Roni

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The Republic of the Roni at its greatest extent c. 572 A.S.

The Roni, officially **The Great Republic of the Roni and Her Peoples,** known simply as the **Roni Republic,** was a sovereign nation state whose territories encompassed the southernmost regions of Truyea, from Manalpa in the south to Tyno and Hope in the east, and about as far north as Resh. The Roni Republic was founded in 307 A.S, following the collapse of the House of Magar and its tributary states. It was the first southern state in more than two centuries to unite the primarily ethnic Duscadorians under one banner. It enjoyed a long and storied history spanning almost three centuries, and at its height boasted the largest standing military on the continent, before internal strife and ethnic tensions brought it to its knees. The Roni Republic was officially dissolved on the 19th of Tullena II, 602 A.S. Its largest successor state, Duscador, succeeded where the Roni failed, and by 650 had expanded her borders as far northwest as Neverrun.

The Roni was the first large-scale republic of its kind in centuries. It was founded on a principle of military soft power over economic expansion, a policy which, in its early years, proved extremely fruitful, and its neighbours were soon easily assimilated into its borders. However, a failure to meet rising tensions from within and a near-total ignorance of social reforms and progressive social policies soured its diverse citizens on the republican government, and a revolt in 591 A.S led to a decade-long series of conflicts known as the Tamar Wars. The Roni Republic was brought to its knees, its government ultimately disbanded, and from it was born the Presidium of Duscador.

The official state-sanctioned language of the Roni was Duscadorian, spoken by an overwhelming majority of its inhabitants, who were mostly ethnic Duscadorian. A number of other local languages were spoken across the republic and a failure to address these issues led to a century-long period of rural isolationism known as the Quiet Era, where economic growth stagnated, as did literacy rates, while birth rates continued to rise. The capital city of the Roni was Resh, on the northermost border of the republic, home to almost a quarter of a million inhabitants.

The officially minted currency of the republic was the Roni *dram,* a small round copper coin, usually minted with either a horse, footsoldier, or chevron on the front and reverse. Though it was legally supposed to be used for all transactions, the Quiet Era gave way to a number of local currencies and non-physical bartering methods that saw the *dram* fall out of fashion en masse. A half-hearted attempt to circulate the *dram* among rural populations in the early sixth century proved fruitless, and led to a short period of rapid inflation called the Three-Year Troubles. When the Roni was dissolved, Duscador adopted the *dram* as its official currency, and original Roni *dram* were not taken out of circulation.

The Roni was a stratocracy in all but name, founded on a set of legal and constitutional principles that placed the military at the forefront not only of domestic and foreign policy, but also at the head of Roni culture. Under the Roni the Duscadorian population of the south was reformed into a disciplined standing army, and at the height of its power in the late fifth century boasted an army of more than a million men. It was ruled by a republican council, with 240 councillors elected by lower magistrates and town governors to the position for a duration of three years per term, with no fixed term limit. Each decision had to be carried forward by a majority vote. The elder statesmen - the three longest-serving members of the council at any one time - could veto a motion if they saw fit, though in practice this was rarely used. Like most civilisations, the Roni used the Tamerian calendar. The republic had no official state religion, though a significant number of its inhabitants worshipped the Old Gods. Folk religions were also common, although were not properly recognised or protected in written law and were not accommodated for.

Its greatest military victory came in the South Sea War of 472 - 477, which began over a blockade dispute with the Empire of Sevicia over a chain of small islands just off the eastern coast. Forced to fight a defensive war by both land and sea against a superior force, the Roni Republic emerged from the five-year conflict ultimately victorious. Its success led to the Roni's position as the leading military power in Truyea, a position it held for more than three decades.