestism, lacks interests in the Steppe that could clash with Lutoborian ones, and even where it is allied to Savam, a Lutoborian opponent in Inner Joriscia, it mainly rests with affairs in Ascesia and Serania which the Lutoborsk has no stakes in. Nevertheless, previously friendly relations have deteriorated since the Lutoborsk joined in interordinate isolation of Agamar over the Ranian crisis. On the other hand, Azophin and Kiy were originally major opponents, but today relations may be said to be cordial. Azophin competed with the Lutoborsk for Inner Joriscia during the Race to the Centre, but starting in the Long War it developed close ties with successive Lutoborian governments, and the two now jointly uphold a trade route through the eastern Steppe and the Kesruba desert. Kiy fought a long low-intensity war against the Lutoborsk, the Holay War, but after the 1990 Stravar Concord relations have returned to normal, and the two countries engage in a mutually beneficial close economic partnership. Zemay, which seized Rasintia during the Long War and has long-standing ambitions in Greater Doyotia, has also underwent some rehabilitation, but disputes about the division of power in the Doyotian marshalates remain contentious.
Military
The Military of the Lutoborsk includes the 'imperial' army directly commanded by the Court; 'confederate' armies organised with imperial support but placed under state command; and defence forces organised entirely under the states. There is also a culture of hunter-privateer militias with no official recognition but substantial everyday activity. The Lutoborsk is a nuclear-armed power and can deploy its weapons via the nuclear triad.
Economy
Lutoborian estatism is stereotyped as minimally regulated, with high levels of estate autonomy and discretion through servience allowing them to rival local and even federal scholarly government, though this has changed with more central intervention under the Watchmen's Party. Self-managing bodies known as Privateer Boards are a distinct and recently developed feature of Lutoborian estatism, caused by the political turmoil during the Catabolism in the 1990s. Local estate cooperativism forms another layer to the political culture of autonomy and solidary groups in Lutoborsk.
Although originally a comparative latecomer to the Industrial Revolution in Joriscia, the Lutoborian economy is now modern and in many areas even advanced. Heavy industries and manufacturing are a significant part of the economy; the Lutoborian automotive industry is known as the largest in Joriscia by production volume. Mining provides significant revenue to the country's estates. The agricultural sector is one of Lutoborsk's strong suits, principally thanks to its diverse climate and land area, enabling self-sufficiency in foodstuffs. Large mechanised farms, many of which are family-owned, characterise the sub-tropical south and temperate east, while pastoralism is developed in the interior.
When compared to other Outer Joriscian countries, the Lutoborian economy lags behind in many metrics, bearing a less developed service sector and less widespread automation, making it comparable to some Messenian economies; arguably the most sophisticated Messenian countries like Savam or Zeppengeran have now overtaken the Lutoborsk in many domains. Although the Lutoborian standard of living is high by world standards, it is below average in Outer Joriscia.
The country does not have any colonial empire outside of its sphere of influence in Inner Joriscia, so its economy is reliant on indigenous or Steppe resources; for example, 70% of oil consumed in Lutoborsk comes from the oil fields of the Shid River basin in the Rastovid Confederacy. The marshalates of the Lutoborian Banner in Greater Doyotia are well integrated into the Lutoborian economy, although the competition from Zemayan estates is significant in this region. Azophin, Kiy, and Zemay are major trading partners.
Ethnology
The Lutoborsk is a very diverse nation, inhabited by 9 major ethnic groups, and at least 13 languages or major dialects are spoken between them. The Lutoborian people, who speak the East Secotic Lutoborian language, inhabit the Upper Nadrova and the Dovhyi Tableland. They descend from a complex history of mixing and assimilation between the Dovhyi Joghs and later Secote conquerors. The Pitenet people, who speak the Chotaric Pitenet language, inhabit Greater Doyotia, and descend from Chotarian colonisation and conquest. The wider seaboard is inhabited by several Undughu peoples, namely the Moujiques in Unscany and Mezhadchenye, Vaduls in the Vadulid Plain and the Homul Peninsula, and Dengs in Kadalkhia and western Homul. The interior is home to the Secotic Mandrivniks, and the Joghunmal (including both the nomadic plainsmen, and the sedentary Badgajoghs of the Badgajoghic Peninsula). Gergotes and Muzans are notable minorities near and in Rasintia, while small Agar communities are present on the south-eastern coast, remnants of Agar colonial ventures of the 17th century.
| Ethnic group | Classification | Population | Main regions inhabited | Language and dialects spoken |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lutoborians | Secotic | 100,000,000 | Lower Nadrova, Dovhyi Tableland | Lutoborian |
| Moujiques | Undughu | 57,300,000 | Mezhadchenye, Undughu Coastal Plain (also Cadasy, Sebagy) | Moujique languages (Riparian, Coastal, Gulf) |
| Dengs | Undughu | 23,200,000 | Northern Homul Peninsula, Kadalkhia | Dengish |
| Pitenets | Chotaric | 20,700,000 | Lower Siauresa (also Doyotia) | Pitenet |
| Vaduls | Undughu | 17,100,000 | Vadulid Plain | Vadul |
| Joghs | Joghic | 13,400,000 | Badgajoghic Peninsula, Joghunmal Plain | Joghic, Badgajoghic |
| Muzans | 2,300,000 | Areef mountains (also Rasintia) | Muzan | |
| Mandrivniks | Secotic | 1,700,000 | Joghunmal Plain, Krajo | Carassic, Far Secotic, Lutoborian |
While Lutoborian enjoys the status of official language, in regions inhabited by other cultures their native languages are actively used, and diglossia is commonplace. Undughic languages are particularly vigorous in asserting their presence. It is estimated about 40% of the population domestically speak an Undughic language, most numerously Moujique, while other families, most prominently Pitenet and Joghic, take up 16%. The official and liturgical use of non-Lutoborian tongues, while controversial, remains in place out of practical concerns. Given that cultural issues easily feed regionalist sentiment, such as the historical Undughu Banners or nostalgist radicalism, there is little support for any campaign of standardisation like the Azophine Common Tongue Campaign, by a government that is restrained by the Confection no less.
Phenotypes in the Lutoborsk are fairly varied. The Joghunmal, Mandrivniks, and Undughic groups north of the Mezhadchenye present a look of light skin, and common light hair and eyes, in line with the typical appearance of Steppe people or northern Messenians. The population of Kadalkhia and Homul have somewhat common occurrences of red hair. To the south, olive or tawny skin, dark hair, and dark-coloured eyes become progressively more common, although northern appearances are still quite prevalent due to ancient Joghic and Undughu migrations. The Pitenets and Gergotes typically have the darkest skin-tone, comparable to neighbouring inhabitants of Zemay. Appearances similar to those on the Joriscian Peninsula have also been attributed to Agar and other peninsular immigration in the early Vaestic period.
Religion
The official religion of the Lutoborsk is Vaestism, which has been the sole state religion since 1661. Due to its distance from the Vaestic centres of southern Joriscia and independent local influences, Lutoborian Vaestism is often considered heterodox and deviant from southern norms, albeit not to the extremes reached by Strong Externalism in neighbouring Kiy. Some notable or commonly perceived local particularisms include the co-optation of Undughu hynahs as positively regarded demons, the inheritance of various rituals, beliefs, and aesthetics from Undughu religion, and a cultural predilection for individualism often threatening the Vaestic doctrines of order and hierarchy. On the other hand the country has also championed various forms of moralism and conservatism, most notably neo-dubitant thought in the 19th century; the population is generally still sceptical of externalism and rationalism in many respects, and moral panics are a common reaction to various indigenous adaptations.
The Banner-Shrine of the Mokykla of the Magnification is located in Zhytomir, the inescapable centre of religious affairs in the country. The school was founded there in 1634, and rebuilt in 1675 by Vozhd Svorad after it was razed by Sirian invaders. The physical banner itself is often moved to Hremel to take part in ceremonies led by the Vozhd there; this transfer is the occasion for a traditional procession of grand importance led by many important nobles on horseback.
Small Sirian communities survive in the Steppe among the Joghs and Mandrivniks. Although Siriash has been under an edict of oblivion since 1607, tribal Sirians have been tolerated by the Lutoborian authorities, as they have demonstrated their loyalty to the country on other occasions. Nevertheless, substantial pressures to convert remain.
Culture
Lutoborian culture is by many aspects unique in Outer Joriscia, exhibiting both the distinct influences of Undughu and Joghic civilisations, as well as the retention of Secote elements where other conquered lands had gradually dispensed with them. Political regionalism further preserves the empire's cultural diversity. Many parts of aristocratic Secote culture were transformed by the nobility's gradual broadening into prestigious and tasteful activities conducted without any sense of ethnic or class exclusivity, associating one with the Lutoborian empire itself. These are contrasted, on friendly terms, with regional particularisms and customs typically forming claims to an exotic and ancient heritage. In terms of values a common thread stereotypically running through nearly all Lutoborians is a conviction for individual freedom, linked with images such as that of the Captains, but also associated with disorder and anarchy in the eyes of other Joriscian cultures. Ownership of a wide range of things from housing to automobiles to firearms, as well as possession of numerous personal qualities, form part of a sense of individual sovereignty.
Cuisine
The many regional cuisine traditions across the empire are united by a sense of simplicity and austerity. An Undughu-influenced typology describes three flavours that try to capture archetypical feelings: the 'sweet and sticky', embodied in a wide range of rice-based confectionery known as nadan; the 'hearty and scrumptious', primarily roast meat with vegetables and savoury soup; and the 'harsh', preserved or raw meat with other hastily prepared ingredients. Regional cuisines either combine or separate them according to meal and social context. Spices are rarely used because of cultural prejudices against fixtures of cuisine from the Joriscian Peninsula.
Sports
A diversity of sports enlists an even greater variety of participation. Zapovidy in its original mounted form is a noble right but attracts elite patronage and popular spectators alike, while foot-based imitations enjoy similarly hot reception, and enthusiasts of teams or players are prone to rioting. The Great Houses of the Lutoborian nobility hold elaborate ceremonial games doubling as diplomatic venues with nomadic clients of the empire. The seemingly unrelated enjoyments of dodgeball, obstacle courses, and martial arts all claim some cultural continuity with the spectacular ancient art of nibal-nabah. Wargames and military simulations are universally cathartic and engrossing activities that occupy sportive and gun-owning Lutoborian neighbourhoods; teams playing them also form the main organisations of local hunter-privateers. The country has a modest video gaming scene and the oeuvres of Lutoborian developers are represented by works such as Felhoseker.
Art and literature
Lutoborian literary and artistic achievement was limited for most of the Vaestic age; a sense of cultural authenticity in this area is instead provided by extensive knowledge of nostalgist rediscoveries and translations of Undughu works from the late 19th century, with Undughu poetic and mythological allusions well-known among the literate population.
Countries in Outer Joriscia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Banner-states |  | |
| Marshalates | ||
