Monarque, The

## Summary

**The Monarque** (otherwise known as the Butterfly Monarque) is a royalist group on the Sarl Wine River that are at war with . They are ruled by an elderly butterfly-like elf named The Monarque, and they are based within the key location of Butterfly Gate.

Despite considering itself to be a unification of the old Capital and the fey influence, the Monarque has been criticised for abandoning nature in favour of Pre-war industrialism, such as their keen interest in thermium.

## Society

Many would claim that the Monarque symbolises progress in the New Dorne. Wandering around the land are tribals, cannibals, slavers, and prospectors, struggling to survive. Yet citizens of the Monarque enjoy an economy, healthcare, laws, government, and a military. Survival is not a question here - it's a given. The Monarque gives its citizens the chance to not merely survive, but to thrive in a New Dorne Cerrellus. The large population of the Monarque means it is composed of a highly diverse number of people and species, from the elven gentry, to the humble farmers, to dwarven merchants, to a hofflin soldier.

Despite advocating for quality among its citizens, the truth of The Monarque is that is ran by a fey ruler, and thus favours feykind. Elves are unfairly afforded advantages that other species will never see, and dragonborn are met with discrimination and injustices at every turn. Regardless of the inequalities, slavery is outlawed in all Monarque territories, with the exception of forced prison labor. This is in stark contrast to the dragonborn-led slavers known as the Kirru-Tal.

## Economy

Since its inception, The Monarque's economy has been based on two major resources: Thermium, and Moonwater. Thermium is a powerful resource and an astonishing fuel, since it is a stone infused with the energies of the Elemental Plane of Fire. This fuel was once the backbone of the Capital's economy, but its unstable nature caused problems when used on an industrial scale, and is often cited as the reason for the Capital's eventual downfall during Projecct Dreifel. The Dreifel bomb punched a hole through the planes, causing the massive destruction seen in the Capital, and possibly causing its Thermium supplies to become overcharged with elemental energies. However, through the weakened doors of the planes came the old butterfly elf, who brought with them a new resource: Moonwater. Moonwater is a magical liquid from the feywild, infused with the power of the moon. This substance can be used to regulate and cool Thermium, preventing it from going critical and causing a meltdown. Together, these two extraplanar resource keep the economy of The Monarque running.

## Population, Expansionism, and Territorial Issues

With a large population and powerful military, it made perfect sense to being expanding into new territories on the Northern side of the river, such as Trash Quake, Ivy Brain Observatory, Sunflower Balms, and Wide Egg Ranch. However, expansionism has led to many issues. Most notably: Supply chains, specifically to military outposts. Soldiers were often not resupplied, and were thus faced with wilderness survival: Something the people who grew up in the comfortable city were not familiar with. The similarly-expansionist Duckhawk Rangers did face this issue, since they were already hardened from years of surviving in the Badlands.