Kironia

Kironia, officially The Free Governorates of Kironia, Northern Lokhov and Raumo, is a sovereign state in eastern Artemia

Ancient History
Deitic Woodslore

Medieval History
Construction of the 8th century Citadel of Nurmes, by the Gardic warlord Harald Rauðurfót. The region was occupied by a variety of peoples and neo-states, belonging to Gardic settlers and expansionists, various and Lokhovy native kingdoms or chiefdoms, and a range of smaller ethnic and cultural nations.

Emergence of the Kironians
The introduction and conversion of much of the populace of Lokhov to christianity in the 12th and 13th centuries led to the rise of several opportunistic tribes of Kieli peoples, known as the Kironians, to ensnare and hire groups of Gardic warriors and raiders, and foreign crusader-missionaries, into their service, with the mixed purposes of carving out their own kingdoms and also to Christianize the remaining native peoples. The end of this period was denoted by the creation of several Kironian kingdoms, ruled by the Kironian tribes, and made up of mixed Kieli, Lokhovy and Gardic peoples, who had been Christianized. This period is also sometimes called the Kironian Crusades, as for the concept of Kironian tribes converting early, and soliciting foreign resources, missionaries and soldiers under the pretense of Christianizing the rest of Lokhov, but in reality, having this Christianization be only the side-effect of their kingdom building. Kironian Christian Kingdoms

Nurmes Union
Nurmes Union

Council at Shetya
a meeting of the Kironian nobility in 1489, in the town of Shetya, to found the new nation, a union of the various principalities, baronies and earldoms of the Kironian nobles. Was ratified by all present, and the new state was founded, named for the city that would be recognized as the capital of this new nation, Nurmes. The Nurmes Union. This required the construction of the 3rd Citadel of Nurmes, intended to house the High King, the treasury of the Union and the strong point of the entire nation. Was constructed using repurposed bricks from the 2nd Citadel of Nurmes, and constructed over the former site of the 8th century 1st Citadel of Nurmes.

Peremorovkan Rule
Peremorovka

Gardic Rule
In 1759, Kironia was invaded by Gardarike, and the "Útrásin mikla" (Gardic: Great Expansion), also called the Third Northern War, was finished in 1761, with the Kironian nobility submitting to the Gardic state, and being joined into Gardarike, allowed to retain their home rule, under the watchful gaze of a series of Viceroys. At this time, Kironia was broken up into four major states, to be administered each by a Gardic Vice-Regent, who would in turn rule the existing Kironian nobles.

Counter-Republicanism Laws
In 1927, in an effort to counter any ideas of a Republican revolution in Kironia, similar to the one occuring in Yarova, the government of Kironia issued a sweeping economic and social reform policy, to pacify the populace.

The terms of the Counter-Republican Laws were as follows:
 * The divestment of 80% of land owned by the Nobility into a variety of privately and publicly owned and managed trusts, outside of the control of the Nobility
 * The forbidding of members of the Nobility from owning businesses outside of the fields of: gambling, sports, liquor and financial investments*
 * -Financial investing was seen as a basic right of all citizens, regardless of class, so the Nobility were not excluded from that
 * Nobles are permitted to invest in companies, but no business (outside of the permitted industries) may have more than 35% ownership by members of the Nobility, with the exception of investment firms, merchant banks and hedge funds
 * The Nobility are not entitled to any publicly collected funds, through government taxation, with the exception of an allowance made for the acquistion of personal security agents
 * The Nobility are exempt from all limitations on control of slug-firing firearms, and so are their security groups. However all are still required to pass the appropriate mental health checks

Blomfeld Group
From 1946 to 1967, the Blomfeld Group, a coalition of noble families, controlled the Governorship and the Judiciary. They had built their influence and power in the government with their prominent role in the drafting of the Counter-Republicanism Laws in 1927, and had continued to amass influence, until they were able to oust the Quakers from the leadership. They percieved a global Jewish-Republicanist threat as having taken power of Yarova and many of the other members of the League of Free Nations, and to have manipulated the Authoritarian powers as well during the Grand Campaigns. They saw the pre-communist Teutonenland and Austrasien as being the only powers not under the Jewish-Republicanistic influence and therefore as soon as Yarova fell to the Republicans, they coerced the Kironian government into changing sides to Teutonenland and Austrasien.

The major noble families involved in the Blomfeld Group were: -
 * Blomfeld family (led by Eirich and Birgir Blomfeld)(Marten, Magdaleena and Gottfried Blomfeld were also prominent)
 * Trokhov family (led by Dirch Trokhov (grandfather of Feliks Trokhov, current Governor))‡
 * Suumats family (led by Marya Suumats)‡
 * Pilä family (led by Mathild Pilä)
 * Larssen family (led by Gunnar Larssen, born 1917)
 * Anderssen family
 * Vanger family (led by Nils Vanger)
 * Oronsson family

‡The Trokhov and Suumats families are no longer part of the Blomfeld Group, having left it in 1966 and 1967 respectively

After taking power in 1946 they engaged in a sweeping campaign of reforms to eliminate any potential Jewish or Republican threats to their government, holding many anti-semitic rallies and radio broadcasts condemning the global conspiracy. Under the Blomfeld group, 1,200 jews were arrested and deported from Kironia, 46 were hanged on charges of conspiracy, and 2,600 people were arrested on charges of Republican conspiracy. (In 1988, the Kironian Government issued a formal apology and posthumous pardons to all who were affected or killed by the Blomfeld Group's actions). The Blomfeld Group was widely regarded as one of the most powerful anti-semitic organisations to have existed in recent history.

The Blomfeld Group still exist today as Blomfeld-Larssen OU, a privately managed business oversight company, with connections to both the Nobility and to a number of petro-chemical and hydrological surveryance companies. It is not openly anti-semitic, but it provides a large amount of dontations to Church affiliated organisations and to organisations that have some connections to anti-semitism. It has been formally banned from politics and donating to political causes. Gunnar Larssen is the current CEO, aged 101, the only leading member of the original Blomfeld Group still alive. His granddaughter Denise, runs most of the day to day operations with her husbaned, Lars Blomfeld, the current Chairman of the organisation.

Geography
Most of the population centres are located on the Húna Gulf (Gardic: Cub), along the region known as the Kironian Coast, that are opposite to the north-eastern coast of Gardarike. Fjords in the north, fucktonnes of forests the nation over, most of the population in the southern half though, 90% live level with or south of Raumo.

The Three Pillars of Society
Kironia is ruled by a, combining elements of a under the Council of Nobles, a  under the Military Board, and a  under the System of Ministries. They collectively oversee the taxation and international policy of the nation, with each element governing their respective area. The allocation of the collected taxation is then divided amongst the three elements according to neccessity and policy.

Council of Nobles
Formed from the best suited of a political faction within the Kironian Nobility, known as the True Nobility. This facion is only capable of being joined at the approved invitation of an existing member. Basically considered the political wing of the main body of the Nobility, as they are the only members of the Nobility permitted to actually participate in the running of the country. They hold regular elections for membership to the various bodies within the faction and to the main Council itself, with members of different noble heritage and prestige having votes worth more or less, providing for unequal voting parity. The full faction elect members of the Council of Nobles, who then elect from their own membership a person to the title of Governor, who acts as the Head of State.

The incumbent Governor is Prince Feliks Janek Trokhov, who has been the reigning Governor since 2001, and a member of the Council since 1988. He is widely popular for his youthful energy compared to past Governors, and for his active and appealling public persona.

System of Ministries
Headed by the Minister of Justice, who also heads the Ministerial Council, which oversees the full body of governmental ministries.
 * Judiciary - the justice department, the courts, the police, lawmaking
 * Foreign Affairs
 * Economy - Agriculture, Industry, Employment, Infrastructure and Finances
 * Environment
 * Health and Public Administration

Military Board
The Military Board is the lead decision making body of the military, it is serviced by the Military Over Command, who in turn direct, instruct and oversee the active branches of the military.

Organised Crime
Organised crime is rampant in Kironia, with most organised crime groups being identified as Camorra-type mafia groups. They are highly developed, often with connections deep into the Government. Many nobles are connected to organised crime, as after the Counter-Republicanism Laws reduced them to only being allowed to profit on gambling, finance, liquor and old-money companies. Bearing in the mind the capabilities of gambling and financial industries for money laundering, financial fraud and manipulation, the nobility eventually ended up heavily involved and swelling the power and size of the Camorra groups.

In addition to the laws providing for the bodyguards of the Nobility to openly carry combat weaponry, in "protection of their employers", allows for visible threats of power and muscle. Including the personal finances, international clout, government connections and facade of legitimacy, meant that the Camorra's could achieve much more power.

The Camorra's make most of their profit from things like; gambling (legal and illegal), financial crime, protection racketeering, computer crime, contract killing, drug smuggling (mainly cocaine and heroin from SiWallqanqa), human trafficking (mainly immigrant and Thuyi youths), extortion and robbery, operation of bars (watering down drinks, profiteering, prostitution) and movie piracy. They also operate many dubiously legal operations such as non-regulation waste management, operation of non-regulation tattoo parlours and unlawful fishing.

The Camorra are also known for their dress codes of career members, typically expensive suits and accessories, high-quality firearms, hair and beard rules and an abundance of tattoos. For example, the Käbin Camorra, one of the more powerful groups, have a strict and professional dress code, all male and female career members will wear neat darker coloured Hev & Lotte tailored suits, with silver wristwatches. Men must have their beards grown and neatly trimmed, and wear ties. While women will not wear ties and must have their hair in a high neat bun, with silver earrings and brown leather Bebe Toksvi gloves. Tattoos are common, if not expected, amongst all members regardless of gender. The Käbin Camorra career members enjoy their reputation as high class criminals, as they have earned their fearsome and regal reputation.

Due to the myriad of connections with the Nobility and members of the Judiciary, Police force, military and pretty much every level of government; law enforcement can do relatively little to stop the Camorra, and they delight in displays of power. As such an informal ruling has emerged, that law enforcement will ignore most of the Camorra's activity, so long as they keep the violence in-house and do not harm innocents.

Foreign and youth criminal organisations are practically non-existent in Kironia, thanks to the efforts of the Camorra groups to stamp out opposition, the mere threat of retaliation from the Camorra is enough to deter youths from potentially forming street gangs.

February 2017 Data Leaks
In late 2017, 2nd Lieutenant Mildred Östa, a data analyst of Kironian Domestic Intelligence was revealed as the source of the February 2017 Kironian Data Leaks, from the Hostleaks website. She fled to the SiWallqanqan embassy in Hedestad at the advice of Dr Roan Fields, the CEO of Hostleaks, to avoid arrest by the Kironian police. The 20,000 classified documents revealed such things as: illegal Kironian business practices, government and military corruption, connections to organised crime, Kironian hacking into Gardarike, Thuyiquakliq, Yarova and other League of Free Nations members, unethical Kironian domestic hacking, details regarding a suite of Kironian malicious hacking tools, illegal activities of the Kironian military (including the Compound Q9 video) and details regarding Kironian and Concordant operated black sites in Kironia. In addition to information regarding illegal and unethical acitivites of the Northern Coregnancy, specifically falsified fisheries reports detailing cover-ups of overfishing in the Bolungar Gulf.

Defence
The defence of Kironia is overseen by the Military Board, which is headed by the Lord Marshal, currently General Johannes Dennis Aleksy. The Military Board functions as the leader of the Military Over Command (Lokhovyet: Sõjaväe Ülemjuhatus) which is the command body of the unified Kironian military forces.

Coast Guard
The naval and naval aviation group, operates coastal defence, ocean patrols, naval aviation and shoreline aviation. Use a number of watercraft, the main power of the Coast Guard being 8 multi-role frigates and ~10 Ares Gryphon fighter-bombers. It is also known historically, only ceremonially in modern times, as the Naval Forces of the Kironian Estates.
 * Coast Guard Aviation - the aviation department of the Coast Guard
 * Marine Special Forces - the special forces division of the Coast Guard, naval infantry special forces

Army
The main land force of the military, and the largest branch, explicitly intended to serve as a defence force for Kironia proper, or for conflicts in the immediate region.
 * Army Aviation - the aviation department of the Army
 * - Experimental Aviation - the aviation research and development division, under the control of Army Aviation
 * Armoured/Motorized Cavalry
 * - Artillery
 * Special Forces

Expeditionary Forces
The expeditionary force of Kironia, capable of combat in a variety of climates and ready to travel the world over to participate in peace-keeping operations. With notable service in the recent SiWallqanqan Civil War
 * Aviation
 * Armoured/Motorized Cavalry (with an artillery sub-division following the command structure of the army)
 * Special Forces
 * Auxillary Services (a variety of needed auxillary services for the expeditionary forces, two major subdivisions: Medical Services and the Engineering Corps)

Intelligence and Information Services

 * Foreign Intelligence
 * Internal Affairs
 * Domestic Intelligence
 * Signals Intelligence
 * - Geospatial and Satellite Intelligence

Financial Department
While not technically an armed branch of the military, all employees of the Financial Department have completed basic firearms instruction and are expected to meet fitness requirements, but the primary function of the Financial Department is the management of the finances of the military, ensuring life insurance and wages are provided for all soldiers, that budgetary measures are accounted for and equipment purchased and upkeep costs kept. There were around 200 members as of 2016, the smallest branch of the military.

the specific special forces units so far:
 * the Wide Range Communications Unit, are the elite special forces unit of the KEF, a scouting and reconnaisance group, with training in sniping, observation, sabotage and communications.
 * the MBK unit (must beretiüksus = black beret unit) also called the "Black Berets", wear their distinctive black beret as non-combat headwear. Trained in CQB, counter-terrorism, combat, surveillance, field interrogation, advanced gunfighting, security detailing, tech-assisted warfare, explosives/demolitions. Each member is given a black combat knife and beret upon completing the entrance exam. Black and gray, digital pattern camo is their typical fatigues
 * the KS unit (kartke sööjaid = fear eaters), white winter camo, hoods and masks. Trained in winter/snow combat, wilderness survival, long range combat and communications, Utilize their signature frequency jammers, to cut off targets from outside help or transmit eerie sounds as PsyOps. Sometimes jokingly called the "White Berets" comparing their snow fatigues to the Black Berets, but they do not actually wear berets of any kind.

Cities


Kironia has a relatively small and urbanised population, with aroudn 70% of the population living in towns or cities, mainly focused around the southern half of the country. 90% of the population live to the south of Raumo.

Religion
Only 35% of the population regularly attend religious ceremonies. Over 50% of the population have identified themselves as aetheist, agnostic or non-religious.

Of those who consider themselves religious, around 65% are Christian, with forming the majority of them, the remainder following Gardic Orthodoxy or Protestantism. Around 20% identify as following the pre-Christian native faith of Deitic Woodslore. 8% identify as Muslim, 3% identify as Jewish, and of the remaining 4%, are divided amongst "other Abrahamic faiths", buddhism, confucianism or other.

Several of the pre-Christian religious festivals are still celebrated, although most are thoroughly secularized.
 * The Summer and Winter Solstice holidays are still widely popular, with shared meals, celebrations, fireworks and drinking popular.
 * The Suvefestival (Lokhovyet: Summer Festival) is still practiced almost nationwide, although the traditional goat sacrifice only occurs in some very traditional regions. However it is still a popular holiday for drinking alcohol and eating hearty foods, especially foods containing blood, such as, (a type of potato dumpling mixed with blood),  (a flavoured soup made with blood) and.
 * The Day of Black Ash is probably the largest native holiday celebrated in Kironia, marked by larges parades or people and music, wearing black clothes and white masks (originally made from carved bones, now plastic or paper). It is commonly called a Black Parade, with thousands of people turning up for the main parade of marching bands, music, people, floats and food. Drinking is also widespread and enjoyed alongside the various foods. The Christian monks and the Woodwoses of the native religion, will practice the ritual shaving of their eyebrows, in addition to male Woodwoses shaving their heads and some female Woodwoses doing so as well. Both the Christians and the Woses would then rub blessed black wood ash on their faces and heads.

Notes to cleanup
Gardarike was Orthodox, Kironia was Trinitarian, religious war, as Gardarike fears influence of Nurmes Union (compared to the minor threat of the Kingdoms), -fear they encroach on Gardic Orthodoxy, Gardic success with Trinitarianism supplanted by Protestantism and Orthodoxy, Peremorovkan Hetmanate replaces Prot&Orth with Peremorovkan Orthodox?, Freedrom from Peremorovka led to rapid return to Gardic Orthodox and Protestantism, Gardarike conquers Kironia, made easier by the Orthodoxy and Protestant returns, Until eventual independence war, when the Quakers become wildly popular, with Gardic Orthodox and Protestant becoming minorities

Flags of Kironia