Revision as of 06:56, 5 May 2013

The Divine Republic of St. Oz
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: "Հոք ը Հոքձեռ" tr. Hok ey Hokjer. Here and Hereafter"
Anthem: "Դ՟գոդաք Վորետրեւվիսո" My memory leaves no empty spaces.
Geography
Area	3.1 millionkm2
Water (%)	{{{water_area}}}
Highest point	D'Zhrovak
Longest river	Shpri
Demographics
Population	452,659,000
• Density	146.02/km2
• Growth	.7%/year
Median age	34.9 years
Demonym	Ozian
History
Founding of Ozi'pol	January 26th, 921 BCE
Formation of the Divine Republic	August 6th, 349 BCE
•  Ozian Liberation	December 4th, 1907
Government
Capital	Ozi'pol (St Oz City)
Official language	Ozian, Moaz
Type	Unitary Theocratic Republic
Legislature	Ozian Senate
Sancta	Adara Revia Oz
Primav	Amelio Parpaski
Districts	19
Economy
Currency	Paloi Equa Insorken "Maritime Insurance Currency" (₴) (PEI)
GDP	₴5,419,168,000,000
• Per capita	₴9,154
• Growth	6%/year
Sectors	18% Agriculture 35% Industry 47% Services
Unemployment	4.9%
Gini	51.3
Development
Life expectancy	69.5 years
Improved water access	95%
Literacy	100%
Enrollment	99%
• Primary	99.9%
• Secondary	99.9%
• Tertiary	45%
Standards
Measures	Metric
Date format	day-month-year
Traffic	Left-hand
Codes
ISO code	OZ
Internet TLD	.oz
Calling code	+13

Ozia (Ozian:Ոժի tr. Ozhi), officially known as The Divine Republic of St. Oz (Ozian:Աանքթտլժա Ռբպւվլիքը դեվ՟Ոժի tr. Sanktizha Repuvklikey dev'Ozhi) is a country with lands on the southwestern tip of Ennorath and the northwestern top of Libia with the strait of O between it. It is a theocratic republic comprised of 19 different districts, and its location made it a historical crossroad for commerce, culture, and science. A prehistoric culture called the Praemians began developing on the strait of O 20,000 years ago, and desert peoples from central Libia called Fre'zhi began settling near the strait around 9000 years ago. People from Ozia are descended from the ancestors of the Fre'zhi and Praemians, while people from Moacia are directly descended from the Fre'zhi and people from Iadak are directly descended from Praemians. Traditionally and historically, Ozia was recognized as the dominant nation in the strait region by 910 BCE under the leadership of the First Listener

History

Main article: History of St Oz

The Praemian Kingdoms

Main article: The Praemian Kingdoms

As much as 29 known kingdoms formed from the Praemian cultures around the O Strait by 2000 BCE. Older religious texts refer to these kingdoms as the "Coalition of the 50 towers". Of these 50 alleged tower kingdoms only one tower remains intact at the city of Nyahar in western Ozia while 28 bases were discovered in other locations. Early historians wrote that each tower's significance was to reach the sky high enough so their priests and priestesses could listen to the Goddess, but they may have only been as high as 8 stories tall and the one at Nyahar was only 6 stories tall at its highest. However, the Praemian Kingdoms are known better for regulating the amount of Fre'zhi and mixed settlements with demands of tribute, piracy, and enslaving the Fre'zhi and Ozian populaces. By 1000 BCE, these settlements were entirely of mixed ethnicity who called themselves Ozians. Matriarchal societies developed among the Ozian settlements because of the Praemian enslavement of males. Praemian religion had a strict code on the treatment of women that made it political suicide to take women as slaves. After the ascension of King Iorjey II, he created a treaty among the other kingdoms formalizing enslavement of the "Ozhi", and this treaty was the first time the Praemians officially named the Ozian settlements. Ironically, the treaty meant to establish dominance over the Ozian communities, became a unifying force for the fragmented settlements because it gave them the name "Ozhi" (tr. people of the O strait).

The Legend of the Listener and the Praemian Wars

Further information: Gaeanism

Gaeanism formed from the mixture of Fre'zhi and Praemian cultures in the Ozian settlements sometime around 3000 BCE. From Gaeanist oral tradition, a soothsayer named Mag Marangoz predicted that one day a child, called the Zhadae Sankta, would be born of a Praemian noble and an Ozian slave who would have the ability to hear the wisdom of Gaea and to unite all the tribes of the Ozian people against the Praemians. In 945 BCE, a Praemian Princess named Estha Klavid was to be married in a political union with another Praemian Kingdom's crown prince. There she was unhappy with the union but fell in love with the prince's personal slave Zei. She bore a daughter with him, and when the prince discovered the baby had purple eyes, he had ordered all slaves with purple eyes to be excuted, which included the slave Zei. Religious law forbade him to kill a healthy infant, so he secuded Estha's daughter, Revia, within the confines of the castle. However, Revia ventured out in secret, and when she discovered the sufferings of Ozian slaves, it devastated her. One day she escaped the palace to a large Ozian settlement called Maora. The Ozian people in Maora heard her story, but her speeches on revolt caught most of the peoples's attention. She returned to her kingdom with an army of Maorans and destroyed the first Praemian Kingdom. After her first victory, many volunteers and followers came to Maora, calling her the Zhadae Sankta according to Mag's prophecy.

In an effort to centralize power among the Ozian settlements, she left Maora with a mass of settlers and her army to a small peninsula in the center of the strait to found the city of Ozi'pol. Using labor from Praemian prisoners, she built the Tower of Ozia as her palace, as a symbol of defiance against the Praemians. However, she later wrote that she regretted enslaving the Praemian prisoners, and so she made laws on the good treatment of enemy soldiers. The Praemian Kingdoms formed a unified army to attack and destroy Ozipol, and they chose to attack while Revia was absent from the city. When the Praemians sent their landing force to the city, about 2,000 Ozian men and women stood their ground outside of Ozipol against a Praemian force of 50,000-100,000 to delay the siege until the Zhadae Sankta returned. They stood their ground for thirteen days, until all 2,000 Ozians were killed, but this allowed for enough time for Revia to return to the city and rout the invaders. The Ozian holiday, the Day of Fire celebrates their resistance, and the Ozian national anthem is based on a poem written at the time for them. Revia destroyed the Praemian city-states one by one and dismantled the towers for use on the Tower of Ozia until her power stretched out to both ends of the strait.

Rise of the First Divine Republic

After 20 years of uniting the tribes, liberating slaves, and sacking Praemian kingdoms, the tower stood at 35 stories tall. She established the Ozian Senate at its base, where representatives from the tribes of Ozia met. Proceeding the first listener's death, she declared that her only daughter could assume her role as a listener, and that after her daughter died, Gaea would reincarnate her as the next listener and her daughter again after her second form died. Soon after Sankta Revia's death, the Ozians established a tradition of searching for the reincarnations of Revia or her daughter, Eda, to be the future heads of state of Ozia. By 500 BCE, the borders of Ozia stretched close to what they are in the present, and for the next 600 years after that, Ozians controlled the strait of O with little competition.

Conquests

Moacians started what historians call "the Conquest Era" when they attacked and demanded tribute from Ozian communities. The old 73 year old Sankta Sevgi Revia Oz tried to placate the situation without means of war by giving the Moacians tribute. However, the Sankta's heiress, Iulia Eda Oz was from the raided regions, and after the death of Sankta Sevgi, the 15 year old Sankta declared no longer to give tributes to Moacia and instead to prepare for war against them. This conflict ended pax Ozia when it became the largest conflict Ozia had since the rise of the Zhaedae Sankta. Although the Ozian navy was already famous for its use of fire ships and pirate control in the region, its army had little experience compared to Moacian armies. Blockaded for years by Ozian navies, the isle of Nimet suffered from starvation, forcing them to convert to Gaeanism in exchange for food. The leader of Nimet, General Vordecci, became the first influential man in Ozian politics, and his armies trained new Ozian armies against Moacia. With the help of General Vordecci, the Ozians eventually conquered Moacia and also established a new military tradition for the Ozian people. His role in the conquest of Moacia earned his island representation in the Ozian senate, and he became the first man to become a senator in Ozia. With the Divine Republic's new stregnth, Sankta Iulia conquered three more regions, Iadak, Jutensa, and Vonisia. Sankta Iulia declared an end to conquests and to the beginning of "the Culture War". During the Culture War she outlawed all local languages, established schools for teaching Ozian and Gaeanism to only women, and surged an army presence in the region to mandate the repression. When she believed the regions fully converted to Gaeanism and to Ozian culture, she gave the region representation in the senate. Just before she died, she declared a new name for the nation, the Divine Republic of Greater Ozia. The conquests and the culture war earned her the title, Sankta Iulia the Destroyer, among the people, literature, and historians.

The First War with Haradrim

Hostilities between the Divine Republic and the Haradrim Empire began in the 5th century with the arrival of several Melkorist missionaries. Melkorism had just been founded, and the missionaries were purely voluntary in the beginning. However later the Emperor began sending missionaries for Imperial gains. By this time many communities believed the missionaries to be "hollows" or people without spirits. This resulted in the missionarys' public torture, rape, humiliation, and/or execution. The Sankta responded to communities that had accepted Melkorism by creating a secret police, STIA (d'Sanktizhe Tezarete Isthibarati'que Ajans), to follow the activities of the missionaries, often resulting in the missionary's disappearance, assassination, or torture. Vonisia was the only province to gain a sizeable amount of Melkorists, and the emperor of Haradrim sent the famous scholar Pat. Osberht Helmold to reside as the island's Bishop in 712 CE. A month later the Sankta made the order to STIA to assassinate Pat. Helmold. STIA sent their most skilled assassins for the task, Iana Iseltov and Naz Parpaski. The plot started having complications which angered the Sankta. However the long planning stage paid off when Iseltov and Parpaski stole the entire Haradric Treasury as well as filling the entire vault with not only the body of Pat. Helmold but members of the imperial family and the Haradric Treasurer. The two placed the mark of Gaea on each of their foreheads, as to claim credit for the event. This event in 713 sparked a war that would end in 842 with a minor territorial gain bordering Jutensa for the Ozians. During the time of peace, Ozia refused Haradric ships access to the strait, which resulted in inflated import and export prices for the Empire. Privateers also often raided Haradric shipping and prevented explorers from passing through the Inglo-Scotian strait during peace time.

The Second War with Haradrim and the Myrorian Exodus

In the 17th Century, Haradrim signed alliances with the Al-Bolu Khagante and Pelagis. Continued harassment of Haradric shipping gave the Empire a casusus belli to bring in their allies. These nations were also victim to strict Ozian control over their commercial capabilities. This war was nicknamed the "Hundred Year Battle for the Sea", since 80% of battles were fought between navies. 33% of these sea battles were fought by Ozian privateers who stayed on La Sava. During this war the Parpaski and Iseltov direships used plunder money to build a wall around the entire island of La Sava after several attempts by Haradrim and Pelagian to seize the island. They also used plunder money to conduct a mass exodus of the Myrorians to the Pelagian Empire. Iseltov and Parpaski needed manpower and a distraction to take down the large armies of Pelagis. Where they supported the Myrorian with free transport and naval support along with the Eluvatarans, and they armed Myrorians as well as some Ozian volunteers to help the Myrorians set up a homeland within the Pelagian Empire. Also during this time the Iseltov direship developed the first rifles towards the end of the war, but the rifle wouldn't be fully utilized by the Ozian army until the 19th century. By the end of the war in 1772 CE, the greatest victors were the Iseltov and Parpaski direships and the Myrorian People. They took private control of three Haradric ports and one Pelagian one as well as establishing their influence on trade in the region. St Oz won the war over influence and had no territory to gain, but they also realized they had little control over La Sava. Haradrim and its allies were the ultimate losers in the conflict and were forced to pay a tribute to La Sava for their ports back. As a result of this war, Pelagis collapsed and the new states of Neutrasia, Austrasia, and Myroria formed.

The Communist Takeover

Main article: The Communist Takeover

Further information: Madame Ousi

The industrial revolution began in St Oz in the early 19th century, and while St Oz had historically kept a strict laissez-faire mindset, it created terrible human welfare conditions for the workers. Workers quarters became like prisons, and when trying to leave these industrial communes it could result in execution. An intellectual, nicknamed Madame Ousi, who escaped one of these communes and studied in Myroria began gaining popularity among the workers. She wrote a worker's manifesto, calling for a communist revolution to debase the capitalist's control over the workers' religion, culture, and poor welfare. She even based some of her complaints for the aristocracy of the time on the first listener's writings, declaring famously that they might as well have thrown the chronicles in the smoke stacks. In 1833, Madame Ousi came back to Ozia to a weapon's plant, calling on them to take up arms and fight. She successfully lead the workers in liberating their commune where she famously gave her "This is only the beginning!" speech. Some historians believe that Madame Ousi is at least the best orator in Ozian history if not in the entirety of Taijitu for her very easy ability to garner support from not only industrial workers, but farmers, clergy, soldiers, and even the Sankta herself. At the height of the revolution, Madame Ousi forced her way into the Tower of O's senate section, took all the senators she deemed "hollows" onto the plaza and executed them. This sparked outrage from the Parpaski direship, as 50% of these senators were affiliated with the direship in some way. Madame Ousi made several reforms on the Divine Republic's constitution, including the establishment of the Council of Economic Experts. These reforms resulted in freer elections and greater welfare for the workers. Several unpopular reforms took place though which resulted in severe instability in the eastern regions of Ozia, such as the simplification of the Ozian alphabet and the free speech and practice of religion laws. For a temporary period of 20 years Melkorism was a legal religion. Madame Ousi also practiced pacifism, resulting in a disarmament of 50% of the Ozian armed forces.

The Haradrim Occupation

Main article: The Troubles

Further information: St Oz in the Great War. Haradrim Gaeanist Legion

Culture

Main article: Culture of St Oz

Religion

Main article: Gaeanism

Government and Politics

The Sankta

The Ozian Senate

Council of Economic Experts

Council of Dires

Iseltov-Parpaski Zentrale Etrepoza

The 'Iseltov-Parpaski Zentrale Etrepoza' or more commonly called 'd'Zen', is the official central bank of St Oz. As per history, the enormous amount of equity that the Iseltov and Parpaski direships enjoy is due in part by the Greatest Heist, when the two conwomen, Iseltov and Parpaski, stole the entire treasury of the early Haradrim Empire in the 8th century CE. As the story goes, the two hid their enormous wealth of gold on the island of La Sava. The two combined their shares of gold to form a single banking institution that not only held monopoly power over Ozian banks, but that wanted to spill their power and influence into other nation's banking systems. Later in the 18th century the bank, known at the time only as the Iseltov-Parpaski Etrepoza, became largely what it is today with the endorsement of the Sankta as an emergency institution for failing banks. In exchange for special powers and monetary power, the Sankta and Ozian Senate declared that the bank maintain the PEI's price stability. Later in 1927, the senate expanded their powers to gathering economic statistics and closing unemployment gaps. D'Zen is ran by two chairpersons, one nominated by the Iseltov direship and theo ther nominated by the Parpaski direship. Both nominations must be approved by the Senate, Sankta, and Council of Economic Experts. The Council of Economic Experts will designate one of council members to act as a delegation from the council, that title is "Grand Statistician". The PEI is the oldest fiat currency in the world and has enjoyed a long tradition of price stability thanks in part to d'Zen. D'Zen uses very aggressive means to stabilize its currency, and in three occasions have purposefully engineered an economic recession to do this. Ozian economists like to boast that it is the most secure currency in the world.

Diplomacy

Myroria

The theater, art, and music of Myroria has always been popular among the Ozian population, and there's a real market in darker areas of St Oz for counterfeit Myrorian paintings as well as art smuggling. The peoples of St Oz and the people of Myroria have common ancestors in history, and though Ozians discriminated against their religious practice of Christianity, some Ozians help support their mass exodus in the past when they were better known in Ozian as 'Keihessezhi' or "People without a name". Today both Keihessezhi and Myrorzhi are in reference to the same people. While both share a same ancestors, both countries historically shared hostility in economic matters, especially when a Myrorian House comes into conflict with an Ozian Direship. In the modern era, the two states are allies and are in the same diplomatic agreement called the Community of Cefnor

Eluvatar

Often the Ozian poets and authors ridicule the Aeluzhi for the stereotype (created by Ozians) for being extremely boring. The most famous example is from the 19th century from the book No Bad Opiates, where a diplomat from Eluvatar named Count Seforfeffermathonor of Erafeffifirfofuf tried to find a bride in Ozia, so that he can better understand the people and customs. However the Count fails to realize not only is there no such thing as marriage in St Oz but that women are head of the household and ends up in the ill-fated journey of kinky sex, abuse, and extreme drug use. Historically, Ozian pirates especially targeted Eluvataran shipping, sometimes private, but in other times a command by the Sankta herself. Today both participate in the Community of Cefnor and enjoy semi-amicable relations. If a debate ever arises in the community of Cefnor, it is likely one between the Ozian and Eluvataran delegations.

Inglo-Scotia

Historically, Ozian and Inglish privateers have cooperated with each other on several occasions. Both nations have a great tradition of maritime supremacy in the region, and both have enjoyed more cooperation than competition. Several times in the past though, Ozian volunteers traveled to Inglo-Scotia to fight in their civil wars. Today the two nations are allies in the Community of Cefnor.

The Diamond Coast

The Diamond Coast is a former colony of St Oz, until it was lost during the Great War. The Haradrim Empire never controlled the Diamond Coast, Priozha, La Sava, or the northern regions of Ozia, so the diamond coast acted as temporary headquarters for government elements and the military. The Diamond Coast populace was once a large area containing several different ethnic groups, but the Ozians influenced the region with religion, language, and restructuring to more unify the region. Unlike other Imperial colonial possessions, St Oz provided basic welfare and education to the populace, which garnered much respect with the line of Sanktas from the Diamond Coast. Today, St Oz has declared herself a protector of the Diamond Coast, preparing to wage war against anyone who wants to invade it.

The People's Republic of Haradrim

STIA came out with a report in 2001 revealing the part St Oz played in Haradrim's Revolution. They showed that STIA had conducted statistical models to best trigger a revolution or coup'd'tat on the Empire, later explaining that one model was increasing the quantity of small arms in the black market of Haradrim, especially to nationalist groups in the Haradrim Empire. The report says St Oz spent a total of 10 billion pei subsidizing the underground small arms market in Haradrim. Historically and presently, St Oz holds a strained relationship with the PRH, and the religion of Melkorism is illegal in St Oz. Practicing Melkorism within St Oz is a punishable offense measuring at least 10 years in jail, with more severe penalties such as capital punishment for teaching anyone under 15, leading a Melkorist group, or practicing Melkorism a second time. Although no longer widely enforced, the law still exists.

Geography

Main article: Geography of St Oz

Economy

Main article: Economy of St Oz

Further information: Currency of St Oz