Hellslayer
| Hellslayer | |
|---|---|
| Avaris | |
| |
| Flag of Hellslayer | |
| Motto: "Ex flamma, surgimus" | |
| ("From the flames, we rise") | |
| Capital | Inferneum |
| Alliances | LOPN OKN |
| Official languages | Halus Ayerian |
| Demonym(s) | Halus Ayerian/Demonic |
| Government | Oligarchy |
| Grand Architect | Balthazar Sturm |
| Legislature | Council of Flames |
| Population | 40 million (estimated) |
| Currency | Sol |
| Driving side | Left |
| Open on NationStates | |
Hellslayer, officially the State of Hellslayer, is a country on the east coast of South Usea. It is bordered in the north by Khoumariya, in the south-west by Qurar, and the Gulf of Hellslayer in the south. The nation has an total area of approximately 310 000 km² (119700 sq mi). It has a population of 30.2 million, almost half of which live within the Greater Inferneum district, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Other major cities include Ancead, Obisia, and Selecon.
Human activity in Hellslayer dates back at least 13 000 years, though some scholars suggest that migration to the region occurred significantly earlier. Considered a cradle of civilisation, the north of the country was home to several advanced civilisations, including the Habor-Nergal, the Keres culture, and the Asconean Empire. Ridnezite colonisation defeated the dominant Asconean Empire, establishing the colony of Halus Ayer. Hellslayer became a major landing point for further inwards colonisation of South Usea, as well as a key centre of trade and commerce for Ridnezite merchants. The 1923 War of Halus Ayerian Independence ended Ridnezite rule and led to the creation of the Halus Ayerian Republic. However, the second half of the 20th century saw the long dictatorship of Thaal Seldi, whose stagnant government and use of foreign troops to maintain control led to severe discontent among the people. In 1989, following the Fenix power plant incident, in which well-known physicist and polymath Jax Arcanic caused an explosion that led to dramatic changes in the physiology of the population of large parts of the country, the nation fell into conflict, variously called the Halus Ayerian Civil War, Third Civil War, or Arcanicist Revolution. The ensuing change of government, which saw Jax Arcanic installed as the head of state, brought in rapid industrialisation and economic growth, though also exacerbated social and economic inequality. The government has remained stable since, in spite of the 2020 coup by general Balthazar Sturm, which deposed and executed Arcanic.
Hellslayer is a newly developed country with the third-largest economy in South Usea. It is considered a regional in South Usea and a middle power worldwide. The government has an officially atheist stance, and most of the country is atheist, though Dendrite Axonity and Zawasul both have sizeable followings. Hellslayer is a core member of the League of Prosperous Nations and the Organization of Kanten Nations.
Etymology
The name Hellslayer is a deliberate corruption of the name first given to it by Utopian traders and then later adopted by Ridnezite colonisers as the official name, Halus Ayer. The name roughly translates to "Yesterday's Land" in Utopian, and may have been used as a derogatory term due to the perception that the region was undeveloped and barbaric. The modern name of Hellslayer appears first in the Utopian maps of Marco Vittorio as Halous Ayre and later in the late 16th and 17th century as Halus Ayere.
Following the Halus Ayerian Civil War, Jax Arcanic sought to establish the new government as a new birth for the nation and so the "State of Hellslayer" was adopted as the new official name for the country. However, Halus Ayer and the derivative Halus Ayerian are still used in both an official and casual context globally.
History
Main article: History of Hellslayer
Ancient Hellslayer:
The earliest evidences of human settlement in Hellslayerian territory have been dated to 13 000 BRE, attributed to the Barbas culture in the north-east. Hellslayerian societies were built on agriculture, developing techniques such as irrigation to direct water from the rivers and snowmelts to farmland. Fishing is also considered a major source of food, and it has been suggested by some historians that there was a predominantly seafood diet. The degree of centralised authority is difficult to ascertain from the remains that they left behind, but the architectural patterns are indicative of an elite who wielded considerable authority and power. For instance, while some of the monuments appear to have been constructed incrementally over a long period of time, other buildings, such as the stone circle at Caal, seem to have been erected in just one or two intense construction phases, something that would have required a considerable degree of oversight and management. The oldest known complex society in Hellslayer, the Habor-Nergal civilisation, flourished in the northern plateau beneath the Tengrin mountains between 3500 and 1600 BRE. Following the collapse, several other archaeological cultures arose in the region and further east, nearer the coastline, such as the Mictus culture between 1000 and 200 BRE, and the Keres culture between approximately 250 BRE and 600 RE. Following the collapse of the Keres culture, Hellslayer entered a period known as the Second Dark Era, which saw a return to a hunter-gatherer, nomadic lifestyle.
In the 10th century RE, the Asconean Kingdom emerged as a powerful state which, in the following centuries expanded to incorporate much of Hellslayer. Comprehensive codes of law were introduced, as well as large public works and infrastructure. Authority was consolidated into a monarch and nobility. However, the lack of a named heir to the throne in 1107 led to the fracturing of the kingdom in the First Asconean Civil War. Following the conflict, Rolan I emerged victorious and set about restructuring the kingdom into the new Asconean Empire, declaring himself Divine Imperator. Taking a more militaristic stance on expansion, in the span of a century, the Asconean Empire had conquered the entirety of modern Hellslayer as well as territories in Khoumariya and Qurar.
Conquest and Colonial Period:
Lorn II, the last Divine Imperator of the Asconean Empire, ascended to the throne in 1703 aged just seven. Under the guidance of his uncle, he passed several deeply unpopular laws, leading to discontent in the empire. In September 1705, a party of Ridnezite colonists, supported by a militia of trained locals, seized the royal palace and claimed the land. The success in the new colony of Halus Ayer laid the foundations for further expeditions inland and the conquest of much of Talgerria. The last Asconean resistance was eventually quelled in 1710 with the eradication of a stronghold deep in the Tengrin mountains.
With the conquest came increases in trade, extraction of resources such as timber, iron, and precious metals, and the establishment of missionary schools, which taught the children of the native nobility the Solian dialect. The social structure of the empire was not greatly changed by the conquest; the Ridnezite government utilised the existing social fabric as a method to maintain control. Large areas of the colony were dedicated to Corpus Maris temples, building large and ornate gardens for which much of the fresh water was diverted. At the turn of the 19th century, a famine brought on by a severe drought and exacerbated by the Corpus Maris led to mass starvation and the loss of nearly a quarter of the indigenous population. Nonetheless, efforts towards equality across the empire were being pioneered in Ridnez as they underwent a Golden Age in philosophy, which brought about new laws that ensured greater protection for the native people.
Independence
With the introduction of greater protection and closer integration with the Ridnezites and their creole descendants, nationalist sentiment began to grow. Economic crisis and the loss of power of Ridnez in North Usea, as well as the desire for economic independence among naturalised Ridnezite colonists, led to a favourable climate for ideas of emancipation to spread. By 1923, unrest and reform in mainland Ridnez had led to the abolition of an absolute monarchy and the establishment of a constitutional state. This change spurred Vincha Torres in his campaign for freedom, leading the Halus Ayerian War of Independence. Sweeping through the north, Torres garnered strong support for his campaign, with troops flocking from across Qurar and Talgerria to his aid. By the summer of 1924, he had conquered the capital in Inferneum and the Governor was dead. Torres installed a new transitionary government, aimed at maintaining stability during the transition to democracy, though this government was not abolished until the Halus Ayerian Civil War.
This period was marked by a steadily declining economy, leading to hyperinflation, and the use of Roskayan mercenaries - veterans of the Great War - by Torres and his successors to maintain control. The GDP fell by nearly 40%, and national reserves were running a ten billion sol deficit. The economic turbulence and malcontent regarding the increasing number of Roskayan troops trickling into the country contributed to the rise of violent rural insurgency movements, which caused further destruction and hardship in the country.
In a desperate bid to regain popularity with the people, in 1984, the government, now headed by Meldin Olma, funded increasingly far-fetched projects in a hope one of them might yield results. One of these was a proposed free energy power plant on the edge of Inferneum, in Fenix, utilising an anomalous slab that had been investigated by renowned scientist Jax Arcanic. The following year, Arcanic, who had adopted deep transhumanist beliefs, subtly changed the design of the power plant, noting a similarity between the original concept and the structure of the human body. By 1988, it was complete, and President Olma unveiled the new free energy power plant. However, Arcanic's changes instead caused the emission of massive amounts of energy by the slab in just a few seconds, causing a massive explosion that doused the nation in esoteric particles. These particles caused a build-up of thermal radiation inside the bodies of millions of people, fundamentally changing them and leaving them with jagged, open scars across their bodies.
The Fenix power plant incident left a period of anarchy. Mass panic and uprisings caused widespread death and destruction. Many more people died from spontaneous combustion due to the uncontrolled build-up of thermal radiation inside them. Nonetheless, by late 1989, the country had been broadly divided into two main factions: the Arcanicists, largely comprised of transhumanists and those that supported Arcanic's actions, and the Loyalists, which mainly constituted the army and supporters of the old government. War broke out in September 1989, with Loyalists holding the western territories, including Inferneum, and Arcanicists being largely based in Ancead and the east. The Loyalists initially held the advantage, with access to better weapons, training, and the government coffers. However, this advantage shifted as many troops' pay was put on arrears and they became disillusioned with the cause and joined the Arcanicists. The Loyalists also suffered a blow two months into the war, in November 1989, when General Marshal Zanther Bain was assassinated by a dissident soldier. By January 1990, the Arcanicists held much of the country and were approaching the last Loyalist stronghold of Inferneum. Nonetheless, it wasn't until February of the following year that a surrender was at last offered in exchange for clemency and a new government under Arcanic was installed.
Arcanic and the Great Transformation
Under Arcanic, the country underwent dramatic changes. The transitionary government was abolished in exchange for a nominally technocratic state, with the establishment of Arcanic as the Grand Architect and a new Council of Flames. Arcanic also sought to stabilise the gutted economy by hiring Darius Arman from the Bank of Shah. Arman installed the "Sol Standard" in May 1991, bringing in a set of iron-fisted contractionary fiscal and monetary policies, which temporarily led to severe hardship for much of the Halus Ayerian population. Nevertheless, it succeeded in bringing the rampant inflation under control and boosted exports in the following years, enabling a considerable recovery.
Under the guidance of Arman, the economy underwent revitalisation, encouraging the expansion of family-run businesses into larger corporate groups. These were subsidised and supported by the government in order to trigger growth. These conglomerates are often still headed by family members and political and economic alliances were and are secured through marriages between groups. According to some estimates, the thirteen largest conglomerates were responsible for around 65% of the growth in the Halus Ayerian economy in the years after the Halus Ayerian Civil War and control up to three quarters of all trade within the nation.
In 2020, following conflict in Jocospor, a conspiracy formed among prominent members of the government. The plan involved using one of Arcanic's contacts, a police inspector by the name of Larus Malwin, to lure him to a secluded area where he would be disposed of by a high-ranking general, Balthazar Sturm. At the same time, other government officials loyal to Arcanic would be arrested, giving them full control over the government without starting another civil war. The assassination was successful, with Arcanic being shot multiple times by Sturm and his guards in a brief exchange. The Council of Flames was largely acquiescent to a change in leadership, with Sturm stepping in to fill the position of Grand Architect. The transition was smooth, though it soon became clear that Arcanic had primed a dead man's switch that rendered much of the country infertile. At the same time, Sturm curried favour with the leadership of Ridnez, including Hierarch Andreas Bombardone, by offering control of Arcanic's Project Nyx. In February 2024, Hellslayerian armed forces moved into neighbouring Qurar, quickly capturing much of the north-east, including the city of Hafarah.
