Martones

Martones (Tilennan: ; : Saint-Martin ) is a in Western Tilenno, located in the region of Làmosa. With a population of more than 3.7 million in 2018, it is the 4th most populous city-state within the federation. it is home to the 3rd largest metropolitan area, which is called Saint-Martin, which is the same as the name of the state. It is mainly situated at the western end of Tilenno within the Tethys Ocean. It is a city-state comprised of multiple islands and island groups of which the island of Naudo is the largest and most populated, other important islands are Point d'Orléans, the islands of Angeiro, Nède, Îles des Figues, Île d'Or, Lèsena and the westernmost territory of de facto Tilenno, Dèreida Feiro. The region is sometimes referred to as the Guardian Angel of Tilenno because of it's large Christian population and history during the Tilennan Christian Genocide. While it doesn't share a land border with any other state, it lies in close proximity to Telero Gosho in the east and Lonemá Oniso in the south west.

The name of the city-state comes from the Tilennisation of the name of the city of Saint-Martin, the largest metropolitan area in the city-state and 3rh largest overall, which itself derived its name from the Ovancian saint and patron saint of the region. The state is also sometimes referred to as Martone by the Ovancian population and the city as Sànatae Martones by the Tilennans to distinguish the two. Other notable municipalities in Martones are Jumo, Étreiha, which both lie on the island of Naudo together with Saint-Martin and Reicha Dèreido Feiro, which is the westernmost city of Tilenno and quite a way from the other Martonean islands.

Martones is known for being the most Christian state in Tilenno as it was one of the few regions spared by the Tilennan Christian Genocide due to its shear power. Some notable sites within the city-state are the Theatre of Junon, the Palace des Fleurs, Saint Martin's Cathedral, World's End, Point de Mas peak and Genocide remembrance museum. The region also offers many great cultural events like concerts, art installations and festivals. The annual Major Solo Festival of the ATL, Sanatae Martones Open or Saint Martins Open is held in Saint-Martin.

History

 * see also: History of Tilenno



Ancient History
Before the Ovancian colonisation, the island of Naude was considered a bit of a outskirt of the Làgorans and was lightly populated. But when the Ovancians reached Tilenno they saw the strategic position of the island and decided to conquer it. The native population couldn't put up much of a resistance and so the island fell into Ovancian hands early on. The old city of Naudo was burned to the ground and the new city of Saint-Martin was founded soon after by Louis Carpentier in 1548. Because the island proved fertile, the colony flourished and provided many exotic crops for the Ovancian homeland. In addition the island had an important strategic position as it was close to the rest of Tilenno but isolated enough to be easy to defend and big enough to be self-sustaining. The city of Saint-Martin quickly grew out to be one of the biggest of the Ovancian colonial possessions and functioned as the de facto capital and trading centre of the Tilennan colonies, even though it never officially got that title which belonged to Jean-Renais. Many other smaller islands around Naude also got colonised and are now still part of the city-state of Martones.

When the colonies got added back to the Tilenno during reunification, Martones was the odd one out. Because it had such a small native population at the start and the islands knew the biggest immigration from Ovancia out of anywhere, the islands were now predominantly white or mixed race, Vallsian speaking and Christian, in contrast to the other regions, which still had remnants of the Tilennan way of life. Because of this, heavy efforts to retilennisize Martones were made over the coming centuries, but this often clashed with the identity of Martones, which preferred to stick to its Artemian roots. Martones was also one of the largest regions by population in Tilenno so they were harder to control than the other colonised regions. During the Tilennan Christian Genocide, Martones could remain a safe-haven for Tilennan Christians and persecuting here was therefore minimal. Martones was often hailed as the guardian angel of Tilenno.

Modern History
To this day, Martones remains a outlier within the Tilennan Federation. Even though retilennisation efforts are gaining group, the islands are still majority white or mixed race, speak Ovancian and practise Christianity. The seal of the city-state also reflects its Christian roots, although they were barred from using a Christian cross on their flag. During the Civil War of Tilenno Martones fought on neither side, instead it tried to gain independence from the federation, with the rest of Ovancian Tilenno and Zesha. This attempt however failed when the royalist defeated the liberalists and they joined forces to bring back control to the unruly areas. While their attempt at independence failed, they still managed to establish the Ovancian Community, which gave some autonomy to the Vallsian speaking regions of Tilenno.

During the Osorra-Tilenno War, Martones was the regions to condemn the actions of government the most and refused to pay taxes for reparations in the south.

Geography
Martones is mainly centred around the island of Naude, sometimes wrongly referred to as Martones. It is the largest and most populous island in the state. It also is home to the highest peak, Point de Mas at 827m. The largest river of the island is the Calon, which flows through Saint Martin. The island of Naude is also home to Jumo and Étreiha, the second and third largest city in the state. West of Naude lies the Martones sea in which lies the Martones Island cluster. The islands belonging to this cluster are: Nède home to Bae Nedo, Île des Figues, Île d'Or home to Aurejo, Peregne, Almisse, Auramme, Drasse and Riade. There are some smaller less important islands as well.

In addition to that cluster there are two more. The first one is the Angeiro island group, with the largest islands of La Maladesse, Île Blanc, Îles des Anjous and Île St Antonin. The city of Nouvelle-Angers is located on Îles des Anjous. The second cluster is the Edge of the World Cluster, mainly consisting of Lonema Radó and Lonema Có, on which Reicha Dèreido Feiro lies. It is called this because it is the westernmost part of Tilenno and was believed to be the last piece of land before the world ended. Besides that the secluded islands of Point d'Orléans and Lèsena are also part of the state. Because the state includes so many spread out islands it is the widest and longest state of Tilenno, even though ranking as one of the smallest area wise.

Populations
Martones has significantly increased in population over the past century. There were 2 major drops in population from around the time of the Civil War and the Osorra-Tilenno War.

State
The current lord following the 2018 General Elections is Lisa Magnoc from the confederalist party Glaela Lete. Her terms end in 2024. The leader of the City-State Council is Julie Laforte from GLL as well. The City-State council consists of 46 representatives of which 29 come from the municipality of Saint-Martin alone. Jumo, Étreiha and Reicha Dèreido Feiro are the only municipalities to send 2 representatives. All other municipalities only get to send one.

Federal
In the Federal Elections of 2018 the confederal and pro-autonomy party Glaela Lete won the city-state of Martones with 43% of the votes, securing 7 seats in the chamber of representatives. The runner-up was the socialist party of VSK with 4 seats, followed by FDL with 3 seats. GXD and MND both got 1 seat from Martones. Most of the votes for GLL came from the island of Naude and the surrounding cluster, they mainly vote GLL because they believe they deserve more autonomy. The north is dominated by VSK, which is more in line with how the Ovancian speaking regions tend to vote. The Tilennan majority islands of the South however voted for FDL.

The two senators from Martones belong to GLL and are Arnaud Duchateau and Éluard Anvresse. In addition the popular activist Amélie Phantome, born in Saint-Martin, has been awarded the role of Pural Senator.

Life
Martones is a little piece of Ovancia in Tilenno. It's culture is starkly different from that of the mainland and other islands. The landscape is littered with churches and Christian symbols and the majority of the population still speaks Ovancian. However over the years Martones has become closer to the rest of the federation even though Ovancian international media has a very big influence on the region.

Martones is also one of the few city-states that celebrates Christmas and has events surrounding other Christian holidays, even though they don't resemble the Artemian holidays that much. it is common for Martonean people to kiss a log and then burn it in a communal fire.

Cuisine
Martonean cuisine takes a lot of inspiration from West Artemian cuisine. Martones is therefore on of the biggest consumers of meat and dairy products in Tilenno, something you'll rarely find in the cuisine of other states. The region also loves pastries and pancakes. In terms of drinks the state is one of the few regions where wine can be found on the menu of every restaurant. The regional dishes of Martones are Martonean Coq au Vin, made with white wine and oranges instead and Croissant au Fruit, a pastry with cream, strawberries, kiwi, basil, honey and some other optional fruits.

Sports
Tennis outshines all other sports by far in Martones. It was first introduced by Ovancian colonists and grew in tandem with its Artemian counterpart. A slight difference was that Martonean Tennis was traditionally played on a slightly submerged field as to better provide for sliding and clutch saves. As tennis became more internationalised Martones became home to the first ATL Major Solo Festival of the year in late February, the Sanatae Martones Open. The competition was traditionally played on water as well, but multiple injuries and controversies later they switched to clay courts.

Other sports, while less popular than tennis, are Swimming, Taekwondo, Golf, Volleyball and Soccer. The regional Volleyball team is called the Martonean Angels and the regional soccer team the Holy Strikers.

Landmarks and Sites
Popular landmarks and sites of the Martones city-state include:
 * Theatre of Junon
 * Palace des Fleurs
 * Saint Martin's Cathedral
 * World's End
 * Point de Mas
 * Genocide remembrance museum
 * Sànatae Martones Federal Circuit
 * Lausonne Vinyard

Municipalities
Martones consists of 15 municipalities of which Saint-Martin is the largest at more than 2.6 million inhabitants, about 65% of the total population. It is followed by Jumo at 246 thousand and Étreiha at 146 thousand. Reicha Dèreido Feiro is the only other municipality with over 100 thousand inhabitants. All other municipalities are smaller.

Saint-Martin
Saint-Martin is the largest municipality in Martones by far. From pictures of the city you could barely distinguish it from coastal Ovancian city. It is less dense than other Tilennan cities and it's urban area is quite expansive. The city is very popular with Ovancian tourists as they speak the same language and share a similar culture, while still having a better climate, especially in the winter months.

Jumo
Jumo, or Junon in Ovancian, is located on the eastern tip of the island of Naude. It is mainly popular for it's theatre that was build by Ovancian settlers to mimic the Hellenic architecture of their home continent.

Étreiha
Étreiha, or Étrais in Ovancian, is located on the northern tip of the island of Naude. It is a charming middle sized town with interesting markets and many tourist facilities. Most people visiting Martones stay in Étrais as it is close to the city of Saint-Martin, while still far away to experience tranquillity.