DeclansburgBoard

I'll talk you guys through what Yrra is even about, then I'll jot down two small lists about what will make the leaders of the country happy, and what will make them upset, and finally there'll be a small overview of subjects that I'd like to work on with other people in the region. Enjoy!

Yrra is a small nation situated in the north of Occidentis, which happens to be around the northwestern edge of Declansburg's world map. It's a country that is universally regarded for its rich culture and unique society, which has existed for over a millenium, but also for its archaic traditions, deeply religious inhabitants and eccentric policies. Though most are very hospitable and more than accepting of foreigners, the Yrraii are very proud of their nation and culture, and enjoy a great degree of independence from federal authorities if compared to other states.

Government
The Most Holy League of Yrra is not a liberal democracy. This country's government is based upon the Yrmen's way of life and his thousand-year-old culture, and the state apparatuses that govern the Yrmen reflects that. The Most Holy League is a loose confederation where the national government is weak and most power resides within state structures, which means that it might be very easy to do business in one part of the nation and a tad more difficult in the other. National government is elected by citizens, who make up about ten percent of Yrra's total population. Citizenship, political participation and the right to vote are broadly considered to be things that individual people ought to earn instead of receive. The limited power of the country's federal government means that many non-citizens are content to delegate that power to the citizen minority. This, coupled with the fact that nature of government of a national level is shrouded in vagueness thanks to deliberately confusing terminology and antiquated religious codes and conventions, makes it so that popular dissatisfaction with the system is not as widespread as it would be in other countries.

All in all, Yrra doesn't function as a liberal democracy, but not as a fascist regime either - federal economic, cultural, religious and political power is vested in the hands of an aristocratic minority that enjoys extensive political privileges. Ordinary people's lives are simple and uneventful, and in their spare time they enjoy religious festivals, gambling and popular sports, or, as the citizenry often mockingly refer to them: 'bread and games'. The Most Holy League is a technocracy insofar that every native can attain citizen status, but the country isn't particularly known for its social mobility, so much of the federal power is restricted to the country's upper classes.

However, not all is bleak for the country's natives and other non-citizens; federal power is severely limited, and the Most Holy League has maintained a system of devolution wherein its states (þàcbærh) remain the most powerful institutions. Natives can exert significant influence upon their state and local governments, and, depending on local legislation, vote in local and state elections.

The Yrrai government consists of the Grand Council of the Yrrai Order, which would be the closest to an executive branch in a western liberal democracy. Then there's the College of þàcbærdii, who are made up of the leaders of Yrra's individual states. Those leaders then elect a president amongst themselves, who represents the country as its head of state. The College of þàcbærdii then nominates the Grandmaster of the Grand Council of the Yrrai Order, who must then be accepted by the Pan-Yrrai Ecclesia, which forms the lower chamber of what one could call the Yrran parliament. The Holy Druidic Council, which could be seen as the upper chamber of the parliament, shares legislative power with the Pan-Yrrai Ecclesia. However, the right of initiative lies with the executive, which, in this case, is the Grand Council of the Yrrai Order.

Yrra does not have a proper federal judicial branch as it lacks a formalised supreme court. However, in disputes between the federal government and the individual states, the Holy Druidic Council has acted as a quasi-judicial structure, and precedence dictates that, due to the religious nature of Yrra's unique government type, the Holy Druidic Council serves as a supreme court on matters that supersede state law.

Military (diaspora)
Because Yrra's federal government is miniscule, its national military is too. The Most Holy League has always prided itself on not being expansionist or aggressive in foreign affairs; its military capabilities are primarily defensive, as its national guard and yeomen units are quite well-trained, and as there is a lack of federal legislation on the firearm ownership, many inhabitants are free to purchase firearms at their leisure. Citizens even have special privileges that allow them to raise private military units and acquire military-grade hardware.

This means that Yrra isn't particularly known for its political stability; armed insurrections aren't uncommon, neither are civil wars. However, as the country is quite religious, religious officials have often played major roles in avoiding conflict and mending rifts in society.

Yrra has a proud military tradition of supplying foreign countries with volunteers and mercenaries. As there is no sizeable federal Yrrai military, and as citizens have extensive privileges that allow them to attain military hardware, individual noblemen and women have a great amount of agency, and often offer up their services in expatriate units consisting of other Yrraii. Noble citizens have a tradition of serving as mercenaries at sea, that spans back as far as the Battle of the Nebel Sea in the early Middle Ages. In recent years, many have offered up their services as mercenary pilots, but the truth is that Ærlōkhaì served in many specialty areas, and commissioned sizeable formations in most combat roles.

Want to worldbuild with me when it comes to our militaries? Have some of my Ærlōkhaì serve in your armed forces as irregulars! In case foreigners are no longer allowed to serve in your country's military, feel free to reach out to me about a historical military unit of your country's military which was primarily composed of Yrmen.

Sports
The people of Yrra are known to be decent athletes, but sport can be a contentious issue for some. Among the lower classes and non-citizen castes, soccer (henceforth: football) acts as a very important social institution. In working-class Yrrai life, one's loyalty to a football team is considered very important, and clashes between rival supporters are common.

Want to worldbuild with me when it comes to football (soccer)? Our national teams could have a rivalry similar to Germany's and England, or our domestic football clubs could have rivalries or friendships.

However, the sporting interests of the country's lower classes often receive a lot less attention than the sports that most concern the citizens. Among the nobility, a host of sports is very popular, including but not limited to:
Polo, golf, rowing, cricket, horse riding and fencing.

Yrra's contributions to the aforementioned sports are something I'm currently very intent on working on, so please involve me if you'd like to set up an international hall of fame for any of these sports' athletes, or if you would like to organise an international competition like a rowing regatta, a golf tournament, a polo match, or anything of that sort.

Finally, field hockey, rugby and tennis are very popular sports among the urban rich - the descendents of the burgher classes and the upper-middle class that populates the League's free cities. There have been some within those cities that have tried to popularise the sport to a greater degree. However, the country's citizens fear that their own might start to play those sports, and that they might mingle with those sine nobilitas, whereas the lower classes look at rugby, field hockey and tennis as strange sports with exorbitant membership fees and silly rules that distract from their favourite game: football.

Despite the fact that field hockey, rugby and tennis have to take the back seat when it comes to national sports, there will be a considerable portion of Yrraii who will play the sport. Yrraii domestic teams in these sports wouldn't be good enough to perform in international competitions, but individual players might be very talented and play at your clubs. In case your country has big field hockey or rugby clubs, please reach out to me!

Economics and Trade
The Most Holy League is a member of ?WIP?, a multilateral trade organisation between Ovisnia, Festungburg and itself. This trade organisation has existed for several centuries, tracing its roots back to the 11th century.