Setting:Unified Setting/Baetica

Part of the Unified Setting for /tg/

Baetica is a land of no-good, hippie communists. Blessed with bountiful soil and a perfect climate the laid-back humans of this kingdom spend all their time smoking pipe-weed, poisoning the minds of our youth with seditious books and holding town meetings where they use community resources for the benefit of all.

While far from a utopia, the people of Baetica have managed to create a working social democracy in the Unified Setting. Held in contempt and little understood by outsiders, the Baeticans have managed to keep their independence and create an excellent life in their niche of the world.

Geography

Baetica occupies the northern regions of Solaris known as Elysia. The land is comprised mainly of wide, flat, fertile grasslands which make for excellent farming. Baetica has been called the "Breadbasket of Solaris" and their always bountiful crops are exported across the Federated Kingdoms.

History

Blessed with fertile lands and temperate weather, Baetica has always been a wealthy kingdom. Their people grew up healthy and strong and their plentiful exports of food to the rest of Solaris brought them both allies and a high standard of living. Even the smallest village usually had enough coin to hire a wandering teacher during the winter and literacy, while not universal was widespread.

This made them a tempting target for Gorgossa. In 1532 (230 years ago) a warlord decided to invade, thinking that the Baetican's easy life had made them soft and weak. Their initial victories seemed to confirm this, as the king and his nobles were easily defeated. That's when things started to go south.

Instead of surrendering to their new masters, the Baeticans got organized. The king's bureaucrats had been running the government for some time and saw no need to stop just because the king was dead. They formed a council of department heads and learned citizens that acted as regent for the young prince. Similar councils sprung up across the nation as the Baeticans decided that no, they preferred their old way of life to Gorgossan conquest.

Peasant militias sprung up all around the invaders, blocking their path to the capital. While not much on the attack, they slowed the Gorgossan's advance to a crawl. Hit and run attacks in their rear areas didn't help matters either. With their advance stalled and without the ability to force a decisive engagement politics on the home-front started to take their toll.

With their armies in Baetica, other Gorgossan factions began circling and testing the invader strongholds. Worse, the Baeticans had called for allies and found them. The most important was Vyntril, who began mobilizing on Gorgossa's now vulnerable southern front. Troops and war material were also trickling in, boosting the Baetican defenses.

Having bitten off more than they could chew, Gorgossa withdrew. Vyntril's aid to Baetica cemented the alliance of the two kingdoms, but had increased the ire of Gorgossa. Tensions spinning out of this war fueled the latter conflict that lead to the Federated Kingdoms.

Baetica, by accident, found themselves run by a collection of soviets, with the nobility either dead or severely weakened. This seemed to be an eminently sensible way to run things to the laid back Baeticans and they decided to keep it. The king still holds ultimate authority, on paper. The royals understand the difference between theory and practice though and are to date content with being ceremonial heads of state.

Baetica's councils were an inspiration for Vyntril's latter revolutionaries, but that rebellion took a much different and darker path.