Easwegian Commonwealth

The Easwegian Commonwealth, originally referred to as the Iron Commonwealth was the polity which existed on Bear Island between the creation of the Settlementslaw in 1155 by a crew of Icelandic Vikings who had discovered mainland Svalbard and the Zaarri (modern day Zerri) from the Novgorod Republic who had discovered Bear Island, and the subjugation by the United Kingdoms of Sweden & Norway in 1821.

Mythology
Little is known about the original inhabitants of Bear Island which we now refer to as the proto-Easwegians, but what is suspected is that they were sea travellers who had splintered off from a Finnic or Samoyedic tribe in now modern day Russia not long before the establishment of the Novgorod Republic in the early 12th century. The area they came from was strongly influenced by Viking culture and so they probably used boats inspired by the vikings. Travelling north, Bear Island would have been the furthest they had reached and settled.

Viking settlers from Iceland originally themselves discovered Bear Island and Svalbard later in 1154. They spotted the tip of either Spitsbergen or Edgeøya, which they named Svalbarði, (cold shores) before turning and heading south. Spotting Bear Island, they crashed their boat trying to find a spot to land owing to the Island's minimal natural ports.

Meeting the original inhabitants, they referred to them as Aus(t)menn (Eastern men), and their language Auska. They referred to Bear Island as Iron Island because of the rich minerals which were saw in the surprisingly large mountains to the east of the Island. The Ausmenn helped the crashed vikings with shelter, and because of the remoteness and relatively small size of the island, even for 12th century standards, the community worked together.

Using parts from the crashed boat which was unusable, the Vikings and Ausmenn created a Long House in most likely modern day Liyvazun, Essrina, which acted as an Assembly hall, and in 1155 created the Settlementslaw, which acted as a constitution, detailing the laws of the new Commonwealth they named the Iron Commonwealth, named after the Vikings original name for the Island. Within the constitution was the establishment of the Commonwealth Assembly acting as a legislature, which all who travelled to the Island were expected to engage in. Later when vikings became more assimilated with the more dominant Austmenn, the Commonwealth was renamed to the name adopted for all inhabitants of the Island, the Easwegian Commonwealth; (Old Norse: Auske þjóðveldi, or as the increasingly dominating old Easwegian called themselves, the Rich Commonwealth; (Old Easwegian Transliteration: Qizaarri). In English, the translation of Easwegian stuck.

The Easwegian Commonwealth saw an influx of refugees at the end 1240 when Bjarmians escaping the herd of the Mongol invasion travelled across the Barentsea to arrive after heading North instead of west like the Slavs.

Government
The government of the Commonwealth was incredibly loose. During its creation, the Long Palace legislature was set up, with Chieftains inspired by the home system of the Icelandic Commonwealth. These Chieftains were to have no mandated rules to gaining power, there just had to be only one representative at a time. This meant the Chieftain could be bought, gifted, or inherited.

The Vikings wanted these to be the highest positions of the land, but the Zaarri who had more standing and power on the Island sofar up to that point insisted that an Exchequer serve as the executive of the created Long Palace legislature, and serve as the chief-controller of the Realm. This position was Monarchical, in respected standing equivalent to a Czar. Unlike the Chieftain positions with no regulation on gaining power, the Exchequer was elected by the Chieftains and the owners of land. Today, this position is known as the Zerrich.

Economics
One notable feature of the Easwegian Commonwealth was their incredibly capitalistic nature. Residency to the island could only be achieved by purchase or indentured servitude to a Chieftain. Government positions could be bought and sold, except for the position of Zerrich. None or very little taxes were levied and Chieftains often achieved resources by plundering Norway and Russia, contracting the Muerrzi navy. For victims to challenge an accused in court they often had to pay the local administration which would then hold court days with juries of peers who would be payed Penaari to sit, as well as the magistrate who would receive the most money.

Society and Culture
Rape and murder was seen as incredibly abhorrent in Easwegian society. Unlike in other cases where court appearances required a fee, tribunals formed to sentence rapists and murders was often funded by the Zerrich. These crimes were rare on the island itself. The family of victims were allowed to decide if the guilty party received death by beheading, starvation, or mercy and banishment.