Edury

Edury, officially known as the Great Commonwealth of Edury, (Eduran: Ðe Great Ledewealþ of Edurrich) is a in the north eastern corner of Alutra. Located on the southern coast of the bay that shares its name, Edury is bordered by Gladomyr to the east, Ordrey to the south-east, and Ecoralia to the west. Edury has a population around 45 million people, an occupies a space of around 419,000 km2. Its capital and largest city is Godenhaven, while its second city and original capital is Eduvesting. The nation is historically centered around the Edu river, which together with its valley and floodplain makes up the core of the country. Most of the nation drains into the basin of the Edu river.

The nation has its beginnings in the first meetings of the Senate, which was initially a group of nobles representing different cities which traded along the Edu river. Over time, these cities became the medieval Confederation, a loose union of cities and provinces. As time went on, the confederation centralized somewhat, and the state expanded to fill the valley and floodplain. During the late 17th century, as the state centralized and the power of the Forwielder became preeminent in politics, Edury began to project power upon the world. A powerful mercantile noble class began to sail out in search of riches and resources. Through an alliance with Salia, and the mechanations of the Eduran Expeditionary Company, Eduran merchants extracted great wealth. Through the 18th century, Eduran power would grow, as state entrenched itself in international affairs and established relations across the globe. This would culminate in controlling a wide swath of Haksarad through an unequal partnership with their aristocracy. At the turn of the 19th century, the Eduran Revolution overthrew the status quo, reducing the Senate to an upper house with very little power, and replaced the elected near-monarchial Forwielder with the Lord-Magistrate, and turned the Assembly of the Estates into the powerful lower house of the Diet. In 1921, a second revolution, the Workers Spring, began a period of blue-shade reform which saw the emergence of the worker's state.

Today, Edury is a diversifying nation with a presence on the world stage. Climactic change, a post-industrial economy, immigration from impoverished areas of the globe, and the tenuous stability of central and south Alutra all present challenges to the nation. While the state has employed different tactics to deal with these problems, certain factors hamper responses; the semi-state run coal industry, and powerful coal miners unions, have been accused of influencing the government to keep fossil-fuel powered power stations open. Diplomatically, Eduran cabinets have pursued a policy of aligning themselves closer with their neighbors, including petitioning for membership in the aarnieu fraternity. In Central Alutra, various governments have kept relations with Renesia and since the end of the third world war, Ecoralia and Galvia. Today, relations with these countries are fairly cordial, with visa-free access to Galvia, Renesia, and probably Ecoralia too maybe. However, public perception of the governments of these countries has been traditionally bad, and while circumstances have dictated that most premiers of Edury keep relations with these states warm, electoral pressure has also kept them from being perceived as too friendly. Further abroad, Edury's colonial past with Haksarad has kept relations with them markedly poor since the 19th century; their revolutionary founder, Husrak h’Assar Ha-Qayyet, was educated in Edury under the auspices of the Eduran Expeditionary Company, but his leadership of the revolution in Haksarad put a permanent split between the two states that despite Edury going under their own revolution, has not healed.

Eduran geography is centered around the Edu river, seen as the ceremonial and spiritual main artery of the nation. To the west, the Blugarorg mountains mark the border with Ecoralia, and to the east, the Lesser Penguines do the same with Gladomyr. To the south, the Penguinnes form the border with Ordrey. The southern and westernmost portions of Edury are therefore fairly mountainous, with the provinces of Penguinne, Westmarch, South Richdale and Treshire are very mountainous, and Yorushire has fairly elevated areas as well. In the center of the country, the provinces of West Richdale, East Richdale, and Eduvesting-Richband have highlands, but are mostly focused along the river and its valley.

Edury is a parliamentary republic, with the Lord-Magistrate being directly elected by the people but subject to parliamentary confidence. It is a federal nation, and the provinces have a certain degree of autonomy and sovereignty, but the federal government is supreme. The state has a semi-written constitution, with certain laws and edicts enshrined as constitutional documents. These documents lay out the powers, responsibilities, and checks on the four branches of the Eduran government: the moderating branch, the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.

Etymology
The native word for the nation, Edurich, means "Realm of the Edu river".

Early history
There is evidence of human habitation in the Edu river valley dating from around 10,000 years ago. The Grithek Tooth, a knife made out of bone, was found in a cave in Penshire. Written evidence of people there begins around 1,000 BCE, with rune-stones being found underneath a Ta'andos in Westmarch. Little is known about the pre-Blethic inhabitants of the valley, however archeological evidence seems to suggest that the oldest settlements in Edury are pre-Blethic in nature. There is evidence of a fortified settlement underneath the castle of Eduvesting, as well as in other particularly old towns in Edury.

In the third century BCE, as the Great Sedic Confederation was expanding, Blethic migrations brought Stroomism into the Edu river valley. As the Confederation would expand, the river would become frontier between various unorganized Blethic tribes and powers, and the Sedes. Migrations from Blethic people, as well as from various Myrish groups, would continue. The continued immigration through the third and second centuries would put strain on the Great Sedic Confederation, especially as Myrs settled in the north. While these people would adopt Ayekism, the Blethic people on the frontier continued to practice Stroomism. As the towns along the river grew to cities with continued migration, temples began to be built and the early forms of Civic Stroomism would begin to be entrenched. These cities, typically on the left bank of the river, would elect prominent people to priesthoods, who's job it was was to ensure the favor of the two gods of Stroomism and maintain spiritual balance. The Sedic powers in the region held tenuous control of the region, and tribute would slow to a trickle.

A famine in the western parts of the confederation would send migration to the frontier, particularly of ethnic Tretuish people. Influence of the Sedic Confederation generally stretched to the river, however around the area clan structures weren't common, and beyond the river Sedic influence was soft. Most people living in the valley were Blethic, and the sudden influx of Tretuish people was seen by many as an incursion. Beyond the river, some cities and towns would institute laws making contribution to the local temple's sacrificial grain storage mandatory, regardless of whether someone was Stroomist or Ayekist. Practice of private religion was frowned upon as well, with some areas going so far as to confiscate Ayekist religious paraphernalia.

As the decades wore on, Sedic governmental influence would weaken, and then retreat. Cities paying tribute to certain Sedic clans or domains would lower their payments, ceasing altogether around the 50's BCE. By that point, Sedic people, specifically the Tretuish, had been forced to live outside the walls of fortified towns and cities. As the migrations of the last two centuries before the common era came to a close, most of the Tretuish families in the Edu river valley were forced to adopt a migratory, non-sedentary lifestyle, whereas most of the others settled in modern southestern Ecoralia. Myrish migratory groups generally assimilated into the Blethic population living in the valley, except the Yoru, or Jõõrũ, who to this day speak a Myrish derived language and live near the border with modern Gladomyr. East of the Hewnea river is where Yoru settlement was strongest, hovering between 40-60% of the population. The Yoru population was higher in the countryside, as in the cities the Blethic population was more concentrated, and Eduran political structures were adopted.

From the 80's BCE onward, the cities of the Edu river valley were independent. The clan structure that was present in Edury drops out of the written record around 10 BCE, as Eduran political life coalesced around the cities rather than the countryside, and around a group of noble families. These cities governments would vary quite a bit from town to town, and in the early days, basically every city with a population over 10,000 was in effect an independent city state. As time went on, and the Ecoralian and Gladomyrish states would coalesce to the west and east, some of these cities would pay tribute to either one of these powers, but their influence was limited to 'gifts' of money or kind in order to maintain peace treaties or agreements. Generally speaking, richer people from important families would be granted usufruct of the land (that is to say, they were given the right to derive profit from it, not ownership; generally speaking, private property was considered only to exist within the city itself. This, of course, varied from place to place and time to time.) These noblemen would keep their property within the city within the family as generations grew up and passed; as per tradition [discuss this next bit with the other stroomist people] husbands property would go to their wives upon their death, and a woman's property would be divided equally amongst her children. Soon, the land use grants would be passed through families as well, with the town governments giving a deceased man's usufruct to his children upon his death. By 500 CE, people were granting their land grants to their children in their will. In most cases, de jure land was common property of the city; de facto, however, these plots of land tenure were familial property, controlled by individuals, and general passed within a family.

Over time, this system would develop into the feudal system, the land organization scheme for most cities in Edury. In this, people who owned tracts of land would have it organized into 'grants' of land, which would be a specific plot. These Grants would be divided into 'districts' (Eduran; wapentake) which were administered by an administrator. There were, therefor, two feudal ranks in use; the Lord, who held one or more feudal Grants, and the Alderman, who oversaw one of these internal divisions. Lordship was generally granted to senior noblemen, and as time went on, the most influential noblemen would have multiple Grants. The Lord was granted the usufruct (which over time, would become de facto complete ownership of) of his Grant or Grants in return for rendering upon their city goods, most typically grain or other foodstuffs, although that would be specified in the agreement from which the Grant was promulgated. Each Grant would have its own agreement, made between the Lord and the governing body which promulgated it, with some Grants having these agreements (infeudiations) over 1,500 years old at the time of their abolition in 1801. The Grants would be based upon the Wapentake, which was a standardized unit of land meant to measure the rough value of the land, not size or population. The Lords had the obligation to provide a certain amount to their cities, as well as to the people living on their Grant. By 900 CE, the class of peasantry was common throughout all of what would be Edury, although it emerged much earlier in certain regions. Peasants would generally be in two sub-classes; free, and bonded. Free peasants would receive a plot of land, and would have to pay a rent fee to their lord. Bonded peasants were more like hereditary farmhands; they had to farm their lord's land, or work in other capacities, and received no properties for themselves. The lord, in turn, had an obligation to provide these bonded peasants with shelter, food, etc. This pay the lord owed his bonded peasants would remain at a constant, regardless of the condition of his incomes; this meant that in years where there was bountiful harvests, the lord would discharge his duties to the city, and then his peasants, and the remainder he would sell or stockpile for his own profit. However, in lean years, a lord may go bankrupt in trying to meet that years obligations.

The Alderman was a purely administrative position. Sometimes, they'd be sub-priests of a Stroomist temple, who used their scribal abilities to aid a lord in the administration of their Grant. As time went on, the Alderman would develop into the lower feudal rank. It would be often held by members of less influential noble families, or children of an influential lord. The lord had to obligation to pay his Aldermen, and they would typically take a share of the profit of their Wapentake. There were initially no feudal titles to go with the feudal ranks of Lord and Alderman. Later, in the medieval period- defined here as the period after the existence of the confederation- extra titles, and a hierarchy of them, would start to be promulgated.

As all of this was going on, smaller cities began to become subjugated to larger ones. Initially this took the familiar form of tribute; larger cities would have spheres of influence, where subjugated towns would pay tribute to the dominant municipality. Over time, this changed, to where cities would appoint leaders in their smaller towns, garrison troops, etc. These leaders may be from the smaller town's own noble population, or an imposed governor from on high. While most regard this era as the origin of the republican tendencies of the Eduran state, however, in this early period, many of them had monarchial governments, although these were typically weak compared to the nobility of these states. They would be filtered out as time went on.

At the beginning of this period, it is incredibly difficult to say how many 'states' there were; one could count the various tributary relationships amongst the cities and towns, and call all the spheres of the most important towns 'states'- however, at the very beginning of this nebulous period, this would make some of these states domains of the early forms of Ecoralia, Gladomyr, the duchies of Ordrey, and even one town that may have technically belonged to Lathadu. One could very easily say that these were all independent states, as the cities had their own laws, governments, kings, leaders, nobilities,etc. But this would mean there were were hundreds, possibly thousands, of independent states in the Edu river valley, some no bigger than a suburb.

At the end of the early period, it was much easier to tell. Tributes to outlanders (that is to say, non-ethnic-Edurans) were almost eliminated, and the spheres of influence grew to actual areas where laws were (mostly) uniformly enforced. Some consider the end of this period to be 959, where Eduvesting apocryphally is supposed to have rebuffed demands from the king of the Gaal river for a sacrifice in his honor, by saying "there are no kings in this valley." Others consider it to be 1101, the date of the signing of the Charter of the Barges- the first constitution of the confederation of Edury.

Medieval era
Eduvesting would rise to be the most important town in central Edury by the 900's. Initially a settlement around a fort near a bend in the Edu river (vesting being an old Ecoralian term for "fort,") its rise to greatness stemmed initially from its defensibly. However, in 944, the city undertook a venture which would propel it further. A series of rapids in the river made it the end-of-navigation. These rapids were a good source of power, and two mills ground grain from the surrounding countryside, aiding in the filling of its granaries. In 944 a project was undertaken to build a weir across the river, and a lock into the weir. This was completed in 954; by 977 there were three dams, each with locks, spanning across the river. This tripled the number of mills, which the city government (the Lordsmeet) deriving a not insignificant portion of its tax revenues from. However, this now opened the rest of the Edu for navigation, allowing ships to transit from the sea, all the way to the foothills of the Penguinnes. This opened the southern hinterlands up to trade from the north, of which Eduvesting extracted its fair share in fees.

By this point, the militaries of the Eduran states were organized into militias and mercenary companies. The city would use tax expenditures to outfit their militias- of which all men between 20 and 50 had to be ready to join- for battle. Mercenary companies, called goldmarches, would be private entities which charged money for their services. There would typically be two kinds- those of commoners, which would focus on being large groups of infantry, and those who drew their employees from the nobility. These would typically be armored cavalry- by far and away the most expensive kind of soldier to outfit. The third and forth sons of noblemen would pay for their horse and armor and join in these companies for adventure, influence, and profit. Goldmarches owned or run by the patriarchs of noble houses would typically fight for their own city at a reduced rate, or for free, however other noble families would attempt to limit this to prevent a military takeover.

Eduvesting in the 1000's had no goldmarches run by any of its noble houses. However, the base of wealth they had built from their position on the Edu river meant that they had enough treasure to hire enough goldmarches in order to project power down the Edu river. They used this martial power to ensure no one else dammed or impounded the river to deprive downstream neighbors of water, and to keep trade flowing. By 1050, Eduvesting was the undisputed powerhouse of the middle Edu river. Cities in its vicinity would start to petition Eduvesting to intervene in such cases, or for loans. Soon, there was a system where the other towns appealed to Eduvesting on important matters. By 1101, they sought to formalize this situation. Important leaders from each of the cities met in the city to negotiate and sign a charter to confederate. Named for the large amount of formal barges that transited to the city in that year, the Charter of the Barges established a permanent council to be made of elected noblemen from each city. It gave this council the right to establish taxation, to unite the militas and goldmarches of the cities in time of war, and the right to appoint a leader to lead these armies. The name of this new part-alliance-part-state was the Confederation of the Edu River- in Eduran, the Richband of the Edu Boroughs. Initially, the borders of the confederation fell roughly where the borders of the modern province of Eduvesting-Richband are today.

The Confederation still allowed the cities a wide berth of freedoms, but the Charter affirmed the primacy of the Senate- the Bandsmeet. These cities would have to pay taxes, with each city electing several representatives to give their voice, and vote, on taxation. Over the decades, the Confederation would be involved in several conflicts in its surrounding area. In these instances, the Senate would appoint a leader. The Forwielder was the foremost wielder of power. Initially, this position would be handed back at the end of a conflict. The Confederation would grow over time, eventually giving name to the Richdale, or the valley of the realm. From 1101-1153, the confederation would wage three wars- the war of 1112, the war of the rosebushes, and the silly war- and expand its territory by 80%. After the Silly War, the Forwielder- Lord Ethelbert of the house of Gramming- became the first to not give up the title at the end of the war. Instead, he retained his authority and set up an occupation of the newly conquered territory, knocking down castles, establishing ties to the nobility of the newly annexed region of the Richdale, and getting the area ready for Confederal rule.

By 1230, this situation had continued. The Senate revised how Bandsmeet representatives were elected, dividing their holdings into provinces- shires- which would have a set number of elected representatives. By this point, they had expanded their territory to reach the foothills in modern Yorushire, and cover most of modern East, West, and South Richdale. In 1250, the trend established by the Confederation- for the formerly independent cities to give up parts of their autonomy in order for strength- would be emulated through most of the Edu river valley. In fact, most of the Confederation's expansion was due to cities or smaller confederations petitioning to join the Confederation. In 150 years, the meteoric rise of the Confederation to centralize most of the formerly independent city-states and states in the Edu river valley gave the Confederation some challenges. The nobility was centered along their cities and towns; although in the past 150 years there had been intermarriages and alliances between the noble houses, for the most part, there were in practice over 100 different groups of nobility within the country. The Senate had grown from a committee designed to pass taxation for mutual defense, to a legislative body. Moreover, the states of Gladomyr, Ecoralia, Ordrey, and further afield, Salia, were established powers with long lineages and lots of power. The Confederation was a young player on the stage of Alutra, who's importance to them was simply that of a buffer state between Gladomyr and Ecoralia. Conflict with another group would provide the Confederation for serious change.

The Last War and Unification
In the north, the Marshlanders League was a looser confederation of cities near the Edu river estuary, focused around trade and mutual defense. Member cities agreed to a single currency, and shared the responsibility of forming militias and hiring Goldmarches, and allowed the central committee of the League to establish policy on foreign trade. Centered on the town of Scherborough, the League was less dominated by the nobility, with a healthy but small mercantile middle class, with heavy guild involvement in government. Guilds at this point could be one of two things; either a union of artisans and people with a skilled trade, such as painters, carpenters, etc., or a group of persons who had put money into a venture with a specific goal, and thus received equal share ownership in said goal. For example, the Woodsworkers Guild was a union of semi-independent craftsmen who would set prices for their labor, ensure non competition, set standards for their work, ensure the quality of that work, and provide for members who could no longer work. However, the Woodworkersmans Guild was a private corporation which was formed in 1300 by several persons who professionally bought and processed wood, with the goal to open their market to the north sea, and share the costs of importing lumber from the Confederation.

Issues such as the cost of importing lumber, stone, and other materials from the south, and the control of sea access by the north caused tensions to build through the 13th century. As the Confederation expanded, more cities in the north joined the Marshlanders League in order to avoid being forced to join, or conquered by, the Confederation. For these northern cities, the participation in politics by non-nobility, as well as the lower level of involvement by the higher government, were an attractive thing. The League was not a federation of states or cities, but instead an alliance; while there was a committee of elected representatives, they could only present the expenditures from the running of what little government functions they had, and rely on the constituent cities and regions to provide. These conflicts would eventually boil over into armed conflict. In 1303, a trade ship going up the Edu river from the Confederation into League territory was stopped for a routine inspection. The Wit in the Wappentake in which this ship was stopped stepped aboard. No one is sure of what happened next, but the Wit was killed while aboard the ship, and the vessel fled back south. Upon hearing news of this, the nearby garrison pursued the ship into Confederation territory. Not knowing the circumstances, the knight's Goldmarch in service to the city of Barth marshaled to oppose them. This would begin the conflict known then as the Last War.

The conflict would rage for 11 years. The Confederation appointed Lord Harald of the house of Witmere as Forwielder. The Marshlanders League would appoint several leaders, of whom the most famous is Bringus Hingus. While there would be quiet periods and ceasefires during the war, it was the first large scale conflict that the region had seen since the retreat of the Great Sedic Confederation. The prosecution of the war forced both sides to reform the ways they operated. Gunpowder weapons had been rising for a long time as part of the armies of Alutra, with arquebusses and small cannons being irregular additions to the summoned armies. Goldmarches centered around gunpowder artillery had been emerging, but Lord Harald Witmere brought them under one administration, and founded the first cannon foundry in Edury; he did this because while copper from Galvia was typically imported by sea, giving the League the advantage of logistics, the route from the Galvian mines, to the ports of Renesia, up and around the Ecoraland peninsula, made the process expensive and slow. Lord Witmere controlled tin mines, to the east of the Confederation, which was important in making bronze for cannons. Witmere could get copper overland, and while it was expensive, the very slightly cheaper copper that the League had access to was useless for cannons without the supply of tin. Lord Witmere centralized the production of artillery, as it was the only way he could get the edge on the League.

The armored cavalry of the Confederation was also superior to that of the League, but the bowmen to the north, when combined with armored infantry, could easily outclass the knight mercenaries of the south. Witmere ensured that his army wouldn't have a pitched battle in terrain which favored the footmen, taking pains to ensure his cavalry had the ability to maneuver and charge down infantry positions. This is part of the reason the war lasted 11 years; Witmere was accused by his fellow noblemen of delaying decisive action.

After 11 years, though, the disorganization of the administration of the League lead to their collapse. After the Battle of Tremden, the last serious army in the north was swept away. Forwielder Harald Witmere then took several more years to go from province to province, shire to shire, city to city, quashing rebellions and bringing the north into the fold. Changes in the former territory of the League wouldn't be swift, but they would be noticeable. Firstly, in cities where noblemen and commoners sat together for governance, the single body would be split in two, with the noble's assembly receiving higher status. Secondly, land which was not organize in Feudal tenure was reorganized into Grants and Wapentakes. The share of land controlled by the nobility grew exponentially. Other properties, such as companies, ships, etc., underwent a similar fate. Those who were convicted of resisting the Confederation had said property confiscated, and it was given to nobility; Forwielder Witmere was smart enough, however, to ensure it was local nobility, whose loyalties had switched to the confederation.

However, these changes were not one-way. Guilds became much more numerous and prominent in the south, as tradesmen now had access to articles of trade imported via the north. Their influence would begin to permeate the cities and provinces of the south, much as in the north. Furthermore, reforms to the nobility were also undertaken; partly due to the concerning number of heirs and noble sons who had been killed in the war, and partly to mollify the nobility of the north and bring them into the fold, Forwielder Witmere lead efforts to pass legislation making all cities nobility co-equal with each other. Before this, cities maintained their own 'Golden Books'; the rolls of who was officially nobility within that city. The laws passed after 1315 made it so that all the nobility of every region was acceptable within every other region- that is to say, if you were in the Golden Book for one town, and traveled to another, the other city would have to treat you as their own nobility. Eventually, while not undertaken yet, there would be compiled one register of nobility in the entire country.

However, to further enclose their class, another part of that reform would be to change how nobility was inherited. Before, in most places, so long as one parent was a noble, any children they had (within wedlock) would be nobility. However, after this, for a child to be admitted to the rolls of the aristocracy, both parents had to be noble, and married. This closed off being a noble for good, for the remainder of the population. No more could one marry into the nobility; but you could marry out of it.

Most importantly, though, the last reform would be an accidental one. Lord Witmere would die before the end of this period of forced integration. The Senate wouldn't appoint another Forwielder immediately, however, upon a minor rebellion in what is now Stanshur, they would appoint Lord Arald Hemder as Forwielder. Despite the ease of which the rebellion was crushed, Forwielder Hemder would not give up his power at the end of it. Upon the defeat of the abortive rebellion, he would return to Eduvesting, purchase a large, stately home in the rich district, and conduct his affairs from there. In time, a sort of court was set up, and Forwielder Hemder would rule as Forwielder until his death, becoming the first lifetime holder of the office. His heirs would sell the palace in Eduvesting- the Richhouse- to the successor of Hemder, elected a year after his death.

Early Modern Era
From 1400 onward, the familiar form of the Eduran state would begin to coalesce. With the Forwielder transforming to a permanent, lifetime position, Edury's executive would entrench itself into power. Ruling from the Richhouse in central Edury, the Forwielder would invite prominent noblemen from across the country to visit him, and would ask these people to advise him on certain issues. Initially, these nobility would stay in the city, often at others homes (or buying a home themselves.) Soon, the most influential guests of the Forwielder would stay with the executive himself. With this court, successive Forwielders would begin to conflict with the Senate as to the authority which the executive had. Before the Last War, all authority was held by the Senate, and they were loath to give it up. Forwielder Englebert Bosworth, for example, in 1456 propose that the Senate delegate him with the authority to bring criminal charges against those accused of crimes against the federal body. Later, in 1472, his successor, Forwielder Colwick, would similarly ask for the ability to make appointments to judicial committees, from the body of the Senate. Both would get their desires, and through the ages, this power would go from an authority delegated to the Forwielder, to an assumed right of the executive.

Amongst all these minor policy decisions, there were three major episodes that would establish the basic constitution of the Confederal era of Edury. The first was the Grand Redistricting (Great Shiredrawing) which started in 1498. Next would be the Brooble War in 1512, and then the Third Thing.

Grand Redistricting
Forwielder Herbert Humber was elected in 1487, at the age of 41. His family had been leading members of the Senate for some time, with the leaders of House Humber living in Eduvesting permanently,

Eduran Revolution
The Eduran Revolution had numerous causes, starting with wet periods and famines in the 1770's-1800. Compounded by man-made disasters in 1799, a riotous crowd started as a food riot, but soon sacked the guard house of Godenhaven. What would then follow was a conglomeration of the craftsmen, petit mercantile, and peasant estates who organized themselves into the first Assembly, overthrew the standard order and stripped the Senate and Forwielder of their power.

Government
The government is a de facto federal parliamentary presidential republic. Aside from the Forwielder, the government resides in Godenhaven, meeting in the Palace of the Republic.

Forwielder
The Forwielder was originally the executive of the old Eduran Confederation, who was in charge of the military and officiating the laws made by the Senate, and defending the independence of the confederate member-states. In the 1500s-1600s, they were often the principal actors of the Senatorial Wars, a series of civil wars and conflicts over the supremacy of the legislature, the Forwielder, and the states. The Forwielder in those days were elected for life.

Following the Eduran Revolution, the Forwielder has been an almost entirely symbolic figure, elected for ten year terms. Their principle job is to officiate ceremonies, of which the most important is investing the Lord-Magistrate and the Diet with authority. The Forwielder is the head of state today.

Lord-Magistrate
The Lord-Magistrate is the head of government, and is the chief executive of the country. They appoint the Cabinet, enforce the laws passed by the Diet, lead the coalition in the Assembly, and are point-man for the government and Cabinet. They also are able to sit as a member-at-large of the Assembly, although this is used very rarely, as the Lord-Magistrate also has veto power over laws passed by the Assembly.

The position of Lord-Magistrate was created after the Revolution of 1801, when the victorious revolutionaries agreed to neuter the Forwielder by giving it purely oversight powers, but needed a new executive. Taking inspiration from the chief parliamentarian of the Assemblies of many of the norther provinces, combining titles and prerogatives, they arrived at the Lord-Magistrate. Initially, the Lord-Magistrate was the presiding officer of the Assembly, but this was amended a few years after the Revolution to make the Speaker the presiding officer.

Cabinet
The Cabinet is the body of ministers appointed by the Lord-Magistrate. After a general election, the Magistrate does not require approval for appointments, but following the formation of a coalition and the investing of the new Diet, cabinet appointments require approval by the Assembly. The Cabinet is made up of Ministers, who head ministries. Each ministry is given an aspect of the running of the government, usually managing an important office or resource, or as a regulatory body. Ministers are responsible to the Lord-Magistrate, who can dismiss ministers at any time. They are referred to as "Minister of ___", which will match the title of their office, the "Ministry of ____". Some important ministers also have secondary or traditional titles, like the Minister of the Treasury (who's ministry is simply called the Treasury), also known as the Vaultmaster.

Diet
The Diet is the legislature of Edury, it's name taken from the legislature of Lathadu. The Diet, or Diet of the Commonwealth, is made up of two bodies; the Assembly, which passes laws, approves appointments, and some other things I'm thinking of, and the Senate, which approves laws passed by the Assembly.

The Diet meets in Godenhaven, in the Palace of the Republic. The Diet has its origins in the Revolution of 1801, where the victorious revolutionaries wanted the prior (and mostly informal) Assembly of the Estates to have primacy in the new government. The Assembly of the Estates was a body made up of internally elected portions of society (The nobility, the petite-merchantile, the commons and the peasants), based off the governing bodies of norther Eduran cities. Before the start of the revolution, they traditionally approved or voted against laws passed by the confederal Senate, however, this was traditional, not legal, and was often ignored. The revolutionaries, many of whom were members of the Estates, desired to flip this arrangement, and so they did.

Elections
The Assembly is elected in a mixed member proportional fashion. This means that citizens vote on two ballots; one for their local representatives, and a list of parties. Electoral constituencies are drawn on geographic or demographic basis's, and receive one representative per 200,000 people living in a constituency. Citizens may vote for as many people as there are open seats; in a constituency that elects 3 people, a person may fill in 3 names. The 3 highest voted candidates then each gain a seat. The partisan ballot has a list of all parties which are seeking election, and a voter may vote for one party. The party with the highest number of partisan votes appoints their leader as the Lord-Magistrate, and extra seats are apportioned to all the parties based on the percentage of votes they attained.

Powers and responsibilities
The Assembly is the chamber in which bills are introduced, debated, and voted on. They also provide oversight of the Lord-Magistrate, and through them, the Cabinet. Following the formation of a new government, they approve appointments made by the Magistrate. Bills are introduced in internal committees, rectified and approved by said committee, and then brought to the floor for general debate, and eventually, voting. Once bills have passed the Assembly, they then go to an appropriate member of Cabinet, who along with the Lord-Magistrate, signs the bill to be sent to the Senate.

Coalitions
As the method of elections means that it is almost impossible for any one party to control more than half of the Assembly, parties arrange themselves into coalitions. The parties who enter into a coalition typically make agreements on cabinet positions, which laws are not to be introduced, and etc., etc. The party which won the most seats (and therefor won the Magisterial seat) must form a governing coalition 90 days after an election. If the Lord-Magistrate fails to gain a coalition, then the Diet may vote to request the Forwielder to revoke the Lord-Magistrates power, triggering a snap election.

Senate
The Senate is mostly symbolic, and only has the power to approve legislation passed by the Assembly. If a law is rejected by the Senate, it is sent back to the Assembly for debate, amending, and re-voting.

Foreign relations
Edury's oldest ally is the Ta’arohan Republic. The relationship started as a series trading agreements between various pre-unification states, particularly the Duchy of Arandu. Due to these relationships, much culture was shared between the two peoples, including fashion, cuisine, architecture, and music. Edury today is one of the largest importers of Yerba Mate from Ta'aroha. Following the Revolution, and the unification of Ta'aroha under the Minister-Chancellor Kauane, relations increased and the Commonwealth supplied Kauane with ships-of-the-line, later with ironclads. Relations were put under strain by the interference of the Riyatic Empire and their hegemony over the area. It was revealed that the successors of Kauane and the Lord-Magistrates of Edury had a secret agreement, where Edury would provide naval aid and subsidies, and should Riyata ever be conquered, the iron ore and coal within would be mined by Edury, who coveted the minerals in the industrial revolution. Relations would be strained in the 20th century, as Ta'aroha moved from republic to military dictatorship. The two states maintained relations, but many public servants and diplomats came out to publicly denounce the military leaders and demand that the army relinquish what power they maintain in the government of the nation. In the present day, Edury remains an ally of Ta'aroha, maintaining an embassy and consulates with their partner.

Since the Revolution, most governments of Edury are loath to supply aide or warm relations with monarchial or non-republican states, although this is more of a guideline rather than a rule; for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, most governments would be willing to provide military advisors and subsidies in return for control of coveted resources, such as iron, coal, copper, and timber. In the 21st century, with the collapse of the Eduran industrial corps, demand for these resources has lessened somewhat, and governments of Edury are much less likely to provide aide or subsidies to non-Republican states.

Economy
The railway system in Edury is the oldest network in the world.

Demographics
Stroomism is the dominant Religion in Edury, specifically the ritualistic and civically practiced variety. Edurans are the largest ethnic group in the country, although there is a sizeable minority of the Jõõrũ people along the eastern border with Gladomyr.

Culture
Eduran literature includes the Mathematically Democratic, also known as the Kaasboer Equation, by Antony Kaasboer.

Ñembo is a restaurant founded in Edury.

Eduran food commonly revolves around cereal grains, most popular being wheat. There are more than 350 types of bread recognized by the Bakers Guild, and regulations on what is legally allowed to be marketed as bread are numerous and extremely specific. Proteins in food typically come from meat, most often chicken, goose, or goat. Beef is a popular dinner, but is not routinely among the best selling meats due to cost, and eating beef has a complicated relationship with Eduran culture. Historically, the grazing of animals such as meat-cows and pigs was a point of consternation between peasants and their lords, as the meat from these animals would customarily only be eaten by the upper class despite grazing on common land. As such, despite remaining favored foods in Edury, they are usually eaten only on special occasions, and are not common menu items. Eggs are also very popular. As tradition, the bartender spitting in your beer is very good luck when traveling abroad. Alcohol is only subject to limited regulation, with package shops not being allowed to sell to those under the age of 15, unless they bring a signed paper from their parents.

There is a divide as to what is the most important meal of the day, with the Gardeners favoring dinner, but the Besteerers favoring lunch.

Festivals and holidays in Edury are typically either commemorations of important historical events, or holdovers from its more religious past. Holidays are defined in law, with who gets those days off being an important point of contention. By law, restaurants and other recreational businesses are allowed to be open on holidays that have been celebrated ‘since time immemorial’ (i.e., generally religious holidays) but are mandated to be closed on holidays added to law after 1804. All other institutions/jobs, save for those necessary in emergencies, are required by law to be closed to give their workers the holiday off. In all, there are 37 holidays on the Eduran legal calendar, not including province-specific ones.

Culture Factions (rename later)
In modern day Edury, there are two primary subcultural groups within Eduran culture overall. The Gardeners, being the older ones, are descended from the followers of the first Blue-shade Lord-Magistrate of Edury, Barend de Boer. Named for their urban gardens and their idealization of the supposed agrarian past of Edury, they are not the descendents of farm workers, but arose as a response to the concerns of industrial-aged workers.

The Besteerers, or ‘chauffeurs’ in WikiSpeach, were given their name as a derision for the automobiles they drove. Arising in the 1920’s-40’s, they are the descendants of middle-class clerks, managers, as well as lower-class non-industrial workers (i.e., retail, servants, etc.)

Put a link to the eduran cultural iceberg here later