The United Kingdoms of Mersch

[Mersch]

THE UNITED KINGDOMS OF MERSCH

Four old Kingdoms sit around the lake of Mersch. In the 15th Century King Manfred Krückel managed to get the four Kingdoms to swear on oath of loyalty to him and was named High King. Since then there has been a formation of a new political system where each of the four Kingdoms has a dynastic family, the head of which is called the   Fürst.

The leader of the nation is the eldest child of the previous High King (Before 1950 the law stated it had to be a male however since then the law simply says eldest child). Should they have no child the title passes to one of the other Fürst as determined by a vote of the people from the Kingdom the deceased High King is from. This means that a new dynasty begins.


Population:- 27.8million
Capital City - Wahlstadt
Current Monarch - High Queen Philippina (Pippa) Jespersen

[Mersch]

THE FOUR KINGDOMS

Winseler Fürst - High Queen Philippina Jespersen

Attert Fürst - King Kaspar Martens

Marnach Fürst - King Wenzeslaus Lafrentz

Kiischpelt Fürst - King Nikolaas Kerner

[Mersch]

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE

Mersch is a monarchy where the reigning monarch has a significant amount of power. No law can exist without the monarch having a role. In addition there is a Council of Four and the Combined Council. The Council of Four is made up of 40 individuals appointed by the leader of each of the four Kingdoms that make up Mersch. The Combined Council is slected by citizens every four years. There is also a cabinet of Ministers who oversee certain areas of government on behalf of the monarch.  There are three routes to laws being created.

Route 1 - The Monarch presents legislation to the Council of the Four. As long as the Council give the legislation approval it can become law.

Route 2 - The Council of the Four may present legislation to the Combined Council. Assuming this gets the majority of the vote it is given to the monarch who may accept or reject it.

Route 3 - Any member of the Combined Council may present a piece of legislation. The relevant Minister is then responsible for determining whether it should be debated in Council. If it passes the Combined Council it goes to the Council of the Four and then finally the monarch.

The Four different Kingdoms are controlled by a Fürst who is responsible for maintaining local infrestructure, setting educational policy and investing funding provided by central government.

THE COUNCIL OF THE FOUR


Each Fürst appoints ten members of the Council. Once someone has been appointed they may only be replaced in three circumstances, death, resignation or criminal conviction.

THE COMBINED COUNCIL

Each of the Four Kingdoms elects 50 representatives every four years. This is done by areas known as Communes each electing a representative. Any citizen of Mersch who has lived in a Commune for five years may stand for election. To be able to vote you must be a citizen of Mersch and over the age of 18.

[Mersch]

RELIGION IN THE UNITED KINGDOMS

48% LABRYSISM



The largest faith in Mersch is Labrysism. It believes that there are two creators in the Universe. One of these creators is the force of light (good) and the other the force of darkness (evil). A constant spiritual and physical battle wages on both Mundus and in the spirit world. Throughout history the Dark Creator has created life-forms that have presented challenges to the creation of the Light Creator. This has seen mankind have to wage spiritual and physical battles.  They believe that most of the religions on Mundus believe in a similar battle just dressed in different forms as a way for the Creators to convince different regions to follow them. Most of the mythical forms in folklore have parallels in the faith. The faithful believe that the Lake Mersch is a gateway used by the two Creators and that the Merschians have been placed as the front line guards in that struggle.

The people pray to the Light Creator to give us help in fending of the Dark Creator. They also offer gifts to the Light Creator throughout the year when they celebrate victories over forces of evil. The religion teaches that a body needs to be kept in good condition ready to do battle.

The religions symbol is a two headed axe, it symbolises the constant war between good and evil and also the need for being ready for battle against evil.

TBC

19% CULT OF HELUS

Historians believe that the Cult of Helus arrived with merchants from East Moreland at some point in the 9th Century. The Cults belief in a battle between the Gods and the Underlords was something that many followers of Labrysism could associate with and so the faith found a foothill and began to grow.

15% CHRISTIANITY (Mainly Catholic)

In the 11th Century missionaries arrived in the region and managed to begin conversions. Saint Adjutor is widely respected in the nation due to his connection with being the patron saint of swimmers, boaters, and drowning victims, all things connected to the Lake that is central to the Four Kingdoms.

10% DUALITY

While the Cult of Helus came with traders and found very little issue being incorporated into the nation it took much longer for the Duality Faith. It came with merchants from Heimney at a similar time to the Cult of Helus however its insistance that the monarchs of Heimney represent the Gods choosen representative caused issues of loyalty and so the faith did not grow as well as the Cult.

6% ISLAM

With the nation having taken part in a type of slave trade until the early 1700's many Zimalians were purchased from their families or from warring tribes and brought to Mersch as servants to wealthy families. Today many of their descendants have reconnected with their ancestors religion. In addition the border town of Zarabe had a rather large trading outpost run by one of the tribes that makes up Zimalia and these rich merchants built large mosques and plazas to allow the faith to be practiced easily.

2% OTHERS

As the nation has no subscribed religion there are a wide number of other faiths practiced within the Four Kingdoms.

[Mersch]

THE UNIFIED ARMY
61,200 Soldiers / 19,250 Reservists

120 x Tanastus Main Battle Tank
180 x Iarizkar Infantry Fighting Vehicle
200 x Agilmund Armoured Personnel Carrier
80 x Ragnhild Reconnaissance Vehicle
160 x Machorel Mine Resistant Vehicle
400 x Madelger Mobility Vehicle
200 x Laiamicho Light Vehicle
30 x Sabene Self Propelled Howitzer
25 x Hache Towed Howitzer
40 x Marplay Multiple Rocket Launcher
15 x Saevil SAM System
10 x Hadawardus Helicopter
5 x Ubbi UAV

[Mersch]

THE UNIFIED ROYAL NAVY (URN)
28,100 Sailors
6,100 Reservists

7 x Stettin Class Submarine

1. Eisenstadt
2. Neusiedl
3. Oberwat
4. Mattersburg
5. Pinkafeld
6. Parndorf
7. Neudorft

2 x Hamburg CLass Helicopter Carrier

1. Jennersdorf
2. Gols

5 x Dorpat Class Destroyer

1. Gussing
2. Grosspetersdorf
3. Neufeld
4. Oberpullendorf
5. Kittsee

8 x Falsterbo Class Frigate

1. Deutschkreutz
2. Rechnitz
3. Bruckneudorf
4. Hornstein
5. Siegendorf
6. Pottsching
7. Purbach
8. Frauenkirchen

6 x Polotsk Class Patrol Boat

1. Forchtenstein
2. Rohrbach
3. Wiesen
4. Stegersbach
5. Steinbrunn
6. Oberschutzen

3 x Malmo Class Minehunter

1. Illmitz
2. Schattendorf
3. Andau

4 x Anklam Class Fast Attack Boat

1. Morbisch
2. Zurndorf
3. Monchhof
4. Rudersdorf

[Mersch]

THE UNIFIED AIR FORCE (UAF)

17,634 Airmen / 4, 188 Reservists

45 x F-2 Dragonskin Multi Role Fighters
30 x F-15 Fae Multi Role Fighters
25 x F-3 Brownie Multi-Role Fighter
4 x E-7 Pixie AEWAC Fighter
15 x E-6 Banshee Electronic Warfare Fighter
5 x P-3 Leprechaun Maritime Patrol Aircraft
5 x K-78 Elf Tanker aircraft
9 x C-124 Kobold Transport Aircraft
22 x C-32 Changeling Transport Aircraft
25 x T-9 Devas Basic Trainer
25 x T-20 Dryad Advanced Trainer / Light Fighter
4 x U1-Gnome Surveillance UAV
10 x U-2 Kelpie Combat UAV
15 x H-22 Nymph Helicopter
20 x H-15 Salamander Helicopter