Syltheim
Overview
Sylthiem is a large nation in the West, located north of kaab and south of Askar. Sylthiem is a democracy, with its population making up the legislative branch. There are regular elections to appoint a Chief Diplomat (the Sylthian head of state), meaning that any citizen can potentially lead the nation. It is primarily located in the gravelly mountains, which plays an important role in the nation's culture and political ideas.
History
The nation of Sylthiem was founded on December 21, 2020 by Terranelm. After traveling through Twiceland and the land of Cascadia, he surveyed the majestic cliffs covered in gravel, quickly deciding that this would be a good place to settle. The population began to rapidly grow during Terranelm's first term as Chief Diplomat.
Terranelm's First Term and The Cascadia Purchase
Desiring to centralize Jugoslavijan territories, Chipt I began talks with Terranelm to determine whether Sylthiem would be a good candidate for a land sale. After a detailed tour of Cascadia, Terranelm accepted the offer (with price yet to be decided), concluding that the purchase of Cascadia would present many economic opportunities.
At the time, Sylthiem had little to no economy, with nothing to export besides alcohol to get the diamonds necessary to purchase Cascadia. However, thanks to the hard-working group of Sylthian citizens, Sylthiem was able to mine the necessary diamonds within two weeks.
On January 16, 2021, Chipt I met with Terranelm, goosejuic3, pdln, and Borg_Minion at Terra's Tavern to agree on the terms of sale. It was decided that Cascadia would be sold for 45 diamond blocks and an alliance. The terms of the sale are as follows:
- The Jugoslavijan political claims in the state of Cascadia will be ceded to Sylthiem.
- The Jugoslavijan faction claims in the state of Cascadia will be maintained as long as needed for Chipt to transfer his items.
- Jugoslavija will retain the faction claim to the ink farm, but Sylthiem will hold the political claim to the area as normal.
- Sylthiem will commit to maintaining the Palaima National Forest as a nationally protected area.
These terms were written into a book titled "Cascadia Purchase" was authored by Chipt I and signed by all citizens at the meeting, sealing the deal and marking a new era of Sylthian growth. After Cascadia was bought and the Sylthian citizenry saw what it had to offer, they had a spur of patriotism, decorating many buildings with with the banners of Sylthiem.
The First Sylthian Debates
The first debates for the Chiefdom of Sylthiem occurred on January 18th. Four candidates ran for office: _Racc00nn_, Habit_Cat, Terranelm, and pdln (although due to unforeseen circumstances _Racc00nn_ did not attend the debate). Habit_Cat put an emphasis on culture and the growth of Sylthian traditions, Terranelm called attention to his experience as a leader during the Cascadia purchase to appeal to the audience, and pdln asserted that he would increase the "epicness" of Sylthiem if he was in power. The debate lasted a total of 47 minutes, with the aftermath being a party in the Sylthian mead hall.
After the debates, citizens were given a week to vote for their preferred candidates. At the end of this week, the results were declared by Borg_Minion on January 22nd. Habit_Cat scored first place, meaning he would become the next Chief Diplomat. Terranelm received second place, pdln third, and _Racc00nn_ fourth. Terranelm spent his last day in discussion with Habit_Cat. Terranelm transferred control of Sylthiem to Habit_Cat with his blessing, while the two were in cauldrons brewing apple mead, setting the trend of each term being 32 days long.
Habit_Cat's First Term and The Grove-Jusef War
On February 8, 2021, members of the Grove Faith waged war on the Yusefarian faith, whose followers lived in Jugoslavija. Grove Faith crusaders swiftly occupied the Jugoslavijan state of Lazarica. Syltheim was wholly unprepared for this, but rushed to defend their newfound allies. A small force consisting of Chipt I, Saashin, lognbtw, and Endossi was organized the same day to fend off the occupants of Lazarica, a province of Jugoslavija. Upon arrival, they were countered by StonkseleksI, and later CreeperColder, who killed Chipt I and lognbtw. Endossi and Saashin dispersed, meaning that the troops of the Grove Faith had successfully defended the territory they had occupied for themselves.
The following day, Kaleidoeyes127 of Jugoslavija and a group of Sylthians marched to work-in-progess Cathedral of Yusef-On-High in Lazarica, where Grove Faith Crusaders had built several small fortresses in order to prevent the church from being completed. Jugo-Sylthian forces made a small dark oak fort on the opposite side of the church perimeter, and discussed plans of attack. Suddenly, Stonkseleksi appeared outside of the fort, and Jugoslavijan and Sylthian forces scrambled to attack her. Some hits were landed, but she escaped, and Jugo-Sylthian forces decided to hold their ground instead of pursuing her. After some discussion, a plan to go to the Grove Tribes territory to fight them on their own turf was approved by all in the party, and Habit led a Sylthian force there while Kaleidoeyes127 and Terranelm went to Schenektengrad to attempt to overclaim valuable builds. When Habit's party consisting of Endossi, Saashin, and Habit_Cat himself arrived in Grove Tribe territory, they were surprised to see that the world tree was unclaimed. Jumping on this opportunity, Habit_Cat claimed the World Tree, just as Grove Faith forces began to arrive. Once news reached the rest of the Jugo-Sylthian force, they rushed from both the fort at the church and Schnektengrad to the scene of the battle, and forced their way into the hollow World Tree. Jugo-Sylthian forces held their ground for roughly 20 minutes, as they perched upon the branches of the World Tree and shot arrows down into the Grove Faith army below. This changed when all of a sudden a fire appeared on the upper half of the World Tree. Chaos ensued, and what became two armies clashing with each other became a reluctant cooperation to save the World Tree, during which Sylthian forces unclaimed it. After the fire was put out, Jugo-Sylthian forces dispersed, and Syltheim pulled out of the war effort, not wanting to participate in "dishonourable acts" such as this. On 02/16/2021, Habit_Cat formally announced that they were leaving their alliance with Jugoslavija, and forming an alliance with Kaab instead. Soon after, on 2/19/2021, there was a Trial in the Sylthian Mead hall (repurposed into a courtroom), but there was no consensus as to who lit the fire.
Terranelm's Second Term
Soon after Syltheim left their alliance with Jugoslavija behind, Terranelm was elected into office. This was different from his last term, as he was actually nominated, as opposed to being the Chief Diplomat simply because of his status as the founder of Syltheim.
_Racc00n_'s First Term
After Terranelm was reelected, he quickly realized that he had not yet recovered from DeathPercent's attack, which had taken a mental toll on him. However, five days into his term, Borg_Minion recounted the votes and declared that Terranelm and _Racc00n_ were actually tied, and her algorithm had simply picked one of them at random. There were talks of both of them taking power at the same time, but Terranelm decided that that would be inefficient, and he made the executive decision to hand off power to _Racc00n_. _Racc00n_ would take a hands-off approach to leadership for the rest of his 28-day term.
Habit_Cat's Second Term
Habit_Cat's term consisted of expanding north into former Twicelandian territory, and forming the Northwestern Alliance, or the NWA.
logbtw's First Term
logbtw's term primarily consisted of significantly reducing the amount of faction claims, thus reducing Syltheim's chances of being overclaimed.
Government
The government is set to be made of the executive and legislative branches. The executive branch is made up of the leader and their cabinet, while the legislative branch is currently made up of the general population.
Political Parties
Sylthiem's founder, Terranelm, expressed that the existence of multiple political parties is something the nation should strive for. Right now, five political parties exist, as listed in order below:
- Sylt Party (Dec 20th, 2020)
- Vocal Defense League (Jan 1st, 2021)
- Green-Top Party (Jan 2nd, 2021)
- Epic Fire Dragon Party of Epicness (January 1st, 2021)
- Isolationist Party of Sylthiem (February 26th, 2021-April 1st, 2021)
Elections
Elections are run using the Alternative Vote method to prevent two-party dominance. In-game ballots are used for voting since they were deemed the most secure way of casting votes during discussions on the topic. Borg_Minion counts the votes and is unable to run for any elected office despite being a co-founder of the nation.
Foreign Relations
Terranelm originally declared that Sythiem will attempt to stay neutral in most affairs. However, most citizens of Sylthiem have expressed that they want Sylthiem to be more involved, and it is likely that Sylthiem will form stronger relations with other nations in the future.
Government Finance
The ideas of a Federal Reserve as well as taxation through labor have both been discussed, but neither have been implemented.
Military
While the military does not exist yet, many players are willing to begin organizing a military force. There has been discussion of this topic by other players interested in making a political party which will be primarily focused on building the nation's defensive capabilities.
Law Enforcement
No law enforcement has been implemented but the general consensus is that law enforcement will be a branch of the military.
Culture
Not much philosophy, visual arts, or mass media have made any impact on the population, but Sylthiem's native faith has started to gain traction within the nation.
A few pieces of Sylthian literature have been written during Syltheim's existence, including, but not limited to Terra's Technique of Tussle (TTT) and Where God Went Wrong (WGWW).
Another important aspect of Sylthian culture is the concept of Sylt, meaning Gravel in most contexts, but also meaning the earth/soil of any sovereign country. Sylt includes gravel, sand, dirt, grass blocks, terracotta, podzol, mycelium, etc. Sylthians believe that the Sylt of a sovereign country is to be respected and preserved.
Current Citizens
| Common | Syltician (Chat/Common script) | Syltician (Modern Script) | Syltician (Runic Script) | Government Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| _Racc00nn_ | Thvattrbjorn | Þváttrbjǫrn | ᚦᚠᚨᛏᚱᛒᛃᛟᚱᚾ | |
| Borg_Minion | Velmadr_Thius | Vélmaðr_ Þius | ᚠᛅᛚᛗᚨᚦᚱ_ᚦᛁᚢᛋ | Election Supervisor |
| Chipt | StykkiT | StykkiT | ᛋᛏᚢᚴᛁᛏ | Diplomat |
| goosejuic3 | Gas Voss | Gás Voss | ᚴᚨᛋ ᚠᛟᛋ | |
| Habit_Cat | Venja_Mjavi | Venja_Mjavi | ᚠᛅᚾᛃᚨ_ᛗᛃᚨᚠᛁ | Diplomat |
| logbtw | VidirVidVegurinn | ViðrViðVegurinn | ᚠᛁᚦᚱᚠᛁᚦᚠᛅᚴᚢᚱᛁᚾ | |
| pdln | Vigjada Rekkr | Vígjada Rekkr | ᚠᛁᚴᛃᚨᚦᚨ ᚱᛅᚴᚱ | |
| Terranelm | Jordalmr | Jǫrðalmr | ᛃᛟᚱᚦᚨᛚᛗᚱ | Chief Diplomat |