The United Baronies of Marlliande is a member nation of the Trollsbay Concord, located to the northeast of the bay. Founded by wealthy landowners from Marllin in Arannen, along with their sizable retinues of servants, Marlliander nobility prides itself on their vast, highly productive plantations. Politically, the nation shares many commonalities with its confederate Thilvis, both being staunch supporters of orcish slavery and proponents of noble rule. However, Marlliander nobility takes their ideology one step further, and consistently displays outright disdain towards nonhumans. Compared to their fellow Trollbayers, Marlliande is exceptionally wealthy, earning massive returns on their plantation-grown cash crops. Foremost among their exports are, by order of volume: cotton, tobacco, and assorted cereals.
Culture[]
Though they share a large Ravelian population with the rest of the Trollsbay, the upper classes of Marlliande have historically maintained a commitment to Adeanism, seeing it as a cornerstone in a stable society, and a totem of the traditions that they hold dear. On the point of traditions, blood ties are incredibly important to Marlliander nobility, as many still maintain close ties with their distant Dostanorian relatives. Marlliander culture is also known for its unique contribution to Aelantiri architecture; Marlliande-style villas are renowned for their roomy shaded porches and thick tree cover. The rivalry between Zanlib and Marilliande within Concordian politics is renowned, with the two members standing as polar opposites on a number of issues, chief among them their view on slavery. Though not too different to make coexistence within the confederation impossible, their constant bickering in the Trollsbay Assembly led a Cestirmarker diplomat to remark that “It is impossible to get them to agree on even the weather! Zanlib reveres the sun, while Marlliande basks in the shade.”
One particular quirk of Marlliander culture are the customs surrounding the proper relationship between master and servant (as opposed to slaves). The house servants, aides, and other assorted members of a Baron’s retinue regularly display a degree of unswerving loyalty that is seen little elsewhere on Halann. Unfortunately, this dedication to house and master creates a thick veil of secrecy between the inner machinations of Marlliander nobility and outside society. Consequently, most public knowledge relating to the nobility is mere hearsay; a fact that does nothing to prevent Trollsbayer presses from printing torrid rumors of secret esoteric clubs and debauched parties.
Government[]
The ruling class of Marlliande consists of wealthy landowners (the self-identified “barons”) residing in opulent countryside manors. Their social and political lives are dominated by the machinations of extremely exclusive high-society social clubs, known as the Vilaéchi, Rósrholych, and Drominar. Though scarcely little is known about them, it has been surmised that each circle competes for prestige and influence within Marlliander high-society through various means, such as constructing magnificent edifices, throwing grandiose parties, or sending expeditions into unknown lands. These clubs are notoriously difficult to join, as each looks for their own inscrutable sets of individual qualities. Any hopeful journalist or researcher attempting to peer behind the curtain of Marlliander power will become infuriatingly familiar with the refrain: “If you need to ask, you do not need to know.”
Over centuries of secrecy, only the following information can be tentatively agreed upon:
The Vilaéchi are the proudest society within Marlliande, selecting only the most noble and prestigious aspirants to join. They advocate for and fund the construction of great monuments and cities, all the more to improve their image. The Vilaéchi hold their blood-ties to noble Cannorian houses with high regard. Over the course of the Marlliander Civil War, many of the Vilaéchi turned coat and sided with the Lorentish invaders to protect their landed interests. Once the civil war concluded, those planters unable to flee to safety were the targets of official executions and mob justice alike. In fact, most information that the public has about the inner workings of Marlliander high society is derived from various records and internal communiques looted from the abandoned (and sometimes burning) manors of Vilaéchi traitors.
The Rósrholych are the well traveled dignitaries of Marlliande, recruiting wealthy merchants and experienced diplomats. Heading the trade routes of the republic and mingling with foreign lords, they are the public faces of the planter class, and also the primary purveyors of the orcish slave trade.
Enlisted from the greatest strategists and adventurers in the land, the Drominar are the pioneers and commanders of Marlliande, and are frequently found leading expeditions into new lands and drilling discipline into the armed forces. Many upstart newcomers that have proven their worth to the powers that be often find fame and fortune under the Drominar faction.
Marlliander Civil War[]
Beginning in the late 18th century, as the Trollsbay took its first steps into industrialization, a new power emerged onto the scene behind the closed doors of Marlliander power. Known by various names to their contemporaries, from “reformists” to “radicals,” these individuals made their fortunes from their stranglehold on the rapidly-developing urban economies of Marlliande, away from the entrenched conservatism of the countryside. Though they were maligned by their peers for pivoting away from their long histories as planters, their hoards of wealth spoke for themselves. By paying pittance wages, these early industrialists could cut costs on the room and board required to sustain a large slave population – money that could be spent lining the pockets of elected officials to keep labor laws nonexistent. Though they still kept their retinues of loyal servants and large manor houses out in the countryside, the newcomers represented a shockingly public face of Marlliander power.
Astonishingly, in order to grow their markets and labor pools, the newcomers threw their political support behind the harmonist position within Concord politics, and agitated for abolition in local affairs, breaking with nearly two centuries of steadfast Marlliander soverigntist and pro-slavery support. The newcomers also broke with the export-focused economy of the old guard and sought to build a more self-sufficient economy that could sustain itself within the Trollsbay. Beneath all the layers of decorum and secrecy that the Marlliander House of Barons carried itself with, any observer could tell that not all was well in the halls of power. Procedural votes that would normally pass unanimously started to see vanishingly small margins of victory, and waves of high-profile disappearances rocked the usually-pacific countryside.
When the long-standing tension between the Trollsbay and Lorent boiled over once again in 1832, the conservative planters of Marlliande decided that power diminished under the rose was greater than no power at all, and rallied their armies against their former countrymen. When Lorent finally declared victory over their Trollsbayer enemies, their allies in the Marlliander aristocracy eagerly awaited annexation by an overlord more favorable to their concerns. However, it was not to be; annexation of Marlliande was left off the negotiation table in exchange for a quicker end to the war, and a more favorable financial settlement. Abandoned by their erstwhile allies, the results were bleak for the turncoats; mobs of former slaves roamed the countryside, exacting vengeance upon their disempowered former masters; entire estates were seized by the military, and scores of trials were carried out, many resulting in executions behind closed doors.
As the ashes of the devastated Marlliander countryside cooled, it seemed as if an air of change permeated all of Marlliande. Their outward politics had taken a heel turn, and the newfound support for the harmonist cause opened the way for a reinvigorated movement to centralize the confederation. Riding a wave of internal support, the industrialist barons, along with their loyalist allies, passed a number of economic reforms within the House of Barons to further integrate the Marlliander economy with its fellow confederates. The wave of optimism appeared to even seize hold of the general public, as emergent labor movements disbanded by the dozen, all seemingly of their own volition, presumably in support of the new direction of the nation.
However, before long things were back to business as usual in the United Baronies. The abandoned and destroyed manors of the traitors were quickly snapped up by loyalist planters, slave rights were left virtually untouched from before the war, and the cash-crop-centric economy remained in full force.