Volume XXXVII: Legacies of the League II—Oriente and Andurien

Fact Sheet: Oriente Protectorate
Founding Year: 3086 (2241 as Federation of Oriente)
Capital (City, World): Amur, Oriente
National Symbol: a silver eagle before a purple-and-black disc
Location (Terra relative): Rimward of Terra, antispinward of Capellan Confederation, central.
Total (Inhabited) Systems: 29
Estimated Population (3130): 85,500,000,000
Government: Representative Commonality (currently operating under military rule)
Ruler: Captain-General Jessica Marik
Dominant Language(s): English and Greek (both official), Chinese
Dominant Religion(s): Christianity (Orthodox), Islam
Unit of Currency: Drachma (1 drachma = 0.31 C-Bills)

Amur, capital city of Oriente and the Oriente Protectorate, is a city of remarkable beauty that seems to transcend time itself. Virtually carved out of the woods surrounding the base of the Amuraelius mountain chain—and, in some cases, actually crawling up the side of the snow-capped range—the city features some striking examples of modern neo-Classical architecture, styled along the lines of Terra’s ancient Greece. Even the city’s skyscrapers, whose upper floors reflect and scatter the rays of the planet’s giant yellow-white sun, feature majestic columns and other pseudo-Grecian design features closer to street level. Amur is a commercial megalopolis, its population of five million gathered almost exclusively for the business of trade. Traffic rarely slows down on the streets here, with businessmen, tourists, off-world traders, and government leaders alike constantly on the move to their next appointments.

The Oriente Protectorate, initially founded in 2241 as the Federation of Oriente (later known as the Duchy of Oriente for much of its history), is the third of the founding member-states of the Free Worlds League, and the second largest today. Like its fellow founding states, Oriente was a populous and prosperous realm, its founders blessed with a flair for politics and diplomacy. This diplomacy, however, did not often protect them from raiders and invaders from the neighboring Capellan territories. It was an Orientian who first proposed the formation of the Free Worlds League, in fact, seeking a stronger alliance as a check against the resurgence of Terra and the ongoing hostilities on the Capellan front.

With the ascent of House Marik, Oriente became known as the “loyal opposition.” Their ever-pragmatic leadership has broadly supported the office of the Captain-General throughout the years, but has also often provided the tempering voice in Parliament, a check against Marik excesses. At the same time, Oriente has been a focal point for commerce and technology. During the relative peace on the Capellan front that followed the formation of the Federated Commonwealth, the people of Oriente knew an age of economic and industrial prosperity, while Oriente merchants exported their products and technical expertise throughout the Inner Sphere.

In the chaos following the League’s collapse, the forces of Regulus moved against many of that nation’s neighbors, including Oriente, primarily because the Halas family gave refuge to the false Thomas Marik. Forced to fight a defensive war against suddenly hostile neighbors, the Duchy of Oriente united under the joint rule of Thomas Marik’s impostor and his wife, Sherryl Halas, after the death of Duke Christopher Halas in 3080. To signify his willingness to surrender a claim to the Free Worlds’ throne, the false Thomas dropped his assumed name in favor of his wife’s, but the change did not appease the Regulans, who felt the imposter and his host realm deserved severe punishment for decades of deception.

For a time, the Regulans were beaten back, but in 3084 they returned their attention to Oriente when they were unable to overcome the forces of the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth. Fighting like this continued throughout the remainder of the century, and raged until as recently as the 3120s, with all three former League founders vying for dominance and the right to reestablish their fractured realm. During that time, Oriente was forced to annex the Protectorate and unite with the Duchy of Orloff, absorbing the two smaller League republics in an effort to check Regulan ambitions and better defend against Capellan aggression.

Politically, Oriente’s position remains precarious even today. Jessica Marik, daughter of the false Thomas Marik (Halas), has herself been at the heart of the latest conflicts since assuming the Marik name that most consider to be ill-gotten. Her argument in claiming the name was that she did so to honor the man she claims should have been the true Captain-General of the League, citing that the real Thomas Marik was a madman who deserves no honor under a new League. Yet most see such maneuvering as naked ambition to reestablish a Marik dynasty over all of the fractured League states.

Fact Sheet: The Duchy of Andurien
Founding Year: 2791
Capital (City, World): Jojoken, Andurien
National Symbol: a silver eagle, perched atop a purple castle, set against a black field
Location (Terra relative): Rimward of Terra, antispinward of Capellan Confederation, exterior.
Total (Inhabited) Systems: 25
Estimated Population (3130): 71,200,000,000
Government: Hereditary Oligarchy
Ruler: Duke Ari Humphreys
Dominant Language(s): English (official), Italian, Mandarin
Dominant Religion(s): Catholicism, Confucianism, Agnostic
Unit of Currency: Andurien dollar (1 dollar = 0.47 C-Bills)

Breathtaking with the striking colors of over a thousand exotic species of flora, the botanical gardens of Jojoken are the pride of this capital city, not only of the terrestrial planet of Andurien, but of the entire Duchy of Andurien. The gardens of Jojoken offer visitors a glimpse of beauty and serenity not easily found on the streets of the city itself, which are crowded by monolithic buildings and chronically choked with heavy traffic. Like its counterparts on the former League’s founding worlds, the capital of Andurien is a busy metropolis, home to some six million people, who make their home a hub for trade and government. Yet, in stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of the crowded city, on the far side of the gardens rises the palace of the Humphreys, hereditary rulers of Andurien—and, by extension, all of their Duchy.

Andurien has long been a battleground, frequently fought over by the armies of the Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation, even before the Duchy was first founded in 2791. For that reason, many Anduriens are understandably wary of foreigners, and are especially contemptuous of those who would seek to dominate them. Throughout their time as members of the League, the people of Andurien chafed under what they considered to be nothing less than an occupation. Their leaders became known as easily the most vocal opponents of the Captains-General outside of the founding nations, and secessionist sentiments always ran deep.

In the 3030s, Dame Catherine Humphreys finally acted on this trend by announcing the secession of the Duchy and allied her realm with the Magistracy of Canopus in a war against House Liao’s Capellan Confederation. The Andurien Crisis created the greatest challenge for the Free Worlds League in the thirty-first century after the Marik Civil War, forcing the League to send in troops to reclaim the renegade province. A terrorist’s bomb placed in a Marik family planning session, however, opened the door for a sinister plan by the old ComStar regime to replace Thomas Marik, heir to the Captain-Generalcy, with a double. The false Thomas Marik led a successful campaign to reintegrate Andurien after its doomed invasion of the Confederation ended.

Yet, even in defeat, with their military stripped away, the Anduriens never surrendered their desire for independence, and seized upon the opportunity when it came about in the closing years of the Jihad. Unlike many of its fellow League provinces, the Anduriens never sought to reclaim the League; instead striking out on their own, absorbing many neighboring worlds, including the Mosiro Archipelago, one of the League’s smaller provinces, in order to secure a buffer against the Capellans and the Oriente Protectorate.

The typical Andurien retains this fiercely independent will to the present day, and most believe that the trinity of the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth, Regulan Fiefs, and Oriente Protectorate, must be prevented from ever reforming the Free Worlds League, much as the Capellans and Canopians must ever be opposed. Nothing is to come between these people and their freedom, and from the Duke himself to the lowliest factory worker, all are willing to resort to any means to retain their hard-won independence.

In our final segment, the legacy of the League extends outward from Terra with the Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey and the Rim Collection! Won’t you join us as we examine these nations more closely? I’m Bertram Habeas.