Mikado

## **Government**

### **Government Type/Function**

The government of Rosale is a monarchy. This monarchy is made up of four rulers. One Empress, and three Princesses. The four monarchs are born from a private garden that contains four gigantic roses. The Spring Rose, The Autumn Rose, The Summer Rose, and The Winter Rose. While the monarchs can have children, a new monarch will be born from one of these roses if the previous one's bloodline ends.

#### High-Ranking Positions

##### The Spring Empress

The Empress is born from The Spring Rose. She is responsible for looking over all of Rosale. The Empress mainly handles foreign relations and executive decisions. She has the final say in every decision made by the monarchs. The Empress is expected to stay within the main palace located on the island and region of Awakening, which contains only one city of the same name. She is also held responsible for any mistakes made by any high-ranking member of the government, including The Princesses. While this position is commonly called "The Empress" the proper title is "The Spring Empress."

##### The Princesses

The Autumn Princess is born fromThe Autumn Rose. She is responsible for looking after the Alister region. The Autumn Princess has a home intended for her in Argyle, the capital of the Alister region and sub-capital of Rosale. The Autumn Princess is responsible for culture accumulation and acceleration within Rosale. Fashion, food, customs, arts. All of it.

The Summer Princess is born from The Summer Rose. She is expected to look after the Scorcher region and overseeing the country's treasury. The Summer Princess has a home intended for her in Garnet, the capital of the Scorcher region and sub-capital of Rosale. The Summer Princess is responsible for trade and commerce within Rosale.

The Winter Princess is born from The Winter Rose. She is responsible for the army and defences of Rosale. The Winter Princess is also recognized as the General of Rosale and is one of the main factors in war. The Winter Princess has a home intended for her in Weiss, the capital of the White Dawn region and sub-capital of Rosale.

##### The Royal Protector

The Royal Protector is the bodyguard of all four monarchs. They are responsible for the monarchs' safety, mainly The Empress' as the Princesses can also appoint Executioners or Knights as their personal bodyguards. The Royal Protector is also the leader of a special-ops force mainly used for scouting or rescue missions.

##### Grand Sorcerer

There has only been one Grand Sorcerer, and there will only be one for the foreseeable future. Grand Sorcerer Buttercup is old and wise. He is capable of great magical phenomena and possesses wide knowledge. He is a well-known medium, having spoken with all of the gods, including Archaia.

##### Executioners

As their title might suggest, an Executioner executes convicted prisoners. However, this is not all they do. They also pass judgment onto accused criminals, warden the dungeons of the Awakening Palace, and on occasion be the personal bodyguard and/or escort of a Princess or Empress.

##### Commanders

Commanders are highly important members of the Rosale government. They aid their respective monarchs in their duties, recommend soldiers for Knighthood, and manage essentially everything. They're similar to a secretary in this regard, except they're also expected to have exceptional combative capabilities.

##### Knights

The most elite soldiers within the Rosale army. They are suggested by Commanders, hand-picked from those suggestions by The Winter Princess, approved by The Empress, and given a choice of which Monarch's Order they wish to serve under.

#### **Orders**

Orders are groups that work more under a specific monarch rather than all four. While regular soldiers within Rosale's ranks are considered just soldiers, those who advance in ranks can be considered part of a specific monarch's Order. They gain this a special addition to their title.

In example: Commander Chrysanthemum of the White Dawn Order, Knight Camilla of the Alister Order, Executioner Solidago of the Scorcher Order.

This additional title is considered highly respectable amongst the people of Rosale and elevates one's social status.

### **Border Policies**

Rosale has open borders with every country, including the isolationist Mortis and Morticus.

### **Currency**

Rosale's currency is referred to as "Petals".

## **Geography**

### **Awakening**

The region of Rosale that consists only of one city on a small island. Despite this, it is the most important area of Rosale. Awakening is the central hub of everything that the other 3 regions specialize in. Commerce, culture, and combative forces.

A statue made of gold depicts the first empress holding a rose to the sky and stands just to the south of the island. The statue of Empress Awakening Rose was commissioned by the 3 princesses to honour her after her death and was intended to be a symbol of hope for the public in light of her passing. It was commissioned in the year 185 and finished in 202. It was built over a span of 17 years and made of pure gold.

#### Awakening

The Capital of Rosale. Both the region and the capital are named after the first Empress. Diplomatic gatherings of internal and external government are made here.

### **Alister**

Alister is named after the first Autumn Princess, Alister Rose. It has many seaside cities, allowing frequent trade and travel. This region is known for cultivating the culter of Rosale, making the country home to many races.

A statue of the first Autumn Princess stands off the shores of Argyle. It's made of silver and depicts her pointing a rose in the direction of Awakening. The statue of Alister Rose was the last statue completed of the four sisters. It's completely made of silver and has a semi-hollow inside, it houses a small room which Alister Rose's body was buried in. The locals believe her soul remains by the body and watches over the whole region.

#### Argyle

A port city that is the centre of fashion in Rosale. It is referred to as "The Golden Flower." Many renowned fashion boutiques and designers can be found here. Among those is Madame Basset, a Ra'Bas woman credited with making high-quality clothing for nearly every country leader, lives here.

#### Kabage

Kabage is the centre of food within Alister, connecting directly to Fire Opal and enabling plenty of trade. The road between Fire Opal and Alister is referred to as "The Spice Road."

#### Orchid

A trade-heavy city. Few people live here other than those who run hotels and very wealthy merchants. The rest of the people in the city are travellers who are passing through. While Orchid does not specialize in any one kind of culture, it's a city that is a jack of all trades. It supports just a little bit of everything.

#### Waterloo

Sports are a focus in this city. Team sports are practised along with competitive sports. The people of Waterloo highly enjoy their city's main focus, and they tend to shun those who don't. An annual sports competition called "Brightbud." The winner of this competition wins a yearly-made trophy and gets to keep it. In addition to that, they get a personal congratulatory statement from The Autumn Princess.

#### Rosetta

A trade city that heavily trades specifically with Gaio Sylva. Raw resources like lumber, stone, and ore circulate through this city often. It's the richest city in Alister despite being in a somewhat inconvenient location.

#### Amethyst

Amethyst is the least populated city in Alister. It draws inspiration from the cities of Scorcher as it focuses purely on economic benefit rather than communal. The people of Amethyst tend to be nobles, however, Amethyst is more of a "resort" city for nobles to own vacation homes in rather than an actual place of residency.

#### Isatra

A smaller trade city that trades with Gaio Sylva as well. However, it's known to also accept trade ships from all other countries. It's less populated than most cities, but the community there is friendly and close-knit.

#### Ulster Spring

This small town is colder in temperature due to being next to the White Dawn region. Despite this, Ulster Spring has many hot springs that garner visitors. Along with that, it's the leading city in swimming-related fashion.

### **Scorcher**

The region named after the first Summer Princess, Summer Scorcher Rose. It specializes mostly in trade and currency. Alongside these economy related things, there are also many schools and universities here.

A statue shows the first Summer Princess off the shores of Garnet. It depicts her pointing a rose in the direction of Awakening. The statue of Scorcher Summer was the first of the 3 princess statues to be completed. It's made of pure ivory, gathered from the hooves of winged horses from Nerevlin. There's a myth among the people of Rosale saying there's a treasure in the statue, so there's plenty of guards around the base it's built upon to keep people from trying to break in.

#### Garnet

Garnet is the site of the Rosale treasury vault, as well as several major trade houses. One of these trade houses always belongs to and gives residence to the Summer Princess. Most currency passes through here, whether it be government-owned or trade between merchants. It is the second richest city in Rosale, losing first place only to Fire Opal.

#### Ruby

The home city of the Ruby Academy, many students come here to study all calibres of subjects. The school was founded by Summer Scorcher Rose herself, and a city was built around it. It is the first school in Rosale to focus on more than one general topic. Instead of just arts or business, it offers education in both subjects as well as many more.

Aside from educational purposes, this city is popular for vacations and temporary stays for travellers passing through. A beachside city, Ruby has many waterfront hotels and has a multitude of local seafood restaurants. Some businesses have been reported to be built further from shore than the usual beachfront buildings and even underwater.

#### Fire Opal

An incredibly large and bustling city with thousands of recreational areas. These include theatres, hotels, casinos, restaurants, etc. Fire Opal is regarded as the unofficial capital of the Scorcher region, as the city has the highest population and territory. Many trade routes pass through this city, especially those originating from the waterfront.

#### Amber

A port city highly focused on naval travel. Sailors of all types are frequent here, and many artisans who wish to improve upon the design of the boat either live, learn, or visit here to share and gain knowledge. It is *the* port city in a country full of port cities.

#### Emerald Bay

While not an actual city, Emerald Bay is close to becoming one. It is a beachside town with a population of about 200. It thrives on fishing and exporting pearls from the clams found plentifully on its beaches.

### **White Dawn**

The military focused region of Rosale, housing 60% of the country's military. The region is named after the first Winter Princess and is overseen by those who take her place.

A statue shows the first Winter Princess on the shore of Weiss. It's made of silver and depicts her pointing a rose in the direction of Awakening. Her statue was the most expensive to build due to the fortifications and material. Her statue is made of iron and reinforced on the inside with steel. At the time, neither Morticus or Home had been discovered by the rest of the world. Iron and steel weren't as plentiful in these times. Alongside this, her usual dress was incredibly elaborate and difficult for sculptors to capture. Just as the other two statues, it's believed something is hidden inside. Many speculate it to be her sword.

#### Weiss

Weiss is the sub-capital of Rosale and the capital of the White Dawn region. This is where high-ranking military officials live, whether it be the Winter Princess, notable Generals, or the Winter Princess' administration team. This is where battle strategies are planned and orders for training and employment are sent out from.

#### Pearl

This city is dedicated to training soldiers in naval combat -ship navigation, cannon operation, and swimming- and archery. Two generals are relegated to this city, each specializing in both fields. Pearl often produces higher skilled soldiers, given the steady hands and keen eye required for both practices.

#### Ivory

This military city dedicates itself to mounted and on-foot combat. While mounted combat can range anywhere from horses to even elephants, on-foot combat can also range anywhere from swords to hammers. Given the broad amount of subjects taught here, Ivory requires four generals to watch over it.

### **Population**

* 80% Hana
* 10% Kagutsuchi
* 4.5% Druantia
* 2% Varuna
* 1% Shu
* 1% Ra'Bas
* 1% Breksta
* 0.5% Hybrids

## **Culture**

### **Common Trades**

Within the Awakening region, it's residents tend to be employed by the government. Whether by having a government job or a military job. This is because the capital is highly centralized and also on an island, not leaving much room for commercial buildings when residential buildings are much more needed.

Merchants, construction workers, students, and nobles are more commonly found within the Scorcher region. Because there's quite a bit of unused land in Scorcher -especially Fire Opal, a city which is still expanding inside of its own borders- there's plenty of opportunity for work for construction workers. Nobles are more centralized within Garnet, but can also be found within other cities. Merchants frequent here for the high opportunity market.

Alister has all types of people within it, from tailors to bounty hunters. It's the melting pot of Rosale because of how many different kinds of visitors it tends to get. The most common job trade, however, is that of food production. This varies from a simple cart vendor to high-end restaurants.

In White Dawn, the only job of its citizens is that of a soldier or those who aid the army. This is because in White Dawn only soldiers and their families are allowed to live there. While the soldiers have obvious jobs, their families usually find work repairing or creating armour, cooking food for the soldiers, and other kinds of military-related jobs.

### **Traditions**

The people of Rosale typically wear flowing, light clothing in forms of dresses or capes. Lighter colours are more popular, and it's commonplace for flowers and other plant life to be sewn into clothing as part of it. Dress skirts tend to be high-low and contain many ruffles. Popular dress for men tends to include vests, capes, and heeled boots.

The most popular festival is the Festival of Four, named to celebrate the four original rulers. During celebrations like these, Rosale citizens wear crowns and necklaces made of flowers woven together. These adornments are regularly made with roses of either pink, orange, purple, or white colour. Festivalgoers will wear four rings on their fingers, and children often wear masks depicting a Velandras, an animal with four eyes that was chosen by Alister Rose herself as the country's representative animal.

It's seen as incredibly rude to lift your smallest finger when drinking something, and seen as polite to hold cups with both hands.

### **Religious Beliefs**

The gods Stellani, Gaio, Melodis, Argo, and Magnus are publicly worshipped in Rosale. There are several temples dedicated to them, but it is against the law for any temple to exclude one of those 5 gods. It's perfectly acceptable for an additional god to be present in the temple, however.

To pray to their gods, worshippers will prepare a bouquet of flowers on a shrine. The flowers vary based on the god they pray to; white lilacs for Stellani, magnolias for Gaio, mauve carnations for Melodis, cypress for Argo, and sweet peas for Magnus.

### **Magical Practices**

All types of magic are welcome and accepted within Rosale. It's obviously against the law to use your magic to do evil, but this law is hard to enforce if magic is used discreetly.

Within schools, students are given a choice of the magic they wish to pursue first and are taught from there. From their 7th year in school, they can then choose to take on more than one type of magic optionally. In their final year of school, students are tested on their magical abilities and graded by performance. Top-performing students will be given invitations to join the Rosale military.

### **Values**

Relationships are more closed off and private. PDA is highly looked down upon, leading couples to often only hold hands in public. Because of these beliefs weddings are seen as highly sacred occasions and dates are treated as special as birthdays.

Women are expected to be soft and kind in terms of their mannerisms unless they're soldiers, then they're expected to be cold and distant. Many schools require their female students to wear flowers in their hair as part of the uniform. Femininity is highly regarded in Rosale, and women who embrace it have no trouble finding husbands.

Men are expected to be tough and respectful, especially when they are a soldier. It's expected of them to take charge of social situations and conversations. Young boys are taught to express their emotions confidently and always be honest with the people they know.

### **Fighting Styles**

While they are no strangers to exploring different types of combat, the Rosale army focuses heavily on three types of fighting; archery, naval combat, and metal melee weapons. Three of White Dawn's cities are dedicated to one of each of these methods. This trifecta of combat types allows the Rosale army to be extremely versatile, however, soldiers specialize in one method and aren't commonly proficient in all 3.

### **Commonly Used Weapons**

Different types of bows are used by the archery division, referred to as The Whisparrows Division officially. Bows can range anywhere from extremely large carrying gigantic explosive arrows to sleek and carrying multiple small arrows.

The naval division, called The Lotus Division, houses two different kinds of ships. A warship packed with 60 cannons -30 on each side- and a scouting ship, which is small and holds 2 cannons.

In the footsoldier division, known as The Tigerlily Division, soldiers use many different types of metal melee weapons. This includes swords, spears, axes, and even throwable weapons.

## **History**

### **Wars**

Rosale has never engaged in a war with any other country but has had one civil war. This civil war was started by the only descendant of the first generation of leaders who was ironically named Peace Rose.

Her rebellion was against the second Spring Empress, Elizabeth Rose. Peace claimed that Elizabeth was a traitor to the country. She claimed that the Empress had started The Wilting and killed the first three princesses with it. Her claims were outrageous, but it was a strange coincidence given all three had fallen to the newly formed illness. Some believed and supported her, and some mocked her. The rebellion was not successful and ended with the execution of Peace Rose. Elizabeth Rose was cited afterwards saying that she "regretted doing what had to be done."

No civil wars were started after the incident referred to as "Peace's War" because of the brutality found with a loss.

### **Renaissances and Reforms**

The Blush Century was a renaissance caused by the first Empress of Rosale, Awakening Rose. This renaissance caused the development of all types of art forms. It ground to a halt when the Empress passed to sickness but was carried on for 15 more years by Alister Rose, the first Autumn Princess.

## **Leaders**

### **First Leaders**

The first leaders of Rosale were the Spring Empress Awakening Rose, the Winter Princess White Dawn, the Summer Princess Scorcher, and the Autumn Princess Alister. This generation lasted a total of 210 years.

Each of these first rulers had a region of the country named after them. The personalities of the first four monarchs shaped the focus of each of their regions, leaving a legacy and eternal presence simply within the function of the regions.

All four of the monarchs fell to the illness known as The Wilting, and are believed to have been the first recorded cases of the diseases.

More information on each can be found here.

### **Past Leaders**

##### 2nd Generation (Lasted 500 years)

Spring Empress Elizabeth Rose, Winter Princess Primrose, Autumn Princess Peace Rose, Summer Princess Molineux

##### 3rd Generation (Lasted 128 years)

Spring Empress Malmaison Rose, Winter Princess Violet, Autumn Princess Polareis, Summer Princess Blush Rose

##### 4th Generation (Lasted 162 years)

Spring Empress Tulip, Winter Princess Marigold, Autumn Princess Snapdragon, Summer Princess Oxalis

### **Current Leaders**

The current four leaders of Rosale are the Spring Empress Astrantia, the Winter Princess Snowdrop, the Summer Princess Dahlia, and the Autumn Princess Azalea. This generation has currently been around for 52 years.

The Spring Empress Astrantia is known for being extremely knowledgeable in foreign relations and cultures. She's made efforts to end currently existing wars; The Burning and The Sunset War being both of them.

[Princess Info N/A]