Mordusia

Mordusia is located in the southern hemisphere on the continent Seleya. It is bordered by Aldegar in the north, Saridan in the west, Alduria in the south and Rildanor in the east. Mordusia has a population of 99,759,637. The official language is Mordusian. Its capital, Mordus, situated at the coast and known as a major harbour and international centre, has approximately seven million inhabitants.

It has access to the Schismatic Sea in the east and the Sea of Lost Souls in the west. Diplomatically, Mordusia is a member of the Alliance of Terran Republics, and maintains good relations with other democratic-republican states as Dranland,

History
see History of Mordusia

In the third millenia BE, Mordusia was settled by immigrants from the north, of Proto-Luthorian and Kelt origin. Some centuries after this, the Kingdom known as Pharos, governed from Euphanea rose into prominence. Though “semi-civilized” by foreign standards, the Pharosi had an advanced system of governance, with a High King elected by a Moot of nobles, and deep knowledge of the matters of mathematics and astronomy. Astrology as well as magic was revered among the nobility. In 700 BE, the country was invaded by Proto-Artanians of possibly Dundorfian origin. The Artanians would establish themselves an an alien elite in most of the country.

The advent of Hosianism meant great changes to the Mordusian way of life. Missionaries from Selucia came to Mordusia through Saemodhra and converted large parts of that regions. For most ethnic Mordusians, Hosianism would replace heathenry as a unifying force. In 496, a young hosian noble named Mordus, from a small town on the river Styx was crowned King, However, he would soon be forced into exile. In exile, he assembled a force from various countries in Majatra, whom which he returned with in 500 BE. After the legendary battle of Hoak Fields,He was crowned King. The villages on the western coast that he ruled from would eventually become the city of Mordus, the capital of Mordusia. After having developed cordial relations with the Selucian Patriarchal Church, most of the Mordusian priesthood switched to the side of the Terran Patriarchal Church after a dispute over the right to investiture. By the 15:th century however, relations with the Terran Patriarchals had cooled as well, and by decree of King Tyrian V, the Mordusian Church went into a formal schism, joining the Terra-wide Bishopalist branch of churches. The 17:th and 18:th centuries were dominated by repeated Mordusian intrusions into the Aldurian-ruled realm of Thalasor (spelled “Talasor” in Aldurian). This escalated into a full-scale war in 1945 BE, in which many Aldurian or Canrillaise speakers went into exile in their respective home countries. The issue was not resolved until a Constitutional convention in 2046, in which Thalasor and the northern parts of Myrin Flaan were finally recognized as “integral parts” of Mordusia.

Centuries of relative peace followed. Mordusia, while being traditionally a socially conservative country, was a stable supporter of democracy around Terra and a staunch opponent of the Axis. In 2431, this would drastically change, as Mordusia came under the Luthori crown. In 2626, Mordusia established its first ever colony in Dovani.

In the 2800:s, Mordusia was ravaged by war against the Luthori crown. A long and bloody ensured, which ended in independence for Mordusia. However the peace in 2913 resulted in Mordusia being forced to sell of it's colonies to Luthori, an act still considered illegitimate by many Mordusian patriots. The war led to the establishment of a Republic of Mordusia, dominated by the liberal-leaning Agrarian Party of Mordusia. The new government joined the Alliance of Terran Republics and worked with it on the international stage.

The decline of the Agrarian Party led to the rise of the Isolationist Party of Mordusia, which was considerably more conservative, establishing a system of governance bordering theocracy. The Isolationist Party also declared Mordusia a neutral nation, and withdrew from the ATR. The Isolationists would rule undisputed until the coming of the Liberal Party, who reorganized the Republic into a Commonwealth under which many things were do to restablish a sense of national identity in Mordusia. Their decline led to the rise of the Blue Labour Alliance, who under it's leader Tristan Shield reformed the Commonwealth into a Hegemony, with himself as Regent.

Government and Politics
Mordusia has a unicameral legislature known as the Moot (also: House), which is elected every six years. It has 75 seats and is chaired by the Regent, who is thus both head of government, head of state and speaker of the parliament.

Like the Moot, the Regent is directly elected every six years. The Regent has the sole right to nominate cabinets and is commander in chief.

Mordusian Aristocracy
Main Article: Mordusian Aristocracy

The Mordusian Aristocracy is the old landed, largely Luthorian aristocracy of Mordusia. Some of these aristocrats date their lineage as far back as the initial unification of Mordusia under Mordus I. Many of Mordusia's old aristocratic families continue to hold their old lands but many new families have also come to prominence in the centuries. Many members of the landed gentry have been very involved in politics and have shown their influence in the various parties across Mordusia.

Since the establishment of the Hegemony, the Government of the Regent has started handling out titles of nobility once more, and titles of nobility now hold real value.

Geography and Climate
Because of Mordusia's long coast line, population density in those areas is very high. Most of the cities are located along the shore. Further inland lies the central plateau. This is a smooth, slowly rising area that has many fertile valleys and is irrigated by many waterways. The border between the Province of Sammodra and the Provinces of Hosamia and Talasor forms the highest area in the Republic, and quite rugged.

The climate is very mild and constant. Average temperature in July is 24° C (75 °F), and 18 °C (65 °F) in January.

Hirds
Mordusia is divided into five subregional entities, known as Hirds: Saemodhra, Myrin Flaan, Hosamia, Thalasor Inferior and Thalasor Superior on the mainland. Modusia also used to have a colonial Province, New Mordusia in Dovani, that was sold to Luthori, an act considered illegitimate by the current government.

Demographics
There is a Grand Ethnicity, Language, and Religion Census (GELRC) in Mordusia every ten years which gathers information about the ethnic and religious background of all citizens. Most citiznes are of Mordusian ethnicity and speak Mordusian, a language which is s omewhat similar to Luthorian, but with many very distinct characteristics that sound archaic and romance-influenced to the people of Luthori.

Most Mordusians are Hosians and are belong the Bishopal denomination, although the future of the Bishopal Church of Mordusia is an uncertainty, the government seeking to handing it over to the Selucian Patriarchal Church.

Facts about Religion:

68% - Hosian 85% -- Bishopal Church of Mordusia 25% --- Charismic 9% - Selucian Patriarchal Church 8% - Luthoran 6% - Abadi or Queranzariah 4% - Yeudism 5% - No Religion

Facts about Ethnicity: 85% - Mordusian 13% --- of Duntrekker or Saridani descent 12% of Aldurian or Canrillaise descent 5% - of Dundorfian descent 5% - Canrillaise (Kanjorienne/Rildanorienne) or Aldurian 4% - Duntrekker 4% - Majatran 2% - Aldegari

Religion
The official religion of Mordusia is the Bishopal Church of Mordusia and the religious sector of Mordusia is run by the Archbishop of Mordusia, although it's future as an independent denomination is unceirtan as the government seeks to hand over control over the Selucian Patriarchal Church, citing it's long decay and liberalization as the main reasons for this. Most religions are allowed in Mordusia, but sects considered  cults are banned.

Annual Festivals and Events
Beginning early in the morning on New Years Eve, Mordusians traditionally travel to their Provinces capital city, or to Rechtenburg (the old capital) for the official celebrations. Parks are full of games, rides and show bags for the children, music and concerts, along with food and drinks. The celebrations and music in the parks typically come to an end at around 11:30pm, when the Rechtenburg New Years March begins. In the Rechtenburg March, Mordusians walk from the parks towards the City Centre Square and line the surrounding streets. It is here that the official countdown to midnight takes place. Lights inside the skyscrapers surrounding the City Centre Square are electronically controlled to display the countdown from 10 seconds to midnight, when the huge fireworks show begins. On the 4th of April each year, citizens of Mordusia come together on the River Styx in the city of  Gift of Zachegorath to celebrate the anniversary of the victory of Mordusian patritots agianst the Luthori crown. This event is  considered the family friendly festival, promoting children's activities. The day begins with a float parade competition along the River Styx. These floats are made by High Schools throughout Mordusia, often taking Art and Creativity students months to complete. Each year a  theme is chosen, ranging from sports, to cinema, to history. The winning floats are chosen by  the Mayor of Gift of Zachegorath himself and receives a small cash bursary to the school. Later on in the afternoon the annual Rubber Ducky Competition is held. Sold throughout the morning right throughout Rechtenburg, these rubber duckies are released from a boat down-stream on the River Styx. The first to reach the finish line 1km down the river wins its owner a prize. The day ends with a water sports show on the River Styx, followed by a large fireworks display across all of Gift of Zachegorath. Each April the Mordus Regent Theatre and Masters' Cinema run four weeks worth of short films made by hopeful directors all across Mordusia. The Short Film Festival attracts visitors from all across Mordusia and even across Selaya as it is highly respected as producing some of the greatest talent in the Terran movie industry. The month-long festival also includes and inter -School competition with entrants from all across Mordusia. Considered one of the biggest music events in all of Selaya, the Mordusia Terravision Festival features five stages with non-stop live music over four full days in September each year. The event attracts many of the most successful pop, rock, house and hip-hop bands in Selaya and attracts tens of thousands of visitors from across the world. Huge properties of land near the event are set aside to house thousands of tent-campers wanting to experience the Terravision over the whole four days.
 * New Years Festival
 * Parade on River Styx
 * Mordusian Short Film Festival
 * Mordusian Terravision Festival

Special National Days
The 19th of September is the day of each year that is dedicated to celebrating the existence of Mordusia. The army and all it's previous members march down the streets of Mordus, the anthem is aired on all radio stations at the beginning of each hour and is sung by all school students at 11am, flags are raised in front of most homes and businesses. At night, a candle-lit vigil occurs in parks nation-wide with prayers being said in respect of all the people who have lost their lives protecting and defending Mordusia, in respect of all the people who created this nation, in respect of all the people who have led and controlled this country throughout its long history. The Walpurgis Night is a traditional spring festival on 4:th of May. It has more or less become a de facto half holiday. The forms of celebration in Mordusia vary in different parts of the country and between different cities, but it is often celebrated with dancing and with bonfires. It is also noted for notoriusly continuously making crimes involving alcohol skyrocketing in statistics. In a nation where, historically, the rights of the workers' were not always satisfied, it seems curious that there would be a day of each year dedicated to the respect of workers across Mordusia. Thanks to the intervention of the Blue Labour Government, the 5:th of May has been recognized as a holiday of workers. On the 5:th of May, businesses are expected to close for the day to allow all workers an extra day of rest. Not surprisingly, some businesses have recently attempted to force their employees to work on National Workers' Day, but this often resulted in strikes. Many believe that making this day sa holiday is not only an act of propaganda from the government, but also an excuse for Mordusians having an hangover from the festival the previous day to rest. On the 29th of February every leap year, Mordusians celebrate the year's extra day with a public holiday. All business, except those serving liquor and schools close for this day. Traditionally on this day, Mordusians would spend the day reflecting on the past by giving up all modern luxuries for those 24 hours, including cars and electricity. This tradition later faded and was replaced by the National Mead Day, were Mordusians are supposed to drink as much mead as possible. Concerns have been raised that this day, like the Walpurgis Night, lead to a notable rise in crimes involving alcohol this day.
 * Mordusia Day
 * Walpurgis Night
 * Workers' Day
 * National Mead Day

Religious Events
WILL BE REWRITTEN

An important day in the Christian year, marking the birth of Jesus Christ. Dedicated Christians will attend the many special Christmas masses at Church, whilst others will choose to spend the day with their families. The day has become a mass-marketed commercialized event, no longer respecting the true historical values of the birth of Christ. It has become tradition that people, of all faiths, will give gifts to their families and friends. The Christian day of Easter marks the rising of Jesus Christ after his sacrifice three days earlier. Similar to the event of Christmas, Easter has lost much of its historical significance, being known to many of the recent generations as merely an event where all must give chocolate eggs to their friends and family. The most important festival in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kipour if the day of forgiveness. Every Jew fasts for a day, asking others and God to forgive him for all the sins they have committed in the past year. The whole day is usually spent at the Synagogue, where a variety of prayers are sung, asking forgiveness. The month of Ramadan is considered the most blessed month of the Islamic year. It is believed to be the month that the Qu'ran was first revealed. A significant practice during this month is the act of fasting. All Muslims are expected to fast from the end of the dawn prayer to the end of each day's sunset prayer. Also during this month, Muslims are expected to read through the entire Qu'ran and attend a mosque more often. Gifts are often given to family and friends, along with less-fortunate members of society. The holiest day in the Coptic calendar, also known as Copdies is the day when, in the long forgotten past, Coptus, a wealthy citizen of Mordusia, abandoned his wealth to go to the city of Clann, then besieged by its powerful rival, Bayonne and its cruel, pagan king. Coptus told the people of Clann to pray God to save them. Legend says that at the moment the king of Bayonne was going to order the attack on Clann, he was struck by a mysterious illness and died on the spot. His soldiers, retreated to Bayonne, Clann was saved. Coptus led a long life, helping all people and preaching tolerance for all. He died peacefully in what was then Ardommas. When the bishop of Ardommas learned of Coptus' death, he was struck by grief, and canonized Coptus the day after his death.
 * Christmas
 * Easter
 * Yom Kipour
 * Ramadan
 * St Coptus Day

Sports
Mordusia features the very unique National Swimming Championships. Up to one hundred competitors take part in fourteen rounds over twenty eight weeks. Competing in events ranging from one hundred meters to two kilometers, in various strokes, the swimmers' receive points based on their finishing times. At the years' end, the eight leading swimmers on the points tally take part in the 100m medley, to compete for the Golden Cup. Men and women compete separately and, in recent times only, people under the age of eighteen compete in the Junior Division Championships.
 * Swimming

The National Swimming Championships have been a popular sport of Mordusia since its beginning in 2256. Legends of the sport include Jacques de la Mons who won the Golden Cup five consecutive times (2592-2596) and Melford Daley who won the two kilometer endurance swim for eight consecutive years (2605-2612) along with two Golden Cups (2608 and 2611).

Following the popular success of the National Swimming Championships, the Mordusian Institute of Sport established the Adubura Track Championships. Similar to the Swimming Championships, up to one hundred entrants compete in a range of events over twenty four weeks. The eight leading athletes at the seasons' end compete in the Grand Finale Round to win the Platinum Boot Trophy. The Grand Finale consists of ten track events over an intense two-day competition.
 * Athletics

The Adubura Track Championships never had the large fan-base of the Swimming Championships, but extra fans have come along since the series expanded to include field events such as long jump, high jump and discus throw. Legends of the sport include Samantha Cross who won the Women's Platinum Boot six consecutive years (2521-2526) and Maryk Dawson who became the oldest winner of the Platinum Boot, at the age of 41 in 2590.

The former national sport of Mordusia, soccer, has recently begun to fade away as a popular sport amongst society. Poor showings at recent Soccer World Cups has eroded numbers of fans of  the sport. However, the National Soccer League continues to satisfy the few remaining fans. The lack of financial support from sponsors has resulted in a decrease in the quality of  players in series. Many high profile Mordusian soccer players have chosen to travel internationally to find a better contract and team. Beginning as a sport only competed between High Schools across Mordusia, the Mordusian Basketball Premiership has since evolved into a huge competition featuring hundreds of teams. Teams are divided into categories of sixteen, with the top four and bottom four being promoted and relegated to the series above or below. The top tier series is known as the Mordusian Basketball Premier Series and typically features the best basketball players ever to be seen in  Mordusia. In the 2400s, the series underwent a radical change when rules began to allow the use of non-Mordusian players, resulting in a huge rush of Aldurian and Malivian basketball players entering the competition. Recently, however, increased sport and health education within schools over Mordusia has allowed Mordusia to produce its own basketball stars.
 * Soccer/Football
 * Basketball

High Schools across Mordusia continue to compete in the All-Schools Basketball League.

Taking place over a two week competition, the Annual Styx Rowing Championships (ASRC) have become a popular beloved sport of Mordusians, typically the Canrillaişe, who have dominated the competition since its creation several centuries ago. The ASRC pits each provinces top rowers against each other to win Gold Medals. The province that wins the most Gold Medals come the end of the two week competition is awarded the official ASRC Trophy for that year. Events include sculls from one to eight people, each competing in their respective sex and age group categories. Over the two weeks, up to forty gold medals are awarded to the winners.
 * Rowing

Ever since the Mordusian motor industry began, motorsport has been a popular past-time of  Mordusian society. Several racing categories exist, competing in a range of styles. Popular series include the Mordusian Rally Championship, the Production Car Series, the Formula M  open-wheel series and the ultimate Super-Touring (SuTo) Car Championships. These series' compete on Mordusia's six permanent motorsport circuits, four temporary city street circuits and two nine-stage rally tracks. Most motorsport series feature rules stipulating that entrant vehicles must have been constructed in Mordusia.
 * Motorsport 

Legends of the sport include Ricardo Eguen who dominated the SuTo Car Championship, winning nine championships over fourteen years. Chris Algretti also became a world-wide legend when he  won the Production Car Series (2520, 2522), the Formula M Series (2523-2524), the SuTo Championship (2531-2533) and then went on to compete in international motorsport series.

Economy
For the main article, see Economy of Mordusia

Mordusia is a highly industrialized nation. Many factories of all kinds can be found all over Mordusia. Mordusia also has a very strong financial sector. Banks and insurance companies, along with other financial services, have strong showings across the nation. With the recent trend towards deregulation, many other industries have begun to establish themselves in Mordusia as well including but not limited to defense contractors, aerospace companies, and ecological cleanup companies.

Foreign Policy
Historically, Mordusia was a nation that was extremely visible on the international stage, involving itself in a number of wars and conflicts. For a time, the county isolated itself form the international stage and declaring itself neutral. This has now been revised, with the current government rejoining the Alliance of Terran Republics.

Intelligence and Counter-terrorism Agencies
In addition of the Mordusian military, the country has a number of intelligence and security agencies:

External Security:

SOCOM, Special Operations Command - counter terrorism and intelligence abroad (Department of Defence)

FCCA, Foreign Counterintelligence and Counter-terrorism Agency - civilian counter intelligence (Department of Foreign Affairs)

Internal Security:

DISS, Domestic Intelligence and Security Service - civilian domestic counter terrorism, intelligence and security (Department of Internal Affairs)

MCA, Military Counterintelligence Agency - same as DISS instead military (Department of Defence)

Military
see Armed Forces of Mordusia

Political Parties
Currently there are three political parties in Mordusia and three main electoral blocs

The three are in order of seats in the legislature
 * Isolationist Party (277)