The Mery (or Mehri in the Mehrileh conlag) are a semi-nomadic religious peoples present within the Civ meta community. Originally developing as a culture within The Workers' Party in late 2021, the Mery have since formed their own independent tribe and plan to continue their lineage on CivMC. The Mery are anarchistic in their political nature, not dissimilar to the quasi-cossack militaristic Makhnovia anarchist society. They are united by their common religious beliefs they call Tsholarhaya, which defines their mutually beneficial relationship between them and their sun god Tshola. On CivMC, they plan to exist not only as their own sovereign entity but also as semi-autonomous sub-entities within other sovereign states in what they've described as Kurdistan-esque.

Engraving of the Mery sun diety Tshola, as seen on Vintage Civ

History

CivRev

Main Article: Mery Horde

Established by a convening council that consisted of Pythius_, Ninjajackh12, and ChocChips, the Mery culture came into existence on December 18, 2021 after the adoption of the First Law of the Mery Horde by the post-CCCP commune of Merthyr on CivRev. The law enshrined their religious rites into the TWP political culture and law, specifically requiring a ceremony to take place upon one's ascension to citizenship. The ad hoc position of Ataman was established for conflict resolution, but mostly the law ensured that the Mery people would always work together through consensus and mutual aid.[1] During their brief time on CivRev, the Mery claimed the plains around Merthyr to use for horse riding and taming and set up a number of outposts used to secure their place in the world. The Mery would not be long for this world, however, as on January 1, 2022, the majority of CivRev players abandoned the server, leaving the Mery to follow suit.

Vintage Civ

Main Article: Hwillotati

After the abandonment of CivRev, the Mery migrated to Vintage Civ on January 5th, mostly because it was the only active Civ server at the time but also because they thought Vintage Story's focus on primitive technology would be appropriate for a steppe people. In line with their culture, the Mery migrated often on Vintage Civ until settling down in their village they named Hwillota. Hwillota roughly translates to "in between two bodies of water" in the Mehrileh conlang, which they greatly developed during their time on Vintage Civ thanks in large part to AmandaCC.[2] Mery Horde language became their second primary language alongside English and is used in all official documents, though not necessarily as the vernacular. Hwillotata lasted the entire week of the Vintage Civ beta before going mostly inactive after an incident in which racism was tolerated and perpetuated by the Vintage Civ owner on their discord. Some Mery would continue playing casually until yet another racist incident occurred in mid March 2022.

CivMC

Djani Wirehtshig Mehriteht
Holy Realm of the Mery
 
Flag of the Mery realm
 
Alternative flag used during times of emergency
General
DemonymMehri, Mery
AllianceForum of the Medi Sea
Government
GovernmentNone
Formation
Preceded by  Hwillotati
Culture
LanguageMehrileh, English
ReligionTsholarhaya
IdeologyAnarchist

Following the abandonment of their Vintage Civ settlement, the Mery began to draw out their plans for their next iteration on CivMC. They established the Djani Wirehtshig Mehriteht, Holy Realm of the Mery, also called Djanimehri for short, or Realm of the Mery. They anticipate for this to be the ultimate form of the Mery, now with their politics, language, and culture fully developed. The Mery maintain close relations with The State and the Free Danzilonan Republic, with many Mery planning to become citizens of both and establish their religious presence in each.

Demographics

Population

The current list of Mery and Honorary Mery, as defined by the Mery discord, is as follows:

Religion

The religion of the Mery is called Tsholarhaya. It revolves around the mutually beneficial relationship between them and their sun god Tshola, who is constantly fighting the forces of evil to keep the night at bay.[3] In the canon, Tshola was originally an unwitting servant of evil themself before realising their master's duplicity and going off on their own to create the world and people in it. When the evil tried to destroy the world, Tshola was able to hold them off with ritual sacrifices from the people of the world, defining their mutual aid relationship. The Mery actively have sacrificial rituals, praise the sun, and fight the monsters of the night.

Culture and society

The framework of Mery society is defined by their concept of rhayara, which is Mehrileh for "mutual aid." According to the yet-to-be-released Covenant, all of the land and industry of the Mery is held in common, and all decisions relating to the Mery are made through democratic discussions and consensus.

References