Merindar
 This PEEL-related article is a stub. You can help NSWiki by expanding it. |
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| National motto: Het ijzer smeden als het heet is | |||||
| National anthem: Merindar Knights | |||||
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| Region | PEEL | ||||
| Capital | Merindar | ||||
| Largest city | Merindar | ||||
| Official languages | Europan, PEEL Standardised Language | ||||
| Government | Republic Johannes Groesbeck Adri Shuk | ||||
| Indepedence - (Creation Day) Celebrated |
March 3rd | ||||
| Currency | Galor (€) (GAL)
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| Time zone • Summer (DST) |
New European Time (PUTC+6) New European Summer Time (PUTC+6) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .me | ||||
| Calling code | +081
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| All dates in the STS Calendar unless otherwise stated | |||||
Merindar is a tiny, independent city state located in the centre of New Europe, where the Dim River meets Lake Michinardi. Up until 2040 (STS) it was the capital of the Holy Empire of Bagermash – it was granted independence as part of the splintering of Bagermash, which was undertaken by the Nixorbanian-Teralian Alliance – and operation many hold as a the forerunner of future MuDeAl operations. Today it largely depends on direct trade with neighbouring Nixorbania and North Bagermash, which is a Protectorate of Teral. It has a limited trade capacity to the outside world thanks to the Grimma Canal. The city and its small environs are currently home to just over 3.4 million inhabitants. The country itself is the smallest officially recognised state in PEEL.
Contents
History
Early History
The settlement of Merindar was originally founded in 801 CE (STS) by a Teralian nobleman, Durok Shadaam. It is thought that more primitive settlements had existed around the mouth of the Dim River since the 2nd Century BCE, however scholars differentiate between these, claiming that Merindar was originally formed around a military outpost built by Shadaam to serve as a base for defending the area, including transports and fishing fleets on the lake. Within a few centuries, all but a few of the remaining original settlements’ inhabitants had abandoned their former homes for the greater protection of Merindar. The area was plagued by roaming bands of warriors, and the Merindar fortifications proved on numerous occasions to provide unprecedented protection for the local population.
By the 11th Century the settlement had grown so large, boosted more now by trade than the protection it offered, that a new defensive wall was made around its perimeter – the remains of which can still be seen today. In 1115 Merindar was grated the status of city by the Teralian King, Ondrej II. By the 1200s however, Teralian control over the area suffered catastrophe as the country faced invasion by the Europan Empire. The Europans managed to overcome Merindar’s defences with a grand army and started a program of vast cultural adjustment, which included removing old Teralian ways of life, the language, and the religion, and replacing it with their own.
However, the Europan Empire too ran into crisis, and following the splintering of the empire in 1352, Merindar became one of many independent states. Unsurprisingly, given its strong original defensive capabilities and its prime location, Merindar thrived and became one of the dominant states in the area. Its power and influence grew, until by the 1560s Merindar’s territory incorporated virtually all of the western shore of Lake Michinardi. But unlike some of the other powers in the area, Merindar expanded its territory usually by peaceful absorption, much like it had for most of its history. Many pledged allegiance to Merindar out of admiration for the city rather than fear of it. This was about to change however.
The Holy Empire of Bagermash
By the late 16th Century, there arose a strange and powerful cult in Merindar. They called themselves “The Followers of Bagermash”, who worshiped a living figurehead, who went by the name of Bagermash – about whom very little is truly known. In a matter of years the cult had become so powerful that Bagermash assumed control of Merindar and proclaimed himself Holy Emperor. Following on from that, he set in motion a campaign of conquest that would last several hundred years. Part of the cult was that while Bagermash’s body grew old and died, his spirit always passed onto a new, infant host. This reinforced a feeling of immortality, and all Holy Emperors went by the name of Bagermash, and did not carry any numerical designation – such was the belief that technically it was the same “person”.
During that time, many of Merindar’s cultural heritages were destroyed as they were deemed sacrilegious by the new leadership. The main fort, that had stood watch over Merindar since the 9th Century, was pulled down and replaced by a new Palace for the Holy Emperor. While Bagermash’s territory expanded, thanks to an emphasis put on the military – that was thought to be heavily populated with mercenaries – the general standard of life declined rapidly, as did the general liberties enjoyed by Merindarans up till Bagermash came to power.
It is generally viewed that the Holy Empire of Bagermash was ineffective and always largely doomed, but it still clung on for nearly four centuries. But at its height, it was considered significant enough to be invited to be part of the O-12 the founders of the Planetary Environmental and Economic League. During that time, Merindar’s influence within the Empire started to wane, and around 1786, the Holy Emperor ordered the construction of a new Imperial seat of government that was built roughly two hundred miles further up the River Dim. Construction was through forced labour, and many thousands of workers were said to have died in the construction. When the new Palace was completed, the Holy Emperor ordered the existing palace in Merindar be destroyed, with a Temple and private grounds to stand on its place. Today the grounds exist as Vrijdom Park, the largest recreational area in the city.
The Holy Emperor’s gradual military conquest came to an abrupt end in 1847 when he announced a religious crusade to finally crush the Leilarian state of Teral. The campaign was an utter catastrophe, virtually destroying all of Bagermash’s army, and many of Bagermash’s neighbouring states took advantage to eat away at the expanses of Bagermash’s Empire. Within a hundred years the Empire had lost over 40% of its territory. By the 20th Century though the country and its surrounds had settled down again, and Bagermash formed a partnership with Nixorbania in 1956. Part of this partnership was the agreement to start a vast canal project, linking Michinardi to Persei Bay via Lake Joston. The project lasted six years, largely financed by Nixorbania itself. This increased trade, which boosted the empire’s economy, which had been rapidly decreasing in power and stability. Bagermash also took the opportunity to outfit its outdated navy, but this was the last time it would be in the position to spend any great capital on its armed forces. By 2030, its once prided military included a Navy with 67% of its vessels mothballed, a small Air Force with only a few aircraft serviceable, and an army with antiquated vehicles. One area that still functioned adequately was the police force, which kept Bagermash’s rule safe from dissent, but is also credited with keeping the country free of a great deal of other crime.
During its last decade of existence however, dissention steadily grew. For years, Bagermash had openly accused Teral of infiltrating agents into the country in order to stir up dissention and unrest, however with the formation of the Nixorbanian-Teralian Alliance, or NTA, Bagermash realised that the Empire was powerless to do anything about it – whether his accusations were true or not.
By late 2039, dissention had truly led to unrest, and unrest had led to localised uprisings. This was one of the first true uprisings the Empire had actually faced, and the poor handling of the situation only made it worse. Within two months full-scale civil war had broken out, with the country effectively split either side of the Dim, the north, ironically given its proximity to Teral, remaining loyal to the Emperor. Merindar was caught in the middle, and declared itself independent from the conflict – calling on foreign intervention to prevent further loss of life. As it happened, the city was shelled by both warring sides, though neither North nor South went through with any planned invasion. The Nixorbanian-Teralian Alliance intervened in mid-July 2040. By mutual agreement they would march through the country and meet at the river Dim, subduing any armed opposition they encountered. As it happened, the southern population welcomed Nixorbania, while in the north, the Teralians did encounter isolated pockets of resistance which were quickly dealt without much bloodshed, and both factions of Bagermash generally viewed the NTA as saviours. Following the Treaty of Merindar at the end of August 2040, it was agreed that the south of the country would become a province of Nixorbania, while the north would become a Teralian protectorate – North Bagermash. As it happened the border between the two was actually drawn along a subsidiary of the Dim River – the River Dalen. Merindar would be set aside, complete with the small administrative State that she belonged to as part of the Empire, to be a free country. And thus the Republic of Merindar was born – or reborn as some viewed it.
Modern Merindar
As part of the Treaty of Merindar, the new Republic of Merindar would receive various subsidies from the Nixorbanian and Teralian governments. Trade revenues that used to go to Merindar from the lands in what was now technically Nixorbania and Teral, would still go to Merindar, though at a reduced rate. Taking out several bonds from Teral, Merindar sought to rebuild itself following the war, and also give the city a face lift – the meant converting many former Bagermash temples into recreational and cultural buildings, with the hope of attracting tourism. This cause was aided in December 2040 when a sunken Bagermash cargo vessel, which had been carrying tens of tonnes of gold belonging privately to the Holy Emperor, was discovered by Nurdbotia. Nurdbotia attempted to keep the gold, and then got embroiled in the PEEListan War with Slimmy, which lead to a stand off with the NTA. Nurdbotia stood down, and eventually returned the gold to the NTA, which in turn gifted it to the people of Merindar. The extra cash allowed Merindar to pay back its outstanding debts ahead of expectations, and still have surplus left to improve education, public services and healthcare in the city.
In its 18-year history as a Republic, Merindar has less than thrived, but has remained stable and a “comfortable” place to live in. Continuingly growing closer, culturally, to Teral, the Reformed Church of the Goddess has rapidly become its dominant religion.
In 2047, a power-outage left the city without power for over three days. A Teralian investigation found faulty maintenance at the power-plant at Shreepo, which while being in North Bagermash, is the main source of power for the whole of Merindar. Following on from the event, arrangements were made with Nixorbania to have emergency power fed from Nixorbanian power plants in case of future outages.
In 2052, high rainfall led to a surge of water in the rivers feeding into Michinardi, this caused severe flooding in North Bagermash and also disruption in Merindar itself. While the death toll remained at zero in Merindar, unfortunately unlike North Bagermash where 12 died, damage to property in the city still exceeded tens of millions, with one estimate saying the cost was as high as over €200,000,000.
Politics
Merindar is unique insomuch that the head of Government is known as Lord Mayor, and Parliament is effectively a Greater City Council. The Head of State is a ceremonial figure, who is largely only active in foreign affairs, hosting the leaders or dignitaries of foreign powers or organisations, as well as attending foreign conferences on behalf of the people of Merindar. While the President is not elected, he does however play only a small role in the running of the country.
The current President, Johannes Groesbeck, who has been President ever since the formation of Merindar, is greatly respected. Groesbeck lead Merindar as its Lord Mayor in the last few years of Bagermash rule and lead Merindar effectively through the war and aftermath.
The position of Lord Mayor is elected every five years, and is currently held by a woman, Adri Shuk, making the position Lord Mayoress. She is the first women to be elected to this position, but the liberal attitudes of modern Merindar did not make this an unlikely event. Currently she is supported by a Deputy Mayor, Jans Ostrappen. The Greater City Council governs various District Councils, which in turn govern smaller areas of the city and its environs. Merindar remains a no-party state – Representatives are elected to the councils on basis of their effectiveness rather than their politics, some say arguably like the model found in Zedoljev.
Merindar is considered large enough to be home to several foreign embassies, which at one point included every member state of MuDeAl though some countries have since pulled out due to Merindar being “not high enough priority”. One nation that left was indeed Zedoljev, partially due to her falling out with MuDeAl, but Zedoljev does live on as a Soviet Consulate remains in the city. Merindar only has two foreign embassies, unsurprisingly in Nixorbania and Teral. In several areas, Teralian Consulates and Embassies accept Merindaran citizens.
Subdivisions
Merindar’s only subdivisions are districts, governed by district councils. These include six located within the city’s boundaries, and a further eight, much smaller districts, located in the more rural areas.
Geography
Being so small, Merindar’s geography is fairly simple. Initially built on wetlands, all that hasn’t been urbanised has been turned to farmland. The area is fairly flat as it is where the River Dim runs into Lake Michinardi. The climate is warm and pleasant, though periods of intense rainfall can hit the surrounding territories every so often, which in turn affect Merindar itself.
About 86% of Merindar is urban, leaving a small fraction as farmland. A great deal of this space is taken by Merindar’s only airport, which is located three miles out of the city. Merindar does not own its own airspace – it is incorporated into Bagermash airspace, which was left over as a condition of the Treaty of Merindar, to allow ease of flight over the territories – with Merindar in particular, with the popular joke that planes have to cross over three borders while just trying to land at Merindar airport.
Borders
Merindar only borders two different territories – North Bagermash to the west, and Nixorbania, which thanks to massive expansion this century, now encloses Merindar almost entirely. Access to the outside world is obtained by the Grimma Canal.
Economy
Merindar’s main source of income is tourism, but makes small revenue in trade of wine and livestock, usually between Nixorbania and North Bagermash. It also receives revenue from percentages of resources taken from former Bagermashi land. It also serves as the largest port on Lake Michinardi, and handles a great deal of traffic each year.
That said, Merindar’s economy is stable but fairly stagnant. Some experts within Merindar do frequently point out the dependency Merindar has on Nixorbania and Teral, and claim without their support, Merindar’s economy would collapse “over night”.
Demographics
About 95% of the population, measured at the last census in 2055, claimed to be “Merindaran”, which was defined as people from the centre regions of former Bagermash. Of the rest, the largest percentage of ethnic group was that of Teralian, at 2%. Others included West – Europan, Nixorbanian, and Otomisam. 2% were described as “None of the above” – given the small size of the population and low rate of immigration, it was considered pointless collecting information on too many ethnic groups.
Merindar’s official native language is Europan, which remained after the Europan occupation, and was used as the official state language of Bagermash’s Holy Empire. Recently an increase of Teralian influence has seen Teralian join Europan and PEEL Standard at many locations.
Merindar’s largest religious group has become the Reformed Church of the Goddess, at 46%. 25% marked themselves down as “Another Farnhovan Church”, 9% claimed to still worship Bagermash – meanwhile 20% claimed to be Atheist.
Sport
Merindar is home to a football team, Merindar City FC which takes part in the Teralian National Football League which plays in the country’s only true stadium. But Merindar holds various sporting events, including popular medieval tournaments out in the surrounding countryside. Merindar also throws the Merindar 50K – a Marathon route enjoyed by runners from across southern PEEL, and is televised right across New Europe
Military
Merindar has a tiny military, whose man power accounts for less than 1% of the population. Bagermash’s military, torn apart during the Civil War, was officially disbanded following the Treaty of Merindar. Most military equipment was either decommissioned or donated to states friendly to the NTA. Today Merindar has no standing Army, with any and all Special Forces being attached to the Police Force. The Air Force consists of a handful of helicopters, mostly transport helicopters used often in case of emergencies. All aircraft are based at Merindar’s airport. The Navy is the only service that sees day-to-day action – usually patrolling Lake Michinardi and acting as the Port Security. The highlight of Merindar’s post-Bagermash military history was when a pair of Merindar ships were invited to take part in a MuDeAl exercise in Zedoljan waters in 2042.
