Settecia
Noble Federation of Settecia Звиѫзек зацны Опески Zviązek zacny Opeski | |
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 State Emblem
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| Motto: Моноѳелисис и Монопистис | |
Anthem: Розлегла и старожытна, ойчызна мойа Rozległa i starożytna, ojčyzna moja "My vast and ancient homeland" | |
 Location of Settecia in Messeno-Joriscia | |
| Capital | Trochonpol |
| Largest city | Pleschesnia |
| Official languages | Vechrian |
| Religion | Siriash |
| Demonym | Settecian |
| Government | Federal presidential respublic |
• President | Milorad Prybylo |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,626,000 km2 (628,000 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 79,186,130 |
• Density | 48.7/km2 (126.1/sq mi) |
| Currency | Zakhov (STZ) |
Settecia (Vechrian: Опеска Opeska), officially the Noble Federation of Settecia (Vechrian: Звиѫзек зацны Опески Zviązek zacny Opeski), is a state located in southeastern Messenia, straddling Inner Joriscia and Petty-Lestria. It is bordered, in clockwise order, by Haugen, Boehren, Neokratos, Domradovid Joriscia, Anabbah, Cazacasia, Qammam, and Matal. Settecia is located at the intersection of Prasinia, the Great Steppe, and the Hump, contributing to a diverse and varied geography.
Settecia was home to the Tolean civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE. The region came under the influence of the Messenian civilisation and Qund, before being conquered by Secotes in the 8th century, which created a distinct, blended, Secotic-speaking culture predominating Pesrard. Settecia was ruled by the Secote Empire and the Neo-Messenian Empire, and upon the latter's collapse in the 14th century, the coast became dominated by independent city-states. These states coalesced into the Pesrardic League in 1728, and unified into the modern Noble Federation in 1817. The Settecian War of Adjudication from 1902 to 1904 led to the establishment of a military-supervised government and the world's first aphypnist state.
Settecia is a regional power with considerable interests and influence in Petty-Lestria as well as the Great Steppe. This status has been mostly been supported by its close alliance with Zeppengeran, and to a lesser extent alignment with the Savamo-Zepnish Alliance, making it an important partner for the interests of several Messenian powers in the region. Settecia has vast deposits of natural resources, mainly fossil fuels and minerals, which are pillars of its relatively developed economy, however there is a vast inequality of wealth, and living standards are lower than most of Messenia.
Etymology
The name 'Settecia' is derived from a Vechrian name for the country, Śertečeska, a calque of Pesrard. 'Pesrard' itself is one of the oldest attested names to refer to northwestern Settecia, and was used by the ancient Messenians. It was revived and put into prominent usage in the 16th century, and is still often used to refer to the country. 'Opecia' (Opeska) is the official endonym, and refers to a Messenian kingdom that existed in Pesrard in the 2nd millennium BCE, whose name in turn is probably cognate with ophis or 'snake'.
The larger part of the country excluding Pesrard proper has also been referred to as Utnaqar, from Qundi, derived from either High Secote južnŭ krai, 'southern frontier', in reference to its position within the Secote Empire, or from an older Qundi term combining the words ʾaṯnā and qarār, meaning 'firm praise', perhaps indicative of the area's early practice of Siriash.
History
Ancient era
Agriculture appeared in Settecia in about 10,000 BCE with the emergence of a number of neolithic cultures, and urban settlements were founded starting around 7,000 BCE. In around 3100 BCE, the Tolean civilisation, among the earliest civilisations in the world, began in Pesrard, built on irrigation using the rivers of the region. Tolean cities exerted hegemony over not only Pesrard, but also northern Prasinia and the eastern coast of the Bay of Meklet.
The Siuvejas II event in the 23rd century BCE was cataclysmic in Pesrard; severe drought and famine brought about the collapse of the Tolean civilisation. The Messenian civilisation colonised Pesrard in the aftermath and established new cities and kingdoms of Messenian culture, such as Pogia and Opecia. Opecia became a powerful state covering most of Pesrard beginning in the 18th century BCE after conquests by Gelepos, and became known among the Messenians for a distinct culture due to influences of a Tolean substrate. During the Spring of Democracy Opecia adopted respublican political institutions and practices, but was weakened by conflicts between the political center and local elites. In 1431 BCE it was conquered by the Castopolite Empire. At this time the region to the southeast of Pesrard was inhabited by kingdoms collectively known as Emalla; during the Castopolite period they submitted to the Messenians as tributaries.
After the decline and fall of the Castopolites in the 11th century BCE the kingdom of Neo-Opecia was established in Pesrard, centred on a rebuilt city of Pogia. The Neo-Opecians conquered Emalla, extending their control to the eastern Meklet coast. The Hilima Eruption in 855 BCE set off a chain reaction that caused the collapse of the Southern Messenian politico-economic landscape, and the subsequent First Great Invasions in the 8th century BCE destroyed the weakened Neo-Opecian state. Palthic migrants took over Pesrard, and a Paltho-Messenian culture prevailed from this time onwards.
Imperial rule
Between the 6th century BCE and the 14th century CE, Settecia was dominated by large empires based in either southern Messenia or in Petty-Lestria; local historiography refers to this period of nearly two millennia as the 'Imperial era'.
In the 420s BCE, the Neokos Empire conquered Pesrard and the Meklet coast from Paltho-Messenian states that appeared after the Palthic invasions, and introduced Siriash. In the meantime, Qundi traders and colonists established cities on the Meklet coast, while expanding Qundi kingdoms took control of Settecia's interior. During the Second Great Invasions the amir Hosam conquered Pesrard itself in 68 CE and established the kingdom of Chadimia. Chadimia coexisted with many Qundi city-states of the eastern Messenic Sea, to which it acted as a protective liege.
In 261, Chadimia collapsed in a civil war and the Qundi states came under the hegemony of the coastal city of Tisiset. Tisiset broadly commanded the loyalty of local states while submitting as a vassal to the Neokoi, until 471 when the general Walid Il-halim conquered most of these states and cities, and established the state of Hosamia. With the decline of the Neokoi, Hosamia attempted to establish itself as a new 'Sirian empire', adopting many Neokos customs, and especially presenting itself as a successor of the First Neokos Empire's devotion through establishing a close relationship with Sirian clergy. After experiencing a period of prosperity in the 6th century, Hosamia embarked on the conquest of Petty-Lestria, founding the Empire of Qund in the late 7th and 8th centuries; however, Secote nomads overran Pesrard itself in 702, the first of the Secote conquests, and it came under the rule of the Bregovid Kingdom.
Although Pesrard began its time under the Secote Dominion continuing the prominence it enjoyed under Hosamia, a series of wars between the Secote polities devastated the plains and it was reduced to a peripheral province, contested between states based in Prasinia to the west and Vechria to the east. Dynasty after dynasty settled great numbers of Secote kinsmen to shore up defences in the area, and their culture (including language) came to characterise the Pesrardic people. In the 9th century the Nailene Missions established colonial ports on the Pesrardic coast, around which a Sirian urban-mercantile community clung to life guarding their freedoms through right by zeal. Beginning with the Branimirovid Empire in the 10th century port towns were courted to restore the region to its former glory, which continued under the Secote Empire.
Post-Secote period
As the Secote Empire collapsed in the 12th century, local Secote commanders contested for power over the Commandery of Pesrard until the Neo-Messenian Empire conquered Pesrard in 1152. However, the Maskovian Suliradovid Commandery and the Kingdom of Gaugura checked the empire's further expansion southwards. Colonisation of Pesrard by Elmiesians led to a revival of Old Messenian aesthetics as well as introduction of Elmiesian culture to Pesrard's melting pot. Although still threatened by Suliradovid and in the 14th century Poznomirovid raids from the Vechrian interior, in the long term defences and infrastructure constructed under the Neo-Messenians moved Pesrard away from the military frontier, allowing the plains to regain economic and cultural prominence. With the decline of the Neo-Messenian state the Catepanate of Pesrard moved to become independent by the time of the Acaraga War of the 1420s. The Poznomirovids lost the Cinnabar Gates in the 1390s, and by 1422 were replaced by the Pryvitovid Kingdom. They in turn slipped into a decline after being expelled from Maskovia by the Zchetkarovid Kingdom in the early 16th century, and increasingly lost the allegiance of the Pesrardic cities. In this era, cities such as Pesessy and Serscigrod in Maskovia became major stopping points on the transcontinental avenue, while the Pesrardic cities of Spetipolis, Acaraga, and Ellopho, and the Utnaqari city of Homir became important ports of the eastern Messenic Sea.
In the late 15th century, Vaestism began to enter Settecia, as the Wars of Heresy in Outer Joriscia caused heretical Vesnites such as Equilibrians to arrive and settle in the Hump, and some further west in Utnaqar. More heretics migrated westwards with the establishment of Great Neritsia; the expansion of Outer Joriscian maritime trade was also to bring plenty of orthodox Vesnites into the Messenic. In the 1560s militant Neritsovid maritime expansion in Ostrobor's incursions established lasting zamorsk outposts centred in Pleschesnia, and Vesnite and Vaestophile nobles as a permanent interest in urban politics. At the same time, the shifting disposition of power with Neritsovid ascendancy led to the formation of Tooremaht in the interior of modern Settecia.
Although of the products of Ostrobor's incursions, Sendabia was defeated and disbanded by the Palthic Empire in the Sendabian Purgations, the Messenic zamorsk only expanded further around Settecia, and the well-established Rashimic-speaking Combinations (even though they were proscribed in their homeland) would be joined by enterprising Lacreans, as well as agents of the nascent estates. Local middlemen and native convert Westünzers added to the complexity of the trading scene, which entered tense competition in the 18th century. The disintegration of Great Neritsia in the Crown Wars led to a decisive round of combat in the Messenic in the Pesrardic League Wars (1710–28), where Legitimist-aligned Pleschesnia was defeated by its coreligionist rivals and their local allies (increasingly blurred in many cases), and a resurgent Matal. The local states' choice of alignment secured Lacrean and Terophite prepollency in the Messenic for the next few centuries. Led by Tuxea and Nalemen, the cities of Pesrard and Utnaqar were to unite into the Pesrardic League.
Early federation
Matal decisively defeated the League in the Meklet War (1803–1808), and the latter lost its status in the Messenic entirely. The humiliation of the war catalysed the drive for federalisation, pushed for by many of the cities' elites themselves, whose interests became increasingly tied to the whole of Settecia due to economic and social developments. In 1817 the Settecian Federation was established, unifying the cities of Pesrard and Utnaqar. In the next few decades a capable federal government was established. This was concurrent with a Messenianist cultural movement that promoted the large-scale 'revival' of Old Messenian aesthetics in an effort to create a single, prestigious cultural identity for Settecia.
Denied its maritime position in the Meklet War's conclusion, Settecia focused on expansion inland, first defeating and annexing the Blestnian commanderies of the Vechrian Steppe in the 1820s, followed by acquisition of Karasar and the western Hump in the Wars of Il-lateef (1834–1845) against Matal. The expansion of Settecia was supported by Terophan and Lacre, first to punish a wayward Matal, and then to counterbalance Azophine expansion in the Steppe in the Race to the Centre. In the Steppe, piecemeal acquisitions of tribal territories proceeded steadily, which also promoted an alliance with the Ceresoran Empire. The Industrial Revolution in Messenia also reached Pesrard in the 1870s with the construction of factories and railways.
At this point the old Vesnite and Vaestophile nobility entered a conflict with new money industrialists, a wider middle class, and Sirians reaffirmed in their faith. Political reaction to the proactive administration of Miechyslav Rabanski led to the Parliament of Pistols of the late 19th century, in which the Settecian political process was paralysed by factionalism. Furthermore, the Vesnite population in Settecia, whose distinct elite status was steadily lost with the economic transformation, became restive, and the movement known as the Intransigence sought to overthrow ignorant rule over their community, supported by the expansion of Outer Joriscian influence into Petty-Lestria and specifically to further those powers' regional interests. An array of dissident movements advocated either apolytism, the decentralisation or even dissolution of the federation, or rhythmitism, the takeover of Settecia by one particular group to initiate desired political and social changes. By the 1890s Settecia was thrown into turmoil, and in 1902 an uprising of aphypnist paramilitaries led to the Settecian War of Adjudication. This led to a bloody civil war lasting until 1904.
Aphypnist period
In Animare 1903 mutinying military officers under led by Miechyslav Starostovski created a parallel government with the Snowstorm March; they were to win the War of Adjudication and establish a dictatorship assuming responsibilities for deictic reform in the vein of the neighbouring Megaduke of Qammam. The Starostovski reform, based on aphypnist ideas theorised primarily by Wilhelm von Sigislun, established a corporatist social order and a new state apparatus known as the contemporary system. A ban of Vaestism was instituted after a Vesnite uprising during the War of Adjudication, enforced through a secret police that further extended state control across society.
The new government was quick to align itself closely with Zeppengeran, with which it developed a close economic relationship and later ordinate political cooperation. During the Long War Settecia and the Pact of Ilsnid intervened in the First Lashpur War against Azophine interests with Zepnish backing, while also opening a theatre in the Steppe in the Ludorovian War, and later fighting in the Second Lashpur War alongside Terophan. It achieved successes that greatly bolstered its interordinate status and expanded its territory. However, the overreach of military authority during the war made it unpopular, resulting in the 1960 Settecian coup d'etat. Civilian deictics assumed power in the Settecian Normalisation and implemented a dramatic reordering of the military government, establishing a Maintenancy.
The Normalisation period saw the Maintenancy attempt a more zealous aphypnist system, somewhat inspired by horizontism in Haugen, by appealing to weariness of the Long War, uncertainty during the years without summers, and fears of the Terophatic Ascendancy abroad along with the High Deserters at home. Although in 1973 the Maintenancy ceded power back to the military and the contemporary system, a Political War between groups supporting deictics and military politicians continues to today. The Settecian government pursued a successful developmentalist policy, which increased standards of living and economic strength greatly, in the 1970s. During the mésentente, Settecia began to maneuver towards greater economic as well as political independence, eventually establishing relations with Joriscian countries and relaxing the persecution of Vaestism in the 1980s. Settecia further flexed its power by fighting a war against Anabbah in the 1980 Vokhotsk War, which allowed it to reach a monumental detente with Azophin to secure both states' interests in the Steppe, and also later effected the 1989 Qammami coup d'etat.
Settecian economic growth came to an end in the mid-2000s following the 2000s depression. This led to the 2006 Settecian crisis and a pivot back to integration and association with Zeppengeran and the Savamo-Zepnish Alliance, with the country entering the Zweibeck League in 2008.
Geography
Spanning about 1.6 million square kilometers, Settecia is a vast country that encompasses many different geographic land-forms and biomes at the interface between Messenia and Inner Joriscia. Overall, three great regions can be distinguished: (1) the littoral plains, (2) the Steppe of the deep interior, and (3) the rugged terrain of most of the interior, encompassing several mountain ranges, including the highest one in Messeno-Joriscia.
Pesrard
The country's political heartland is the region of Pesrard, located in Settecia's far north-west. Pesrard is a part of traditional Messenia, overlapping with the greater regions of Prasinia and Elmiesia. Pesrard encompasses the northern part of the Meklet littoral plain, slowly rising toward the summits of the Valderfall mountains to the north and the Slovinj Ridge to the east. Pesrard is irrigated by four major rivers, from north to south the Doreander, the Calatha, the Timostrates, and the Oxes (the Oxes river is the traditional boundary of Messenia). Pesrard is connected to the inner Steppe by the Palthic Gate to the valley of the Moracha river, a major left-bank tributary to the Védomagne, which forms a large section of the Settecian-Domradovid border.
Pesrard experiences mostly a Prasinian climate, a form of warm temperate climate characterised by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild dry winters. The Pesrardian climate has a pronounced dry season in winter compared to the archetypical Prasinian climate, and is also hotter in summer (though it gets cold enough in winter to not be classified as tropical). The daily average temperatures in, for example, Trochonpol are 5° in Petrial and 28° in Dominy; some parts of Vyzhina surpasses 30° in summer with little day-night variations. The Pesrardian Valderfalls have classic continental and mountain climates thanks to regular precipitation from lee cyclogenesis, whereas near the border with Neokratos and Boehren the climate is much drier, actually close to semi-arid.
Historically, the region was covered in subtropical dry broadleaft forests and woodlands, but most of the forests have been cleared for farming, with the notable exception of the piemont of the northern Slovinj, which is remarkably preserved.
Maskovia and Podzavalia
The basin of the Moracha river is known as the region of Maskovia, which straddles Settecia and Domradovid Joriscia, representing approximately the northern third of the Settecian interior. The region is also known as the Maskovian Steppe or the Vechrian Steppe, the westernmost part of the Great Steppe of Joriscia. Further south-east is the sub-region of Podzavalia, similarly part of the Steppe eco-region. Podzavalia roughly corresponds to the basin of the Upper Védomagne (locally known as the Otyuzna) until the confluence of the Védomagne and Moracha at Serscigrod.
The Maskovian and Podzavalian steppes are clearly isolated from the Settecian littoral by the Slovinj Ridge, which can reach elevations up to 1,500 metres above sea level. The Slovinj, which runs roughly parallel to the Meklet coast, is connected to the Hump in the south and to the Valderfall-Leucasians to the north by lower mountainous regions where the valley floors are never below 500 metres. The main passes from the coast-side slopes to the Steppe-side slopes are the Palthic Gate in the north and the Qundic Gap in the south.
Maskovia and Podzavalia mostly experience a hot semi-arid climate, although the extreme Podzavalian south-east is classified as a true desert. Maskovia is dominated by dry grasslanda and shrub–steppes, with some precipitation during the summer brought about by winds blowing from the Messenic sea toward the Inner Joriscian Thermal Low. However, the main streams and rivers descending from the surrounding mountains into the plain sustain a complex perennial subtropical gallery forest ecosystem. Those rivers have also allowed the development of extensive irrigated farming in modern times (despite high evapotranspiration). Podzavalia is analogous to Maskovia in terms of its climate and natural biomes, with dry grasslands and gallery woodlands along rivers. Unlike Maskovia it has preserved its natural habitat better, mainly due to a considerably less dense human population. However, the damming of the Védomagne for the production of hydroelectricity has caused severe damage to the riparian ecosystems. The region located north-east of the Qundic Gap between the Slovinj and the Little Hump mountains, in western Podzavalia, receives more precipitations and thus has a Prasinian savanna climate more akin the one along the sea, transitioning into a shrub–steppe.
Utnaqar and Karasar
The Utnaqari littoral south of Pesrard and the Karasari hinterland of Matal (sometimes grouped together as Greater Utnaqar, though this is historically and culturally inaccurate) are divided between the littoral plain and the mountainous hinterland. The Little Hump range of the Hump mountains is largely found in Karasar. The Little Hump's highest peak is Mount Sulirad at 3,811 metres. The boundary of the two regions runs through the Qundic Gap which opens into Podzavalia.
The region's climate is Prasinian, although generally more humid and warmer than in Pesrard (at least close to the sea); the average daily temperature in Malecia is 12.5° in Petrial and 28.5° in Dominy. The typical natural biomes there are subtropical moist or dry broadleaf forests, depending on the duration of the dry season (proper rainforests are not found there). Due to orographic lift the western part of the Little Hump receives a lot of precipitation in summer. The cooler higher-altitude region creates small pockets of Arcedian-like climates, which transition to continental and mountain climates at higher altitudes. In a mirror effect to the western orographic lift, the Little Hump creates a rain shadow to its north-east, which extends the Podzavalian steppe into an area with a semi-arid climate. The rivers Basim and Saryanulthalj, respectively in western and eastern Karasar, are important sources of water in the dry season. There is a small area near the tripoint between Matal and Qammam which is classified as a tropical savanna (with daily averages temperature in the winter no lower than 17°).
Krayna
The country's greater south-east, known as the Krayna (frontier), encompasses a large part of the Hump mountains, at the tri-point between Inner Joriscia, Petty Lestria, and the western-most extension of Outer Joriscia. Settecia actually extends all the way into the upper valleys of the Anabbine and Cazacasian side of the Hump's eastern slopes, including to the Cinnabar Gates.
The principal range of the Hump, the Great Hump, is found in Krayna, separated from the the Little Hump range in Karasar by the great valley of the Saryanulthalj river that flows into Qammam; the Riwaq Pass links the Saryanulthalj valley to the Védomagne valley on the northern slopes. The highest summits of the Hump, also the highest mountains of the Messeno-Joriscia, are all inside Settecian territory. The Great Hump's highest peak is Babullah at 5,423 metres above sea level. There are many 4,000+ metre summits in the Great Hump, most located in the south-central part of the range.
Most of Krayna has a semi-arid or arid climate due to the rain shadow caused by the southern peaks blocking the flow of moisture from the Messenic or Isartian seas; the western-most area of the Kesruba desert does reach Krayna. In the east near Anabbah the climate is largely Arcedian-like with a temperate version of the Isartian Monsoon caused by orographic lift, which morphs into a Prasinian climate at lower altitudes (eventually turning into a proper tropical monsoon climate in the lowlands, but outside of Settecian borders). The mountains have extensive snow coverage which feeds rivers on the northern slopes, including the source of the Védomagne, which flows all through Inner Joriscia to reach the sea in Savam, making it the longest river on the continent.
Politics
Settecia is a federal respublic based on Sirian principles. Ordinal bodies or representations thereof are granted voices in politics, and the government earns their allegiance by a taxal outlining respective responsibilities. Settecia is also an aphypnist state, with politics being dedicated to the systematic promotion of enlightenment and suppression of transgression.
Often considered vestiges of aristocratic and federal politics in the 19th century, the Federal Assembly of Settecia is composed of representatives from each of Settecia's 27 states, presided over by and in turn electing the President of Settecia, with both acting in a primarily advisory and ceremonial capacity. Government is mainly conducted through a hierarchy known as the contemporary system, identified by being appointed at the pleasure of the Leader of Settecia, the chief-in-command of the military who is appointed by the President. Local political activity takes place through various associations known as ZPs (zviązki predstavicielski), which represent various orders, houses, and lamnearies that form these blocs as they please. State governments and the contemporary system negotiate with ZPs on a case-by-case basis.
The Settecian Political War pits traditional institutions of Settecian aphypnism's original subsidiarist vision against deigmation academics associated with the Settecian Normalisation and the Maintenancy regime of the 1960s. The former bloc is mainly represented by the military through soldier-politicians and the establishment of conservatism as the dominant outlook of soldiers since the 1970s. The radical deictics have been mainly represented through local ZPs, but their control of deigmations makes their informal power considerable. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by the crackdowns of the 2006 Settecian crisis, the military-appointed technocracy of the contemporary system and its own hold on arms makes the original Starostovskian establishment more or less secure, as long as the soldiery steers clear of deigmation sympathies that sparked the Normalisation coup in 1960.
Administrative divisions
Settecia is a federation of 27 states, which are all more or less respublican in government, most of which are direct descendants of the city-states of Pesrard and Utnaqar. Each constituent has its own government, legislature, and laws.
Foreign relations
Settecia is generally recognised as a regional power that primarily projects influence in the western Great Steppe and to a lesser extent Petty-Lestria. Locally, since the Pact of Ilsnid during the Long War, Settecia has had very close relations with Matal and Qammam. The dominance of the Zepnish security system on the Messenian side of Settecia's borders, and the potent mediation of Matal around the Messenic, mean that relations with immediate neighbours are generally peaceful; border disputes however have been frequent with the military regime of Anabbah, which once resulted in the 1980 Vokhotsk War.
The foremost ally of Settecia is Zeppengeran, and the two states have had very close relations since the 19th century. Settecia is considered an important part of the Zepnish sphere of influence in southern Messenia, not only as a major trade partner, but also as a geopolitical barrier against influence of the powers of Outer Joriscia; both countries share a concern of the presence of Joriscian interests in the region. Settecia and Zeppengeran cooperate very closely politically, economically, and militarily; Zepnish support has been vital to the survival of the Settecian government on many occasions in history, as well as to its ascent during and after the Long War. As an extension of this via the Savamo-Zepnish Alliance, Settecia is also close with Savam. It has been described as one of the 'secondary states' of the Alliance.
Relations with most Vaestic powers are lukewarm at best, a major factor of which has been the persecution of Vaestism by the Settecian government in the early 20th century. Since a series of rapprochments in the 1980s however, normalised relations have been re-established with much of Joriscia, and ties with Azophin and Agamar have strengthened in opposition to Terophatic influence in Anabbah and Cazacasia.
Military
The Settecian Armed Forces has a total of 350,000 active personnel and 700,000 reservists as of 2018. A gendarmerie-militia employs another 300,000 active troops. The military has a prominent political role as a part of the contemporary system.
The Settecian army has been mainly engaged in regional conflicts, such as protection of Settecian interests in Domradovid Joriscia, and suppression of occasional minority unrest in the Hump. It cooperates closely with the Zepnish military and has participated in many joint exercises recently.
Economy
Settecia's economy is closely tied to Zeppengeran, and it is a member of the Zweibeck League. Economic output is sizeable, about half that of Zeppengeran's, but this is mainly due to the country's large population and area; in many aspects, Settecia's economy is less developed than most major economies of Messenia despite its size. It is reliant on energy exports, mainly oil and natural gas, which contribute to a large portion of economic output. Revenues from these exports are re-invested in industrial development by a stabilization fund. Other major exports include various minerals, manufactured goods, and foodstuffs. The country is also a significant part of trade in the Messenic Sea. Main trade partners besides Zeppengeran include Savam, Ceresora, Madaria, Boehren, Matal, Azophin, and Qammam.
Settecia has historically been a major part of overland trade routes in Messeno-Joriscia as well as maritime trade around the Messenic Sea; polities located around the area primarily built their strength on such commerce. The country reaped some benefits from Messenian industrialisation in the 19th century. In the 20th century, state intervention aimed to develop the economy further, first through import-substitution policies, before the beginning of energy exports allowed Settecian policymakers to adopt an export-oriented policy based on oil revenues and later manufactured goods exports. The era from the 1970s to 1990s saw record economic growth. However, a depression of primary commodity prices in the 2000s has led to a recession and stagnation that continues to today, which ended Settecian ambitions at asserting economic independence from Zeppengeran, and led to closer integration into Zepnish influence.
Settecia has serious economic inequality, and a considerably large population in poverty for Messenian standards. Many of the extremely poor are put to work in the development service contract (not to be confused with penal labour known as rehabilitative administration) where they may be used for public works or rented out to private bodies, conditions of which are widely criticised.
The official currency of Settecia is the Settecian zakhov, which as part of Settecian membership in the Zweibeck League is pegged to the Zepnish mark.
Energy
Electricity generation in Settecia is dominated by fossil fuels, followed by hydroelectricity and nuclear power. The country is a key component of oil and gas pipelines that fuel Messenian demand. Beginning in the 1970s Settecia developed its own capabilities in the field of energy-related engineering, and has been able to not only maintain and expand its own pipelines, but also undertake resource and energy transportation projects in the Domradovid and Rastovid confederacies, as well as northern Lestria. Of hydropower, a number of dams along the Otyuzna, as well as the smaller rivers of Pesrard, provide an increasing proportion of electricity used in the country.
Infrastructure
Rail transport carries much of passenger and cargo traffic in the country. Settecian railway infrastructure was developed with significant assistance from Zepnish companies, who provided and continue to provide most of the technology. Rolling stock is mostly imported from Zeppengeran, or locally built copies of Zepnish designs. The paved road network is also fairly expansive in Settecia, and highways have become important in connecting the more rugged regions in the east. Settecian seaports are also important to trade in the Bay of Meklet and to the Messenic Sea.
Demographics
Ethnology and language
Settecia is overwhelmingly populated by the Pesrardic people (60% of the population), a group whose culture was formed from the fusion of the numerous preceding peoples that have inhabited or influenced Pesrard, but are not geographically limited to the Pesrard area. It is difficult to define which culture group the Pesrardians fall in, as most Pesrardians have a mixture of Old Messenian, Qundi, and Secote (mainly via the Pobrecians) ancestry. The Utnaqari people (25% of the population) are a Qundic ethnicity prevalent in Utnaqar, though they have adopted numerous Pesrardic customs and are being steadily assimilated, such that the boundary between the two is being blurred; it is common for Settecians to identify ethnically as both Pesrardic and Utnaqari.
There are various Secote peoples residing in Settecia's interior, such as the Maskovians and the Blestnians, who are also being assimilated to Pesrardic culture. Over 5 million Elmiesian people reside in Settecia's northwest. The area around the Hump is mostly inhabited by the Mahzi people, Mountain Laeric speakers who number about 3 million. The easternmost parts of Settecia also have populations of Anabbine Rasheem.
The Vechrian language is the official and dominant language of Settecia; it has been the main language of Pesrard since the 14th century. Numerous South Secotic languages besides Vechrian are spoken as regional dialects or sociolects, and have varying degrees of mutual intellgibility. The Utnaqari language is largely no longer spoken, and minority languages are similarly endangered due to suppression and discouragement of regional culture.
Religion
Siriash is the dominant religion of Settecia, and over 95% of the population are Sirians. Pesrard was Sirianised under the Neokos Empire by the 5th century BCE, and Siriash forms a significant part of the country's rich cultural heritage. About 60% of Settecians subscribe to the Coseptran Compact, which is most prevalent in Pesrard; another 30% follow the Sophoran Compact, which is locally centred in Utnaqar. The Lamneary of Pesrard, the Lamneary of Utnaqar, and the Lamneary of Maskovia represent much of the Settecian Sirian community, and are united into the High Lamneary of Settecia. The Cairo-Sirian Elmiesian Rite has a relatively small but still notable communion in the country, mainly among the Elmiesian population.
Vaestism formerly had a significant presence in Settecia, and Pesrard was home to one of the oldest Vesnite communities outside Outer Joriscia. In the 19th century, Vesnites made up one-quarter of the Settecian population. As a result of the Settecian War of Adjudication, Vaestism was banned in 1903 and the late 1900s and 1910s saw an unprecedented campaign of persecution that drove the Vesnite community underground and severely reduced its numbers. Most Vesnites have been converted to Siriash, or exiled to Cazacasia and Anabbah. In the 1980s the ban on Vaestism was lifted and some Vaestic institutions have been restored, but the Vesnite community is now much smaller, numbering only around 1 million, and are still subject to surveillance as well as pressure to convert to Siriash.
Health
Healthcare in Settecia is primarily provided by institutions run and managed at the level of the house or lamneary. They are mainly supported by training and equipment from the Sanitation Commission, a part of the contemporary system that formerly ran an expansive network of military hospitals, although contracting with commercial bodies or lamnearies have become more common. The military hospitals themselves were restructured into fully civilian ventures beginning in the 1980s, with some assimilated to the services of local bodies and others still under the Commission's supervision. Settecia has relatively advanced medical capabilities in its region.
Alcoholism, farak addiction, and substance abuse are major, widespread public health problems in Settecia. The economic depression of the 2000s caused a massive drug epidemic and it is estimated over 300,000 Settecians have died as a direct result of drug abuse since 2002.
Education
A combination of private or familial tutors, lamneary schools, and state-owned institutions provide basic education in Settecia. These then lead into deigmations, all of which in Settecia were restructured from the advanced facilities of earlier lamneary schools, or into various vocational institutions.
Urbanisation
About 80% of the population of Settecia is urbanised. Due to its geographical conditions, most of Settecia's population and cities have been concentrated, historically and currently, in the northwestern region of Pesrard, a plain well-watered by numerous rivers, or north of the Slovinj Ridge along the Védomagne river. About 50% of Settecians live in Pesrard, 20% live on the Utnaqari coast, and another 20% live in the Védomagne valley. The rest of the country's hilly terrain has further contributed to the concentration of cities in the western and northern areas.
The largest city, Pleschesnia, is located at the mouth of the Oxes river. Other major cities include Trochonpol, the capital city, Sigislun, Nalemen, and Malecia.
Culture
Settecia has a distinct and unique cultural identity, characterised by its composition as numerous strata of influences deriving from the various empires and cultures historically dominant in its area. In modern Settecia there is great interest in depiction and portrayal of other cultures and time periods in works of art, known as cosmopolitanism.
Architecture
Settecian architectural styles eclectically combine ancient Messenian, Qundi, and Palthic styles. Ornate or gilded onion domes are a particularly distinctive feature of Settecian shrines.
Deictism
Settecians have contributed significantly to the Sirian science of deictism, with Kadir Innumanov, Stanislav Koval, and president Dobyslav Rakovski being only some among the most influential deictic figures produced by the country.
Sport
Archery and bicycle zapovidy are the most popular sports in Settecia.
Media
Settecian cinema began with propaganda films extolling state policy in the 1920s. Film and television has been most saliently influenced by cosmopolitanism, though initially in the Long War and until the 1970s the field was dominated by heroic war films instead. In the 1970s, cinema experienced an explosion, with new productions significantly influenced by the cultural trends of Messenian powers and largely detached from political content. Fawzi Il-asad was a leading director of this period.