Railroad Politics

[Kirvina]

There are few things more important in Aurelia, both politically and otherwise, than the railroad. An essential tool of transportation for the continent's millions of inhabitants, it holds a uniquely pivotal role. While elsewhere, the slow establishment of freeways and the dominance of the personal automobile have long eclipsed trains, Aurelia is different. Its nature as a land of civilized areas separated by vast seas of disorganized frontier, oftentimes the possession of myriad tribes or insurgencies, alongside downright oppressive weather conditions, render cars ghastly inefficient. What's more, since the days of the Shffahkian Empire, the vast pre-existing network of railroads criss-crossing Aurelia, the best developed on Eurth for their time, were too central to all continental infrastructure to replace. Thus, a combination of necessity, lethargy, and reactionary tendency has created a state of train primacy, for better or worse. Certainly, carbon emissions are low, but maintaining and protecting the railroads as well as manipulating tribal politics to create a series of dependent so-called railroad states has long been an ulcer on the finances of the civilized states of Aurelia, especially Kirvina and Shffahkia, who as the two first-adopters of the technology also have the largest corporate stake (and the most to lose in the event of mass banditry).

Often quite comical to foreign travelers who enter the region for the first time, and a good tone-setter for the continent, are Aurelian railroad maps. Pockmarked with green, yellow and red ticks indicating the safety of different routes and the chance of encountering a piratical assault on your journey through them, as well as with different track symbols for when one must board an armored train, or dark X's marking branch routes which have been shut down due to ongoing military operations, they paint a poverty-stricken, violent, and dystopian picture. That said, to the average Aurelian, the system is anything but. As a simple reality of life that in truth yields few to no casualties, mostly being a trouble for politicians, corporations, and the nobility, the prevailing opinion in Kirvina is that such things simply must be dealt with, as they have always been dealt with, and that there is nothing abnormal about them. In fact, Pan-Aurelian politicians throughout the continent's history have harped on the railroad system as an example of continental unity and brotherhood, conveniently ignoring the millions of disadvantaged native peoples subjected to economic destitution through the unnatural propping up of banana republics, or on Eurth railroad states, that can barely be called countries. So it is that under the auspices of "unity" and "brotherhood", a young Shffahkian politician by the name of Marcel journeyed to seek the patronage of a Duchess Chrysanthe of Taurapetra in expanding one of the many sub-routes of the Trans-Aurelian Railway, one which tunnels through the Paranne Mountains and into an oft overlooked sector of Shffahkia.

While perhaps Marcel could have hoped to secure money from the central government, or from the reigning Grand Duke Liuvros of Achilleia, it was clear through his corporate liaisons that all the funds of these regions were already tied up with a stout increase in banditry, as well as deploying various arms of the nation's light infantry special operations force (the Rangers, Tasanthai plural, Tasanthes singular) as well as its regulars in the area (the Border Guard, Acranthai plural, Acranthes singular) to deal with an unnerving increase in partnerships between hostile tribes. While the situation around the railroads themselves was more stable than it had been in quite a long time, this was due to an unsustainable policy of promoting the welfare of the citizens of the railroad states, at the expense of the next layer of surrounding federations, which was creating more enemies the longer it dragged on. Tribes which had gone over a century without any Kirvinsét or Shffahkian meddling were now suddenly introduced to the front line of guntrain diplomacy, with not a one happy about the notion. Chrysanthe, though the possessor of a modest fortune and a cadre of family-loyal mercenaries and quasi-feudal bannermen hailing from the district she ruled over which functioned as a portion of the federal army in all but name, had committed little to nothing to the railroad-effort, calling it "a damnable waste of time" and "an endless cycle of vapid paternalism best left to foolish men with deep pockets." Despite her raging antipathy, as the only noble or bureaucrat in the entire country who was not already committed to something, she was the only one who could be approached for this route.

With these thoughts in mind, Marcel emerged from the train taking him into Taurapetra, smoothing down his suit. Having foregone a diplomatic escort, choosing instead to travel incognito, he took the quickest route through the old quarter of the ancient city towards the diplomatic offices and ruler's compound, standing under the small umbrella he had bought at the train station and doing his best to avoid the bad weather. It was geographically arranged in a way that the highest section of the city, whereupon sat his destination, was always held in view, and that no matter how he pivoted across the stone boulevards, it was always visible somewhere at the corner of his eye. Likely a tool wielded in the medieval era to inspire lofty grandeur on the part of the city-state's rulers, he mused, crossing under the alcoves which would take him to his scheduled meeting after around thirty minutes of walking. Saluted by a pair of guards, he snapped his umbrella closed and passed it off to a waiting valet, fashionably two to three minutes late in normal Shffahkian fashion. Once, twice, he rolled out each shoulder, flattening his breathing, and then crossed into the door. Sat across the room, waiting at the other side of an oaken table, was the Duchess he was hoping to meet. Gesturing for him to sit, she took his measure with an imperious, self-assured expression, dark brown eyes boring a hole through his face and out the back of his head. "We are most pleased to receive you," she said with an expression that spoke more of murderous intent than pleasure, " and hope that your journey has not been too taxing. Please. Speak of your purpose in journeying to the other end of the continent, that it might be heard and known." Despite her decorum, she struck a rather militaristic figure, with short-cropped light hair and clothing close in style to an army officer's parade jacket.

@Shffahkia

[Mito]

The Trans-Aurelian Railway or sometimes called the Great Aurelian Railroad in a more grandiose fashion is known by a very different name within in the continent than outside it. Countries outside Aurelia see it largely as a series of iron roads (Lys. rues de fer) impressive in scale and in its pertinence to continental trade and call it thusly, while Aurelian countries themselves often call this the Gold Road (Lys. rue d'or), a name in line with the continent. This name is not completely for the sake of vanity but carries within it a certain truth. For example, timetables are often merely suggestions in Shffahkia but because of the importance of railways, trains are uncharacteristically always on schedule. Thereby, despite Aurelia being home to a multitude of different countries possessing wildly different societal structures and value systems, they are united by their shared economic interest to maintain, expand and protect the continent's impressive railway infrastructure. It goes to reason then that these countries would also hold a plethora of differing opinions about and have divergent attitudes towards this gargantuan system of rail both the good and the bad. One of these opinions can be found at the northern terminus of this rail system, Shffahkia. Shffahkia holds a chauvinistic attitude racked with guilt towards its role in creating and actively maintaining the continent's multiple-track-themed status quo. This is largely due to the origins of Shffahkia as a nation and the origins of the so-called Gold Road.

Shffahkia was first settled by religious émigrés who brought with them, alongside a disdain for religious institutions, a guilt-based morality system where bad deeds were not punished by divine fate but by one's own conscience. As a consequence, a dissenting opinion has always been present in Shffahkian public discourse. Whether or not it was ever listened to varied from one time period to another. One time period where such dissent was disregarded with great fervor took place during the Shffahkian Empire when a home-grown Aurelian attitude of Shffahkian chauvinism, that would go on to set the country up for an ill-conceived trajectory of continental domination, hegemonized this imported sense of guilt. "A Shffahkian must always look down on something" goes a popular joke in Aurelia. Yet, in one way, this misguided and factually wrong chauvinist mindset proved to be correct; the Trans-Aurelian Railway traces its origin to that period of Shffahkian chauvinism when the technology was whole-heartedly adopted by the Shffahkian Empire. The first railroads that reached southern Aurelia were built during the Eustacian Wars by the Shffahkian Empire to bolster supply lines. After having conquered its rivers, Shffahkia continued to expand by building an empire on rail. However, as this expansion drove the empire to its cataclysmic end, and Shffahkian chauvinism received an irremediable blow, something remarkable happened which would define Shffahkia for the century to come. In spite of removing almost all traces of the Shffahkian Empire, the winning powers elected to retain and adapt its railroad infrastructure. Doing so gave the nascent Shffahkian republic a decisive advantage to recover from the devastation from the war as the country found itself one of the most connected countries to Aurelian trade in the mid 1800s.

As other Aurelian countries adapted to and surpassed Shffahkia in railroad production, the country lost its competitive edge and truly became a single member of the Aurelian collective no longer the monolith it once was. Shffahkian history has had a tendency to over-emphasize this beginning part of Aurelia's railway history oftentimes downplaying the far more consequential role its Kirvinsét counterpart played in rapidly expanding its railways to match and exceed its original inspiration. Still, with the emergence of the modern era of railroad politics, came the guilt so greatly suppressed during the Imperial era. The country now found itself looking at the wild frontier through a more sympathetic gaze. This ill-defined good will manifested itself through humanitarian actions that were coupled with the chauvinistic attitudes of the previous two centuries. Shffahkia sought not to simply occupy strategic points along the railway but to spread its culture there as well. Where Shffahkian boots trod, they brought with them la bonne langue. As a result the country's interests are not only economic but also cultural. It is common place for the highly educated in a railroad state to emigrate to Shffahkia in search for an occupation or to continue their studies assuming they weren't sent to Shffahkia to study from a young age. A derogatory term roughly meaning "iron footed" exists in Shffahkia to describe people from a railroad state. Many of these immigrants that work in the country also send some of their income to support their families still living in their place of origin. Subsequently there is a clear link, a special relationship between Shffahkia and its sphere of influence. The policy of promoting welfare within the railroad states that was proving more unsustainable from day to day was in part driven by Shffahkia. The policy itself was not popular in the railroad states themselves. Not only was the agency and economical prospects of the railroad states taken from them but now a very clear instance of brain drain began to take affect as well. 

The reunification of Shffahkia and Paranne had set Shffahkia into political turbulence as the Larue administration attempted and ultimately succeeded in gathering a coalition to continue governing effectively. The administration was now entering the penultimate year of its first term. This brought down significant pressure to get results both political and economic to show to the electorate. Under this compulsion, ideas that normally not even put out for consideration gained traction and at the very least tacit approval. Such was the case with the plan to expand the Trans-Aurelian Railway to go through the Paranne Mountains. Not only would this stimulate economic growth, it would also connect Paranne's more excluded parts with the rest of Aurelia. Funding became a problem, however. The Shffahkian budget was tapped for the year and only a part of the actual costs would be covered. Marcel Tchélique, ever the opportunist, was the person who most ardently drove this project. When the news came that adequate funding was not going to be provided, the charismatic politician decided to take things into his own hands. His years of working in Pan-Aurelian projects had provided him with an impressive list of contacts spanning the continent. One of these contacts told him about a duchess in Kirvina who conveniently possessed the required funds for the completion of the project. To call this a long shot would be an understatement. Travelling to the opposite end of the continent to gather funds was downright inconceivable by some. Nevertheless, Tchélique prided himself on being a man who not only talked the talk but also did the deed. The risk was great but the prospects of being the one to realize such an ambitious project would no doubt skyrocket his career. Even if he were to fail in convincing this noblewoman to invest, he would still be known as a person ready to go the extra mile. Fully committed to his plan, he arranged for a visit to happen. Not wanting to rouse any suspicion or bring unwanted media attention to his venture, he chose to conceal it and travel with a low profile. He convinced himself that much like how Shffahkia had shown Aurelia the usefulness of the railway, he would demonstrate to this Kirvinsét noblewoman the true economic value of the Aurelian Gold Road. 

"Thank you for having me here today your grace," he began. "The reason behind my extraordinarily long voyage across the continent is to introduce you to a new and lucrative business venture. A venture truly Aurelian through and through. Not only is this investment guaranteed to pay off in the long turn but it is remarkably safe." Before continuing, he took out a small pile of papers, the technical details of the project, and handed them to the duchess. At the top of the small pile was a map of the Tans-Aurelian Railways with an area of Shffahkia highlighted. "You see with recent political developments in Shffahkia, much in terms of economic investment is being rolled out in Paranne which provides you a unique opportunity. The small community of Aïousse has for a long time been known to possess valuable minerals underneath its soil. It is a community largely based on mining but what hampers this community's growth is its exclusion from the Trans-Aurelian Railway Network. With your patronage, an ambitious new railway could be built allowing the untapped riches laying dormant to flow into Aurelia. When this community is connected to the rest of Aurelia properly, both people and cargo will be going in and out of the town at unprecedented rates. This will undoubtedly prove advantageous to anyone with a stake, in this railroad. Because after all what they say is true, the only thing better that owning a mine is owning the railway leading to the mine." 

@Kirvina

Edited April 28, 2021 by Shffahkia (see edit history)

[Kirvina]

In strong contrast to the Shffahkian rationale behind meddling in the wasteland, flush with idealism, culture, and the notion that those who dwell the open fields of Aurelia are simply Shffahkians waiting to happen, an education and a cultural identity away, the Kirvinsét are far more dull and pragmatic. The motto of the Rangers falls in line with this: Law and Taxes, a straightforward proclamation of their primary mission. The national origin of Kirvina is very tied to the Dekatrapoleis, the Thirteen Cities. In a very exclusionary, anti-assimilationist view, the power has never tried to convince the denizens of the railroad states it controls that they have a place in Kirvina, that they are culturally similar at all, that they should learn their language for anything beyond needs of communication, or that they should even have any affection towards Kirvina at all. Let no man tell you otherwise, the average citizen of the Southland looks down on those who inhabit the railroad states as nothing better than a cesspool of luddite tribals, unable to work the lands given to them into a civilization of any worth; allergic to rule by decree, dishonorable bandits who would kill their own family for a few drachmae of silver.

But even bandits have their worth. At rifle-point, the Kirvinsét military spreads safety and protection from piracy through the steppe, shelling out the money to maintain standing garrisons in each and every town of note in exchange for tribute in the form of mineral resources and informal tribal gifts to commanding officers. While lacking in opportunities, and any sort of cultural advertisement or promotion, those lands Kirvina controls are, at the very least, safe. However, finding a Kirvinsét civilian on the railroad tracks is indeed a rarity. The Southland's presence in the brush is entirely military, carried on the back of the understatedly swollen Acranthai and Tasanthai, the elements whose charge with curating these areas has turned them over the centuries from inglorious fetch and carry battalions into the majority of the nation's armed forces. A fact which the Duchess sitting before Marcel well knew, looking at him with a halfway suppressed expression of derision as he carried on. At the terminus of his argument, she sighed, shaking her head. "Perhaps our part is 'remarkably safe'. Yours, on the other hand. Goodness." 

Chrysanthe huffed, waving a hand to the side. "However, I've no doubt in the mineral value of this mine you are describing to me. There are doubtlessly tens of others like it scattered around Aurelia, resources simply waiting to be tapped but out of our reach. But you have chosen this one because it is close to a rail hub." She rummaged around for a brief moment, withdrawing a cigarette. Not lighting it, she offered it to him, and whether or not he accepted took one for herself. "The question is whether or not the vultures have already smelled out that your corporations are producing facilities in Paranne and are massing at the railway hubs of the border. Whether or not whatever route is opened is going to be taken by six grenadier attacks a fortnight, and lose fifteen personnel and a train by the end of the second month, like the last one was."  The Duchess finally lit hers, gesturing with between her fingers. "Now, it's no small amount of money you've come to solicit me for. And I know that. I'd want some kind of proof of concept. Maybe we take a few mercenaries with us down the rail line and see if we happen to get jumped."

[Mito]

Marcel was pleasantly surprised over the Duchess' interest in the topic. The opinion that she held was not entirely unfounded. Ever since the Shffahkian Collapse in the 70s, the country found itself physically cut off from its own sphere of influence. The Parannese Republic had largely been supportive in joint efforts to exert influence over this area but differences in opinion meant that direct military intervention was rare. As a result a more indirect approach was chosen. Supporting satellite regimes and arming local syndicates to create a web of influence that spanned a greater distance and penetrated deeper than that of the Kirvinsét state at the cost of pragmatic safety. Now that the two countries had reunified, the Shffahkian boot was making its come-back. The current administration had set an internal goal to return slowly to the status quo of the 50s exercising more influence and authority over its sphere. 

As Marcel accepted the offer and took a cigarette, he began "That is a delightful idea. A pleasant trip up and down the railway will serve as a good demonstration of the actual day-to-day safety of the Trans-Aurelian Railway." He thought largely of the mundane traffic through the rails in the form of both trade goods and free-moving people. Stopping a train was no small feat for a group of bandits, and when an instance of rail-related banditry could go as for as to provoke a military intervention in some parts of the network, the risk was inconceivably huge at an individual level. Even more so when taking into account the harsh punishments for such crimes. This largely creates a situation where some small to medium trains can afford to travel with minimal protection especially when schedules line up with any military related transport goods. "In fact, I would go as far as to suggest that we ought to travel with a low profile so we can see just how safe the railroad truly is. Now I won't lie and say that it is completely devoid of any danger but in my own personal experience both as an every-day businessman and a high-profile government minister, the dangers related to the railway are greatly exaggerated by the media. After all, financially a train breaking down is a bigger risk than banditry but the media rarely reports on instances such as those. Personally, I don't see a need for a grand escort. I've travelled up and down the rail countless times and I've found that all you really need is a few mercenaries or a bodyguard or two and it's as safe as it can feasibly be. That being said, I certainly wouldn't be against going with a large military or mercenary escort if it suits your preferences more." he said before lighting the cigarette.