Recent History of Shireroth

Editor's Editor's note: This was recopied from the MNN-wiki March 5, 2008 by Jacobus. It would perhaps perhaps be better titled as "Middle History of Shireroth". It ends in 2004.There may be some duplication, but better too much than not enough!

Editor's Note: The following was written and published by Scott Alexander in two parts, the first under the name "History of Shireroth" in 2002 and the second under the name "Death Rides Again" in 2004. It was transcribed to the ShireWiki by James Raine.

This history continues from the Early History of Shireroth.

Prologue: The Fall of Tymaria

What has come before: in April 2000, a time of chaos and change around the micronational world, Erik Metzler founds the small and peaceful democratic country known as Shireroth. Within a few weeks, Shireroth is absorbed by the rising superpowers of Audentior and Jasonia, an all but forgotten backwater region of these far-flung empires. But in December of that year, they abruptly spit it back out again, and Erik once again takes the helm of leadership, declaring himself Kaiser and instituting a feudal system. There is a brief period of prosperity before the nation crumbles to dust once again. A few months later it is revived as part of the Benacian Commonwealth, and soon after this it merges into the land of Alexandros, which in turn merges into Tymaria. Once again, Shireroth is a small province of a hegemonic empire – but this time, it has both the will and the ability to be able to transcend its minor role and catapult itself into the global spotlight.

On April 6th, the first complete history of Shireroth is published, ending with a note on the recent restoration of Kaiser Mors I to the throne and the possibilities for future growth his reign opens. On April 11th, the forum of Shireroth, along with much of the rest of Tymaria, is destroyed in a terrorist attack, wiping the historical slate clean. Philip Locke, the perpetrator of the attack, is dutifully expelled from Shireroth – but not before he has had time to propose to the Mors government a plan to leverage its size and activity to become the dominant Tymarian state. Over the next few months, as the other areas in Tymaria are plagued by civil war, dissension, inactivity, and Earl Washburn, Shireroth expands in all senses of the word. Lothlaria, Lac Glacei, Jaris, and Hyperborea are added to its growing empire, and the Kaiser begins to listen less and less to the federal government in Tymaria City.

Gradually the power of the Tymarian Federal Government waned. First Jason Rhode dropped off the face of the Earth, then the Free Territories started attacking, and finally the provinces started getting restless. The formation of Baracao didn’t help either, nor did the so-called Anti-Tymar Council that advocated rebellion and separatism wherever it could find a foothold. At the same time, Shireroth’s already exponential growth went through the roof, despite the bizarre spectacle of four Kaisers in a single month. Although Los I, the most notable Kaiser of this period, was staunchly pro-Tymaria, it began to grow clear that the contradictory relationship between the ailing superfederation and its most prominent state could not continue forever.

Finally, with the election of Tony Au as Prime Executive on a “let the states secede” platform, pro-secessionist feelings snowballed. On the eve of Au’s election, the Landsraad convened to discuss the independence question. In one of their fastest decisions ever, the Landsraad bowed to the overwhelming sentiment of the Shirerithian populace and sent to the Kaiseress a resolution that Shireroth should resume its position as a free and independent state. On July 12, Kaiseress Viviantia I issued Imperial Decree 30, stating:

With the blessings of the Landsraad and in light of the suspension of the Tymarian Constitution, I, Kaiseress Viviantia I, ruler of Shireroth, officially decree the secession of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth from the United Republic of Tymaria. Shireroth is now a free nation independent of Tymaria and its remaining states.

After eleven months of foreign rule, Shireroth was once again ready to take control of its own destiny – a path that would lead them further than they could imagine.

Chapter One (July 2002)

In which the new Republic is forced to confront a worrisome number of problems long before it is at all fair to expect them to be able to do so

Retooling Shireroth’s governmental machinery for independence was not as major a task as it might seem. The Skyline remarked a week after the decision that it was “almost like Shireroth had planned this beforehand, eh?” All that was needed was a foreign ministry, which was quickly created under the capable leadership of Stjepan Aracic, and an accompanying foreign policy, which in the Republic’s first week took the form of recognizing Babkha, Interland, and Istvanistan.

A typically Shirerithian response to the new conditions was a new Kaiser. Kaiseress Vivantia, an incarnation of Erik, stepped down in favor of Kaiser Mors II, also an incarnation of Erik. The rationale for the new name, according to its holder, was that “Vivantia brought us back to life…and now Mors shall dispense the death!”

Death, unfortunately, was exactly what might soon have to be dispensed. Two other Tymarian states, Interland and the Free Republic, had seceded along with Shireroth, and their sudden introduction into an already chaotic micronational world threatened to cause some sort of massive cataclysm. Particularly problematic was the Free Republic, which was claimed by Baracao despite its own belief in its independence. Shireroth and Baracao came to the brink of war – luckily, at the last second a peace conference began and the two countries managed to come to a satisfactory conclusion, although nowhere in the historical record is it listed exactly what that conclusion was.

Meanwhile, on the domestic front, things were hardly less troublesome. This remains that period of history in which trouble was spelled P-H-I-L-I-P L-O-C-K-E, and indeed, scarcely had he been admitted to Shireroth after a four month ban when he began to agitate for democracy. He accused the Republic of truly being an autocracy, and proposed his Unified Shireroth Proposal to remedy the fact. This proposal gave the Landsraad much greater power, including that to override the Kaiser. Perhaps it was a coincidence that he first proposed his idea when Mors II was away and Stjepan acting as Steward, and perhaps not, but in any case, when Mors came back he suspended Locke’s citizenship once again. Surprisingly enough, this seemed to take care of the problem.

Chapter Two (August 2002)

In which the rising Republic is forced to play a backseat position to the land of Menelmacar

Scarce had the difficulties with Baracao gone away than a whole new slew of foreign evils accosted the young Republic. The most pressing of these was perennial troublemaker Ryan Caruso, who was claiming Yardistan, Mar Sara, Cimmeria, Volsung, and all sorts of other places as part of his Fanatical Dictatorship of Berkistan (later the Revived People’s Republic of Hell). Shireroth wisely chose to ignore his annexations and hope he would go away. But go away he did not, instead making a loose alliance with Freenesia, which was still sort of around, and with Varja, a new communist state led by Shireroth’s old enemy Thomas Hubert. No one was particularly pleased by these developments, nor by Baracao’s gaining two new allies in Pacary and Aerlig.

In response, Kaiser Mors II decided to re-found the old Commonwealth of Benacia, the international organization of Shireroth and its friends that had served so well in the pre-Tymaria war. Its problem was a lack of interested parties. Treesia, for one, seemed much more interested in founding its own commonwealth to compete with the Shirerithians’. But the new Imperium of Menelmacar, which had recently split off of Varja, finally agreed to join, with its leader, Sirithil, even joining Shireroth as a Novi Dalmacijan (although, to be fair, she also joined everywhere else).

As Menelmacar began its amazing rise to power, Shireroth both gained and lost from its ally’s success. On the plus side, the ire and occasional attacks of Baracao were directed away from the Republic towards the Imperium, and Bill Dusch and Jason Steffke, both of whom spent an inordinate amount of their time criticizing Shireroth and interfering with its daily workings, moved to the Imperium, where they finally felt at home. And Shireroth’s prestige and international influence certainly was not hurt by having an alliance with what was quickly becoming the largest country in the region.

But on the other hand, Menelmacar began to leech away Shirerithian citizens and activity. Eros Qelathos, Fax Celestis, and Philip Locke all shifted their contributions to the new power. And the Menelmacari started getting really annoying. Their imperialistic ways clashed with Shireroth’s own, their blatant plagiarism of the YAC annoyed the Yardistani, and Bill started using it as a base for his wackiness. To say that Shireroth-Menelmacar relations deteriorated would be an overstatement – but to say that there was a bit of resentment would probably be close to the truth.

Perhaps as a response to the feeling that Shireroth was slowly being engulfed by Menelmacari ways, the Yardistanis increased their Yardistaniness around this time. Duke Nicholas held a revolution against himself (and won!) and then declared the Annexation Corps active once again.

The nation needed a strong leader who could preserve Shirerithian identity and not stand up against the snuggle-happy yet dangerous tide of Menelmacari power sweeping the land, which was too bad, because instead it was going to enter:

Chapter 3: (September, October, Octember 2002)

In which Kaiser Mog makes a political blunder, a civil war occurs, and things generally go to the PRH in a handbasket.

Despite the growth of Menelmacar, Shireroth up to this point has remained an important and influential nation. Here, things really start to deteriorate. The first problem is a general decline in activity, beginning in August and continuing for the rest of the season. Nicholas Raglan, Shireroth’s first Praetor and perhaps the most active of the Dukes during the Tymarian period, has now completely disappeared, his fiefdom of Lothlaria given to Mattlore Devious. Stjepan Aracic has finalized his retirement and, although he stops in once in a while to discuss music, is no longer active in the government. And many others have forsaken Shireroth for Menelmacar or elsewhere.

For personal reasons, Kaiser Mors himself begins posting less and less. Finally, there is a request on the part of the populace that he name a successor so the business of state can go on. He tells Eros Qelathos to name James Raine aka Fax Celestis the next Kaiser, and the lucky heir takes the title of Mog I, after the mythical moogle, a tiny winged bear.

From the beginning, there was a bit of opposition to Mog’s ascension. Fax had been very cozy with the Menelmacari, and some of the nobility thought that a more uniquely Shirerithian citizen would have been a better choice for the position. Nevertheless, the Kaiser had spoken, and the citizens obeyed.

However, everyone’s worst fears came true when Mog posted the following in the Menelmacari Prefecture of Foreign Affairs:

As a token of my wish to brighten our relationship between our great nations, I, Kaiser Mog I, offer the lands of Amity and North Mar Sara to Menelmacar.

Immediately, the people of Shireroth questioned the legitimacy of the Kaiser’s decision. The majority opinion was spoken by Scott Alexander when he told the Kaiser:

GAH! What's wrong with you? You become Kaiser and immediately you start giving the Shirerothian heartland away? Do you know we came THIS close *puts fingers really close together* to fighting a gigantic war with the biggest superpower in micronations just to hold onto our claim to Amity before we even really technically deserved it? Do you know Erik created the island of Amity with HIS OWN BLOOD AND TOIL AND SWEAT AND TEARS two and a HALF years ago! He poured his HEART into that island! And now you give it away to some snuggle-happy elf? Don't make me start a revolt against you!

Mog responded by saying that he was trying to strengthen the Shireroth-Menelmacar alliance and by questioning Scott’s loyalty to Shireroth. But the next objection was by someone whose loyalty was beyond question – Brrapa Lu Eraro, an incarnation of Erik:

Death will come swiftly to those who tempt the wrath of the gods!

The Gods look unfavorably on this act and demand it be remedied! If the gods are not appeased death shall reign free upon the "Kaiser" of Shireroth!

At the same time, other factors were conspiring to make the Shirerithians upset with Mog. First of all, thanks to a threat from the United Secular States, Mog had raised forum security in a way that made it very difficult for people to post. Second, he had been unable to do anything about the declining activity levels afflicting the Republic, nor had he even tried all that hard.

Finally, after some convincing from his friends, Erik decided to return. As Brrapa Lu Eraro, he incited the Yardistani to revolt, never a particularly hard task. The people of Kitanus Fields joined them, and Mog called in his friends from Menelmacar and the newish nation of Cranda. The people of Shireroth fought a long and not entirely bad recwar, which ended with Erik incarnating as Kaiser Letifer I and killing Mog outside the gates of Brookshire. He then declared himself Kaiser and held a coronation party. One of his first actions was to declare recwar on Cranda for their support of Mog in the recent civil war. Like most recwars, this one failed miserably.

Among Letifer’s first actions was to revoke Mog’s gift of territories to the Menelmacari, an act to which Sirithil’s government grumblingly assented. But more damage had been done since Mors’ reign than a mere loss of territory. Shireroth was demoralized, weak, and devoid of serious structure.

Chapter Four: (November, December 2002)

In which things generally deteriorate until drastic measures are necessary.

The Shireroth of the closing months of 2002 was one with a minimum of government. Discussions, insofar as they existed at all, were crazy spamfests with a minimum of content. Real micronationalism had simply packed up and left. In its place had come a slew of dual citizens, a lethargy on the part of the true Shirerithians, and a total lack of progress.

An perfect example of the zeitgeist is the hullabaloo that sprung up around King Beeb. A citizen of a minor and unmemorable micronation called Islamica, he started posting nonsensical things around Shireroth which were only written in English under the broadest possible definition of that language. A number of Shirerithians banded together to annoy him, but he went on oblivious. The episode reached its climax when Nick of Yardistan passed through the Landsraad the “Pro-Anti-Beebism” act, which officially declared Shireroth to be an anti-Beebist country, whatever that meant. Other important Landsraad topics along the same line were rights for chickens, laws against egg-laying, and so forth. Even Kaiser Letifer told the Landsraad

I don't mind the sillyness. But we've become stagnant. At this pace I might as well just disolve me nation and declare the forum an OT...

Religion, as well, reached new lows. The first missionary group to set up shop in Shireroth was the Temple of Yuri, but the Path of Yellow soon followed. Although both faiths were insane, it was not in the good, fun way, but rather in the annoying way, and by the reception given to their non-Cedrist preachings they proved once again how far down Shireroth had come. Luckily, both groups went away after a while – the Yurists when they grew bored, and the Yellowists after actions in Menelmacar had driven a wedge between them and the Shirerithians.

One good thing that did happen during this period was the compilation of a Yardistani language. Indeed, it was only Nicholas of Yardistan, along with of course the Kaiser, who remained as devoted and active as ever, and who helped bring Shireroth through the difficult period. The Yardistani dictionary can be found at http://www.geocities.com/animanga_fan/yardistan/yardweb/yardistani/index.htm. Another good thing was that Stone Jackabar joined and was soon put in charge of the military.

Shireroth’s foreign policy during this period was mostly to react to foreign events. When the United Secular States threatened to attack Shireroth, Shireroth told them not to. When the Menelmacari had a civil war, Shireroth sent a strong letter saying they disapproved. When the Lyricans reformed themselves, Shireroth ignored them. The only strong focus to Shireroth’s policy at this time was a dislike of the Yellowist factions in Menelmacar, perhaps compounded by the fact that Sirithil was a Shirerithian citizen.

By the end of December, everyone was in a bad mood, and it became obvious that major changes were called for. Kaiser Letifer thus decided, with the help of his depression, to make a spectacular series of changes to the nation’s structure. His Imperial Decree 42 lay down a new constitution, although it was only a slight change from the old version. His Imperial Decree 43 edited the Line of Succession. And his Imperial Decree 44 kicked out all citizens with more than three different micronational citizenships, getting rid of freeloaders who were in Shireroth only to add to an obscenely long list of titles and positions.

But it was what he did next that really astonished people. Resigning, he appointed no heir, saying instead that:

With this post I am the last Kaiser of Shireroth. The line of Kaisers ends here. There is no man that may take the throne. My family shall retain the Duchy of Brookshire and be its Duke. The Landsraad remains the highest governing Body in Shireroth at this point. The ministries come next.

The Empire is dead. The Republic lives again. May it fare better and rule wiser than the Kaisers have.

Fare thee well, Shireroth.

Chapter Five: (December, Decenuary, January 2002/2003)

In which an Oustfest is held and a recovery begins

Shireroth seemed to be once again a Republic. But the lack of people to staff the Landsraad soon necessitated a concession to reality, and Nick the Yardistani, leader of the Landsraad at this point, became Steward, now the highest Shirerithian position.

Nick understood even better than Letifer the need for sweeping changes. The first problem he needed to confront was confusion over who had what job, who was still a citizen, and who was gone never to return. In Imperial Decree 46 he asked everyone with a job to tell him or else lose it. Those who did not show up were fired. The second problem he needed to confront was the expiration the Gold status of the boards, which was managed with a little bit of help from his friends.

To confront most of his other problems in one blow he pushed through the Landsraad an act to hold an Oustfest – a day in which all disloyal citizens of Shireroth could be removed once and for all. The advantage of this plan was that it would get rid of the dead, the inactive, the freeloaders, and the chronically unable to work – the disadvantage was that it soon become evident that by the criteria of the act only six citizens would be left in Shireroth. Nevertheless, Nick decided to go through with it, and set the date of January 14th. As the designated hour approached, he told the Republic:

Come nightfall, we shall be purged of those who could not fairly support our great nation. Nightfall brings a change tonight. It is the first step to making Shireroth into the great nation it can be, and has been. A new republic must be formed. Shireroth can either be a failure or something better than the rest. We are different, yes, different than other nations around us. But are we better? If we are not, we must become better. The citizens must work to make us better. Letifer said that people found Shireroth to be a joke. Well, if it is, than I say, let the Joke be on them! Let us prove our departed Kaiser wrong! Together, we can go places not yet gone by other nations. Nightfall begins the start!

And nightfall did indeed begin the start, as grammatically awkward as it may have been. Fax Celestis, Sirithil, dStryker, Joe Whittaberg, Nick Raglan, Baroness Sabriel, Jubbles, Greg Nordman, Czerka, Ivan Ventura, and Patrick Foley were all removed from the nation. The next morning, Nick told the remaining cadre of loyalists:

We are to enter on a new age. Now, the 14th has past. It is now Odin's Night...I'm going to notify the dearly departed of their lost citizenship...and we will ride on...yes...we must go out...and call upon people in need of a nation to come and join us in our quest for a better micronation...this night...this night is the starting point for a better Shireroth!

I declare a holiday to be remembered every 14th day of January. It shall be know as National Day. It is a day that all Shirerothians (or is that Shirithians?) are to be proud of Shireroth and their National Identity.

To those that have stayed, thank you for remaining here in our great land, Holy Shireroth. The Gods have given us this great nation with a great past. Let it not die in our hands!

Prophetic it may have been. But to Erik, Stone, Mattlore, Eros, and Phillip Marshal, the remaining Shirerithians, it seemed obvious that Shireroth would need more than enlightened speeches. It would need citizens, and quickly.

It was helped in this resolve by events in Menelmacar, where the conflict between the traditionalists and the Yellowists was spiraling out of control. After Yellowist victory in the end-of-year elections, a number of traditionalists sought refuge in Shireroth. Jadie Mathematician, a friend of Fax’s from Sonoma, arrived, along with Menelmacari citizen Mari Greenwood. Stone also recruited his girlfriend Sally Celebrian to work in the University, although she left after a short while.

Nevertheless, in the beginning of February the Baracaoan paper still referred to Shireroth as a “dead nation”. Erik Metzler became so depressed that he tried to quit forever around the end of January, although he returned in early February and accepted the title of Kaiser Raynor X. What would it take to bring back glory?

Chapter Six: (January, February 2003)

In which a victory is won and there is great rejoicing

With only six citizens, Shireroth could hardly be expected to keep up with foreign affairs. The only notable intermicronational action taken by the Republic in January was the revocation of the recognition of Menelmacar after its takeover by the Yellowists, although if one can consider informal action by individual citizens to be foreign policy there was also a lot of yelling in between Erik and Archetype.

However, the intermicronational world was nevertheless moving along. One development Shireroth completely ignored as irrelevant to itself was a set of terrorist attacks by a group calling itself Anarchy21. They had already moved against Menelmacar and Baracao, but there seemed no reason to believe they would attack Shireroth, even though their leader was widely believed to be Bob Silby, a longtime enemy of the Republic.

But on February 17, attack was exactly what they did, using a souped-up spam cannon on Shireroth’s forums. Luckily for the Republic, a group of citizens and friendly foreigners assembled and bumped important threads so that Anarchy’s methods could not destroy them. After some time, Kaiser Raynor X showed up to ban the intruders.

Raynor then declared the day a national holiday, and, calling it the Battle of Cimmeria, rewarded its heroes. Robert Belci, a Crandan, and Harvey Steffke, a Menelmacari, were given honorary citizenship and military awards. Stjepan Aracic, already an honorary citizen, was given double honorary citizenship, so far as I know the first person to receive this honor. And Jadie Mathematician was made the Duchess of Goldshire.

In the Landsraad, discussion hinged on what could be done to effect a recovery. Some, particularly new Duchess Mari Greenwood, proposed repealing the young Tri-Cit law, but the Kaiser rejected that suggestion, saying that what was needed was not just citizens, but loyal citizens. A recruitment drive was suggested and perhaps carried out. And Shireroth’s first major foreign initiative in a long time was the re-reformation of the Benacian Commonwealth with the short-lived Imperium of Nova Roma.

The Shirerithians had done everything they could to save the Republic. Now the matter was in the hands of the gods, and all that remained to do was to wait for conditions to ripen.

Chapter Seven: (Floopuary, March 2003)

In which a number of external factors combine in the Republic’s favor

The rest of the micro-world’s loss was Shireroth’s gain. During the closing days of winter 2003, catastrophes in three foreign nations gave Shireroth the push it needed to get back on its feet again.

First was the fall of the Seventh Republic of Audentior. After two months of success, the Audente experiment failed in late February. A few of its citizens reverted to Shireroth, including former Duke of Elwynn Scott Alexander, and a few other Shirerithians became more active and loyal as their second home was destroyed.

Second was the latest sordid chapter in the Menelmacar saga, in which a group of Soloralist rebels seized control of the Menelmacari forum from the Yellowists. Although intended to restore Menelmacar to Soloralist rule, it in fact had the effect of splitting it in two, with neither half really having the necessary activity or diversity to maintain its old level of interestingness. Citizens began to trickle to Shireroth, and several other dual citizens abandoned the falling Imperium and became Shirerithians full-time. Among the former was Harvey Steffke, and among the latter Harvey’s slightly-more-than-friend Jadie Mathematician. In late March, Harvey and Jadie had the micronational world’s first marriage, and Steffke became Duke of Goldshire.

Third was an, if possible, even more pathetic revolution in Amerada, where Earl Washburn seized control, realized no one supported him, tried to destroy the nation out of spite, and then gave up. In between steps three and four, however, the governor of Califario, Shireroth’s own Mattlore Devious, seceded the province from its mother country and applied for Shireroth’s protection. It was granted, and Shireroth got its first new territory in some time.

The big foreign question during this time was what to do about Menelmacar. Archetype, the Elenaran of what came to be affectionately known as “Archimacar”, had gone out of his way to alienate a substantial portion of the Shirerithian population. Further, many of the Shirerithians were still double citizens with the Menelmacari under Sirithil. Thus, it was concluded after a few half-hearted suggestions to stay neutral that Shireroth ought to recognize Sirimacar. Questions of whether Archimacar should be recognized at all, who to declare as an official “successor state” et cetera continued until perhaps April, when it was finally decided that the best way to deal with the whole Menelmacar situation was to pretend it had never existed – luckily, both Menelmacars had weakened enough by that point to make this a viable option.

The other fun foreign question during this time was whether or not Shireroth should merge into New Tymaria, but that turned out to be an April Fools’ joke anyway, so we didn’t.

Chapter Seven: (April, May 2003)

In which there is a party, a disaster, and a convention, in that order.

On April 24th (or, depending on the version of history one ascribes to, April 23rd) Shireroth had its third anniversary. Celebrations were conducted, as is the tradition, by forgetting about it and then complaining about how unfortunate it was that it was forgotten. However, on about the 26th or so, Kaiser Raynor X decided to throw a party. There was much fun, and it was attended by dignitaries from Shirlan, a small new micronation that Shireroth was fast becoming friends with.

But the wild exultation was suddenly checked on May 2, when several fora mysteriously emptied themselves. In the space of a few hours, the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization and the Duchy of Goldshire both lost all their posts. Then-Praetor Jadie Mathematician got rid of all admin powers until she could find out what was up. Logs quickly confirmed that the deletion was done from the account of Stone Jackabar, but the Minister of Military Affairs vehemently denied involvement, and IP records backed up his claim. For a while, everyone was worried that either Politika was attacking again or there was some kind of conspiracy afoot. Discussion centered on who the culprit could have been, and the Kaiser gave a long speech investigating the possibilities (at which Archetype, as usual, somehow managed to take offense). Although no further knowledge seemed forthcoming, Raynor X urged the Shirerithian people to stay strong:

These attacks are meant to destroy or damage us. I do not see us damaged; I see us stronger! I do not see us destroyed; I see us united! For you can never kill the spirit of the people of Shireroth. Insult us, attack us, bombard us, ignore us; our spirits remain. We are a nation blessed by friendship amongst its members. Some of us are best friends, and some of us are lovers. We truly are a nation... not just a micronation. We have one culture, one language, one identity, one people. And that can NEVER be taken from us. And as long as there is us - there is Shireroth!

After a week of investigation, a clue was finally provided by Phillip Marshall, who said he suspected that a friend of his and Stone’s did it to get back at Stone for something or other. The matter was there allowed to rest, although Harvey Steffke later came up with a conspiracy theory that it was actually Phillip himself and that he had invented the “friend” to take the blame.

Raynor’s speech about the unity of Shirerithians had one very strong proof forthcoming. In the middle of that spring, a decision was made to hold a convention at Sonoma State University, in which Shirerithians from all over could come meet one another. Erik volunteered to drive up from around San Jose, and Scott and Harvey agreed to fly out from Irvine and Michigan respectively.

Beginning May 24th and lasting until the 31st, the convention was an unparalleled success. Stone taught everyone the art of Amtguard, Scott presented Erik with his crown, Harvey and Jadie hit it off as well as either of them could have desired, and Fax and Eros showed everyone around the campus. Among the many activities in which the convention-goers engaged was playing Stone’s Shireroth mod for Neverwinter Nights, role-playing as vampires with a campus club, playing Return to Monkey Island, and shooting projectile weaponry at one another in sensitive areas of the anatomy. By the end of the week, the Shirerithians were bound to one another infinitely more strongly than they had been before, and Raynor’s speech now rang truer than any could have previously imagined.

Chapter Eight: (June 2003)

In which we have a short chapter regarding the last days of Kaiser Raynor

The last few weeks of Raynor’s Kaisership saw further growth, especially in the all-important area of citizenry. Joe Whittaberg finally left Shireroth for good, ending a year and a half career of inactivity, but to counter, three new people joined. Shyriath was the Duke of Shirlan, an independent nation with which Shireroth was becoming very friendly. Gman Russell was an old citizen from back in early 2001 who returned to micronations and took over the Ministry of Military Affairs from the now-inactive Stone Jackabar. And Aurefiction Auraumbre was recruited by Ari and soon showed her skill and commitment through some excellent work in the Ministry of Information, where she started Shireroth’s first (and last) newspaper. Ryan Caruso aka WarVoid may also have joined around this time.

Culture also developed significantly during this period. BGI, the world’s only micronational game company, relocated its headquarters to Shireroth from Menelmacar and continued working on cranking out those Control of Destiny demos. Its owner, Harvey, also created the World Council, with its many pictures of micronationalists. Scott Alexander published Apocollapse Now and Mogbeth, the first a novel and the second a play, both of which had significant Shirerithian components. Graphically, Ryan made some nice banners and such, and the website was fleshed out a little (albeit not much). Musically, the Shireroth Band Project was started – sadly, it never managed to get its first song finished, but it was certainly an interesting idea. And in the “none of the above” category, a Mattlore Devious fan club was started.

It was also during this period that Shireroth got a coherent foreign policy. It was based around recognizing friends, containing enemies, and when possible annexing people. The Ministry of the Exterior took advantage of their new policy to recognize Cranda, Tulsa, and Novikraznolongnamecommieland. The last part was eventually to bear fruit with the annexation of Shirlan a few weeks later.

At perhaps the apex of citizenry, activity, and interesting projects, the end of Raynor’s reign can, along with the reign of Aure I, perhaps be considered a Golden Age for Shireroth.

On June 20, Raynor made a surprise announcement. New citizen Aurefiction Auraumbre was to be the heir to the throne. Although some questioned the wisdom of appointing someone so inexperienced, Raynor said that having some fresh blood in the Kaisership would bring in new ideas. After about two weeks of training, Erik declared Raynor X dead. Aurefiction was now Shireroth’s first female Kaiseress.

Chapter Nine: (July and August 2003)

In which we try to cover the rise and fall of Kaiseress Aure without resurrecting too many bad feelings

Aurefiction was an extremely active Kaiseress – her reign lists nearly twenty decrees, almost a third as many as all the previous Kaisers before her combined. Under her capable leadership, numerous flaws and inconsistencies in the government were patched up, and a number of processes streamlined.

Among the problems she dealt with upon receiving the throne were the lack of Ministers (she appointed Joseph to MiniInfo, Erik to MiniTrade, and Ryan to the long defunct MiniSci), inefficiency (she decreed regulations making both the Landsraad and the Cabinet of Ministers work more smoothly) and purely cultural stuff (she decreed Shireroth’s first complete list of holidays and made the mango officially the national fruit.)

Aurefiction was also extremely active (one might even say overactive) in foreign affairs, often negotiating treaties directly with foreign leaders over the unfortunately inactive Minister of the Exterior’s head. Her greatest triumph was the Mango-Camel Pact which gave Shireroth a full alliance with Babkha, probably the strongest micronation at this time, and one that had been hostile to Shireroth for some time before. The alliance eventually resulted in two leading Babkhans, Ardashir Khan and Rakesh Ackbar, taking up residence in Shireroth.

Another important foreign victory was Shirlan’s finally becoming a County in Shireroth. The Shirlanians, particularly Duke Shyriath, a Shirerithian citizen, decided they wanted to join the Imperial Republic under the Barony of Straylight. However, many of the citizens dispersed from inactivity, Shyriath had to leave due to real life issues, and the only person to remain was a mysterious person named Ariadne who kept changing logins every couple of days and who turned out to be too crazy even for Shireroth, eventually getting sort of driven away. This was not one of our best examples of protectorate handling.

Among not-entirely-new people to immigrate during Aurefiction’s reign were Eoin Dornan, a long-time friend of Shireroth who had unfortunately been unable to immigrate for a while due to tri-cit restrictions, and who else but Philip Locke, who had now had most of the evil beaten out of him and who settled down to a sedentary-ish lifestyle in Hyperborea.

However, as the Kaiseress did more and more, many others started slacking off on their own jobs. The fact that summer had come into full swing didn’t help – many people were on vacations, or on summer jobs, or stuck with low-quality Internet connections. Her attempts to increase activity, while well-intentioned, offended some of those they were supposed to be monitoring. All of her activity and the frequent critical comments of others began to stress Aure out – and a stressful Kaiseress is an angry Kaiseress. Nick the Yardistani chose this moment to return, and trying to change Shirerithian policies while stressed out and angry with Nick around is something of a recipe for disaster (speaking of recipes for disaster, it was also around this period that the Shireroth School of the Culinary Arts made its short appearance).

Things snapped when Aure tried to change the forum design. For years, both domestic and foreign citizens had been complaining about the current design featuring Malarbor, an evil tree demon whose picture did not properly fit the forum and which caused problems on most browsers and resolutions. However, a number of the older citizens had grown very attached to it because it was Shireroth’s first background and had in fact even been deified. Aure asked Ryan to get a new background, and he replaced it with a bizarre dark forest that didn’t fit on the page right and a rather unpopular banner. For whatever reason, a number of people interpreted this as an Attack on Shireroth’s Culture. Erik went into an extremely long rant in which he cursed everything and everyone, Ryan responded, and by the end of the discussion the two were no longer on speaking terms. Soon everyone got into a big to-do about how certain people hated change and certain other people were trying to destroy Shireroth’s culture and turn it into a Menelmacarish fantasy-land, and the nation descended into chaos. When the dust settled, Aure and Ryan had had enough. Ryan emigrated, and Aurefiction, after a final conflict involving one of her decrees, abdicated.

In her final will, she declared Harvey Steffke to be her heir, decreed Cimmeria to be a holy land dedicated to her memory, and banned Erik from ever holding the throne again. She then left and never returned, in what is generally agreed to have been the classiest exit from micronations of all time.

Kaiser Meskan I, however, was anything but classy in his departure. After being named ruler by the departing Aure, Harvey stayed about two weeks, in which he did some much needed work sorting through Aure’s decrees deciding which ones should be kept and which ones revoked, as well as giving newly returned Nick both Yardistan and the Ministry of Immigration and Naturalization. However, after that he totally disappeared. No one could reach him by forum, by AIM, or even by phone. It turned out that he had quit Shireroth, forsaken micronations forever, and even broken up with poor Jadie. So it goes.

There was a brief period in which the nation was paralyzed by lack of a Kaiser, Harvey having not declared an heir. However, it was eventually decided that Jadie, as grieving widow, was next in the line of succession, and Brrapa Lu Eraro made her ascension to the throne official.

Chapter Ten: (September, October, Octember, November 2003)

In which everyone pulls themselves together and an era of peace begins

Kaiseress Jadie’s reign was marked not by the rapid change of the previous era but rather by a calm and reasonable drive to improve the nation that ended up being very effectual. Random chatter and role-playing existed side-by-side with serious national improvement efforts.

The random chatter could get crazy indeed. The first new person to show up during Jadie’s reign was not a person at all, but rather the infamous LIZZARD KING OF SHIREROTH, who went on a rampage of causing chaos before settling down into Yardistan, where he fit right in. The second new character on the scene was Winston Marlboro (aka Hesam Jahandar), possessor of the World’s Longest Sig. These two and many others got to be mocked with the third incarnation of Switching Day, when everyone pretended to be someone else – Eoin’s portrayal of Erik and GMan’s portrayal of Nick were considered particularly good.

In between “real” and “not real” was a Yardistani rebellion in mid-September. The Yardistanis were annoyed that Jadie was Kaiseress (or maybe just realized they hadn’t rebelled in a while) and so announced a revolt without specifying whether it was real or not. In the beginning it was quite fun, but when Kitanus Fields and Kildare taking different sides led to a Kaiserial decree separating the two, both Baron Darkstar and Duke Gryphon got quite upset. Equally unfortunate was when Greg Russell was fired as Baron of Amity for not supporting the revolt. Eventually things were settled and Greg returned to his capital, but Baron Darkstar and Duke Gryphon never got along after this, and eventually Darkstar departed never to return. The Yardistanis eventually quieted down.

Some real new people also joined at this time, though. Ex-Baracaon Krasniy Yastreb showed up, got a “thing” for Eriana Moon, hypnotized everyone with his mysterious stare, and left. Austi Scot, best known for his time leading Tymaria, decided to let bygone issues with the Shirerithians be bygones and immigrated, becoming Baron of Novi Dalmacija. William Jesmer tried to join also, but the Shirerithians decided that in this case bygones would NOT be bygones and kicked him out (he later joined Karnali).

Foreign affairs plodded along at an equally manageable rate. Baracao died and Shireroth sent them a nice letter saying they were sorry about the fact. The alliance with Babkha remained strong. A treaty was signed with Mediterranea, and when Mediterranea almost got in a war with Menelmacar Shireroth helped restore the peace. The Ministry of the Exterior proposed a group to promote peace called the Olive Branch Community which everyone liked, although due to legislative difficulties it was not approved until January 2004.

Ever since the middle of Aure’s reign, Erik had been itching to get his hands back on the Kaisership. He finally did so in a rather surprising way – micronationalism’s first political marriage. He convinced Jadie to marry him in order to put him first on the heir list, taking the rather dull name of Kaiser Erik. This series of events proved rather disappointing to Babkhan-Shirerithian Rakesh, who was also looking at a similar course of action for rather less political reasons, but Erik gave him the new Barony of Alexandretta to compensate. The Barony was, in fact, named for Erik’s girlfriend, who joined the nation at about this time and soon became both active and productive, taking MiniImNat from Gryphon when he grew tired of it.

Upon getting the Kaisership (albeit not as Ruling Noble) Erik decided to put into effect Broad Sweeping Changes. He had been hinting at these for quite a while, to the point where he actually had to calm people down that he wasn’t going to disrupt the national order in a way too contrary to tradition. It turned out what he did was dissolve the Landsraad and then reconvene them to approve or retract old laws so that he could make them into a Lawbook, something that turned out to be a pretty good idea.

On November 13, Kaiseress Jadie abdicated, and Erik took the throne under the rather less prosaic name of Kaiser Mors III.

Chapter Eleven: (December, Decenuary, January 2003/2004)

In which we reach the present and finally finish this history book, thank Gahg

Kaiser Mors inherited from his predecessors a well-oiled and efficient political machine. Inactive Dukes and Barons had been removed, and the new Praetor, Eoin Dornan, had gotten the Landsraad moving at breakneck speed. A number of decrees and debates had finally established exactly what powers the Kaiser had (answer: all of them) and what was the role of the Landsraad and Ministries. The feudal subdivisions had finally stabilized at a sustainable number, and they were all set with Dukes and Barons. The beginning of Mors’ reign concentrated on political issues; the end on foreign policy issues.

One of the first major issues with which Mors dealt was the interchanging of Elwynn and Hyperborea. Hyperborea had long been larger and more active than Elwynn, and the Duchess of Elwynn, Mari Greenwood, had made a number of enemies. Mors proposed a bill to the Landsraad to make Hyperborea a Duchy and Elwynn a Barony, and, after heated debate, it passed. Mari Greenwood left the nation and Ardashir Khan was promoted to Baron of Elwynn.

The other divisive political issue Mors had to deal with was the line of succession. Though the past few years had seen the Kaisership pass through an heir system, Mors favored the very old concept of a line of succession in which certain people were in a predefined order to receive the Kaisership. Everyone else disagreed with him and gave him flak about it, but Mors asserted his Kaiserial omnipotence, saying:

Ok, yes, maybe I'm having a power trip…but in the course of a few weeks, I shall get done that which I should have had done months ago....the Lawbook was just the start! It's time to set straight things that were made wrong oh so long ago... now I must deal with [a problem regarding Kitanus Fields]...before the break. But DEATH shall ride this fortnight! [I may not be in my right mind, after writing a big essay and running on 6 hours of sleep and it being 2 AM.. I woke up at.. err.. 9am? So I may change my mind and retract some threats...]

However, although people stayed away from Mors for the next few days, he was eventually convinced to repeal the offending decree.

It was also during Mors’ Kaisership that the Feudal Holdings Act finally got completely passed in a totally constitutional format and stopped resurrecting itself to plague another generation of Dukes. Or so we think. Every time we’ve thought that before someone’s had to bring it up again with some minor problem, but the version passed during Mors’ Kaisership sure seemed pretty ultimate.

Unfortunately, the latter part of Mors’ reign suffered a dramatic decline in the quality of Shireroth’s foreign relations. On the advice of MiniEx Scott Alexander, the government condemned a Babkhan policy of aggression towards Cranda. While this made friends with the Crandans and preserved the Olive Branch Community’s vision of peace, it put a massive strain on the alliance with Babkha, with some Babkhans going so far as to declare Shireroth an enemy nation. The revival of Baracao also resulted in a bit of trouble, as some chance remarks escalated into a war of insults between the two countries that left any friendly relationship very unlikely.

Another unfortunate foreign policy issue was the rebellion in Lac Glacei, during which Ryan Caruso declared it an independent state, set up a forum, and rebuffed Shireroth’s demands to return it. After a brief discussion on whether or not to go to war, it was decided sanctions would be a more OBC-friendly way of dealing with the issue, and negotiations as to the final status of the province are still continuing.

But perhaps the seminal event of the Mors Kaisership was the failed F.I.R.S.T. merger with Treesia. Scott Alexander proposed a plan in which Shireroth and its long-time ally Treesia merged completely, and the Kaiser agreed to let him see what kind of agreement he could draw up. However, after the notion began to gather a large amount of support, the Kaiser, and his most steadfast support, Nicholas of Yardistan, did an about-face and opposed the merger whole-heartedly. Because the bill required a 2/3 majority to pass, and because a lot of fence-sitters ended up siding with the Kaiser, the bill failed.

However, Mors III had gotten rather upset by the whole thing, and decided he needed a vacation. On February 5, Mors abdicated, announced he was taking a month long break, and finally made Nicholas Kaiser after all his years of dukedom and stewardship. As a last gift to the nation, he set up the www.shireroth.org site.

Shireroth is now (Ed. note - As of the date originally written) under the benevolent leadership of Kaiser Wyltheow I. Still isolated in the international community, it is nevertheless trying to do what it can to keep abreast of a changing microworld and take its place among the leading micronations of the era. With its political problems solved at home, it is working on a new period of infrastructure development and recruitment. Once again it faces the questions of how much of its phenomenally successful system to keep and how much to change in the hopes of national progress. But not even Sakat himself can predict what course the nation will take into the future, nor how high its star will rise.