Great Hegi

Flag of Great Hegi

**The Hegiite Unitary Republic** known by its short-form name, **Great Hegi,** is a mostly unitary thing of five Heritage Regions located in Ripiero. It borders the Synoscan confederates of Papyrussia and Sans Marino to the South-West, the Vau'senaan confederates of Castaña and Valtinn to the South-East and the Republic of Donat to the North. Its capital city is Mount Varose, and it currently is **the largest country in Ulina by landmass and population**.

Great Hegi is comprised of five Heritage Regions, subservient to the Unitary Republic. They are in order of population, the Rutherland, St. Alain, Kruhasta, Dhraul, and Nordun-Pitrou. Great Hegi also possesses two overseas territories, Saibel and Sonder, and a capital territory, Mount Varose.

## Etymology

Great Hegi's name was conceived to be neutral, devoid of any nationalist connotations. Its name derives from Hegi, the mountain range which forms the border between the Rutherland and St. Alain, and runs through the Confederation's capital in Mt. Varose. Hegi itself is an ancient Stoikos-rooted word, constructed from the words '*Hègh,*' (high) and '*Gij*' (land). The 'Great', (Alainois; *Grand* / Kruhastan: *Veliki*) stands to represent the greater realm of the Hegiite confederation, stretching far beyond the Hegi mountain range.

## History

The history of Great Hegi itself only begun in 2016, with its foundation by its three original member-states, but the tales of each Heritage Region stretches back long before then.

### Antiquity (3000 BC-400 AD)

#### Ancient era

The earliest known anthropological evidence of civilization in Great Hegi can be traced back to the Hegi mountain range, and the Stoikos river civilization. Believed to be populated by a predecessor to modern Rutherish and Alainois, nicknamed the Ancient Hegiites, evidence of their state around the river has been discovered in the form of crude bowls, utensils, or more impressively, the remains of statuettes and ancient obelisks or pyramids. Found downriver in the modern Gaush region, the Stoikos river civilization had a rigid caste system, and what is believed to be a spiritual connection to the river itself, with many of their idols sculpted to depict fish, or river birds. Compared to the other early civilizations of Ripiero, the Stoikos river civilization was primitive. Their only system of writing was one of yet untranslated pictograms, and the remains of few cities have been discovered, suggesting a relatively quick downfall, factors yet unknown. As evidence shows, The ancient Hegiite people would come to spread away from the river, and would inhabit a belt across central Ripiero, on opposite sides of the Hegi mountains. The group which remained on the west side would become the Alainois, and the group which crossed east would become the Rutherish.

At the same time, the Kruhastans were migrating from Kanita to Ripiero. Kruhasta would take much longer to consolidate a civilization, speaking an old Proto-Slavic tongue from Himegistan, in Kanita. Kruhastan tribes would remain in the Bronze Age until developing alongside the returning Donatese, from which they adapted their language.

In Dhraul, the Dhrauls may have had the most developed civilization of all. Dated to form some time after the collapse of the fall of the Stoikos river civilization, Ancient Dhraul has much more complete records of what an olden civilization looked like, with complete ruins, an understood writing system and religious belief, and even continuously inhabited ancient cities, including the marble citiy of Rossau. The Ancient Dhrauls first mastered the art of magic, which became a fixture to every aspect of Dhrallic life, which persists today in Criopt. The Dhrauls' development and innovation allowed their civilization to persist and thrive until the arrival of the Felimans.

In the Nordun region, the area which now comprises of Nordun-Pitrou, and the northern territories of St. Alain and the Rutherland, the area was roamed and fiercely guarded by the Norgon people, a population of massive beast-like people. The Norgons were ruthless, and were the only people tough enough to endure Nordun's unforgiving cold. They lived as nomads in the region for thousands of years, retaining their way of life from Antiquity until the 16th century, when the Hegiites invaded.

#### Feliman era

The Feliman Empire, centred around modern day Catican City, the greatest empire of Antiquity, swept through Southern Ripiero, conquering both Ancient Dhraul and the tribes of Hegi. The Feliman Empire was highly developed for its time, spreading progressive ideas and philosophies, some taken from the Dhrauls, across their realm. The Feliman language, Reprodesic, came to dominate, and from it eventually evolved both the Rutherish and Alainois languages. The Felimans completed major infrastructure in their Hegica provinces, and once it was gone, they left behind the complete Rutherish and Alainois nations for the first time. The Felimans founded the current Alainois capital, Malouise, and the original Rutherish capital, Old Rothesay. (As Colonia Hegica)

During the Feliman era, a Papyrussian recieved enlightenment from the first Mituist god. In the coming years, four further enlightenments would come to first an Alainois, followed by a Kruhastan, and then a Dhraul, and finally a Feliman. The Mituist religion would be spread by these five prophets across every corner of the Feliman Empire, until a schism between them left the Feliman to sever ties and become the only prophet of the faith Catulism. While Mituism had already defeated the pagan religions across the empire, the Feliman Empire only officially adopted Catulism after the schism, leading to a fragmentation between present Mituist and Catulist groups that couldn't be mended. The Alainois would choose Catulism, while the Rutherish opted to stick with Mituism.

The Norgon people of Nordun, an uncivilized tribe, began pillages and raids of Hegiite lands under the Felimans, which drove them south into the richer interior. Combined with increased tension between the two religions, until the Feliman Empire finally collapsed under its own weight. The blackout of advanced civilization began in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of the Feliman Empire, with panic in both Hegi and Dhraul taking over, resulting in the rise of hyper-zealous feudal realms across modern Great Hegi, beginning the Middle Ages.

### Middle Ages(400-1400)

#### Early Middle Ages

By this time, Kruhasta had been on an entirely separate path from the ugly remnants of the Feliman empire. Alongside the Donatese, Kruhasta had developed a unique feudal system, with powerful families organizing themselves into small kingdoms. Contact with the Feliman-era Hegiites lead to an exchange of ideas, with many rulers in Kruhasta adopting either Mituism or Catulism, and in exchange, the Kruhastan model of feudalism was learned by both the Alainois and Rutherish. In the absence of Feliman rule, it was these families which took control of St. Alain and the Rutherland, The Notogiites retracted and remained amongst themselves, and so the Rutherish and Alainois dynasties remained in total isolation, including from eachother, allowed to quarrel amonst themselves for control, much like Kruhasta had been and continued to do.

However, religious unity, and threat from Norgon and Castani raids, resulted in the eventual unification of both the Rutherish and Alainois kingdoms, around the year 800 While Kruhasta remained divided, newly united Rutherland and St. Alain made them formidable in their locale, finally tough enough to hold their own. Quality of life remained dismal, but the monarchs of the two kingdoms began curiously peeking over their side of the mountains, rediscovering one another, and remembering how much they hated one another. This decidedly would turn out to be centuries of pointless quarrels and wars between the two, with borders changing minimally every few years. This dynamic would remain relatively unchanged for a few centuries.

In Dhraul, things were different. Dhraul was one of the few parts of the former Feliman Empire able to defend and enshrine its original ideals, resulting in what is considered to be a continuation of the Dhrallic realm. While the Dhrallic philosophy had transformed to include religious sanctity, broadly, its magical traditions remained. And so did its principle of intellectualism, allowing the realm to remain united, wealthy, and ahead. So well off, in fact, the Dhrauls began to bloat. They faced so few tribulations, and lived so well compared to anyone else they contacted, it must have been divine. The Dhrallic hubris grew gigantic, and the Dhrallic Empire was born. The Dhrauls, with their magical prowess, began to torment their neighbours, in Kruhastan, Rutherish, and Valtanach tribes, allowing their repuation to grow fearsome. The Dhrauls would eventually form an unstoppable alliance with the gruesome Castaña warlords, and would conquer the entire Notogi subcontinent, pioneering the foundation of the First Empire of Notogi in 1310, based in the ancient Dhrallic capital of Rossau.

In the Hegi region, after the influential Rutherish queen Duva died in 1012 without an heir, disputes in succession lead to an Alainois invasion of the confused Rutherish kingdom, with the Alainois king Filip II conquesting the Rutherish throne for himself, becoming the first king of both St. Alain and the Rutherland, beginning the Medieval Alainois Empire. Rutherish peasants living in the Tonikwat province fled the Alainois invaders, leading to a massive Rutherish immigration into the Papyrussian Gashturr region, the beginnings of modern Sans Marino.

Alainois monarchs ruled over the Rutherland for the next 200 years, although not much changed for the isolated Rutherish peasantry, religious disparities between Rutherish and Alainois elites meant tensions ran high, all the time. Several small-scale wars between Alainois nobles and Rutherish commoners popped up over the era of Alainois suzerainty, until 1266, when the Rutherland rose up in formal revolt, with a Rutherish prince, Julian, challenging the Alainois for the Rutherish crown, which he ultimately won, restoring the Rutherish Kingdom.

Kruhasta, pushed by its strong drive to profit, allowed its smaller kingdoms to thrive, even with their religious differences, since religion played a much more subdued role in Kruhastan societies. Kruhastan merchants created some of the very first accurate maps. Kruhasta would grow wealthy trading with the Rutherish, Notogiites, and Donatese. Eventually, however, following waves of religious violence across the continent spoiled the peace in Kruhasta, and its many kingdoms and duchies, all with different religious affilations, went on a all-out war with one-another. Eventually, a Catulist prince near the Donatese border would come to unite all of Kruhasta, from a mix of conquest, marriage, and wheeling and dealing. By 1345, The Principality of Kruhasta was born.

#### Plucking Wars

In this short period where Catulist powers dominated the continent, religious tensions ran high. War existed in unofficial perpetuity on every Rutherish frontier. A period of theocratic domination began. The Catulist clerical caste ruled the powerful Notogi directly, and the monarchs of the Rutherland were ordained Mituist religious figures. Tensions between the religions ran so high, it was described the Mituist and Catulist gods brawled each other in the skies over Malouise, the capital of St. Alain. In truth, this was little more than a comet, but the inevitable was on course. A religious uprising of Kruhastan Mituists in 1414 would flare up into a continent-wide religious conflict, with the Catulist titans of the Kingdom of St. Alain, the Empire of Notogi, and the Principality of Kruhasta, taking on the Kingdom of the Rutherland and the Commonwealth of Gashturr, the two Mituist powers which had arisen to support the Kruhastan Mituist uprising. These series of conflicts was extremely consequential, and would come to decide the balance of power on the continent. It was posthumously named the Plucking Wars.

The Plucking War was long. Very long. Several different treaties at different times brought ends to different conflicts within the greater Plucking Wars, with the last treaty between Gashturr and Notogi being signed some time in the 17th century. The conflict dominated the later Middle Ages, every kingdom on the continent consumed with thoughts of war and not much else. As such, records of this period are very sparse, but there is a general consensus of events.

The most vicious and well recorded wars are those the Third Alaino-Rutherish War, and first Notogiite-Rutherish war. Gashturr played for the acquisition of Papyrussian lands from the Alainois crown, and Kruhasta had both subdued its uprising and been knocked out of the war in a few decades. New ideas of war never before concieved had been tested by the Rutherish across the Hegi mountains. Alainois invasions across the Hegi mountains were repelled at Athlone and Canoose, and the Rutherish delivered the Alainois sweeping defeats after another at Woodstalk and St. Cale, until the Rutherish besieged Oppoton in 1489, and with a peasants' revolt on the horizon, St. Alain signed peace with the Rutherish in 1492.

All the while, the war between Notogi and the Rutherland had been grueling. Notogi's revolutionary Castani battalions on horseback obliterated the feeble Rutherish footsoldiers and bowmen again and again, and nearly destroying the small Rutherish navy in Kauton in 1434. Notogi celebrated victory after another, with no mountains to impede them, the Rutherish flatlands was perfect for the Notogiites to run wild. They captured Kaoton itself in 1450, and then threatened the Rutherland's second most important city, Achvonwell by 1455. Despite threats of mutiny and the destruction of his realm, the Rutherish king, Pi II, was unusually stubborn, and held out hope, despite his near constant losses, waiting for a miracle. In 1475, that miracle struck.

The Notogiite grand wizard Loch was the functional ruler of Notogi, as the pontiff of Rossau. in 1475, he suffered a bout of insanity, which, as it turns out, can be extremely destructive for a Dhraul. Their presumed victory in against the Rutherland lead to an attitude of calmness in Rossau, one that the powerful Castani faction in Feliway didn't share. Feliway wrenched control away from the crazed grand wizard in Rossao, and declared the Castani emperor of Notogi will assume command of the empire. This lead to strife within Notogi, and with rebellion in Notogi-controlled Cosona, prompted the Notogiite offensive to slim down. The Rutherish king took full advantage of this, and while copying the Notogiite's own strategies they had learned from them, repulsed them from the Rutherish heartland. With the defeat of St. Alain in 1489, the Rutherish didn't stop. They raced ahead in a rain of arrows, defeating the Dhrauls at Howburn, and then conclusively crushed the Castanis at the Battle of Foremantine, considered the turning point of the Notogiite-Rutherish war. Notogi had expended itself, and the Rutherish beelined, taking settlements north of Lake Tavolera, heading straight for the Notogiite and ancient Dhrallic capital, Rossau.

By 1532, the Rutherish had conquested all of continental Dhraul, called Dhralland by the Rutherish, to little Notogiite resistance, save for the Siege of Rossau, a last ditch effort to save the capital. The Rutherish were brutal upon taking the city, executing the grand wizard, Loch, and sacking the ancient city. Feliway at least had no more competition to rule Notogi. The Emperor of Notogi in Feliway finally offered peace, at the condition of the return of Dhralland, but the Rutherish refused. Notogi and the Rutherland remained at war for another 50 years, with Notogi not agreeing to peace unless Dhralland was freed. Skirmishes continued west of Lake Tavolera, but the greater war had mostly come to an end. This time was known as the Dhrallic Genocide, with the Rutherish brutally and shamelessly scrubbing Dhralland clean of every Dhraul, the nobility, the educated, and the peasantry. A great swath of Dhrallic knowledge was lost, and the Dhrauls ceased to inhabit Dhralland. The only bastion of Dhrauls left by 1570 was the island of Criopt, across the strait from the Dhrallic mainland. Notogi held on to Criopt, saving it from the Rutherish sword. Notogi finally agreed to peace in 1582, the Rutherish retaining all the land they had secured during the war, including Dhralland. Dhrallic resettlement of Dhralland only begun in the 20th century, and Dhraul was restored in 2046, but even still, the Rutherish still hold a majority there.

In the aftermath of the Plucking War, the dynamic on the continent had radically changed. The Rutherland bloated its borders several times what it used to be, defeating the greatest empire on the continent, and establishing a new great power in its place. Notogi could no longer count on dominating the continent. It now had to share its crown with an equally powerful hostile empire. The Rutherish Empire had begun.

### Colonial age (1500-1900)

#### Era of Exploration

While the Plucking Wars raged, Kruhasta had come to have other focuses. Kruhasta had an itch. Kruhasta had begun its longstanding legacy of seafaring, and shipbuilding, The country harboured two peninsulas, and lots of sea in between, the perfect playground for Kruhasta to test its navigational and maritime prowess. By the early 1500's, Kruhastan-mint vessels were popping up all over the continent, docking in important cities and offering Kruhasta's finest wares. No matter what side of the conflict you fought on, Kruhasta would show up nonetheless, Kauton, Lovlin, Rossau, Malouise, Pageno, Catican City, Pomortse. The Kruhas were everywhere. Supplying both sides of the conflict allowed Kruhasta to grow wealthy, which granted it the resources to build even bigger and better boats. In that time, Kruhasta truly did rule the waves. The waves around Ripiero, that is. This would all change, however, and by freak accident.

A Kruhastan merchant vessel en route to trade at Donatese ports, nothing out of the ordinary. It was the Kitnjak, captained by Samovil Šampanj, then no one but another seafarer wishing to peddle his goods. Unexpectedly, however, a storm struck the Kitnjak. Šampanj survived, and so did the Kitnjak, but its mast did not. The ship drifted, and drifted, and drifted, to no end. Šampanj knew his simple life would come to an end. He survived on the fish he planned to sell. Almost three weeks past, and just as Šampanj had given up hope, land foggied into his view. Upon arriving on the shore he thought may have been Donat, he travelled inland for help, but did not find the Donatese, instead, a village of unknown people. The strangers helped repair his mast, and he managed to return to Kruhasta, upon which he immediately notified the Prince of Kruhasta about this strange, undiscovered land he had walked on. The prince, in a peculiar leap of faith, accredited to possible alcoholism, sent Šampanj with an entire fleet across the Samudric ocean eastwards, and what Kruhasta discovered was the Himegistan coast, and the Hrozavan settlement Reniya, on the unknown continent of Kanita. Šampanj was the first Ripieran to contact another continent. The Era of Exploration had begun.

Kruhasta spent the next few decades establishing small outposts and colonies along the southeast Kanitan coast, especially in Hrozava, Himegistan, and Aquilaria. Kruhasta would come to establish the city of Kundaka in 1550, on the island of Sonder, in the Samudric. Kruhasta also established trade links to major cities in Kanita, such as Veninaviz, and Beretsya, pioneering the beginning of global trade. Kruhasta also began making rounds around the globe, mapping the continents of Zapita and Sivalat for the first time for Ripiero.

Meanwhile, the Plucking Wars in Ripiero had ended, mostly. The continent finally had time to breathe, it needed time to consolidate, relax with its new balance of power. But it didn't. The militant Rutherish and Alainois kingdoms immediatly began competing again. The onset of firearms, invented by Gashturr sometime in the 1400's, now made it so the Rutherish and Alainois could finally challenge the Norgon raiders in the north. Both the Alainois and Rutherish began actively venturing further and further into Norgon lands, until it was clear just how little threat the Norgons could pose to them. Upon realizing that the other had the same idea, a fever struck the two rival kingdoms. They had to get there first, before the other did. Where? They didn't exactly know, but they knew that had to beat the other. This started what is now called the Race for Nordun.

As the Rutherish and Alainois each hurried north, first along their respective coasts, and then inland, into the Nordun interior, massacring small villages of Norgons along the way. At first, the Hegi mountains stretched through Nordun, too keeping the Rutherish and Alainois mostly segregated, but wanting to overtake one another, the two would routinely attempt to cross over the mountains at cut the other off, resulting in regular skirmishes. Upon reaching modern day Pitrou, near the northern coast, the two discovered the Hegi mountain range had actually dissipated. With no natural boundary, St. Alain, the first to arrive in Pitrou, formed an alliance with the native Norgon forces, swung around, and ambushed the advancing Rutherish expeditionary force at Nonova Outpost, well on the eastern side of the mountains. This is considered the start of the Alainois and Norgon War of 1596. Despite the explosive Rutherish victory, their unfamiliarity with Nordun spelled doom for their efforts, as the Alainois had subverted this by recruiting the Norgons on their side. The Alainois, with the element of surprise, pulled a victory, and established the territory of Pitrou, somewhat of a reservation for the Norgons as thanks for their help. Despite this, the Alainois settled Pitrou extensively, very quickly overtaking the disorganizd Norgon population, and forcing them into the interior. The Alainois had secured Pitrou for now

In the Rutherish settlement of Sturgeon River, on the frontier of Alainois control, a Rutherish senior named Benedict wandered across the Alainois border. The Alainois, who had been dealing with Rutherish looting for years at that point, detained Benedict, castrated him, and sent him back to send a message. Don't cross over, or we'll cut your balls off. The event was such an outrage, it reached the Rutherish king himself, and in a fit of rage, declared an all out war of retribution. The War of Benedict's Testicles, 1611. The Alainois were caught off guard, but Benedict will be avenged. The Norgons as well, feeling betrayed by the Alainois for their colonization of Pitrou, turned on St. Alain. With their strategy turned against them, the Alainois were chased from Pitrou, and it became a Rutherish territory within 3 years. The Rutherland ignored both the Norgons and Alainois living in Pitrou, and settled Pitrou even heavier, founding the city of Illiar to consolidate Rutherish control. Nordun had found its permanent home, under the Rutherish Empire.

Donat remained the last corner of the Ripiero continent shrouded in mystery to the Rutherish. Donat was known extensively to the Kruhastans, and through Kruhastans, both Donatese goods and tales of the land of Donat spread around, including to the Rutherish, who the Kruhastans had become close allies with as of late. What was known about the Donatese is that ethnically, they shared the same complexion as the Rutherish, leading the Rutherish to believe them to be estranged brothers. Rutherish expeditions confirmed the Donatese as ''Rutherishmen speaking a broken tongue.'' The Rutherish had also caught wind of Kruhasta's colonies in a distant land, and in order to secure access to the Samudric ocean for their own exploration, the seizure of Donat was considered necessary.

Donat was disunited, and made of several smaller kingdoms, called Sclavenias. To the Rutherish, not only would unseating the weak rulers of Donat be easy, but their perceived Rutherish brethren would welcome them with open arms. The Rutherish began their conquest in 1642, bringing the frontier state of Pokoska to its knees in two years. Donat was overrun one Sclavenia after another, each fiercely resisting, but no match for the Rutherish strategy. The Donatese fought back, turning the conquest of Donat into a slog for the Rutherish, taking years to knock out one tiny state after another. In 1652, the most powerful Sclavenia, Rumelia, declared war on the Rutherland. While slowing down the Rutherish significantly, and delivering the Rutherish a massive defeat at the Rumelian capital Kralin, this could ultimately not stop the Rutherish invasion. In a last resort, the last king of Pokoska sent a diplomatic plea to the Prince of Kruhasta, begging his fellow Slavic realm for aid against the Rutherland, which never reached Kruhasta. Donat was subdued completely by 1664, and was divided into the crown territories of Pokoska and Gardelon. The effort, despite the eventual Rutherish triumph, was considered a failure by the Rutherish elite. The invasion of a disjointed region of fellow Rutherishmen took over 20 years, and countless Rutherish losses. The Rutherland would maintain control of Donat as a central part of the Rutherish Empire until 1956.

As for Kruhasta, either unaware or uncaring about the seizure of Donat, was maintaining its by-now modest colonial empire, and its monopoly on extra-continental trade. Notogi, for its part, had already begun its own expeditions, establishing colonies in Zapita and Ailou. Not wanting to fall the wayside to Notogi, the Rutherland was now far more interested in global exploration. Since the conquest of Donat and Nordun, the Rutherland had a base of operations, if not optimal, to access both the Samudric and Peecific. Its most important coasts, those in the Rutherish heartland, and the Dhralland region, were walled in by the Island of Criopt, and most critically, the isles and southern peninsula of Kruhasta. The Rutherish were also heavy inept at seafaring to begin with. Kruhasta, for their part, had a relative inability to defend their interests, and was seeking closer ties to the country that had become their neighbour on all sides. To bolster ties, marriage between the Prince of Kruhasta and the Crown Princess of the Rutherland. And when the couple obviously could not have children, and the Prince passed away, Queen Duva VI of the Rutherland so too would be the Princess Duva I of Kruhasta, uniting the two in a personal union.

The Island of Criopt was home to the once great Dhrallic people, marooned on the island with their homeland taken away from them. Criopt was retained by Notogi in the aftermath of the Plucking Wars, so for the Dhrauls iving on the island, not much in lifestyle changed. They remained Catulist, magic wielding, and still spoke the Dhrallic language. Seeing the insignificance and weakness of Notogiite rule over the island, a band of conniving Alainois nobles concocted a plan. In 1652, The wealthy Alainois hired a large group of seasoned Rutherish mercenaries to overthrow the Notogiite governance on the island, establishing the Alainois Republic on Criopt, ruled by the small group of Alainois nobles in an early armed dictatorship. Notogi for its part expressed ire, but was ultimately focused on colonial action, and counted on the Criopt republic to be a short-lived thorn, abandoning Criopt. The King of St. Alain himself was also surprised, not having ordered the bizarre operation. Criopt was ruled in this strange system that had never really been seen before, or since, with the Alainois rulers not speaking the Dhrallic language or understanding Dhrallic magical customs. So they outlawed them. In the 135 years of Alainois rule over Criopt, the Dhrallic language was entirely extinguished. Dhrallic magical tradition survived, hardly, underground. The Alainois noble dictatorship is remembered as oppressive and greedy today.

#### Era of Empires

Kruhasta's colonies, all east of Himegistan, were handed over to Rutherish governance. Kundaka, Vistronija, and Randeij, founded by Kruhasta, were under Rutherish control, as the first technical Rutherish-run colonies. The Rutherland founded its first colony on its own as Senodium, in Zapita, 1678. The Rutherish, with Kruhastan cash and boats, and Rutherish manpower and will, grew and grew what would become the Rutherish colonial empire. By now, Notogi had a slight head start, including establishing a colony, Riviera, in Kanita. And then Berravene, on the isle of Sonder. And then Ladia, in Zapita. All right in the Rutherish backyard. These colonies had evolved from small trading outposts, and were now full-fledged cities, as hubs of control for the Ripieran powers to project dominance all over the world. And each other.

In 1723, the first colonial war would occur between the Rutherish and Notogiite empires, what is now called the Sonder War, over disputes on the island of Sonder. An unknown medium, the war would be lost to the Rutherish and Kruhastans, losing ground in the colonial space to Notogi. The Rutherish national spirit, out of nothing but spite, pushed them to put both feet into the colonial business. For the Crown, the Rutherish Empire would touch every corner of the globe. The era of empires could begin.

in 1734, Kruhasta relinquished Hrozava and Himegistan for the last time, which left exclusive control of all remaining colonies to the Rutherish. The first half of the colonial period saw the Notogiite colonial empire dominating in most spaces, founding large successful colonies in modern day Haravenia and Catsbourg, and controlling almost the entirety of the Ailou continent. The Rutherish came in a close second, and spent much more active money and manpower on maintaining and growing their colonies. Notogi had a philosphy of resource extraction while focusing on their empire in Ripiero, while the Rutherland's rather radical idea of empire drove their colonial escapades.

There was a third colonial power, however. St. Alain, overshadowed by the Rutherland and Notogi in raw power, and by Kruhasta and Gashturr in knowledge and wealth, struggled to find its niche on the global stage. The Alainois kings were ambitious, wanting to proclaim St. Alain's former greatness, and make it a major once again. St. Alain, with its unique geographic position on the Peecific coast, sent expeditions across the ocean. Unlike the others, the vastness of the Peecific Ocean would sadly doom most Alainois explorations, with few successes. The Alainois first explored the isles of Larinde, in Zapita, in 1749, establishing colonies across the islands. St. Alain would come across the remote archipelago of Saibel, shipwrecking on it more than once, before settling it in 1751. St. Alain would also explore Sivalat, and the bizarre kingdom of Feralia. The Alainois would settle the southeast of the continent, and bizarrely enough, by 1771, the Alainois Sivalat Colony was the largest colony in the world, with a booming population. This success, concentrating it all in one place, is what put St. Alain on the map again. And the Rutherish nor the Notogiites appreciated it.

By 1777, the world's most important colonies were clear. The Rutherish colonies Junodinia, Elbonia, and New Achvonwell, and the Notogiite colonies of Catsbourg, Esigna, and Exshire. And then the Alainois colony of Feralie, which had sweltered to be the wealthiest and biggest colony of them all. This drew ire from the two biggest colonial empires, feeling threatened by the rise of a third contender in the colonial space. As Alainois action began to get more and more bold, the response from the Rutherish and Notogiites became more and more aggressive. Finally, St. Alain's attempts to establish a colony in West Ditasi, in Ailou, and subsequent naval clashes between Notogi and St. Alain lead to a declaration of war by Notogi, and an unexpected following declaration of war on St. Alain by the Rutherland, as well. Today, the war is known as the Stoikos War of 1783.

St. Alain crumpled to the combined forces of the two greatest empires in the world. Feralie fell in a year, and Malouise was under siege in three years. The rapidness of the total destruction of St. Alain and its colonial empire proves both the pre-preparedness of the other two powers, and the hubris of St. Alain itself. The Rutherish and Notogiites went so far on an anti-Alainois fever that they invaded and ended the non-aligned Alainois Republic on Criopt, splitting the island in half between the two of them. In the end, it was not the Rutherish who brought an end to the Alainois empire, but Alainois themselves. The Alainois Revolution consumed the war-torn kingdom, the entire population rising up in full violent revolution, toppling the monarchy, and executing the last monarch of St. Alain, Queen Jacqueline V.

Every Alainois colony was seized by the Rutherish by 1786. The Alainois outposts in Larinde were abandoned, and Saibel and Feralie were placed under Rutherish suzereinty. The Rutherish also seized the last remaining parts of Alainois Nordun, reducing St. Alain to the small area surrounding Malou Bay. The Notogiites protested their unfair cut, leading to a return to the sour relations of the early century. In St. Alain, a republic was established, one which quickly descended into tyranny and state terror, and fell within a few years, replaced by another faction equally tyrannical, and which also would be toppled in another few years. This cycle would continue in St. Alain for almost a century, being in a constant state of violence and instability, and with no regime surviving longer than 20 years. This period was known to the Alainois as the ''Longtemps.''

In 1799, in the Rutherland, when the new King was coronated, the first king to be crowned in the newly built Rutherish capital of New Rothesay, he arbitrarily refused to take the title of Prince of Kruhasta. Nobody can say for sure why he did this, and some scholars discredit this as a moronic decision, but this practically ended the personal union between the Rutherland and Kruhasta, abrubtly handing the Kruhastans independence. The Kruhastans were befuddled, and asked the Rutherish king to return and resume his reign as the Prince of Kruhasta. He ignored them, and instead of giving up, Kruhasta established a regency, appointing a Kruhastan-born regent to act as Prince until the Rutherish king returned to Kruhasta to resume his rightful throne. No Rutherish monarch ever did this, so the Regency of Kruhasta was the new de-facto reality for Kruhastans. Despite this, Kruhasta remained very much in the Rutherish sphere of influence, and the Rutherish freely used Kruhastan ports as if nothing had changed. The Regency survived until 1965.

For Criopt, the post-Stoikos War situation was odd. The narrow island was split in half between the Rutherish and Notogiite Empires. After the Alainois rule quashed the Dhrallic language, all Dhrauls were Alainois-speaking. This, to the Rutherish, as well as their religious affiliation of Catulism, was repulsive. To Dhrauls in the north under Rutherish control, the Rutherish crown ordered that all Dhrauls convert to Mituism and speak Rutherish, and only Rutherish, or face deportation. Deportation was a new solution conceived by the Rutherish to deal with ornery criminals. The new relatively useless colony of Saibel, an archipelago in the middle of the south Peecific, held by the Rutherish, became a penal colony. Rutherish criminals had already been sent there for decades, but now, it would be the hot new destination for disobedient Dhrauls . Thousands of Alainois-speaking Dhrauls would be deported from northern Criopt to Saibel in the 1790's. The Rutherish would be successful in their eventual suppression of Catulism and the Alainois language in northern Criopt, a move which enraged the Empire of Notogi, who allowed the Alainois-speaking Dhrauls living in the south of Criopt to continue their way of life. The north of Criopt was now Mituist, and spoke Rutherish as its primary language, while the south was Catulist, and spoke Alainois. Neither half wielded Dhrallic magic, either.

By the year 1800, with only two empires remaining, colonies has exploded in population. Notogi held total domination over Ailou, and the Rutherish had a new major foothold in Sivalat with the acquisition of Alainois Feralia, settling it in competition themselves. Junodinia, Rutherish Catsbourg, and Elbonia had grown enormously, with ethnic Rutherish finding homes on every continent, across the world. The Notogiites were more lax, and their resource-extraction strategy and focus on Ripiero affairs began to diminish their empire, especially in ambition and population, to the rising Rutherish.

This disparity in power would be accelerated by the Rutherish Industrial Revolution, striking around 1801. The Rutherish discovery of steam power allowed the retirement of archaic hand-manufacturing methods, with machines taking over, leading to a steep hike in Rutherish efficiency. This spread quickly to the Rutherish realm and their colonies, many being the sites of further world-changing inventions and discoveries, such as electricity, radio, and automobiles. The Notogiite Empire's relial on traditional resource-based economy lead to an ever-greater widening of the gap between the declining Notogiite and the ascending Rutherish empires.

Just at the climax of the colonial era, tensions between Notogi and the Rutherland exploded again, this time over Criopt. Religious fervour and subsequent clashes between Dhrauls with their rulers, and Dhrauls with eachother, and their rulers with eachother, something Notogi was acutely interested in, sparked the most important colonial war of the entire age, beginning in 1841, the Led Eteijer War. Named after the Led Eteijer Sea, the body of water between Notogi and Criopt, lead to a mobilization of the entirety of the two global empires. With brand new technologies never before used by the other, these wars saw the world's colonies acting relatively independently for the first time, with major conflict occurring on every single continent. Oddly, expected strategies flipped. Notogi believed the Rutherish overseas empire to be the artery of the Rutherland, and focused most of its effort on warfare in seizing Rutherish possessions overseas. The Rutherish instead took advantage on Notogi's centrale in Ripiero, concentrating its attack on Notogi itself.

During the Led Eteijer War, in the Kruhastan port city of Ostrvlje an accidental collision between a Rutherish armaments vessel and a Sansic aid ship sparked in the Ostrvlje Explosion, the greatest traditional explosion in Ulina's history, decimating the city and killing 9,000 people.

Notogi managed to win multiple offensives, in Catsbourg, and in Zenitharia. Notogi spent a lot of its power blasting Rutherish colonies overseas, destroying the capitals of Aquilaria and Junodinia, and obliterating the Rutherish in spite at the Battle of Saibel. The Rutherish abandoned the colony of Saibel without evacuations in 1849, leaving the Rutherish and Dhrauls interred there with no supply. This did little to damage the Rutherish at home, however. the Rutherland quickly seized southern Criopt, captured the nose of Ramisola. They battered Notogi at Kundaka, and went on a surprise offensive on Castaña in 1854. Despite Notogiite victories abroad, Notogi was forced to give in after the Battle of Feliway saw the capture of the Notogiite capital by the Rutherish. Not wanting a repeat of the Plucking Wars, and the loss of Rossau, Notogi surrendered in 1859.

In exchange for a return of core Notogiite soil, the Rutherish were harsh in their demands. Notogi would lose southern Criopt, bringing the entire island under Rutherish control. Notogi had its colonial empire vastly squashed. The Rutherish would take vast swaths of the former Notogiite empire, such as Sonder, becoming essentially the sole dominating colonial empire across the world, with absolutely no threat from anyone. The Rutherish Empire had truly reached its zenith.

This was not to last, however. The war had created a national identity for many Rutherish colonies, with having to fend on their own from the Notogiites relatively without Rutherish support. The crumbling of the Notogiite colonial empire granted independence to many former hostile colonies, and Rutherish lands felt alienated and abandoned by the Rutherish crown. And while a famine gripped Donat, the Rutherish seemed even more elitist and uncaring for those whom over they ruled. as such, the Rutherish colonial empire would be extinguished slowly by either revolution, or by the coronation of of the new king in 1890, who's reign is harkened as the beginning of the modern age.

### Modern age (1900-present)

#### Pre-Revolution in Donat

Poko I was crowned King of the Rutherland and its empire as the first non-Rutherish king, at age 18. Poko was ethnically Dhrallic, presumably from the Rutherish-speaking north, but he never acknowledged his origins in his lifetime, only claiming heritage from the city of Kauton. No one knows exactly how Poko secured the throne, the nature of which was sudden, mysterious, and at first, dejected. Poko was extremely moderate and progressive for any Rutherish monarch in recent centuries, and the Rutherish noble elite hated him for it. Poko's first few years on the throne were spent wrestling for power with the establishment who hated him, and making sweeping attacks on their values at the same time.

King Poko is credited for beginning decolonization in the now world-dominating Rutherish colonial empire, making concessions to the rebelling colonies across the world, instead of crushing them. As such, the Rutherish Empire began its decline, starting with the independence of Rutherish Catsbourg and Junodinia, the empire's most developed.

The blame was pinned on Poko at home, making him deeply unpopular with the formidable Rutherish military, which began an open revolt from the Urayon region, lead by Rutherish general Horace Mincher. Their goal was simple, to depose King Poko, who they viewed as a dirty foreign actor from Criopt sent to destroy their Empire. The Urayon Rebellion of 1897 was highly consequential, with forces loyal to King Poko decisively wiping out the mutiny, one of the only times during his reign that King Poko showed his ability to use force. The message was clear, Poko and his agenda were here to stay.

All the while, civil war in St. Alain escalated ferociously. Any powerful central government had all but vanished by the 20th century, and the nation was a stateless wasteland, a playground for warlords to clash for their own gain. These cliques not only attacked eachother, but also the Rutherish, the only threat they could all unte against. Border settlements occupied by the Rutherish were routinely looted, and civilians regularly killed. However, since the villages on the border under Rutherish control were also formerly Alainois lands, still mostly populated by the Alainois, the Rutherish did little to protect them. One band, the Laulie clique, took the risky move to strike where no Alainois clique had dared to before, and pillaged the Rutherish city of Soghaven, in the Gowsh region, where many Rutherish were butchered.

The Rutherland, despite its new path towards decolonization, was still very concerned with preserving the Rutherish dignity, and took the raid as an opportunity to begin an invasion of St. Alain. The Rutherland was keen to finally restore order to their unruly neighbour. Rutherish forces quickly breached the Alainois frontier in 1926, and the entirety of the disorganized state was subdued by 1930. Under the orders of King Poko, the Rutherland would take no spoils for itself, and erected one warlord, with Rutherish backing, to be guaranteur of all Alainois. This warlord was of the Saquimal Clique, Anti Saquimal. Saquimal was a master deceiver, acting to be pro-Rutherish, and graceful, consolidating power with their arms and support, and gaining their trust, until the Rutherish left. Anti Saquimal declared himself dictator of the Alainois State under the Ironwood Party, and with a newly militarized St. Alain, united and fired up, declared the Rutherland the enemy of the Alainois nation. This betrayal enraged the Rutherish, but under the supreme rule of King Poko, absolutely no second invasion would occur, and Ironwood St. Alain would remain hostile to the Rutherland for the remainder of the 20th century.

The Rutherish Empire continued to shrink, with the Rutherish abandoning their control over Ailou and Sivalat. Back in Ripiero, however, liberal ideas were rejected and supressed. The Rutherland and Notogi were still absolute monarchies, with peoples such as the Norgons, Dhrauls, and Donatese suffering extensively at the hands of the Rutherish crown. St. Alain was a suppressive nationalist one-party state, and Kruhasta a struggling economy with a puppet regent, subservient to the apathetic Rutherish.

The denial for self-determination and democracy in Ripiero would stir anger and resentment in populations across the continent. All it would take for Ripiero to ignite was a spark, and that spark would come out of the long-neglected Rutherish territory of Donat, in the city of Martiniac (Martenovats).

#### Ripiero Uprisings

The territories of Donat and Pokoska were considered an integral parts of the Rutherish realm. The people living in these then-territories were a distant culture, speaking a language much more like Kruhastan, and, with the exception of the western reaches of the Pokoska territory, outright refused the Yordic faith. To the Rutherish, the Donatese were confused, but they were Rutherish citizens, nonetheless. A plan had been drawn up to restore Rutherish ideals to the Donat and Pokoska territories, a policy of resettling Rutherish-speaking families to Donat, and the eventual embracement of Rutherish culture, language, names, and religion by the astray Donatese. The ultimate fate for these territories would have been provincehood within the Rutherish empire, as inner lands.

The Rutherish had neglected and mistreated the Donatese territories miserably since their annexation to the Rutherish empire, with famines ravaging the lands and Donatese workers being exploited, with no Rutherish effort to mitigate any problems for the Donatese people. Coinciding with an era of awareness and reinvention in the Donatese territories, the enlightenment that followed allowed the Donatese to find the vigour to rebel against Rutherish rule.

Small scale socialist rebellions propped up across Donatese lands, each being crushed viciously by the Rutherish, making it clear the Rutherish, and King Poko, did not want to let go of the territory. Outrage gripped Donat, and a full-scale war had begun, with the left-wing anti-Rutherish forces being lead by Lazar Karaslav. In 1956, proclaimed the United Socialist Donatese Republics, with the ultimate goal of not only freeing Donat, but liberating all Rutherish lands from the Rutherish empire. Springing from the city of Martiniac, known locally as Martenovats, and which Karaslav would rename in honour of his cause, and his revolution would begin.

The Rutherish Empire and the USDR revolutionaries waged war. To the Donatese, it was a war of liberation, but to the Rutherish, it was a war of existentialism. It was vigorous, and bloody, but in the end, the USDR was victorious, and the Rutherish expelled from what they believed as core Rutherish soil, lost to a challenger to its very existence. The Rutherish crown, even in defeat, refused to recognize the existence of such a state, a socialist republic. The Rutherish stubbornly retained the Pokoska territory, which was still in open revolt, but where Rutherish infrastructure allowed a much more effective suppression of the revolution there. However, the USRR was free to export its ideals across the continent, and the victory of the Donatese in liberation proved that the liberal cause was not a futile effort. In every single nation across the continent, inspired by revolution in Donat, movements for change occured across the continent, vindicating the Rutherish Empire's desparate effort to defend its own existence.

Only two years after the revolution in Donat began, another Rutherish territory declared independence. This time, it was the territory of Pitrou. Movements for democracy, lead by Norgon leader Cora Tilaska, had erupted in Hoover and Illiar, at first cracked down on by the Rutherish, but as the violent situation in the Donatese territories exhausted the Rutherish, and with their resources drew thin, the Rutherish could not hope to quell Pitrou as well. Just as the revolution began to cause instability in the core Rutherish provinces themselves, too. Pitrou declared its independence in 1958, and King Poko personally granted the sparsely inhabited territory peace, allowing Pitrou to become Ripiero's first true democracy.

In St. Alain, similar rebellions for civil rights were attempted, but violently, effectively supressed by the Ironwood regime. Protests became massacres, and hundreds were butchered by the state police, with the roots of revolution being snuffed out in an instant. No change or progress would occur in St. Alain. Not yet.

With the loss of Donat and Pitrou, and with threats of further armed revolution in Criopt, the Rutherish Empire appeared to crumble at the seams. Violence had erupted across all corners of the empire, and it finally consumed the Rutherland itself. In a rather lame way, though. Rutherish protests inspired by Donat for civil rights were not violent. They were never violent, with Rutherish youth resorting to vandalism. The movement became represented by toilet paper, when Rutherish protesters would drape entire neighbourhoods in toilet paper as a symbol of peaceful defiance. And the Rutherish military would never crack down on the Rutherish themselves. It got to the point where King Poko was seen protesting alongside citizens in the capital, New Rothesay. A pro-absolutist assassination 0f King Poko was attempted by royal insiders, but it failed, because Poko recognized the kind of poison they had given him. In the end, King Poko would relent to the Toilet Paper Revolution of 1960, and for the first time, willingly and seemingly enthusiastically surrendering royal power to an elected parliament, restoring Rutherish parliamentary democracy for the first time since[date]. King Poko would spend the rest of his reign as a constitutional monarch.

With the establishment of the Rutherish Parliament, the war with the USDR would end in a ceasefire. The first elections occured in 1962, and by 1967, decolonization was completed, rapidly, with colonies being practically abandoned, with the exception of the Sonder colony. Kruhasta, which had still been a client state of the Rutherland since the regency was established in 1799, was also granted political independence for the first time in 1965, and the regency was abolished. The new Republic of Kruhasta didn't quite know what to do with itself, and conflicting ideas on Kruhasta's future made the new democracy heavily divided.

The Notogi Wars, an all-out ethnic clash, erupted in the Empire of Notogi. These wars would rage until 1981, marking the total demise of the ancient Empire of Notogi. During this time-period, things were far from peaceful. Pitrou entered a period of self-isolation, political violence and instability were rife in Kruhasta, and tensions spiked between the newly democratic Rutherland, and its rivals, the USRR, and Ironwood St. Alain.

#### Continuation of violence

Criopt, for its part, was not unaffected by the extreme violence and social upheaval on the continent during the 1950's and 60's. Criopt was at this time a subordinate Rutherish territory, even after decolonization. While Criopt did not erupt into open revolution or calls for independence like in Donat and Pitrou, a different kind of revolution happened in the minds of Dhrauls. Criopt, heavily divided and its history forgotten, had a sudden spark of renaissance for Dhrallic culture, advocated for by none other than the Rutherish-Dhraul king Poko himself. Called the Dhrallic Revival of 1974, much like in Donat, Dhrauls across the island, regardless of language or religion, began thinking of their origins again. A massive campaign for the renewal of magical customs, devolution, Dhrallic language education, and even calls to return to the homeland coursed across the territory. Dhrauls began migrating en masse back to mainland Dhralland, then a Rutherish province. They returned to their ancient cities, and began competing with Rutherish civilians for room. Its thought that a Dhrallic reclamation would have been futile if not egged on by King Poko, a Dhraul himself. The Rutherish government was unable to address the fuss as it was struggling with a refugee crisis from the collapsing Notogi in the south. Ultimately, Dhrauls would succeed in devolution, earning a local government. That government would implement a gradual reintroduction of magic customs, and the Dhrallic language. Dhrauls would even come to form a significant, loud minority of Dhralland, an issue with massive political repercussions in modern-day Great Hegi.

Rutherish democracy would prove its weakness, and was increasingly riddled with corruption and fraud, allowing Rutherish nationalist parties to game the system, and eventually establish somewhat of a pseudo one party state, made of an undefeatable coalition of Rutherish nationalist parties. This period of Rutherish anocracy would come to be known as the Uneasy Period. During this time, there existed high tensions with neighbours. The Rutherland still bitterly refused to recognize the independence of the USDR, while in retaliation the USDR laid claim to the territory of Pokoska, a Donatese speaking region that remained in Rutherish hands. Even more volatile was the state of affairs with St. Alain. St. Alain's totalist Ironwood regime and the nationalist governments of the Rutherland were constantly on the brink of all out war, as hostilities flared to near breaking points on weekly basis. Border disputes, hostage crises, and clashes galvanized the two societies against each other, with anti-Rutherish and anti-Alainois sentiment being the dominant theme of the 70's and 80's in St. Alain and the Rutherland respectively.

In 1971, the reclamation effort of the long-lost colony of Saibel. would be undertook. Saibel, in its nearly 100 years of isolation, had devolved into a strange place, with uncivilized and very buff Rutherish and Dhraul tribespeople living off what the islands could provide. One of the shortlived nationalist governments in the Rutherland went on a short neo-colonialist bout, now without needing the king's approval. An effort to ''recivilize'' Saibel would be initiated in 1970, and would only see moderate success on Big Saibel Island in 30 years.

High tensions with the USDR would end in 1983, 27 years after the Donatese Revolution. A settlement between new Rutherish Prime Minister Sonny Rulodok and Donatese leader Lazar Karaslav would be reached. The Rutherland would finally recognize Donatese independence, and the disputed Pokoska territory would be split east-west, defining the modern Rutherish-Donatese frontier.

## Government and politics

~~Officially, Great Hegi is a semi-presidential representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a confederation.~~

~~Great Hegi is structued to be a semi-presidential multi-party representative democracy, meaning it has both a president, and a parliament, with a Prime Minister, and multiple political parties. Great Hegi is also a constitutional monarchy, and has a powerless emperor or empress to serve as figurehead.~~

~~Great Hegi also purports to be a confederation, meaning a union of sovereign nations, with a high degree of independence for the constituent states.~~

~~Great Hegi's government can be divided up into the three traditional branches:~~

~~•Legislative: There is two organizations of the Legislative Branch. Firstly, the unicameral Confederal Assembly of Great Hegi, known as the Gouhaz. Made up of 330 representatives, two for each of Great Hegi's 163 symbolic counties, and two for each of the overseas territories. The assembly drafts and adopts law, and decides how the Hegiite budget is spent. The Gouhaz has the sole authority to impeach the Hegiite President. It is directed by the Prime Minister.~~

~~Secondly, the Hegiite Council. Made from the five Prime Ministers of the constituent nations, the Council must review and approve law sent by the Gouhaz, but cannot reject law outright, and serves a largely symbolic role, as a gesture to the constituent nations.~~

~~•Executive: The President, the commander-in-chief of the Hegiite armed forces, and has the exclusive power to veto law, and appoint the ministers of the Cabinet, and judges to the judiciary.~~

~~•Judiciary: The Supreme Court, and every lower court in Great Hegi, enshrined with the power to interpret laws and overturn laws that are against public interest.~~

~~The office of President is a newer position, described as to be elected by popular vote for a six-year term. Representatives of the Gouhaz are elected for four years, and the Prime Minister is chosen by an election within the Gouhaz.~~

~~The individual constituent nations of Great Hegi also have their own governments, with legislative assemblies and their own Prime Minister, and the right of a nation. The Prime Ministers serve on the Council of Great Hegi, but also govern their own nations, almost independently from Great Hegi. It is said Great Hegi only handles currency, defence, and foreign affairs, and all other rights are held by the governments of the constituent nations.~~

~~Great Hegi has evolved into a two-party system in recent years. The two parties that dominate on every level are the Union party, and the Sovereign party. They are both dominated by two political families, the Alainois Blanche family for Union, and the Rutherish Rulodok family for Sovereign. The Union party wants to centralize control in the confederation and promote unity and togetherness, and the Sovereign party fights to return power back to the constituent nations, and promote nationalism and decentralization.~~

~~This is the structure of the Hegiite government, patched together by Great Hegi's leaders overtime. but in practice, it does not work this way.~~

~~Great Hegi no longer functions as a true confederation. Under the leadership of Great Hegi's first president, for whom the office was established, Liz Blanche has overseen the gradual diminishment of powers held by the constituent nations, greatly inflating the power of the confederation. Great Hegi functions as a federation in reality, with the confederation having much more power over the affairs of the constituents than their governments do.~~

~~The office of President is in an interim status, as Liz Blanche serves until she says the nation is ready for its first presidential election. This has not happened. Under the past two leaders, Great Hegi has experienced radical democratic backsliding, and is described as an anocracy, or a soft authoritarian regime. Great Hegi has been criticised for its human rights abuses, not awarding its citizens enough civil or political liberties.~~

~~The powers of the President far outshine what the constitution allows, and the Gouhaz has shrank to being little more than yesmen, Union party representatives fiercely loyal to the President. The Gouhaz has handed over much of its power to the President, and has forgave its right to impeach. The Council is powerless to stop her. The judiciary is used as a weapon against political dissidents and journalists. Corruption is part of the game, systematically, for both parties. With her control of the military, the President acts much like an unelected overseer of Hegiite democracy, and her final say is required for any and all action in the confederation. When given the opportunity, the Sovereign party is not much better, as Liz Blanche's predecessor, Sonny Rulodok, began the trend of subverting Hegiite democracy in the form of voter suppression and fraud.~~