Water Tribe
The Water Tribe is a country located in the western half of the known world. Its capital is the city of Polaris.
History
The Water Tribe was founded by Chieftain Svetroid in December 2020. It is one of the oldest states in the world and was the first to define a national boundary, therefore arguably qualifying as the first ever state in the true sense of the word.
In its early days, the majority of the Water Tribe was not explored. The most inland settlement was Abode of Cass, established as a suburban property by Cass at a time when waterbenders were so scarce that even plantbenders would live in the frozen tundra. Of the 7 NPC villages in the Water Tribe today (Polaris; Svetingrad; Columnstown; Paia's Brook; Lasthold; Urist's Rift; Agna Qel'a), only Polaris and Svetingrad were given much attention. Until recently, these two were likely the only spots with any attention, as reflected by their elevated development compared to the practically untouched interior.
Water Tribe presence on the southern sea helped to encourage the spread of other states to the area, such as the Free Territory and Earth Kingdom, with others appearing more as happy accidents, such as Cassland. Due to icebenders being able to freeze ships and the obviously powerful strength of Waterbending in open water, early Water Tribe naval policy was to not compete in the arms race and instead use the resources for additional development. Rather than siding or competing with the Earth Kingdom and Free Territory's naval arms race, the Water Tribe instead sought ties with Cassland as their waterbender allies and construction projects.
The climate of the Water Tribe has been a pressing concern since its inception. The adoption of an NPC village as the capital was not simply an easy resource grab, but a practical necessity - much of the Water Tribe is completely inhospitable. This was a major reason for Cass leaving, as crops could not easily be grown without freezing over. This was yet another reason to cling to the coastal settlements of Svetingrad and Polaris, rather than explore the interior. Much of the early resources were committed solely to the effort of rendering Polaris into a thriving economy - large-scale docks were built to facilitate trade and imports, and a large farm with many torches was built to shift the local diet away from berries.
This climate played a significant role in developing the socialist model of the Water Tribe - unlike more abundant economies where class differences may be permitted in order to facilitate a more organised distribution of resources, everyday life can be a struggle to survive. Svetroid cemented this in the construction of the RRSP, or Resource Reallocation Social Program. A uniquely advanced distribution model seen nowhere else in the world, the Water Tribe grants the right to request resources via the RRSP to its citizens or allies - currently these are the Earth Kingdom and Cassland.
Svetroid launched the interior explanation in order to properly define the boundaries of the Water Tribe and establish formal claims to each of the settlements within it - this proved to be much larger an undertaking than anticipated, as another 5 villages joined the fold and borders larger than any state in the world were defined.
While the Water Tribe has always had a highly communitarian spirit, it has also rejected those it perceives as foreign. NPCs hold a lower status as in most states, but the Water Tribe was also keen to suppress its earthbender minority as represented by Evangelos in the South Earth Protectoratea devolved region for earthbenders south of Polaris. Chieftain Svetroid cooled the magma column at the protectorate in order to force closer obedience by earthbenders to waterbending norms. This was to prove a controversial act with Citizen Urist planning to launch legal proceedings, hosted by the Fire Nation, to advocate on behalf of non-native elements, before Svetroid's untimely demise. Urist inherited the chiefdom and immediately abolished this practise.
While the Water Tribe has primarily been a Southern Sea state since its inception, it always held a Western Sea coastline. At first, this was mostly neglected due to the lack of known resources on the Western Sea and no other trading partners being available. With the founding of the AAPC and the Opening of the Western Canal, this changed. While Svetroid ordered the founding of what is now Borealis, Chieftain Urist has been the one to see this effort realised. She also saw to the construction of the new armed ship, Tui's Revenge, to safeguard the new port.
Geography
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Government and politics
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Economy
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Demographics
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Culture
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