Selidoarians

'''To all those who may have stumbled across this page, Selidoarians we're an ancient ethnic group established by a group of friends back in 2020. They eventually had to leave their camp after it was burned to the ground, never to return. They found refuge in the Sea of Volkore, but we're eventually driven out by none other than themselves. Many continued to survive in Eldham, where they established themselves as "Azcorians". While the culture has slowly died out over the past 3 years, this article was created to preserve their origins and keep these happy memories alive.'''

Thank you for reading this,

- Halprin Deitsch

Cultural Origins
Selidoarian culture was founded in a small field encampment in unclaimed territory by a group of nomadic tribesmen months after the dawn of Rathnir. Selidoarians as they called themselves, had their own folk religion and tent paintings, focusing on the cube-sunsoul. Researchers today refer to this religion as "Proto-Cubism", as the religion was the precursor to Cubism. However, Selidoarians generally call this religion the "Sunsoul Cult". These nomads, numbered around 5-10 in total, worked together to farm the nearby river and build a small log wall around their encampment in the region of Cymru.

The specifics of Selidoarian culture come from Pennsylvania Dutch/Palatine German influences.

Soon, contact with a regional modernized coastal community was made, this community was apart of a larger empire in the region, but the name of the empire has been lost to history. Small-scale trading between the communities we're made, and the small encampment slowly modernized. Soon, the Selidoarians grew to around 20 tribesmen, now referring to each other as "Gut-Gsheylshaffte" or "Good Company" in Selidoarian. A makeshift tavern was completed, and Selidoarians brewed beer together, and lived in peace and harmony under the family of 4 that ruled the small town, the Deitsches. The first Deitsch was Maximillian Deitsch, who had his newborn son, Aleksander Deitsch. Maximillian led the town together in fighting off small-scale bandit camps and keeping the region safe for traders.

However, due to the issue of the town not knowing how to claim, considering the majority of the 25 new players on SW, tragedy struck. The town was completely devastated to a coalition of nearby bandits burning the houses to the ground while citizens we're inside them, and town police attempting to fight them off. The "Poltizei" failed in their defense, and the town was reduced to ashes. The population was reduced to somewhere between 10-15, with almost half of the population dying or the rest fleeing never to be heard from again. The remaining citizens, led by Maximillian, fled to the nearby city in the empire, where they essentially took over a neighborhood. The population would live there for another month, before abandoning the neighborhood due to the unknown empire collapsing due to internal conflict.

The Great Journey
The now 20 strong Seldioarian population would flee the conflict area in an army of small boats, attempting to find a place for them to settle, this effort was led by Maximillian. Along the journey, the population was susceptible to disease, starvation, or death by violence. Eventually, Maximillian entered the sea of Volkore, and found an unpopulated coastal area where they could call home. The now 10 Selidoarians, with 50% dying on the journey, had arrived and began setting up shop in this thought to be unpopulated area.

The Free City of Selidoar
They would prepare a small encampment, and would begin to start construction of a new city they called "The Free City of Selidoar". Soon, they got into contact with the Ryzani government, and began to make an agreement with the Aurlunoren-Ryzani governments to establish Selidoar as a Free City and trade hub between the two nations, giving Selidoar an advantageous position economically. Contact would be made with international Selidoarian remnants, and a population boom was experienced, resulting in the nation going up to a population of 60, the largest ever. Eventually, Maximillian Deitsch passed away, and gave the reigns of the state to his son Aleksander Deitsch. Under his rule, government reform began, in which the now walled city with massive structures including a church and monument to the Sunsoul-Cube was created. The government established the Legislative Council, or "LegCo". Eventually, 70% of the area claimed by the Free City was developed, and the population peaked around 70 citizens.

Businessmen from Ryzan, Aurlunor-Vendale, and other international nations flooded into the city, and established shops that would prepare the entry of new economic growth and development for the nation. The City Council was created in which there would be 8 seats initially, 1 to be appointed by the Director Aleksander Deitsch, 2 placed by the "Selidoarian Union of Trade and Business Councils" which represented corporations, and 5 would be elected by the public.

First Selidoarian LegCo Election
8 Seats (1 appointed by Director, 2 appointed by SUTBC, 5 elected by public).

Two major parties contested, and some local neighborhood independents contested. The two major parties were the Selidoarian Workers Party, which represented corporate workers and the lower-classes of the Free City. There was also the Selidoarian National Party. The SNP was specifically litigious as it was the largest party, and represented the right-wing of politics in Selidoar. The SNP had two major factions, the moderates and the radicals. The moderates we're more supportive of democracy and cooperative with the LegCo, while the radicals we're influenced by The Hands, and supported something known as the "Mega'ili'llia Idea" named after an ancient Selidoarian thinker. This idea proclaimed that revenge must be enacted upon the globe, and that Selidoar should focus on rapid expansion and annexation of neighboring countries with Hand support. There was also a multitude of smaller local politicians, representing the interests of their neighborhoods and communities. These independents we're usually Classical Liberals and Social Liberals. Turnout was ~40 voters.

Results:


 * Selidoarian National Party - 38% (Radical faction obtained 21%, moderate faction obtained 17%) - 3 (2 for radicals, 1 for moderates) Seats
 * Local Independents Organization - 23% - 0 Seats (local independents organizations each got somewhere between 3-8% of the vote, combined got 23%, but they all ran separately)
 * Selidoarian Union of Trade and Business Councils - 21% - 1 Seat (+2 seats from constitutionality) - 3 Seats
 * Selidoarian Workers Party - 18% - 1 Seat
 * Directors Appointee - 1 Seat

Aftermath of the First LegCo election, "Bloody Monday"
Following the first election, a government was formed by the director Aleksander. For Aleksander's own choice of an appointee, he selected a member of the moderate SNP, to keep the radicals at bay. Now the Legislative Council was made up of:


 * 2 Radical SNP
 * 2 Moderate SNP
 * 3 SUTBC
 * 1 SWP

During the existence of the Legislative Council, these 8 members would argue on bill passages, and the majority of the conversation was dominated by the Moderate SNP and the SUTBC. However, when there would be issues of vote obtaining between members, the Moderate SNP or SUTBC would cooperate with the SWP. This shutout from policymaking angered the Radical SNP, which continued communicating with Bardonian officials and cooperating with members of the Hands to eventually strangle control of the city for themselves.

In the meanwhile, the city was almost entirely complete, and was growing to be extremely active. The moderate government passed multiple laws lightly protecting workers rights, and new companies began to start work on plots to establish modern Headquarters' in the city. Roads we're paved, apartment complexes we're prepared to replace homes, and streets were named. The last bastion of Selidoarians could finally live in peace and prosperity.

All of this changed when the Radical SNP began holding protests against the LegCo and claiming they wanted the Free City to cooperate more with New Doasterrock rather than Carthya City. This pro-Bardonian sentiment echoed the commands of the Hands, and the pro-Bardonian protesters were met with pro-Ryzan/Aurlunor counter-protesters. The majority of these counter protesters came from the Local Independents Organizations, and the Selidoarian Workers Party. The Moderate SNP and SUTBC claimed they would not take part in these demonstrations, however they essentially backed the pro-Ryzan/Aurlunor protesters.

Eventually, the protests got bloody as the civilians began fighting each other during a session of the LegCo. The police and legislators were sent down to quell the unrest, and fighting broke out into the streets until 2 were left dead. "Bloody Monday" as it would be called was an image of what was to come in the field of politics for the Free City of Selidoar. With the population up to ~88, and the city about to be presented on the world map as independent, a second election was called by Deitsch to quell the unrest and stop the fighting by legitimizing a new government.

Political Factionalization
Before the second election, all the parties of the Local Independents Organizations combined together and formed the Civic-Democratic Alliance, a single party of Classical and Social Liberals and Constitutional reformists, known to voters as the "CDA". The Selidoarian Workers Party also reformed into the "League of Social Democrats" or LSD, and some others formed the Selidoarian Communist Union Party. The Selidoarian National Party during the pre-election suffered from a split, with the majority of radical SNP members joining the new "National Front of Selidoar". Moderate SNP members just remained within the SNP, moderating its party constitution.

Soon, parties began cooperating with one another over shared policy interests, and 3 major "tents" were born.

Pro-Democracy Camp (Pro-Ryzan/Aurlunor, Pro-Constitutional Reform) - LSD/CDA (not officially a member but apart of the group SCUP)

Third Way (Neutral Foreign Policy, Pro-Constitution as it stands) - SUTBC/SNP (backed by the Director)

Pro-Doasterrock Camp (Pro-Bardodonia, Pro-Hand) - NFS (backed by the Hands)

Minor protests in support of any of the camps ensued, however none of them got especially violent. During this time, Eldham had opened up, and a small Selidoarian expedition was sent out to begin gold mining there. This expedition would prove successful for more than 1 reason.

Second Selidoarian LegCo Election
9 Seats (1 appointed by director, 2 appointed by SUTBC, 6 elected by public)

With all 3 camps contesting and campaigning brutally against one another, the result was shocking. Turnout was ~70 voters, which is around a 30 voter increase from the previous election, primarily due to the political situation and the increase of active population.

By faction:
 * National Front of Selidoar (far-right) - 31% - 2 Seats
 * Civic-Democratic Alliance (centre to centre-left) - 29% - 2 Seats
 * Selidoarian National Party (centre-right to right-wing) - 18% - (1 seat + 1 from Directors appointee) - 2 Seats
 * League of Social Democrats (centre-left to left-wing) - 16% - 1 Seat
 * Selidoarian Union of Trade and Business Councils - 4% - (0 seats + 2 Seats from Constitutionality) - 2 Seats
 * Selidoarian Communist Union Party - 2% - 0 Seats
 * Directors Appointee - Member of the Selidoarian National Party


 * Pro-Democracy Camp - 47% - 3 Seats
 * Third Way - 22% - 4 Seats (1 by election + 2 from constitutional business representation + 1 from Directors Appointee)
 * Pro-Doasterrock Camp - 31% - 2 Seats

By neighborhood and region, the C-DA did best with intellectuals and citizens in the central urban region of the city, while having support scattered around as well. The National Front did the best on the areas bordering Ryzan, where they obtained support through anti-Ryzani sentiment at the border. The SNP did slightly well across the entirety of the city, with bumps on the border and the central city area. The SUTBC did the best in business centers and shopping districts. The LSD did best in the lower-income apartment regions of Uptown. The SCUP got some votes from the apartment Uptown, but only from siphoning support from more leftist LSD members. While everyone was divided on policy, the one thing all parties agreed to was the creation of a metro system in the city.

With the 9 seats filled, the first LegCo meeting was convened. During this meeting, an argument broke out between members of the CDA and NFS, resulting in a physical brawl ensuing while the public watched. Soon, the police we're called in to quell the violence, and the NFS Councilmen left the room in a huff. While the meeting went on with NFS members not present, voting became difficult. Soon, members of the Police (which were basically the military) flanked by members of the Hands barged into the parliamentary chamber and began attacking politicians in a coup attempt. While the fighting went on in the LegCo floor, loyal members of the police quickly arrived and joined in the fight. The NFS politicians were killed and their Hand allies were injured, resulting in them fleeing the city while being harassed by citizens along the way.

Collapse - Flight of the SNP - Azcoria
With political division at an all time high, fighting broke out in the streets, and society slowly began to crumble as an attempted SNP radical coup failed and sections of the city began fighting each other for the next few days. Bombings occurred, the LegCo was shutdown by the Directors decree, and a "Dictatorship of the Police" became the order of the day. Sections of the city were in complete open revolt with barricades erected and citizens walling each other off from their neighborhoods. So eventually even the police couldn't handle the situation anymore, and mass resignation from the duty ensued in favor of looting and rioting.

With this violence seeing no end after an IRL week, Deitsch organized some loyal citizens (majority of them SNP) and told them to meet up with the gold miners in Eldham in the "Azcoria Colony". As the fighting continued and death was at an all time high, the streets became desolate, spare for a battle in an alleyway ever so often. The boats containing the last loyal citizens of the Free City left the shores of Selidoar, never to return. These 10-20 Selidoarians fled to Eldham, where they established the town of Prosperita, in the colony of Azcoria. The majority of these Selidoarians we're SNP moderates, who established the continuation government of Selidoarian culture.

With the order enacted, Deitsch integrated the Free City into the Ryevenate of Ryzan, which resulted in the renaming of the area to "North Volkoreogrod". Ryzani forces entered the city and found it desolate, besides Deitsch, his family, and some stragglers. North Volkoreogrod has been essentially de-populated ever since.

Modern Legacy of Selidoarians in Stoneworks
Deitsch, unaware of their survival, integrated himself into Ryzani politics, changing his name to Alexandr Deitsch. Deitsch would later flee Ryzan to the Korolian frontier colony of the United Commonwealth where he would later pass away after being informed of Azcoria's existence. Deitsch's Selidoarian family would soon become influential in UC politics, in which his son, Halprin Deitsch, would become Pjervod (President) with the far-right League of Commonwealth Patriots.

Azcoria would slowly begin to grow, and would soon experience troubles internally. Eventually, a war would break out, resulting in the Azcorian-Selidoarians fleeing southward, in Selidoarian fashion. Soon, the Republic of Nova Azcoria was founded, in the tradition of Selidoarian radicalism. A new religious connection also began, with Sunsoul Cube Cultism eventually reforming into "Cubism". Nova Azcoria would soon grow into something extremely powerful and economically prosperous, even getting a video on the official Stoneworks youtube channel.

However, as time passed, Azcorian society slowly began to evolve into something new, based on their surroundings and newer experiences.

Many in Azcoria soon forgot their roots as Selidoarians, however the knowledge was limited to some historians and the direct descendants of those in Prosperita.

Aleksander Deitsch succeeded in keeping his people alive. Selidoar lives on with a new name.