Republic Of Dourado

The Republic of Dourado is really only a republic in the sense that it is without a king. Instead of a monarch of some sort, almost all of the political power in the nation is vested within the "Grand Council of Dourado". The 55 richest companies, corporations, and conglomerates within the nation each have a representative within the Grand Council. Referred to as "Patricians", they are chosen by their company to represent them in the Grand Council, and as all big businesses within the Nereid lands are family-owned and the Nereids see nepotism as a virtue rather than an ill, the Patrician representing the company is always a part of the company's ruling family. As such, the businesses within the Grand Council are often referred to as "Patrician Companies" and the family that owns them are referred to as "Patrician Families". A side effect of how the Grand Council functions is that it has created monopolies centered around the Patrician Companies, but this is not all too surprising.   As stated, the Grand Council, the upper house of the States-General, serves as the supreme legislative and executive authority within the Republic. Within its halls, the Patricians debate over and deliberate bills that their compatriots have placed forth, and if a majority of Patricians are in favor of a bill, it is passed into law. Thereafter, the Grand Council is legally obligated to see to it that this law is enforced. It is also the prerogative of the Grand Council to declare war and sign treaties, as well as to form Executive Committees, groups of 5 Patricians that co-chair the various bureaucratic Departments of the Republic (such as the Department of War, the Department of Agriculture, etc). This system puts an interesting dynamic into play, as political convictions are not the deciding factor of what legislation passes and what legislation dies. Instead, your business connections and agreements are.    Interestingly enough, each Patrician Company is allowed to field its own army and navy for the defense of its corporate interests. While these private armies are de jure subservient to the national military and local (private) police forces, they will often clash with each other over business dealings, experiencing little to no repercussions from such clashes as the police corporations and government are both willing to look the other way. However, the "Charter Of The Republic" (which serves as the nation's constitution, although it does not grant the citizenry many rights) states that, in times of war, the Patrician Companies must surrender their private forces over to state control, with the promise that they are given word of every operation their men undertake and that their property will be given back once the war is over. Traditionally, these private armies have also been quite small in size, as most Douradese just join the Douradese Armed Forces.   Aside from being the primary governmental organ of the Republic, the Grand Council also elects the nation's Head of State, who is referred to as the "Chancellor". He mainly acts as a figurehead within the States-General (the collective term for the bicameral legislature) and for the nation at large, but he does have a few powers. These include keeping order within sessions of both houses of the States-General and representing the nation abroad (although the nation's bureaucracy, including the foreign department, is vested in the hands of various committees within the Grand Council, so he is really just acting on the will of the Grand Council). If the Chancellor is proving to be unsatisfactory, the Grand Council can vote to remove and replace him, but otherwise, he serves for life or until resignation.   As stated before, the legislature of the Republic is bicameral. The lower house of the States-General is known as the "Popular Assembly". 20 Nereids from across the nation are directly elected by all literate men within a District, a type of administrative division in the Republic that serves only as a way to ease up the election process. The Popular Assembly has no real political power, as its only role is to hold an "advisory vote" whenever the Grand Council votes on a bill of their own. This vote is really only to show whether or not the Assemblymen are a fan of the Council's legislation, and has no real bearing on whether it passes or not. However, it does tend to keep the populace content.   Interestingly, the common citizenry of the Republic of Dourado maintains quite a few rights. These are all enshrined in the "Charter Of The Republic", the nation's constitution. The document states that all Nereids have the undeniable right to speech, assembly, armaments, and property. The Charter then goes on to say that in no circumstances can a Patrician Company buy land from the many yeomen farmers that make up the nation's core, in the interest of freedom and fairness. Likewise, any "monopolies on land" are banned, as an individual can only own 400 acres of farmland at one time. However, monopolies on trade and such are not at all prohibited, and while the Golden Republic's economy is technically a free-market capitalist one with almost no regulation, this lack of regulation and the system of Patrician Companies has given rise to massive monopolies that have swallowed up entire industries. Additionally, while the government itself has the sole right to print the Escudo, most banking in the nation is done by private corporations, something entirely unique to Dourado.   The Charter of the Republic, as stated before, also guarantees that all literate Nereid men can vote in elections. This pertains to the election of the Assembly, but also the election of town councils, city councils, and mayors. These local authorities tend to the needs of a village or city, as well as the surrounding area. It is also the job of the local government, not individual citizens, to petition the States-General about grievances.

The Republic of Dourado is, geographically speaking, in an excellent position. It primarily sits on a peninsula that juts out into the Nereid Sea and downwards towards the Hammerhead Peninsula and Jade Archipelago, creating a large amount of sea that can easily be dominated and protected by the Republic's formidable navy. If that were not enough, the coast of this peninsula is sprinkled with natural bays and harbors. The nation's capital city, Selguro City, is one of the largest and most beautiful in the world, often being considered the premier city of Ecumene due to both its size, fairly diverse population, and, of course, its economic prowess. It stretches across two easily accessible bays, and while its status as the world's greatest port cannot be understated, the city itself is also a sight to behold. Narrow side streets are lined with colorful stone buildings, but the major streets for which the city is so known find themselves split in two by salt-water canals (which are usually around 40 feet wide) that feed in from the two bays. Several arched bridges connect the two halves of these main streets, most of which have tramlines atop their stonework. These canals, which connect all the most important streets of the city together, offer fast movement through the metropolis while also allowing businesses in the city's interior to easily ferry their goods to the port. As of late, great skyscrapers and aeroharbors have also risen above the skyline. Like all skyscrapers of Ecumene, they are made of brick wrapped around a steel interior so that the framework allows for a large height, but also so that the brick can be magically manipulated by laymen, who cannot do the same for steel.   The people within the city, though, live much less glamorous lives. The Republic has not afforded its urban workers many protections nor a proper minimum wage, so many live within cruel poverty. Electricity and other such things have made their way into the Republic's cities, but a fancy lightbulb is hardly something to be proud of when you can hardly get food on the table. Homelessness and crime are both high in the "Golden" Republic's urban centers, and while the tactics of the nation's private police are brutal, almost nothing is done to address the root issues. As stated before, a minimum wage is non-existent (leading to a high number of child laborers), no real welfare system exists, striking is illegal, and those who cannot pay their debts are sent to antiquated debtor's prisons until they work up enough cash to pay off their debts.   While Selguro City is a sight to behold, we must not forget the rest of the nation. Due to their biological needs, almost all Nereids live close to the coast, or failing that, close to either the Sabule (upon which the city of Redia lays) or Syl rivers, resulting in a very high population density. A small minority lives further inland, near streams and lakes, although the nation's interior often serves as not much more than a massive lumberyard and land for railroad connection to other regions along the coast. Most rural Nereids live on small farms, which are seldom over 100 acres, within which they grow wheat, beans, peas, apples, grapes, and olives. Most of the nation's farmers grow primarily for sustenance, selling the rest of their crop to local farmer's markets or to Patrician Companies, who will pay a high price for fine food to export. Because of these deals with the Patrician Companies, most yeomen are doing quite well for themselves, with the work on their family farm getting steadily easier due to mechanization. The Selgurese Peninsula is also the only place where the silkworm is found, with various Douradese silk companies keeping a tight monopoly on the silk trade by keeping them all within the region.   Following the end of the War Of Two Empires, the Republic of Selguro annexed the Republic of Vallerm, forming the Republic of Selguro-Vallerm. Vallerm was a poorer Republic that had a long-standing rivalry with Selguro, but when the Selgurese threatened to sack their capital, they did not think twice about merging with the competition. Now, the city of Portiniche serves as a useful secondary port, and while the land that comprised the now-defunct nation was, on average, poorer, there is now no difference between the two. The recently integrated Republic of Lartaxo now takes on the role of the country's poorest region, having fallen into stagnation long before the Treaty of Anarosa Isle was signed, and being physically isolated from the rest of the Republic.   In the year 1281, the Kingdom of Ocagos would finally collapse under its own feudal weight. As the last remaining Kingdom in the Nereid world, a vestige of what the race once was, it operated on a cruel, feudalistic system that they had adopted from the Dwarves and made into their own. Such things cannot last forever, though, and the Kingdom would fall into civil war. As republican forces captured the royal capital of Licedo, Douradese soldiers would cross the border, invited in by the new government. It would be decreed that Ocagos was to join the Republic, fully uniting the Nereid people, with the nobility being given amnesty and allowed to go into exile wherever they choose. As of current, the Douradese government is working on distributing the feudal holdings of the now dead Kingdom to the peasantry. After this has been done, the Republic can then work on bringing the modern age into the Kingdom time forgot.   Around 2% of the Douradese population lives in "company towns" situated in the Serento Mountains. As not much can be grown there, there are almost no yeomen farmers, and the mountains are far away from any major source of water, but the resources within the rocks cannot be ignored. While they are governed just the same as other towns, all the stores and housing within these towns are owned by a singular company, more or less giving said company complete control over the people there. Such a thing would not fly elsewhere in the Republic, but it is tolerated in the mountains due to their smaller population. Within the Serentos, these company towns are usually owned by mining corporations, but similar administrations run the far reaches of the inland by lumber companies are fairly common.

While the Republican Douradese Army is not too much to look at, the Republican Douradese Navy is something to behold. It is the largest and most advanced in all the world, as the Grand Council must constantly update and expand it to ensure that their collective domination over trade cannot even come close to being touched, and this is before you add the private armies of the Patricians into the mix. Indeed, Dourado has long spearheaded advancements in naval technology, both for national and private interests, and in times of war, no power can even hope to challenge its mammoth fleet, which now employs the world's very first dreadnought, the "NR Bênção".

The Republic has always been one of the most technologically advanced in the world. This is, in large part, due to its incredibly high population density. Both urban folk and around 75% of all farmers live in close proximity to either the coast or a major river, making modernization incredibly easy. All of the Golden Republic's cities have electric light, and unlike many countries, a plurality of Douradese farmers are close enough to these power grids that they to may utilize their energy. Of course, those living away from the Republic's cities lack electricity.   Dourado's population density also enables incredible rail connections. Several massive (and privately owned) railroads criss-cross the country, the largest being the "Pan-Maritime Rail". Collectively owned by three rail companies who share the profits equally, it is in a vaguely triangular shape, connecting Selguro City to Redia and then Portiniche.

The "Charter Of The Republic" proclaims that Dourado is a Trinitist nation. While the Nereids are not the most zealous or devout Trinitists, their nation (at least in its modern form) was born out of an Anti-Commonalist revolution, and to this day, Orthodox thought has some bearing on government policy, although not as much as would be expected within a nation with a state religion. While the now deceased Chancellor Gouveia was ex-communicated during the War Of Two Empires, this was later rescinded, with the Grand Council fully restoring relations with the Cult's Ecclesiarchy thereafter. However, as there is a fairly sizable Dryad (i.e. Commonalist) population in the country, the Common Faith is protected as a minority religion, although Commonalists are banned from proselytizing, their festivals are not public holidays, and they cannot commit "blood atonement".   While not to the degree as some states of Sahul, the Republic's law system, while mostly based around Civil Law, has some trappings of a Trinitist Religious Law system. For example, within the Republic's borders, the consumption of alcohol or tobacco by Trinitist women is punishable by a fine on the part of the woman. Likewise, it is illegal to sell such things to Trinitist women. However, beyond this (and the criminalization of "degenerate sexuality"), moral policing is not really a thing, with such things as adultery, overconsumption of vice, and avoiding fasts being looked down upon, but not criminal.   While the traditional Trinitist punishment of public repentance (more aptly, flogging) or hand-chopping prior to civil punishment remain instated, the Republic practices a very different form of civil punishment from the norm. Non-violent offenders are sold to various infrastructure companies as indentured servants, with the end of their contract coinciding with the end of their sentence. Violent offenders are either put into prison (which, unlike the police forces who put people in them, are state-owned and operated) or are publically hung, depending on the severity of their crimes.

In the days before Dourado was Dourado, and was instead Selguro, Vallerm, and Lartaxo, it was a neutral party in most world affairs, as taking sides harms trade relations. After a brief stint of joining the Sylvans and Meridiens in an Anti-Montane coalition (with the sole goal of securing the cash crop trade in the Southeast), the Nereids would return to being vaguely neutral, where they still remain today. However, this neutrality is less closing themselves off from the world and more being friends with everyone else, as the former would hurt the economic interests of the Patricians. The Republic carries on completely friendly relationships with all modern governments, from the taigas of Lievonija to the rice fields of Akatowai. This is quite a profitable relationship for all involved, for, in return for natural resources, the Douradese government is more than happy to invest in developing nations, with the pragmatic hope that their growing economies will feed into Dourado's. Of course, the Republic also controls the vital Nereid Straits, and you would not want to make an enemy of the world's premier naval power.