Kingdom of Van Carno

A nation that is trapped in another time

This kingdom was founded upon the ideas and beliefs of our people before the world was torn asunder, and I will ensure it stays that way - Soverigin Holden Estros

Structure

Throne of Sovereigns: In ancient times, bloodlines ruled over Van Carno, but now those lines have died out, and to end the infighting, the nobility now elects its sovereigns. Sovereigns act like any other monarch and can pass or veto decrees and laws as they have authority over the kingdom as long as they reign.
Office of Chancellor: The head of the Assembly of Representatives that can pass or veto laws. They often ensure that the kingdom's laws are not abused and that corruption is snuffed out. They also control Virtue's Watch, a special task force to weed out corruption and other shady activities.
Assembly of Patricians: An assembly of all the houses that make up the nobility across the kingdom. These nobles make up the ruling body that creates laws and elect a sovereign to rule over them. It is often a place of alliance and political intrigue for these houses to influence one another. However, under dominion's law, they are kept in their place through checks and balances.
Assmebly of Representatives : The standing government body that aids the needs of the common people and helps in creating laws alongside the patricians. They exist to keep the nobility from having absolute control over the government and ensure that the people are not forgotten. Representatives of the people are also allowed to elect a chancellor to lead the assembly.

Culture

Citizenship

From the ashes of a world in ruins, our people were the first to rise to bring about our kingdom. Rather than forgetting our past like so many others, we instead decided to preserve it as much as possible to keep it alive, and those that came before we ever are forgotten. In doing so, we are the closet of all to honor the past and those that came before us. Our lands are sacred to our way of life, and to taint it with the sickness of technology is to lead to disaster once more for us. The only way to ensure this does not come to pass is to remain vigilant and continue our duties to ensure that the way of life is not corrupted by those blinded by their greed. All the more reason to arm ourselves to protect what matters most, as our soldiers have done for thousands of years. Our people will always be the first to defend our way of life, and we must prevail in the name of future generations so that the past may never truly die.

Influences

Being a part of the Phoenixian Dominions has allowed the Kingdom of Van Carno to have great sway in the political landscape across the world, however they rarely use it as they prefer the interaction of their fellow dominions due to their technophobia and culture seeing most nations being blinded by their dependence on technology. However most know not to cross the kingdom as their military power is not be trifled with and have a strong say in what goes on in the dominions because of it.

Public Agenda

The kingdom seeks to keep its traditions alive in the ever-changing world and maintain a strong military force to protect itself and the dominions.

Assets

A strong, active military of five million, advanced weapons and armor, massive defense systems, and fortified military emplacements.

History

Survivor of the Remnants

Before the cataclysm that ruined the world, a kingdom was said to be ruled by a fair and just king. This king and the name of his kingdom were lost by the flames that burned away the pages of their history, all except for a small piece that managed to survive from completed destruction. The only readable name that could be made out was Carno, and the survivors would call their new nation the Van Carno, with van meaning new in their language. They wanted to gather whatever was left of their old culture and preserve it to keep their heritage alive as they rebuilt their kingdom from the ground up. However, many believed that to prosper, they had to forsake the technologies of the old as they believed that they were the cause of the world's destruction. This led to a group breaking off from the kingdom as they disagreed with this way of thinking and headed east with it being known as the Journey of the Three Paths as the realms of Gear Nation, Death's Turf and the Unified Tikasa Tribes would be founded from it.
Those that remained behind would struggle with a lack of resources. Fighting would ensue for several generations as warlords took control of resources and divided the fledgling kingdom. It was not until the rise of the first sovereign Castus that the Van Carno would officially become a kingdom and begin to combine its resources to become a functioning country after a few decades. From this, they would become a society that was able to function on agriculture and forgo the use of the technologies of old and use methods that would not harm their land, which they would call the Remnant which was now a restored natural landscape with fertile soil to feed its population. For a time, they would be shared by farmers to live off the fruits of their labor, but this would change with land owners holding large swaths of it, which would lead to the creation of the nobility to rule over the commoners. Martial traditions would also be honed to defend their lands from the new realms that would rise from the ashes.

Born Through War

The Kingdom of Van Carno would see much of its early history covered in conflict with its neighbors as they continued encroaching on their borders. These conflicts would be mainly between Wanderers of Death's Turf and the Tikasa of the Unified Tikasa Tribes with the Van Carnonites seeing them as monstrosities and sought to wipe them out in many attempts to reconquer the Continent of Hetronas in the name Kingdom. These conquests would fail as they were unprepared to traverse the hazardous environment and or find an effective way to defeat their powerful foes, forcing them to remain on the defensive at all times. These conflicts would advance the kingdom's military capabilities and technology to repel invasion after invasion. They come face to face with a new force that causes them to realize that they outmatch them technologically more than they could ever realize.
This new power would be the Machines of the Machine Collective that march into their southern lands and claim them as their own with the kingdom being unable to repel these beings of metal with weapons that they tore through their defenses and forces with ease. It forces them to retreat and fortify while seeking to prevent the machines from spreading further. They would eventually do so by reverse engineering the technology of the machines and using them to create weapons to defeat them, but they were never able to reclaim their land from the south. From that day forth, Van Carno vowed never to again fall victim to another foe that could take so much from them no matter how or superior to them. From this mindset, they would eventually send massagers to issue the challenge for one final battle with the other realms. They would unknowingly cement the rise of the Phoenixian Dominions.

Trail By Fire

With the founding of the Phoenixian Dominions after their defeat at the Battle that Never Was, Van Carno would change greatly as its martial prowess would be essential in maintaining its military might. It would also allow the kingdom to develop its society more, as warfare was no longer a means of survival. Allowing them to develop their lands through agriculture and creating a formal government ruled by sovereigns of several different bloodlines for tens of millennia. It would also allow them to improve relations with its neighboring realms after centuries of constant conflict, despite a few still holding grudges. However, that would change as the kingdom's military would become one of the dominion's main contributors of troops in many of its wars, fighting alongside its neighboring dominions and creating bonds of comradery between them. Van Carno, for much of its time in the dominions, has been seen as the first dominion to see combat in most of the wars that it has been a part of and has gained great respect because of this. Creating a sense of duty among its people to serve to preserve their way of life and protect its allies from the threats that also affect them. Their agriculture has also been highly valued as well as it often feeds many of the people within the dominions, and its rich soil is prized greatly for its richness and lack of pollution.

Clashs With Traditon

The last few decades have not been too kind to the kingdom as the Shadow Wars have cost the lives of millions of Van Carno's military personnel, and the loss of life has left a gap within its military that has yet to be filled. What is more that the people have begun to seek change within Van Carno to take a more modern approach to put its nation on a more technological level with other countries worldwide. This has met backlash from its leadership and the older generation seeing it as a slight against their heritage. Along with believing that following the footstep of a more tech-powered state will leave the kingdom to ruin, becoming more dependent on it and leading to environmental change that could pollute their homeland. There is also a fear of their culture and heritage being abandoned for modern ideas and views that would essentially lead to the collapse of their society and more unrest. As politics have begun to get out of hand, leading to fear and paranoia spreading wildfire, certain groups have begun to form and commit acts of terrorism against the old regime. Leading to the kingdom entering an uncertain age that could strengthen or destroy their society if proper action is not taken.

Demography and Population

The population is divided by social classes, with the entire population reaching about three hundred million, with nobles living in wealthy areas in cities and the countryside and the commoners in other decent areas. Some live on the nobility's lands as workers, and others on their plots of land.

Territories

Van Carno has held the lands it was given since the founding of The Pheonixian Dominions and is content with it. They controlled the region of the continent known as the Remnant since it was one of the few regions that survived the war and the area that the survivors migrated from to re-colonize the continent. It has since become lush and plentiful for the kingdom's people and several other territories they had obtained through the dominion's expansions over its existence.

Military

Van Carno has been considered one of the most powerful realms of the Pheonixian Dominions for tens of millennia. They make up half the dominion's standing military. Their military traditions have also produced highly trained fighting soldiers and elite special forces, notably the legendary Knights of Van Carno and the Fidoni Guard. But all military authority is directly under the command of the Royal military. This is because nobility and commoner militaries were disbanded long ago to ensure they would not cause civil unrest if tensions rose between them.
Royal army of Van Carno: The main military force of the entire kingdom is made of a highly trained force of soldiers that have been honed to be experts in all things revolving around warfare and tactics. The army comprises several categories, including infantry divisions, special forces, and attack vehicles.
Royal Navy of Van Carno: One of the few Dominion militaries that have access to air fleets, the navy is built to be able to take a beating and use unorthodox tactics such as boarding actions of enemy ships and large waves of volley shots on the side of their ships.
Royal Air Force of Van Carno: Air force pilots are trained to fight in difficult conditions to maintain effectiveness. Their craft is built for speed and maneuverability, allowing them to reach objectives and run circles around enemy aircraft.
S.I.D: The Special Intelligence Divison is the covert branch of the royal military used in all things covert, from espionage to sabotage, sent into other states to gather intelligence and disrupt enemy plans and activities.

Technological Level

Van Carno's views on technology are considered controversial by the dominions since it believes that tradition and preservation of their land are far more important and refuse to allow massive cities and other effective technologies to be used. But they allow infrastructure, military equipment, and beneficial sciences since they are necessary. Making them somewhat outdated in other areas of modern technology, often using animals and sailboats as transportation. This is why some of their needed equipment is made in other dominions since they are more advanced than them.

Religion

The Founders are the most worshiped in the kingdom, the Phoenix and the Sentinel. Often due to their sense of duty and honor.

Foreign Relations

Van Carno's relationships are a mixed bag, with even other members of the dominions. It creates a state of xenophobia amongst its citizens, feeling threatened that their culture would be cast aside by another. This is why immigration into the kingdom is very strict, and few get in. But they are more friendly regarding trading since it is highly relied upon for economic growth.

Agriculture & Industry

Van Carno's agriculture is the largest in the dominions, and it is their largest source of income to date, with massive fields and gardens growing a variety of foods and livestock. It is much healthier since they do not use chemicals or other unhealthy means to grow their food. Though they lack industry in the region, they want to preserve their land from pollution. There are only a few areas in which they excel, such as animal breeding, mining, crafting material, and metal production.

Trade & Transport

Most trade is made through Railway systems across the region, but there are still people using livestock to carry goods to reach them or other areas they cannot reach. The animals that pull their carts are often massive and are capable of pulling large amounts of goods at a time, so there is little convincing in it. These traders are a part of local businesses across the kingdom. There are no corporations since they are banned from the kingdom because they often bring foreign products and use highly advanced technology, which would ruin the kingdom's customs and undermine them. Sailboats are also used to transport goods to the islands under the dominions, with a military escort in case pirates show up.

Education

Tradition and history of the kingdom are required for all kingdom citizens to understand their significance better. Often being told about the kingdom's founding many millennia ago and their part in forming the The Pheonixian Dominions. Most of the children's younger years are taught about the importance of tradition and to be fearful of technology, along with important moments in the kingdom's history to understand how their society works. Once they reach their teen years, they are allowed to choose which job they want to choose they grow up, such as the schools of labor, for jobs that require manual labor, and the schools of science for jobs in the sciences and engineering. The largest of them are military academies due to the massive size of the military and often the use of propaganda to recruit citizens.

Infrastructure

Surprisingly, many of their buildings are made of stone or wood across the kingdom. However, they added some improvements to the structure, such as plumbing and electricity, to make it easier for daily life. The buildings are also through special restoration so that their structures are more durable with the help of modern building methods. Most buildings still standing date back thousands of years, with some roads still made of stone. But that is mostly in the city; the country has more modern roads to travel on. Though they do have some modern buildings in some areas, this is due to old build unable to be repaired, and it is much faster to make a new building and a few weeks rather than a few months with stone materials. Many settlements also have walls for defense; even though they have been outdated for thousands of years, threats are still lurking outside the walls, such as dangerous animals and bandits roaming the less developed regions. Not to mention, some invasions have happened in the nation in previous wars. But they have some nasty surprise for anyone who get too close, such as electrified energy walls and cannons on the fortified battlements.

Honor, loyalty, Heritage

Founding Date

1A 2000

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Capital

Alfendel, City of Traditions

Alternative Names

Van Carno, the kingdom

Demonym

Van Caronites

Government System

Monarchy, Elective

Power Structure

Transnational government

Economic System

Traditional

Currency

Domain Dinars: The official currency of the Phoenixian Dominions that can be used in any state across the dominions to ensure that transactions are made more easily with the need for other currencies.

Major Exports

Van Carno produces large quantities of food that are transported across the dominions, with some feeding over half of the population of the dominion. They also trade high-quality materials that are made in their custom forges to trade as well.

Major Imports

Van Carno requires large amounts of electronics, military equipment, and computer hardware since it is against their policy to produce such items in the kingdom since it will heavily affect their way of life.

Judicial Body

Court of Laws: A group of thirteen judges that have the power to repeal laws and enforce laws to ensure if they threaten the kingdom's culture or the rights of its citizens.

Location

Remnant

Controlled Territories

• Halls of Honor
• Remnant

Neighboring Nations

• Death's Turf
• Machine Collective
• Phoenixian Dominions

Related Species

• Human

Related Ethnicities

• Van Carnoite

Honoring Tradition

by Midjourney

If we do not honor those that come before, then their achievements and struggles will mean nothing to future generations, and their memory shall die with them. For the past to die means we have no future for our people. - Archivist

In the kingdom, tradition means everything to its people, from the highest noble to the lowest commoner, it can see. Many of them go back thousands of years in remembrance of their ancestors. While some seem outdated by modern standards, it does not matter to them, for the past is worth preserving. While time may pass by and the world changes, Van Carno often stays the same as they continue to honor their culture and way of life. This often results in difficulties when change is demanded, and some outdated customs must be removed to get with the times, and it takes great effort to see them gone.

Duty Above All

by Midjourney

Many know what we are getting into when deciding to serve on the front. It is a duty that we are willing to take to defend our beloved home from all that would see it brought to ruin, even if it costs us our lives if the time comes. - Van Carno Soldier

Regarding the kingdom's military, they considered their service a sworn duty to protect their homeland from all threats. This stems from the fact that the kingdom, from its very beginning, was forged from conflict and had constantly struggled to defend itself from threats that sought to destroy it at the time. It is all the more reason they put so much into training their forces to be some of the best the world has ever seen. Even willing to spill as much blood as it will take to allow it to see it stand for another day.

Intact Environment

by Midjourney

We take good care to protect our land from the corruption of machinery and its wicked toxins from ever tainting it, and we are gifted with full bellies and a lovely view. - Farmer

While some may still ridicule Van Carno's policies on technological restriction, some benefits have come from this, as the environment of the kingdom's territories is mainly unpolluted, and its environment is kept intact. There are few factories within it, and older methods used to grow food and build are common. Making it look to an outsider that they have traveled back in time to a more primitive age. This has to lead the people here to live healthier lives and not depend on modern-day technology to get things done. Of course, there are a few places where more modern machinery exists. Still, it is often imported and used for large-scale operations that older methods cannot keep up with and are heavily regulated to avoid abuse and environmental damage.