Lighthouse Accord

The Lighthouse Accord (plin lothiyen'g takrhalteht rha'yadeht in mehrileh) is a treaty between the Free Danzilonan Republic (FDR) and the Mery residents of its Eastern Shining Isles/djotalar na rhayadeht region which also includes stipulations for the Mery people in general. The Accord establishes several special rights and privileges for Mery residents of the Isles, including the ability for them to establish residences and businesses without first becoming Danzilonan citizens. A separate provision of the treaty not included in the document but voted on simultaneously with it also shortens the time for Mery people to become Danzilonan citizens from 7 days to 3 days. First drafted by Des23 on July 6, 2022, the original proposal was popular but was strongly opposed by the Church of Ranubis, which Des was a part of at the time, as well as its head priest wingnut4096. Des modified the Lighthouse Accord to include more concessions from the Mery people, but when the Mery people refused to accept them, Des withdrew the proposal altogether. The Lighthouse Accord was re-proposed by Gant2000, who had no affiliation with either the Church of Ranubis or the Mery people, on July 10th. The Church again opposed the Accord and wing voted against it, but he was the only one to do so, leading to its official adoption on July 17, 2022.

Background
See also: Mery, Free Danzilonan Republic

The origins of Mery culture predates back to Civcraft 3.0 in the city of Endeavour, which was an ally of Nova Danzilona as both were successors of states that were in the United Provinces of the Plus Plus on Civcraft 2.0. As such, the communities had a good amount of cooperation, overlap in members, and a historical diplomatic and cultural relationship. After 3.0 ended, both communities united and founded Provincia on CivClassic 2.0. Although many Threepers and Danzilonans went inactive over time and especially after the Nazi Bombing of Threepton in the summer of 2018, they remained in the same communication channels (Discord servers) and still maintained similar politics and culture. When the Mery culture formed at the end of CivClassic in December 2021, it was spearheaded by former Threepers Pythius and ninjajackh12 and joined by former Danzilonans Des23 and Lowtuff. Thus, going into CivMC in June 2022, the Mery and newly established Free Danzilonan Republic maintained close ties, and the Mery were offered a settlement area within the claims of the FDR, though they did not accept it.

Although many Mery were then initially not citizens of Danzilona, Val Tawiga remained a founder and citizen of both and established a Mery cultural presence on islands claimed by the FDR. On July 3, 2022, Val's proposal that the islands be recognised as such and given a name in both English and mehrileh, as well as a flag, was enacted. Mery temples were built and more Mery people from Djani'hweh began to visit. Seeking to codify this relationship between the Eastern Shining Isles, as they were now called, and encourage more Mery to live in Danzilona, Des23 proposed the first version of the Lighthouse Accord on July 6, 2022. After she withdrew this proposal within 48 hours, Gant2000 re-proposed the final version on July 10th.

Treaty contents
Similar to the Concordat between the Church of Ranubis and the Free Danzilonan Republic, the Lighthouse Accord affords Mery people rights to residency and protection without becoming citizens of the FDR, but unlike the Concordat the Accord limits those rights only to the Eastern Shining Isles. Exemptions from zoning laws were also created within the Isles. The Accord also promotes Mery culture by mandating that the Eastern Shining Isles have names in mehrileh both in and out of game.

In the final version that Gant proposed, it included the added provision that Mery people could become citizens of the FDR after 3 days of residency instead of the normal 7 days.

Aftermath
A day after the first version of the Lighthouse Accord was proposed, wingnut4096 proposed a new law that would ban dual citizens and holders of foreign political offices from holding office in the FDR. Wing claimed to have proposed this after seeing Val run for Ambassador in the first Danzilonan election on July 1st, believing them to be an office holder in the Lyrean Community. Pythius accused wing of using this excuse as a cover to ban all Mery from holding office, as it could be argued that all Mery are office holders since Djani'hweh functions as a direct democracy. wing denied this and modified the proposal to exclude only holders of foreign offices from holding domestic Danzilonan offices as opposed to excluding all dual citizens, as well as stipulating that the ban would not apply to unofficial undersecretaries. This version passed on July 18, 2022.

On July 13, a day after the second version of the Lighthouse Accord was de facto adopted, wing announced an inquisition by the Church of Ranubis to purge all alleged non-believers from its ranks. In the announcement, wing named all Disciples who he deemed true believers, which notably excluded Des23 who proposed the original Lighthouse Accord. Des subsequently renounced her Ranubite faith and joined the Mery on July 15th.