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The Rewilding of Ruinenlust

“Safe like springtime: short days, long nights...”

Category: Anarchy
Civil Rights:
Frightening
Economy:
Frightening
Political Freedoms:
Corrupted

Regional Influence: Diplomat

Location: Forest

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In a few words...

Ruinenlust is conceived of as a large island nation, full of hills and crossed by some larger mountain ranges. Located rather far to the north, the island has been covered by glaciers and ice sheets in the past (although now only small mountain glaciers remain in the northern part of the country), and that has also tremendously impacted the geography of the land. Deep U-shaped valleys, many lakes and ponds, and deep fjords characterize most of the country, except for the southern region, which avoided glaciation.

The biogeography of Ruinenlust is currently characterized by large, temperate forests in lower elevations and southern locations, transitioning to boreal forests as the elevation and latitude increase, with alpine regions and tundra refugia on the highest mountain ridges and plateaus of the northern regions. Forests often have several feet of humus underfoot, covered in mosses and lichens, along with myriad delicate herbs and flowers, at least where shafts of sunlight allow for such growth. In valleys that are shielded from the storms off of the ocean, the trees become truly gigantic, and form a tall canopy. The forest floors are dim in the summertime, when the leaves form near-continuous shade.

The climate of Ruinenlust varies greatly by location, and ranges from temperate to boreal to tundra, as one goes farther north and/or uphill from the southern coast. While an island nation, the climate also becomes more continental in the interior. Rainfall is evenly spread throughout the year, and any given location seldom goes more than a week without precipitation. Coastal areas, especially to the west and the north, receive near-daily precipitation, and for that reason, those regions are devoid of permanent human habitation. Given the climate and terrain, Ruinenlust is covered in many streams and rivers, many of which feature spectacular waterfalls and cataracts.

In modern times, the human population mostly inhabits the central region, in a place where several mountain ranges end and where a number of rivers converge, in an area of relative flatness. The population has declined significantly from a few centuries ago, when much of the country was extensively affected by rampant development and expansion of infrastructure. A series of human-amplified "natural" disasters, combined with profound shifts in cultural values and attitudes, led to the voluntary depopulation of much of the land, along with efforts on the part of the government to maintain better standards of living for those who remained. Many inhabitants chose to either be childless, or else to have only one or two children, and the widespread abandonment of cities, towns, and infrastructure throughout much of the country eventually created a new name for the country, Ruinenlust (i.e. "the love of ruins").

Citizens were encouraged to relocate to a new city, Dendropolis (The City of Trees), where the slight majority continue to live to this day. The country rejects modern notions of "progress" and "growth," instead focusing on things such as personal fulfillment, happiness, and caretaking of the natural environment. The environment of Ruinenlust is considered to be a beacon of hope for an increasingly overpopulated and destroyed world, and is the premier example of the tenacity and rejuvenation of nature that is possible when humans voluntarily limit their own numbers and prioritize the rest of the biosphere above their own short-term accumulation of wealth.

More to follow... :-)

The Rewilding of Ruinenlust

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