View attachment 864139
The Vinlandic Commonwealth(
Vinlandisk þjóðveldi) is a country in Hesperia[North America] bordered by the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Republic of Assiniboinia. Vinland‘s history begins with the arrival of a group of Norsemen led by Leif Erikson from Greenland. They founded a settlement called Leifsbudir, which managed to survive long enough for Leif Erikson and his crew to return to Greenland and spread the word. Leifsbudir and the surrounding areas would be settled by mostly Greenlandic and Icelandic Norsemen. More settlers would arrive with the failure of Norse colonization attempts in Greenland and with Iceland’s gradual subjugation by Norway. In particular, Vinland would be settled by Icelanders fleeing Norwegian rule who wished to keep their unique form of government. Vinland would also be settled by Basque and Irish fishermen, Anglo-Saxons fleeing the Norman conquest, Norse pagans fleeing Christianization, and just about anyone who couldn’t make it in Europe and was capable of sailing to the far-away land of wine.
Vinland is unique for its system of government, directly descended from the medieval Icelandic system. Vinland is a direct democracy governed by a sort of parliament called the Allthing. The Allthing is headed by an annually-elected Lawspeaker, and assembles every year to solve various political disputes. Every Vinlandic citizen aged eighteen or above is allowed to attend the Allthing. The Vinlandic people are fiercely protective of their unusual political system, which they argue to be the only democratic system of government in the world. That said, the Vinlandic system is not without its flaws; it can be very inefficient, and in practice most Vinlanders do not attend Allthing meetings. Most actual government in Vinland is done at the local level, with each of the country’s three provinces having its own democratically-elected chieftain, or
gothi in Vinlandic, who serves for a single eight-year term unless recalled by the voters. The provinces are given a significant degree of autonomy. Vinland is the only nation in the world with no standing army, with each province instead having its own private militia.
Vinland is a very diverse nation, with the predominate Vinlandic ethnicity(roughly 70% of the population) coexisted with several indigenous peoples. The country is also very religiously diverse, with roughly 60% of Vinlanders being Protestant, 20% being Catholic, 5% being Jewish, and 5% being followers of Norse polytheism, the only significant remaining population in the world. The country’s religious divisions would be a significant cause of conflict during the Vinlandic Civil War(1622-1635), which happened as a result of the Protestant Reformation. The capital of Vinland is the centrally-located city of Ædævé[Ottowa], derived from the Algonquin word
adawe, meaning “to trade.” Vinland has three provinces, Ældvinland[Newfoundland], Markland[Quebec and Labrador], and Vestland[Ontario].
