Nation of the Monomak

Imagine a country that had no boundaries, that was defined by its people rather than by its land. The Nation of the Monomak is tribe-like and nomadic. Their boundaries are where their smallest ships roam, their capital where the biggest City-ship sails. The kraken swarm around the milling ships, their godly power bestowed upon the sailors of the Nation. Luck be with the poor intruders who come upon the the Fleet, for they will need it to escape alive.

Few of the citizens have set foot upon land, and their kraken tattoos set terror into the heart of those who see it. They are known as pirates, brutal and savage, yet they say they are simply "protecting our borders" despite their borders' ever-shifting behavior. After all, outsiders are not allowed within the protection of the Holy Nation.

Structure

Captains of each of the smaller ships are generally independent and sometimes go completely rogue without many consequences. City-Ships however, generally have at least three captains who each watch over and command a section of the city. Despite their general independence, captains do come together for the annual Games. The Games, while ostensibly a gymkhana, is also when the captains decide on general policies and the Admiral is chosen. The Admiral is the head of state and of government, serving as a figurehead and a politically-potent ruler.

Public Agenda

The Monomak simply wish to keep to themselves. They do not tolerate the land-locked, as they can never understand the sea.

Assets

Massive stocks from various border-protection ventures rest beneath the City-Ships. This includes loot from every culture and nation, except perhaps the K'hili Nation, Monomak's only ally and fellow sea-worshiper.

The Fleet contains seven huge City-Ships, hundreds of ships that would by any other comparison be considered huge, and tens of thousands of tiny personal ships such as iliroks.

History

In 898, three of the Northern Drekar Fjöllan tribes organized an expedition to explore the sea. They discovered the Aelgari Continent and traveled all the way to the South Aelgar Sea, where they discovered the newly formed K'hili Nation. The Islanders welcomed them as a trading partner, but upon discovering how far they had traveled, sent representatives to explore the Northern Tribelands for themselves. The Drekar Fjöllan explorers guided the K'hili delegation to their homeland and after years of tentative trade, a supranational Drekar Fjöllan-Islander navy was formed to protect the trade route.

In 941, one of the Drekar Fjöllan ships refused to pay any of their cargo to the supranational navy, saying that the navy was akin to pirates. The navy did not hesitate to seize the ship and its cargo. The Drekar Fjöllan declared that the K'hili Nation had coopted the navy. An Islander delegation blamed both the navy and the Drekar Fjöllan. Trade stopped, tensions rose, but neither of the nations provided the resources the supranational navy needed to survive. To obtain necessary food and water, the navy began seizing any ships that came within its territory, deepening the divide between K'hili and Drekar Fjöll. Without regular recruits coming to fill empty posts, the children of the original sailors were taught the trade, and they began to form their own traditions and cultures. Both founding countries officially dissolved any connection with their rogue navy in 986 and in 987 the navy declared itself an independent nation, naming themselves after the first Admiral, Monomak.

In the years that followed, the sailors' pidgin of K'hili and Drekar was recognized as the official language, Moak. Weavers from the Southern Archipelago combined their skills in manipulating Life Threads with the Northern Seers' skills in tracing the possible routes Threads could take. Magic flourished, the government was established and the seven great City-Ships were built to resist fire, clean water, deal with sewage, and even grow crops.

Centuries later, after capturing an Aelgari ship, the red sickness swept across the Fleet. In the cramped quarters and already low-nutrition diets of the Monomak, it devastated the population. Riots, civil unrest and skirmishes with the Aelgari Empire led to a loss of the Journeymen magic-users and the nation fell into an economic recession. Centuries still later, Monomak finally recovered, but with much of the ancient technology and civilization lost.

Demography and Population

The majority of the population (60%-70%) is Monomak. However, there is a large minority of Islanders and while most people claim Monomak as their primary ethnicity, there are people from all over the world, and everyone tends to be mixed. The people have their traditions and their culture in common, but origins are ignored.

The birth rate is high, but the average lifespan is rather low compared to stable geopolitical states. Ignoring child deaths, the average lifespan is a meager 37 years. Perhaps because of this constant danger of death, marriage is a complex affair, but the best approximation is that each person raises 3.7 children.

Military

The Monomak Navy is the fiercest in the world. They have ships from all over the world, each with different benefits and weaknesses. The Fleet is headed by seven admirals, each residing as the governor of a City-Ship and assigned to a portion of the fighting ships.

Foreign Relations

The Nation of the Monomak steadily traded with K'hili for a hundreds of years before the Aelgari invaded. After the disasters of the Twelve-Year's War, the Fleet retreated into itself, earning its reputation as a pirate nation by brutally raiding and taking any ships that entered its territory. No country dares to have relations with the Nation anymore, and the only ones who would- the K'hili Nation, is a stateless nation under the cruel rule of the Aelgari Empire.

Education

The average education is quite low. While most citizens are highly skilled in sailing, apprenticed by their parental units, or taught by the crew, the ability to read and write is mostly found among captains, not anyone lower ranked. There are not strict classes however, as captains can come from any position, since captains' children are too many for there to be a direct lineage without disputes.

Blessed by the Sea

Founding Date

987

Type

Geopolitical, Nomadic tribe

Alternative Names

The Fleet, the Monomak Pirate-Nation, the Monomak

Demonym

Monomak

Government System

Stratocracy

Power Structure

Thalassocracy

Economic System

Gift economy

Major Exports

None.

This is not a thing the Fleet does.

Major Imports

Monomak imports (takes) a huge supply of food, fruits, vegetables and spices. They also (without consent) import most of their fresh water and complex tools. Without these imports (thefts) the Nation could not survive, since it has long lost the skill to grow the necessary foodstuffs on the City-Ships.

Legislative Body

Laws are written by the Admirals themselves. However, the Admiral has to gain the approval of 2/3 of the captains at the annual Games for these laws to be put into action. The Admiral also cannot counter the first seven laws passed by Monomak herself.

Judicial Body

There is a system of Courts, based on the original Court Martial system put in place by the Drekar Fjöllan and K'hili governments. It was originally trial by the three highest ranking captains, but disputes are now mostly settled by duels or at the Games. Duels can take many forms, from sword fights to races, but usually require one witness from each duelist and three impartial judges.

Official Languages

• K'hili
• Moak

Neighboring Nations

• K'hili Nation

Related Ethnicities

• Islander
• Monomak