Who wants a former colony?

[La Llanura Libre]

Before, I begin becoming an active world-builder of Taijitu, I obviously need to lay down some groundwork. Now, La Llanura Libre is supposed to be a former colony, yet I don't have a former colonial oppressor. I would be willing to co-operate on a joint history with any nation that could have realistically colonized the land now independent under the Most Serene Republic of the Free Plains (in English). In return, I would grant that nation some neo-colonial influence over my nation, whether it be in terms of commerce or culture or something else.

There are some things to keep in mind. La Llanura Libre is pretty much a Hispanic nation. I'll use Spanish names and maybe Spanish customs to build my nation-state, I just won't attach the label "Spanish" on it. Even then, it would probably be preferable if the colonial power in question was at least somewhat Mediterranean-like. Also, I think a good location for La Llanura Libre would be on the explicitly "colonial continent" Australis. So if my "partner's" nation had the capability to reach Australis around the 1700s, that would be perfect.

I would really appreciate it if someone could be my former colonial oppressor!

I don't really see how I can write stories about a post-colonial nation without this vital piece of context.

[Myroria]

Myroria would gladly be your colonizer. Culturally, it places great value on family and ancestors in a similar way to Latin nations. Our traditional faith, though, is pretty insane so that'd be something that you might prefer to temper with native beliefs.

[La Llanura Libre]

Thank you very much for you offer to oppress me.  I gladly accept. 

I've reading up on Myroria in the 18th Century, and I agree that implementing a pseudo-Hispanic colony wouldn't be too challenging. After all, your nation does have links with the Pelagians, who are described in the guide as being "like Roman/Italian/Spanish". However, I do think there should be ethnic and cultural differences between Libreans and Myrorians, as the Free Plains obviously speak a unique language - known as Spanish on Earth. In order to accommodate this, I have come up with the idea that the Libreans are an ethnic minority hailing from the Pelagean mainland who enjoyed good lives under Ozian hegemony but begun to be persecuted following the victory of Myrorian nationalism in 1733, when your people gained their independence.

Myrorians are after all rather obsessed with height and skin colour, and Libreans are generally quite short and have darker skin. Thus, the Myrorians made several attempts to uproot the Libreans from their homeland within the new Myrorian borders. However, the Libreans had nowhere else to go and soon a rebellion flared up, leading to deaths of many Libreans and Myrorians alike. By the late 18th Century, the situation was getting intolerable for both sides. Finally, a "resettlement" agreement was made, whereby the Myrorians would stop persecuting the Libreans if they agreed to populate the new Myrorian colony La Llanura, something you could arrange. It was win-win, since the Myrorians got rid of the Libreans and the Libreans were more or less free, only indirectly ruled by the distant Myrorian crown.

What do you think?

[Myroria]

That sounds pretty much entirely plausible with few, if any, revisions. I'd be very happy to incorporate that into my history!

If, at any point, your nation would like to eliminate the in-name-only Myrorian monarch from your institutions I'd be happy to write that with you.

[La Llanura Libre]

Great!

Yeah, let's do that soon when we've found some time. It irks it me to have a "republic" within a monarchy. 

[Myroria]

Haha understandably. What were you thinking to do for a first piece?

[Delfos]

Where do pirates fit in? And where is your nation? You're welcome in Phoenixia, I'd suggest the eastern part of it.

[Khem]

Yea Delfos needs neighbors to complain about his nuclear incidents

[La Llanura Libre]

In order to craft the following plan for the independence of La Llanura Libre, I have taken three considerations to mind. Firstly, in order to encourage the co-operative writing environment I have discovered here recently, I place the independence within the 18th Century, when Delfos is not too preoccupied with other affairs to get involved. Secondly, the Kitaic natives are definitely a factor I want to add to the political turmoil. Thirdly, as suggested by Delfos, pirates! Arrr!

Let's get started. I approximate the colony of La Llanura (The Plain) in Phoenixia to be between the rainforests (?) of the North and the great Hiyake desert in the South, in a sort of Taijitian Sahel. Perhaps the Myrorians have claimed the region for its substantial saltpetre or whatever reserves, although that is obviously Myroria's choice. The Resettlement treaty was, I'm just going to throw a year out there, in 1760, and soon shiploads of Librean hopefuls are cast onto the sands of La Llanura, bolstering a struggling little settlement. Mines are set up, and as the colony grows and prospers, so does the intercontinental trade with the Myrorian homeland. The Libreans are happy, but not that happy, for two primary reasons. I don't know how taxation works in Myroria, but perhaps the taxes on Librean merchants are painfully high, and due to typical colonial mercantilism, Libreans can't trade with anyone other than the distant Myrorians. Secondly, Librean youth are drafted into the colonial military, and are forced into brutal "pacification" campaigns against the Kitaic steppe nomads, and naturally they get sick of dying for a faraway king who hates them for their height.

Before long, the first issue of trade reaches its climax. A merchant named Armando Caro defies Myrorian mercantilism and begins trading with Delfos. Of course, there was already a black market before, but in defiance, Caro does so completely openly and is soon confronted by a Myrorian naval vessel. However, he refuses to back down, captures and plunders the Myrorian vessel and turns into a fully fledged pirate, who redistributes his loot among the Librean poor. The Libreans adore him as a national hero, while, understandably, he is seen as a horrible villain in Myroria. Further reactions are obviously down to Delfos and Myroria. Anyway, in one way or another, Caro takes advantage of a mutiny among Librean recruits in the colonial military, and stages a successful coup against the colonial government, declaring independence for the colony and changing its name to La Llanura Libre, the Free Plain, in 1789. He solidifies his position by signing a peace treaty with the Kitaic steppe nomads, and tries to reach out to Delfos. The reaction of that state is down to Delfos. Same with Myroria.

What do you guys think?

[Myroria]

Sounds great to me. I'll type up a more comprehensive response, including some background on Myroria, when I get home from work.

[Myroria]

In 1760, Myroria has been under the rule of Resdayn II for nearly fifteen years. Shortly after independence, an expedition was organized to "am nanmora" - "the not-forest" by the new Myrorian government. With full coffers, taken in reparations from Ozia after their loss to a combined Myrorian-Eluvataran force, Resdayn I saw fit to settle a colony overseas and establish a mercantilist empire.

Firmly believing in the natural superiority of the Myrorian race - after all, it had persisted despite near-constant attack for most of its history - Resdayn I, and his successor Resdayn II, instituted brutal policies and de facto apartheid on the Myrorian colony. Management of the day-to-day operations of Am Nanmora, though, were left mostly to the colony's Governor General, Ninirassour Demnevanith.

A middle-aged, upwardly mobile member of the ruling House Demnevanith, Ninirassour was a man known for his strict adherence to the law, and his violent punishments doled out to those who would break it. His wife and cousin, Mivanu Demnevanith, was known for her interest in the budding science of anatomy. Rumors swirled, in native and Myrorian circles, about the couple. One said that Ninirassour liked to dress as a woman in the Governor's Mansion - another, that his wife was half-Ozian, and third, that he turned the bodies of executed criminals over to his wife for study. Only the third was true.

As the rebellion began to simmer, Governor Ninirassour's punishments grew stricter and stricter. Believing firmly in the idea of "collective guilt", the administrator would punish entire families for the actions of one member. Smuggling was punished by hanging - larceny, by hanging. Piracy, though, had a special punishment - to be suspended in a gibbet over the harbor, facing the incoming tide.

In Pelagis, the government discussed recalling the hated governor, but the sway of his family over the king prevented this. Publicly, the governor's wife Mivenu supported him and the policies of the colonial government. But as her studies on the dead bodies of native and Myrorian criminals progressed, she found herself unable to duplicate the experimental results of racial scientists back home. Taking the time to speak to native servants at the Governor's Mansion, she began to doubt the strict racial hierarchy so entrenched in colonial society. Rumors even began to spread that she was covertly supporting the growing rebellion.

The governor and his wife will probably be the two main characters that I will use in this piece, though I will also write sea captains and other Myrorian colonists as needed. How does this sound?

[La Llanura Libre]

Great! This is shaping up to be a good story. I think we're set to go, but I won't have that much time during the week. It doesn't have to be a rush, I guess. I'll probably start with Armando Caro's confrontation with the Myrorian ship, and the governor general will definitely be involved that way.

[Myroria]

You can definitely take your time. Things move a bit more slowly in Taijitu worldbuilding than in other places.

[Delfos]

the "Kingdom of Delfos" around the 1700s would definitly welcome colonization of the "barbaric" lands of Phoenixia. Sbbasburg wasn't completely aligned with the "Kingdom of Delfos" by then is a sprawling Venice-style city-state with a lot of trade. Honto on the other hand will be very isolationist, growing tensions with Delfos and Boyen people.

[La Llanura Libre]

I put the first post. Man, that was a challenge. Naval combat is pretty hard. We'll probably need a ton of revisions - maybe even additions to that shoddy piece of work. I'm dead tired so I'll write a bigger post later.

Myroria, you could probably make a post on the governor's reaction or something. Your choice.