The Hexarchy

The Realms Represented by the Hexarchy of Pyrax, Elam, and the Eventide Islands
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: The Gods Are Our Strength
Anthem: WIP
Map versions	???
Capital	Azul'an, Arumen
Largest city	Kobol, Eventide Isles
Official language(s)	Draconian (official) Standard (most common)
Official religion(s)	Draconic Native folk religions
Demonym	(various)
- Adjective	(various)
Government	Hexarchy (with rotating HoS)
- King of the Hexarchy	King Gilgamesh, Lord of Arumen
- Hexarch	Hexarch Marduk, Lord of Elam (and others)
- Legislature	Parliament
Establishment	Lone Moon, 1685 AN
Area	NA
Population	6,839,374 (1685 AN)
Active population	NA
Currency	Guilder (£)
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
Driving side
Track gauge
National website
National forum
National animal	Adrestian Eagle
National food
National drink	Green Tea
National tree	Lemon tree
Abbreviation	HEX

The Hexarchy, also commonly referred to as by its regional names by specific outsiders, is formally known as The Realms Represented by the Hexarchy of Pyrax, Elam, and the Eventide Islands. Officially established in 1685 AN, the country is very new and still finding its footing in a much larger world than most of the population could have imagined. The nation is a union of peoples from a formerly dependent constituent country of the Holy Ralgon Empire, along with natives that fought the same, in combination with dissenting wealthy rulers from Adrestia who struck out and established their own independent colony (at the Eventide Islands). Various rulers from major parts of the constituent Realms are each represented by a separate Hexarch, who sits on the Council of Six. The country's name is also provisional, and mostly an effort to keep the powerful native tribes appeased until a new consensus on the nation's name is reached.

The country has an extremely poor reputation abroad for being openly "infested" by wild dragons endemic to the Ralgon homeland, the same which have been tamed in great part by the natives and brought to the Realms of Pyrax to protect the population. The Eventide Islands are the only real economic hub within the country. Despite the small land area and a highly concentrated population, the Islands import and export various treasures in exchange for food from the north and luxuries from around the world. The Port of Kobol, the country's largest city, the region is well-protected by dragons as well as modern weapons, with which the inhabitants successfully deter incoming Ralgon attacks (as few as they are now) that attempt to reclaim the lost colony. Elam is the glue that connects the country's disparate regions together. Although the Realm of Elam only consists of a single city currently (named after the massive fortress of La Roque), its status as a major port in Keltia's inner straits (known as the Great River to locals) also lends it some measure of wealth that the city heavily invests in both defense and the education of its rapidly-growing population.

The country is also well-known for its widely varying cultures. Most of the land is undeveloped, and belongs to the natives and tribes from the Green that recently joined the Realms. The natives themselves have adapted to their new open space and independence, and found the Twin Isles' mountainous terrain and vast open water to their liking. However, their economy is still primitive compared to the south, and there are few exports outside of food and textiles. The only metallic exports are with the North Capital of Azul'an largely consisting of a massive city fed mostly by a combination of seafood and fauna the dragons bring back as prey for their masters -- or, in some cases, the other way around.

Incidentally, this close mix of such wildly varying cultures, religions, and political systems within the same country has earned the country a reputation of being an extremely confusing place to visit. As such, most tourists don't bother venturing outside the southern capital of Kobol, despite the vast amount of environmental wonders to see there, and the sometimes-friendly-sometimes-not natives, who are colorfully dressed most of the time... and others not at all. Due to the general "insanity" going on there (as one prominent Ralgon diplomat to the nation put it), its place on the MCS, never mind its official designation on the map, remains a topic of fierce debate.

Government

The Hexarchy is, in reality, a strong confederation consisting of major divisions known as Realms, those being Pyrax, Elam, and the Eventide Islands. The central government is run by a council-style government also termed the Hexarchy, which consists of the six principal rulers of the country: two from Pyrax, one from Elam, and the other three from the Eventide Islands' territories.

To distinguish its central government from the rulers themselves, the Hexarchy terms its central government "The Council of Six." This Council has final judicial and executive power over the entire country, and rules by consensus rather than through majority votes.

History

Settlement

The history of the Hexarchy is a brief one, thus far. The nation is a truly odd amalgamation of natives from Ralgon, natives from the wilds of Keltia, colonists from Adrestia, their sympathizers, and refugees from Ralgon that preferred life in Keltia over the dragons wrecking everything else in their homeland, or even over the Adrestian government that was much closer to home.

The islands' collective government and people came together organically. The natives saw a way out of Ralgon as the military began closing the coasts against dragon incursions from the interior. The natives, having domesticated many of those same dragons, flew them in stages from Ralgon all the way to Keltia before anyone could do much to counter the bizarre sight of masses of people moving all their things across the ocean on the backs of giant flying lizards. The clandestine help of the Adrestian government via stopovers on The Green areas in Corum and the islands off Keltia helped secure the final push these people needed to complete the long journey to freedom.

It wasn't long after they blazed this trail that their sympathizers began to follow, along with opportunist colonists from the rich country of Adrestia, still nominally a part of the Holy Ralgon Empire. The earliest signs of a unified coalition government between the natives and the hodge podge of colonists was seen in Kobol, located in what is now the Eventide Islands. Further joint settlements between those natives who weren't into their dragon "pets" (as they were derisively called by the Ralgon home government) and the colonials resulted in a city-state halfway up the interior Keltian straits. The resulting settlement developed into a city-state that was ill-inclined to overexert itself on farming the vast lands around it, instead being content to live off the megafauna living in the oceans around it. (With the people being used to the megafauna living in the Great Swamp on Drag'os, this was effectively nothing a familiar-looking source of food for the entire city.)

Although these waters were initially difficult to navigate by water, the dragon-riding natives were all too happy to settle the large islands to the north and let their dragons roam the wide waters and vast lands in the wilderness surrounding this country. With the natives eventually settling themselves on the islands and using the vast green areas to let their dragons roam and feed as they pleased, the "Dragon Question" for those inhabitants to the south was answered with relative ease. While defensive installations were still being constructed throughout the country to prevent the Ralgons from attempting to forcibly take possession of the colonies, the massive dragons (some being the legendary elder dragons somehow also coaxed to these lands by the natives) provided a convenient means of defense for the sparsely populated north lands, and a shield that covered the backs of the very densely populated south.

The islands and coastal grasslands were quickly settled by the colonials, who preferred using mass agriculture to sustain the rapidly growing population on the naturally defensible Eventide Islands themselves. The city of Kobol, which sprung up from those islands, rapidly became the economic capital of the emerging country, and a unified Council system of government eventually solidified after a long series of talks and agreements between the natives, the colonials, and those living in the increasingly crowded city-state of Elam -- itself located on an island.

Economy

The seaport of Kobol is the largest port in the Hexarchy. The port has a container terminal operated by the Apollonian Shipping Company from which Jingdaoese goods are distributed throughout the country by smaller ships. The Jingdaoese government is a major investor in the port, which is considered to be part of the White Tea Road.

Territories

The Realm of Elam

(The River Lands)

The Eventide Islands

(The Coastal Plateau)

The Outer Realms

The Outer Realms are, simply put, nominally controlled territories without any sort of government of their own in the Hexarchy. There are several such massive regions that the people claim as their "heritage," but actual military control outside their borders is limited to the far eastern portion of the Great Forest to the south of the country. This is due to both the country's sparse population on the frontiers, the dangerous megafauna inhabiting much of their surroundings, and the sheer difficulty presented by clearing megaflora (especially the massive trees endemic to their jungles). However, where land is clear in the interior River Lands, the hilly terrain serves as a sharp dividing region between the rich (but narrow) rivers in the south of the country and the vast jungles of the deep Keltian interior.

The Ereshkigal Forest

The Great Forest is a vast jungle rainforest that is located on the country's southern interior. Divided from the River Lands by hilly terrain and shallow soil, the land is nonetheless abnormally fertile for being unable to host the vast trees endemic to the jungle itself. The small portion under nominal control is completely undefended except by surface-to-surface missile systems, in case the otherwise balanced ecology (as dangerous as it is) acts against the developing agricultural settlements on the River Lands to the north and east. For reasons unknown, almost none of the more vicious predators in the jungle ever move past the very well-defined tree line about forty to fifty kilometers from the River. Thus, agriculture has rapidly developed in recent times. Due to the extreme danger posed by enter, the portions under Hexarchy control have become known to local cartographers as Ereshkigal Forest -- aptly named after the Pyraxian goddess of death.

The Great Forest is mostly uninhabited due to the terrain and the dangerous fauna. For the latter, the wildlife is constantly added to, as the vast area serves as a convenient dumping ground for dangerous animals smuggled into the islands. Alternatively, the government has been known to experiment with sending certain animals such as the Jingdaoese valleytiger into the forest to see how it interacts with the other, much larger predators in the region. These constant activities also serve to deter any unwanted persons (mostly prisoners serving on the collective farms run by the Elamite government) from escaping into the forest. It also deters illegal immigrants and poachers from entering the forest except as a part of a specialized hunting expedition. And even then, those expeditions flying in from Pyrax tend to leave the jungles alone due to their vast trees hiding both prey and predator alike.

Thus, defensive responsibilities of the Great Forest fall to the collective military efforts of Elam and the Eventide Islands, along with their subordinate Realms and Districts. Despite the extremely dangerous terrain, control over the vast jungle has been partially exerted over a stretch of land surrounded by the Great River and Red River on two sides, and bounded by a coastal region under the firm control of the Eventide Islands' paramilitary forces. That portion nominally occupied jointly between these realms relies on the River Lands' districts for day-to-day governance, while overall authority is vested in the Council of Six (although, due to lack of permanent human activity, is moot). Although the forest itself cannot be defended due to the recent addition of wild dragons by the Pyraxians during failed expeditions, conquest has been rendered impossible. On the upside, neither can neighbors reasonably occupy the forest, due to the Hexarchy's control of the only civilized areas bordering it.

The River Lands

Forty to fifty kilometer strip of abnormally fertile land to either side of the Great River (in the south), and Red River that flows into it from the northwest.

The Great Plains

Situated to the north of Elam's territory, the Great Plains (known to locals as the Utu plains, after the Pyraxian sun god) start not far off the North Bank region of the Red River. Although the north bank is heavily populated (far more so than the south, due to the jungles pressing so close to any inhabited land), the population lives on a very thin strip of land between the fertile river and the vast, savanna-like climate to the north. Just as in the jungles to the south, rain is plentiful, but the Plains proper rapidly slope up to a plateau (steppe) region that nonetheless support herbivorous megafauna that roam the wide, empty spaces.

Expeditions rarely go there from Pyrax, as the megafauna are strangely docile for their size (with the natives strongly preferring prey with a tendency to fight back). However, smaller predators released as tracking beasts during Pyraxian hunting expeditions elsewhere have made settlement a very questionable affair. Between the growing restlessness of the megafauna, the growing ubiquity of predatory, man-eating animals in the elephant grass that characterizes the region, and the lack of willingness for affluent Elamites to move out of the island city they call home, permanent settlement has proven dicey at best. Additionally, the River Lands are sufficiently fertile to feed even the growing population supported by immigrants from abroad and high fertility rates in the rest of the country, although future projections point to food shortages if nothing decisive is done about it. Additionally, concerns about uncivilized peoples in The Green (particularly those from the former lands of Stormark) have led to armed patrols regularly being commissioned into the vast, empty wilderness to assess the possibilities.

Foreign Affairs

Overview

Frankly, most people are too confused with the nation as a whole to deal with them individually, so most diplomacy in this age goes through the government at Kobol, during those times that the Council holds a meeting there, instead of nowhere in Pyrax or in the middle of some crowded building in Elam (and environs). As for the rest of the country, general sentiment tends to agree with this reality of things. As such, most Council meetings in the easily accessible city of Kobol tend to revolve more around diplomatic and other external matters. Meanwhile, meetings in Azul'an and in the city-state of Elam tend to focus instead on best practices in assimilating the natives (particularly the Storish refugees the natives insist on bringing along with them) and on the country's urbanization projects, respectively.

Generally, the country as a whole enjoys a positive relationship with Adrestia, specifically. Most of the country's exports go to that country via the Bassarids, whose borders in turn are located very close to the Eventide Islands, which has the nation's GDP per capita, by far. Additionally, it was through the Adrestian government's efforts that allowed the country to establish itself on the wide open Keltian continent, where the free-roaming peoples of Pyrax and Elam could flourish without their perpetual wars with Ralgon zealots and sapient dragons on the island of Drag'os. In the heavily populated and politically influential south, the Hexarchy's people hold a positive opinion towards the Jingdao, for their ability to successfully manage their vast nation despite its variety of peoples (to include savages possessing their own strength of arms). In the north, opinion favors the Verionians and other such peoples who regularly liberate their own govenrments in favor of something that works better later on in the week.

Country-Based Summary

This is a summary of those entities the Hexarchy has relations with. Note that additional visas are always required to work in the Hexarchy, and to visit the northern territories in Pyrax and sometimes Elam (due to dangers imposed by the local fauna). Transit through the country never requires a visa if the duration of stay is less than 24 hours and/or the passenger does not plan on leaving the train or aircraft. Travel by gas-powered motor vehicles of any kind is strictly forbidden, and passengers of personally owned vehicles always require a visa unless specified.

Country	Formal relations	Informal relations	Visa Free Travel (# of days)	Working Holiday Visa (# of months)	History
Adrestia	✓	✓	90 days	1 year	Positive relations with Adrestia. Free travel, easy access to work, and long-stay agreements already exist between the two nations. Tourist and working holiday visas are renewable, within restrictions.
Alduria	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Barbary	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Batavia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Constancia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Craitland	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Elwynn	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Florian Republic	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Goëtia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Guttuli Protectorate	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Imperial Trade Union	✓	✓	90 days	✖	Relations between the natives and the Bassarids are most unusually friendly, thanks to the Bassarids being an early supporter during the Hexarchy's colonial days. The natives also hold them in mildly positive regard, which makes trade with these eccentric people oddly easy.
Inner Benacia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Iron Cult	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Jingdao	✓	✓	90 days	✖	A long and rich history of cooperation from colonials and natives alike with the Jing diaspora have made travel within the Hexarchy extraordinarily easy.
Kasterburg	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Krasnocoria	✖	✓	30 days	✖	Relations through the USSO's Policon.
Mercury	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Natopia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Norrland	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Pacificonia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Palesmenia	✖	✓	30 days	✖	Relations through the USSO's Policon.
Phinbella	✖	✓	30 days	✖	Relations through the USSO's Policon.
Graustark	✖	✓	30 days	✖	Relations through the USSO's Policon.
Ralgon	✖	✖	✖	✖	Unfavorable relations with Ralgon due to the violence that led to the Hexarchy's independence. However, there is a strict free and open travel policy, specifically for full citizens of Adrestia.
Réunion	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Senya	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact, but the large native population within the Hexarchy holds a generally favorable opinion due to their positive treatment of the River Warriors.
Sovereign Confederation	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Shireroth	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Srbozemska	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Stormark	✖	✖	✖	✖	No official contact before Stormark's demise. Refugees from the former Stormark are usually used as a lower (working) class within the Hexarchy.
Tellia	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Thracistan	✖	✓	30 days	✖	Relations through the USSO's Policon.
Unified Governorates	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Vi'Ix	✖	✖	✖	✖	No prior contact.
Wechua	✖	✖	✖	✖	Despite relatively close proximity, the Hexarchy has never encountered any of the Wechua peoples.