Posavaria

The Republic of Posavaria was founded on October 29th, 2020 in the subcontinent of Sparwood Minor, shortly after gaining independence from the Valdreach Imperial Republic. It was one of the first republics in Rathnir. The capital of the Posavari nation is Posopolis. The nation has no centralized theme and acts as a union of distinct cities.

Location
Posavaria is located on the south of Sparwood, south of Palaris and north of Aezenfjord.

Cities
There are currently 8 cities in Posavaria:


 * Posopolis
 * St. Gibersburg
 * Old Knossos (previously Mengjing)
 * New-Interdam
 * New Kalaningrad
 * Askalon

Including 2 cities in autonomous regions:


 * Shirûn (in the autonomous region of the Khanate of Shirûn)
 * Loregal (in the autonomous region of Regonia)

And not including 2 abandoned cities:


 * Noordsholm
 * Snoengrad (in the Socialist Autonomous Region of Posavaria)

Demographics
Posavaria has no official state religion nor any specific ethnic identity. All races and ethnicities are welcome in Posavaria. Citizens of Posavaria are considered "Posavari" both culturally and by nationality.

Melee HD
While Posavaria has no official state religion, the religion of "Melee HD" is followed by many heads of state, including the Grand Pos. A temple of Melee HD was built in Posopolis by the High Priest of Melee HD, SlightlyOffKiltr. It is not sponsored by the government, however.

Cult of the Immortal Dirt
The Cult of the Immortal Dirt was originally founded in Posopolis, where the Immortal Dirt was first discovered in a building being constructed by the lakeside. The Cult considers it to be a holy location, although the site has long since been desecrated.

Shirûnic Paganism
The region of Shirûn follows Shirûnic Paganism, a religion loosely based on sun worship among other things.

Bonobobism and Shadowism
Much of the population of New-Interdam follows the twin religions of Bonobobism or Shadowism.

Soleannen
The region of Regonia and the city of Loregal were settled by refugees from the north that follow the religion of Soleannen, which worships the god Solaris.

Chawolfism
Chawolfism was originally founded in Old Askalon and is a loose combination of Christianity and nature worship. Currently Askalon is the only city with any Chawolfist presence.

Diplomacy
The Republic of Posavaria was a member of the Crescent Concordant and continues to participate in several trade agreements.

Officially, Posavaria has a strict policy of isolationist and non-alignment, choosing to stay out of all conflicts unless a direct threat is posed to the Republic. However, Posavari citizens are often allowed to participate in outside conflicts as volunteers or mercenaries if they wish.

Government
The official government form of Posavaria is a unique variant of republicanism termed a "Pos Republic". The government is split into two branches, the Senate and the Pos Council ('Pos' is a Posavari term translating roughly to 'consul' or 'minister').

Grand Pos
The ultimate authority in Posavaria is the Grand Pos, a constitutional monarch with ultimate power but limited interaction in the government - in essence, a figurehead. The Grand Pos presides over the Pos Council but rarely participates in decisions.

Pos Council
The Pos Council consists of four Posses who each specialize in different areas of administration - the Pos of Military, the Pos of Architecture, the Pos of Diplomacy, and the Pos of Administration. These four Lower Posses can be thought of as ministers, and serve under the Grand Pos. Together, they constitute a Council that can pass bills and veto bills passed by the Senate (although this veto power has never been exercised). The Posses are not an elected role and serve for life. The Pos Council is not meant to be the major decision maker in Posavaria, however - that is left to the Senate. The Pos Council simply acts as a check against the Senate and keeps the nation from diverging too far from the original path the founders intended - a way for the founders to allow democracy in Posavaria without totally giving up control of the nation they created.

Senate
The Senate is the major legislature and judicial branch of government in Posavaria and is where most decision-making happens. The Senate consists of one elected Senator from each city in Posavaria, each with voting power equal to their city's population. This allows all cities to be represented, but prevents citizens from flooding the Senate with new votes by creating countless small cities. Essentially, the total number of votes in the Senate is equal to the population of the nation as a whole. In tied votes, the Grand Pos acts as the tiebreaker, which may also be delegated to the other Posses.

By national law, Senatorial elections must be held in each city on the 1st of each month. Each city will democratically elect a representative and send them to the Senate. There is no limit on how many times a Senator can be re-elected. After Senatorial elections are held, the Senate will hold a vote to choose a High Senator from amongst themselves. The High Senator runs the Senate and is in charge of guiding discussion and submitting bills for an official vote, as well as acting as a representative of the Senate to the Pos Council and the public.

The Senate's duties are to


 * pass legislation,
 * approve treaties and make declarations of war, and
 * act as a court and make judicial decisions.

However, the Pos Council can choose to review and strike down any action taken by the Senate.

Centralism
Posavaria does not use federalism in the management of its lands. All cities are under the centralized authority of the national government and are not organized into territories or provinces. Each city is allowed to have whatever theme and government form it would like as long as it holds democratic elections for the national Senate.

However, Posavari law does allow for the creation of Autonomous Regions, which are allowed to have their own regional government to create a unified theme for several cities if the citizens so wish.

Current Officials
*past term due to postponed elections

The first Senatorial elections were held on November 1st, 2020.

History
Posavaria was originally a territory of the VIR called "Posopotamia", chartered by Empress Viomelia on the 17th of October, 2020. Following a period of rapid growth, economic and cultural separation from the rest of the Empire, and culminating in nation-wide instability following the coup against Empress Viomelia in Aezenfjord, Posopotamia voted to become independent on the 27th of October. The transition to independence was peaceful. Following the secession, Posopotamia reformed its government and rebranded itself as the Republic of Posavaria.

On the 5th of November, the city of Noordsholm was founded on the northern border.

On the 12th of November, the Khanate of Shirûn also seceded from the VIR and immediately became a tributary state of Posavaria. 17 days later on the 29th of November, Shirûn joined the Republic as an autonomous region.

Also on the 29th of November, Posavaria accepted the membership request of the city of Arbalon to the north.

On the 1st of December, Arbalon seceded from Posavaria after political pressure from the Sparwood City-State Council.

Shortly after, the leadership of the Pos Council was restructured in response to several internal and external crises.

On the 2nd of January, 2021, the Socialist Autonomous Region of Posavaria (SARP) was created as the Republic of Posavaria's second autonomous region, and the city of Snoengrad founded.

On the 15th of January, the neighboring country of New-Interland joined the Republic of Posavaria and the capital city, New-Interdam, was integrated into the Republic.

On the 19th of January, Posavaria participated in the Battle of Aezenfjord on the side of the defenders, contributing the greatest number of soldiers. The defenders suffered a controversial defeat to the Sørveien Empire and the Republic of Bardonia.

Senatorial elections held on the 2nd of February, 2021, result in the controversial St. Gibersburg Beer Election.

On the 12th of February, the Kingdom of Regonia and its capital of Loregal joined the Republic as an autonomous region.

On the 14th of February, the city of New Kalaningrad was founded in the north.

On the 19th of February, the city of Askalon was founded in the north.

On the 24th of February, the Socialist Autonomous Region of Posavaria was disbanded, and the old settlement of Mengjing was restored as Old Knossos by some of the original settlers.