| Society Name | Merochas | World Placement | ||||
| Pelou and Modrita River delta on the shore of ele Oceano Aesjareo. | ||||||
| Society Concept | Powerful commercial city-state which controls the key delta of the Pelou and Modrita rivers. The vast majority of all trade to or from Karatas, Bustaba, and Ixtas goes through Merochas' warehouses at some point. Merochas also controls the key confluence of the Chasega, Modrita and Pelou rivers, thus influencing all east-west trade. | |||||
| Terrain | ||||||
| Climate | ||||||
| Society Age | Age Value | 7 | Society Scope | 6 | |||||||
| Years | 733 | Society Location | Merochas | ||||||||
| Founding Date | AV 1 | Geographic Size | Medium Country / Region | ||||||||
| Population | 317,000 | ||||||||||
| Maps | Region: Riverlands | Environment: Merochas | |||||||||
| Related Narrative Environments | Merochas City, Marisma Cran, Hsytha Tribes | ||||||||||
| Major Heritage Groups | Merochasan (Jalani Human), Telrakan (Jalani Human), Jyvelan (Jalani Human), Hsytha (Hsugga) | ||||||||||
| Minor Heritage Groups | Itasu (Itasu Human), Drushae (Drushae), Malyki (Mekys Human), Yanshin (Itasu Human), Staka (Cheyhro Human) | ||||||||||
| Orientation | Equilibrium | Active | Isolation | Value | 15 | ||||||
| Aspects | Acquisition (Wealth) | Merochas can be easily reached by water, either down the courses of the Chasega, Modrita, and Pelou rivers, or by sea. Few accessible land routes exist. To the west, the Wyldlands make travel hazardous, and to the east, the Wastes are practically impassible. Only to the north, along the banks of the rivers, is land travel practical. | |||||||||
| - Mercantile Oligarchy | |||||||||||
| Prevention | |||||||||||
| - Waste Incursions | |||||||||||
| Technology | Value | 18 | Interaction | Value | 17 | ||||||
| Areas of Emphasis | Ocean and river transport, water-related architecture and agriculture, glass, textiles, and steel. | Merochas is a trade nexus, both within the Jalani lands and across the expanse of the Oceano Asjareo. Visitors to Merochas are many and varied. | |||||||||
| Rate of Advancement | 3 | ||||||||||
| Rate of Assimilation | 4 | Subsistance | |||||||||
| Major | Fully Agricultural | ||||||||||
| Innovation | Minor | Fully Agricultural | |||||||||
| Dominant Material | 19 | ||||||||||
| Power / Manufacturing | 19 | Societal Mobility | Sedentary | ||||||||
| Agriculture / Environment | 18 | Subclassification | |||||||||
| Building / Architecture | 18 | ||||||||||
| Transport / Communication | 19 | Kinship | |||||||||
| Military | 18 | Ascendant | Nondominant (tends to the Patriarchal) | ||||||||
| Miscellaneous | 18 | Lineage Determinant | Patrilineal | ||||||||
| Cultural | 17 | Inheritance Pattern | Primogeniture | ||||||||
| Political Infrastructure | Advanced | Divided | Economic Infrastructure | ||||||||
| Aristocracy (Mercantile Oligarchy) | Exchange System | Buying & Selling | |||||||||
| Power | 7 | Economy Type | Credit | ||||||||
| Authority | 6 | Mix of free-market and mercantilist economics. Large monopolies are controlled by the Houses. | |||||||||
| Consent | 6 | ||||||||||
| Constitutional Support | 5 | ||||||||||
| Legal Complexity | 7 | Resource Value | 12 | ||||||||
| Merochas produces exceptional quality glassware and fine quality wines and textiles. Citrus, figs, and avocados are also produced and exported. | |||||||||||
| Military Infrastructure | |||||||||||
| Primary Force | Mercenary | 8 |
Exploitation | 11 | 55% | ||||||
| 4,000
Armatators (Naval Forces) 3,000 Marinos Civicos (Civic Marines) 7,000 Mercenarios |
Merochas has not cultivated all of the available land, and large tracts of the Marisma Cranta remain unexplored by humans (and relatively undeveloped). The Hsytha, although capable of greater resource use, maintain a lower level of exploitation for cultural reasons. | ||||||||||
| Supplementary Forces | |||||||||||
| 6,000 Provisional Militia (Tropas te Casas) | Trade | 19 | |||||||||
| Merochas trades with almost every culture in the region. | |||||||||||
| Relations | 5 | ||||||||||
| Merochas has occasional conflicts with Jyvelik and Telrak, but maintains cordial relations with Belaquin. | |||||||||||
| Religion | Scholastics | ||||||||||
| Tolerance | 15 | Tolerance | 15 | ||||||||
| Prevalence | 15 | Prevalence | 14 | ||||||||
| Diversity | 8 | Diversity | 8 | ||||||||
| The Jalani Pantheon is prevalent, but many other deities are worshipped by various minority groups. | The Universitat (University) is a source of learning and scholarship | ||||||||||
| Arts | Magic | ||||||||||
| Tolerance | 14 | Tolerance | 14 | ||||||||
| Prevalence | 14 | Prevalence | 13 | ||||||||
| Diversity | 12 | Diversity | 16 | ||||||||
| Primarily patronage, but civic sponsorship is growing. | Sorcery, Mana, and Alchemy Origins are prevalent, Spiritism
and Runes are
present, but uncommon. The Colejio te Sortilejio (College of Sorcery) in Merochas is one of the preeminent institutions of Sorcery in the world. |
||||||||||
| Status | |||||||||||
| Primary Foundation | Tradition | Kinship | Custom of Status | 5 | |||||||
| Membership in one of the 17 Casas Crantas (Great Houses) is the primary source of status in Merochas. Carrying one of those 17 names guarantees a high status level, and known relations which carry a different name will have status to the degree that the relationship between the families is generally known. | Rigidity of Status | 6 | |||||||||
| Merochasan customs of status aren't as much ceremonial as they are the natural
accoutrements of wealth, and the easing of restrictions and obligations that wealth can
bring. A significant increase in wealth can result in an increase in status, but status above a certain level requires membership in one of the Casas Crantas (and capability). This can be achieved through marriage or adoption. |
|||||||||||
| Secondary Foundation | Power | Economic | |||||||||
| Economic power is the next best thing to being a member of one of the Great Houses (which all have significant economic power). Note that other forms of power (political, military, etc.) will grant status according to how well that power can be translated into economic power. | |||||||||||
| Other Foundations | Wealth | Ships | |||||||||
| Because ownership of ships is one of the major sources of wealth in Merochas (land ownership being generally restricted to those whose status comes from Casa membership or general economic power), ownership of merchant vessels is a good indicator of status in Merochas. However, any solid basis of wealth will confer some degree of status. | |||||||||||
| Capability | Economic, Artistic, Arcane, or Intellectual | ||||||||||
| Finally, recognized capability is a source of status in Merochas. Economic capability is deemed most important, but artistic, arcane, or intellectual capability is also significant. Political and military capability are important only insofar as they can translate into economic results. | |||||||||||
| Personal Freedom | |||||||||||
| Vertical Aspects | Horizontal Aspects | ||||||||||
| Spiritual | Expression of Worship | Material | Land Ownership | ||||||||
| Merochasans generally are accepting of a wide variety of religious practices, although the majority of Merochasans revere the Jalani pantheon. | Ownership of land in Merochas is limited to a recognized Merochasan Casa
(Crantas or Menoras), a recognized religion (basically the Jalani
Pantheon plus a few especially wealthy and/or influential cults), or civic institutions
(which may hold land directly). This limitation is true both inside the city of
Merochas and in the countryside. Individual land ownership is legally impossible under this system. Even landlords who seem to "own" a building in the city, and collect rents from tenants, do not actually own that property, but rather have contracted to collect rents for the real owners, which are usually the Merochasan Casas, although some sections of the city are actually owned by one of the civic institutions. One example is the Universitat, which owns several blocks of the city and uses the profits to fund some studies. Similarly, the Rontaria own stretches of land along the eastern waterways of the delta, and rent some of that land to tenant farmers. |
||||||||||
| Political | Obligation (Taxes) | ||||||||||
| All sales of goods except fish, grain (and bread), and produce are taxed @ 10%. | |||||||||||
| Political | Obligation (Militia Service) | ||||||||||
| All male Merochasans between the ages of 16 and 45 must serve in the milicia three days each month, or pay a precio espata ("sword-price") of 25 Veryts per month. Most who can afford it pay the tax - the miliciararely trains as a military force, and would be nearly useless in an actual conflict. The milicia is put to use in civic projects - maintaining and repairing dikes, walkways, bridges, dredging canals, etc. Money collected through the precio espata is used to pay for the mercenarios that Merochas employs to defend its borders. | |||||||||||
| Social Archetype | % Pop | Number | Vocational Clusters | Sample Occupation | Status | |||
| Ruling Agency | - | 17 | Merchant (I) | Casa Cranta Patron | 20 | |||
| Ruling | 1 | 3,000 | Official (I) | High Civic Officials | 19 | |||
| Merchant (II) | Casas
Crantas Members Casa Menora Patron |
17-19 | ||||||
| Merchant (III) | Major Independent Merchant | 16-17 | ||||||
| Arcane (I) | Important Vacultato tel Colejio te Sortilejio, other influential adepts | 16-17 | ||||||
| Privileged | 10 | 30,000 | Ecclesiastical (I) | Temple Heads, High Officials | 15-16 | |||
| Arcane (I) | Vacultato and Escolaros tel Colejio te Sortilejio, master adepts of the Cavilto te Merochasa te Cremio Artivicatos | 14-16 | ||||||
| Bureacratic (I) | Powerful Atuaneros (customs officials) | 13-15 | ||||||
| Academic (I) | Universitat Officials, favored provesores | 13-15 | ||||||
| Professional (I) | Ship Captains, Customs Lawyers | 13-16 | ||||||
| Warrior (I) | Capitanes te'os Tropas te Casas Crantas, High officers (Capitane or better) of the Armataor Marinos Civicos. | 12-15 | ||||||
| Professional | 17 | 55,000 | Ecclesiastical (II) | Priests / Priestesses | 10-12 | |||
| Arcane (II) | Colejio students, independent adepts | 9-12 | ||||||
| Bureaucratic (II) | Civic Bureaucrats | 9-12 | ||||||
| Academic (II) | Tutors, Scholars | 9-12 | ||||||
| Professional (II) | Lawyers, Ship Officers, etc. | 9-12 | ||||||
| Artisan (I) | Successful Artisans | 9-12 | ||||||
| Merchant (IV) | Independent Merchants, River Traders | 7-12 | ||||||
| Warrior (II) | Junior Armata or Marinos Civicos Officers, Officers of the Tropas te Casas, major Mercenarios Officers | 7-11 | ||||||
| Fringe (I) | Courtesans | 7-10 | ||||||
| Labor | 70 | 220,000 | Artisan (II) | Artisans, apprentices | 5-8 | |||
| Warrior (III) | Marinos Civicos, Mercenarios, Tropas te Casas. | 5-7 | ||||||
| Labor (I) | Sailors, House servants, Tenant Farmers | 5-7 | ||||||
| Labor (II) | Dockworkers, Boatmen, etc. | 5-7 | ||||||
| Labor (III) | Unskilled Laborers | 3-5 | ||||||
| Fringe (II) | Prostitutes | 2-5 | ||||||
| Marginal | 2 | 6,000 | Fringe (II) | Smugglers | 1-3 | |||
| Fringe (III) | Beggars, Thieves, etc. | 0-2 | ||||||