Kingdom of Morrighe

The Kingdom of Morrighe (pron. ˈmoɹi) lies along the western coast of Eltcarem. It was founded as a small town during the First Era, but eventually became a powerful kingdom late in that era. Morrighe was the first human settlement to reach the size and stature of a city and a kingdom. In modern times, Morrighe is a minor kingdom, really more of a city-state, and in several points in its history it was subject to outside ruling bodies.

Structure

The king rules Morrighe with absolute authority. He is advised in the city by a council made up of other nobles, military leaders, diplomats, scholars, and guild leaders, but this council has not power or authority of its own. Some kings have acted as little more than puppets of the council, but other kings have acted largely without consulting the council. At the end of the day, the council's job is simply to advise the king. Under the king in the city is Grand Duke who mainly handles the day-to-day affairs of the city. The towns are each ruled a local noble who are largely allowed to rule as they please, but they must obey any and all decrees from the king. The villages are usually ruled by a noble who also rules several other villages, much like towns.

History

No one knows exactly when Morrighe was founded except that it happened sometime in the First Era. It started out as a small village that, like most other settlements in Eltcarem, did not like being ruled by dragons. The particular dragon that ruled Morrighe's region was known as Eogu the Deceiver. One day, Morrighe's militia leader, Ewyn Abalain decided to fight the dragon in a poorly advised attempt to free the land. When the militia arrived, Eogu offered to make Ewyn a king in exchange for a pledge of service. Ewyn immediately accepted the offer. He returned to Morrighe with Eogu, who announced that Ewyn was now their king. With the dragon's support, Morrighe grew and Ewyn conquered the surrounding lands, making Morrighe a proper kingdom. With Morrighe's prosperity, Eogu demanded more tributes that he had originally been taking, but now Ewyn and Morrighe were happy to pay the tributes because Eogu was helping them prosper. By the end of his life, Ewyn had declared Eogu a god to his people, with mixed reactions. Nevertheless, Eogu was worshiped in the city for over 400 years, when the Abalain dynasty fell with the assassination of Bran Abalain II in 1E 2170. At this point Morrighe stopped serving Eogu the Deceiver, though some pockets of worshipers still remained for some time.

Morrighe fell from prominence in the Second Era when it was conquered by the elvish kingdom Tharesquin. It remained part of this powerful kingdom until the early Third Era, when Tharesquin was itself conquered by the Great Dwarvish Empire. Shortly thereafter, Morrighe rebelled and was able to gain its independence before enough dwarvish soldiers could arrive to quell the rebellion. All of the land around the city was part of the empire, however, so Morrighe could not regain its status as a kingdom. After the empire's collapse at the end of the Third Era, Morrighe regained much of its former land in the power vacuum. Many wars broke out in the region in a struggle for control of the various lands that had been part of the empire, and much of Morrighe's land was taken.

In modern times, Morrighe remains a small kingdom. The city still stands, though much of it is empty. After the empire's collapse, famine spread and much farmland was burned in the ensuing wars, and without the long trade routes of an empire, food became scarce. In the current peace, Morrighe has control of land reaching out to the coast and a little ways inland. Farms are slowly regrowing, but Morrighe never rose back to the position of power it held in the First Era.

Demography and Population

The city itself has around 10,000 people, mostly human. A few elves live in the city, though most were expelled after Morrighe became free from Tharesquin. There is a strong anti-elf sentiment within the city. The surrounding towns and villages under Morrighe's protection are almost completely inhabited by humans.

Territories

The Kingdom of Morrighe occupies land around the ancient city of the same name in western Feroth. This includes a small swath of land from the coast reaching a short ways inland past the city. Most of this is farmland, although there are some fishing villages along the coast and some other small towns and villages.

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Demonym

Morrish

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Economic System

Barter system

Currency

Morrighe uses the same gold, silver, and copper coin system used by the rest of Eltcarem.