Malaszec

Malaszec, officially known as The Federation of Malaszec, is a coastal tropical country inhabited by humans, faeries, dwarves, and elves. The country is mostly savanna, but contains steppe lands and deserts rich in minerals and oil. The southern savanna, where the native Malaszec faeries come from, contains mana deposits and mana-rich rivers and soil for arcane agriculture. The country is divided into several administrative Zloije, or wards, which were sold to private individuals at the end of the Malaszec Communist Era. These wards are autonomous and structured like corporations, but meet in the Chamber of Commerce to determine national laws and standards. Geographically, Erothena is north of Malaszec and Bangsalaya is to the south.

History

Faeries and faerie kingdoms

The southern savannas of the country was once host to hundreds of extant faerie kingdoms. These faerie kingdoms were centered around tall trees like baobabs, which stood a greater chance of surviving the frequent wildfires of the savanna. The small size of the faerie allowed many faerie families to live within a single tree, providing shelter from the hot outside world.

The faerie kingdoms are examples of Malaszec’s first agrarian societies. Mostly staying around the same groups of trees and forests, they collected the fruit, leaves, and bark of vegetation around them. The most successful faeries lived in the more densely forested transition zones between tidal rivers and land. These areas are excellent because the tides not only reduced incidence of fires on ground level, but also because of the rich sediments brought up by the river water. Replenishing the surrounding soil not only with nutrients necessary for healthy plants, the water also carried with it mana deposits that led to the growth of magical plants that brought the inhabitants many riches.

When the northern, non-faerie empires encroached upon their territory, many poorer faerie societies were forced to relocate to the southeastern steppes and deserts. The environment of the steppes created the faerie pastoralists, faerie societies who farm livestock in the vast grasslands. Agriculture was much more sparse in the deserts.

Malaszec Colonialism

The final Malaszec Empire established various foreign colonies up until the 1920s when the last imperial colony was established in T’annkirne. A lot of money went into making each colony, money not being spent improving conditions in the homeland. When inequality rose rapidly the 1920s, colonies bringing in luxury products were seen as only servicing the rich. The Malaszec defeat in Bangsalaya, leading to the loss of land promised to retiring soldiers, also contributed to civil unrest in the homeland. This led to the 1932 revolution that toppled the Empire. Without imperial support the colonial governments started to collapse. Colonial administrations desperately held on for as long as they could before going bankrupt or succumbing to revolts.

Industrial revolution and Communist Malaszec

After the industrial revolution in 1919, the country’s economic output increased rapidly, but the feudal structure of the Malaszec Empire remained. Therefore, income inequality saw a rise as workplace safety lowered. Noxious fumes and dangerous machinery increased occupational accidents by magnitudes, affecting mainly the serfs and peasants who were under the fealty of their lords. The industrial revolution also saw an increase in mining of mana and minerals, which led to former homes being replaced by mines in search of more profit. These effects were combined with existing disapproval from agrarian workers even before the start of industrialization. By 1932, disgruntled peasants and the rank-and-file of the military revolted and the nobility, including the Emperor, were publicly executed and a new communist government was declared.

The Malaszec People’s Republic (MPR) was headquartered in the north, where the industrial base was and the revolution started. Dedicated to uniting all of Malaszec, the communists made rounds down south deposing all the noblemen who had not given up their land yet. Though many peasants joined their cause, the faeries objected to banding with non-faeries who had subjugated them during the Empire. The faeries were already scatted and disorganized on account of this subjugation, so the MPR army wheeled in artillery that could wipe out hundreds of faerie homes in a single shot from afar. The faeries surrendered to avoid a protracted battle, with the compromise that Andeija become a semi-autonomous zone. The other faerie regions, Dovreija and Rescija, were so sparsely populated that no special provisions were made to them.

After uniting all of Malaszec, the government declared Dorovec as the capital and divided the country into administrative Zloije (translated as wards). The northern wards, inhabited by humans, dwarves, and elves, were carefully planned and managed by the central government so as to satisfy all the demands of the revolutionaries. In order to keep the faeries in line, the southern wards were left in the hands of faeries sympathetic to the communist cause.

As time passed, the central government became more and more corrupt and bordered on dysfunction. The leader, having maneuvered his way into limitless power, had become a dictator. Unable to effectively prioritize the needs of the country, supply shortages gave way to enforced rationing and more demanding work quotas. Safety standards fell under pressure to produce more and the country started to suffer the same problems that it had during the Empire. During the middle of this, mineral and oil riches were discovered in the mostly autonomous desert faerie ward, leading to an explosion of wealth in the south called the Dovreijan Boom. Public works and irrigation vastly improved the land, and the desert went from being the most desolate ward to being the highest GDP contributor. Still, the southern wards were not immune to the clutches of corruption and mismanagement, so income inequality continued to rise.

Formation of the Federation

The contemporary country of Malaszec was formed from the dissolution of the Malaszec People’s Republic. After the dictator died to natural causes in 2025, the government lacked any real direction other than each minister wanting their piece of the power vacuum. On account of this, the government blamed the dictator for gross negligence and initiated a wave of radical reforms. The formerly public industries were sold to the country’s big wigs, most of whom were influential politicians in the former state to begin with.

Malaszec was divided into into geographical Zloije (translated as Wards) during communist times, and the government’s industries were organized by these wards. When selling off the state’s industries, the wards were therefore effectively sold off as well. Under the provisions of the sales, the officers and board of trustees would meet with their counterparts from other wards as the country’s Chamber of Commerce. Since the ward’s owners were crafty politicians who drafted the original reforms, they had created legislation that the public would more-or-less agree with and slowly pulled the wool over their eyes with slow, gradual moves towards making the Chamber of Commerce the ultimate legal authority. In 2027, the power transition had mostly settled and a new constitution was ratified, declaring the Federation of Malaszec.

Government

See also: Wards and cities of Malaszec The wards which were administrative boundaries during Communist Malaszec were sold to private individuals during the formation of the Malaszec Federation. These wards are bound together by a constitution which requires them to abide by the laws of the Chamber of Commerce, the legislature comprised mostly of representatives from each ward. Aside from this, the wards are autonomous and are generally run like corporations with boards of trustees.

Seats in the Chamber of Commerce are assigned proportionally to the amount of funding contributed by a Malaszec entity to the Atronij, the federal funding pool. Contributions do not carry over through terms. Wards and companies which receive seats in the Chamber of Commerce appoint individuals to represent them in the legislature. Often these representatives are chief officers, members of the board of trustees, or members of think tanks attached to the company.

As the highest authority in Malaszec, the Chamber of Commerce also functions as the country’s judiciary. In this capacity, its main job is to enforce its laws and contracts between companies.

Ward borders and land ownership

The land in a ward is subject to the laws that the ward imposes, as well as the laws of the country as a whole. However, other wards and companies will often lease land from each other in order to better facilitate business relationships with each other. Since these wards are in competition with each other, there was once a fear that the lessor ward from will terminate the lease, impose unreasonable restrictions, or even stage raids on the lessee in the name of local law. The Fair Lease Law was passed to prevent this, stipulating that the lessee ward (or companies owned by a ward) is exempt from the laws of the lessor, like the extraterritoriality of a embassy, and that lessors must provide adequate notice before terminating or modifying the lease. Because of this, the borders of wards are more complicated than most maps show. In economically important cities, certain areas are a patchwork of land leased to other wards the laws imposed by them.

Sub-ward governance

Below the ward level are entities like counties, cities, and villages. Important areas, such as counties and cities that have some kind of economic or strategic value, are managed by companies subsidiary to the ward they are in. One of the few exceptions is the Dorovec Government District in Dorovec, which is jointly managed by all Malaszec’s wards to prevent forced closure of the government by a single ward. Less important areas, like villages and hamlets, are generally not managed as closely since micromanaging them is unprofitable. Usually, they form their own local community leadership, although they are still subject to the whims of the ward they’re in.

Culture

Pseudodragons

Pseudodragons congregate across Malaszec from time to time in groups ranging from just a few to several hundred gathered. It is uncertain why they really do it, but these congregations are symbols of unity and cooperation. Particularly cunning, powerful, or kind individuals are known to have pseudodragons hang around them for years, and it is considered good luck for a pseudodragon to “investigate” you for even a few moments. According to faerie legend, warriors of an ancient faerie empire spanning many lands all rode upon pseudodragons into battle, and the places where psuedodragons congregate are places where cities of that empire once stood.

The pseudodragon symbolism can be seen in the country’s national flag. The left side of the flag is patterned with stylized pseudodragon scales.

Ideological differences between faerie groups

Malaszec faeries are often grouped into two sets of categories. One is referred to as the Desert-Savanna Spectrum, which represents broad ideological groups strongly correlated by geographical location. This designation is rarely used by faeries to self-identify. The other is the ethnic divide, representing a faerie’s identification with a certain lineage from the ancestral homeland of Malaszec faeries, Andeija. In the national census, faeries are reported by the ward corporations simply as “Malaszec Faerie,” obscuring the complicated ethnic situation in Malaszec. In the country, there are faeries who identify as Malaszec, as faerie, as a member of their ward, as a member of one of dozens of faerie ethnic groups which existed before the MPR, or some combination all of these.

Ever since the invasions by the northern empires decimated the once proud faerie kingdoms, many Malaszec faeries were forced into what were once considered the worst, most desolate wards. Although the Savanna Faeries were afforded the right to remain in their ancestral homelands, others had to relocate, forming the Steppes Faeries and Desert Faeries. In the Desert and Steppes, away from the mana-rich environment of their former homelands, their lifespans shortened greatly. Because of this, the differences between their cultures and philosophies increased overtime. Although Malaszec faeries typically identify as one group, many also place importance on their being part of the three subgroups: Savanna, Steppe, and Desert. The faeries of the savanna are known for their ancient wisdom, tradition, affinity for magic, and slower, laid-back attitudes. Meanwhile, the desert faeries are the epitome of “live fast and die young”, affinity for modern technology, and progressive ideas. Although freer access to goods post-Communist Era has normalised faerie lifespans somewhat, the philosophical divide remains.

The desert faeries and the savanna faeries sit on opposite sides of a philosophical and political spectrum, with the pastoralists of the steppes in the middle. Many savanna faeries are staunchly against immigration into their wards by “Bigs,” slang for people who are comparatively bigger than faeries (e.g. humans and dwarves). They remember the tyranny of their past, which tore families apart and took countless lives. Meanwhile, the desert faeries, all much younger than the savanna faeries and who don’t remember these events, employ Bigs and welcome skilled residents quite readily. Since early mineral surveyors of the deserts were humans who had to go through the faerie government of the ward, the desert faerie take a more positive light to humans.

In Andeija, where there are dozens of faerie ethnic groups, civil unrest grew after the unifying force of the MPR disappeared. The corporation of Andeija ZE quickly mobilized to quell the rioting, and tried to fill the same role that the MPR did by encouraging a pan-Andeijan identity. Dovreija and Rescija followed similar programmes. Ethnic tensions in faerie lands continue to this day. Tensions are less extreme in Dovreija and Rescija, where most of the population are immigrants living in a couple of megacities. In Dovreija, most of the ward is uninhabited desert as opposed to Andeija which is dotted with many faerie towns that are hard to control

Dwarf professional pressure

Many young dwarves in Malaszec are pressured into entering mining and manufacturing industries as per the traditions of their ancestors and because of the lucrative business. The more fortunate dwarves, whose parents run factories and mines, have a guaranteed opportunity for employment and almost always persue this path. They have the resources to go to university to study, a luxury most don’t get in Malaszec. The eldest will probably study business administration so he can take over the family business, and the younger children will study geology, engineering, applied arcanics, or some other relevant subject.

Most young dwarves do not have this luxury; perhaps their family lost everything after the communist revolution, their trade deemed unnecessary by the state, or perhaps their family were poor to begin with. The latter situation is especially common, since dwarves are not native to Malaszec, but have been the largest ethnic group after human and faerie for hundreds of years after a gold rush attracted many poor prospectors looking for a big break. The rush disappointed many, and without any more money to return, they stayed to try to establish a successful smithing shop or work in Malaszec’s human-run mines if they failed. Some of their children see this failure as shameful and often decide to take a different path from their parents. Some might take other jobs but only as a stepping stone for doing “real dwarf work” that isn’t unsatisfying. Some might labour in the mines, just as their parents did, clocking in and clocking out in mines run by faceless bureaucrats without any recognition.

Intersize design and architecture

Main article: Architecture in Malaszec

Due to the cohabitation of faeries and the larger non-faeries in the modern era, buildings are built with this in mind. This is known as intersize design. Buildings for non-faeries can often be retrofitted with faerie-accessible designs, but this is not the case for buildings that start off as faerie-only buildings. Because of this, new big-accessible city centers were created near formerly all-faerie cities. Often these new city centers and the old city grow into each other over time, forming a big city with a faerie-only historical city center and residential zone, a mixed transition zone, and the newer intersize developments.

A prominent example of intersize architecture is faerie zoning for otherwise very large residential buildings. Intersize-zoned buildings generally contain one or two floors or mezzanine levels with housing for faeries, which have a smaller size footprint. In more economical residences, units are cramped and high density, like public housing. In more upscale areas, faerie levels contain additional amenities like swimming pools, local markets, and community centers all in the same floor.

Safety is a critical consideration in intersize design, as the small size of the faerie may be hard to see for the big people. One simple safety feature often seen is the urban faerie garden, flower beds in front of faerie doorways large enough that big people avoid. These serve not only as safe staging areas for faeries to take flight, but can also function as urban farms.

Storytelling Day

Main article: Storytelling Day

Storytelling Day is a Malaszec holiday celebrated during the winter solstice featuring the Storytelling, when the community’s Storyteller retells one of thirty-eight stories from Malaszec animism (or other important lore, especially in non-human dominated communities). The Storyteller is chosen up to six months beforehand according to their service to the community, and is supported by various mages and/or actors who provide special effects and acting performances to enhance the experience. East story takes approximately the amount of time for the roasting of the Storytelling Rotisserie, a traditional Storytelling Day food which is served immediately after the storytelling. People then go with friends and family to eat and discuss the story. Those who have nobody to eat with go to a shrine and are known as Shrine Spirits.

Category:countries Category:Malaszec