Bel

Bel is a nation-state situated on the western side of the Las Hocorexadier (Uncrossable Ocean) in southeastern Petrosa. It is the most populous country in Petrosa.

Bel's borders encompass some of the oldest standing sites of human habitation in Gaedera. It was a monarchy until the year 445, from which point it was governed by an elected parliament headed by a president, typically elected from among the parliament every ten years.

Bel's capital is Bel City, a sprawling city situated upon the convergence of the Ford River and the Angel River. Bel's territory extends for thousands of miles westward from the sea, neighboured by Cerdolia and Orsand to the northeast, Sonora and Onao to the south, Linon to the east and Elraka to the southwest.

Metropolitan with a large immigrant population and an even larger diaspora living overseas, Bel is influential in Gaedera, the pioneer of the democratic system and a hub of commerce and research. Belan continues to be the lingua franca of academia and commerce. It was in Bel City that the New Truth philosophical movement was born, changing scientific, religious and political doctrines the world over. Machinery such as steam cars and trains are commonplace, powered by steam-generated electricity, and gasoline exists in a very primitive form.

Bel is the setting of the multimedia project Voca.

Theology
Bel's patron deity is Beghul, the God of Languages, an Upper Empire deity with an entourage of two hundred and fifty-five shepherds. It is for this reason that Bel is almost unique for being frequently visited by two hundred and fifty-five deities, namely Beghul's shepherds (whereas most are only ever visited by up to three). Beghul's sacred art of semiosis grants, among other things, verbal, artistic and musical acuity, and powers relating to the comprehension of languages.

Bel takes pride in its linguistic and literary development more than any other nation in the world. Through both human innovation and divine inspiration it has developed a language that can be used to invoke and instruct minor deities via musical machines known as chordophones. This is done by typing the instructions (with special syntax) on treated paper, then feeding the printed paper, known as a voca, to the parser module of the chordophone. The chordophone translates the instructions into music, vibrating the ether in particular ways and compelling deities to perform orders.

Early history (c. 8,000 BOG - 2512 BOG)
As one of the oldest nations in the world, Bel's history extends well beyond the advent of written record. It has its origins in the Beghula tribe, named for its patron deity, Beghul. Beghul, one of the earliest and most prominent deities of the Lorico Era, owned countless shepherds, and laid claim to a massive region across the eastern half of Ecorem.

It was largely the voraciousness of Beghul that led to the Beghula tribe's aggressive expansionism, waging war over claims over all the land that Beghul deemed to be Their own.

Post-Red Ring Pact (2512 BOG - 0 AOG)
After the drawing of the Red Ring Pact between Beghula and the other great tribes, the Beghula tribe laid down its weapons, but the spirit of warlikeness remained with the nation. The borders drawn during the Red Ring Pact excluded some portions of Beghul's original territorial claim, and there was a persistent belief that Beghula deserved.

Modern Bel (0 AOG -)
The notion that Beghula had been robbed of territory persisted and pervaded in its culture, even after the tribe reconvened with Beghul--who made known Their new desires for Their nation then--and the establishment of the thriving new nation Bel under His instruction.

This brought about a persistent belief that Bel had a divine right to wage war for the territories it did not own under the terms of the Pact, including the whole of Cerdolia (which had broken off as its own entity, being the intersection of Orsand and Beghula tribes) and portions of Linon. Bel began a few overseas territorial conquests, at one point occupying Coroca and Eregoda Niel in the Uncrossable Ocean before defensive neighbour Orsand reclaimed the islands (and then briefly took them for itself).

Thanks to Beghul's gift of semiosis, Bel was perfectly positioned to thrive on international trade and migration. It became among the first nations to opened its borders to visitors and draft trade deals with its neighbours including Orsand and Cerdolia. Trade expanded the economies all nations involved, but none profited more than resource-abundant Bel.

Technology
Main article: Science and Technology in Bel