Northbloom: Difference between revisions

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|mapversions = 16.2.6-present
|mapversions = 16.2.6-present
|capital = Fort Ermingander
|capital = Fort Ermingander
|largecity = n/a
|largecity = -
|lang = Benacian English (''official'')<br> [[Laqi]]
|lang = Benacian English (''official'')<br> [[Laqi]]
|religion = Mondo Personality Cult, [[Minarboria#Religion|Minarborealism]], [[Ketherism]]
|religion = Mondo Personality Cult, [[Minarboria#Religion|Minarborealism]], [[Ketherism]]
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|headofgovernmenttitle = Lord Protector
|headofgovernmenttitle = Lord Protector
|headofgovernment = Peter N. Skuryov
|headofgovernment = Peter N. Skuryov
|legislature = n/a
|legislature = -
|estdate = 1660 [[Norton calendar|AN]]
|estdate = 1660 [[Norton calendar|AN]]
|agerank = -
|agerank = -
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|activepop = -
|activepop = -
|poprank = -
|poprank = -
|currency = [[Economy of Kalgachia#Currency|Kalgarrand]]
|currency = [[Economy of Kalgachia#Currency|Kalgarrand]], Mondo Money
|GDP (P) = -
|GDP (P) = -
|abbrev = n/a
|abbrev = -
|timezone = CMT -10
|site = -
|site = -
|forum = -
|forum = -
|animal = n/a
|animal = -
|food = n/a
|food = -
|drink = n/a
|drink = -
|tree = n/a
|tree = -
}}
}}


The '''Free, Jolly, Extremely Friendly but Strictly Independent Autonomous Protectorate of Northern Highbloom''', abbreviated as the '''FJEFSIAPNH''' and commonly known as the '''Northbloom Protectorate''' or just '''Northbloom''', is a small [[Kalgachia|Kalgachi]]-administered state in central [[Benacia]]. It consists of the ruins of Fort Ermingander, a [[Minarboria|Minarborian]]-era redoubt believed to be the seat of its ruler, and adjoining territories extending some 750 kilometres to the southeast.
The '''Free, Jolly, Extremely Friendly but Strictly Independent Autonomous Protectorate of Northern Highbloom''', abbreviated as the '''FJEFSIAPNH''' and commonly known as the '''Northbloom Protectorate''' or just '''Northbloom''', is a small state in central [[Benacia]]. It is currently a protectorate of [[Kalgachia]].


The state was proclaimed on 4 Springfall 1660 (25 May 2018) by Minarborian remnant forces loyal to [[Mondo Etzeterra]], a being of indeterminate composition most likely incorporating a fusion of undead and mechanical elements in the tradition of his ancestors who originated among the artisanal caste of [[Shireroth|Shirerithian]] [[Brookshire]] known as the ''Adepti''.
==Geography==
Northbloom is located on lowlands to the north of the Octavian Mountains which act as a barrier to moist and temperate weather systems from the Southern Benacian coast, resulting in a dry and cool climate. Northbloom's depth in the continental interior and exposure to the adjoining boreal wastes give it very cold and protracted winters; summers are brief and midge-infested.


[[File:Ermingander.png|thumb|left|200px|An exterior plan of Fort Ermingander, the lair of Mondo.]]
Northbloom's topography extends from hill country in the southwest to flatter plains in the northeast, drained by shallow gravel-banked rivers. The landscape is dominated by arid prairie, broken by scrubland and occasional tracts of wild coniferous forest.


Being somewhat overlooked during the [[Benacian Reconquest|geopolitical upheavals]] of the era, Mondo's establishment of a power base at Fort Ermingander was initially viewed by outside observers as little more than another example of the many cults and oddities which characterised the ungoverned territories of central Benacia at the time. Beyond the walls of Fort Ermingander and the ramshackle settlements of his followers, the only salient feature of Mondo's activity was the occasional eruption of enigmatic radio emissions which periodically cut into the broadcast traffic of neighbouring territories [[Shireroth]] and [[Kalgachia]]. For some time each of these nations ascribed the phenomenon to the other's electronic warfare activity, leaving the true source undiscovered.
==History==


This changed when segments of Mondo's transmissions were recognised as the tracking signals from supposedly defunct Minarborian-era air defence systems, causing an equal degree of alarm in Shireroth and Kalgachia alike. Further analysis revealed that Mondo was in fact using these signals to encrypt message text, the content of which stated his desire to 'make some friends'. Contact was duly established by Mondo's neighbouring states in the same transmission format, culminating in a Kalgachi expedition to visit Fort Ermingander and converse with the personage of Mondo himself. This expedition, led by a Kalgachi diplomat of dubious reputation named Bitt Knotty, ended in disarray when Knotty was invited into the fort itself by a well-attired necro-mechanical butler who introduced himself as 'Spooner', only to disappear forever behind its great iron doors. The event inspired caution from Mondo's neighbours and further contact was discontinued by Shireroth and Kalgachia alike.
===Antiquity===


By 1664 AN, however, the Kalgachi government had become increasingly concerned that the untrammelled ascent of Shireroth's Kalirion-[[Nationalist & Humanist Party|Humanist]] axis toward complete dominion of the Benacian continent was approaching something of an [[Endsieg]], requring a protective consolidation of those few territories which remained outside the latter's control. Acting upon the advice of Lord Toastypops, a revered provincial leader and religious figure, Kalgachia's ruling Council of Perfecti ruled that the enigmatic jollity of Mondo, whose radio activity had unnervingly ceased some months previously, could not withstand the onslaught of Benacian tyrants alone and required a friendly intervention. Thus was initiated ''Operation Caput Mortuum II'' whereby four divisions of the [[Military of Kalgachia#The Kalgachi Defence Force|Kalgachi Defence Force]], among other elements, swept into Northbloom with the objective of establishing a Kalgachi protectorate, regaining contact with Mondo and ascertaining the fate of Emissary Knotty.
Like much of central Benacia, Northbloom spent its early history as a backwoods frontier territory of various thalassocratic powers and was consequently overlooked for development if populated at all. Its first notable contribution to civilisation was as part of Zaprogia, a federation of trading posts which would go on to become a junior partner in the creation of [[Ashkenatza]]. After this modest pinnacle, however, it reverted to the status of a landlocked border province and remained so until the collapse of the Ashkenatzan state in 1605 AN, after which its population was largely driven away by the harsh climate and the depredations of regional Kossars until a few itinerant hosts of the latter were all that remained.
 
===Minarborian rule===
 
[[File:Ermingander.png|thumb|300px|left|Fort Ermingander, [[Minarboria|Minarborian]]-era redoubt and lair of [[Mondo Etzeterra]].]]
 
Some semblance of civilisation was restored in 1632 AN by a northward migration of the [[Minarboria|Minarborians]] whose undead Princess Royal, one Octavia Rossheim, claimed the area as the ''Principality of Highbloom''. At the northernmost extent of this claim was established Fort Ermingander, a forward bastion against the lightning colonisation of the region by [[Shireroth]] whose government was then succumbing to the control of expansionist [[Froyalaners]] - that the Minarborians' fort was named for Thor's serpentine nemesis was an invocatory touch independently replicated by [[ESB-Jörmungandr Group|other entities]] at the time, arguably laying the occultic foundation for the subsequent [[shire:Auspicious Occasion|Auspicious Occasion]] in 1651 AN. Although still a backwater under Minarborian rule, Highbloom's feudal society did produce some lasting innovations such as the [https://micras.org/wiki/images/9/92/FischerPreiss.png Fischer-Preiss carbine] and some of the territory's current institutions were established during this time, most notably its mounted militia which was first raised as the ''Northern Fontier Regiment''.
 
===Independence===
 
These martial achievements would serve the population well when the Empire of Minarboria collapsed in 1652 AN; the population of Highbloom were second only to the emergent [[Kalgachia|Kalgachi]] in retaining their social cohesion during this time. Whilst Kalgachia rallied to the guidance of the new [[Ketherism|Ketherist]] church and absorbed the southern half of Highbloom in the process, the population further north found their salvation in the form of one [[Mondo Etzeterra]], the necromechanical spawn of Princess Octavia and one Clarence Etzettera, the Marquess of [[&zeter]]. The means by which Mondo escaped the necromantic breakdown that claimed his parents is unknown; some speculated a limited ability to tap into the same currents of global jollity that sustained [[Lord Toastypops]] although Mondo's state of animation was less consistent, doubtless degraded by the 'royal disease' of necromantic outages which afflicted his [[House of Rossheim|Rossheim bloodline]] and had ultimately doomed their Minarborian empire. Nonetheless, by 1660 AN Mondo had established himself within Fort Ermingander and his charitable works for the local population, particularly in the field of light engineering, gained a loyal cadre of supporters who saw fit to proclaim a sovereign state under his leadership.
 
The government at Fort Ermingander was initially viewed by its neighbours as little more than another example of the many cults and oddities which characterised the ungoverned territories of central Benacia [[Benacian Reconquest|at the time]], but an increasing number of exotic radio signals emitted from Mondo's fortified workshop eventually drew the attention of Kalgachia and Shireroth alike; communication with Mondo was initiated by diplomats of both nations who by then were engaged in a struggle for influence over the post-Minarborian space, a struggle in which the vastly-larger Shireroth had tended to prevail. Northbloom, however, had not suffered the same traumatic collapse of societal norms that had afflicted the Minarborian south and was consequently less susceptible to Shirerithian overtures whereas Kalgachia, having emerged as ''de facto'' inheritor and guardian of the "Minarboreal civilisational space", obtained a more preferential ear.
 
===Kalgachi occupation===
 
In 1661 AN Mondo succumbed to another bout of necro-torpor and his devotees raised Fort Ermingander's drawbridge to shelter him during the ensuing dormancy. By 1664 AN the increasing vulnerability of Northbloom's territory to the hardline [[Nationalist & Humanist Party|Nationalist-Humanist]] regime then controlling Shireroth, along with bands of [[Batavia|Batavian]] voortrekkers who had infiltrated through Shireroth's porous border, impelled Kalgachia to launch a protective occupation of the territory by four divisions of the [[Military of Kalgachia#The Kalgachi Defence Force|Kalgachi Defence Force]]. Whilst furiously opposed by Shireroth's [[shire:Elianist People's Party|Elianist]] elite, the occupation was met with toleration and occasionally welcome by the Northbloom population, except for those around Fort Ermingander itself who but politely but firmly declined Kalgachi requests to access the fort, citing its sanctity as Mondo's domicile and his need for uninterrupted sleep. The resulting assertion of a Kalgachi protectorate over Northbloom was therefore of a low profile and concerned almost entirely with the provision of security, the delivery of alms to the poor and the encouragement of such community governance nodes or commercial enterprises as might emerge.
 
==Government and Economy==
 
The dormant personage of Mondo Etzeterra remains Northbloom's ''de jure'' head of state. While he is not in a condition to wield administrative power, the legacy of his ideas and innovations nonetheless exert a strong influence among the population at large who organise their own affairs on a community level with supervision from the Kalgachi protectorate government. The protectorate authorities, headed by a Kalgachi-appointed Lord Protector, are more heavily involved with larger initiatives such as the resourcing and training of militias, humanitarian aid projects and the maintenance of a basic level of infrastructure, the most visible of the latter being a railway linking Fort Ermingander with the Kalgachi city of Katarsis.
 
Northbloom is defended by the [[Military of Kalgachia#The Northbloom Dragoons|Northbloom Dragoons]], a locally-recruited division of mounted infantry supported by a handful of Minarborian-era air defence and fire support systems. These are assisted by various professional and reservist formations of the Kalgachi Defence Force on rotating postings.
 
Northbloom is loosely integrated into the Kalgachi economy. Along with timber, its most notable export is specialist electronic equipment from a number of small workshops throughout the territory which seek to preserve the technical wisdom imparted by Mondo. Many of these workshops have an active relationship with Kalgachi [[Economy of Kalgachia#Unitary Enterprises|state enterprises]] and collaborate with that nation's University of Bergburg on matters of applied engineering. In return Northbloom imports a modest amount of consumer goods along with light industrial and agricultural equipment.
 
[[Category:Kalgachia]]

Revision as of 12:58, 21 April 2019

Free, Jolly, Extremely Friendly but Strictly Independent Autonomous Protectorate of Northern Highbloom
Flag of Northbloom
Flag
Coat of Arms of Northbloom
Coat of Arms
Motto: Caput mea mortuum est
(My head is dead)
Anthem: none
Location of Northbloom
Map versions 16.2.6-present
Capital Fort Ermingander
Largest city -
Official language(s) Benacian English (official)
Laqi
Official religion(s) Mondo Personality Cult, Minarborealism, Ketherism
Demonym Northbloomer
 - Adjective Northbloomian
Government Autonomous protectorate
 - Head of State Mondo Etzeterra
 - Lord Protector Peter N. Skuryov
 - Legislature -
Establishment 1660 AN
Area ~140,600 sq.km
Population unknown
Active population -
Currency Kalgarrand, Mondo Money
Calendar
Time zone(s) CMT -10
Mains electricity
Driving side
Track gauge
National website -
National forum -
National animal -
National food -
National drink -
National tree -
Abbreviation -

The Free, Jolly, Extremely Friendly but Strictly Independent Autonomous Protectorate of Northern Highbloom, abbreviated as the FJEFSIAPNH and commonly known as the Northbloom Protectorate or just Northbloom, is a small state in central Benacia. It is currently a protectorate of Kalgachia.

Geography

Northbloom is located on lowlands to the north of the Octavian Mountains which act as a barrier to moist and temperate weather systems from the Southern Benacian coast, resulting in a dry and cool climate. Northbloom's depth in the continental interior and exposure to the adjoining boreal wastes give it very cold and protracted winters; summers are brief and midge-infested.

Northbloom's topography extends from hill country in the southwest to flatter plains in the northeast, drained by shallow gravel-banked rivers. The landscape is dominated by arid prairie, broken by scrubland and occasional tracts of wild coniferous forest.

History

Antiquity

Like much of central Benacia, Northbloom spent its early history as a backwoods frontier territory of various thalassocratic powers and was consequently overlooked for development if populated at all. Its first notable contribution to civilisation was as part of Zaprogia, a federation of trading posts which would go on to become a junior partner in the creation of Ashkenatza. After this modest pinnacle, however, it reverted to the status of a landlocked border province and remained so until the collapse of the Ashkenatzan state in 1605 AN, after which its population was largely driven away by the harsh climate and the depredations of regional Kossars until a few itinerant hosts of the latter were all that remained.

Minarborian rule

Fort Ermingander, Minarborian-era redoubt and lair of Mondo Etzeterra.

Some semblance of civilisation was restored in 1632 AN by a northward migration of the Minarborians whose undead Princess Royal, one Octavia Rossheim, claimed the area as the Principality of Highbloom. At the northernmost extent of this claim was established Fort Ermingander, a forward bastion against the lightning colonisation of the region by Shireroth whose government was then succumbing to the control of expansionist Froyalaners - that the Minarborians' fort was named for Thor's serpentine nemesis was an invocatory touch independently replicated by other entities at the time, arguably laying the occultic foundation for the subsequent Auspicious Occasion in 1651 AN. Although still a backwater under Minarborian rule, Highbloom's feudal society did produce some lasting innovations such as the Fischer-Preiss carbine and some of the territory's current institutions were established during this time, most notably its mounted militia which was first raised as the Northern Fontier Regiment.

Independence

These martial achievements would serve the population well when the Empire of Minarboria collapsed in 1652 AN; the population of Highbloom were second only to the emergent Kalgachi in retaining their social cohesion during this time. Whilst Kalgachia rallied to the guidance of the new Ketherist church and absorbed the southern half of Highbloom in the process, the population further north found their salvation in the form of one Mondo Etzeterra, the necromechanical spawn of Princess Octavia and one Clarence Etzettera, the Marquess of &zeter. The means by which Mondo escaped the necromantic breakdown that claimed his parents is unknown; some speculated a limited ability to tap into the same currents of global jollity that sustained Lord Toastypops although Mondo's state of animation was less consistent, doubtless degraded by the 'royal disease' of necromantic outages which afflicted his Rossheim bloodline and had ultimately doomed their Minarborian empire. Nonetheless, by 1660 AN Mondo had established himself within Fort Ermingander and his charitable works for the local population, particularly in the field of light engineering, gained a loyal cadre of supporters who saw fit to proclaim a sovereign state under his leadership.

The government at Fort Ermingander was initially viewed by its neighbours as little more than another example of the many cults and oddities which characterised the ungoverned territories of central Benacia at the time, but an increasing number of exotic radio signals emitted from Mondo's fortified workshop eventually drew the attention of Kalgachia and Shireroth alike; communication with Mondo was initiated by diplomats of both nations who by then were engaged in a struggle for influence over the post-Minarborian space, a struggle in which the vastly-larger Shireroth had tended to prevail. Northbloom, however, had not suffered the same traumatic collapse of societal norms that had afflicted the Minarborian south and was consequently less susceptible to Shirerithian overtures whereas Kalgachia, having emerged as de facto inheritor and guardian of the "Minarboreal civilisational space", obtained a more preferential ear.

Kalgachi occupation

In 1661 AN Mondo succumbed to another bout of necro-torpor and his devotees raised Fort Ermingander's drawbridge to shelter him during the ensuing dormancy. By 1664 AN the increasing vulnerability of Northbloom's territory to the hardline Nationalist-Humanist regime then controlling Shireroth, along with bands of Batavian voortrekkers who had infiltrated through Shireroth's porous border, impelled Kalgachia to launch a protective occupation of the territory by four divisions of the Kalgachi Defence Force. Whilst furiously opposed by Shireroth's Elianist elite, the occupation was met with toleration and occasionally welcome by the Northbloom population, except for those around Fort Ermingander itself who but politely but firmly declined Kalgachi requests to access the fort, citing its sanctity as Mondo's domicile and his need for uninterrupted sleep. The resulting assertion of a Kalgachi protectorate over Northbloom was therefore of a low profile and concerned almost entirely with the provision of security, the delivery of alms to the poor and the encouragement of such community governance nodes or commercial enterprises as might emerge.

Government and Economy

The dormant personage of Mondo Etzeterra remains Northbloom's de jure head of state. While he is not in a condition to wield administrative power, the legacy of his ideas and innovations nonetheless exert a strong influence among the population at large who organise their own affairs on a community level with supervision from the Kalgachi protectorate government. The protectorate authorities, headed by a Kalgachi-appointed Lord Protector, are more heavily involved with larger initiatives such as the resourcing and training of militias, humanitarian aid projects and the maintenance of a basic level of infrastructure, the most visible of the latter being a railway linking Fort Ermingander with the Kalgachi city of Katarsis.

Northbloom is defended by the Northbloom Dragoons, a locally-recruited division of mounted infantry supported by a handful of Minarborian-era air defence and fire support systems. These are assisted by various professional and reservist formations of the Kalgachi Defence Force on rotating postings.

Northbloom is loosely integrated into the Kalgachi economy. Along with timber, its most notable export is specialist electronic equipment from a number of small workshops throughout the territory which seek to preserve the technical wisdom imparted by Mondo. Many of these workshops have an active relationship with Kalgachi state enterprises and collaborate with that nation's University of Bergburg on matters of applied engineering. In return Northbloom imports a modest amount of consumer goods along with light industrial and agricultural equipment.