Halik Nation

South of Vera is an island chain, which is the Halik nation. The nation is spread over a wide expanse of the southern oceans, a territory estimated around 10,960 square kilometers.
There is only two provinces:

• Livoris
• Delihim

Geography

The nation sits on a fault line and a ring of volcanoes, many currently (as of modern day 997 E) are listed as dormant. Volcanic eruptions over time formed the island chains. Most of the beaches are black sand, and the land is home to unique flora that isn't seen anywhere else on the planet. The soil is good for terraced farming on the mountainous hillsides and deep valleys. Pastures of the local mammalian animals provide a source of food and fiber for clothing. The Halio trees are curled around each other - two to three trees can be in the same strand, and their large oval leaves cast long shadows on the valley, which help shield it from the sun during the hot season; these trees can grow to fifteen meters tall in lower altitudes.
In the center of the island chain, there is a round set of small islands that form the rim of a giant crater, the deepest part of the southern ocean.

Architecture

People of Halik live in smaller cities situated in-land from the coasts, mostly to avoid the backwash of the Anzaan tides and periodic earthquakes. The small cities are set up in a circular grid around a central commons area that is upkept by the community as a public resource. Most of their buildings are made of stone and are circular in design - it is rare to see a rectangular building. Roofs are either flat stone roofs with verandas, or triangular with a mixture of sod and Halio tree leaves layered to form shingles. These styles are more common in the Delihim province.
Some of the older cities have buildings cut into the face of the mountains themselves with smaller stone and wood buildings spreading out from those rock edifices. Ruins of these older cities are sprinkled across both provinces. All buildings use ramps and lifts to access other floors. Stairs are never built.
In the province of Livoris, the cities have massive wooden and fiber constructions in their bays, due to the dearth of land within the province's territory. These modular segments of the city can be moved around based on the city council's decisions to make way for new construction or to repair older infrastructure. Each modular piece of the city starts with an octagonal platform lined with fiber imported from Vera's Raliok Leaves, though older constructions used the local spinwebs of the Svava, which build incredibly strong fiber for their watery webs. On this platform lines are laid for the water treatment, electricity, data, and air purifiers. Next, buildings are constructed, where the entrance hatch for the lines is built into the back left. Finally, the modular is decorated and enhanced with necessary upgrades and fixes to fit the needs of the city. Fresh water is heavily recycled to avoid contaminants entering into the bays. During storm surges, the edges of the platforms pull up into a V-shape and lines cast to ride the waves. It is not uncommon to have the loss of a few modules during particularly heavy Moon Duality seasons; if the particularly bad storms are sighted, an evacuation is often called, and only the wave crew - all trained volunteers - ride the platforms to avoid excessive loss of life for the inevitable loss of platforms during deadly storms.

Structure

Decentralized, where each city state has a committee, of which any citizen may join to discuss policy. Once a policy is voted into action for the city, it is taken to the nation-wide conference to be discussed among the other city-states; there it is refined and voted upon for either nation-wide enactment or city-state only enactment (meaning the policy does not impact other city-states).

Culture

Halik citizens are mostly a sea-faring and pastoral culture. Much of their daily life is either rooted in fishing, Dolasoi training, or farming/shepherding. They have annual festivals to mark the start of each of their seasons. Festivals take place in the commons, the central public ring of each city.
Several religions have taken root in Halik Nation, although the Nation itself does not formally recognize religion nor include religion's doctrines in shared policy between cities. Religious life is seen as distinctly separate sphere, rarely discussed outside specific locations. Most of this is rooted in a secretism cultural approach that kept some of the older religions safe from outside doctrines and pressure from larger nations. This reluctance to discuss spirituality often extends to health, where health issues are spoken of in metaphor. This can make it difficult for outsiders to understand the nuances of health, illness, spirituality, and healing within Halik culture.

Technological Level

-

Agriculture & Industry

The islands have lush soil, and the inhabitants use a regenerative agriculture practice to keep the soil rich with the necessary minerals and loam to grow the spices, sweeteners, and other foodstuffs.
There is some manufacturing on the larger island, where the oil from sea creatures is refined into bioseeds. The hunting of most sea species is regulated by the Elivera Federation, so some of the oil is synethically made in laboratories at Halik's Siteakin.

Trade & Transport

Halik nation uses primarily sea and air transport. The entirety of the nation is a collection of islands, so air travel is cheap and quick. On the larger islands, they have essor_trains.

Government System

Democracy, Direct

Power Structure

Autonomous area

Economic System

Post-scarcity economy

Currency

Shells are the official currency. They are seashells found in the coral reefs, which are then refined into a more oval shape. They are often used in bartering, where one party may seek to commission an item from another. The person creating the commission offers shells as a promise to complete, where they then reclaim the shells after the delivery of the item, in return the commissioner provides living needs to the creator of the item to offset living costs for the increased energy expenditure. Shells are not used with visitors from other nations, though the Cirtearians do accept them as a form of payment. Instead, the Federation credit system is accepted.

Major Exports

• Seafood
• Salt,
• Sweetener
• various spices

Major Imports

• rare earth metals
• technology seeds
• bioseeds

Legislative Body

Council of elected leaders: Vuka-halouhia. Each town sends an elected individual to the council to speak on their behalf. Decisions are made by consensus, and if no consensus can be made, then a compromise is reached and a vote done to enact the provisions or not.

Judicial Body

Elivera Federation provides judicial support to the Halik nation. Most of the internal judiciary system is a system of rehabilitation and judges that are rotated out of their office every ten years. They serve as a check and balance to the Vuka-halouhia.

Official Languages

• Elivera Trade Language
• To̊̀tǎian

Neighboring Nations

• Arloh
• Eagrok Nation
• Isanto

Related Species

• Human