Sevealia

Sevealia is a country located along the eastern coast of the continent. It shares land borders with Cieclya via the Mountains of Dawn in the north. In the south it borders on Miredrius, and west of the with Etelassa. Along the western border lies the Sea of Nice, which leads into Werissa. The majority of Sevealia is made up of the Desert of Shadows, with only the fringes of the country being made up of any inhabitable terrain. Despite this many small communities have developed within the desert, catering to the trade caravans that make their way across the desert, as well as the adventurers who seek to plunder the ruins of the desert.

Politics
Sevealia is a communist state. The head of state is the Premier, who's job is to ensure that the wealth of the people is divided up evenly among every man. In service to this goal he employs a number of Directors, who oversee a community, and inform the Premier of how much each community has produced, and what they are in need of. The Premier then organizes for each community to send the relevant supplies to the other communities. Below each Director is a number of Supervisors, who's job it is to retrieve and deliver the supplies that are required. By this system every community regularly has all the supplies that it needs, and it's people are well provided for, though the system is at times inefficient, and so production typically happens in very large amounts to account for the goods lost in transit.

Social Classes and Gender Roles
Due to the communist nature of Sevealia, neither social classes nor gender roles are outrageously pronounced, with almost all members of society existing as equals, and men and women both equally able to work. Despite this, some cultural shards remain from the time before communism, which are still seen today. The first is the notion of first among equals, originally a military distinction given to the champions, the notion slowly crept into Sevealian culture, until it became naturally assumed that those serving in the military were to take first share. This ideal slowly was perverted, such that the order now exists with the civil servants taking the first share, the military taking the second share, and those that remain taking the third share. By the notion of all men and women standing as equals, all shares are the same, and neither civil servants nor military personnel are capable of taking more than they are entitled to. They do however take the nicest of goods, leaving the lower quality goods for those that remain.

While it is believed that every man and woman of the state must do their part, it is believed that the part of men is greater. As such, it is not uncommon for women to be excused from employment to keep the house, care for the children, and work a simple craft. No woman who stays home is excused from production entirely, and many work as tailors, weavers or cooks. In doing so they are capable of tending the house and ensuring the care of the children, while still adding to the community. Such women are paid the same as a woman who works, though are placed the lowest on the pecking order, taking only the final share. Despite that being the case, many are allowed first pick of their own creations, and so they typically spend their money re-purchasing their creations, and putting the rest aside for merchants, while the husband purchases the food and other essentials.

Races
The majority of Sevealians are humans, making up a strong 90% of the population. They exact origin of these humans varies, however most are of darker skin, with skin colour turning darker the closer they move to the desert. The remaining 10% of the population is split between elves who were passing through and decided to stay and half-elves, typically the children of these elves who have chosen to stay. The other races largely elect to avoid Sevealia, as the climate and culture disagrees with them.

Economy
The primary coin of Sevealia is the Silver Nugget. The Nugget is a tiny coin, and thus is valued at 50 Nuggets to one Gold Plain. This value fluctuates regularly, typically between 45 and 55 Nuggets to the Plain. This makes the Silver Nugget the second least valuable coin in the world.

The economy of Sevealia is built on the premise that every citizen is an employee of the state, however is otherwise free to spend their money as they please. As such all the goods produced are the property of the state, and are sold back to citizens in carefully measured shares, ensuring that everyone is given enough, and that there is enough leftover to account for waste. The production of Sevealia is focused around quantity over quality, and as such there is generally always some spare goods at the end of production. These spare goods are shipped around the country to make up for shortages. If no shortage is present then the goods are sold to the merchants who come to Sevealia looking to sell their more luxurious items, and return with staple goods slightly cheaper than usual. The people of Sevealia typically save up money to purchase the luxuries the merchants bring, whatever they may be. Additionally, many merchants deal with Supervisors, Directors, or even the Premier himself, to purchase excess goods before they hit the market, and sell their luxuries to the men most capable of purchasing them.

Organisation
The military of Sevealia follows the same principle of quantity over quality that their production does. As such every man and woman is expected to drill for one day a week in case of war. In times of war these drills increase to twice per week, and drafts are held to conscript an army to defend the country, or attack their rival, as the case may be. The size of the army varies from war to war, with a rule of thumb being to conscript double the number of men in the army they intend to fight. On top of this militia, Sevealia maintains a small military force. The military force is made up of orphans who would otherwise have not been able to support themselves. They are recruited into the military and spend their lives training in preparation for the combat they will see. This makes them among the most skilled, and fearsome, fighters in the world.