Shireroth
| Imperial Republic of Shireroth Sxiroþ | |||
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| Motto: Shireroth sumus. Tempus in parte nostrum est. | |||
| Anthem: Land of the nifty | |||
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| Map versions | All | ||
| Capital | Shirekeep | ||
| Largest city | Shirekeep, Ardashirshahr Allswell, Araxion, Citadel, Cortallia, Demonsfall, Echo, Glenfiddich, Mesior, Nee | ||
| Official language(s) | Præta Sxiröþes (official), Shirerithian English (administrative), Elw, Yardistani | ||
| Official religion(s) | Cedrism | ||
| Demonym | Shirerithian, Shirithian | ||
| - Adjective | Shirerithian, Shirithian | ||
| Government | Federative Constitutional Monarchy | ||
| - Kaiser of Shireroth | Kaiser Ayreon IV | ||
| - Steward | Waldemar Zinkgraven | ||
| - Legislature | Landsraad | ||
| Establishment | 1442 AN | ||
| Area | NA | ||
| Population | Citizens: 29[1] Subjects: 684,444,256[2] | ||
| Active population | 8-10 | ||
| Currency | Erb (€) | ||
| Calendar | |||
| Time zone(s) | |||
| Mains electricity | |||
| Driving side | |||
| Track gauge | |||
| National website | ShireWiki | ||
| National forum | Shirithian Forum | ||
| National animal | Blue Moose | ||
| National food | Mango | ||
| National drink | Antyan wine | ||
| National tree | Malarbor | ||
| Abbreviation | IRS | ||
The Imperial Republic of Shireroth, or simply Shireroth (Istvanistani: ['ʃaɪɻ.ɻɑθ]; Yardistani: Širo ['ʃi.rɔ]; Praeta Sxirothes: Sxiro) is a neo-feudal empire that has dominated the Benacian continent, as well as vast swathes of the globe at various intervals, for more than two hundred and fourteen years under the Norton calendar. It is, not withstanding its largely mythical history, by any reasonable standard the most ancient of the surviving states on Micras.
History
Between 1636 and 1655, between the Wars of the Dark Orchid, the Auspicious Occasion, the Alexandrian Flu, famine, emigration, and the War of Lost Brothers the population of Shireroth fell by 21% to 554 million.
Government
Kaiser
Almost everything you'll read in this article is wrong.
Imperial Advisory Council & Ministries
The Kaiser appoints or dismisses at will three Imperial Advisors and approximately six Ministers, each of whom controls one of the country's Ministries. The current ministries of Shireroth are Exterior, Interior, Information, Military Affairs, Immigration and Naturalization, and Trade. A Minister has full power over their Ministry, limited only by the generally uninterested Kaiser.
Landsraad
All citizens participate in Shireroth's legislature, the Landsraad. Ostensibly the Landsraad is limited to the nobility, but titles are handed out in Shireroth like confetti so this rarely serves as any meaningful bar to entry. The Landsraad is controlled by a Praetor, elected by the populace, who acts as its speaker and enforces the rules of order. The Landsraad has the power to enact pass resolutions, enact legislation, typically in the form of amendments to the Lawbook, amend the Charter (in conjunction with Imperial States) and to veto the decrees of the Kaiser. The last power has, in the modern era, been used exceptionally sparingly.
Imperial Judex
Constitutional crises, as well as the occasional criminal trial, get referred to Shireroth's sole court, the Judex. The Arbiter of the Judex is charged with interpreting the Charter, the Lawbooks, and the Imperial Decrees. However, the Kaiser outranks the Arbiter and can fire zir or use imperial decrees to avoid the effects of zir decision. The only case in which the Arbiter has power beyond the Kaiser's is that both Kaiser and Arbiter must mutually agree on any changes to Shireroth's Charter.
Foreign Affairs
Culture
Influences
Shireroth deliberately avoids basing itself wholesale on any particular real world country or even around a coherent idea or political system. Instead, its culture evolved chaotically over its existence. Some dispute the very existence of a national culture, instead saying that culture is mostly limited to the various subdivisions with the imperial government tying them together politically. Those who believe in culture cite elements taken from Germany, Hinduism, the (Holy) Roman Empire, Warcraft and Dune, plus a large chunk that is uniquely Shirerithian and mostly incomprehensible to other micronationalists.
Much of Shireroth's culture is an accretion of the dozens of other micronations that have risen and fallen over Shireroth's lifetime. Shirerithian conversations are peppered with references to Menelmacar, PRH, Diga, YAMOs, magigarp, and the apocollapse. Although most citizens understand these, they present a formidable barrier to foreigners trying to make sense of Shirerithian life.
Duchies
Shireroth's five Duchies were each ruled by a Duke, technically ruling at the pleasure of the Kaiser but effectively chosen by the previous Duke. Each Duchy previously had several Baronies under Barons who rule at the pleasure of the Duke, and Counties, one-person feudal units to develop culturally in whatever direction takes the fancy of the Count - but these have mostly been done away with since the Fifth Age began.
Shirerithians can go on for hours about their subdivisions, each of which is fiercely patriotic and occasionally locked in deadly war or alliance with various other subdivisions. Although the subdivision list is subject to frequent change, the most current list includes:
- Kildare, a collection of historic lands built up from the territories of some of Shireroth's progenitor states. It wears its history with great pomp and ceremony, is the country's economic center, and sometimes flirts with an Irish theme. It calls itself a Dutchy instead of a Duchy, an old joke that refuses to die.
- Machinaria, once the core Shirerithian lands of Brookshire and Goldenmoon, now a vaguely steampunk area of people merged with technologies in disturbing ways. Likely to change back to Brookshire at some point in the future thanks to Shirerithian conservativism.
Real-world territory
In terms of real-world territory, Shireroth claims Sonoma County, California as its capital. However, this claim was placed when a much higher proportion of Shirerithians resided in the county, and for the most part we like to pretend this never happened.
Notable Projects and Accomplishments
Literature & Art
Shireroth is the subject of several works of art and literature. Most notably, it gets a mention in Harvey Steffke's Control of Destiny series of computer role-playing games, in which several Shirerithians are prominent characters. A few other Shirerithians are involved in programming projects in one way or another, including Jonas Windsor (who is working on a game about Shireroth's Duchy of Kildare), Erik Mortis (who wrote the Small Commonwealth Bank), and James Raine, who created the ShireFox modification for Firefox to allow easier access to Shireroth's internet presence.
The novel Unaimed Arrow takes place in Shireroth, as do several shorter works of fiction. Notable among these are the Elwynnese story threads pioneered by Andrew Allot and his friends, the poetry of Philip Locke, and the Lac Glacei and Mirioth story arcs in Yardistan.
Conlangs
Shireroth has several constructed languages in various states of completion and complexity. The most notable of these is Audente, developed by Bill Trihus as the language of the County of Greater Audentior. Nicholas du Grifos, a linguistics grad student and former Duke of Yardistan, is currently working on Praeta Sxirothes, which when completed will take its place as Shireroth's national conlang.
Advertisement Campaign
In 2006, Shireroth ran a successful advertisement campaign on the webcomic Real Life Adventures, whose creator, Greg Dean, was at the time a Shirerithian citizen. Shireroth's other brush with the spotlight was a brief mention on BBC during the program How To Start Your Own Country, in which Danny Wallace signed treaties with several leading micronations including Shireroth.
Micronational Olympics
Shireroth co-hosted (with limited success) the 2004 Micronational Olympics. Although logistical problems prevented it from continuing in the field of micronational sports, it now hosts a relatively popular online version of the board game Diplomacy that attracts participants from all over the world. There's even a micronational variant.
Other Intermicronational contributions
Shireroth is also responsible for starting major organizations such as the Small Commonwealth, the MCS, and SNARL (the Shireroth-Natopia-Antica Recwar League). A Shirerithian (Scott Alexander) runs the FNORD Awards, and another (Josh Coales) runs the Forum List.
Religion
Cedrism
Shireroth doesn't have an official national religion, but Cedrism is so important in daily life that it is informally seen as the national religion. It's a native (fictional) pagan mythology based around Mors, the God of Death, and his ex-wife Viviantiana, the Goddess of Life. Worship tends to involve sacrificing citrus fruits (hence the name) and lighting explosions (which has given it its alternate and more popular name BOOOOMism). Cedrism also shares some Hindu beliefs like reincarnation and enlightenment.
Major Cedrist gods include Anandja, Goddess of Bliss, Lumina, Goddess of Light, Ifni, Goddess of Luck, and Sakat, God of Time. More popular are the minor "joke" gods, including Google, Bringer of Knowledge, Mog, God of Political Blunders, and B'caw, God of Spicy Chicken. However, by far the most popular god is Malarbor, the Evil Tree God of Online Forums. Malarbor has had a prominent place in the announcement box of Shireroth's forums for many years, and has become the country's unofficial mascot and badwill ambassador. Malarbor's catch phrase, insofar as gods can have catchphrases, is "MALARBOR DEMANDS IT!"
Other features of Cedrism include the Demon (occasionally Deamon) Fish of Balgurd, the archdemon Rrakanychan, and the legendary Sword of Vengeance, symbol of the Kaiser's might (but arguably pilfered by the Babkhans a while back).
Soloralism
Furthermore, Soloralism also plays an important part in religious affairs. The religion is most practised in the Antyan counties (Kildare). Nonetheless, the religion is also influenced by Cedrists: the God of History, Sakat, is very popular in the Soloralist society.
Economy
See Also:
