Fourland

Fourland, officially The Republic of the Fourlandian Isles is a nation made up of four islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It has a population of about 56.4 million.

It has been inhabited for over 9,000 years, since the Ice Age began to end.

Demography:

Ethnicity: 89.6% Fourlandish 10.2% European 0.2% Other

Religion:

89.6% Belism 8.1% Christianity 2.7% No Religion

Belism is a religion created by the Great Messenger of Truth, who is known as Senrel Rerez (although that is merely his birth name, rather than his "True Name").

Only Fourlandish people can follow it, and all Fourlandish people must follow it: doing otherwise is said to be a deep wrong which results in exile from "the Homeland" (that is, the country of Fourland). However, they do not have to be extremely pious: simply following its Ten Great Rules is enough, although of course they are also encouraged to worship Bel more fully. Because of this strict emphasis on ethnicity, miscegenation is prohibited, in both the religion and the country. All children born out of this must become pious Christians, as was ruled in 1889 by the Grand Council of the Messenger.

In Belism, it is said there is a Supreme Being, whose True Name must not be uttered, but it known for practical purposes as Bel. Nothing in the universe happens without the approval of Bel (he is extremely intelligent of course, so processes things extremely quickly) and all he does is according to an unknowable principle, simply called the Unknowable Principle (Fourlandish: Shares Lerrenal). He is neither good nor bad, but rather has difficulty fully comprehending that concept. He is unconcerned with it, again being absolutely fused, merged or connected in some way which is difficult to understand (but may plausibly involve the word "completely") to the concept Shares Lerrenal. Everything in the universe, therefore, happens according to Shares Lerrenal. Therefore, it is infused with a great and absolutely supreme order. There is no real chaos in at all. Still, it is understood that the universe may seem chaotic. See, It is also said that there is a Lesser (but still close to unimaginably great) Being, an evil demiurge who embodies the principles of chaos and disharmony, which cause all pain in the world. To counter this, all Fourlandish people must worship a third being, who is stated to, in a way, only quasi-exist-Zam. They must do this, first of all, by following the Ten Great Rules, but they can also, if they choose (it is good for them to), do other things to worship Zam.

The Ten Great Rules (sometimes called laws, or, most accurately, commandments):

1. Pray to Zam four times every day: once directly after getting up, once straight before lunch, once straight after lunch, and once before going to bed.

2. Eat lunch everyday at 12 noon, with your family (parents if you don't have any childless children, children if you have them and they are childless, or spouse if you have children but they are childless).

3. Directly contribute, however you would like, to the building of a Zameser (like a cathedral).

4. Go to a Zameser once every month, and pray there for two unbroken periods of an hour-one, for the hour before lunch at noon, the other, for the hour after lunch at noon.

5. Travel across the seas for a continuous period of two months at least once in your life.

6. Spend one year of your life in a Urczon if you male, or a Sheler if you are female.

All of these things are written down in the Book of the Messenger-which was, indeed, written by the Messenger.