Valewyr, the Sun-Kissed Empire

Public Agenda

Valewyr has a unique belief and one that culturally has led to...shall we say conflict and disagreements. A notable part of the Valewyrian mythos culturally is tied to the idea that the Sundering, the darkness that near consumed the world, will one day return. There is a deep cultural belief both within the religion of Falconhand, and within the nation itself, that they are the chosen people, the Sun-Kissed, meant to lead, guide, protect and organize everyone in preparation for this event. The church, interestingly enough, expresses this belief less radically than the nation-state often has, using missionaries, funding education, training its templars and encouraging them to wander far and wide, even beyond the nation's borders, to join and lead the fight against the 'Great Darkness' wherever they may find them. Truly the wisdom of a Sky-Rider is often a boon to where ever they choose to be, especially in times of crisis, and their leadership is oft a boon in times of dire need.

The nation-state however has more than once taken this belief a step further. Valewyr has the heaviest history of any modern nation on Valerick for full on conflict and open war with any of its neighbors. They've made war with Rohara at least twice with conquest in mind, and have had notable border skirmishes and disagreements within the area of the Cocan Peninsula with Susma as well.

Assets

Valewyr is a rich land, heavy in minerals and timber, however also steeped in magick. More manna gem deposits of all kinds have been stumbled upon in mining the Valewyr Shelf than any other region of the world. As one might imagine this has helped continue to keep the nation of Valewyr exceedingly wealhty given the value of such materials and their scarcity overall. It has also proven a valuable military resource, seeing her military forces generally better equipped than most, with all but the most low end of the troops and footmen by rank having at least a smidge of magick enhancement about their gear, some small bit of enchantment that is standard issue for troops of that rank and specialty.

Territories

Valewyr occupied territory is part of the success of the size and scope of this empire. After the Sundering the Valeyri Shelf was actually home to a bunch of what would seem to be micro states, the provinces of the empire today. The Skye Elves however, unified in the Valen, the core province, quickly and soon, following the doctrine and beliefs of their hero goddess, the Ascended Champion of Valewyr, Vosana Falconhand, would go about the unification wars, a series of rapid, skillful conquests bringing every region of the Shelf under their control. A not insignificant part of this was of course the Sky-Riders themselves. Having pegasi and such skilled aerial combatants gave the Valen a huge advantage in this terrain, as one might imagine. Within a little more than two centuries the Valewyr Empire was fully established, less than one elven lifetime. Though in the early going there were revolts, the notable moments of civil unrest, surprisingly enough the monarchy system, in its unique choosing methods, seemingly divinely inspired, has stood the test of all that. Empresses have been pulled from their seat and usurped with violence, there have even been two civil wars. Yet the empire remains an empire, its governmental system never changed, merely inadequate or unreasonable leadership removed, violently if required.

The Valeyri Shelf and its sheer geography cannot be ignored when speaking of the territory, but also of Valewyr's assets and military defenses. This terrain naturally forces any force wishing to engage in combat within the Empire's borders into predictable, easily controlled routes. The sheer vicious topography is her greatest asset and defense.

Religious Backdrop

As with all nations, the worship of any of the Ascended is more than welcome, however Vosana Falconhand is naturally, by a large margin, the preferred diety, and the worship of the Goddess of Wisdom, Tactics and the Sun is in fact a recognized state religion.

Agriculture and Industry

The people of Valewyr have made excellent use of their terrain. One would expect no real form of agriculture to be able to be successful at a large scale yet you would be incorrect. Terrace farming was in fact invented here, the method and logistics the work of a society whom needed it, and so they simply built it. No one person is credited with the discovery, it is more a cultural achievement, a great works project that bore impressive results.

Valewyr is no industrial superpower but they have not resisted this modernization either, embracing the early machining technologies with open arms. Technologies and processes in every craft and industry have been willingly accepted and imported, after all, it would go against the very premise of their culture to hold out against such things. Wise leaders listen to the brilliance of those they lead, and give proper credit where credit is deserved. This is a uniquely strange aspect to the imperialistic bent of Valewyr as an institution, and not what one would normally expect given what written histories and records exist from the Sundering and those few and far between bits of records ever discovered from before it.

Trade and Transport

With this new modernization era and industrialization, the arrival of technologies such as locomotion and aeronautics, Valewyr defied what one would expect of empires as a whole. They did not resist, they embraced. They brought in the minds, skilled hands and welcomed with open arms this new age. Locomotion is less robust here, the geography dictating as such of course, yet they have a notably robust rail network given those noted challenges. Far more impressive is their embracing of aeronautics. Every city, every settlement with a population of note beyond a few thousand, has an active Sky-Port. Naturally the larger cities see far more traffic than others, but no Sky-Port in the country sees any less than at least two or three craft arriving and taking off daily. They are used to transport goods and people at a massive scale within the nation, not surprising given the geography.

Education

Valewyr has the most robust and notable public schooling system of perhaps any nation on Valerick. It is mandatory for children to receive education going to school four days a week for ten hours a day and it falls unto the faithful of Vosana Falconhand to provide it. Every temple, every church and chapel is also a school, regardless of the size. Every child, sometime before becoming a legal adult, must be enrolled for ten years of schooling, and these must be done consecutively. Parents of longer lived ancestries can of course more readily dictate and decide exactly when to put their children through this system, with humans, who have been our baseline for this comparison, it is common to start this process at five years of age, to allow for at least one repeat in case of an illness or failing final examinations of a given year and having to repeat it.