Manuria

Geography
Manuria lies in the northern portion of the Manurian Continent. The nation is the seat of power in the region. It borders Westland and the Northern Lands to the north and west, and Flachland to the Southeast, Snow's Land to the Southwest, and the Leahlands to the South. Hollis, the nation's capital, lies in the northeast corner of the frozen province.

Intro
Humans first appeared in the area surrounding Manuria. Thus, Manuria is the oldest nation in the Vast Expanse. Manuria was, since its inception, a neighbor to the nation of Westland and the Northern Lands. The relation between Westland and Manuria has been historically poor. The Westland Raiders - without means of prospering on their own, set out to steal from the Manurians. This begins the first war of history.

The Westland War
With an especially visious stab at a Merchant's town in the west of Manuria, Westland entered its first war. The anger in the Manurian government had been growing for some years by this time and so the military was ready to move on the Westlanders. In a small war of two and a half years, the Westlanders were driven back, and so their territory hugs the coast of the West Sea.

Building the Nation
Manuria built its territory through slow and deliberate expansion. First letting their hands reach out into the pocket of mountains in which their territory sits, they gained an important barrier in those peaks. By decree of the governors of Manuria, the military was never under the command of one man, or even a group of men. Instead, the entire military was split into ten-man groups, who patrol the mountains and tundra of Manuria. In this way, each of these groups is led by a Likdenguard - a "guard of swords". The Manurian army is a dynamic and unpredictable force with long-reaching fingers.

Its navy, unlike the rest of its military, is mainly loaned from the nation of Lanaria across the sea. Though it is not theirs, the navy gives Manuria a second province, many thousands of miles away. The city of New Hollis was founded two and a half thousand years after the founding of the first Hollis in Manuria. The second Manurian territory lies in the northern half of the Forestlands.

Description
The city of Hollis is a sprawling city of almost twenty-million people. Because of the lack of trees in Manuria's tundra, the city is constructed entirely of mountainous blackrock. This rock is hard and heavy, but keep cold out well enough for people to prosper. The city is - from afar - a flickering bed of starlight. Because of the lack of color in the city, the Hollisians have strung together lines of hundreds of colorful flags, each brighter than the last. Thus during the day, the city is a sea of color, swirling and flowing in the wind. At night, all of the lights in all the houses burn bright and are blocked, in faltering moments - by these flags, creating the "bed of starlight"

Government
The territory of Manuria is ruled by twenty-three governors serving a High King, who has no real power, but who has command of Hollis and the land surrounding the city. The governors have the right to "demand" change from the High King, if they choose. But the most powerful piece of the Manurian government is the judiciary. The Judges in Manurian may command armies, if it is the outcome of a trial. There are lesser courts, middle courts, high courts, and the Hollisian court, whose job it is to challenge coos of military power.

Culture
The People of Manuria are a happy people - prospering between cloudy skies and frozen lands. Most citizens follow what would later become the common religion, what was - at that time - Eurgonism, a polythiestic belief that gods walk on the ground that mortals do.