Ter Mair

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Ter Mair
Province of Maryland
Flag of Ter Mair
Subdivision of: NAL
Cities:  
 Capital: Annapolis
 Largest: Balafor
 Other: Saeth Mari (oldest), Pentapolis, Frederico, Hagersstadt
Languages:  
 Official: Brithenig, Kerno, Gaeilg
 Others: English, Swedish, Platdüütsch/Nederduytsch (a form of German)
Proprietor: Dewidd Carol Cecil Calferth
Rheithur / Governor: Rhoberth Gwer
Area: 9775 sq.mi.
Population: 4,522,043
Established: 1632, Royal Charter
Admission to NAL: 1803 (13th)

History

Geory Calferth (1580-1632) obtained from the Kemrese king a charter for the settling of a colony in North America in the northern island called Prydain New (later Alba Nuadh). The colony failed after a particularly hard winter, and Calferth sought a new charter for a more southern territory. He was granted a stronger charter for the settlement of a colony along the Potomack and Susquehanna rivers, much further south than Prydain New. He was created first Baron of Ter Mair and Avalon, but died before being able to bring any colonists over the ocean. His son was confirmed as second Baron and founded the colony in 1633. Cecil was made Lord of Balafor in that year.

Ter Mair became a successful agricultural colony and during the next century, several large settlements had developped, at Balafor (Baltimore), S. Mair (St. Mary's City), Castre Geory Saeth (Georgetown) and Frederico (Frederick).

Administration

Government

Between 1633 and 1803, the Barons of Ter Mair chose the province's governors. After the foundation of the NAL-SLC, the voters from one of the Western Shore Riding (where the city of Balafor is located) chose the first elected governor to a three year term. Thereafter, each riding took it in turns to elect the governors. Tomas ap Iewan was the first elected governor.

In 1868, the ridings were abolished as political units (thought the terms are still used to describe the regions of the province), the length of the governor's term was increased to four years and thereafter, all voters in the province would vote for the governor.

An ammendment to the Constitution was passed in 1971 that created the office of the Lieutennant Governor.

The Charter

Ter Mair is unusual even among all the other provinces with royal connections. They still have intact the old system of the Royal Charter. The Charter provides the Lord Proprietor the right to hold the land from the Teruin. The Proprietor (originally) appointed a governor to rule in his stead and ensure the duties of government got done. Even now, though the governors are all elected, the Proprietor still has some interesting powers over provincial government, notably a veto and the right to seat a replacement governor should the elected governor die or otherwise leave office before an election. They also get to open and close sessions of parliament.

Technically, if a bill proposed within the legislature of the province were sufficiently bothersome, the Terruin could either veto a bill outright or else he could try to convince his provincial Proprietor to veto it.

The Torcaryhogon, the Lords Proprietors of the Barony of the Provinces of Ter Mair and Avalon

Between 1630 and 1803, the Barons of Ter Mair wielded considerable authority in the colonial province of Maryland. Their nearly royal prerogatives included the powers to name governors, raise armies, levy taxes and seat parliaments.

Since the foundation of the SLC, the Barons of Baltimore have assumed the (American) title Proprietor of the Province of Maryland; while at the same time losing much of the power they wielded over provincial affairs. Proprietorship remains a hereditary affair; the regnal powers remaining with the office were reduced by the General Assembly, with the assent of the Ninth Baron, to the opening and closing of the Assembly's sessions, an "in extremum" line item veto and the right to name an interim rheitheir should the incumbent die or vacate his office (and, since 1971, the Lieutenant Governor as well). Gone are the personal powers to levy taxes and raise personal armies (though there is a special contingent of the provincial Militia that serves as guards for the Proprietor's estates). The more ceremonial powers of the Proprietorship remained intact. In 1983, the fourteenth Baron exercised the long forgotten (and never rescinded) right to issue currency, ordering the Mint to produce a 350th anniversary shilling.

In 1953, the General Assembly, following the suggestion of the thirteenth Baron, amended the ancient law of succession, allowing for any future female descendants of the family to act as Proprietors in their own right. In 1958, the succession law was reworded to account for childless or disinterested Proprietors -- as the symbolic "royal family" of Maryland, the Calferths had to ensure that prospective Proprietors were keen on the job. To that end, the incumbent could name his designated heir, if any of the elder children demonstrated a lack of interest. If no interested heir could be named by the incumbent, the Proprietorship would pass naturally to the first child.

What is the Province of Avalon? you might be asking... The First Baron was intitially granted a charter to settle a colony in what is now Alba Nuadh. That effort did not pan out, so a second (and stronger) charter was sought and granted for a more southern province.

The Lords of Baltimore

  1. Geory Calferth (1580-1632) r.1630-1632
  2. Cecil Calferth (1605-1675) r.1632-1675
  3. Carol Calferth (1637-1715) r.1675-1689 (considered the worst of Ter Mair's lords proprietor)
    In the aftermath of the 1689 Rebellion, the Kemrese king sought to control the situation by sending his own Governor to the province in 1693.
    Carol Calferth regained control of his colony in 1704, and after a false start, firmly in 1706. His second reign lasted until 1715, though he was still considered the worst of Ter Mair's lords proprietors)
  4. Bendith Leon Calferth (1679-1715) r.1715 (2 months)
  5. Carol Calferth (1699-1751) r.1715-1751
  6. Frederico Calferth (1731-1771) r.1751-1771 (accused of having a harem in Constantinople)
  7. Henrig Cecil Harforth (1758-1834) r.1771-1834 (illeg.) (1 surviving daughter, Anna Louisa)
  8. Anna Louisa (1812-1836) r.1834-1836 (married Carol Bendith Calferth)
  9. Carol Bendith C. (1808-1906) r.1836-1864 (MP from 1861-1863) (co-founded the Agricultural College, which would become the University of Ter Mair; opposed emancipation; proponent of the B&A Railway as well as electric streetcar companies in Baltimore, Frederick and Pentapolis). Abdicated in order to persue business interests.
  10. Geory Henrig Calferth (1841-1919) r.1864-1904 (abdicated due to ill health)
  11. Carol Bendith Calferth (1875-1935) r.1904-1935 (never married) largely left his younger brother Carol Geory to look after the Propietorship and the family's estates at Rivers Dale
  12. Carol Geory Henrig Calferth (1879-1946) r.1935-1946 (only surviving child was a daughter, Rosalie Eugenia (1911-1972), who married her cousin and descendant of the Ninth Baron; she never assumed the Proprietorship)
  13. Ricard Carol Calferth (Jr) (1907-1968) r.1946-1968
  14. Dewidd Cecil Calferth (1946-2006)
  15. Dewidd Carol Cecil Calferth (1971- ) r.2006-

The Rheitheirs

The Lords Governors of Ter Mair were orginally named by the Barons to manage the day to day operations of the province. Since 1805, they have been elected officials.

The General Assembly

This is the province's parliament. It is bicameral, composed of a Senate and House of Delegates. Early on, the rheitheirs had the right to dissolve a sitting parliament, witht the Baron's direct order. The Barons had the right to personally sit or dissolve a parliament until the 1689 Rebellion. Thereafter, the Barons had only the right to assent or dissent with their Acts. In 1858, the Barons gained the right of an "in extremum" line item veto over parliamentary Acts.

Administrative Divisions

Ter Mair's earliest divisions were three ridings corresponding roughly to the Eastern Shore, Western Shore and Western Ter Mair. Naturally, the "shores" refer to the shores of the Chesapeake Bay!

Ter Mair is divided into twelve centrefs or ridings (in the modern sense): St. Mary, Acockecke, Calvert, Pr. Gereint, Baltimore, Cecil, Emrys, Donal, Hewel, Tchapetanck, Wicomicky and Constantine.

Furthermore, there is the Port City of Balafor, which is governed separately from the riding of Balafor.

A map of the ridings can be found here.

Style

The authority of the Proprietor rests within the Royal Charter issued to Geory Calferth by the Kemrese king. Along with this authority came certain rights and prerogatives pertaining to the proprietorship. As mentioned, the right to levy taxes and raise an army were such rights. A title of nobility was another. In this case, the Lords Proprietors are entitled to use the following style: The Torcaryhogon, the Lord Proprietor of the Barony of the Provinces of Ter Mair and Avalon. When addressing the Proprietor, it is customary to write "The Most Noble" / "Ill Don Illystr"; and in direct address to say "Your Grace".

The Governor or Rheitheir is addressed in writing as "His Excellency, the Right Honourable"; and in direct address, "Your Excellency".

Ter Mair and Rheon Kemr

The Province and the Kingdom have an interesting and to an extent reciprocal relationship. As a charter territory of the Cambrian monarch, Ter Mair's Lord Proprietor and the Cambrian Viceroy serve as a check against the power of the governor. The Lord Proprietor, as a baron of the Terruin's realm, has a seat in Cas llo Ddon at Castreleon. Some consider this as an indirect check against the power of the Cambrian monarch: residents of Ter Mair have the right to stand for elections in Kemr and Dunein.

History

Ter Mair has never had the death penalty on the books. In 1891, a bill was proposed at the behest of a radical group agitating for the institution of a death penalty for certain crimes. Though it passed by a slim margin and was signed by the governor, the Lord Proprietor vetoed the measure, citing the province's and the kingdom's long tradition of having no death penalty.

Geography

Borders

Ter Mair is bordered by: North: Pennsylvaania West: Virginia South: Virginia East: New Sweden

The northern border is called the Mason and Dixon Line; the border between Virginia and Ter Mair consists of the Potomack River. The river and the islands thereof constitute a curious condominium between the two provinces. Most of the islands are part of the C&O Canal National Park, though a couple are privately owned.

The Land

Ter Mair extends from the Appalachian Mountains in the west down through the Piedmont and to the great river basins of the Powtomack and Susquehanna rivers, the latter of which becomes the great Bay of Chesepeake. East of the foothills, Ter Mair is almost entirely suitable for farming, and indeed agriculture has figured prominently in the province's history. Tobacco and dairy farming have been traditional mainstays. In modern times, corn and other eco-crops have become more popular.

Cities and Towns

Baltimore, upon the Bay on the West Banks, is the chief city of the province and is one of the NAL's greatest port cities. The capital city, Annapolis, is just to the south of Baltimore. Composed of five small towns and cities at the confluence of the Powtomack and Eastern rivers lies the Pentapolis is a sprawling port city and home to many government agencies, both provincial and federal. It is composed of Georgetown (Castre Geory Saeth), Rome, Anacostia, Carroll’s City (Ciwdad O’Carall) and Palisades -- it is sometimes called the American Venice on account of its canals and beautiful architecture. Benning lies to the east of the Pentapolis, along the Anacostia River, and for all intents and purposes is part of the great Metropolia. Several good sized cities dot the central portions of the province: Castrepedr, Ceisin di’ll Fforest, Frederico, Laurel and Columbia. In the west are Castre Hager and Cumbria; in the southeast is Dewi Saeth and Ciwdad Saeth Mair. In the east is Glastein New. In the northeast are Aberdeen and Havre de Grace.


Ciwdad Saeth Mair was the first capital of the province. It was a very prosperous port city and apart from Georgetown and Baltimore, had the most substantial public buildings in the province, including the huge monestary, St. David's, erected by the Abbot Patriarch himself. The 1689 rebellion against the Baron's government (thought to have been largely instigated by Virginian Protestants and tobacco planters) caused several years of strife in the province. In 1693, the King took personal rule of the unruly province by appointing his own governor. The newly appointed governor, a Roman Catholic, was in sympathy with the rebels and in order to appease them, moved the capital to Annapolis and much aggrandised that city. St. Mary's may have lost its political prestige (even after the Baron reasserted his own control of his province the city was not restored to its previous position) but not its economic importance.

Annapolis is the modern capital of the province and home of the NAL's Naval Academy. Some of the finest seafood in the world can be found in the restaurants of the city, including Ter Mair's famous crabs. The Baron's palace is located in Annapolis, across the street from St. Mary's Cathedral-Abbey. The rheitheir's house is just outside the traditional boundary of the city. Unlike the situation in many provinces, where the Viceroy is given a modest estate when he is in residence, the Kemrese Viceroy is alloted a modest wing in the Rheither's House. Stately, but the people of Ter Mair have always been of the opinion that "less is more" when it comes to upstart viceroys; for once the viceroys came onto the scene in American politics, they chaffed the starched collars of the province's gentry no end. This seemingly disrespectful, almost anti-monarchical stance should be understood in the context of the province's constitution, namely that its Barons hold the province directly from Ill Teruin himself, and thus, in a sense the Barons themselves stand in place of the King in the province. National law however has provided a Kemrese viceroy for all traditionally Kemrese provinces, and this illystr and his entourage must be put up when they go a-touring and pass through Annapolis. Nevertheless, the Baron's traditionally host a state dinner and ball when the Viceroy stops by for an official visit.

Economy

Much of Ter Mair is rural and agrarian in nature. Dairy and grain farming are common; but modern crops like soy and corn (demanded by clean fuel industries) are also being planted. Tobacco is still the mainstay of the southern counties (llo centref) of the province.

The "Government Triangle" -- between Baltimore, Fredereick and Pentapolis, the heart of which is Centref Montgomery -- is the home of many military (especially Navy) and government installations, technological and research facilities. The National Bureau of Standards, the Navy Yards, the Naval Surface Warfare installation, and the Ministry of Defense Aeronautical Research Facility are located in Centref Montgomery. St. Andrew's Air Station and several Army research facilities are located in Centref Princip Gereint.

Transportation

A well planned highway and road system is administered by the province's Provincial Highway Bureau. The Transit Authority oversees various passenger railways, tram lines and subways (in Balafor) throughout the province, and cooperates with the Consolidated Electric Railway (Fferweir Eleithrig Consolidadd) around Pentapolis and Northern Virginia and the Fferweir ddi Castre Elisabeth e Frederico in the area of Frederico, Maryland. One international aerodrome is located between Georgetown and Baltimore; and there are several regional aerodromes and airstrips in the province as well. The hub of this system is the port city of Balafor itself, which sports four main train stations, an extensive port capable of berthing the largest ocean going vessels, an efficient beltway and road system and a network of turnpikes, tunnels and bridges to divert through traffic away from the busy city center and port.

The Province's ATTM operates a number of regional and intercity passenger lines. The provincewide system is the SFfTM (Sistem Fferweir di Ter Mair), which funds and brands seven mid-length heavy rail lines with hubs at Frederick, Pentapolis and Balafor:

  • Green1: Martinsburg (VA) to Pentapolis
  • Green2: Castre Geory Saeth Loop
  • Orange: Leesburg (VA) to Annapolis
  • Blue: Pentapolis to Philadelphia via Balafor and the B & A Pentapolis and Philadelphia branches
  • Red1: Pentapolis to Gwigpedrin or Philadelphia (PA) via the Northeast Corridor and Balafor
  • Red2: Heinrichsburg (PA) to Balafor
  • Yellow: Frederick to Balafor via the B & A Main Line
  • Purple: Pont Yndad to Balafor via the WTM Main Line

The Red1 line (the Penn Central's Northeastern Corridor Line) and Red2 line are part of the NAL's network of TGV equipped rail lines.

Frederick, Pentapolis and Balafor also operate light rail / tram lines. The considerable growth along the PR-240 corridor in County Montgomery has led to the connection of the Frederick and Georgetown light rail systems, so it is now possible to travel between the two urban areas via two different rail systems. A light rail link between Annapolis and Pentapolis has been completed. It's innaugural run was held on 9 Septemper 2009 with other special railfan excursion trips slated for the weekend. Regular service commenced on 14 September 2009. The growth along the PR-50 corridor has certainly warranted its completion.

County Montgomery, County Anne Arundel, County Princip Gereint and County Balafor operate a coordinated local and intercity bus system as well.

Ter Mair's SFfTM network integrates with (northern) Virginia's own provincial passenger rail network (the Virginia Express Railway), which connects with Ter Mair's system at Leesburg and Pentapolis.

The B & A and the Penn Central railways operate long distance intercity trains between Alexandria, Pentapolis, Balafor, Aberdeen and Philadelphia, with service to the western and southern cities as well.

Culture

Music

The Baltimore Orchestra (1813) is one of the premier musical organisations in the province, and is a nationally renown orchestra. Smaller and less well known is the Rome City Orchestra (1902). While both orchestras began life as part of the provincial government's Bureau of Arts and Culture, the RCO became a privately held organisation in 1972.

Religion

Tha majority of residents of the province are Kemrese Rite Catholics

Sports

The favoured team of the Balafor region is the cricket team called the Oriol di Balafor / Baltimore Orioles. The team's mascot is an orange and black bird called a "Baltimore oriole", Icterus galbula. Pentapolis's cricket team, the Gladiators, is popular primarily in northern Virginia.

Language

Brithenig and Kerno are the chief languages of the province, although there are large numbers of polyglots in the northeastern corridor (between Baltimore and Philadelphia). Ter Mair is generally depicted as a slow-paced southern province with quaint and picturesque towns.

Ter Mair, especially the Western Shoar Riding (Counties Balafor, Anne Arundel and northern Princip Gereint) sports a peculiar form of Brithenig that surprises not only Kemrese visitors, but also New Castreleonese and other native Ter Mair residents. The Western Shoar Dialect is noted for its elision of medial vowels and consonants alike.

A short word list in Brithenig, Balaforig and English should suffice to point out the character of the dialect.

Brithenig Balaforig English
Balafor Bowamer (extreme form "Bowmer") Baltimore City
Annapolis Mapoles Annapolis
Centref Anna Arundel Canny Ann Eral County Anne Arundel
Centref Balafor Canny Bowamer County Baltimore
Centref Princip Gereint Canny Pi Gi County Prince Gereint
Columbia Columia Columbia City
Balaforig Bowfereg Baltimorese
Ter Mair Dermar Maryland
Atlenhig Allaneg Atlantic
Catholig Caffoleg Catholic
Ciesapig Tciesciapeg Chesapeake
Bi e A Bi-Ey B & A Railway
ceruis tceres beer
cas dafern cozafren publick house
ffuracan fferacan furacano
et io su iesu conjunctive pronoun "and I am"
gwardd go-ardd-o gendarm
Seth-Yndig Sendeg-o a local convenience mart
Oriol Oreow (extreme form “Orea”) a kind of creme biscuit
llo h-Oriol ll' Ehew The "O"s
iog bull! eyo baw! play ball!
helo hey-yo hallo
helo, ddulch hey-yo a ddew hey hon!
addew vay-ya co ddios goodbye
ag ug water
eo mi I
ty ti thou
nu nuz we
gw guz youse

Nuzumffath gwadd nizzel ocean; guzath gwaddir nizzel ocean?
We done got back from going down to the ocean; youse going down to the ocean?

Mizumffath llafrad ell nof, iesu ffeios!
I done worked all night, and I'm tired!

Ey-yo la! poz guz wir, in ill lew di lla marth,
Ke nuz sawrdfan cun bewr, dewran ke sa ffew lla newrth?
O, say can ye see, by þe dawns early light,
WHat so proudly we haild at the twilights last gleaming?


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