Cira
| The Ciric Confederation of Wrighthaven, Hemsford, Paroka, and Minh-Cong | |||
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| Motto: Praeterita Obliviscentes. Memento Posterum | |||
| Anthem: March of Progress | |||
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| Map versions | |||
| Capital | Mourn | ||
| Largest city | Mourn, Stonewall, Avok-Tei | ||
| Official language(s) | Common tongue, Parokan, Minh | ||
| Official religion(s) | Cult Tecnologica | ||
| Demonym | Ciran | ||
| - Adjective | Ciric | ||
| Government | Parliamentary Republic | ||
| - Speaker | Avingar Holstadt | ||
| - Suzerain | Cedric Adsen | ||
| - Legislature | Confederate Parliament | ||
| Establishment | 1455 AN | ||
| Area | |||
| Population | 12,810,513 | ||
| Active population | 3 | ||
| Currency | Brev | ||
| Calendar | |||
| Time zone(s) | |||
| Mains electricity | |||
| Driving side | left | ||
| Track gauge | |||
| National website | |||
| National forum | |||
| National animal | Sea Raven | ||
| National food | Mac Nhen | ||
| National drink | Mead | ||
| National tree | Black Spruce | ||
| Abbreviation | CIR | ||
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This article or section is a work in progress. The information below may be incomplete, outdated, or subject to change. |
The Homeland is… a number of things. Some of those things are such that I would consider the confederacy to be the most blessed nation on Micras; others I find to bring me to imagine vividly the downfall of all that the confederacy stands for, starting with whatever horrid sight or experience triggered the imagining itself. However, despite this, it is and will always be my Homeland. Thus, it shall always feature most prominently in my memory.—Edward Coldstone, Cira: A Legacy (1675 AN)
The Ciric Confederation of Wrighthaven, Hemsford, Paroka, and Minh-Cong, more commonly referred to as Cira, is a confederate parliamentary republic on the islands of Sypyr and Hypernostria which is comprised of the constituent governorates of Wrighthaven, Hemsford, Paroka, and Minh-Cong. The confederacy, which was united under one flag in 1455 AN, is governed in a system that is thought to be based off of an ancient tribal council system, but has evolved to the modern confederate parliamentary system. The confederacy places high value on scientific progress due to the prevalence of the worship of machinery in the area, which originated with the discovery of mysterious documents in the city of Anningheim in 1222.
Culture
The culture of the confederacy is often the subject of debate amongst Ciric scholars and anthropologists, since the path of most traditions and points of culture are difficult to trace back to any singular tradition of the three constituent tribes which founded the confederacy, due to the Ciric practice of dispensing with unnecessary records. This idea is considered one of the most important embodiments of the national motto: Forget the Past. Remember the Future. This is most often interpreted to be best observed by the extirpation of needless historical records which do not hold relevance. Thus, though the past is not necessarily scorned, it is also not placed upon a pedestal to be misconstrued to the point of myths. Individual names are not considered important information to preserve, and are thus discarded and often lost to the annals of history. Information, however, such as that which leads to the discovery of an important invention, as well as the general course of events, is preserved officially. It is not illegal to preserve pieces of information which are not accepted to be important to the nation, however this is not common because of the general stigma about past specificities. Much of the confederacy's culture today was carried through the ages through word of mouth and other such methods of transmission outside of official vectors.
Most of the larger aspects of the confederacy's culture originate with the 1222 discovery of the Anningheim Documents, which provide a framework not only for Ciric culture but also for the most common Ciric religion, that being the Cult Tecnologica. The specifics of these documents is the most read information in the confederacy, with the documents containing both blueprints, schematics, and formulae which lead to the early scientific leap taken by the confederate constituent tribes in the thirteenth century, but also the philosophies of the writers of the documents, which provide the basis for the Cult Tecnologica. These philosophies lead to a common feeling throughout the confederacy that progress is the most important part of society. Scientists, engineers, and doctors are held in the highest regard throughout the confederacy, solidifying the strata that form the basis of the informal caste system, with administrators at the top, followed by the scientific community, the military, and finally the civilian base. Unlike other caste systems, however, mobility is possible, although not always encouraged. The proper allocation of careers is a high priority in the confederacy, and though an individual's caste occasionally determines the amount of respect given to them, it is still considered important for the confederacy to maintain a skilled base of labourers and managers of services to hold up the higher castes, and thus an individual is considered to be a responsible and respectable confederate citizen if they maintain a service or industrial based career for the good of the whole confederacy.
The tendency to recognise science and progress as the reason for society tends to degrade as one moves further into the countryside, though the grasp of the confederate government and influence of the Cult Tecnologica never fully loses hold or results in isolated villages of paranoid peasantry. Even the most rural of villages enjoy access to the advanced science and technology of the confederacy, though in certain areas supplies of Ferris Fortis are heavily managed in order to conserve the limited amount of the precious metal because of the difficulty in manufacturing the metal in a non-metropolitan setting. Furthermore, civilians in rural areas are just as likely as those in a heavily urbanised environment to espouse socially-liberal or left-leaning principles, especially those which promote cooperation and inclusion. This is because, due to the harsh environment of the antarctic land in which the confederacy is situated, a general acceptance of collectivist theory is common among confederate citizens. It is often that a visitor to more rural areas will hear the confederate adage, If one man has fish, the village starves. Promotion of a strong spirit of community is what brought the development and civilisation of the early Havanite and Fordian tribes in the area.
Minh-Cong differs drastically from the main area of the confederacy on Sypyr, as it had only acceded to the confederacy in the early sixteenth century, having little contact with the tribes that would eventually constitute the confederacy before that point. There does, however, exist a similar spirit of community and acceptance amongst the Minh-Cong, again owing this trait to the harsh conditions of the icy islands. However, most Minh-Cong do not espouse the absolute importance of technology and development that the mainland confederates are so prone to do, instead having a culture dedicated to beauty, both physical and metaphorical. Minh-Cong tends to produce a good number of fine arts practitioners and fewer scientists, and its people rarely adhere to (or attempt to understand) the caste system that is generally accepted by mainland confederates.
It is not impossible that, while walking through the streets of a confederate city, one might encounter a civilised dragon, though it is uncommon. Dragons sparsely inhabit the western portion of Sypyr, and these creatures occasionally produce offspring with a higher level of intelligence than its brethren, which, due to coinciding physical disabilities compared to its kin, cause the intelligent variants of the hatchlings to be abandoned by their migratory families. Occasionally these abandoned young will find their way to Ciric cities and villages. Because of the connotation dragons hold with the society of the mainland confederacy, especially in Hemsford, dragons that appear in villages are almost always diligently cared for by the townsfolk, who tend to believe the dragon was sent as a spiritual blessing. In larger cities, there are often special portions of schools set aside which, in the event of an intelligent dragon appearing in the city, serve to educate the young dragons on society, Ciric history and culture, and the languages of the confederacy, so that they may lead productive lives in society.
While the existence of dragons among society is considered a spiritual (or divine, depending on who you ask) blessing in the confederacy, the existence of feral dragons nearby civilised lands is considered a pest and, on occasion, a matter of serious concern. Dragons, while often depicted in artwork and media as mighty, god-like creatures, rarely pose a threat to specialised task forces of the Ciric armed forces which are sent to deal with the beasts. Nonetheless, the foreign concept of individual strength is generally only observed in the event that a feral dragon is defeated or killed by a single individual. This affords the slayer with a serious amount of respect from most confederates and a specially high amount of praise from the citizens of whichever village they saved from the pest. Many rural villages keep medals and awards of honour on hand to offer in case of a dragon taking up residence in the surrounding land to encourage rowdy youths of the village to take up the challenge so that the problem can be dealt with. Beginning around the start of the seventeenth century, there was a marked uptake in the hunting of feral dragons, especially hatchlings, to sell their scales for profit as luxury materials. In response to this, initiatives have been taken to preserve the population of feral dragons in the confederacy, most notably by planting breeding grounds farther away from societal boundaries to assure the likelihood of a hunter finding the nest remain low. Most of these initiatives have been instigated at the behest of civilised dragons.
