Nidavellir

Note: This article contains only RP details about the nation of Nidavellir

The Grand Realm of Nidavellir (German: Das Großreich Nidavellir) is a proud nation of the alliance Nordreich, presently in the 3rd Panzer Nordreich on the continent Dictatoria in World 112. It is renowned for production of great artists and works of art. Its head-of-state, Kaiser Leopold III rules Nidavellir with a firm, but caring hand and is well-loved by his people of all classes, professions, and parentage.

Trade
Nidavellir observes a strict no-trade policy with nations whose religion opposes the basic principles of its own (Norse Heathenry, also known as Ásatrú). As a staunchly nationalist and heavily self-determinist nation, Nidavellir gave rise to the Order of the Knights of Othin's Eye (Orden der Ritter des Wotansauge or ORW), the principle religious institution in Nidavellir, which opposes any close relations with nations whose people endorse designated "world-religions", described in the charter of the Order as "...any religion or spiritual path which opposes the cultural foundation of faith and seeks to overthrow that cultural foundation through active promulgation of the faith to cultures, nations, and peoples foreign to the origins of the given faith with the intent to convert the said cultures, nations, and peoples away from the faith of their birth and native culture..." Therefore, Kaiser Leopold has issued a terminal decree against trades with nations endorsing internationalist sentiments and allowing dominance of Papism or any form of Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Wicca, Voodoo, Baha'i, or Mormonism.

The primary exports of Nidavellir are Cotton Farming and Lumber, traditional staples of the people even before the foundation of the Grand Realm. The nation is also home to one of the largest populations in Nordreich of artists, architects, designers, and composers. With the nation situated in Richard-Wagner-Stadt, named for the great composer of the national anthem as well as many of the greatest operas ever composed (at least in the eyes of most Nidavellrans), the focus on music and art is tremendous, and while Nidavellir is known for its staple crops, the largest export to its allies remains art and artists.

War
Nidavellir has pronounced itself at a state of war with any nation which threatens the peace and well-being of Nordreich. Aside from this strict defence of the Reich, Nidavellir is a highly isolationist nation in warfare, seeking rather to be a mediator between nations who are at war in efforts to avoid bloodshed. This is an ironic policy to hold for Kaiser Leopold, since his laws maintain that every male of the ages 18 to 30 is to serve at least five years in the Grand Armed Forces of Nidavellir (Großreichswehr des Nidavellirs) The standing army is therefore quite large, and continues to grow. With the technological focus on military engineering almost to rival the artistic hunger of Nidavellir, highly advanced weaponry is made to be at the hands of every division in the Army, Navy, and Air Forces (Kaisersheer, Kriegsmarine, and Luftwaffe). The latest up-to-date Panzer technology as well as jet aircraft are deployed throughout Nidavellir. As of yet, Nidavellir is a land-locked state, but its naval forces (an admittedly small branch of the Großreichswehr) are trained regularly in dry-docked ships to be dispatched as expeditionary forces to any sea-side nation in The German Empire in need of military aid.

Nidavellir maintains a high degree of military technology, but it does not, nor has it ever, maintained a nuclear arsenal or shown any interest in building such a thing. With a heavy religious emphasis on personal honour and good treatment of the land, nuclear weapons, war, and energy are offensive to the sensibilities of most citizens of Nidavellir, and the ORW would not have it any other way. Any nuclear attack against Nidavellir would be met with warfare defined by the berserker rage of the entire Nidavellran people; if victory could not be won, the nation would literally take its own life. To die gruesomely and keep one's honour is a far better existence in the eyes of most Nidavellrans than to live an empty, meaningless existence without it. This is their entire philosophy of warfare.

State
The national government of the Grand Realm of Nidavellir is an Absolute Monarchy based around the power of Kaiser Leopold III, who holds veto powers over the legislature of Nidavellir, the Oberrat (High Diet), which gathers once daily in the Thinghaus, located in central Richard-Wagner-Stadt, opposite the famous Festspielhaus. The Oberrat is made up of eighteen ministers appointed by the Kaiser and approved by both the existing Oberrat as well and the High Council of the ORW. The Ministerführer, or "Leading Minister" is elected from amongst the Oberrat, obviously with input from the Kaiser himself (at present the Ministerführer is His Imperial Highness, Crown Prince Karl Adolf Otto). After him, the Oberkommando der Großreichswehr (High Command of the Grand Armed Forces) or OGW, are the three most powerful men in the Oberrat; the Grand Marshals of the Kaisersheer, Kriegsmarine, and Luftwaffe are followed by the Reichministries of War, Agriculture, Mining and Industry, Education, Culture and the Arts, Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Faith and Religion, Internal Affairs, Justice, Foreign Affairs, Communications and Railways, Finance, and Currency and Vexillology. These eighteen men are joined by the acting Supreme Judiciary (Hochgericht), which is the nine-man High Council of the ORW. Both bodies are answerable to the Kaiser absolutely, since he holds veto power and acts as Supreme Judge in cases of High Treason and other major offences against the nation of Nidavellir. He is recognised as a strong and extremely effective leader, but even great men need aid, and these two bodies act as the principle advisors to the Kaiser's Imperial Decrees, the primary (though not only) form of law in Nidavellir.

Constitution
A Constitution of Nidavellir, itself issued by Imperial Decree, does exist and sets forth the boundaries within which Imperial Decrees may be made by Leopold's successors, especially his son the Crown Prince, who shares Leopold's popularity amongst the general populous but lacks his focus in military affairs and efficiency. The Constitution was put into effect to replace the Constitution of the former Kingdom of Nidavellr, which allowed for a unicameral house of legislature elected by the people from the nobility of the Kingdom. Loath to see the nation in the hands of decadent, and for the most part self-serving nobles, the young Crown Prince Leopold Alarik swept the military of noble officers who did not meet his very rigorous standards of service. His work would continue well into his reign as King Leopold, before the ultimate collapse of Nidavellr and the establishment of the Grand Realm of Nidavellir, now with nobility thinned down and removed from all forms of public office, and all government positions filled by Imperial appointment and approval by the offices connected to the Reichministry of Internal Affairs working in conjunction with the Reichministries of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda and Faith and Religion, clearing all employees of Internal Affairs for their loyalty to Nidavellir and the official designated national religion (an important note: there is no "State" religion of Nidavellir, since the State serves the faith, not the other way around.) This system keeps a full one-tenth of the population of Nidavellir employed directly by the State, not counting the military forces.

The new Constitution was meant to slim down the government but maintain it's complete control over life in the Reich. The five-article constitution was also amended by two Royal Charters which made the ORW a permanent figure in government and the Monarchy irreplaceable by any house save for cadet branches of the Morgenstern dynasty, and maintaining that only males of the Morgernstern line could inherit the throne. These charters in addition to the rather brief document laid the ground work for what was in its essence a 30-man government: eighteen Councilmen of the Oberrat, the Kaiser, nine Judges of the Hochgericht, as well as the three Hochmeisters (High Masters- answerable to the Grand Master, Leopold himself) of the ORW. The dominating figures, however, are defined and powerful: Kaiser Leopold as Großmeister des ORW is both Head of State and Chief Justice, and Karl Adolf Otto as Ministerführer is a singularly powerful Head of Government, and while answerable to his father rarely makes decisions which Leopold himself would not have made.

Provincial Government
Provincial government in Nidavellir is much heftier and more involved than the slim national government laid out in the constitution. Each province has a Reichsgouverneur, appointed by Imperial Charter, and a Konsul, elected from the provincial congresses. These congresses vary in size from Province to Province, depending on the way districts are divided and how those districts choose representatives. In the capital city of Richard-Wagner-Stadt, for example, districts are divided according to annual income, and each district (called Steuerbezirk(e), literally "tax district(s)") is afforded a number of representatives according to how much (and how little) financial power they have in the city. As a result, the poorest district in Richard-Wagner-Stadt, the Südmainkreis, has five representatives, while the richest, Wahnfriedstadt, has only one. Altogether the fourteen Steuerbezirke produce a tiny forty-eight man Congress, though the cities population of 10,490 is by far the largest in all of Nidavellir. Meanwhile, Neu-Passau-Provinz in the south of Nidavellir uses a Wahlkreis ("voting ring") system, where each village and township is given a number of representatives based on population. With twenty-seven Wahlkreise in Neu-Passau, their elections produce a one-hundred-eight man Congress. There is no worry about over-representation on a national scale, however, since the Reichsgouverneure answer to the Kaiser himself and the Konsule trouble themselves only with domestic issues with direct bearing on the Province. In addition to all of the various Konsule and Congresses, there are specific committees and ministries for each given issue within a Province and the Konsul acts as a sort of lesser Ministerführer for the Reichsgouverneur, who is official Head of State for each Provincial government. Each Province then has specialised ministries, but all seven provinces have the same basic foundation: Department of the Konsul, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Faith and Religion, Ministry of State Relations, and Ministry of Revenue. The Department of the Konsul is obviously overseen by the Konsul and acts as a Ministerführer, the Ministry of Trade handles inter-provincial financial transactions and answers to the Reichsministry of Communications and Railways, the Ministry of Faith and Religion is occupied by a Wächterritter des ORW, or "Knight Warden of the ORW", answerable to the Hochmeisters, the Ministry of State Relations answers to the Reichsministry of the Internal Affairs, and the Ministry of Revenue answers to the Reichsministry of Finance.

Religion
The official religion of the Grand Realm of Nidavellir is Ásatrú, in German Altgötterglaube-- "Faith in the Ancient Gods", or "Faith in the Æsir". The religion is overseen by a loosely centralised, Folkish Order, mentioned above, Der Orden der Ritter des Wotansauge. The ORW, as it is often abbreviated, is a sprawling massive Order that incorporates all clergy in the entire nation. It is a ranked Holy Order, made in reaction to the Orders of Christianity that existed in Nidavellir before the Englightenment of Wulfstan I, who returned the entire nation to the heathen ways of old upon the foundation of the Kingdom of Nidavellr in 1651, after becoming disgusted at the carnage of the Thirty Years War. His small, but extremely efficient army, held off attack after attack of Papist incursions into his territory, until he was able to rally an army around him from across Europe in a massive March on Rome, which laid siege to the so-called "Eternal City" and reduced the papal residence to smouldering ruin. Like the ancient Goths and Jutes, the Nidavellran forces carried off countless valuables that would come to decorate the then-capital of Fichtelburg, located high in the Fichtelgebirge. Here stood the so-called Teufelstisch ("devil's table"), which Wulfstan had been drawn to as a boy, and which he made a national monument as Donarsstuhl- "Thor's Seat". Wulfstan here gathered his closest compatriots in apostasy from the Christian lie and formed the Hochorden der Wotanssöhne- "High Order of the Sons of Odin". The Order would remain the core of a later Order to be founded by Wulfstan's son, Hildebrand II, known as Hildebrand der Schreckliche ("the Terrible") outside Nidavellir and Hildebrand der Eindrucksvolle ("the Overwhelming") within Nidavellir. This would be the ORW in its original form. Hildebrand took the name from an experience he had as a young man witnessing a murder of ravens picking apart the corpse of an old wolf. He sat and observed as two huge ravens swooped down and scattered the others, one pushing the others away as the other grabbed the left eye, which like the other had been untouched to that point, ripped it cleanly from the socket and flew away. Hildebrand, taught by his father from translations of the old stories of the Gods, took it as a sign of blessing from the fickle but powerful chief of the Gods, Wotan, and immediately set forth to devote himself to the Chief Wizard and War-god. He founded the ORW to be a fully ranked Knightly Order in blatant imitation of its counterparts like the Teutonic Knights and the Knights Templar.

The Ranks established by Hildebrand are still upheld (though Leopold III represents the first reigning monarch since Hildebrand to be titled "Grand Master" of the Order):

Grand Master (Großmeister)

High Master (Hochmeister)

Commanding Master (Kommandmeister)

Knight Warden (Wächterritter)

Knight Companion (Genosseritter)

Knight Errant (Fahrenderritter)

Knight Ewart (Ritterführer)

Knight (Ritter)

Goði

Each level of the order has specific roles to play in Nidavellran society, which since the accession of Leopold III to the throne has become permeating. The Grand Master, for many years the Königreichminister of Religious Affairs, is the head of the order and directed only religious activity within the Kingdom of Nidavellr. After the collapse, many citizens sought order and security from the ORW, being the only major organisation to retain its organisation and power. Leopold III recognised this and based the organisation of his government on the Order, and for his service to the Order the acting Grand Master, Johann von List, stepped down from his post and submitted that Leopold be his replacement. Thereafter the first High Master of the Order was assigned the new role of Reichsminister of Faith and Religions, the second tended to the activity within the Order, and the third directed the Orders relations with other organisations in Nidavellir.

Die Wotanssöhne
The former Second-in-Command, the Commanding Master of the Order, was given a new role as the Commander of the military wing of the Order, a resurrected version of the Hochorden der Wotanssöhne. Immediately below him were the Genosseritter. These are the largest segment of the Order outside the low-level Knights and Goðar (priests, typically town mayors). They make up the entirety of the military wing of the Order (Reichswehr Militäreinheit "Wotanssöhne"). These are elite troops in Nidavellir, absolutely loyal to the Kaiser and religiously devoted to the nation and its Gods, for whom Leopold as Großmeister des ORW is representative as the Seher und Sprecher der Altgötter- "Seer and Speaker of the Ancient Gods". They are attached to the regular army as a specialised branch, themselves numbering so large they constitute fully one-fifth of the entire Großreichswehr. Their uniforms are specially designed as well as their ranks. Unlike the rest of the army, their uniforms are black, with a gold lining for higher ranks and silver lining for lower ranks. Their emblem is the symbol of Justice and Righteousness, the Tyr rune, which they wear on their upper right arms. Besides this, the symbol of death, the skull, a symbol of Odin's power over death, graces their caps. To the people, they are a symbol of nationalism and receive many contributions which keep their organisation running (as an Order, they do not receive State funds, and have taken a vow of poverty, devoting all their own personal wealth to their Order.) They are commanded by the Kommandmeister des Ordens, Rittermarschall Dietrich Faust. The ranks of the Detachment were devised by Faust himself and follow the Order:



Civil Order
The other major branch of the Order is the civilian religious branch of the Order. These answer to the Second Hochmeister of the Order, and begin with the Wächteritter, who oversee the Provincial Ministries of Religion, followed by the Fahrenerritter, the "Knights Errant", who are essentially judges to act as neutral parties if any divisions should arise in local communities which the Goði cannot diffuse. In seminaries, they often serve as instructors of Theology. They are followed immediately by the Ritterführer, the Knight Ewarts, who answer to the Third Hochmeister and oversee large districts containing several villages and towns, handling the Order's relations with the local people, in case problems should arise in the community between the people and the organisation of the Order. All Goðar go to the Ritterführer in case of questions of doctrine. The Ritterführer are also in charge of the dissemination of doctrinal changes to local Goðar in case there are new prophecies seen amongst those Fahrenerritter given the gift of prophecy. The Goði, the lowest rank, were formerly local priests, now mayors of the villages or towns which they oversee. They live entirely on the charity of the local community, instead of being paid by the State as those above them, and if they fail to live up to leadership of the people, they will be removed by the people in a hearing overseen by a Knight Errant and Knight Ewart. The Knight Errant then consults the Second Hochmeister regarding the installation of a new Goði, invariably chosen from the local community, to attend seminary briefly and return to the local jurisdiction. During the three months he spends submitting to the rigours of seminary training, the locality is directly overseen by the Knight Ewart responsible for that district.

Military
More to come!