United Communes of Rassania

Created by /u/Potato\_the\_Conqueror

### GEOGRAPHY

Rassania is the name for the two islands Calan and Artom, which are both fairly similar, with rocky shores, large forests. The climate is a mild one. Half the year is grey, overcast and rainy, with the other half being sunny and mildly warm.

### BIOLOGY/ETHNICITY

The population of Rassania is made up of humans and Pallaneans. At this point most people are a mix of human and Pallanean. Pallaneans are quite similar to humans in appearance with the main difference being their grey skin. One other difference, which is by far the largest difference is that the Pallanean lungs are capable of holding the air for much longer making Pallaneans able to stay under water for much longer than humans. Now there aren’t really any pure Pallaneans any more, as Pallaneans and humans are able to interbreed. Most of the population is a mix between human and Pallanean. The new “race” created by this, which has just called themselves Rassanians still have the capabilities of the Pallaneans, but to differing extents, with some being more like humans and not being able to stay under water long and others being able to hold their breath for hours. Rassanians can look anywhere from completely human to completely Pallanean, but for the most part people have the pitch black Pallanean hair and most other hair colors have died out. Racial Quirk: A magical power of the Rassanians is windsinging. It makes them capable of controlling wind in their immediate surroundings, which they have used to blow wind in their sails making them extremely fast, which is a power they have made use of a lot. A single Rassanian can only move up to a small fishing boat, but when many work together they can move even the largest ships, and faster than a weather mage could at that, but it requires the cooperation of the whole crew.

### HISTORY

Centuries ago there was a large empire somewhere to the east that held many slaves. One group of slaves decided to rebel and for a short while they were successful, but eventually the army was sent in and the slaves didn’t have a chance. Facing death they chose to flee rather than to stay and they stole a large number of ships and fled. They sailed the seas searching a new homeland for around a decade. Eventually they discovered two smaller islands, Calan and Artom and the inhabitants were welcoming and accepted them. The Pallaneans welcomed the former slaves onto their islands and the two groups intermingled over the centuries creating a mixed race. The people of the two islands have always been accepting towards foreigners and have allowed many refugees to settle in their lands. Several centuries ago the Rassanians began raiding passing ships. At first they raided most ships they came across but with time they started focusing on slaver ships and ships belonging to nations with slavery.

### SOCIETY

Rassanians have organized themselves into autonomous communes, which largely run themselves, but the communes support each other as necessary, spreading resources across the islands, making sure they go where they are needed. Each commune provides a certain number of soldiers and ships to the rassanian military and navy based on the communes size and access to shipbuilding materials. While most communes are smaller villages, some cities have formed, and in those cities industry is growing. Most decisions are decided in communal votes, where each citizen, male or female, can vote. Every year each commune elects a leader and the whole of Rassania elects a single ruler for 5 years, who is for the most part in charge of logistics and organization as opposed to policy, but in emergency situations the leader gains more power to make quick decisions that couldn’t be made fast enough by a vote. For making policy there is a large council, with representation from all the communes, based on their population. They put together policy proposals and submit their proposals to a vote. The people are also able to hold referendums for changing policy and if the population votes for a policy change the council has to put it into law. In the army and navy all leaders are elected and can be voted out of office.

### CULTURE

Rassanians celebrate freedom and equality above all else. Education is organized on a communal level, so different communes have different levels of education. There are not many national holidays, but people hold many fairly regular celebrations, for different reasons(some for more intellectual discussion and some for just getting drunk and having fun). These "private" parties have become so ingrained in their culture that it has become custom to hold parties for the coming of age of children, four times a year there is a celebration where all children who have come of age since the last coming of age festival are officially induced into adult life, and are given all the benefits and responsibilities that come with that, including often getting drunk after. Clothing in Rassania tends to be darker colors, black is the most popular, but navy blue and dark red are increasing in popularity. Rassanians try to only cover what's necessary, so they dress sparsely wearing only enough to protect themselves from the weather and no more. There is no organized religion in Rassania, but most Rassanians believe in some sort of deity. It is generally believed that nearly all gods that people believe in around the world exist, but that none are truly all powerful, and their power relies on how much they are worshipped, making religion a two way street, meaning the gods need us as much as we need them. There are many different gods worshipped in Rassania and all religions are accepted, as long as it does not try to force itself on the unwilling.

### OCCURRENCE OF MAGIC

There are not very many magic users in Rassania other than the windsingers, of whom there are very many. The magic users that are there are generally accepted, but Rassanians are careful around them, because they do not wish the magic users to take too much power. Magic users who are born in Rassania are taught from an early age not to use their powers against other people unless absolutely necessary, and magic users from abroad are forced to swear an oath, bound by magic(meaning they physically can't break the oath), to only use magic against other people in self defense.

### MAJOR EXPORTS/IMPORTS

The Rassanians are accomplished ship builders and their ships are some of the fastest in the world, even without windsingers, making them a desired good. They are famed for wasai, their alcohol made from syrup they harvest from trees, and many other types of alcohol, such as several types of whiskey and beer. Since the islands are heavily forested they also export lots of wood. Because of their current state of industrialisation they are in need of metals, mainly steel, and since their iron mines are depleted, their main import is either raw iron ore or processed steel.

### POSTS

The United Communes of Rassania

Ships from Distant Shores

A cross section of Rassanian Society

Mathesonists, the Election of 26CE and Fiach Dorhein

A Solution in Sight

First Contact

NEATO Headquarters in Faghrain

Elections of 34CE and possible interventions

The Kah’lean genocide

New colonial policies