East Owlia

## East Owlian Republic

Flag of the East Owlian Republic

Location of the East Owlian Republic in Owlia

**East Owlia** (Lanternese: *Aulia Orientale*), officially the **East Owlian Republic**, was a nation comprising the Lantern Islands and associated territories in eastern Owlia. It bordered the Palowan state of Eisarna in the west, West Ledenia in the east, and the city-states of Janubia in the south.

East Owlia was a nation with colonial roots dating back to the early 7th century and was home to a unique Lanternese culture formed in the melting pot of the Lantern Islands. Situated at the crossroads of eastern trade routes, East Owlia possessed a highly developed service economy and was one of the wealthier nations in the region.

While the East Owlian political climate was prone to autocratic tendencies and nationalist sentiment, the republic had a democratic form of government for most of its post-colonial history.

The East Owlian Republic was a member of the World Congress and the Council of Eastern Owlia.

## Names

The first attested use of the name East Owlia to refer to a Lanternese state is found in the 691 constitution, the adoption of which officially united the Lanternese cultural sphere under one government. The country's name in the Lanternese language was *Aulia Orientale* and other eastern languages followed in the same vein with names based on that of the Owlian supercontinent such as *Kawona Oisr* in Cheridonian and *Vzhodna Aulija* in the Vicce language.

Being a relatively late invention however, many western languages referred to the East Owlian nation by names derived from that of the Lantern Islands. Examples of this are the name *Lanternia* used in Vanese texts and the Breshyu form Ⲫⲁⲛⲟⲥ (*Phanos*). An exception to this is in the Iotanian lingua franca where *East Owlia* became the primary term.

## History

### Colonial Era (609 - 666)

The Lantern Islands were first settled in the early 7th century CE by colonists from urban centers in Landing and the Asili Confederacy traversing the Central Sea. These settlers included farmers, merchants and industrialists seeking new riches in the unexplored east. Many were members of the Zealot church, a religious minority in the west which would come to have a major influence on Lanternese culture. What would become the East Owlian capital of Tridente was founded in 609 as a small trading post on the southern tip of Gran Lanterna and the first wave of colonists conducted trade with the native villages around the Janubian Sea.

The Tridente colony prospered from these eastern trade links but remained a minor outpost compared to the grand cities of the western continent. And while trade flourished with the south, the Lantern Islands grew increasingly isolated from the western cultural sphere, having only minimal contact with the old homeland through Palowan islanders in the Central Sea. Other colonies were founded in the mid-7th century in what would later become the outer regions of East Owlia, most notably Streghetta in the east and later Elitre in the west.

### Reign of Terror (666 - 679)

The Lanternese colonies were de facto independent and had no central government, with governors serving western nations in name only. Most cities were run by a council of merchants and church representatives, with defense left to a local militia. This political situation left the region vulnerable to attack in 666 when the Lantern Islands were invaded by the Sea Peoples, a northern pillager tribe. They instituted what went down in the history books as the reign of terror, which saw merchant landowners evicted from their estates and Zealot places of worship destroyed while farmers had to give up most of their harvest in taxes.

This occupation of the Lantern Islands came to last for a little over a decade, but the measures put in place to uphold the pillager regime would also come to be its downfall as overtaxation and raids on outlying farm settlements destroyed the local economy. An underground resistance formed with its base in the outer colonies and in 679, the Lanternese seized control of their islands after a decisive struggle against the Sea Peoples.

### Civetta's Dictatorship (679 - 691)

A new government was put into place under resistance leader Aevin Civetta who implemented policies aimed at economic recovery after the destructive occupation. Some liberties from the early colonial era were restored such as freedom of religion and the right to own land but an indefinite state of emergency was declared giving Civetta a wide range of powers under the pretenses of preventing another foreign invasion, essentially establishing a military dictatorship. Rather than returning to the decentralised government of the colonial era, Civetta kept in place some of the institutions established during the occupation which laid the foundation for a strong civil service present in East Owlia for centuries to come.

### First Republic (691 - 728)

Martial law wouldn't be suspended until 691 with the adoption of a constitution affirming the independence of the colonies around the Lantern Sea as a united East Owlian Republic. Aevin Civetta's popularity allowed his National Unity Party to win a majority of their own in the following Senate elections however, and his grip on power remained steady over the next decade. A series of trade and military expeditions in the Janubian region aimed at bringing it into the East Owlian sphere of influence culminated in the creation of the Alhadba protectorate in 696.

The turn of the century saw East Owlia open up to the world with the reestablishment of trade links with the west and embassies opened as a far away as New Breshyu. Civetta was succeeded as first consul in 701 by his foreign affairs consul Alfonso Vungherese, whose government took the first step in forming a closer relationship with the emerging neighboring country of Eisarna who would remain a favored trade partner over the years. As the personality cult around Civetta slowly began to fade, so did the National Unity Party's position as the dominant party in Senate. Consecutive coalition governments including at one point or another everyone from social democrats to religious conservatives held political power during the years 708-722, a period often known as the reform era. Tripartisan compromises laid the foundations for introducing universal healthcare and implementing a rural development agenda which had doubled domestic food production by 720.

The 720s in East Owlia were in turn marked by nationalist fervor and rising tensions with Eisarna, as the pillager rebellion faced by their western neighbors spilled across the border near Boscaiola and Elitre on several occasions. In response to this measures were taken to close the Cheridonian border and implement more restrictive immigration policies, which put a strain on the good relations between the two countries.

### Second Republic (728 - 794)

A major political event at the end of the decade were the constitutional reforms of 728 which replaced the parliamentary form of government with the introduction of an independent executive, marking the transition to the Second Republic. This system was engineered by incumbent first consul Xristos Ferrari, whose term abruptly ended however after losing the very first direct election to the consulship in 729.

The early 730s was a time of political stalemate and rising unemployment in the outer regions. When Roberto dall'Ecchia was elected first consul in 736, his Labor government initiated a major infrastructure program to combat this which culminated in the construction of the Trans-Marenostro Link, a highway system connecting the Lantern Islands, Elitre and Eisarna by road. The Alhadba protectorate was dissolved in favor of closer integration with East Owlia, and the republic continued to expand throughout the 740s as the result of state-sponsored colonial ventures in Janubia and the Diorite Islands.

Caterina Febbraio led a series of nationalist majority governments in the 750s and 760s, serving three terms as first consul during which East Owlia participated in the first ordinary session of the World Congress. Febbraio's time in office is often considered a return to the policies of the Civetta era as new laws were passed furthering the centralisation of government while borders with Eisarna were reopened and relations between the two nations vastly improved. In the north, new territories were incorporated into the Marenostro and the Near East regions which would lay the foundation for a third phase of colonisation.

After a period of economic recession in the late 770s, the 780s saw a rise of progressivism in East Owlia under first consuls Flavio Martelli and Monna Lisa da Naposa. Access to healthcare and education for the general population increased, especially in rural areas, which later led to a population boom. Investments in infrastructure also saw the construction of a hyperloop connecting the outlying Diorite Islands to the capital and as far as Kallakullar.

### Silent Revolution and Communist Rule (794 - 802)

The progressive era abruptly came to an end in the fall of 794 when the first consul and several members of the Senate leadership were killed in a brutal terrorist attack. In the ensuing constitutional crisis which has come to be known as the Silent Revolution, communist leader Reo Ventaglio rose to power as acting first consul and used his extensive emergency powers to assemble a constitutional convention. Communist delegates made up a majority at this convention, which approved a new constitution in February 795 declaring the formation of the Union of East Owlian Republics as a federal socialist state governed in line with the Calvinist principles of socialist democracy, as outlined by Lanternese philosopher Rosina Calvino (656 - 726).

In 797, a coup d'etat orchestrated by communist revolutionaries in the neighboring city-state of Ledenigrad established it as an East Owlian satellite state after a compact of association was signed providing political and military support for the new Ledenigrad Soviet.

When the aging Reo Ventaglio died in 801, it exposed a deep factional divide within the East Owlian Communist Party between Calvinists, who supported the democratic socialist system of government, and Lesmanists, who wanted to further entrench one-party rule in line with the ideals of Vanese revolutionary Wirya Lesmana. This internal division spelled doom for the communist regime, and by 802 its leaders had resigned to popular pressure after non-communists won a majority in the Supreme Council, the parliament of communist East Owlia, and formed a transitional government. A short-lived Lesmanist state declared the independence of the Diorite Islands, which lasted from June 802 until it surrendered in September that year to a coalition of East Owlian and Landing armed forces.

### Third Republic (802 - )

The end of the Diorite Islands conflict marked the beginning of the restoration of the East Owlian Republic as a parliamentary democracy, creating the Third Republic. Liberals dominated the Senate in the post-communist era, reversing many of the reforms that had been implemented in the 790s and paving the way for East Owlia to join the Owlian Trade Organization and other international economic institutions. In 824, East Owlia ratified the Calvinopoli Compact, becoming a founding member of the Council of Eastern Owlia.

## Government and politics

*See also: List of East Owlian governments and List of East Owlian leaders.*

**Government (30)*** Alliance for East Owlia (30)

**Confidence and supply (2)**

* National Democratic Party (2)

**Opposition (29)**

* United Progressive Party (13)
* Popular Front (13)
* Democratic Socialists (3)

### East Owlian Senate

The East Owlian Senate was a national legislature with roots dating back to the colonial assemblies of the early 7th century. Its meetings were presided over by the President of the Senate, who by convention was usually a member of the largest party in the chamber but generally expected to act in a non-partisan manner. The post-communist era Senate had 61 members, called Senators, elected in single-member districts using a first-past-the-post system. Elections to the Senate had to be held when seven years had passed since the most recent election, but the Senate can also vote to dissolve itself and call early elections at any point during the term.

While the East Owlian Senate was a unicameral parliament for most of its existence, it was organised as a bicameral parliament during the Second Republic (729 - 795) with an elected lower house, the Chamber of Representatives, and an appointed upper house, the Chamber of Delegates.

During the years of communist rule (795 - 802), the federal parliament was known as the Supreme Council.

#### Political parties

Five political parties had representation in the Senate as of 850, representing the major ideologies of the East Owlian political landscape.

### First Consul and the Cabinet

The First Consul of the East Owlian Republic was the nation's head of state and head of government. They were elected by the Senate to oversee day-to-day executive functions and lead the cabinet, which was composed of nine consuls or department heads advising the first consul in different policy areas. All cabinet members, the first consul included, were responsible to the Senate and could be removed by a vote of no confidence.

The last known first consul was Marilena Tridentino of the Alliance for East Owlia.

During the the Second Republic (729 - 795), the first consul was not responsible to the Senate but rather directly elected by popular vote.

### Administrative divisions

The post-communist East Owlian Republic was a unitary state made up of five regions (*regioni*). They each had their own local government, led by a governor, and an elected regional council with a wide range of devolved powers.

Representation in the East Owlian Senate was based on the regions, with each region given one base seat and the remaining seats divided between the regions proportional to their population.

**List of East Owlian regions**

## Demographics

### Population

The total resident population of East Owlia was 838,275 in the year 850.

**List of largest cities and towns in East Owlia**

### Language

Lanternese was the sole official language of the East Owlian Republic as well as the native language of a majority of the population.

Three national minority languages were recognised by the government and held protected status under East Owlian law: the Vicce language native to the swamplands of the Near East; the Janubic language spoken as a first language in Alhadba and by Janub communities across the country; and Cheridonian, a South Palowan dialect spoken mostly by immigrants from Eisarna and their descendants.

An important second language in East Owlia was the Iotanian language, a lingua franca often used in contact with foreign traders from the west and for purposes of international diplomacy.

Unrecognised language minorities included Ledenian speakers in the east near the border with Ledenigrad, and various other languages spoken by smaller immigrant communities.

### Religion

The dominant faith in East Owlia was Zealotism, a religion of western origins which placed emphasis on sun worship and reincarnation of the soul. Most Zealots in East Owlia were members of the East Owlian Zealot Church which had its seat at the Cathedral of Eternal Light in Tridente and remained in full communion with the western Zealot churches, but there also existed nonconformist churches like the Resplendent Temple which had a following in parts of rural Marenostro.

Other religions with a minor presence in East Owlia included the Ngoi Church, Palowan folk religion and Janubian polytheism.

## National symbols

### Flag

The East Owlian flag, *il Tricolore*, was first introduced in the wake of the liberation of the Lantern Islands as a symbol of national unity. It has not been ascertained exactly what the three colors of orange, white and gray represented but most theories allude to a meaning connected to light and the sun which rises in the east.

A version of this flag was used during communist rule, with the addition of a gold-bordered red star at the centre.

Flag of the East Owlian Republic (691 - 795, 802 -)Flag of the Union of East Owlian Republics (795 - 802)Certain days of the calendar were designated as flag days by East Owlian law, on which the East Owlian flag is flown on all public flag poles and buildings.

**List of East Owlian flag days**

\*Only on election years.

### National anthem

The last known national anthem *Gloria* was written in the late 7th century to celebrate the achievement of human flight brought about by the invention of elytra, and the technological revolution in East Owlia and the world that followed thereafter. It was first adopted as an anthem of the East Owlian Air Force in 701 and later as a national anthem in 728.

Other songs that were used as national anthems include a musical rendition of the Zealot hymn *Lux aeterna* which was used in an unofficial capacity during the first republic (691 - 728), and *Bandiera Rossa* as anthem of the socialist Union of East Owlian Republics (795 - 802).

## See also

* East Owlian elections
* East Owlian referendums
* List of East Owlian governments
* List of East Owlian leaders