Northwood Union

Northwood Union (peacetime flag)

Northwood Union (wartime flag)

### Currency

Gold Coins (for all inter-person commerce).Money is not needed for most essentials, such as food and shelter.

## Overview

The Northwood Union is a democratic socialist nation in the northern area of the world. As of the year 484, it is an established industrial nation with strong international ties. It currently is bordering on being a superpower, given it's near monopoly on advanced technologies ranging from geothermal steam engines to Gatling Guns. The nation was led by President Raine Illus, who also founded the Union and drafted it's first constitution. The nation's main priorities are food security, scientific progress, and maintaining equality. It is currently led by President Raine Illus once more, under a state of emergency.

The Union guarantees Food, Housing, and Assistance to all citizens, and has robust anti-discrimination laws that protect all minority groups within it's borders. The Union is a secular nation with separation of church and state, and all citizens are free to practice their own religions as they see fit.

The Northwood Union officially uses a Socialist system of economics. All industries such as farms and the factories are owned by the working class, and there is a system of Universal Basic Income and Universal Medical Care. Essential goods are easily obtainable either through personal mining/harvesting, or through the state's Material Pool, held in a stockpile beneath the Community Center. The only commerce inside the Union is for non-essential items, such as specialty goods and specialty foods (RP only). The Union wishes to ensure that no citizen goes hungry, and that no citizen goes without a home. All citizens are required by law to own at least one sword and one ranged weapon for use in case of a war. Specialized weapons such as Tridents are uncommon, with the Union's main weapons of choice being swords, axes, muskets, and bows. Larger weapons such as Gatling guns are used as part of various static defense setups. All citizens of the Union are drafted universally into the Union's military reserves when they turn 18.

The Northwood Union is located on a peninsula with an ice-free inlet, making it a viable shipping port.

The Union has a distinctively anti-pollution stance, and uses geothermal power to run it's factories so as to prevent harmful smoke emissions. It is not uncommon to see plumes of steam rising from the chimney of Factory Prime, as the cold air of the peninsula easily lets steam clouds persist for hours.

Northwood is home to Northwood University, aka NWU. Northwood University is a research university, known for it's extensive Science and Engineeering departments. Many well respected figures from other nations teach at the University as professors. NWU opened in late 482, serving the Class of 486. This institution also provides grade school and high school level courses as ways for graduate students in the education program to get class credits by getting field experience.

In the future, Northwood became an economic and technological powerhouse, spanning much of Glaciara. It was the first nation to launch a satellite into a stable orbit, and the first nation to put a person in space. Pioneering space exploration technology, it eventually built permanent manned bases on the moon and in orbit. 459 years after its founding, Northwood developed rudimentary Wormhole Drive technology based on the Nether Rifts, and began sending probes to nearby solar systems in a search for extraterrestrial life.

## Government Structure

The government of the Union was a Direct Democracy with a President for International Relations purposes. A President may be ejected from office with an 80% vote of no confidence, in which case a special election will be held immediately. If a president steps down, an election must be held for a new president.

Laws must be passed by a majority vote among citizens of the Union. Constitutional Amendments require an 80% supermajority to pass.

As Northwood grew larger, the old system was overhauled with additions such as Ranked Choice voting.

## Foreign Policy

The Union had a policy of non-interference in outside affairs. Officially, the Union will remain neutral unless it or it's allies are attacked, or unless the citizens vote to go to war with a belligerent power. There is a policy in place that directly forbids first-strike aggression. Current military strategy is focused on producing weapons as deterrents. This led to the development of a Gatling gun system, as well as more powerful weapons. Future weapons employed by the Union include heavy machine gun turrets, man-portable artillery, ground based missile systems (using redstone), ship-based artillery, man-portable carbine and submachine gun weapons, advanced swords, and at least one experimental redstone railgun. The Union also has at least one Sculk-based weapon of mass destruction, referred to as the Tower Project. This superweapon has never been used, and may not still be active.

The Northwood Union was part of an international Mutual Defense and Aid pact with Thaustein, as part of a defensive strategy to maintain the peace. After Thaustein became inactive, Northwood became the de-facto leader of the Northkor Union Bloc, and the de-facto military superpower of the Northern hemisphere (following the Liberation of Northwood from Hyrellion)

Northwood is currently working on both rapidly militarizing, and developing large explosives after the Northwood-Hyrellion war, and global stability decline. Northwood officially has no enemies, but has very negative relations with the Acolytes of Hostina due to an attack from one of their citizens, and their involvement in a coup in Anterra. Due to the decline of global stability, Northwood has restarted it's Advanced Superheavy Weapons program. This program eventually bore fruit in the form of inter-continental ballistic launch systems.

In mid 482, Northwood engaged in a police action against Jarka Banik due to the kidnapping of Maron Cogton. Due to this, the Northwood Union deployed its entire fleet and declared war on the Acolytes of Hostina, denouncing them as a terror cell during the events of the Synthesis Arc.

After the Synthesis Arc, Northwood began a period of rapid technological growth, cementing itself as a Great Power. Northwood reinstated it's non-aggression policy, and became a mediator for following conflicts. Northwood used it's military in the Sculk Conflict, along with it's nuclear arsenal. The server then ended after the Sculk was defeated. Northwood lives on in a Singleplayer world file and a private server. Northwood's main interstellar colony, Ikaros IV, lives on in a Tekkit server, and in the lore for the Everglow SMP.

## Military Branches

-Northwood Union Federal Navy (NUFN)

-Northwood Union Medical Legion (NUML)

-Northwood Federal Armed Forces (NFAF)

-Northwood Union Aeronautics and Space Administration (NUASA)

-Northwood Union Reserve Corps. (NURC)

-N.D.R.C. (Northwood Disaster Response Corps.) / NCDC (Northwood Center for Disease Control)

-Northwood Coast Guard (NCG)

-Northwood Union Space Command (NUSC)

- (future) United Planets of Northwood Interstellar Navy (UPN Navy)

## Notable Historical Figures

-former President Raine Illus: The founder of the Union, and the first President.

-Madeline Cogton: Northwood's second President

-Artemis Illus: Northwood's third President, elected in a special election.

-Andromeda Illus: Raine's daughter, found in the woods, Northwood's Fourth President.

-Sapphire Illus-Beloved: Raine's daughter.

-Luna Stellasol: An interdimensional traveller from Earth. Introduced electronic technology to Raine. (Jumpstarted a second Technological Revolution). A war hero who died defending Northwood from invasion.

-Cornelius Popwell: a private military contractor. Formerly Northwood Federal Navy.

-Governor Hollow-wild

-Valgard Dyri, Prince of the North

- Selene Illus-Vairi: Andromeda's daughter, the first Proximite in space.

## Cities/States

-Breezeview City (Capital City and trade port)

-Northway Springs (Mountain city)

-Bayport (Harbor city and trade port)

-Barley (harbor city)

-Redrock Bluffs (mining town)

-Glacier Falls Navy Base

## National Parks

- Cedar Ridge Natl. Park

- Grand Valley Natl. Park

## Northwood University

Northwood University is currently the only university in the known world. It provides majors in many topics, ranging from Geology and Engineering to History and Political Science. They offer a unique class on Proximite history and Technology as a special major course (Proximite Studies).

## Wanted list

This is a list of characters that have committed egregious crimes against the state or it's citizens, and are wanted by the Northwood Armed Forces. Certain characters on this list may also be barred from entry into Northwood territory on penalty of deportation or detention.

## Historical Events

-Quest for the Great Rift

- Artefact Incident (No Longer Canon)

- Five Minute War (participant- Northkor Union Powers)

-Encampment War (participant- Northkor Union Powers)

-Bombing of Thaustein (participant- Northkor Union Powers, Disaster Response)

-Great Earthquake of 485 (extreme damage to Northway Springs and parts of Breezeview)

-Volcanic Eruption of 485 (no damage)

-Battle of Breezeview (Temporary occupation by Hyrellion)

-Battle of Northway Springs (reclaimation of Northwood by the Northwood federal Government and Green Division)

-Synthesis Arc (Northwood declares war on the Acolytes of Hostina after repeated terror attacks, a coup in Anterra, and the rise of authoritarianism on the global scale. Northwood mobilized it's fleet and supported the Anterran rebellion, successfully aiding in the destruction of the Acolytes, and inadvertently causing severe political strife via the assassination of the queen of Prismara. Northwood's Redstone-Nuclear arsenal was put on DEFCON 2 for the first time since the Fall of Eastrock. ) (participant- Allied Democratic Powers)

-Sculk Pathogen Outbreak (in 485, an outbreak of an unknown parasitic lifeform forced Northwood to begin rapidly investing in biomedical technology) (Participant - Global Medical Organization) (Northwood's Nuclear arsenal is put on DEFCON 1 for the first time. Missiles are very nearly launched to contain the Sculk, although the use of the Wither (an eldritch horror similar in power to a nuclear bomb) to destroy the Sculk Queen as part of Operation Carcosa means that nukes are not launched.

-Great Dimensional Split: following the defeat of the Wither, the universe splintered into many timelines, with some being terminated as soon as they appeared.

## Foreign Relations

-Thaustein : Allied, Northkor Union Member State. Currently Inactive

-Prismara : Allied, very positive. Currently Inactive

-Everguard: Neutral (good trade relations). Currently Inactive

-Ivotus Republic: Neutral. Inactive.

-Anterra: Positive. Inactive.

-Acolytes of Hostina: Neutral. Currently Inactive

-Scholar's Rock: Allied, very Positive. Inactive

(All nations are inactive, as the server ended in early 2022)