The Republic of Tasnica
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The Republic of Tasnica, often just "The Republic", is a curiosity in itself; the world's only completely artificial country.
Around the time of the first discovery of Mana, some people were tired of the choices offered them by the governments around the world. In the end, they decided to build their own from scratch. In the largest construction project seen for quite some time, a huge underwater excavating program dug up silt from the sea bed and constructed an entire archipelago floating out in the mid-Pacific.
It had its problems of course; at first, very few governments recognised its existence, and it had no natural resources. But the determined colonists gritted their teeth and stuck to it. They built a desalinating plant to provide themselves with fresh water. They fished off the "coast" and consistently pulled in huge catches of fish. They discovered that silt was an incredibly fertile material to farm on. Soon, they were producing food on almost every square inch of their artificial country; far too much for their relatively small population to consume.
Food export soon became Tasnica's main source of income, and enabled them to diversify into other areas. They built themselves a capital, a huge, gothic castle capable of housing the population of a city. With no industrial resources to count on they expanded into purely theoretical areas, including scientific research. To protect themselves, they began training an elite military with immense skill in weapons.
Over the years, Tasnica grew and grew. Although they have the ability to add new islands onto their country, they can easily cope with their current populace. They have become a major world power, with their important food production facilities, their immense navy (a totally sea-bound country is bound to be good at making boats), their highly-skilled swordmasters, and their small group of powerful Mana Mages. They also have relatively minor nuclear capability (although "relatively minor" is still enough to level the planet), but in this day and age that counts for less and less.
Tasnica is a proud and peaceful nation, despite its capability for war, and forms a united front with the USO against the tyranny of the Empire.
Cities and Towns
Tasnica Castle (cap.)
Government: Republic
Ruler: King Alex Drycos IV
Population: 500,000
Military: Elite cadre of warriors, also responsible for
law enforcement
Major Imports: Raw construction materials
Major Exports: Food, clothing, science
Crime Rate: Almost non-existent.
The only major population centre in the Republic, this vast castle is so big and has so many floors that it's the equivalent of several towns stacked one on top of the other. It was constructed many years ago to give Tasnica a proper defense against attack. The castle is big enough to contain its own population quite comfortably, but has enough emergency accomodation to house the whole of Tasnica in case of emergency.
The Republic's ruling council, the Senate, sit in the castle. Each island has its own representative, and there are other ministers to deal with issues such as trade overall. Although the country's ruler does bear the title "King", this is merely another mark of Tasnica's obsession with medieval history. The King is merely the elected head of the Senate, and is subject to all the usual controls such a leader has.
The castle is also home to Tasnica's clan of highly-trained warriors. They produce some of the world's finest Swordmasters, the most well-known being the order's commanding officer Sir Jema. Jema is good friends with Luka Desaynovic, the Water Sage, having studied under her many years ago, and she is responsible for training Tasnica's Magi.
The bustling hive that is the castle serves many functions. Sections are devoted to living quarters, shops, laboratories, small factories and much more. As the castle stands on a cliff and extends below the surface as well as above, its lower levels lead down to a harbour built in a huge cavern at its base.
All in all, the castle is an eclectic mix between modern and ancient, and is quite likely to survive anything the world throws at it; war, the weather, even the complete and total rearrangement of the planet by huge ecological disaster. 8-]