Mervaria

Mervaria, also called Irza (: 𐭩𐭫𐭰𐭠) and officially The Maternal Society of Irza (Parsi: 𐭠𐭭𐭣𐭬𐭭𐭬𐭠𐭣𐭫𐭠𐭭𐭮𐭫𐭩𐭫𐭰𐭠, tr. Ānǧmn Mādrān Šhr Ērzā), is a country in Northern Kesh. It sits on the Eurybian Sea to the northeast and borders Jungastia to the north and Aftarestan to the east. Mervaria covers an area of 733,572 km2 (283,234 sq mi) and is inhabited by a population of 22 million. The majority of its people live on the coastline and the limited arable land surrounding the Idignis River.

The Dasht-e Namak Desert and Idignis River Valley have been inhabited by Berbers since the 10th millennium BCE and civilized since the 4th millennium BCE. From the 2nd millennium BCE, the Mihrani migration and conquest of the region led to Mihrani dominance in Mervarian's coastal eastern regions, with the indigenous Berber population being pushed into the interior and beyond the Kamarband Mountains.

Although the country is most well known economically for the export of metals and salt, Mervaria underwent a phase of mass industrialization and partial liberalization or decentralization from the 1960s to the 1990s. While raw natural resources still makes up the vast majority of exports, the importance of the services sector has grown under Mervaria's centrally planned economy. However, modernization and post-industrialization efforts reduced significantly following a devastating drought and famine from 1999 to 2002 and a corresponding economic depression. Mervaria only returned to its pre-1999 gross domestic product (GDP) in 2011.

The government Mervaria is a constitutional monarchy predicated on the ideals of Mervarian Maternalism. Within this theory, the monarch governs with near absolute authority but, either out of idealist benevolence or pragmatic political realities, shares power and brokers deals with kin associations that include family clans, labour and employers unions, and other interest groups. Clan Khavarid holds claim to the Mervarian monarchy, and Banbishn Pantea IV currently rules. The Khavarid Matriarchy's rule was first established in 1741, after the Maternal Revolt overthrew the absolutely dictatorial Kordestanid Patriarchy. The Mervarian government is widely criticized as being illiberal and paternal, with no democratically held elections, widespread corruption, violent suppression of dissidents, and hostility towards foreigners.

Etymology
The term Mervaria is an and Anglicization of the Tipsprek word Marvarye, which is directly derived from the Middle Mihrani mwlwʾlyt (/morwārīd/) meaning "pearl". The term was first applied by Hawkreath explorer Latimer Brooker during his Eurybian expedition in the 1280s. It was a reference to the colloquialism "string of pearls" used to describe an indefinite area controlled by five prosperous city-states on what is now the coast of modern Mervaria.

The less common endonym Irza, Anglicized from the Mervarian is Ērza, which is believed to have been derived from the Sumerian Urza, the name of an ancient city on modern Mervaria's coast meaning "the city of gems". The term is more often used by Mervarian emigrants and scholars in the field of North Keshan studies.

Economy
Mervaria has a mixed economy characterized by a high degree of central planning and publicly owned enterprises, mineral exports, and moderate levels of corruption. The majority of sectors considered by the state to be "essential", such as agriculture, utilities, mining, emergency services, and transportation, are controlled at the national-level. However, certain non-essential services—such as small retail, certain types of manufacturing, and tourist industries—are generally regulated by local clans and controlled by independent businessowners or labour-employer associations. As of 2020, 53% of the Mervarian economy was made up of the industry sector, 42% was services, and 5% was agriculture. The Mervarian economy developed rapidly under Pantea III's post-Great Kesh War economic reforms of the 1960s and 1970s which saw increases in industrialization, rural electrification, literacy, irrigation infrastructure, urban higher education, desalination, and the water retention in the capital region's Lake Abma. Mervaria's exports are led by its mining industry and salt production, with notable export products including coal, salt, cobalt, and natural gas harvested offshore.

Mervaria's currency is the taj (Ʈ), literally translated as "crown".

Infrastructure
Mervaria went through two phases of urban development: the first in the 1930s following the Grand Campaigns and the second from the 1960s to 1980s during and immediately after Pantea III's economic reforms. The first urbanization resulted in the mass migration of Mihranis from the outlying rural areas centred on oases and coastal villas to Mervaria's four major cities. The second urbanization resulted in a wave of modernization, investment in advanced infrastructure, and an opening up of the Mervarian economy to limited foreign enterprise and investment. Several major infrastructure projects were initiated and completed between 1960 and 2000 associated with Pantea III's reforms, including the expansion of the Iraba International Aerodrome and University of Iraba, economic diversification, the connection of all four major cities by rail, the construction of two coastal desalination plants with the aid of Kayan expertise, and the construction of several solar thermal power plants and urban wind farms.

Tourism
Although a relatively minor industry, the Mervarian government has drastically increased investment in the country's tourism industry since the opening of Mervarian society in the 1970s. Key attractions the Mervaria has attempted to capitalize on include ancient Mervarian ruins, the highly developed capital region, and Lake Abma—which has novelty as a high salinity lake with resultingly high buoyancy. As part of the effort, the Iraba International Aerodrome was expanded in 1993.

Geography
Mervaria covers an area of 733,572 km2 (283,234 sq mi) and is the 26th largest country in the world. Its defining natural features are the Dasht-e Namak Desert, the western branch of the Kamarband Mountains, and the Idignis River Valley. The country's industrial and urban region is centered on three coastal cities and the capital city of Iraba which sits on a peninsula jutting into Lake Abma (derived from Sumerian, lit. ab meaning water and mun meaning salt).

Climate
The majority of Mervaria is a climate with a band of  foothills influenced by the elevation of the Kamarband Mountains. Rainfall in the desert lowlands is rare, but Mervaria's mountainous regions do experience snowfall in the winter.

Government and politics
Mervaria is a  ruled by Clan Khavarid. The current monarch is Banbishn Pantea IV who ascended to the throne in 1989 following the death of her mother Pantea III. The Mervarian monarchy directly oversees the Maternal Secretariat, which as the country's national ministries and central bureaucracy administers national law and manages the relationships between special interest groups known as kin associations. The Maternal Secretariat is headed by the First Secretary, a member of Mervaria's appointed by the monarch to the post. The First Secretary acts as a de facto head of government. The current First Secretary is Touran Vakili, member of Clan Amanid, who was appointed to the position in 2011.

Although not officially recognized as subdivisions of the Mervarian state, in practice family clans outside of Clan Khavarid control large swaths of territory, particularly in the rural and interior regions. While the Mervarian government delegates all powers not endowed with the national government in the Maternal Code—Mervaria's founding document—typically the Maternal Secretariat must negotiate with family clans to establish the powers of both parties in any given territory. This has led to moderate government corruption in some areas, an inconsistent application of national law, and the de facto semi-autonomy of Mervaria's Berber clans.

Maternalist ideology
The unifying principle of Mervarian governance is the, ideology known as Mervarian Maternalism. The ideology is defined by a strong, unitary central government that acts in the best interest of the social units (sometimes referred to as "kin associations") that make up society. In the grand scale, the Mervarian monarchy is the ultimate arbiter, mediating all disputes between social units and ensuring that policy decisions are in the greater good for the many. The term "mediated equality" is sometimes used to describe this system as, in theory, the goal of Mervarian Maternalism is economic and social equality for the masses. However, to achieve this, its advocates believe that a benevolent mediator must have the power to prevent exploitation and the domination of one group over another. The dynamic of benevolent mediation is analogized as the relationship between a mother and her children, where the mother has absolute authority, but acts in their wellbeing at all times (including preventing one child from harming another). The Mervarian monarchy serves this maternal role, with the Banbishn or "Queen" overseeing a large bureaucracy that carries out her powers. This "maternalist" system is distinguished from what Mervarian Maternalist scholars define as pre-revolutionary Mervarian Paternalism, where the Patriarch, while espousing benevolent intentions, in practice wielded their power to serve their own interests and the interests of their close associates over those of the masses. This characterization has been attributed to the overthrow of the patriarchal Clan Kordestanid as the dominant family in Mervaria, in favour of Clan Khavarid and its matriarchal allies.

The kin associations which the the Mervarian monarchy mediates are non-standard groups that represent strictly defined aspects of Mervarian society. The most common are family clans (who control land and sometimes represent economic minorities), labour syndicates (who represent the workers in specific industries), and employer syndicates (which represent the employers and are paired with a given labour syndicate). The Mervarian monarchy alone has the power to declare kin associations legitimate, which limits the number of stakeholders involved in government-led negotiations.

Mervarian Maternalists generally critique capitalism as an evolution of the feudal system that the Mervarian people, led by the current Mervarian monarchy, revolted against in the 18th century. They argue that the only members of capitalist society who actually have the liberty to pursue happiness are the wealthy, and that workers who must struggle to survive are not truly free, even if endowed with de jure freedoms. Mervarian Maternalists likens this system to a mother abandoning their child. At the same time, Mervarian Maternalists generally oppose socialist forms of society predicated on complete worker control of the state. The reasoning is that left to their own rule, the working class would destroy the harmony between the social, economic and spiritual aspects of society, and work against their own self interest. In the absence of a wise benevolent mediator, it is argued that Mervarian society would devolve into, the nation's modernization would halt, and the least fortunate would be thrust back into a state of subsistence. These positions have been used in the 20th and 21st centuries to suppress both socialist movements inspired by Aftarestan and wealthy businessowners and clans who challenged the Mervarian monarchy.

More recent currents in Mervarian Maternalist thought influenced by the Great Kesh War and revolution in Aftarestan have also integrated anti-Artemian imperialism and pan-Mihrani nationalism. This stems from the belief that the original "small" scope of Mervarian ideology, which focused primarily on alleviating the socio-economic woes within Mervaria by mediating domestic relationships, would not be sufficient to ensure the prosperity of the Mervarian people. Under Banbishn Pantea III (ruled 1963-1989) pitied the Mihranis who could not free themselves from Artemian oppression, as well as those who fell to socialism. Under her rule, Mervarian Maternalist theory grew to view Mervaria as a vanguard nation that would one day incorporate all Mihranis under its system of government to protect them from the Artemians and Aravans. Although the Mervarian monarchy has not directly threatened its neighbour Aftarestan (a state with a large Mihrani population) with military action since the introduction of its policy, the growth of pan-Mihrani nationalism in Mervaria has increased tensions. Additionally, the shift in ideology has led to an increase in tensions with Artemian powers on the Eurybian—particularly Tiperyn—and the marginalization of the country's interior -speaking minority.

Mervarian Maternalism is criticized globally as an illiberal ideology.

Military
The Maternal Society of Mervaria has three categories of military forces: those charged with protecting Mervarian territory from foreign forces, those charged with protecting the Maternal Society and Mervarian monarchy, and regional militias administered by dominant subnational clans. The first type includes the Mervarian Guards (including ground and air forces), Maritime Guards, and Lake Guards which report to the Secretary of War. The second type includes the Maternal Companions, which is a professional corps of elite troops that report directly to the Mervarian monarch.

Historically, the Maternal Companions are an all-volunteer force with inductees hailing entirely from Clan Khavarid territory—territory controlled directly by the Mervarian monarch. In addition to receiving higher funding for training and equipment, the Maternal Companions are considered to by the political elite of the Mervarian military, with its members pledging loyalty directly to the Mervarian monarch rather than the Maternal Society (as the Mervarian Guards do) or lesser clan chiefs. The force has taken the role of Mervaria's quick reaction forces, with part of its rank acting as special operations forces. But, the reason it was created in 1750 was to act as a counter-coup d'état force should the clan militias revolt.

Since Pantea III's softening of Mervaria's relations with outsiders in the 1960s and 1970s, the Mervarian military has conducted several military exercises and engaged in a number of military exchanges with countries aligned to itself in terms of terrain/climate, threats, and ideology. The most recent of these was held in SiWallqanqa during early 2022. The two countries forces, which included a contingent of Mervaria's Idignis Riverwalkers, trained in counter-insurgency missions against a simulated communist militant group. This event caused minor upset within the Farsi-speaking regions of Eastern Mervaria, due to the influence of Aftari-supported socialist groups in the region.

Language
The national language of Mervaria is Parsi, alternatively known as Mervarian Mihrani. Parsi is a Mihrani dialect closely related to Farsi or standard Mihrani as spoken in Aftarestan and Nasiria. The two languages diverged during the Middle Ages as most Mihrani territories, except the area of modern day Mervaria, were subject to Muslim/Aravan conquest. Although Mervaria continued to be subject to Aravan influence via trade and limited migration, Mervarian Mihrani more closely resembles a direct evolution of Middle Mihrani than other Mihrani languages. As a result, Parsi (derived from the Middle Mihrani Pārsik) is the only major Mihrani language to use an evolved, which was pushed out elsewhere in the Mihrani world by the Aravan script. But, despite phonemic differences, Parsi and Farsi are largely mutually intelligible.

Language in Mervaria falls mostly along ethnic lines, with 95% of Mervaria's Mihrani population speaking Parsi. The remainder either speak Berber, mostly in the mountainous interior, or Farsi in the border regions with Aftarestan. Meanwhile, 82% of Mervaria's Berber population speak a. The remaining 18% of Parsi-speakers are mainly concentrated in Mervaria's Mihrani-majority urban areas.

Religion
The vast majority of Mervaria's Mihrani population practices one of many related polytheistic religions, while the Berber minority practices an unrelated form of polytheism and the smaller Aravan minority generally practices Sunni Islam. Mervarian polytheism, broadly known academically as xxx (combined from the Middle Mihrani words xxx meaning "xxx" and and xxx meaning "xxx"),