Northbloom

Free, Jolly, Extremely Friendly but Strictly Independent Autonomous Protectorate of Northern Highbloom
Flag Coat of Arms
Motto: Caput mea mortuum est (My head is dead)
Anthem: none
Map versions	Not officially mapped
Capital	Fort Ermingander
Largest city	n/a
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	n/a
Establishment	1660 AN
Area	~140,600 sq.km
Population	unknown
Active population	-
Currency	Kalgarrand
Calendar
Time zone(s)
Mains electricity
Driving side
Track gauge
National website	-
National forum	-
National animal	n/a
National food	n/a
National drink	n/a
National tree	n/a
Abbreviation	n/a

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 Kalgachi-administered state in central Benacia. It consists of the ruins of Fort Ermingander, a Minarborian-era redoubt believed to be the seat of its ruler, and adjoining territories extending some 750 kilometres to the southeast.

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 Shirerithian Brookshire known as the Adepti.

An exterior plan of Fort Ermingander, the lair of Mondo.

Being somewhat overlooked during the 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.

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.

By 1664 AN, however, the Kalgachi government had become increasingly concerned that the untrammelled ascent of Shireroth's Kalirion-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 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.