Mortia

**Mortia** - more correctly **Mortana** - is a region in Nesaria known for being the homeland of the Mortian Orcs. It holds the vast majority of Nesaria's Orcish population, and has very few non-Orcs within it.

The political entity of Mortia is a remnant of the historical Chiefdom of Mortana, a local great power in Nesaria that famously waged a long and bloody war against Ascaria for domination of the country. Mortana lost the war, suffering genocidal slaughter at the hands of the victorious Ascarians, relegating the region to a depopulated backwater for centuries until it began a slow resurgence with the dawn of the Nesarian Empire.

Mortana was once inhabited by the large wolf-like creatures known as the Wydlans (Nesarian *Idlane*, Mortian *Widlanner*), but these were deliberately driven to extinction as part of the Mortian Genocide.

## Name

The native endonym, Mortana, is a contraction of *Morta ne Hūna*, which can translate either as "home of Morta" or "farm of Morta"; *hūna* can mean either in ancient Mortani. Morta is the Mortani rendering of Morthen, a mythical (but likely partially historical) hero from native Nesarian folklore who slew Swengothor, a "foul divine beast cast down from heaven" (i.e. a Titan) and planted crops on the soil fertilised by its corpse. The Elvic name for the country, Mortia, has the same root; it translates as "land of Morthen".

The Mortani language inherited the neighbouring Nesarian trait of condensing longer names or phrases into a single word; *Morta ne Hūna* quickly became *Mortanehūna* before appearing as *Mortahūna* by the 7th century BC, then as *Mortūna*. It is unknown when the modern name gained prominence, but it had certainly done so by the end of the Mortian War.

## Chiefdom of Mortana

The Chiefdom of Mortana was one of Nesaria's greatest powers in the Pre-Unification period of Nesarian history (also known as the "shattered" period). As the most powerful and most persistent rival of the Kingdom of Ascaria, its total defeat in the Mortian War paved the way for Ascarian domination over Nesaria, leading to the eventual establishment of the Nesarian Empire.

The popular perception of the Chiefdom continues to be mired in extremely ancient stereotypes drawn from Ascarian propaganda. It is often thought of as a brutal and unsophisticated slave state, a polity encompassing a nation that was brave and cunning but also cruel and ignorant. Scholarship in the wake of the early 20th century's Mortian Renaissance has mostly proven these ideas to be groundless, though some individuals throughout Nesarian history - most famously, Emperor Athdus III - were able to recognise long before this that the prevailing myths of Mortana were just that - myths.

Far from a realm of barbarians, the Chiefdom of Mortana is characterised by modern historians as being remarkably well-organised compared to its Nesarian peers, in both the civic and military fields. Though undoubtedly a state that practiced slavery and fought hard to maintain the existence of the institution, it is well-established that the Mortanis specifically abhorred sexual slavery and sexual exploitation of slaves, and evidence suggests that the number of slaves compared to free men in Mortana was abnormally low, when compared to other slave-owning states of Nesaria.

The military of Mortana is generally regarded by modern historians as highly innovative for its time; while the prevailing notion of Ascarian superiority in training and equipment is likely true, the Mortani army was nonetheless a disciplined and well-supplied force. Famously, Emperor Athdus III highly praised the logistical capabilities of the Mortani army - to the substantial irritation of some Ascarian nobles - and his extensive studying of Mortani military history is likely to have saved many key Mortani-written histories from falling into extinction.

### Government

The revision of attitudes to the Chiefdom of Mortana has led some historians to suggest that the very terminology of "Chiefdom" is inaccurate, as the term implies that the polity being described is not a true state. Although there are numerous competing definitions of statehood, very few scholars dispute that Mortana - at least by the onset of the Mortian War, if not before - was most certainly a state. A growing number of historians are insistent on referring to Mortana as a Kingdom and name its ruler as a King, putting it on equal terms to all the other Nesarian states.

However, other historians - Mortanis amongst them - maintain that the usage of "chief" is useful in that it better represents both the origins and functions of Mortana's distinct style of government, and if nothing else it is useful merely as a term to distinguish Mortana's government from the more typical hereditary monarchies of other Nesarian states. While every monarchical state of pre-unification Nesaria was a monarchy based on the supremacy of a specific dynasty, the Chiefdom of Mortana was an oligarchy ruled by the *Kuatenga*, an assembly of members from noble clans. The position of Chief was elected rather than inherited, and his domestic power was limited. While he could act as supreme judge if matters were brought to him for arbitration, he had no power to rule on matters where his judgement was not requested. While he had many religious duties, he was not the chief priest - mostly because Morrokhism does not have such a concept. The only area where he wielded significant power was in military matters; he was the supreme commander of the Mortani army, and when on campaign his rule was absolute.

Mortana is additionally notable for the existence of the *Maitenga*, a political body below the *Kuatenga* that consisted of common, non-noble members. Whilst the power of the *Maitenga* was extremely limited - it served as little more than an advisory council, offering its opinion on matters brought before it but having no actual role in legislation - it was nonetheless a means of representing the concerns of commoners from various fields and industries. Members of the *Maitenga* could be one of two types of elected representative; they could either be tied to a region and be responsible for representing the farmers of that region, or they could be tied to a guild and represent the interests of the broader industry of their guild. There was no standardised method of electing members of the *Maitenga*, often meaning that it was the wealthiest commoners who were chosen.

Compared to their main rival, the Kingdom of Ascaria, the representatives of the commoners possessed less actual power and authority - they were mere advisors in Mortana, but the *Eltane* (Sheriffs) of Ascaria did possess real responsibilities - but they wielded far greater "soft power", as it was substantially easier for them to directly voice their concerns to their rulers. In practice, this made the government of Mortana more sensitive to the needs and wants of the commoners than the contemporary government of Ascaria - though in both cases, it was the needs and wants of the *wealthy* commoners that were prioritised.

## Flag

The flag of Mortana is a white castle tower on a black background with a white border.

* The castle tower is an abstract representation of the Mortian Citadel.
* The black colour represents warriors, as this colour has always been associated with warriors in Mortani culture.
* The white colour has no symbolic value and is purely aesthetic.

The flag is not widely liked amongst the Mortani population, partly because they dislike the flag itself, but mainly because it was designed by Humans, and most Mortanis argue that the flag of Mortana should be designed by Mortanis. Historically, Mortana was represented with simple banners, usually a white or red lightning bolt on a black background.

There are two main candidate flags to replace the current one, although there has not yet been any official process to choose a new flag for Mortana.

### Candidate 1

This flag is a green, white and purple tricolour.

* The green represents Orcs - green has always been associated with Orcs due to their green skin.
* The white represents purity and truth, things that are associated with white both by Mortians and the neighbouring Humans.
* The purple represents Mortia's sovereignty, but also its connection to the Imperial throne.

### Candidate 2

This flag is a red lightning bolt within a red-rimmed white circle on a black background. This flag is mainly only popular with Mortian nationalists and right-wingers, as it is also the symbol of Mortian Fascism, and takes obvious inspiration from the flag of the British Union of Fascists.

* The black colour represents the warriors of Mortana.
* The white circle represents purity and truth.
* The lightning bolt represents Morrokh (and was also inspired by the symbol of the British Fascists). The red colour of this and of the rim around the circle represents the blood of the Orcs who died to defend Mortana and the Empire.