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The Otiran Republic



Motto: Raqnon, Sylvia, Vokēdre (Love, Logic, Faith)


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Location


Population: 196 million
-Density: 200 per square km


Capital: Barcella
Largest City: Zaldrizdoron


Official Language: Otiran



National Language: Otiran and English


Demonym: Otiran

Government:
- Monarch: Emperor Lucco II Deradi
- Heir-Designate: Crown Princess Adira Candistia Meles Corrina
- Prime Minister of the Republic: His Excellency Londo Caltalos
- Prophetess Supreme: Her Eminence Lady Morella


Legislature:
- Upper House: Senate
- Lower House: Populum


Establishment: 582 BCE by Otiros the Great


Land Area: 3,968,000 km2 (1,532,000 sq mi)


Elevation
Highest Point: Mount Cleophee
Lowest Point: Lake Dofus


GDP (nominal): $5 trillion NSD
GDP (nominal) per capita: $39k NSD


Human Development Index (NS Version): .903


Currency: kama


Time Zone: N/A


Drives on the: Right


Calling code: +88


Internet TLD: .ot


The Republic of Otira

The Otiran Republic, commonly called Otira, is a theocratic constitutional monarchy. Otira covers 3,968,000 square kilometers (1,532,000 sq mi) and has has an estimated population of 196 million in the home islands proper. Otira comprises of thirteen main islands divided into a series of prefectures.

Otira's rapid industrialization and militarization during the 19th century (Common Era) led to its emergence as a world power and the establishment of a colonial empire following the First Nokri War, the Fusan Rebellion, the New Zur-Otiran War, and the First Great War. Economic and political turmoil in the 1920s led to the rise of militarism mixed with religious fervor, eventually culminating in Otira's Second Great Expansion on the eve of the Second Great War.

Etymology

The name of the nation is derived from the founding emperor, Avtokrator Otiros I Corrina. The capital, and oldest city of the Republic, is known as Barcella.

The standard way to refer to a citizen of Otira is as an "Otiran."

History

The origin of the Otiran Republic lies in the shepherd tribes of Aurion the Windwalker. At some point in the 6th century BCE they were forced by a devastating natural disaster to leave their homeland, whose true name has been discarded in favor of the term Seojudan (the Lost), also known to them now as Dorosiruk (the Walled Garden). The holy book, the Aeksion, suggests a series of natural calamities caused them to leave. The tribes rallied around a shepherd-turned-prophet named Aurion, who spoke of a vision he had received from Amazverdagon (known alternatively as the All-Father, the Great Maker, and the Golden Lion) of a chosen land for them. Aurion claimed the Great Maker had ascended into the sky and flew in the direction the survivors were to follow. The prophet's visions were believed, and the tribes felled what trees remained to build a fleet.

As the tribes of Aurion crossed the sea they first found the island of Fusan. The Fusanese people had been hit by a great tsunami that had inundated much of the island, and in the aftermath starvation and disease had taken hold. Despite their own deprivation, the Fusanese were kind hosts who did everything possible to provide succor to the tribes. As a result, the Great Maker spoke to Aurion the Windwalker and commanded him to invite them on the great journey. Aurion did so, and the council of mothers that ruled the Fusanese concurred, and so did they join the fleet and abandoned Fusan. To honor them, Aurion arranged marriages between the Fusanese and that tribe of his followers which had the fewest women. Aurion himself took to wife Huna, the daughter of the Empress-Mother of the Fusanese. The Fusanese adopted the worship of the Great Maker (although some of their own household gods would emerge in the pantheon).

After a long journey, during which the fleet endured storms and pirates, the island chain that would be called Otira, was discovered. A golden star - taken to be the Great Maker - fell from the sky, and the fleet followed to where it had landed. Fourteen main islands formed the archipelago it had marked, and one would be given to each of the twelve tribes that had first set out. In the center, the two largest islands formed a great sea between them, nearly joining at their northern tips. The western half would be called Vezendio, and the eastern half Veznaqo. On Veznaqo's wesern shore would be their capital for all tribes to share. Huna, who would be called the All-Mother, named the sea Celini for her first daughter with Aurion. The baby Celini had perished in the journey, and the stresses of their loss were said to have near driven Aurion and Huna to madness with grief. Aurion and Huna named the whole island chain itself "Otira," for their surviving son Otiros whose name meant "great hope" in the old tongue. Upon the great hill, Companion's Height, overlooking this bay would be founded Barcella, which would serve as the capital. The tribes began to spread out and settles the various islands of the chain.

One of the first challenges to face the new tribes in their holy land would be the discovery of a violent race of nomadic peoples who had established outposts in the archipelago. In the early years, encounters usually involved Otiran boats being shadowed by these strangers, whom the Otirans called the Zur. The Oritan Historical Guild noted the first contact between the Zur and the Otirans as an incident in which a fleet of Otiran explorer vessels came upon a Zur city on the coast of the island of Zuros. This primary meeting did not go well and when the ships returned to Otiran waters, they carried with them a hidden Zur force of reapers who proceeded to attack and burn everything in their path. While they were dealt with in short order by overwhelming Otrian soldiers, that first assault heralded a continuous attack by Zur forces on Otiran settlements, the capture of slaves, and soon outright war.

This state of affairs continued until the damage from the intermittent but always terrible raids by the Zur became too damaging to ignore. Steeling their martial forces against the Zur, the Otirans drove all the invaders from their shores and then took the fight to the Zur on their own continent. Once the Otirans struck the Zur on their home continent, there was no possibility of peace between them. The battle that began as a reprisal for raids became a full fledged series of territorial wars with one goal coming swiftly into the minds of both people – the total eradication of the opposing race.

This period of Otira’s history is its bloodiest and most violent, but from the ashes of these terrible wars rose the greatest of their warlords into the role of the First Emperor and united their many countries and families into a single, mighty nation. Each battle was more brutal than the last, and a tradition of counting survivors at the end of each year gave rise to the "Celebration of Life" ritual that remains to this day. This fierce first war with the Zur ended with the brilliance of the son of Aurion the Windwalker and Huna the All-Mother: Otiros the first of the House of Corrina. Under his leadership the tribes would crush the Zur at the battle of Issaros, and he would be named Avtokrator of the Republic. Emperor Otiros, his sons, his granddaughters, and beyond would pursue a campaign of retribution and then annihilation against the Zur people. None would survive. Victorious Empress Tomika I Corrina would later boast: "Do you know what the last Zur said right before he died? Aghh!"

Geography

Otira has nearly 3,000 islands extending along the west Emerald Ocean. It is over 1,600 km (990 mi). The main islands, and the largest, are Veznaqo, Vezendio, Leati, Zuros, Tuwain, Arugia, Tefa, Karhas, Cholgha, Immolan, Tolonius, Davo, Nefua, and Omelos. The Agenka Islands, which include Sepharkuma, are a chain to the south of Omelos. The Bensalem Islands are south of the main islands of Otira. To the north is the thinly-populated island of Karghael. Together they are often known as the Otiran archipelago, and it possesses one of the longest coastlines in the world. Otira shares no land borders except on several colonies. Due to its many far-flung outlying islands, Otira has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world. About 53 percent of Otira is forested, mountainous or unsuitable for agricultural, industrial or residential use. The habitable zones, mainly located in coastal areas, have high population densities.

The islands of Otira are located in a volcanic zone on the Emerald Ring of Fire. They are primarily the result of large oceanic movements occurring over hundreds of millions of years. Otira has 99 active volcanoes. During the twentieth century several new volcanoes emerged. Destructive earthquakes, often resulting in tsunami, occur several times each century. The 1906 Tuscano earthquake killed over 100,000 people. More recent major quakes are the 1995 Great Zuros earthquake and the 2011 Arugia earthquake, a 9.1-magnitude quake which hit Otira and triggered a large tsunami.

The climate of Otira is predominantly temperate, but varies greatly from north to south. Otira's geographical features divide it into six principal climatic zones: Karghael, Sea of Otira, Central Highland, Celini Inland Sea, Emerald Ocean, and Agenka Islands. The northernmost zone, Karghael, has a humid continental climate with long, cold winters and very warm to cool summers. Precipitation is not heavy, but the islands usually develop deep snowbanks in the winter. In the Sea of Otira zone on Leati's west coast, northwest winter winds bring heavy snowfall. In the summer, the region is cooler than the Emerald area, though it sometimes experiences extremely hot temperatures because of the foehn. The Central Highland has a typical inland humid continental climate, with large temperature differences between summer and winter seasons, as well as large diurnal variation; precipitation is light, though winters are usually snowy. Vezendio's western mountains shelter the Celini Inland Sea from seasonal winds, bringing mild weather year-round. The Emerald coast features a humid subtropical climate that experiences milder winters with occasional snowfall and hot, humid summers because of the southeast seasonal wind. The Agenka Islands and Bensalem Islands have a subtropical climate, with warm winters and hot summers. Precipitation is very heavy, especially during the rainy season.

While industrialization brought about pollution and waste management issues during the 20th century, the Otiran government had remained determined to maintain high environmental protection laws. To this date Otira possesses one of the most well-managed environments in the world.

Demographics

Population

Otira's population is estimated at around 196 million, with 90% of the population living on the fourteen main islands. Otiran society is linguistically, ethnically and culturally homogeneous, composed of 88.5% ethnic Otirans, with small populations of foreign workers. Foreigners of Otiran descent account for a significant percent of these foreign workers.

The most dominant native ethnic group is the Otiran people; primary minority groups include the Omelosi, descendants of the Omelos tribe who intermarried with the Fusanese, native Agenkan peoples, as well as social minority groups like the Pirtans. Otirans are known for their great beauty and possess physical features not commonly seen among other peoples of the world. Typically, they are very fair-skinned, with silver (i.e. platinum blonde) hair and violet or deep blue eyes. Omelosi are a "mixed" ethnic group, commonly called by some major NS anthropologists as "Eurasian" or "Hafu" people. When the original Otiran travelers met with the Fusanese, intermarriage took place between the Omelos tribe who would settle the island that bears their name until the Fusanese were effectively absorbed.
In 2018, foreign-born non-naturalized workers made up only 1.5% of the total population. Otira is widely regarded as ethnically homogeneous, and does not release ethnicity or tribe statistics for Otiran nationals; some claim the society could be construed as multi-ethnic depending on the degree of mixed heritage for each tribe and island. Most Otirans continue to see Otira as a mono-cultural society. Prime Minister of the Republic Londo Caltalos describes Otira as being a nation of "one race, one civilization, one language and one culture", which drew criticism from representatives of ethnic minorities such as the Agenkan.

Otira has one of the longest overall life expectancy at birth of any country in the world, ranking in the 10%.

Language

More than 99 percent of the population speaks Otiran as their first language. The international trade tongue, English, is taught in school and virtually the entire population is at least bilingual.

Besides Otiran, the Agenkan language is spoken in the Agenka Islands chain. Few children learn these languages, but in recent years the local governments have sought to increase awareness of the traditional languages. The Karghali language, which has no proven relationship to Otiran or any other language, is moribund, with only a few elderly native speakers remaining in Karghael. Some anthropologists theorize the Karghali could be descendants of survivors of the Zuros peoples.

Religion

Otira has full religious freedom rooted in its Covenant of the Republic. However, Otiran culture is rooted in its faith. Estimates suggest that 95-98% percent of the Otiran population subscribe to Mazoregon (the faith of creation) as their indigenous religion, and their pillar of law and reason. These estimates are based on people affiliated with a temple. The number of the Great Maker shrines in Otira is estimated to be around over 100,000. Foreign observations indicate the level of participation remains high, especially during festivals and occasions such as the first temple visit of the New Year. It is believed Fusanese native religions influenced Otiran beliefs and customs, such as a matriarchal clergy. Otiran streets are decorated on all holidays of Amazverdagon, which are protected and enshrined by the government. In a practical sense, the Otiran government is very theocratic. The high priestess of the Great Maker sits in government with the title of "Prophetess Supreme" and advises the Avtokrator. While the Great Maker is identified as the high god or "Great Maker" in the religion, there exists a pantheon of minor deities who mostly serve as patrons of locations or virtues.

Foreign religions are still allowed and their practices are protected. This protection excludes proselyting, which is considered a felony under the Covenant of the Republic.

Largest Cities

Rank

City

Metro area population

Freehold

1

Zaldrizdoron

9.2 million

Tuzanor

2

Venzen

3.6 million

Vezendio

3

Tuscano

2.6 million

Tefa

4

Ghehana

2.2 million

Arugia

5

Cartagia

1.9 million

Veznaqo

6

Allura

1.6 million

Leati

7

Twindle

1.4 million

Tuwain

8

Syrio

1.4 million

Zuros

9

Iranos

1.4 million

Immolan

10

Barcella

1.2 million

Tolonius

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The Republic of Otira

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