- Location
- Op een dag, Nederland.
- Pronouns
- she/her & ne/nem
Yeah, this is basically the thread for anything Azul Chronicles.
First of all, a disclaimer just to make sure it's clear who created the map: The base map I use to portray Azulia is not mine, it belongs to "Imperator Frank" over on Alternatehistory.com and is used with permission.
Anyway, here's the map of one of the most prominent countries of the Azulworld [Azulverse might be too close to @iainbhx's Azureverse, so yah], the United Realms of Azalaia, which is basically Punkified Britain.
The United Realms of Azalaia has four very distinct "realms" within it, all with their own distinctive laws influenced by other countries. There's also a devolved 'nation' within Saxland that we will cover.
Saxland, the most populous realm and the one people sometimes conflate with Azalaia [much to the others' displeasure], came around because of a migration of South-Teutons from modern-day Gelderland via boat to what is now modern-day Arberth Province in Camber, and they quickly moved southwards to establish their own lands, quickly asserting their dominance over the disunited native Azalish.
Saxish law is rooted in the Witenayemoot (the "Supreme Folkmoot", often called "Witan") and in a law system called "common law", namely laws arising from precedent and from tradition. Since the failed attempt at a "Grand Convention" by King William II in the 19th century, the three (now four/five/six) legislative chambers decisively stay separate albeit Parliament's authority does get rather national at times and threaten to make the legislative chambers merely devolved. They work hard to make sure that doesn't happen.
The Witan is currently assembled in the Hall of the Ancients, the traditional building where King Edgar was said to have assembled the first Witan in 611. This modern usage was only made possible by extensive restoration work in the 1980s and 1990s, allowing for a triumphant reopening in 2000 to mark the new millennium off to a good start, just in time to deal with the undead cow plague.
Saxland is divided into shires, reflecting ages-old divisions such as Bungayshire, Havantshire, Kendalshire [the largest], Lampastershire, Maltonshire and the excessively-long-winded Morehamptonsteadshire [the last one is the smallest of all the shires, ironically]. All shires have a Shiremoot, the equivalent to a local council in other realms. Of course, there's also the Free City of Lundain, which has created a constitutional ambiguity when it was officially declared a Free City by a Radical government back in the 1960s, as it had grew from its traditional Lundainshire to cover areas of other shires, and even engulfed two of them totally [Systonshire and Ventnorshire]. Those days, the shires [including the two engulfed ones] and Lundain try to work around each other and their shiremoots and the Lundain Assembly are in constant communication.
The Sinesappel Islands has its own limited-devolved assembly with the traditional shiremoots officially folded into it. Once a distinct kingdom with its own language [Sakstaal], all of that really went over the great big blue to become the state of Bienenstock in the ASL. The descendants of the people who refused to go with them, quickly assimilated into greater Saxish society. But there has been a strong cultural renaissance since the 19th century, and Sakstaal is growing in the islands again. Political pressure from the Alliânsje fan de Eilannen (AfdE), a regionalist political party-slash-campaign resulted into devolution being granted in 2003. Of course, most Saxish people only know three things about it, that it makes good pasties, that it's a good holiday destination, and that every native (apparently) speaks in Saxish but switches to a weird language when a tourist comes.
======================
Alba is the second most populated realm, and it originally derives from when ancient Azalish chiefs united to drive off Saxish attempts at conquest of the north-east of Great Azalaia. Over time, this has grew to encompass more lowland regions and most crucially, came under the sway of the Nordish, ultimately becoming a new constituent part of the "Nordish Union". This lasted for hundreds of years, drastically affecting Alba's culture and government, which has lasted until today.
Albish law is somewhat based on Nordish law, up to calling its assembly the Husting [lit. "House-thing", as in house of assembly]. The Husting replaced the far more ancient Assembly. Albish law is widely understood to refer to the Nordish-based law, but it is still very much legal to invoke "the ancient laws" while in court, namely the laws of Alba before the Nordish came. The ancient laws are called the Law Immemorial, or by lots of Albish lawyers "that bastard law", as most of them were trained in the "actual" laws, not the ancient laws that are mostly out of use apart from shock last-minute invoking by desperate defendants.
The distinction between the Law Immemorial and the Law Temporal are very much strong. While the Laws Immemorial are a very strong common-law system that could be described as a mixture of ancient Azalish tribal law and old Saxish law, while the Law Temporal is a mixed law system containing elements of civil and common law. The Law Immemorial drags the families of everyone who were in the case, to act as "judges of character" with the powers normally given to a judge. In a sense, it's trial by the masses. Only the very desperate [or the ones who bribed] would invoke it, as it has a much higher level of minimum punishment. In contrast, the Law Temporal is considerably civilised, calling for a proper judge and jury, as well as the consultation of the local thing.
Alba is divided into landships. Each of those landships are expected to deal with local matters via their things, i.e. local councils. There is another division in Alba that is relevant to law, and that is the old shires. If you invoke the Law Immemorial, you have to be tried in the same shire as the crime you are said to have done. There is an equivalent for landships in the Law Temporal.
======================
Camber is the third-most-populated realm. It derives from the northern Reman-Azalish that resisted the tide of the Saxish. Over time, the kingdom of Camber emerged, and despite the Remanic language of the Cambrish dying out over time in favour of the Caletic, Camber has persisted in its ties to Remanic nations, up to and including the "Hen Dîm" [Old Team] of Camber, Gallica and various Estalian states.
Cambrish law, unlike other realms in the UR, is decidedly civil law and based on the late Reman laws. It was codified early in the time of King Owain the Peacemaker circa 1100, based upon evolutions from Reman Emperor Timerius' own law code. It is overall, a fairly unremarkable civil law, apart from the more "interesting" bits that developed over the centuries such as the technicality that the ruler of Camber [which is now the monarch of Azalaia] has to swear fealty to the Tyzanbine monarch in their role as monarch of the remnant of the Reman Empire. Those days, that is normally done via a letter and a personal meeting early in the reign of every monarch. During WWII, when the UR was at war with Tyzanbium, it was merely suspended "for practical reasons". So you had the confusing sequence of the Tyzanbine Empress giving unconditional surrender at the end of the war and then the monarch of Azalaia swears fealty to her by legal demand.
Camber's legislature is the Senedd (Senate). It is divided into a Cynulliad Cenedlaethol (National Assembly) and a Siambr Uchel (High Chamber). The Assembly is the "powerhouse of politics", being the core of the legislative process, with the High Chamber being the deliberative house that says "wait a mo" on bills it wants further thinking on. This is the only explicitly-bicameral legislature in the UR, with even the Witenayemoot's distinction between elected delegates and lords being in all but name despite attempted moves to codify it into a "House of Peers" and a "House of Votes".
Cambria is divided into taleithiau (provinces), which are further divided up into cantrefi ("hundreds"). The taleithiau are supposedly derived from old Reman divisions, but are actually "only" a thousand or so years old. One such cantref isn't a cantref at all, but the Mount Arien Protected Natural Preserve, protecting Azalaia's highest mountain and a core of the Old Faith's spirituality.
======================
East Narsenia is the fourth-and-least populated realm. It derives from the old "Pale" of Narsenia, known for having the most Azalish settlers of anywhere in Narsenia. It was split off Narsenia after the war of independence resulted in a Narsenian win, forcing the UR to withdraw from most of the island. There have been sectarian tensions for the rest of the century as a result.
East Narsenia has a legislative chamber of its own, which is just simply called the Assembly [Tionól in Narsenian]. Despite being part of the UR, East Narsenia follows Narsenian law, which is called the Old Laws in East Narsenia [not to be confused with Alba's "ancient laws"]. Narsenian law is mostly common law arising out of the various laws of the Narsenian clans, but with a distinct Crastrian twist thanks to the presence of the Sultanate of Bung in the south-west. This Crastrian twist can be seen most distinctly when it comes to the jury, as the jury in Narsenian law is not necessary one of your peers, but most likely one of legal scholars that deliberate and come to a decision on what course of decision they should recommend to the judge. In the past, the judge's decision was final and couldn't be appealed, but those days the law is more lenient.
East Narsenia (and the Republic too) is divided into túatha ("nations"), although in East Narsenia those are often called shires to imitate the Saxish. East Narsenia is often called the "Six Túatha" by nationalists who wish to re-unite Narsenia under the Republic. In the Republic, there is a level higher than túatha, that of the séú ("sixth part" or "sixthing", normally called province in Saxish) and there are five of those. The sixth is East Narsenia, which is known as the province of Rathdown [hence it being another name the republicans like to use instead of "East Narsenia"].
======================
Oh, and there's the Isle of Hum, which was quite contested between Alba, Saxland and Camber until unification, then they all decided it was best left alone, so it's technically independent.
And here's a linguistic map.
Saxish is a Teutonical language, and I've presented it not as one big blob, but as different dialects.
- Western: the "normal" Saxish, and the one Lagellians understand best out of them all.
- Eastern: Basically imagine exaggerated Northern English, and you have it.
- Black Country: Very much influenced by both immigrants and the Cambrish.
- Cambrish Saxish: Very much not the "national language" of Camber, it's surprisingly normal.
- Narseno-Saxish: Basically Hiberno-English.
And there's Albis too, which is basically Scots.
Sakstaal is a Teutonical language too, and it has diverged far from Saxish. Centuries living in isolation on a far-flung continent will do that to you. A language revival has brought it back to the islands.
Cambrish is a Caletic language albeit one with considerable influence from Remanic. It is the national language of the Kingdom of Camber and despite immigration to South Camber from Saxish-speakers, it still maintains a majority of citizens speaking it. There was once another Cambrish language, the extinct Remanic "Asealig", which persisted up until the 11th century as the language of the elite.
Narsenian is the "official" language of the Republic of Narsenia, as well as being recognised as a "significant" language in East Narsenia. It is not in good form those days, with cities mainly speaking Narseno-Saxish. It is a Caletic language that has a lot in common with Galeic and peculiarly enough, less with Cambrish [linguistics think that there was a "Northern" Caletic mainly based in Gallica and which has a few survivors but the most prominent is Cambrish, and a "Southern" Caletic that evolved to Narsenian and Galeic.]
Galeic is the other language of Alba. It is in fairly dire straits those days, with numbers plummeting and fears that it would die off in this century. Not helping matters is that nationalists champion Albis instead of Galeic.
Humvi is the language of the Humvees, aka the inhabitants of the Isle of Hum. It's a Caletic language with a lot in common with Galeic, up to the point where "Humvi Galeic" is an acceptable alternative name.
Narseno-Nabitean is a very peculiar thing instead. The Sultanate of Bung was a Crastrian sultanate, and successive sultans pushed hard for education in Nabitean and conversion to Crastre. Hence the Narsenian language was replaced by a dialect of Nabitean. Despite centuries under Azalish and then Narsenian rule, the language persists, although it has a very, very strong Narsenian-y flavour.
First of all, a disclaimer just to make sure it's clear who created the map: The base map I use to portray Azulia is not mine, it belongs to "Imperator Frank" over on Alternatehistory.com and is used with permission.
Anyway, here's the map of one of the most prominent countries of the Azulworld [Azulverse might be too close to @iainbhx's Azureverse, so yah], the United Realms of Azalaia, which is basically Punkified Britain.
The United Realms of Azalaia has four very distinct "realms" within it, all with their own distinctive laws influenced by other countries. There's also a devolved 'nation' within Saxland that we will cover.
Saxland, the most populous realm and the one people sometimes conflate with Azalaia [much to the others' displeasure], came around because of a migration of South-Teutons from modern-day Gelderland via boat to what is now modern-day Arberth Province in Camber, and they quickly moved southwards to establish their own lands, quickly asserting their dominance over the disunited native Azalish.
Saxish law is rooted in the Witenayemoot (the "Supreme Folkmoot", often called "Witan") and in a law system called "common law", namely laws arising from precedent and from tradition. Since the failed attempt at a "Grand Convention" by King William II in the 19th century, the three (now four/five/six) legislative chambers decisively stay separate albeit Parliament's authority does get rather national at times and threaten to make the legislative chambers merely devolved. They work hard to make sure that doesn't happen.
The Witan is currently assembled in the Hall of the Ancients, the traditional building where King Edgar was said to have assembled the first Witan in 611. This modern usage was only made possible by extensive restoration work in the 1980s and 1990s, allowing for a triumphant reopening in 2000 to mark the new millennium off to a good start, just in time to deal with the undead cow plague.
Saxland is divided into shires, reflecting ages-old divisions such as Bungayshire, Havantshire, Kendalshire [the largest], Lampastershire, Maltonshire and the excessively-long-winded Morehamptonsteadshire [the last one is the smallest of all the shires, ironically]. All shires have a Shiremoot, the equivalent to a local council in other realms. Of course, there's also the Free City of Lundain, which has created a constitutional ambiguity when it was officially declared a Free City by a Radical government back in the 1960s, as it had grew from its traditional Lundainshire to cover areas of other shires, and even engulfed two of them totally [Systonshire and Ventnorshire]. Those days, the shires [including the two engulfed ones] and Lundain try to work around each other and their shiremoots and the Lundain Assembly are in constant communication.
The Sinesappel Islands has its own limited-devolved assembly with the traditional shiremoots officially folded into it. Once a distinct kingdom with its own language [Sakstaal], all of that really went over the great big blue to become the state of Bienenstock in the ASL. The descendants of the people who refused to go with them, quickly assimilated into greater Saxish society. But there has been a strong cultural renaissance since the 19th century, and Sakstaal is growing in the islands again. Political pressure from the Alliânsje fan de Eilannen (AfdE), a regionalist political party-slash-campaign resulted into devolution being granted in 2003. Of course, most Saxish people only know three things about it, that it makes good pasties, that it's a good holiday destination, and that every native (apparently) speaks in Saxish but switches to a weird language when a tourist comes.
======================
Alba is the second most populated realm, and it originally derives from when ancient Azalish chiefs united to drive off Saxish attempts at conquest of the north-east of Great Azalaia. Over time, this has grew to encompass more lowland regions and most crucially, came under the sway of the Nordish, ultimately becoming a new constituent part of the "Nordish Union". This lasted for hundreds of years, drastically affecting Alba's culture and government, which has lasted until today.
Albish law is somewhat based on Nordish law, up to calling its assembly the Husting [lit. "House-thing", as in house of assembly]. The Husting replaced the far more ancient Assembly. Albish law is widely understood to refer to the Nordish-based law, but it is still very much legal to invoke "the ancient laws" while in court, namely the laws of Alba before the Nordish came. The ancient laws are called the Law Immemorial, or by lots of Albish lawyers "that bastard law", as most of them were trained in the "actual" laws, not the ancient laws that are mostly out of use apart from shock last-minute invoking by desperate defendants.
The distinction between the Law Immemorial and the Law Temporal are very much strong. While the Laws Immemorial are a very strong common-law system that could be described as a mixture of ancient Azalish tribal law and old Saxish law, while the Law Temporal is a mixed law system containing elements of civil and common law. The Law Immemorial drags the families of everyone who were in the case, to act as "judges of character" with the powers normally given to a judge. In a sense, it's trial by the masses. Only the very desperate [or the ones who bribed] would invoke it, as it has a much higher level of minimum punishment. In contrast, the Law Temporal is considerably civilised, calling for a proper judge and jury, as well as the consultation of the local thing.
Alba is divided into landships. Each of those landships are expected to deal with local matters via their things, i.e. local councils. There is another division in Alba that is relevant to law, and that is the old shires. If you invoke the Law Immemorial, you have to be tried in the same shire as the crime you are said to have done. There is an equivalent for landships in the Law Temporal.
======================
Camber is the third-most-populated realm. It derives from the northern Reman-Azalish that resisted the tide of the Saxish. Over time, the kingdom of Camber emerged, and despite the Remanic language of the Cambrish dying out over time in favour of the Caletic, Camber has persisted in its ties to Remanic nations, up to and including the "Hen Dîm" [Old Team] of Camber, Gallica and various Estalian states.
Cambrish law, unlike other realms in the UR, is decidedly civil law and based on the late Reman laws. It was codified early in the time of King Owain the Peacemaker circa 1100, based upon evolutions from Reman Emperor Timerius' own law code. It is overall, a fairly unremarkable civil law, apart from the more "interesting" bits that developed over the centuries such as the technicality that the ruler of Camber [which is now the monarch of Azalaia] has to swear fealty to the Tyzanbine monarch in their role as monarch of the remnant of the Reman Empire. Those days, that is normally done via a letter and a personal meeting early in the reign of every monarch. During WWII, when the UR was at war with Tyzanbium, it was merely suspended "for practical reasons". So you had the confusing sequence of the Tyzanbine Empress giving unconditional surrender at the end of the war and then the monarch of Azalaia swears fealty to her by legal demand.
Camber's legislature is the Senedd (Senate). It is divided into a Cynulliad Cenedlaethol (National Assembly) and a Siambr Uchel (High Chamber). The Assembly is the "powerhouse of politics", being the core of the legislative process, with the High Chamber being the deliberative house that says "wait a mo" on bills it wants further thinking on. This is the only explicitly-bicameral legislature in the UR, with even the Witenayemoot's distinction between elected delegates and lords being in all but name despite attempted moves to codify it into a "House of Peers" and a "House of Votes".
Cambria is divided into taleithiau (provinces), which are further divided up into cantrefi ("hundreds"). The taleithiau are supposedly derived from old Reman divisions, but are actually "only" a thousand or so years old. One such cantref isn't a cantref at all, but the Mount Arien Protected Natural Preserve, protecting Azalaia's highest mountain and a core of the Old Faith's spirituality.
======================
East Narsenia is the fourth-and-least populated realm. It derives from the old "Pale" of Narsenia, known for having the most Azalish settlers of anywhere in Narsenia. It was split off Narsenia after the war of independence resulted in a Narsenian win, forcing the UR to withdraw from most of the island. There have been sectarian tensions for the rest of the century as a result.
East Narsenia has a legislative chamber of its own, which is just simply called the Assembly [Tionól in Narsenian]. Despite being part of the UR, East Narsenia follows Narsenian law, which is called the Old Laws in East Narsenia [not to be confused with Alba's "ancient laws"]. Narsenian law is mostly common law arising out of the various laws of the Narsenian clans, but with a distinct Crastrian twist thanks to the presence of the Sultanate of Bung in the south-west. This Crastrian twist can be seen most distinctly when it comes to the jury, as the jury in Narsenian law is not necessary one of your peers, but most likely one of legal scholars that deliberate and come to a decision on what course of decision they should recommend to the judge. In the past, the judge's decision was final and couldn't be appealed, but those days the law is more lenient.
East Narsenia (and the Republic too) is divided into túatha ("nations"), although in East Narsenia those are often called shires to imitate the Saxish. East Narsenia is often called the "Six Túatha" by nationalists who wish to re-unite Narsenia under the Republic. In the Republic, there is a level higher than túatha, that of the séú ("sixth part" or "sixthing", normally called province in Saxish) and there are five of those. The sixth is East Narsenia, which is known as the province of Rathdown [hence it being another name the republicans like to use instead of "East Narsenia"].
======================
Oh, and there's the Isle of Hum, which was quite contested between Alba, Saxland and Camber until unification, then they all decided it was best left alone, so it's technically independent.
And here's a linguistic map.
Saxish is a Teutonical language, and I've presented it not as one big blob, but as different dialects.
- Western: the "normal" Saxish, and the one Lagellians understand best out of them all.
- Eastern: Basically imagine exaggerated Northern English, and you have it.
- Black Country: Very much influenced by both immigrants and the Cambrish.
- Cambrish Saxish: Very much not the "national language" of Camber, it's surprisingly normal.
- Narseno-Saxish: Basically Hiberno-English.
And there's Albis too, which is basically Scots.
Sakstaal is a Teutonical language too, and it has diverged far from Saxish. Centuries living in isolation on a far-flung continent will do that to you. A language revival has brought it back to the islands.
Cambrish is a Caletic language albeit one with considerable influence from Remanic. It is the national language of the Kingdom of Camber and despite immigration to South Camber from Saxish-speakers, it still maintains a majority of citizens speaking it. There was once another Cambrish language, the extinct Remanic "Asealig", which persisted up until the 11th century as the language of the elite.
Narsenian is the "official" language of the Republic of Narsenia, as well as being recognised as a "significant" language in East Narsenia. It is not in good form those days, with cities mainly speaking Narseno-Saxish. It is a Caletic language that has a lot in common with Galeic and peculiarly enough, less with Cambrish [linguistics think that there was a "Northern" Caletic mainly based in Gallica and which has a few survivors but the most prominent is Cambrish, and a "Southern" Caletic that evolved to Narsenian and Galeic.]
Galeic is the other language of Alba. It is in fairly dire straits those days, with numbers plummeting and fears that it would die off in this century. Not helping matters is that nationalists champion Albis instead of Galeic.
Humvi is the language of the Humvees, aka the inhabitants of the Isle of Hum. It's a Caletic language with a lot in common with Galeic, up to the point where "Humvi Galeic" is an acceptable alternative name.
Narseno-Nabitean is a very peculiar thing instead. The Sultanate of Bung was a Crastrian sultanate, and successive sultans pushed hard for education in Nabitean and conversion to Crastre. Hence the Narsenian language was replaced by a dialect of Nabitean. Despite centuries under Azalish and then Narsenian rule, the language persists, although it has a very, very strong Narsenian-y flavour.
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I'm loving the not-quite OTL