Meraland

Meraland is a theocracy governed by an unusually militant Tenders sect called the Paladins.   Mera’s faithful have a well-deserved reputation for being pacifists. As little regard dark elves hold for humans, humans who are outspoken Mera worshippers that are captured are in for a very rough time. Add in that before the Colassian Confederacy was formed, Mera temples were soft targets for hostile human neighbors. Thus Mera’s Faithful in East Colassia become the most militant Tenders the world has ever seen. Meraland is the birthplace of the borderline heretical group known as the Paladins, who take Mera’s mandate to protect the weak very seriously. Centuries ago, the Paladins deposed the king of Meraland and instituted theocratic rule in the name of the people’s protection. In the name of protection of the people the Paladins rule everything. The officers in the military are Paladins. The bureaucrats are Paladins and the judges are Paladins. They control nearly every aspect of their citizen’s lives.   Official policy on goblins is NIMBY. Meralands bans slavery and serfdom, but they also banned private ownership of land. The peasant class are called “citizens.” In reality, "citizen" is a euphemism for "serf ". Citizens hand over all their harvested crops to the Paladins are then receive a ration that the Paladin think is appropriate. The only real difference is that most young men are required to go through basic military training a few weeks a year and retain ready reserve status for the army.     Meraland actually draws in Tenders from across the Confederacy and beyond. Because of this, Mera temples in the rest of East Colassia are surprisingly few compared to human dominated lands. Most of the Mera temples you in neighboring nations try to distance themselves from the Paladins, playing up their stereotype as gentle healers to an extreme degree.     The Paladins encourage spartan lifestyles so there are few luxuries. Other Confederacy members consider Meraland to have the continents absolute worst cooks because they are very stingy with spices. The main luxury Meraland has is art, muchof which glorifies Mera but the Paladins allow full freedom of artisitic expression. Next to foodstuffs, objet d'art are their chief export.   Mera land coastal waters are warmed by prevailing currents. Great for fishing, but bad if you hate fog. Because of the prevalent fog, no one wanted to build a major port here. The coastline is smooth and relatively free of dangerous rocks and shoals. The relatively safe coast enshrouded in fog means that hostile ships carrying pirates or dark elf slavers traveling in small groups can approach undetected. This vulnerability to attack is a large part of the reason why the people of Meraland initially accepted living under a police state.   While most Mera temples in foreign lands view the Paladins as an embarrassment to their order, Mera herself doesn’t seem to have a problem with the Paladins. Mera spirits frequently visit to extend a helping hand or helping flipper as the case may be. The most well known and beloved Mera spirit is Sea Biscuit the Hippocampus . Sea Biscuit will play with fishermen and do simple tricks for free fish or biscuits. Sea Biscuit has the power to bestow water breathing powers temporarily to humanoids that he touches. A lot of fishermen that get surprised by pirates or slavers are rescued by Sea Biscuit who will take the fishermen deep below the sea to safety.