Faction overview: Iberia
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Administration and politics
Royal court
Like neighboring nations, the Iberian monarchy adopted the imperial system of Sargon which evolved differently over the course of history.[1] Classical Iberia used to be solely ruled by a King (Rey) residing in the royal court. As seen by its founding kings, the Iberian royal court incorporated the Lateran faith into its regime by establishing a state church, the Church of Iberia, but the clerics of the Church served more than just religious leaders; they acted as middlemen between the commoners and the royal court and political mediators who could resolve regional conflicts between the nobles. They also took the job of diplomatic envoys to foreign nations when necessary.[2]
Similar to the neighboring Terran heartland nations, classical Iberia possesses a hierarchy of aristocrats (aristocracia) in the royal court, but these peerage ranks are no longer in effect after the Profound Silence that annihilated the entire royal court and later the establishment of the Inquisition that practices political equality of all social class. These peerages are:
- Prince/Principe
- Duke/Duque
- Marquess/Marqués
- Count/Conde
- Viscount/Vizconde
- Baron/Barón
- Lord/Señor
Inquisition
- Main article: Inquisition
Military
In the past, the Iberian military enhanced its maritime capability through their navy dubbed the "Grand Armada." Armed with Aegirian technologies brought by Breogan the royal engineer, its navy could even rival neighboring Victoria. On land, the Iberian troops are able to form a Tercio that could easily penetrate defense formations such as their storming into Leithanian soil.[3]
The national military of Iberia is composed of two systems: the Iberian Defensa and the Penal Battalion.
The Defensa
The Iberian Defensa (Defensa de Iberia) is the sole national defense of Iberia originating from town mercenary guilds of the classicals era. In the past, military officers and the aristocrats of the royal court hired these mercenaries on an organized basis, becoming well-trained soldiers thanks to the high commission prices. Before the Profound Silence, these mercenary guilds even spent money to build an entire fleet in order to train new sailors.[4]
After the Profound Silence, with the collapse of the royal court, the aristocrats could no longer maintain their military expenses, resulting in mass disbanding of mercenary guilds. Many of these former soldiers went AWOL and became bandits in the wilderness, while a handful of them marched northward in their once-dazzling uniforms to carry on their duties by guarding the nation's northern borders from foreign invaders and maintaining civil order in nomadic cities. By the time of the establishment of the Inquisition, these troops who remained loyal to their homeland were permitted to inherit the Defensa's name and continue to serve as border guards to this day.[5]
Penal Battalion
The Penal Battalion (Batallón Penal) is a military institution that directly responds to the Inquisition. Members of the Battalion are mainly composed of young soldiers born after the Profound Silence who never witnessed the Golden Age of Iberia. Despite that ragged, untidy attire and their lack of dress code, they are known for their utter bravery and play many significant roles such as maintaining domestic orders and safeguarding the coast from Seaborn attacks. They also especially act as secret policemen who dismantle hideouts of the Church of the Deep. Similar to the Defensa, the Penal Battalion's forces are divided into Tercios, with each company being led by an Inquisitor. And due to their common presence in many Iberian settlements as civilian guardsmen, the Battalion is often feared by the Iberian citizens.[5]
Administrative divisions
In the past, Iberian land was divided into manors that sustained its classical fiefdoms and were overseen by the local lords. But the Profound Silence devastated the system as the tsunami washed away fertile soil. The collapse of manorialism resulted in the inability of the lords to maintain their military and constant riots of farmers in manor over remaining food for survival.[6]
Due to the collapse of classical Iberian manorialism, the old administrative divisions are completely forgotten in present days even among elders who lived through the Golden Age. As a consequence, the concept of administrative divisions no longer exists in modern Iberia. Rather, settlements become the core of Iberian society from surviving nomadic cities to townships and villages in the wilderness. After the Inquisition leads in the reconstruction efforts, churches or Inquisition outposts have become community centers for these desperate settlements.[4]
Geography
Prior to the Profound Silence, Iberia was a vast Mediterranean, fertile peninsula in the southernmost coasts of the Terran continent. The interconnecting inland shores and channels between the inland Sea of Clariside and the open ocean as well as giant canyons in the heartland granted Iberia maritime superiority in the region. Much of the population once inhabited the southern coastlines where they established their maritime trading outposts.[7]
Following the disaster, the prosperous coasts of the south were forever submerged, forcing the survivors to flee northwards into the more remote areas in the heartland. By present days, the Iberian coastlines have turned into inhospitable flat deltas covered with highly salinized soil. Only the highlands in the central and northern inland regions remain unaffected by the disaster.[7] Undersea volcanoes can also be found near the Iberian coasts.[8][9]
The Profound Silence also greatly altered Iberia's topography which provided severe challenges to cartographers. Generations of Iberian surveyors have measured the aftermath left by the Profound Silence and outlined the new coastline borders bit by bit. While today there are still Iberian mappers sailing around to rediscover their lost lands, cities that were lost to the sea have long become Seaborn nests.[7]
Economy
Before the arrival of the Islanders, classical Iberia had maintained a solid economic foundation through their highly developed agriculture and fishery thanks to the region's fertility and water system. It is said that every Iberian chef had to master hundreds of different seafood cooking methods if they wanted to start their career. Technology-wise, Iberia possessed a highly advanced heavy industry, one that is on par with nations of the Terran heartland, and at one point, even Laterano needed imports from Iberia to continue the city-state's relocation to nomadic platforms. With the advent of Aegirian technologies, certain areas in Iberia experienced overproduction, and extravagant debauchery became a usual part of society.[10]
The Profound Silence devastated Iberia's economy through several factors. Many advanced technologies were lost to the disaster or abandoned later on; the destruction of infrastructure to the tsunamis caused energy or material supply shortages that could not sustain the industry and keep up the demand, resulting in mass shutting-down of the factories. Most of the Islanders' research projects were abruptly canceled by the Inquisition which resulted in a massive brain drain, and the old archives recording the Islanders' research that are stored in Bastión de Canticos are left forgotten and rotting. Until recent years when the Inquisition relaxed their control and allowed several Islanders to return home, such has been a norm as the Iberian slowly forgets their previous research. The Profound Silence also devastated Iberia's agrarian activities as soil has become too alkaline to cultivate and the coastlines are now heavily infested by the Seaborn, which in turn resulted in constant famines among settlements.[10]
The collapse of the Iberian regime was also disastrous to the once flourishing laissez-faire economy; in several areas, it even devolved back to primitive bartering. When a cart of gold could not be exchanged for a bag of grains, people started to regard currency and precious metals as burdens. Bandits in the Iberian wastelands would usually loot for food and clothing, but leave silver coins and gold bars behind in a pool of blood. As a consequence, the Inquisition attempted to reorganize people into production and unify all management and distribution of goods. To this day, most industrial categories in Iberia are still under the Inquisition's planned economy.[10]
Demographics
Iberia is predominated by the Liberi race, many of whom are descendants of religious followers who brought the Lateran faith back to Iberia. Another predominant race in Iberia are the Aegirs, dubbed the "Islanders" by the locals, whose root could be found from the first immigrants following Breogan in 913. Other races could be found in Iberia such as common races like Felines and Perros as well as some rare races like Sankta who are descended from Lateran missionaries to the Iberians.
Culture
There is a huge generational cultural gap among Iberians. Older Iberians would recall the sea shanties sung by sailors, tales of pirates raiding the coasts, and the golden ships sailing along the coasts. On the other hand, newer generations born after the Profound Silence could only witness the oppressive rule of the Inquisition, the stern religious conservatism, and the never-ending sectarian conflicts between the Inquisitors and the cultists of the Deep. Nevertheless, both generations bear a common hope that yearned for the revival of the Golden Age. Remnants of the old maritime culture are preserved such as laborers' songs sung in forms of shanties, and young Iberians voluntarily joined the Inquisition to recover those lost legacies. Fencing becomes a common sport in Iberia as the Inquisitors encourage them to practice in order to join their rank.[5]
Lost Aegirian technologies
During the Golden Age of Iberia, the Iberian industry prospered through a combination of highly-advanced Aegirian technology and Originium heavy industries brought prosperity to the region. From daily necessities to production machinery, the Iberian technological products can be described as "magical" to the eyes of many industrial designers. Most of Iberia's technological marvels are related to navigation such as the Grand Armada spearheaded by the Stultifera Navis, the Eyes of Iberia piercing through the fog, and even ambitious plans to build oceanic amphibious nomadic cities that could travel between the land and the seas.[11]
After the Profound Silence, many of these mega-constructions were left abandoned. Henceforth, ruins of oceanic nomadic cities dot along coastlines which provide temporary shelters to the refugees.
References
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