Talk:History of Shireroth

Heretical Text 1

First & Second Era

Although Shireroth's fictional histories describe a First Era and Second Era of rule by legendary Kaisers, Shireroth was in fact founded on April 24, 2000, by Erik Mortis as the Republic of Shireroth. In its original incarnation, it was a direct democracy, but this lasted only a few weeks before the country was absorbed into first Audentior, then Jasonia, and finally the Union of Apollo States.

Third Era

The Imperial Charter of Shireroth [1] was written down during the Third Era.

After the last of these broke apart, Shireroth reasserted its independence in the Third Era of Kaiserial rule. Erik Mortis, once again in charge, changed the government to an absolute monarchy under Kaiser Gaelen II, and created a small feudal system with two Duchies, Brookshire and Goldshire. Shireroth soon became much more important than its youth would indicate as Patrick Foley chosed to bequeath the remnants of the UAS to it as the Duchy of Kildare. With a number of military-oriented types like Daniel K and Greg Russell, Shireroth even menaced the largest power of the time, the Flying Islands of Jasonia. However, due to real life issues, Kaiser Metzler I disappeared for a while, and Shireroth disappeared with it.

When Erik returned, he pulled the newly revived Shireroth into the Benacian Commonwealth with Hyperborea and Machiavellia. This soon led to the merge that became the Hegemony of Alexandros and later Tymaria, tying up Shireroth in larger nations until 2002.

When Shireroth reappeared after the Tymarian secessions of July 2002, it had managed to gobble up several smaller Tymarian states and gained the territories of Hyperborea, Yardistan, Jaris, and Akerbjorn, among many others. The feudal system expanded vastly to include a new level, Baron, and the Landsraad became a major organ of government.

Over the next two and a half years, Shireroth managed to dispel its image as being less serious and take its place alongside Babkha and Attera as one of the world's leading micronations. Through a series of diplomatic victories like the Mango-Camel Pact with Babkha, it gained a strong position in the international community despite a continued isolationist bent when nothing is going on that directly affects it. It also continued gaining citizens and territory, so much so that the MCS had to write a rule that Shireroth could never gain any more land.

By 2003, Shireroth's post-Tymaria glory days were gone, and many observers thought it was being outcompeted by flashier micronations like Menelmacar. In response, Steward Nikkolo declared "Oustfest", a tradition of kicking out anyone with more than three citizenships as insufficiently loyal. The tactic worked, with a smaller, sleeker core of patriotic citizens more willing to place Shirerithian interests first, and became a yearly occurence. Around the same time, the unpopular Kaiser Mog I was overthrown by Kaiser Letifer I, creating a Shirerithian tradition of revolting at the drop of a hat.

The next few years saw many highlights, including the War of the Wylthean Succession, an ultimately failed pro-democracy movement by rebel Philip Locke, and the reduction of and combination of the country's many Duchies into six "classic" ones: Brookshire, Goldshire, Elwynn, Kildare, Yardistan, and Straylight. This era ended when Kaiser Yarad I attempted the brave but ultimately doomed "New Feudalism" experiment, in which the country's traditional feudal structure was turned on its head to allow more independence and bargaining between counties. Around the same time, many of Shireroth's traditional enemies allied into a "Grand Commonwealth" designed to check Shirerithian power; due to poor communication between the government's many ministries and branches, Shireroth's response was lackluster at best. For a combination of reasons including the new feudalism, a series of weak Kaisers, foreign stagnation, and bad luck, many Shirerithians departed and by 2007 the country was in a state of complete disrepair.

Fourth Era

In October 2007, Jonas (illegally) seized the Throne as Mahamantot I to restore order in the Shirerithian lands. However, Erik Mortis returned and took the royal name Kaiser Mors V (which was seen as the beginning of the Fourth Era), and along with Ari Rahikkala led the "Great Consolidation", a reconstruction of Shireroth's institutions that shook off the inactivity of the past year. After Mortis' abdication, a long civil struggle began between a faction based in Shireroth's ally Babkha and a second faction that wanted to see ex-Cyberian Jacobus Loki on the throne. The early dominance of the Babkhan faction collapsed when it was revealed to be a front for a Babkhan plot to take over the country, and Jacobus took the throne as Kaiser Loki the Long-Awaited in 2008.

Through 2009, Shireroth gradually collected new citizens, repaired its relationship with Babkha, gained international prestige as the home of the Small Commonwealth, and otherwise enjoyed growing prestige and power abroad completely unmarred by a series of constant low-grade feudal struggles at home.

Most recently, long-standing debates between traditionalists, semi-traditionalists and liberal views resurfaced in battles over Shireroth's beloved but graphically questionable flag during Kaiser Leto III's reign and in Kaiser Agni I's controversial disbanding of the Duchies in favor of a system of noble houses. These two arguments created an era of bad feelings that led to several Shirerithians "ragequitting", especially during the short but exciting reign of Kaiseress Anandja II. Her successor, Kaiser Ikol II, declared an "Age of Tranquility" in which he hoped to resolve some of these bad feelings but failed in doing so.

Kildare stayed active during the House System as a House and was in a constant and bitter debate with the national government over the lost counties (which had come under Imperial control).

Fifth Era

File:Duchies Shireroth 4188 ASC.png

The Duchies during the beginning of the Fifth Era.

The discontent over the House System and the disbandment of Duchies ultimately led to a secession of Elwynn and Straylight in August / September 2010. At that time, there was also an operation (called Operation Interdict) going on from anti-Shirerithians to make Shireroth a miserable place and get the key players (Erik Mortis, Ari Rahikkala and Scott Alexander) leave the nation. This plan partially succeeded as a lot of the citizenry left or became inactive over a quite short period of time. However, the reigns of Kaiser Ometeotl I and Fish XII led to a slow recovery and, most importantly, to the restoration of the Duchies. The Landsraad was also opened for minor nobles at that time, and the rebirth of national spirit was termed the Fifth Era of Shirerithian history.

Kildare, at that time the only active subdivision, remained loyal to the Crown despite its constant complains about the House System, which was ironic in view of subsequent events.

The secession had however dispelled the aura of invincibility that had once cloaked the office of Kaiser and called into question the very idea of Shirerithian 'nationhood' which had long bonded its many peoples in ways that government could not. Loyalty to the Kaisers would, over time, be undermined and visibly diminished by a rising patchwork of regional identities, many of which esteemed their own homespun cultural heritage more highly than they did the Imperial purple. It was a problem that would only grow worse with time.

Shaken by the impotence of the Kaisership in maintaining the facade of political unity, the political current in Shireroth moved gently in favour of democratisation with the Shirerithian legislature, the Landsraad, ending its ancient nobles-only rule and opening membership to the entire citizenry in September 2010.

Meanwhile Elwynn, in alliance with Babkha, rose, for a brief time, to even greater heights of power and glory than Shireroth attained. It annexed Amokolia to its west and formed a globe spanning colonial empire following, not unintentionally, the self-same Alexander Doctrine of the Imperial Republic it had rebelled against. So powerful did it become that there were even those, including Scott Alexander, amusingly enough, who contemplated and privately advocated capitulation to the Prince of Elwynn. However this was not to be. The reason being that independent Elwynn's greatest failing, one stemming directly from its core paradox of being a liberal imperial power, was its openness to foreigners. In particular the Elwynnese failed to maintain a proper scrutiny of the dual citizens from the Imperial Republic for whom instead the door was held open even when Eliria, the Elwynnese capital, was locked in bitter strife with Shirekeep. So it was no surprise then that the Shirerithians marshalled their expatriate vote in Elwynn to support serial usurper Jacobus Loki in rigged elections for the office of Prince. With his victory, and with the failure of the liberal elite in Elwynn to support the measures necessary to purge the fifth columnists from the body politic, Elwynn collapsed ignominiously - and after a few months of Loki's catastrophically inept misrule opted for reunification with Shireroth.

Proving once and for all that any nation that accepts inward mass migration from hostile foreign communities, that do not embrace the values of their host nation but instead remain loyal to their ancestral lands and faith, will invariably sign their own death-warrant once the demographic balance tips away from the indigenous population.

In such a fashion was the fall of Elwynn accomplished.

Opinion also moved toward insulating the provinces from the worst failures of Imperial policy by granting them substantial autonomy, in order to restore a sense of trust and wellbeing that would, in turn, keep Shireroth together. This culminated in the Lich Charter of December 2012, promulgated by Kaiseress Mira Raynora Major, wherein Shireroth's territories were transformed into a series of autonomous Imperial States with profuse powers to determine their own affairs. This stabilisation of the political and constitutional situation, among other things, contributed greatly to the peaceable reunification of Elwynn with Shireroth in April 2013, which was carried off remarkably smoothly to the extent that many of Elwynn's old hands returned to contribute to the state's brief moment of notoriety as the Coordinated State, a thought-form experiment in liberal totalitarianism.

Sixth Era

Unfortunately the Imperial State system depended on a certain level of good faith on the part of the Imperial States toward the Kaiser's government in Shirekeep, as those bonds which were no longer maintained by the Kaiser's power came to depend on the voluntary co-operation of the Imperial States with each other and with the Kaiser. The inability of the Kaiser to deal with the excessive self-interest of Imperial States was explosively demonstrated with the surprise secession of Kildare in October 2014. What Elwynn began in demoting the vaunted myth of the Shirerithian Kaisership, Kildare all but finished.

Seventh Era

The Imperial States and Imperial Dominions of Shireroth during the reign of Kaiser Dominus.

Heretical Text 2

Shireroth was founded April 24, 2000 by Erik Mortis. It spent the majority of its early history as a client state to the great powers of the day, including Audentior, Jasonia, and Tymaria. After the fall of Tymaria, Shireroth emerged as the most powerful of its successor states. It was both able to collect most of the remnants of the old Apollo Sector micronationalists and gather a native community of its own consisting mostly of students at Sonoma State University in California.

By 2003, Shireroth's post-Tymaria glory days were gone, and many observers thought it was being outcompeted by flashier micronations like Menelmacar. In response, Steward Nikkolo declared "Oustfest", a tradition of kicking out anyone with more than three citizenships as insufficiently loyal. The tactic worked, with a smaller, sleeker core of patriotic citizens more willing to place Shirerithian interests first, and became a yearly occurence. Around the same time, the unpopular Kaiser Mog I was overthrown by Kaiser Letifer I, creating a Shirerithian tradition of revolting at the drop of a hat.

The next few years saw many highlights, including the War of the Wylthean Succession, an ultimately failed pro-democracy movement by rebel Philip Locke, and the reduction of and combination of the country's many Duchies into six "classic" ones: Brookshire, Goldshire, Elwynn, Kildare, Yardistan, and Straylight. This era ended when Kaiser Yarad I attempted the brave but ultimately doomed "New Feudalism" experiment, in which the country's traditional feudal structure was turned on its head to allow more independence and bargaining between counties. Around the same time, many of Shireroth's traditional enemies allied into a "Grand Commonwealth" designed to check Shirerithian power; due to poor communication between the government's many ministries and branches, Shireroth's response was lackluster at best. For a combination of reasons including the new feudalism, a series of weak Kaisers, foreign stagnation, and bad luck, many Shirerithians departed and by 2007 the country was in a state of complete disrepair.

In October 2007, Jonas (illegally) took the Throne as Mahamantot I to restore order in the Shirerithian lands. However, Erik Mortis returned and took the royal name Kaiser Mors V, and along with tech guru Ari Rahikkala led the "Great Consolidation", a reconstruction of Shireroth's institutions that shook off the inactivity of the past year. After Mortis' abdication, a long civil struggle began between a faction based in Shireroth's ally Babkha and a second faction that wanted to see ex-Cyberian Jacobus Loki on the throne. The early dominance of the Babkhan faction collapsed when it was revealed to be a front for a Babkhan plot to take over the country, and Jacobus took the throne as Kaiser Loki the Long-Awaited in 2008.

Through 2009, Shireroth gradually collected new citizens, repaired its relationship with Babkha, gained international prestige as the home of the Small Commonwealth, and otherwise enjoyed growing prestige and power abroad completely unmarred by a series of constant low-grade feudal struggles at home. Most recently, long-standing debates between traditionalists and liberals resurfaced in battles over Shireroth's beloved but graphically questionable flag and in Kaiser Agni I's controversial disbanding of the Duchies in favor of a system of noble houses. These two arguments created an era of bad feelings that led to several Shirerithians "ragequitting", especially during the short but exciting reign of Kaiseress Anandja II. Her successor, Kaiser Ikol II, declared an "Age of Tranquility" in which he hoped to resolve some of these bad feelings but failed in doing so.

Disagreements led to a secession of Elwynn and Straylight in August / September 2010. Kildare remained loyal to the Crown and became the only powerhouse within the Empire, overshadowing the once so glorious Duchies of Brookshire and Yardistan. At the nation's lowest point, Erik Mortis took the throne a final time as Kaiser Ometeotl I and pulled parts of the country back together. However, the nation remained tied down by a lack of citizens and by unpopular Kaisers such as Cedris I. In 2012, Kaiser Loki IV brought some order back to Shireroth, restoring the traditional Duchies, and a trickle of old citizens began to return, perhaps portending a more hopeful future.

2013 saw reunification with Elwynn via Treaty in April, along with a new Charter masterminded by Kaiseress Mira Raynora Major which guarantees the rights of Subdivisions. The long reigns of the Lich-Kaiseresses Mira Raynora Major and Mira Raynora Minor gave way to the reign of Aiomide, which was also fairly long. The first part of his reign was dealing with the Cabbage Crisis whereby MoMA Baralak Alaion, last feudal/Shirerithian Duke of Elwynn, claimed the throne in Shirekeep. While the Landsraad met on the beautiful Skyla Isles, Aiomide led a recapture of the capital, which involved Elwynn claiming the western environs, Lichbrook getting the southern part (Lichkeep) and Goldshire the east (Cabbagefall). Towards the end of the year, Aryasht also unified with Shireroth, making her truly the greatest nation on Micras. As the new year turned, Semisa II took the throne.

A Brief History of Shireroth

By Scott Alexander

Written 972 ASC

Not intended for those unfamiliar with basic Apollonian history or conventions. Please see ApolloHistory.doc for more information. This essay merely expands on Shireroth’s specific history to someone already familiar with the broader picture.

Chapter I: The Very Beginning

Part 1: Founding

This history ought to begin at the beginning; that is, the founding of Shireroth. Unfortunately, exactly when that was is unclear. The official history of Shireroth fixes the date at twelve midnight on April 24, 2000. Since Apollo Standard Time had not yet been invented, we must assume this refers to the Pacific time used by Kaiser Metzler. The forum records back this up after a fashion - a post entitled "The Republic Of Shireroth is Founded" is dated 4/23/00 11:37:56 pm - not midnight, but close. The first post on the Shireroth forum, though, is April 21. And the Alexandros record lists Shireroth as founded 264 ASC, which translates into April 26 on the Gregorian calendar. My guess would be that the forum was created on the 21st, and an official proclamation made on the 23rd, which was then rounded off to the 24th. And the Alexandrians just didn't know what they were talking about.

Part 2: Sequential Events

On the first day of Shireroth's existence it was greeted by the Istvanistanis and Hyperboreans. It will also be noted that the Hyperboreans pointed out the first of Shireroth's spelling errors (the word "discussion") on that day. Hyperboreans pointing out Shirerothian spelling errors was later to become a grand tradition. Erik then left for two days, during which Shireroth's early history more or less stopped, since at that period he was the only citizen. The next important event of this period was the acceptance of a treaty with the Great Automatic Peoples' Republic by a 4-0 margin, in which both vowed never to attack each other. Shireroth was also recognized by Blackrock, Jasonia and Istvanistan

Part 3: Provisional Government

The government during this time was the Provisional Government. Erik was to be a President with dictator-like powers until the Republic gained its fifth citizen. At that time, a more representative government would be established. Shireroth joined Audentior before that could happen. The only actions of Metzler's government were to appoint a Citizenship Minister and to create a currency. The Citizenship Minister was John Sager, who said he would make a citizenship form (he never did), and the currency was the €, although there is no record of the name Erb until much later. Speaking of Sager, he tried to form a party called the Popular Front of Shireroth to bring Automatic ideals into the country, but he never really got around to completing this.

Part 4: Analysis

Shireroth didn't do very much in the pre-Audentior days. It didn't have enough time to. The First Republic's major impact on history was to provide a base for future incarnations to work off of, to set the flag and currency, and to help facilitate the Audente merger negotiations, in which it played a major part and was one of the strongest voices for unity.

Chapter II: The Audente Age

Part 1: Shireroth In The Merger

The age of the First Great Merger is a very misunderstood one, but unfortunately I cannot get into it here. Shireroth, ironically, was probably one of the most pro-merger countries in the whole bunch. It was mainly small nations who were willing to agree to the merge - in the beginning, Shireroth and Hyperborea. The addition of Tapfer as a small nation was also helpful. The large nations in the merger process, who were very conservative about the possibility of creating a new country, were Jasonia and the Automatics. With Shireroth, the small nations just managed to have a majority in the proceedings, and eventually Jasonia (though significantly, not Automatica) gave in. On May 14th Shireroth became an official Audente province. Greg Shaddinger, who was strongly anti-Audentior, threatened to resign, but President Metzler said that this was a new nation and he didn't have to participate in Audente affairs if he didn't want to. John Sager, who had his own reasons for being anti-Audentior, did emigrate.

Part 2: General Politics

The Tetrapole Representative from Shireroth was Erik. He also won in a national election the Legislative Chair position, a victory which he celebrated in his infamous thread "I am got the chair!." His main policies in the Tetrapole were pushing for direct democracy and supporting anything Bill Dusch of Tapfer opposed. Another important political issue here is that Daniel K, also known as VH Fenrir, joined Shireroth for the first time.

Part 3: The Manifold Conflicts

Shireroth in the AIN was, unfortunately, probably best known for causing a lot of trouble. The first bit of trouble was the Direct Democracy Riots. These riots were the first time that Shireroth used its infamous smiley bomb, forcing Executive Chair Scott Siskind to declare martial law. This just got the Shirerothians angrier, and would have split the country had a last minute agreement not been brokered. What did end up splitting the country were the riots that occurred when Bill Dusch was elected President in a vote evidently run by the same people who did Palm Beach. These riots too were led by Shireroth.

Part 4: Shirerothian Secession

Shireroth seceded, as mentioned above, after the tainted elections during which Bill Dusch was chosen as Audentior's first President. This was on July 11th 2000, after the three Shirerothian citizens of the period (Erik, Daniel K, and Greg Shaddinger) approved. It was then discovered by the Audentes that secession was not, technically, illegal. President Dusch decided it was important to keep the nation together anyway, and attacked Shireroth. Well, sort of. What he did was post a map of Shireroth that included an Audente attack force. The Shirerothians laughed at him and challenged him to resolve the matter by a game of StarCraft. Dusch continued his unorthodox tactics, which were mockingly called "GifWars", but Audentior fell a few days later, and he chose not to pursue the war further.

Part 5: Culture During The Audente Era

Shirerothian culture during the Audente Era was primarily focused on Boomism (more properly called BO0O/\/\ism). This was both a religion and a political party. It began with the game of StarCraft, in which it was, in the words of Erik, a philosophy that "anything that's not Terran should go BOOOOM!". However, it evolved into a general pro-explosion way of thinking. The Boomist Party was for peace through armed strength and opposed the Demesos Party in Audentior's virtual two-party system. Of the Boomist religion little has survived except the knowledge that the single holiday, La Fiesta De La BOOOM, was celebrated on July 26. The Boomist symbol was a nuclear mushroom cloud.

Chapter III: The Jasonian and Apollonian Ages

Part 1: Integration With Jasonia

Why would Shireroth merge into a monolithic nation controlled by Jasonians when it had just angrily seceded from a monolithic nation controlled by Jasonians? While it would be nice to say that the archives held the answer, any appropriate threads were either deleted or never in existence. Luckily, we have a thread from the Jasonian side, which allows us to date the merge at July 13 (making Shireroth independent for all of two days). And here Erik gives his answer to the question posited above:" Shireroth never lasted long enough before the AIN merger to develop. Now that we are free again. I see no reason why would should bother trying to develop. We are basically just the same thing as FIoJ, just smaller and less organized.(if that is even posible.)" [myriad spelling/grammar errors fixed] Shireroth joined Jasonia, it may be said, out of laziness.

Part 2: On the Activities of Shireroth, Or Lack Thereof

Shireroth was completely inactive during the Jasonian age. All states that were part of the Flying Islands were. The one burst of interesting news was that the Shirerothians seceded on September 24 and then unseceded two hours later before anyone noticed. This was due to Erik's anger at being put on trial for spamming, but apparently he changed his mind and decided not to dig himself deeper. Erik was the only really active Shirerothian-Jasonian, although Dan K popped up from time to time. Both took the Hellish side in the Infernal War but were content to rejoin Jasonia after the Treaty of the Gods.

Part 3: The Apollonian Era

Shireroth, as a part of Jasonia, was not involved in the formation of the Union of Apollo States. It may be remembered by the student of history that Jasonia did not actually join the Union but rather sent a "dummy state", New Jasonia, to participate. Thus, Shireroth remained technically a part of an independent Jasonia, although all the action took place at the UAS. Not a single purely Shirerothian action or post can be found from this era, so it's safe to say nothing really happened.

Part 4: On the Revivication of Shireroth

I am happy to say I can pinpoint the exact moment in which Shireroth was revived. It was December 18, 2000, in an ICQ chat between this historian, Jason Steffke, and Erik . Erik was complaining about how much he disliked FIoJ, and Scott suggested "I wouldn't mind seeing Shireroth again. It was one of the few micronations I ever liked". The Kaiser’s exact response, one for the history books, was "MUAHAHAHA! SHIREROTH SHALL RETURN!" It is a very interesting piece of historical trivia that Jason Steffke was offered the Kaisership of Shireroth in that chat, and he declined. Other names were thrown out, including John Sager, Daniel K, and (may Gahg have mercy) Eoin Dornan, but in the end, everyone thought that it had to be Erik. Which brings us to:

Chapter IV: The Direct Democracy Constitutional Monarchy of Shireroth

Part 1: Formation

The information here is taken from ICQ transcripts between Scott Siskind and Erik. The new Shireroth originally was to use the same Provisional Constitution as the Old Republic and, significantly, would ban dual citizenship. Originally decided at the last second not to create Shireroth after all, but then he got "new information" which he refused to tell me and which I suspect was just him changing his mind without wanting to admit it, and he started a vote to free Shireroth from Jasonia at 9:39 PM on December 19. The vote was almost ruined by Thomas Hubert's opposition, but Erik threatened Hubert and he changed his mind. At 11:00 PM the same day, Erik stated he wanted Shireroth to be a combination direct democracy and constitutional monarchy. It was decided that King was too bland, and Baron, Shah, Czar, Prince, Pope, Big Kahuna, Pharoah, God-King and even Ayatollah were all considered before Erik decided on Kaiser due to his German background. (although it was all that Scott could do to keep him from choosing "Lizard-KING!".)

Part 2: Government Specifics

In the words of Erik, Shireroth was a "direct democracy constitutional monarchy". The Kaiser appointed ministers who were confirmed by the people. The people voting directly formed the legislative branch, and a judicial branch was planned by never realized. The first minister was Daniel K, Minister (or Miniter, according to the forum) of Immigration. Patrick Foley tried to become head of the military without being a citizen, but was rebuffed (he did become the CinC after the Kildare annexation). There was no foreign affairs minister, but the Kaiser took care of it, and Shireroth had mutual relations with Jasonia, Babkha, and Treesia at the time.

Part 3: The Duchy System And The Mass Annexations

The Duchy system started off very simply: Daniel K. was Duke of Brookshire, and the other Duchy, Goldshire, was vacant. It was then that the UAS collapsed, and Shireroth was all too happy to pick up the pieces. What it got from the Apollo Republic was the main land mass (which became Kildare, under Duke Patrick Foley) and the islands surrounding it (which became Gong Li, under Tony Au, who was originally an honorary citizen but then joined officially) With Patrick Foley's joining, Norfolk was added to the Shirerothian holdings, and became part of Gong Li.

Part 4: Culture During This Period

Little to none. There was some remnant of the old Novi Dalmacijan culture for a while, but no one except Stjepan understood it, and it died fast. Its one lasting contribution to Apollo Micronationalism was the famous golden Zlatni Rat, which turned out to be a beach, to Scott's extreme relief, but which was later found in mousetraps all over the land. Economics prospered, thanks to "Economics God" Tony Au. The Erb reached a record high of 5.5 on the ICEO, which everyone was very happy about, and the stock market had the usual brief flurry of activity before disappearing never to be seen again.

Chapter V: The Seventh Republic And The Seeds Of Benacia

Part 1: The Amity Crisis

The seeds of the Amity crisis go back to before Shireroth even existed. Jasonia wanted a space program, so they created JASO, the Jasonian Aeronautics and Space Organization, and gave its command to Erik. It needed a base, so Erik "discovered" the island of Amity, along with nearby Mirioth, and set up operations there. When Shireroth seceded from Jasonia, it was unclear whether Amity went with it. The Shirerothians apparently assumed it did, and the Jasonians assumed it didn't. On December 23, the Kaiser of Shireroth "politely demanded" that it be given to the Shirerothians. The Jasonians said no, and the Kaiser said he respected the Jasonian decision. On the 27th, Shireroth occupied Amity anyway, causing an international incident. Jasonia threatened Shireroth, and Shireroth laughed off the threats. For a while, it seemed like war was inevitable. But on January 3, a compromise was reached between Jasonian foreign minister Greg Nordman and the Kaiser. Jasonia would sell Amity to Shireroth for 225 erb. Although the Jasonians grumbled a little, the deal was accepted, and war averted.

Part 2: The Seventh Republic

The Seventh Republic, the name given to the Shireroth government around this time, is widely considered the Golden Age of Shireroth. On January 18th, Shireroth was accepted to the League of Micronations with a 14-1 vote. This was mainly thanks to Patrick Foley, Shireroth's many-talented foreign minister of the period. This was also the age of the Shireroth Boomers, champions of the Intermicronational Football League, for what it's worth. And of mass annexations and the Micronational Cartography Board. But it came to an end around the first day of February, when the Kaiser's sporadic mental illnesses reared their ugly head once again. Erik fainted due to some kind of problem and had to start seeing a psychologist, and decided that continued involvement in micronations would not be appropriate. Unfortunately, this was only revealed in mid-March, so for the month of February people just sat around doing nothing and wondering where the Kaiser had gone. This would be enough to destroy most micronations, and it did destroy Shireroth. Until the fateful day of March 26, 2001, Shireroth lay inactive and abandoned, the greatness of the Seventh Republic all but forgotten.

Part 3: The Crisis And The Seeds of Benacia

Jasonia, decided, out of the goodness of their hearts, to make the dead Shireroth a protectorate so that "no one could snatch it up and add it to their empire", ironically enough. The Rasinate noticed, and had the same idea - make Shireroth a protectorate of the Rasinate so Jasonia couldn't take it (though to be fair, the Rasinate had Eoin Dornan as their Prime Minister, so they really can't be held accountable for their actions). And finally, a new nation called Machiavellia, newly arrived from that fertile source of micronations called the Apolyton fora, decided to claim it so that neither Jasonia nor the Rasinate could. And they had a secret weapon - General Trantor, a man who claimed to be a former Shireroth citizen, although he refused to give any more information and there was certainly no former Shirerothian citizen named General Trantor. Jasonia gave in pretty quickly, but the Rasinate and Machiavellia seemed ready to go to war over the issue. The Rasinate even made a lot of threats and began to rally its various allies. Then General Trantor revealed that he was none other than Kaiser Metzler I of Shireroth, recovered from his ills (well, as recovered as he'd get) and come to usher in an Eighth Republic! The Rasinate quickly backed down, and Shireroth and Machiavellia signed a lasting alliance.

Chapter VI: The Benacian Age

Part 1: The Gap In The Records

There is an effective gap in records between late March and early June. It is my belief that Shireroth unofficially merged into Jasonia at this time, but the historical evidence of this is sketchy. It is based only on my personal recollection of events and some obscure references in the Jasonian fora. It seems to make more sense than anything else I've come across, though, so I'll let it stand and leave it for future investigation. Some evidence points to Benacia being formed before the Paramount War (May), but nothing concrete, and the Benacian fora were made on June 2, so I'll consider that the official date of Benacia's formation.

Part 2: The Paramount Wars

Whether Shireroth was independent, part of Benacia, or part of Jasonia during the Paramount Wars, it certainly played a major part in them. The first Paramount War was precipitated by Paramount declaring war on Jasonia because it wanted certain territories that had formerly been Paramountian back (although this was the official reason, the unofficial reason was that John Sager hated Jason Steffke and wanted to harass him). Shireroth and Machiavellia took the side of Jasonia, and used spamming techniques to spam Paramount out of existence. Unfortunately, Paramount, never having really been too much in existence anyway, didn't care, and John, with his usual obstinancy, declared that he had won and Paramount was perfect. The usual disputed-lands-go-to-the-Foundation compromise was reached, but just weeks later, the second Paramount War started. The Paramount Demolition Duo, as Kaiser Metzler and Prince Conway called themselves, went to work again, but it was revealed after the end of the war that it was just a ploy by Steffke to build activity. After this the Benacians got very angry at Jasonia and hoped for its downfall, which sure enough happened a month or two later.

Part 3: The Structure Of Benacia

Benacia had three members - Hyperborea, Shireroth, and Machiavellia. It was governed by a council of the three heads of state, and one of them each month was the Chair, who presided over the meetings. Kaiser Metzler was the first chair. The council usually met in ICQ or AIM chats.

Part 4: Shireroth During The Benacian Age

Not much happened. There were a few foreign relations things - the Benacians entered treaties with Babkkha and the PUR, and went through the bimonthly ritual of threatening Thomas Hubert only to have him back down at the last second. Patrick came back and left again. Yeah. That was about it.

Chapter VII: The Hegemony of Alexandros

Part 1: Formation of the Hegemony

The best answer for "Why did the Hegemony form?" is probably "Because of the cycle". The Apollo Sector (and Shireroth too, although it's not technically in it) tends to have large mergers every so often, and at the time of Alexandros, it was overdue. Originally, it was going to be a strengthening of Benacia without changing the basic culture or theme. However, when a chat started which included Jason Rhode, the new Prince of Machaivellia, although not, significantly, Kaiser Metzler, the participants found they all like ancient Greece and, specifically, Alexander The Great. Thus, it was decided that the merged nation would be the Hegemony of Alexandros rather than just Benacia (Hegemony was added because it was much more original than "Kingdom" or "Republic" or "Empire"). There was some debate over who ought to be the leader, but eventually Jason Rhode was decided upon.

Part 2: Structure of the Hegemony

The Hegemony's government was based on four high officials, with the Hegemon as a fifth high official above all of them. These were the Archon, in charge of the site, the fora, and general information related stuff; the Polemarch, in charge of war and the military; the Kristarch, in charge of economics; and the Strategos, in charge of foreign affairs. During the Hegemony these were Scott Siskind, Erik, Tony Au, and Edward Conway, respectively. There was also a Landsraad, the classicists' single concession to a more Shirerothian naming system and a Demes, a direct-democracy house of the people. All kinds of complex interactions were supposed to take place between them, but in reality the five officials together made all the policy and the Demes went and approved it.

Part 3: History of the Hegemony

The Hegemony expanded pretty quickly with some mass annexations. Tapfer was annexed at the request of Bill Dusch, since Jasonia was fallen by this time. They also took some of Ryan Caruso's old territories, including a place called Cimmeria. There was a minor conflict when Caruso demanded greater rights for Cimmeria and it looked like he was threatening the government, but it turned out he wasn't and everything was fine. Thomas Hubert tried to take back Rulzcentia, but the Hegemony claimed it and Hubert gave in after some tense moments. There was also a revolt over the colors of the forum. That was about all that had time to happen before the Hegemony joined with Tymaria.

Chapter VIII: The Pax Tymaria

Part 1: The Formation of Tymaria

The formation of Tymaria was a minor miracle. The Free Republic and Interland were going to merge, and the Hegemony of Alexandros decided they might as well merge with them, which brought the Rasinate in, leading to the biggest merger in history. It was managed at a Constitutional Convention that lasted from late September to late October 2001, and the final draft of the Constitution was agreeable to all delegates, and on October 31 (or thereabout) the United Republic of Tymaria was proclaimed.

Part 2: Shireroth's Place In Tymaria

Shireroth was one of eight original states in four original regions of Tymaria. Each state got a different number of votes depending on its regional distribution, with Shireroth getting only one. As a state, Shireroth had considerable control over its internal affairs, but could not print its own money nor conduct foreign relations nor war.

Part 3: Changes And Revolutions

On November 25, Shireroth was annexed to its own Duchy, Yardistan, and its Duke, Nick the Yardistani, who had joined about a month before. Why the change? In the words of former Kaiser Metzler, "Shireroth didn't fall. I simply find Yardistan more fun." However, the reversed situation was soon set right again with the acension of Kaiser Gaelen II to the throne. Unfortunately, Kaiser Gaelen too left, leaving the throne vacant. It passed to Ari Rahikkala, but he faked his own death, making James "Fax Celestis" the steward. Then another Yardistani revolt happened...

Part 4: Culture

This was a great time for Shirerothian culture. In a posts like "History and Culture of Shireroth" and "Kaisers of Shireroth", Kaiser Metzler fleshed out the formerly deficient background of the nation. It was formerly a group of warring chiefdoms before the first Kaiser started the Republic 2000 years before the founding of the Sector. There was also some stuff on Goldshire and name origins, some of which are in the appendix.

Chapter IX: The Mors Restoration

Part 1: Kaiser Mors I

When Erik returned after his long absence, he did so as Kaiser Mercator Mortis I (Merchant of Death) or Mors for short. He bore an ancient Shirerothian sword called Vengeance which marked him as the true claimant to the throne. Both Fax Celestis and Nick the Yardistani, who at the time were in a civil war for power, gave up their claims in favor of Erik's new avatar.

Part 2: Decrees And Changes

Kaiser Mors made a number of decrees and radically reshaped the Shireroth government. Among the decrees were to kick all foreign (which means the Tymarian government and other Tymarian states) armies out of Shireroth, a decree to make James "Fax Celestis" the new heir, a decree taking Shireroth unilaterally out of the Hegemony of Alexandros, and a decree to create a new Duchy, Straylight, for former Kaiser Ari Rahikkala. He then tried to convince the House of Nations to give Shireroth another Senate seat, which resulted in another debate over proportional representation. Also, he revived the old forum and the Landsraad and started construction of a great temple.

Part 3: Conclusion

And that's where we are today.

Appendix A: Name Origins

The name Shireroth came from the Shire, the home of the hobbits in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, added to Azeroth, the name of the gameworld in the WarCraft series.

The name GoldShire came from the Shire in Shireroth plus gold for the fact that there used to be gold mines there.

The name Elwynn came from a corruption of “Elven”. It was later made the name of a goddess in the Treesian religion.

The name Amity Island came from the island where the shark lived in Jaws

The name Mirioth Island was just plain made up.

The name Kildare came from an old name for Ireland

The name Straylight came from David Brin’s Uplift series of science fiction

The name Brookshire was made from the Shire in Shireroth plus brook because there were brooks there.

from here and here.

Heretical Text 3

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.

Heretical Text 4

When one hears the term "monarchy", one usually imagines a relatively orderly passing on of power along a single line of descent, with sudden switches to other family lines being regarded as unusual at best and often even illegal. In this light, one might wonder at the system of inheritance used in Shireroth. In comparison to those monarchies in which the line of succession has already been determined by birthright, the system of maintaining multiple parallel bloodlines, each of which has an equal right to hold the Golden Mango Throne, might seem chaotic and unlikely. How did such a system arise?

For an explanation, we must look back to the very beginnings of Shireroth, indeed to Raynor I himself. Raynor was a descendent of the Emperors of Khaz Modan, who from the available evidence passed their inheritance along lineally, from father to son. Although no written evidence remains of Raynor´s thoughts on the succession, there is no reason to think that he intended to abandon this original conception. Indeed, upon his death, he was succeeded by his elder son Brrapa (the eldest child was a daughter, but in those days women were not eligible to assume the throne).

Likewise, when it came time for Brrapa I to pass on, it was his own son, Erik I, who became Kaiser. And had things continued from there, it seems likely that the succession would have remained in the Line of Metzler from then on. But an abrupt and crucial change came in b2248, when the Kaiser perished early, after having reigned a mere 19 years (short indeed by the standards of his predecessors). Kaiser Erik had been riding through the newly-conquered lands in what is now Elwynn with his wife and infant son when their party was ambushed by the vengeful natives; the Kaiser, his family, and all hyguards were believed dead.

Kaiser Erik had had no brothers, and his only son had disappeared with him. His cousin, the son of Brrapa´s younger brother Mortis, was busily engaged in the subjugation of Yardistan; it was quickly realized that his ascension as Kaiser would be infeasible. Thus was the throne instead passed to the descendent of Raynor´s daughter, through whom the imperial blood still ran true even if she herself had not be eligible to rule. This descendent assumed the throne as Raynor II.

Raynor II, as well, intended to continue the tradition of passing the throne of father to son, but this was not to be. The new Kaiser spent most of his reign involved in revenge against the natives of Elwynn for their actions. About halfway into his forty year reign, however, he discovered that the Line of Metzler had not been extinguished as thoroughly as had originally been supposed. During a raid on a native village, his soldiers discovered that although Kaiser Erik had indeed been killed, his wife and son had lived in captivity for the past twenty years! Upon being rescued, the two were immediately brought back to Shirekeep.

Kaiser Raynor was gladdened to learn of the survival of his kinsmen, and welcomed them home. But he found himself faced with the difficult choice of succession; however much he wished his own descendents to inherit the Kaisership, the rightful heir of the monarchy had proven alive and well. In the end, the Kaiser felt obligated by duty to name the son of Erik as his heir, allowing the inheritance to pass back to those who had once held it.

After the death of Raynor II, the young man became Kaiser as Brrapa II. But although the Line of Metzler had been restored to the throne through his ascension, the new Kaiser was an individual with a highly developed sense of justice. Knowing the sacrifice his mentor had made in placing him as heir above his own children, Brrapa decided to reward the gesture. Upon assuming the throne, he issued a decree that would become the foundatif the Shirerithian form of succession, in which he stated that

"although the scions of Brrapa the First, have by and large held claim to the Crown since the deaths of that august Kaiser, let it not be forgotten that he was but the child of Raynor the First, whose royal blood continues through the descendents of all three of his children. So too does the right to hold the Crown as Kaiser extend to all the descendents of Raynor; and when it seems appropriate for the good governance of Shireroth, the succession may pass from descendents of one line to those of another, as it did in the case of Our own predecessor, Raynor the Second."

This decree proved to be a wise move in the short term. Brrapa II reigned only for a short time (11 years), shorter even than his father; he died in battle, continuing his predecessors´ wars against the Elwynnese with particular zeal. The decree was put to an immediate test; Brrapa´s son was too young to take the throne, and no other heir had been specified. It was with the backing of the heir to the Line of Mortis that Nicholas du Grifos was chosen.

Nicholas I was the first Kaiser not to have male-line descent from one of the three original Bloodlines. His father´s ancestors were scions of the family that had provided (somewhat erratic) leadership of Yardistan; but his mother was a child of the Line of Raynor. The union itself had been an act of political unification, but the heirs of Mortis realized that the incorporation of the newly conquered Yardistan might be eased even further if the islanders were ruled by a man with Yardistani blood. Moreover, by the decree of Brrapa II, he was eligible for the Kaisership as a descendent of Raynor I. The Line of Raynor, delighted to have a relative on the throne, quickly agreed to the choice.

To the credit of Kaiser Nicholas, the political nature of his ascension did not render him weak; not one to be a puppet of any of the interests that had placed him on the throne, and he judged all under his rule fairly, showrticularly noticeable) bias toward his father´s people. Yet this was not enough to convince all that he was anything more than a crazy Yardistani, nor could he assuage public concern over the possible continuance of his line as heirs to the throne. Therefore, as he grew older, he decided to circumvent any further controversy by choosing as his heir a different and far more respected offshoot of the Raynor line, a man who eventually become Kaiser Paul I, the founder of the Line of Ly´Technomaezj.

From that point onward, the practice of choosing an heir from a different Imperial Bloodline became tradition, to the point of being an institution. Not all descendents of Raynor were happy with this arrangement, of course; the idea of depriving their own children of a chance at the throne made many resentful. Yet by and large, the tradition was accepted as a positive (undoubtedly aided by the tendency of non-reigning Bloodlines of becoming high nobility). And although several cases existed of the throne passing from father to son over an extended period, particularly during the time of the three Alexander Kaisers (Marcus I, II, and III) and the Metzler-Ly´Technomaezj Dynasty, ultimately the tradition of passing the Kaisership between Bloodlines has remained the expected norm up to the present.