Pelarin

**Pelarin** is a large country at the western shores of Randros.

It is surrounded by Prydain, the Alban Isles, Anguillis, and the Dunomin Ocean to the west; Krinaretz to the northwest; Ardesch to the east; Nandesrin to the south; and Verucci to the southeast.

During the Sixteenth Age, this country was formerly known as **Palguenia**.

## Flag

The national flag of Pelarin consists of a sky-blue banner with a yellow and white sun on the left, and eight orange rays around it. The blue stands for liberty; the eight orange rays stand for the eight founding clans of the country; and the sun represents unity and culture, as the Pelarinoi are sun-worshippers, like the nearby Arderischen and their neighbours.

## History

In ancient times, Pelarin was known by various names:

* Gworinsa, Land of the Sun (Second Age)
* Auboria, Auborix (Eighth Age)
* Palguenia (Sixteenth Age): Aulerka in the north, Brogansea in the southeast, and Kuitania in the southeast. However, the land proper consisted of six regions, from north clockwise: Eburnios, Seguania, Aruenia, Uolkea, Pixonies, and Aulerka Proper (Fans Aulerka).

Pelarin (then known as Palguenia) during the Sixteenth Age used to be three nations: Aulerka, Brogansea, and Kuitania. Brogansea fell to Herimann's and Romulos' armies; Kuitania was colonised by the Romulian lords; but Aulerka remained independent. When a civil war weakened the Romulian Empire, Kuitania became a theocracy bent on the worship of the sun gods.

### Sixteenth Age

The three nations of Palguenia were later conquered by the Ardeschen Empire in its quest to dominate the continent. Although Aulerka and parts of Kuitania managed to secede, they were defeated.

Palguenia was granted independence during Red Ardesch's early years, but was later annexed as the Ardeschi armies sought to sail west to raid Palkyras. It eventually seceded, with the republic of Green Ardesch to the east with bits of Brogansea. As a nation founded by liberal dissidents against the Ardeschen empires, many of them eventually voted to become Palguenians.

### World War III

See also: Late Palguenian language, Broken Plates

In the restive years leading to World War III, Palguenia was controlled by a series of corporations who claimed to rebuild the country. The corporations rebuilt Palguenia as a developed nation, at the expense of many outer colonies who were plundered to build luxury goods. They also left much of the north and east poor, so poor and polluted, that the desperate inhabitants of the blighted wasteland turned to militaristic, revolutionary death cults to overthrow the corporations and their alleged successors.

It was also the birthplace of many prudish, conservative cults, such as the Lightbearers and the northern crusaders. This also caused them to summon the Terrans to reinforce a growing monotheist movement. Originally, they wanted to reform Palguenian society to eliminate corruption, but as they grew richer and powerful, they sought to turn Palguenia into a supremacist empire to rival Ardesch, manipulating and distorting traditional Palguenian culture into an instrument to force their own will on everyone.

A war between a Lightbearer gang and a rival church led to the killings of Sarchelon. While Lightbearer cyberwarriors claimed that 10,000 children (from other older killings) were killed by government agents, the actual number from recovered church documents was 456 teenagers, most of them being gangsters and Internet trolls.

After the extermination of the Lightbearer regime of Tulon (south of present-day Gimbarish), the Lightbearer church suffered a schism between the dominant cyberwarrior faction and a faction of ultraconservatives. This led to the Pelarin Revolution, where a faction of militants seized control of the government to establish the Second Palguenian Republic. It was very popular as it was supported by an angry majority, calling for the total extermination of the northern churches for their hostile attitude against the rest of Palguenian society. Even before the expulsions, the northern churches became more militant, claiming that they must take over Palguenia to establish a thecratic state where they and the Terrans would rule over the last unbelievers. In their desperation they also called for the total destruction of all nonbelievers, threatening them to convert or be slaves or corpses.

This accelerated the culture war, drawing miscreants and madmen from all over the region who flocked to the Republic and the churches. The madmen swelled the armies of both factions, driven mad by online media and their anger against the corporations, and very eager to slaughter as many people as the culture war spilled into a real, bloody civil war. The Palguenians became more liberal, alarmed and enraged by several countries killing their own reformist movements into an all-out war against conservatism in general. They were even more enraged when they read that the Northern Churches threw parties and festivals to celebrate the killings of dissidents, and the "new world order under the New God".

The Northern Churches joined various militants across the world in summoning the Terrans. Aside from the Grey Templars, the Walaara Terrans took over parts of the country, including the capital. They were notorious comic fans who became an empire bent on enforcing rudeness.

At the same time, another culture war raged in Palguenia proper. Businesses all over the war-torn republic were divided into two camps. The "green" camp made it mandatory to allow Internet access, even during work, as a symbol of advancement. The "blue" camp ordered that no phones or Internet was allowed during work hours except for emergencies, mainly for the sake of "being more productive and professional", dating from the rule of the corporations.

The show "Broken Plates" was first created and released in the troubled years before the Terran Invasion. As one of the most popular shows in Palguenia it won a very desperate, dedicated fanbase, who was rudely dismissed by its show staff, who insisted that the audience accept a poorly-written education. It led to violent clashes between the studio and angered fans, and the deaths of the show writers for stubbornly demanding the conclusion had to be accepted with no changes.

At some point, the corporations and some Terran allies built a great vault in the mountains. By the time the Denlotians took over the vault years later, its wealth combined with all the wealth plundered from the Terrans was as much as "four times the wealth of the world", making Palguenia the richest nation on Jerde. It became the source of much of its wealth in eliminating poverty and making technology more advanced.

### Walaarian Occupation

Palguenia was ruined by some of the worldwide bombings, but much of the destruction was caused by the war between the Second Palguenian Republic and the Northern Churches. While the Republic was not totally destroyed, much of the churches' fortresses remained intact, angering the locals and leading to fears of a possible Churchwards mass killing or enslavement. The northern churches were still vehement in waging war on the survivors to establish their theocracy, aided by surviving Minastanian fanatics.

For a few years, the Walaara Terrans occupied the northern parts of Pelarin, along with the capital. They wanted to forcibly assimilate the Palguenians to their views, promoting selfishness and immaturity as a national culture. While arts festivals in honour of the Walaarians' comics became more common, so did fights, mob violence, gangsterism, and petty behaviours like blocking and flame wars. Several corporations who supported the Terrans were the main industries that sustained the occupants' economy, at the expense of living standards. The not-so-stable Walaarian regime was frequently threatened by attacks from the Northern Churches and their infamous tortures towards nonbelievers.

### Rise of the Denlotia

Frustrated by growing abuse, poverty, and war, the poorer people of Palguenia joined a charity group turned revolutionary front, the Denlotia, or New Order.

The northerners and their churches claimed that their destruction of Palguenia was a campaign of survival, so they had to be more cruel and hypocritical in order to win and survive by every means necessary. The online activity of the Northern Churches won the sympathy of the Minastanians, who even sent armies by portal and airlift to wage war on Palguenia and its neighbours. Both the Northern Churches and the Minastanian Empire sought to impose their faiths, a new order, upon the planet.

The Denlotia rose due to its members rebuilding many slums, attracting more people who supported it for better living conditions. As growing anger over corporate and Terran rule escalated into violent militancy, three reasons were used for waging war against the rulers: ending grudges by force by slaying people who held on to them or caused them, taking the side of using phones in a literal culture war between workers and managers, and supporting a violent group of fans who fought against the writers of the popular show Broken Plates

### Denlotian Era

When that movement was defeated, along with its Walaara Terran lackeys, the new rulers founded the Denlotia. It was initially a revolution that led to the end of the Walaaran regime, that became an alliance of nations that threw away the Terran and corporate yoke thanks to the technology stolen from slain Terrans.

From the Day of Resolution where thousands of Palguenians were brought forth, a series of purges slaughtered many people deemed as criminals, so the Denlotians had their revenge against everyone who angered them in the past. Nearly 30% of the country's population was expelled for their open support for forcible conversion and religious militarism. That ultimately ended the Northern Churches, as every surviving member left the country as the Denlotians became more cruel, slaughtering anyone who showed any manner of support for the Terran tyrants.

Among the 30% who were expelled or killed, many of them were suspected of malicious online behaviour. Internet hooligans and "trolls" (as they were named) were blamed for the Terran churches. Nearly all of them were happy to support the Terrans as liberators, committing sabotage in their name for the right to be rude and mischievous. Even a simple act, like mass-downvoting in a website, would cause the user to become an outcast if someone revealed about what he did online.

But just as Palguenia was its cradle, so did Palguenia become the Denlotia's grave. With the Pandemic of 3900 destroying much of the Palguenian people, the Denlotia was dissolved, unleashing more wars from the vengeful Terrans. In the north, other warlords dressed themselves as the dreaded northern churches and behaved like online trolls, waging terrorist attacks against the survivors. To frighten the Palguenians, they forced them to convert or be killed for sport. But the crude bioweapons that planned to use against the remaining survivors instead destroyed them, evolving into a horrific strain that caused nearly all the new church militants' bodies to melt into puddles of acid. In a single night, the once-mighty army of terrorists and madmen collapsed into puddles, and the last particles of the pathogens died of starvation.

This led to a ban on monotheism in Palguenia that lasted for several decades, as the survivors were driven mad with anger, sorrow, and hatred. The only monotheists allowed back then were from allied nations, who also suffered from the Pandemic and other Terran attacks.

### Later history

When the Epadwaranai conquered this land, they named it "Pirudori-noja", meaning "land of the east".

It was conquered by the Thralondian Empire, oppressed for centuries during its rule, and then its people revolted and regained their independence.

Pelarin is once again a developed country, having confronted the dark shadows of its past as its many lessons.

## Demographics

See also: Late Palguenian language

The Pelarin people are Epadwaranai, being related to the Heronoi to the west of the Dunomin Ocean. However, due to their human ancestry, their skins and hair glow less and their blood is not flammable.

Native Pelarins still exist, mostly at the east and parts of the coast.

## Culture

Ancient Palguenia was known for its shame culture, which forced people to do more good deeds to eliminate shame. It also promoted self-torture as a corrective method, and harsh punishments for being a threat to society. Those ancient shame laws were brought back during the Terran Invasion to forcibly prevent people from behaving like the invaders, becoming a major influence in the laws of the Denlotia.

### An example of ancient Palguenian law

When the Second Republic of Palguenia was founded, the early leaders instituted a modernised version of ancient Palguenian law. One of those laws condemned people who wrongly denounced an innocent, but only to wish death on them, with prison or death as one who waged war against the community.

The modernised version of that law resulted in blocking in social media being restricted only to the worst offenders, making it more difficult to block anyone who was not a spammer, a criminal, a creep, or an extremist. However, the four types of criminals listed earlier were instantly blocked, with the risk of suspension and arrest. Should anyone attempt to block another user, the blocker and offender must attend an online meeting to find a resultion and punish an offender. If the offender was suspected of committing a serious offence, like threats or disturbing behaviour to the other user (like child abuse or violent threats), the offender may risk punishment and even death, depending on their actions.

Initially, this law was condemned by some Palguenians, who feared they and their children might risk being harrassed or killed. But because it also exposed bigots, violent people, and other threats to society, it gradually became more popular to expose those people to punishment.

It was also due to the Terran invasions that made the law a form of resistance against the Terrans and their forms of thinking.

## Trivia

* Pelarin was based on France, especially Gaulish France.
	+ Aulerka may be inspired by Normandy, Brittany, and the Aulerci of northern Gaul.
	+ Brogansea may be based on Burgundy.
	+ Kuitania is based on Aquitania and the Kingdom of Francia.