Ralgon

The Realms of Ralgon
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Strength and Honor
Anthem: WIP
Map versions	???
Capital	Glacier City
Largest city	Glacier City, SAR
Official language(s)	Draconian (official) Common tongue
Official religion(s)	Draconic (revolves around a pantheon consisting of eleven gods)
Demonym	Ralgon
- Adjective	Ralgon
Government	Constitutional Elective Monarchy
- King	Emperor Shiro Ral I
- Crown Prince	Draeg'ar Ral
- Legislature	Imperial Senate
Establishment	Winter, 228 AN October 23rd, 2018 (est. in Micras) 1706 AN (as part of Imperial Federation
Area	NA
Active population	NA
Currency	Guilder (£)
National animal	hydra
National food	crocodile meat
National drink	black wine
National tree	giant durian tree
Abbreviation	HRE

The Holy Realms of Ralgon, known shortly as Ralgon, is a collection of Ralgonese polities within the Imperial Federation and a constituent country of that larger nation. Formerly confined to the island of Drag'os (known as "El Dorado" to foreign cartographers), the region now consists of the large island of Tar-Palantir southwest, and much of the northern portions of Cibola, mainland activity being centered on Nova Victoria. There have been Ralgonese polities ruling within and over the island of Drag'os since c.228 AN. This region was also the birthplace of the Holy Ralgon Empire, which heavily influenced and/or governed the entire island of Dragos (known to the wider world as "El Dorado") between 1270 AN and 1685 AN, after which it fell into anarchy and lost most of its homeland to The Green or foreign powers. It was subsumed into the larger Ralgonese realms in 1706 AN as a constituent country of the Imperial Federation.

The Realm of Ralgon was formed in the immediate aftermath, and included all Ralgonese-majority areas of the empire. These include Drag'os, Tar-Palantir, Nova Victoria, New Ralgon, Valora, West Valora, and the newer territory labelled East Valora (centered in Nordhafen). With almost fifty percent of the Imperial Federation's population, Ralgon is by far the most populous of the Imperial Federation's constituent countries, and has the highest overall GDP thanks to its massive population and urban centers. However, it is second behind the Realm of Adrestia in GDP per capita, and its massive economy is unevenly distributed in favor of its coastal regions (excluding Yixing), creating problems with maintaining sustainable growth in the country.

Ralgon's demonym is also shared generally with the Imperial Federation, as Ralgonese are the majority population in the Imperial Federation (consisting of some 70% of its citizens). Along with its former colony of Adrestia, Ralgon forms the heart of the Imperial Federation's industrial and population core, and since its recovery after conclusion of internal hostilities after 1720 AN, is also among its fastest-growing regions. Ralgon's relationship with the Imperial Federation remains a cordial one, despite the emperor now sitting primarily in Gondolin (Adrestia), the other capital of the empire. The emperor comes to Ralgon to reign at a minimum of four months out of the year, and lives at the Ralgonese capital of Glacier City. (The emperor typically spends six months in Adrestia and the other two months of the year elsewhere.)

Government

Royalty

The Ralgons did not have a title for a monarch until the first explorers voyaged far enough to find a country that had a proper non-name title for their royalty. Wishing to emulate the world during the burgeoning nation's nascent years, the Ralgons in the country of Stormhold decided to call their monarch a "king," in line with much of what they saw in the wider world. This change began during the reign of Bael'an VI during the year 1260, supposedly in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the first Ralgon king's adoption of the current national religion of Draconic. In reality, this action on part of their royal family firmly cemented both their religious and political power in this rising kingdom. Because of this move, the royal family bought enough early prestige for the highly religious Ral clan to consolidate their spreading power over the island's south-east portion. Eventually, the title of King became synonymous with any of the rulers of the large island's strongest kingdoms. Because of this religious influence, the island has been renamed Dragos, after one of their gods.

The Ralgon Kings, in the very earliest days of the nation, worshipped an odd pantheon of various gods. This practice persisted unabated until around 800, when the mainstream religion of Draconic began to take a foothold in Ralgon lands, located on the western mountainous region of the island. Having been founded in a collapsing nearby state, the disorganized religion's clerics got the chance to spread their faith into Ralite territory far to the east of the island. After the religion became immensely popular following the arrival of a charismatic prophet in the Nixtorm region, the royal family of Stormhold took advantage of the situation to establish a major holy site there and subsequently adopted the religion. At around the same time, their neighbors in Nixtorm similarly converted.

The religion of Draconic was officially taken over in the year 1178, when the chieftain Tormund converted to the religion late into his reign. Taking the name of Bael'ar in honor of the god of light and valor, he took the role of the head of the religion and used this to seize absolute authority from the nobility within Stormhold. During subsequent years, the country expanded and the chieftains of the Ral Clan were forced to cede authority, covering it in guises of delegation of responsibility, until the monarchs held naught but spiritual authority in the country. This changed by the year 1178 when the country fell into a series of bitter wars with the swamp peoples to the north that saw most of the nobility destroyed. During this same time, the country of Stormhold subsequently formed a union with Nixtorm through several generations of royal intermarriage. Subsequently, the merchants guilds ruling the country of Scarterra from Drag'nor unified with the other two in the name of self-preservation, since their borders with the Great Swamp at the time were considered by far the most hostile, and Scarterra lacked the military resources necessary to preserve itself in the long-term against any additional enemies on top of the dangerous inland fauna.

Since the year 1400, the Ralgon monarchs have enjoyed a balance of power between themselves and the nobility by using a Senate as proxy for their debates and struggles. In using the Senate as an effective puppet, the ruling classes of the country also effectively maintain a status quo while putting on a republican front to enfranchise wealthy merchants and major cities' political groups. The previous king, Nobunag'an IV, ruled the country from 1595 to 1673. When he stepped down, Nobunag'an Ral IV reigned for 78 years, the longest in Ralgon history. The King himself was more than 90 years old, and many of the eleven Crown Princes originally chosen as his would-be heirs had already died of old age and replaced by sons, grandsons, and in some cases even great-grandsons.

At the end of 1672, the King announced his abdication to speed the succession process while he still possessed a sound body and mind. Succession from a still-living King who voluntarily vacates his office is usually seamless, and succession upon death is the opposite: it tends to be a long, brutal, and frequently destabilizing affair for the country. Since his abdication, the King Emeritus has lived a relatively quiet life, and occasionally advises the current Emperor on weighty matters. He is aging rapidly, though; at over 100 years old, he may not have much longer left to live.

Since Emperor Shiro's ascension to the throne in 1673 AN, he has been known as Emperor of the Ralgons, in addition to his title as King of Drag'os. Although the title has changed, his temporal and spiritual authority (as a religious figure as well as politician) have largely stayed the same. His role in grand-scale strategy has taken a much more hands-on approach than his predecessor, Nobunag'an IV. Under his rule, the Ralgon Empire has expanded overseas to prevent total collapse in any case of a disastrous event befalling the homeland, such as happened during the dawn of recorded history.

The Senate

Formerly designed to govern the entire country, the Imperial Senate of the Holy Ralgon Empire has recently been retooled to govern the Island of Dragos as a larger territory group within the empire, unofficially dubbed Realms. Since the rise and subsequent granting of internal sovereignty to Adrestia and its own subordinate territories, this means that only the southern strip of the former territories of Drag'os are under the Ralgon Emperor's authority. Under most circumstances, there are strict rules governing what territorial governments' laws cannot conflict with Imperial laws or decrees. For the most part, however the government has been utterly unable to counter Adrestia's moves (despite being their nominal suzerain), due to their disproportionate power and relative independence (in all but name) from the central government.

As the senior-most legislature in the Holy Ralgon Empire, the Senate attempts to set both the tone and pace for legislation in the Realm's other constituent countries, territories, and penal colonies domestically as well as abroad. The Senate directly governs the oldest and largest of the Empire's constituent countries, known as Drag'os, whose territory covers the island bearing the same name (and known to ancient cartographers in other parts of Micras as "El Dorado"). Following the decoupling of the government from Adrestia since the mid-1680's AN, the government has scarcely managed to hold onto its colonies by taking a moderate approach towards conflicts in law with the Empire's largest territories... most of which are now located away from the traditional mainland.

Within the Realm of Drag'os, the Senate serves to represent the several Provinces and Territories contained within. Because of recent major reforms and a major contraction of territory since the 1680's, only three Senators instead of five represent each Province, and one represents every Territory. Three Senators represent Glacier City, S.A.R. due to the city's special status as the current King's main residence, as well as its sheer size in economy and population. The Senate represents several full Provinces, all located on the constituent country of Dragos. Since the 1680's crisis, these include the remnants of Dragon's Reach, the Great Swamp territory (now only on the north fringes of the country), Stormhold (now re-merged into a single province), Mashiro. Additionally, the even more sparsely populated peoples inhabiting the Great Divide are represented, despite the territory itself being no longer under imperial jurisdiction. Since the decoupling of Adrestia, the territory of Nova Victoria was also given provincial status, jointly with Yixing.

The Nobility

The Nobility of the Ralgon Empire differ from province to province, according to local laws, customs, and traditions. Each province has its own unique way of appointing or electing members of its aristocratic classes as well as their rulers, and for a time even had widely disparate titles for these people. Since the Great Reformation that took place post-Unification, however, these customs have been, for the most part, streamlined over the years. Notably, the naming standards and conventions of the Empire's upper-tier nobility have been fully standardized and brought into line with much of the rest of Micras.

Presently, there are several standardized tiers to the Ralgon Empire's nobility. At the top of the social pyramid sits the King and the Imperial Family, who each have unique political and clerical powers within the nation. In addition to the King, the extended Royal family (consisting of the King's increasingly distaff relations) holds significant power in the country, and even rule half of Stormhold directly, having slowly usurped power over the years. Third on this social pyramid are the Grand Dukes, who collectively hold about as much power nationally as the Imperial Household (and are perpetually at odds with them). Fourth on the social stratum are active members of the Senate, as well as the Lords of Ralgon (themselves powerful provincial nobles).

Lesser nobles who (for the most part) answer to their own provincial governments fall on the lowest portions of the aristocratic pecking order within the Ralgon Empire. They are relatively common but proportionally powerless) in Nixtorm and eastern Stormhold. On the contrary, these lower-ranking, non-royal nobles are relatively scarce in Drag'nor and virtually nonexistent in western Stormhold, and thus influence great autonomy outside of restrictions placed upon them by their superiors.

History

Formerly confined to the island of Drag'os (known as "El Dorado" to foreign cartographers), the region now consists of the large island of Tar-Palantir southwest, and much of the northern portions of Cibola, mainland activity being centered on Nova Victoria. There have been Ralgonese polities ruling within and over the island of Drag'os since c.228 AN. This region was also the birthplace of the Holy Ralgon Empire, which heavily influenced and/or governed the entire island of Dragos (known to the wider world as "El Dorado") between 1270 AN and 1685 AN, after which it fell into anarchy and lost most of its homeland to The Green or foreign powers. It was subsumed alongside the other large Ralgonese realms in 1706 AN as a constituent country of the Imperial Federation, before becoming its own distinct wider region in 1756 AN when it was again separated from Adrestia, taking its present shape.

Early History

The Ralgons did not have a title for a monarch until the first explorers voyaged far enough to find a country that had a proper non-name title for their royalty. Wishing to emulate the world during the burgeoning nation's nascent years, the Ralgons in the Drag'osian country of Stormhold decided to call their monarch a "king," in line with much of what they saw in the wider world. This change began during the reign of Bael'an VI during the year 1260, supposedly in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the first Ralgon king's adoption of the current national religion of Draconic. In reality, this action on part of their royal family firmly cemented both their religious and political power in this rising kingdom. Because of this move, the royal family bought enough early prestige for the highly religious Ral clan to consolidate their spreading power over the island's south-east portion. Eventually, the title of King became synonymous with any of the rulers of the large island's strongest kingdoms. Because of this religious influence, the island has been renamed Dragos, after one of their gods.

The religion of Draconic was officially taken over in the year 1178, when the chieftain Tormund converted to the religion late into his reign. Taking the name of Bael'ar in honor of the god of light and valor, he took the role of the head of the religion and used this to seize absolute authority from the nobility within Stormhold. During subsequent years, the country expanded and the chieftains of the Ral Clan were forced to cede authority, covering it in guises of delegation of responsibility, until the monarchs held naught but spiritual authority in the country. This changed by the year 1178 when the country fell into a series of bitter wars with the swamp peoples to the north that saw most of the nobility destroyed. During this same time, the country of Stormhold subsequently formed a union with Nixtorm through several generations of royal intermarriage. Subsequently, the merchants guilds ruling the country of Scarterra from Drag'nor unified with the other two in the name of self-preservation, since their borders with the Great Swamp at the time were considered by far the most hostile, and Scarterra lacked the military resources necessary to preserve itself in the long-term against any additional enemies on top of the dangerous inland fauna. Such a status quo continued for centuries. This gradual transition to a stable, singular monarchy marked the gradual start of the "Kingdom Period" since c.1400 AN.

Kingdom Period

Between the year 1400 AN and 1705 AN, the Ralgon monarchs enjoyed a balance of power between themselves and the nobility by using a Senate as proxy for their debates and struggles. In using the Senate as an effective puppet, the ruling classes of the country also effectively maintain a status quo while putting on a republican front in later periods to enfranchise wealthy merchants and major cities' political groups. The longest-reigning king, Nobunag'an IV, ruled the country from 1595 to 1673. When he stepped down, Nobunag'an Ral IV reigned for 78 years, the longest in Ralgon history. The King himself was more than 90 years old, and many of the eleven Crown Princes originally chosen as his would-be heirs had already died of old age and replaced by sons, grandsons, and in some cases even great-grandsons.

During its intial phases of empire, the country was constantly beset with population issues due to confinement near the island's coastlines, which further complicated logistics. Under their long-time king, Nobunag'an IV (miraculously still alive and well in 1759 at the age of 195) slowly began opening the country to the rest of the world instead, before he abdicated the throne due to his age. His reign of 78 years (1595 AN - 1673 AN) is, by a full 25 years, the longest tenure for any head of state in Ralgon history. At the end of 1672, the King announced his abdication to speed the succession process while he still possessed a sound body and mind. Succession from a still-living King who voluntarily vacates his office is usually seamless, and succession upon death is the opposite: it tends to be a long, brutal, and frequently destabilizing affair for the country. In the first decades since abdication, the King Emeritus (now Emperor Emeritus) lived a relatively quiet life. Since he discovered he was essentially immortal, however, he took a far more active role in governance when most men would be nothing but bone and ash at his age.

Nobunag'an was succeeded by Shiro I of Ralgon in 1673 AN, now titled as Emperor of the Ralgon Empire, in addition to his title as King of Drag'os. Shiro took the throne after the traditional election and post-election combat with other contenders for the title, with no further complications post-ascension due to a still-living predecessor governing the royal transition. Emperor Shiro reigned from 1673 AN to his untimely death of an unidentified illness in 1704 AN.

Intermediate Period

During Emperor Shiro's reign, the Holy Ralgon Empire that had formed during its meteoric rise unified the entire island. During this brief golden age, Ralgonese nobles, merchants, and adventurers colonized faraway regions such as Adrestia and the Eventide Islands in Keltia. They also remain a significant presence in the International Mandate to this day. The period between 1673 AN and 1706 AN are commonly referred to as the "Intermediate Period" due to the brief span of empire, the sheer scale of the following crises, and rapid transition from a limited empire to the Imperial Federation.

For a brief period, the Holy Ralgon Empire became a respectable power in Micras, having become a member of the USSO during its own peak of power after the War of Lost Brothers. The Drag'osian empire united the entire island under a single government for the first time ever in recorded history, although control proved to be brief. The Ralgon heartland in Drag'os is bordered on the eastern interior by a vast inland swamp inhabited by extremely hostile native life, and on the western interior by vast mountainous badlands. Because of the extremely dangerous fauna present on the island for millennia, the Ralgons, until very recently, found conquest of the rest of the inland to be a very slow and very painful process. High-intensity containment efforts are still the norm to this day, despite a lull between 1675 AN and 1685 AN, and a period of calm from 1720 AN to 1750 AN following eradication efforts that quelled the threat from the swamp's fierce flora for nearly a whole generation. (See: The Great Swamp War for more information.)

While these colonies prospered and grew rapidly, the brutal Civil War broke out, in which the country lost most of its ancestral homelands to the island's most dangerous fauna -- and the natives that proved to be controlling the strongest of them. In attempts to contain mass outbreaks of angry dragons from the western Badlands and the gigantic insectoid fauna from the Swamp, it lost control over nearly all of its central territories, reduced to a strip of land clinging to the south coast of Drag'os. The Drag'osian government also lost all but nominal suzerainty over Adrestia and its other colonies. It would never fully recover from this so-called Crisis of 1685.

During the last 20 years of its existence between 1685 AN and Template:1705, the country gathered and expended considerable resources in what could be considered a miraculous recovery from near-oblivion. In in a vain attempt to hold the homeland together, the Drag'osian government launched the so-called Cibolan Reconquista and its continuation, the Ralgon Reconquista. While initially successful, the economic benefits were quickly outweighed by the cost of holding so much territory without external support, and the government quickly found itself overextended. It was forced to depend on its colonies, now independent in all but name, and Adrestia eventually eclipsing the Drag'osian homeland in prestige, population, and military power.

Eventually, the emperor Shiro I of Ralgon pawned off the last valuable thing he could offer to the Adrestians for help in holding the homeland together: the imperial crown, in exchange for aid to end the war. However, this action was not consummated by the time he died in 1704 AN. The negotiations, while proven to have taken place, were still concluded without the consent of the Imperial Senate or the religious government -- even if it was done for the salvation of Drag'os and its recent (existentially vital) gains in the south.

The price tag on both sides was simple: in exchange for the next Adrestian prince to become both King of Adrestia and Emperor of all the Ralgons, the country would finally send enough force to stabilize the remaining Ralgon territories on the island of San Martin. With the revitalization of Nova Victoria and its heavy industries, the Adrestians did just that before transferring power back to the Ralgons. With their end of the bargain filled, Adrestia's seemingly invincible Navy hovered around Ralgon like a vulture, ensuring their end of the bargain. Shiro died of a rare, unidentified disease in 1704 AN, bringing in a period of warfare which saw the throne eventually to a distant relative, Anarion, who rules from Gondolin as Emperor of the much larger Imperial Federation. Shiro's death marked the end of the Intermediate Period.

Imperial Federation

The untimely death of a sitting, childless Emperor due to a rare disease resulted in the Ralgon War of Succession which saw the country split into two parts. The first was the Drago'osian faction, which found the backing of the Drag'osian Senate and rejected the offer made to Adrestia, instead backing the conservative war veteran Draeg'ar X. The second was the pro-Adrestian faction, which backed the then-infant Anarion as their candidate. Due to the agreement the previous emperor had made, this created divisions within Drag'os, while Adrestia and other overseas colonies overwhelmingly backed Anarion. Through a combination of diplomacy and conquest, the Adrestian faction merged with Drag'osian factions wanting a strong, expansionist regime and backed Anarion through an ensemble Regency Council. This council, having united as a sphere of equals (much unlike past relationships, voted to form the Imperial Federation (which joined the Raspur Pact shortly after MCS recognition).

After a two-year conflict, the Drag'osian pro-Senate, pro-USSO/CSA government was driven south, going on to form the Holy Ralgon State of Valora when it became clear the war was lost. This war was eventually concluded in 1715 AN by the Conquest of Valora, after which the Imperial Federation unified all but a small sliver of Ralgonese majority areas on Micras. These southern regions were then absorbed into the expanded Ralgonese realms. The Realm of Ralgon was formed in the immediate aftermath, and included all Ralgonese-majority areas of the empire. These included Adrestia, Drag'os, Tar-Palantir, Nova Victoria, New Ralgon, Valora, West Valora, and the newer territory labelled East Valora (centered in Nordhafen. This massive realm, governed from two farway capitals, was an acceptable arrangement for the Imperial Federation as a whole, and thus the Holy Realm of Ralgon persisted in this form until 1756 AN.

However, the distance involved in executive governance produced strain in the restored and rapidly growing region, and thus in 1756 AN, the Emperor Anarion separated the Realms of Adrestia and Ralgon into their own constituent countries of the empire, while still retaining the monarchical title over both. He then delegated Viceroys over both Adrestia and Ralgon, to avoid regionalizing his own title and maintain effective governance over both the Imperial Federation as a whole, and over its far-flung constituent countries. The new Realm of Ralgon, therefore, formed all of those territories on Cibola belonging to the Imperial Federation -- with the exception of Bomei Island, which remained a self-governing territory.

Culture

Religion

Draconic is the primary religion practiced on the island of Dragos, the land upon which the Ralgon Empire situates itself. The religion is extremely widespread, being practiced by well over 90% of the island's population, with the exception of the vast, savage swamps in the vast island's interior. The Draconic religion is thought to have been founded in 228 AN, around the same time as the Ralgon Empire's predecessor state (the Kingdom of Stormhold) also first originated with a quasi-legendary warrior-chieftain. The religion espouses generally simplistic beliefs hinging upon living a virtuous life in pursuit of growing closer to the Gods, and upon death achieving reincarnation in a spiritual state closer to being divine than in the previous life.

The religion is very highly organized, and is centered around the Draconic Church, which is currently based in a holy city in southern Nixtorm, on the border with eastern Stormhold. Draconic temples and clergy are everywhere, with dozens of full-sized Temples and thousands of consecrated shrines located throughout the island of Dragos, both in and out of the Ralgon Empire. Even the King of the Ralgons is a devout practicing member, and is officially considered to be the nominal head of the Draconic Church (although a council of elders exercises real ecumenical authority within the Church).

In recent years, the majority of believers are now located outside of Drag'os, thanks to massive population growth outside of the island and the upheavals of the Intermediate Period. There is now an important Draconic Temple now located in Gondolin, where the Patriarch of Gondolin leads the Holy Draconic Church of Keltia, which in turn serves close to 150 million adherents on the far eastern portion of the continent. The religion is now widely practiced outside of mainland Ralgon, with 1.8 million to 3 million adherents living within The Hexarchy's territory, many concentrated in New South Caputia and the Eventide Islands. Within the International Mandate, the religion is practiced by a significant minority within the Ralgon and Adrestian Quarters. In other countries, census data is very scarce, as the religion is considered a fringe movement outside of these territories.

Outside of mainland Ralgon, universities with departments dedicated to religious, economic, and archaeological impacts and history of Draconic are few and far in between. That said, there are at least two such universities well known for religious studies that have significant assets dedicated to the study of Draconic and teaching of new deacons and priests: The University of Gondolin in Adrestia, and the University of Kobol in The Hexarchy. While other universities incorporate Draconic into their religious studies departments, few outside of Ralgon have reason to invest much due to Draconic's lack of prevalence as a global religion.

Language

The Ralgon people have an interesting way of naming important figures, gods, and other things throughout their nation. In their early days and contrary even to their surrounding tribes, the Ralgons denote the most important things in their society by using possessive suffixes, and use a hard syllabic stop to denote the importance of what is being mentioned. The -gon suffix is the primary exception, and denotes an absolute possession of something. Therefore, the name "Ralgon" means "Eternally belonging to [the] Ral [Clan]."

Their titles are also suffixes, and carry a peculiar duality within their society: for every title-suffix there are always two forms that may be used in a person's name, and these titles always consist of only two letters: a vowel followed by a consonant. (If a person's name ends with a vowel, the vowel is replaced with the suffix. If it ends in a consonant, the suffix is added as normal.) The mandatory dual nature of their titles makes identifying figures in the kingdom beyond gods, and royalty confusing. For this reason, title-suffixes fell out of actual practice after 800 CE, and stopped being used by non-royal nobility by time the island united c. 1172 CE. In modern times, Ralgon nobles and rulers have few suffixes to denote anything at all beyond their highest classes.

In recent decades, the use of suffixes in proper names and places has gradually fallen out of favor in lieu of conventional secular or religious titles outside of the Draconic Church. For example, the Emperor Shiro of Ralgon traded a title in lieu of one of these suffixes, cementing the trend since the 1650's AN of a widening lack of such unique naming conventions among the nobility. Currently, the only suffixes in active use are as follows (listed in order of precedence):

Gods: 'on and 'os (No true equivalent; loosely translated as "god")

Goddesses: 'as and 'na (see above)

Kings/Emperors: 'an and 'ar (No true equivalent; loosely translated as "supreme leader")

Queens: 'ai and 'ni (See above)

Economy

International Trade

Outside of gem manufacturing, the Ralgon Empire has only recently begun to open trade in earnest to outside entities in recent decades. The Great White Fleet, formed in an effort to speed international relations and trade (in goods, knowledge, and culture) as well as find new merchant-based colonies to establish, set sail westward out of Glacier City beginning in 1660. Massive trade convoys with military escorts were directly responsible for founding such important overseas centers of culture and commerce such as Adrestia and WIP, as well as the military base of Zathara (which doubles as a small penal colony). As of 1680 AN, major trading partners included Jingdao and the Haifo-Pallisican Imperial Trade Union, as well as Krasnocoria. By the late 1750's AN, the Raspur Pact and the Imperial Federation's neighbors on Cibola now share the bulk of international trade.

Chief Ralgon surpluses include advanced construction materials, precious minerals, flawless manufactured gemstones (discussed below), advanced medicine, and precision artillery, as well as cutting-edge anti-air weapons technology (as a result of the Great Swamp War, among other events). The mainland of Drag'os faces perennial overcrowding issues (especially within Glacier City) and innovations from skyscraper construction frequently spread from here to other places on Micras that face similar issues with finding housing for massive populations in extremely small geographic areas.

Industry on Mainland Cibola

Within the context of the 1686 alliance between ethnic Batavian peoples under the Jing banner, race relations improved considerably in the early days. Unfortunately, the Reconquista collapsed in 1689 before slowly transitioning into a uniquely Ralgon effort beginning in 1690, thanks to fierce irredentism in the country. Since the conclusion of further hostilities in the Ralgonese War of Succession, industry in the region first shifted to the Ralgons efforts to massive reconstruction efforts, then on industries to accommodate the region's massive and rapidly growing populations in peacetime.

In Nova Victoria, industry has proven much more diverse. Although naval movements and army shipments provided the impetus for the city's rapid economic recovery, the city has quickly regained its former status as a trade port in the region. Additionally, the city's status as a launchpad into the continent's interior makes trading for exotic goods near-effortless for merchants able to gain access to the city's quickly growing infrastructure. The city serves as the heart of technological innovation for the entire region, with the city alone putting out more GDP than anywhere else in Ralgon save for Glacier City. While Nova Victoria is currently facing a housing availability shortage, the construction industry has never been busier with housing, data centers, office towers, shopping centers, and more.

Gemstone Industries

Mining and Production

The Ralgons have notable gem manufacturing industries in the province of Aurora that are partly based off the Glacier Mountains that form the epyonymous city's northern border with the rest of the country. The massive gem manufacturing industry has two major sources of natural stones: the geologically stable foothills in northern Adrestia, and the aforementioned mountains. The Great Divide in the western half of Drag'os Island's territory are still heavily infested with dragons even after pacification efforts on an epic scale. However, the end of conflict in most of the mountain ranges' interior regions render the mining of raw gems a revived and incredibly lucrative industry. Ralgonese gems from these regions are prized for their size and purity, with some exceptional stones commanding eye-watering prices simply due to their provenance.

Certain types of rare gemstones, although mined in large numbers, are mostly kept off the market and stored in the country's various treasuries in Nova Victoria, Glacier City, in Gondolin, and some are kept in the city of Abeis in faraway Imperial Haifa, which is otherwise removed from most of the nation's infrastructure. To stabilize the market prices for both natural and artificially grown gemstones, sales are kept consistently low and mining permits are tightly controlled. Thus, international merchants find purchasing exceptional gems a bureaucratic nightmare unless they are well-connected with both authorities and those appropriate producers holding legal permits.

Artificial Gemstones

Artificial gemstones such as diamonds, rubies, and other commonly found precious stones are manufactured in Glacier City's massive infrastructure hubs, where such feats of engineering are made possible due to the city's sheer economic and industrial strength. These stones are rendered flawlessly, and are made with the same processes that real gemstones are made from. Outside of industrial purposes, specific stones of exceptional quality are forbidden from sale. Instead, they are typically made in extremely small quantities and are only given as gifts to those deemed worthy of earning such prized treasures directly from the Ralgonese government. On very rare occasions, they are given as gifts to other nations, such as during the Ralgon Emperor's state visit to Daocheng in the late 1600's AN. Once or twice a generation, such stones are given as rewards to those who perform feats worthy of such glory that the only possible reward is one of these massive, priceless artefacts that come directly from the Emperor's own hand. To witness such an awards ceremony in person, never mind be the recipient, is considered the honor of a lifetime among most Ralgonese people.

Every few months, a batch of these gemstones goes on sale directly by the State. Sales by private entities are almost unheard of, because of the sheer expense involved in selling and securely transporting these artifacts from one owner to the next. These difficult-to-purchase gemstones rank only next to the natively-found fire gems in terms of value, and are often seen as the most valuable piece (even counting for land, other forms of wealth, and titles) of most middle-ranked nobles' Houses and attendant estates.

Fire Gems

One extremely rare type of gemstone not able to be manufactured is the fire gem, which is a stone of unknown material that forms through processes not yet understood by science. Fire gems are found in many different colors, with perfectly clear gems being considered by most as the most valuable to be found. Other traits include the stone's luminosity (they give off their own light), clarity, size, cut, and flawlessness. The stones are so rare that they may be individually numbered and ranked according to the aforementioned traits. The birghtest, clearest, largest, and most flawless stones are carefully examined immediately upon discovery, before they are either sold to the State by the discoverer or kept (as they cannot be sold without the direct approval from the highest authorities). Immediately upon its examination, any stone is given a number (always in chronological order from the first fire gem ever found) and given a rank the moment they are certified as authentic and returned to their rightful owner(s).

Fire gems are only found in the interior region of the Island of Drag'os, where the Great Swamp and the mountains forming the Great Divide converge. The highest ranked stones are considered national treasures and in nearly all circumstances cannot be sold except to the authorities or to other holders of these same gems, as they are usually acquired only through extreme effort (and loss of life) and/or in massive state-sponsored expeditions. Prospectors must brave the remants of the giant, especially aggressive insects that still swarm the mountainous regions of the Swamp (and those rare few strong enough to survive the second bombardment of the Swamp during the Great Swamp War), as well as the elder lightning dragons that fly in these regions. Some gems might also found in fire dragon territory, but these areas are considered to be a strict nature preserve (due to the purported intelligence displayed by the oldest of those creatures, where the land is deemed their exclusive property), further restricting mining activities to the most dangerous possible areas. Regardless of the grade or ranking given, a fire gem is only typically discovered every five years or so at best.

Only one such stone has ever left Ralgon hands: a yellow stone ranked fifth on the list. This was given to the Jing as a gift of friendship by Shiro I, who coincidentally commanded the very expedition that resulted in the gem's almost unprecedented discovery during the heat of battle deep in the island's interior. The king of the Ralgonese always wore the first-ranked stone as part of their ceremonial roles, with the stone itself changing only when a higher-ranked gem is discovered. This stone now decorates the emperor of the Imperial Federation, who wears it on state occasions.

Education

Three types of post-secondary institutions exist in Ralgon: Private, public, and government-sponsored research institutes. A mixture of these schools rank near the top of the world's universities for factors including pedagogy, alumni outcomes, research output, and institutional financial performance. Most of Ralgon's best public universities also happen to remain self-sustaining in nature; that is, they do not need government funding and actually provide additional income to the government in some few cases. This remains the case even after the severity of the 1685 Crisis.

During its nadir years, focus on Ralgon's sole remaining overseas possession (pre-1685) by the colonial government has drive a select number of schools onto the top of the global league tables. Among these are the elite University of Adrestia (known globally by its abbreviation of UA), which holds a massive endowment of its own. Other high-ranking universities in the de facto independent territory include the Gondolin Institute of Science (GIS), the Naval Academy at Alexandria, and the University of Alphaville (run as a UA satellite campus until 1690, in cooperation with Bassarid faculty). The University of Nova Victoria is a very recent addition at the top of the charts.

Universities

(For a detailed list of major universities in the Ralgon, see the below articles.)

Glacier City University

Glacier City University (known by its acronym of GCU) is an elite university located in the Semi-Autonomous Region (SAR) of the same name. Founded as a university in 1076, GCU is the oldest institute of higher education in continuous operation in the Ralgon Empire, and the second-oldest university in the country. It is also among the oldest institutions of higher learning on the Cibola continent, having educated over 75% of Ralgon's heads of state, among countless other elites within the country.

It is considered an "ancient university" -- that is, an institution of higher learning formed as a university (regardless of its purpose or existence before said formation) before the Draconic faith became the state religion in 1178. It is one of only three such institutions in continuous operation since that date, with the latest of its other six peers being claimed (at least temporarily) by the devastating effects of the long-term 1685 Crisis.

The University is world-renowned for its engineering and materials science programs, with graduates leading such projects as the construction of the Erazm Bridge Consortium. Its endowment is the second-largest in the Ralgonese state, at around 37 billion Guilders. Housing notable global policy institutes such as the Chidao Emperor Institute for Jing Studies, the university's headquarters remain in the Mountain City after over 600 years. GCU remains the only institution allowed to own property within the Imperial City, and is also the only non-government organization allowed to operate within the city without an active permit. It maintains a rivalry with Temple U, and comes out on top especially in the fields of medicine, earth science, and biology.

Temple University

Temple University (known simply as TU) was originally founded in 425 AN in what is now the city of Valeria by Draconic missionaries, as a religious institute for higher learning. Itself attached to the Holy Temple of Drag'os in the same city (and originally in the same building), the institution was founded to train high-ranking religious personnel in both theology and in statecraft (a skill badly needed at the time by such people). The institution formed into a University in 1046, and adopted its current name in 1298, after the City of Valeria took over the university on behalf of the Ralgon king's government.

The modern Temple University preserves is original 1046 name, and also serves as the flagship institution of the eponymous system (as a homage to the University's foundations with the Church). Thanks to a heavily increased endowment after the national government purchased the University, it has rapidly grown from an already-elite status to a world-class university in its own right. The modern university relies on a combination of a massive endowment -- the third-highest in Ralgon, at 32 billion Guilders, and its system of sister institutions to keep up with the never-ending pace of modernization in the country.

The University is known for its sheer number of graduates within the system, with nearly half the Dragosian mainland's top 10% of income earners being graduates of one of the schools in the TU system. Most of the City of Valeria's leaders are graduates of the flagship campus, which is known for its strict admissions standards, despite its massive size of over 85,000 students (about 50,000 of which are undergraduate). The University maintains a rivalry with Glacier City U in materials science and engineering, but edges out in the fields of theoretical physics and mathematics.

University of Gondolin

Formed in 1672 AN, the University of Gondolin is, by far, the youngest of the elite universities in the Ralgon Empire. The university was founded in what is now Adrestia by the Emperor Shiro of Ralgon to educate the colonists. Following the discovery of precious resources in unprecedented abundance, the university found itself with a massive endowment, spurring extremely rapid growth during its initial few years. Unlike its companion institution, the University of Adrestia, the University of Gondolin operates no satellite campuses outside of its own metropolitan region, allowing a greater concentration of star faculty and other vital resources.

The university is known for its state-of-the-art naval science and space science departments. Its School of Draconic Studies is also widely praised as being on par with giants such as the ancient Glacier City University. Currently, the institution has graduated the current Crown Prince of Adrestia, the future Masamune III, who graduated in 1700 AN with a undergraduate dual degree in global affairs and aerospace engineering at the age of 21 before moving abroad for further study. The university's rapid rise to prominence comes on the heels of Adrestia's prosperity; thus, the university has made moves to insulate itself from possible periods of political upheaval coming into the 1700's AN.

Although being smaller than its companion institution, the University of Adrestia (and system), the university holds by far the largest endowment in the Empire, valued at over 50 billion Guilders as of 1700 AN, thanks to heavy and frequent donations by the Royal Family of Adrestia. This has allowed the university to cement its assets and begin another round of heavy expansion into the coming century.

University of Adrestia System

Like its counterpart the University of Gondolin, the University of Adrestia was founded in 1672 AN, shortly before the international recognition of the colony as part of the Ralgon Empire. It used to be the same institution as UG, but the two split amicably to allow each university to respectively focus on the needs of Gondolin and the wider Adrestia region. Although this caused a split in endowment award, the discovery of vast resources on the islands promptly made such a state of affairs relatively moot.

This huge amount of resources gradually allowed the University of Adrestia to rapidly grow into the largest education system in the Ralgon Empire, overtaking the Temple University system in 1697 AN (some 12 years post-Crisis). The university enjoys an enrolment of about 98,500 between all of its campuses, the flagship branch at the UA Gondolin being by far the most competitive to enter for aspiring students. Although the flagship campus is at Gondolin, the institution educates leaders in the liberal arts as well as in humanities, being better regarded in these fields than its rival institution of UG.

University of Scarterra at Drag'nor

USD was formed in 1690 as a way to educate the wealthy citizens of Scarterra. Although a very small school, it has a large endowment and extremely competitive admissions. Although its reputation is overshadowed by other institutions elsewhere, its high quality of education makes it a top-notch regional university.

Geography

This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change.

(summary of the regions of Drag'os, Tar-Palantir, and the mainland)

Drag'os

The island of Drag'os is the homeland of the Ralgonese people. Formerly known as "El Dorado" to cartographers, it has been on the MCS map since 1656 AN. As a polity, Drag'os consists of a number of regions including Glacier City, Aurora, Stormhold, and the restored regions of Duro, Dragon's Reach, and Scarterra.

Stormhold

The first of these regions is the Kingdom of Stormhold. This is one of the two ethnic homelands of the Ralites, one of the Empire's several remaining ethnic groups who have their own distinct characteristics. The territory is bordered to the north by the remnants of the Great Swamp, and on all other sides by either wild areas or the coastline. It shares maritime borders to the west and east with other Regions, and across the Sea of Drag'os with Barbary and Nova Victoria, which still houses its only overseas military units. The region of Stormhold served as the core and only official headquarters for the Ralite tribe's ruling clan for countless generations, until the Emperor's recent permanent move of his Household to Glacier City in 1683. The region's central location provides the region with strategic importance, and it is an important trading partner with Barbary to the south due to its close proximity with Nova Victoria.

Its capital is Valeria, a name whose origins predate the political region that occupies it today. The city was named "Stormhold" when the area consisted of little more than the city of Valeria and its environs, and renamed to its original form in 1675 after Stormhold split into three different regions (one of which dissolved after 1685) to avoid confusion on official documents. The city served as the primary residence of the now-Emperor until 1683, when the Imperial Household completed its official move to Glacier City, SAR. Drag'os's Parliament (consisting of the Senate along with the Diet), is headquartered there. After 1685, most of the executive branch moved there from Drag'nor after its overrun by uncivilized natives from the western mountains. From 1685, the Valeria became the third-largest city due to increased immigration. It currently houses the second-largest international trade port on the island of Drag'os.

Glacier City

The second of these two regions in terms of importance is Glacier City, SAR. A peninsula on the southeastern end of the Island of Drag'os is separated from the rest of the landmass by a steep mountain range at its northern border. The region is characterized by a lone, massive mountain near its center. By area it's the second-largest free-standing mountain on Micras known to Ralgon geographers, after the massive Great Red Mountain in The Hexarchy's Realm of Pyrax. The region is dominated by the massive city that engulfs the entire region, with populated areas even extending into The Green that is currently being hotly contested by liberation army forces. The Port of Glacier City is easily among the largest in the world, and the Glacier City Dockyards are thought to be the world's most extensive due to the city's sheer size and the vast coastline that it occupies. Despite the city's importance, its trade declined sharply during 1685 and 1686 during the Ralgon Civil War, but picked up starting in 1687. The city's Ancient Quarter (known by many other names) has served as the home of the Ralgon Emperor since 1683, and its strategic and economic importance to the USSO nations have buoyed its fluctuating economy and rich ethnic diversity.

The city is one of the most populous in all of Micras, with nearly 40 million inhabitants. It is currently thought to be the third largest city on the planet as of 1759 AN, with only Shirekeep and Gangdiguo surpassing its current population. Like the other two cities, the vast metropolis continues to grow in size. In Glacier City's case, this is thanks to a high fertility rate and excellent internal hydroponics infrastructure, natural and manmade defensibility against Drag'os's remaining hostile humans and fauna, as well as direct access on three sides to the sea that directly contribute to its port's sheer size. The city's growth continues at a steady pace, despite major events during Ralgon Civil War and the Crisis of 1685 that followed. After 1687, the population's movement resumed a steady pace, with the refugee shift in and out of the city from other parts of Ralgon stabilizing into its current form. It is expected that most the city's massive transient population (nearly 5 million individuals not counted in the census) will return to other parts of Drag'os as they are reconquered.

Topography

This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change.

Climate

This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change.

Ralgon's status as a spread out nation gives it various climate types. At its peak when the Ralgonese government controlled most of the island of Drag'os, the large island's varying elevation as well as the mountain ranges to the west gave the country several distinct climate zones. At the beginning of 1687, when the country was at the low point of its home territorial holdings, there were three main climate zones in the country. Glacier City, SAR is characterized by a coastal climate on its edges with the sea, as the entire region is in a peninsula. The small region's beaches is known for the black sand produced by the massive volcano that was active in times long gone. Most of the city-state's coast experiences subtropical climates year-round, with the temperatures being lower in the higher elevations in the north. Stormhold has a similar coastal climate, as do most of the rest of Drag'os's south-eastern coastal regions.

Most of Adrestia has a warm temperate climate, with mild winters on the mainland regions that allow for the growing and processing of temperate fruits such as cherries, apples, and the like. The southern islands have tropical climates and are known for their grapes and citrus products.