Maeranoi

The **Maeranoi** were several successive invaders from various other dimensions. Many of them were from "American" civilisations.

The most notable "Maeranoi", in the context of Bujanski history, were those from the wartorn dimension of Earth-96, the worshippers of the militaristic Church of Q. Later, the Serpentians emerged as a major faction from the various Maeranoi who did not serve the Church: represented by the communist army known as the Serpents.

"Maeranoi" itself was a corruption of the word "American". Their name became the official word for "America", out of hatred of the madmen who made up the Maeranoi fanatics. However, their name also resembles the Bujanski words "mær" (vast) and "mæresnij" (plentiful), a sad irony from their society's wasted potential on obsessions with power.

During their rule over parts of Bujan and their wars against the Tyrskans, they renamed Bujan to Balennaria, after the legendary island of Bali Ha'i.

## Earlier eras

### Denlotian times

Although they are usually not considered as "Maeranoi", the various American factions among the Fifty-Six Tyrants summoned to Jerde were their predecessors. The warlords chose them as instant armies and living weapons, existing only to corrupt and destroy the world to ensure the warlords' and corporations' dominance.

## History

### Narivian Invasion

The Maeranoi first appeared some time after the construction of the Northern Kolovrat Temple, when several armies sought to rebuild Jerde as an empire. They did not expect that the people that they summoned were more unruly and chaotic than they wished for.

### Baidovian pirate empire

More Maeranoi appeared somewhere in Baido, where they burned down the royal capital and slaughtered many locals to build a pirate empire. After three years of terror, this Maeranoi pirate nation was bombed to nothing, and the survivors forced to leave through the portals. But the coordinates of that region were disseminated to various other worlds, especially warmongers - someone sought to bring more Terrans and warmongers to destroy Jerde or weaken it, so they might rule over the resulting wasteland.

It was because of them that a network was built over the Movarian Sea to prevent more portals from appearing over the waters. But it did not stop the Zetrosians and the Tyrskans from wreaking havoc against Bujan.

### The Aristocracy of Lies

Many Americans and Maeranoi later joined the ranks of the warmongering empires of Jerde, including the Wannaenid Empire, because they wanted revenge and war against the victorious Bujanski. They did rule over Irajon and several nearby islands, seeking to convert them to various nihilist and militarist cults, only to lose them during the Irajonian Revolution when thousands of American militants were killed in battle.

Some of the Maeranoi were also members of the Church of Q, their equivalent of America in the war-torn world of Earth 96. Their fanatical cruelty and sadism may have led to Bujan banning public displays of the Latin Q letter, and a worsening hatred of Terran people, especially American online trolls.

Other Maeranoi joined the Tyrskan aristocracy of Bujan, only to fight over attempts to suppress their distorted version of Christianity, and counter-convert the Tyrskans to their religion. Still others, especially cheated by the authorities, formed the Serpents and independent militias with more twisted, radicalised views bent on the extermination of the natives.

Some Maeranoi sought war against the nation of Volzeraen, as the latter was also descended from other "Americans" who rejected their militaristic beliefs. These mercenaries either joined the Thralondian legions, or set forth in smaller guerillas. The Volzeraenir sometimes mock them for degrading "traditional values" (which the Volzeraenir already have) into nothing more than a battlecry and a violent religion centred on hypocrisy and power.

Ultimately, the Maeranoi lost their conquests to the locals. In Irajon, their armies were slaughtered by vengeful locals. The Maeranoi of Bujan were more cruel and sadistic, earning them the hatred of the natives. They, their culture, and religion are nowadays seen as hateful, treacherous, and dysfunctional, but the King of Bujan and his friends stopped the Bujanski from killing them and becoming more evil. The resistance was able to take advantage of their fanatical sadism, tricking many of the same Maeranoi oppressors into a brutal, mocking demise.

The surviving Maeranoi surrendered, as they felt that there was nothing left for them aside from a brutal death. They were surprised that the ruler of their victors chose to spare them. Grateful and sorrowful, they bowed to the King, pleading for him to forgive their many sins and swearing to their own God to do whatever they can to cleanse themselves. The King ordered them to undergo the rite of purification, so they will become members of the Free North, on the condition that they will all pay for every harmful deed committed by their own kind. All of them agreed.

Many Maeranoi were among the victims of the mobs as furious guerillas slaughtered hundreds of criminals and suspicious people during Black July. Even simple offenses like spitting on people, hurting those with "the wrong lovers", blocking people over a petty reason online, or posting a threat online marked them as being at war with Bujan. They were quickly killed and tortured like the Tyrskans and Bujanski who did the same. The total extermination of the Maeranoi was prevented, when the Ontemazei and other volunteers defended them against the mobs.

Frightened by the unpredictable brutality of Black July, the Maeranoi no longer practice their hated rudeness, but agreed to learn to live like Bujanski. Over time, many of those survivors were encouraged by reparations donated by private citizens to pay their debts and take part in rebuilding Bujan. One by one, they finished their tasks and their debts. Once they also passed tests that proved that they had truly changed into better people, they were pardoned and granted citizenship. However, as people of Terran descent, only descendants from mixed Terran marriages are allowed to be leaders, while the Maeranoi are still banned from applying for government-related jobs by law.

### Maeranoi in other worlds

#### Sondorians

"Maeranoi" were also detected in other universes, such as Sondoro, where they occasionally raided. These wars forced many of the countries there to create an alliance, resulting in a massive improvement in technology and living conditions throughout the planet. The corrupt practices and fanatical worldviews of the Maeranoi may had also influenced the surviving Sondorians to prefer diplomacy and innovation over fanaticism, out of fear that they would also degrade themselves into the Maeranoi's barbarism.

In Sondorian legends, the dreaded Maeranoi are known as Morlocks, Morulon, Urodii, Gwei, or Shadowmen. The term used by the Sondorian alliance for these warmongering fanatics is "Antinomian", a mockery of their hypocrisy for the sake of power; and "Cainites", because they are seen as the opposite of human civilisation.

Although the Sondorians were Terran, because they defied how Jerdiskar saw Terrans by being better-behaved and helpful, they and the Valtoisians were listed among the Five Good Worlds, exempted from punishment.

#### Imblunnians

The Imblunnians were an impoverished people from another Terra who were attacked by vengeful fleets of the Jerde Alliance, as a collective punishment for being associated with the Terrans of Wannaenid rule.

## Culture

The Maeranoi were from multiple universes and dimensions, but many of them were observed to share several attitudes and aspects, which suggested some sort of alliance:

* An excessive obsession with "freedom" - but their version of "freedom" means "the right to say everything disgusting under the sun".
	+ This was the result of a lack of education, a lot of neglect, and excessive individualism harnessed to a nationalist agenda.
	+ Many Maeranoi want the freedom to behave in a "un-social" manner. For example, refusing to forgive a person even after they have truly changed, to have a grudge, to make people suffer and feel others' pain, to hate, to be rude, to lie, to be abusive and call it fun.
	+ The Maeranoi and Terrans' attitude of leaving things unresolved also led to restrictions on blocking in social media on Jerde. It only ever works if the person to be blocked has committed a serious crime (like assault, terrorism, and defilement of the body). Every attempted block is also a self-report, so when the blocker and the offender must attend an online session to apologise, the blocker may risk suspension and even arrested if the reason is considered petty.
	+ The Bujanski, on the other hand, do have a lot of freedoms, but also forbid misusing them to become too hostile against society.
	+ "Hard times make strong men" - that means no games or art, so only sports, church, party meetings, and hunting are allowed for men. They must become soldiers and fathers, nothing else.
	+ The basic culture of the Maeranoi tend to vary between their leaders.
	+ While masculinity and strength are also valued in Bujanski society, the Maeranoi version was considered as a forced one, if not bordering close to militarism. Sacrificing personal happiness, in favour of turning men into nothing but soldiers.
	+ Bujanski masculinity focuses on being a "gentleman" who stands up for himself, while Maeranoi "masculinity" focuses on brute force and arrogance. Bujanski compare this to the tall cliffs overlooking crashing waves, against a cascade of fragile boulders.
	+ Maeranoi look down on Bujanski as "effeminate" because they are more disciplined and less likely to engage in aggressive behaviour. Bujanski, on the other hand, denounce Maeranoi bruteness as "cowardice": hiding fear and desperation behind reckless abuse.
	+ Any depiction of women being too strong would offend the Maeranoi.
* Trolling - attempting to misuse humour to subvert beliefs, favouring some sort of conservative belief.
	+ This is already in line with the Maeranoi obsession with "freedom", in the sense that they demand the right to rule over their new subjects. Their obsession with chaos, known as "trolling" in their own language, was derived from attempts between their lords to mock and slander each other.
	+ A lot of times, Maeranoi like to pursue anyone who shows any sign of weakness, such as crying, complaining, fear, and so on. This is why Bujanski must not show fear or sadness when near an enemy, as it is like showing blood to a shark.
	+ It may also be why people on Jerde are more cruel to Maeranoi. Maeranoi are stereotyped as more insane, sadistically laughing as they kill and torment innocent people and enact forcible conversions.
	+ Because many Maeranoi were proud, arrogant bullies, anyone who behaves like them would be seen as an enemy soldier, even if they did it out of loyalty to Bujan. So they might risk being arrested or even killed, as if they are soldiers waging war against the country.
	+ One notorious punishment directed at Maeranoi who proudly harass people was being forced to smile. Then, executioners would tear their mouths, and then their heads open. The executions were slow to correspond with the amount of suffering and arrogance the Terran had committed, and the more they screamed and begged, the more slower their painful deaths were.
* An obsession with families and "traditional culture"
	+ While Bujanski do value their families, the Maeranoi proudly wave their traditional families and values everywhere like flags. They will even wage war against the Jerdiskar to force all of them to follow their values, and call it "freedom".
	+ The Bujanski "traditional family", made of a father, a mother, and any number of children below them, is a more willing relationship, where ever member is more friendly and helpful. The Maeranoi family has the same elements, but is more coercive for the sake of obeying its own ancient laws.
	+ In Denlotian jargon, traditional families formed through force, or any family like that, were compared to conscripted soldiers. They call such coercive behaviour as "mobilisation", mocking their supporters as militarists.
* Contradiction - they claimed to be a society of law and order, yet they practice deceitful methods to stay in power.
	+ Many Maeranoi come from warlike cultures, but not all of them absolutely agree on one belief or two methods. Some Maeranoi are more tolerant to digital entertainment; while others are the stereotypical militarists. Eventually those contradictions caused the Maeranoi to start fighting each other as they tried to enforce their authority on even the smallest offense.
* An avoidance of modern medicine
	+ The advanced technology used by the Jerdiskar frightened the Maeranoi, who mostly associated it with whatever evil overlords in their mythology. They especially hate needles and masks, so they were more likely to die from preventable diseases, or used bioweapons in mostly-unsuccessful attacks.
* "Blinding", "stunning and brave"
	+ Ancient words used back in the Maeranoi homeworlds, referring to people who made some petty act into a news article. Said bygone opponents were either reformists or cowards, no different than the Maeranoi.
	+ The stereotypical "stunning and brave" goblin in Maeranoi mythology was a bald woman or one with dyed hair; or a cowardly, skinny man. They represent everything Maeranoi hate - refusal to practice traditional values, lack of religion, too much art, and diverting anger against elders instead of outsiders.
	+ To mock them back, Bujanski sometimes paint their hair in dye. Ontemazei also love to wear their costumes and dance as them, to laugh at slain Maeranoi who now languish in Hell for their war crimes.
	+ Not all Maeranoi were fervent traditionalists. Some were the stereotypical "stunning" outliers and radicals, and their extremism also made their ways unwelcome in modern Bujan.
* Conspiracy theories
	+ Maeranoi mythology would have fascinated the Jerdiskar nations, as they had many absurd messiahs and utopias.
	+ Many of them centred on a "lost golden age", where "men were men and women knew their place, under the watchful eye of the True God". That age ended when a "great conspiracy" took over and weakened their people in various methods, even down to entertainment and politeness.
	+ That drove them to apocalyptic beliefs and militarism.
* Pride, arrogance
	+ Many Maeranoi, being from warlike societies and raised in harsh conditions, were taught to be merciless for their beliefs. That is why they sometimes love to torture people and especially smile when they wage war, whether with violence or even by posting rude comments online.
	+ Maeranoi who smile or show happiness whenever locals suffer, or they seem to win, were especially marked for death by resistance groups. They were suspected of plotting yet another attack on the locals, or perhaps another massacre. Many of those victims were found having their heads and mouths ripped open "like a book".
* Hatred towards the poor, the homeless, the disabled, and students who used loans.
* Some Maeranoi hated poorer people or anyone who used a loan. They came from richer portions of their own societies, and they enjoyed watching poor people suffer for the sake of "responsibility" and "innovation". Their contempt towards the poor was fuelled by their theocracy, militarism, and obsession with power.
* Even though many Maeraenoi also came from poorer parts of their own societies, they also hated anyone who looked or behaved "too much like a tramp". The Wannaenids used this hatred to goad the Maeraenoi to torture the Bujanski, especially slaves, to indoctrinate them into becoming more violent and brutal until they forgot everything that was other than war.

### Sub-groups

There are three main "cultures" observed among all the armies of Maeranoi:

* "Suburbians" - they demand total observance of something similar to 1950's America, especially neat, soulless suburbs.
* "Smokers" - who live for vulgarity for the sake of their version of "freedom", are obsessed with guns and rudeness, and love their huge trucks
* "Serpents" - the most "modern" of the Maeranoi, they loved their videogames and fanart. Considered the enemy of the other two cultures for their "lack of masculinity"; most notorious for their pink hair. They were the ones the other Maeranoi denounced as "the stunning ones" for their rejection of tradition.

The Church of Q's people were the majority of Maeranoi, being sorted under the Suburbian culture. In spite of the neat suburb being a national standard in the Church of Q, most Qyuvians were very impoverished and filthy, building only miserable imitations of said suburbs in their slums. The Smokers are a minority of Qyuvians.

The Serpents were many Maeranoi who felt cheated by the Church and the Wannaenid rulers, being left to poverty even after their service. Driven mad by rage and desperation, they became more violent, using historical revolutions to justify massacres, torture, and the extermination of Bujan's native people.

Each of the three cultures respectively became into the "nastoi", "sredna", and "prednoi", ghosts in Bujanski folklore. Among these hostile demons included pūmari among the nastoi, and the pink-haired inkontsoky among the prednoi. Qyuvians were represented by the nastoi and sredna, and Serpentians were the prednoi.

### Practices

The colour pink was most hated by the Maeranoi, except for the Serpents. The Serpents embraced the colour pink as a national colour, representing chaos and ascendancy as a new form of dominance.

Sadism, terror, and cruelty were widespread among the Maeranoi, the very reason why they were brought to Bujan. They enjoyed preying on the defenceless and the weak, even among themselves, causing the Bujanski to learn not to show any sign of fear, sorrow, or distress to avoid encouraging them. Yet some Bujanski pretended to show fear, provoking the arrogant, bloodthirsty Maeranoi into getting killed in brutal, gruesome ambushes, mockeries of the same cruelty they inflicted on hundreds of victims.

A lot of Bujanski observed that Maeranoi, especially Serpentians, had an attitude called "moving on". Its original meaning meant "letting go of people who hurt you before", but Maeranoi tended to make it into a habit where they can throw and betray their friends aside over any mistake, rather than just evil people. They justified their habit of abandoning loyal friends over mistakes by claiming that "there will be newer and better people who will never hurt us". This led to a bit of blocking and banning people who were ignorant, fuelling the revolutions that ended their dominance in Bujanski society and brought them to nationwide condemnation.

## Serpentians

The Serpentians are another culture of Maeranoi in Bujan who disliked the ultraconservative coercion used by the Q Church and its armed guerillas. Many of them tend to come from other exiles and criminals banished to Bujan, forming their own separate community.

The "Serpents" were also, specifically, a large communist militant group formed by some Serpentians.

## Maeranoi locations in Bujan

* Arkansan - a towering concrete metropolis built over local ruins. Notorious for its poor building standards, poverty, and alleged cannibalism. Many inhabitants were killed by a great fire that broke out in the city, while some others were saved by local Bujanski who tried to put out the flames.
	+ The Wannaenids intentionally designated Arkansan, for the cannibals that lived there, as the Maeranoi's official capital. This was very unpopular with the Maeranoi and other Terrans of Bujan, who were angry that the cannibals there were considered as an "exemplar" to mock them. It may had also led to more Terrans joining the natives in their revolt against Wannaenid rule.
	+ Arkansan was feared even by other Maeranoi and Terrans, because its inhabitants were seen as more brutal and savage. Arkansanian Maeranoi were often abused and mistreated by the other Terrans, compared to animals and dogs.
	+ When the Church of Q declared all members of the cannibal gangs as heretics to be killed off, the gangs began raiding other towns nearby. Battles broke out between the main Maeranoi armies and the cannibal gangs, weakening the troops on both armies. It also led to other Terrans and resistance members slowly retaking the town from the cannibals.
	+ Eventually, the Bujanski revolt prevailed over Arkansan. When the city was liberated, all the cannibals who remained were put to death, torn apart, and burned. Among those who slew the cannibals were other Terrans, including Arkansanians, who joined the Bujanski to punish the murderers.
* Selena - the main capital of the Maeranoi, now Vaitachol, capital city of Slonti Province.
	+ Selena was bulldozed and rebuilt as the seat of the Church of Q, a theocracy against the Tyrskan monarchy.
	+ It was known for its concrete cathedrals, with barracks training mixed regiments of orderly enforcers and unruly gangsters.
	+ Like any typical Maeranoi city in Bujan, it was torn between devotees of the Church and the various gangs brought in by the Wannaenids, *every day* and at every street.
	+ Its instability led to its downfall to the resistance, as vengeful natives slew many Terran defenders while the latter was fighting a gang war to overthrow the Church.
* Scarletton - a city at Teimoi Province that became the capital of the People's Republic of Balenia. Formerly the town of Indamura.

## Religion

Most Maeranoi belong to two main religions: the Q Church, the Americanised religion of their homeland; and the Church of Tyrska, the Russianised religion of the aristocracy. While both of them were derived from distorted, militarised forms of Christianity, the two churches eventually led to gang wars and violence committed all over the island. All of them are known in Bujanski history books as "Churchbearers".

Some Maeranoi also belonged to "death cults", as they were selected from the most destructive and unhinged elements of their homeworlds. Three of these additional religions, though not given official support, were a "Satanist" group, a "Nazi" cult, and an unusual form of Rodnovery centred on waging as much violence as possible.

Others also brought in Terran religions, albeit more violent forms, as they were mercenaries brought in from militant and terrorist groups.

While a portion of the Maeranoi are atheists, the Q Church hated atheists more than the Church of Tyrska or the native polytheists. Maeranoi were especially notorious for harassing and beating up "Godless" people, including even locals simply for refusing to convert.

During Wannaenid rule, the terms "family values" and "traditional values" were simply used to glorify forcing children to grow up as soldiers. Because of this morbid obsession with childbirth and militarism, the Bujanski hate those words as a lie, distorting parents' love into fanatical breeding and torture.

### Church of Q

The Church of Q (Kjū-verije) was a corporate theocracy that ruled over "America" in the war torn planet of Earth 97. It was governed by many aristocratic families who kept the majority of their own people in poverty, reducing them to obedient slaves and soldiers. Above them was the fickle supremacy of the Supreme Leader, who was the most treacherous and charismatic candidate who killed any rival who tried to usurp him.

### Practices

Members of the Church of Q are called Qvites or Qyuvites - they and the Tyrskan devotees were all known as "Churchbearers" from Wannaenid records. Their buildings are called "churches" or "cueball halls", themed after a strange mixture of the bygone Christian churches, wedding chapels, and snooker bars.

Their symbol is a circle over a nail, resembling a lightbulb or a rounded ankh without bars.

It mobilised the concept of the traditional family to total war, reducing it from a celebration of culture to an instrument of domination.

Likewise, death in war is celebrated as the ultimate purpose of life, and so is aggressively hypocritical behaviour. Whatever they did was done for the glory of the Q Church, even if it broke their own laws and sinned against their God.

Qyuvite devotees were notorious for being abusive towards children, to force them to become obedient and hateful. They beat up their children, barred them from certain forms of entertainment, traumatised them, and even starved children to death if they were unable to pray before meals. This angered the Bujanski natives, who refused to allow children to go near any Maeranoi.

It also led to the notorious stereotype of "Churchbearers starve kids".

### Christianity

Some Maeranoi were Christians. Some of the Christians worked with the Q Theocracy as fellow subjects, while others notoriously fought back against their rulers to enforce their fanatical forms of the religion.

The violent attitude of these Maeranoi led to the Christian religion being distrusted by the revolutionaries, associated with them and their hatred of the native people.

Yet some Christians were also members of the revolution: one of the main groups was founded by a Christian pastor, who was disturbed by his society being full of lies. He was one of the founders of the Free North, an alliance of pro-Bujan Terrans who wanted to revive the Christian religion in the country.

### Death-worship

In Bujan, the various demonic cults practiced by terrorists during Wannaenid rule were collectively known as "death-worship".

Among the death cults of the Maeranoi included two "Satanist" cults, various racialist cults, and what is seen as a bizarre distortion of Rodnovery (the Bujanski Slavs' native religion).

All of them were defeated and destroyed by the revolutionaries, to prevent them from murdering more natives.

The two "Satanist" cults that terrorised the natives were the Bog Creatures and the Maizefolk. The Bog Creatures were named after their darkened uniforms and their usage of sorcery, stolen from Wannaenid soldiers' equipment and handbooks. The Maizefolk were another demonic cult bent on murdering people behind their fashion, notorious for their practice of cannibalism.

One of the reasons why the Bujanski appear to wear 50's-style clothing was out of defiance against the Satanists, to "reclaim" some pretty clothes from murderers and terrorists for themselves. In fact, one rebellion of Heronoi slaves who joined the Bujanski also used the same fashion, styling themselves after banshees in their folklore. These Heronoi, mostly female, also used Christian symbols in their art because they looked pretty.

### Maeranoi Rodnovery

The earliest forms of Rodnovery practiced by Maeranoi in Bujan were distorted forms, influenced by fascism and racism, for the purpose of enslaving and killing the native Slavs as "dirty people of demons". This cult was defeated by the independence movement, itself mostly consisting of Slavic and Wonao Rodnovers.

A growing number of Terran defectors became Rodnovers to fit into Bujanski society since the revolution. They were surprised that the Bujanski form of Rodnovery was less brutal and more forgiving.

## Legacy

In Bujanski folklore, the Maeranoi became a race of demons and ghosts, representing destruction, cruelty, sadism, and insanity as seen among the namesake invaders. Whatever the Maeranoi did and believed in became anti-examples in Bujanski morality classes, things that all citizens must learn to avoid.

Long before the Bujanski, the Sarmelonids believed that the Terrans came from Zæču, a hellish dimension torn by volcanoes, born from every sin committed across existence.

Two kinds of Maeranoi warriors, the pumari and the inkontsok, became costumed characters in Bujanski folklore.

Although modern Bujanski casual attire resembles elements of the 50's fashion of the Maeranoi, the Bujanski took it from earlier Ardeschen clothing, not directly from American clothing.

### The Tainting of Tradition

During Wannaenid rule, "conservatism" was reduced to a label by the Maeranoi and Terrans to manipulate social life to their dominance, creating a militant aristocracy. But because the Maeranoi and Tyrskans, the two ruling peoples of the colonial aristocracy, were unable to agree or get along with each other's views, their colonial government was torn by violent power struggles and forced conversions.

The Wannaenid rulers did not tell them this, but their brutality was exactly what the Wannaenids wanted. They wanted to corrupt and manipulate them into becoming consumed by their brutality, to kill each other. Some Maeraenoi realised this, and defected to the Bujanski revolutionaries.

The earlier Maeraenoi did so out of hopelessness or guilt, driven by revived Christian beliefs, while the latter survivors only surrendered to the prevailing Bujanski to avoid being killed. Those early defectors and all Terrans who joined them became known as the Free North, using an orange cross as their symbol of rejecting Wannaenid rule.

After independence, Bujanski associated "conservatism" with other unstable, fanatical views by the divisive members of the Terran aristocracy. Nonetheless, many Bujanski continue to practice "conservative" beliefs to this day, such as a love of the family, weddings, romance, children, traditional culture, and patriotism; they modify some of those views to remain open to reform, criticism, and diplomacy instead of supremacism and theocracy.

It is when these are being displayed too rudely which will make the Bujanski angry, because it is similar to Wannaenids corrupting good values to justify militarism. They also hate people who use "traditional values" to prey on weaker members of society. So while they do not like people boasting about "conservatism" and "traditional values", they want to keep some of the practices as a personal matter or a cultural tradition, not as something to force people to obey.

The other extreme of the Maeranoi's ideology is seen by Bujanski as absolute chaos. It consists mostly of rude behaviour, "edginess" (by supporting tyrants and murderers), contrarianism, and supporting the right to glorify militaristic or violent beliefs. This spectrum of unruly practices is also prohibited in modern Bujan due to their association with the Wannaenid regime's chaos.

Certain practices, like whataboutism, threatening other people over fictional characters, evangelism, using "tradition" as an excuse to abuse people, and contrarianism are henceforth associated with the Maeranoi's abusive behaviour. In modern Bujanski law, some of them are considered criminal offenses, and offenders who practice them are publicly shamed and jailed as supporters of the Wannaenid regime.

After the Wannaenids' defeat, any Maeranoi parent who hurt any child was shamed by the revolutionaries. If any of their children avoided or feared them, the abusive parents were imprisoned in cages, to starve to death. The children were taken to be adopted by willing caregivers, as the authorities believed they did not commit any treasonous act, ensuring their own innocence. After Black July ended, they were simply placed in prisons, to spend the rest of their lives in isolation. Occasionally their children did visit, and their parents begged them for forgiveness.

### Black July

The Maeranoi were among the first to be killed in the restive weeks after independence. The first victims, and nearly every other since, were punished for posting rude comments on Bujanski websites, or simply for behaving too rudely and aggressively.

Some of the former revolutionaries formed their own death gangs, known as the Anti-Terran Action. They believed that it was their duty to purge Bujan of all Terran elements, from the Terran communities themselves to anyone, including Bujanski and their own members, who practiced the same views and attitudes of their oppressors. They wanted to unleash the same cruelty *all* Maeranoi inflicted upon them, cursing all Terrans as monsters and demons.

So when some Maeranoi started cursing at the new society and threatening to attack and kill, the whole country began to become hostile. Only those who undertook penance, or the Free North Terrans who became Bujanski earloer, were spared because they avoided Terran behaviours.

July became a blood-stained month, as more angry people joined the ATA in seeking revenge against their former oppressors. Hundreds of Terrans, mostly Maeranoi, were killed and slaughtered "for attempting war against the newborn kingdom".

Yet many of those Maeranoi criminals were incapable of fighting in an actual war, let alone take any part in combat against the revolution earlier. The most they did was simply issuing threats and bigotry online, murdering one or several people with any weapon, or beating up people in public and insisting on their right to be rude. They were mostly indoctrinated civilians who simply surrendered to Bujanski rule to avoid getting killed. These still made them enemies in the eyes of most Bujanski, who murdered them and hunted down their families and temples.

As soon as the ATA started killing Terrans undergoing penance and other Bujanski in fits of rage, other groups formed to kill these militants. Knowing the brutality of Black July, nearly all Maeranoi later became afraid. The very same fear their people used to enslave the Bujanski was brought back to them, breaking their pride in islandwide dread. Fear and panic gripped the last Maeranoi of Bujan as they noticed that anyone who uses a computer or behaves rudely might suddenly die, with scars and coughing blood from out of nothing. They also feared windy weather and closed their windows every time a wind blows, for fear that the same winds might tear one of them apart for some forgotten offense.

For the rest of July, the surviving Maeranoi kept quiet and hid in their homes. Some families were spared because they turned over offenders and traitors to the mobs, who murdered the offenders. They also felt sorry and sad, as they saw their own actions in the mobs' massacres. Within days, even the rudest and zealous Maeranoi surrendered.

Black July ended with the deaths of the last ATA members. The Maeranoi emerged from hiding and appeared in the streets. They begged the Bujanski for forgiveness, and pledged to undergo penance, as there would be no other way to escape slaughter than a brutal death.

### Repentance?

As a result of their many attempts to exterminate and torture the local inhabitants, all of those Terran religions of the Maeranoi and Tyrskans are currently banned in Bujan. Their teachings are shown in full display, even to willing youngsters, as lessons about harmful behaviour in museums and history classes all over Bujan.

Although there were Terran defectors who still practiced some of the Churches, and yet they were loyal members of the revolutionaries, they were not allowed to become citizens of Bujan after independence. They were instead evacuated to several other planets, where they set up independent states. Valtois is one of those planets, a federation of repentant un-Terrans who renounced many of the more extreme aspects of their religions. Most of the remaining Terrans in Bujan who still lived were separated from the rest of society, and were ordered to fly green and yellow flags to mark their penance and citizenship. All of them, including the Free North Terrans, were also given green ID cards instead of blue cards, which banned them from certain public services, such as voting, entering certain shops, and working in higher jobs.

Perhaps the Free North was among the last remnants of the former all-powerful church, having changed their beliefs to avoid any war against their homeland of Bujan. They were the earliest Terrans who willingly supported the natives' rebellion out of guilt, so they were the first to be immediately granted Bujanski citizenship. Due to Black July, any imagery of the churches was hidden from outdoors, or even renovated to look like any other Bujanski building. Yet they and more Terrans were lucky on the year after Black July, when young teenagers who reached the age of 13 received typical Bujanski ID cards for the first time. Eventually, all green ID cards began to have the same functions as blue cards, effectively lifting a number of bans for Terran citizens in the kingdom. Later, any Terran descendant in Bujan was given the usual blue cards.

Other Terrans who joined the resistance were able to become citizens of Bujan, but only because they renounced their Terran faiths. However, they are ordered to cleanse themselves of their peoples' sins by working in various jobs, and suffering from some social restrictions. The last un-Terran Bujanski citizen to be pardoned had his records cleansed in 1921 AT, after he finished paying off the last of his debt. To celebrate, he shaved his head and became a monk at a Buddhist temple.

The remaining members of the Terran churches became part of the Free North, which protected loyalist Terrans from being killed by the mobs of Black July.

## Maeranoi traditions in modern Bujan

Certain Maeranoi customs were adopted by the Bujanski, usually as symbols of rebellion.

* Halloween - formerly a festival of horror, the Bujanski wanted to use the orange and black from historical cartoons to represent restoration of what is good, and freedom from Terran rule.
* Black cats - in the past, black felines were either associated with water (Wonao tradition) or good luck (Vozonid tradition). The Maeranoi hate and fear black cats as unlucky, and they even murder the poor felines to worship demons.
	+ So Bujanski rescue all cats and pets from being murdered as sacrifices or in superstition. The black cat then represents all cats (or pets) saved and adopted by the natives, and then a symbol of happiness and freedom. To some extent, it led to the cats almost becoming national symbols, and better relations with the amused Marnosyns.
* 1950s attire - reclaimed from a Satanist cult that the revolutionaries defeated, popularised by a Heronoi group that joined the revolution. Became a fashion statement to represent a Bujan free from the evils of the past, including the July massacres.
* "Accountability" and "consequences" - the Bujanski observed that among the Serpentians, they liked to shun and not forgive people for committing certain mistakes or ignorant behaviour, expecting plenty of new friends to replace some reliable ones over ridiculous mistakes. This practice became what Bujanski consider as the English/"American" language word "move on", resulting in its replacement with Bujanski penance.
	+ The practice of penance, along with public shaming, recompensation to a victim of an offence, and forcing the offender to apologise and reconcile by the victim's terms, were considered as applying *and* extending "accountability and consequences" into real life. They wanted to make it so effective that it not only frightens an offender into seeking the mercy of their victim, but also to forcibly remove certain habits and attitudes from the entire country.
	+ It was also a mockery of that Maeranoi cultural belief, by applying "accountability" back to the Maeranoi for *everything* wrong they committed against the natives. That also included online misconduct, especially Maeranoi who had a tendency to block or ban people over ridiculous mistakes. Those offenders, notoriously known as "bloka", tend to be shunned by society as cheaters who misuse friendships, avoided out of fear that they might enjoy blocking or hurting people over a mistake.
	+ On the other hand, the Bujanski form of accountability is also a continuation of various ancient traditions. Wonao law, the veneration of Perun and Mokosh as the embodiments of justice, and Hindu Dharma - they are also influences in the Bujanski culture of justice, the same social attitude that led to nearly every person helping anyone seen as poor or in need.
	+ If an offender who underwent penance had proven themselves to have actually changed their attitude, they will usually end up being forgiven, both by society and the victims. Forgiveness for ignorant fools, and a desire to integrate them back into society, was another way to defy the Terrans' attitude by forcing an offender to truly undo their own crime and earn social trust again.
	+ However, it also led to more serious crimes being subjected to more brutal punishments, from public beatings to execution.

## Notable Maeranoi

### Sixteenth Age

* General Markus Illin, Unified Corporation

### Qyuvians (Wannaenid rule)

* Herellia Minvori - first person in Bujan killed for blocking online users, believed to haunt the kingdom as a ghost

### Serpentians (Wannaenid rule)

* General Roxanna - communist leader who sought to exterminate the natives

### Independent Bujan

* Johnny Orville - an immortal murdered for torturing Bujanski people
* Sophie Goodwill
* Helia Wilbur
* Cicony Kovalenko
* Neptunia Garcia
* Laura Tyler

### Modern Marnos

* Albert Thompson
* Jonathan Smith
* Esterope Garcia
* Shanice
* Garrett

## Trivia

* The Maeranoi were largely inspired by online trolls, mostly from the United States, that the author encountered during his teenage years.
	+ Other influences for the Maeranoi include the alt-right, the Trumpist movement, American conservatism, 4chan subcultures, furries and punks. They were also based on fictional cults in American cartoons, like Daniel's Xemug religion from Camp Camp, and the bizarre Christianity practiced in Moral Orel.
	+ The "Satanists", Nazis, and other murder gangs were influenced by criminal gangs in America. In the case of a particular cult of Satanists who were defeated by the Heronoi, they were possibly influenced by the 1950s being seen as horror, and the character Jen from Camp Camp (one of the author's favourites).
* The Serpentians were influenced by artists on Twitter and Tumblr, especially those who are leftists or far-left known as "tankies".
	+ For their support of the Soviet Union, they were also based on the Soviet Union, especially Russian nationalists who emulate the Soviets known as "vatniks".
* Names proposed as replacements for "Maeranoi" and "Taerai" for Terrans in Bujan included "Utrosian" and "Zorjadatei", all referring to their association with dawn and morning.

## See also

* Tyrskans
* Bujan Fourfold
* Terranisation
* Volzeraen