The Ages of Mar Sara

[Ryan]

This is an attempt by me to reconstruct my old writings about Mar Sara and blend them with actual history a bit to make a comprehensive guide to the various "ages" of the island.

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The First Age of Mar Sara

Mar Sara had been, for the millions of years leading up to its colonization, a veritable wasteland of ice and snow, dominated by the central highland peaks. Very little life existed on the island, and even less developed in regards to civilization. Then came the arrival of the Space Marines. Dominated by their fearless leader, Commander Thomas Hubert, the Space Marines were extraterrestrial renegades from a fallen star empire. Identical to humans they landed the remnants of their fleet on Mar Sara and, dismantling their ships, used their technological finesse to rebuild the island to their own needs.
Initially the fusion reactors from the ships were used, along with laser weapons also from the vessels, to melt most of the ice cap. After this a great series of caves and tunnels were built under the island, boring in from the center to a nexus built under the region they called Xultan. In this nexus the Space Marines took the best of their machinery and computers and built the Machine of Xultan. This machine was essentially a climate regulation computer that, by using geothermal tunnels that had been bored into the rock, and by bisecting these with other tunnels around the island, could pump heat anywhere, anytime. As a result the Space Marines with their machine were able to establish several microclimates across the island.
Early in this stage the Space Marines were quite prolific and traded peacefully with neighboring states. While others were always wary of their technological superiority, the Space Marines were soldiers, not scientists, and they lacked the ability to restore the great empire they had come from long ago. As such they populated their island in relative isolation, building the great capital of Augustgrad, and the bustling metropolis of New Gettysburg.
With the regulation of the climate, and the lack of need for energy (since it was powered by clean fusion), the Space Marines began the first of a series of trends that would ultimately change the fate of the island centuries later. The first was for Space Marines to collect odd specimens of flora and fauna. With the array of microclimates on the island, a Space Marine could have anything he or she wished. Thus strange creatures began to be imported from across Micras. Among the first were exotic organisms, such as giant mushrooms, komodo dragons, and great jungle panthers. It soon became common for every Space Marine home to have something exotic on display.
Around the same time a certain level of apathy set in on the population. With most manufacturing being done by automated machines, the population became lethargic. As such it was not a surprise when Commander Hubert took control of the government and declared the People´s Republic of Mar Sara. A totalitarian regime, Hubert quickly subdued the populace and expanded the military tenfold. A delusional megalomaniac, he sought to create a great Terran Empire stretching the breadth of all Micras. At a command Hubert´s armies began attacking neighboring lands, first landing in Tapfer, and then assaulting the Flying Islands of Jasonia and Shireroth.
But in the time that Mar Sara had grown as a state, many new people had immigrated to the island. Among them were all walks of Micrans, including those whose heritage lay amongst the nations presently being attacked. Now mixed, it was not easily distinguished who among Space Marines were of the original stock, or who were of mixed blood. Thus Hubert was betrayed by his own second-in-command, a mixed-blood warrior who infiltrated his secret headquarters and captured him, severing his hold on power. As such, the brief but eventful war came to an end., concluding the first age of Mar Sara.

[b3n|<3r|\|]

Awsums.

[Ryan]

The Second Age of Mar Sara

With the fall of Hubert, the PRMS fell into a state of chaos and anarchy as various powers attempted to assert their control over the island. Wargar Voidinax, the second-in-command who had betrayed Hubert, tried to re-establish the PRMS through instituting various reforms of the government. But these met with limited success and ultimately were not recongized by the powers that had formed a coalition against Mar Sara. In the end the island was occupied by Shirerithian and Menelmacari forces, with a DMZ formed across the center. Although allies at the time, this split would eventually lead to many further disputes and frustration in the future. In the meantime however, Voidinax was made provisional governor of Mar Sara and allowed limited freedom to redevelop the state.

Under the auspices of Voidinax the Space Marines abandoned their warlike ways, forced to shed these traits by the occupying forces and by Voidinax, who encouraged the populace to embrace their culture as Mar Saran and focus on other areas of occupation. Thus Mar Sara entered an age of scientific and technological development. The Machine of Xultan, which had been damaged, was restored and institutes opened to facilitate science.

At this time Mar Sara began to see a shift in the status of the exotic species that had come to the island. While some magic was used and imported from places like Menelmacar, the island still relied on technology as its base of advancement. Of the new trends to surface was the genetic modification of Mar Saran's pets. Thus came into existence the early lifeforms that would later populate the island; Pantherfolk, Myconids, and Dragons. Pantherfolk were the most dominant and popular. By splicing human genes with that of cheetah-like cats that were popular at the time, these creatures were raised in status from pet to companion. The Myconids, although much slower, went from garden ornamentals to personal servants. Dragons, although much more exotic, were never fully rid of their wild nature and as such were much more rare.

This ushered in a great social change for Mar Sara. That these creatures were now sentient also came the responsibilities of their roles within society. Should they remain pets and servants, subservient to the Space Marines, or should they be given equal status in society? Even though within a decade every home sported an "exotic companion", the overwhelming vote was to keep these creatures as slaves. And so this continued for three more decades unchanged, with the populations of these exotics growing exponentially.

But Voidinax, now little more than an aged half-man half-machine, still held his grip on power. And he also held onto the dream of seeing Mar Sara free from external control, most notably by Shireroth. After consolidating his power for years and secretly caching a mass of weapons, he launched a bitter campaign for freedom against the Shirerithian Imperial Army. After a series of great battles, Voidnax was beaten in a massive naval confrontation off the northern coast of Mar Sara. He went down with his flagship, the MSMV Confederate, a giant robotic battleship, and was declared killed in action. Following this defeat Mar Sara was stripped of all regional authority and granted to the Shirerithian region of Yardistan.

What Space Marines were not killed in the war, the Yardistanis proceeded to export and eliminate by force. The Machine of Xultan was damaged once again in the war, and this time neither the Mar Sarans nor the Shirerithians had any clue how to repair it. So the island was once again plunged into the cold of the tundra as ice reasserted its long-delayed control. The remaining Space Marines and even Shirerithians fled the advancing ice and snow, abandoning the myriad of exotic creatures they had once coveted. Those that didn't die hid in the mountains and caverns, and shortly Mar Sara was again a desolate place, retreating into obscurity as other conflicts arose and took predominance, bringing an end to the second age.

[Maksym Hadjimehmetov]

Delicious.
You'd better be including something about the cultural flourishing of Mar Sara when its Northern Half was the Matbaic province of Suryo

[Prodigy Almighty]

I haven't gotten a chance to read all of it yet, but what I have gotten through is spectacular!

[Ryan]

I wasn't around much for the Matbaic control of the north. So you'll have to fill me in on that, Max. I'm sure we can weave that in to the plot.

And thankee kindly for the praise.