Goldovia

Goldovia is an independent city-state located on the northern bank of Gold Lake. Goldovia is well known for its fishing market and its riches obtained through trade.

Goldovia is known for being one of the rare examples of an independent nation being oppressed under Authorania's "Biome Restrictions Policy".

Due to the land restrictions this city-state faces, they have adopted unique architecture to cram in as much of its population into the land the city-state controls. Due to this, Goldovia is one of the most densely populated city-states in the Mortal World.

Founding
The founding of Goldovia goes back to the Maximus Testament Era, when fishermen established a small camp on the banks of Gold Lake. This camp eventually grew into a village as more fishermen and their families migrated to the region.

For centuries, Goldovia's size stagnated as less fishermen began staying in the city-state. It is speculated that this stagnation was caused by a weak fish market at the time, as exportation of perishable foods like fish was difficult. It is also speculated that the stagnation was caused by the Goldovian branch of the Cobblestone Road never being paved. This stagnation lasted until the early Andurrillio Testament Era.

Dispute Period
In the early Andurrillio Testament Era, Goldovia began to grow as exportation of fish began to become easier. Since the founding of Goldovia, the Cobblestone Road trade network had been created, however, a paved branch of the road to Goldovia was never built, as Goldovia never agreed to pay for a branch. As Goldovia's economy and population began to grow, in the late Andurrillio Testament Era, it became apparent that trade would be easier if the branch was connected to the Cobblestone Road network. Around the time Goldovia's government was trying to secure funding to pave their branch of the Cobblestone Road, their existence had been discovered by Authorania.

Authorania, seeing potential profits in the city-state, decided to pursue making Goldovia a territory of theirs. When Authoranian diplomats were dispatched to the city-state to attempt to purchase the city-state, the Goldovian government rejected the offer. This move began the "Dispute Period".

Authorania attempted several times after the first rejection to up their offer, however, the Goldovian government refused to budge. After over a year of rejections, the Authoranian King, King Xarnas, began making plans to take the city-state by force. The offer to attempt to take over Goldovia was extremely unpopular to the Authoranian people. The nation was recovering from the biggest war in their history, the Blood River War, and the recent loss of Ellisland after their revolution left a sour taste in the people's mouths on sending soldiers to die for another territorial dispute.

Due to the lack of popularity, the plan was scrapped and Goldovia maintained its independence. However, this was not the last time they would hear from the superpower. Shortly later, King Xarnas used the "Biome Restrictions Policy" on Goldovia. The Biome Restrictions Policy was a territorial restriction policy implemented by the Authoranian government which basically restricted a nation's growth to their biome. This policy was intended to be used on nations whose growth would impede on the land set aside as "Independent Territory" by Authorania and the nations served by the Cobblestone Road. King Xarnas used the excuse that Goldovia was planning on expanding their border into the Independent Territory by giving proof that the Goldovian government was securing funding on the expansion. Unknown to the Authoranian politicians, the King was referring to the funding set aside for the paving of Goldovia's Cobblestone Road branch. However, the King convinced the politicians and they implemented the Biome Restrictions Policy.

Quickly, Authorania established a small reservation on the border between Goldovia's Taiga biome and the Planes. To legally establish this reservation, Authorania paved the branch of the Cobblestone Road serving Goldovia. Since the road was paved by Authorania and it was on her reservation, the Authoranian government established a toll on the stretch of road they built. This forced all incoming and outgoing traders serving Goldovia to pay a small fee, thus giving Authorania a small cut of Goldovia's profits. This plan was not kept secret from the Goldivian government, as Authorania did not want to invest more money into policing violations of the toll than how much they got from the toll. The option for Goldovia to be restricted under the Biome Restrictions Policy was offered to Goldovia's government and they accepted. To them, this option was better than Authorania using her army to take over and make her another territory. In the government's mind, if this caused Authorania to leave Goldovia alone, then it was the better option. After Authorania's reservation was established, this officially ended the Dispute Period.

Modern Goldovia under restrictions
Due to the Biome Restrictions Policy enforced by Authorania, Goldovia has never been able to expand its territory despite its growing population. In order to fit a bigger population into its small territory, Goldovia has unique architecture compared to other nations like the Azerath Nations and Authorania. Goldovia's streets are lined by colorful, tall and thin townhouses that maximize density while using little space.

The toll required to pass through the Authoranian Reservation began at a pricy 5 GN but decreased to 3 GN after the first year of operation. At 3 GN, Authorania was not making profit on the toll and the revenue generated went toward paying off the construction of the road. After the road payments were payed off, the toll decreased to 1 GN, where they've stayed since. Generally, Goldovia has never expressed that they've had issues with the toll being implemented on their border. The only time Goldovia protested the toll was during the first year of the toll's operation, when the fee was 5 GN. This led to a decrease in trade for the city-state as traders avoided them due to the heavy toll. Once the Authoranian government decreased the toll to 3 GN, most opposition had ceased.

Today, Goldovia is a thriving city-state with a thriving economy. The city-state had begun expanding its trade variety shortly after the Biome Restrictions Policy was put on them. Recently, Goldovia has expanded its infrastructure to support traveling sailors.

Name
Goldovia derives its name from the lake it borders, Gold Lake. The camp that was established, which began Goldovia's history, was originally named Goldova. The name was changed to Goldovia when the principality was established, shortly after the camp became a village.

Government
Goldovia is run under a principality, with Prince Frennek currently in power. The Prince of Goldovia is not related to any monarch in the Mortal World, thus, the leader of the city-state is called a prince purely because of choice.

The Goldovian government is small and the prince's power is one of the most limited in the Mortal World. Unlike Kingdoms like Authorania, Goldovia's government is very much limited to collecting taxes, maintaining various things with that tax money and creating laws.

When it comes to laws, the Prince is the only one with the power to introduce and write laws. However, every law is voted on by the citizens of Goldovia to pass it or not. This vote is conducted through an assembly that happens around the town bell at the town square. Every male and female adult is able to vote with either "Ey" or "Na". Historically, each citizen individually said "Ey" or "Na" and their vote would be counted. However, due to the large population in modern times, citizens will group into an "Ey" or "Na" group. Whichever group has the most voters will win the vote.

The only major constriction the government puts on its people is building codes. Due to the limited space Goldovia occupies, construction must be approved by the government and the construction process is heavily mandated by the government.

Military
Goldovia is one of the only nations in the Mortal World to only have a coast guard. The Goldovian Coast Guard primarily ensures the safety of merchant ships in Gold Lake, but sailors can also serve as Goldovia's land army if needed to. Goldovia's army does not exist in peacetime while the coast guard always exists.

Foreign relations
Goldovia is a peaceful city-state that generally is in good standing with most nations. Early in their history, Goldovia was under threat of invasion by various powers, however, once Authorania established their reservation, attempts have ceased.

Goldovia is in good standing with Authorania despite their rocky relationship in the past. Authorania is one of the biggest importers of Goldovian goods, which shovels tons of money into Goldovia's economy. Another sign of Goldovia's good standing with Authorania is Goldovia's culture as much of Goldovia's culture is based on Authoranias. Goldovians speak Authoranian (with an accent and with some vocabulary changes), they follow Authoranian customs and they worship a sect of the Testamentary Religion.

Banner
Goldovia's banner is purple with a white diagonal cross. This banner is simply a representation of the Principality's coat of arms. The color purple represents royalty while the white diagonal cross represents the prince himself.

Ethnic groups
Goldovia is primarily populated by Elves, although their population is diverse.

 60% Multi-racial Elf 

32%- Dark Elf

15%- Morthanian Elf

4%- Dark Wood Elf

3%- Spruce Elf

3%- Brush Elf

2%- Tristo Elf

1%- Ferner Elf

 35% Human 

 5% Orc 

Language
The official language in Goldovia is Authoranian, with 98% of the population using Authoranian as their primary language and a literacy rate of 76%. Goldovia's Authoranian is spoken with a distinct accent that Authoranians can recognize. This accent does not hinder other Authoranian speakers from understanding Goldovians.

Although most of the population speaks Authoranian as a primary language, most citizens also speak various other languages. In school, Goldovians learn Azrathian as a secondary language. This multilingual environment has caused Goldovia to be a favorable port for foreign traders.

Geography
Goldovia occupies the small flatland of the Taiga biome, bordering Gold Lake. The biome Goldovia inhabits is not suitable for farmland, thus, Goldovia focuses primarily on fishing to feed their population.