The High Kingdom of New England
Government Structure:The New English government is one of a rather decentralized character, and despite being a monarchy is exceptionally democratic in nature. At the lowest level of governance one has the towns, which are governed by the absolute rule of the Townmeet. However, the Townmeet is no dictator or group of oligarchs; it is a gathering of every citizen who lives in the town coming together to discuss and vote upon matters of law and governance. Though some disparage it as mob rule and believe the masses need a strong singular leader, every attempt in the past to restrict the local authority of the Townmeet has always been met with hostility and on more than one occasion outright violence and rebellion.
Though the towns of New England have much authority, they are divided into five separate Kingdoms: Aroostook, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont-Hampshire. Each of the Kingdoms is ruled over by a King, who in theory has despotic power as there are no particular written limits upon his power. However, as mentioned earlier the New English take any restrictions upon their Townmeets rather poorly and so generally the rule of the Kings is rather loose. The Kingship is also not a hereditary position; rather it is an elected position though only citizens are allowed to take place. The election process is a rather simple one, though it can take some time and leave the Kingdom in a period of regency until the new King is selected. Each of the many Townmeets select several Delegates, the number based upon the size of the town, to travel to the capital. There over the course of several days the prospective Kings make their speeches as to why they should be elected, and it's not unheard for palms to be greased and promises to be made in order to 'convince' Delegates to vote a certain way, after which the numerous Delegates all vote. Once the votes are tallied, the individual with the most votes is selected as the new King, to eventually be officially coronated at a later date.
The title of High King holds a rather simple position, being exactly like the various Kings simply on a larger scale and nominally ruling over the fiver kingdoms of New England. The position's actual power has waxed and waned over the many years, and for the most part the Kings are left to their own devices so long as they pay taxes to the King King and do not disrupt the peace. The High King is also the one who dictates foreign policy, though the New English tend to be a rather xenophobic lot. The High King is also an elected position, but it is one that is far simpler than the election of the four Kings. The High King is selected from among one of the four ruling Kings, with some exceptions. Since the High King is a King himself, upon his death their Kingdom must elect a new King and this new King is barred from the position of High King. It is meant to prevent any one Kingdom from gaining too much power, as well as ensuring the High King has some experience ruling as King prior to their ascension.
Territory:
Leader(s):Ferdinand Baptiste, King of Aroostook
Howard Dyer, High King of New England and King of Connecticut
Stephanie King, Queen of Maine
Donovan O'Donnell, King of Massachusetts
Philippa Thurston, Queen of Vermont-Hampshire
Culture:The High Kingdom itself is formed of many people whom identify themselves with several disparate groups. Most of them are descendants of New Englanders, and thanks to their similar origins are exceptionally similar to one another hower. However, there are two groups who differ from the norm; the Aroostookers are the descendants of Maine's Acadiens whilst the Hudsonians are the descendants of New Yorkers who lived on the Hudson's eastern banks. But even those who differ in origin share several trait with the rest of their New English. New English culture is heavily marked by its intensely anti-authoritarian nature and the importance it puts upon personal liberty and freedom.
There are a number of ways in which these traits show through. Even in towns where it is unwieldy and time-consuming the people of New England stick to the tradition of the Townmeet, despite other forms of governance being more efficient and expedient. One can even find men and women on the streets of many New English town 'preaching' their political views and attempting to sway the citizens to vote a certain way on matter before the Townmeet is officially called. New English culture is also rather egalitarian, with people being treated as equals despite anything such as gender or skin colour.
There is one rather major exception to this egalitarianism, however: non-New Englishmen. The New English are infamous for their xenophobia, and rightly so as most New Englishmen will distrust, if not outright hate, outsiders. The xenophobia is more pronounced in the hinterlands of New England, where it is not particularly common for any outsiders to ever visit. The New English who live on the coast are more tolerant and open to others, for the simple reason that those living in the ports tend to be exposed to others on a more regular basis. However this does not always stop them from launching raids on their neighbours. The Hudsonians of Connecticut and Vermont-Hampshire in particular are infamous for being the scourge of the Hudson River, sailing up and down the river pirating ships and raiding coastal towns.
Religiously, the New English are also strangely tolerant. Though this may have to do with the myriad of religions practiced within New England itself. Though they differ in their faiths, the common history and identity of the New English brings them together. Indeed, the New English are far more distrusting of foreign cultures than foreign faiths. The vast majority of New Englishmen are Christians of the Protestant variety, though there is no official Church and most are a strange blend of liberalism and moralism. For example, there is no ban on drinking alcohol and sex is hardly a taboo topic, but public drunkenness and extramarital sex are oftentimes punishable crimes. However this is not the only faith; in southeastern New England and among the Aroostookers many follow faiths derived from Catholicism. However, the Aroostookers themselves follow their own Pope in Sainte-Agathe, whilst the other descendants of Catholics are sedevacantist and look only to the fabled city of Rome across the Sea for spiritual guidance. However, the specifics of Christianity have sometimes been lost over the many centuries and there are many who are familiar only with the basic stories and concepts of the Bibles and the story of Christ. And the final major faith in New England, is one of irreligion. There were many who lost their faith in God when the world collapsed, and this has been passed down to a number of New Englishmen who believe that there is either no God or that any God who exists is not worthy of mankind's worship, though even these New Englishmen tend to believe in superstitious stories.
Demographics:Aroostooker
Connetian
Hampshireman
Hudsonian
Mainer
Massachusite
Nation History:The very earliest history of the region now controlled by the High Kingdom is often referred to as the Age of a Thousand Kings. When the Doom came to the Old World innumerable people were killed in the devastation, but many of them remained as well. In time, people would come together in small settlements, many of which were governed democratically with all having a say. According to legend there were tyrant Kings, but they had little lasting impact and their reigns were short and their names lost to the mists of history. In time towns came together to elect individuals to lead them for safety and for strength. It is from the many Kings of this time that the age takes it name; in truth there were nowhere near a thousand Kings, but many did rule. During this time borders among the New English were fluid, constantly changing as Kings were elected, conquered territory, and died in a constant cycle.
This state of affairs continued for centuries, until the late 2200s when Edward O'Reilly managed to united the many Kings of the Vermonters and cement his Kingdom as a united entity. Though he undertook several military campaigns on the way to crowning himself King of Vermont, he was known as a just and fair ruler. Combined with his lengthy rule and the wealth he brought home from raiding his neighbours, Vermont stayed a single entity upon his death instead of breaking apart like so many kingdoms had before. But the strength of Vermont when compared to the fractured kingdoms around him brought many to band together with one another in alliance. These alliances would, over the decades, evolve into several of the modern Kingdoms and thus would end the Age of a Thousand Kings and begin the Age of Four Kings.
The Four Kings of this age were Vermont, Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts and the Age itself would be a short one. Violence and fighting between the Kingdoms, as well as violence and fighting with neighbours, would weaken two of the Kingdoms enough that they would split and fracture. First was the Great Acadien Rebellion in 2324 which lead to the establishment of the Kingdom of Aroostook by the descendants of New English Acadiens, and while the Acadien populations of Vermont and Hampshire would rise up they would be ultimately less successful than their Aroostooker cousins. Meanwhile four years later, in 2328, many of the southern towns of Massachusetts had become dissatisfied with a series of Kings they saw as favouring the northerners and would elect their own King. Not willing to allow a large chunk of the kingdom to leave, there would be several wars over the decades between the Kingdom of Massachusetts and the new Kingdoms of Connecticut. And thus would begin the Age of Six Kings.
And it was during this age that a sense of cultural unity began to sink in between the disparate New Englanders, even the Aroostookers who spoke a different language and followed the Pope in Sainte-Agathe could see they had more in common with the New English than those around them. But the real catalyst for it was the Haligonians. As more and more of them began migrating to the coastal cities of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut in the late 2300s. The New English came to resent the foreigners moving into their towns and, as far as the New English were concerned, taking over the towns by virtue of sheer volume. And so the New English looked on the other New English more as brothers in the face of these outsiders.
Though at first the Kingdoms attempted peaceful negotiations with Haligonia, the Haligonians outright refused what the New English asked for. And they were simple things that were the rights of all New Englishmen, hardly severe concessions for Haligonia in the minds of the New English. And to put the final nail in the coffin, the Haligonian delegates were rude and disrespectful towards the New English. But because of the Haligonians' refusals, the coastal Kingdoms declared an alliance with one another with only a single goal: the push the Haligonians back into the sea they loved so much and restore the freedom they had stolen.
The war went well for the New English at first, and there were many cities in which the New English population was able to overwhelm the Haligonians and in much of New England any Haligonians were either forcibly evicted or, in extreme cases, lynched. And even the cities that didn't fall to the alliance lost much of their hinterlands and ended up besieged by New English forces. However, in the end the New English were simply not able to keep up the war and the population became weary of the conflict.
It was also during this time that the King of Maine married the Queen of Massachusetts. Whilst some believe it to have been a purely political move, in truth the pair had fallen in love with one another and married for that reason. Though the union of the Kingdoms through marriage, and the relative popularity of Maine's King, allowed the King to have himself crowned High King of New England. And his first act as High King would be to negotiate an end to the war with the Haligonians in the Treaty of Elizabeth which stated that the cities taken by the New English would be ceded to them, but those with a large Haligonian population would remain independent and the High Kingdom wouldn't interfere with Haligonian merchants. Connecticut, however, would not yield for another year and when it finally did it was because of unrest stirred up by supporters of the High Kingdom and those who desired peace. The newly elected Connetian King's first act would be to approach the High King and ask for acceptance into New England, which was graciously accepted. And with Connecticut now a part of New England, the Treaty of Elizabeth applied to them and so peace came at last to New England.
Over the many decades there were times of both peace and war, as the fledgling High Kingdom sought to expand its domains to all of the New English Kingdoms. But the inland Kingdoms, much to the chagrin of New England, were steadfast in their refusal to be annexed. There were many wars between the Kingdoms and the High Kingdoms, but they all ended in outright defeat for the High Kingdom or an uneasy white peace. The Age of the Six King would end in the late 2450s when the long alliance between the Kingdoms of Vermont and Hampshire would end in the two electing the same Kings and combining into the modern Kingdom of Vermont Hampshire, in order to better combat the menace of the High Kingdom. For over the decades overseas trade would strengthen the High Kingdom, at the expense of the inland New English.
But the Age of the Five Kingdoms would herald the High Kingdom's complete domination of the New English people. Though they would hold out for decades, eventually Vermont-Hampshire would be conquered. Aroostook would be next, but it would last until the mid 2500s all the while supporting agitators among the Acadiens in northern Vermont-Hampshire. And Aroostook would be integrated peacefully; the Great Northern Campaign would end in disastrous failure for the New English armies, but the Aroostookers were growing weary and tired of the wars. And so when the Aroostooker King died on the battlefield, the one elected to replace him would be one in favour of ending hostilities once and for all with New England. Though there were many who opposed this move, they were outnumbered by those who were in favour, and the increased prosperity brought to Aroostook from joining the High Kingdom would silence many doubters.
And the Age of the Five Kings continues to this day, as there are still Five Kings which rule over New England. Though the Haligonian cities are the main ports in the region, the New English ports still receive merchants. The realm is stable for the most part, though men can be fickle beings and this could change. There are few who are against the High Kingdom itself, as it has brought prosperity to the New English,but there are those who desire a change in the High Kingdom's internal structure. Some of the Acadiens of Vermont-Hampshire desire union with their brothers in Aroostook or even their own Kingdom, while there are individuals who would see Vermont-Hampshire separate again, and there are even Hudsonians which desire the rebirth of the King on the Hudson, a title not seen since the Age of a Thousand Kings.
Description of Economy:The New English economy is based around a variety of sources, though there are those which stand out in particular as the source of much of the region's wealth. Their major exports come from New England's extensive forests and from the bounty of the sea. The vast forests contribute large amounts of timber which the native New English not only use, but sell both in their own ports and to the bordering Haligonian Free Cities. And in addition, the Kingdom of Aroostook is relatively well-known for its production of maple syrup. And from the sea, the New English bring in a variety of goods; from the fishermen who trap lobsters and fish to the whalers who hunt those great leviathans the sea is a mainstay of coastal New English life. And while much of the product is sold to fellow New Englishmen, plenty enough of it is sold to foreign merchants as well. Agriculture is typically subsistence, though tobacco is grown in the Southernmost reaches of New England and the Kingdom of Maine is known for its blueberries. In addition, there is a fair amount of granite quarrying which goes on in New England.
Description of Military:There is no real New English army, and barely even any sort of centralized army even for the individuals Kingdoms. The vast majority of warriors are regular men and women armed with what weapons and armour they can afford. The vast majority have nothing but axes, spears and bows and are bedecked in leather with wooden shields. However, the most elite of the New English warriors are the Minutemen; Minutemen refer to professional soldiers in the employ and sworn to the wealthier New Englishmen and New English families, and as they're equipped by the wealthy they have universally superior equipment to the typical New English warrior. They're named after the legendary warriors of the Old World, and like their namesake part of their duties involve being ready to go to war as soon as they're called upon.
Training-wise most warriors have little formal training though they do train in the off-season and many of them will go off raiding their neighbours and so have practical experience. The richer New Englishmen and their Minutemen, however, are professional soldiers and train on a regular basis for when they're called upon to go into battle.
