Adijan City
Adijan City Adijan | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
Anthem: Dünyanın hər yerindən Adijan'a | |
| Capital and | Adijan City |
| Recognised national languages | Adiji |
| Ethnic groups | Adiji (61%), Vardanan (10%), Gharbiyyun (9%) |
| Demonym(s) | Adijan, Adiji |
| Government | Semi-Democratic Republic |
• Lord Mayor | Tanju Altun |
• Senior Imtizi | Təhminə Jafarova |
• House President | Tura Karatay |
• Corporate Mandate Executor | Cag Yilmaz |
| Legislature | Municipal Parliament |
| Enfranchised House | |
| Municipal House | |
| Establishment | |
• Founding of the City (estimated) | March 20, 1289 |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 2,254,053 |
| GDP (nominal) | estimate |
• Total | $76.29 Billion |
• Per capita | $33,847 |
| Gini | 35.21 medium |
| HDI | 0.932 very high |
| Currency | Credit Share (≎) |
Adijan City is a city state in the North Ozeros Sea. The city-state has a long history as a fiefdom of empowered merchant familes used to protect their trade interests from the domination of larger nearby states. While the power of the merchant familes has been diminished in the wake of waves of democrazation, the families still maintain some of their influence through the ancient chartered privledges in the city's government. Adijan's economy is technologically advanced and economically wealthy, and is relatively large for a city-state. However, it's size is still heavily overshadowed by the other nations in the Northern Ozeros.
Government
The Municipal Parliament
The City's government is centered around the Municipal Parliament. This parliament is the government's legislative branch and is the government's most powerful branch. The parliament can be divided into an upper house, the Enfranchised House, and the lower house called the Municipal House. The Municipal House is relatively simple. It is comprised of 425 Lay Electors, elected by popular elections on a 3-year basis. The Enfranchised House is more complex. It is comprised of 220 Electors, however these electors come from 2 different sources. The majority, 125 electors, are Chartered Electors. These Electors are elected by registered publicly traded corporations. The remaining electors are the Guilded Electors, appointed through a mechanism called Guild Arbitration. To pass legislation, the support of a majority of both houses must obtained.
The Chartered Electors
Corporations that are registered for public trading in the city's principal stock exchange may also obtain electoral privileges. These privileges are tied to the charter of the City of Adijan Commonality Corporation (CACC), a state corporation originally chartered for promoting the interests of non-citizens who traveled to the city to work and the city's incorporated middle class. Corporations may purchase publicly traded shares of CACC from a pool of shares. Corporations must own at least 1 full share to vote. During elections, each corporation receives 'votes' equal to their share (partial votes are allowed), and participate in a series of auctions to purchase the right to appoint electors. In addition to the Chartered Electors, the corporations vote in a ranked election to decide a single Corporate Mandate Executor. Candidates for the position must be submitted by voting corporations (at a limit of 1 per corporation). The main purpose of the CME is to serve as a tie-breaker in the Enfranchised house if needed.
The Guilded Electors
The Guild Electors are a body of 95 Guild members selected through Guild Arbitration. These electors make up a sub-body of the Enfranchised House called the Guilded Association. In addition to being Electors in the Enfranchised House, the Guilded Association is also given the responsibility of affirming candidates for the Lay Electors.
Guild Arbitration
Guild Arbitration is the method of selecting Guild Members to comprise the Guilded Association. Every 4 years, each guild chooses a representative to serve as their Guild's Arbiter. However, for 3 Guilds selected on rotation, their Arbiters are also given the special title of Imtizi. The Guild Arbiters then will go through the process of electing each of 92 Guilded Electors from a list of candidates approved by the Imtizi. When this process is complete, the Imtizi become an additional 3 Guilded Electors and the non-Imtizi Arbiters are dissolved.
The Lay Electors
Every 4 years a national election is run. Each district chooses 1 or more Lay Electors to represent the district. Each candidate Elector must be endorsed by one of the city's Guilds, and passed by the Guilded Association, up to a maximum of 5 candidates per seat. Candidates are elected by ranked voting. The first act of the house must be to pass (by majority vote) a special bill referred to as the Administrative Mandate, which details the rules by which the house will operate, and which must name one of the Lay Electors the title of House President to serve as representative of the body. The Administrative Mandate may be dissolved at any time if dissolution passes by a majority vote.
Executive Mandate
After each election, the City's Parliament passes a bill called the Executive Mandate which determines the leadership of the executive government. This includes the Lord Mayor of Adijan and the Secretaries for each of the government's Departments. The Mandate also describes a mandate by which the leadership is expected to lead the country. The Lord Mayor and the Secretaries may each, individually or multiple at once, be recalled by the Parliament at any time.
Registered Judges
To be a judge in Adijan, one must be endorsed by one of the city's Guilds. Endorsed judicial candidates must then be passed by the Guilded Association to become a Registered Judge. Fortunately, a Registered Judge must only be passed once in their life. Registered Judges need not hold office. Those not in office are referred to as Judges-In-Recess. Registered Judges holding office are referred to as Standing Judges.
Board of Judges
Every four years, elections are held to seat judges to districts. Any Registered Judge may announce their candidacy for any district, or for the Board of Judges. However, once an announcement is made, they are committed for that election. Judges are not elected by the general population, but rather from the population of Registered Judges. The Board of Judges is an appeals court, and decisions made by the district Judges may be appealed to the Board. Decisions by the Board are final and may only be overwritten by subsequent Board decisions. The Board, along with the Guild Association, also has the power to disbar Registered Judges, revoking their registration. This requires the affirmation of both the Association and the Board, and is an uncommon occurrence mainly used as punishment for misconduct.
Notable Factions
Entrenched Families
The Entrenched Families represent by and large the old oligarchs of Adijan. These are the large merchant families who have maintained a strong control over the city for generations. As the primary ruling faction they are very conservative and represent the status-quo. These families wield tremendous power through their great wealth, their ownership over voting corporations, and the favored patronage of the CEG.
Rising Families
These families largely constitute the less-wealthy families among the merchants families. They are engaged in constant competition with the wealthier families and, occasionally, each other to wrestle control over the City's wealth and corporations. The most prominent of these is the Qoşqarsoy family who, under their family matriarch Inna, seek to directly quarrel with the rich families for dominance.
Progressive Corporatists
The Corporatist Faction is a reaction originating in the middle classes to the traditionalist system of Adijan. Many in the corporatist faction see merit in the organization of groups of people with shared interests but see the existing system as too traditionalist and too oligarchic. This faction seeks to renew and revitalize Adijan's corporatist political principles. Many in this faction see the Artisan Guilds as a successful example of corporatist principles. Left-wing corporatists view themselves aligned with syndicalists.
The State Association
The State Association Guild is a secretive organization of well-connected conservative Adiji whose primary purpose is to maintain the order of the City. They seek to resist outside pressure and domestic radicalization. While the group is few in number, its members are skilled and well-connected to the wealthy and powerful in Adijan. The Association relies on the leverage of its members and may pursue its goals politely through argumentation or forcefully through blackmail and black operations.
The Young Adiji
The Young Adiji are a powerful force within the City's politics, and a great fear for the conservative ruling class. The group is very popular among the youth and those who feel a hatred for the system. While officially the group has disavowed violence as a means to pursue its interests, it is believed by some that the group continues to maintain a force of passionate revolutionaries to use when opportunity strikes. It is hoped by the ruling class that integrating the movement into the Guild system would tarnish its anti-establishment brand, de-radicalize at least a portion of its membership, and centralize the movement (making it more vulnerable). In turn, the ruling class is concerned that the Young Adiji will use this truce to professionalize its ranks and infiltrate other institutions of government. The faction is filled with members of a wide variety of ideologies, all of which are currently united in opposition to the status quo.
The Fashion Barons
In the wake of the success found in Adijan's artisan-guild centric luxury industry, prominent artisans and guild executives have accumulated significant wealth and power in the City. Colloquially referred to as "Fashion Barons", they enjoy a privileged position thanks to Adijan's guild system and wield it in their own interests as an occasional kingmaker. These influencers are in little sense united, beyond occasional shared personal loyalty and economic shared interests, and are not necessarily bound by any kind of ideology. They use and are used by other factions as part of political plays across Adijan's chessboard.
The Junior Officers
Over the past few decades, the officer corps of Adijan's military have increasingly come from a dwindling core of conservative military families. They find themselves alienated by the oligarchic nature of the city's ruling class, are disgusted by the leftist and libertarian ideologies of the Young Adiji, and increasingly believe a degeneracy has taken over the city. In hushed military offices they discuss the state of the republic and different solutions to its degeneracy. While they agree on a distrust of the ruling establishment, they lack unity behind any specific solution. They are somewhat aligned with the State Association, though they have significant dissatisfactions with the Association
Celestism
A secretive religious organization rising out of the streets of Adijan, Celestism is similar to the Young Adiji in that it offers charity and purpose for the downtrodden of Adijan. It is a very new faction, no more than 10 years old. Unlike the Young Adiji, however, Celestism is not centered around ideological activism, but rather cultural populism and self-identity. Celestism centers around a shadowy masked figure who names herself Celestea. Notably Celestea carefully hides her identity behind ornate masks, robes, and voice changers. Many theorize that Celestea is not one person, but a figure filled by several people. Celestea's speeches and sermons are always broad and vague, launching into tirades against the powerful oligarchs and backroom politics. Celestea presents herself as a divine being intending to aid the poor people of Adijan against a demonic conspiracy of elites. The religion is filled with conspiracy theories and advocates spiritual revival, faith, and loyalty. Celestism has grown rapidly among the poor classes and is large enough to be a concern to several other factions.
Notable Persons
Ihsan Xalidzadə
Known by many as the backroom Czar of Adijan, Ihsan is the unquestioned matriarch of the Xalidzadə family. While her children occupy powerful public-facing positions in government and the corporate sector, such as Nasrin Xalidzadə as the CEO of Doshimba Bank, Ihsan is still known to be the stringmaster of the city's most powerful family. She reigns as a powerful boardmember of several major Adiji corporations, including Doshimba Bank, and is known to have an extensive network of associates and acquantances.
İnna Qoşqarsoy
İnna, known by some as the 'Investment Queen of Adijan', is the de-facto controller of AviQos Holdings. She was born into the rising-star Qoşqarsoy family, unfortunately as an only-child. At a young age she was nearly crushed under the extreme pressured place on her by her parents, expecting nothing less than excellence. In 2007 she suddenly snapped and quickly became the delinquent of the family, causing the family several major embarrassments and controversies. During this delinquent phase she could disappear into the underclass of the city for months at a time, culminating in her famous disappearance from 2014-2015. Concerns and conspiracies swirled. Starting in January 12 2015, elements of the ASOF were mobilized in a massive manhunt across the city and abroad to find her. Finally, on May 16 İnna was discovered disguised as a man leading a gang loosely associated with the Young Adiji. She was immediately flown to the Qoşqarsoy family estate and would not be seen by the public until 2019. On June 28, a private jet carrying her parents departed from an airport in Leonopolis to return to Adijan and was never seen again. On July 1, following growing public concern over the apparent disappearance of the Qoşqarsoy family elders, İnna suddenly returned to the public spotlight by announcing the death of her parents by tragic aircraft crash. She quickly assumed full control over the family enterprise, immediately excluding her distant cousins from any line of inheritance. Since then, she has quickly consolidated full control over the enterprise. In the years since she has made numerous appearances on late night shows and interviews to discuss the causes and consequences of these events. She has brushed off her delinquency as a childish escapism and has claimed to have renewed herself through a therapy program under the guidance of her parents. Many continue to speculate over her motives for her 2014 disappearance, her goals for the future, and her continued mental stability.
Guilds
Guilded Families
Artisan Guilds
The artisan guilds of Adijan are an important feature to Adijan's luxury economy. During the merchant republic, the urban artisan industrial class negotiated equal rights with the patrician merchant families, dividing the Guilds into the Guilded Families (merchants) and the Artisan Guilds. Today some of the most important artisan guilds include:
The Skilled Dressmakers of Katex
The Company of Handbag Broiders
The Automobile Craftsmembers of Tapan
The Fine Arts Guild
The Musicians' Association
The Wonderful Jewelers Guild
The Fine Company of Cordwainers (shoemakers and fine leather workers)
The Architects' Guild
The Tailors' Company
The Fine Glovers' Association (gloves)
Ideological Guilds
The Young Adiji Advocacy Guild
A large ideological organization borne from the passions of democratic reform within the city, the Young Adiji Guild was permitted to form an official registered guild several decades ago out of a fear that passionate reformers would be pushed into violent radicalism if excluded from the system. The Guild, to this day, remains a very passionate Guild with a strong following among the youth and passionate republicans. The Young Adiji group is the proud flag-bearer of Adiji Democracy and strongly supports pro-democracy members. There are acute fears, especially among the wealthy and politically-entrenched, that the group continues to operate an underclass of radicalized revolutionaries. Many conspiracy theories circulate around this organization, as either activists fighting an entrenched oligrachy or as a controlled opposition. For now the group continues to aggressively pursue reform within the bounds of the city's government system.
The Safe Laborer Advocacy Group
The Safe Laborer Group is a municipal group that lobbies for and maintains regulations in favor of the city's working class. The group is significantly less passionate than the Young Adiji and is more accepted by the ruling class. In Practice the group serves as a coordinator of labor unions and safety regulation boards. The guild is itself institutionally integrated as the City's de-facto labor regulatory agency and enforces labor laws in Adijan alongside state officials. Due to being institutionalized, the group has grown more conservative, disavoing support for more radical reforms in favor of incrimental progress in the name of the working class.
The State Association
The State Association is an exclusive, usually conservative club. The club is devoted to maintaining the unity of the City's factions and preventing external actors from exploiting disunity. It is a nationalist guild which harkens to older eras of elder stateswomen and statesmen advising the City's rulership of threats to the City's aggregate interests. Today the State Association is often a key element of many conspiracy theories circultating through the city, due to its secretive and exlusive nature. It's membership is well connected with retired corporate directors and executives alongside senior guild members and retired politicians. In times of crisis it has often formed the nucleus of unity for a rallying of Adijan's disparate factions
Demographics
Religion
Adijan is a secular state with strong guarntees of religious freedom. The dominate religion in the city is the Vardanan Apolistic Church. This is followed by Eastern Christianity, Azardinism, and Judaism. No religious group makes up a majority of the population, though Christianity if counting all sects combined makes up ~45% of the population.
Economy
The economy of Adijan City is advanced and hosts several specialties. The City hosts an old and stable financial industry dating to the banking systems of the Adijan merchant republic, founded by the merchants of the city to finance their trading ventures. Flagship banking companies such as Doshimba Bank trace their origins back to the city's banking families. Several investment funds operate in the city, most notable of which is the AviQos Holdings firm.
Adijan's most well known industry may be its luxury brands and artisan crafts. The artisans of Adijan are politically empowered and are highly supported by the government. Major luxury artisan guilds specialize in products ranging from women's purses to painted art to the hospitality guilds running the sprawling Cennetna resorts across the beaches of the environs. Luxury car maker Kanbuki Motor Company found its origin in Adijan and maintains its main headquarters in the Kend district. Luxury clothing, leatherwork and tailoring blooms in Katex Village. Hand-made artisan arts, crafts, and jewelry can be found in the boutique shops and workshops of the Waterfront District.
Hand-in-hand with the luxury and artisanal industries, Adijan enjoys a large tourism industry. Many people travel to the city annually, arriving at the Adijan City International Airport (ACA) in Plains District, or the Orak L. Erdinc International Airport (OEA) in Tapan district. There are many tourist destinations throught the city. In Katex village tourists are given guided tours of workshops used by craftspeople for hundreds of years. In the Lighthouse district adults can find a vibrant nightlife and enjoy music from talented up-and-coming young musicians. The Old Quarter hosts numerous historical buildings, including the old central trading house. Along the shores of the City mainland wealthy visitors relax on private beaches and in luxurious beachside mansions close to downtown. Visitors enjoy hiking in the scenic Tepelor hills, hunting for the beautiful sight of the city skyline from atop the hills. In Kend district and the Waterfront visitors enjoy a dazzling variety of boutique shops and luxurious restaurants on the shores of the picturesque eastern shore. Parks in the Daramak, Plains, Tepelor, and Paldo districts offer tourists the chance to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the urban city, providing natural greenery, animal enclosures, and wide-open spaces free from urban density. Old forts in Kicik district, Pambak island, and other locations offer visitors the chance to experience the history of the old merchant republic.
As a free republican city-state, Adijan is host to a significant printing, journalism, and publishing community. Newspapers such as the North Ozeros Morning Herald have reported on news concerning the Ozeros region for a century, and are widely read as a source of journalism.
Major Corporations
AviQos Holdings, Inc (AviQos)
Type: Investment Fund CEO: İnna Qoşqarsoy (Qoşqarsoy Family)
This investment fund began humble: as a small fund for managing the growth of the personal fortunes of the Qoşqarsoy family several decades ago. While one of the founding merchant families, the Qoşqarsoy have been a minor and politically irrelevant faction in the guilds for some time. However, fortunate investments have grown the fund into a major asset. At the age of 37 years old, Inna wrestled control over the fund and has maintained a powerful control over it with a large 33% personal ownership. She privatized the family fund into a public-traded investment bank, allowing her to indirectly purchase voting shares of the CACC through the fund. She is believed to have ambitions to drive the family into the most powerful guild families in the city, though she faces firm resistance from conservative, powerful guild families unhappy with Qoşqarsoy’s rapid fortunes. The fund is advertised as a major investor in ‘innovation’, and is investing in ‘emerging’ industries and ‘emerging’ markets.
Beynel-Goende Logistics Solutions Inc (BGLS Group)
Type: Logistics Services CEO: Murad Naghiyev (Naghiyev Family) The BGLS Group is a relatively recent merger between the city's largest shipping companies. The conglomerate controls most of Adijan's logistics industry (~70% of the market). This includes deliveries, commercial distribution networks, and some of the city's commercial shipping harbor infrastructure (shared with state-owned companies). It was argued that consolidation was required to compete with foreign competition, though consolidation into BGLS has proven enormously profitable to many investors and concerns over competition have been overlooked.
Kaplan Brand Holdings (Kaplan)
Type: Luxury Brands CEO: Kaz Üzeyirzadə
Originating as a clothing manufacturer by the guild family Surxeygil, Kaplan has restructured itself multiple times. The original company, Surxeygil Fabrics Incorporated rebranded itself as a trendy fashion design house. With the backing of the guild family in the city’s politics, the company absorbed several fashion sellers. The company has diversified itself beyond its core business of primarily women’s fashion, breaking into accessories. It has expanded into the tourism and real estate industries by the purchase of prime coastal real estate and re-development into the sprawling Cennetna Executive Resorts complex along the northern coast of the Adijan environs. With the diversification of the company, it restructured itself under the umbrella holding company Kaplan Brands. Well known subsidiaries include: Surxeygil Fashion House, Cennetna Resort Holdings, Cennetna Loungewear Group, and Kanbuki Motor Company
Doshimba Banking Corporation (Doshimba Bank)
Type: Financial Services CEO: Nasrin Xalidzadə (Xalidzadə Family)
The most politically powerful company in Adijan, Doshimba is also the city’s largest bank. The company is closely tied to the Xalidzadə family, the most powerful guild family in the city, owning a 27% stake in the company. The bank finds its origins centuries ago, as a mechanism for financing credit for the city’s guilds to unite and resist foreign pressures. Over the years, the firm has grown quickly through the merger and acquisition of rival banking companies as part of Adijan’s financial consolidation period. While the company’s reputation was tarnished following a widely publicized securities fraud case of insider trading among its senior employees, the company has made extensive reforms to rebuild trust through transparency outreach programs. Beyond its size, the company’s most notable advantage over rivals is its extensive adoption of fintech and financial software.
Abiyev-Nübarqızı Financial Services Corporation (ANFS Bank)
Type: Financial Services CEO: Novruz Rajabov
Adijan Defense Service (ADS)
The Adijan Defense Services (ADS) report to the Lord Mayor, though most decisions are delegated to the Secretary of Defense. It consists of 3 branches: the ATF (Army), AMF (Navy), and the ASOF (Army/SF). Notably, Adijan does not have an independant air force, as its air elements are all integrated into its 3 branches. The ATF controls the largest air contingent, followed by the AMF and the specialized ASOF.
Adijan Territorial Force (ATF)
Adijan maintains a standing army of 23,540 active duty personnel for the defense of her territories. Of these, 17,140 are used as a quick reaction force for intercepting and delaying any invasion force threatening the city. These forces make up the Territorial Interception Corps (TIC), Adijan's regular army force. Most of these forces are located in army bases in the northern Enviorns. Many of the personnel in the TIC are draftees, drawn from the city's mandatory draft.
Adijan Special Operations Force (ASOF)
Of Adijan's standing personnel, a portion are trained for force projection and special operations. These forces form their own independant military branch, the Adijan Special Operations Force. This branch numbers 3,400 strong. These personel are more heavily trained than the ATF and include a significant special-forces division. The ASOF specializes in a multitude of missions including hostage rescue, counter-terrorism, reconnaissance, and sabotage. Expected operations include missions such as rescue of a captured civilian vessel, neutralizing terrorists threatening a government or civilian building, securing high-priority assets abroad, etc.
Adijan Maritime Force (AMF)
Adijan's navy has historically been the primary defense force for the city. Today it continues to be the most powerful branch of the military, and the primary defense of the city from foreign military intervention. The AMF consists of ~3,000 personnel. The fleet consists of several pillars: The Kicik-class frigates are used for projecting power into the North Ozeros Sea. They are often used for deploying special forces via helicoptor. The Xalidzade-class submarine is the greatest threat to enemy ships. There is always at least 1 submarine at sea at any given time. Their most effective strategy is to lurk quiety on the sea floor and ambush enemy vessels. The navy uses the Bashi-class multirole patrol craft for maintaining a watch off the coast, performing mine operations, and anti-piracy/coast guard measures.
| Picture | Class | Type | Name | Displacement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (WIP) |
Kiçik Class (WIP) |
Frigate (FFG) | tbd1 tbd2 tbd3 tbd4 tbd5 |
4,300 tonnes |
|
(WIP) |
(WIP) |
Submarine (SSK) | tbd1 tbd2 tbd3 tbd4 tbd5 |
1,450 tonnes |
|
tbd |
Bashi |
Littoral Patrol Vessel (PV) | tbd1 tbd2 tbd3 tbd4 tbd5 tbd6 tbd7 tbd8 |
539 tonnes |
Commonality Executive Group (CEG)
The CEG group is similar to Adijan's ASOF military force, though there are major differences. The most striking is that the CEG is completely independant of the ADS. The CEG is governed by the City's Guilds and is directly controlled by the Guilded Association. The Imtizi serve as the group's civilian leadership, with the Senior Imtizi as the commander-in-chief, though it may and often does deploy alongside the military. The CEG is much smaller than the ASOF, consisting of ~2,500-3,000 personnel. The CEG also qualifies as a semi-mercinary force, as the GA is known to contract out their services to private individuals, both Adijani citizens and foreigners. The CEG is extremely secretive about these dealings and it is difficult for outsiders to differentiate between when the CEG is carrying out missions for the GA or for a outside contractor. This is an intentional arrangment both to support its costs, and more importantly to allow the GA plausable deniability if any deployment adversly harms diplomatic relations.
While the CEG is strictly prohibited from carrying out missions within the borders of Adijan, it is not unheard of for members of the group, while 'off duty', to execute black operations on behalf of powerful factions within the city. The most common black ops involve espionage or reconnaissance. These may be to steal incriminating hard drives from a non-guild rival corporate executive, or to plant surveillance equipment to monitor active Young Adiji leaders. Competition between powerful guilds can be intense; powerful families occasionally leverage private relationships to illegally hire CEG operators to execute black ops against a rival family. The most prominent CEG black op was the infamous assassinations of Acabey Surxeygil by a squad of CEG operators in 2016. The operators stole a business helicopter from a aircraft leasing company, infiltrated the Doshimba Bank world headquarters, and assassinated Acabey using a exotic poison meant to resemble a brain aneurysm. Purely by chance a young employee in the building after working hours happened to catch the operators while vlogging, leading to a massive police hunt and CEG internal investigation. While the operators were identified and sentenced to 30-year prison sentences, the culprits who hired them and their motives are still unknown.