M'Chek: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:02, 15 September 2006

M'Chek is the southernmost nation of Negaria, and the homeland of the humans of Avlis.

Geography

M'Chek is a large, arid nation. Even today with the population stabilized, it is still heavily inhabited, with few unsettled areas. Farming is the primary use of land on M'Chek's plains, though there is also some herding of livestock. A few scattered forests remain, but little compared to what existed several centuries ago. There are several ranges of rolling hills, but nothing large enough to be called mountains.

Inhabitants

The majority of M'Chek's inhabitants are human. These are mostly the civilized humans of the cities, and the wandering tribal Romini. The rural lands also house small tribes of bugbears, fire giants, frost giants, goblins, mountain giants and ogres. In the cities, an even more diverse collection of races can be found. Mikona is also home to a sizeable dwarf population.

Settlements

The mainland area of M'Chek is dotted with hundreds of farming villages. What follows is a list of the major settlements.

The capitol city of Mikona
Bachwood, a human farm village
Eastshore, a seaport
The Mikona Ice Cave, home to Fulfordis' tribe of frost giants
The Order of the Way, a monastery
Southill, a human farm village
The Warrens, home of M'Chek's largest bugbear tribe
Westshore, a minor seaport

Religion

Aside from Mikon's widespread worship, Dagath, Kelvos, Maleki, Pelar, Wilsash and Xenon each have significant bodies of followers in rural M'Chek. The city of Mikona proper likely contains worshippers of every deity known to Avlis.

Politics

Government

Noble House of M'Chek

Law Enforcement

M'Chekian Guards

Military

Armed Forces

Fortifications

Alliances and Enemies

Even with the war behind them, T'Nanshi and M'Chek still view each other with extreme distrust. But most of the alliances of the war were abandoned before its end. Today, M'Chek has no formal military partners.

Commerce and Relations

M'Chek has trade relations with nearly every other nation of Negaria. Overland trade comes through the Blandenberg Protectorate, and follows the Mikona-Blandenberg Highway south to the capitol. But most commerce is conducted by sea, using one of M'Chek's three ports.

History

Legends claim that M'Chek is the site where Mikon was imprisoned during the Age of the Gods. Following the gods' defeat of the Negerai, Mikon is said to have created the human race here during the Time of the Dawning. At some point in antiquity, the local tribes coalesced into the nation of M'Chek.

Nearly a century after the end of the Great War, the foundations of Mikona were laid on the M'Chek coast. The nation prospered over the centuries, and the capitol grew into a densely populated metropolis.

By the late 1800's A.O.D., the population explosion had outpaced the capacity of the nation to produce food. Starvation, poverty, disease and death became widespread, at least among the lower social classes. In desperation, M'Chek began to take land from the forests of T'Nanshi along the northern border. When the elven nation responded with military force, the M'Chek-T'Nanshi War ensued. What began as periodic border incidents escalated over centuries into a "world war" involving many nations. The extended fighting, exascerbated by a terrible plague, took its toll on both sides, and the war finally ended.

Ironically, the large number of casualties of the war eased the overpopulation problem for a time. But forward-thinking leaders of M'Chek recognized that it was a temporary respite. A variety of solutions to M'Chek's food shortage are being tested to this day, including healing the ravaged land, farming mushrooms in the Underdark using Deglosian agricultural practices, and sending emigrants to new homes, particularly Visimontium.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 [[Image:M\'Check_Map_2.png|right|thumb|200px|The nation of M'Check]]
+'''M'Chek''' is the southernmost nation of Negaria, and the homeland of the [[Human|humans]] of Avlis.
-As a nation, '''M'Chek''' is large, but not large enough. There is severe overcrowding, and in some places, starvation. Most of the inhabitants in this case are the humans who are native to the place. Other races from the outside come in occasionally, but usually only for religious or commercial reasons. They tend not to settle there very often, because it is so difficult to find someplace to settle.
+== Geography ==
-The mainland area of M'Chek is dotted with hundreds of villages, each one full to the brim. Over the last fifty years, this population explosion has begun to take a toll on the environment in the area, leaving the once lush forests nearly bare in some places, and causing droughts in others.
+M'Chek is a large, arid nation. Even today with the population stabilized, it is still heavily inhabited, with few unsettled areas. Farming is the primary use of land on M'Chek's plains, though there is also some herding of livestock. A few scattered forests remain, but little compared to what existed several centuries ago. There are several ranges of rolling hills, but nothing large enough to be called mountains.
-The solution, as the government sees it, is to find more land for people to live on. The problem is there is no more land available, unless the citizens of M'Chek are allowed by other nations to live within their borders. Some deals have been worked out with the other major human power on the map, [[Pg:Kurathene|The Kurathene Empire]]. However, dealing with this entity is difficult because it is not really an empire any longer, but a collection of independent fiefdoms, many of which are at war. Still, some nobles of M'Chek have been able to secure settlement deals and even unions through marriage. But the number of places where this is happening is not large enough to even make a dent in the overall population of the country.
+== Inhabitants ==
-Where else can they go? The answer: North. M'Chek is the southernmost nation on the continent, and they are cornered into their niche by the elven nation of [[Pg:T'Nanshi|T'Nanshi]]. The land of T'Nanshi is pristine and beautiful, and by human standards, empty. Long ago, the humans beseeched the elves to let some of their families move there, but the elves refused, citing the M'Chekians' mistreatment of land they already live on. The elves did not want hordes of men and women coming to live on their land and potentially destroy it, or at least grow to outnumber the elves and destroy their nation through attrition.
+The majority of M'Chek's inhabitants are human. These are mostly the [[Human, Civilized|civilized humans]] of the cities, and the wandering tribal [[Romini]]. The rural lands also house small tribes of [[Bugbear|bugbears]], [[Giant, Fire|fire giants]], [[Giant, Frost|frost giants]], [[Goblin|goblins]], [[Giant, Mountain|mountain giants]] and [[Ogre|ogres]]. In the cities, an even more diverse collection of races can be found. Mikona is also home to a sizeable [[Dubgaldokin|dwarf]] population.
-This argument got uglier and uglier over time, and eventually in the present day, it has become a full-scale war. The M'Chekians have nothing to lose, and any gains they make into elven territory are celebrated joyfully. For the elves, it is a different story. They are not interested in making gains into M'Chek's territory. (Why would they wish to compress the already squished humans any further?) However, sometimes strategic conquests are needed to secure their holdings, and they have been known to take land from M'Chek. But for the most part they are interested in keeping the humans contained.
+== Settlements ==
-About fifty years ago, there was an odd occurrence where one of the evil gods attempted to break his way onto the Prime Material Plane and wreak havoc, but his plans were thwarted by a number of adventurers. One of them went on to found a holy order of warriors loyal to the god [[Mikon]]. They are known as the Equalizers.
+The mainland area of M'Chek is dotted with hundreds of farming villages. What follows is a list of the major settlements.
-The Equalizers fight for balance, and will go to wherever they are needed to right any extremes. They feel that the elves are misguided and should give up some of their lands to the severely taxed humans, so in the southern portion of the continent, they have thrown in their lot with M'Chek. Since that time they have taken over control of the M'Chekian Special Forces and begun to infiltrate the elven nation both on the front and behind enemy lines.
+* The capitol city of [[Mikona]]
+* [[Bachwood]], a human farm village
+* [[Eastshore]], a seaport
+* The Mikona Ice Cave, home to [[Fulfordis]]' tribe of frost giants
+* [[The Order of the Way]], a monastery
+* [[Southill]], a human farm village
+* [[The Warrens]], home of M'Chek's largest bugbear tribe
+* [[Westshore]], a minor seaport
-Some of the allies they have acquired are the fairy races of Titania. The fairies created by the goddess Titania are always in conflict with the fairy races of O'Ma, for reasons to be discussed elsewhere. In T'Nanshi there exists huge populations of both fairy types, constantly on the brink of plunging into another Fairy War.
+== Religion ==
-The Equalizers have capitalized on this and promised that if the Titanian fairies aid the humans in their struggle against the elves, the Equalizers and the Nation of M'Chek will be sure to help the Titanians wipe out the O'Ma fairies once the war is over. Thus the battle rages on.
+Aside from Mikon's widespread worship, [[Dagath]], [[Kelvos]], [[Maleki]], [[Pelar]], [[Wilsash]] and [[Xenon]] each have significant bodies of followers in rural M'Chek. The city of Mikona proper likely contains worshippers of  every deity known to Avlis.
+== Politics ==
+=== Government ===
+* Noble House of M'Chek
+=== Law Enforcement ===
+* [[Guild:The M'Chekian Guards|M'Chekian Guards]]
+=== Military ===
+==== Armed Forces ====
+* [[Guild: M'Chekian Army|M'Chekian Army]]
+* M'Chekian Navy
+* [[Equalizer|Equalizers of Mikon]]
+==== Fortifications ====
+* [[Derrington Keep]]
+* [[Equaloria Keep and Dunster Commons|Equaloria Keep]]
+* [[Finmaegen Keep]]
+* [[Nelthrope Keep]]
+=== Alliances and Enemies ===
+Even with the war behind them, T'Nanshi and M'Chek still view each other with extreme distrust. But most of the alliances of the war were abandoned before its end. Today, M'Chek has no formal military partners.
+== Commerce and Relations ==
+M'Chek has trade relations with nearly every other nation of Negaria. Overland trade comes through the [[Blandenberg Protectorate|Blandenberg Protectorate]], and follows the Mikona-Blandenberg Highway south to the capitol. But most commerce is conducted by sea, using one of M'Chek's three ports.
+== History ==
+Legends claim that M'Chek is the site where [[Mikon]] was imprisoned during the [[The Age of the Gods|Age of the Gods]]. Following the gods' defeat of the [[Negerai]], Mikon is said to have created the human race here during the [[Time of the Dawning]]. At some point in antiquity, the local tribes coalesced into the nation of M'Chek.
+Nearly a century after the end of the [[The Great War|Great War]], the foundations of [[Mikona]] were laid on the M'Chek coast. The nation prospered over the centuries, and the capitol grew into a densely populated metropolis.
+By the late 1800's A.O.D., the population explosion had outpaced the capacity of the nation to produce food. Starvation, poverty, disease and death became widespread, at least among the lower social classes. In desperation, M'Chek began to take land from the forests of T'Nanshi along the northern border. When the elven nation responded with military force, the [[M'Chek-T'Nanshi War]] ensued. What began as periodic border incidents escalated over centuries into a "world war" involving  many nations. The extended fighting, exascerbated by a terrible plague, took its toll on both sides, and the war finally ended.
+Ironically, the large number of casualties of the war eased the overpopulation problem for a time. But forward-thinking leaders of M'Chek recognized that it was a temporary respite. A variety of solutions to M'Chek's food shortage are being tested to this day, including healing the ravaged land, farming mushrooms in the [[Underdark]] using [[Deglos|Deglosian]] agricultural practices, and sending emigrants to new homes, particularly [[Visimontium]].
 == See also ==
-[[Mikona]] (capital of M'Chek)
 [[Category:Nations|M'Chek]]