Holy Empire of Ival

Written by Chiki_

The Holy empire of Ival is a Theocracy found in the southern part of Western Lavenizia. It a mostly a rocky and mountainous region with various rivers that flow through some of the major mountain ranges. It is geographically separated from its northern neighbor countries, Kherezebe and Talaganar by a vast chain of mountains called Mouhan Crossing. Another mountainous formation called Hero's Tomb is located to the West.
Three major body of waters surround it. The one at the East is called Ajou's Ocean and the other one is known as the Empirean Sea.
The capital city, called "The Holy City of Ival", is located in the north east of the country, facing the Empirean Sea. This strategic location puts the city in the middle of a busy trade route between the Empire and its neighbor country Talaganar.
The leader of the country is the empress and arch priestess of the church of Ival. She has complete political power over the country and its provinces making the political structure akin to that of an absolute monarchy.
One of the country's main exports and economic driver is copper and gold mining due to the prevalence of mountains in the confines of its territory. The D'lissan mountain range being where some of the biggest deposits of these minerals are found.
The provinces are heavily taxed by the government in order to maintain its level of government spending and social institutions. This tax is known as "Ival's Share" and comes in the form of a 20% sales tax on all goods and services outside of the capital city.

Structure

Ival's power hierarchy is based of the religious structure of the Ivalian Church.
The current head of the church and country is the archbishop Maria Von Lingh Ival III. She has absolute authority over all political and economic decisions. All orders made by her carry the blessing of Ival and turning against them is to go against the moon goddess herself. The empress is in charge of guiding the the people of Ival by using her divination abilities granted by the goddess. She is also tasked with carrying over sacred rites during "The Moon Harvest Festival" and lunar eclipses.
The archbishop has an advisor that is usually a cousin or a sibling of the royal family, although there have been cases of non royal advisors being appointed to this position. The advisor is in charge of assisting the archbishop on her daily tasks as well as delegating task to underlings.
After the advisor are the bishops which are appointed by the church and are given the task of overseeing one of the many cities and provinces. In there they have similar powers to the archbishop but on a local level. Despite this, they must still follow the leadership of the advisor and the archbishop and most of their decisions must be reviewed by them.

Public Agenda

The government has a hands off approach in regards to social regulation which means that they do not enforce most laws that protect its citizens. Because of this there is no military or guards in the country. This is due to the law of "True Peace" enacted by the mother of the current archbishop, thirty years ago. This law prohibits any sort potential for violence by the state towards its citizens. Having a police force would help with the enforcement of the law and prevention of crime, however this would pose the metaphorical threat of violence towards those that wish to trample the law. Since Ival's teachings rely on compassion and forgiveness, this makes punishing criminals and other dissenters impossible under this law. The interpretation of this law has been put into question by many bishops and nobles which insist on creating some sort of defense force. However, the empress has always stood by the current implementation of this law.
Ival's government provides its citizens in the main city with a stipend at the end of the month valued at 80 gold coins called "Ival's Grant". This universal basic income measure was instituted to attract potential new citizens from other countries to establish residence in the capital. This was done to combat the decaying birth rates that has plagued the city for some unknown reason. Another measure to attract immigrants and encourage trade is the pegging of the Ival coin to the Faerun dragon.

May Ival's Blessing Bring Peace

Founding Date

132 A.R.

Type

Geopolitical, Empire

Capital

Holy City of Ival

Alternative Names

Empire of Ival

Demonym

Ivalian

Leader

Maria Von Lingh Ival III

Head of State

Maria Von Lingh Ival III

Head of Government

Maria Von Lingh Ival III

Government System

Monarchy, Theocratic

Power Structure

Dependent territory

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Currency

Ivalian Coin

Official State Religion

Ivalianism

Parent Organization

Holy Church of Ival

Location

Holy City of Ival