Minarboria
| Empire of Minarboria | |||
| |||
| Motto: Pro Virgulto Omnia | |||
| Anthem: In Old Benacia's Sprawling Hills | |||
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| Map versions | 15.6.3 onwards | ||
| 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) | |||
| 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 | Unmeasured | ||
| Population | 6 | ||
| Active population | 3/4 | ||
| 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 | ||
| National food | Lich Cookie | ||
| National drink | Lich Gravy | ||
| National tree | Minarbor | ||
| Abbreviation | MIN | ||
The Empire of Minarboria is a union of realms under the rule of the House of Rossheim. It occupies parts of Benacia, Cibola and eastern Micras. Minarboria has 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 produce a disproportionately high amount of art, literature, theology, philosophy and narrative for a nation their size. Political skullduggery is occasionally indulged, but with a far higher degree of consent among participants than is usually the case.
Narrative Origin
From On the Origins of the Kingdom by A.Z.D. Yastreb et. al, University of &zeter:
Conventional histories will record the Kingdom of Minarboria as being born in 616 AF (5700 ASC), when efforts toward its colonisation began in earnest. However it can trace its origins in the wistful imaginings of countless nobles, clerics, merchants, peasants and adventurers long beforehand. Like a seed from the divine, the Minarborian idea seemed simultaneously planted within them by a combination of historical factors, and the motivation behind their subsequent advance westward came not so much from the pulpit or the ledger as it did from a sheer commonality of purpose. Indeed no other explanation can suffice for the coherent function of a society composed of living humans, engineered beings bristling with bizarre appendages, people possessed of respectable alacrity despite being medically dead for most of their existence, and all manner of creatures in between.
Lyssansa's Dream
Be that as it may, all fires require a spark to light them. In Minarboria's case this spark jumped from the frustrated lichbrain of one Lyssansa Rossheim, Queen of the Shirerithian Imperial State of Lichbrook, in the year 365 AF (5449 ASC).
Since the Shrub Minarbor sprouted, the throne of Lichbrook had been Lyssansa's exclusive domain; but in 365 AF her rule was rudely interrupted by her two matrilineal elders: the legendary Miras Raynora whose accomplishments as Kaiseresses of Shireroth were the stuff of legend. They had ruled Lichbrook before, and as so often happens among the undead their tendency not to die ultimately led to them regaining an appetite for old glories.
Lyssansa was duly browbeaten into sharing the throne with them, and from that moment the idea of her own realm seemed extinguished - but few knew how bright the idea was kept alive within her mind as she silently withdrew to her home province of Lywind. To those who saw her at that time she seemed to be sulking, but within the stubborn recesses of her mind she was in fact plotting.
That initial spark found its first tinder in the form of Clarence Etzeterra: an old confidant of Lyssansa's who had once been her Chief Page, but had since been headhunted by the elder Lichqueens for their own purposes. Being a man of equally impressive noble blood and administrative talent, Etzeterra had been tasked with overseeing the Lichbrookian component of a pan-Shirerithian effort to settle the island of Istvanistan. In this role he had assembled a large number of colonists and the logistical structure to support a transoceanic expedition.
Unfortunately the efforts of Etzeterra's co-administrators were less well organised and the expedition soon became bogged down by outbreaks of disease and funding gaps, leading to the Shirerithian government's withdrawal from the effort. Etzeterra waited for orders to reassign his colonists to other work and eventually those orders came, but not from the elder Lichqueens. Lyssansa, under the pretext of helping convey the Lichqueens' orders, had instead intercepted them and substituted them with her own.
Etzeterra's Roundup
Now instead of returning to Lichkeep, Etzeterra would divert to Lywind with his colonial fleet and begin preparations for another effort entirely - nothing less than the establishment of Lyssansan rule over a patch of ungoverned Benacian mainland behind the Acaridean Isles. That stretch of coast was known to contain roving bands of Laqi folk who, in Etzeterra's judgement, might be talked into Lyssansa's cause in the seductive tones of their own tongue rather than the ugly necessity of having them driven away or slaughtered.
A little fighting could not be ruled out however, so Etzeterra enlisted an old military contact to organise the security of his expedition: Mors Nerrolar, twice the iron man of Raynor's Keep as Kaiser Mors IV and a noted military tactician who had found himself at an uncomfortably loose end since the termination of his latter reign. His ability to raise an army from certain mercenary contacts of his own was perhaps the most useful in all Lichbrook. He had also been the subject of certain attentions by Royana Dolordotch: lich nurse, ex-consort of Kaiser Mo'll I and a noted megalomaniac of the bedchamber whose presence, while annoying and potentially scandalous, did allow Mors some connections to the nobility of southern Goldshire. Etzeterra was more keen on exploiting the latter opportunity than Mors but regardless of either's will, a hilarious accident of fate resulted in Royana being conscripted into Mors' medical unit by one of the many press gangs he had sent around Lichbrook to raise his army.
Fleurette's Flight
At around this time the Garden of Shimmerspring, Lichbrook's most thoroughly bio-engineered province, was experiencing an increasingly violent period of political unrest among its ruling council who were known as the Incarnates. The concept of such unrest was considered to have been abolished by successive waves of mass neuro-optimisation until an unfortunate succession of hidden flaws conspired to wreck the established order with alarming speed. The unrest culminated in a short but intense period of localised war which eliminated many of the Garden's old ruler. This shift in the balance of power enabled the ascent of Fleurette de Taniere-Gaudin, known among the Incarnates as the Thoughtseeker. She played a notable role in stabilising the situation and gathered a substantial faction around her, but ran up against irreconcilable differences with certain other Incarnates which threatened another war.
Having no appetite for another conflict so soon after the last, Incarnates of all factions saw some hope in the assembly of Etzeterra's expedition whose subtler signs had been picked up on by their respective intelligence assets. After some negotiation it was mutually agreed in the interests of peace that Fleurette would depart Shimmerspring with her faction, to accompany the expedition and establish her rule in a place where it would not be a source of conflict. Although surprised and a little frightened by Fleurette's knowledge of what was supposed to be a top secret operation, Etzeterra assented to her offer of assistance.
Mors' Landing
Having established a forward base on the Isle of Benacia to reconnoitre the landing site, Mors Nerrolar finally acquired sufficient numbers of old merchant vessels and decommissioned gunboats to launch an amphibious operation. His armed vanguard met varying kinds of welcome from the local inhabitants. Some, like the Laqi-speaking descendants of ancient Ashkenatza were cautiously curious, and large numbers of them were enlisted as guides. Their knowledge of the local area was highly beneficial in Mors' fight against the less-friendly inhabitants: mainly bands of criminal outlaws who had settled in the area from other states, and whose disruptive presence Mors' guides were only too happy to help him eradicate.
As soon as a beachhead was secured, specialised engineers from Lywind were landed to construct a system of fortifications from locally-quarried stone. These fortifications would house the accommodations and offices of the expedition's various elements, and over time they were repeatedly expanded as the expedition proceeded in earnest. The fortifications were collectively known as the Lywall, meaning "Great Wall" in the tongue of its builders - a name which applied to the whole area enclosed by it.
Under the watchful eye of Mors' sentries on the parapets, Etzeterra's colonists arrived to develop the civil infrastructure. Behind them, at nobody's specific bidding, Fleurette de Taniere-Gaudin arrived with a detachment of surveyors to assess the local environment for its biome-adjustment potential. Her followers, known as the Singers, quite terrified the existing colonists at first and their arrival was initially hindered by a number of friendly fire incidents and other misunderstandings. Fortunately as the expedition gained more territory these tensions were gradually lessened by the increase in living space, as well as the Singers' services in fields such as horticulture and medicine being recognised for the valuable asset they were.
Mira's Wrath
Back in Lyhigh, Lyssansa read Etzeterra's reports with some alarm. She had not anticipated the sheer initiative displayed by either Mors and Fleurette in making the land to their liking, nor their tendency to command the obedience of their followers to a level that was rendering Lyssansa's authority moribund. Their organisational skill was essential for the expedition, but aside from Etzeterra's colonists Lyssansa could not being herself to trust everybody's motives.
This problem was soon overtaken by a letter from Lichkeep summoning Lyssansa to the court of Mira Raynora the Elder. The hubbub in Lywind and the Isle of Benacia had finally caught Mira's attention and allowed her spies to locate Etzeterra and her missing colonists. Her capacity for furious rebuke was legendary, and by all accounts Lyssansa was subjected to a tirade so incandescent that it threatened to awaken those of Lichbrook's dead who had not already been raised. Having been berated into a quivering heap, Lyssansa was offered two choices: disband the expedition, or subordinate it to Lichbrook's - thus to Mira's - overall control. For the consideration of these options Lyssansa, seemingly beaten, asked for a day's leave.
The Final Shrubvation
Unknown to Mira's court, Lyssansa had no intention of giving up so easily. Mira was a figure of almost unquestionable authority over the Kingdom of Liches - a Demigoddess to the Cedrists of religious status, and a former Kaiseress of Shireroth whose political credentials were no less formidable. But unlike most of Lichbrook's subjects Lyssansa knew Mira's weak points, and her own strengths. Wandering through the Lichkeep Shrubbery, she was suddenly reminded of a personal asset whose power she had almost forgotten.
Lyssansa had long been designated the custodian of Minarbor; the Shrub Demigod of Pastels and demure spawn of Malarbor who had been dug from the shadow of that cantankerous tree and kept in a pot in the Lichkeep Shrubbery. Every deity had a cult, and Minarbor was no exception. His deference and politeness in the face of all troubles was an inspiration across all of Lichbrook's population - but on account of His gentle nature His cult, although widespread, did not often draw public attention. He was however respected - as respected as Mira Raynora the Elder - and he also happened to be a close confidant of Lyssansa. In Minarbor, Lyssansa realised, lay the single instrument which would keep the elder Lichqueens at bay, and inspire the adoration and loyalty of her settlers to the west. Her wanderings toward the Lichkeep Shrubbery, seemingly whimsical, now appeared guided by a divine hand.
The rest was a matter of simple logistics. Lyssansa scuttled away from the Shrubbery until the following evening, when she returned with half a dozen minions and a truck. Minarbor, true to nature, offered no resistance to being lifted by his pot into the truck. His only action at all was to wave his branches a little in polite greeting to everybody involved. As the truck rumbled outside the walls of Lichkeep and headed south toward Lywind, Lyssansa spent the entire night leaning over his pot and whispering to him. She told him of his fate, and asked his blessing. She told him that he would do more than accompany her colonists - he would be her figurehead. The very nation they built would be named after him. All Benacia would look in wonderment to this nation - a nation known as Minarboria.
At this flattering news Minarbor's branches folded bashfully inward and nobody could move them. He remained so until the very moment His pot was finally landed on the shores of His namesake realm, whereupon His little leaves unfurled to survey the land. The colonists present were blessed with a gentle shuddering of The Shrub's branches - an apology for His bashfulness, after which He reverted to His usual form once more.
The Minarborians knelt in reverence to The Shrub of Shrubs, and thereafter the rule of The Shrubkeeper Lyssansa was assured.
Post-Foundation History
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 were incorporated into Minarboria as Vollity and Poroly.
Government
Minarboria is a necrarchy ruled by an undead Empress, known as Her Imperial Jolliness Lyssansa Rossheim. From her palace at the heart of Sansabury's Shrubbery, Lyssansa rules the Empire alongside the Council of Nercarchs, whose decrees are implemented through a troika of organs known as the State Arbors which are ranked in order of importance. The First State Arbor is 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 handles 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, deals with affairs outside Minarboria's borders. Here foreign diplomats are received and Minarborian diplomats are directed.
Defence of the Kingdom is conducted by a grouping of assorted local regiments which are 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. Air defence regiments exist to protect the fighting formations and Minarboria as a whole from aerial attack. The Minarborian navy is generally composed of submersible vessels fuelled by sea plankton.
Religion
The most venerated entity in Minarboria is 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 who rose to become the Cedrist demigod of pastels, the mild-mannered Minarbor is considered Shrub-God above all and the purest distillation of Minarborian virtue by his followers, who named their very nation after him. He is protected from the dark and dangerous world by Empress Lyssansa, to whom he is legally married.
Minarbor's virtues are promoted by the Church of Minarbor - an organisation run largely by a heavily-modified living humanoids known as Deep Singers, who have adopted Minarbor as the highest form in their pre-existing model of the world known as the Garden. The Church has 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 liaises and occasionally bickers with the Faculty of the Arcane of the University of &zeter, which examines and refines the "supernatural" elements required to maintain a population of undead or perpetually living individuals. The Faculty is 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 are informed by many Benacian esoteric traditions such as Goldshirian Alchemy, Lichbrookian Necromancy and Ashkenatzan Qabbalah.
Population
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 are the largest and most prominent group; containing among them Overdolorish and Lywinders, Goldshirians, Laqis and Ashkenatzim. An enormous swathe of Minarboria's population are not mortal humans as commonly understood, but have either become undead or, in the case of the Imperial Shrublands, have been anatomically enhanced. This has 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 is by no means an absolute. Sufficiently competent individuals of all forms (including Breathers) can get ahead in Minarborian society, thanks to the church's teaching that unjustified snobbery is contrary to the virtues of the Garden.
An Index of Minarborian Terms
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 (this 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 are collected for fertiliser and thanks are given, occurring on Harvesthigh 10th (November 1st).
Asparagod
A monstrous being made of asparagus, said to hide under the beds of children who have not eaten their vegetables.
Breather
A colloquial term for humans who are neither undead nor biologically modified.
Broodmother's Day
A celebreation of the Broodmother, the original keeper of newborn Deep Singers, occurring on Springhigh 25th (May 15th).
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 showers the jolly with gifts and those lost to the bonfires of Licheven re-emerge, 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.
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 Oats
The cultural office 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.
Irrigator
The third clerical rank of the Church of Minarbor, serving as the common priesthood.
Jolliness, Her Jolliness, Her Royal Jolliness
Empress Lyssansa, the supreme necrarch.
Licheven
The beginning of the Lichmas season, wherein undead liches in irreperable physical shape self-immolate 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 are 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. Not to be messed with.
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 lack 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).
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 is the Resector of Sansabury.
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.
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.
Other Resources
More about Minarboria can be found on the MinarborWiki.
