United Valleys

The Matriarchy of These United Valleys
Flag
Motto: "Mother Nature and Labor"
Anthem: "The Harder They Come"
Map of United Valleys
Capital	Crabapple Cove
Largest city	New Meddybemps
Official languages	Valleysian
Religion	Dialectical Naturalism (Atheism)
Demonym(s)	Valleysian, Downwinder
Government	Devolved Federal Socialist Democracy
• The Matriarch of These United Valleys	Jeanne Freeman (disputed)
• General Secretary of the Revolutionary Congress of Industrial Unions	Rina Oatfield
• Fore of the Central Committee of the Red Triangle Party	Valerie Wellwater
• Supreme Attorney of the Red Triangle Party	Elise Owlworth
• Executive Policy Chairs of the Red Triangle Party	Reggie Bayside, Zelda Claret, Edith Greenriver, Pella Seres, Vera Steampot, Valerie Wellwater
Establishment
• Chiefdom of Loon	22 BCE
• United Cities of the Reef	1866
• United Free States of Plateria	1932
• Free State of Enterprise Bay	1981
• Free State of Enterprise Bay and Seacrest Valley	1992
• Free Lands Economic Union	2009
• Matriarchy of These United Valleys	2026
Population
• Census	71,000,000 (estimated)
GDP (PPP)	2026 estimate
• Total	3.14 trillion Rovas
• Per capita	44,190 Rovas
GDP (nominal)	2026 estimate
• Total	1.14 trillion Rovas
• Per capita	15,994 Rovas
Gini (2026)	2.1 low
HDI (2026)	0.906 very high
Currency	Puzi (∆) (UVP)
Date format	yyyy/mm/dd
Driving side	left
Calling code	+207
Internet TLD	.muv

United Valleys, officially the Matriarchy of These United Valleys, is a socialist "partitarian" democracy located in Southeast Narushia, within the Southern Polar Circle. United Valleys covers large, loosely-bordered territory in the former Free Lands area, and the privacy-concerned government has not yet released population statistics, but independent organizations estimate that there are about 71 million Valleysian citizens. The government is currently operated by a complex and devolved system of municipal councils, regional labor union offices, a centralized resource management apparatus, and an explicitly communist military. The country is known for its young and socially conscious population, which displays high levels of political engagement.

Unlike many socialist countries on Telrova, the "vanguard party" is only charged with military defense, with The Matriarch occupying the position of a military and civilian head of state. The Constitution of United Valleys outlines and guarantees a socialist system within a non-partisan federal structure of unions, attorneys, and municipalities. Anti-socialist parties and candidates are allowed to run for office in concept, but are unable to serve in government, as one must swear an oath to "defend socialism and serve with integrity," and giving a false oath is criminal fraud.

The nation is a founding member of the International Communist Network, drafting the organization's constitution on 31 October 2026.

Etymology

The namesake of United Valleys comes from the young, rugged terrain of the country, with most human settlements existing in valleys along freshwater rivers and lakes. The term "These" was chosen to denote that the land ultimately belongs to all humanity, and to "avoid promoting a reactionary national character." The term Matriarchy comes from the woman-led Red Triangle Party's position that the Supreme Executive be a mother, or at least act as a mother. This is enshrined in the Constitution of the Red Triangle Party and the Constitution of the Matriarchy of These United Valleys.

History

Pre-History

The area comprising United Valleys has been settled by humans for at least 40,000 years, with strong evidence found as early as the 19th century of the "Green Rock Culture" within the Three River Basin, which built large pyramidal earthen mounds decorated by tourmaline gems as early as 14,000 years ago. The land was heavily covered by glaciers, which has led to little archeological finds from this period.

Chiefdom Era

Located downwind of the extreme Great Reef Current, and isolated on land by a series of treacherous mountain ranges and glaciers, the people of the Valleys developed a distinct and communal culture of community bands, tribes, and families. Despite some major achievements, the people were largely backward, with the vast majority of inhabitants engaging in hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Overseas, the region was known in rare foreign texts for its abundance of food, and the willingness of local Valleysians to help lost ships navigate upwind of the Current.

Around 100 BCE, a glacier receded in the Chinchilla Mountains, opening permanent overland contact between the tribes of the Valleys and the growing Kingdom of Kyerim to the far North. The contact resulted in the import of new luxury items, livestock, grains, paper, and most importantly, smelted metal. With the metal came knowledge of basic extraction and metallurgy.

An explosion of military conflict defined the area for the next several decades, with the walled city of Loon emerging as the ultimate victor. The Chiefdom of Loon emerged as a key trading partner of the Upward Dynasties, being trusted to administer much of the lower trade route the Looner people called Heaven's Road. Times of tension and tribute came and went, but Loon was not successfully invaded by an Upward Dynasty for a thousand year period.

This era is also considered the beginning of the long-standing practice of important Valleysians receiving military education in the North.

Great Wave Era

The end of this prosperous period is known as The Great Wave Era of the 17th Century, wherein many extinct and extant colonial powers began settling the area. The "Great Wave" in question was an unexplained shift in the tides that came before the first attempted conqueror arrived. Several colonial nations attempted to colonize or subjugate the people of the area, but successes were fleeting, with no colonies lasting longer than ten years.

Free Cities Era

The liberatory politics of the 19th century were extremely popular in the post-colonial United Cities of the Reef. The growing opposition to colonial authorities operating along the coast led to the rise of the Liberty Party, a caucus of influential Valleysian statespeople, attorneys, and "industrialists" of the Valleys. The Free Cities constitution was designed with recent Telrovan movements in mind, providing special language acknowledging "competing class interests" in reference to anti-monarchal and anti-wage labor sentiments of the time.

Despite Valleysians never experiencing chattel slavery, this period saw one third of Valleysian men volunteering in wars against the practice throughout Telrova. The cultural aversion to servitude and bondage was further influenced by the introduction of Duckbillism, an explicitly class-concerned form of socialism. Valleysian philosopher Gabrielle Duckbill, the theory's namesake, collaborated frequently with fellow Valleysian philosopher Evangeline Freeman (cousin of Hiram Freeman, a wealthy industrialist, and first President and founder of the United Cities of the Reef).

United Free States of Plateria

After Hiram Freeman's death in 1879, the economy of the Free Cities began suffering repeated shocks at a rate similar to the rest of the world. In the 1926 presidential election (an election which saw the New Socialist Party of Narushia achieve 22% of the vote) the country elected Ophelia Silverstar as President, beginning an era of mass civil investment and the creation of a robust welfare system in the country. Upon reelection (The New Socialist Party faded into obscurity after their loss and the death of their General Secretary) in 1932, Silverstar led a supermajority to create a new Constitution, the United Free States of Plateria. The name was chosen due to romanticism toward the emerging Socialist Platypus, a common subject in Narushia at the time. The UFSP saw a period of tremendous progress and boons, until a decline of fish prices in the 1950s led to young and influential left-wing opposition. One of these factions, the Sunshine Children, were founded by former members of the New Socialist Party. The faction attempted a campaign of struggle against the UFSP, but by 1977 the movement was largely imprisoned or inactive. The campaign against the Sunshine Children saw the military of the country expand massively, which contributed to the country's military junta in 1981 (which saw the first use of "Valleysian" used to refer to the Downwinder people of the nation). The junta collapsed in 1992, as the economy continued to implode, with many manufacturing industries being shipped overseas in corrupt deals with junta officials. The subsequent government of the Free States of Enterprise Bay and Seacrest Valley was democratic, but failed to combat excessive drug trafficking and gambling operations that caused a massive spike in homicide, and a weakening of the Free Florin currency on the international market.

Evgeny von Patton 's Free Lands Economic Union

In 2009, a wealthy Valleysian hedge fund manager named Evgeny von Patton set up a confederation known as The Free Lands Economic Union. He intended this as a first step to federalize the area as a capital-friendly liberal democracy, which was made official with a new Constitution. After immediately establishing himself as President of the Free Lands Economic Union, von Patton quickly passed the Economic Security Fund Act, which budgeted the creation of a "security force" of privately-contracted paramilitary security. Within a year, this mercenary force numbered over 130,000. The following decade saw mass civil unrest, with thousands of inhabitants ultimately engaging in a prolonged armed civil conflict against von Patton, his mercenaries, and the police, which involved multiple instances of the FLEU deploying illegal chemical weapons against civilian and guerilla targets.

Despite early defenses of von Patton, international authorities largely soured on him by 2014, and contributed little to his regime. Mercenaries recruited were often foreign criminals, as well as washed out former military.

Valleysian Era

In March 2026, a small faction of young fighters known as The Red Triangle Party organized a revolutionary action, seizing many industries and government offices across the Valleys in a single night. After the legal trial and execution of von Patton, the Party established itself as a legitimate government body under the new Matriarchy of the United Valleys. By September, the country became the single internationally recognized state in the Free Lands.

Geography

The geography of United Valleys is rugged and young, with major volcanic activity and ice-peaked mountains to the North, and the extreme Great Reef Current that cuts around the Cape of Enterprise to the Southwest. There is a significant continental shelf that extends from the coast, but the shoreline is cut apart by the aforementioned current.

The area has been classified as having an exceptionally humid continental climate, with a large (and also humid) boreal climate zone occupying around 59% of the landmass, with most of the country experiencing wet, cool summers and cold dry winters. The area generates frequent fog due to weather patterns diverting around the Cape of Enterprise and cutting under the high downwind pressure of the volcanic air to the North and the coast, before becoming trapped in the texture of the country's terrain.

The environment of United Valleys is considered megadiverse, with very high populations of flora and fauna. It's estimated that United Valleys has at least 4,561 unique communities of tree life, with ecosystems ranging from overgrown high-altitude pine forests to sub-sea level grass-covered bogs. The unique ecosystem is theorized to be the result of rapid continental shifts over short million year periods.

Government & Politics

Government

The legislature of United Valleys is pseudo-unicameral under the Revolutionary Congress of Industrial Unions, with two "advisory organs" atop, these being the New Central System, which engages in day-to-day economic planning, execution, and coordination, and The Red Triangle Party, which also operates the Valleysian military. The Revolutionary Congress is comprised of 1000 Regional Industrial Union Offices, arranged proportionally to population every 5 years. The members of these Regional Offices elected to serve the Office in the Congress are known as "Congressors," and are subject to short, 12 month terms. The candidates are chosen by members of the Industrial Union List, a body charged with researching and vetting candidates from the unions via a process of caucusing. The Industrial Union List also has veto authority over all proposals (bills) sent to the RCIU for deliberation.

Underneath the legislature are Municipal Councils, which have significant local legislative and administrative authority, as well as a right to petition the federal government to read proposals and policies into the record of the Revolutionary Congress. This practice has re-established much of the country's "Low Code," which is historical legal precedent that extends back to the founding of the Chiefdom of Loon.

The judiciary of United Valleys is the "Low Court," a devolved civil law system of justice that relies heavily on attorneys and specialized legal professionals. The courts are federalized in reverse via "proportional judgement," in which appealed cases are seen by additional attorneys for higher judgements. Juries aren't used in United Valleys, instead, cases are preceded by the creation of small "posses" assembled by the Chief Attorney (judge). Posses are typically small, with two additional advisors to the Chief Attorney allowed for any and all cases. Chief Attorneys can appeal the Low Court Bar to extend the size of the posse if the case's scope is large, especially difficult to parse, or novel. The system is considered odd, but open, with all criminal and civil cases open to the public, provided the defendant is over 20 years of age (20 years is the age of consent and adulthood in UV. A special exception allows under 20s to work as laborers, provided they are learning a safe and/or specialized industry and can provide guardian consent).

The Executive branch is firmly captured by The Red Triangle Party, which engages in military recruitment directly from its membership. The original proposed military body, The Citizens Rifleer Militia, fully defected to the Red Triangle Party in August 2026, after the drafted Constitution guaranteed a non-aligned military. In the current Constitution, all members of the military must be active members of The Red Triangle Party, and all candidates for public office must swear an oath to defend socialism and serve with integrity.

Despite a complicated structure and ideological rigidity, the system is considered largely democratic to international observers, particularly the legislature and judiciary. Other bodies include Municipal Councils, the lowest level of civil office, which are comprised of councilors presiding over porportionally allocated local offices. Directly under the RCIU are Industrial Production Offices, which work with the New Central System and the United Valleys Commissariat to execute industrial policy (economic law/programs). Additionally, the United Valleys Tourism Board operates as an executive body under the Red Triangle Party responsible for the United Valleys Postal Service, international diplomacy, arranging national events, and monitoring the weather. The main building of the Tourism Board is shared with the United Valleys Commissariat, which administers Commissaries, Exchanges, public transportation, and other vital service industries.

Political Parties

During the revolution, several political parties and factions were active, predominantly underground. The momentum gained by the Red Triangle Party in early 2026 caused many organizations to be absorbed by the party, with the notable holdout being the International Industrial Union, which refused to align itself with any party. Currently, there are over 300 parties listed in United Valleys, but only the Red Triangle Party, International Industrial Union, and Green Valleysian Party hold more than one seat in the RCIU.

Civil Rights

The Constitution guarantees "Freedom of Rest and Leisure," which has resulted in a large effort to organize and modernize the nation while keeping personal privacy in mind. The Matriarch once explained the somewhat contradictory concept of collectivist privacy by stating, "No one wants to live in a fish bowl."

Vice and decency laws are largely unheard of in United Valleys. Marijuana was legalized by the previous von Patton regime in an attempt to pacify the public, to no effect. United Valleys currently has one of the largest hydroponic hemp farms on Telrova, and the crop is now seen as a staple, and also part of the "Natural Lifestyle" popular in the Valleys. Other facets of the lifestyle are growing out hair, "dressing light" (wearing comfortable and/or confident clothing, or no clothing), "shared love" (not judging the love of others), and "living musically." The government has passed multiple laws protecting these practices.

Prisons and jails were closed after the trials of von Patton's commanders, with capital punishment still legal but not practiced. Most crimes have punishments of parole and/or community service, while Valleysian criminals considered dangerous are subject to house arrest with monitoring. In particlarly dangerous or exceptional cases, attorneys or the Citizens Rifleer Militia can request special confinement, but this has never been requested as of 2026 November.

Valleysians practice a culture of soft shame or "humble confrontation," often mocking or criticising other Valleysians for living "unnatural." Unnatural living to Valleysians involves things seen as inhumane or ignorant, such as cosmetic products (particularly if they involve animal testing), wearing furs, eating meat, or vocally expressing a poor understanding of a topic. This practice has been promoted somewhat through the policy of "self-criticism," which at this point is limited to Public Media Announcements between television, radio, and UVNET programming.

One casualty of Valleysian humble confrontation is religious practice, which has been completely abandoned. In November of 2026, just two months afer the revolution, The International Pew Society polled Valleysians on the subject, finding that only 1% of respondents "Worshipped in the past week," and 63% of respondents considered themselves to have a "Very Unfavorable" view of religion, with only 6% expressing a "Favorable" or better opinion. Soon after the poll was released, the Eagle Pact Caucus of the Red Triangle Party drafted and passed a New Organizational Policy that stripped religious and charitible organizations of all special rights, and put hundreds on trial for charges of criminal thrift, privatization, and fraud. This policy recieved heavy international condemnation, but mass support among the Valleysian public.

Workers unions in United Valleys must contact the Industrial Union List to recieve a List Auditor. List Auditors are tasked with inspecting dues for legitimacy, ensuring the union maintains a healthy strike fund, and are also tasked with seeking attorneys to represent the union. Independent trade unions are only recognized if foreign, otherwise, a union must become a member of the Industrial Union List. The Industrial Union List is divided into six departments of varying size and organization.

Infrastructure

United Valleys was well known as a test site for experimental technologies until the late 1970s, with many novel and forward-thinking infrastructure projects implemented. Unfortunately, these projects failed or were abandoned as often as they were successful. The ruling government is currently pursuing massive infrastructure projects in an effort to modernize and streamline an expansive and disconnected national infrastructure.

Telecommunications

United Valleys has a notoriously poor communications network which was referred to in foreign textbooks as "Downwind Spaghetti." Heavy investment in electrical research began to bear true fruit in the late 19th century, and The Free Cities of the Reef began granting proposals to "wire the coast." Unfortunately, the wires were DC rather than the more capable AC, and began choking the cities of the area with thick canopies hovering above every street. The inferior network was torn down, and wires were placed underground, but significant economic damage came from the mass investment in the poorer of the two systems. The "slapdash" effort to repair the system was never truly streamlined, with electrical projects focused on generation (especially in the "dam crazy" period of 1928-1992), and distribution was left to private organizations. The capital required to build large networks in the area was simply never raised, and instead the area became known for "milestone planning," a corrupt operation that sees an electrical distribution company set a small but unattainable time target, and then demand additional payment from the government for the "time lost" going over their set target. The practice was halted when the executive boards (and much of the staff) of the area's 14 electricity distribution companies fled the country in 2026 June.

The poor power grid influenced a similarly poor telephonic grid that has been entirely abandoned by Valleysians. Currently, United Valleys communicates primarily using cellular technology, such as LTE and 5G, with 5G being rapidly introduced and installed as a "stop-gap" for a future cable internet program. Television is widespread but increasingly unpopular. The country's radio frequencies and telecommunications operate under the combined authority of the United Valleys Tourism Board and the Central Broadcasting workers.

Energy

The more deliberate administration of the United Free States of Plateria completed many of their projects, but the lasting legacy of the UFSP are the several large hydroelectric systems that were maintained by the Electrical Selection Committee, an organization that was merged into the New Central System of United Valleys. The New Central System is now in the process of restructuring and retrofitting the hydro system, which produced 87% of the entire Free Lands region's power in 2025.

Despite the country's frigid, dark winters, natural gas use is heavily restricted in United Valleys, with a "zero natural gas by 2030" target on pace to be completed early. The government has implemented an Educational Policy specifically designed to instruct citizens on the use of wood and pellet stoves and other heating sources, to prepare for cases of power outages halting the electrical heating of most Valleysian homes (the deaths of 21,710 Valleysians in the winter of 2026 were linked to power outages in the black winter months).

Wind and solar initiatives have proven popular with the public, which has caused the government to focus on the extension of the two power sources. United Valleys is a polar nation, which has allowed its scientists to collaborate with those of other polar nations on solar technologies designed for the month of dark and month of light that United Valleys experiences, such as several copies of new Pervincian lithium battery systems.

The estimated share of energy production in the country is (as of 2026 November) 91% hydropower, 7% wind and solar, 2% petroleum, and <1% coal, natural gas, "other"

Water supply & sanitation

The piping systems of United Valleys are being completely replaced after dangerous levels of PFAS were found in the water. The government also announced that multiple lines were being diverted to "avoid the contamination of particularly dangerous elements."