Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest

On the surface, Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest seems to be me mere steps away from slipping back into the bygone era of clan rule it escaped so many years ago. Every settlement, down to the smallest village has been given the right to govern the majority of their own affairs. They ship out troops and supplies to feed the war effort and care for the rest of the nation at the behest of the Enclave of War, but such commands have little impact on the day-to-day running of their communities. In addition, the Enclave is considered to be nothing more than a transitional government, a measure meant to see Urkenthest through its current strife and dissolve. That was the course of action proposed by Aujeek, the Voice of Change and champion of the Vuuk, and it has yet to be challenged. Still young and strong but beginning to cool and solidify, Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest may be the most powerful nation on this continent but its people are beginning to grow tired. For a little over ten of our years they have been locked in a brutal civil war with their hated rival: Caddreikk Urkenthest, the loyalist monarchy that still supports the empress and controls some of Urkenthest's richest, most populous regions. In the sky above the moon waxes and wanes time and time again, vanishing during its time of rebirth and reemerging to see that nothing of note has changed on the Urken front. Lines break and borders advance only to be driven back the following year. Vuukkelldii warriors march to the front amidst fanfare and celebration but are lucky to return maimed and crippled, if they come back at all. When Aujeek appears and speaks to the people he helped liberate he talks as though victory is an inevitability, yet when they look ahead it seems no closer than it was ten years before. Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest is vast, bountiful, and highly developed. It's industry is almost unmatched and its armies have few equals outside of Urkenthest, but it is also bruised and bloody. The Vuukkelldii fight for their freedom and the freedom of Urkenthest as a whole, but it is possible that Aujeek, Voice of Change and chief adviser to the Enclave of War does not share the same ideals.

Structure

Dogmatically obsessed with the notion of individual equality and shared power, the Vuuk react to the very mention of a ruling caste or singular ruler with violence and unrest. Rough and unrefined, their current system of government is extremely democratic but equally inefficient. Every village, town, and city is led by a council of elected officials chosen from the local population. Decisions made by these councils are compiled and sent to the capital. There they are presented to the Enclave of War, a body of representatives hailing from every corner of this young nation tasked with allocating it's resources and bringing an end to the civil war. Members of the Enclave (otherwise known as War Leaders) act as both temporary governors and generals, providing the provinces that elected them with limited regulation and commanding their levies in the ongoing conflict. Aujeek has refused to be named as the War Leader for any province but continues to visit the Enclave with words of wisdom and cherished recommendations that are almost unanimously acted upon. Ending the war will remove the need for a governing body with this degree of control and will likely see the Enclave of War replaced by a senate. Alternatively it could result in separate Urken communities and regions within the nation adopting a form of self governance, remaining a part of Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest officially but not answering to any higher authority. At least these are the options that have been proposed thus far, who can tell what the future may bring.

Public Agenda

Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest was created as a tool intended to destroy the inequality between the noble and serf classes. It was meant to stand as a symbol of equality, ensuring that never again would one group of people be held at another's mercy. In order to achieve this goal, the nation's leader, Aujeek of Clan Offryinn, or the Voice of Change, has declared war against the monarchy that held Urkenthest in its clutches. He says they cannot be free until they put and end to those that would begrudge them that freedom, that the old ways must die before the new can be born.

Assets

Much of what Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest has it inherited from the empire that came before. Its roads, its airship ports, its fortresses and factories, most of them were created during the golden age of the Urkenthestine Empire under imperial authority... a fact Aujeek and his close supporters tactfully ignore. They may have enough weapons to arm entire nations and fields larger than some cities but most of these predate the birth of their nation and are difficult to replace under the current regime. Money matters little to the nations inhabitants as it has fallen out of use in its economy, supplanted by Enclave-issued requisition slips. when dealing with other nations Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest typically offers to trade industrial or agricultural products instead of paying with any form of currency, a tactic that works reasonably well given the bounty of potential trade goods in its possession.

History

At once amongst the known worlds youngest and strongest nations, Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest is barely ten years old but has already become a major player in the realm of geopolitics. This is mostly thanks to the mighty nation from which it was forged: the Urkenthestine Empire. Massive, prosperous, far-reaching, and nigh unstoppable, the Empire was evidence of what Urken could achieve if they set aside their squabbles and united under a singular banner. Unfortunately, through the gradual decay and abuse of its venerable power structure and the malicious charisma of Aujeek it was brought to an end. It is now represented only by Caddreikk Urkenthest, a nation centered around the Empire's core territories in northern Urkenthest, attempting desperately to preserve its memory reclaim the glory that has been lost. Some say the Urkenthestine Empire was doomed to fall sooner or later without the interference of those like Aujeek, but none deny that he greatly accelerated its demise.

Military

Urkenthest has always been a been a nation of strife and conflict. Before the civil war there was an empire that struggled to keep it's member clans from tearing out each-other's throats, and before the empire it was just the clans, unrestrained and short-tempered. Brawls, riots, duels, and other confrontations are and were commonplace, and martial training is an important part of childhood for young Urken, for none can say when they will need it, only that they will. This history of violence and preparation for it has made Urkenthest the greatest military power of the known world. Other nations may have more advanced technology or a stronger grasp of mystical principals, but Urkenthest breeds warriors without equal. Farmers and miners, politicians and librarians, children and the elderly, if they are Urken, then every one of these should be in fighting shape and well versed in at least three different styles of combat. That is the Urken way. Many nations train their soldiers when they join the military, Urken are trained from birth, and their militaries do little more than give them a quick lesson on following orders and moving in formation. With all of this in mind it should come as little surprise that the armies of Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest are beyond formidable. They are no equal to the loyalist Caddreikk Legions but they are more than a match for anyone else. Besides, although they are inferior in skill and equipment to their empire-loving counterparts they outnumber them by more than a hundred to one and replenish their numbers far more easily. Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest's forces are split up into large groups, with each one containing a great number of soldiers and supported by a sizable contingent of mechanized warriors. Unfortunately for them the empress managed to keep the loyalty of much of her military, leaving few experienced commanders, generals, or soldiers for the rebellion to use apart from retired officers or those still in training. Because of this the Vuuk tend to favor a sloppier, less formal method or organizing their forces. Large groups of soldiers are broken down into cells of about sixty ground troops and four to five mechanized warriors. Due to the lack of a proper command structure these cells are sent relatively simple objectives and tasked with completing them whilst taking minimal casualties. Appointed cell leaders must use their ingenuity to achieve these goals, even while half a dozen other cell leaders concoct separate plans to do the same. It is chaotic and inefficient, but the Voice of Change says it is only temporary and a proper chain of command will be established after the war, so the Vuuk soldier on, ever trusting and ever stoic... but never questioning.

Technological Level

In terms of military technology (and technology in general for that matter) Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest is quite far from what its geopolitical peers might consider advanced or sophisticated. It has very few scientists and engineers with the materials and genius needed to create anything new that exceeds the work of the empire that came before. Even if it did, it likely would not have the industrial capacity to produce such a thing on a larger scale. Most of its factories are occupied by the war effort, and those that aren't work night and day to keep the civilian population fed, clothed, and supplied with household necessaries. However, this is not to say the Vuuk are primitive or backwards when it comes to technological advancements. They light their homes and power their machines with mystic salts, do most of their travelling via airship, and walking artillery platforms accompany their infantry into the fray. Such things could not be said of a primitive civilization. Many plans have been laid, plans to revolutionize the old imperial ways of doing things and to create marvels of engineering to display Urken ingenuity and might. These schemes have been brought up time and time again, but the discussions they spark always end the same way: "There'll be time for these after the war, and then the world will see what we're really made of. We'll show them, when the fighting stops.". For the time being the Vuuk have opted to maintain what they already have instead of inventing something new or improving upon the old. We shall see if there is any wisdom in the decision.

Foreign Relations

Aujeek, the Voice of Change and intangible arbiter of every decision made regarding Vuukelldeikk Urkenthest's future has longed been famed as a talented public speaker and nigh peerless diplomat. Few minds have managed to resist his manipulation indefinitely and most of those they belonged to are dead and buried by now. As a prominent noble he was incredibly enticing, but with three quarters of Urkenthest behind him he has proven nearly unstoppable. Only a handful of the world's major powers remain untouched by his charms, but most of these are themselves old-fashioned monarchies of the type he has sworn to topple and bring to ruin... so he probably wasn't trying very hard. Truly the continuation of this Urken civil war is a testament to the skill and courage of the loyalist forces. They are a lake beside an ocean with nothing but a few feet of soil separating them, and yet they refuse to be assimilated. Nations assail them from all sides, disrupting their supply lines and gradually destroying what allies they have, all at Aujeek's behest. Every month Caddreikk Urkenthest grows smaller, a shrinking speck on the geopolitical horizon.

Agriculture & Industry

Urkenthest is a land rich in all manner of natural resources. For hundreds of years it's potential was largely ignored by the feuding clans and tribes that dotted it's geopolitical landscape, but the unification put and end to that. With each new imperial ruler came a host of new lumber camps, mines, farms, and other such developments. Precautions were taken to ensure that some level of natural balance was maintained. Trees were replanted and mines closed before going too deep or becoming unsafe, but even without such measures there would be more than enough to go around. Throughout the years Urkenthest's rulers have put its resources to use. Factories, shipyards, and refineries have sprouted like mushrooms in many of its urban regions, fueling its economy and those of the nations around it, and a series of bloody campaigns have seen those production centers fall into rebel hands. Northern Urkenthest is still just as much the industrial heart of the country as it is the seat of imperial power, Urkenthest's other regions are far from undeveloped. Aujeek has established hundreds of different trade agreements in his time as the Voice of Change, and he has yet to find himself shot of bargaining material.

Trade & Transport

Urkenthest has a vast network of imperial roads, railroads, and canals, but today these are typically used to transport people instead of cargo. Airships are faster and ignore rough or winding terrain, making them a natural choice for the movement of cargo. Extremely heavy shipments are moved by train but these are the exception rather than the rule.

Education

Education, as the Voice of Change states, is of great value and utmost importance. Education and related institutions will lift Vuuk from the muck of ignorance and oppression in which they have been mired for so many years. To defeat a foe you must first out-think them, and to do that you must first know how. Enrichment and improvement are critical to the advancement of civilization, so why should the world's greatest nation refuse to embrace them? When the enemies of the Vuukkelldii are cast down there will be nothing to keep them back any longer. When that time comes they will experience equality. These are words Aujeek, the Voice of Change shared while discussing the state of his nation's education system, or rather it's almost complete lack of any such thing. As you can see he reverted to many of his old tricks. He spoke of a glorious new tomorrow that would arrive after the conclusion of Urkenthest's civil war. He presented an image of a world where all are free to study and learn whatever they wish, regardless of birth or social standing. Grand promises and high-minded philosophy are both trademarks of Aujeek's preferred method of verbal trickery. Behind his false face of humble nobility Aujeek smiles as he sees a quite different reality begin to manifest in Urkenthest. Children are taught their parent's profession and whatever scraps of knowledge they can find along their life's path, scholars are either starved for new information or kept under close supervision in government controlled laboratories and workshops. Equality has not only been introduced to Urkenthest, it has been infected by it, gradually weakening under the strain and plunging the more educated members of it's population into the same morass the rest have lived in for hundreds of years. Every Vuuk is equal to the one beside them, their birth and the schools they may (or may not) have attended made insignificant by a careful and innocuous concoction of empowerment and oppression. They are capable, useful, and loyal, their minds dulled by hard labor and empty promises, content to wait for a beautiful eventuality that is anything but imminent. If Aujeek has his way that is how they'll stay.

Infrastructure

All but the smallest towns and villages of Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest have a sewer system, a fortress, a purifying aqueduct, salt-powered lighting in every building, and an airship harbor. This last amenity facilitates rapid travel between settlements and makes holding together such a vast nation somewhat easier. Sewers and aqueducts dispose of waste and bring in fresh water for residents (and sometimes the crops during dry seasons). Although now garrisoned by Vuukkelldii militia soldiers the forts were once signs of noble authority, offering protection to endangered townsfolk and a training ground for young warriors. Structures such as these likely acted as the town jail when needed, containing drunken miscreants and ruthless criminals alike. Towns and cities that previously acted as the home of a noble clan typically hold larger, more ornate strongholds and are generally better maintained than others. *Note: All settlements are connected by a vast web of roads, with a great many also having access to a canal network or train station.* While all of these features have been well looked after, it should be noted that none of them were built by the rebels, or at least not under their current ruler. Most of them were built while the monarchy still held sway over Urkenthest, while some of the oldest highways, canals, and fortresses are older still, having been constructed in a divided Urkenthest.

Type

Geopolitical, State

Demonym

Vuukkelldeikk citizens are called Vuuk. This term originally referred to serfs and common folk, but is now applied to every member of Vuukkelldeikk society.

Leader

Aujeek of Offryinn

Head of State

Aujeek of Offryinn

Head of Government

Aujeek of Offryinn

Government System

Ochlocracy

Power Structure

Provisional government

Economic System

Command/Planned economy

Currency

As of yet Vuukkelldeik Urkenthest has no official currency. It is still a young nation and largely unformed, with many of the more tedious societal, legal, and municipal reforms put by the wayside until it finishes capturing the land to which it has laid claim. It's citizens are issued with limited-use paper cards to allow them access to food, tools, clothing, and other necessaries but not any real currency.

Major Exports

Few nations can match Urkenthest's wealth of natural resources or it's level of industrial development. This brings offers of trade from countries great and small, requesting woods and minerals or agricultural products in return for specialty items, clothing, or mercenaries to help the war effort. As Urkenthest needs very little from outsiders, it is likely that Aujeek only accepts such deals to improve his nation's influence and increase it's standing on the world's stage.

Major Imports

Because so much of the working population is enlisted in the military, the Vuuk often find it necessary to import things like food, clothing, and additional armor and weapons to supplement their dwindling arsenal. Apparently equipping and feeding the largest army of the known world is somewhat resource intensive. In contrast to their imperial rivals, the Vuuk have little interest in exotic items and curios from distant lands. Their leader has taught them that such things are an extravagance befitting the petty and frivolous nobility, not something that would benefit humble and honest folk.

Legislative Body

Although there are plans to reform Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest into a republic after the war's conclusion, it's current level of organization is quite poor. Temporary laws and emergency regulations are written by a body of former nobility, as they have the most experience with such things and have won the people's trust. However despite this illusion of democracy, true power within Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest lies with one man: Aujeek, former leader of Clan Offryinn and the Voice of Change. He advises every council and studies every proposition the ex-nobility put forth. If something displeases him he will change it, and none yet have been brave enough to try and stop him. His word is law, even if he offers it in the guise of scholarly wisdom or the ruminations of a humble sage. Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest is ruled by the people, and the people are ruled by Aujeek.

Judicial Body

Due to their nation's low overall organization, the citizens of Vuukkelldeikk Urkenthest are required to take the law into their own hands. If anyone is caught breaking it then it falls to those around them to deliver judgement. An updated scroll of laws is issued to every home whenever enough new laws have been written and specialized military patrols are responsible for ensuring each citizen has easy access to one. These are used to help concerned individuals identify criminal activity and determine an appropriate sentence for the perpetrator.

Official Languages