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Suren Confederacy

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Dowlat-e Aliyye-ye Suren
Flag of Suren Confederacy
Flag
Coat of Arms of Suren Confederacy
Coat of Arms
Motto: Marā dād farmūd-o khod dāvar ast
Anthem: Ey Eura
Location of Suren Confederacy
Map versions N/A
Capital Surenshahr
Largest city Mehrshahr, Bandar-é Zinjibar
Official language(s) Babkhi
Official religion(s) Zurvanism
Demonym Suren
 - Adjective Surenid
Government
  • Absolute Monarchy
  • Tribal Confederation
  • One-Party Humanist State
 - Surenšāh Mitradokht of Suren
 - Astabadh Kalkul Sahib
 - Legislature Majles-e Suren
Establishment TBC
Area 2,412,144 km sq
Population 7,620,348 subjects
Currency Tomān
Calendar Norton calendar
Time zone(s) CMT +4
Mains electricity 230 V. 50 Hz
Driving side Righthand-side
Track gauge 400 mm (Narrow Gauge)
National website
National forum
National animal
National food
National drink
National tree
Abbreviation SUR

The Suren Confederacy is a developing nation, set amidst the heavily irradiated, environmentally degraded, and ever prone to desertification, north-eastern portion of the continent of Eura. Notable for its veneration of the continent's Babkhan heritage, the mismatch between an autocratic monarchy and a fractious confederal system of government, and for the numerous quixotic attempts at a crash-course industrialisation effort to catch up with the rest of the world that has moved on in the century since Eura's atomic self-immolation.

Geography

Mining in the Surenid Highlands is a labour intensive proposition that draws in vast numbers of Androphagi, recruited via razzias conducted into the Euran interior.

The Zjandarian steppe has an extreme continental climate; most of the country is open plain, with enough rain in the north, from the sub-tropical Norashti coast, for extensive wheat farming, but turning to grasslands and then desert further south. The large-scale irrigation networks built over the span of centuries swiftly fell into ruins following the Babkhan Holocaust of 1598, and irradiated dead zones, together with stretches of glassed desert, still mark the destruction of the old Babkhan kingdom. Tentative efforts at a revival of agriculture have focused upon boring down into the deep continental aquifers to draw up the life-giving waters for new experimental cotton plantations, however this in turn has led to saline soil problems that have rapidly become evident.

The desert winds of the inner Euran hellscape continue to whip up and deposit clouds of radioactive ash which can blanket vast swathes of the country, with deleterious effects on farming and human habitation, necessitating the development of shelters and survival strategies for both.

Salt deposits, where they are clear of contamination, are in and of themselves vital for the prospective revival of the society. The largest concentrations of these, along with such hydrocarbon deposits as have thus far been identified, are to be found in the lands of the Suren Ostan, the south-western limb of the confederacy. Though much of the Suren Ostan is flat desert and semi-desert, the high mountains of the north-west are a major source for the rivers which flow in a south easterly direction towards Lake Erik and the Androphagi megariver. Irrigation networks repaired here yield cotton and the mulberry trees vital for harvesting silkworm while the poor mountain and desert pasturage. Copper, gold, iron, chromium, and other mineral deposits located in the Durranian highland regions hint at the possibility of future prosperity if they can be secured against Constancian competitors.

Government & politics

The right of the Surenšāh to exercise sovereignty over the confederacy rests a claim to have been in receipt of the immutable blessings of Zurvan, and the sublime grace of the highest divinity thereby, on account of the three meritorious deeds claimed by his lineage:

  1. The rescue of the Light of the Kapavs, the sacred flame housed in Kamalshahr, by a humble Sarvan (captain) of the Yemin Zoka Gendarmes, founder of the Suren line, before the fall of that city into ruin and the degradation of foreign occupation;
  2. The resistance led by the House of Suren against Constancia during the Second Euran War;
  3. The gathering of the scattered confederates, laid low by that conflict, and their restoration of the true Euran and Zurvanite state.

Executive

The Bab-e Dīvān (Gate of the Council), an antechamber to the entrance hall of the throne-room of the Surenshah from which a nest of eunuchs and the incense-smogged droners of forgotten rites had been expelled, housed the reformed executive council which sat from 1.XV.1690 AN onwards and which took its name from the new location.

Office Office Holder Portfolio
Astabadh Kalkul Sahib Diplomacy, Public Administration
Euramehr Arteshbod Arben Bahramzadeh Khan Defence and Security
Darik-Pat The Bānū Aspadanadoḵt Royal Estates, Revenues, Rites and Ceremonies
Mystikos Alexios Melas Espionage, Counter-Espionage, Industrial Archaeology and the Study of Foreign Technology
Moabadan-Moabad Ādurbād-ī Zandzadeh Religion and Law, Custodian of the Light of the Kapavs

Legislature

The 300 strong Majles-e Suren approves laws and can examine or investigate all affairs of the country. The Majlis is dominated by the Surenshah, chosen from the House of Suren with tenure for life, and acclaimed by the Satraps of the confederacy's provinces. Aside from the Surenshah the most preeminent individual is the Speaker, who presides over the workings of the Majlis, confirming the validity of its votes and ensuring that receive its summons adhere and submit to its authority.

The first Majlis sat from 1687 to 1690 whereupon the Surenšāh declared himself dissatisfied with the conduct of the body - advising the delegates of this as he oversaw their crucifixion. The laws passed by the Majlis were declared void and its records burnt.

There was therefore much trepidation in the land when the summons went out for a fresh Majlis to convene.

Seventy-six members of the Majlis were nominated for the new session by their satraps, chosen from amongst the good families of their provinces, subject to the review and veto of the Surenshah. Of the remainder, half were to be nominated by the Popular Levy while the remainder were chosen from amongst the herbads and mobads of the Zurvanite Orthodox religion.

They hold office for four years. Political parties were expressly forbidden prior to the formation of the Surenid National Sector Party of the Nationalist & Humanist Party. All members of the Majlis were thereafter dutifully enrolled into the N&H, over which the Surenshahr presided as National Sector Leader, or "Archon" in the N&H terminology.

Administrative divisions

Shahrestan Shahrbān Farmândâr Sartip Capital Area Population Bakhsh
Aspadana Shahbanu-uz-Spādānām Ulugh Beg Mihrab Khan Arg-é Spahān 939,043 9
Kapavia Sardar Akbar Mir Yaqub Beg Durmish Khan Kara 1,776,415 18
Norasht Sardar Aʻzam Mir Tughai Beg Fereydun Khan Bandar-é Zinjibar 1,270,420 13
Suren Mirza Rustaham Sūrēn Nur Beg Zahedi Khan Surenshahr 1,530,696 15
Trucial Isles (Chamrush) Trucial Chiefs Sohrab Beg Bektash Khan n/a 343,125 3
Zjand Basseri Sardar Káẓim Mir Yulqoli Beg Paykar Khan Sadd-é Valiasr 1,760,649 18
Ḡur Sardar Rustam Mir Sohrab Beg Rashan Khan Ganzak-Gor 2,996,403

Armed forces

Emblem of the Popular Levy, adopted in 1692 AN following the incorporation of the Suren into the Raspur Pact.

Each year the Suren Confederacy mandates the recruitment of one percent of the working-age population into the so-called Popular Levy (Niru-ye Sāzmān-e Basij-e Suren) for a four year mobilisation period, representing a total force available under arms of approximately 216,416 men. Of the established strength of the Popular Levy therefore an eighth of the force will be in cantonments undergoing their basic training for six months, while a further eighth of the force will be out on the frontiers learning fieldcraft and patrolling for a further six months. At the completion of their training year the levies would be assigned to one of the fifteen Tips (Brigades) of the State Gendarmerie (Žāndārmirī-ye Dowlati) for two years of service as mounted-light infantry and auxiliary policemen, with troops in their third year of service being responsible for the further training and discipline of new inductees into the regiments of the tip. After two years in the Gendarmerie, the levies finish their period of mobilisation by being transferred to one of the depot regiments tasked with logistics or works duties in the run up to their demobilisation period.

All individuals who complete their initial mobilisation period with the Popular Levy are permitted to return to civilian, being permitted to keep their service rifle, a tent, a silver tea set gifted by the state, four camels from the herds of the paramount chiefs of their home province, and any captives they took while on active service. In spite of being permitted to return to civilian life these levies are retained by the government on the Active Reserve until their forty-fifth birthday whereupon they are transferred to the Inactive Reserve in which they would remain until their sixty-fifth birthday. The distinction between active and inactive reserves being in their assignment and the conditions under which they would be called up. While members of the active reserve might be made subject to a patriotic service mobilisation order at any time, subject to a decree by the Shahrbān of their home province in peace time, and typically be assigned to a mobile fighting formation, the inactive reserve would only be called upon by the central government in time of war with a foreign power and even then typically be only be assigned to a static infantry formation or to the depot regiments tasked with combat support services. To prepare for future war, the Popular Levies are frequently indoctrinated about the spiritual benefits of martyrdom.

One interesting aspect with the Surenids, first attested during the Second Euran War, was their disinclination to hold captives as prisoners of war for an extended period of time. Excepting those sent back for further interrogation by the gendarmes, those branded for the attention of the judicial authorities, or those summarily executed at the discretion of the commander of the local forces, captives taken by the Surenid forces would be released and sent back towards their own lines at the earliest opportunity. The macabre detail to note however is that those released in this manner would first be subjected to the amputation of their right hand and left foot. The bloody stumps resulting from these operations being cauterised by the heated blade of a knife, followed by the application of a coat of tar mixed with sand. Those wishing to avoid being released from captivity in this fashion were obliged to accept the Surenshah's salt and enter into his service as kuls under a Life-Service Bond.

Long beset by equipment shortages, the Suren were almost pathetically grateful when in 1690 AN the agents of the State Gendarmerie were able to negotiate the seizure of the Krasnocorian arsenal formerly held in Port Ulje in return for offering the garrison there, marooned for five years since the collapse of their home country, generous cash payments, humanitarian relief supplies, and the opportunity to resettle in Surenid territory.

At the same time more concerted efforts were made to identify, catalogue and salvage repairable pieces of equipment left over from the Euran Wars.

Name Origin Type Quantity Image Notes
Tanks
Pakao Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Main battle tank 4
Pakao.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Pero Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Light tank 1
Pero.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Armoured fighting vehicles
Vuk Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Armoured Fighting Vehicle 2
Vuk.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Armoured personnel carriers
S1 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Armored Personnel Carrier 3
S1APC.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Armoured recovery vehicles
SMFP 3000 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Armoured Recovery Vehicle 4
Smfp3000.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Field guns
80mm field gun Shireroth Shireroth Field gun 2
80mm field gun.png
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
M1681 105 mm howitzer Alduria-Wechua Javelin Industries Towed Artillery (Howitzer) 200
M1681 105 mm howitzer.png
Obtained under the Fontainebleau Accords of 1691 AN
Support vehicles
SMFP 1000 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Off-road vehicle 9
Smfp1000.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
SMFP 2000 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Tank transporter 7
Smfp2000.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Snatch Land Rover Raspur Pact various manufacturers Utility Patrol Vehicle 25,000
Snatch Land Rover.png
Obtained under the Fontainebleau Accords of 1691 AN
Name Origin Type Quantity Image Notes
Handguns
Yurish KV-1 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Pistol 952
Yurish KV-1.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Standard service pistol.
Yurish KV-2 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Pistol 604
Yurish KV-2.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Standard service pistol.
Yurish KV-3 Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Pistol 426
Yurish KV-3.png
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Used by special forces.
M1690 machine pistol (9x19mm) Unified Governorates Mishalan Arsenal Machine pistol 8,000
M1690 machine pistol (9x19mm).png
Obtained under the Fontainebleau Accords of 1691 AN
Submachine-guns
M1656 submachine-gun (9x19mm) Alduria-Wechua National Qullqa System Submachine gun 50,000
M1656 SMG.png
Obtained under the Fontainebleau Accords of 1692 AN
Rifles
M1591 7.62 mm Rifle Alduria-Wechua National Qullqa System Bolt action service rifle 500,000
M1591 7.62 mm Rifle.png
Yurish KA Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Assault rifle 712
Yurish KA.png
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Standard rifle for regular forces.
Yurish KAS Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Assault rifle 838
Yurish KAS.png
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Used by special forces.

Naval forces

The Naval Forces of the Popular Levy (Niru-ye Daryâyi-e Sāzmān-e Basij-e Suren) was established on 05.II.1688 AN with the formation of a brigade level Naval Command Unit, based at the port of Kara, and the procurement of thirteen surplus warships (four frigates and nine corvettes) from Sanama. Future expansion plans will revolve around similar procurements and the domestic production of auxiliary vessels and patrol craft. The doctrine of the naval forces focuses upon the defence of immediate coastal waters and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Confederacy through regular patrolling, the charting of the coastline and off-shore waters, and the preparation of a layered asymmetrical defence. The Naval Basic Training Centre was established at Kara, subordinate to the Naval Command Unit on 10.II.1688 while a Maritime Surveillance Centre was established at Bandar-e Zinjibar on 13.II.1688 to collate reports of shipping movements on the Gulf of Zinjibar received from the State Gendarmerie.

Type In service Class
Submarine warfare units (0)
Littoral U-boat 0 TBC
Surface warfare units (13)
Frigate 4 Shah-class frigate
(De Drie Hertogdommen-class)
Corvette 7
2
Mirza-class
(Elwynn-class)
Khan-class
(Klimatariá-class)
Patrol Craft Fast 0 TBC
Patrol Boat 0 TBC
Fast Attack Craft 0 TBC

Type In service Class
Amphibious warfare units (0)
Landing Ship Medium 0 TBC
Landing Ship Tank 0 TBC
Landing Ship Logistics 0 TBC
Landing Craft Tank 0 TBC
Landing Craft Air Cushion 0 TBC
Landing Craft Utility 0 TBC
Logistics units (0)
Ammunition carrier 0 TBC
Auxiliary floating drydock 0 TBC
Miscellaneous auxiliary ship 0 TBC
Cargo hauler 0 TBC
Fleet Replenishment Oiler 0 TBC
Water tanker 0 TBC
Training craft 0 TBC

The Suren Hydrographic Service (SHS) was previously established on 19.I.1688 with the dispatch of a First Lieutenant (Setvan Yekom) of the Gendarmerie to the Trucial Islands of Chamrush with orders engage local labour to raise a lighthouse on the southern promontory of the main island within two years. The garrison commander of the island, Bektash Khan, was instructed by a firman of the Surenshah to provide a squadron of levy-infantry to support the SHS through overseeing the labour corvée for the building of the lighthouse and to assist in the collection of financial contributions from the emirs of the islands.

The former emblem of the Popular Levy was retained after the accession of the Confederacy into the Raspur Pact and remained in use as a distinctive aircraft identification symbol for the Aerospace Forces of the Popular Levy.

Aerospace forces

The Aerospace Forces of the Popular Levy (Niru-ye Havâfazây-e Sāzmān-e Basij-e Sureni), established on 08.X.1688, faced the invidious task of developing a tradition of aviation, and the logistical and technological capacity to support it from scratch. The Surenid rebels, then a part of the Azad Eura coalition - which would become the basis of the present confederacy, had passed through the Second Euran War without aircraft. The odd assortment of light aircraft and cargo planes assembled by the Suren under the guise of a civil aviation company (Havâpeymâye Shahrokh) having fallen into the hands of the Raspurids at the onset of the conflict between Azad Eura and Constancia. The doubtful status of relations between the Surenid and Constancia has played its part in delaying or inhibiting the operational aircraft and machine tools into the Confederacy after its formation, although a team of specialist advisors from Brightworks Mistra did make representations to the authorities in Surenshahr during the southern hemisphere winter of 1687.

The limitations of the Surenid industrial base, built around light manufacturing and the repurposing of recovered artefacts dating back to the Babkhan era, hindered the development of an indigenous aviation industry. In spite of this the Suren Central Manufacturing Organisation was able to perfect the design of the Type 1 Aero Engine, a reciprocating internal combustion engine with pistons in a radial configuration. This engine, produced on assembly lines in Surenshahr, was installed on two light aircraft types - the F-1 Homā, a metal tube frame and canvas biplane, and the F-2 Simurgh, a high-winged stressed metal monoplane with fixed landing gear - both produced by Suren Aviation Industries that formed the mainstay of the Aerospace Forces as it developed its initial cadre of pilots.

Of an entirely different order of magnitude to the light aircraft produced indigenously, both in terms of size and technological sophistication, was the vast Veliki 1 Transporter obtained from the defecting garrison of Port Ulje in 1690 AN. Presently parked on the runway at Kara Airfield, the only one in Surenid territory of sufficient length for the Veliki to have landed upon, the transporter and its internal workings is an object of study and curiosity for the country's aspiring aviation engineers.

Name Origin Type Quantity Image Notes
Light aircraft
F-1 Homā Suren Suren Light attack, trainer and communications aircraft 144
F-1 Homā.png
Production commenced 1688 AN
F-2 Simurgh Suren Suren Light attack, trainer and communications aircraft 23
F-2 Simurgh.png
Production commenced 1690 AN
T-3 Akóntio Constancia Ergostásio Aeroskafón Jet trainer / light attack aircraft 4
Vey Akintos.png
Received under Fontainebleau Accords 1692 AN
T-4/A-4 Flecha Alduria-Wechua ESB Susa Turboprop trainer / light attack aircraft 486
T-4 Flecha.png
  • 16x Received under Fontainebleau Accords 1692 AN;
  • 470x transferred by Nouvelle Alexandrie, 1694 AN;
  • 150x assigned to operational squadrons, 75x assigned to training formations, 261x placed into storage for replacements and spares.
Transport aircraft
C-11 Mula Alduria-Wechua ESB Susa Transport airplane 24
C-11 Mula.png
Received under Fontainebleau Accords 1692 AN
Veliki 1 Transporter Krasnocoria Krasnocoria Transport airplane 1
Veliki.jpg
Recovered from Port Ulje 1690 AN
Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
VT-UAV 1 Tadpole Constancia Ergostásio Aeroskafón Reconnaissance UAV 200
Tadpole.png
Received under Fontainebleau Accords 1692 AN

Demographics

History

In 1689, alarmed by the 11 Khordad 1688 in Zeed, a sprawling chaotic domain in southern Eura, and the arrival of revolutionary forces in the Ḡur Khanate on its southern border, the Suren Confederacy mobilised four brigades of the Popular Levy and dispatched them towards the south. At the same time, noting the involvement of cadres of the N&H with the revolutionary violence directed at a brother monarch, the erstwhile and quite possibly late Tzjar of Zeed, and concerned at the implications of the strong associations between senior figures of the N&H and the Honourable Company, the Suren ordered the expulsion of all ESB employees from the Confederacy whilst introducing stringent new border checks along the Pan-Euran Highway.

The foundation of the Confederacy and its subsequent administration had rested upon the cooperation of the Surenšāh and the Grand Vizier as mirrored in that of the partnership between husband and wife, in the union of Dāryuš and the Bānū Aspadanadoḵt. The alliance of the Suren and the Aspadana was the bedrock of the confederacy and thus it is only natural that the state was personified by the monopolisation of executive power on the part of the sovereign and she who shared the marital bed, as a symbol of the unity of purpose combining the two great factions of the confederacy.

By the dying days of 1690 AN this arrangement was no longer satisfactory for the Surenshah, who was increasingly impatient with the slow rate of reform and reconstruction in the confederacy, being acutely aware of the precarious position of the Suren who were caught between the antagonistic power blocs of the Raspur Pact and USSO and ill-prepared to face the rising nations of Nova Caradia and Zeed.

Faced with the invidious task of dismissing his wife from public office the Surenshah, perhaps understandably, followed the path of least resistance and instead "promoted" her, as a face-saving compromise, to the new office of Darik-Pat, steward of the royal household and custodian of its estates and treasuries, whilst ordering the creation of new regalia for the Shahbanu and the Imperial Mother-in-law. Meanwhile the office of the grand vizierate was itself abolished and replaced by the Astabadh, an official responsible for diplomacy, tax collection, negotiation with the provinces, economic development and the overseeing of construction works.

The Third Euran War, commenced in 1693 AN, had proceeded dismally for the Suren. The Gendarmes and Popular Levy struggled to contain the influx of Zeedic infantry, disguised as Tudeh guerrilla fighters, while Constancia, shocked at the loss of six corvettes in quick succession, had limited its engagement in the conflict to the provision of air support and tactical advisors. While Nouvelle Alexandrie remained ostensibly neutral, the transfer of armaments to the Surenid under the Fontainebleau Accords, especially of large numbers of light attack aircraft, had helped blunt a rapid Zeedic advance on Surenshahr during 1694 AN. The death of the Surenshah on 24.VII of the same year, slain in a contrived dual that was staged on the margins of the Humanist Convention, upended the political situation in the Suren Confederacy. Menaced by the prospect of collapse and a swift Zeedic revolutionary takeover, the disorientated Surenid court had meekly acquiesced when the Trans-Euran Command had installed the late Shah's sister, Mitradokht on the throne, backed by the Constancian Foreign Legion, a team of advisors from the Honourable Company, and such partisans of the N&H as could be assembled into a Vanguard Division.

A combination of allied air power, and the use of raiding parties to hit the over-extended Zeedic supply lines, was able to further stymie the insurgent cause. The termination of the Second Elwynnese Civil War had further underscored the futility of continued fighting on the part of the Anti-Pact forces, however the brutal nature of the Scouring, and the adverse reaction of allies and neutrals alike, had precluded the possibility of similar methods being brought to bear against the enemy here - especially when the Suren were living amongst the tainted legacy of a continent whose ancient civilisation had been brought low by the use of atomic weaponry in the pursuit of internecine strife.

By 1699 AN, now with the full support of Constancia and Nouvelle Alexandria through the Trans-Euran Command and the Euran Economic Union, the course of the war had turned firmly in the favour of the Suren, and a counteroffensive had pushed deep into Zeedic territory. However this progress was still not enough to satisfy the Shahbanu Mitradokht, as the grizzly execution of Paykar Khan - disembowelled on a windlass for querying an order to invade a country of steep mountainous valleys in the height of winter - amply demonstrated.

Culture

The Suren remain socially conservative, as befits their Neo-Babkhan state, adhering to the stipulations of the Harmonious Society Act, as evidenced by the status of LGBT rights in the Suren Confederacy.

List of Participants