Atla officially became a unified, independent nation 248 years ago at the same time the Trinity Trade Council was formed.
Prosperity, industrialization and ingenuity abounded in the decade before Atla’s formation. This time represented a new step in humanity when the nation came together and drafted the Provincial Constitution of Freedom (PCF). The signing of the Constitution by delegates from seven provinces on Atla and fifteen representatives from outlying islands and nations was the second largest political act in known history.
Though the event marked a leap for humankind that has never been rivaled, the formation of Atla itself was marked with violence, bloodshed and disaster. Because of the nation’s troubled past, the GC has gone to great lengths to see that only the best parts of Atla’s history are printed in history books. Despite what the history books say, the nation experienced dark times shortly before its creation.
Democracy is the heart and foundation of Atla. With quickly advancing technologies bringing people of the vast nation together, it was the cleanest form of government that could make certain the voices of all people, regardless of region or ethnic background, could be heard. And most people, even off the mainland and as far west as Feron, were supporters of Atla’s unification. The strongest resistance to Atla’s constitution actually came from within.
The leaders of some cities and towns across the nation saw democracy as a means to limit their power, authority and control over their people. Several small cities, kingdoms and empires immediately opposed the unification.
Supportive leaders of cities, small and large, began to meet in the future capitals of the provinces in the year 15PM. These meetings were the beginning of what became the Constitutional Deliberations. Dozens of men and women representing cities and towns of all sizes held regular meetings discussing what they thought a unified country meant to them and the people. In 12PM, 12 years before the signing of Atla’s constitution, the somewhat disorganized meetings of the past three years, evolved into the first Constitutional Deliberation. These deliberations were annual meetings that lasted one month (usually during the summer months of Peretosh or Feron). During that time, representatives from the cities across the nation, would come to discuss, vote and draft all the details of a unified Atla. When the month was up they would return to their cities to relay the latest news to their people. The people would then vote on and discuss the various policies and ideas presented at the deliberation. Those changes and suggestions were noted, and became the primary focus of the following year’s deliberation. Approximately 200 delegates From across Atla attended each deliberation. For every major city, one delegate was chosen (often from the city leader’s staff). For cities that were too small to have civic leaders or buildings, another representative would be sent from a major city that was close to the small town. Or, many times a citizen form a small hamlet or village was chosen by the people of that area to represent them.
It was a difficult process to amass a diverse and equal group of representatives that could speak for the rest of the population. Almost all of the time between 15PM and 12PM was spent searching for valid representatives from all cities on Atla. Despite the huge undertaking, it is estimated that at least 10% of the cities and villages with a population of under 1,000 were not spoken for. Even with this major handicap, almost the entire nation was represented. This meant, for the first time ever, that every person across the proto-nation could raise their voice and give their opinion on the way things should be in places they didn’t even live.
Initially, the Constitutional Deliberations went well. For the first two years, the overwhelming opinion was that the deliberations were on track. But when the discussions turned to power distribution, heated debates erupted. In 9PM during the third Constitutional Deliberation, the mood changed for the worst. Representatives from Bedrin City adamantly detested giving up power, power which had remained in the ruling monarch’s family for centuries. People of Floran and Pelenak, along with many other cities on Atla’s eastern coast, saw it as an end to their steady business and trade by way of the sea (as more and more emphasis would be put on trade with other nations, all of which are to the west of Atla). The farmers of Sed saw the end of their farms and the rise of corporate or government controlled production. And the leaders of dozens of small villages, including Gale, Endlain, FrostRight and Tenos, were all unwilling to give up their individual authority. Several times during the third deliberation, the daily meetings were adjourned early or cancelled due to threats of violence. Historians speculate that, were it not for the seemingly insignificant decision to send representatives in the place of the actual leaders, the deliberations would have failed in that year. With threats of violence, the only thing keeping the representatives from an all out assault was that they were not the ones in power in their cities. Had the actual leaders been there, the deliberations would have ended violently.
It took several years for the majority of people across Atla to feel comfortable with a total shift in power. One of the most important breakthroughs was an act known as Sustained Power. Sustained Power was an initiative proposed that would ensure the day to day control of a city remained in the hands of the current mayors, governors, dukes and duchesses, kings and queens, councilors etc. While the national laws and regulations (which would affect trade, business laws, employment opportunities and healthcare) would fall on the shoulders of the national government.
Not everyone saw Sustained Power as a positive. Many of the strongly independent cities previously mentioned felt that the government didn’t trust them enough to handle everything on their own. While it was true that some authority would be removed from the current civic leaders, the government would step in to assist with healthcare, job opportunities and infrastructure maintenance that would be almost impossible for an individual city. But that didn’t matter.
For the Constitutional Deliberation of 7PM, several of the cities (including the ones mentioned) refused to send their delegates. The Deliberations were put on hold for two weeks while other representatives were called. Unfortunately, things turned violent across the nation before the Deliberations could resume.
When the representatives from FrostRight failed to appear at the deliberations, a group of volunteer representatives traveled to the frozen country in hopes of locating the missing delegates. But when the representatives reached FrostRight they were immediately captured. Two of them were murdered before reaching the prison and the remaining men and women were beaten before being locked up.
In Gale, the city sheriff arrested three delegates on charges of treason and had them hanged.
The delegates who traveled to Endlain in hopes of finding new representatives went missing and were never heard from again.
In Bedrin, the king refused to let the delegates into the city and mobilized his guards to ensure nobody entered.
A group from Pelenak assaulted the volunteer representatives and left most of them permanently crippled or dead.
And the violence wasn’t contained to those locations. Reports of similar attacks came from all reaches of Atla.
Behind closed doors and away from the publicity of the Deliberation itself, several of the representatives met to discuss the unfolding situation. In just three years, civil war became a real threat to the yet unborn nation. While the foundations of the national military were already being laid (having been discussed first in the deliberation of 10PM), there was no central military power. And even if there was, mobilizing it to fight against the threat of the hostile cities would have cast the Deliberations and the unified nation in such a dark shadow that the thought of unification could never return to light.
While the discussion and formation of an army took place away from the public eye, several new volunteers came forward from the hostile cities. While the number of representatives that year was low, at only 147, the vote was unanimous to continue. In an expedited form, the Seventh Deliberation got underway with little to no mention made of the threat of war. After eight days of deliberations the representatives dispersed for the year.
As the date approached for the seventh Constitutional Deliberation, the representatives (once again a full 200 after the call for new representatives was met) returned to Tru Dahn City. But three days before the Deliberation officially began, three representatives were killed by members of a group calling themselves the Anti-Government Movement, or AGM for short. Local newspapers and periodicals caught wind of the attacks and ran speculative stories about the “Deadly Job of Representatives”. Nationwide panic followed the articles close behind. The AGM had to be eradicated as quickly and quietly as possible. While the seventh deliberation commenced without event, the rest of the year the representatives were threatened, assaulted or captured.
Representatives met for the eighth Deliberation in 5PM. To the public, the deliberation was nothing out of the ordinary. Inside however, the representatives set in motion their plan to end the AGM. Though newspapers across the nation ran stories on the AGM, there were few facts among all the stories. This gave the representatives a brief window of anonymity and obscurity to carry out their plan. And that plan was to mobilize the proto-military.
Two months after the Deliberation, several thousand troops were armed, then stationed just outside of Alpine City. A select few representatives traveled with the army to lead negotiations. At once the group of approximately 5,000 traveled from city to city. At each stop, the representatives gave the AGM leaders an ultimatum: participate in the Constitutional Deliberations like every other city, or be eliminated. While the policy was harsh, it was the safest and quickest way to prevent a civil war. And in the end, it worked, but not the way the representatives hoped.
The first stop on the tour for the Provincial Army, as it was later called, was Bedrin. In a harbinger of the dangers ahead, the guards of King Bedrin attacked the moment they met the Provincial Army. The bloody battle lasted two days. By the end, the King’s army had been completely obliterated and 1,000 of the provincial army had been killed. After the absolute defeat, King Bedrin agreed to lay down his weapons and send a representative to the next Deliberation.
Next on the list of cities was FrostRight. When troops arrived at the city’s gates, the Shaman Priest sealed the city off and refused to allow even one delegate in. The Shaman-Priest sent one messenger to meet Atla’s army and presented them with a simple message. “We will fight until defeat for our homeland. Leave us now, in peace, and stop defiling our lands. If you do not, we will fight until our very extinction to save our lands.” The Atlan military’s goal was to eradicate members of the AGM. It was clear the people of FrostRight were not members of the AGM. Rather, they were intent on preserving their lands and traditions. The Provincial Army promptly left the frozen area, henceforth considering FrostRight an independent nation.
The encounter with the people of FrostRight was a rare example of peace. Several more battles took place across Atla as members of the AGM fought for their continued independent rule. Entire towns, isolated and insignificant would fight until half the population (or more) was killed. Farmers and their families, inspired by the AGM rhetoric would throw themselves into battle, completely unwilling to even discuss their terms of agreement. More often than not, battles would begin before any words had been exchanged, as farmers and merchants would sprint towards the Atlan army, pitchforks and swords in hand. And unlike the encounter with King Bedrin, there was no last minute acceptance of the terms. Everyone fought until death.
After months of bloody battles across Atla members of the Provincial Army realized the AGM was being guided by a single individual (as opposed to members operating independently under a single purpose). It two weeks to find the location of the leader (after capturing several of the AGM members). The leader was hiding out deep in the Bedrin Mountains with a massive army protecting the fort. When the Provincial Army reached the fortress, the AGM army attacked as it had everywhere else-without a single word. The following battle was the bloodiest the army had faced. All 5,000 of the AGM members were slain and 1,200 of the provincial army were killed. No prisoners were taken as none would accept a surrender. When the final count was taken, only 2,109 Provincial Army members survived. Despite the loss of over half the Army during the year of fighting, the last of the AGM supporters were wiped out with their leader.
It’s unclear whether or not the AGM was seeking to simply put a stop the Deliberations and end Atla’s unification, or to supplant the existing structure and rule the nation themselves. Whatever the AGM’s motives, the Provincial Army was able to end their diabolical plans early enough that there weren’t any lasting problems.
Despite the outcome, the Provincial Army’s intent was not to kill all the AGM supporters. Representatives hoped the large army would shock the AGM members into realizing their defiance was futile and that the government process needed to be democratic. However, very few of the AGM members were willing to discuss the politics of the nation. On all but three occasions, battles began before any words were spoken between the two groups. It is still a mystery how, in only a few short years, the AGM was able to establish itself and propagate across the early nation. With an estimated membership of 12,000, it would have taken as much or more work to assemble that many individuals as the working going into the deliberations. To this day many speculate that the AGM wasn’t a sudden movement spawned in response to the Constitutional Deliberations. Instead, some believe the AGM was orchestrated by another, unidentified group that used the unsupportive cities to their own means (doing so under the title of the Anti-Government Movement). However, no evidence of such a group has ever been found beyond the bizarre and frightening speed with which the group assembled. Because of the hushed nature of the war against the AGM, there have been no investigations into the matter. Under strict orders of secrecy, the Provincial Army burned the bodies of the AGM members and quickly disbanded once all AGM members were eradicated. Five major newspapers ran stories detailing the existence of the Provincial Army and its quest for vengeance. Details were sparse in the articles and relied more on hearsay and speculation. Luckily for the early government, the largest battles (Bedrin City and the Bedrin Mountains) were isolated from the usual flow of information across Atla. And the one major city to encounter the army and not be destroyed was FrostRight, which completely ignored the outside world both before and after, sealing up any information behind the city’s great walls. There were no written correspondences during the attacks either. Everything we know about the battle and the AGM came from the few leaks made by surviving Provincial Army members who divulged the information on their death beds. Without those few individuals, the deadly opposition and even the existence of the AGM would have been buried with them. With so much secrecy surrounding the Provincial Army, it’s no wonder the truth behind the AGM was never uncovered.
After the destruction of the AGM, the remaining Constitutional Delegations continued as though nothing had happened. 2PM saw the unanimous approval of the official structure of the government (a hybrid democracy which also kept existing leaders in charge of individual cities on a day-to-day level). Representatives had been speaking for the voice of the people, and everyone realized that such a method would continue to work. The government would officially be split into three, equally powerful branches. The first would be the voice of the people. Based off of the initial representatives, the voice of the people came in the form of what are today known as the Provincial Representatives. One representative would speak for every 5,000 people with the people counted according to city and provincial boundaries. Today, however, that number is now one Representative for every 100,000 people, and the representatives speak for an entire province.
Following the Provincial Representatives was the Grand Council. The Grand Council’s role was to coordinate the affairs of the nation as a whole, including managing the healthcare system, taxes, national transportation etc. There is one Grand Council member for each Provincial Representative. This is done to keep the balance between the people and the government equal.
The final branch of the government created was the national head, the leader and president. This individual was initially known as the Council Head, though by 12EM the title was officially changed to Grand Provincial Councilor. The GPC’s duties are to oversee the nation as a whole. This includes acting as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, creating and enforcing laws, and appointing heads of national agencies. The GPC is elected by the citizens of Atla. Once in office, the GPC can only be voted out by the Provincial Representatives on behalf of the population as a whole.
As Atla’s government was being established, the representatives were also working with the heads of state from outside Atla to form the Trinity Trade Council, or TTC. Upon Atla’s adoption of the constitution, the Trinity Council, then three years old, officially adopted the new calendar system to be used by all member nations. In total 24 countries and totaling 60% of the world’s population signed their admittance to the TTC in the world’s single, largest sociopolitical act. The explosion of knowledge, understanding and progress in general ushered in what is known as the Era of Enlightenment. After the signing of the PCF, the Trinity Council declared that that would be the final year of the old, separate calendar systems used across the world. On New Year’s Day the date would officially roll over to 1EM for all TTC members.
Since the signing of the Provincial Constitution of Freedom on the 10th of Foe, 1PM, FrostRight and Bedrin have added their numbers to the provinces of Atla. Further, 20 more countries of varying sizes from both Feron and the Archipelago have joined the Trinity Council.