Kingdom of Dragonstone

Dragonstone (Vietnamese: Núi Rồng), officially the State of Dragonstone (Vietnamese: Quốc gia Núi Rồng), is an island state part of the State Union of Annam and Dragonstone (Vietnamese: Liên minh nhà nước An Nam và Núi Rồng) that is located to the northwest of Francterre and the Ninja Archipelago. The capital and largest city is Dragonport, which has a population of about 4 million, a little less than half the population. The official languages of Dragonstone are English and Vietnamese, while French and Latin are official languages as well.

Founded by a group of people from the Asiapelago, Dragonstone quickly grew to become a prosperous kingdom by the high middle ages. For years, the country remained an isolated and protective island, with some involvement on the world stage outside of the Ninja Archipelago. It has only been since the ascension of Brandon Stark to the Kingship of Dragonstone has the country began to get more involved in world politics. The country began to foster alliances with countries like the United Provinces, Candvia, and Acadia. It is a member of the Western Union as of 1 April 2018.

History
Dragonstone was settled by a group of people from Valnor known as the Quendi. The Quendi, who were known for raising dragons and were said to be a subspecies of High Penguin, found Valnor to be increasingly overcrowded due to the large population growth and according to legend, saw the impending doom that was to befall Valnor. Thus, they began to make plans to move to an uninhabited island in the far west. The island was used from time to time as a temporary outpost by Valnorian soldiers.

Gathering most of the Quendi population, who numbered at only a small amount, along with their supplies and dragons, they set sail on a large fleet to the west, where the island lay. Sailing for a few days, they arrived at their destination, a small, somewhat rocky island in the sea. After settling the island, the Quendi named it Dragonstone, as they saw it fit for raising dragons. While many Quendi settled Dragonstone, many more decided to head further west in search of islands. After days of sailing, the group of Quendi discovered a series of four uninhabited islands, which they named Teldrassil. The Quendi decided to name the entire group of islands, including Dragonstone, Avallone, which became a Valnorian colony.

Years later, as they Quendi had forseen, Valnor was destroyed after the Battle of Unnumbered Tears against the forces of Malcur. With their rulers destroyed, Dragonstone and Teldrassil both decided to declare independence as two separate kingdoms. By then, Dragonstone had grown enough to become self-sufficient. Few countries even knew of the existence of Dragonstone, as it was small and isolated, so only nearby nations recognized their independence. Throughout the middle ages, Dragonstone was somewhat prosperous, not massively wealthy like some countries, but still wealthy, through trade with other nearby nations.

After the middle ages, Dragonstone was too small and insignificant to pursue the colonization and explorations, on a large scale, that the much larger Ninja Archipelago nations did. However, Dragonstone, and Teldrassil to an extent, was involved in Ninja Archipelago politics, and often allied with one or another side during the many wars of the era. Through treaties with certain Ninja Archipelago nations, Dragonstone was able to keep the small number of islands they were able to colonize, although they had to sell many of the colonies away over the years. However, the Dragonstonian dialect of many of the colonies have evolved into languages related to modern Dragonstonian.

When the Khanzem War broke out, Dragonstone was quick to ally with the Good Guys in defense of the High Penguins. Soon after the Khanzem War broke out, Dragonstone, and Teldrassil days later, declared war on Khanzem, sending a small force to fight Khanzem forces. In addition, Dragonstone did provide some funding and supplies. In 1918, the Khanzem War ended with a Good Guy victory, with thousands of Dragonstonian soldiers fighting alongside the Good Guy soldiers in the final assault on the Khanzem capital, Smackemsillyton, which resulted in the capture of Whoot and the end of the war.

In the peaceful years after the Khanzem War, Dragonstone was able to prosper through trade with many nations across Antarctica. It also established relations with a few other countries. Dragonstone briefly fought in the STINC War, on the side of Puffish and Caladian forces, through funding and supplies, and a small force of soldiers. When the Antarctic Revolution broke out, Dragonstone was one of the first to support the Revolutionists, sending around 10,000 soldiers into the fight, which greatly helped the Revolutionists early in the war.

Dragonstone occupied South Annam after the Khanzem, and unlike the Snowviets who gave their sector independence, the country chose to only give South Annam some autonomy rather than complete independence due to the Annamese minority that existed in Dragonstone. Despite being a part of one country, both territories continue to have certain aspects separate from each other, although they both elect representatives to the Confederal Parliament and a President of the Confederation. Additionally, the capital of the confederation remains in the Dragonstonian capital of Dragonport.

After the war, Dragonstone joined the Free Republic Union, being one of the first signers of the Treaty of Dorkugal. With aid from other countries in the Union, Dragonstone experienced much growth in economy and strength. During these years, many wars broke out across Antarctica, and to preserve their strength, Dragonstone chose to remain neutral. The country did choose to fight in the Antarctic War on Terrorism, joining the side of the Western Union. In November 2016, Dragonstone left the Free Republic Union alongside its ally Acadia.

Government
Since the creation of the Constitution in 1650, Dragonstone is a constitutional monarchy under the rule of a King, a position that is usually passed from father to son. The King still holds most of the power in the country, an example being laws cannot be passed without the approval of the King, though this is merely custom, and the King has never disapproved of Parliament's laws since 1687. The King can also dissolve the nation's legislature, Parliament, though he is not permitted from dissolving his advisory council, the High Council.

The Parliament of Dragonstone is the nation's bicameral legislature, consisting of the House of Lords and the House of Commons, with the power to make laws, though as mentioned earlier, the King has to approve the laws. Rarely has the King disapproved laws though, the last time being 1687 during a crisis in the country. Elections for seats on the House of Commons are held every five years, with the King having the power to cancel elections, though there must be a substantial reason for doing so, and positions on the House of Lords are appointed by the House of Commons.

The High Court is the nation's court system, which since an amendment to the Constitution in 1723, is separate from the King, to prevent any bias on the part of the royal court in any case that is relevant to the royalty. If there is a reasonable cause for doing so, the King is allowed to dissolve the High Court, though it has never happened. With the exception of the High Court, court decisions are decided upon by a jury of twelve members who are randomly selected from among the citizens of the country, as every adult Dragonstonian is required to sign up for jury duty.

Foreign Relations
Dragonstone maintains foreign relations with most Antarctic countries, and is a member of many organizations, including the UAN, SATO, and also the Western Union as of 2018. Despite having much involvement on the world stage, Dragonstone pursues mostly a non-interventionist stance, only intervening in conflicts if it threatens their interests, or if it involves one of their allies. The country also aims at maintaining peace and stability in their home region, which it does by maintaining peacekeeping units in some of the unstable parts of the region.

An example of this was when Dragonstone deployed 1,000 soldiers during the Emperor Crisis, making the country the first Western Union member state to do so during the conflict. These Dragonstonian soldiers, who were stationed in the Emperorlandic capital, helped the Emperorlandic government forces repel an attack by the rebel forces, who were assaulting the capital, an action that was commended by the Western Union. This was the country's largest involvement since the Khanzem War, involving over 2,000 Dragonstonian soldiers by the conflict's end.

Military
Founded in the early middle ages shortly after its founding, the military of Dragonstone, the Dragonstone Armed Forces is among some of the more modern military forces in Antarctica due to the modernizing of the military in recent years. Due to geographic restrictions, Dragonstone's soldiers are adept at defense, and excel in urban warfare. The King of Dragonstone has a personal army of around 5,000 soldiers, known as the Dragonstone Royal Guard, and are some of the most elite soldiers in the region.

The Dragonstone Armed Forces uses mostly up to date technology, most of it built or purchased following the modernization programs set by the government. In recent years, the Dragonstone government has employed many independent contractors, some of which are from allies of Dragonstone, to build more modern technology. It is rumored that Dragonstone already has an arsenal of powerful weapons, and it is known that Dragonstone has an up to date missile defense system. An alliance with Acadia has allowed the country access to some of the WU's technologies.

The armed forces of Dragonstone also maintains military bases in its colonies, along with many other places around Antarctica. On many occasions has the Dragonstone Armed Forces been called to aid in military operations as peacekeeping forces, an example of in the Antarctic War on Terrorism, when Dragonstone forces aided United Provinces and Acadian forces against the group Little Penland. A small unit of Dragonstonian soldiers remains to conduct peacekeeping operations and aid the United Provinces and Acadian soldiers.

Economy
Dragonstone's economy was based on mining and oil, but since coming out of its semi isolationism in the past few years, trade has also been a major part of the economy. The island of Dragonstone is rich in minerals, with records of mining diamonds, gold, and silver going back hundreds of years to the medieval times, and the abundance of precious minerals has made Dragonstone a target of imperialist nations in the past. Oil has only been discovered in recent years, but the sector quickly grew, and Dragonstone its oil from wells in the sea to its allies of Acadia, Candvia, and the United Provinces, its main trading partners.

The unemployment rate in Dragonstone is among the lowest in Antarctica, at only around 2%, and the country has some of the highest GDP per capitas in Antarctica. Taxes are also low, which, combined with its stable economy, has caused many of Antarctica's wealthiest to keep their assets in Dragonstonian banks. Overall, Dragonstone has one of the most powerful and stable economies in Antarctica, which has allowed the country, and its monarchy to be incredibly wealthy. While Dragonstone hasn't been directly involved in Antarctica, corporations conduct business all over Antarctica.

Culture
Dragonstonian culture is much different from most cultures around Antarctica, as Dragonstone is isolated culturally, ethnically, and linguistically from the rest of Antarctica. Centuries of isolation has also helped in the preservation of such culture, and unlike most cultures around Antarctica, Dragonstonian culture has had few outside influences and hasn't changed for hundreds of years. However, the country's population in general has still adopted some holidays and customs observed in most of Antarctica, such as Christmas, among some other holidays and customs celebrated in the country.

Geography
Though the island of Dragonstone is small, only slightly larger than Acadia, the geography is incredibly diverse, with geography ranging from mountains, to fields, to forests. The entire country is mountainous, with its capital Dragonport sitting in a small valley by the sea, with the geography drawing millions of tourists to the country each year since opening up to the Antarctic. There are also many small lakes and rivers, which cover the entire country and make it ideal for farming. The capital, Dragonport, was built at the mouth of the Dragon River.

Climate
Dragonstone has a similar climate as Puffle'and, as they lie at almost the same latitude, and Dragonstonian weather is often similar to the weather in Puffle'and. Rain often occurs in Dragonstone, often for days at a time, and when it isn't raining, the sky is usually cloudy, with a sunny day being somewhat rare in Dragonstone. This rain has sometimes caused flooding in the hilly regions of the country, but projects by the government to control the raining has stopped most flood. Dragonstone is also warmer than the rest of the Antarctic, but is still hospitable for penguins.

Transportation
The two most common modes of transportation in Dragonstone are water, since Dragonstone is an island, and land. Many ferry lines run between Dragonstone and some of the smaller islands around it, and some go to nearby countries. The Port of Dragonstone is one of the busiest ports in the region, with many ships coming in and out every day. Travel by road is also extremely common, and roads cover the whole island, with highways connecting the most important parts of the island. Many train lines run across the island, and the Dragonstone Metro is considered some of the most advanced train systems in the region.

Travel by air is less common than the other modes of transportation, due to Dragonstone's semi isolationism, but the industry has expanded greatly in recent years. Recent additions to the Dragonstone International Airport have made it one of the most advanced airports in the region, and the airport receives millions of passengers per years. Dragonstonian airlines have seen much growth in recent years, as many travel to the country from around Antarctica to witness some of its famed tourist attractions, boosting the country's tourism sector of the economy.