Northern Protectorate

The Northern Protectorate is a newer nation of Osterre. It was founded by mercenaries from the Heldannic Freeholds, the Killian Empire, Greatsea Islanders, and Osterrean locals, following the Scourge Wars. Despite the country's youth, it is typically considered one of the Great Powers.

Climate
The Northern Protectorate isn't really that far north, from a Formourian perspective. It's really more to the south. It was definitely south to the Heldans and Killian who emigrated there.

It's climate and geography is similar to India or Indochina. It is tropical and often storm-soaked. Mainland areas near the Orckish Highlands and the interior heading towards Plains Ogre tribal lands are notably drier.

Government
The government is a junta, a military dictatorship. Control is vested entirely in the military. Admiral-General Blackguard is the head, backed by the Chiefs of Staff and a Tribal Council. Collectively these are called the General Assembly (a degraded form of general's assembly) Of late, most of the affairs of state have been handled by the General Assembly, due to the commander-in-chief's advanced age.

The Chiefs of Staff are pulled from the most highest ranks: praetors, generals, admirals, and marshals. Currently, these senior positions are promoted by the Admiral-General himself, but plans are being discussed to change this. One potential plan would be to allow senior-ranking soldiers and seamen to select one of their own as a representative, by vote. Another plan would be to allow extant chiefs to select their own replacement. A third option would be to open up the seats to any servicemen, and voted by all. As citizenship in the Northern Protectorate is defined by military service, this is effectively representative democracy. It is also the least likely plan to see use. The fourth, final, and most likely plan, would be to replace Blackguard at his death or retirement with one of their own, and continue the selective promotion system.

The second portion of the General Assembly is the Tribal Council. This was formed initially by, and for, the local populations to give them a voice. The Tribal Council has no actual authority. Its members sit and participate during Assemblies, but do not have any actual authority. Their only recourse is to speak with the controlling members of the General Assembly (the Chiefs of Staff) and convince them of their position. This may take place one-on-one behind closed doors, but the culture of the Northern Protectorate is such that this is discouraged. Most discussions take place during open (and sometimes rather raucous) meetings with all present. Both the Chiefs of Staff and the Tribal Council do have their separate meetings do discuss agendas beforehand, however. In the case of the Chiefs, this is a much more staid affair; for the Council, it is substantially louder.

Newer 'tribes' have been formed over the years representing the civilian counterparts of the crusading populations, or even some business concerns. For example, immigrants from the Killian Empire arrived after the Scourge Wars, following their wives, mothers, and daughters who had found a new home there. As these newly arrived Killian were not in the military, they were not properly citizens, and thus had no real voice. Having someone represent the 'Killian Tribe' corrected this. In another example, the Kingdom of Formour sends an ambassador, largely to coordinate their shared military presence in northeastern Osterre. Furthermore, some of the more powerful warrior societies (such as the thunderhorsemen) are considered a tribe, for these purposes. Mercenaries, likewise, have representation, but it's uncommon for them to be able to collectively choose someone to send. In our final illustrative case, farmers of all varieties have their own 'tribal' representation. In each of these cases, two representatives are chosen. Each 'tribe' gets to determine the representative in their own way. The Empress chooses the Killian delegates (though at least one is commonly picked from Killian native to the Northern Protectorate). The Formourian representative is synonymous with their ambassador (and one assistant envoy). Whereas the farmers usually just draw lots from anyone who cares to put their name into the hat, quite literally. The addition of non-racial 'tribes' was due to the strong influence of the Claxxon Syndic Network, itself one of the more politically powerful divisions.

Interestingly, there is no Bizzannite tribe, in any sense of the word. Admiral-General Blackguard refuses to acknowledge them as an official tribe of the Northern Protectorate and thus worthy of admission to the Tribal Council. Jadar, Metas, and Poethings (all primarily Bizzannite ethnicities) have tribal representation (and are some of the fastest growing segments of the population) but the Byzant Empire never shall. The two nations trade (and having an economy with an international without Byzant is difficult to do) but have no formal political ties. The vast distance, fortunately, keeps tensions from growing between these two countries.

No current laws (or orders) govern when the Assembly meets. Currently, the Chiefs of Staff gather monthly, and both the Tribal Council and General Assembly as a whole gather semi-annually.

National Emblem
The crest of the nation is more of a logo than heraldry. It is a four-pointed star or X, over or within an arrowhead pointing up. Colours vary, but the ensign of the navy is white markings on a black background. Originally, this was simple black markings on white, but this changed when supply ships began inverting the colours on their jack flags. The reasoning was twofold: it was easier to maintain to a professional standard of clean appearance, and it just looked cooler.

The Northern Protectorate's national symbol derives from its founder in two ways. Admiral-General Blackguard's personal symbol was a four-pointed star that was canted, like an X. Blackguard often used sandtables to illustrate his battleplans, as is common. His involved wide arrows showing the direction of movement and attack. When these were emulated by his sub-commanders, some took to painting the arrow on their boats or helmets, pointing forward or up, as a motivation tool. The arrowhead alone could easily have then become the de facto symbol for the new nation, were it not for the idle doodlings of a supply clerk while waiting for an incoming supply shipment to get favourable wind into the harbour. The transportation NCO recognised the intersected symbols while she was filling out the necessary paperwork and immediately informed her captain. The ship's captain assumed that it was an official change and—wanting to appear on-the-ball—ordered the symbol painted on all cargo containers, official documents, and on the ship itself. From there it spread laterally, and the symbol was displayed armada-wide within two weeks.

Military
Currently, the Northern Protectorate still retains much of its character as a mercenary army. Many large bands of soldiers-of-fortune retain a strong identity within the country even today. This has resulted in a proliferation of ranks and command structures. It can be difficult for a native to track, and nigh impossible for an outsider. The nation is slowly integrating its army and armada into a unified command structure, with coherent ranks, but this is difficult. The overall plan is to slowly phase out old units and ranks as those in those positions retire or die.

All citizens of the Northern Protectorate are veterans. Military service is non-compulsory, but civilians within its borders—even if native—are nationals, not citizens. They have reduced rights and privileges. This is true even for those who were born there of citizen parents. It is worth noting that active duty members of the military are not properly citizens, either. This status is only granted after one's time in service has ended. Most services, and all forms of government, are handled by the military. None of this is to say that the Northern Protectorate is a militarised society. On the contrary, the vast majority of those living there are former mercenaries from the Scourge Wars, and their descendants, who work the land that they won.

The Protectorate ensures that its communities are well-guarded. The militia trains for two days out of every month, and each town sends half of its militia for two weeks of integration and cross-training with either another community or the regular soldiery.

Warrior Societies
There are a number of warrior societies in the Northern Protectorate that have their own specialised training and place in military units. These originated here, but some have spread to new lands.
 * Axe wielder
 * Hellhound
 * Holy destroyer
 * Juju shooter
 * Longrunner
 * Panzer
 * Stigmartyr
 * Strong fighter
 * Thunder-striker
 * Thunderhorseman

Culture
[This section is a bit disjointed, and needs to be cleaned up/rewritten.]

The newness of the nation has limited the traditions that it has developed. It's primary tradition, military service, is doing far more to homogenise the nation culturally than any ancient traditions, however.

The Northern Protectorate uses professional firefighters. This is a Firpish invention that has been exported from that southern swamp.

There are no marriages in the Northern Protectorate. Some retain traditions of their ancestry, but the nation is too young to have any such traditions of its own. The closest thing to a wedding for many is when soldiers in a romantic relationship request to be in the same unit or to have permission to cohabitate. These relationships are permitted as long as they do not interfere with duties. Romance (or at least 'hooking up') is not expressly forbidden between different ranks as long as one is not the direct supervisor of the other, but is not socially acceptable if there is a multi-rank gap between the couple.

As the bulk of the crusading army and armada spoke Anglan exclusively, this is the primary language of the Northern Protectorate. Anglan has become the de facto trade language among the disparate ethnic groups. It is also the language of military orders from High Command, largely because Admiral-General Blackguard is a native speaker. Killian is also a common second language, and nearly everyone who grows up there learns it. This reflects the strong influence the Empire has on the Protectorate, and what an important trade partner each is to the other. The Empress still privately thinks of the Northern Protectorate as something of a rogue colony of her empire.

Dates are counted using Blood Reckoning. That is, years are counted in aeons since the Red Dawn.

All of the peoples of Osterre can be found in the Northern Protectorate: Firps (both kinds), Goths (both kinds), Ogres (both kinds), and Orcks (all three kinds). In addition, there are many Dwarves and Humans with Formourian or Heldannic ancestry, Killian, Gaijin, Ghouls (though not many), a small handful (but noteworthy) band of Hobgoblins, and of course, Trolls of all sorts. The Protectorate is believed to house many Changing Folk as well.

''[This is an older demographic chart I drew up long ago. It's validity is now in question, but it can prove illustritive. Northern Protectorate: 20% Western Human (60% Heldanic, 20% Formourian, 20% other), 15% Killian, 15% Troll, 15% Gaijin (split evenly between Killian and Heldanic), 8% Plains Ogre, 5% Highland Orck, 4% Firp, 4% Barbaric Goth (Kyanite Clan of the Septagoth tribe, predominantly), 3% Changing Folk (publicly admitted), 2% Forest Ogres, 2% Lowlander Orck, 2% Changeling, 5% other; the Northern Protectorate is a militocracy with 20% of the adult population on active duty, 40% in the militia, and 20% retired veterans]''

International Relations
The Northern Protectorate isn't the biggest fan of the Byzant Empire. One could claim many reasons for this, but the original root cause was Byzant's refusal to aid the Protectorate in its fight against the Scourge, or even acknowledge such with so much as a form letter, even though Bizzannite shipping stood to lose the most if the Scourge was left unchecked. The main reasons relations aren't completely cold between the two nations is that each is too profitable to the other. As time progresses, the Northern Protectorate develops its own infrastructure and increases trade with other nations, diminishing their reliance on Bizzannite traders.

Formour is the Northern Protectorate's buddy. Formour sent a massive amount of men and ships, and all but declaring open war on the Orcks. Formour conquered the southern half of the Orck lands, and the arrival of Formour was the deciding point in the conflict—Orckish troops began surrendering in numbers at that point. Though the Formourians were instrumental in defeating the Scourge, their presence prevented—and still prevents—the Northern Protectorate from exploiting the much greater resources of the Orckish Lowlands. Thus, the Northern Protectorate has to play nice until the much stronger army moves out, if they ever do. In spite of this, Formour arguably has ties to the Protectorate stronger than the Heldanic Confederation, and possibly even stronger than the Killian Empire.

Though many of the warriors of the Northern Protectorate are originally Heldanic, there aren't strong ties between the two nations. As the Protectorate was essentially a mercenary army, the Heldans see the citizens of the Protectorate as misfits, malcontents, and criminals. The mix of cultures found in the Protectorate, and the military structure of the nation, strain relations more than one might at first assume.

The strangest relationship is with the Killian Empire. The Killian Empress was an early and strong supporter of the war against the Scourge. Money, ships, supplies, and soldiers—many of whom stayed in Osterre—were sent to support the cause. Without such generosity, the war may have ended very differently. The strong Killian presence and support has left the Northern Protectorate feeling rather bitter rather than strengthening ties. Recent political overtures from the Empire imply that the Northern Protectorate is a Killian province filled with foreigners, though nothing explicit was actually stated. This upsets the Killian who live in the Protectorate perhaps even more than their non-Killian fellows. This implies that they are somehow less worthy than Imperial Killian, and the hard-won new lives in the Protectorate have merit only as second-class citizens of the Empire.

All of this from one pissed-off Orck who wanted to make his grandpa proud.