Corrapaise

Corrapaise, officially The Enlightened Domain of Corrapaise, is a nation in southern Faugresh. Corrapaise is well known across the realm for the University of Corrapaise and the institution's many scientific and arcane discoveries. The university is the seat of government of the country and its capital city Corrapaise City. Corrapaise City is the most densely populated area in Faugresh, with the city and its surrounding settlements being home to over 200,000 people. Corrapaise is largely alone in its position near the southern coast of Faugresh and lays claim to a vast range of land consisting of thousands of square miles around Corrapaise City. Most of the land the nation claims it controls is unenforced, uninhabited, or unexplored. Nearly all settlements in Corrapaise are situated around Corrapaise City and have spread out from the city proper, with population density dramatically decreasing once beyond the city's borders. Settlements outside the capital are exclusively small hamlets and lone houses. After a day's travel from the city, the next settlements are often too distant to effectively police and law enforcement becomes difficult, which has led to banditry becoming common in rural communities.

Corrapaise was founded as a result of the Migration during the Corrapaise-Wistergradt War. Dissension from the University of Corrapaise prompted its leaders and loyal members of the public to abandon the Kingdom of Corrapaise and establish a new government in southern Faugresh.

Corrapaise is a unitary one-party directorial republic. All functions of government are controlled by the Council of the University of Corrapaise. The nation's founding had the goal of emphasizing the public good as opposed to the Kingdom of Corrapaise's self interest. In the early years of the nation, the Council often undertook policy that was aimed to benefit the people. Corrapaise does not conduct public elections which leaves the Council not responsible to its constituents and has operated as such for its entire history. Despite lacking suffrage, the people of Corrapaise are generally content with the government, with the notable exception of Nocasters.

Kingdom of Corrapaise
In the Summer of 210 472, Phyharan Arceneaux and her followers the Doctrineers, believers of The Doctrine philosophy created by Phyharan, founded the city of Phyria in the region now known as The Sundered Steppe. Phyria began as a small township comprised of the Doctrineers and the Arceneaux family. Phyria's population, already loyal to Phyharan and her family, were in full support of her when she assumed leadership of the settlement. A large manor was built for the Arceneaux family by the townspeople and upon its completion Phyharan gave a speech from the manor balcony declaring herself Monarch and Phyria the center of the new Kingdom of Corrapaise, named after her daughter Corra Arceneaux I. According to records of the speech, when it concluded the crowd which consisted of the entire town, cheered for "over 30 minutes of the most enthusiastic applause to a series of spoken words in the history of language." It is important to note that some records of the era have been subject to dispute as various sources have been evidenced to be dubious. Despite this, the story of the speech has continued to be passed along as folklore among Corrapaisons.

The following decades saw the rapid expansion of Phyria and the influence of the Kingdom. Phyria's population went from 50 people to over 1,000 in the span of 10 years. This was the result of aggressive efforts to get people who lived in The Sundered Steppe to permanently relocate to Phyria. This effort was lead by the Doctrineers who spread the ideas of the Doctrine to as many as they could, proselytizing their beliefs across the region. This effort was deemed a great success and many relocated to Phyria and more joined the Doctrineers in their effort to convert others, making the spread of the Doctrine more effective. Not all who were preached to bought into the philosophy or immigrated to Phyria, as relocation was not conducted by force. However, that position would change under the rule of Corra. In 50 years, the population of Phyria had exploded to nearly 10,000, the vast majority of the new population being willing immigrants. During this time, Phyharan had expanded the role of the Monarch to extend to the rule over royal departments and offices that controlled a moderate police force and public services which oversaw construction of roads and homes. Positions in these offices were granted to loyal individuals, many of which were members of the original Doctrineers.

Corra Arceneaux I inherited the the monarchy at age 64 when Phyharan passed. Corra would reign for 93 years, her long life on account of her elven ancestry. Corra's rule brought fear into the lives of Corrapaisons. Corra possessed extreme paranoia over perceived threats to her and the Kingdom. She created an intelligence gathering service at her direction that spied on citizens and dealt out extrajudicial executions to anyone perceived as a threat. This included any dissenters and non-converting or relocating groups. Political purges also occurred within government and all of the original Doctrineers were also executed. Government offices experienced frequent turnover as public servants were repeatedly fired or killed and obedient individuals reappointed. Fearing threats to Corrapaise from foreign invaders, Corra created the Corrapaise Army Legion, however, the Legion never served its original purpose and was used as a force to continue the spread of The Doctrine. The Legion pillaged non-compliant communities and forced them to relocate to Phyria under threats of violence or death. During this era of Legion activity, the population of Phyria experienced a second boom, reaching 50,000. Over the course of several years, dissent from the new population grew, erupting in riots that spread in parts of Phyria. The riots were quickly suppressed by the police killings of hundreds of demonstrators. The violence ended, but their ideas persisted. One night, a former rioter sneaked into the royal manor and assassinated Corra in her sleep. The killer was never found.