Union of the Southern World

> In Forming a Better Union, We Must Live as a Formed People
>
> Inscription on every Standard

The Union of the Southern World, commonly shortened simply to 'Southern Union' is a country in the southern hemisphere of Vienrim located on the continent of Frassada.

## History

### Age of Growth

#### Founding

The Union of the Southern World was founded in the year 922 after nearly a decade of ongoing legal conventions held between the great city-states of Hubris, Sieghart, Dragonscorn, Ironearth, and Craghold unanimously voted to pass the Frassadan Unity, effectively forming the northen half of Frassada into a single state.

The Constitution of the Union of the Southern World was ratified, granting rarely-seen liberties to citizens such as a complete protection on expression, practice of magic, and freedom to travel, as well as an outright ban of slavery for any reason or purpose.

#### The City of Five Hands

Almost immediately after the nation was born, the former city-states began a collaborative effort to build a central capital city to represent their interests equally in a new, neutral place. The effort took over 30 years until the capital was officially recognized in 953 as the city built upon the Emerald River, the city of Five Hands. As of year 1042, Five Hands became the most populous city on Vienrim, with over 1.2 million individuals calling it home.

## Government

Southern Union's governing bodies are divided into a set of councils that oversee the various tasks and operations of the swelling nation, typically divided into tiers.

* Grand Council - Has the power to declare wars, amend the government’s budgets and the Constitution, and to grant pardons. There is only one tier of the Grand Council.
* Military Council - Composed exclusively of military leaders, the Military Council acts as the high command and operates in the capacity of an assembly of officers. The Military Council is also responsible for deciding when and where to declare martial law, if necessary. There are five tiers of the military council, with the lowest tiers acting as garrison and battalion leadership, with the higher tiers effectively directing military movements and overall strategy.
* Legislative Council - The Legislative Council writes and ratifies laws, though many laws explicitly require the consent of other councils as per the Constitution in order to come into activity. The Legislative Council has four tiers, with lower tiers managing towns (or sometimes only city districts), and higher tiers operating as the effective parliamentary body of the nation.
* Trade Council - The high council regarding economics, the Trade Council has the right to declare and lift embargos, tariffs, and other restrictions on shipping along with most taxes that are imposed throughout Southern Union. There are only two tiers of the Trade Council, with the lower tier existing to supervise local trade throughout different sections of the country, and the upper Trade Council managing both the offshore trading regarding SU along with overseeing the lower tier.
* Custodial Council - Responsible for many of the public services that exist in SU to include policing, public institutions such as schools and prisons, and to ensure that general systems run smoothly. The Custodial Council only has two tiers, the lower tier which oversees individual settlements and cities, and the upper tier which is responsible for entire regions.

## Economy

Southern Union’s economy is very much that of a market, which is to say, very open with little regulation in many regions. Imports are generally made illegal based on the location they originate from, rather than the product itself. There are few substances or objects that are illegal by their nature alone. Taxes, as such, are generally low, but imports being taxed are rapidly changing. The Southern Union’s form of currency is the Union Standard.

## Geography

Southern Union’s architecture is neo-Victorian in aesthetic. Much of the land is cold and stony in the east and the north, where it is extremely grey, composed of great swaths of stone, heavy with cliffs and stalagmites, known commonly as ‘greyfields.’ To the west of the Azure Sea, the land is quite fertile for a large while, running to the south, where the seasons are generally warm and temperate. In the northwest, specifically in the Kaverloom and Gellen Majel regions, the brine of the Paradic Ocean hangs thick in the air, the earth is salty and dry, and moisture concentrates in swamps or under hills.

## Military

Southern Union prides itself on its advanced, diverse military. The Southern Union Army is likely the only army in the southern hemisphere that could defeat the Imperial Army in an open field, where they lack the numbers in comparison (320,000 foot soldiers compared to Foregrim’s half million) they make up for greatly with their diverse and complex range of fielded units to include distinguished lancer divisions, armored behir battlemounts, and the air auxiliary corps composed of a number of flying creatures, to include around ten adult dragons.