Lepidopterum
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
| Planting of Lepidopterum | |||
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| Motto: Sub umbrā terrae flōrēmus (We flourish in the shade of the earth) | |||
| Anthem: none | |||
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| Map versions | 16.3.5-present | ||
| Capital | Lepidopterum | ||
| Largest city | Lepdiopterum | ||
| Official language(s) | Benacian English (official) Nezeni | ||
| Official religion(s) | Ketherism, Subducted Minarborealism | ||
| Demonym | Lepidopteran | ||
| - Adjective | Lepidopteran | ||
| Government | Autonomous protectorate | ||
| - Lady Protector | Prethil Nal | ||
| - Holgrave | Varanidus Kai | ||
| - Legislature | n/a | ||
| Establishment | 1668 AN | ||
| Area | ~69,500 sq.km | ||
| Population | unknown | ||
| Active population | - | ||
| Currency | Kalgarrand | ||
| Calendar | |||
| Time zone(s) | |||
| Mains electricity | |||
| Driving side | |||
| Track gauge | |||
| National website | - | ||
| National forum | - | ||
| National animal | n/a | ||
| National food | n/a | ||
| National drink | n/a | ||
| National tree | n/a | ||
| Abbreviation | n/a | ||
The Planting of Lepidopterum, also known (particularly externally) as the Protectorate of Lepidopterum, is a small state in central Benacia. A protectorate of Kalgachia, its government reports to that state's Council of Perfecti and is subject to its military protection and foreign policy, but is largely autonomous in its domestic affairs and is not subject to the Oktavyan Code.
A Lieutenancy of Kalgachia for some twenty-eight years, many of those born in Lepidopterum during the period - most of them Nezeni - still maintain a Kalgachi identity, and cultural links with the mother country remain strong, reinforced by their largely uninterrupted economic ties. In recent years, however, the picture has been abruptly complicated by the return of the Deep Singers from their sojourn underground.
Geography
Government
Lady Protector
The Lepidopteran head of state is the Lord or Lady Protector, appointed by and responsible to the Kalgachi Council of Perfecti; the first, and thus far only, Lady Protector is Prethil Nal. Within Lepidopterum, the Lady Protector is technically an autocrat in that there is no particular legal check upon her power; but while she maintains and uses wide latitude to interfere with affairs of state, in practice much of the day-to-day administration of the government is in the hands of a group of appointed officials referred to as the Congeries, over which the Lady Protector presides.
Congeries
The senior member of the Congeries is the Holgrave, who serves as the Lady Protector's chief administrator and effective head of government. Named for an office prevalent in the area between the fall of Minarboria and the Lieutenancy period - a kind of elder of a community burrow - the Holgrave's main responsibility is to translate the Lady Protector's directives into concrete actions and, along with the rest of the Congeries, to see them carried out.
Other members of the Congeries are:
- The Agister General, head of the Agistry. An office created during the Lieutenancy period, the Agister General is responsible for overseeing the Litovine Forest, human interaction with it, and its flora and fauna - for reasons both of ecological balance and of defense. While the area of the Forest is no longer completely closed to settlement, most such settlements are constructed almost entirely underground and are not subject to the authority of the Agister General.
- The Proctor General, head of the Bureau of Administration. The ongoing disentanglement of the Church of Kalgachia from governance has resulted in the reassignment of the Proctors, the local civil administrators, to their own branch of government, headed by a Proctor General.
- The Natalist General, head of the Bureau of Natal Development. The Natalist General is responsible for overseeing reproductive health, a sphere of particular importance to both Nezeni and Deep Singers. The Bureau provides genetic counseling and family planning services, administers artificial gestation facilities and gene banks, and is responsible for obstetric, prenatal, and immediate postnatal care.
- The Umbral Nexus, head of the Umbra. Even in the context of an ongoing localization of government structure, the Umbra is a new branch whose role has not been extensively publicised. Rumors of close cooperation with Kalgachia's Prefects and Troglodyti, and of strenuous attempts to recruit Singer psionic and biomantic adepts, have proven difficult to put to rest.
