Rumania

Rumania is a philosophical movement that developed on Old Earth sometime before the year 5,000 BC.

## Definition

Contrary to popular belief, Rumania is not a nation or a political entity, nor is it a religion. Rather, Rumania very loosely defined as a state of mind, a way of life that Rumanians adhere to. Not because they have to, just because they happen to feel like it. To be Rumanian means simply to accept the principles of life regarding Rumania (stated clearly below).

Despite not being a nation with borders to defend, Rumania has at least on one occasion gotten involved in armed conflict.

## Beginnings

Even though they are frequently listed as one
of the founding HILT nations, Rumania in actuality developed at a
later time than the original four – Brewtan, Los Lobos, R.O.M.A.N,
and Shanducha. They are however contemporaries of the later world
power Tsukonia.

They pre-date later nations Holy Robison Empire, URM, Pendeross Kingdom, Royal Navy of Purv, Alssyria,
and Missy Moo Moo Land.

## Land Holdings

### On Earth

As they are not a true nation, Rumania
holds no actual land, rather allowing its adherents to live a
vagabond life, wandering around the world and doing whatever floats
their particular boat.

However, in a gesture of goodwill from
the Semi United Nations, Rumania is usually viewed as being the owner and overseer of the majority of
islands throughout the Caribbean, as well as Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands.

### During the Space Saga

When humanity left for the stars and began terraforming the galaxy one solar system at a time, Earth's solar system was declared a Neutral Zone and gifted to Rumania to serve as caretakers. Thus, Rumania is now viewed as being the owners of all nine planets from Mercury to Pluto.

## Rulership

There is no formal leader for Rumania,
but for the sake of handling relations with the nations, every year a
figurehead or emissary is informally chosen. This figurehead is
chosen via a survey amongst the Rumanians who are currently living in
the Caribbean (wandering about as a vagabond therefore restricts
citizens from participating in this survey). This survey is to select
that year's emissary, who will for the year be known as The Dude. If
a woman is chosen, she is *not*
called the Dudette. Rumanians have no use for political correctness.

Selection
for the Dude are from certain criteria:

1. How loyally are they sticking to the lifestyle of a good Rumanian?
2. How good is the rum they make? (see entry on Economy)
3. After a few drinks, how clearly can they speak, and how well do they listen and comprehend?
4. Are they generally intelligent?

Nominees
for the Dude must also be chosen from among those currently living in
the Caribbean.

Every
year, a new Dude is chosen. The same Dude can be chosen in as many
consecutive years as people want him to, or for as long as he can be
bothered.

## Citizens

Rumania has never issues a census, because who wants to bother? Estimates, however, put the number of people living in Rumanian territory around 4 or 5 million. How many Rumanians live overseas? I dunno.

As Rumania really doesn't have laws or a government, every household is responsible for pretty much taking care of themselves. This has caused all adherents to become highly self sufficient. For the normal household to succeed, the following skills are generally necessary.

* Basic construction and woodworking (homes, boats, toilets, rum barrels, etc)
* Basic medicine
* Clothes/hammock making
* Cooking
* Gardening and farming
* Rum brewing

## Lifestyle

### Arts & Entertainment

Rumania, due to their commitment to not destroy their land, refuses all technology, plastics, synthetics, and the like. Due to this, there are no movies, cell phones, internet, etc.

Books however are a very large part of Rumanian life (what better way to chill than in a hammock with a book? see "Education" below), as is live theater. Every island has at least one theater where they'll host plays, musicals, musicians, stand up comedians, anything of the sort.

Punta Cana, Hispaniola is home to the largest of all Rumanian theaters, and many foreign performers will stop there mid-tour, consistently pulling in large crowds. Visiting performers are also encouraged to visit the smaller theaters scattered through the territory, but if they don't, whatever. They're free moral agents, whatever floats their boats.

### Economy

An
infernal problem, Rumania circumvented the issue by removing all jobs
and income, therefore destroying the economy and rendering the issue
moot. Adherents make their livings by just getting whatever they need
themselves. The majority of Rumanians have a personal farm/garden and
their own homemade refinery, and typically have learned to make their
own clothes, hammocks, and boats. In the rare instance when a
Rumanian family doesn't have enough food or alcohol, it is generally
assumed that their more prosperous neighbors will share with them.
Nobody keeps tabs on how much one person owes another person. That
sounds like math. Yuck.

When
the countries around the world ask for rum, Rumanians are happy to
provide their excess. They do not demand or expect recompense, but if
someone chooses to reward their gift, no Rumanian would ever reject
it. Using this method is how Rumania got their fleet of warships
necessary for the Sea of Blood battle, which they joined simply
because it sounded like a rollicking good time.

Spoiler
alert: it was.

The average Rumanian household has an ongoing brewery project which tends to yield one average wine barrel full of rum per month, or approximately 225 liters. As even the most hardened Rumanian will rarely drink more than 1 liter by himself per week, this allows the typical household to give away 50 liters or premium rum every single week. As mentioned before, this is done free of charge, but if those receiving the rum feel like offering something back as an exchange, Rumania is always happy to accept. However, because we eschew any type of plastics, synthetics, and other pollutants, we restrict what can be imported into our territory. The approved list includes things such as:

* Exotic woods (purple heart, koa, cedar, mahogany, spruce, maple, etc)
* Books and theater scripts
* Foods, spices, and salt (cooking salts preferably, not iodized or table salts)
* Non-invasive animal species
* Non-invasive plant species
* Glass, ceramics, wooden bottles and such
* Musical instruments and their replacement parts

Cash is also accepted, although we have no places to spend it within our borders. Any cash money sent to us is redirected to overseas bank accounts (the main one being in Shanduchan territory) where it can be stored for emergency uses such as disaster relief. When a Rumanian is traveling abroad, some of this cash can also be sent to them to aid in getting them started overseas.

Estimated annual earnings being sent to the Shanduchan bank is approximately 2-3 billion quin.

### Education

Like
we're going to force a bunch of hyper, creative, and imaginative kids
to waste their youth cooped up in smelly cramped buildings. Let the
little brats play outside. If their parents want them to learn, they
can teach the kids themselves. If a growing child wants to learn more
at a university or something, then they are free to travel to another
nation and attend school. Travel and tuition (if applicable) are the
parents' concern. If they need assistance, see above entry on Economy and how some money can be sent to the Rumanian family.

To assist these families in educating their children, part of the 2-3 billion quin annual earnings are spent building libraries on every island of Rumania (the largest and main one being in Punta Cana, Hispaniola) and filling them with as many books from around the world as possible. Each library also has a wing dedicated to Rumanian history, culture, lfestyle, biographies, and similar things. This is to ensure the local culture is not lost amidst the ever growing number of foreigners visiting and sharing their ways of life with us.

As relations build with surrounding nations, The Dude will on occasion request certain numbers of Rumanians to travel to these lands to learn about their cuisines, their arts, etc, and then return to Rumania to share what they've learned and enhance the quality of life in our own territory.

To preserve this collective knowledge, overseas library branches are also established in the territories of friendly nations (Tsukonia, Shanducha, and Alssyria primarily, though also with R.O.M.A.N who we're trying to get along with now, despite their rampant unchillness). These libraries are meant to have backup copies of every single book contained in a Rumanian library, so in case of a disaster or any sort of damage, the books can be replaced. Shanducha and R.O.M.A.N, for their part, also make digital backups of these books, so despite Rumania not using technology, these other nations can keep an alternate supply of this information.

### Law & Order

If a Rumanian is unchill, the neighbors can collectively remove them
and send them to another part of the island. If the neighbors there
also declare the person unchill, they are banished from that island
and relocated to another. If this process repeats on the second
island, they are banned from Rumania and sent to wander the world.

If anyone puts up major resistance (or arms themselves for any reason
beyond hunting) troops from the nearest military will be asked to
kindly come and escort the person out. Same applies to murder.

### Military

If
there's a war and it sounds fun, any Rumanian who wants to join in
can. We probably have, like, boats or guns somewhere. Look around and
you'll probably find them.

### Sanitation

Every home will be responsible for making their own sanitation system (as we
eschew all industry). However, possible options for
plastic/synthetic/electricity free systems include hydraulic pump
systems with clay/terra cotta/bamboo pipes, or old fashioned
outhouses (as long as they are built a reasonable distance from other
homes and are sufficient depth).

Also popular are handmade composting toilets, as they not only help with sanitation, but aid in farming/gardening projects as well.

## National Status

In the
eyes of the majority of the world, Rumania is considered a nation.
According to some, Rumania is even considered a world power. How and
why, we have no idea.

## Declaration of Principles

1. One must be chill at almost all times. Exceptions to this are when arguing (especially about something like *Star Wars: The Last Jedi*) or when getting excessively emotionally attached to a ridiculous film that has no true bearing on your life (such as *Sairat*). Essentially, when faced with real problems, you must be chill. When it doesn't matter, and being hysterical and emotional makes it more fun, then go for it.
2. One must acknowledge the greatness of rum (and, broadly defined, whiskey, gin, vodka, etc) and the benefits of partaking in such.
3. Music is awesome and should be enjoyed gratuitously. All music is great. Except Oasis. Oasis is banned. If any Gallaghers are sighted, they are to be shunned and/or executed.
4. Nicknames are of much greater value than legal names. As nicknames generally contribute to a chill atmosphere.
5. Citizens of any nation, adherents to any religion, etc, can be Rumanians. Merely having the proper state of mind and following these guiding principles makes one Rumanian. Jeff Bridges is Rumanian and doesn't even know it.
6. There is no rule #6
7. At least.
8. Who do we appreciate?
9. Dumb jokes and inside jokes are encouraged.
10. So is your mom.
11. What about Bob.

## Notable Adherents

* Clyde the Slyde
* Kiara Lehiwa
* Lewdwig Baitoven
* Louise Ochoa
* Sonora Rasa