The Vale Worldbuilding

OOC: This thread will be used as a compilation of every aspects of the The Vale (Bergia); its history, geography, politics, culture, and so on. The link list in this post can be use to navigate everything I posted in this thread. The posts will be prone to changes as I went on to add or change things. Thank you, and hope you'll enjoy it .

p.s. The Vale is referred to as Bergia (its Valean name in short form) in published maps to avoid problems. ​

Kingdom of Mountains and the Vale
Königreich der Berge und des Tals
The Vale (Mercanti), Tallia (old Valean), Bergia (Valean)​

Anthem : Ein Ritterschwur (A Knight's Vow)​

Motto : So Hoch Wie Die Ehre (As High as Honor)​

Flag of House Arryn



Emblem of the Vale​

Capital City : Der Horst (The Eyrie)
(population: 124,758(2020))
Largest City : Möwenstadt (Gulltown)
(population: 3,726,938(2020))​

Land Area : 220,000±km2​

Population (2020) : 36,214,152
Density : 161.63/km2​

Official Language : Valean
Acknowledged Language(s) :
Valean
Old Valean
Mercanti​

Government : Constitutional Monarchy
Monarch : King Artys III von Arryn
Lord Protector : Lady Anice von Royce​

Legislature : Die Räte (The Councils)
Upper House : Horsrat (Small Council of the Eyrie)
Speaker of the Horstrat : Lord Georg III von Beaumont
Lower House : Großerat (Grand Council of the Vale)
Speaker of the Großerat : Angelina Marie MP​

Currency : Mond (M) (Moon in Mercanti)
1 IBU = M3.50​

Date Format : dd/mm/yyyy​

Driving Side : Left​

Calling Code : +101​

Internet TLD : .vl​

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Geography of The Vale​

This is the topographic map of the Vale, showing its geological contour, major body of water, geographical names and important settlements. Note that the names in this map is written in Mercanti.​

Extending between the low-lying coasts in the north and east, to the high mountains in the borders, the Vale encompasses diverse landscapes and climates across its 220,000 square kilometres. The Vale’s topography can be separated into three basic areas: the coastal lowlands, the valleys, and the mountains. There are several major mountain chains in the Vale, the largest of which is the Grande Towers (Großetürme) to the south, while the longest mountain range is the Red Walls (Rotewände) stretching more than half the breath of the country. Almost 90% of the Vale’s land are higher than 1 kilometre from the surface of the ocean, and 20% of it are higher than 3 kilometres. The Giant’s Lance (Lanze des Riesen) is the highest point in the Vale, reaching up to 6,537 metres. There are around 15 points in the Vale that reach a height of more than 6 kilometres.

The largest river system in the Vale consisted out of it’s longest river, Alyssa-Shrevewasser and its second longest one, Ayns, both also flowed through the See der Dame, the largest lake in the nation. Other major rivers included the Kalteswasser which drains to the See Lied, and the Stilleswasser which drains straight to the Auburn Sea. The mountains are ice capped all year, and there are major glaciers in the south and western part of the country. Hochland Reservoir is the largest manmade body of water in the Vale, held back by the Hochland Dam, which generated a considerable amount of electricity to the Vale, and provided water for agriculture. The vast majority of the people live in the coastal lowlands and in the valleys. These areas are highly sufficient for agriculture, and the less-extreme terrains allow for more robust development of industry and housing. The lowlands of the River Alyssa-Shrevewasser is the central concentration of the Vale’s population, and are heavily used for settlements as well as agriculture.​

The Vale is separated into 9 regions, mostly bounded with geographical features or historical significance. From the largest to the smallest, the regions of the Vale consisted of :​

The Vale climate is generally temperate, but can vary greatly across localities, from glacial conditions on the mountaintops to the near-mediterranean climate at its southern tip and southwestern coasts. Some valleys in the southern part of the Vale offer warmer winter compared to the northern areas. Summers tend to be warm and humid with periodic rainfall, ideal for pastures/grazing. A rainfall shadow effect often happened due to the Vale’s mountainous regions. This can cause sudden drought to a restricted areas, especially in summer time and with heavy rainfall. The wettest part of the Vale are the lowlands of the northeast, in the region of Landungen. Precipitation is highest in summer, but winter tends to be more unpredictable with heavy snowfall and even blizzards occasionally happening in certain areas.​

Demographics of the Vale​

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Möwenstadt (Gulltown), Wickenden, Eiseneichen (Ironoaks)



Runenstein (Runestone), Altenker (Old Anchor)​

Economy of the Vale​

Employment and Welfare
The Vale economic activity revolved around its main sectors; agriculture, industry and manufacturing, and also its service and financial sector. With a labor force of almost 17,2 million, scattered between the main sectors, the Vale faces a relatively low unemployment figure of under 4%. The Vale's citizen is supported by a robust welfare system, including universal public healthcare, free education for primary and secondary level (government subsidy for tertiary education), subsidized public transport, free public childcare and parental leave provisions, and also unemployment benefit. The Vale also has an unemployment benefit program that can last up to 18 months depending on the circumstances of the unemployed. The Vale's biggest problem is its ageing citizenry, which risks stressing the nation's social services and national pension program. A higher burden for the younger generation is to be expected in the following decades.​

The Vale's total GDP : IBU 716.3 billion (M 2,507.05 billion)
The Vale's GDP per capita : IBU 19,779.56 (M 69,228.46)​

Agriculture and Livestock
The Vale’s agriculture is concentrated in the lowlands of the realm to the northeast around the city of Möwenstadt. Here, wheat and barley are the main crops, grown large enough to supply the kingdom and have some left to be exported. Agriculture here is subsidized by the regional government through a special fund from the central government due to the rapid urbanization of the cities in Landungen. Wheat grown here are usually processed into flour before being sold, or prepared for livestock food. Barley grown in around In Weißeküsten are primarily used for alcoholic beverages. In higher terrains, such as Großes Tal, and the two Vale regions, fruits and vegetables are also grown, but the primary activity in this elevation is grazing. In the southernmost part of the Die Tore Region, Mediterranean agriculture exist due to the more hospitable climate, although in an insignificant scale compared to the rest of the Vale. The Vale relied heavily on imports for tropical produce, spices, and fruits.

The Vale produced a large amount of livestock, predominantly cattle and sheep. Hochland Region is known for its dairy products, producing cheese and yoghurt as well as processed beef. Sheep are predominantly raised in the two Vale regions, as well as in the Eatswall region, making the two region a major producer of wool. Fish are caught mainly in the coastal regions, such as Landungen and Weißeküsten; the city of Altenker is considered to be the fishing industry's center of the Vale, owing to its huge sheltered port, and the vibrant Altenker Morning Fish Market. The See der Dame and the Hochland Reservoir held numerous fish farms, producing a sustainable stock of fish to regions farther away from the sea shore. Overall, agriculture employed 9% of the Vale’s total workforce, and contributed to around 2.7% of its GDP.​

Extraction and Manufacturing Industry
The Vale’s mountains contain iron ores, as well as many other more valuable ores such as gold and silver. Iron ores are predominantly extracted from the many border mountains of the Vale, especially in the Ostwände region. Coal has been extracted in the Weißeküsten region, however, the kingdom relies predominantly on oil imports and renewables for energy. Silver is the main valuable ores extracted in the Vale. It can be found mostly in the Mountains of the Moon, but can also be found in the surrounding mountains in lesser quantities. Marble and limestone are extracted in large amounts in all mountainous regions of the Vale and are its largest mineral product. Extraction employs 2.9% of the Vale’s total workforce.

Manufacturing in the Vale is dominated by half-finished product lines and refineries, supporting its agriculture and extraction sectors. Major manufacturing centers included the cities of Möwenstadt, Wickenden, and Altenker. The Vale’s primary manufacturing exports included steel and wrought iron, aluminum sheets, cut minerals, and silver jewelry. The Möwenstadt Raffinerie Ltd. is the largest steel mill in the Vale and produced up to 15 million ton worth of steel products. Silver jewelry is a well known sector in Mondtor and the capital, Der Horst, many small jeweler open businesses and thriving mainly through tourism. Bigger jeweler industry exported their product directly to foreign markets. Finished products are also manufactured in lesser amounts, mostly household electronics with foreign brands; attempts to make a Valean electronic brand had failed in the past due to foreign competitions. Manufacturing employs around 34.3% of the Vale’s total workforce, and contributed to almost 36% of its GDP.​

Services and Finances
Service sector is the largest employing sector of the Vale, and the largest contributor to its national GDP. The service sector in the Vale comprises various service industries including warehousing and transportation services in support to its manufacturing and agriculture sector; information services providing communication and internet services; securities and other investment services, predominantly in economic centers such as Möwenstadt and political centers such as Mondtor and der Horst; a wide variety of professional services; and government services such as waste management, health care and social assistance, education, cultural services, arts, entertainment, and recreation. Tourism is also a major employer in the Vale, and centered amongst the Vale's tourism centers in the two Vale regions and Die Tore.

Banking and financial services are centered in Möwenstadt and Mondtor. Möwenstadt is the location of the Vale's Stock Exchange, an established financial institution dating almost two hundred years. The Banking sector are mostly privately owned, but the larger banks always has a government minority ownership, decreed by law to help maintain certainty during times of crises. Mondtor is the de facto monetary capital of the Vale; the Ministry of Finance and the Royal National Bank has their offices here. The largest bank in the Vale is the Silberne Bank, owned by the influential Silberne Family residing in Mondtor. The service sector employed almost 53.8% of the Vale's total workforce, and contributed to almost 56% of its GDP.​

Energy
The Vale relied heavily on imports of petroleum and coal to support its industry. 39% of the Vale's electricity is provided by coal and oil powered power plants. This has been scaled back from 72% in 1998 through the Grüneres Tal Program which aims to disable coal and oil usage for electricity by 2050. 36% of the Vale's energy are provided by nuclear energy, generated by its 26 nuclear plant facilities scattered throughout the nation. Nuclear power itself is a controversial topic in the Vale, and many government had tried to reduce the Vale's reliance on it. The use of nuclear energy also put the Vale in risk considering the nation did not extract nuclear fuel and can only refine imported minerals. This led to the campaign to disable nuclear power that managed to close three plants between 2000 to 2020.

25% of the Vale's electricity are provided by renewables. Hydroelectric plants are the biggest contributor to renewable energy in the Vale, contributing 70% of renewable energy, with Hochland Dam alone contributed to almost 35% of the total renewable energy the nation produce. 20% are generated through windfarms in Die Tore and Ostwände, and the remaining 10% are mostly produced by 6 geothermal plants in Weißeküsten.​

The Vale's 10 Biggest Companies (2021)​

Politics of the Vale​

The Vale is a constitutional monarchy, with the King/Queen of Mountains and the Vale as Head of State, and the Lord Protector of the Vale as Head of Government. The monarch, King Artys III, is the head of the armed forces and acts as the Kingdom’s head constable. The Lord Protector is in charge of running the government.

Legislative

The Kingdom’s legislature consists of the Grand Council of the Vale (Großerat) and the Small Council of the Eyrie (Horstrat). The Grand Council itself consists of 250 Councilors, elected directly by the people from the districts they’re representing, and 50 non-voting Life Peers who are appointed by the Lord Protector for life. The Grand Council is the Kingdom’s main law making body, proposing legislatures, debating issues, as well as electing the Lord Protector after a national election. The 50 non-voting Life Peers can also be involved in debates and can also propose legislatures. Elections are held every five years across the kingdom for electing Councilors to the Grand Council, and every 10 years to elect Consuls to the Small Council.
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The Großerat of the Vale
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There are currently five parties sitting in the Grand Council with two different coalitions forming the government and the opposition. The government coalition since the 2019 election is is the SKP (Sozialkonservative Partei) which hold 84 seats, and the SSP (Sieben Sterne Partei) holding 46 seats; the former, a right-wing moderate party, and the latter a staunchly traditionalist one.

In the opposition coalition, there are the leftist moderate ADT (Arbeiterpartei des Tals) with 64 seats, the libertarian FP (Freiheitspartei) with 32 seats, and the syndicalist UP (Unionistische Partei) with 15 seats. 9 seats are occupied by independent candidates unaffiliated by any parties or coalition. The current President of the Grand Council, Angelina Marie, leads the procession of the council, mediates debates, and has privileges to enforce the council’s rules.
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The Horstrat of the Vale
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The other branch of the legislature is called the Small Council. The Small Council consisted of the monarch itself, the Deputy Lord Protector and 9 Consuls, each representing a region of the realm, amounting to 11 voting members. The Small Council scrutinises legislatures that the Grand Council voted on, advises the monarch and the Grand Council on procedural issues, and can vote to prevent the passage of a legislature voted on by the Grand Council (this vote can be overridden by the Grand Council by submitting it directly to the monarch who can grant royal assent). Each Consul is elected from their respective regions and serves for 10 years. The Deputy Lord Protector, appointed by the Lord Protector, acts as the council’s speaker. The Small Council held meetings in the Eyrie Castle.
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The Monarchy
The monarch has privileges, including the granting of royal assent and the right to veto any legislation or rulings that the legislature brought upon. The monarch nominally appointed Justiciars to the High Court (a task delegated to the Lord Protector) and can grant titles, knighthood, and pardon to anyone, on the advice of the Small Council. The monarch nominally has powers over diplomatic issues, including the making of peace and the declaration of war. The monarch also has duties, including representing the realm’s interests abroad (delegated to the Foreign Office) and accepting foreign dignitaries.

House Arryn has been the only dynasty holding court in the Eyrie Castle. The current monarch, King Artys III, is the grandson of the previous monarch, Queen Alerie who died in 2021 at the age of 87. The original crown prince, the King’s father Prince Robert alongside the King’s mother Lady Amalia had died in a car accident in 2012. King Artys, was only 15 years old when he ascended the throne. The Grand Council voted to propose a regency until Artys is at least 18, but the vote was spurned by the Small Council, and didn’t receive an assent from the King.
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The Lord Protector
The Lord Protector is elected by the Grand Council to lead the realm’s government. The Lord Protector's jurisdictions included the creation or dismantlement of government departments, appointing ministers and other cabinet positions, and acting as the monarch’s representative in the government. The Lord Protector can propose laws and the national budget to the Grand Council and can enact emergency decrees in times of national danger. The Deputy Lord Protector is appointed by the Lord Protector to lead the proceedings of the Small Council, acting as its speaker.

The current Lord Protector, Lady Anice of House Royce was elected back in 2019, becoming the nation’s very first woman Lord Protector. But coming from a very conservative background, she received backlash from the more progressive parts of the Vale’s political elites. She ran on the platform of economic expansion and traditions, and managed to win an overwhelming majority in her constituency in Wickenden. Her Deputy, Lord Georg III has been known as an ardent monarchist and helped to turn down the Grand Council vote on regency last year, formulating a strained relationship between him and Lady Anice.
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Military Organization
The Military is led by the Knight Paramount of the Vale (equivalent to the Chief of Staff). The Knight Paramount’s position is nominally appointed by the monarch but the candidacy is decided internally in the military. By precedent, the title Knight Paramount is usually given to three-stars or higher ranked generals but has historically been given to many lower-ranked officers and even non-commissioned individuals. The Grand Armoury (equivalent to the General Staff), is led by the Knight Paramount to administrates the running of the military, and its organisation, as well as commissioning new officers.

The Minister of Defense is a post assigned by the Lord Protector and serves mainly as a liaison between the government and the military. The Military is organizationally divided into four branches; the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines, each led by a three-star general. The Army consisted of around 100,000 personnel, the Navy around 10,000, the Air Force around 5,000, and the Mountaineer Force around 25,000, all divided into regional strategic areas that is led from the 4 main strategic bases around the country; Yohn Royce Fort in Runenstein, Millicent Fort in Wickenden, Blackfish Fort in Bluttor, and Ronnel Arryn Fort in Starkeslied.
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Judiciary and Law Enforcement
The Judiciary consisted of the High Court, the Regional Courts, and the District Courts. The office of the Prosecutor of the Realm also consisted of prosecutors representing districts, regions, and at the national level, representing the monarch. The Vale uses the jury system, having jury duty for everyone with no history of felony in District and Regional Courts. Cases reaching the High Court are determined by voting from its 7 Justiciars, appointed by the monarch through the Lord Protector with advice from the Small Council, from a pool selected by the Judiciary Commission.

Law enforcement is the main duty of the realm’s National Police. The Police are nominally headed by the monarch but have their chain of command led by the First Constable, a position appointed by the Lord Protector. The Police are organised into levels similar to the Courts; National, Regional (Reserve Police), and Districts, with a smaller unit called Sectoral Police. There are approximately 75,000 commissioned police officers and 30,000 support staffers serving the Vale.
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Regional Administration
The Vale’s nine regions are each headed by a Governor General, appointed by the Monarch as their representative in the region, and a Regional Secretary elected by the region’s citizens to lead the regional government. Regions also have their own legislative body; a Regional Council (Landtag), and governmental departments in charge of regional matters such as education, health, and emergency services, and also local infrastructure.

Regions are further divided into Districts, each led by a District Deputy, elected by the locals to lead the District Department. Districts don't have their own legislature, and are mostly administrative in nature. Districts are in charge of local development planning, public utility maintenance, as well as community management and civic bureaucratic services (taxation, certification, licensing, etc.). Major cities are governed by a Municipal government, led by an elected Mayor and similar to regions, also has its own legislature body; the Municipal Council, and its own departments.
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Currency of the Vale​

The Mond (symbol: M, code: MON), is the official currency of the Vale. The name Mond (moon in Mercanti) historically referred to the Moon symbol embossed in coins minted by the Royal House of Arryn in the Middle Ages. Since then, monetary reforms has transformed the Mond into its present form. The Royal Treasury (Königliche Schatzkammer (often abbreviated as KS)) is the sole body responsible for the printing of new Mond currencies and regulating its distribution. As usual with coinage based currency, the Mond underwent a decimalization reform in the 70's to eliminate confusion caused by rudimentary and unwieldy conversion system based from its medieval conception. Today, the Mond is distributed in physical form as a banknote, and the Stern coins, with one Mond banknote representing a hundred Sterns.
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Mond Banknotes​

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Stern Coins​

The Stern coins showcases the portrait of the current reigning monarch, and the denomination of the coin in the reverse face. A 1 Stern coin represented 1/100th of M1.00. There are 4 Stern denominations currently being minted; 5 Stern, 10 Stern, 20 Stern, and 50 Stern, but 7 denominations are still in circulation, including 1, 2, and 25 Stern coins; the three coins is no longer minted in the Royal Treasury since 2018.​