Kingdom of Menetar

The Kingdom of Menetar, also simply known as Menetar, is a feudal nation situated in the Menetar Valley peninsula and the peninsula's surrounding islands. Menetar is a current and founding member of the United Mortal Confederation.

Country Information

 * Allegiance: United Mortal Confederation
 * Population: 4,721,000

Government
The Kingdom of Menetar is a feudal monarchy led by a hereditary monarch, who holds the title of King of the Mountain. The King of the Mountain is based in the eponymous city of Menetar which surrounds the tall Mount Menetar. Under the King of the Mountain are several landowning lords and barons who each maintain control over their won fiefdoms. All fiefs however must pay allegiance to the King of the Mountain, as well as pay an annual tax to their monarchy.

History
The people of Menetar, the Menetari, do not have any historical evidence for their origin. It is believed that the Menetari and the Lantians share a similar ancestry, though it is not clear when a divergence occurred. The Menetari were once a tribal agricultural people who lived on the Plains of Sterdam and along the Iron Range. They rarely ventured into the wetlands surrounding the Menetar River due to the existence of the sinister River Empire who preyed on their people. However 3000 years ago, as the Empire of Lantria began its first waves of expansion and colonization along the coasts of the mainland Western Continent, it became clear that the River Empire would pose a threat. The Lantians offered the Menetari a deal: to join forces and eliminate the River Empire. Over the next hundred years, the River Empire would be systematically destroyed as Lantian warships traveled up the Menetar River, supported by the Menetari pushing south into the wetlands. Eventually the River Empire would become no more, and the Empire of Lantria claimed ownership of the entire Menetar Valley. The war-torn Menetari, with no reward from their efforts and facing extreme pressure from a new imperial overlord that neglected them, began to turn on each other.

Over the next generation, the Menetari reorganized from simple tribes of farmers into clans of warriors, each led by formidable warlords. The warlords of Menetar would fight among each other while unsuccessfully resisting Lantian occupation. However one Menetari warlord, whose original name is lost to history, would alter the course of history and successfully take the Lantian stronghold surrounding Mount Menetar, which would eventually become the city of Menetar. From his new base on the mountain, the warlord gathered supporters and repelled both Menetari and Lantian invasions. By the end of his life, he had won the support of almost all the warlords of the valley (mostly through domination rather than persuasion). Renaming himself the King of the Mountain, the first king of Menetar would launch a war of independence to drive the Empire of Lantria out of the peninsula. Lantria suffered many devastating losses as they were driven out, including the loss of their last Emperor in the Battle of Ironhide. The Battle of Ironhide signaled the end of the war and Menetar solidified their holdings. Over the next few generations, the Menetari would sate their thirst for conquest by occasionally invading neighboring powers including the city-state of Tellemetra, the newly formed United Dominion, and even their former occupiers on the Lantian Isles.

The Great War
Right as it seemed the people of Menetar would forever be warmongers, their Arcanist Guild catalyzed the most extreme war in existence to open within their own borders. When Celestium and Abyssium began pouring legions into the Continent, the first great conflicts occurred in and around the city of Menetar. The King of the Mountain desperately held the extraplanar threat off, but eventually the Great War spread past Menetar's borders and raged around the entire Western Continent. The Great War changed the fabric of Menetari society; even the old warlords of Menetar were exhausted of conflict. Peace was sought by all sides, and the Tellemetra Accords were signed. Though Tellemetra was to be the center of cultural exchange between the planes, the governments of Mortium agreed that the city of Menetar be the location for the Forum of Mortal Races, due to its highly fortified nature and central location in relation to the Western Continent.

Current Era
Menetar has regained the numbers lost during the Great War and has also become a thriving nation. The lords and barons of the valley have become more unified than ever and transformed their warlike tendencies into a thirst for economic power. Mining and other raw materials have become the focus for Menetar's people in the peacetime era, with large road networks formed to facilitate effective trade routes. It also helped that Menetar is an important central geographical link between the members of the Confederation. The city has since become a common location for many Confederation-focused events, such as the Festival of the Confederation which occurs every twenty years. It is also the location of the newest planeport, the Menetar Planeport, which increases the prospects of planeports becoming common in every major trade hub around the Three Realms.