Eidolmanta

Supreme Despotate of Eidolmanta
Flag Coat of arms of Eidolmanta Coat of arms
Map of Eidolmanta Map of Eidolmanta
Capital	Taraxippus
Government	Absolute monarchy
• Supreme Despot	Ereleuva III
Establishment
• Start of Eidolmantan settlement	378
• Treaty of Constantine	551
• Divine Revolution	1962
• Treaty of Chisinau	2009
• Invasion of Cussia	2019
Area
•	279,686.79 km2 (107,987.67 sq mi)
Population
• 2024 estimate	35,382,902
• Density	126.5/km2 (327.6/sq mi)
GDP (nominal)	2019 estimate
• Total	A$368,300,626,918
• Per capita	A$10,409
Currency	Eidolmantan Denar
Driving side	left

Eidolmanta, officially known as the Supreme Despotate of Eidolmanta, is a sovereign state in Occidental region of north-western Europa on Eurth. It is bordered to the east by Tagmatium and to the south by Adaptus, and it shares a maritime border with Akwisia. The Supreme Despotate has a population of 35.4 million, which is mainly urbanised and concentrated in the south-eastern part of the nation. The total area of Eidolmanta is 279,686 km² (107,987 sq mi). The official language of Eidolmanta is XXX, a language which has its roots in southern Argis but shows influence from both Fragran and Laimiaic. The official religion of Eidolmanta is XXX and that is the only religion permitted within the country's borders.

Etymology

The name Eidolmanta comes from its religion, which involves communing with the spirits of the deceased and using them to divine the future.

Geography

(WIP. Landscape. Climate. Where exactly is your country compared to others on the global map? Describe the landscape, plants, and animals. Which mountains and rivers are important to include? Describe are the climate and seasons? How does geography determine where people live? Are there areas separated from one another? How about cities? This will greatly help you with the next part of history.)

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  A stereotypical landscape.

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  A wild landscape.

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  Close-up of a plant.

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  A herbivorous animal.

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  A carnivorous animal.

History

Colonisation

The Proto-Eidos arrived in the Occident in the 300s–400s, as part of the wave of migrations from Argis in this period. This group originated from northern central Argis. They took advantage of the collapse of Aroman rule in this period and settled in large numbers. They drove out or subsumed the local populations. The Aroman Empire carried out sporadic attempts to drive out the new settlers but these were ultimately unsuccessful.

Late Antiquity

In 551, in an attempt to stabilise the northern border of the Empire by emperor Constantine I, a treaty was signed that gave the Eido high chief ownership of the territory in perpetuity, so long as the high chief's house remained and in return for preventing further Argic raiding into the north of the Aroman Empire. The Treaty of Constantine formed the basis for relations between Eidolmanta and the Aroman Empire for the next one and a half thousand years.

Mediaeval Period

Much of the rest of Late Antiquity and the Mediaeval period saw sporadic wars between Cussia, the Adapton kingdoms and the Aroman Empire. The former came to be seen as the Eidos' ancestral enemy and the target of enmity down the centuries. The Eidos also resisted the Christianisation of their territory, after they had been almost successful in driving them out during the conquest of what was now their lands. At times, Eidolmanta was able to expand its borders at the expense of the nations surrounding it and was, at others, driven back to its original borders. During the reign of Aroman Emperor Ioannes IV (1118), the high chief of the Eidos was awarded the imperial subsidiary title of “Despot” (lord) in recognition for aid in overthrowing the previous emperor.

Modern Period

When the industrial revolution came to the Occident, the Eidos threw themselves into the new advances. They were keen to move their nation from subsistence farming and fishing. They became one of the key producers of whale oil and were able to utilise modern mining techniques to become of the leading suppliers of iron ores and coal to the rest of the Occident. This led the small nation to becoming remarkably wealthy for its size. As Tagmatium also grew in wealth and power over the late 1700s and 1800s, the Eidos were driven back from the conquests they had made in the west of Tagmatium over the last few hundred years. In the late 1800s, much of the mining operations were bought up by companies from Adaptus, Akwisia and Tagmatium. These companies had a tendency to be more exploitative than native companies.

20th Century

By the 1900s, the small country was wealthy, with a trade network that spread across the Occident, Burania and further south into the rest of Europa, as well as across into Argis. It stood aloof from the conflicts that often rocked the rest of the subcontinent, although it viewed Cussia as ripe for conquest. Cussia was, however, backed by Adaptus and Tagmatium as a counterbalance and so was never completely conquered. This did lead to the culture of Eidolmanta becoming steeped in a paranoia over the intentions of its larger neighbours. The northern nation stood aside from the Long War, trading resources to its southern neighbours.

In the mid 1900s, Eidolmanta had seen democracy arrive, but this also saw a rise in left-wing movements that had been long suppressed by the government. In 1961, a new socialist government attempted to nationalise all of the foreign mining concerns within the nation and a coup was sponsored by Adaptus, Akwisia and Tagmatium, which took place in 1962. Both the democratically-elected government and the Despot were overthrown and replaced by a new scion of the ruling house, Thrasamund IV, who was a religious fanatic. He was the High Priest of the state religion and now took on the role of ruler, too. By the mid 1960s, a socialist insurgency had started in the country but this was crushed by the government and its foreign backers. The new regime held on tight and used religion to strengthen its grip but it became even more paranoid about the intent of its neighbours. The overthrow of the old regime and the process by which Thrasamund tightened his grip on power was referred to as the Divine Revolution.

By the mid 1970s, the sense of paranoia had built significantly. The government began to severe ties with the outside wurld and was focussing on military build up. At first, equipment was sought from its southern neighbours but by the 1980s, this was rejected in favour of indigenous development and links with Volsci.

21st Century

The fanatical Thrasamund IV died in 1991, to be replaced by Wisimar IX, who began to normalise diplomatic and economic with the rest of the Occident, not least because of the repeated famines that had started to run through the country. These had happened as the old Despot had emphasised population growth as a way of providing a large standing army. The Eido government even supported the Imperial faction during the 2005 Tagmatine Civil War, sending naval forces to support the loyalists. In 2009 saw Eidolmanta and Tagmatium sign a treaty of friendship and a defensive alliance, the Treaty of Chisinau.

In 2019, Wisimar died and was succeeded by his son, Hilderic V. Hilderic took the throne and began to antagonise Eidolmanta's neighbours. He undertook actions that isolated Eidolmanta both diplomatically and economically, culminating in the annexation of Cussia. Although it was ultimately successful, the initial invasion was nothing short of disastrous. Then came the ethnic cleansing of the native Gerenian Christians, which became an international crisis. A conspiracy was hatched by the leadership of Eidolmanta and Hilderic was murdered by his own bodyguard. This conspiracy sparked a brief, if bloody, civil war. He was replaced by a daughter of Wisimar, Ereleuva III. Whilst she seemed more reasonable and it was hoped that the new monarch would stabilise the situation, she took a similar path to her brother and initiated the annexation of half of the island of Corinium. Most of the wurld powers took a firm stance against this and it led to further economic and diplomatic sanctions. Iverica supported the Geltic nations and conducted operations to monitor Eido naval activity in the Geltic Sea.

By late 2023, Eidolmanta was more isolated than ever before. Attempts to conduct oil and gas exploration in the Tagmatine EEZ without permission had led Tagmatium to finally impose sanctions. Until then, Tagmatium had been reluctant to antagonise its neighbour as the Anglian situation became more volatile. The international sanctions against the country caused significant economic hardship and, with little warning, Eidolmanta expelled the few remaining foreign diplomats and closed down its borders.

Politics

Head of State.

Head of Government.

Government

Eidolmanta is an absolute monarchy, ruled by the whim of its monarch. The monarch is advised by a council of experts and bureaucrats, and usually the heads of the military are the chief voices amongst these voices. Before Thrasamund IV became Despot, Eidolmanta was a constitutional monarchy. The elected prime minister was the head of government and it had a strong, albeit young, democratic tradition. But after the Divine Revolution, the constitution was suspended and the parliament reduced to a ceremonial role. Elections are still held but the parliament exists to rubber-stamp the decisions of the Despot. There is only one party allowed and it is called the Fatherland Party. All others were banned after the revolution.

Monarchy

There is no primogeniture in Eidolmanta and the heir to the throne is selected by the Despot at their discretion during their rule. However, due to the Constantinian Treaty, it must be a member of the ruling house. The ruling house, known as the Sea-Griffin House after their sigil, has ruled the country since before the 500s, making it one of the oldest dynasties on Eurth. To side-step the terms of the treaty, sometimes a potential heir is adopted into the ruling house before they are appointed heir. This has meant that the house has continued despite the fact that the Despot has had no biological children of their own.

Administrative divisions

Historically, the nation was split into divisions that reflected a proto-feudalism, with each group supplying the High Chief a fully armed and armoured soldier, as well as a number of less armoured retainers. The nature of the land meant that these were not armoured cavalry but infantry. This formed the basis of both the political and military organisation of the country. Later, this turned into a landed nobility as well as the later grounding for the democratic organisation of the country. The nobility remains in place, with the higher ranking nobles acting as the court of the Despot. Despite the rampant xenophobia that permeates through all of Eido society, the organisation of the court is based on that of the Aroman Empire.

Law and order

The intelligence and security agencies are mainly focused on supporting the monarch and crushing dissent. In the past, these were usually the remnants of the communist insurgency but in the last few years it has also been the last of the Cussian resistance. The resistance fought a vicious conflict against the invaders and it seems that the brutal counterinsurgency campaign has finally been brought to a successful conclusion.

Military

The military of Eidolmanta is the focus of the country's economy. The military is one of the largest in the wurld, especially for the country's size, and it is equipped with a mix of indigenous and foreign-made equipment. The military is divided into a ground force, an air force and a naval force. The élite Sea-Griffin Guard are the bodyguard of the Despot and are also divided into ground, air and naval components, as well as numerous special forces groups. Foreign-made equipment includes submarines from Volsci, Adapton Praetor tanks bought in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Occicopter helicopters and Tagmatine-made aircraft. The Keythong-class helicopter cruiser is the largest vessel of the Eidolmantan navy, and largest indigenous vessel as well.

The military suffered significant losses against the Cussian military during the invasion, although it is thought that the manpower has been made good since then. Equipment losses would be harder to replace due to the isolationism and embargoes, so the military will likely be weaker than it was before the invasion and subsequent civil war(s).

The size of the armed forces is estimated to be around 2 million, with a reserve force of roughly equal to that size.

It is rumoured that Eidolmanta has chemical and biological weapons, as well as long range missiles that can distribute them. However, this has never been confirmed, despite attempts to do so.

Eidolmanta also operates the International Warriors' Association alongside Xio. It is a covert paramilitary organisation that is an attempt to expand the two nations' individual and group political power across Eurth. None of the nations involved have ever directly acknowledged its existence. The IWA was founded on the 14th of August 2021, although many of its squadrons can be traced back to older now-defunct paramilitary groups.

Economy

Historically, the economy of Eidolmanta was based around resource extraction, primarily iron ores and coal of varying quality from its mountains. This was then sold to the rest of Europa and around the wurld. It was also a massive producer of whale oil, which was one of the main lubricants and lighting sources used during the early years of the industrial revolution. This tailed off as synthetic lubricants became more widespread. The economy became reliant on resource extraction, especially to fuel the larger economies to the south. Repeated periods of isolationism and sanctions stung the economy significantly, which mean that it did not grow when compared to the rest of the Occident. During the 1990s, as the country opened up, Eidolmanta saw something of a tech boom, although much of this boom was applied to the military and it lagged behind its neighbours.

Before the conquest of Cussia, what food grown was consumed internally. Now, Eido has access to the more fertile lands in the west of Cussia and the government has attempted to make the best of the new resources. They hope to feed their own population without importing but so far the forced seizure and collectivisation has not produced the food necessary to feed the large population of the country.

There were rumours that Eido intelligence services and embassies were used to sell drugs and carry out other illicit activities in order to secure foreign currency and funds. However, this was never confirmed, although there were occasions when Eido diplomats were expelled from Tagmatium, for example, for reasons that were not disclosed. There were also rumours of weapons sales to dubious regimes.

The invasion and annexation of Cussia was likely a move to try to support the ailing economy of Eidolmanta. This also likely backfired due to the cost of the annexation, as well as the economic actions taken by the rest of Eurth. The country currently is under a series of economic sanctions and embargoes due to its recent actions on the wurld stage. This has undoubtedly caused much economic hardship in the country.

The per capita GDP of Eidolmanta is A$10,409, for a total of A$368.3 billion. However, this is reflective of the last years of the reign of Wisimar IX and doesn't reflect the turmoil of the reigns of his son and daughter.

Demographics

Population

The population of Eidolmanta is 35 million and it is heavily urbanised. Government policies in the mid 1900s encouraged population growth, in order to boost the size of its armed forces. Due to the climate, it struggles to support this population and much of its food is imported from its southern neighbours. There were several famines in the 1990s and it is currently thought that the country is in the grip of a famine at the moment.

Since the annexation of Cussia, the Eido government has pursued a policy of internal settlement. This has seen large groups of the population transplanted away from the urban centres of Eidolmanta and into Cussia. This is so that the new lands become Eido-ised and no longer ethnically Cussian.

The population is mainly homogenous, as there has only rarely been immigration to Eidolmanta. There was a large wave of immigration in the 1800s as the country experienced its mining boom. Much of this came from the rest of the Occident, although there were immigrants from as far away as Volsci and even Sporsia.

Religion

The religion of Eidolmanta concerns communication with the spirits of the dead and attempting to divine the future through this communication. It exists as an organised religion with a priesthood, in which both genders are considered equal, and it is the priesthood that communes with the dead directly. Lay people can communicate with the dead but any answers are received through signs or dreams, rather than directly. The spirits of the dead are thought to remain with their families and there are family shrines in every household, as well as communal shrines in monumental buildings in every settlement or neighbourhood, which is where the priesthood is based.

Before the Divine Revolution, the High Priest was the mouthpiece of the whole nation's dead and a powerful figure, even if their role was advisory to the Despot. After the revolution, the roles were combined and it made the Despot the head of both the living and the dead of Eidolmanta.

The actual physical remains of the dead are less important than the spirits themselves. After death, the bodies are placed within communal charnel houses and usually left alone.

All other religions are banned within Eidolmanta as offensive to the spirits of the dead. In practice, however, some other religions are tolerated out of practicality or through the whims of the Despot. For example, after Wisimar IX took the throne, Aroman Christianity was tolerated, even if active missionary work was forbidden. This has meant that there are populations of hidden Christians of numerous denominations as well as other religions followed secretly within the homes of believers.

Cussian religions are banned, including the dualistic religion that was the state religion, as well as the Gerenian Christian denomination that found its home in Cussia.

Culture

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