Wicaede

Wicaede is a country located in the mid-south of the continent. It shares land borders with Nydendald to the south west, and Roend to the north west. Between these two land borders lies the Tenebrous Sea. To the north lies Werissa, the border between the two countries largely blocked off by the Barrier Peaks, with only the eastern section of the border being traversable without the use of a mountain pass. To the east lies Etelassa, extending along the entire eastern land border, making it the largest border the nation shares. In the south east lies the three-way border between Roend, Etelassa and Qelama, via the Qelama Gate. The terrain of Wicade is varied, with the Northern Waste occupying the northern areas of Wicaede, just south of the Barrier Peaks. The nation is situated around the Citamba River, which runs down the middle of it. The terrain on either side varies from hilly woodlands on the eastern side to grasslands on the west.

Politics
Wicaede is a draconic republic, making it completely unique in the world as the only instance of this form of governance. It is comprised of three states that were united to improve security, and improve their economic stability. The three states each retain sizeable amounts of autonomy, allowed to dictate laws on a number of subjects, relating to trade, and the civil regulations. The head of state is the President, a large gold dragon. He works with a council of officials, four elected from each city. This council, with the addition of the President, settles matters that cover the entire nation, including the common law, and sweeping economic policy, as well as federal taxes. The council is re-elected every four years, however the President remains in office until both a vote by the council for an election is passed, and a competing candidate comes forward. Given the limitations of candidacy, that the candidate must be a dragon, there is a surprisingly large amount of willing candidates when the need arises. The last election for President was over two-hundred years ago, owing largely to the current Presidents very solid grasp on the market.

Social Classes
Wicaede is largely speaking broken into three social classes. The upper class, unlike it's neighbours, is not made up of nobles, but rather the highly successful merchants. Members of the upper class all run trading companies, and are seasoned veterans of their trade. The personal wealth of these men is considerable, but rarely on par with the lords of other nations. The wealth they command however, is immense, as their words see the moving of tens of thousands of gold coins each day. These men sometimes run for the council, though many of them deem their jobs with the trade company too important, and so leave the job of governance to lesser merchants.

The middle class is comprised of the land owners. These are the men and women who have, through inheritance or good practice, obtained a shop in a town, or perhaps a farm. This provides them with a reliable source of income, which allows them to settle into a stable life, however often stifles them from reaching to the heights of the upper class. Most of the middle class belongs to a Trade Company of some sort, filling the role of selling off the goods of the company that need to be sold to individual customers, or producing the crops, or other goods, that the company will sell in bulk. The advantage of being a member of a Trade Company for the middle class is they will always have a source of merchandise, or a buyer, and as such only have to worry about either the production of their goods, or managing of their store.

The lower class is comprised of the labourers who work for the landed middle class, as well as the travelling merchants. The labourers all fall into an easy stereotype, typically being only able to afford to look after themselves in the immediate term, with only a little bit of savings for the future. The travelling merchants however are more of a wild card. They typically belong to a trade company, providing the service of relaying information, as well as light goods, and paying a small commission. In return the travelling merchants are able to keep a credit balance with the trade companies, removing the need for them to carry too many coins, make use of the trade companies facilities, such as the trade houses, and have easy access to a variety of goods to purchase. The wealth of travelling merchants varies greatly, ranging from barely more than a labourer, to being well beyond the wealth of a land owner. Typically such merchants are on the path of joining the upper class, and are seeking the kinds of deals they could make to set themselves truly ahead of other merchants before they invest in land.

Races
The racial distribution of Wicaede is the most varied in the world. Elves make up the largest portion of the population, with about 30% of the population. Humans are the second most populous, comprising around 25%. Half-Elves are also fairly common, taking up around 15% of the population. This gives Wicaede the highest density of half-elf population in the entire world. Great Animals and Kehrno make up the remained of the population, both comprising around 15% each. Dwarf visitors are not unknown, but they comprise such a tiny portion of the population they are hardly worth mentioning.

Economics
The primary currency of Wicaede is the Silver Dragon. It is valued at exactly 10 dragons to one Gold Plain. While the Dragon is the official coin, every coin in the world is traded regularly in Wicaede, and it's money exchangers are among the best in the world.

Wicaede's production is highly varied, with the among the largest range of crops grown in the region of any other country. Wheat is it's primary crop, however many fruits and vegetables are grown alongside it. Additionally Wicaede has a large diversity of native animals, many of which are tamed, or hunted, for meat and skins. In the north there are iron mines with the barrier peaks, and in the west the forests are carefully cut down for lumber. The raw materials produced are largely kept within Wicaede, and used by the lower and middle class. The food products however are heavily exported, as are the furs from hunting. Wicaede is also one of the few nations that does not have a system by which people may enter slavery, but allows the trading of slaves. The live market of Wicaede is a unique feature of it, with slaves and animals also being very common purchases.

Organisation
The military of Wicaede is highly variable, and potentially unreliable. The president is one of the greatest military assets that Wicaede has, and he typically makes up the core of any standing army. Outside of the president Wicaede maintains very little in the way of a professional army, keeping only a moderately sized garrison for each city employed by the city. The garrison of each city also serves as the law enforcement for that city. As a result the garrison never sees action in the field. When an army needs to be sent out into the field it is usually comprised of one of the many mercenary units that can be found around Wicaede. Mercenaries naturally gather in Wicaede, due to reliance on them as part of their military, and as such when a war breaks out the country usually has the ability to raise a skilled army very quickly. Due to the mercenary nature of the army of Wicaede, it rarely carries a unified theme as other nations do, which serves as both an advantage and a disadvantage in battle.