Rodoka
Province of Rodoka Tanerís Rodoka (Tavari) Rodoka provints (Rodokan) | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
 Location of Rodoka (dark green) | |
| Capital and largest city | Lantaž |
| Official languages | Tavari Rodokan |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | Elven 66% Human (Native Rodokan) 32% Other 2% |
| Demonym(s) | Rodokan |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• King | Zaram V |
• Prime Minister | Žarís Nevran Alandar |
• First Councillor | Nodri Lekara Zanišek |
• Presiding Chief | Ivi Puna Laar |
| Legislature | Legislative Council |
| Establishment | |
• Settled by Native Rodokans | cir. 900 - 1000 CE |
• Settled by Tavari | 1620 CE |
• Treaty of Sinajärv | May 9th, 1634 CE |
• Became Province | August 19th, 2020 CE |
| Area | |
• Total | 51,082 km2 (19,723 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate | 5,000,000 |
| Currency | Tavari Našdat (TAN) |
| Time zone | West Tavaris Time (UTC -9) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +42 |
| Internet TLD | .ta |
Rodoka is a province of Tavaris located off the southwestern coast of Novaris, directly east of the country of Meagharia.
History
While some scant evidence of prehistorical habitation has been found on Rodoka, it is widely accepted that the island was uninhabited when the Rodokan people reached it some time between 900 CE and 1000 CE. The predominant theory states that they originally came from northern Novaris and migrated southward along the coast. Evidence shows that they reached the area that is today Vesienväl in the 1st century CE and adopted their language, Vällic, before continuing southward. The Rodokan language, along with modern Vesienvällic, is a descendant of Vällic, which is itself descended from Asendavian and the other Gliat Shean languages. Oral tradition among the Rodokans gives the name Vaimsaar, meaning "Island of Ghosts," to the island now occupied by Meagharia, indicating they had some familiarity with it. The Rodokans are known to have been a very ocean-oriented culture and are believed to have been somewhat nomadic before they settled on the island of Rodoka. The etymology of the name "Rodoka," which dates at least to the 1st century CE, is unknown.
There were some 400,000 Rodokans living on the island, many of them in the city of the same name located on the southern coast of the island, when explorers from Tavaris arrived in the year 1620. First contact is recorded as having been markedly friendly. By that time, the Rodokan people had established a government of some twenty loosely-confederated tribes whose chiefs acknowledged an elected High Chief as their leader. The Tavari agreed to settle in open land and traded with the Rodokans. Akronists led the Tavari settlement efforts with an interest in spreading the faith, and a vast majority of early Tavari settlers were Akronists. Akronists shared with the Rodokans a great spiritual and economic significance for the ocean, which was an early point of bonding for the two groups. While Akronists could not eat the meat of land animals, both could share in seafood, and both hunted whales and used whale oil products. As Rodoka has a drier climate than mainland Tavaris, with a distinct dry season, the exchange of different crops and agricultural products was an early bonding point between the cultures. Tavari rum, distilled from sugarcane, became very popular among the Rodokans, as they did not produce any distilled liquor. The Rodokans gave the Tavari the name "ruumkandja," meaning "rum-bearers." The first and largest Tavari settlement was Lantaž, meaning "paradise," that was settled on the coast approximately 1 Tavari monai (1.053 km) to the east of the Rodokan's largest settlement, also named Rodoka.
Relations between the Tavari and Native Rodokans remained cordial in the first years of Tavari settlement, but markedly declined in the year 1632. That year, an Akronist Temple was opened in the city of Rodoka after having been under construction since the Akronists first arrived. During the consecration ceremony, the High Chief at that time, Jürjo, is said to have brought a dead lamb to the Temple and offered it to the Akronists to eat - apparently intended as a joke. The bringing of a dead animal killed for sustenance into a temple was a grave desecration, which was made worse when blood and eventually the body of the lamb itself fell to the floor of the Temple. This event would cause an irreversible desecration of the building, and the Holy Ambassador representing the Matron at the service actually collapsed and died upon the lamb falling to the floor. The High Priestess of Rodoka, Ilara Lendreaž, ordered that High Chief Jürjo be killed to atone for the desecration. This would lead to the outbreak of violence between Akronists and the Native Rodokans.
The violence, which occurred largely in non-consecutive bursts between 1632 and 1634. However, in 1634, a significant fire broke out in the city of Lantaž (which had since expanded to subsume the city of Rodoka), burning down at least a third of the city and causing an estimated 10,000-20,000 deaths. The fire was started by the Milofites, a religious movement of people that journeyed to Novaris by boat after having been exiled from Durdneel (in what is now Sokala). The Milofites had been insulted by what they viewed as a grave heresy by the Akronists: women serving as clergy. On the day of the fire, Church guards killed Milofite leader Conor Foley. Some Milofites escaped the Akronists and fled to the island of Vaimsaar, navigated there by a Rodokan man named Shiimeon who would become known to the Milofites as Sherman. The island would later be known as Milofia, and then Meagharia. After the fire, the Akronist position was somewhat weakened, and there was great loss of life for both Tavari and Rodokan residents of the city. While the government of the Kingdom of Tavaris had largely ignored the situation in Rodoka, after the fire Queen Tínara I announced that the Akronist-led settlement was no longer tenable and that formal Tavari government would be imposed on the island.
In 1634, negotiators of the Tavari government and the Native Rodokan tribes came to an agreement known as the Treaty of Sinajärv, in which Tavaris formally annexed Rodoka. As part of the agreement, the Church of Akrona agreed to abolish its private security forces, and Tavaris assumed responsibility for protecting Akronist temples and property. The twenty Native Rodokan tribes were integrated into the Tavari system of clans known as Lines. The Native Rodokans were granted territory on the island that was reserved for their exclusive use, and on that land they had the right to manage their own affairs. The Reserve is primarily on the northern "branch" of the island, but also includes non-contiguous tracts on the southern part of the island.
After the treaty, the Tavari government made a concerted effort to bring non-Akronist settlers to the island. Settlement increased gradually throughout the 17th century while Tavaris dealt with various wars with Bana. A brief conflict between Tavaris and Milofia occurred in 1713 when a Milofite invasion force destroyed the Ninth Fleet of the Royal Tavari Navy and invaded by land. Several settlements, the largest of which being Terevatís, were burned to the ground by the Milofites. A concerted joint effort by Tavari and Native Rodokan forces pushed the Milofites back and claimed the Isles of Kanor for Tavaris as a buffer. The cooperation between Tavari and Rodokan forces helped bring the Native Rodokans closer to Tavaris and cemented their place in Tavari history and culture.
Relations with the Church of Akrona
In the modern day, there remains some enmity between Native Rodokans and the Church of Akrona. However, many Native Rodokans are themselves Akronists. In 1992, shortly after the establishment of the RNTA, the Church of Akrona entered into negotiations for a package of reparations for Native Rodokans. On June 12th of 1992, 360 years to the day of the killing of Rodokan High Chief Jürjo by Akronists, the Church of Akrona formally apologized for his death and the death of the approximately 2,000 Native Rodokans who were killed in sectarian violence with Akronists.
—Zamana Kantašt, 35th Matron of the Church of Akrona, June 12th, 1992 |
In addition to the apology, the Matron formally denounced the doctrine professed by a small minority of Akronists known as "Ilarism," named after Matron Ilara, that held that violence, even murder, is acceptable in some circumstances if it "leads to an overall reduction in the amount of violence in the world" or "in the defense of the Church." "Ilarism, and the hatred and violence it represents, are not part of Akronism, and no one professing this so-called doctrine or anything like it is living life in accordance with the will of Akrona," said Matron Zamana in her speech. The Church also established two funds, a scholarship fund and a medical assistance fund, for Native Rodokans. The funds pay all out-of-pocket university costs and medical costs for enrolled members of Native Rodokan tribes, anywhere in the world. As of the 2020 Tavari census, of the 1.6 million Native Rodokans, approximately 30% of them identified as Akronist. This percentage has seen a marked increase in a short time after the 1992 reparations agreement, having increased from just 9% in the 1990 census.
Government
Prior to 2020, Rodoka held the status of an Extraterritorial Civil Jurisdiction, just as other Tavari overseas territories. An elected Rodokan Assembly acted as an advisory body and proposed legislation to an Administrator appointed by the Prime Minister, who held the power of veto. After the passage of the Rodoka Act (2020) in January of 2020 and the subsequent passage of a referendum that August, Rodoka became a fully-fledged province of the Kingdom of Tavaris. The Rodokan Assembly expanded in membership from 20 to 150 and became the Legislative Council of Rodoka, a body that appoints a cabinet led by a First Councillor.
Rodokan Native Tribal Administration
The reserved land for Native Rodokans is governed by a body known as the Rodokan Native Tribal Administration (RNTA), which is composed of elected representatives from the various tribes. The RNTA was established in 1992 as a legal successor body to the various tribes, who agreed to pool their resources and governance together. While the King of Tavaris holds the title of "High Chief," the Administration elects from among its membership a Presiding Chief, who along with a Tribal Council is the executive of the Administration. The current Presiding Chief is Ivi Puna Laar, who is also the Chief of the Puna tribe. The Administration largely holds the same authority in governance over its territory as a province would, and this was the case even before Rodoka itself became a province. The Treaty can only be amended by mutual agreement of the Administration and the Tavari government, a process which was undertaken to establish the RNTA in 1992. The RNTA governs all public land within the reservation, regulates businesses, construction, and infrastructure, and can set a local income tax and a local VAT on goods and services. The national Tavari VAT is not charged inside the reservation, but the national income tax is - except it is reduced by the income tax rate charged by the RNTA, so that Native Rodokans pay the same total income tax rate as other Tavari do. Of the 5 million people on Rodoka, some 1.6 million are Native Rodokans. Additional areas administered by the RNTA include the island of Vaalsaar in the Tavari East Pacific Isles, home to approximately 400,000 Native Rodokans; and the Isles of Kanor, home to some 237,000 Native Rodokans.
Economy
The Rodokan economy traditionally centered on agriculture, primarily in farming and in seafood. Both are still prevalent in Rodoka today. Major crops grown on Rodoka include grains such as sorghum, millet, and barley; legumes such as beans, chickpeas and cowpeas; and tubers such as yams and cassava. Additionally in tribal areas, cattle ranching and meat production are common. Significant commercial fishing and whaling activities still take place in Rodokan waters today.
There is some manufacturing and mining on Rodoka, although both of these sectors are smaller than elsewhere in Tavaris. Tourism is also a major part of the Rodokan economy, especially during the dry season that is approximately half the year. Prior to 2020, there was also some oil drilling in Rodokan waters. However, oil extraction is politically unpopular, and the Petroleum Extraction Ban Act of 1954 has banned oil drilling in Tavaris proper. While Extraterritorial Civil Jurisdictions were exempt from the law, as a province, the law has now taken effect in Rodoka and requires all petroleum extraction be shut down. Oil refineries in Rodoka will remain open, and waters off the reservation are eligible for oil wells if the Tribal Administration approves it.
Two industries strictly differ between tribal areas and non-tribal areas: gambling and the sale of alcohol. Gambling is illegal everywhere in Tavaris except in tribal areas and the sale of wine and spirits outside of bars has been illegal in Rodoka since 1936. Prior to 1936, the sale of all alcohol was illegal in Rodoka, according to an Edict issued by High Priestess Ilara Lendreaž in 1632 that was later adopted by the Tavari authorities out of concern that alcohol consumption was one of the causes of violence among Rodoka residents. There are several casinos in the reservation, especially in the tribal capital of Sinajärv, the largest city in northern Rodoka.