Montrial
| Montrial | |
| [[File:|270px|frameless]] | |
| Motto: | |
| [[File:|270px|Location of Montrial|frameless]] | |
| Nation |  Anglien
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| ' | |
| Official language(s) | Crandish (official); Lac Glaceian; Anglo-Saksen |
| Demonym | Montrialer |
| - Adjective | Montrial |
| Government | Municipal administration within the Montrial bailiwick; seat of the Islands Administration |
| Establishment | |
| Population | approx. 7,500 (1757 AN estimate) |
| Abbreviation | |
Montrial is the principal town of the Purple Isles in the Free Duchy of Anglien. It stands on Krerdar, the chain's main island, where the harbor opens onto the inner channel between the isles and the Anglien mainland. The Islands Administration has its seat in the town. The name is Lac Glaceian, from mont rial ("royal mount"), for the hill above the harbor.
History
Montrial grew under Lac Glaceian administration as the landing and market town of the island chain. By the eve of the NKR insurrection it held the islands' airfield and a broadcasting facility, and its harbor carried the ferry traffic to the mainland and Eesdehaven.
During the insurrection the Purple Isles fell under the authority of Liam Arch, the Nü Krantisk Repüblik's Governing Board member for the isles. Garrisons were dispersed across the chain. Coalition forces of the Natopian-led intervention opened the Phase 2 island-hopping campaign in late XIII.1753 AN, after Eesdehaven fell. The first major isle was taken against resistance, and the remaining garrisons gave up in sequence; Montrial fell early. Arch was captured when the town fell. The coalition took the airfield and the broadcasting facility, and from the end of I.1754 AN the facility carried a Crandish-language information service into NKR-held Anglien. The Phase 3 air superiority campaign flew from Montrial and the larger isles, as did the airborne operation against Bergbuurg. In V.1754 AN the landing that opened the drive on Shelsa embarked from the town.
After the war the isles passed under de facto Anglian administration. The Islands Administration was established under the Ministry of Territorial Affairs in I.1755 AN and seated at Montrial under an Islands Commissioner. AR Purple Isles began transmitting from the Administration's facility in III.1755 AN. Formal incorporation from Lac Glacei followed in 1756 AN, and the reorganization that came with it made Montrial the seat of its own bailiwick.
The bailiwick assembly hall was bombed during the 1756 AN census enrollment, one of four such attacks in the St. Aldric's Day Surge. The four bombings killed forty-four enrollees and staff; the Montrial device was one of two that detonated as intended. Enrollment resumed under Ducal Police Service guard after nine days. When the Surge attack on the Mt. Linde transmitter took AR1 off the air for seventeen hours, AR Purple Isles kept broadcasting from Montrial.
The constitutional draft adopted in II.1759 AN retains Montrial as one of the duchy's twelve permanent bailiwicks. It also gives the Lac Glaceian language administrative status in the Eesdehaven, Montrial, Purple Isles, and Rielrar bailiwicks. The referendum on the draft is scheduled for 7.VII.1759 AN.
Geography and transport
Montrial faces the Anglien mainland across the inner channel. The crossing from Sundhaven is the shortest scheduled ferry route to the islands. De Klars Veerdienst calls daily from Johannsessbuurg and three times a week from Eesdehaven along the eastern bay. Eilanderlijn, based in the town, runs passenger and cargo services through the chain. Vischreede lies southwest across the strait on the mainland's southern coast.
The harbor (Port of Montrial) handles the ferry traffic and the islands' fishing landings. Montrial City Airport dates from the Lac Glaceian period and was expanded by coalition forces during the intervention.
Administration and institutions
The Islands Administration governs the Purple Isles and the island of Rielrar from Montrial pending the establishment of permanent elected structures. The maritime advisory contingent of the Concord Alliance Military Assistance Mission supports the Commissioner's office. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Anglien hears maritime and island-community cases at its Montrial facility, one of the Commission's two secondary venues.
AR Purple Isles carries national Anglienen Rundfunk content with local programming, fisheries reports, and Anglo-Saksen-language coverage of the eastern islands. The transmitter at Montrial is one of the national network's secondary sites. Eiland Nüs, the fortnightly paper of the island communities, is produced by the Islands Administration and reaches the outer islands aboard Anglian Maritime Service vessels.
Economy and population
The ferry trade and the fishing fleet support most of the town's employment, and the Islands Administration payroll accounts for much of the rest. Eilanderlijn employs around ninety people at its Montrial headquarters. The permanent population was estimated at approximately 7,500 in 1757 AN, mostly Purple Islanders and Lac Glaceians. A Crandish administrative population has grown since the Islands Administration arrived, and a smaller Anglo-Saksen community keeps ties to the eastern islands. Montrial returns no separate seat to the Diet of Anglien, voting within the Purple Isles constituency.
