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Druermarsk Council Republic Druermarsk Rådsrepublikk
Flag Emblem
Motto: Alle Skal Med All Shall Take Part
Anthem:  Internasjonalen (official) The Internationale
Map of Druermark
Capital and largest city	Runavik
Official languages	Norrsk
Recognised national languages	Blommjordic Almik Wiaqqat Ametik Natchiik Kiina
Demonym(s)	Druermarsk (ethnic) Druermarker (citizen)
Government	One-party Unitary councilist republic
• Premier	Kate Sjøhorn
• Secretary-General of the Folksråd	Sven Godmann
Legislature	Folksråd
Establishment
• First Contact	991 CE
• Viceroyalty of Nysund	1596
• Druermarsk Republic	1803
• Council Republic	1919
Population
• 2020 estimate	84,542,134
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
ISO 3166 code	DR
Internet TLD	.dr

Druermark, known officially as the Druermarsk Council Republic, is a nation in the northern areas of Cesylle, bordered by Acadia, the Oleannan Council Republic, Watauga, Okala, and Minerva. It also maintains a permanent claim on the northern ice continent of Frigora Regni. Druermark is is a one-party councilist republic led by the Druermarsk Councilist Party (Druermarsk Rådmannspartiet). Its capital, Runavik, rests on the east coast, with a population of 6.9 million. Other cities include Straumsfjord, Kjolr, Olofsby, and Eirikstad.

History

Antiquity

Druermark has been inhabited by indigenous peoples for centuries before contact by Marisians, such as the Natchiik, Wiaqqat, Ametik, and Kiina peoples. Archaeological evidence suggests that few conflicts between these tribes existed with the exception of the Ametik and Wiaqqat tribes, both having a long history of potentially ritualistic combat. Conflict between the Natchiik and tribes south into areas such as Seneca and Okala were rare, typically only during abnormally cold weather.

First Contact

Halfdan the Traveler, a well-seasoned sea raider of Norrmark, and his crew (along with about 100 civilians) were the first non-Cesyllians to step foot on its soil in 991 CE, in a bay on the island of Vavenok near the modern day city of Oubee. Expelled from their homeland, they were forced to travel west, lest they be hunted for sport. Their settlement, Nyhavn, managed to hold on by threads through the harsh northern winter, largely due to Norrmarsk experience in cold climate, but additionally through the aid of the Malket tribe, an offshoot of the much larger Wiaqqat people. Seeing the new arrivals as refugees in need of aid, the Malket sought to trade and make peace with whom they called “Jiltasugsisgal" or "Mark-Faces", so named for the skogarmaor mark in the shape of an othala rune (ᛟ) on their cheek. Eventually, they established contact with their leaders and came to a mutual charter. Halfdan, needing farming aid, took to purchasing slaves from the Malket, who were former Ametik natives seized in their near ceaseless conflict between each other. After some time adjusting to the growing season, Halfdan sent his men to survey the island and find the mainland, which they would name “Druermark or “The Land of the Grape Vines.”

Aside from the grapes and the already very enticing old growth timber, of which they gladly used to make more ships, the crew additionally found gold and silver in various indigenous mines. Loading a few new ships with tonnes of gold and silver ore, locally made mead and wine, and slaves, Halfdan sent a party back to Norrmark and they returned with letters of pardon, as well as more settlers. Eventually, these settlers would go on to start their own colonies in what is now Kaldelven, Runavik, Husavik, and Jorvik. Halfdan was named the first Jarl of Nyhavn when the Malket and Wiaqqat tribes, seeking a defensive alliance against the Ametik, would recognize his rule over Vavenok. Raising a band of native and Norrsk forces, they would raid the Ametik capital of Sutik in 1003, during which Halfdan fell to an arrow. Though the battle was a success, the loss of Halfdan caused the eventual decline of Nyhavn as a settlement, and by 1220 the first Norrsk settlement on the continent would be abandoned.

Viceroyalty of Nysund

The new landed class in the Norrsk settled regions of Cesylle, jarls and their huskarls, kept receiving a steady flow of settlers, though there were still relatively few inhabitants until the 1350s when The Red Death, an extremely deadly disease, ravaged Maris. Wave after wave of refugee landed on the shores, overflowing the villages, and wiping out entire populations of native and Norrskman alike with the Red Death. Upwards of a third of each population died, but on paper, the settlements quadrupled in size. This came with its own political upheaval, as the Kingdom of Norrmark, now a united entity, aimed to assert its rule over Arakoan Norrskmen. One by one, by war, plague, or treaty, the jarldoms would coalesce into a client kingdom in 1596 under a Norrmarsk puppet, The Viceroyalty of Nysund (Visekongedømmet Nysund). Centuries after his death, Halfdan’s wish would be granted, as his descendent Erik “Forkbeard” Tjodolfsson was declared viceroy of the territory.

The Norrskmen of Nysund did not look, speak, or act the same as the Norrskmen of !Europe, after 600 years of relative isolation, multiethnic marriage, and language syncretics. Norrmark would attempt to rectify that by coercing the Fara dynasty in 1631 to pass edicts banning further interracial relationships and by creating a caste system with the more fair-skinned at the top. Additionally, !Christianity was forced on the population, with the practices of both Norrsk and Arakoan paganism being made punishable by outlawry or death. This arrangement only worked insofar as they could directly control the population with Norrsk military and sympathetic militia. This worked, for a time, but by the 1700s, the !Enlightenment would reach the feudal lands of Nysund, and the organic anti-feudalist movement of Druermarkisme would grow. In budding industrial areas such as Runavik, Husavik, and Dorvavik, the meeting house (møtehus) would become the staging ground for these thoughts and ideals. These houses, a combination of tavern and government office, were rife for political disagreement and bloodshed. The Tjodolfsson dynasty was more or less unable to cease revolutionary thought, but was able to keep the populace busy by rapid expansion and by conscription in Norrmark’s many wars in the main continent. Also at this time, starting in the late 1600s, a portion of land north of Nysund was carved out by treaty/force from the Natchiik and Ametik peoples for the purpose of relocating the Almik people, a Finno-Ugric, initially migratory people living in Northern Norrmark. The Almik Settlement, as it was called, consisted of the town of Dorvavik (renamed to Dorvajara), Kavilijarvi, and the land north of the Istra River.

Settlement westward was slow but constant, with overcrowding on the coast becoming more and more the norm. Skogfjell, Olofsby, and Dalgvann were the new frontier trading posts. While Norrmark claimed the entirety of the continent north of the Adelwulf Line, treaty obligations with Arnynsland caused permanent settlement to be prohibited west of the Ryggrad Mountains, making Olofsby and Dalgvann technically illegal settlements. Attempts to evict the population was met with armed resistance, and in 1767 the Olofsby Rebellion was proclaimed. Though ending in ultimate failure, the resistance caused the Viceroyalty to reconsider the treaty line, and in 1770, the treaty was broken for good during the outbreak of several revolutions to the immediate south. While Norrmark managed to escape the first tide of revolution, they would not hold their “Great White Jewel” for long.

Independence

After several cessions and land grabs, many of which involved taking them directly from the native population, what was once the Viceroyalty of Nysund was in 1790 reorganized into the Druermarsk Dominion (Druermarsk Herredømme) by the Acts of Unification, utilizing the old Norrmarsk name for the entire continent. With that, the Tjodolfsson dynasty was essentially removed from their title of nobility, but retained a commanding hold on the post-Acts Druermarsk military and aristocracy. While Harald VI Tjoldolfsson was complacent in taking the deal given to him by Norrmark, his son Eirik was not so inclined. A scholar and professed liberal, he cared less for his aristocratic titles, or the power his family was denied, but instead professed a desire for national self-autonomy, like the nations to the Dominion’s south. Inspired by the revolutions both there and in Maris, he made swift alliances with fellow travelers in the Reform Movement (Also known as the Bluecoats), and amended relations between them and the more conservative but still anti-colonial figures in the Constitutionalists, also known as the Buffcoats. Denied regional autonomy, these figures more or less kept to the meetinghouses and conspired amongst themselves. Eirik kept his political affiliations formally secret, dispelling any rumors of his beliefs, until he was offered a commission in the Norrmarsk “Druerhæren” to replace his now late father, which he of course used to sway military staff to his side.

Eventually, things boiled over when in 1797 Eirik Tjoldolffson made his move, and ordered his troops to march on Runavik and clear the garrisons there. Initially they were successful and drove the Norrmarsk military from the city, though it immediately came under blockade. The war had begun. Eirik and his allies made alliances and assurances with the local aristocrats that loyalty to him would secure their holdings and interests, and therefore domestic trade continued even afterwards. The war itself was a mess, with little notion of a clear front, of irregular militias fighting alongside and against professional army elements, of conflicting uniforms, and of generals continually attempting to either turncoat or seize power of their respective elements for themselves. By 1801, Eirik’s forces more or less convinced King Haakon VI of Norrmark to cut his losses and sign a treaty two years later. In 1803, the Druermarsk Republic was born, Eirik not wanting to be a king himself. He instead served as the first Statsminister. He served for 10 uninterrupted years before retiring from politics and instead went on to found the city of Eirikstad, the first major city west of the Adelwulf Line.

Druermarsk Republic

While the fledgling republic was far better in terms of self-autonomy, life for the average person barely changed. Forced segregation was still mandated by law, and native treaties were still violated and ignored. Land reform, though limited to the holdings of Norrmarsk loyalists. Aristocrats ran the country by and far unopposed, with only landed allowed to vote. This naturally meant only the rich and male, and skewed against non-Norrsk citizens. This was abated by the colonist’s playbook: rapid expansion. Calling the bluff of their southern neighbors, the cities (first forts) of Straumsfjord, Trehorningen, and Storelven were founded within a decade of each other, but it was the discovery of gold and silver in the west, lands that would become the territories of Fjernkyst and The Nahaani Territory that turned these frontier towns into boom cities in the making. Though countless cities went bust when their claims dried up, many today serve as the western hubs of population, even as the west of the country is still relatively underdeveloped in comparison to the east. In any cases, these cessions came at the cost of native possessions, and the Natchiik and the Kiina peoples were the last tribes to be subjugated under the Republic’s blue and buff banner. Additionally, Republican naval elements discovered Thule Bay in 1865, setting up a station for fur trade in Artuka. Gold was discovered there as well, and multiple gold and diamond rushes would serve as catalyst for expansion after expansion.

Though these rushes often proved lucrative and profitable to the nation, these riches did not equally dole itself out. Financial interests, mercantilists, and railroad companies would gladly extract what little gold wealth there was from those fools blind enough to seek it. By 1867, the average prospector was destitute and desperate for a solution. And in response, the Druermarsk Councilist Party was founded in 1871. Modern Druermarsk founding myths point to the founding date of the party as the "rebirth" of Druermark. Along with the prospector's plight, the conditions within the rapidly industrializing cities were worsening with the explosion of birth rates and resettlement from the Eastern Continents. Pledging to fight against corruption, expand suffrage, and reform labor laws. They started mass union drives, started charities, and strikes. Their influence, though clandestine as they were ruthlessly persecuted by the government, spread westward towards the cattle towns, boom towns, and ghost towns. Eventually, they sought and accrued electoral victories, though sparse. Treated like pariahs in the government, they were never recognized by the Prime Minister as a legitimate party to coalition with, officially counting them as independents. Often, their representatives were locked out of votings or simply not recorded at all. In response, the Druermarsk Councilist Party, led by Sven Lindt, called for a general strike and set up barricades in Runavik. This was known as the Red Summer, and for five months the Republic struggled to quell the uprising. Though notably, the moment the Red Summer began, it was doomed.

The March Revolution

The result of the uprising was the first ban on unionization, the widening of the streets of Runavik, and the crackdown on the party, in which Sven Lindt was hanged. Most of the party went underground while many others escaped to Maris and hid among the Norrmarsk and Valkian people. It was this generation of exiles that would, over the next few years return in clandestine ways and sow the eventual seeds of revenge. From the end of the Red Summer of 1876 to the March Revolution of 1919, the Republican government would know only the hatred of their own workers. Repeated campaigns of secret unions, walkouts, quiet quitting, and banditry in the countryside would dominate the time. The Republican government would be unable to fully handle the period of unrest, but would continue to get involved in international affairs, powerbroking its way into acquiring Helgøya, and the tropical islands Sankt Albrekt and Sankt Haakon. Despite all this, class conditions would improve just enough to make bare just how bad the proletarian had it. The time was ripe. Torsten Berg, a prominent Valkian Born Druermarsk exile, would come out of hiding in the Nahaani Valley, proclaiming a people’s war against the old corrupt regime. The March Revolution had begun, and it swept the nation into a gory, but quick, civil war. The returning soldiers, too beaten and worn by a demoralizing war, either laid down their arms or joined ranks with the Reds. Within 88 days, Runavik fell, and the government in exile was cornered in Oubee when the natives refused to allow them to take port. Facing certain execution, the Prime Minister, Sir Karl von Rikirhus, elected to take his own life.

Early Council Republic

The next couple of years remained tedious. Victorious, Torsten Berg and the Interim Presidium consolidated political power, redistributed wealth and assets amongst the workers, setting up worker councils, and reformed all government institutions. While the assets of everyone was "audited," those who refused often found themselves in a labor camp. The Auditors, officially known as the ID, or Domestic Political Directorate (Innenlandspolitisk Direktorat), would cause years of terror that culturally redefined Druermark. Many of the recipients of redistributed assets were Almic or Native Cyrellian peoples, seen as some of the first attempts by a Druermarsk government to address the wrongs of their predecessors. The first rendition of the Druermarsk Council Republic was a unitary state filled with revolutionary vigor as well as terror. A cultural revolution would be waged by Berg and his Presidium, reinvigorated by Kardian assistance. Statues were destroyed and melted down to make new ones of Berg and the revolutionaries. For a time, Halfdan the Traveler was transformed from an outlawed explorer to near mythical hero - but even then that did not last. Berg enacted purges specifically to target his own political dissidents; those who were deemed too religious, or too nosy, or too deviant, were often found dead, or convicted in show trials. Berg would later write about the First Terror with regret, but the damage was done. It would take years for Druermark to overcome the political and military deficit the purges caused, making them easy targets in the upcoming Second World War.

Central to Berg's philosophy was the concept of the "Eternal Flame," an international-aligned and ongoing fight against capitalism, "on all facets, in all theatres, by any means necessary." This often resulted in, at least in the early days of the Radsrepublikk, unofficial volunteer groups of Druermarsk agitators, trained and equipped by the IPD, or International Political Directorate (Internasjonalt Politisk Direktorat), sent to other countries to stir up trouble and attempt socialist revolutions, to mixed initial success. Agents of Berg would find homes in Valkia, which later would be instrumental in the Valkian Revolution that was seen as an inevitable consequence of the end of the First World War. Druermarsk agents would aid Nastenovian communists to take control of their country in 1926, though would ultimately fail in keeping the fledgling government safe from inevitable military counterrevolution, as Emilio Vasquez’s military reforms caused the Nastenovian Civil War, which the fascists won. Druermarsk agents however would link up with militias in the countryside and would continue to harass the fascists for years. The last confirmed agent, a man known as Thorvald “Snake-Eater" Haraldson, surrendered to Osceolan border agents in 1959. After Berg’s death in 1928, a round table of bureaucrats would replace him as Secretary-General until Bernt Gulseth would take the position, a diplomat from the early days of the revolution. He would be known for his defense of the nation during the First World War, but also for his diplomatic work. Working closely with Kardia, the two fledgling socialist powers would declare the Internationale, a political alliance between socialist powers. This organization would evolve into the Alliance for Socialist Liberation.