Marperio

Marperio is a coastal, tropical nation with sweeping vistas of the oceanic expanse. It has the reputation for being one of the most aesthetically pleasing locations in all of Emsius. Fueled by tourism and trade from Valordyn, the city of Tylia is by far one of the largest and most wealthy city in all of Emsius rivaling the posh streets of Belavaer.

The city coexists with the Magterian Sea Elves, a subspecies of Sea Elf that bears traits of invertebrate sea creatures such as lobsters, jellyfish, squids, oysters and more. Much like the original Leirian exiles, the Magterian Sea Elves fled to Emsius to escape the environment desolated by the magitek wars. In spite of this, the two have tense relations and racism is heavily prevalent between the two. While Sea Elves are allowed to intermingle with humans, they are sometimes lynched and mistaken for monsters.

Government

Marperio is a democratic monarchy, and it is the only country in Emsius that is ruled by a non-human. The king is a Sea Elf named Tupurian who has never shown his face in public. While Tupurian is for the most part benevolent, he hides himself due to his appearance of a giant octopus.

History

Marperio was founded via a truce between competing human and Sea Elf settlers that wanted to lay claim to the area's abundant natural resources. Prior to this, a devastating war took hold which was largely fueled by the use of some of Leir's last remaining magitek gadgets that some refugees had smuggled when crossing from Eidyn into Emsius.

In an effort to promote more peaceful coexistence between humans and Sea Elves, Marperio's early years were filled with technological stagnation. Intellectuals were persecuted and the advancement of technology was banned effectively locking Marperio in a preindustrial era. Luddites would often sabotage designs for new ships, and fishing was intensely regulated. Trade sanctions were also imposed on the New Leir Empire to ban whatever gadgets they had to offer. The laws got so ridiculous that anyone wearing glasses was lynched as that was considered a sign of intellectualism.

For decades, intellectuals went into hiding and went rogue, importing technologies from other parts of Emsius and making black market deals. Among some of these rogues was K'radin, a Sea Elf engineer that had taken an interest in the submarine and steam technologies.

K'radin's efforts led to an almost overnight technological revolution resulting in the loss of power of the political officials in charge. Trade via sea soon became unregulated and uncontrolled resulting in Marperio being transformed from an isolationist, stagnant nation to a powerful seafaring empire. A coup de etat soon followed, and the powerful Sea Elf Tupurian assumed the throne, but due to the stigma of the Sea Elves causing disruption among society, Tupurian chose to never show his face in public.

Today, Marperio has a subculture of Luddites who are looking to ascend in power to put an end to Marperio's revolution. Protests, mobs, and lynching of Sea Elves still remains common.