Post by Robert DeVries on Nov 21, 2018 22:17:33 GMT -5
BASIC HISTORY
The People’s Republic of Okar is a direct descendant of the Inhala Imperium. It is one of the oldest nations in existence, suffering from the wars that followed the Imperium’s collapse well into the 10th Century. Okar itself has seen one rebranding after another; to look at its first iteration and its last, one would be hard-pressed to tell any similarities.
It achieved greatness as a result of the Brumassian World War during the 18th Century. Though considered a minor power at the time, the Okarians struck an alliance with Jirel and fought a series of wars through its neutral or Denaussi-favoring neighbors. Relatively uninvolved in the conflict, the continent of Lorentha’s main contributions of the war had nothing to do with actual fighting. Countries volunteered forces for combat, produced goods for one side or the other, provided ports for foreign fleets to stay, and harbored intelligence operatives from both ends of the war. Largely expecting a series of internal conflict as a result of mixed Jireli and Denaussi influences, Okar’s neighbors were unprepared for a land war that swept the continent. Lorentha was consumed by the chaos of marching Okarian armies that couldn’t quite secure their captured territories, resulting in the rise of several prominent insurgent groups. Furthermore, without a proper air force or navy, they could not resist Denaussi bombardment. By the time the war was over, Jirel was forced to kneel and Lorentha was in tatters. The Denaussi occupied much of Lorentha.
It proved too much for them to handle. Suffering economically from the war and unable to muster the forces needed to quell Lorentha’s unrest, Denaussi forces withdrew after setting a policy that would demand mandatory tithes from business owners to repay the State’s debts. Instead, the forces of Okar used this as a chance to turn Denaussi supporters, converting would-be insurgents into enforcers dedicated to restoring their home. Though the State of Denaus threatened many times over to return in force and even captured several islands around the continent, the Okarians were entirely unwilling to surrender and cemented their grasp on the mainland.
So began their uncontested rule of Lorentha.
GOVERNMENT STYLE AND CULTURE
The People’s Republic of Okar is separated into many provinces, falling more or less on the lines left behind by prior capitulated nations. While the P.R.O. runs its own territories in a strict command economy, it provides mandates to local government bodies that operate on state capitalism. Okarian control over these mandated governments has been notoriously laissez-faire throughout history, setting basic rules and regulations for each government to operate within as well as quotas for them to fulfill in order to receive grants. This cooperative style of governance has seen an unprecedented era of peace on the continent, interspersed only by the occasional crackdowns following insurgent activity. To say that the Okarians trust their enforcer states would be naive; the P.R.O. employs a constant stream of intelligence operatives with the ostensible goal of public safety.
A common paradox in Okarian society is that those in enforcer states tend to have more personal freedoms than those in the core of Okar, who follow a form of animism as an official religion and undergo a lifetime in preparation of service to the military and labor force. These people often disperse across Lorentha to set an example for others. In early times, many in these programs would break down once exposed to the free outside world, but the Education Bureau learned from its mistakes and took integration into account. A fully adjusted core-blood Okarian is almost guaranteed to live a life of virtue, tenacity, and good sense, though their cultural upbringing tends to be seen as outdated.
Art in the People’s Republic of Okar centers around architecture, painting, and sculpture. This is most likely a result of the Lorentha Reconstruction Era, during which the government provided bonuses and training to those who were willing to help rebuild the continent’s wrecked cities and towns. There is -- or was, before the Great Interplanetary War -- a growing movement of natural artists using environmental art as protest to growing industrial concerns.
Okarians typically hold a curious form of racism, and have regularly displayed the obligation to make foreigners and immigrants more like them. The P.R.O. was very, very good at reeducation and repatriation. They became so skilled at stealing citizens from other countries that the continent of Lorentha was restricted to commercial-only travel after several crises involving captured tourists. Ever since then, news from the continent has been few and far between, with government-controlled outlets putting out very little about the goings-on. Okarians have since held an air of mystery to them, with every case of an escaped Okarian drawing international attention.
Okarian culture is a poor representative of personal space.