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Jute

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Confederated Communities of Jute
Nonaf a Jute a tahadovi ifi
of Jute
Flag
Motto: Life is hard, but worth it
Anthem: Mohomi ude savanhude

(Living in harmony with water, land and air)
CapitalNone
Largest city Jute City
Official languages Jutean
Recognised national languages Jutean, Jutean Sign Language, Jute Pidgin
Recognised regional languages Jutean, Neviran, Jute Pidgin, Samwati, Klambari
Ethnic groups Juteans (45 %)
Pales (20 %) Neviran (15 %) indigenous minorities (15 %)
Various refugees (5 %).
Demonym Jutean, Jutese (archaic)
Government League of independent, direct democratic communities
 -  Community Leader (with no executive powers, mediative and balancing function) Coconut Beach
Legislature Community Meeting (local, regional and confederal)
Independent since 1723 from the Neviran Empire
 -  Settlement and begin of civilization 1000 BC 
 -  First written records about medicine and religion 300-200 BC 
 -  Invasion of the north, half of the population dead or made to serfs 100 AD 
 -  Emigration of the other half to Ystel to found Laina 100 AD 
 -  Return of a sizable amount of the population to the now freed island homelands ~1000 
 -  Begin of the colonizing of Jute by the Neviran Empire 1650 
 -  Recovery of independence 1872 
Area
 -  Island Jute alone 63,297 km2
24,439 sq mi
 -  Island + South Jute 199,006 km² (76,837 sq mi)
Population
 -  2015 estimate 1,860,000
 -  Density 28.12/km2
72.8/sq mi
Gini10
low
HDI 0.69
medium
Currency The Score (see 5 Economy for important details)
Time zone JST (SCT+8)
 -  Summer (DST) not observed (SCT)
Drives on the n/a
Calling code 80
Internet TLD .jt (rarely used)

Jute (Jutean: [jute]), officially the (Slightly) Confederated Communities of Jute, is a loose confederation of communities located on an tropical island east of Baredina and on the northern part of Ystel. A different, archaic name is also "Ratelland", after the national animal, the ratel or honey badger, though it might also be used to refer only to the community on Ystel (even though there are no native ratels there).

Known for being one of the last independent non-state societies on Sahar, it has in its current form existed since 1723, though the political and social system traces it roots back about 3,000 years, to the tribal system of the first proto-Jutic settlers, the ancestors of modern-day Coastal and River Juteans. Prior to those, the island had however already been inhabited by Samwati and Klambari, two tribes unrelated to Jutic people.

The society is characterized by its widespread, decentralized system of direct democracy and a subdivision into more than 1,500 small, largely autonomous communities, each organized in an egalitarian collectivist manner and grouped together into counties (or boroughs in towns) and regions, as well as an absence of central political institutions with the exception of the confederal assemblies taking place twice a year and the office of the vunamoena a nonafat a Jute ("Leader of the bigger community of Jute"), who functions as a representative of the island in the country as well as abroad, and also as a lawspeaker and leader of the supreme court. This system has its roots in the traditional tribal democracy of Coastal Juteans, which has existed in some form for 3,000 year, with unsuccessful suppression attempts during the colonial era from the 17th to the late 19th century.

Altogether, six languages are known to be spoken on the island, two of them being the heritage of the colonial era (Neviran and Jute Pidgin), and two indigenous ones, Samwati and Klambari, unrelated to the two Jutean languages, (Coastal or Standard) Jutean and River Jutean, legally still seen as one language.

Etymology

A common folk etymology for "Jute" is to see it as a compound of ju te, or "this onward" in Jutean, referring to the supposed exclamation of the first settlers roughly 3,000 years ago who meant "this shall be our home from now onwards". However, this has been rejected by most contemporary linguists as not being supported by any trustworthy evidence.

More likely, it comes from the jute plant (of the Corchorus genus), in Jutean also jute, with the word later coming to refer to the island as well, and finally acquiring the third meaning "home", especially "home of a population/group of people" in Modern Coastal Jutean.

History

Prehistory

In the beginning, a day in the first villages of Jute usually began with a short bath in the sea, followed by having some bananas and other fruit, like coconuts, for breakfast. These were collected either the previous evening or on the spot, since they exist in abundance here. After that, Juteans usually just did things they liked to do for fun like laying in the sun, swimming, going for a walk or just talking and chatting about various things (their language was already relatively developed, including names for some abstract concepts and things such as "meaning" and "being content with your life", they had a single word for that, Saandi.) such as the meaning of life and the possibility of an afterlife, even though they hardly ever found satisfying answers to these questions. Still they kept wondering, and soon they started making drawings in the sand to illustrate what they're talking about. This then developed into picture writing after a while.

Meanwhile, the explorers who instead liked to wander off in the wilderness (and fortunately, most of the time came back unharmed, too) had found some interesting herbs. After some time, they managed to figure out some beneficial ones and even some of their abilities in helping curing the sick and helping others to stay healthy. To give everyone not too much and not too little, they started giving names to different amounts and adding them together.

As the population grew and grew, what they could collect on a single day on their peninsula started to be insufficient to feed everyone. The swimmers proposed eating things from the sea, and while some didn't like the idea, in the end it was decided to try it out and after some time it became accepted with the majority and even liked. Soon the coastline and what each swimmer could carry on their own wasn't enough either, so they started experimenting with fallen tree chunks floating in the water. After some trial and error, they had their first boats and could go farther and carry a much bigger load.

Other villagers found out how to cultivate some of the fruits and vegetables, so more people could enjoy them, like it used to be. This was also done so as not to rely too much on seafood, since the swimmers, who now were referred to as seafood gatherers, had better and worse days when it came to bringing food on the recently invented tables. They started to grow sweet potatoes and other tropical crops, which quickly became popular in the still rather small community, which lead to a quick expansion of the farming efforts and more people becoming farmers themselves.

Ancient history

Even though their day started being filled with getting enough food to feed the ever-growing population, they didn't forget about the talks and questions their ancestors had. In an effort to remember them better, they started creating short stories from what the older generations had told the younger ones. They started looking for some writing material that was more durable than the sand that had been previously used, and started using tree chunks, where they carved them in so they wouldn't have to rely entirely on memory. Since space was limited and and it was hard to draw the accurate pictures of their pictorial script, they started to make them more abstract and soon had a kind of wedge writing.

As time passed on and food distribution with the bigger population became an issue, as it was no longer as abundant as before, neither in the sea, nor the fruits, smart villagers developed new methods to fairly give everyone as much food as they would most likely need. These would today be called "subtraction, multiplication and division", and they soon had created new signs for their script to help them with that. This also helped to prevent arguments arising from misunderstandings, mix-ups and faulty memories.

After the food distribution and production problem was solved, at least for the time being, the population of Jute could go back and continue enjoying their favorite activities, discussing the world around them and more, tell each other stories or just explore the environment, after the day's work was done, of course. They also managed to create better writing material, using the long leaves of a plant they found worked well for the cause. A thick, undrinkable liquid squeezed from some inedible berries was pressed on the leaves using a short stick. Thus they could create slightly more accurate drawings and write longer texts. One of the explorers found a thicker branch that was hollow inside, and made a sound when blown. After some tinkering with it, the first flute was made.

They also started tackling their age-old questions with a more systematic approach, and tried to find connections between different questions and their answers, developing a lot of new abstract concepts and ideas that served in their new theories. Multiple of those existed, and almost everyone in the village now had some sort of opinion as to how the world had come to be, what the purpose of existence is, and what comes after death.

Meanwhile, the flutes were used more and more often, at first randomly, but over time it became clear how to generate the different sounds it was capable of making. The first melodies were created, and someone had the idea of letting the old drums play along them, creating a rhythm to match the melody. Now the people of Jute had something to accentuate their traditional storytelling in the evening, which often also included the mysterious stones around them. No one knew where they came from or who they made, some suspected a divine cause, some claimed them to be part of nature, some a combination of both. As far as they were concerned, they were the only humans on Earth.

Some of the Juteans preferred to expand their small numerical system, and give it some fine-tuning. They started experimenting with bigger numbers and developed some mathematical puzzles as an alternate pastime, meant to stimulate the brain and ability to reason. Some called them unnecessary, and were of the opinion, that brainpower would better be used answering philosophical questions, but other people thought they might be of help in answering the questions of life and beyond and in anyway where in no way useless, as according to their opinion, everything in the world has some purpose.

After a while, both disciplines had started to mix, and some began to philosophize if there is such a thing as the biggest and smallest number, and whether numbers had some special meaning inherent to them, and if they were all the same or had some special properties differentiating them. After some experimentation with division, a particularly devoted mathematician discovered prime numbers, and started to wonder if these extraordinary numbers could be calculated, or what other method there could to find more of them. Prime numbers were dubbed "divine numbers", as divinity was assumed to be a state of total purity, mental and otherwise, and these numbers, who seemed to be at the base of all others, seemed especially pure. Meanwhile, after an accident while exploring, a young woman needed help with a flesh wound on her leg. After initial attempts didn't seem to improve the situation and resulted in ear-piercing screams of pain, an older mother of three children suggested using some herbs she had used when her children couldn't sleep. Thus, they had the first anesthesia and could go about the treatment. The wound was cleaned as best possible with some fresh water and the oil of a plant they used for cleaning, and then stitched them with a needle from a tree that had long spines. That needle had been washed and sharpened and then had had a string of cleaned spider web attached to it. In the end, the wound was bandaged with some thoroughly cleaned leaves and more cobweb binding them together. The operation proved not to be a complete failure, the woman survived and could for the most part continue with her life, but she was permanently scarred and unfortunately, the pain in her leg never completely left. The local herbal advisor at least had a remedy against that, but even that couldn't make it go away completely.

The population continued to grow, and they soon needed new farms to feed all hundreds of hungry mouths. Some trees had to be raided for those, and while some protested against this "crime against nature and what is holy" at first, they soon managed to get into an agreement after some discussion, pledging to plant a new tree for every one destroyed, and to have a minute of commemoration every day twice for everything the nature is providing them, during which everyone was also supposed to think about what they could do to better society while respecting the nature, and in the evening to review their day, what they achieved today and what plans they have for tomorrow. Over time, these rituals provided one of the bases for the religion that had long been developing. Saandi na trikki u mohomo harandi - being content with your life through numbers and harmony with wildlife. A rulebook, where the elders and others wrote down the guidelines on how to achieve this state of being was soon written down. It contained moral guidelines on how to live with society and how society benefits the individual, guidelines how to respectfully use wildlife, natural resources and how to achieve the desired mental state by continued study of philosophy and science (which at that point mostly meant mathematics)

After many peaceful years, one fateful day some of the explorers met foreigners in the forests. This first meeting of other people didn't go well for the Ratellanders. Seeing other people shattered their worldview, they had seen themselves as the only humans living on Earth. Stories that told of the existence of other tribes were dismissed as old fairy tales, and so they did not have an appropriate reaction when they were finally approached by them. Rather than attempting to building up contact and communication, the explorers froze and quickly retreated, never to be seen in the jungle again. Their entire civilization fell into a long stance of stagnation, with no new scientific or cultural advancements being made, even their common nightly activities got less and less. Their spirit was broken and they lost their curiosity for the world around them. A lot started to question their entire existence, and some even fell into depression, which the health experts of Ratelland were often unable to treat properly. Other fell into rage and started raiding and attacking their surroundings instead of their previously peaceful free time activities. Different leaders emerged, squabbling over the future of the people of Ratelland, and it only added to the crisis

This was made even worse later on by attacks from a hostile tribe in the North, who caused significant damage and could only barely be fought off. Reluctant to rebuild their shrines and other buildings to former glory, and with another threat on the horizon they were alerted to by a lone explorer who decided to take up the long stopped activity of exploration again, they decided to leave their former settling behind and escape on the sea instead. The following days were spent gathering resources, saving what could be saved from their cultural and scientific heritage, and building boats. Advanced boats, called "ships" that had already been developed before, but never used, since previously there was no need to sail on the ocean. A workshop was erected to build them more quickly. They considered burning down the rest of the village, now Jute City, but in the end decided it, heavy-heartedly leaving the remnants of their home behind as they set sail to find a new one behind the horizon. Some decided they couldn't leave it, hoping the others would come back soon and help restore it, but this proved to be a bad decision in the end when invaders came from the north, burned down everything and made the remaining population work as serfs on their fields.

After a long journey, the Ratellanders find some new land in the far west. It is unlike their old home, but inviting nevertheless. Rolling hills of woods and grassland, which seemed kind of beautiful despite, or maybe just because of the rain that was currently falling. They debarked near a small valley which seemed to have enough space for their first provisional housing. After having gathered their supplies and belongings, they quickly set to erecting their new settlement. With some repurposed tools and weapons, they cut down some lumber, ran some trunks into the soil and covered them with a waterproof cloth. This was to become their storehouse for things that should not be left out in the rain, and a place where they could lit their first fire to cook, dry their clothes and warm themselves up a bit. Having completed that for now, they continued to gather resources, food and constructing shelters until the night set in. In the evening, they continued their tradition of telling stories, adding new ones based on recent events, so that their past would not be forgotten. Some had brought some paper, and while some had become too wet to be used, some sheets had remained dry enough and so their first historical accounts were recorded. They wondered what might have happened to those that had decided to stay behind, if they were doing well, and whether they might go back to them at some point. A lot were homesick at the moment and missing the good tropical weather, but sitting together and talking lessened the suffering somewhat. The following days they continued the same way, constructing new buildings, gathering resources and foods, and preparing fields and fishing trips. A small workshop for the production of new and more effective tools was set up, and slowly, they started to understand the ways of metal working, too, starting with copper, which some explorers had found in a corner of their new world slightly more far away from their newborn village, now Laina. Some were curious about these new materials, and did some experiments with it, noting down anything that seemed important and might help their new small industry branch.

Medieval history

The Ratellanders mostly preferred to stay isolated now, especially after their first encounter with other peoples had gone so badly. They didn't make contact with any other people for a long time, fading into obscurity for almost all of the world, only barely remembered in some ancient stories, and by the remainders of their civilization in their abandoned settlement that historians struggled to understand. Even the descendants of those captured and made to work as serfs, later liberated peasants, barely knew anything about their ancestors, having long forgotten their language (it having been replaced with a creole) and almost all their customs, having been mostly absorbed by the dominant Klambari culture. In an effort to know more about their heritage, they held festivals all over the country where they lived, using the sparse literature as background and even tried to revive their ancient religion, which seemed to have centered around prime numbers. Using methods of a kind of primitive proto-archeology, which was just getting of the ground with many new discoveries been made, they were able to trace the direction some took when they fled from the invaders of the north. This later led them to seek contact with the population living in Ystel.

Meanwhile, the new settlement there, due to the lack of impulses and new ideas from outside had just barely gotten out of the neolithic age. While some of the rest of the world had already been busy building up an industry, huge ships and terrifying war machinery, New Ratelland, or South Jute, as it would later be called, had remained a tribe preferring isolation and hiding among mountains to outright warfare. They had an above-average knowledge of geography, astronomy and medicine than other cultures on the same level of technology, but there was still no real industry to speak of. The population had grown, but not much since a few hundred people originally set up tents on the rolling hills of the southwestern continent, Ystel. These tents were soon replaced by wooden huts, and eventually, a small city with some building of polished stone developed, called Laina. No one much lived outside of it, mostly only a few hermits and outcasts.

Despite all the trouble, they had managed to save a lot of their old culture and religion, which taught them to how to lead a better life and improve society with rationality and a lifestyle in harmony with nature. Saandi na tikki u mohomo havandi - being content with your life through numbers and harmony with wildlife, that's what it was called in the language of the "Ancient people" as the new Ratellanders called the founders of their small civilization. Obviously, the language evolved and changed a lot through the time, adapting to the new surroundings and less carefree life, but the old one stayed alive in religious texts, songs and prayers. They continued with other age-old traditions as well, such as the nightly telling of stories, meanwhile, architecture and other arts alongside with science also started to flourished somewhat once they got their initial problems solved with recreating their food supply to the new environment and fortifying their homes against potential invaders.

Geography

Geology

Climate

Biodiversity

Politics

===Overview

Jute's system is an unusual hybrid that is supposed to be combining communitarian social ideals with anti-authoritarian individual freedoms, so communities would be facing problems and challenges in joint efforts, and has it roots in prehistorical times, when sticking together in close-knit groups was necessary for survival, and anyone trying to establish themselves as a higher authority would have been seen as a threat to the community as well. These values gained renewed relevance when in the 18th century an unified front was needed against the colonizers from Nevira to restore independence for the island, and this led to the foundation of modern Jute as a confederation, first only consisting of the small communities on the central coast of the island, later expanding to include all of the island.

Given how much of the island is covered in jungle, and how there are few, slow connections over the island and in the Ystelian part, Jute has remained very decentralized throughout history. It is organized in small communities, each with their own elected community leader to help coordinating those joint efforts previously mentioned. A new one is elected every two years.

Aside from organizing the community, they also are supposed to serve as mediators in conflicts, and are responsible for enforcing law, but do not hold any political power on their own. Instead, political decisions such as the passing of new laws are either done via a local, regional or confederal referendum, during an assembly called "Meeting of the Community", where aside from discussion of current issues mediation takes place, too. Two experts can be called in for those in case the community leader finds it necessary. While taking part in the meetings is voluntary, and open to everyone above the age of 16, laws and judgments passed by or during it apply of course to everyone. Therefore everyone is, in a way, part of the government, or at least able to be part of it.

Administrative Divisions

Communities are organized in counties, which make up regions, which together form the confederation of Jute. They have a varying amount of responsibilities and rights, with most of them being held by the first two, as seen below.

Every region, county and community retains the right to leave the confederation and assert its complete independence again if it votes for it. While this would give them the ability to ignore new or old laws from upper administration levels, it also makes them lose the benefit of the shared defense, foreign and trade policy, likely weakening them and creating a conflict, so this has not happened in history so far.

Local communities

Local assemblies take place every Saturday, and have the biggest amount of responsibilities. If the settlements forming a community are too far away from each other or have some particularly isolated ones, a community may decide to create sub-communities with their own meetings, and devolve some of these responsibilities to them, based on local needs. However, arbitration and policing must, according to confederal law, remain under the control of the entire community, which then meets in this case only once or twice a month (depending on what the community agreed on) and might or might not typically involve personal attendance. The existence of sub-communities is particularly common in the very sparsely populated regions of South Jute and Taxonea.

They deliberate about local services such as primary education, including daycare and kindergarten facilities, where existing, or emergency services (first aid services, fire department and if available, ambulances) and are also responsible for care of the elderly and the homeless that have no family looking after them. Some also have youth centers and soup kitchens. Housing is mostly community-owned, too, with new buildings requiring the approval of the community meeting. New projects are being discussed every week there, with larger ones such as the construction of public buildings or large repairs after storms or the like being regarded as "common projects", where usually everyone is expected to help out in some way or other.

Additionally, they are responsible for keeping the community clean and safe, so things like street sweeping, waste collections, where necessary stormwater protection and in some towns also sewers are organized by it. The streets themselves, and any kind of traffic control also fall under their authority, as does zoning, building codes, permits and parts of the traffic code. Parks and other recreation areas, environmental and historical protection are included as well. More isolated, non-urban communities also tend to maintain their utilities and harbors on the local level.

Counties

However, in most parts of Jute utilities, public transport and facilities like harbors are managed on the next higher administrative level, the county level, by the respective assemblies. They are also responsible for hospitals and secondary education and unemployment assistance, and retraining. Finally, all ordinances that affect several communities at once, as well as a degree of budgeting and collections needed for bigger projects (e.g. hospitals) fall under their domain as well.

The county assemblies take place after the last local meeting of the month, and in most places don't take place in the same location as the local community meetings. Instead proposals to the agenda are submitted in advance, which then will be discussed on each local meeting, with the results being sent in to a central county department, where votes are being counted and the final result determined. Appeals from local arbitrations and any kind of arbitration that has county-wide significance is also usually done there, with the county community leader and two to four co-mediators commonly having to form a consensus on the issue, with some exceptions.

Regions

Counties are in turn organized in regions. Regional community meetings work similarly to county meetings, with submissions and issues being discussed in additional sessions every second month after the third monthly local community meeting. These control regional transport and infrastructure, for example trains and railways. Even if a given railway line might extend into other regions, it is managed by the region in which it starts, however railway stations are always managed by the region they are in. Aside from that, any other advanced or specialized hospitals or healthcare centers or institutions are under their authority, as is tertiary education.

Similar to county-level assemblies, politics and laws that affect the entire region, e.g. those concerning regional trade, are decided by them, as are collections, budgets and reserves (including foreign currency reserves) used for various projects and needs, or given to struggling counties in need. They may also send officials into specific counties or communities to control the enforcement of regional laws. The third instance of the court system, for appeals of county court decisions and for arbitration that is relevant for the entire region also exists in this third level of administration. In addition to the regional community leader, 8-10 additional mediators make a decision based on a simple majority vote.

General Meeting

And finally, regions are united in a general community, and a community leader on that level exists as well instead of a prime minister and a president. This assembly is in charge of legislation and oversight of the airfield, air security and monitoring international travel and trade as well as the customs office, and decide on topics covering all of Jute as well as foreign relations, such as trade, diplomacy and defense cooperation and coordination. The court of last resort is also on this highest level of administration, represented by the general community leader and 14 to 20 additional mediators, who again decide following a simple majority vote. The general assemblies happen twice yearly, usually on a different day that is being taken off by most people. In urgent or otherwise exceptional circumstances a third or fourth meeting might be called, or emergency appeals be transmitted to an assembly in session via phone Like with regional and county meetings, discussions happen in local communities separately, based on previously submitted issues, statements and other items to be discussed.

Law

A constitution, adopted in 1723 after independence from the Neviran empire and first written down 1892, is the supreme law of the land. It lays out basic rights of individuals and communities, such as the right to join and leave the confederation freely (according to regulations set out in specific laws), the freedom from slavery, bodily and psychical harm and the right to privacy, free speech, free movement (on the island) and free exercise of religion. Of note is that "unoccupied land" might be used freely according to "reasonable restrictions" set by local law, and that "coerced" work and contributions are illegal, which effectively renders most systems of taxations used in other places of Sahar illegal on Jute. The country relies on a culture and tradition of collective contributions and sharing of burdens instead, supplemented at times by additional individual contributions. Citizenship is declared to be extended to everyone living in a community belonging to the confederation or joining it, although it is allowed to be refused temporarily to people who recently entered Jute. In the following paragraphs, the constitution also lays out the basic working of the political system of Jute, establishing the office of the community leader explained above and devolving political powers to the biggest degree possible to the lower levels of administration while setting up a large barrier to a reversal of that. This means that "vertical" powersharing is severely restricted, whereas "horizontal" sharing of responsibilities is allowed. Amendments are not provided for.

To a large extent, these constitutional laws, formally called "foundational principles" (also the formal name for the constitution itself) are the reason there aren't many laws or regulations applying to the entirety of the confederation, but there is also a cultural preference to keep law and simple. So aside from the already mentioned regulations on joining the confederation for individuals (as immigrants) and communities, and some other foundational administrative laws specifying the schedule, form and procedure of meetings there are only nine additional basic laws that are enforced in the entire confederation. These are often printed on posters hung in public or on cards that are given to tourists and other people arriving to Jute. Marked in bold are the laws where a violation is considered more severe.

No bulletproof clothing in peaceful times No sale of fireworks (with exceptions for a few holidays) No guns in public places
No violence (unless it's self-defense or consensual) No goods stolen in other nations or outlawed internationally No cars (not even for “the military”)
No violent (biker) gangs No selling of hard drugs or consumption thereof in public places No use of dynamite or similar, barring approved exceptions

Policing and law enforcement

The involvement of the community leaders is seen as a last resort, and as there is no real separate police like in other nations, neighborhood watches are responsible for the safety of their community. The position of the watchers is rotating every week, and taking over this duty is considered a obligatory community service. Individuals found breaking the constitution or another basic law (excluding the law on fireworks, guns and bulletproof clothing) can be banished or punished otherwise as ordered by the community leader serving as impartial, if the violation was severe enough or if they are a repeat offender and show no will to change their behavior. Most other legislation is generally rather seen as a strong recommendation that one mostly should and is expected to follow, and is not enforced as strongly. Usually in most communities people will seek a dialogue with those breaking them, to offer them a way back into the community. If they still fail to change their ways and do not or are unable to adapt themselves, they might be ordered to leave the community, county, or region.

Prisons on the main inhabited islands or Ystelian mainland do not exist, but violent criminals of the former are usually sent to a specific designated, unsupervised prison island, or handed over to Mermelian authorities in South Jute. In some communities they might also be banished into the wilderness with no tools or supplies, although this being an indirect death penalty in most cases, it is not condoned by the general assembly, but due to isolation and remoteness of the communities in question is usually difficult to stop.

Foreign relations

To preserve peace and friendly relations with other nations, Jute has since regaining its independence often sought alliances and pacts of nonagression with other nations. Where possible, foreign policy tends to be mostly neutral with no declared enemies, and no strong alignment with any side, but especially again in recent years there has been a push away from any remainders of isolationism, and towards a policy of multilateralism. Uniquely to Jute, skateboarding is considered a form of diplomacy as well.

Military

There's no actual organized state-funded military, only some arms enthusiasts and few people who decided to be full-time soldiers are organized in a kind of society (calling themselves "Society of Modern Defense") commonly referred to as "the military". They are under close scrutiny of most of the rest of the island, which is rather pacifist and suspicious of military in general. Therefore, they often have to resort to things like bake sales to cover their expenses. Its motto is "No oone me fa ma dee, letolo vuha nu; ivusaie ilejotof amefati a ilvuhide, u ejotof netumivoti a vuhide." ("The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light").

In case of a threat, which fortunately hasn't often been the case in the history of the island, the people of Jute come together to quickly discuss the best way of acting. First, diplomacy and hospitality will be attempted. If that fails, allies will be asked for support and everyone's talent on the island will put to good use - anyone able to use a weapon educating others, full-time soldiers acting as makeshift generals and strategical advisors, paramedics helping any wounded, falconers and other animal husbandmen taking care of Jute's "air force" and faunal support forces, and the navy, consisting mostly of war canoes and will be set ready. While most of the population is, as mentioned, pacifist, learning how to defend yourself is seen as a important part of education as well, especially since there are a lot of dangerous animals in some jungles, and each year unfortunately a lot of people die either by them or by getting lost in the vast forests.

Special tactics, weapons and armor

Jute uses mostly traditional weaponry and armor upgraded and advanced to modern times, but the "military" also uses common modern armor and weapons. The majority however uses an armor made of extra-strong jute fortified with carbon fibre made from pyrolysed jute. This makes it both lightweight and effective. The material is also used to improve the abilities of the arrows of crossbows. Last but not least, the "military" has developed so-called graphite bombs. Taking advantage of the conductive abilities of jute carbon fiber, they managed to create a humane weapon that will only disrupt electrical infrastructure and machines, such as power stations or computers and is largely harmless to humans. This results in a usually huge economical damage and severely impacts, if not destroys a significant part of the civil and military infrastructure without any, or in the worst case, very few, human casualties. A special tactic is using the forces of the elements to their advantage, this includes for example the synchronous surfing on special war surfboards of hundreds, if not a thousand of jute carbon fiber-armored warriors on top the waves, although these days this is mostly only used for representative purposes, such as surf board parades on the ocean.

Defensive structures

Six emergency underground stations exist in Jute. All equipped with food, basic medical equipment, necessary supplies and some defensive weaponry and observation technology. The biggest one also has an underground harbor for submarines with a connection to the open sea and all of them have low-tech communication lines, separate from any other existing. The exact location of each station is held secret.

Economy

Important economic sectors

As a largely unindustrialized land, Jute is still dominated by agriculture. The most important crops are coconuts, bananas, sweet potatoes and above all jute, both the fiber and leaves. Historically, jute production used to dominate the nation's economy and was used in all spheres of life. Examples include clothing, building, furniture, paper and culinary uses, among others. Even today, the jute fiber continues to be used in many local products and jute production remains one of the most important parts of the economy, cuisine and culture of Jute. However, other economic branches have since then become bigger and more important to the nation's gross national product, most importantly tourism and more recently book publishing, with many international authors from more authoritarian countries with a high amount of censorship selecting to print in Jute due to low regulation and low costs. Paper is traditionally made from jute fibers or banana peels and leaves. The fiber of the latter is also used as raw material in the making of clothes.

Economic system

Large enterprises are unknown in Jute, most of the economy is comprised of semi-public small cooperatives, collectives or public services. It operates locally, on the neighborhood level, overwhelmingly as an informal gift economy, usually market-based, and on larger levels (county, region, island-wide) to varying degrees as a debt-based economy, especially in regional or island-wide commerce.

Currency only exists as foreign currency, brought in by tourists or accumulated through exports. As a result, coins and bills are not commonly used on the island itself. The Score is mostly used as a help to compare the value of goods or services, but doesn't really exist as either coin or bill. Instead, everything bought or consumed is first chalked up (or 'scored' and later re-payed. Anything bought or consumed is something figuratively borrowed, with a social expectation of later repayment. It is a system of redistributing goods that in general heavily relies on trust, and so people deemed untrustworthy or not accepted as part of the local community or wider society are left to either fend for themselves or find a supporting group or community of their own. The specifics vary from county to county and especially region to region and the economy may be subject to different amounts of "market laws" or general regulation.

Transport

Cars are banned, public transport is free and covers almost the entire island. There's no real airport, just a quickly cleaned, rough field, since the expenses would've been enormous, and so the General Meeting of the Larger Community of Jute always voted against it. A lot of tourists prefer to come via cruise ships or similar instead, or use planes capable of landing on water.

Traditionally, the rivers going through Jute have proven to be the most effective way to get to a town in the inlands, as no real road network has ever been developed in order to be able to preserve the thick, hard to cross rainforest which is covering most of the inner island.

For very small air freight, such as letters, memory cards or public announcements, trained carrier pigeons are frequently used, enough that it has drawn comparisons to a computer network. This "avian internet" remains effective not just due to the widespread lack of computer infrastructure outside of the major cities, but also due to the often very remote and isolated locations of many communities. Efforts to combine the power of many pigeons to carry heavier loads are also ongoing, but have so far been a failure.

Energy

Science and technology

Tourism

Demographics

Ethnic groups

A colorful mixture of mostly indigenous Juteans (45 %), pales (20 %) and Neviran (15 %), but also including various other ethnicities (5 %), and indigenous minorities, such as Samwati and Klambari (5 % each) Asylum seekers from all over Sahar also make up a notable minority (also about 5 %).

Urbanisation

About half of the population on the island of Jute proper lives in towns, whereas 90 % of South Jute lives in the sole city of the region.

Largest cities on the island of Jute:

City Metro area population Language
1 Jute City (Sitti) ~380 000 Coastal Jutean, Jute Pidgin, Neviran
2 Samuvu 120 000 Samwati, Jutean (both)
3 Numudu 100 000 Coastal Jutean
4 Amdato 90 000 Klambari, Jutean (both)
5 Helele 60 000 Jute Pidgin, Jutean (both)

Language

Main article: Jutean

Official status of languages in Jute

The official language is Jutean, but other languages are sometimes used for international affairs and business. Jutean legally entails all languages of the Jutic branch of the Juto-Ngutanic language family spoken on the island. The main language, used in Jute in most official records, courts etc. and by 1,270,000 people as their native language, is Coastal Jutean, often shortened to Jutean.

It is not to be confused with River Jutean, another member of the Jutic branch, spoken mostly inland of the island. Even though not legally recognized as a separate language, it is still recognized as a variety and as such can be used by anyone for all official matters where Coastal Jutean would be used, however, records and laws are not available in it. When needed, a translation or an interpreter (for example in courts or community meetings) will be provided. All other legally recognized languages can be officially used only on a regional level. This includes Jute Pidgin, Jutean Sign Language in all regions (however, the latter can be used in confederal courts as well) with Neviran, Klambari and Samwati only having the status of an official language in select regions.

Coastal and River Jutean

First attested in around 300 BC, Coastal Jutean is assumed to have developed after the first ancestors of present day ethnic Juteans arrived at the island at around 1000 BC. The people remaining on the coast would eventually speak what is today referred to as Jutean, or Coastal Jutean (natively mostly referred to as tahiva net or tahiva [a] Jute, IPA /tɐhivɐ net/ and /tɐhivɐ ɐ jute/), whereas the people venturing inside would develop River Jutean (tahosoe val ma, pronounced roughly /taho͡asoɛ vɐl mɐ/). It had no official status until after Jute regained independence 1723, during and prior to the colonial era it was just one of the languages spoken on the island, albeit the most widely spoken one.

Meanwhile, River Jutean remains widely spoken in the inland, particularly along the Tahonaha, where it is also used as an official language on a local and regional level. Most speakers of River Jutean learn Coastal Jutean early on as well, since monolingual speakers are despite the status of their native language as a legally recognized variety of Jutean at a significant disadvantage later on.

Klambari

Klambari is a language of currently uncertain origin, it is spoken by a traditionally cattle-keeping and hunting society in the mountainous region in the southwest and west of the island who are said to have already been native to the island prior to the advent of the Jutic people. Through the creole Klambari-Jutean, spoken by Jutean serfs during the reign of the Klambaris over most of Jute from 50 BC to ~1000 AD, Klambari has had a significant impact on Jutean, particularly on Coastal Jutean, with many loanwords existing, for example sitili ('sword') from Klambari stüdterl ('iron').

Samwati

Samwati is the language of a few relatively isolated communities in the far north of the island, which are said to predate even the Klambari settlements. Much of the language remains unknown, particularly any possible relation to other languages, since its speakers generally avoid contact with the outside world. However, archaeological findings have shown that Samwatians used to occupy a much larger part of the island several thousand years ago, with some ruins found near Jute City being the most prominent evidence for it.

Education

Healthcare

Religion

Overview

Syncretism is very common on Jute. Patronal Saandism, with about a million followers the largest religion, draws from both traditional Saandist and from Qurosist beliefs, but there are also many followers of regular Qurosism in the bigger cities. Especially in the more remote counties and communities, traditional Saandism also is still largely followed. Other native religions are followed by most of the Samwati and a large amount of the Klambari, whereas other world religions such as Iovism have few adherents.

Saandism

Saandism comes from Saandi, meaning in the old language of Jute 'being content with your life'. The full name of the religion, Saandi na trikki u mohomo harandi means 'being content with your life through numbers and harmony with wildlife', as mentioned in 'Prehistory' above. The religion combines tenets of science, particularly astronomy and math, curiosity and philosophy with greenism and communitarianism. (See also eco-communalism)

Name and central philosophy

As said above, the name of the religion originates in the native Jutean word Saandi, referring to a state of contentment with life, where nothing bothers you anymore, and you don't feel the need to change anything anymore. This concept has been a key part of the mentality of Jute since anyone can remember. The full name of the religion, also makes clear how this should be achieved, namely na trikki u mohomo harandi, translating to 'through numbers and harmony with wildlife', meaning keeping an interest in the sciences, especially math while taking care of the land around you as well, thereby creating a balanced life in both the immaterial as well as the material world.

Tenets and daily life

Sacrifices are not encouraged, instead a self-reflective prayer twice a day is one of the most important aspects of it. In the morning, a minute of commemoration for everything the nature is providing them. During this, everyone is also supposed to think about what they could do to better themselves and society. In the evening, a review of their day was to take place, what you achieved today and what plans you have for tomorrow. The oldest rule, which initiated discussions on finding a way to respectably live with each other and with nature, was to plant a new tree for every one destroyed, after some trees had to be cut down to make rooms for new farms. Over time, this developed in a somewhat organized religion, complete with a "rulebook" where the elders and others wrote down the guidelines on how to achieve the achieved state of saandi that soon was written down. Important to note is that these weren't strictly "rules", more guidelines, that weren't forcibly enforced. Not following them didn't earn you any punishments, worldly or otherwise (the concept of "hell" was unknown and only later importer by missionars) but would eventually lead to an alienation from society, and finally, ostracism, which was seen as punishing enough. Not that the book required any overly specific things from you, or didn't allow for any leeway. It contained more general moral guidelines on how to live with society and how society benefits the individual, guidelines how to respectfully use wildlife, natural resources. Any details were to be talked and agreed upon with other members of the community. Elder people could also often explain certain parts of it, and help you try to achieve the desired mental state, which involved continued study of philosophy and science, which at the beginning mostly meant mathematics.

The importance of numbers

After all, as mentioned in the history section, numbers were introduced already very early on to the existing philosophy, and quickly became an object of interest for many people, with mathematical puzzles soon establishing themselves as an esteemed and popular pastime. The discovery of prime numbers only furthered the admiration Ancient Juteans had for them. Those were seen as "divine" numbers because of their special abilities, as at first "divinity" was seen as a state of high "purity" and "originality", of which everything else was supposed to have developed. Even though that view changed a bit over the time, numbers are still hold in high regard, thought of as part of the logical half of the immaterial world, together with philosophical musings, with artistic endeavors, especially those more abstract and less realistic on the other side, similar to [mandalas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala).

Understanding the imperfection of the material world

When the telescope was first invented, scientists of Jute first noticed how the moon, previously thought of an example of an "perfect" material object, "pure" in a way similar to prime numbers, actually was scarred all over the surface, with some larger, some smaller holes. This lead to the development of the tenet "Do not strive to be perfect, for it is neither possible or reasonable. The beauty and goodness of things comes from their imperfection.", meaning it is not the purpose of things of the material world to be as flawless as things of the immaterial one. The state of "purity" the prime numbers have can't be achieved, and neither should it, as it would destroy all things that make the material world worth living.

Culture and Society

Jutean society is rather anarchistic politically and economically, distrusting most political authorities. As mentioned in the "Government and law" section, there is no actual executive power in the government, and just about everyone has the same legal power, with the Community Leaders operating on a basis of respect from other people and the trust to do be just in their verdicts. All in all, Juteans in general aren't hugely individualistic. As mentioned in the "Government and law" section as well (near to the end) as in their native religion, they are more communitarian, honoring traditions, as a way of honoring their ancestors and recognizing their wisdom and what they did for society. Elders are often honored as people with great experience and wisdom as well, and are often asked for advice. Traditional rituals can also help to bond with other people, as they reinforce a sense of "we" (without making a "we vs. them" dichotomy) and a feeling of togetherness, which fosters positive relations between members of the society as well as the sense of happiness derived from "belonging to something", while at the same time not infringing on a single person's rights or liberties. Aside from the regard for society as a whole and the people next to you, the influence of Saandism is also reflected in the values of philosophical and scientific curiosity as well as regard for the world around you common through Jute. People are however still generally encouraged to solve problems on their own without outside help, with a level of self-reliance (both on the individual and communal level) being highly valued, although mutual aid to those in need is equally valued. Therefore, even though everyone is free to leave their community and for example build a house on a previously uninhabited spot, it is somewhat frowned upon, as this will mean that they will probably be missing out on most of the community services, and also not being able to take over the duties as they're normally expected to. It is seen as weakening the spirit and the strength of the community, needed especially during the time of great projects, and therefore said to be showing a disregard to what helped Jute achieve sovereignty and freedom once. This also theoretically counts for communities, counties or regions wanting to secede, though in the past the apparent benefits of remaining part of the confederation provided enough incentives for all regions to stay close to each other.


Gender roles

Three different culture-specific genders have replaced the standard two ones in Jute. These are never assigned as birth, instead they are first determined, with biology playing no role whatsoever, by the parents in the first years of a child's life based on characteristics, behavior and preferences, though other members in a community might suggest or even urge the parents in one direction.

With society having grown more open and less socially conservative/authoritarian in recent years, it has become common for children to challenge this decision and for this to be accepted socially. While not all parents already pay heed to it when it happens when the child is still young, almost all but the strictest parents allow their children to select the label they identify with the most either after puberty has started or at the very least after that.

The three genders are called netumo ('guard, sentry'), sehukumo ('nurturer, fosterer'), and kove ('inbetween') The latter term has some negative connotations for some people for reasons which might be obvious, which is why vamejo is often preferred instead nowadays.

A nuclear family originally consisted of a netumo and a sehukumo, with kove/vamejo often the people who were supposed to go childless and devote their life for the community, taking over the tasks no one else could or wanted to take over, though nowadays same-gender marriages and families with vamejo are becoming increasingly common, too.

Vamejo originally is a shortening of vamejotimo, meaning 'sorcerer', 'magician' or 'seer', which refers to the fact that, largely barred from forming a family on their own, they tended to group together in smaller clubs or societies. Many of them had ties, or alleged ties, to magical practices, which is why they also came to be called this. Tasks the community expected them to take over usually included things that required staying alone for a longer time, such as fishing in the ocean, exploring the island for e.g. new food sources, threats or other resources, spiritual guides, mathematicians/astronomers (who were akin to priests in their religion or judges. The latter was a very unpopular profession in particular, since it usually tended to be hard to come to a good, just judgment.

Netumo are traditionally the defenders of the family, children and the home against any outside threats. Aside from that, they are also historically the protectors of the village. These required them often to stay at or near home, though, when on watch duty near the edge of the rainforest, they would also usually gather food or fish in a river (hunting was largely unknown) while keeping an eye out for any predators or other dangers that might be lurking in the wilderness. They were also responsible for repairs at the house and other manual tasks, and often also where the people who worked in the forest gardens. In times of trouble, the netumo of a community would usually first consult their spouse and then come together and discuss how to deal with the problem.

Sehukumo were, as the name implies, expected to be the ones nursing, raising and educating (aside from some of the more practical things, which were taught by netumo) the children. When they lacked the capability to breastfeed for biological reasons, they would either have the children be nursed by a relative, friend or leave that task to the other parent. They usually were also responsible for housekeeping and food preparation. Some worked in the forest gardens as well.

Architecture

Literature

Literature has a long tradition on Jute, with telling stories in the evening being an age-old part of daily life for the population. (See prehistory) Nowadays it has developed into a rich variety, with a lot of recent novels being popular abroad as well. (See economy above) . Other forms of culture are less common, but still enjoy some popularity. Traditional flute music can often be heard in the streets or in the two opera halls of the island.

Art

Music

Theatre and Film

Cuisine

Main article: Jutean cuisine

Varying depending on region. The more populated coastal regions have largely pescetarian cuisines, dominated by fresh fish, fruits and vegetables. Fish is less common inland, but leaves of the jute plant, and bananas are staples everywhere aside from the mountainous Klambari-speaking region in the east, where they're not really common. Animal husbandry is more important there, and it is the only community with hunting traditions. On the other side, meat was unknown on the settlements lining the shore for the longest period of time, who have appreciated the versatility of the coconut through the ages.

Sport

Symbols

The jute plant and fiber is used as a symbol for the island, the confederation, and for many ethnic Juteans, representing important values such as an environment-friendly lifestyle, living in harmony with nature and securing the future for coming generations.


See also