Virginicus

Virginicus is the Empire of Ombs' underworld, known for piracy, tall tales of danger and misadventure, and incredible sights of cultural advancement among the race of its namesake. A highly-militaristic and disciplined society descending from an uncompromising and advanced civilization, Virginicus is one of the most formidable nations in the realm of Ombs, located throughout The Swarm, as well as the province that once was the home of the legendary Vedrya Empire.

Population

The nation of Virginicus and its many accompanying islands are home to an indigenous, sea-faring people known by their relatively tall(even the "shortest" Virginican, for perspective, was 5'9"), stocky, lightly-scaled frames, and varying shades of a brown skin tone. Their ability to take in either salt or fresh water via special gills allows them to swim through either to their heart's content. Virginicans are also recognized as unrivaled in naval exploration, with a highly martial ethos being seen as the primary check against the dangers the 30 seas they've mastered. Very few races apart from neighboring groups ever populate Virginicus.

Geography

The realm of Virginicus is an unforgiving one, boasting a tropical landmass of considerate size that hosts the largest known coastal area in all the realms of Ombs. The harsh environment, replete with constant tropical storms of varying intensity - including hurricanes - make it a very risky area for newcomers adjust to, if its equally-dangerous and varied natural fauna aren't indication enough. Virginicus is naturally cordoned-off by the Alexi Leo Desert on its West, and to a land-dweller it would seem the province was cut off by the great expanse of the sea, but such is far from true for Virginicans.

Extending beyond the mainland of Virginicus-proper is where the realm takes on a grandiosity that overwhelms and astounds. Its innumerable port cities serve as important trade routes, bastions of military force, displays of environmental resilience, and testaments of cultural pride buffering them against the challenges associated with any maritime region, theirs being the exception due in no small part to the more than 7000 islands of varying sizes and densities - some large enough to rival small countries in themselves - that are an inseparable part of the nation and would form an entirely new continent if combined together. Collectively, those islands are known as The Swarm.

History

Virginicus, according to historical record and account (especially by the College of Griots, the only surviving institution which can trace its lineages back to that era), was originally the home of a supreme empire that reigned for thousands of years, known as the Phoneci Ga'ez Nupa Iri. The militaristic, xenophobic, and highly-disciplined society were known to conquer every realm they warred with during their push for expansion, later absorbing and indoctrinating those inhabitants into an advanced system of domestic enslavement. The Phoneci Ga'ez Nupa Iri also were renowned explorers and are the only known civilization to master and completely map the entirety of the Swarm, documenting its wildlife and local flora in addition to other rarer phenomena.

Little is known about the reasons for the Phoneci Ga'ez Nupa Iri's decline that is available publicly, but their legacy in Virginicus continues through their contemporary descendants whom maintain many of their key socio-cultural and physiological characteristics. As of the present, Virginicus' interest in expansion has mellowed to a focus on the defense of their territories, both against foreign nations that pose a threat to them and rival privateers staking their claim in various pockets within The Swarm. Little interest in political affairs outside of Virginicus - such as the war between the Levonian Empire, Veyard, and later on, the Olmecs - is a constant theme in their more recent historical record, and any alliances they've had in the past have been very strict.

Politics

Virginicus is a dynastic and militaristic nation, with a central royal lineage deciding the most important affairs of the rest of the realm, known as the Admiral Kanit. The Admiral Kanit leads Virginicus' armies and exerts great influence over otherwise independent forces such as privateers that are granted status in exchange for favors they perform in the service of maintaining balance throughout the key territories of Virginicus. Each ship under service of the Kanit is represented in the country's legislative body, both nationally and locally, and this trend holds true regardless a person's position: all who wish to be designated true "citizens" of Virginicus - as well as eligible for positions in government - must serve on a ship in some fashion. Yet, that service can vary greatly depending upon the needs of the ship and its community, granting virtually any Virginican an opportunity to represent as well as be represented.

Thus, the Virginicans pride themselves in having a sense of honor, individuality, and discipline that allows their myriad cultures to function semi-independently on the political front. Most disputes often end before they ever escalate to the point of even needing to be considered by the larger public.

Culture

Virginicans are a society highly-cognizant of their history and roots, and have used the moniker "Seastrider" to refer to themselves colloquially as a way to reference it.

Religion and Beliefs

Virginicus is fiercely religious, with the indigenous spirituality of their people inseparable from virtually every facet of their society. There are nuances to these beliefs depending upon region, but indigenous Virginicans share the same universal core beliefs of their predecessors, the Phoneci Ga'ez Nupa Iri: that they are the sacred children of the Earth Mother and their patriarch, the sea god Ndrwn. To the Virginican this is not a belief but an accepted fact of their existence. Those who deny this in the Virginican view are thus denying the validity of their entire society and being.

Virginicans thus have an extreme distaste for atheists, who are often executed if they are discovered. The presence of atheism or any form of nontheism in Virginican society is highly minimal and secretive, either part of a closeted underground presence among those who live within Virginicus' main towns and cities, or a sheltered status as pariahs who find the most remote islands of The Swarm their sole refuge from persecution. Others are expected to reverence the indigenous Virginican deities before any other pantheons known in all matters that are religious, including common prayers.

The relative uniformity of Virginican society has ironically yielded a belief system which - at least to outsiders - has no clearly-defined name.