Mocryae

The Most Serene Republic of Mocryae also referred to as the Mocryae Confederacy is a multiethnic confederation in southwestern Ovaicaea, dominating territory of the western low country, the Great Salt Marsh, and the northern half of the Mocryae Peninsula, as well as some islands in Bay of Mocryae and the Western Gulf. The Republic emerged in the 4th century Before the Empire, and gradually grew in size as it absorbed other political entities in the Mocryae Peninsula and the Southern Sea. Predominantly human, Mocryae is the successor to a patchwork of city-states and cultures that developed in the peninsula and valley areas over the past several thousand years. Prior to the year 939, Mocryae was an independent and powerful empire of its own, contending against Tethar, Gestrin, and other regional powers for supremacy. Its devastating defeat in the Gestrin War led its eventual accession to the New Empire. Its High Chancellor, an elected head of state, has the right to vote on behalf of the Senate in Imperial elections, and nominally represents the Republic in the Imperial Assembly

Whether as an independent polity or as a dependent state, Mocryae has always been focused on trade and commerce, promoting a dynamic economy with thorough monetization, entrepreneurship, and high economic freedom for its citizens. Like its long-time rival, Gestrin, the Republic of Mocryae built a centralized, bureaucratic administration to manage a diverse array of autonomous communities and widespread freeholds, including with it a system of roads, a centralized postal service, and a strong navy and professional army. While the central government has promoted a common language for trade and governance, Mocryae remains a very linguistically and ethnically diverse country. Mocryae, while bearing hallmarks of influence from Elven societies, has in turn influenced culture, law, art, architecture, philosophy, commerce, and military science among regional communities. Despite its significant decline in the 920s, it remains a cultural and economic powerhouse and the heart of Imperial interests in the south.

Government and military
Mocryae is a confederacy composed of numerous city-states, with a central government that coordinates defense, commerce, and justice on behalf of its constituent entities. Each city-state operates independently, with a diverse array of systems of government, from hereditary monarchies to direct democracies. Much like Eldunari, which borrowed from Mocryish styles of government, Mocryae's central government is republican, and is built on ideals of democracy, rule of law, and balance of power, and the government managed large swathes of land for the benefit of the public as a whole. The central government occasionally has treated some city-states and regions preferentially; this was the proximate cause of Mocryae's civil war in the early 10th century.

The central government of Mocryae has a reputation for being a slow, corrupt, labyrinthine bureaucracy; however, its defenders claim that the sluggishness is an intended feature to prevent government overreach, which allows for widespread autonomy and self-rule among its member cities.

Central government
The Mocryish centralized state is fundamentally republican and bureaucratic, with most decision-making vested in the legislative assembly called the Serene Senate, which has the power to legislate for the whole of the federation. This body is composed of representatives from every city-state, titled Senator. A small standing committee of the Senate, the Adirim, conducts legislative business in lieu of a full session, and its membership rotates annually.

Every three years, the legislature elects one of its members to the office of High Chancellor, a chief executive that chairs the Senate and determines its agenda, commands the military, enforces the law, and manages the vast federal bureaucracy. However, the Chancellor is largely a ceremonial position and its powers are significantly limited by bureaucratic procedure and Senatorial restraints. The Senate has often used its lawmaking power to disempower the military and judiciary, and reduce government oversight that might otherwise grant the Chancellor a great deal of discretionary power. The High Chancellor wielded extensive power in wartime in the early 900s, but this was reversed following Mocryae's accession to the New Empire in 939. As part of its accession, Mocryae's government surrendered diplomatic authority and judicial suzerainty to the Imperial government.

Nevertheless, the Chancellery office and the large republican bureaucracy has control over numerous aspects of public life, such as commanding and organizing the armed forces, managing extensive public lands and natural resources, overseeing temples, overseeing public finance, taxation, and the mint, and providing public services such as food distribution, monetary welfare, free water, public works, the postal service, and national roads. The magistrates that manage these offices are also elected by the Serene Senate, though they are nominated by the Chancellor.

Law and justice
The legal system in Mocryae is complex, with many layers. Each city-state has their own code of law and method of administering it. However, in all cases that have been appealed as far as they can in their local judiciaries, every citizen of Mocryae has the right to appeal to the confederation's legal system. When this is done, the course depends on what is being appealed; the confederal judiciary is divided into specific courts for criminal matters(Courts of Cassation), ecclesiastical law (Courts of the Arcane), military law (Courts Martial), governmental matters (Constitutional Courts), commerce (Courts of Exchequer), probate and family law (Courts of Rolls), and all other matters of civil law and equity (Courts of Chancery). Any matter originating on publicly-owned land automatically goes to the confederal court system.

The High Tribunal was the court of last resort, a supreme court for the entire republic, prior to accession to the Empire; this supreme court still settles most issues within Mocryae, and few matter proceed to the Imperial justice system. The High Tribunal originated as a citizen body to provide oversight of the state's original high court, the Dagostari, but came to overtake it as the supreme judicial assembly. The High Tribunal is composed of 31 citizens elected by lot, out of a larger pool of nominees selected by the Serene Senate. These candidates are required to be legal scholars or practitioners of sound mind, merit, and good moral character. This tribunal has the power to override any decision by lower courts, render judgement and interpret confederal and local law, and even strike down laws that conflict with the republic's founding constitutional principles and the body of precedent set at the highest level. In primarily selecting for experts in constitutional law and experienced lawyers, the High Senate ensures that the legal system is under considerable but measured oversight.

Economy
Mocryae's economy is one of the more dynamic ones in the Empire, and this strength allows it to act as the Western nations' entrepot to the wider economy of Southern Ovaicaea. Through a complex web of regional and municipal economies, marginally directed by the state, Mocryae has build a robust flow of goods and services between itself and its neighbors. Economic interests have been the driving cause of political transformation in the Republic, being the immediate cause for the revolt of the Crab Bay region in the 10th century, and having continued to shape the actions of Mocrye's member cities and guilds.

Mocryae is highly urbanized, and with this comes an economy built on shipping, commerce, banking and finance, and urban labor. Novel forms of construction, textile, lumber, and milling industries have emerged. Some cities are known for particular industries or commercial activities. Protected trade routes connect regional economies, and magical means of communication enable rapid dissemination of information and decision-making by guilds and merchants. Along with Gestrin, Mocryae has pioneered financial institutions, which have influenced banking practices as far north as Balendor. The Mocryish economy is highly monetized, with nearly every good or service valued in terms of currency. Despite the loss of some of its wealthiest cities in the Gestrin War, Mocryae has a growing economy that has become vital for the economic life of the wider Empire of Ovaicaea.

Like its neighbor and rival of Gestrin, the republican social structure and economic dynamism has allowed for great social mobility compared to the northern feudal kingdoms. In Mocryish society, wealth is a strong indicator of social class and prestige. Skill in finance and commerce is valued as a sign of good luck and grace from the gods, and as an indicator of one's education, wisdom, and prudence. Private business accounts for the vast majority of economic activity in Mocryae, unlike the Gastrinian economy which contains a greater blend of military, public, and private activity. The Mocryish business community is a complex web of individual merchants, craft and mercantile guilds, trade corporations, and joint-stock companies, along with large landowners. The state does not possess vast lands and resources directly, though it exerts some control over the economy through state-owned enterprises. Prior to 939, the state held strict control over the money supply, but joining the Empire removed such power as Mocryae became open to the coinage of other imperial states as part of the treaty of accession.

Currency and banking
As is the case in many of the Southern economies, practically any good or service in Mocryae can be assessed in a monetary value, and coinage is ubiquitous throughout the republic. The basic unit of account for government, business, property assessment, and personal wealth is the silver sheqel. Both larger and smaller units of currency exist, in gold, platinum, and copper coins. Bullion and ingots are not used as money or currency per se, but they are sometimes used in trading or real estate acquisitions and are called "trade bars" in this context.

Like all other imperial states, Mocryae accepts the imperial denarius, as well as local coinage from other imperial states. This has somewhat damaged the purchasing power of the Mocryish state currency, though Mocryae's robust economy has prevented it from complete devauation and deflation.

Like most coinage throughout the empire, Mocryish currency is counted rather than weighed and trusted on its face value rather than its metal content. It is valued based on public trust in the suppliers of coinage, in this case the State Mint as well as banks licensed to mint their own coinage. These privately-minted coins, however, must adhere to government regulations on coin size, metal content, design, and name; standardization and wide circulation has allowed for great social and economic mobility, as even the poorest citizens can engage in the wider economy.

The sheqel floats in relation to the Imperial silver denarius, at a rate of 1 denarius to 2 sheqels, and exchanges against the Gastrinian silver drachma at a rate of about 1 drachma to 4 sheqels,. Due to similar rates of scale between the other coins issued, this means that overall Mocryae's coinage is worth about half the value of standard imperial coinage, which is about similar for other economically powerful states within the empire, such as Lithuar or Eldorei, and a quarter of Gastrinian currency, which reflects the relative economic power of Gestrin and the Western Empire. Unlike most other states, however, Mocryae's currency is decimalized, a phenomenon that allowed for rapid integration with the Gestrin-led mercantile economy of the Southern Seas, and which makes exchange from one type of coin to another relatively easy. At various points in Mocryae's past, the coinage was debased through changing the proportions of metals used, often to sustain government expenditures and in circumstances of low production of precious metals. This shifted in the 3rd century, when Mocryae adopted Gastrinian models of banking and pioneered paper money.

Mocryae has emulated Gestrin in adopting the concept of the central bank, and likewise provides minimal oversight and regulation on private banking. The Masraf-i-Devlet (Bank of the Republic) lends money to the government, allowing it to remain solvent even in the face of decreased revenues, which was absolutely vital during the Gestrin War. Banking is a widespread industry, with almost every major city having their own banks, as well as branches of other cities' banks, as institutions providing a range of financial services. Mocryish banks, like those in Gestrin typically operate under a fractional-reserve model, which has enabled banks with limited capital to do considerable business and produce a robust credit system. The first modern banks were community banks, enabling cities to build capital quickly for expansion and creating commercial ties. These developed into commercial and investment banks that funded merchant guilds, and into dedicated money-changing institutions to embolden foreign trade. Mocryish banks pioneered the use of paper documentation and promissory notes to enable the exchange of large sums without risky cash transfers, which has been adopted by Gastrinian banks as well.

Trade and commodities
Mocryae is a nation nearly synonymous with international trade. It built its economy and identity on being a trading empire, with longstanding relations with foreign nations. Despite this, much trade occurs within the country itself, between its cities and freeholds. The primary commodity is rice and grain. Most trade is by sea, shipping from major ports, though in the past two centuries a robust overland trade has emerged that privileges its northern cities and independent plantations. Other major trade items are indigo, olive oil, wine, salt, fruits, spices, condiments, medicines, livestock, ore, textiles, timber, marble and stone, gemstones, weaponry, wood furniture, metalware, clothing, pottery, glassware, paper, and bullion.

Most trade is conducted by large corporate entities, such as merchant guilds, trade associations, and joint-stock enterprises, as well as their middle-men and agents, disseminated by a wide variety of independent retailers and peddlers.