The Breaking Point (Worldbuilding Archive / Closed to All)

[Reverend Norv]

GOVERNMENT OF COLRANIA

Colrania is an authoritarian country. It is not so brutally tyrannical that dissent is unthinkable; there exists some space for questioning the government, so long as it is done quietly. There are lots of jokes at the expense of the leadership, but you can't make them in public. The best analogy for the level of oppression is likely the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It is a large country, with a population of about 100 million and a wide variety of ecological and climatic zones.

The Damsean Dispositive - GCCS

Also known as The Machine or The Factory, the Dispositive describes the Colranian form of government. If other government forms laud themselves on their idealism, The Dispositive congratulates itself on a ceaseless pursuit of the purely pragmatic. It is a moral-neutral form of government, where there is no room for judgement or personal responsibility.

In practise, the Dispositive is a giant civil service apparatus. It consists of subdivisions and departments beyond count, all being tasked with one tiny part of the responsibilities of a functioning State. In this, it follows the writings of Hubert Damse, one of the foremost Patrionagio scholars. According to Damse, the biggest threat to society is a government which fails to keep order. During times of civil strife, civilians die and are forced to do unspeakable acts, while the government should keep its citizens safe and free in pursuit of their own morality. Paradoxically, according to Damse, in order to allow for the pursuit of moral perfection of the citizenry, the government should not subject itself to the same rules as civilians, but instead be as efficient, pragmatic, and ruthless as necessary. In his view, the government is the vessel containing society, and if society is to be liquid, the government has to be firm to contain it.

According to Damse, the idea of ‘civil strife’ is broader than mere civil war or revolution. Any unlawful or immoral act is an act of defiance against society. Any abundance of crime means the State has failed to keep order, which is an argument against its practises. Any government that allows crime to exist has failed, in the eyes of Damsean thinkers.

Two factors allow for political strife: respect for criminals (which causes ‘personal civil strife’) and coagulated power (which causes ‘political civil strife’).

1. Respect for criminals is professed by some state in the form of ‘civil rights’, which cannot be abrogated from when the subject has committed heinous acts. This is naïve, since criminals will do everything in their power to subvert these rules. It ties one hand behind your back, while you have a duty to your citizenry to use both hands. Therefore, there should not exist such a thing as criminal procedural law. A Dispositive state does not make arbitrary distinctions between civil, criminal and administrative law. They all exist with the same goal, and when the rules of the written law come to contradict that goal, they should be discarded.
2. Coagulated power means putting too large amounts of power in the hands of people further down the hierarchy. This is the greatest threat to those in charge, since most governments are destroyed by internal coups. Failed Electoral states put power in the hands of independent judges and parliamentarians, which allowed these institutions to work against the interests of the executive. In the Damsean state, no power should be allowed to coagulate in one person below the executive. There should be plenty of different departments, and these departments should have to work together in order to achieve any goal. This makes it impossible for anyone further down the chain to successfully oppose the executive.

In practice, Colrania therefore is governed by an unaccountable bureaucracy. The Bureaucrats, or Dispositives, are judge, jury and executioner, with almost unfettered power in an incredibly small sliver of state operations. Traffic cops, for example, are allowed to enter homes without warrant and search your house, but only to establish whether your double-parking was defensible. This, not so much to protect the citizens, but more to protect those above them, as no single person should be allowed to challenge the power of the executive. Whether you are allowed to appeal a decision is entirely dependent on the internal structure of a division within the central government. Some bureaus allow for written appeals, while others only allow for oral pleadings, while others do not allow appeals at all. These appeals are entirely internal, as there exists no such thing as an independent judge. How far you are allowed to appeal is also subject to internal rules. These organisations are under no obligation, however, to follow their own rules, and directors of divisions are free to discard their own rules if it is in the interest of justice and morality.

The Crown Council - GCCS

The Crown Council, or Crown Executive, forms the pinnacle of the Colranian government, fulfilling the position that Damse calls ‘the Executive’ in his works on the subject. The Crown Council, or simply ‘The Crown’, decides on the internal regulation of the Dispositive, and therefore, the laws and regulations within Colrania. These regulations can be public, but publication is not necessary for them to achieve power of law. There is a whole body of secret regulation churning in the background, on matters as diffuse as appeals, how to handle job openings and which prison to send what prisoner to. Within the workings of the government there is a myriad of difficult rules, which can if necessary be changed on a dime.

The Crown Council consists of anywhere between fifteen and fifty members, depending on internal regulations made by the Crown Council itself. Within the Council, power can shift quite rapidly, owing to how many friends within the business world one can accumulate, so one can never speak of one leader of the Council. Just within the past twenty years, power within the Crown Council has been described as ‘decision by unanimous committee’, ‘democratic’, ‘a triumvirate’, ‘a dictatorship’ or ‘an anarchy’. This system, while utterly confusing to the outsider, has created a system which can react very elastically to the ever-changing power structure of the upper echelons of the government.

At the moment, the Crown Council consists of thirty-eight members, serving under a five man Praesidium. The Praesidium makes generalised policy decisions, which the other Crown Councillors have to translate into actual guidelines for their bureaucrats. These Crown Councillors have the power to appoint people to lower positions to act in their stead, which is a system that continues down the line until you reach the actual agents in the street, and this power to appoint and sack people is what gives these Councillors most power. The Praesidium has recently been granted the sole power to nominate people for Councillorship, as well as the ability to nominate a sitting Councillor for termination. Within the Praesidium, more and more power has begun to shift towards the Council Chair, which has allowed her to gain ever-more business friends. There has even been talk of abolishing the Praesidium and giving all relevant powers to the Chair directly, although this has not yet been implemented.

Provincial governments - GCCS

Officially, the whole government is a hierarchical structure flowing down from the Crown Council up to the individual civil servants. In such a system, there should not be a place for local governance. However, in practice, local governance has actually flourished. Government agents are not subject to hierarchical structures based on geography, but rather on theme. For example, all traffic wardens fall under a hierarchy, and murder investigators operate under an entirely different hierarchy. As such, a traffic warden and a murder investigator in the same town might not share a boss. And that boss will have such a geographically diffuse group of agents to look after that they cannot possible manage them all in detail.

This system has led to the rise of unofficial local compacts between agents. While theoretically separate, Hollys will often work together if they are working in the same rough geographical area. It helps that Hollys are locally sourced, meaning many people working in the field have known each other for years. While in big cities, the official hierarchy is easier maintained because of the larger government presence, in small towns this has lead to all kinds of localised forms of government coming about. Some towns have some form of elected city council, or an unofficial mayor, or some other body that takes care of business. In principle, their power stems from the same source as much of the government’s, mainly business contacts, but localised it’s much more about face-to-face contact with people you have known your whole life.

The government tolerates this kind of behaviour, as long as it does not occur in towns that are too large, and as long as no overtly political point is made. The government, though a lumbering, unyielding hulk, but if there’s one thing it can react well to, it’s uppity peasants.

Law Enforcement and the Prison System - Cylarn, GCCS, and Norv

Responsible for public safety, common criminal investigation, and preventative policing is the Dispositive Police Directorate, often called "DisPo" instead. The Directorate supplies every major metropolitan area with a DisPo detachment and headquarters, and smaller stations can be found in rural areas. The force can be best described as a Gendarmerie. Officers typically sport a smart, intimidating uniform: starched black uniform shirt with patches on either sleeve and a shiny silver badge; a Sam Browne Belt and tie worn alongside a duty belt carrying a .357 Magnum service revolver; grey uniform pants with black lining; smartly-polished black jackboots worn with the pants tucked in, and a black garrison cap. Other uniform accessories, such as a black leather jacket, service jacket, or different headgear are obtainable. Members of the Police Tactical Unit sport black BDU-style fatigues and light blue berets, or black baseball caps/white and black police motorcycle helmets while on operations.

The DisPo is a diverse force, operating a number of different divisions under its purview. Patrol is the most visible unit, followed by the Investigative Policing Division; Direct Threat Response Division; Maritime Division; Prison Service; Aviation; and Juvenile. Officers tend to be posted in the area from which they originated, although this practice is beginning to slip. Officers are technically exempt from military service, but instead find themselves deployed as Military Police in the wars. Public opinion ranges from mixed to negative, due to negative perception of DisPo corruption.

The DisPo is supported by a poorly-understood but presumably vast secret police apparatus internal to the Dispositive itself. There is no publicly known ministry of state security. Rather, all Hollys are expected to do their part to discipline the general public, and anyone can be a Holly: their power comes from having a certain position within government, whether or not that position is public knowledge, so whether they are recognisable or not does not make a difference for a citizen’s duty to follow their orders. This has created an atmosphere of constant vigilance, where even someone asking for a cigarette can be a Holly, and not giving them one could earn you a beating or a large fine. Even within families, it is not always certain whether someone is a Holly, and what division they belong to. This means many people practice self-censorship, unless they truly trust the person they are talking to. And even then... mistakes have been made.

The diffusion of power has allowed the Dispositive to be responsible for some truly heinous acts, completely outside of the responsibility of its cogs. For example, at the start of the chain, someone might decide that, if a partisan kills a government agent, ten important people within the village it occured in should receive some kind of punishment. A second government agent might then decide, not knowing the contents of the decision of the first, that a punishment should be death. Then, a third might, unaware of the earlier decisions, report a shooting of a government agent in a village. A fourth, against ignorant, will make a list of ten important people in a village, and a fifth agent, without any power to make decisions of his own, will drag out ten people and have them shot. Nobody in this chain is personally responsible for their deaths, and the sixth agent was just following orders. It is a system built to commit horrible atrocities without making any single person guilty.

As a result, any challenge to the moral, philosophical and legal authority of the government is met with swift retribution. The penal system within Colrania is so complex that even the people who arrested and sentences individuals often don’t know where they will end up. Some people are just lost in the bureaucracy and never heard from again; others just turn up one day, changed to the bone. How many prisons there are, where they are, what conditions prevail, which one you are sent to, and why - all these questions have no publicly known answers. Arrest and enforced disappearance are one and the same. The system does not explain its own operation to anyone.

Education in Colrania - Norv

Primary and secondary education are de facto guaranteed in Colrania; de jure, consistent with Damse's opposition to "coagulated power," Colranian citizens have no positive right to education. Public schools teach basic math, limited science, and a highly distorted version of Colranian history. Principles of hierarchy, obedience, and trust in the authorities pervade pedagogy in every subject. Literature, notably, is largely absent from the curriculum, and critical-thinking training is extremely poor. Students are expected to supply their own textbooks and uniforms, which poor families often struggle to do. In high schools, sports and bands and cadet corps provide a variety of opportunities for extracurricular activity. Theater, like literature, is regarded with suspicion and is mostly absent.

In most towns and cities, schools are an important part of unofficial local government arrangements, and teachers are among the most common and visible Hollys. This has led many Colranians to regard teachers with mixed feelings: while they are the people you trust to take care of your kids, they are also the people who will inform on you if your kids mention that you have criticized the state. Teachers are the grassroots of the surveillance state.

Higher education in Colrania is understood to be earned by conscript service - though the state can and does, without giving a reason, refuse to admit an otherwise qualified veteran to university. Students are assigned to one of Colrania's several dozen universities and are told what they are to study, and they must shoulder the cost of moving across the country in order to attend the relevant school. Since a student's course of study is assigned by the state, there is no clear line between professional and undergraduate education: law, medicine, and public administration are all undergraduate fields of study. Finally, academic excellence does not necessarily count for much in Colranian education: connections matter more than merit both in determining what university one is assigned, and in determining how much a university education helps one's career after graduation.

Colrania's universities vary considerably in quality, but the oldest and most prestigious predate the Cataclysm and have been able to preserve some independence - however inconspicuous and limited - from Dispositive ideologues. For this reason, university campuses are sites of tense, unspoken negotiation and accommodation between the regime and the public. The University of Haloran is among the five or six most distinguished universities in Colrania, and has used the narrow scope of its unofficial independence to admit as many Haloran natives as possible to its halls.

[Reverend Norv]

ECONOMY OF COLRANIA

Colrania is, in practice, a market economy: people have money, they buy things, and exchange rather than rationing is the underlying principle of economic life. But it is massively, dysfunctionally corrupt: government regulation of economic life is intrusive and omnipresent, and only bribes can secure any kind of economic advancement. Higher education is available to everyone who has completed military service, but is of little use without the right connections. The standard of living is analogous to Eastern Bloc countries in the 1970s.

At the policy level, Colrania aims for self-sufficient autarky by way of semi-capitalistic corporatism. This has created an environment ripe for nepotistic corruption; politically "reliable" businessmen and their affiliates have a dramatic leg up, and economic inequality is becoming increasingly drastic with every passing year. Privatization exists, but is heavily influenced by the state. Smaller "mom-and-pop shops" are gradually being crushed or absorbed by larger corporations, and independent labor unions have been outlawed in favor of a single, state-run union (which, in reality, acts as the economic wing of the secret police). The government has injected Dispositivist principles into every sector of civilian life, from the public education system to the industrial workplace.

For example: Radient production in Colrania is handled by Natrak, formerly known as the National Radiant Concern before a privatization campaign a decade ago. Initially promoted as a public shareholding company, currently Natrak is chaired by businessmen close to the government. In the international stage, it is often accused of questionable market practices, like sudden stops-and-go's while Radient futures are traded on most markets.

Nevertheless, Colrania is beginning to confront the beginnings of deindustrialization. While the Dispositive's autarkic economic policy means that Colranian manufacturing is not at risk of offshoring jobs, privatized industries are nevertheless starting to turn to automation in order to reduce their workforce requirements. Since Colrania's only legal labor union is government-run, and its leaders are chosen largely by politically connected business executives, workers have very little ability to bargain to keep their jobs, or to access retraining. As a result, for example, more than a third of Haloran's auto factories have closed in the last decade, simply through consolidation into fewer, more highly automated, more efficient facilities.

The Colranian Lire is the sovereign currency of Colrania. The Colranian Central Bank has a low degree of independence. The Lire is particularly inflated through a combination of low interest rates and extensive stimulus spending to fund the war industry. Colranians are heavily encouraged to purchase state bonds for the war effort, with the promise of lucrative payouts after victory in Albren. The price of living has rose in particular as a result of the war inflation. Nonetheless, Colrania tends to approach "full employment", albeit dysfunctionally. Foreign currency is a common Grey and black market commodity, originating from tourist localities in Colrania; the Wulpine Thaler is especially prized.

Consistent with Dispositivist theory, Colranian citizens formally have no right to education, healthcare, or social assistance. In practice, all three are public goods. Primary and secondary education are public and compulsory, and higher education is typically granted as a post-conscription public benefit. Health insurance is considered neither a market good nor a public right, but instead a privilege, which can be granted or revoked by the state without any explanation. As a result, while most Colranians are confident that they can go to the hospital without needing to pay out of pocket for their care, they can never know exactly how much medical care the government will be willing to cover for any given citizen; decisions to suspend payment or treatment are made without explanation and are beyond review. The same system governs social assistance; while Colrania has programs for public housing, unemployment insurance, retirement assistance, and food aid, all of these are understood as discretionary benefits rather than entitlements: they can be withheld at any time, for any reason, or for no reason at all.

Corruption and the Corporate World - GCCS and Norv

The Dispositive's approach to the corporate world is a stark departure from its philosophical principled. In the ideal world, according to Dispositive thinkers, there would be no organisation outside the State. So, all corporations would be taken over by the central state apparatus, to be used to further its goals. However, this was impractical to implement, so the government basically declared business a 'morally-neutral' zone. So, there can exist a very lively corporate world, differentiated from the government world.

It is the existence of this corporate world that actually causes the most corruption. There is a very lively synergy between the top corporate sector and high bureaucrats, where corporations choose to voluntarily follow orders from these top bureaucrats (way beyond what would legally be required), and these top bureaucrats use that authority in a way that further follows business interests. In return, these high civil servants are invited to glamorous parties and galas, forming some sort of upper crust with the corporate world. Knowing the right people is the key to business success, and it's basically the only key to success. Knowing the right person, as a corporate executive, will land your opponents in jail, while knowing the right people as a bureaucrat means that you can actually exert some power. In practice, this means that the highest-ranking corporate executives are entirely above the law. This class of economic aristocrats is known as the Marigolds: where the Hollys are blue, they are golden.

Corruption goes two ways. There is a lot of bottom-up corruption, where Hollys will skim some money off the top of their fines before moving it on up the ladder, with every step of the ladder doing the same until only a small part of the fine actually goes into the State coffers. The top-down corruption comes from higher-ranking bureaucrats taking bribes and other advantages from the Marigolds. This means that the only way to get rich in this system is either to climb up in corporate (which requires the right connections both among the Hollys and among the Marigolds) or to become a corrupt bureaucrat (selling your principles out for a quick buck).

Or, as your third option: you can join the Army.

The Criminal Economy - Cylarn

The criminal underbelly of Colrania exists, despite what may be claimed by Dispositive officials. Its manifestation is one of considerable interest, as inherently criminal organizations find themselves at the mercy of ruthlessly efficient Hollys, or pervasive Dispositive Police raids. Gangs in Colrania solely exist within the correctional system; their presence in civil society is not the least bit tolerated by the state. Drug-dealing bands are common, especially in the university cities, but are hardly considered to be independent criminal entities. Instead, organized criminal activity is perpetrated by legitimate businessmen, who utilize the institutional corruption of Colrania to engage in a variety of illicit activities.

As was mentioned earlier, it is legitimate businessmen who are keeping the criminal underworld alive and well in Colrania. The governing concept of tribute to the state is no different in organized crime. Such men women are able to pay exorbitant bribes to officials, whether through regular payments or lavish benefits. This tribute manifests in the form of blind eyes being turned, labor contracts being awarded on a favoritist basis, rivals being eliminated in a wholly "sanitary" manner, and other results. Visible criminal violence is rarely witnessed by the Colranian public.

Organized networks of well-connected white-collar criminals are referred to as "Syndicates," whenever the Dispositive State must dismantle a criminal enterprise in the public eye. Officially, Syndicates are a proscribed entity, to be targeted and their affiliates to be imprisoned. However, the reality is that many Dispositive institutions, including the Dispositive Police, will often turn a blind eye to Syndicates, at least as long as the Syndicates remain a convenient organism in the eyes of the corrupt government apparatus. Syndicates operate the vast majority of legal and illegal entertainment venues in the major cities. Practically all black market operations and merchandise go through the major Syndicates. In black market exchanges, foreign currency is heavily utilized due to the government's inability to trace foreign bills. Such revenue is then laundered back into Lire, and rendered legitimate.

Currently, the top-reigning syndicate is the Porto Noir Syndicate, named for the Derwani coastal city from which they control every hotel, casino, bar, restaurant, and much of everything else in the city, with the backing of the Dispositive Police detachment. Formed by a group of businessmen aligned after having served their Conscription period together, the Porto Noir Syndicate brings in large quantities of Toianese heroin and morphine, as well as Etroian qat. Interestingly enough, the Syndicate has a source within the Porto Noir Naval Terminal who delivers regular shipments of National Army dexamethamphetamine (Dexies) to them.

Colrania's Drug Epidemic - Cylarn

No matter where you go, you will find narcotics somewhere in Colrania. The Dispositive State does not acknowledge that there is a drug problem in Colrania, and is quick to dismiss or alter studies that alert to this fact.Here's a basic list of the most commonly-abused narcotics in the nation.

• Opiates. By far the most commonly-abused narcotic, many servicemembers find themselves prescribed with large quantities of painkillers such as Oxycodone, Vicodin, and Hydrocodone to treat injuries sustained in service. However, the Dispositive government falls short of providing suitable care to its veterans once they leave the service, leaving many to resort to illicit opiates such as heroin, or black market pain pills. Morphine is highly prized and sought, with Syndicates restricting the supply flow at times in order to drive up prices on the black market. Given the high percentage of Colranian combat veterans returning from the front with serious issues, there is a serious, if hardly-discussed, issue of opioid abuse in Colrania.
• Stimulants. Dexamphetamine is a form of pill-based amphetamine, issued to the armed forces in order to subvert normal sleep cycles during extensively long operations, or to increase aggression and hostility during assault operations. Combined with the practice of Conscription, Dexies have joined opiates in cursing the armed forces with a serious drug problem. Dexies are very popular in the industrial and academic sectors alike. The high is essentially identical to methamphetamine; long-acting up to 72 hours, provides bursts of energy. It is also notorious for prompting bouts of psychosis in some people from time to time.
• Qat. An herb from a distant Emirate, which is commonly smoked for medicinal and recreational purposes. It causes a sense of relaxation and euphoria. Few, if any, long-term effects exist, though ethno-centric policies keep qat a drug only obtainable on the black market. It can be smoked in a hookah, or rolled into a joint, although a popular method in the university life is to utilize a glass bowl, called a "chillum."
• Tobacco. This is the truest, most massive vice in Colrania. Pretty much everyone smokes; the local gynocologist, university kids, soldiers of all ranks, and every other social class able to be located within the nation. Cigarettes are the most preferred option among all demographics, divided between full-flavor and menthol and light varieties. Cigars are smoked on occasion, and many old people prefer a pipe. As with accepted science in the real world, smoking kills. However, don't expect the State to admit it freely.
• Alcohol. Same with tobacco; everyone drinks. Different varieties of beer and wine are utilized with the seasons, and Colranian beer is generally regarded worldwide as decent, and the most popular is an amber ale branded as "Scarabus." Liquor and other spirits can also be found throughout all strata of Colrania.

[Reverend Norv]

HISTORY OF COLRANIA

Colranian Historiography - Rudaslavia

History in Colrania has, like most other academic fields, been subjected to thorough revision, simplification, and surveillance by the Dispositive. The Dispositive jettisons the notion of conflicting historical interpretations; such a diversity of opinion is thought to contribute to ideological pluralism -- a quintessential stepping stone to political civil strife. Given the importance of history to identity-building, it was among the first of academic disciplines to undergo the process of "Intellectual Rectification" with the rise of the Dispositive government. Intellectual Rectification entails the realignment (or "correction," in the political terms of the Dispositives) of scholarly principles, methods, goals, and conclusions to suit the pragmatic lines of Dispositive philosophy. The forefathers of the Rectification propounded an "unrelenting pursuit" by all academic fields of three fundamental underpinnings: Truth, Functionalism, and Understanding. A more paradoxical set of values there never was. In practice, Intellectual Rectification represents an unremitting, everlasting means of academic surveillance by the regime.

Historical Outline - Rudaslavia

In accordance with the Rectification, world history has been drastically simplified and reinterpreted as a linear framework of socio-political progression (in which the Dispositive represents mankind's highest intellectual and political achievement). The Dispositive has categorized the last 100,000 years of human history into six "epochs," with a further distinction being drawn between the "Pre-Civilized" (P.C.) and "Civilized" (C.) "eons:"

• The Pre-Civilized Eon (100,000 PC - 1 PC)
  
  
  • The Benighted Epoch (100,000 PC - 5000 PC): Coequally referred to as the "Prehistoric Epoch," the Benighted Epoch represents mankind's primitive stone age. The Dispositive portrays the Benighted Epoch as the first phase of civilizational evolution -- one of apish ignorance, violence, and animalistic strife.
    
  • The Classical Epoch (5000 PC - 1 PC): The Classical Epoch represents the rise of the first cities and city-states, and saw to the development of humanity's first social, political, and governmental philosophies. The Classical Epoch was initially marked by a general transition from hunting and gathering to permanent agricultural settlement. This transition was made possible by the domestication of horses and cattle, in addition to important inventions such as the wheel and the written alphabet.
• The Civilized Eon (0 C - Present)
  
  
  • The Feudal Epoch (0 C - 1199 C): Also known as the "Pandemonium," the Feudal Epoch represents the first period of "civilized" history -- a period defined by chaos and violent warfare between the many kingdoms and principalities born out of the late Classical Epoch. Though one may be tempted to interpret the competitive nature of the Pandemonium as antithetical to the Dispositive's narrative, the Dispositive paradoxically views the epoch as a gradual process of unification and nation-building; while the Classical Epoch represented humanity's first step toward civilization, it also produced an innumerable amount of "contradictive" kingdoms and city-states, each driven by their own philosophies and ambitions. It was a world dominated by personal and political civil strife. The wars of the Feudal Epoch were a necessary correction of this hazardous error. And from the ashes of said wars, the great empires of the Imperial Epoch emerged.
    
  • The Imperial Epoch (1200 C - 1799 C): Sometimes referred to as the "Age of Empires," the Imperial Epoch was marked by the emergence of the Colranian and Albrenese empires as the two dominant geopolitical powers of the post-feudal age. Both empires began as minor kingdoms during the Feudal Epoch, rapidly expanding their borders and spheres of influence through warfare. Emmanuel I, High King of Vischia (the future capital of Colrania) and head of the noble House of Vischel, crowned himself Imperator of the Colranian Empire in 1202. Likewise, the Grand Prince Dorin Aurelescu of Albren, archrival of the Vischellian House, was declared Înaltul Împărat of the Albrenese Empire in 1231. Expansionism, political centralization, colonialism, and the concept of the unified nation-state became the defining characteristics of the Imperial Epoch.
    
  • The Scientific Epoch (1800 C - 1904 C): Coequally referred to by Damsean scholars as the "Age of Industry;" the "Age of Reason;" and the "Early-Modern Epoch;" the Scientific Epoch represents a transition from post-feudal imperialism to the age of technology and "pragmatic rationality." Driven by groundbreaking discoveries such as fossil fuels and steam power, the Colranian and Albrenese empires underwent a massive process of industrialization over the course of the 19th century. From the Scientific Epoch came the invention of railroads, steamships, and factories. Said factories allowed for the mass-production of goods, revolutionizing the nature of the market. These trends led to the development of new philosophies and ideals that challenged the authority of the Vischel and Aurelescu dynasties (as well as religious traditions that had existed since the Classical Epoch). The tenants of Damsean Dispositivism and Laborism -- which would later define the state ideologies of modern Colrania and Albren, respectively -- were born out of the late Scientific Epoch in response to the challenges of industrialization.
    
  • The Modern Epoch (1905 C - Present): The Modern Epoch began with a series of natural and societal disasters collectively referred to as the "Calamity." Essentially, the Modern Epoch is portrayed by the Dispositives as the final piece of the human puzzle. On one hand, the Colranian Dispositives, which represent order, rationality, and truth. On the other hand, the Albrenese Laborites, which represent disorder, naivety, and the utopian falsehoods of Laborism.

The Calamity and the Rise of the Dispositive - Norv

The Patronagio - GCCS

“You shall not know Retreat and you shall not die by an enemy Ball or Blade. Your Pyre shall be the size of a City, and your Procession shall be of Gold.”

In the year 1857 C, the second part of the Divination of King Wasç came to fruition. The King of Colrania, nicknamed the Crownless King, or Duke Martial of the Fields of Battle, was fearless in his pursuit of the enemy. After defeating his internal foes and the murderers of his father, the young king had taken his veteran forces on a five year campaign through the rich Basdari Confederation. It was never for conquest. Rather, Wasç wanted his name imprinted on the pages of history, and on the night of his father’s death, a divining witch had predicted that he would never die in battle, and that he would never be defeated. With this knowledge, he embarked on a campaign of looting. The rich cities of the Basdari were stripped of their gold and other valuables, and quickly put to the torch. The Golden City, central to Basdari religious and political life, was stripped. This stripping enraged the enemy commanders, whose soldiers performed an all-out assault to relieve the city.

The ensuing battle was, at that point, the bloodiest in history, and after its conclusion it would give rise to the International Doctor’s Union, a neutral international organisation which could perform medical necessities in times of war. The battle was in the favour of the Colranian forces, until Wasç in the heat of the fighting cut himself on his own sabre. The cut infected, and after a three day fever the young king died. The sudden loss of their monarch caused the Colranian troops to break, and the various divisions began to stream out of the city, which some loyalist citizens had put to the torch. In the confusion, the cart carrying the king’s body was lost, and assumed burnt in the city-engulfing fire. About three-quarters of the Golden City had been stripped, and about half of that could still be salvaged and brought back to Colrania.

Wasç’s brother, Ubriç, was in the capital when the news of the defeat at the Golden City broke. In the absence of his brother, Ubric had managed internal affairs, which ensured a smooth transition of power. Unlike Wasç, Ubriç had himself crowned, with a new crown forged from some of the gold from his campaign. What Ubriç lacked in martial knowledge, he made up for in political talent. Ubriç managed what his brother never could: he shut up the various factions vying for power in the country. Even the most glorious victories of the Basdari campaign could not end the factionalism in the royal government. Instead of trying to establish unquestioning royal power, like Wasç had done, Ubriç began the system known as Patronagio. Under this system, the government would use its revenue to sponsor works of political art and philosophy. While one would expect that this would only increase the Electorist agitation, the effect was the opposite. Being able to go into extraordinary depth on their political philosophy, the Electorist coalition broke apart debating the minute details of their ideology. Without outright persecution to keep them together, the academics fought each other for the favour of the Patronagio, meaning there was more internal fighting than external fighting.

The Patronagio created a golden age for political art in the mid-to-late Scientific Era. So much so, that the art and artist are known as ‘Patronagio Artist’. Among them are the painters Humoderius and Terefal, the poet Grasç, and the philosophers Damse and Mollo. Damse was eventually made Secretary-General of the Crown Council, and his reforms would eventually pave the way for the successful implementation of the Dispositive. This proliferation of art would, in the short term, lead to incredible stable rule of the Kings of Colrania, but when the Calamity destroyed royal authority it would backfire. While the Patronagio had already been formally abolished, the young students and followers of various philosophies would dominate the political landscape soon after. While the Damsean Dispositive would come out on top, it would not be without struggle. The failure of these differing political philosophies and their failure to consolidate would eventually lead to a modern-day aversion to political philosophy and political art, an aversion exacerbated by the Dispositive government.

Electoralism and its Failures - Norv

Recent History and the War with Albren - Norv

[Reverend Norv]

DEMOGRAPHICS OF COLRANIA

Colrania is highly ethnically diverse, home to a plethora of different peoples, religions, and cultures. Since Haloran is a prominent university town, and used to be a manufacturing center, all of these groups are represented there. But the relationship of different ethnic groups in Colrania has always been poor, for various deeply rooted historical reasons.

The Colri People - Rudaslavia

After a millennia of unrelenting conquest, Colrania has emerged as one of the most ethnically diverse powers in the world -- matched only by its archrival, Albren. Despite this, Colrania remains under the social, political, and cultural yoke of the ethnic group to which the nation owes its name: the Colri. The Colri (demonym: Colrish) are an ancient people whose origins can be traced back to the temperate lowlands of the central Colranian valleys. According to Dispositive-verified evidence, the Colri were first mentioned on a 2nd century C Wulpine tablet reading:

"Those Warri'rs of the [illegible],
The Col'ri Hordes,
Whose Sw'rds cut down the mightiest of Men,
And struck the Gods with T'rr'r."

Some scholars have drawn links between the label "Col'ri" and the modern Wulpine word "colrus," which roughly translates to "barbarian." In this context, "Col'ri" may have originated as an Old Wulpine noun or adjective broadly used to describe foreign raiders (rather than the name of a particular ethnic group). Nevertheless, historical evidence suggests the emergence of a semi-homogenous "Colri" language and cultural identity by the mid-5th century C. A number of Feudal Epoch maps dated between the 4th and 6th centuries demarcate several dozen "Colri kingdoms" in present-day central Colrania. The tribal Colri of the early Feudal Epoch are described by Dispositive scholars as a warlike, yet highly cultured, people whose achievements surpassed the intellectual and technological limits of their time. As calculating as they were ambitious, the Colri kingdoms were among the most feared powers of the medieval era.

Although the dream of a unified Colrish state would not be realized until the reign Emmanuel I, important precedents for the rise of the Colranian Empire were set by Emmanuel's earliest known primogenitor: the warrior-prince Vischel, who reigned over the Colri kingdom of Evermark from 707-740 C. According to the Dispositive narrative, Vischel was a distant relative of the previous Evermarkian dynasty, the Romarins. He took power during an anarchic period of civil war that began with a political assassination in 700 C. Dispositive texts portray Vischel as a sort of ancient forerunner to Damse -- a bringer of law, order, and pragmatism to a kingdom in ruins. Under King Vischel, Evermark's sphere of influence was expanded to unprecedented scopes. It was he who established the capital city of Vischia, to which he gave his name, and laid the foundations for a dynasty that would reign over Evermark and the future Empire of Colrania until the Calamity of 1905.

Given the indispensable role of the Colrish peoples in constructing the Colranian nation-state, it is unsurprising that many Colri refuse to surrender their "rightful place" as the nation's dominant ethnic group. The Colri are on the verge of becoming an ethnic minority, with just over 51% of the Colranian population claiming ethnically Colrish parentage.

The Colri are a predominantly fair-skinned people, but there is a great deal of variation in terms of eye and hair color. They follow our world's French naming conventions, and their cultural practices are roughly analogous to those of our world's French, Italian, and German peoples.

Mithriadism and the Acacian Church - Wolfenium

Named after the prophet Mithriad (Mihryazd in Elamite), Mithriadism is a dualistic religion founded in the early Feudal Epoch, and the dominant faith in many parts of the former Wulpine Empire and beyond. Centered around the worship of Mithriad and the concept of Asha ('truth'/'right(eousness)'), said to be a divine messenger sent from Heaven to be reborn as a human to guide humanity towards virtue, Mithriadism preaches about the duality between light and darkness, good and evil, and heaven and hell. While its early adherents were heavily persecuted by the Wulpine Empire, often in the form of crucifixions, the legalization of the faith and conversion of prominent emperors led to the flourishing of the Mithriadic religion. Today, it is the majority faith in both Colrania and Albren, though of different branches.

Founded due to theological dissension to the Wulpian-organized Council of Byblus, the Acacian Church is named after the priest Acacius, whose churches split from the council over the nature of Mithriad's divinity. In contrast to the Magus who supported Patriarch Theodosius (who would later give rise to the Theodosian Church, the largest of the Mithriadic branches) which promulgated that Mithriad, the Messenger, is equal and separate from the Asha, Acacius preached that Mithriad is subordinate and a part from it. The faith took root in Colrania, when one of its most prominent preachers, Wulfias, preached the faith to the early tribes that had settled in the area. This soon became a recurrent source of friction between Colrania and its Theodosian neighbours, who often justified conflict with the empire on grounds of heresy. In turn, followers and Magi of the Theodosian Patriarchate, usually those of non-Colranian stock, were persecuted by Colrania, which has, until the rise of the Dispositive, enshrined the Acacian Patriarchate as the state religion. Even now, despite the veneer of secular government, the Acacian Church remains heavily tied to the Colranian state, and heavily politicized under the current government. This, coupled with Theodosian Albren refugees fleeing persecution by the Laborist government, has put pressure on Colranian society to deal with the 'spreading heresy'.

More ethnic groups and religions are very welcome! Please post ideas here.