Skovaji

Skovaji (skoʊvɑːrdʒiː; Evonian: Skovagee [skɒvædʒiː]), also known as the Republic of Skovaji (Govermantu derivart hSkovagee), is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying an area between the UK's city of Exeter and the village of Ide. The state shares its only land border with the United Kingdom, of which it is an enclave. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature consists of a lower house, Ofie derinvart hSkovagee (House of Representatives, lit. 'Office of Skovaji'), an upper house, Seanad derinvart hSkovagee (High Council, lit. 'Senate of Skovaji'), and a quasi-elected Lord Wesley who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is fully elected and officially appointed by the Lord Wesley. Other government ministers may be appointed by either the Prime Minister or the Lord Wesley.
The state's antecedent was the Nation of Bedroom, a country created in 2014 as a result of the Treaty of Sescession [sic]. The nation grew and enjoyed an era of relative prosperity until late 2014, when it suffered from an economic crash and subsequent period of political turmoil from which they emerged with only around an eigth of their former territory. In 2015, the Nation of Bedroom became Skovaji. It had the status of autonomus Paravian region between October 2016 and January 2016 when a new, albeit unwritten, constitution was adopted, in which the state was named "Republic of Skovaji" and effectively became a republic, with an elected non-executive Lord Wesley as head of state.
Skovaji ranks among the top forty-five micronations in terms of internet influence, and is considered to be a major player in intermicronational economics, home to the Skovaji Stock Exchange (the oldest Stock Exchange in micronationalism), DeltaPlanner and Isotoniae Incorporated, and the intermicronational Bank of Wesley. In June 2016, the nation made a bid to host Hiddleston Street (including the Quetico Micronational Stock Exchange) independently of the Bank of Wesley. If the bid had been successful, it would have placed all major private-sector projects under the control of the Skovajan Government.
==History==
===pre-Nation of Bedroom===
The history of the Nation of Bedroom's antecedents - the Republic of Bedroom and the so-called Wesley Kingdom - is poorly-documented. On the 9th October 2014, the Republic of Bedroom was declared an independent state to the UK, claiming an area of land in Exeter. The remainder of the household claimed was divided up between the UK and a third entity, which has been variously described as a nation, a political party and a terrorist group. The leader of this second part and Kerry Stapleton decided to join together, creating the Nation of Bedroom, with the newly-created government offices of Lord Wesley (similar to a consitutional monarch) and Prime Minister. The head of state and the head of government was the Lord Wesley, although despite this constutional arrangement, the nation is now generally thought of as either a crowned republic or a constitutional monarchy, as Kerry Stapleton exercised most of the power in the newly-created Nation of Bedroom.
The entity - sovreign or otherwise - which would give rise to the office of Lord Wesley is usualy reffered to as the Wesley Kingdom (this is not in order to imply sovriegnity, but rather to differentiate it from the more despotism-like Republic of Bedroom), although both the Wesley Kingdom and the Republic of Bedroom are, by the standards used on MicroWiki, too small to be considered true micronations. The Wesley Kingdom in particular did not have a flag or even an official name, and neither of the nations had either an organsied government structure or any culture beyond the absolute basics.
===Nation of Bedroom===
On the 14th October 2014, the Nation of Bedroom came into being through the Treaty of Sescesion [sic], which declared independance from the United Kingdom, without mention of the Wesley Kingdom or of the Republic of Bedroom. The country was established as a crowned republic, with a ceremonial Lord King Wesley, Great Wesseloggler (almost always, including officially, Lord Wesley) as the head of both state and government, and the non-executive Prime Minister established in the treaty as the government itself (all governmental responsibility - including the appointment of other members of the government - was devolved to the Prime Minister). Therefore, the Lord Wesley was a largely ceremonial head of state, although this would change over the course of the nation's development. The Treaty of Sescesion [sic] has been described as the constitution of the Nation of Bedroom - and by extension the first Republic of Skovaji - and the docuemnt retains a special place in the legislative structure, as establsihed in the landmark case of Lynch vs Skovaji. It was cliamed that Aaron Lynch, a member of the High Council, had violated the High Council Privacy Act 2016 by revelealing private judgements of the Seanad derinvart hSkovagee to Michael Howe (the president of the Howetanese Republic) without permission from the government. However, the Treaty of Sescesion [sic] states that:
Like other legislation dating from before the 1st January 2016, the Treaty was never officially repealed. Lynch's lawyer argued that the modern-day Skovaji remained the same legal entity as the Nation of Bedroom (rather than an entierly seperate nation founded after it declared independance from Paravia), and that the consititutional changes were primarially for the purpouse of disentageling Skovaji from Paravia. The Wesley Prosceution Service, in contrast, argued that the country adopted anew consitution upon becoming indepndent from paravia in January, and that in actuality the nation had no constitution between October 2015 and January 2016. The court ruled that the document was still a part of the nation's consitution, and that it had simply been heavially amended (such as the changing of the roles of the Lord Wesley and the Prime Minister).
The Nation of Bedroom's first claims were incredibly small, only claiming part of a house. However, over time, the nation's territorial claims expanded. Meanwhile, the country's influence and economy were also growing. In reaction to the creation of the Nation of Bedroom, the Democratic Republic of Howe was founded on the 16th October, and multiple smaller micronations also appeared, including Alfieland, Bllar'dland, the Demorcatic and the Kingdom of Smith. It was over these smaller nations that the Nation of Bedroom began to exert its influence. The Democratic Republic of Howe, on the other hand, remained more isolationist, refusing to recognise the Nation of Bedroom's dominace not only over itself, but also over the other smaller nations.
In a period known as the "bronze age", the county enjoyed a period of relative success. The country's claims almost tripled in size, including a so-called colony in the nearby playing fields, 
===First republic of Skovaji===
In February 2015, as part of the P.R.B., the nation was renamed "Skovaji", a mixture of two Cornish words meaning "safe haven" and "amity". At the time of the decleration, the republic's claims on Porthcothan only included 2 houses (Tigwella and the Carnevas Hotel), although by June they had been expanded in stages to include all of the village proper. The nation's main focus slowly shifted from the bedroom claims to those in Cornwall, at first as part of the P.R.B, but then later as a justification for withdrawing participation from its former neighbors, who the nation decided were small enough that continued fraternisation with them would endanger the progress of the P.R.B.
Whilst withdrawing cooperation with the smaller micornations around them, the government of Skovaji also elected to join the MicroWiki community, causing them to open diplomatic relations with the Republic of Nedland, a micronation that was then far more influential then Skovaji. When Nedland became an autonomous region of Paravia, they succesfully convinced Skovaji to join, despite this going against the politics of the ruling Evon faction. The legislative structure of the nation much more closely resembeled that of the Nation of Bedroom than that of the modern Skovaji, as the Lord Wesley (a title that remained essentially synonymus with "King") held around half of the power in the nation, and the Prime Minister (who was not elected) chose to swear his alleignec to one of multiple factions, the largest of which were the "Nobbbists" (who drew their name from the acroynym NoB for the Nation of Bedroom), who opposed the changes that the republic had brought, and wished to return to the Nation of Bedroom; the "Evon", the precursers to the Evon-Mortarists, who were the ruling faction and were responsible for most of the change wrought during the era; and the "Wikists" (later the Keiserdømmet), who advocated joining Paravia, but who otherwise gareed with the Evon on most issues, although their fundamental principles were different.
Despite the nation's Nation of Bedroom-like legislation, and its lack of influence within the micronational community, the period is recognised as representing a shift from the isolationist Nation of Bedroom to the Skovaji of today, as the nation moved from claims on the leader's house to larger claims in a different location, and of course the nation's joining MicroWiki.
===After joining Empire of Paravia===
In October 2015, the nation joined the Empire of Paravia in order to increase trade opportunities with other nations. As such, the nation's government lost several powers and the head of state became Emperor Patrick I. During this period, Skovaji's politics shifted towards the left, with three of the eight main parties becoming Communist. In Novemeber, this culminated in the People's Revoloution of Skovaji, which was a sucess but handed power back to the Lord Wesley after two weeks of administration.
left|thumb|A propaganda poster used by the governemnt of AC Skovaji to dstance thier brand of Communism from the infamous Stalinist adn Maoist regiemes of the past
During the brief administration of the Skovajan Anarcho-Communist State, the republic declared war on the Democratic Republic of Howe, starting the 45-minute-long Beale War, which ended in the signing of a peace treaty that would eventually become the basis for further cooperation between the nations. The government of AC Skovaji, although short-lived, was in some ways a success, and followed the Robot Socialism school of thought. Kerry Stapleton called the evntual faliure of the Skovajan Anarcho-Communist state, particulary in proving its worth against previously smalller micronations, "one of the greatest faliures of [his] career".
In December, the nation decided to increase their claims to include the nearby Carnevas Holiday Park, and an area of countryside around the two places. Although this change had been discussed as far back as March 2015, the change only came into force with the ratification of the changed by the Lord Wesley, who had up until that point been unsure of what the consequences would be for the nation's basis for claims. The expanison in territory came as a suprise to the Evon-Mortarists, who had been actively campaigning for the country to abandon its claims in Porthcothan, which it of course did in 2016.
In January 2016, the nation left the empire in favour of "closer cooperation with our natural allies the Democratic Republic of Howe" [Lord Wesley], and although it was not a part of the official announcemtn, the choice was partaily down to the feeling that Paravia's relative insignificance in the wider community was imposing a glass ceiling on the nation.
===Since 2016===
In early 2016, the nation's claims were completely rewritten so that they no longer included any of the previous Porthcothan claims. Instead, a slightly larger area between the city of Exeter and the village of Ide was annexed, as it was far closer the PM and Lord Wesley's residence. At the same time, the nation also released a completely new version of their constitution, which notably included greater provision for the use of the Evonian language, greater inter-micronational cooperation, a more complex governemnt structure, a focus on brick-and-mortar claims and a constituational ban of joining larger nations or super-national federations: in short, it was a modern, nationalist agenda that seeked to make the nation's claims more viable.
In 2016, the nation faced humiliation due to the actions of the Progressive Micronational Forum. Although the P.M.F. was not technically run by Skovaji, Skovaji was the only nation in the group, and its "Diplomatic Organiser" (i.e. leader) was also the Prime Minister of Skovaji, essentially making it a nationalised organisation. As the group tried to extend its influence beyond Skovaji, it took to the MicroWiki forums, where its extremist dedication to liberal and left-winged idealogies, as well as its war-mongering nature, angered many prominent memebers of the micronational community, tot he point where teh nation was featured on the front page of MicroWiki for its actions.
From April 2016 onwards, the nation has been in "Emergency Diplomacy Mode", as it tried to compensate for its actions under the guise of the Progressive Micronational Forum, and generally extend its reach diplomatically. The nation has, since then, become more dominated by the private sector, with the nation's current attempt to build a strong economy (including the Skovaji Stock Exchange) being partially managed by the Bank of Wesley.
==Geography==
Skovaji is a hilly nation, with two main hills; one in the east, surrounded by a stream and the UK, and another in the wood. Due to the newness of the claims, the west of the nation ahs not yet been surveyed. The east, however, has been fairly well surveyed, and it is known that most of the land is either steep, muddy fields on the side of the hill, or in the valley of the stream, which creates a grassy, flat area, including Ofie Green and the GateClosed facility. The stream itself runs in a steep trench in the south, where it enters the UK, and in the North it begins in a small spring, known as Lake Pebble. The north of the stream is actually multiple small ponds and rindles, one of which leaves the area as the stream. Around these rindles, the area is fairly well defined by a ring of trees around the outside, and gravel surrounding the water.
Skovaji has no coast, and as far is surveyed has no other waterways.
===Climate===
Skovaji has a temperate climate, with plentiful rainfall all year round. The temperature varies with the seasons seldom dropping below −11 °C or rising above 35 °C . The prevailing wind is from the south-west and bears frequent spells of mild and wet weather from the Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic currents, warmed by the Gulf Stream, bring mild winters; especially in the west where winters are wet.
===Administrative Geography===
Skovaji is divided into two regions, East Skovaji and West Skovaji. The two regions do have parliaments, although these have no devolved powers beyond informing the Ofie derinvart hSkovagee of the region's intentions (in fact, there is no parlaimentary devoloution in Skovaji, as all members of government are allowed to vote on all issues). The issue of admistrative division is a complex one, as the nation had no counties unil it joined Paravia, instead having countries or being centrally governed, which means some within the nation resent the alleged divide-and-rule tactic of the government, beleiving it to be a relic of Parvian culture. 
The Ofie and EXU representative for East Skovaji is Kerry Stapleton, whilst for West Skovaji it is Christy II. 
==Politics==
===Government===
Skovaji is a unitary, parliamentary republic, with a of a lower house, Ofie derinvart hSkovagee (House of Representatives, lit. 'Office of Skovaji'), an upper house, Seanad derinvart hSkovagee (High Council, lit. 'Senate of Skovaji'), and an elected Lord Wesley who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Prime Minister, who is elected by the people and officially appointed by the Lord Wesley, and appoints other government ministers.
The Ofie derivart hSkovagee (usualy just "the Ofie"), is the main elected body of Skovaji. Rather than including elecetd members of the public, this house rather contains a mixture of important foreign officials and party members, as people in Skovaji vote dricetly for a party, whose members take seats in the Ofie. The Ofie meets in either Ofie green, a small green in the north-east of Skovaji, or in the nearby school library, and its meetings are chaired by the Prime Minister. Elections to the Ofie happen once every 2 years.
The upper house of Skovaji, Seanad derinvart hSkovagee (usualy just reffered to in English as the "High Council"), a semi-elecetd body that runs the nation. The seats are tied to roles, and some of the roles are elected. Seats go to: The current president of the DRoH, The current emporer of Paravia, The current Lord Wesley of Skovaji, The current Prime Minister of Skovaji, The current Emporer of Myre. The High Council's main job is to ratify minor changes to the legal system, and to devlop plans for the nation. In short, the High Council decide which direction the nation ought to go in, and the Ofie are in charge of creating policy that move the nation in the correct direction.
Skovaji's head of state is officially the Lord Wesley, who is elected directly once every five years. Although his role is largely cerimonial, he retains some important powers, including the ability to block any law or international deal, the responsibility of awarding honours, and a seat at the High Council (which in practise, gives him most of his power). The Prime Minister, who holds most of the power in Skovaji, and who is also responsible for the upkeep of semi-private endeavors such as the newspapers and the website, is the leader of the elcted largest party. He is not elcted directly.
====Bank of Wesley & Export Finance Board====
The Bank of Wesley & Export Finance Board is the body of the Skovajan Government deisgned to laise with the Bank of Wesley, formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of Wesley, the central bank of Skovaji - as the bank is owned privately by stockholders (inluding the Skovajan Government), it is only partially answerable to the government, although through the board it acts as though it were a nationalised endeavour. The board is also responsible for benefiting the Skovaji economy by helping exporters of Skovajan goods and services to win business, and Skovaji firms to invest overseas, by providing guarantees, insurance and reinsurance against loss, taking into account the Skovajan Government’s wider international policy agenda.
The largest part of the Board's activities involves underwriting long term loans to support the sale of capital goods, principally for the export machinery and services; it helps Skovajan companies take part in major overseas projects such as the construction of sculptures and buildings. Support can be given for contracts as low as £0.50, although much higher amounts have been given by the board.
The Export Finance Board provides a variety of loan, guarantee, and insurance products intended to aid the export of Skovajan goods and services. The mission of the Board is to create and sustain Skovajan jobs by financing sales of Skovajan exports to international buyers. The Board is chartered as a government ministry by the Seanad derinvart hSkovagee; it was last chartered for a five-year term in 2016. The Charter spells out the Board's authorities and limitations. Among them is the principle that the Board does not compete with private sector lenders, but rather provides financing for transactions that would otherwise not take place because commercial lenders are either unable or unwilling to accept the political or commercial risk inherent in the deal. The Board's products aim to support export sales for any Skovajan export firm regardless of size. The board's charter provides that the Board makes available "not less than 20%" of its lending capacity to small businesses.
The Board also works to make Skovaji an attractive investemnt climate for other businesses to move to. This includes, amoung general work such as marketing and removing/adding regulation, working with the Bank of Wesley and the rest of the government to improve the quality of Skovaji's financial and economic framework, such as fudning the Skovaji Stock Exchange, and working to increase the power of the Skovajan economy. The Skovaji Stock Exchange, as well as further plans such as the printing of the Skovaji Financial Times, are all the responsiblity of the board.
The Board is responsible for managing communications betwen the government and its central bank, the Bank of Wesley. The department has no executive agencies, although through its nature it liases with many private companies. Its involvment in interminronational economics makes it a controversial government department, and it is considered considerably more right-wing than the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Before 2015, the board was also responsible for the semi-national status of the Isotoniae Corporation, a group of companies that owned several endeavors of Skovaji, such as teh Weekly Wesley, the SBC and the nation's online presence. It was listed on the Skovaji Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the Skovajan private sector. In 2016, after experiencing major financial difficulty, most of Isotoniae's operations were transferred to state-controlled executive agencies. The remainder of the Isotoniae Corporation was renamed Isotoniae Incorporated and changed their focus to working in the property market.
====Cabinet Office====
The Cabinet Office is the board of the Skovajan Government that organises meetings of the primary faculties of the government, including the Ofie derinvart hSkovagee and the Seanad derinvart hSkovagee. It was founded by the Skovajan Anarcho-Communist State as a small committee within the People's parliament of Skovaji, although when the regime collapsed the office was also abolished. However, the Office was restored in the April government restructure, along with around 300 smaller government departments. Originally, it was to be a small autonomus office, although it was decided by the Seanad derinvart hskovagee, in recognition of the important job done by the Office whilst run by AC Skovaji, to make it a full government department.
The Office's additional duties include:
*Supporting the Prime Minister to define and deliver the Government’s objectives, implement political and constitutional reform, and drive forward from the centre particular cross-departmental priority issues such as public service improvement, social exclusion and the third sector;
*Supporting the Seanad derinvart hskovagee - to drive the coherence, quality and delivery of policy and operations across departments; and
*Strengthening the civil service – to ensure the civil service is organised effectively and efficiently and has the capability in terms of skills, values and leadership to deliver the Government's objectives, including ensuring value for money to the taxpayer. This also includes working with the Treasury to drive efficiency and reform across the public sector.
*Supervising meetings of the Seanad derinvart hSkovagee, ensuring that argument does not take place, and also organising and supervising meetings of the Devon Union. Origonally, this was just when they took place in Skovaji, although it was decided that the Cabinet office would be responsible for organising all meetings of the Union outside of the Howetanese Republic.
The contentious usage of the flag, which depicts the Hammer and Sickle symbol used by AC Skovaji, was voted on within the department during May, although the desicion was taken to keep the flag. However, the Office does not use the black-and-orange colour scheme that they used under the rule of the Skovajan Anarcho-Communist state, instead using the same blue-and-purple colour scheme as the central government.
The Office has one executive agency, the Public Commercial Serice, and is responsible for liason with the Commissioner for Public Appointments; the Government Estates Management; the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists; and the Privy Council Office. Due to the department's lack of executive agencies and relatively low list of external duties, it is the smallest of the non-autonmus government dpeartments. However, the Ofie derinvart hSkovagee have overwhelming voted against the two or three proposals to convert the office either to an autonmus department, an executive agency of the Seanad derinvart hSkovagee, or to return it to a commitee within a larger department.
In June 2016, the Prime Minister announced that some of the duties of the Department for Communities and Local Government (Comm) might be transferred to the Cabinet Office (an earlier suggestion would have seen the two departments merged into a single department called the Department for the Skovajan Government, which would also absorb duties of the Department for International Affairs, inluding anything involving the Devon Union, although it was decided that this would give the single department too many duties to perform.
====Department for Business, Innovation and Skills====
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is the Skovajan Governemnt department responsible for the promotion of important post-educational skills in Skovaji, and also for the regulation of the private sector. The department was first formed on 19 March 2016 with the merger of the Board of Economics and certain functions of the MicroWiki Board, creating a new cabinet post of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The new department also took on formally un-alloted responsibilities for monopolies and mergers. In April 2016, the department's responsibilities for promoting Skovaji's business internationally were transferred to the Bank of Wesley & Export Finance Board, as part of the government's aim.
The department is responsible for Skovajan Government policy in the following areas:
*business regulation and support
*company law
*competition
*consumer affairs
*corporate governance
*employment relations
*further education
*higher education
*innovation
*insolvency
*intellectual property
*regional and local economic development
*science and research
*skills
*training
Through its work in the above fields, the department is responsible for liason with the Companies House; The Insolvency Service; the Intellectual Property Office; the Met Office; the Skills Funding Agency; the Skovaji Space Agency Executive; the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service Arts and Humanities Research Council; the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; the British Hallmarking Council; the Competition Service; the Construction Industry Training Board; the Economic and Social Research Council; the Engineering Construction and Industry Training Board; the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; the Higher Education Funding Council; the Skovaji Medical Research Council; the Natural Environment Research Council; the Office for Fair Access; the Science and Technology Facilities Council; the Student Loans Company; the Skovaji Atomic Energy Authority; the Skovaji Commission for Employment and Skills Advisory; the Council for Science and Technology; the Industrial Development Advisory Board; the Insolvency Rules Committee; Land Registration Rule; the Committee Low Pay Commission; the Regulatory Policy Committee Tribunal; the Central Arbitration Committee; the Competition Appeal Tribunal; the Copyright Tribunal; the Insolvency Practitioners Tribunal; the Skovajan Business Bank; the Government Office for Science; the Groceries Code Adjudicator; the Independent Complaints Reviewer Office of Manpower; the Economics Office of the Regulator of Community Interest Companies; the Devon Union Green Investment Bank 
The department was founded by the Evon-Mortarists, and despite the Wesleyist thesis remains linked to the Evon Association, as well as to the Prime Minister. the department was responsibel for the creation of the origonal Skovaji stock Exchange, before it was sold to the Bank of Wesley, and liason duties were transferred to the Export Finance Board. As well as being an important player in national economics, the board is also the main body in charge of education, as pre-16 education for the citizens of Skovaji is provided by the UK.
====Department for Communities and Local Government (Comm)====
The Department for Communities and Local Government (usualy reffered to as Comm) is the body of the Skovajan Government responsible for devoloution and community integration. Some of the department's aims include the introduction of counties, and local flags, throughout Skovaji, local governments and assemblies for regions of the nation, and further links with the residents of West Skovaji. therefore, the department's policies support decentralisatio of most powers currently in the hands of the Skovajan Government. The department's role is minor in the day-to-day running of the nation, as there is very little devoloution.
The department is responsible for Skovajan Government policy in the following areas:
*building regulations
*community cohesion
*decentralisation
*housing
*local government
*planning
*race equality
*urban regeneration
Through its work in the above fields, the department is responsible for liason with the Planning Inspectorate; the Skovagee Development Corporation; the Homes and Communities Agency; the Housing Ombudsman; the Leasehold Advisory Service; the Building Regulations Advisory Committee; the Valuation Tribunal; and the Architects Registration Board. The department is also linked to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 
In June 2016, the Prime Minister announced that some of the duties of the Department for Communities and Local Government (Comm) might be transferred to the Cabinet Office (an earlier suggestion would have seen the two departments merged into a single department called the Department for the Skovajan Government, which would also absorb duties of the Department for International Affairs, inluding anything involving the Devon Union, although it was decided that this would give the single department too many duties to perform. This suggestion was actually welcomed by staff working at Comm, with most of the opposition coming from within the Cabinet Office (and the Ofie derinvart hSkovagee)
===Political Schools===
The current prevailing school in Skovaji is Evon-Mortarism, a school which combines elements of Evon culture with Mortarism, which states that although a strong online presence is important, it is equally important to develop a physical presence in the real world. At present, elemnts of this philosophy are protected by consitituation, especially against the Keiserdømmet (see below).
The second largest school is a remnant from AC Skoavji, Robot Socialsim. Robot Socailism states that with the increasing availablility of technology, a capitalism system could not function any further. Instaed, pooling resources and working together while technology does all of the work is the asnwer, allowing humanity to focus on more important issues, such as advanced sceince, space travel and societal progress. Unlike most far-left groups, they do not complain against teh axing of jobs, but instead think that every person should live suppourted by the state, whose jobs would be to provide all services and suppourt for the nation, and protect against danger, which would also reduce th eneed for politics. Some of the staunchest Robot Socialist would preefr a robot government to avoid corruption.
The Keiserdømmet is a significantly reduced school of though that advocates abandoning on-the-ground claims and liasing further with other nations, particulary joining Paravia or Austenisia. Despite this school's success in the first republic of Skovaji, the current consititution specificaly bans many of their desired outcomes. Interestingly, Patrick I of Paravia, who is allowed a seat on the high council, is not a Keiserdømmet.
A fourth set of ideas, Wesleyism, also exists,a lthough only certain Ofie memebers and the Lord Wesley stick to it. The idea of Wesleyism is fairly simple; return to the old, Nation of Bedroom-style imagary. The nation has been mostly purged of its old symbolism, as Evonism has replaced Wesleyism in most places. The philosphy advocates the increased use of Pigs, "Green Stars" and the term "Wesley", as is used now only on the currency, newspaper and the ruling title (previously it was used as a denonym and in many other contexts where "Skovajan", "Evon" or Evonian text is now used).
===Law and criminal justice===
Skovaji is a very liberal nation, and it was (for a short while), self-described as Anarchist. At present, Skovaji is essentially a night watchman state, with laws banning Murder, Theft and Drugs that are illegal in the UK. Likewise, it has a fairly lax system of punishment, insted preffering methods of rehabilitation or expelling the offenders from the nation. The nation does have a prison - GateClosed - although no-one has ever been inacrcerated, and it is capable of holding about 5 inmates.
Skovaji's constitution staes that "Skovaji, as an unrecognised state, recognises the right of the law enforcment agencies of the United Kingdom to make arrests in Skovaji based on their laws. However, the government of Skovaji will only enforce the laws chosen by its own Ofie derinvart hSkovagee.
===Foreigen Relations===
Skovaji was an unpopular nation in the community, due to its actions as part of the PMF. Likewise, the nation was fairly influential, although the people's revoloution of Skovaji caused a significant decline in international relations online and in the community. However, the nation has fairly friendly relations with Paravia, who they were formerlly part of, and the Democratic Repuiblic of Howe, who are their allies.
Since March 2015, the nation has been extending its reach into the MicroWiki forums again, as the semi-nationalsied Bank of Wesley runs projects such as the Skovaji Stock Exchange deisgend to improve relations with nations outside the EXU. The Skovajan Government has 5 departments for international affairs, the Foreign and UK Office, the Office of the Advocate General in liaison with the UK, the MicroWiki Board and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
===Military===
Skovaji's military is organised by the Skovajan Ministry for Defence. The country's military is new, as the nation had planned to found a military in late 2015, although the pacifist adminsitration of AC Skovaji shut down these attempts (despite later declaring war on the DRoH). Ergo, the nation only managed to found its first army in April 2015. It is composed of two officers armed with Water Guns, although the country also have a so-called "Diplomatic Army" that they deploy in cases of war with other nations in the micornational community. Although what they would do is unclear, the nation considers this a serious alternative to physical invasion.
== Economy ==
===Science and technology===
Skovaji's science and technology sector is limited, although it is one of the fastest growing aspects of the nation. The nation plans to undertake an insect audit in May, and the nation does have a weather forecasting service, Kerry's Meteorology. Skovaji's technological acheivemnts come formt he private sector; the DeltaPlanner project was first craeted in the nation,a nd Skovaji's branch of DeltaBrand also hold the patents to the DeltaRing, a product which would constitute the first true Smartring on the market (if it were devloped). Skovaji's lack of advanced scientific and technological achievments is a significant political concern at teh moment, and there are plans to open a university or somehow deveop the nationalsied sue of technology, perhaps including printed currency.
===Transport===
Skovaji's transport sector is virtually non-existant, however the issue is consitutionally "pinned", which means it must be discussed by the High Council until a conclusion is reached. The former Porthcothan Claims were fairly well served, with a First Kernow bus link to the UK, and a government-built narrow gauge railway (running 5 metres along the beach).
Due to the hilly nature of Skoavji's land claims, it is considered too complicated to build a railway system (with the current level of technological devlopment). Although Skovaji does have roads, no-one on the High Council has access to cars or buses that might make up a nationalised transport sector. The current preffered system for Cargo Transport is helicopter, as Skovaji owns and operates a small helicopter by remote control. Also, the governemnt maintain roads in and out of the nation one amonth, which mostly includes a brief litter pick.
===Private sector===
There are multiple companies based in Skovaji, and several more listed on the Skovaji Stock Exchange.
====Isotoniae Corporation====
The Isotoniae Corporation (now Isotoniae Incorporated) was a company that operated many now-nationalised services in Skovaji, notably the Weekly Wesley, the Met Office, the Skovaji Broadcasting Corporation and the Architects' Registration Board. The company now operates primerially in the property risk market. Founded as an industry overseer by government-sponsored enterprises the Met Office and the Weekly Wesley, Isotoniae took control of its founders on 1 December 2014 and over the next month it began multiple smaller ventures, notably the Isotoniae Coding Association, the Skovaji Broadcasting Association (now Skovaji Broadcasting) and Kerry's Architecture (now the Architects' Registration Board). Although it was officially an independent organisation, it openly declared itself to be the "Skovajan Government's Operations Manager", a sentiment that was mirrored by the government, who considered it to be a quasi-nationalised endeavour.
Isotoniae was severely criticised for both its performance in improving the nation's image in the community and for its economic record. Between its creation and early 2016, the company had a relatively calm relationship with its first economic regulator, the Economic Board, whose strategy was to encourage Isotoniae to make commitments to improvement. However, critics said that the regulator was not tough enough and that the company had, as a result, been able to abuse its monopoly position. In particular, its customers, the passenger and freight train operators, were desperate for regulatory action to force the company to improve its stewardship of the network and its performance. The Economics Board had been appointed regulator in 2014 by the then-Paravian government. When the government was reorganised in 2016, the new regulator (the Export Finance Board) took a much harder line. After an interim holding period, during which the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, the successor to the Economics Board, filled the regulator's position, in April 2016 the regulator began to oversee Isotoniae, and a new, much tougher regulatory era began.
The Export Finance Board adopted a more interventionist and aggressive regulatory approach. At times the relationship was stormy, with Isotoniae resisting pressure to improve its performance. By the middle of April it was reported in the Skovaji Economic Yimes that "...the Isotoniae Corporation is adopting a deliberate 'culture of defiance' against the regulator". The corporation attempted to resist regulatory action to improve its performance, and as the regulator probed ever more deeply, serious shortcomings in the company's stewardship of the Weekly Wesley (and later its other companies) were revealed.
It was an error printed in the Weekly Wesley that would prove to be the defining moment in Isotoniae's collapse. The Weekly Wesley printed a story reading;
The President of the Democratic Republic of Howe, Michael Howe, immediately lodged a complaint against the Skovajan government about the content in the article, claiming that it violated the peace treaty that had been signed by the two countries in the creation of the Exeter UN. Specifically, the government were angry about the usage of the name "Howe" over the full "Democratic Republic of Howe", a contraction that at the time was punishable by law within the nation, and about the Skovajan governemnt's violation of the Treaty of G028, which included mutual recognition as one of the promises made by the nations.
Following an investigation by the Department of Culture and Internal Affairs (now the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport), serious shortcomings in the Weekly Wesley's journalism were revelaed. The corporporation admitted to having fabricated both the quote and the change in order to make news, and also admitted that the story was absent from the Skovaji and B'llardland versions of the newspaper. The report also stated that the Weekly Wesley needed significant modernisation, inlcuding a webiste (which is now clsoed), save states and more journalistic writing. the costs of this modernisation, inluding otehr steps that isotoniae agreed with the Export Finance Board, were intially estimated to be in the region of W76, although this figure continued to increase as the depth of the company's shortfallings were revealed.
Regulatory and customer pressure had been increasing, and the company's share price began to fall sharply as it became apparent that there were serious shortcomings in the company's ability to tackle and solve its greatest problems. In order to try to increase its share value, in March 2016 the company was floated on the Skovaji Stock Exchange, although this did little to remedy the company's decreasing value (in the first month of its listing, the share price of the company decreased by W2.27). Meanwhile, the costs of modernising the Weekly Wesley were spiralling. In April 2016, Isotoniae announced that, despite making a pre-tax profit before exceptional expenses of W200, the W500 of costs and compensation paid out over the Weekly Wesley's outdated journalism plunged Isotoniae from profit to a loss of W300. This caused it to approach the government for funding, which it then controversially used to pay a W120 dividend to its shareholders in late April. The regulator, the Export Finance Board, went to the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, who declared Isotoniae insolvent without consulting the Seanad derinvart hSkovagee, claiming that it was simply a routine liquidation case. By this stage, the entire government were ready to wade in to save the Isotoniae Corporation's ventures, either through nationalisation or funding grants.
PM Kerry Stapleton was appointed the CEO of the corporation, and through the Export Finance Board gradually sold off the various ventures of the Isotoniae Corporation to the government of Skovaji, where they became various executive agencies. However, the company's board of directors overrode the CEO (who was also the PM), and retained the company's programming and property ventures. The company then applied for full incorporation - becoming Isotoniae Incorporated - and moved into the property risk market. On the 15th May 2016, the company officially escaped the active regulation it had faced since 2014.
Since May 2015, the company has had very little success, as its share price continues to fall. The possibility of financial loss occurring as the result of owning real estate in Skovaji is relatively low, as compared to other nations, and combined with Isotoniae's increasingly low purchasing power parity, its position in the market is by no means certain.
===Currency===
The currency of Skovaji is the Wesley, a free-floating currency that is hand-made in the nation. The Wesley is one of the few aspects of the nation's culture that originates directly from the Nation of Bedroom, and until 2016 the Wesley notes continued to feature depictions of the old flag, pigs and refernces to the "Lord King Wesley", a now-archaic name for the Lord Wesley. The change of the Wesley's deisgn, which happened in 2016, was a contentious one, as the new design was based far more on the new flag and its colour scheme, and had Evonian text. The new notes come in three varieties; one depicting the Lord Wesley raising the flag of the nation, one showing the nationa s having a seat at the EUN; and the last depicting the Evoninan proverb "Ti destren facade es ti heppen upnost" (To abandon pretence is to preserve dignity), which is soemtimes considered the nation's motto.
The Wesley also has coinage, Weslets, representing values below 1 Wesley. Unlike the notes, the coins are double-sided, with one side depicting the older, Nation of Bedroom-based imagary, including the phrase "Lord Wesley, the Great Weseloggler" (which is still a ceremonial title), a depictions of a pig, and the EUN flag, while the other shows modern, Evonian imagary, including an image of the laurel wreath.
The value of the Wesley is determined by: GBP in Bank of Wesley (£) ÷ Number of Wesley in circulation. This system, known as "The Skovajan Pump" (as in "inflation" and "deflation"), dates back to the Nation of Bedroom, when the nation wanted a simple way to craete a free-floating currency. The system is comparible to the Gold Standard, as the pounds in the bank of Wesley are used as gold, although in practise the Wesley is usualy assumed to be worth around 20p in terms of purchasing power, and the "exchange rate" is only useful for genuine exchange, and is not representative of the average cost of items.
The central bank of Skovaji (the governemnt's banker) is the privately owned Bank of Wesley. The Bank has been owned by stockholders from its foundation in 2015, although the government of Skovaji own 51% of the bank. The bank is responsible for ensuring the Wesley and the Skovajan economy keeps a reasonable value by changing interest rates, and by giving information to investors (i.e. publishing rate curves). Another key job of the bank is to oversee the Skovajan Stock Exchange, where the Wesley is used to buy and sell stock of companies. The bank is responsible for buying shares on behalf of the government.
== Demographics ==
===Ethnic groups===
There has been no racial surevy undertaken of Skovaji, although in general, most people are either White British or White Irish.
===Languages===
English is the main language used in Skovaji, although the invented Skovajan (or Evonian) language may be seen on signs and is spoken fluently by a minority of people. Skovajan is also used in a ceremonial context, with all governemnt departments named officially in Skovajan, and the term "Ofie" in common usage to describe the Ofie derinvart hSkovagee, or the lower house of Skovaji. A small number of Skovajan words are also used as part of the Skovajan dialect, althought he degree of usage varies from person to person. Official governemnt estimates state that around 11 words have made the jump, with the most common being "Sagu" for hello, "Mugaban" for business-like or professional-looking, and "Astranci Inva" and "Keshen Inva" being used for "Innaccesable area" and "Storage area".
Although they are not vernacular, knowlege of Spanish, German and French is common in Skovaji, with most residents being reasonably fluent in at least one of the three. The Skovajan government also skuomorphically releases some papers in Cornish, as the nation's claims used to be in Cornwall. The leader of the nation, the Lord Wesley, speaks English and Spanish, and the PM and two members of the High Council are fluent in Skovajan.
== Culture ==
Cultural devlopment is considered to be a Skovajan strong point, witha score of 5 on the Mark-Dresner scale and many aspects covered, either naturally or constitutionally. The nation considers itself to be an Evon nation, although their culture also includes elemets of Celtic and Nordic ideas.
===Music===
Three songs - Smashing Apples, Robot.ogg and Lore voices - are official in Skovaji, and around 10 have been written. One of these, Robot.ogg, is the de jure national anthem, although at most official events and functions Castles in the Sky is used instead. Skovaji's music is a growing sector, with 8 of the 11 songs written in the nation called "Skovlectric" songs. Skovlectric music inlcudes all of the music written in the nation after November 2015. The genere is charcterised by the use of limited vocals; multiple beat drops seperating two phases of the song; electrical noises, usualy long synths or repeated syncopated patterns; and a layered texture that adds and drops layers away from drops.
===Cinema===
Two youtube channels are based in Skovaji, GrammarCommunist and RailwayScientist: the first is a comedy channel, drawing its humour through a mixture of sarcastic comments on grammatical mistakes or poor adverts/tv shows, often accompanied by sarcastic refernces to soviet imagary, and genuine (if not dry) political commenatry on the UK and its main parties. The channel is very politically left and is also very liberal, although it is a fairly sharp critic of all of the main UK political parties, including Left Unity, TUSC and the Green Party. RailwayScientist is a trains channel, which shows videos of trains. It is also responsible for the "Story of Exeter" documentary movie, which is still being produced.
Aside form the aforementioned documentary video, Skovaji has no other cinematic elemets.
===Media===
Skovaji's main newspaper is the Weekly Wesley, and there is a planned collaberation with Kerry's Meteorology to create News Skovaji, a T.V. station. The newspaper, despite the name, has not been weekly since 2015, and is instead released with the coming of important events, such as international disagreements. The newspaper is printed on foolscap folio, although it is written in the style of a broadsheet newspaper.
Although no fictions has ever been published in Skovaji (or from Skovaji), the "BHH" series of fiction is being written. No publishing agencies exist in Skovaji, despite it being on the Isotoniae Corporation manifesto, as no books, fiction or otherwise, have ever been written.
===Sport===
Skovaji does not have any international sports teams, however they do have their own sport, Trampball. Trampball, also known as "Trampoline Netball", is a mixture of Basketball, Football and Netball played on a large trampoline.
===Symbolism & Crest===
Skovaji's principal symbol is the Laurel Wreath, which represents the nation's history. Originally it represented the "Fruits of a Nation", in the old flag, although now it is used as a mark of the effor used to have the nation reach this stage. It is a principal symbol of Evonism, and (consequently), Evon-Mortarism. Alongside the Laurel Wreath, Skovaji is also represented by Skovajan Gravel, a material of which there is an abundance of in the nation. Gravel is used in the logo of News Skovaji, and also on the Republic of Skovaji webiste.
The orinal Nation of Bedroom (and the first Republic of Skovaji), were represented heavially by what now caracterises Wesleyism, including the use of the term "Wesley" in a far wider range of contexts, and the use of pigs as the nation's symbol. For example, the Parlaiment of Skovaji (now the Ofie)'s former logo was based on a pig snout. The ceremonial colour of the nation then was pink, although it is now a dark teal colour.
thumb|The national crest of Skovaji|left
As shown, the crest of Skovaji includes several elements of symbolic imagray. The symbol on the top right represents Robot Socialism, the prevailing political school in Skovaji until 2016, and still a major influence on the nation's politics. In the middle top, an English crowned lion represents that the land here was once English, while 2 Skovajan flags represent its "new" alleigence. The Laurel Wreath on the top left represents Evonism, which (in a varied form) has been the dominant or sub-dominant political school in Skovaji since it became known as such. The man on the left represents the Skovajan worker, and the boar (pig) on the right represents the Nation of Bedroom, and the nation's history. Soem have, incorrectly, assum,ed that the man, who is strong and appears agressive, and the pig prepresent the Keiserdømmet and Wesleyism respectively. Insode the crest, the unicorn represents hope, the keys represnt loyalty, the blue pigs represnt both the Nation of Bedroom and Intelligence, and the blue house represnts both intelligence and shelter.
===Art===
The Art of Skovaji is a mixture of Evon-derived and UK-style.
Evon art is usualy abstract lines and patterns that follow a simple mathematical rule. The simplist and most common of these patterns is the "Evowirl", a design based on an infinitely curved line crossing over itself at certain points. Likewise, it is influenced by Celtic knot patterns and designs, although often the rule used is far simpler.
Art in Skovaji also includes a wide range of paintings and drawings drawn in a more standard style. Many of the earliest works recorded in Skovaji (circa 2014) were based on works of fiction, mainly Mortal engines and its sequels. Later art, however, is more influnced by the nature and beauty of Skovaji itself, with drawings and paintings of Skovaji's natural beauty. Some of these were produced by the now-defunct Isotoniae Corporation, who included "Graphic and Artistic design" ont heir manifesto.