Edury

Edury, officially known as the Grand Commonwealth of Edury, is a state in the north eastern corner of Altrua. Located on the northern 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 30 million people, an occupies a space of around 380,000 Km2. It's 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. Almost the entire nation, except the province of Penninsulaplace and the southwestern corner of the country, 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, as well as the VERWVRW peninsula. A moderate colonial empire was established, which persisted until [time]. in the early 1800's, the Revolution of 1799 overthrew the status quo, reducing the Senate to an upper house with very little power, and replaced the elected near-monarchial Daar with the Lord-Magistrate, and turned the Assembly of the Estates into the powerful lower house of the Diet.

Edury is a parliamentary republic, with the Lord-Magistrate being directly elected by the people but subject to parliamentary confidence. It is nominally a unitary state, but with many powers devolved to its provincial governments, it is in effect a semi-federal nation. The state is run under the Constitution of VRWRGEB, which lays 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, Edurijk, means "Realm of the Edu river".

Early History
Unlike other countries, humanity did not exist in Edury since neolithic times.

Confederation Era
The early confederation of Edury evolved from several agreements, alliances, and other word for the same thing between the central states on the foothills of the Penguinne mountains and in the central Edu river valley. The earliest entity that could be called an early form of the confederation was the first meeting of the Senate, although they did not call it that in those days. At the time, it was simply a committee of representatives of four central Eduran cities and states, of which were governed by the Aykist church. Eventually, this committee became permanent, and transferred into being a legislative body to deal with issues governing the shared realms of these states.

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

The Daar
The Daar 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 Daar, and the states. The Daar in those days were elected for life.

Following the Revolution of 1801, which began in 1799, the Daar has been an almost entirely symbolic figure, elected for ten year terms. Their principle job is the officiation of ceremonies, of which the most important is investing the Lord-Magistrate and the Diet with authority. The Daar is the head of state today.

The 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 Daar 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.

The 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.