Mervaria

Mervaria, also called Irza and officially The Maternal Society of Mervaria, 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 56 million.

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 Shahbanu 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 thr 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.

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 Shahbanu or "Queen of Queens" 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 Shahbanu 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.