Minarboria

Empire of Minarboria
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Pro Virgulto Omnia
Anthem: In Old Benacia's Sprawling Hills
Map versions	15.6.3 - 16.0.1
Capital	Sansabury
Largest city	Alttreisen, Yasutomi, Leichenberg, Steerswick, Riskai, Héchéng, Kurpla
Official language(s)	Overdolor English, Laqi, Lywind English, High Saxon, Sangunese
Official religion(s)	Minarborealism
Demonym	Minarborian
- Adjective	Minarborian
Government	Imperial Necrarchy
- Empress	Lyssansa Rossheim
- First State Arborist	Clarence Etzeterra
- Legislature	The Council of Necrarchs
Establishment	March 15th, 2015 (forum) October 27th 2015 (Micras)
Area	-
Population	-
Active population	-
Currency	none (non-monetary society)
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
Driving side
Track gauge
National website	MinarborWiki
National forum	Empire of Minarboria
National animal	Prongjack, hedgehog, pangolin
National food	Lich Cookie
National drink	Lich Gravy
National tree	Minarbor
Abbreviation	MIN

The Empire of Minarboria was a union of realms under the rule of the House of Rossheim. It occupied parts of Benacia, Cibola and eastern Micras from 2015 to 2017. Minarboria had a high proportion of physically modified citizens and a secretive, bureaucratic but generally quiet government.

Community Origin

Minarboria was established by inhabitants of the Shirerithian Imperial State of Lichbrook who were unhappy with the community atmosphere of the Bastion Union in 2014/15, and sought a venue for micronational life that was less easily disturbed. This initial consensus congealed into a small but highly motivated community of creatively-minded individuals who produced a disproportionately high amount of art, literature, theology, philosophy and narrative for a nation their size. Political skullduggery was occasionally indulged, but with a far higher degree of consent among participants than was generally seen at the time.

Narrative History

Pre-Foundation

Minarboria arose from a mass migration out of Lichbrook in response to three successive phenomena: the secession of Kildare from Shireroth in 468 AF, the unwillingness of the Shirerithian political class to prevent the manipulation of public life by provocateurs from Elwynn and Jingdao, and the rise of Steward (later Kaiser) of Shireroth, Jacob Darylion-Verion, for whom the situation was a pretext to launch an assault on the autonomy of Shireroth's constituent Imperial States. Seeing this as a collective punishment of loyal Imperial States for the actions of the less loyal, the noble houses of Lichbrook found their faith in the entire Shirerithian system irreperably broken. Together with the fallen Yastreb family of Goldshire who had been largely disowned by the Shirekeep elite two Kaisers previously, as well as the bio-modified 'Deep Singer' casualties of a recent rebellion in Shimmerspring, these disaffected elements coalesced around the undead personage of Lyssansa Rossheim - previously the sole autocrat of Lichbrook who had now been sidelined in power by her matrilineal elders Anthrazita and Marie Dolores.

With the help of her personal household staff, Lyssansa tasked an ancient, undead soldier of fortune by the name of Mors Nerrolar to raise a colonist army and lead the greater part of Lichbrook's population off Shirerithian shores to escape the Shirekeep regime, which was considered irreperably dysfunctional even by the more impartial observers of the time. Seeking a religious cause to motivate the colonists, Lyssansa invoked the name of the Shrub-God Minarbor who had been in her care ever since a loosening of certain arcane bounds during a plague in the Shirerithian capital had caused Him to sprout from the root system of His cantankerous father-tree Malarbor. Minarbor, never being one to voice loud opposition at anything, meekly consented to his removal from Shireroth - indeed he was seen to express a degree of leaf-twitching excitement at the prospect of seeing new places and meeting new people.

The Kingdom of Minarboria was proclaimed in 800 AF (5884 ASC, September 15th, 2015) from the Shrubbery, a fortified hill adjacent to the ruined Ashkenatzan city of Mikrashot. In time the city around this Shrubbery would grow to become the Minarborian capital, Sansabury.

Golden Era

A poster from the early Imperial period, aimed at disaffected foreigners and indecisive tourists.

In 887 AF (5971 ASC, December 11th 2015) Minarboria expanded its territory to include land previously occupied by the Ashkenatzan province of Merenia. Five days later, the newly acquired territory was decreed into existence as the Lichgraviate of Lachmeren. In 932 AF (6021 ASC, January 24th 2016) this gain was extended into the Royal Forest of Litel as part of the Treaty of Gloomburg agreed with Tellia and Shireroth, which also brought the Principality of Highbloom under Minarborian rule.

In 1016 AF (6105 ASC, April 18th 2016) the ailing Empire of Sangun and South Cibola decided to form an Empire under the Minarborian flag. The event represented a doubling of Minarboria's territorial holdings with Sangun, Treisenberg, Leichenberg, Steeria, Riskai, Tiěyá and Karalakh all joining the Empire. The rulers of these territories established their presence in Sansabury as the Council of Necrarchs, with Lyssansa at its head. The consolidation brought a short period of confusion on Cibola which led to the withdrawal of governance from Eastern Highfield. The area was duly occupied by authorities from the Natopian province of Walstadt until an uprising in the province was put down by the Natopian government, who by way of retribution stripped Walstadt of most of its new-found territory and returned half of it to Minarboria in 1088 AF (6172 ASC, June 29th 2016).

In 1100 AF (6184 ASC, July 11th 2016) began the Jollification of the Kossars, a drive to secure the western frontier of the Imperial Shrublands in response to a surprise expansion by Shireroth into Western Benacia. This expansion gained the ancient Ashkenatzan heartlands of Volhyria and Porolia, including the ruins of its capital Kolmenitzkiy. These territories, renamed Vollity and Poroly, would eventually become the Shophate of Siyachia.

in 1175 AF (6259 ASC, September 24th 2016) Empress Lyssansa went missing along with most of the Empire's necrarchs, leaving her designated Regent Shyriath Farstrider to assume power. In 1227 AF (6310 ASC, November 14th 2016) he fell gravely ill after a particularly enthusiastic Amaretto binge, leaving all Minarboria without governance. The necromantic ley lines which sustained Minarboria's undead population quickly withered and order began to break down, culminating in a series of events known as the Harvestfall Revolution, whereby a movement of student liches took the university city of &zeter hostage and demanded reform of the failed state. The situation was briefly resolved by Regent Shyriath's recovery from illness and his resumption of power in 1284 AF (6367 ASC, January 10th 2017), whereupon he conspired with the Saohuang Queen of Tiěyá to reform the Imperial Root Law independently of the absent Empress and restore the Empire to a limited period of function in 1305 AF (6388 ASC, January 31st 2017).

Collapse

Minarboria was, however, dealt a final blow with Regent Shyriath's second disappearance from public life for reasons which were never fully ascertained, but widely suspected to involve a tragic relapse into his previous weakness for Tellian liqueurs. Lost with him was the Queen of Tieya, who disappeared while searching for her suicidal father in an area known to be infested with bio-engineered predatory fauna. Depending as it did upon the inimitable judgement of the Regent for its day-to-day efficiency, the Minarborian government soon descended into utter paralysis and order broke down across the Empire with surprising speed, this in turn precipitating a renewed breakdown in the necromantic field which was to spell the final demise of the undead across Southern Benacia and have o_- grave ramifications for the entire continent.

The last remnants of government evacuated the Minarborian capital in 1418 AF (6502 ASC, May 25th 2017), the majority fleeing north to the Octavian mountains where they would eventually establish the Garden of Kalgachia.

The collapse of Minarboria, occurring simultaneously with that of Alexandria, saw one of the greatest episodes of civil collapse and opportunistic land-grabbing in Micran history. For significant parts of the world, these events marked the beginning of a new and terrible dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

Government

A portrait of Lyssansa, Empress of Minarboria, wielding the Sword of Fire liberated from Shireroth.

Minarboria was a necrarchy ruled by an undead Empress, known as Lyssansa. From her palace at the heart of Sansabury's Shrubbery, Lyssansa ruled the Empire alongside the Council of Necrarchs, whose decrees were implemented through a troika of organs known as the State Arbors which were ranked in order of importance. The First State Arbor was the executive branch, concerned with the implementation of the Council's decrees and the co-ordination of the Shrubbery as a whole.

The Second State Arbor handled Minarboria's internal affairs such as immigration, policing, state security, national resources and industry, customs, and various other minutiae of domestic life.

The Third State Arbor, located on the edge of the Shrubbery a safe distance from the Empress' palace, dealt with affairs outside Minarboria's borders. Here foreign diplomats were received and Minarborian diplomats were directed.

Defence of the Empire was conducted by a grouping of assorted local regiments which were generally mobile in character; ranging from heavy cavalry riding giant Jackalope-like beasts to mechanised assault troops weighed down with armour plate and high-calibre weaponry, plus light formations of undead cossacks for reconnaissance and harrassment raids. In the Benacian territories, air defence regiments existed to protect the fighting formations and civil population from aerial attack. The Minarborian navy was entirely composed of submersible vessels fuelled by sea plankton.

Religion

Minarbor, the Shrub God.

The most venerated entity in Minarboria was Minarbor himself; a modestly-sized sentient shrub located at the very heart of the Shrubbery, in the courtyard of the Empress's palace. Originally a sucker shoot of the Shirerithian tree-god Malarbor, the mild-mannered Minarbor was considered Shrub-God above all and the purest distillation of Minarborian virtue by his followers, who named their very nation after him. He was protected from the dark and dangerous world by Empress Lyssansa, to whom he was legally married.

Minarbor's virtues were promoted by the Church of Minarbor - an organisation run largely by a heavily-modified living humanoids known as Deep Singers, who adopted Minarbor as the highest form in their pre-existing model of the world known as the Garden. The Church had a presence of effectively theocratic proportions in the government of the Imperial Shrublands, as well as a wide and pious congregation among the ordinary population.

The Church liaised and occasionally bickered with the Faculty of the Arcane of the University of &zeter, which examined and refined the "supernatural" elements required to maintain a population of undead or perpetually living individuals. The Faculty was of a heavily Promethean, Luciferian and generally Gnostic theme; an inevitable reaction against the millennia of magical suppression committed by the Technomaezji of Shireroth. The Faculty's methods were informed by many Benacian esoteric traditions such as Goldshirian Alchemy, Lichbrookian Necromancy and Ashkenatzan Qabbalah. Notably the Minarborian esoteric tradition survived the collapse of the Empire almost wholesale, being enthusiastically adopted by the Ketherist Church of Kalgachia in the wake of said collapse which effectively represented the Minarboreal eschaton and required some serious revisions of the local belief system.

The fate of Minarbor himself after the demise of his empire is unconfirmed and subject to much debate and speculation - his last confirmed sighting was being spirited out of the Sansabury Shrubbery by the Deep Singer elite of his church as civil order broke down in the city. In lieu of anything more than vague rumour and circular theological speculation about his ultimate fate, popular consensus around his old domains has defaulted to a semi-fictional theory promoted by the Kalgachi film industry which posits his physical dematerialisation into a 'Special Garden' expedited by an undead child, a mendicant cleric and a host of pursuing cossacks, leaving nought but a parting salvo of miracles in his wake.

Population

At the Empire's height, the population of Minarboria are arranged into four clusters determined by continental location; the Shrublanders on Benacia, the Leichenbergers on Cibola, The Sangunese off Northern Corum and the Nidarosians in Riskai. Of these the Shrublanders were the largest and most prominent group; containing among them Overdolorish and Lywinders, Goldshirians, Laqis and Ashkenatzim. An enormous swathe of Minarboria's population were not mortal humans as commonly understood, but had either become undead or, in the case of the Imperial Shrublands, anatomically enhanced. This resulted in a mild form of caste system whereby the former tend to occupy the highest positions of government and the latter control the Church of Minarbor, although this was by no means an absolute. Sufficiently competent individuals of all forms (including Breathers) were capable of getting ahead in Minarborian society, thanks to the church's teaching that unjustified snobbery was contrary to the virtues of the Garden.

An Index of Minarborian Terms

The Minarborian calendar, still used in Kalgachia.

During its existence Minarboria developed an impressive array of administrative terms and popular idioms, such as:

1SA, 2SA, 3SA
Bureaucratic shorthand for the First, Second and Third State Arbors respectively.

Anno Fruticis, AF
The Minarborian year, counted as days since Minarbor's first appearance on July 7th, 2013 (that day being 5084 in the ASC system).

Ashenmorn
A celebration of the relationship between Deep Singers and the undead, wherein the ashes of Licheven bonfires were collected for fertiliser and thanks were given, occurring on Harvesthigh 10th (November 1st).

Asparagod
A monstrous being made of asparagus, said to hide under the beds of children who had not eaten their vegetables.

Breather
A colloquial term for humans who were neither undead nor biologically modified.

Broodmother's Day
A celebration of the Broodmother, the original keeper of newborn Deep Singers, occurring on Springhigh 25th (May 15th).

Byeday
The fifth and final day of the Minarborian week.

Cultor
The second highest clerical rank of the Church of Minarbor, located in large population centres.

Darko Day
A celebration of Darko, mythological rabbit-guardian of the dispossessed and bringer of justice, occurring on Springrise 16th (April 5th).

Day of the Dead
A celebration of the year's end, wherein Lord Toastypops showered the jolly with gifts and those lost to the bonfires of Licheven re-emerged, occurring on Harvestfall 30th (December 21st).

Dissitor
The fourth and lowest clerical rank of the Church of Minarbor, serving as missionaries and preachers.

Ephemeris
The day of Winterfall 9½, corresponding to February 29th.

The Garden
A term used by the pious to describe Minarboria.

Hall of Blooms
The information office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Fruits
The industrial office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Harvests
The church liaison office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Leaves
The education office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Mandarins
A large strategic reserve of vitamin C located in the Second State Arbor, guarded by brightly-coloured duck-like humanoids.

Hall of Moss
The diplomatic hospitality suite of the Third State Arbor.

Hall of Nodules
The foreign trade office of the Third State Arbor.

Hall of Oats
The cultural office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Prunings
The health department of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Reapers
The police office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Rhizomes
The executive office of the Third State Arbor.

Hall of Roots
The infrastructure office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Soils
The national resources office of the Second State Arbor.

Hall of Tendrils
The diplomatic corps of the Third State Arbor.

Hall of Thorns
The military office of the Second State Arbor.

Harvestfall
The twelfth and final month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty days long, from November 22nd to December 21st.

Harvesthigh
The eleventh month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty days long, from October 23rd to November 21st.

Harvestrise
The tenth month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty days long, from September 23rd to October 22nd.

Helloday
The first day of the Minarborian week.

Irrigator
The third clerical rank of the Church of Minarbor, serving as the common priesthood.

Jolliness, Her Jolliness, Her Imperial Jolliness
Empress Lyssansa, the supreme necrarch.

Licheven
The beginning of the Lichmas season, wherein undead liches in irreperable physical shape self-immolated on bonfires pending eventual regeneration, occurring on Harvesthigh 9th (October 31st).

Lichmas
The festive period from Licheven on Harvesthigh 9th (Octover 31st) to Lichmas Day on Winterise 2st (December 22nd). Minarborians were expected to be especially jolly during this time.

Lichmas Day
The first day of the Minarborian new year, falling on Winterise 1st (December 22nd). The final day of the Lichmas season, a day to relax with one's nearest and dearest, open presents etc.

Lichniks, Lichniki
Officers of the Lichnina with a role somewhere between a Lord Lieutenancy and an inquisitorial agency. Universally feared.

Lichnina
The personal fiefs of the Empress: Lywall, Lachmeren, Novodolor and Litel.

Lich Cookie
A type of cookie specially made from easily-dissolved ingredients, for consumption by the undead who lacked functioning digestive systems. Often decorated with personalised icing and given as rewards for cood conduct in all manner of formal settings.

Lich Gravy
A versatile liquid condiment made for the undead, consumable as a sweet or savoury garnish to Lich Cookies or as a beverage in its own right.

Lord Toastypops
Undead Santa Claus.

Minarbor Day
A celebration of Minarbor's life-affirming properties, occurring on Springrise 1st (March 21st).

Necrarchs
The monarchs of Minarboria's constituent Imperial Realms, all of whom were undead liches.

Pleaseday
The second day of the Minarborian week.

Putrefact
A font-like object located in churches, into which donations of assorted biomass were left to rot by sinners in the hope that their decomposition, and subsequent donation as compost, would effect the transmutation of the sinner's soul into a purer state.

Reapers
The national police of Minarboria, run by the Second State Arbor's Hall of Reapers.

Resector
The highest clerical rank of the Church of Minarbor, chief among whom was the Resector of Sansabury.

Rustleday
The third day of the Minarborian week.

The Shrub, The Shrub of Shrubs, Frutex Fruticorum
The Shrub-God Minarbor, Minarboria's namesake.

The Shrubbery
The seat of Minarborian government.

Springfall
The sixth month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty-one days long, from May 22nd to June 21st.

Springhigh
The fifth month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty-one days long, from April 21st to May 21st.

Springrise
The fourth month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty-one days long, from March 21st to April 20th.

Summerfall
The ninth month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty-one days long, from August 23rd to September 22nd.

Summerhigh
The eighth month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty-one days long, from July 23rd to August 22nd.

Summerise
The seventh month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty-one days long from June 22nd to July 22nd.

Thanksday
The fourth day of the Minarborian week.

Winterfall
The third month of the Minarborian calendar, twenty-nine days long, from February 20th to March 20th.

Winterhigh
The second month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty days long, from January 21st to February 19th.

Winterise
The first month of the Minarborian calendar, thirty days long, from December 22nd to January 20th.

Writ of Hircus Iratus
A formal punishment for disorderly or terroristic conduct, meted out at the Queen's discretion in Minarboria's early days.