Republic of Merishka

Merishka is the sapphire republic, the bulwark of the West, a shining example of Sunekan orthodoxy and militarism. A few centuries ago, it was the Western Suneka's most persistent opponent: an opportunistic kingdom dedicated to conquest and profit above all else. Then it turned into something else, a threatening psuedo-heretical state that saw the Suneka as a war against the rich oligarchs. Some traces of that militarism, radicalism, and mercantilism remain, but the Republic now emphasizes part piety and conformity at every turn. 
Merishka is currently a prosperous realm, bustling with commerce and filled with prosperous communities. Its merchant navy has exterminated local piracy, its vineyards and farms are plentiful, and it has struck a stable middle ground between militant piety and profitable welcoming of foreigners. The current war with the Kingdom of Arvarun can even be forgotten sometimes, as it is treated in many circles more as a profitable and holy adventure than a brutal conflict. The eternal war in the North against the Ederstone wastes is similarly ignored, as Merishka has wrapped itself in prosperity like an insulating bubble. Only the fates know how long the Republic can float along without something going wrong, but a sense of optimism generally pervades the land.

Structure

All Sunekan communities vote through their local elders and priests every five years for two positions: for the Tlakra (chief executive), and for the local representative in the Merishkan assembly. The Tlakra manages the army and the navy, and the assembly manages law and policy. 
The current Tlakra is Sikritzin of Kitasa, an old political veteran and former regional representative. Sikritzin is a cynical Dryad, who is well read in theology but not particularly pious. They are loved not for their warm and relatable personality or their overt piety, but for their competence and stabilizing touch. Sikritzin is a master negotiator, manipulator, and politician, but they don't seem to want to centralize power or loot the treasury.

Culture

Merishkan oyster and fish dishes are famously good, and Giant Lobsters are a staple of local cuisine. Frying foods in olive oil is a local culinary quirk.

History

Early History (-600 DE to 1100 ME)

Merishka as a region is really only half of the current republic: most of the territory and populace lives in the neighboring region of Tuweska, after all. The two regions have been bound together through history, though: Merishka has been the threshold between the Kingdom of Arvarun and the Sunekan Kingdom of Tuweska for centuries, and has often synthesized their systems and cultures. 
Kingdoms have long inhabited the lands of Tuweska and Merishka, states that haven't been quite belonging to Suneka or Stildane. These realms were wiped away by the cruel hands of fate: first, the Great Scouring of Stildane by Ederstone in -100 DE sent wave after wave of warriors, refugees, and monsters; and then the great march of Sunekan conquerors in the 500s ME wiped away what cultures arose from this turmoil. 
While the Ghost King of the ancient Sunekan empire only sent a few soldiers this far West, the Emperor did support a local monarch to rule in their stead and enforce Sunekan culture: a great warrior by the name of Agiton. Agiton conquered all of Tuweska, up into Gatrev, and then conquered the Eastern half of Merishka. Those few independent Merishkan kingdoms that remained were conquered by Arvarun's famous conqueror, Kolabr 'the Bear'. 
And that theme of passing between Arvaran and Sunekan conquerors is a consistent one for much of Merishka's history. The neighboring land of Tuweska, meanwhile, was totally absorbed into Sunekan culture, religion, and politics.

Merishka of the Pirate Lords (1135 to 1690)

In 1100 ME, following the discovery of a massive lapis lazuli mine in the North, Arvaran merchants and lords conquered all of Merishka and claimed the land for itself. Arvarun fell into civil war immediately after, and the conquering lords turned to the conquered Merishkan elite for support in ther struggle against the crown. In 1135, Merishka was united under its own crown for the first time since the Great Sunekan Empire - but the elites were Arvaran more than local. The new administration was intensely militaristic and mercantalist, and began confiscating land and resources even as they pushed the population into military service. In order to pay for this swelling military, raids were conducted on both of their neighbors, and Merishka became something of a rogue pirate state. 
For centuries, Merishka moved from raid to raid, conquest to conques, and rebellion to rebellion. Luckily for them, their neighbors (Tuweska and Arvarun) were both doing rather poorly at this time. Merishkan pirate raids began striking out beyond the local area, and hit coastlines are far North as Kasteny (now the Empire of Eketen ) and as far West as Karsitan.

This raiding allowed Merishka to keep itself perpetually militarized: always ready to put down peasant revolts, fight off Sunekan forays, and invade any neighbors showing signs of weakness. And it was through this brutal opportunism that Merishka's empire grew. Twice Tuweska and the Sunekans fell into moments of massive infighting, and both of those times Merishka pushed Eastward. By 1620, Merishka had conquered all of Tuweska - but was bloated, corrupt, and barely holding together. 
After a failed invasion of Arvarun in 1690, Merishka's government collapsed entirely. In the east, Sunekans rose up and many were able to splinter off into their own little republics; in the West, Arvaran lords were able to scoop up provinces for themselves with little resistance. 

Sunekan Merishka (1690 to Present)

From 1690 to 1810, Merishka went through a familiar cycle: a regime would establish itself, militarize, lash out, overextend or lose, and collapse. With every turn of the wheel, the people of the land got sicker of the privateering elite. In 1810, a group of Sunekan merchants allied to the Guardians of Hokzin set about permanently ending it: they led the commonfolk in mass rebellion and began mass arresting and executing aristocrats and their sympathizers. A horribly bloody revolution ensued, and by 1814 the Sunekan Republic of Merishka was created. But the rage of the people of Merishka still burned, as the Sunekan merchants began comfortably appropriating the nobility's mines and estates. In 1821, a second revolution overturned the first, and began attacking the priestly and commercial elites. A sort of 'populist heresy' took hold, a peasant messianism that sought to restore harmony by violently levelling society. A more conservative counter-revolution overturned this new government in 1834, and the Guardians of Hokzin couped this government to install a more loyal one in 1839. 
Bursts of peasant revolutionaries, urban radical Sunekan revolutionaries, and conservative revolutionaries fired off across the 1800s. The Republic slowly settled into a status quo: Sunekan but rabidly anti-aristocratic, militaristic, and evangelical. When it was finished dining on itself, it turned to the greater world with hunger. Luckily for its neighbors, Merishka's new zeal was interrupted by a sudden new invasion: the Empire of Calazen, which came riding out of the North with little warning in 1875. 
Calazen managed to occupy all of Merishka in 1879, but its forces in the area had a great deal of difficulty maintaining their new order. Reinforcements were sent off to conquer new lands, not help in holding Merishka, and the Calazan occupiers essentially withdrew to a small number of fortresses and left the countryside to govern itself. In a strange twist, this hands-off occupation stabilized Merishka and united its people against the foreign military presence. 
In the 1890s, Calazen tried to put up their own 'Sunekan Republic' to govern according to their values and goals. The local associations that had governed for the last few decades rose up in one last revolution. In 1901, the last Calazan occupiers were driven from the land, and the new Merishkan Republic formally convened. The last century of rule has been prosperous, but not absurdly so. But unique for Merishka, it has been stable and comparatively peaceful. In 2001 and 2011, Merishka did send forces to support Sunekan revolutionaries in Arvarun, but it has refrained from committing too much money or manpower to the effort.

Demography and Population

Over 8,000,000 humanoids live in Merishka. 30% are Dryads, 20% are Humans, 15% are Prisms, 10% are Kobolds, 10% are Starspawn, and 15% are Other.

Territories

Merishka has around 440 miles of coastline and extends around 100 to 160 miles inland. A string of islands known as the Chain of Ontlada sits 35 miles off the coast. Three of these islands are rather large (around 20 miles long and 12 miles across) and are excellent sites for farming and fishing, but there are many smaller islands and reefs in the area. 
The Northern parts of Merishka are full of arid shrublands, plains, and small patches of forest. The Southern parts are lush subtropical forests, with large swamplands and arable flatlands. The seas around Merishka are shallow and mild, full of small coral reefs, tiny islands, and soft winds. 
The interior border of Merishka is defined by the Yuteka Mountains: imposing peaks inhabited by militant isolationists.

Military

Merishka's navy is regionally famous, and has only improved from new Selkie sailing technologies. The Republic's standing army is large for its size (especially by Sunekan standards), as each community that votes can be called upon by their regional representative to contribute soldiers for tours of five years. The Merishkan army is famously fast and aggressive, preferring light cavalry, mounted infantry, and armies full of axe- and spear- infantry that are drilled on charges.

Religion

Merishka is firmly Sunekan. All land ownership, voting, and education is tied to Sunekan community membership. Merchants of foreign faiths are welcomed with open arms and given food and lodging, but local hill communities that cling to their old faith are persecuted mercilessly. 
The priesthood here is also seen as an equalizing force. Keepers of Olkum arrests of heretics, occultists, and citizens seen as too wealthy are widely celebrated.

Foreign Relations

Merishka is close with the surrounding Sunekan states and is part of a larger West Sunekan alliance against outside threats. They consider the Gatrev March a useful ally, and have a friendly relationship with the Federation of Korvakal. The various minor Sunekan states to the North are all used as buffers against the Ederstone wasteland and its associated tumult. 
Merishka is on much poorer terms with its neighbor to the West, the Kingdom of Arvarun. In fact, Merishkan troops are actively occupying Southern Arvarun, and the Assembly is currently debating annexation of its Southern provinces.

Agriculture & Industry

Wheat, rice, and maize are the staple crops of Merishka. Potatoes, cotton, tobacco, and citrus are common cash crops as well. Herding of horses, sheep, and goats are all common. Vineyards growing olives and grapes are common in the North.
Small towns often have thriving textile trades, focused on processing wool or cotton. The most notable and unique industry here is the mining industry: the hills here are rich with gems. Merishka produces one gem in particular more than anywhere else in the world: lapis lazuli. Most lapis extraction occurs in a small number of massive mines, which have been churning out these gems for centuries. Control of these mines are a hot-button issues that have launched several revolutions - but they are currently mostly owned by the mining communities.

Trade & Transport

Merishka has a robust mercantile sector that is deeply intertwined with the Navy. Trade in Sunekan republics is managed by Crafts Associations, which assign surplus goods to Merchant Communes to be traded. And the Crafts Associations here are more powerful than in other Republics - operating as guilds with their own local power, courts, and even militias. And while all power over trade and production is theoretically assigned to the Merishkan Legislature, the Admirals set the real policy that is followed on the ground. 
Merchants often flutter between the navy and merchant work, and merchant communes tend to be well armed and supplied. When in heathen territory, they are allowed to work as pirates; when in Sunekan waters, they work as pirate hunters.

Education

A robust Sunekan education system is in place here, and three colleges have been recently founded along the coast.

"Our Seas, Our Land, Our Republic"

Founding Date

1901

Type

Geopolitical, Country

Demonym

Merishkan

Government System

Democracy, Representative

Power Structure

Unitary state

Currency

Sunekan Currency: Golden Lions, Silver Foxes, Copper Stars

Major Exports

Gems, food, cotton, horses, wool

Major Imports

Tar, lumber

Legislative Body

The Merishkan Assembly

Official State Religion

Suneka

Location

Suneka (place)

Official Languages

• High Sunekan

Neighboring Nations

• Gatrev March
• Kingdom of Arvarun