Republic of Istengrav

Рэспубліка Істэнграв

The Republic of Istengrav is a major, though somewhat backwards interstellar state located in the Io Sector. Home to a stable Frentierist society, it has managed to survive at the edge of Civilized Space, growing in power and connections thanks to the efforts of the Opus Dei Beaconists. Founded in the wake of the Great Cataclysm its relative isolation from the more dangerous powers of Civilized Space allowed it to expand its economic might and territories relatively unimpeded. This has meant that it has become enormously influential in regions of Arcturian Space and in Frontier Space, and has been slowly expanding, particularly into formerly uninhabited regions of the Yorkmund Run. The Republic of Istengrav is the nominal leader of the Saratov Anti-Socialist Organization, and has been influential in the cause against the spread of Stelsoc.

Culture

The Republic of Istengrav traces most of its ethnocultural roots to the Eastern European regions of Old Earth though mass waves of refugees fleeing the Jred Scourge and the centuries after during the Long Night. This has resulted in a mishmash of the various influences of the Rimward Frontier and the traditional cultural influence that occurred locally. Gravans have a reputation for being relatively stodgy and conservative, with multiple ethnic enclaves threatening to break apart the republic if not for the efforts of the Gravan security forces.

History

The worlds of the Io Sector we were among some of the last to be settled and developed within Civilized Space, and were settled as part of a dedicated initiative by the Stellar League in a careful, clinical process. This meant that over the span of three centuries, the worlds were terraformed, infrastructure was erected, and settlers landed methodically. These initial planned settlements were immensely successful, and were some of the most prosperous settlements of the middle Stellar League, though they were dependent on the core for some key technologies and materials. The coreward sections of the Sector became increasingly important as the Yorkmund Run became a major trade highway and a stopping point for ships transiting deeper into the rimward reaches of the Frontier. With these worlds becoming economically vital in the later periods of the Stellar League, as the logistics hub around exploration of Jred Space. This would eventually become a problem when the Jred became inceasingly active culminating in the Jred Scourge, which utterly devastated the region, consuming the Rimward frontiers and laying waste to the worlds of the Yorkmund Run, though the Jred would not impact the coreward reaches of the sector as severely, they too would be impacted by Jred invasions, and more importantly by the tide of refugees fleeing from the Rim. After the Great Cataclysm, the inner Io Sector was utterly devastated, with the near total breakdown of interstellar civilization, most systems in the region fell into bloody civil infighting with billions of casualties in the first decades of the Long Night. Many worlds lost their entire technological bases as their computerized industrial networks were destroyed and the survivors of resources wars lacked among their number bright minds to build and maintain technology. The resulting chaos resulted in most of the region regressing to pre-Stellar, even pre-Industrial levels of technical development. It was in this climate that Opus Dei would become a dominant force in regional politics, influencing technological preservation and redevelopment, as well as maintaining interstellar communication befor the arrival of the Galactic Surveyor's Guild in the late 43rd century. In the 43rd century a few worlds of the coreward Io Sector, specifically, New Petrograd, Istengrav, and Orel managed to restabilize society, and began to communicate with each other regularly. Over the course of the century trade pacts, customs agreements, and defense pacts would be written. This culminated in the foundation of the Republic of Istengrav in 4310. This Republic, founded as a secular, Frentierist Republic faced challenges, mostly related to its relative isolation from the rest of Civilized Space, and indeed the Frontier. Over the course of the 44th century, the Republic expanded, incorporating most of the worlds of the cluster, encompassing it fully by the turn of the 45th century. As the GSG moved into the region contact was improved, and the Republic came into contact with other worlds deeper into Civilized Space. As the Republic became increasingly connected with the outside world, in became increasingly involved in international conflict. Though the Republic was initially a neutral party in the matter, a coup in 4462, saw a hardline, militarist, anti-socialist party take power. These militarists would expand into new member worlds taking them by force, and would be one of the core founders of the Saratov Anti-Socialist Organization. In its new, more active role, the Republic of Istengrav has become a bulwark against Stelsoc's expansion into the Rimward regions.

Demography and Population

The Republic of Istengrav is a relatively sparsely populated nation for its power and influence, and with a population barely reaching into the tens of billions. This population is relatively evenly spread, most of the main populated works having populations in the high hundreds of millions or low billions. The largest concentration of people live on the capital world of Novaya Petropavolovsk in the Istengrav System, but other population centers such as Pryhazosc (in the Io System), and New Orel. The original inhabitants of the space that would become the Republic of Istengrav drew their origins from Eastern Europe, primarily the Balkan region, and the lands of Old Russia, however, as Istengrav was hit with many waves of migration during the Jred Scourge, it has become significantly more diverse, though many of these people have been culturally assimilated into Istengrav's primary culture during the Long Night and the times after.

Territories

The Republic of Istengrav maintains a fairly sizable territory, territory spanning a total of sixteen parsecs of Civilized Space. About two thirds of this territory consists of populated systems, with about a third consisting of empty space, and a single uninhabited world. Most of Istengrav's inhabited worlds, at least the primary ones, are home to medium populations, those within the range of millions. There are some exceptions, with the heavily industrialized Istengrav itself, and New Orel boasting multibillion person populations, and planetoid belt of New Sverdlovsk which maintains a much smaller population in the low thousands. Istengrav has slowly expanded since its inception, and is interested in muscling in on the worlds of the Yorkmund run in order to further expand its territory and reach.

Military

The Republic of Istengrav maintains a relatively large military force, though it is also quite backwards. At the fringes of Civilized Space, it is difficult to come across modern warships. As a result the Republic has been relying heavily on the Standard Build Template to supply its armed forces, something that becomes increasingly challenging in the face of states that do innovate in the Stelsoc block. Istengrav has been modernizing in recent years, particularly as their own multinational organization continues to grow, and trade with more advanced worlds continues.

Technological Level

The Republic of Istengrav can be said to maintain a medium technological level, with some pockets of higher and some pockets of lower technology interspersed within its territory. Some systems, including, noteworthily Iarkan, have very low tech levels, whereas the core systems, New Orel, Istengrav and Io maintain stellar technological development at least. Other worlds maintain a simpler, mid-tech, pre-stellar level of development. However, true starships are relatively hard to come in the Republic as the limited facilities able to build them tend to be reserved for military and government work.

Religion

The Republic of Istengrav is a secular state, with relatively free and unimpeded practice of religion, though the majority of the population is areligious, something which is relatively rare in the Rimward sectors of Civilized Space. Those who are religious trend most strongly to Christian faiths, with the Nova-Calvinist sect being the largest single Christian sect followed within the Republic, though Nova-Orthodox traditions are also quite common. The second largest religion, though one that has been heavily regionalized is Opus Dei. Muslims, Buddhists, and practicioners of other faiths make up a minority of the population.

Foreign Relations

The Republic of Istengrav maintains relatively neutral relations with most of its neighbors, and is an eager trade partner with most nations. However, in after the failure of a socialist revolution in the country, the ruling government took a hardline stance against the Stelsoc movement, and was instrumental in the foundation of the Saratov anti-Socialist Organization (SASO), as well as expanding its influence to include four member states, and dozens of individual member world and system governments. This naturally puts it at odds with socialist states, particularly the Democratic Republic of Yuanjing, and the Cincastrella Confederacy, which are the nucleus of the Stelsoc movement. It also maintains relatively friendly relations with the Union of Sol.

Laws

The Republic of Istengrav maintains a fairly average law structure, particularly typical of a Frentierist states. There are broad protections for most civil liberties, as well as a relatively open market. Political liberties are, generally, followed, though the Republic has slowly begun to constrict the influences of those they deem 'extremist' particularly in recent years. The Republic has noteworthily strict weapons control laws, roughly one or two levels higher than their UIS assigned law levels would indicate.

Agriculture & Industry

The Republic of Istengrav though backwards technologically maintains a relatively high level of agricultural and industrial output. Two of its largest systems, Istengrav itself, and New Orel have largely well developed industrial bases, and are capable of producing large quantities of mid-tech items, and enormous quantities of foodstuffs. The latter in particular has been a major source of economic might for the Republic as it has become a breadbasket of Civilized Space.

Education

The Republic of Istengrav's education is extremely decentralized with most matters left to individual star systems to determine. Generally education is mandatory for most Gravan citizens until the age of 16, though it is rare for students to leave schooling younger than 18 years of age. Students receieve a career focused education with specialization of labor occurring at a very young age, resulting in highly stratified education systems, particularly at the secondary level. Most education occurs in person, particularly outside the core systems of the Republic.

Infrastructure

The Republic Istengrav maintains a monopoly on interstellar infrastructure in the Io Sector with the single Jumpgate line in the sector running from the border to the next sector to the capital system of Istengrav itself. This network is maintained primarily by the Galactic Surveyor's Guild as the Republic is largely dependent on them for the technological expertise necessary to maintain the gates, though the Republic has slowly begun to take on some of the responsibilities for themselves.