Fictian Empire

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 * For the country before 1899, see Kingdom of Fictia

The Fictian Empire is a modern Imperial Absolute Monarchy based from the island of Occidentalis. The Empire is composed of multiple territories in the Occidental and Oriental Oceans connected by ship and the central government, including most of Occidentalis, some surrounding minor islands, and the Exarchate of Australis. The current de facto Emperor is George II.

Originally founded in January of 1889, the Fictian Empire was a continuation of the much older Kingdom of Fictia that existed on the northern half of Occidentalis Island. The modern Empire was originally founded in response to when colonial expeditions from various countries East re-discovered the island and Kingdom, which had been in a state of isolation for decades. King George LXXVI, to prevent his state from becoming another colonial territory, proclaimed the Fictian Empire and made himself into Emperor George I. Adopting a rapid modernization policy, the nascent Empire rapidly militarized and became somewhat powerful and advanced thanks to foreign gifts. After participating in a few wars on the side of the winning coalitions and sending out expeditions to colonize new land, the Empire began to rapidly strengthen in both population and military strength and was in position to become a major power-until the Scourge came around. However, after the Scourge, albeit George I's death, the Empire quickly recovered and assumed its status as a dominant world power.

Except for Australis, which is a hot desert, much of the Fictian Empire is in a tropical wet climate. The Empire is a prodigious producer of zinc, timber, lead, iron, hydrogen and fish, among a ton of other different goods.

Etymology
The Fictian Empire's name is based off of the common regional name of Fictia given to the northern half of Occidentalis, which itself comes from the Ficts who have dominated the land since 200. The origin of the term "Ficts" for the settlers of northern Occidentalis at that time is unknown, but may have originated from neighboring peoples as originally labeling them as unimportant enough to be "fictitious".

History

 * See also: Kingdom of Fictia

Pre-Imperial History (200-1899)
Fictia first appeared as a separate, distinct region around 200, when the Ficts first appeared in world history and conquered Occidentalis Minor and the Okhostian Isles. The Okhostian territory was lost relatively quickly, however, and the Occidentalis Minor territory fractured into numerous tiny chiefdoms that would only be united in a conquest led by the disenfranchised sons of Emperor Chungumagne, the final ruler of The Empire. This conquest united Occidentalis and founded the Kingdom of Fictia, which rapidly grew in influence and power during the Chungulingian and Basilean dynasties to encompass all of Occidentalis Minor and Canciona, along with parts of Mediterrae and the Okhostian Isles. However, this influence rapidly waned during the Infirmid dynasty and the succeeding Electoral Era to the point that Occidentalis Minor became re-divided and Fictia became tributary to the South Cnut Empire.

The Cnuts placed the Ambactian Dynasty on the throne after unrest grew in the Kingdom, which kept it tributary until it's deposition at the collapse of the South Cnut Empire. This dynasty was followed by the Iocosian Dynasty, which tried to rebuild the Kingdom from Cnutian occupation and almost succeeded until their deposition by King George I. George I undid all of his predecessors' success, destroyed the military entirely, and put the Kingdom into a state of isolation and weakness that would last until 1899. After him, most monarchs of his Georgian Dynasty no longer cared for government until King George LXXV won a civil war, re-asserting Royal power over the state, and his son King George LXXVI took the reigns of the Kingdom and sensibly undid the isolation once foreign eastern powers re-discovered their island and colonized weaker powers on Occidentalis Minor. To increase his prestige albeit the fact that colonies of strong states were now surrounding him, King George declared himself as Emperor George I and founded the Fictian Empire.

Early Years:
Following the declaration of George I (the good Emperor, not the terrible King), the Empire was restricted to the Northern half of Occidentalis Minor and was in a very weakened state from the abuse of the early and mid-Georgian Dynasty. Fortunately for Emperor George I, no one felt like annexing the tiny Empire, and multiple states including the Solis Federation, PRA, and W.C.C. all offered generous aid that helped Fictia to enter another stage of increasing power. Due to the fact that most goodwill and promise for expansion came from Socii Mundial, at the time the world's strongest alliance, the Fictian Empire joined it. This would prove to be an excellent decision since it began a rapid and unprecedented rise in Fictian power.

The Empire had no access to any food but 30,000 tons of fish in it's earliest days, even though it had a population of 4.6 million people, so it was rather dependent on other countries in its earliest days. Fortunately, the state had deposits of zinc, an extremely rare resource, to negotiate food. This provoked tensions with the PRA, who had a colony producing 50,000 tons of crops a year bordering the Empire and was their only non-ally on the island at the time. When tensions between the PRA and all of Socii became severe due to how powerful they had become with land taken from Eleutheria, the Fictian Empire declared war on them as part of the nascent Socii vs. PRA War. The Empire convinced the PRA to leave Occidentalis Minor without a single battle by threatening to invade their colony with their entire population (ironically armed with rifles purchased from the PRA). The Empire would no longer be dependent on foreign aid for food sources after this event, even though Fictia didn't actually see any direct combat during the war.

Soon after this war, Fictian expansion expeditions discovered a few new islands to the North and South of Occidentalis Minor and Australis, all of which were colonized. Since Australis was very distant from the core Empire, the Exarchate of Australis was founded to administer the land and William Aegrus became the first Exarch of the colony. Ironically after the state's dependency, these lands all bore unbelievably plentiful crop and fish sources which gave the Empire unconsumably large quantities of fish yearly, let alone crops. These lands, and the 3 quarters of Occidentalis Minor now occupied by the Empire, strengthened the state's population, economy, and military, making it a middle and still rapidly rising power, and it's growing international strength and reputation was demonstrated during the 1904 Capital City Olympics.

In addition to all of this, the Fictian Empire would earn a 25% share of the important Universal Market for sending Emperor George I's son David Basileus to help re-design it. This share still exists today and David holds the office of "Head of Research and Development" for the Market.

The Scourge Era:
As much as the Empire was prospering, a brief troubled era began soon after the Olympics. The Scourge, a fungal plague that turned some of its victims into zombie-like creatures, spread throughout the Solis Federation, devastating it and resulting in the state losing control over much of its core territory. Since Solis had been a strong ally in the past, the Empire contributed aid by trying to send 1 million soldiers to their homeland through New Carthage, but they refused to let them enter. Instead, they were moved to Solis's Valan Colony, where they proved to be needed and more effective, and remained there until the final Scourgii in the colony was eradicated. Military aid was also lent to the RCM, who had recently allied with the Empire under Isabella Gamba II, and Fictian forces likewise fought the Scourge to extinction there. The Empire overall lost 750,000 victims to the plague, mostly from fighting Scourgii rather than the Scourge itself, and recieved about 1 million refugees from other countries, who were all kept on the southernmost islands of Occidentalis Minor.

Right after the Scourge, the Empire also got involved in the 1st PRA Civil War on the side of the Monarchist-Nationalist Coalition by sending 1 million soldiers, who seemed to be Socii-friendly and the better party for Fictian interests. The MNC captured Spirova with ease thanks to the support, but then left Socii and formed the anti-Socii Spirova Accords, and so this war proved to be another loss for the Empire.

Current Events

 * The Fictian Empire is currently one of the world's strongest states economically. militarily, and diplomatically.
 * The Empire is against the terrorist organization known as COSS, partnered with the PRA, and is attempting to combat their power.
 * Like always, the Empire is exploring the world's unknown edge and expanding through colonialism.

Government
The Fictian Empire is an Absolute Monarchy, and so the sitting senior Emperor has absolute authority and power to make, change, and enforce laws, although exercisable power may sometimes be given to prominent aristocrats in some circumstances. To enforce the monarch's authority each province of the entire Empire is administered by a Governor, a Emperor-appointed officer tasked with enforcing laws throughout the province. However, at some regions distant from the Capital City, an "Exarch" may be appointed, who is appointed to govern the provinces of a fraction of the Empire in the name of the Emperor. In practice, this makes the Exarch into a very powerful, but still subordinate ruler who must must answer to the Emperor. Currently, the only Exarchate in existence is the Exarchate of Australis

Succession to the Imperial office is determined in the will of the previous Emperor, and is typically hereditary as a result.

Foreign Relations
The Fictian Empire is a formal member of Socii Mundial, but externally also features a unique foreign policy system inspired by that used by the W.C.C., in which all countries are assigned a number relating to how good their relations are. As of 1909, these numbers are:

External Basis:
The state is somewhat similar to and based off that of the historical Eastern Roman Empire (aka Byzantine Empire), albeit one with much more general success and significantly modernized. A few similarities are:


 * The word "Basileus" being used to refer to a royal (The Emperor himself in the Byzantine state, the Imperial family in the Fictian Empire).
 * An Exarchate existing to administer distant land (In the Byzantine Empire, the Exarchate of Africa or Exarchate of Ravenna, in Fictia the Exarchate of Australis.
 * Christianity as a main religion.
 * Numerous historical civil wars.
 * Was a remnant from from a larger and critical historical empire (the Roman Empire for the Byzantines, The Empire for the Fictians)
 * A monarch named Justinian brought both states to a historical peak.
 * [SPOILER ALERT] A dynasty of only 4 Emperors revitalized a state near-collapse to last at least 2 extra centuries (Laskirid Dynasty of Nicaea Byzantine, late Georgian Dynasty Fictia).

See Also:

 * List of Fictian Emperors
 * Kingdom of Fictia
 * Exarchate of Australis