Rastovid Confederacy
The Rastovid Confederacy (Carassic ⰓⰀⰔⰕⰑⰂⰔⰍⰑⰅ ⰔⰑⰣⰈ, Rastovskoe Soyuz) is a loosely united Secote-led state in the steppe of northern Inner Joriscia; its de jure territory makes it the largest country on the Messeno-Joriscian continent by area. The Confederacy is bordered in the north-east by Kiy (through its mainland territory in Far Transvechia), in the east by the Lutoborsk, in the south by Domradovid Joriscia, in the west by Ceresora and Savam, and in the north by Transvechia. Most of the population is concentrated in a sweeping arc in the country's western half, from the northern border regions with Kiy and Transvechia to the south-western region of Upper Tavda, the Rastovids' historical centre of power and the location of their capital, Bogograd.
Rastovid Confederacy ⰓⰀⰔⰕⰑⰂⰔⰍⰑⰅ ⰔⰑⰣⰈ Rastovskoe Soyuz | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
 The Confederacy in Inner Joriscia | |
| Capital | Bogograd |
| Official languages | Carassic |
| Recognised regional languages | Elmiesian, Pago-Tanian, Verborian, Savamese, Transvechian, High Secote, Rashimic |
| Religion | Siriash (official), Cairo-Sirian syncretism, Cairony, Vaestism |
| Demonym | Rastovid |
| Government | Monarchy |
| Sulibor II | |
| Unification | |
| 1861 | |
| 1867 | |
| 1959 | |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,336,889 km2 (1,674,482 sq mi) (1st) |
| Population | |
• 2012 estimate | 34,922,410 |
• Density | 8.1/km2 (21.0/sq mi) |
| Currency | Rastovid Sereb (RSB) |
The vast country is nominally controlled by the Sirian Rastovids, a Surim East Secotic tribal confederation led by the eponymous Rastovid family, historical allies of the Messenian powers of Savam and Ceresora who received overlordship over large swaths of the steppe at the 1867 Congress of Mir; the present geopolitical situation is more or less as was established at the Congress of Kethpor in 1959. However, the authority of the Rastovids, headed by Polcovode Sulibor II, is very loose in most of the country, as local authorities established by non-Secote or non-Sirian communities rule over their own affairs in accordance to interordinate agreements passed in the 19th and 20th century; six autonomous starosties and one marshalate are sponsored by foreign interests. In addition, trade concessions, extraterritoriality, preferential treatment, and other legal advantages are commonly granted to foreign governments and corporations (either polyindustrials or estates) in most of the country, except in the Surim Neutral Zone, which was established in 2003 in the aftermath of the Rastovid War. Even within the areas under direct government control, central government control is lax or even non-existent outside of the more populated areas and major communication axes, allowing the existence of many quasi-independent Secotic nomadic clans and tribes. In recent decades the Polcovode has also had to deal with increasingly autonomous behaviour by the Voivode of the East, who increasingly serves as a vessel for Outer Joriscian interests.
In this regard, the Confederacy is very similar to the Vesnite Domradovid Joriscia to its south, with the principal difference being that the Domradovids' tropism is to the Orient, whereas the Rastovids are turned to the Occident. The Great Powers engaged in the Confederacy are Savam on the Messenian side, and Azophin and the Lutoborsk on the the Outer Joriscian side. Secondary powers Ceresora and Kiy are also involved, the former to a larger degree.
The Rastovid realm sits on a number of important transcontinental trade routes: the Liski-Tamoom Road, the Grand North Way, the Liski-Tiperevesk Axis, and the Kasimirsk Trail. The capital city of Bogograd has been a major trade hub for centuries, due to its strategic location at a nexus on the route coming from Tamoom on the Rashimic Littoral through the Cinnabar Gates. Although in modern times inland trade is still important to the Rastovid economy, the presence of abundant natural resources, especially fuel and energy sources such as oil, natural gas, and coal, is now a far more important factor to the geopolitics of the steppe, with a significant proportion of the Messenian and Lutoborian oil and gas supplies originating from the Confederacy.
Geography
Features
At 4,336,889 km², the Confederacy is the largest recognised interordinate entity1. It covers most of the region of Inner Joriscia, but also encompasses part or all of the regions of Translacunia and the Great North. Mount Glaukon, the highest mountain in Messenia at 3,496 metres, is located at the tripoint between the Rastovid Confederacy, Ceresora, and Domradovid Joriscia. In the north, the Severnistines peak at Gran Putèn on the Transvechian border at 3,267 metres.
The major defining feature of the country is the steppe, which represents about two-thirds of the country's surface area. The steppe is bounded to the north by the mountains of the Severnistines and to the west by the Great Lakes and the Valderfall-Leucasian mountains. To its east, the Steppe abuts the coast of the Blaisine Sea and extends into the Lutoborsk as far as the Nebo Ridge (an area locally known as the Joghunmal Plain). Finally, to the south, the steppe slowly gives way to the arid expanses of the Kesruba desert, although the desert is not within Rastovid territory proper with the exception of a small area in Chuzastrana.
The steppe is by no means flat: it is intersected by a series of north-south-orientated low-lying ridges and hill chains, as well as several plateaux that abut higher mountains bounding the region. These feature large watersheds which define large eco-regions in the steppe, and which often form natural political boundaries. In the west, the Betoz ridge delineates the eastern boundary of Translacunia, and also marks the final transition from scattered savanna to pure grasslands. The Khadanga ridge, with summits reaching 1,300 m ASL, bisects the country in its middle, and marks both the eastern boundary of the Védomagne watershed and the de facto boundary between the Messenian and Joriscian spheres of influence. Further east, the Mataki Hills shield the more distant eastern fringes of the steppe. In the north, the steppe expands over the White River Plateau, sandwiched between the Ougles and the main massif of the Severnistines as they turn to the north.
In the west, the region of Translacunia has for long been the centre of Messenian projection of power in the area. Translacunia is a transition region between Messenia and the steppe, defined by the Great Lakes. In particular, the region's biomes differ from those found further east, thanks to a more humid climate, and the eastern side of the lakes is dotted with marshlands such as the Lescomian Marshes and the Liski Marshes.
Major rivers
Many rivers criss-cross the country and form natural axes of communication and settlement within the steppe. In the west, all rivers ultimately join the Védomagne, the greatest river of the Messeno-Joriscian continent. The Védomagne proper, or, as it is locally known, the Tavda, only flows in a small part of the south-west from Domradovid Joriscia and rounding the Orrimon Range to flow into Lake Bocha. Its major tributaries (all right-bank) that flow in the Confederacy are the Sarantaporos, the Breganitsa and the Surim-Tosna. In the east, the two other major rivers are the White River and the Shid; a small area in the further east belongs to the watershed of the Sluch River.
Climate
Most of the country experiences a continental climate with pronounced dry winters. Summers are hot (though cool in the northernmost parts) and winters cold,; in winter it is common for many of the country's major rivers to freeze over. Hotter regions have summer daily averages largely above 25°, even in some cases 30° (given that the land does not have time to cool down at night) whereas in the north the daily averages are between 10° and 15°. In winter the southern regions remains on average above 0° (but not above 5°) while the northern regions have daily averages as low as -15° even in lowlands.
A major anticyclone, the Inner Joriscian High forms over the country during the summer and creates those freezing temperatures while also preventing precipitations during the winter; as a result, there is actually very little snowfalls on the steppe. The anticyclone dissipates during the summer allowing precipitations to be brought over the steppe by the polar front. The southern boundary regions remain mostly dry in all seasons, experiencing a semi-arid climate which transitions from the cold to the hot subvariants as one moves south, and eventually gives into the arid climate of the Kesruba desert (which covers most of Domradovid Joriscia).
The Severnistines and their sub-range the Ougles, as well as the Orrimons in Far Tania, experience a classic montane climate, though the slopes in the Rastovid territory are drier than the others due to rain-shadow effects and prevailing patterns. Their foothills in north-east New Elmiesia and most of the White River Plateau have a transitional subpolar climate, which ressembles northern adendritic steppes but still allows trees to grow if enough precipitations are provided (temperatures are otherwise similar to the boreal forests of central Transvechia).
History
The Confederacy was established by the Congress of Mir in 1867, which bestowed the Rastovids with authority over a large territory as a reward for their loyalty to the western Great Powers during the events of the Great Steppe Rising. Territories in the modern confederacy were largely unaffected by the 19th century oriental Race to the Centre which focused mostly further south, with the notable exception of Chuzastrana and the extreme east, where Lutoborsk and Azophin competed for control over the region. The only part of the Shid basin controlled by the Rastovids, the former Stanislavid and Andarovid Commanderies around Tiperevesk and Zheleznovoy were only marginally within the range of Outer Joriscian interests.
During the years from Mir to the Long War, the Rastovids expanded by subjugating other Secotic tribal groups that had remained independent in the post-Mir status quo, such as the Bronislavid Commandery in southern New Elmiesia, annexed in 1951. The Confederacy further expanded its borders through the settlements that followed the Congress of Kethpor in 1959. The entirety of Translacunia as well as most of the Transvechian Far East were transferred to nominal Rastovid sovereignty, as well as the northern half of Chuzastrana and some eastern regions formerly controlled by Lutoborian clients in the Joghunmal Plain.
Most of those arrangements were taken with the aim of creating a large neutral area where no particular power was favoured, and to resolve previous disputes between states that had interests in the region: Savam, Ceresora, Kiy, and the Lutoborsk. However, these enlargements resulted in what is perceived by some as an uneasy compromise and, to some extent, a volatile politico-religious situation. Following Kethpor, the Confederacy's population now comprised a plurality of non-nomadic and non-Secote populations, mostly of Messenian heritage. Although the non-Secote populations govern themselves through the autonomous starosties, for many external observers the situation is considered unsustainable in the long term and supported only by the involvement of the Great Powers.
Ironically, the most recent major burst of violence in the country, the Rastovid War (1999-2003), was largely unrelated to the affairs of non-Secotic people in the Confederacy. While ostensibly triggered by the Semograd Incident in Floridy 1999, the war resulted primarily from the escalation of tensions between the Bogograd government and several rebel Secotic clans (most prominently the Vladihnevids) during the 1990s, and from the increasingly indepedent actions of the Voivode of the East in the confederacy's east. The Voivode, based in Tiperevsk, is the leading official tasked with managing the regions east of the Khadanga hills; by the late 20th century the position, and appointment to it, had essentially became controlled by Azophin and Lutoborsk, both of which used it as part of several mechanisms to protect their strategic and economic interests in the Confederacy. By 1999, rumours were circulating that the then Voivode xxxx was planning to usurp the Polcovodate. When the Savamese army crossed into non-starosty land, in the so-called Operation Northern Spear, to restore order around Semograd, the Voivode invited the Lutoborian government to deploy troops in the east for "security reasons". This eventually escalated into a full-scale regional war between Savam and Lutoborsk, which ended with the 2003 Gattam Accords and the establishment of the current status quo in the country, including the Surim Neutral Zone.
Geopolitics
At the heart of the steppe, the Rastovid Confederacy is a fertile ground for influence and power-plays between the Great Powers. Savam and the Lutoborsk are engaged in a continuous power-play in the country via proxy groups, or sometimes directly, as in the Rastovid War, with somehow more limited involvement by neighbouring secondary power Ceresora. Azophin also controls a part of the country's east, and Kiy has a history of claiming territory in its northern reaches. As a general guideline, the basin of the Védomagne river is considered to be the Savamese and Ceresoran sphere of influence, whereas the basins of the Shid and Sluch rivers are considered to be under Lutoborian remit, although the latter is contested by the Azophin-sponsored Marshalate of Chuzastrana in the upper Shid. Based on this geographic understanding, the White River Province should belong to the Outer Joriscian sphere, but it is actually controlled by Savamese and Transvechian interests, having previously been part of the Transvechian territory before the Long War. Overall, compared to the southern Domradovids, the Confederacy has a stronger Western tropism, notably due to the centre of Rastovid power being located in the west at Bogograd and its more populated western regions.
Autonomous entities
Seven subnational autonomous entities exist within the Confederacy; these are nominally subject to the Polcovode. but in practice govern themselves under the supervision of external powers. These are the six starosties ("autonomous provinces", singular starosty) under Messenian influence, and one Outer Joriscian marshalate. The country's greater western third, Translacunia, where the Joriscian steppe gives way to savannas, is divided into five starosties characterised by their large non-Secote Elmiesian, Pago-Tanian, Verborian, or Savamese pluralities and by the presence of settled West Secotes or North Secotes, instead of nomadic East Secotes. The sixth starosty is the White River Province in the north-eastern steppe, which would normally fall into what is considered as the Outer Joriscian sphere of influence but which, due to the historic Dordanian penetration of the region around the Grand North Way, is now under Transvechian control; the province features significant Elmiesian and Sabamic populations of Kérates and Transvechians. Savam and Ceresora control three starosties each: Transturby, New Elmiesia, and the White River Province for the former, and Lescomia, Lower Tavda, and Far Tania for the latter. All of the autonomous provinces have similarly organised respublican regional governments headed by a Starosta, who reports to the Rastovid government in Bogograd but is appointed through local processes.
In the south-east, along the upper course of the river Shid, the area known as Chuzastrana is a self-governing zaconic marshalate under the Azophine Banner and headed by the Marshal-Commander of Chuzastrana; the marshalate actually straddles the territories of the Rastovids and Domradovids, and its main centre of power at Kiroštka is within Domradovid jurisdiction.2. Chuzastrana's major settlement in the Rastovid territory is Kasimirsk. Chuzastrana is primarily inhabited by Vaestic Chuz, although there are still a good number of Sirian Far Secotic Mandrivniks tribes there as well. Azophin has generally been satisfied with maintaining the integrity of the region, which is especially rich in coal and oil, against Lutoborian or Western advances. Since the early 2000s, it has been the intermittent target of attacks by the Fountain of Knowledge, a decentralised group of Hejrozine heretics who follow the model of the Restitutors. They were responsible for the 2006 Chuzastrana uprising, though troubles were mostly concentrated in the Domradovid part of the marshalate.
Surim Neutral Zone
In the centre of the country, inside the actual jurisdiction of the central confederal government and between the Savamese and Lutoborian spheres, lies the Surim Neutral Zone (SNZ), covering the watershed of the Surim river (a tributary to the Védomagne) up to Bogograd. The neutral zone was established in 2003 at the conclusion of the Rastovid War, with the aims of ensuring that no side would take up any overwhelming pre-eminence in the country and providing a buffer between the two spheres, ending the contest over the region's natural resources.
A number of special restrictions on foreign involvement are in place in the SNZ, making it the region in which, theoretically, the Rastovid government has the most independent control. Indeed, foreign military presence is forbidden, entry for Savamese and Lutoborian nationals is heavily regulated, and foreign direct investment is very restricted. While foreign investments in the rest of the Confederacy benefit from many concessions and preferential treatments, this was made impossible in the SNZ after the Rastovid War. Foreign interests can still invest there, but must either go through a complicated legal process or use different degrees of shell corporations or investment in local corporations. Ironically, the restrictions imposed on Savamese or Lutorobian interests have allowed Azophine interests to penetrate the region from neighbouring Chuzastrana and gain a significant foothold there compared to other regions.
Nomadic groups
Ab immemorabili, Secotic nomadic groups have always fought each others for domination over the steppe. The events surrounding the Great Steppe Rising, and the subsequent interordinate diplomacy that established the Confederacy, can be seen as "simply" the consecration of a few tribal groups' victory over the others. This situation has remained so into the early 21st century only because of the assistance of external Great Powers in propping up the Rastovid hegemony. Indeed, unrest from a variety of tribal groups is common. In the 1990s, and until 2003, the main source of troubles was the Surim Secotic Vladihnevid clan in the west, which regrouped a ragtag group of rebels around itself and started to act independently of foreign enablers to overthrow the Rastovids. In the 1980s, Lutoborsk had to deal with Mandrivnik attacks on its oil infrastructure near the Blaisine coast which ended in the infamous 1988 Massacre at Zoria.
Government & authority
- tribal confederation headed by the Rastovid clan -- dozens of clans not related to the Rastovids directly
- Polcovode elective position within the Rastovid clan
- clans rule small territories as commanderies
- no official army but each commandery as its own troops and the polcovode can call them if necessary
- Several offices of secotic tradition similar to in Luto
- Voivode of the East, not to be confused with the Lutoborian Okrainy Voivode
- Role of the local lamnearies?
Economy
The Rastovid Confederacy is considered to be, as a whole, a developing economy by world standards, although some regions are more in line with conditions in the developed world. It is centred around a few major sectors: herding and agriculture, resource extraction and processing, and the industries associated with interordinate trade. Offshore manufacturing has been an emerging industry in some areas, in particular in the Dymchatyy Corridor in Far Tania and in Lower Tavda.
Economic development
Levels of economic development vary dramatically across the country, as do economic inequalities in general. The western regions of the starosties, as well as the Chuz marshalate, have higher development levels, and their inhabitants enjoy relatively high standards of living (overall inferior to those of Messenians or Outer Joriscians, but high as compared to the rest of the world) as opposed to many Secotes who live in serious poverty, especially migrants to urban centres who have been drawn to abandon their nomadic lifestyle in their search for employment. Even in the more developed regions, inequalities are high, with much of the proceeds concentrated into smaller groups at the top, be it Secotic chieftains and administrators or Sabamic and Elmiesian landowners. The informal economy is believed to represent a significant chunk of the country's official economy, accounting for both "legitimate" trades and organised crime. The latter is a serious issue in some areas, with significant networks of illegal gambling, prostitution and human trafficking, moonshining and bootlegging, or arms dealing.
In the greater east, the economy is largely influenced by zaconic estatism. Chuzastrana is run according to oriental economic principles, and while the eastern half of the Confederacy is officially not run as such, the local influence of Azophine and Lutoborian estates (or for the latter noble houses) has deeply embedded estates into the economic tissue, causing it to diverge from norms in the west.
Agriculture and pastoralism
Agriculture and animal husbandry (both settled and nomadic) have long been the traditional economic activity in the country. In the western and northern regions, where yearly precipitations are higher, commercial agriculture is a significant economic activity, with the whole gamut of large-scale intensive farms to small family farms producing various grains such as wheat, barley, sorghum, oats, buckwheat, as well as potatoes and legumes. In New Elmiesia and to some limited degree in the White River Province, parts of the steppe have been converted into agricultural land sustained by irrigation, with similar developments in parts of Chuzastrana. In the interior, nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralism is the main economic activity outside of urban centres. Animal husbandry in non-nomadic communities is largely focused around species like cattle, poultry, and pigs, whereas the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities deal with horses, sheep, goats, and camels. Commercial fishing is also present on the coast, as the waters of the Blaisine Sea are host to many abundant species of edible fish; fishing in the country's many rivers is mostly sustenance-driven, and has yet to develop into a proper economic activity.
Commodities
Mining and oil & natural gas extraction is the economy's leading sector. The Confederacy is one of the world's leading exporters of coal, with abundant deposits of both high grade lignite and medium grade bituminous coal; large-scale strip mining operations have spread all over the country.
Logistics & international trade
Manufacturing
Ethnography
Additionally to what is done in the autonomous province:
- Surim Secotes (East group) in the Surim basin, around Bogograd, and the Sudesk region (western Shid basin), as well as Chuzastrana
- Far Secotes (East group) in the eastern Shid basin, and Sluch basin (Mandrivniks)
- Joghs in the east as well
- Gorans (West group) north-west of Semograd (and west to it) in the eastern half of Translacunia
- Chuz Meksis in Chuzastrana
Notes
- ↑ The Lestrian Neutral Zone is larger, but is not recognised as a state under current interordinate law.
- ↑ Domradovid Joriscia has two further marshalates within its borders: the Terophatic marshalate of Mentusia and the Azophine marshalate of Kveletia.