History
Origins
King Felix I was partly responsible for The First Ozark Campaign / The Old Ark Revolution, which overthrew Arkassouri Commonwealth ("Old Ark") and established Guild Protectorate of Arkassouri. Placing himself as its leader and even subtly acknowledging his status as a Guildsman of The Hitchhiker's Guild put him in violation of The Hitchhiker's Oath. As a response, the Hitchhikers sent a warning to him through The Regulators, who requested that he return to Bowling Green Chapter ("Swallowed Two Boxes Loudly"). He ignored these warnings, instead returning to the wilderness to wage The Second Ozark Campaign, a guerilla-counterintelligence campaign meant to remove all Hitchhikers and Regulators from the territory.
During the three-year campaign, Felix was surrounded by increasingly zealous followers. His paranoia at the prospect of infiltrators drove out anyone who questioned him, and drew into his inner circle anyone who subscribed to the now-legendary status afforded to him by locals. Particularly interesting casualties of the effort were Frank Palmer & Maria Barton, who had a substantial role in the First Ozarkan Campaign and who had expressed criticism of Hawkins' supposed role as a singular leader. Both were falsely labeled Regulator infiltrators, and executed for Treason.
The Reign of King Felix I
Hawkins abolished the short-lived Guild Protectorate and declared himself King Felix I, First Monarch Of Ozarka.
Despite his claims of believing in Anarcho-Primitivist Culture, his reign is much better characterized as Feudal-Primitivist Culture. Agreeing with the common refrain that Capitalism had apparently caused the downfall of humanity, Felix went the opposite direction of most and decided that instead of developing a new system, Ozarka should regress to the previous one. He issued the Ozarkan Technological Sustainability Decree, which illegalized most modern technology for anyone outside of his inner circles.
Gradually, efforts by the Guild to neutralize Felix died down. Despite his instability and apparent mental illness, Felix was an uncanny survivalist and a skilled guerilla leader. Even when he returned from the wilderness to Mountain Home, the draconian reforms he would enact on the Kingdom made it even harder to infiltrate. The Guild eventually reasoned that any damage to their reputation was not much worse than the usual slander, and that they could probably achieve more good elsewhere where they were welcome with the locals. Ozarka is now a dangerous territory for Hitchhikers, only the bravest of whom do anything but pass through quietly.
Geography
Boundaries
The Northern boundary is defined by the Missouri River, which meets Forth Leavenworth in the West and United American Workers' Syndicates in the East.
The Western boundary extends into former Oklahoma, ending at the Sandstone hills region. There it proceeds south along the boundary of the Ouachita Mountains, meeting the border of Alamo Republic.
The Southern boundary extends from this point to encompass a portion of the West Reach Of Bayou Riche, which maritime border extends to Menfis in the East.
The Eastern boundary simply follows the Mississippi River from United American Workers' Syndicates to Menfis.
Government & Politics
Sectors
The Kingdom is divided into two social sectors: the Partisan Class & the Citizen Class
Partisan Class
Members of the Partisan Class are the only ones in Ozarkan Society exempt from the Ozarkan Technological Sustainability Decree.
Ozarkan society goes to great lengths to segregate this sector by several means:
- High castle walls encase Mountain Home, the seat of government and the only nearly modern city left in Ozarka.
- The population is cloistered within Mountain Home, and even then is mandated a mostly Luddite lifestyle.
- Citizens are required to communicate in the Ozarkan Language within this sector and with travelers, though may use standard English Language with the outside residents of Ozarka.
- Culture has drifted enough that those in Ozarkan Partisan Culture have little in common with those in OzarkanPeripheryCulture anyway.
Members consist of the King, The Royal Ozarkan Security Agency (ROSA), The Royal Ozarkan Honor Guard (ROHG), and any personnel deemed critical enough to stand as an exception from otherwise draconian rules of society.
Citizen Class
The Citizen Class lives a life of agrarian feudalism and strict limitations in technology, enforced by The Royal Ozarkan Security Agency (ROSA). It is subdivided among the lords and their vassals.
By oath, Aristocratic Classs owe military aid to their king, and Serf Classes owe agricultural yield to their lords. Conversely, the king and lords are responsible for the protection of all their subjects.
Fiefdoms
Foreign Relations
The Kingdom is isolationist and non-interventionist in foreign policy.
They do some trade with neighbors, but having neither the means to produce technologically advanced objects nor the desire to acquire them, there is often little to trade but commodities. However, the area is agriculturally rich so a healthy enough trade flows with most of the Western communities of Bayou Riche, Forth Leavenworth, and New Africa.
Military
Economy
Infrastructure
Formal infrastructure in the Kingdom is relatively poor, consisting of the remnants of the US Highway System and the public streets that met ruin after Federal Emergency Austerity Act (FEAA). The Kingdom has declined offers from United American Workers' Syndicates to repave their roads, instead preferring to repair what roads are vital for defense with its own limited resources.
However, a system of Desire Paths has been created ad hoc to serve the now mostly feudal agrarian communities of the Kingdom.