Atruria
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| Atruria
The Divine Imperium of Atruria
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| Motto: "Glory to the God-Emperor" | ||||
| Anthem: "The Imperial March" |
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| Capital | Tanith | |||
| Largest city | Rottbad | |||
| Official languages | Atrurian, Old Tanithic | |||
| Demonym | Atrurian | |||
| Government | Absolute Monarchy, Theocracy | |||
| - | God-Emperor | |||
| Unification | ||||
| - | Unification | 962 | ||
| Currency | Credit (C or CDT) |
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| Time zone | Atrurian Standard Time | |||
| No Daylight Savings | ||||
| Internet TLD | .co.at | |||
| Calling code | +1361 | |||
The Divine Imperium of Atruria is a colossal, economically powerful nation, notable for its keen interest in outer space. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 6.492 billion have some civil rights, but not too many, enjoy the freedom to spend their money however they like, to a point, and take part in free and open elections, although not too often.
It is difficult to tell where the omnipresent government stops and the rest of society begins, but it juggles the competing demands of Defence, Education, and Law & Order. It meets every day to discuss matters of state in the capital city of Imperial City. The average income tax rate is 95%. A powerhouse of a private sector is led by the Arms Manufacturing industry, followed by Gambling and Uranium Mining.
Mr Happy's Funland has just been named Atruria's new capital, the government has declined to declare any particular religion as its 'official' one, private business has started paving paradises and putting up parking lots, and all tariffs have been abolished. Crime is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Atruria's national animal is the Atrurian Red Griffin, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the Credit.
Atruria is ranked 2nd in the region and 3,760th in the world for Largest Defense Forces (per capita). Atruria is ranked 2nd in the region and 3,547th in the world for Smartest Citizens. Atruria is ranked 4th in the region and 7,391st in the world for Lowest Crime Rates. Atruria is ranked 29th in the region and 51,467th in the world for Most Politically Apathetic Citizens.
Government of the Imperium
The Imperial Cult
Military
The Empire
From the outside, the Divine Imperium of Atruria is clearly a vast and powerful nation, united under the all-seeing banner of the God-Emperor. However, the political realities of the Divine Imperium are slightly more complicated upon further examination. The heartland of the Divine Imperium is made up of a number of provinces, feudal states that owe direct fealty to the God-Emperor, and are federally administered by his mandarins in the College of Cardinals, but are semi-autonomously ruled by their own governments and houses of nobility at home. On the outskirts of the Divine Imperium lie a number of nominally independent kingdoms, principalities, and republics, who have traditionally recognized the supremacy of the God-Emperor and looked him as their protector, these are typically known as protectorates or tributaries. Finally, in the past few decades, the College of Cardinals has begun expanding the Divine Imperium beyond its traditionally recognized bounds and begun sponsoring the formation of colonies directly under the authority of the College itself.
Provinces
The heartland of the Atruria is made up of sixteen feudal provinces, ruled with substantial autonomy by their local nobility
Bishopric of Tanith
Located deep within central Atruria, the city of Tanith is, and has been for the past several thousand years, the capital of the Divine Imperium. Constructed around the Celestial Citadel, residence of the God-Emperor, the city is famed for a number of other imperial institutions that is houses. The city serves as the home to his imperial bureaucracy, the College of Cardinals, who administer the day-to-day functions of the Imperial government on a federal scale; the site of the Grand Temple of the Savior Emperor, headquarters of the holy militant Templar Order; as well as the Black Cathedral, home to their rival organization, the secretive Inquisition; finally, the city also contains the hallowed Divine Necropolis, a massive cemetery for, and series of monuments to, past God-Emperors of the Divine Imperium.
Because of its significance to the Imperial Cult, the city is considered a holy site, brimming with shrines and temples to the God-Emperor and various other deities, and frequented by religious pilgrims. Despite its status as one of the nation's largest cities, the Holy City enjoys a reputation as a very pious locale, with trade and commerce being heavily restricted, and the hedonism and extravagance of the typical state courts of provincial rulers is forbidden; this is due, in no small measure, to the heavy presence of the Imperial Clergy. Because of its religious stature and close association with the clergy, Tanith is one of the few areas of the empire run directly by the Imperial Clergy on the provincial level.
Tanith and the countryside around it comprise the Bishopric of Tanith, which is notable for its disproportionately high representation in the Imperial Clergy and its odd linguistic tendencies, with Old Tanithic as the primary mode of communication, as opposed to the Atrurian spoken elsewhere. The current Bishop of Tanith, Ephrael Harazahn, was recently appointed to the post by the College of Cardinals.
Duchy of Feuerland
Though one of the richest provinces of the Imperium, the Duchy of Feuerland is neither particularly large nor especially influential in the politics of the nation. The Duchy is just east of the Grand County of Anvirland, to which it is connected through the mountains by the Red Claw Pass, west of the Grand Duchy of Cherbourg, and due south of the Grand Barony of Zuidenland.
The province's wide open plains and the regular flooding along the banks of the Meerbach River have made Feuerland's soil some of the most fertile in the Imperium and it is an incredibly large crop-growing region. Feuerland is also known for its long-horned cattle, high-quality wine, and close trading partnerships with the nearby provinces of Cherbourg and Montferrat. What the province is most notable for, however, is the quality of the horses they breed. Feuerlander horses have been bred with care and excellence for centuries upon centuries and are the most demanded in the Imperium among nobility and the wealthier classes.
The province's capital city, Mecklenburg, is a beautiful settlement, famous as a scene for the arts. The Imperial Museum, the Ducal Company of Players, the Hertwigstrasse Art Market, and the Ducal Opera House are all nationally known cultural institutions. The famous Mecklenburg Colosseum dominates the city, famed for its resplendent games, most famously Feuerland's national sport: bull-fighting. It is from this beautiful locale that Duke Albrecht von Mecklenberg reigns over his province.
Mecklenburg, however, is far from the only major city in the province. The city of Loningstadt is famous for its skilled woodcarvers; Heiberg, a reasonably sized community, is known for its wines; and the settlement of Hochfeld is known as an important destination for intra-Imperium trade.
Grand County of Anvirland
The smallest of all the Imperial provinces, Anvirland is nestled right along the border between Feuerland and Kustenmark. Along the province's western border with Kustenmark runs the Meerbach River, while its eastern border with Feuerland is marked by the Red Mountains. The Wodenwald Forest expands over the entire province, brimming with wildlife, and dominates everything but the sparse settlements that make up Anvirland's population and the small and occasional plots of farmland along the Meerbach. The capital of Leitendorf would be considered little more than a hamlet in most provinces, save for the fact that it houses the grand estate of Count Stefan Haupt-Mecklenberg.
Because of the terrain of their province, Anvirlanders have developed a clear reputation as expert woodsmen with an avowed love of hunting. It is no surprise, then, that the province's main exports are timber and fur. The province is also renowned for its gunsmiths. In contrast to the mass-produced, utilitarian weapons produced at the Imperial Gunnery School and across Vaudenland, Anvirland's gunsmith craft all manner of famously ornate and expensive firearms and other weapons.
Though it is at the cutting edge of technology in this area, the province is backwards in many respects. Though, like in the rest of the Imperium, the God-Emperor reigns as the people's supreme deity, the folk of the Anvirland backwoods are a very superstitious people, and many still simultaneously worship ancient nature spirits, whilst celebrating the God-Emperor.
Barony of Braunland
THE MOOT
Iron Barony of Eisenmark
DWARF
Winter Barony of Richterland
A snowy and barren land, prone to frequent blizzards and bleak weather, the Winter Barony of Richterland would be a province of no particular consequence if not for the significance of its coast on the Sea of Whispers, which lies to the west of the Barony. While the Sea of Whispers dominates the province's western bounds, it is connected to the provinces of Mauritzland and Badenmark in the east, Nordphalia to the south, and Tyrsland and Eisenmark to the north.
Richterland's economy is heavily dependent on its status as a maritime province. The harbors of the province's two major port cities of Schiffenhausen and Port Aackerhoven play important roles not just as ports of call for many thousands of ships from across the world, but also as the homeport for many Imperial merchant ships conducting international trade. Further, Richterland's economy is heavily dependent on its large fishing sector, with whole villages along the coastline dedicated to fishing, major deep sea fishing operations based in and around the province, and Port Aackerhoven so involved in whaling that it has been nicknamed the Imperium's 'Whaling Capital.' Finally, the province gains a lot of revenue from businesses supported by the large military presence in the province, with colossal naval complexes taking up much of the province's coastline.
The Richterlander nobility, which is centered around the court of of the Winter Count, Ludwig Haupt-Anderssen, in his capital city of Beeckendorf, has earned a reputation for pomp and an undeserved sense of pride and accomplishment. Richterland nobles are notorious, for example, for claiming grand titles and declaring themselves rulers of lands to which they have no logical connections.
County of Mauritzland
Ruled by Count Leopold von Alptraum, a man with a reputation of fierce loyalty to both the God-Emperor and to the needs of his people, the County of Mauritzland has been recognized as one of the Imperium's key provinces for several centuries, despite its unforgiving climate and mediocre soil, with many of the Imperium's major institutions based in the province. Lying east of the Winter Barony of Richterland and west of the County of Badenmark, Mauritzland also borders xxx to the north.
The province is held in high esteem by many for housing the Imperial Autumn Palace, one of the most awe-inspiring and recognized of the God-Emperor's secondary residences. The Autumn Palace is notable for its unique architectural style and is a frequently visited site by religious pilgrims and international tourists.
There are two major population centers in the province. The largest, the capital city of Mauritzheim, is notably cosmopolitan for the province, with large minorities from all thirty-two provinces, many Imperial colonies and protectorates, and a great number of entirely foreign nations. In fact, the ruling family of the province traditionally employs a Palace Guard contingent consisting entirely of foreign mercenaries. The city houses a number of notable institutions, including: the Black Library, a heavily-restricted collection of supposedly all Imperial knowledge, run by the Inquisition; the Grand Temple of Merric, the god of trade; and the meeting place of the States-Prime. The second major city in the province, Heindorf, is known most as a home to the provincial nobility and to the Imperial College of Heraldry.
County of Badenmark
A rural province, Badenmark lies north of Tanith, Nordphalia, and Reusseland. To the west are Mauritzland and Richterland, while Gautenland lies to the east. Just north of the province is the Barony of Tyrsland. The province's capital city, Teufelstadt, lies on the border with Gautenland. The Count, Dieter von Baden, rules the province from his citadel in the dead center of the fortress-city. Built as a protective barrier against a Gauten invasion, the city serves as a stark reminder of an earlier time in Imperial history, where control of the Imperium was not as centralized as it is today and provinces often went to war with one another.
Often referred to as 'The Mark' for short, Badenmark is known for its fertile soil and productive agricultural industry. Because of its clear dedication to farming, Badenmarkers are often assumed, by those not familiar with them, as being technologically-backward simpletons. In reality, many Badenmarkers argue, they are just as stout and capable as the people of any province, if not more so. In fact, men of the Mark make up a substantially larger demographic within the Imperial military than their population warrants. People of the Mark are also reputed for a certain fatalistic streak, that marks itself throughout Badenmarker culture and particularly in their veneration of Morgaine, the goddess of death.
Grand County of Reusseland
Reusseland is a rough an inhospitable province, north of Gothenland and Triesengard, west of Nordphalia, and south of Tanith. On the western frontier of the province lie barren, unsettled, wild frontiers, and a number of tributaries and protectorates of the God-Emperor. Because of the harshness of the land, Reusseland is one of the least populated provinces of the Imperium, but its people have earned a reputation for tenacity and determination.
The Dark Forest covers large swathes of the province. Considered dangerous and rarely travelled by outsiders, the Forest is a haven for bandits and others escaping the long arm of Imperial law. Full of distorted trees and shrubs, the Forest is subject to many superstitions and legends, and, likely, undocumented species of flora and fauna. The Forest's abundance of wild game provides Reusseland with its only major source of income, the fur trade. Other than this, Reusselanders tend to get by at a basic subsistence level, squandering whatever spare money they have on gaudy symbols of status. Reusseland has the dubious distinction of being particularly inbred, which has made it the butt of many jokes across the Imperium, and villages tend to be small and very family-driven.
Currently, the only real city in the entire province is Dieterbad, the capital of the province, and its major population center. It is from here that Grand Count Heinrich Schwarzhelm, famed aristocrat and war hero, reigns over the province as a loyal servant of the God-Emperor.
Illuminated Principality of Courland
ELF
Barony of Gothenland
Reputedly one of the most powerful individual provinces of the Imperium, the Barony of Gothenland is also one of the wealthiest. Gothenlanders have a reputation as politically astute, forward-looking, and confident, proud of their heritage and their province's role in the Imperium. Geographically one of the medium to smaller provinces, Gothenland is one of the most dense in terms of population. To the west lies the vast province of Triesengard, with Reusseland to the north, Courland to the east, and Salzerland to the south.
The province's many towns and settlements bustle with national and international trade, which is aided by the flow of the River Gothen, the nation's largest waterway. The city of Rottbad, famous for the Rottbad Exchange, the most important stock market in the nation, is geographically and officially a part of the province, but is notable in the amount of autonomy it has been granted, by charter of the God-Emperor.
The capital city of Auendorf is a sprawling metropolis, one of the largest in the Imperium, and is brimming with merchants, tradesmen, students, and religious scholars. It is known for housing several major institutions of the Imperium, including the Imperial Zoological Gardens, the School of Engineers, the Basilica of Emperors Past, and the eight Imperial Colleges of Science. Though far inland, the River Gothen is fairly deep and enables the city to boast a naval yard which docks and constructs much of the Imperial Fleet. Further, Auendorf Palace, at which Baron Wilhelm Ludenhof holds court, is considered one of the Imperium's most spectacular sites, and is known to be a center for both back-room politics and unrepentant hedonism.
Grand Barony of Triesengard
Though it certainly ranks as one of the largest provinces within the Imperium, Triesengard would definitely not be mistaken for one of the most prosperous. Economically, the province is heavily agrarian, and has thus earned a nickname as the "Breadbasket of the Imperium." Due to the nature of Triesengard's farming communities, the province does not see particularly high revenue or engage in substantial international trade, nor does it trade much within the Imperium, aside from agricultural goods. Triesengard's one major export, however, is its wine, which is a highly-sought after luxury item throughout the Imperium and across much of the world.
The province is consists of heavy foliage in the south, from the Salzerwald Forest, but it begins to thin as it expands out north and east. To the west is the Triesenhugel, a vast, open, hill region, home to may shepherding communities. To the east, it borders the Barony of Gothenland, to the south, Salzerland, and to the north, Reusseland. It is controlled, by Baron Manfred Valten, from the capital of Gardhall, a city reputed to be the wine capital of the Imperium, which is also known for its distinctive hot springs and high quality taverns and lodgings.
Triesengarders have a reputation for being both very superstitious and slow to accept outsiders. The tend to speak in a slow, distinctive drawl, which has become a bit of a mockery in the rest of the Imperium. Triesengarders tend to be notably attached to their province and take pride in its unique culture and traditions. The oral tradition is a major part of Triesengarder life, with long, heroic epics and family narratives being memorized word-for-word in a society that is largely illiterate. Just as much a part of Triesengard life is their penchant for drink, for which they are reputed across the Imperium. Another particular pastime of Triesengard, and a staple of provincial social life, is the racing of farm animals, such as geese and swine.
Grand Barony of Salzerland
Straddling the Salz River, the Imperium's second largest, the province of Salzerland borders Vaudenland to the south, Walhalla to the west, and an assortment of Imperial tributaries and protectorates to the east. To the north lie the provinces of Triesengard, Gothenland, and Courland. Salzerland is covered by a vast, expansive pine forest, and has earned a bit of a reputation as a wilderness. Hunting plays an essential part in the social life of most Salzerlanders, and it is typically said that every man in the province is an excellent shot. Indeed, a high percentage of Salzerlanders serve as scouts and marksmen in the God-Emperor's armies. The province's capital city of Salzenburg protrudes out of the forest, dominating it, and houses the majority of folk of this underpopulated land.
Built within the safety of a natural crater at the heart of the Salzerwald Forest, the city's legendary walls reinforce its natural defenses and make it an ideal fortress. Fertile lands within the city walls make farming, oddly, a major part of city life. A port settlement nearby, Urhausen, which is closely associated with the city, links Salzenburg into a vast trading network throughout the Imperium, through the Salz River.
Ruled by Grand Baron Leopold Helsnicht, a notoriously status-conscious autocrat, the province is well known for its draconian laws. Executions and other drastic punishments are meted much more readily here than in many other regions of the Imperium, and are considered public spectacles, frequently occurring in the Salzenburg city market squares. While the God-Emperor is thoroughly revered here, the dominant deity is considered to be Salzur, the god of the wilderness in the traditional Atrurian pantheon. This has, from time to time, attracted the all-seeing eye of the Inquisition, and earned Salzerlanders a, perhaps not entirely deserved, reputation as slightly heretical.
County of Vaudenland
The southernmost province of the Divine Imperium, Vaudenland borders Salzerland to the northeast and Walhalla to the northwest. All along its western and southern border, the Blessed County is separated from a lawless, largely untravelled frontier by the Green Mountains, which are noted not only for their treacherous terrain and unpredictable weather, but also for the backwater clan-based societies that dwell within them. The east of the province, on the other hand, borders a number of tributary states to the Divine Imperium. The gruff and hardy country-folk that inhabit most of the region provide a stark contrast to the opulence and expressiveness of the city-dwellers of the province's two major cities, Vaudenburg and Brandstadt, whom they tend to view as slothful.
The province's capital city, Vaudenburg is highly regarded for its Provincial Palace, the traditional home of its reigning family, and its distinctive militia corps, which drills on the Palace Parade Grounds. However, it is the city of Brandstadt, the third largest metropolis in the Divine Imperium, which is seen to be the real heart and soul of the province. A hub for learning in the arts and sciences, Brandstadt is home to a number of internationally acclaimed instituions of higher learning, including the renowned University of Brandstadt and the Imperial Gunnery School. The Gunnery School's effect on the province is hard to exaggerate, making the city and the countryside around it a heavy producer in Atrurian armaments. Trade is another pillar of the city's economy, with goods from across the provinces of the Divine Imperium, its many protectorates and tributaries, and the wild frontiers beyond, routinely flowing through its markets.
Currently, the County of Vaudenland is nominally reigned over by the Countess Maria von Raukov, who is considered the Divine Imperium's most eligible bachelorette. The Countess famously eschews the duties of state in Vaudenburg, to the great distaste of many of her subjects, to host lavish, extravagant parties at her secondary residence in Brandstadt. In fact, the Countess' court at Brandstadt is said to be the most decadent in the Imperium, and is often scorned as such by the College of Cardinals and other Imperial institutions.
Most Serene Principality of Montferrat
ITALIAN
Grand Duchy of Ferbourg
FRENCH

