Republic of Skovaji

Republic of Skovaji
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Ti Destren Facade es ti Heppen Upnost To Abandon Pretence is to Preserve Dignity (2014–15) Govermantru derinvart hErudilna The Republic of Eternal Knowledge (2016)
Anthem: My NOB Castles In The Sky, Ian Van Dahl
[[File:[I SHALL GET TO THIS]|frameless|upright=1.15]]
Capital	Bedmouth Porthcothan Mayamead
Official languages	English Skovajan
Demonym(s)	Skovajan Skovajian (dated)
Government	Constitutional monarchy (de facto)
Legislature	Parliament of Skovaji
• Upper house	Seanad derinvart hSkovagee
• Lower house	Ofie derinvart hSkovagee
Establishment	9–14 October 2014 (see text)
Population
• citizens (5 in June 2016) census	2
Currency	Wesley
Time zone	British time

Skovaji (/skoʊ'vɑːrdʒiː/, Skovajan: Skovagee /'skɒvæʒiː/), formally the Republic of Skovaji (originally Governmantru Skovagee, later Governmantru derinvart hSkovagee), known before February 2015 as the Nation of Bedroom, and renamed shortly before its dissolution to the Kingdom of Skovaji, was a micronation in south-west England active from October 2014 to October 2016. Skovaji was the most developed Acteriendian model country, becoming the only micronation from that sector to join the MicroWiki community, and outlasting them to establish itself as a profound influence on the later micronation of Glastieve. In addition to its important position in Glastieven history, Skovaji was also a moderately developed micronation in its own right, with its own culture, historiography and reputation in the community.

The Nation of Bedroom was founded on 9–14 October 2014 by Lyra of Little Skovaji and their brother, with Lyra's brother as "Lord Wesley" and Lyra themselves as prime minister. The Nation of Bedroom enjoyed a period of early success, known as the Bronze Age, followed by a period of decline in November and December 2014. To turn the nation around, Lyra initiated "Project Realistic Basis" in early 2015, instituting political and cultural reforms, renaming the country to the Republic of Skovaji, shifting power away from the Lord Wesley, and moving the nation's territorial claim to Porthcothan in Cornwall. Skovaji joined MicroWiki in July 2015, became allies with Nedland, and spent a few months as an autonomous part of the Empire of Paravia, briefly interrupted by a communist revolution in November 2015. In February 2016, the territory was moved again from Porthcothan to the Alphin Valley on the edge of Exeter, and at around the same time, the government's nominal bureaucracy was greatly expanded.

In June 2016, Glastievens E, R and N became active members of Seanad derinvart hSkovagee, the until-then-nominal upper house, briefly transforming Skovaji from a personal project of Lyra and their brother into a group project of Acteriendia. After Seanad derinvart hSkovagee fell back into inactivity in July, both the Lord Wesley's and the Acteriendians' interest in Skovaji ceased, and so it was left as Lyra's one-man nation in its final months. They won Skovaji some notability in micronational economics during the intermicronational economics boom of 2016 and established relations with the Shorewellese Empire, before a family crisis in October 2016 caused them to suddenly leave micronationalism and abolish Skovaji through a Liquidation and Dissolution Act. Lyra and the Acteriendians returned to micronationalism with Glastieve in February 2017.

Nation of Bedroom

The Nation of Bedroom was a bedroom nation in south-west England active from 14 October 2014 to February 2015, when it became the First Republic of Skovaji. The Nation of Bedroom was preceded by the Republic of Bedroom, founded on 9 October 2014 by δ, and an unnamed entity referred to in retrospect as the "Wesley Kingdom", founded by δ's brother in response to his brother claiming their bedroom for his republic. There was a conflict between these two entities which was ended by the Treaty of Sescesion, which created a new Nation of Bedroom, with δ's brother as Lord King Wesley and δ as Prime Minister. The nation claimed the bedroom, the guestroom and a computer desk downstairs. The Nation of Bedroom's early history was characterised largely by a light-hearted conflict with δ's parents, referred to as "Hoggleton". Two days after the Nation of Bedroom was founded, δ's friend N created his own micronation, the Democratic Republic of Howe, and the two nations established diplomatic relations.

Late October and November 2014 were the prosperous "bronze age". The Nation of Bedroom established colonies in the garden and the local park. δ and N encouraged their friends A and V to create their own micronations, triggering the first wave of Acteriendian model countries, and δ helped a family friend found a Nation of Bedroom client state, Alfieland. δ brought the nation into the Currency War, a competition with the DRoH to establish the best economy — this it turned sour and contributed to a decline in activity in the other Acteriendian model countries, which culminated in A and V declaring theirs defunct on 1 November. At around the same time, δ and his brother fell out, and the Nation of Bedroom lost its cash reserves and colonies. Together, these events were "GAME OVER.", the end of the Bronze Age. The Nation of Bedroom became moribund after GAME OVER., was partly revived under the shadow of "Bedmouth railway station" in late 2014, and as δ regained interest and his brother did not, transformed into the First Republic of Skovaji through "Project Realistic Basis" in early 2015.

Republic of Bedroom conflict

δ created a micronation on 9 October, the Republic of Bedroom, after reading about micronationalism on the internet. He wrote a declaration of independence for the Republic of Bedroom, asserting a territorial claim to around a third of the bedroom he shared with his brother, establishing a national flag, which was the same flag as he had used for "Latinatae", a fictional country in a map game, and showing his sources of personal income in a pie chart claiming to show the republic's economy.

When δ's brother learnt that δ had declared part of the room under his sovereign control, he formed a competing entity to take the room for himself, and it went to war with the Republic of Bedroom. δ's brother never described his entity as a country, though its sovereignty and the Republic of Bedroom's were considered mutually exclusive and he pledged no loyalty to the United Kingdom. δ considered it a terrorist entity opposed to Bedroom's independence. Because δ's brother became the Lord Wesley, later Skovajan historiography originally dubbed the entity he formed "the Nation of Wesley", and later "the Wesley Kingdom", as its merger with the republic created a kingdom.

δ's brother successfully defeated δ in the short conflict and declared himself suzerain over the bedroom. The two negotiated a peace treaty, the Treaty of Sescesion, which established a new state called the Nation of Bedroom. Rather than formally establishing the Nation of Bedroom as merger of the republic and the Wesley Kingdom, the Treaty of Sescesion declared independence from the United Kingdom, implying that both δ and his brother's previous claims had been illegitimate. As the victor of the initial conflict, δ's brother became Lord King Wesley, the Great Wesseloggler, which was usually shortened to "Lord Wesley" or "Lord King Wesley", but sometimes also to "King". δ became Prime Minister. The understanding was that the two would aim to work together in running the country, but that δ's brother was able to override δ when the two disagreed.

Foundation

Nation of Bedroom
Flag Coat of arms
[[File:[I SHALL GET TO THIS]|frameless|upright=1.15]]
Capital	Bedmouth
Largest city	Deskta
Official languages	English
Demonym(s)	Nobbian
Government	Constitutional monarchy
Establishment	14 October 2014
Population
• citizens census	2
Currency	Wesley
Time zone	British time

δ and his brother signed the Treaty of Sescesion on 14 October 2014, creating the Nation of Bedroom. It claimed three areas of territory, known loosely at the time as "regions" or "states" — Bedroom, the eponymous room; Guestroom, the guest bedroom and a thin strip along the edge of the upstairs hallway, claimed so that Guestroom and Bedroom would be contiguous; and Deskta, a computer desk in the dining room downstairs. The bed in Bedroom was considered the nation's capital city, Bedmouth, and Deskta was also considered a city. The two ends of Bedroom were referred to as the "north" and "south" walls, though this was completely arbitrary (the "south" wall was more like north-west-west and the "north" south-east-east). The "south-east" of Bedroom was a sub-region called Lab, a walk-in cupboard where δ kept a chemistry set, meteorology kit, and maths books.

The national flag was designed by the Lord Wesley and had three green stars to represent the three regions, a red strip separating the two stars representing Bedroom and Guestroom from the one representing Deskta, representing that the nation claimed two non-contiguous areas of territory, and in the upper-left quartile, the flag of Latinatae that the Republic of Bedroom had used. The Lord Wesley also declared that the national currency was the wesley, and that the national animal was the pig.

Hoggleton and the DRoH

δ and his brother informed their parents that the micronation had been founded and they posted notices about the Nation of Bedroom on the door of Bedroom. δ's parents responded light-heartedly by adding notes in dark green ink to these posters. Equally light-heartedly, δ and his brother interpreted this as an act of war, condemning the green ink as "vandalism". Either at this point or later in October, they coined the term Hoggleton to refer to their parents qua light-hearted opponents to the Nation of Bedroom, characterising Hoggleton as a pro-UK terrorist group. Hoggleton and the Nation of Bedroom subsequently spent some time engaged in a tit-for-tat 'conflict'. It is not known precisely when or in what form the conflict took place, though δ remembers one specific episode where he put up a poster on the door to Bedroom advertising exchange from pounds sterling into wesleys, to which δ's father added the comment "but we won't change back!".

On 16 October, inspired by the Nation of Bedroom, δ's friend N founded his own nation, The Empire of the Democratic Republic of Howe (officially abbreviated to TEOTDROH), also known as the Democratic Republic of Howe (DRoH). N was adamant that the DRoH not be referred to by any shortened form other than TEOTDROH or DRoH, particularly not Howe. He was its sole citizen, making it a one-man nation, and the Nation of Bedroom's contact with the DRoH was always via δ and N interacting at their school, Coltheart.

Later in October, δ and N encouraged two of their friends at Coltheart Trains Club, A and V, to make their own micronations, B'lardland and the Kingdom of Smith. The Nation of Bedroom signed the Treaty of G028 with the DRoH, B'lardland and the Kingdom of Smith, creating an organisation called the Exeter United Nations. δ also considered Hoggleton to be a relevant entity in the Exeter United Nations sector — known in retrospect as the first wave of Acteriendian model countries — and began to represent them with a Union Jack emblazoned with a pig snout; he may also have coined the name Hoggleton here rather than when the light-hearted conflict started.

Bronze age

The rest of October and November was considered a prosperous period for the Nation of Bedroom, known in later Skovajan history as the "bronze age".

At home, δ and their brother started the Bronze Age by expanding their territorial claims to include a colony in their family's garden, which was to the "south" of Bedroom and relatively close to Deskta, and they began to treat the Nation of Bedroom as exercising some suzerainty over the whole house by giving Nation of Bedroom names to locations not within its territory, including calling the hall the national highway and the bathroom Water-in-the-Loo or Loowater (puns on London Waterloo railway station). The conflict with Hoggleton ended, though δ's parents did show some non-hoggleton light-hearted resistance to the nation's claims in the garden.

At school, δ and N were competitive about their micronations, and δ tried to win the Nation of Bedroom influence in the Exeter United Nations at the DRoH's expense. In late October or early November, he established the Nation of Bedroom Economic Area (NBEA), which he described as "an extension of the Nation of Bedroom's domestic economy to other member states", and both B'lardland and the Kingdom of Smith joined. In practice, what the NBEA meant was that δ gave a starting balance of wesleys to himself, A and V in an attempt to create a small market economy. Though it is extremely unlikely that the NBEA actually created a functioning economy, it was perceived at the time as having made the Nation of Bedroom more influential than the DRoH. N retaliated and the a race between the two nations to develop a better economy, known as the Currency War, started.

A second colony was established in the local park, Barton Fields. δ believed that the nation was more developed when it had a greater territorial area (the original claim was measured in square feet), but he and his brother also felt that new claims had to be "earnt" and were only permissible when the nation was going through a generally prosperous period. At some point around this time, δ was babysitting a somewhat-younger family friend and encouraged him to create his own micronation, Alfieland, which the two agreed would be a sort of protected state of the Nation of Bedroom. δ's family friend chose the title Lord of Alifeland, designed a flag, and defined Alfieland's territorial claim as his house. For him, Alfieland had been a brief game, and other than putting the flag up on his wall he took the project no further.

The nation now had the territory proper of Bedroom, Guestroom and Deskta, with Bedroom seen as more central and Deskta as more peripheral; colonies in the garden and Barton Fields; the ambiguously positioned Alfieland, now referred to as the "Lordship of Alfieland" in reference to the Lord of Alfieland's self-chosen title and the Lordship of Ireland; and the Nation of Bedroom Economic Area, which δ liked to interpret as a general suzerainty over B'lardland and the Kingdom of Smith. This system had developed organically. However, after watching CGP Grey's video The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained, which explains the complex relationships between the UK, the Crown, British overseas territories and so on, δ decided that he wanted to draw a similarly complex Venn diagram for the Nation of Bedroom and so defined deliberately complex formal relationships between its claims. These definitions have now been lost. In the process, he defined the phrase "the Great Wesseloggler" as equivalent to "the Crown."

One of the photos used on the Nation of Bedroom's website, showing the "north" of Bedroom region.

At some point around this time, δ created a Wix.com website for the Nation of Bedroom, and he texted a link to the site to most contacts on his phone. The Lord Wesley declared that the official abbreviation of Nation of Bedroom was NOB, pronounced as 'knob', and he and δ wrote a national anthem with the chorus "my NOB, my NOB; my Nation of Bedroom" and verses like "there are twenty pictures of my NOB on the internet".

δ made his next move in the Currency War by announcing that the Lordship of Alfieland was joining the Exeter United Nations and the NBEA. Though Alfieland existed in name only, its nominal ascension to the organisation was regarded at the time as shifting the balance of power towards the Nation of Bedroom, and N retaliated by telling A that he must withdraw B'lardland from the NBEA or lose the DRoH–B'lardland alliance. A complied and the focus of the Currency War shifted to a race between δ and N to raise £20.00 to back their respective currencies.

GAME OVER. and Bedmouth railway station

In late November, N won the race to raise £20.00, and δ's brother spent the money that δ had donated to the project on sweets, claiming that as the king it was his money to spend as he pleased. δ was furious and accused the Lord Wesley of not taking the Nation of Bedroom seriously. He responded by accusing the prime minister of trying to usurp his power, citing δ's diplomatic activities at Coltheart as an example of him going beyond his authority, and said that δ was making the project less fun. He declared that the claims in Barton Fields were null and void (and by now the claim over the garden had fallen into abeyance), claiming δ had made them without his consent. δ accepted that the claims were over but considered it a consequence of an "economic crash" caused by his brother spending the £20.00. Meanwhile, in the Exeter United Nations, the Currency War drove A and V to lose interest in micronationalism and on 1 December, they announced that B'lardland and the Kingdom of Smith were defunct, and with the organisation done, δ said that Alfieland was defunct as well. Together, these events are known as GAME OVER. and marked the end of the Bronze Age, named later on for the Homestuck flash "[S] GAME OVER".

GAME OVER. was later believed to have taken place entirely on 1 December, though there is no contemporary evidence for this.

Following GAME OVER., both δ and his brother lost interest in the Nation of Bedroom. The nation was not abolished, but activity seriously declined. δ moved on to another project that monopolised the physical bedroom in the same was the micronation had: he decorated the bunk-bed in his room as a High Speed Train carriage and the area to the side as a railway station platform (it was not unusual for his projects to involve the room being 'transformed' in this way — Lab was known as such in reference to a previous project).

An Epic Person Railcard from the Bedmouth railway station era.

It was a throwaway comment from δ's father that revived δ's interest in the Nation of Bedroom. δ mentioned that he was no longer as desperate as he had been previously for his father to get around to mounting a world map wall poster, and his father responded joked that this was because the room was now a railway station and "no longer a diplomatic institution". This comment prompted δ to be enthusiastic about the micronation again, and he returned to activity as the prime minister, emphasising that the Nation of Bedroom was still extant by giving the station set the name Bedmouth railway station, adding "Way out to Nation of Bedroom" signs pointing towards the "south" of the room, which was not decorated as part of the station and had previously been behind a 'staff only' sign, and issuing "Epic Person Railcards" to his parents. δ also launched a national newspaper for the Nation of Bedroom, the Weekly Wesley, which he wrote at Coltheart. N started taking the Wesley for himself and his mother and δ responded by covering DRoH news.

δ's brother was slower than δ to return to activity and when he did it was at a more casual level of interest — the prime minister was now definitely the dominant figure. Bedmouth railway station was dismantled and δ subsequently characterised it as a sub-project within the Nation of Bedroom that had taken over the nation, emphasising that the nation had technically been in continuous existence since October. In December 2014, δ created a Skovajan private company, the Isotoniae Corporation, which took on various roles as a government contractor over the next few months.

At some point in the Nation of Bedroom's history, most likely between the end of Bedmouth railway station in late 2014 and before February 2015, δ started referring to the bed in Guestroom as Beddon, calling Beddon the Nation of Bedroom's third city. Beddon had been the name of the DRoH's capital since October and N accused δ of stealing the name, souring relations between the two nations.

February–December 2015

Project Realistic Basis

Following the end of the Bronze Age and Bedmouth railway station, δ initiated an intense period of reform in the Nation of Bedroom from January 2015 onwards, Project Realistic Basis (the PRB). The PRB was initially launched with the co-operation of the Lord Wesley, who agreed on the need for reforms, but the two quickly came into conflict over what the PRB should be. δ wanted to make the nation more secessionist (at the time, he used the word "realistic") and also pushed for a change the constitution to give each of them more power to work on the nation on their own. In contrast, his brother wanted to retain the original ethos and rules of the project but make his veto power more explicit and change the nation's name and flag. δ's initial position was that he would strongly resist any attempt to rename the Nation of Bedroom or change its original flag.

Porthcothan Bay, which the Nation of Bedroom claimed in February 2015.

In February 2015, δ and his family went to stay with the former Lord of Alfieland's family at their holiday home in Porthcothan, Cornwall. δ decided that an important part of making the nation "realistic" was giving it a proper territorial claim, and he tried to convince his brother that they should annex Porthcothan Bay. The Lord Wesley was ambivalent but ultimately decided against it, as he believed δ would lose focus on the territory in their house. δ subsequently argued that the Nation of Bedroom already had a claim to Porthcothan, on the grounds that the Lord of Alfieland had originally defined the territory of Alfieland as being "his house" (not true, but plausible); that the holiday home in Porthcothan was also "his house" and was therefore part of Alfieland; that the bay was the holiday home's de facto garden, and therefore part of Alfieland's claim there; and that when the Lordship of Alfieland had been dissolved in December 2014, its lands had reverted to the Great Wesselloggler (not ever said at the time, but in accord with how British lordships worked). The Lord Wesley allowed the new claim to stand on the condition that Porthcothan Bay was considered a 'colony' and that the three original provinces, now called Metropolitan Bedroom, remained the project's main focus.

The "starry sunrise flag" that δ proposed. The Lord Wesley rejected it because it did not feature a pig.

The diplomatic note δ wrote to N after the Lord Wesley threatened to abdicate during the early 2015 debate over the national flag.

The Prime Minister and the Lord Wesley did manage to agree on some consensus reforms in the PRB, including introducing two new denominations of wesley, the weslet (a tenth of a wesley) and the loundré (100 wesleys — named after London, as it was an expensive place to live), and introducing an ad hoc conlang, Skovajan. δ agreed to consider changing the national flag and suggested several designs, including the "starry sunrise flag". The Lord Wesley rejected this proposal and suggested that his royal standard be made the national flag instead. He insisted that he would not approve any design that did not include a pig. The negotiations between the two became acrimonious and repeatedly broke down. At one point, δ's brother said he would abdicate unless δ let him choose the flag, so δ called his brother's bluff and tried to embarrass him by writing a diplomatic note to N, the prime minister of the DRoH, informing him that the Lord Wesley intended to resign.

After the repeated breakdowns in negotiations with his brother, δ decided to unilaterally push through one of his flag designs and his desired changes to the constitution, turning the Nation of Bedroom into the Republic of Skovaji. Initially, the Lord Wesley insisted he would not accept the changes, but after a few days of δ stubbornly insisting they were already in force (e.g. referring to the nation as Skovaji and 'correcting' his brother whenever he said Nation of Bedroom), he agreed to accept the PRB on the condition that δ make two amendments to his original plan — the new nation would still claim Metropolitan Bedroom, and "My NOB" would remain the national anthem. δ agreed, and the Nation of Bedroom became Skovaji in February 2015.

First Republic of Skovaji

The Republic of Skovaji that emerged from the PRB was retrospectively labelled the First Republic of Skovaji after the nation was reorganised later in its history, and this label was standard in both Skovajan and Glastieven history. However, despite this name, the republic still considered itself to be the same legal entity as the Nation of Bedroom and it still considered the Treaty of Sescesion to be its founding document.

In March and April came the second wave of Acteriendian model countries. At Coltheart's gifted and talented club on 26 March, δ encouraged his friend E and E's friend P to create their own model countries, the Kingdom of Trebor and the Demorcatic. Trebor and the Demorcatic were both joke micronations and were only active on Wednesday afternoons that April. Skovaji established relations with both and created a new organisation, the Exeter Union, with the new states and the DRoH, though the ExU only really existed on paper and all Skovaji's diplomacy with Trebor and the Demorcatic was at the gifted and talented club. Alongside E and P, who made websites for their own countries, δ created an extensive Wix.com website for Skovaji. The second wave ended on the 22nd when E lost interest in Trebor and deleted most of its website, and the Demorcatic faded away soon after.

Culture

A Skovajan culture montage from October 2016 shortly after the nation became the Kingdom of Skovaji.