Principality of Etoile

The ground shook as the First Princeps barked orders. "Flywheels forward and launch! Fire at will!"
Massive siege engines rumbled forward slowly until they were aligned with the Princeps' command vehicle. Hatches at the front of each engine opened, and out of each an unearthly humming noise flowed out. The hum was of a different frequency from each engine, all coming together to create a cacophanous din.
Fwoom
Fwoom
Fwooooom
From each hatch, a sudden flash, and a massive spinning disc launched. Each disc was a flywheel, storing generated power with inertial rotation. Each disc launched with such force that the firing engine was blown back a few feet, but the force was enough for the flywheels to crash through the enemy city walls. Some of the wheels disintegrated on impact, but others punched through; the sound of the wheels carving a path of destruction through the city echoed over the plain. The First Princeps smiled.
"Our cue. Cavalry, advance with me! Flying wedge!"
Armored power-wagons rumbled to life and moved to formation, and with a gesture, the spearhead drove forward into the city of Miryi. Thus was the last battle of Unification fought, and thus was the Principality of Etoile born.
-"The First Princeps"

Structure

The Principality is a unitary monarchy led by the Princeps and his Council of Advisors. The Princeps holds absolute power and control over the country from his seat in Etoile Capital City . The country is split into several districts led by District Commanders, who all report to the Princeps directly, but each Commander is granted general autonomy over the affairs of their district provided they follow the country's basic guiding principles. All functions of government are unified into a single organizational structure. Outside of the national structure, most towns and villages appoint their own varying councils/lords/mayors to serve the locality, with the approval of the local District Commander.
In practice, the Principality is highly decentralized, and intra-district conflicts and squabbles happen regularly, though with limited maximum impact. The only central Principality department that does apply its will across Saibh are the Magistrates; these are wandering officers and judges of the Principality that investigate any activity they deem 'of interest to the State', in addition to their normal duties as adjudicators of criminal cases and disputes.

Public Agenda

The founder of the Principality, the First Princeps, had a vision of unifying the world after his small kingdom discovered Power and Power Distribution. His ideal was to use the new technologies to uplift the people; his theory was that as people spent less and less time working the land and toiling to feed themselves, they would spend more and more time advancing civilization and unlocking new inventions and progress. Thus, although the Principality maintains an absolute monarchy, the public agenda is framed around whether a given policy furthers or advances the people and thus the state of society at large.
As the Principality has been relatively benign in policy and is for the most part an improvement over the prior states it replaced, most people consider the state as relatively benevolent.

Assets

The wealthiest and most powerful entity in the world, the Principality maintains a fairly large military of technologically advanced siege engines and power-wagons and power-sails, thanks to their monopoly on power distribution technology. It is exceedingly wealthy, and their wealth has allowed them to replace the golden ducat with the Principality Trade Florin, the first paper currency in history. The Principality controls nearly the entirety of the known civilized world, and there are no other states thanks to the Unification War.

History

The water wheel and windmill were ancient inventions, but it was difficult to store or transmit the mechanical power provided. Upon the discovery that a certain new material could withstand the mechanical strain of power distribution and storage, the Kingdom of Nasse underwent a rapid technological revolution, with driveshafts and gears distributing power in towns. The portable power storage allowed by the flywheel allowed for the invention of power-wagons, wagons that could move themselves for certain distances. This was an incomparable advantage in trade and war, and the last King of Nasse, after building what was considered a technological utopia in his home city, declared his intent to bring this technology everywhere in the world, by force if necessary.
After every other state agreed to annexation or was conquered in turn, the last King of Nasse became the First Princeps of the first country in history to unify the known world. A hundred years have passed, and technology has advanced and spread throughout the Principality, with famine becoming a thing of the past and the common person having access to clean water thanks to advanced power-pumps and aqueducts. The current Princeps presides over the wealthiest and most peaceful realm in recorded history.

Demography and Population

The Principality is spread across the known world; roughly forty large districts and two hundred cities of at least ten thousand people. The new methods of agriculture enabled by Power technology has caused a population boom, with the population pyramid favoring the young to a significant degree. This has caused a boom in industrial manufacturing output.

Territories

The Principality of Etoile covers most of the continent of Saibh; the entirety of Western Saibh and a huge portion of the eastern area. The only parts of East Saibh not under Etoilean control are frontier wildlands thinly populated; cartographers have mapped most of the area but the great distance from the Capital and the lack of political powers located there have resulted in little interest from the central government. A number of islands are also under Etoilean control in both the Feryll and Bui Seas; explorers like Isolde of Saumann have attempted to cross each Sea occasionally but none have done so successfully.

Military

Although the full might of the Principality's military has not been deployed in two generations, the military of the Principality remains the most physically powerful organization in the known world. Twenty Infantry divisions of three thousand soldiers each coupled with eight power-wagon cavalry divisions serve as a clear deterrent to any internal threats the Principality could face, as the military forces are typically first in line to apply and deploy new technologies that emerge. Four siege-sail squadrons and ten power-sail groups round out the Navy, allowing troops to rapidly deploy anywhere on the continent.

Technological Level

Power technology changed the Kingdom of Nasse and subsequently changed the world. The ability to utilize and transmit mechanical power has enabled huge advances in agriculture, resource extraction, and light manufacturing processes. The spread of Power has created a world of rapid incremental advances, and the average citizen of the Principality looks forward to an ever-increasing quality of life, with the use of more manufactured goods, cheaper food, cheaper costs, and a generally optimistic view of the future, enabled through Power technology.
The rise in education levels in the general populace has created a real push to scientifically examine nature and the world, though such projects are at a relatively early stage. The Principality is an active driver of scientific research and funds a great deal of exploratory work, with research institutes in the Capital competing for prestige.

Religion

The First Princeps had himself no use for religion but considered it beneath his notice; the unification process skipped it entirely. Most regions retain their own folk religions and are permitted to observe worship without interference as long as the religion or its leaders do not advocate against the Principality itself.
There are rumors that certain pre-unification societies practiced acts like ritual sacrifice, but if so all records have been expunged.

Foreign Relations

The Principality is the sole power on the continent of Saibh; the only entities outside of the Principality that it is aware of are small, thinly populated societies on the frontiers of Eastern Saibh, which it largely ignores.

Agriculture & Industry

The rapid advances in Power technology have spurred significant progress in large-scale agriculture and industry. Anywhere where Power distribution is feasible (typically near waterways or windy plateaus), relatively small numbers of farmers are able to work extremely large plots of land, largely eliminating the threat of famine and driving food costs down. In addition to this, consolidated industrial production has started to kick off in earnest, with powered buildings full of advanced machinery rapidly manufacturing industrial goods and textiles. The state monopoly on power distribution has generated great wealth for Etoile, and the rapid spread of manufactured goods has significantly improved the standard of living anywhere with a viable Power source.

Trade & Transport

The range limitations of power-wagons and flywheels remain a primary source of research in the Principality; most goods are moved the same way they have been for generations, either on barges down rivers, large sailing ships in the seas, or by ox and wagon across long distances. The spread-out nature of cities in the Principality makes powered inter-city cargo transport typically unfeasible, but within cities goods are rapidly distributed by power wagon.

Education

The First Princeps was one of the first rulers of any kingdom to create, fund, and make mandatory the idea of a State Education; his goal was to maximize the chances of conception for new ideas and technologies. This policy paid off dividends prior to the establishment of the Principality, so now a State Education is offered to all Principality residents at no direct cost. The quality of education across the Principality is variant based off the amount of attention given the subject by each District Head, and in reality education services are only meaningfully offered in cities, with rural populations making do with traveling instructors and sages. Nevertheless, the majority of people in the Principality are literate and relatively knowledgeable about the basics.

Infrastructure

The Principality has as its primary infrastructure goal the rapid construction and deployment of Power technology to all populated areas where it is feasible; all power systems have been constructed under State engineering auspices. Other than Power, the Principality leaves it to each District Head to handle building and maintenance of roadways and freshwater distribution, resulting in varying levels of infrastructure based on the prosperity of each district and the competence of its head.
The First Princeps did plan a massive network of cobblestone roads to connect all the major cities on West Saibh, but he died before his plan could be realized. Parts of this envisioned road network have been built, but the staggering costs in construction and maintenance have constrained its completion.

"Peace and Progress"

Founding Date

630

Type

Geopolitical, Principality

Capital

Etoile Capital City

Demonym

Etoilean

Leader

Constantine

Head of State

Constantine

Head of Government

Constantine

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Unitary state

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Currency

Principality Trade Florin

Major Exports

The Principality exports a deal of manufactured goods indirectly, with traders in the frontier exchanging trinkets for precious metals. This rate of trade is too low to be of major significance.

Legislative Body

The Council of Advisors has no statutory power, but in principle drafts the laws and policies that the Princeps approves (or disapproves) in turn.

Judicial Body

A system of magistrates judge cases and handle legal conflicts in the populace. The office of magistrate is a political appointment, and all magistrates derive their power directly from the Princeps. Magistrates are not fixed to a geographical location, but instead are tasked with travelling the continent, to ensure that they do not become too attached to any given district or its norms.

Subsidiary Organizations

• Fyysinvi
• The Magistrates
• The Vagrant Colony
• Wizard's Association of Etoile

Location

Saibh

Related Traditions

• Etoilean Inventor's Fair
• Iron Rations

Related Ranks & Titles

• Arbiter of Progress
• District Commander
• Wanderer

Controlled Territories

• Arsenal Ward
• Erimia Tradepost
• Etoile Capital City
• Feryll's Claim
• Grand Amphitheatre of Etoile
• Grand Reef of the Stagonids
• Inix Floodplains
• Irolom River City
• Naval Redoubt, Patino
• Navarro Exclusion Zone
• Outer Ward Pavilion
• Patino Central Hall
• Patino, the Machine City
• Qedem, Capital of the Ancients
• Saibh
• The Academy of Etoile
• The Palace of the Kings of Nasse
• The Patino Falls
• The Perturbation Detector
• The Pyre of the Faith
• The Stagonids
• The Tower of Asha
• Unifier's Perch

Manufactured Items

• Greatcoat of the Archmagus
• Principality Trade Florin

Related Items

• The First Flywheel
• The Mechanized Halberd

Organization Vehicles

• Aerial Gondolas
• Siege-sails

Notable Members

• Anastasia DuChemin
• Constantine
• Isolde of Saumann
• Nairie Solitus