Shireroth: Difference between revisions

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|headofstatetitle = [[shire:The Kaiser|Kaiser of Shireroth]]
|headofstatetitle = [[shire:The Kaiser|Kaiser of Shireroth]]
|headofstate = [[shire:Kaiser Ayreon IV|Kaiser Ayreon IV]]
|headofstate = [[shire:Kaiser Ayreon IV|Kaiser Ayreon IV]]
|religion = [[shire:Cedrism|Cedrism]]
|headofgovernmenttitle = [[shire:Steward|Steward]]
|headofgovernmenttitle = [[shire:Steward|Steward]]
|headofgovernment = [[shire:Liv Dravot|Liv Dravot]]
|headofgovernment = [[shire:Waldemar Zinkgraven|Waldemar Zinkgraven]]
|legislature = Landsraad
|legislature = Landsraad
|estdate = 1442 [[shire:AN|AN]]
|estdate = 1442 [[shire:AN|AN]]

Revision as of 20:32, 2 January 2018

Imperial Republic of Shireroth
Sxiroþ
Flag of Shireroth
Flag
Coat of Arms of Shireroth
Coat of Arms
Motto: Shireroth sumus. Tempus in parte nostrum est.
Anthem: Land of the nifty
Location of Shireroth
Map versions All
Capital Shirekeep
Largest city Shirekeep, Ardashirshahr Allswell, Araxion, Citadel, Cortallia, Demonsfall, Echo, Glenfiddich, Mesior, Nee
Official language(s) Præta Sxiröþes (official), Shirerithian English (administrative), Elw, Yardistani
Official religion(s) Cedrism
Demonym Shirerithian, Shirithian
 - Adjective Shirerithian, Shirithian
Government Federative Constitutional Monarchy
 - Kaiser of Shireroth Kaiser Ayreon IV
 - Steward Waldemar Zinkgraven
 - Legislature Landsraad
Establishment 1442 AN
Area NA
Population Citizens: 29[1]
Subjects: 684,444,256[2]
Active population 8-10
Currency Erb (€)
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
Driving side
Track gauge
National website ShireWiki
National forum Shirithian Forum
National animal Blue Moose
National food Mango
National drink Antyan wine
National tree Malarbor
Abbreviation IRS

The Imperial Republic of Shireroth, or simply Shireroth (Istvanistani: ['ʃaɪɻ.ɻɑθ]; Yardistani: Širo ['ʃi.rɔ]; Praeta Sxirothes: Sxiro) is a neo-feudal empire that has dominated the Benacian continent, as well as vast swathes of the globe at various intervals, for more than two hundred and fourteen years under the Norton calendar. It is, not withstanding its largely mythical history, by any reasonable standard the most ancient of the surviving states on Micras.


History

Between 1636 and 1655, between the Wars of the Dark Orchid, the Auspicious Occasion, the Alexandrian Flu, famine, emigration, and the War of Lost Brothers the population of Shireroth fell by 21% to 554 million.

The Imperial States and Imperial Dominions of Shireroth during the reign of Kaiser Dominus.

Government

Kaiser

Almost everything you'll read in this article is wrong.


Imperial Advisory Council & Ministries

The Kaiser appoints or dismisses at will three Imperial Advisors and approximately six Ministers, each of whom controls one of the country's Ministries. The current ministries of Shireroth are Exterior, Interior, Information, Military Affairs, Immigration and Naturalization, and Trade. A Minister has full power over their Ministry, limited only by the generally uninterested Kaiser.


Landsraad

All citizens participate in Shireroth's legislature, the Landsraad. Ostensibly the Landsraad is limited to the nobility, but titles are handed out in Shireroth like confetti so this rarely serves as any meaningful bar to entry. The Landsraad is controlled by a Praetor, elected by the populace, who acts as its speaker and enforces the rules of order. The Landsraad has the power to enact pass resolutions, enact legislation, typically in the form of amendments to the Lawbook, amend the Charter (in conjunction with Imperial States) and to veto the decrees of the Kaiser. The last power has, in the modern era, been used exceptionally sparingly.


Imperial Judex

Constitutional crises, as well as the occasional criminal trial, get referred to Shireroth's sole court, the Judex. The Arbiter of the Judex is charged with interpreting the Charter, the Lawbooks, and the Imperial Decrees. However, the Kaiser outranks the Arbiter and can fire zir or use imperial decrees to avoid the effects of zir decision. The only case in which the Arbiter has power beyond the Kaiser's is that both Kaiser and Arbiter must mutually agree on any changes to Shireroth's Charter.


Foreign Affairs

Shireroth was unusually isolationist for most of its history, but nevertheless has several productive foreign relationships. It even joined the Bastion Union, a forum sharing project between several nations.

Shireroth was frequently accused of believing itself to be better than everyone else, to which the most traditionally Shirerithian response is "But we ARE better than everyone else, aren't we?" The nation's attitude to foreign relations has been compared, not unfairly, to that of Imperial China. Like Imperial China, that complacency eventually came back to bite Shireroth on its arse.

As a consequence modern Kaisers, particularly Hjalmar Redquill and Dominus pay significantly closer attention to relations with the other notable powers of Micras.

Alexandria

A close ally through the SANE Pact until its demise in the wake of the Alexandrian Flu.

Natopia

A close ally through the SANE Pact. Relations were somewhat strained by the dynastic entanglements and tri-citizenship arrangements that became manifest in tensions after the ouster of the House of Ettlingar Freyu from Elwynn.

Minarboria

Minarboria was founded in 2015 after a number of Shireroth's inhabitants found themselves increasingly discomforted by the combative atmosphere of the Bastion Union. Rejecting Shirerithian hegemony and the cultural legacy of shire:Cedrism, these self-imposed exiles moved onto a new forum and claimed vacant land on the Benacian continent at some remove from the borders of the Imperial Republic.

Shirerithian borders have since expanded inexorably meaning that the schismatics and the "old country" once more share a land frontier.

The relationship of Minarboria towards its larger neighbour is best described as a wary armed-neutrality. In spite of this, the heritage of these expatriates in the Imperial States of Lichbrook and Goldshire means that there is still a strong inter-personal and cultural relationship between the two realms which, whilst occasionally fraught, is nonetheless one of the richer and more developed of those simulated on Micras.

After Minarboria's demise the essential dynamic of this relation persisted with the successor state Kalgachia.

Stormark

Although official interactions with Stormark are seldom, the Imperial Republic had a certain amount of affinity with the High Realm on account of the dynastic ties between the House of Ettlingar Freyu and the various Imperial Bloodlines of Shireroth, particularly the Line of Ayreon-Kalirion. These ties had a particularly Storish (Froyalanish) identity associated with the crown of Elwynn and firmly entrenched there since the characters of Harald Thorstein were installed on the White Orchid Throne. The subsequent ouster of the House of Ettlingar Freyu from Elwynn led to an abrupt rupture in relations between Shireroth and Stormark.

Jingdao

The great bête noire for the Imperial Republic is the Jingdaoese Empire, a ruthless orientalist tyranny that infiltrated, subverted and finally annexed the former Dutchy of Kildare. The current position of the Imperial Republic with regards to Jingdao is that it should be destroyed as a matter of principle. The reigning Kaiser has only narrowly been talked out of launching a preemptive strike on several occasions. The peace that exists between the two realms is best described as grudging.

MTO

Shireroth is the founder and host of the Small Commonwealth, an organisation that allows nations to sign specific treaties of operation. Though some denounced the Commonwealth as a YAMO (and in fairness every micronational organisation is a YAMO), it had some successes - for example, unifying the economy of most members and creating an international criminal court. Prominent Small Commonwealth members included Shireroth, Batavia, Ashkenatza, Natopia, Nelaga, Gralus, Nederlanden, and Stormark. Some enemies of the Commonwealth, especially Antica, accused members of being Shirerithian puppet states or the Commonwealth of being committed to Shirerithian domination. While this was probably the intention of its founders, in line with the Alexander Doctrine, Shireroth was has since divested itself of these pretensions and the organisation was rebranded as the Micras Treaty Organization, which continues to function, after a fashion.

Its most visible adjunct, the Small Commonwealth Unified Currency Exchange (SCUE), has however become increasingly moribund and a number of countries, including Shireroth, divested themselves of SCUE assets during the course of 2016.


Micronational Cartography Society

Shireroth is the founding member of the Micronational Cartography Society (MCS), which links thirty six nations, mostly English-speaking but also Dutch and Polish, together on a single map. Shireroth is a strong partisan of the Society and fiercely defended it during its conflicts with other cartography societies like the Geographical Standards Organization. Some accused Shireroth of dominating the society, which was once plausible when most of its top positions were held by Shirerithians. However, today only one of five MCS Council Members is Shirerithian, and most nations have stopped complaining about Shirerithian influence even though it holds much more Micras territory than any other country.


Past relations

In the past, Shireroth frequently entered into agreements to annex other countries. For many struggling nations, Shirerithian annexation was attractive both because Shireroth had a good track record of surviving and because its feudal system made it easy for countries that joined it to keep their own land. During its history, Shireroth has directly annexed Apollonia, Cimmeria, Hyperborea, Jaris, Akerbjorn, South Mondesia, Cognito, Lac Glacei, Arminy, Antica (dinarchy), Comstokia, and Hurmu (among others).


Shireroth had a very long history of interaction with Babkha, culminating in the Mango-Camel Pact of 2003 which allied the two countries. After a falling-out, Babkha and subsequently the Grand Commonwealth it created became Shireroth's chief rival. This enmity lessened when popular Babkhan Hesam Jahandar won the throne of Shireroth, but flared up again with the revelation that he was under the control of Babkhan interests. Though the line "May we slay all treacherous Babkhans" was added to an unofficial version of the Shireroth anthem, after Babkha closed shop as a micronation Shireroth mostly agreed to let bygones be bygones. Recently, Babkhan-Shirerithian relations received a boost when former Babkhan Ardashir Osmani attained the throne of Shireroth. The legacy of

Shireroth had a very warm relationship with the Dinarchy of Antica, but when it was overthrown by revolutionaries, Shireroth's relationship with its successor state, the Republic of Antica, started off on the wrong foot and has stayed there ever since. Shireroth, which allied with the defeated Dinarchy, fought the Republic for control of Antican territory. Although it won control of the territory, political factors later forced it to give most of it up to the Republic; this incident caused enmity which has persisted ever since. However, with the departures of prominent anti-Shirerithian Anticans Olorix and Steven, the Antica-Shireroth rivalry has recently turned into more of a friendly competition than bitter hatred, with only a few holdouts like Ben Kern still causing trouble. Many Anticans, especially Chris Mules, are respected by Shirerithians and welcome in Shirerithian territory, while a few Shirerithians, such as Scott Alexander, would venture to Antica for their macronational political arguments.

Culture

Influences

Shireroth deliberately avoids basing itself wholesale on any particular real world country or even around a coherent idea or political system. Instead, its culture evolved chaotically over its existence. Some dispute the very existence of a national culture, instead saying that culture is mostly limited to the various subdivisions with the imperial government tying them together politically. Those who believe in culture cite elements taken from Germany, Hinduism, the (Holy) Roman Empire, Warcraft and Dune, plus a large chunk that is uniquely Shirerithian and mostly incomprehensible to other micronationalists.

Much of Shireroth's culture is an accretion of the dozens of other micronations that have risen and fallen over Shireroth's lifetime. Shirerithian conversations are peppered with references to Menelmacar, PRH, Diga, YAMOs, magigarp, and the apocollapse. Although most citizens understand these, they present a formidable barrier to foreigners trying to make sense of Shirerithian life.


Duchies

Shireroth's five Duchies were each ruled by a Duke, technically ruling at the pleasure of the Kaiser but effectively chosen by the previous Duke. Each Duchy previously had several Baronies under Barons who rule at the pleasure of the Duke, and Counties, one-person feudal units to develop culturally in whatever direction takes the fancy of the Count - but these have mostly been done away with since the Fifth Age began.

Shirerithians can go on for hours about their subdivisions, each of which is fiercely patriotic and occasionally locked in deadly war or alliance with various other subdivisions. Although the subdivision list is subject to frequent change, the most current list includes:

  • Kildare, a collection of historic lands built up from the territories of some of Shireroth's progenitor states. It wears its history with great pomp and ceremony, is the country's economic center, and sometimes flirts with an Irish theme. It calls itself a Dutchy instead of a Duchy, an old joke that refuses to die.
  • Machinaria, once the core Shirerithian lands of Brookshire and Goldenmoon, now a vaguely steampunk area of people merged with technologies in disturbing ways. Likely to change back to Brookshire at some point in the future thanks to Shirerithian conservativism.


Real-world territory

In terms of real-world territory, Shireroth claims Sonoma County, California as its capital. However, this claim was placed when a much higher proportion of Shirerithians resided in the county, and for the most part we like to pretend this never happened.


Notable Projects and Accomplishments

Literature & Art

Shireroth is the subject of several works of art and literature. Most notably, it gets a mention in Harvey Steffke's Control of Destiny series of computer role-playing games, in which several Shirerithians are prominent characters. A few other Shirerithians are involved in programming projects in one way or another, including Jonas Windsor (who is working on a game about Shireroth's Duchy of Kildare), Erik Mortis (who wrote the Small Commonwealth Bank), and James Raine, who created the ShireFox modification for Firefox to allow easier access to Shireroth's internet presence.

The novel Unaimed Arrow takes place in Shireroth, as do several shorter works of fiction. Notable among these are the Elwynnese story threads pioneered by Andrew Allot and his friends, the poetry of Philip Locke, and the Lac Glacei and Mirioth story arcs in Yardistan.


Conlangs

Shireroth has several constructed languages in various states of completion and complexity. The most notable of these is Audente, developed by Bill Trihus as the language of the County of Greater Audentior. Nicholas du Grifos, a linguistics grad student and former Duke of Yardistan, is currently working on Praeta Sxirothes, which when completed will take its place as Shireroth's national conlang.


In 2006, Shireroth ran a successful advertisement campaign on the webcomic Real Life Adventures, whose creator, Greg Dean, was at the time a Shirerithian citizen. Shireroth's other brush with the spotlight was a brief mention on BBC during the program How To Start Your Own Country, in which Danny Wallace signed treaties with several leading micronations including Shireroth.


Micronational Olympics

Shireroth co-hosted (with limited success) the 2004 Micronational Olympics. Although logistical problems prevented it from continuing in the field of micronational sports, it now hosts a relatively popular online version of the board game Diplomacy that attracts participants from all over the world. There's even a micronational variant.


Other Intermicronational contributions

Shireroth is also responsible for starting major organizations such as the Small Commonwealth, the MCS, and SNARL (the Shireroth-Natopia-Antica Recwar League). A Shirerithian (Scott Alexander) runs the FNORD Awards, and another (Josh Coales) runs the Forum List.


Religion

Cedrism

Shireroth doesn't have an official national religion, but Cedrism is so important in daily life that it is informally seen as the national religion. It's a native (fictional) pagan mythology based around Mors, the God of Death, and his ex-wife Viviantiana, the Goddess of Life. Worship tends to involve sacrificing citrus fruits (hence the name) and lighting explosions (which has given it its alternate and more popular name BOOOOMism). Cedrism also shares some Hindu beliefs like reincarnation and enlightenment.

Major Cedrist gods include Anandja, Goddess of Bliss, Lumina, Goddess of Light, Ifni, Goddess of Luck, and Sakat, God of Time. More popular are the minor "joke" gods, including Google, Bringer of Knowledge, Mog, God of Political Blunders, and B'caw, God of Spicy Chicken. However, by far the most popular god is Malarbor, the Evil Tree God of Online Forums. Malarbor has had a prominent place in the announcement box of Shireroth's forums for many years, and has become the country's unofficial mascot and badwill ambassador. Malarbor's catch phrase, insofar as gods can have catchphrases, is "MALARBOR DEMANDS IT!"

Other features of Cedrism include the Demon (occasionally Deamon) Fish of Balgurd, the archdemon Rrakanychan, and the legendary Sword of Vengeance, symbol of the Kaiser's might (but arguably pilfered by the Babkhans a while back).


Soloralism

Furthermore, Soloralism also plays an important part in religious affairs. The religion is most practised in the Antyan counties (Kildare). Nonetheless, the religion is also influenced by Cedrists: the God of History, Sakat, is very popular in the Soloralist society.


Economy

Shireroth's currency is the erb, which comes in denominations of 1, 5, 18, 29, and 100.

Shireroth is a founding member of the Small Commonwealth Economy, and hosts the Small Commonwealth Bank and SCEX, the Small Commonwealth Stock Exchange. Its economy is based on a system of bounties, in which people work without assured compensation but the Ministry of Trade rewards anyone who helps the country especially greatly with a cash gift. There are then gradual taxes that replenish the government treasury. Although the economy hasn't entirely caught on, there are several cases of people selling land and titles for money.

In the past, the country experimented with a system in which votes in the Landsraad were linked to the amount of money people in a Duchy had. But because Shireroth's Duchy-based voting system made it impossible to link it to personal wealth, this became awkward and was later abandoned; the economy has not really recovered.

Andreas Mayer, Minister of Trade, is widely considered to be the only person who fully understands Shireroth's economy.


See Also:

History of Shireroth


Links