High Penguin Confederacy

The  High Penguin Confederacy was an empire that is considered to be the most successful country in history, as it was the longest lasting country, lasting over a thousand years from 742 until it was overthrown by Khanzem in 1913, and was the first to fully unify Antarctica. High Penguins were a minority in the High Penguin Confederacy, with a population of around 70 million High Penguins, the highest the High Penguin population of Antarctica has been, out of a total population of about 240 million in 1900, but made up most of the ruling class in the High Penguin Confederacy.

History
After the land of Valnor was destroyed in 742, and influx of High Penguins immigrated from their desolate home to join the rest of their Kin in Antarctica, which was in complete chaos since the Penguin Empire had fallen, and Viking Penguins, Khanz, and large groups of High Penguins were ravaging the continent. The new groups of High Penguins decided to bring more civilized order to the High Penguin Clans since Valnor had advanced greatly in civilization since the first High Penguins left Valnor in Year Zero. Year Zero took place around 1000 BC, and the first High Penguin (besides Sigurd and Bacchus) to discover the continent was Kuruk the Navigator.

Malcur was the second most powerful High Penguin who turned to the path of shadow in the 500's. He demanded to rule all the land in Antarctica, and also had extremist views on the Natives (ALL Non-High Penguins), calling them "Lowers" (this phrase eventually became common and non offensive). He raised an army from his small clan, stronger than ever seen before. The year 742 was when So, for 242 years, until 742, Antarctica and the Valnor Clans was war-ravaged. Until The Battle of Unnumbered Tears, the worst battle in history, when the Brilliance defeated Malcur. The Confederate Act, set down by Finwe, established the Confederacy on December 6, 742, and it originally consisted of all of modern day Freezeland, most of Trans-Antarctica, half of the Happyface State, and part of Eastshield.

They set up their capital city over the exact ruins of Penguin City, the former capital of the Penguin Empire. About two weeks after the nation's founding, the High Penguin Confederacy invaded the Frozantium Empire, which nearly doubled it's size. Around the middle of October, the King of Damelaw gave his nation to the High Penguin Confederacy since he was believed not fit to be king. Old Pengolia was eventually the last nation left that was sovereign on the Antarctic Continent, and it's sovereignty was supported by the Ninja Archipelago nations, most notably Alemania, who were the best trade partners with the Khanz.

However, the High Penguin Confederacy eventually had a King who craved to have a one nation Continent, thus he invaded Pengolia in a bloody battle in 764 AD. Afterwards, peace and political unity was continued to be exercised by the military's presence in it's conquered territories. Although the continent was still a whole nation, the Feudal System continued to be in effect throughout all of Antarctica until the 1500's. The reason why the Feudal System was still used by High Penguin lords and dukes were because the nation continued to receive attacks from raiding Vikings and Barbarians from the Ninja Archipelago. Castles were commonplace across the whole continent for centuries until the Khanzem War in 1913, when over 3/4ths of all the Castles on the mainland were destroyed since many of them had naturally become military bases for both the good guys and the Khanz.

Although the feudal system grew as more and more regular penguins became serfs, regular villages and towns of free citizens where already founded by High Penguins in the 1000's. Later, around 1000, Nightmare made her first appearance. Nightmare was previously known as Anthodiel, a scientist who's creation of a parasite was branded as evil by Finwe. He poisoned nearly all the rivers with the X-Virus, which, along with creating an army for Nightmare, imprinted the X-Virus genetically into penguin DNA, so by the year 2000, nearly every penguin in Antarctica had it somewhere. Nightmare and her army marched forth to Ard Mhaca, where they demanded control of the Confederacy.

They were met by Marcus Kwiksilver, chief of the HP military. Nightmare and Marcus agreed to duel for control of the confederacy. They dueled at dawn the next day, and Nightmare poisoned Marcus's sword-wielding flipper so that he could not go on dueling. Luckily, a penguin appeared out of nowhere and defeated Nightmare, then vanished. Nightmare went into hiding, along with her army. Meanwhile, Antarctica entered another phase of peace and it enjoyed trade with the Ninja Archipelago as time went by. Some nations there began to enjoy good diplomacy with the HPC as well. The start of the Renaissance in modern day Liguria brought Feudalism to a decline, and art flourished across the continent as more cities and towns began to pop up peacefully.

However, competition soon began again in 1492, when Castilla discovered the island of Albergue Plata and made it their colony. In excitement to extend their land, the HPC soon joined the national race against Castilla and the other Ninja Archipelago Nations, most notably the UK, Batavia, Lisboagal, and Frankterre. Eventually, the colonial race stopped as time progressed. The late 1600's and 1700's brought up the Enlightenment Age, which reintroduced the ideas of democracy, which brought in the High Penguin Confederacy's first parliament, which only consisted of High Penguin representatives from each province. The 1800's brought in great inventions and more seafaring expeditions to unclaimed areas, as the train, telephone, and television were invented. The Confederacy flourished throughout it's many long years. The Confederacy ended in 1913, when the King was couped by Whoot and the HPC came to an end.

Government
The government of the High Penguin Confederacy operated through a feudal system. At the top was the king, who were served by his vassals, the lords of the provinces, who were supposed to provide soldiers to the king in times of war. The lords were served by their own vassals, and knights, and at the bottom were the peasants, who farmed the land and supported the whole system. After the plague struck in the 1300's and destroyed about a third of the population, the feudal system declined, though not entirely, lasting until the High Penguin Confederacy fell in 1913 at the start of the Khanzem War.

During the 1500s, with the flood of new ideas from the Ninja Archipelago, many aspects of the feudal system were abolished or phased out over the years, with serfdom being abolished in the late 1500s. A standing army was established in the 1500s, with the country having previously relied on the feudal lords to send soldiers to fight in times of war. As a result of many of these changes, the power of the lords was weakened, although they still continued to hold influence and large amounts of land, with their castles still being prevalent in most parts of the country into the early 1900s.

Currency
The currency of the Confederacy was the Ingot. Each coin bears a traditional High Penguin design and the province that it is from. The province didn't matter, because in these days currency was valued by the metal, not where it was from. There were three denominations of coins. A coin made of Gold, called the Ingot, a coin made of Silver, called the Sovereign, and one of Copper, called the Beag (pronounced beeg). The Ingot was the highest valued. There are 17 Méid in one Ingot, and there are 29 Beag in a Méid, or, 493 Beag in an Ingot.

The images found on coins include giants trailing prisoners on rope, horsemen charging into battle, keepers and first chicks, skulls and chariot wheels, thunderbolts and lightning, the sun and the moon. They are miniature masterpieces of surreal art. The coins were either struck or cast. Both methods required a substantial degree of knowledge. Striking a blank coin formed in a clay was one way. After forming the blank, it would have been flattened out before striking with a die made from iron or bronze. The tiny details engraved on dies were just a few millimeters in diameter. Casting a coin required a different technique. They were produced by pouring molten alloy into a set of molds which were broken apart when the metal had cooled.

Culture
The culture of the High Penguin Confederacy was influenced by its neighbors and predecessors, and by Valnorian culture, and also varied from province to province, so there was no actual defined culture, though many aspects of High Penguin culture were shared by most of the High Penguin Confederacy as a whole. Most provinces did have similarities to each other, with the exception of a few, such as in the province of Dëne Sųłiné, where Khanz Penguins made up a significant majority of the population, and as such the culture of the Khanz Penguins was most prevalent in the province.

Language
The lower class penguins spoke Low Penguinian, while most of the other areas of the confederacy spoke English and High Penguinian, a dialect of Penguinian. Immigrants from the Ninja Archipelago also brought influxes of small Alemanian, Francterran, and Castillan communities, but they eventually dissolved as they integrated with the rest of the continent, though many Ninja Archipelagoan communities remained. The English spoken in the Confederacy was exactly the same as the English of Puffle'and, since the Puffish were the first to introduce the language to the Confederacy as they were one of the nation's first and primary traders.

Geography
Like culture, the geography of the High Penguin Confederacy varied from province to province though they were all mostly similar to each other. Most provinces had a lot of snow, but some had different types of vegetation, elevation, etc. The province of Nykøbing was the most mountainous province in the country, with the present day Trans-Antarctic mountains covering most of the eastern regions of the province. Baile Átha was also a somewhat mountainous province as well, along with being the most forested province, with most of the province being covered in dense forest.