Republic of Nadezhda

Torzhestvo, Capital of Nadezhda

## History

Nadezhda was founded one hundred years ago, after the mage wars plunged the region of Jotunheim into eternal winter. As the nations that rose from the ashes turned to the persecution of spellcasters, a freedman named Slava Vasilev founded the nation of Nadezhda. His hope was to create an egalitarian society, and his means of doing so would be the enslavement of all mages by the use of an ancient and terrible creation - a kill collar. The territory controlled by Slava Vasilev included foundries for the creation of Warforged, which he ordered shut down. There were still some Warforged living, including Rurik, who was appointed Marshal, the commander-in-chief of the Nadezhdan Armed Forces. Slava Vasilev took for himself the position of First Minister, the presiding officer of the Council of Ministers. When he died of natural causes, Marshal Rurik, a war hero during Nadezhda’s tumultuous beginnings, backed by the army, persuaded the Council of Ministers to make him First Minister. In this capacity as an immortal construct with his hands on all the levers of power, he became the monarch of Nadezhda in all but name.

Marshal Rurik continued the policy of enslaving mages, which put him at odds with Franz Forrawyn of the Reich Nördlich, who believed that the north would only be safe if all mages were killed. He was similarly at odds with Jotunheim, whose frost giants often launched raids into his territory. When the dread son of Auril and Iborighu threatened the north, a group of adventurers including the sorcerer Abi Eodauga launched a coup against Rurik, killing him. Abi Eodauga took the master crown that controlled the kill collars, and helped his friend, the half-giant Ymir, take over Jotunheim. With the reluctant support of Franz Forrawyn, the three were able to defeat the winter demigod. Abi Eodauga of Nadezhda was left the most powerful of the three rulers of the north, a Philosopher-King and the first magocracy since the mage wars a century ago.

At its territorial zenith, the Republic of Nadezhda spanned its own original territory and the Empire of World's End (previously known as Alba Coralis), while maintaining the fealty of the Kingdom of Jotunheim and in alliance with the Warring States of Darguzze and the Confederacy of Rhomduil. The number of soldiers fighting under the Nadezhdan banner was greater then any other alliance, and even when Abi Eodauga lost the support of Alba Coralis, his army was second only to that of the two halves of the Final Empire.

## The Kill Collars

The kill collars were ancient technology originally used by mages on their slaves. They had been phased out by the time of the northern mage wars, being seen as a barbaric and unenlightened, but Slava Vasilev was one of their last victims. Vasilev managed to steal the master collar from the ruins of his former master's tower, securing his own life. He directed his men to create more of the collars, and shackle mages in his territory with them. In a remarkable show of trust, he presented his friend and loyal right hand, Rurik Tarrenforge, with the master collar. Rurik would never once abuse the power he had against Vasilev, refusing to threaten the First Minister with the power of death that he held over him.

Under the rulership of Slava Vasilev and Rurik after him, the collared mages were used as slaves in prison camps. Their magic was used to fuel the powerhouse of the Nadezhdan economy, and nowhere else in the world was so much attention placed on developing magic to replace manual labor.

It was during the rule of Abi Eodauga that many of the enslaved mages were deployed as soldiers. Vasilev and Rurik before him remembered the horrors of the mage wars, and sought to shackle mages and direct their powers towards the betterment of an egalitarian society. Eodauga saw things differently, for he needed the best army he could muster to contend with the Windwalker. After the Windwalker's defeat, Eodauga was reluctant to dismantle his new military force, which gave Nadezhda the edge against its neighbors as the first among nations in the Frostfell.

After the fall of Abi Eodauga, Franz Forrawyn used the master collar to kill all the Nadezhdan slave mages. He wore the master collar on his invasion of the Final Empire, and it still adorns the neck of his corpse. The remaining collars, though they cannot be removed, are of no further use. The Reich has forbidden their use in any circumstances, and collects any it can find, storing them along with other cursed artifacts deep in their vaults. Some still survive in private hands, and attempts have been made to make a new master collar, though all have failed.

## Colony of the Reich

After the fall of Abi Eodauga and the death of the slave mages, Nadezhda became a colony of the Reich. It maintains the internal structure of a Council of Ministers and a Marshal, but the Reich has forbidden the Nadezhdans from ever merging the two positions again. The Council must submit a report to the Gauletier of Nadezhda, a Hexenjäger who in truth maintains considerable power. Due to the ravages of war and the loss of their slave mages, Nadezhda has never really covered, even over fifty years. It is a poor and weary state, reliant on the Reich for support. Its people are beaten. They wish to live their lives, and have given up their resentment. The last revolutionaries were crushed decades ago, and made an example of.

## Government

Nadezhda is divided into a series of provinces (called Oblasts), each ruled by a Baron (with certainly key provinces governed by Counts), a member of the feudal nobility. The legislature of Nadezhda is composed of a number of Ministers, ranging from 16 - 25, called the Council of Ministers. In theory, the Ministers rule as equals and vote on any executive decision. There exists the post of First Minister, who chairs the Council, and that of Marshal. Traditionally, the title of Marshal is symbolic and ceremonial, bestowed upon the wearer of the Master Collar. The Marshal's chief duty the appointment of the First Minister, and they are the commander-in-chief of the Nadezhdan Armed Forces.

Any Baron may pay put forth a candidate for a Ministerial post, but the First Minister retains the right to veto any member. Therefore the First Minister may not choose their own Ministers, but in practice the First Minister may ask an allied Baron to propose the candidate for them. In addition, while the Ministers are technically equals, some Ministers have a portfolio, giving them personal authority over a branch of the government. These positions are bestowed by the First Minister, who can reward and sideline Ministers are his discretion.

## First Ministers

* Svyatoslav Vasilev
* Rurik Tarrenforge (also Marshal)
* Abi Eodauga (also Marshal)
* Ricardas Rok
* Havryil Vasylyshyn
* Serik Gevorgyan

## The Barons (Great Awakening)

* Anton Aleyev
* Goran Shulga
* Afrim Severov
* Vincas Belitrov
* Maksim Belomestin
* Rayko Butylin
* Pauls Yudin
* Zinoviy Yurnayev
* Stasys Puzakov
* Skender Perminov
* Grozdan Sorokin
* Kazimir Kosomov
* Oskars Krasnoperov
* Ambrosi Nazarov
* Martin Rodchenko
* Zakhar Zarubin

## Eodauga Ministry

### Council of Ministers

* Abi Eodauga, Marshal and First Minister
* Aras Ferapont, Minister of Justice: A ranger and keeper of a pack of wolves; Nadezhda's secret police chief.
* Adomas Horvat, Minister of the Interior: An explorer and frontiersman; an excellent mapmaker and land surveyor.
* Dolom Tkerekin, Minister of War and General of the Nadezhdan Armed Forces
* Miervaldis Krizman, Minister of Agriculture: A duelist and scholar, distinguished for his battle prowess and academic works.
* Nax Forester, Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Ricardas Rok, Minister of Finance: A great warrior, once an adventurer. Later First Minister.

### Others

* Osip Pavlovsky, Commandant of the Mage Internment Camps

## Gevorgyan Ministry

### Council of Ministers

* Serik Gevorgyan, First Minister
* Andrei Dalca, Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Deyan Andonov, Minister of Justice
* Ivan Kardos, Minister of Agriculture
* Marek Andrisyak, Minister of the Interior
* Peeter Pasternak, Minister of Finance
* Viktor Sykora, Minister of War

## Cities

* Torzhestvo - new capital
* Paradnost - old capital
* Nakazaniye - central slave mage camp

## Great Awakening

Magic would return to Nadezhda in full force. The government, with Marshal Malrog's blessing, would partially repeal the anti-mage laws and institute a registry by which mages could become "State Mages." In doing so, they would be forced to wear collars to denote their status, but these new collars would have no harmful or magical properties whatsoever.

The Hexenjägers, led by Roger Adler, would petition for the right to return to the Reich. The Marshal permitted them the right to do so, knowing that he would have to choose to retain them or retain his new State Mages. He was ready to bet on the mages every time.

Marshal Malrog would choose the aasimar Khariton Markov to serve as the General of the Nadezhdan Armed Forces. Markov had been the Captain of the Pale Spear during the War of the Philosopher-Kings, serving directly under Dolom Tkerekin's command. Indeed, he was the splitting image of Tkerekin, having served as a body double for him on certain occasions, and as such appeared to his troops as a semi-mythical figure. He belonged to the stories of their grandfathers. He would lead them to victory.

## Gods

As with all the countries of the north, the people of Nadezhda worship the Frostfell Pantheon. Their patron god is the winter deity, Telchur. Their representative god on the Holy Council is Telchur. After the Great Awakening, their patron god would become Hleid.