Confederate Republic of Albia

The flag of Albia.

## A General View

The **Confederate Republic of Albi**a was a nation located in Iaddithis, having its core territories on the South Eastern corners of the sub-continent of **Addia**. The date of the establishment of the Republic coincides with the start of "FS-Simlar calendar", thus identifying it as the year 0 of the temporal line of modern Iaddithis (September 4th 2021, following the Gregorian calendar). **Albia** was founded by four individuals (Flav Syrius 'Maj, **TheCrossbower**, **EmiNoob** and **Hector**) who were refugees and stranded men coming from the mysterious continent of "**Oltremare**", a mytical and forgotten land, destroyed by an unknown cataclysm. **Albia** was the first nation in the history of **Iaddithis** to adapt a democratic form of government and to write an actual constitution, on which the lives of the citizens and the values of the nation could be regulated upon. Its capital, Nova Domus, has been an economic centre for the entire sub-continent of **Addia** for most of its existence, and has been often described as "the shining jewel in the Oasis of the Albian nation". At its greatest extent, the **Confederate Republic of Albia** was the most important nation of the **Addian** sub-continent, also mantaining a certain presence in the sub-continent of **Excepta** by having a set of towns located in the area, such as **Holeneas** and **Magna Savoia**.

### Government and Institutions

**Albia** was often described as a democratic and direct, semi-confederate typed, republic, which legislative and executive powers are handled directly by the "General Assembly of the Albian populace", made up of all of the citizens of the nation, who unite to discuss together in special meetings (known as "**Cunsultum Populi**"), propose and vote laws, elect representatives and decide the fates of the nation. The foreign affairs of the Republic were handled on behalf of the Assembly by the "**First Consul**", while military power was owned by the **Second Consul**, both elected every year of the "FS-Simlar calendar". These positions were assisted by a set of ministers, that mostly managed specific matters regarding many fields, and were part of the standing government. Along them sat the "**Supreme Judge**", whose job it was to make sure that the headlines dictated by the Constitution were never broken, to handle lawsuits and lawbreakers and to mantain unity and cohesion between the Albians.

## History

### The Origins of Albia

#### A trip trough unexpored waters

As recorded in a set of interviews conducted by the "The Enlightened One", kept secret for a long time in the halls of the forbidden library of Avacyn, upon the destruction of the forgotten continent known as "**Oltremare**", a group of survivors managed to board a single vessel in the port of "**Domus**", embarking on a long vojage across the "**North Western Sea**" and facing many dangers on their path. After months of travelling, with supplies running thin and the never ending sensation of an imminent and horrible death approaching in the waves of the salty water, the group of refugees finally came across a shore, landing thus in Iaddithis, near the area where nowdays the **Holy Order of Idon** is located.

#### The Settling of Nova Domus

When the pilgrims finally arrived to the **Exceptian** coast, they found a realm ravaged by war and violence, in which central authority was non exsistent, and only a few civilized settlements still stood strong, in the face of past conflicts. Only in the far future the **Oltremarean** people would be told about the so known "Avacyn Wars", which had left the land of Iaddithis scarred and eventually brought to the collapse of the ancient nations. The survivors soon turned East, looking for a new place to call home, to resettle and to claim as their new motherland. After three long days of marching across the mountains and biomes of the **Exceptian** continent, the group finally entered the land that we now call "**Addia**", then moving South through a wild jungle and a cold taiga, surprising the **Oltremareans** for the biodiversity that engulfed the ecosystems of Iaddithis. In the end, the explorers got to a large plain located right next to a tall mountain, uncircled by a set of forests that created a natural barrier bordering the whole surroundings. Acknowledging the strategical importance of such territory, the refugees decided to settle the area, founding a town known as "Nova Domus", honoring the memory of the land that they once belonged to.

#### Nova Domus: The Heart of Iaddithis

The arrival of a new group of foreigners to the weakened lands of Iaddithis soon alarmed the populations of the continent and the whole realm. In a short amount of time, diplomatic relations were established with the natives of **Iaddithis**, allowing the **Oltremareans** to meet several individuals from the nation of Solaris, the independent city of **Holeneas** and the empire of Tennu. An expedition was also sent far up North, coming across an astonishing library located in "**Settentrione**" (this was the name that the **Oltreamareans** first gave to the mountains of Avacyn) and being gifted with a huge amount of books from "The Enlightened One", containing most of the knowledge regarding this new unexplored land. In the meantime, Nova Domus grew prosperous in number of buildings and soon refugees from all of the known continents flooded the town, bringing new exotic products to the **Oltremarean** settlers and allowing the so different cultures of both the populations to come in direct contact. The economy grew exponentially, advancing rapidly as the expansion of the town seemed unstoppable. Despite that, in order to avoid dangerous cultural divisions that would eventually have brought Nova Domus to conflict, the leaders of the city soon understood that it was necessary creating a new identity that brought the Oltremarean people to unite with their newfound neighbors, speeding up the process of integration and allowing both of the populations to prosper. That's how **Albia** came to be.

#### The Foundation of the Republic

The establishment of a new state that included both the **Oltremareans** and the **Addians**, melting their respective cultures and characteristics, wasn't an easy task. Flav Syrius Maj, representative of the **Oltremarean** settlers, worked day and night on the creation of a Constitution that could have guaranteed the collective rights of each individual, the equality of every citizen and the substantial freedom of expression of every being that was granted citizenship in the nation. The result of such effort, combined with those of other three individuals, known as **TheCrossbower**, **Hector** and **EmiNoob**, later on also referred to alongside Flav as the "Founding fathers of the Republic", culminated on September 4th 2021 (following the Gregorian calendar), defined as the year 0 in the FS-Simlar Calendar, a date which has lived in history, with the public proclamation of the "**Confederate Republic of Albia**" (which, according to the **Oltremarean** language, means "the land where the Sun rises", alluding to the joy of the **Oltremarean** refugees once they arrived to their new land and the bright future that awaited the people of the country).

`*"Some of you may have heard of me, some of you probably have no idea of ​​who am I. Thus, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Flav Syrius' Maj, yet many call me FS. My origins and those of my friends are not that important, so I won't be telling you about our tragic tale. You must just know that we have lost everything, but despite that, facing many difficulties, we never gave up. We came to this wild land to start over again, to build us a new life.*`

`*Our beginnings were humble,*`

`*yet soon we became one of fastest growing towns in the continent. Yet, for us, that wasn't enough. We were not satisfied to provide this savage realm only with one oasis of civilization. No, we wanted more.*`

`*Thus, today, September 4th, a date which will live in history, various delegates from all Iaddithis united and proclaimed the nation of the Confederate Republic Of Albia.*`

`*This event marks the beginning of a new age. May you all follow your path and dreams, may you strive for a better life. There will be more communications. Yet for now...*`

`*May freedom, liberty and democracy triumph!*`

`*Down with the tyrants, up with Albia!"*`

- Flav Syrius Maj', announcing the establishement of the Republic.

## First Albian elections

### Supreme judge

unassigned

Soon after the establishment of the Republic and following the principles dictated by the Constitution, the Albians finally gathered for the first time in history in the so called "**General Assembly**", in Nova Domus. There, the citizens discussed about various topics regarding the international policies that the nation would have had to adapt in order to start showing off its presence in the region, mostly regarding economical, political and foreign affairs. At the peak of the conference, the people voted for the candidates that would have eventually formed the First Government of the country, allowing the stabilization of the newborn Republic and the confirmation of the Constitution. The elections, having been seen as one of the most significant events that had happened in Iaddithis since the beginning of the Avacyn wars, and being a powerful demonstration of the victory of reason, civilization and peace over violence, death and destruction, eventually brought an immense flow of immigrants and refugees from all of the continents of the realm and contribuited to the urbanistic expansion of the now capital city of Nova Domus. **Albia** soon became known to all of the inhabitants of Iaddithis and was immediately seen as a shining beacon democracy and freedom, where people could start over a new life far away from the hardships of the past.

#### The Development of Culture and Religion

The direct contact of the **Addian** and the **Oltremarean** culture, in which concepts like religion or faith were nonexsistent, brought to the introduction of a fairly peculiar phenomenon, that can be summerized in its complexity through the appearence of the so called "**Antoniahn beliefs**", a mixture of the philosophical doctrines typical of the settler's way of life and the common notions of the **Addian** tribes prior to the arrival of the refugees beyond the sea. The **Antoniahn beliefs** comprehend an enormous amount of religious ideas that are connected to the mystical figure of **Antonioh**, a parrot that was once owned by the Minister of Immigration **EmiNoob** and that was believed to be a holy protector of the city of Nova Domus. Soon, a huge split happened in the religion between two opposite factions, known as the "**Justi**", who believed that the **Antoniahn beliefs** had to be spread all around the globe through a violent crusade whose goal was to punish the infidels that had wronged the holy parrot by not worshipping him, led by an individual known as "**Rimon**", and the "**Universali**", who believed that their will could not be imposed upon others and that the **Justi** were betraying the **Antoniahn** message. Such division became soon to deep to heal and would have eventually brought to a devasting conflict.

#### The Albian Wars

The deep religious division that had appearead following the **Antoniahn** split and the consequent loss of cohesion between the former members of the Republic eventually brought to the explosion of intense tensions, that would have caused the beginning of three devastating wars that would have torn **Albia** apart. Although the reasons that eventually resulted in the start of such conflicts are far deeper and can be found mostly in the cultural differences that were torning the newborn republic apart since its establishment, the event that sparked the so called three "**Albian Wars**" is believed to be **death of Antonioh**, that accured in unknown circumstances. The **Justian** religious leader, **Rimon**, following such happenings, rebelled against the government and the Republic, rejecting his **Albian** identity and proclaiming a religious war against the state. The armed encounters that followed have been recorded in an expansive set of documents protected and published by the authority of the city state of Avacyn, and were put to an end after a long battle on the North-Eastern plain close to the capital city of Nova Domus, resulting in the occupation and successive destruction of the military fortress of **Rihimenia**. The **Albian wars** brought death and devastation to the newly formed nation and put the **Albian** political and military resistance to a considerable test, but eventually resulted in a final reinforcement of the **Albian** national identity, although by leaving the state scarred and vulnerable to future attacks.

#### The Bandit Raids, the International Assembly and Foreign Policy

As expected, the immense damage left by the **Albian** wars was not left unnoticed. Soon, the **First Administration** found itself left to heal a wounded country, now pray of external threats, represented by the a sudden swarm of bandits, murderers and thieves migrating to Iaddithis, finding a guide in the figure of **Rimon**, that had fled after the end of the past conflicts and that was already plotting his revenge against the Republic. Attacks and raids were launched against the capital city of Nova Domus, which resulted in the massive panicking of the population and the continous and present feeling of paranoia only to be growing again. A temporary solution was achieved with the construction of a temporary set of walls to protect the city's populace, but it soon became clear that the Republican forces alone could have never been able to win a serious of long, exhausting conflicts of attrition. As such, the **First Administration** took part in the **First International Assembly** meeting with all of the countries of Iaddithis and was able to push for the creation of a defensive act against the growing threath of bandits. Combined with the International military capacity, the Albian army was able to finally win a series of exchanges against the bandit forces, substantially eliminating them in the "Albian Resurgence War" and by aiding the forces of the **Assembly** in the final "**Battle of Avacyn**". With the end of the bandit raids, it soon became clear to the foreign public that **Albia** had taken the leading role in the International community and had risen as a central character in the public theater of foreign politics.

#### A missed opportunity: the Failure of Colonization

With the end of the bandit raids with an almost total **Albian** political success, the country finally started to definitely repair what had been lost during the past conflicts. As the economy began flourishing again, with it a new and massive amount of immigrants started flooding the Republic's borders, especially settling into the capital city of Nova Domus. The almost uncontrolled influx of new individuals to the crowning jewel of **Albia** resulted in the creation of massive overpopulation of the city, meaning that a lot of people couldn't find jobs, an occupation or even an home to live in, as the engeneers and architects present in the country couldn't keep up with the continous arrival of new citizens, and in some cases even bringing to a consistent increase in crime and desperate lawbreakers. The response of the Governement to such matter proved to be unaffective. In order to decrease the amount of people that resided in Nova Domus, huge efforts were put into the exploration of the north-eastern **Addian** territories, looking to create a new series of colonies that could distribute the correct amount of people in the territories of the nation, by also guaranteeing the basic human living conditions for every new settler. Yet, what seemed to be the unquestionable expansion of a rising power soon turned into a political and logistical mess. Those who settled and created new towns, that had to act as **Albian** colonies on uncivilized territories, did not have the correct capibilities to run a self-sufficient nucleus of population, thus mostly leading to the effective collapse of the towns themselves. Between the most notable failed attempts of expansion through colonization, it is worth mentioning the armed rebellion of the separatists of Strandland and the declaration independence of the town of **Bruderstadt**, that would have subsequently become the capital city of the Republic of Vereinight, a nation modeled upon the **Albian** ideals of freedom, liberty and democracy.

#### The Balance of the Administation

One month since the its first elections, **Albia** had become far different than how the Republic was established during its early conception. Although by surely making a lot of mistakes, the **Albian** Governement was able to make the nation prosper during its early days, to protect it, although leaving it scarred and forever changed, from the threats that had already menaced its existence, to impose the Republic as an economical and political force that was soon respected by all of the nations of Iaddithis, to guarantee its partecipation in the first international and political entity in the history of the realm and to create diplomatical relations with other states in many continents. It is undeniable that the colonial project promoted by the Administration can be considered as a total failure from many aspects, but considering the situation that the **Albians** found themselves in after their appearence on the political theatre of Iaddithis, the efforts that Governement had put into the preservation of the newborn Republic can also be praised, as they ensured the survival of the nation and its later flourishing.

### **The Second Administration**

#### The second elections

As the **First Administration** came to a close and the **Albian** people started gathering for a second round of elections, it soon became clear of how the political sight of the Republic had greatly variated from the times of its establishement, and that many rising figures in the state were only waiting for the new electoral campaign to take their chances and rise to the top of the legislational ranks of the **Albian** realm. In particular, the position of **First Consul** was heavily contentded between Flav Syrius Maj (aka FS\_Seeker), that had already served the republic by filling the same role in the previous administration, and former **Second Consul**, **Karmaa\_EX**, whose goal was now to lead the state diplomatically. Propaganda became fierce, and many citizens started supporting either one or the other figure, making it almost impossible to predict the outcome of the confrontation between the two. As the day of the election ended and the results were taken out of the ballot boxes, it was revealed that Flav had in the end beaten his opponent, thus becoming once more the representative of the General Assembly of the Albian People on foreign field. Despite the fact that the new government had taken the lead and that the electoral season had come to an end, tensions still remained high as **Karmaa** confessed his involvement in a coup that aimed to dethrone the standing government and make the country fall into turmoil. For a moment, many citizens feared the beginning of a civil war that would have ravaged the Republic and its territories. However, as **Karmaa** left the the capital city of Nova Domus and fled North, creating the first statal nucleus of the future Sentinels (later Faltírvars), the **Albian** population relieved and civil life kept continuing as usual.

#### The Sentinels crisis: on the brink of war

Despite the easing of internal tensions in the state, foreign relations as well soon started to sour internationally and politically with the newborn nation of the Sentinels, initiating a long period of distrust and fear, as leaders waited patiently for the adversaries' first move, which would have surely brought to a great and bloody conflict which would have engulfed the entire east a whole. With the the approaching of the official second meeting of the International assembly of the independent countries of Iaddithis, Flav Syrius Maj and **Eldron**, the main diplomat and later leader of the Sentinels, engaged in a sounding and long debate, which is still today considered as one of the most notable examples of political expertise, that, despite the speakers' best efforts, ended in a draw and perpetuated the stagnation of relationship between both of the states. At the peak of the crisis, the **Albian** govenrment redacted a martial law agaisnt the citizens of the **Sentinels**, imposing harsh repercussions against any inhabitant or sympathizer of **Karmaa**'s young state. With time, and as both of the nations started focusing once more on different internal and external issues, the relations between the two nations turned less bitter and the martial law was withdrawn, thus ending the crisis.

#### The War of the Coalition

While the crisis that involved the Sentinels and **Albia** was still happening, a new rising power appeared in the East, whose presence would have greatly shaken the international equilibrium of the already battered eastern **Addian** region. The Empire of Lemor, which had just recently managed to unify the various **Lemorian** and **Ladinian** tribes that inhabited the zone, soon rose as a young and militaristic nation with great ambition and with traditions that had some resembances with the **Oltreamarean** culture, whose knowledge was probably spread to the various eastern populations following the first arrival of the **Albians**. In an attempt to negotiate a beneficial and prosperous deal with the newborn empire, the Republic sent some ambassadors to the Lemorian capital city, entertaining diplomatical talks that were soon dropped, as the Albians quickly realised that the newfound neighbours had no interest in formalizing international relations. The administration grew increasingly concerned as reports from the eastern frontiers highlighted growing hostilites towards the Republic by many **Lemorian** citizens and the implementation of mercenaries, well known bandits and other dangerous individuals to guard the borders of the respective states. For these reasons, valuing the risks of a possible Lemorian clash, the Government approved the construction of a mighty set of fortifications on the mountain located on the eastern side of the capital city of Nova Domus, funding the employment of various builders coordinated by the Minister of infrastructures **Gthecrossbower**, and agreed on the creation of a sophisticated spy network that infiltrated the imperial leadership, thus having the confirmation of the imminence of an offensive against the **Albian** core territories.