Harthera

The Hartheran Union, commonly named Harthera, is an imperialist maritime nation state dominating the northeast of Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable Harthera. It is one of the two great powers of the modern epoch, arguably the most technologically and militarily powerful nation in the world, only matched by the vast size and wealth of its neighbour, Ororr.

In recent centuries Harthera has expanded from a land-based empire to a maritime empire, invading the islands of Besoa and Antyok after a bloody war, and most recently annexing the Eastern Isles, renaming them New Perech. It also has extensive influence in Munatan, with control of numerous trade enclaves in the port cities of the south.

Hartheran history began with the mass Junda migrations from their home in the Junda Isles, and their almost accidental conquest of the city of Vahldoya (modern-day Vahltor). This began a long and difficult fusion of culture between the Junda islanders and the agrarian Saloya. The turbulent new state gradually conquered its neighbours to form an empire, swallowing up neighbouring kingdoms to the south and former provinces of the old Empire of Dor-en-Sann to the west.

The Dun Jaen mountains and the rise of Ororrplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigOrorr

Ororr [o-ROARR, ɒ̝rɔ'ɾ], also called the Holy Motherland of Ororr, is a theocratic nation in Anásthias, one of the world's great powers. It the largest nation in the world, perhaps the largest empire in history, occupying the entire northwest of the continent between the mountains and the sea. Ororrviridlanguagelanguagelanguage checked the nation's policy of expansion, and a number of border wars led to a period of peace. From 407 - 571 MEplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigModern Epoch (ME)

The Modern Calendar is a dating system acknowledged throughout the Civilised World. It numbers years from the Modern Epoch, abbreviated ME and BME (Before Modern Epoch). It is also called the Modern Era.

Calendar

This is in a series of articles about calendars and dating systems.OrorrHartheraHMOrorrHartheraOrorrOrorrHMHartheraHMHartheraOrorr the resurgent aristocracy, influenced by the Hexact doctrine, established the Hartheran Commonwealth, eventually overthrown.

Less than a century ago border wars with Otekahré led to Harthera annexing the Narill peninsula, and Harthera is now in the process of colonising many islands in the Natorn Sea, with eyes on many other island treasures. Its empire continues to expand, aided by its powerful command of the sea and innovative technology.

The vast expanse of Harthera can be roughly divided into three regions. The north coastal region is equatorial maritime, humid and subject to stormtides and flooding. The northwestern coast has an extensive shallow shelf making much of it hazardous to shipping, with no true deepwater ports. Conversely it is rich in marginal sea life, the staple foodstuffs for the north of the country.

The central inland region was once heavily viridplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigVirid

Referring to the Virid Kingdom of flora and fauna, toxic to human life.-forested, but was gradually cleared over the last millennium to create a large arable plain. The far southern and western regions are rocky and rugged, interspersed with pockets of virid forest. The country is bordered to the west by the towering mountains of the Dun Jaen, and to the south by the Broken Lands, a maze of arid rift valleys almost impossible to traverse.

In simple terms, the Hartheran government has a mixed constitution with elements of aristocracy, monarchy, and limited representative democracy.

In reality Harthera's government is a complex and labyrinthine oligarchy, ostensibly controlled by the High Commanders of the Terath family, presiding over a swamp of assemblies, committees, courts, guilds and vested interests, all vying for supremacy. The present system developed from the rule of the Chelidt Overlords and the attempted constitutional monarchy of the Hartheran Commonwealth, but has evolved into an oligarchy of one sprawling family, the Teraths often taking promising leaders into their ranks either by marriage or adoption.

In practice government is exercised in three centres of power in the city of Vahltor: the Detatedn, the seat of central government and the military High Command; the Bireilundt, home to the Courts of Justice and the Admiralty; and the Metrosandendt, home to the civil bureaucracy and the various government Commissions.

The High Commanders supposedly exercise supreme executive authority, but beneath them are the Commissioners, responsible for all other areas of civil government. Below these are the Burearch-Directors, who oversee the smooth running of the Bureaucracy as a whole, and appoint the Burearch-Generals, the chief officials of each government department.

While supreme decision-making is by Command, the Commissioners are responsible for formulating and enacting internal policy. Crucially they are also responsible for raising revenue, so that while the High Command has supreme authority, in practice this is balanced by the Bureaucracy using tactics to block funding or enacting of policy.

This system has evolved over many centuries, with the original dictatorship of the Overlords becoming weighed down by layers of government. The system is byzantine in its complexity and thick with interdepartmental scheming and political rivalry, so that although the Teraths are technically in charge, only very strong leaders can force through policies that do not have the full backing of the Commissary and the Burearchs.

Naval Board Naval Commission Commission of the Regions

Administratively the nation is divided into twelve regions, called cordromes, whose regions are set broadly on historic and ethnic lines. Each cordrome has its own central administration which is responsible for its own internal governance, according to policy set by the central government in Vahltor. Each cordrome has its own military command structure, both for internal security and defence against internal threat.

The Church of Hartrahplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigChurch of Hartrah

The Church of Hartrah is the state religion of Harthera. Adherents believe in a single god who is a fusion of all the righteous ancestors of the nation. Upon death, your spirit is judged by God, and begins a slow process of merging with the Godhead. As a faith it is a syncretism of ancestor-worship and veneration of a monotheistic protector god who is the embodiment of the station. The church strongly promotes respect for family, tradition and heirarchy as well as duty and per… is the established state religion. The faith combines traditional ancestor-worship with a nationalist monotheism, believing that the souls of the dead watch over their offspring whilst gradually ascending to merge into a single consciousness, the universal God of the nation. The state promotes and supports chapels and basilicas throughout the nation, encouraging loyalty and national virtue. Religious feeling is not fanatically enforced, but belief is deep and widespread, particularly in the north, and non-attendance of ceremonies leads to social isolation.

Foreign religions are tolerated in the “open zones” of the major cities, most notably in Harlon, though the government monitors religious groups very closely. Therism is viewed with particular suspicion because of rivalry with Ororr, with most people seeing Therismplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMother Church of Ororr (Therism)

The Mother Church is the state religion of Ororr, which combines both religion and government in one institution. It is based on the teachings of the Great Prophet Therion, who in the early decades of the modern era raised an army that conquered much of northwestern OrorrOrorrOrorrOrorrMEOrorrMEMEOrorrOrorrHerHerHerHerHerHerHerHerHerher as slavish Occidentalplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Occident

The Occident is the area of the continent of Anásthias west of the Dun Jaen mountains. Historically this meant the old Empire of Dor-en-Sann, as well as the many other nations west of the mountains before the founding of modern Ororr. Contemporary Ensanni writers occasionally used the term to refer to the relatively wild and less inhabited west coast of AnásthiasOrorrOrorrOrorr mysticism. In recent years, following the establishment of diplomatic relations between Harthera and Hesjbagaaia, the government have permitted, and even encouraged, Western Heterodoxplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigHeterodox Church

The Holy and Heterodoxic Church of the All-Deity, generally called the Heterodox Church, is a syncretic religion which embraces many historic traditions, believing all faiths are at heart the worship of one essential god, and that there are many routes to achieving transcendence.Anásthiasherher missionaries to preach and convert Therists in Munatanplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigMunatan

Munatan [Moo-Nah-Tahn] is the southernmost region of Anásthias, south of the Dun Trisan mountains. The name possibly derives from a ancient Thalsic, meaning “Land of One Sun”, since the daystar is not visible in the southern hemisphere. Or it may be a reference to the Manthi people who were once the majority population of western Munatan. The term is an OrorrOrorrOrorrHartheraHartheraOrorrOrorrOrorrHartheraHarthera.

Harthera's aggressive militarism has led to poor relations with its neighbours. It's most longstanding enmity is with Ororr, whose vast size, wealth and religious authority is currently the only check to Harthera's imperial expansion. Ever since the founding of Harthera there have been border tensions between the two nations, with Harthera quickly devouring the old EnSanni province of Gedoq. In the middle centuries ME Hartherans settled in towns and villages on coast of the northeast province of Cavann in Ororr. Their demands for autonomy has led to a number of purges by Ororr, leading to reprisals by Harthera.

Otekahré to the south has long been a tempting target for the military government, but the tortured desert of the Broken Lands, the treacherous waters off the Foundering Sea, and what Hartherans consider to be the sheer weirdness and corrupting nature of its people has limited Hartheran expansion southwards.

Relations with the twin nations of Besoa was cordial enough until the early 10th century, when conflicts between Ororr and Harthera led to the former giving preferential trade agreements to ships from the Kingdom of Sann'al - essentially allowing the Sann'ali a monopoly on high value shipping between Toborr and Harlon, the two busiest ports of Ororr and Harthera. A small island nation thumbing it's nose at the world's greatest maritime power was considered an insult, and in 1090 launched the Bizoan War, which crushed island opposition and led to the annexation of Besoa and Antyok.

Harthera is the most technology developed nation of the modern world, skilled in civil engineering, military hardware and ship construction.