Merewald
| Name | Merewald |
|---|---|
| |
| Sub-Sector | Primus |
| Type | Feudal World |
| Population | 800 million |
| Climate | Temperate |
| Status | Imperial |
“Took the new aide for a brief jolly. The local aristocracy have a truly charming set of quaint and archaic customs; we were treated to the sight of an honour duel fought with solid-slug flintlocks over a matter of dinner etiquette. Delightful view from the scarp above the western Visick estates.” – Travel Diary of Lucius di Firro, 576.M41
About Merewald
Merewald is a world of few natural threats and a generally warm, equable climate suitable for cultivation. Its population of eight hundred million are spread widely across its continents; there are few towns and no cities as such, and most of the inhabitants are peasants ruled from the castles and palaces of the noble Houses.
Prior to its rediscovery by the Prosperitas Crusade, the planet was cut off from much of the Prosperitas Sector, and gradually regressed. Its technology was slowly lost to time and ignorance, and swathes of the southern hemisphere fell into outright barbarism. Leadership of the planet devolved into a system of Great Houses, all competing for prestige and land through skirmishes of musketeers and lancers, ritualised diplomatic missions, and the exchange of luxuries and marriage contracts.
All of this changed abruptly in the early years of the Prosperitas Crusade, when the Rogue Trader and Warmaster Jacinta Durovera discovered this previously isolated planet. She found a world ready for exploitation. But she was also a canny woman, and realised that open war would deny her the wealth she so craved from the Sector. Her solution was one of shock and awe: she landed one of her escorts, the Chalice, on the planet’s surface and made an offer of fealty and Imperial service to any of the Houses that were wise enough not to attack her.
It worked. Within a short while Imperial rule had been established; after the death of Jacinta Durovera, however, the planet's fate fell into the hands of two noble Houses - House Caerlyn and House Palamyr. Both Houses had been promised the world by Jacinta in exchange for their loyalty, and she left no will rewarding it to either of them.
After lengthy fighting, the Houses divided the world, and found themselves immediately faced with the problem of how to pay their tithes. Merewald had no industry to speak of, few mineral reserves, and a meagre food surplus. The answer lay in one of the planet’s few luxury goods: tea.
Over the course of early M41, increasing swathes of the planet were turned over to the production of this otherwise rare delicacy. The fortunes of the Planetary Houses beneath the ruling Houses have waxed and waned along with the booms and busts of the plantations; for instance, House Honeysett gained immense prestige by leading a campaign to conquer the southern barbarians and clear their territory for cultivation, while House Ab Rosveare and House Teague were reduced to penury when a hurricane devastated their estates.
Merewald as it Stands
The fundamental ethos of “knowing your place” has kept the highly stratified society of Merewald peaceful (at least for now) while allowing the Great Houses to retreat into a world of wealth, leisure, and ever more elaborate formality. Nonetheless, the system is far from static. The Administratum continue to pressure the ruling Houses of Palamyr and Caerlyn to increase their tithes. There is talk of uprating Merewald to Decuma Extremis, and perhaps even reassessing it as an Agri World – and consequently some offworld traders have found a market in supplying technology such as mechanical harvesters and gene-engineered seeds to desperate overseers.
Unfortunately, there remains a strong resistance to modernisation. The local nobility are hostile to anything that allows their subjects to gain any tangible sort of power. Even amongst the peasantry, the Adeptus Mechanicus are viewed with extreme suspicion, and some believe (not without reason) that they are a threat to the orthodox faith that has served the planet so well for the last nine thousand years. Some progress has occurred – the PDF and local Guard regiment are now equipped with laslocks and limited mechanized vehicles, and Merewald even has a System Defence Force in orbit – but these developments are still largely ignored or considered irrelevant by the Noble Houses, much to the consternation of the twin Great Houses that rule them.
Despite the backwards local attitude to technology, one of the local Imperial Guard units, the 18th Merewaldian Fusiliers, has a strong reputation across the Subsector. Their excellent foot drill, line discipline and courage under fire have been remarked upon by Crusade High Command as the pinnacle of everything a light infantry regiment should hope to achieve. Their distinctive bright red uniform tunics and tan topi helmets are a sight to stir Imperial pride and piety among civilians from the Rimward Marches to the Tertius border.
Recent History
During the Silence, due to the technophobic beliefs of its population spread by the prominent Ecclesiarchy sect the Followers of Saint Ludlam, Merewald was entirely cut off even from the minimal relays possible during the long years of isolation. When Imperial vessels first landed on its surface after the end of the Silence in 597.M41, the incoming ships were shocked to discover a world suffering greatly from a series of poor harvests, with famine widespread in some areas.
A great deal of unrest amongst the feudal Serfs of the planet has been stoked by the Nobility retaining a great deal of crops that could have been used to feed them, rotting in silos awaiting tithe-fleets that have not come until now. Despite begrudging hostility from the Followers, Arbites forces were permitted to deploy to the surface with full equipment to break up the worst of the discontent and restore order within the farming combines.