Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations)

Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Printable Version

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Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Maraix - 06-23-2020

Now that Maraix has moved into the IDU, I’d like to start work on its factbook, etc. It seems more fun and realistic to set up an independence event that involves other nations, as opposed to just putting the country on the map and coming up with an isolated backstory.

I’m looking to see if there are any nations interested in setting up diplomatic relations to help explain Maraixian independence. These relations could be basic or detailed as you’d like (we could just hash out some basic factbook information here or take it another direction).

I’m primarily interested in setting up relations with two countries: one from which Maraix declared independence (“Country A”), and one with longstanding cultural/administrative ties, into which Maraix wants to enter a defense agreement (“Country B”).

Are you interested? Read the long or TLDR version of Maraix’s history, which also describes the role of each country.

LONG VERSION

In 1788, 6 convicts (five adult men and one 13-year-old boy, named Tom Morrisson) boldly broke out of the royal prison in “Country A” and managed to steal a small royal navy sailing vessel.
The leader of this band of fugitives was a former navy officer who had been found guilty of treason and was slated for execution a mere two days after the daring prison escape. Astonishingly, he was able to guide the band on the stolen vessel into the Tenebric Ocean, evading capture. They were last seen sailing away from a remote Tenebric island, after picking a small group of indigenous islanders (three men and seven women). The band would not be seen again for another 42 years.
In 1830, a royal science/exploration vessel from “Country A” landed on what is now known as Maraix Island, and was amazed to discover a small population living there – Tom Morrisson (the last surviving member of the fugitive band), three of the original group of islanders, and the descendents of the fugitives and islanders who had made it to Maraix, then called Maw Island. As it turned out, they had sailed deep into the Tenebric Ocean and, instead of capsizing (as was assumed at the time), they landed at Maw Island, burned their vessel, and started new lives for themselves.
“Country A” decided not to prosecute Morrisson. Instead, they claimed tiny, tropical Maw Island as an overseas territory, planting a flag on the shores of Vex Bay, much to the annoyance of the Maw Islanders. This territory also included two small, uninhabited islands in the vicinity of Maw.
From 1830–1910, “Country A” was minimally involved in the affairs on Maw Island, due to its remote location, though it served as a distant waypoint and rest stop for exploration, whaling, and trading vessels.
During the 20th century, “Country A” began to increase their investment in the population of Maw Island, providing infrastructural, educational, transportation, and healthcare support over the decades. Because of its remote location, this support was actually administered via “Country B,” which was in a better location (or perhaps had a better fleet) to reach the island.
Maw Island reached a population peak of approximately 260 people around 1952, but the numbers began slowly declining. Though proud of their remote paradise, life was hard for the Maw Islanders.
This hardship led the population to place Maw Island on sale in 1977. In 1982, they sold the island to Juan Sébastien Rudolph Maraix, then known as a fabulously wealthy playboy owner of a small casino empire, who promptly renamed the island after himself. The sale agreement set aside the Apōiti-Vex community for the 186 remaining islanders, and their descendents, who could live within the community limits, rent-free, so long as they continuously occupied the land.
As it turns out, Juan Sébastien Rudolph Maraix was one of the many aliases used by Juan Rossi Gutierrez, leader of an international drug cartel. Under the guise of developing the island for tourism, Gutierrez used the island as a center for his international smuggling and money laundering operations, while also employing a campaign of intimidation, harassment, and murder to drive the local population out of the community, further reducing the island population.
When Gutierrez was arrested by “Country A” or “Country B” (or maybe both!) in 1997, it was discovered that he had placed the island under the name of his wife, Tiffani Amber Maraix. As such, while “Country A” and/or “Country B” confiscated many of Gutierrez’s assets, Maraix Island was not one of them.
Tiffani Amber Maraix, upon learning of her husband’s arrest, fled to her home country and immediately filed for divorce.
From 1998–2015, Maraix made several attempts to monetize the island, to little avail. While she was able to successfully sell a small portion of the island to a real estate developer, the amount she earned from the sale was insufficient to cover her mounting debts, back taxes, and expensive tastes. The developer built Marina Terrace, a luxury condominium and marina, and managed to sell most of its units as vacation condos to fabulously wealthy retirees and global nomads.
In 2015, facing insolvency, Maraix placed the island on the market and began aggressively courting a number of phosphorous mining operations to make the sale.
The Apōiti-Vex community, scarred by their experience of letting Gutierrez take ownership of the island, joined together with the Marina Terrace Homeowners’ Association (whose owners were horrified by the idea that phosphorous mining might destroy their idyllic vacation community) and the owners of Canavalia Resort, Inc., (the near-bankrupt owners of property originally built under Gutierrez’s sham tourism scheme) to raise money to purchase the island.
In 2017, these three groups successfully purchased the island (and surrounding territories) from Tiffani Amber Maraix and immediately placed it into the Maraix Territorial Community Land Trust, to ensure joint ownership.
While researching and establishing the land trust, the three groups realized that they could claim independence from “Country A” for… “reasons.” Thus, now in 2020, Maraix will file in court to officially organize themselves into the Free Homeowners’ Association of Maraix, with sovereign control over the land trust. The Constitution, Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CCC&R) thus serves as their declaration of independence from “Country A.”
Due to its incredibly small size (there is currently only 1 security officer on the island), Maraix will seek to enter into a defense agreement with “Country B.” Because of its history of warm relations with “Country B”, Maraix also hopes to continue cultural connections and administrative services in the future, where feasible.

With an island population of 109 (though there are a few more citizens who live outside our territory), Maraix is a remote micronation, likely the smallest in the International Democratic Union. The goal is to establish diplomatic relationships with nations who agree to become “Country A” and “Country B”, in order to help build out the Maraix factbook and for (hopefully) fun interactions on the forum in the future. Any takers?

TLDR
After a long history as a remote territory of “Country A”, with administrative services provided by “Country B”, and a more recent history of struggling to survive under the island ownership of an international criminal, the residents of Maraix pulled together to purchase all of Maraix from its current owner and establish the Maraix Territorial Community Land Trust in 2018.

While establishing the land trust, it became apparent for… “reasons” …that the Maraix Islanders could declare independence from “Country A”, which it does now, in 2020, as a free homeowners’ association with complete control over the land trust.

Where you could come in:

Would anyone like to set up relations as “Country A”? You could help identify the “reasons” (legal loophole? tired of paying for remote island services?) for this declaration of independence, or just agree to appear in the factbook as the country from which Maraix declared independence. You can also feel as grumpy (or not) about this declaration as you’d like.
Would anyone like to set up relations as “Country B”? Maraix has a long history of warm relations with “Country B” and would like to continue these relations (and as many administrative services as can be afforded) in the future.
Additionally, Maraix will seek to enter into a defense agreement with “Country B.” As a micronation, Maraix cannot defend itself militarily, and cannot fight in military roleplays. It needs the protection of a nation with a larger military… well, any military, really. However, this defense agreement can be negotiated to include other kinds of support for your nation’s diplomacy and war efforts (such as humanitarian, diplomatic, espionage, etc).

Anyone interested?

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Laeral - 06-24-2020

Wow Maraix! I'm quite impressed by the depth of your established roleplay information, and I'd be happy to participate in your nation's history. Playing as a microstate (the IDU's equivalent of the Pitcairn Islands, no less) is definitely a unique approach, and I look forward to seeing more of you in the IDU!

Laeral could serve as either Country A or Country B, although it seems that Country A would be more appropriate since Laeral is located in Central Hespia. Laeral is a Chinese-inspired nation that was colonized by the French during the 1700s, with a rich mercantile tradition. Laeral was a French vassal state in 1788, with a thriving merchant class that could have been sailing in the Tenebric Ocean. The left-wing government that ruled from 1922 to 1954 would have been willing to invest resources in development in Maraix. When it comes to the reason for independence, there could be many reasons- Laeral's current government isn't all that attached to tiny far-flung territories, particularly as the backlash against the vestiges of imperialism in Laeral has only grown stronger with time. I'd be glad to collaborate on RP about this with you in future! Feel free to check out my pages on the IDUwiki to see what my RP looks like, and I'd also be open to chatting further either here or on Discord!

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Maraix - 06-26-2020

Laeral post_id=21519 time=1592963046 user_id=435 Wrote:Wow Maraix! I'm quite impressed by the depth of your established roleplay information, and I'd be happy to participate in your nation's history. Playing as a microstate (the IDU's equivalent of the Pitcairn Islands, no less) is definitely a unique approach, and I look forward to seeing more of you in the IDU!

Laeral could serve as either Country A or Country B, although it seems that Country A would be more appropriate since Laeral is located in Central Hespia. Laeral is a Chinese-inspired nation that was colonized by the French during the 1700s, with a rich mercantile tradition. Laeral was a French vassal state in 1788, with a thriving merchant class that could have been sailing in the Tenebric Ocean. The left-wing government that ruled from 1922 to 1954 would have been willing to invest resources in development in Maraix. When it comes to the reason for independence, there could be many reasons- Laeral's current government isn't all that attached to tiny far-flung territories, particularly as the backlash against the vestiges of imperialism in Laeral has only grown stronger with time. I'd be glad to collaborate on RP about this with you in future! Feel free to check out my pages on the IDUwiki to see what my RP looks like, and I'd also be open to chatting further either here or on Discord!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to this and think writing from a Pitcairn-perspective will be very interesting (though there will, of course, be differences).

It would be great to have you participate – I started looking through the IDUwiki and like what you have up. Laeral has a very interesting history, and I agree that having it serve as Country A should work nicely.

I'm going to finish going through your pages on the wiki to get more concrete ideas, but I like where you are going with the reasons for independence. I'd also throw in that it is currently costing Laeral the equivalent of $3 million USD in Laeralian marks to support the island, which might make it extra unappealing to continue funding a remote vestige of imperialism. I would like to think of a precipitating event, loophole, or clause that the HOA of Maraix could use to justify declaring for independence, which they will do at the same time as they file the CCC&Rs with a Laeralian court.

A couple of thoughts that came to mind were:

Laeral was unaware that the band of fugitives had landed on the island until 42 years after the fact, and Tom Morrison, the surviving fugitive on the island when Laeral finally bumped into it, was only 13/14 when he arrived. Would it make sense that the Duc d'Tesse's claim on the territory was invalid because the only living proof, at the time, that it had been settled by a Laeralian was a minor when it was settled? Though, 13/14 wasn't as young in 1788 as it is today...
Another option: I envisioned that Tom Morrisson would not actually be Rén, Arrivée, or even a convict – while he was in the prison and ran off with the band fugitives, he was not there because of a crime of his own, but because he had a father in the prison (I'm thinking something along the lines of children living in Dickensian debtor's prisons, and/or who managed to scrounge work at the prison as errand boys for the jailers). Would it make sense that the Duc d'Tesse's claim on the territory was invalid because the living settler on the island was a foreigner, who was once in a Laeralian prison, but not because he was actually locked up there?

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Legionas - 06-26-2020

Interesting, I'm also very impressed as to the level of detail you've been able to create. It's always great to see someone go for a more interesting approach when it comes to roleplaying.

The Federation of Legionas would like to serve as either country A or country B although I'm leaning more towards B. We are a Federal Republic under a Constitutional Monarchy with a population of around 123 million citizens with a highly developed and strong economy, (The Largest in Catica, I believe) as well as a massive military, which would be able to adequately protect your Islands from foreign aggressors. Feel free to ask me anything if need be!

The link to the wiki of Legionas is linked below.
https://www.theidu.us/wiki/Legionas

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Maraix - 06-26-2020

The Federation of Legionas post_id=21525 time=1593178097 user_id=598 Wrote:Interesting, I'm also very impressed as to the level of detail you've been able to create. It's always great to see someone go for a more interesting approach when it comes to roleplaying.

The Federation of Legionas would like to serve as either country A or country B although I'm leaning more towards B. We are a Federal Republic under a Constitutional Monarchy with a population of around 123 million citizens with a highly developed and strong economy, (The Largest in Catica, I believe) as well as a massive military, which would be able to adequately protect your Islands from foreign aggressors. Feel free to ask me anything if need be!

The link to the wiki of Legionas is linked below.
https://www.theidu.us/wiki/Legionas

Hello! I think Legionas would be great as Country B, actually. I'm still going through the wiki, but I think culturally, militarily, and in terms of language, it would be a good fit. Also, there is a geographic connection that makes sense...the Indigo Islands (shown as Indigo Island on the IDU map).

While I'm going through your wiki content, can you tell me a little more on the Indigo Islands?

Are they inhabited? It makes sense to me that, if Maraix Island were sailing distance from Indigo, Laeral might contract with Legionas to provide services to Maraix – certain cargo ships that go to Indigo could take a leg out to Maraix, military vessels stationed at Indigo could be diverted to Maraix, if needed, people traveling to Maraix could fly into Indigo and sail to Maraix, etc. It also makes sense that there could be cultural connections forged between Indigo and Maraix, as they would be each other's closest neighbors out in the Tenebric.
What is the climate of Indigo? I read some back threads in the forum about ecology, but it was a bit unclear to me where the tropics and subtropics fall on this map.
Is there anything else about the Indigo Islands you think I should be aware of while I am working on this?

I'm thinking of requesting a spot on the map northeast of Indigo Island, because culturally and geographically, that makes sense to me. I'm hoping for a tropical or subtropical climate for Maraix, so I guess I'm wondering if you think that is possible, given its placement relative to Indigo.

Of course it's up to Gardavasque, but since Maraix Island is so small, I hope a simple call-out can be placed on the map indicating its location (it wouldn't have to depict landforms).

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Legionas - 06-27-2020

Maraix post_id=21527 time=1593195867 user_id=898 Wrote:
The Federation of Legionas post_id=21525 time=1593178097 user_id=598 Wrote:Interesting, I'm also very impressed as to the level of detail you've been able to create. It's always great to see someone go for a more interesting approach when it comes to roleplaying.

The Federation of Legionas would like to serve as either country A or country B although I'm leaning more towards B. We are a Federal Republic under a Constitutional Monarchy with a population of around 123 million citizens with a highly developed and strong economy, (The Largest in Catica, I believe) as well as a massive military, which would be able to adequately protect your Islands from foreign aggressors. Feel free to ask me anything if need be!

The link to the wiki of Legionas is linked below.
https://www.theidu.us/wiki/Legionas

Hello! I think Legionas would be great as Country B, actually. I'm still going through the wiki, but I think culturally, militarily, and in terms of language, it would be a good fit. Also, there is a geographic connection that makes sense...the Indigo Islands (shown as Indigo Island on the IDU map).

While I'm going through your wiki content, can you tell me a little more on the Indigo Islands?
Are they inhabited? It makes sense to me that, if Maraix Island were sailing distance from Indigo, Laeral might contract with Legionas to provide services to Maraix – certain cargo ships that go to Indigo could take a leg out to Maraix, military vessels stationed at Indigo could be diverted to Maraix, if needed, people traveling to Maraix could fly into Indigo and sail to Maraix, etc. It also makes sense that there could be cultural connections forged between Indigo and Maraix, as they would be each other's closest neighbors out in the Tenebric.

What is the climate of Indigo? I read some back threads in the forum about ecology, but it was a bit unclear to me where the tropics and subtropics fall on this map.

Is there anything else about the Indigo Islands you think I should be aware of while I am working on this?

I'm thinking of requesting a spot on the map northeast of Indigo Island, because culturally and geographically, that makes sense to me. I'm hoping for a tropical or subtropical climate for Maraix, so I guess I'm wondering if you think that is possible, given its placement relative to Indigo.

Of course it's up to Gardavasque, but since Maraix Island is so small, I hope a simple call-out can be placed on the map indicating its location (it wouldn't have to depict landforms).

The Indigo islands are a small series of islands, cays, atolls and reefs. The Main Island, North Indigo (Or the one depicted in the official map), is the largest and most populated island in the island chain.

Of the total 10 or so islands in the chain, only half of them are inhabited. North Indigo has a population of around 10,000 permanent settlers, with another 3,000 military personnel being present. The other four; West Indigo, East Indigo, Hammerhead Island and Point Rudolf have populations varying within the 500 to 3,500 mark with Point Rudolf having the smallest population, of around 500 inhabitants.

The islands generally have a cool climate, which fluctuate in a narrow temperature range. Average monthly temperatures range from around 11°C in January and February to around 6 °C in June and July, corresponding with summer and winter. The maximum temperature reached is around 24 °C (75 °F) in January, and the minimum is −5 °C in July. The annual average is around 5.6 °C.

I'm not too sure of what else you'd need to know. The North Indigo Island does operate a small airport and port. The Hampden Reef is one of the most bio-diverse living structures on Earth owing to its position at the center of the meeting point between the warm Xiomeran Current and the Cold South Tenebric Current.

I think your request for a spot North East of Indigo Island is a great spot, perhaps closer to the Equator if you want a Tropical/Sub-tropical climate. Of course the final decision comes down to the cartographer, but I think your request should be possible.

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Laeral - 07-04-2020

Maraix post_id=21524 time=1593138588 user_id=898 Wrote:
Laeral post_id=21519 time=1592963046 user_id=435 Wrote:Wow Maraix! I'm quite impressed by the depth of your established roleplay information, and I'd be happy to participate in your nation's history. Playing as a microstate (the IDU's equivalent of the Pitcairn Islands, no less) is definitely a unique approach, and I look forward to seeing more of you in the IDU!

Laeral could serve as either Country A or Country B, although it seems that Country A would be more appropriate since Laeral is located in Central Hespia. Laeral is a Chinese-inspired nation that was colonized by the French during the 1700s, with a rich mercantile tradition. Laeral was a French vassal state in 1788, with a thriving merchant class that could have been sailing in the Tenebric Ocean. The left-wing government that ruled from 1922 to 1954 would have been willing to invest resources in development in Maraix. When it comes to the reason for independence, there could be many reasons- Laeral's current government isn't all that attached to tiny far-flung territories, particularly as the backlash against the vestiges of imperialism in Laeral has only grown stronger with time. I'd be glad to collaborate on RP about this with you in future! Feel free to check out my pages on the IDUwiki to see what my RP looks like, and I'd also be open to chatting further either here or on Discord!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to this and think writing from a Pitcairn-perspective will be very interesting (though there will, of course, be differences).

It would be great to have you participate – I started looking through the IDUwiki and like what you have up. Laeral has a very interesting history, and I agree that having it serve as Country A should work nicely.

I'm going to finish going through your pages on the wiki to get more concrete ideas, but I like where you are going with the reasons for independence. I'd also throw in that it is currently costing Laeral the equivalent of $3 million USD in Laeralian marks to support the island, which might make it extra unappealing to continue funding a remote vestige of imperialism. I would like to think of a precipitating event, loophole, or clause that the HOA of Maraix could use to justify declaring for independence, which they will do at the same time as they file the CCC&Rs with a Laeralian court.

A couple of thoughts that came to mind were:
Laeral was unaware that the band of fugitives had landed on the island until 42 years after the fact, and Tom Morrison, the surviving fugitive on the island when Laeral finally bumped into it, was only 13/14 when he arrived. Would it make sense that the Duc d'Tesse's claim on the territory was invalid because the only living proof, at the time, that it had been settled by a Laeralian was a minor when it was settled? Though, 13/14 wasn't as young in 1788 as it is today...

Another option: I envisioned that Tom Morrisson would not actually be Rén, Arrivée, or even a convict – while he was in the prison and ran off with the band fugitives, he was not there because of a crime of his own, but because he had a father in the prison (I'm thinking something along the lines of children living in Dickensian debtor's prisons, and/or who managed to scrounge work at the prison as errand boys for the jailers). Would it make sense that the Duc d'Tesse's claim on the territory was invalid because the living settler on the island was a foreigner, who was once in a Laeralian prison, but not because he was actually locked up there?

Hey Maraix! So sorry that I didn't respond to this earlier-- I thought that I'd already written and posted my response to it, but it must not have actually posted. Glad to hear that I can play a part in Maraix's backstory.

Of the ideas you've mentioned, I prefer the second one. Perhaps new documents surfaced showing that while people had assumed that Tom Morrisson was a Laeralian citizen (or rather, a French citizen at the time, as Laeral was part of the French colony of High Fells) he in fact was not-- he had been born elsewhere, and simply worked or lived at the prison in the Dickensian sense you mentioned.

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Maraix - 10-15-2020

Hi, Laeral and Legionas! Thanks so much for your replies! Obviously, I went a little AWOL because of the pandemic (I posted a mea culpa to the discord). But I read what you both posted and I've still been thinking about this. I want to get back to working on my factbook and getting involved in the board.

Laeral, I thought about your last post and the legal basis for independence. I thought about this backstory:

[box]Long believed to be the only son of Thomas Morrison, an immigrant dock worker at Auvergne, and Marie Savatier, daughter of a farmer near St. Clair, recent research revealed that Tom was the adopted son, of unknown origin, of Thomas and Marie, most likely a foundling picked up by Thomas at the Auvergne docks.

Historic baptism records for Tom Morrison, dated June 8, 1783, at the Église Saint-Pierre in Auvergne list him as the son of Thomas Morrison and Marie Savatier, but include notations of “enf. trouvé” (“foundling”) and “ne parle” (“unspeaking”).

A more recent discovery, uncovered by a professor of history at the Laeralian International University, identified a reference to young Tom Morrison in records kept by Soeur Marie-José Bouchard, a nun (later Prioress) at the Couvent de St. Clair, who cared for Marie Savatier at the convent during the typhoid outbreak of 1784. The notation, dated January 1784, reads (translated):

“The wife of Morrison begs the nuns to protect her son from his barbaric tongue by teaching him French, and to write to her father, the farmer Savatier, for permission to send her younger sister to Auvergne to help care for the boy.”

Subsequent historical, genealogical, and literary research uncovered evidence supporting the assertion that Tom Morrison spoke neither English nor French, the language of his parents, as his first tongue, and that it was possible he arrived at the Auvergne docks either as a stowaway from an unknown country or as a child abandoned by an itinerant sailor.

The most recent breakthrough involved genetic tests comparing the DNA of two Maraixian descendants of Tom Morrison with a likely descendant of Marie-Anne Morrison (daughter of Thomas and Marie) and known descendants of the Savatiers in St. Clair, resulting in evidence confirming the likelihood that Tom Morrission was not biologically related to Thomas and Marie, and early evidence suggesting he or his ancestors originated outside of Hespia.

It was on the basis of this evidence, particularly the DNA findings, that the HOA of Maraix filed legal documents in Laeral establishing the island’s independence.[/box]

How does this sound to you? Tom was allowed to work at the prison when Thomas, his only living adoptive parent, was imprisoned there, and it had since been assumed he was Thomas' biological son.

Would this fly, legally, in Laeral, as Tom was the only surviving fugitive left on the island when one of Duchesse Marie-Therese's merchant vessels finally bumped into the island in 1830?

Re: Maraix: Independence! (Seeking two nations for foreign relations) - Maraix - 10-17-2020

I've been working on the factbook and have these key points drafted that impact both of you. Laeral and Legionas, let me know if anything here doesn't fit with your nations or you'd like tweaked:

Maraix (then the Maw Island territory) was briefly mentioned in the 1855 Treaty of Meilun, which transferred ownership of the Territory from High Fells to the First Allied Provinces of Laeral.
In 2017, Maraix bought the territory, and formed the land trust.
As they began drafting documents to form the homeowner's association (which controls the land trust), they compiled research casting doubt on Tom Morrison's identity and contacted the Maw Island Research Group at Bayview University in Legionas (a small, interdisciplinary research group involved with the Maraix territory) to get more information, which triggered the DNA studies.
In 2018, they filed the HOA incorporation documents at the provincial court in Laeralsford, but refused to pay all mandatory taxes/fees, as they believed they weren't really Laeralite citizens.
The documents were rejected (no taxes/fees = no approval).
They filed an appeal at the National High Court pushing this issue, including the new DNA evidence as part of the legal documents. There is a hearing scheduled for Nov. 10th. The community believes the result of this hearing will confirm they aren't, in fact, a territory of Laeral.
The community has been in touch with government officials in Legionas about this, they believe they have their support, and during all this drafted the framework for the defense agreement and discussed logistics about how/whether they'll still provide the services Laeral paid for. Clearly, they'll have less money, so a number of those services will be dropped.
The community continues to collaborate with Bayview University, and it was the university that actually that installed and subsidizes the island's satellite internet.
There isn't a high school in Maraix, so students attend school as boarders on North Indigo island.
Maraix is an older community, as most of its kids in recent years moved to Laeral or Legionas after high school, pursuing better opportunities. After Nov. 10th, they will have Maraixian citizenship, so both of you may have (just a few) new dual citizens in your country.
Fun fact: our community has a "full fry" breakfast derived from Legionas' full fry. It became popular in large part to the number of Legionite workers we've had on the island.

Both your factbooks were great and were fun to read. Let me know if there's anything in the above list you think should be changed.