Minor Note: This story is using the concept of having a nation having its land transported to the Monster Girl Quest universe from a setting based upon the Crusader Kings II mod known as After the End. To prevent people from getting lost when I refer to events, this first chapter is being used to introduce the nation. This prologue will be written in the style of an entry in a history book for these purposes. The rest of the story will not be taking that format, so you don't need to worry on that front. Could this have been incorporated into the regular story? Maybe, but it would have really slowed things down and made quick reference a lot harder.

The Kingdom of Michiana

At a some time during the first century of the third millennium, alternatively known as the twenty-first century, a cataclysm later known as the Event shattered the old orders of the world. The years have made knowledge of what this cataclysm had done is fragmented and shrouded in myth. Even the only known surviving state from before the cataclysm, Mexico, had lost much of the knowledge of this time. What is known is that there was seemingly an extreme backslide in technology. From what can be deciphered by the oldest and rarest of texts, it is believed that the word used in the Old World to refer to the level of technology is that of 'Medieval'.

Small artifacts of the technology from before the Event is still occasionally recovered by current day members of society. While most treat these artifacts as curiosities that are occasionally of use, members of the Rust Cultist religion of the Eastern Midwest consider such views as the highest of heresies. To them, these objects are holy relics that must be found, preserved, and protected. Of the nations that adhere to this belief, the Kingdom of Michiana and its ruling house, House Rostenhauer, are particularly noteworthy.

House Rostenhauer

House Rostenhauer was founded on the Sixth of December in the year 2604 by Oligarch Ludewis when control had been achieved over the Enterprise of Holland. Through many wars of conquest, he had managed to conquer enough territory to first gain the title of Tycoon of West Michigan, then Oligarch of West Michigan and Michiana. Upon his death on the Eighth of December in the year 2659, a mere sixth months after the passing of his wife, Josefina of House Stahlkopf, his titles were passed to his sons, Christian, Steppen, and Walther.

Tension immediately developed when his eldest, Christian, had declined his inheritance as the pressures of rule would prevent him from his fanatical goal of salvaging as much technology from before the Event as possible, a path that would eventually lead to his death upon the Seventh of February in the year 2661. With the declining of the eldest son, the inheritance was redistributed according to the changing situation, with the new Tycoon Steppen gaining control of the territories de jure of West Michigan and Tycoon Walther gaining control of the territories de jure of Michiana. This apparent solution was fragmented when the younger Walther claimed the Enterprise of Kalamazoo as belonging to him rather than his brother despite the Enterprise belonging de jure to West Michigan. It took until the Fourth of July of the year 2666 for all diplomatic avenues to break down and Tycoon Walther declared war upon his elder brother for the title of West Michigan.

The Claim of West Michigan war was waged over the course of three major battles. The battle of St. Joseph was the first meeting of the armies of the two brothers, and had begun when Tycoon Walther had his armies strike at the army of Tycoon Steppen, who were in the process of besieging one of the enterprise's holdings, in the early hours of the morning. This early strike allowed for the younger brother to win the battle, forcing his elder brother back to the enterprise of Holland. The elder attempted to reverse his fortunes by supplementing his army with the Arborite Werewolves mercenary company, but after the battles of Lansing and Kalamazoo, and the capture of his castle in Holland, Steppen of Holland was forced to admit defeat, and Tycoon Walther became Oligarch Walther.

It was during this war that the Consumerist Revolution struck forth under the command of Lamont the Prophet and conquered the Republic of Detriot, Lamont declaring himself as King of Michigan. Hearing this had filled Walther with envy, desiring to have the title for himself, but he recognized he had nowhere near the forces to take on the Consumerist King's over ten thousand soldiers. As such, he decided to conquer enough in order to have a force that could challenge the King's under his command. When he had heard the Petty King of Calumet, Robert of House DeSalle, later known as Robert the Chaste, was in a war with High Chief Rudolf Dachs of the Badgerlings, the new Oligarch made plans to conquer the economic center and holy site of the Rust Cultist faith, Chicago. With its powerful economy allowing for enough income to support a great force appealing to his military desires and the holy nature of the land appealing to his zealous nature, he could barely wait and declared the Conquest of Chicago later in the year.

The outside commitment caused the war to only have a small battle in the Enterprise of Gary before the forces of Oligarch Walther moved in to conquer the county. However, this only proved to be the prelude to a much greater war, for the Jarl of Green Bay, Krullig of House Kletsch also aimed to annex the Chicago as the holy site of the Norse faith. Worse for the Oligarch, the Jarl had an ally in the Tycoon of Midmichigan, Sculpin of House Begole. This war proved to be much bloodier than both prior wars, playing host to six major battles.

The first battle of the war was First Battle of Manistee, cause by the Jarl had marched his forces around the northern shore of Lake Michigan in order to get around the army of the Oligarch based in Chicago and forcing the Oligarch to march north rapidly. The army was unable to be hunted down and destroyed thanks to the Tycoon's army marching from Mount Pleasant, forcing the Oligarch to march east to fight this threat in the Battle of Mount Pleasant. This distraction allowed for the Jarl to march his forces to Chicago itself, forcing the Oligarch to march southwest rapidly in order to battle the Jarl's armies in the First Battle of Chicago. Upon what appeared to be the destruction of the Jarl's army, Oligarch Walther marched north to shatter the armies of Midmichigan, the armies meeting in the Second Battle of Manistee. Following some rumors, the Oligarch found that the Jarl had once more attempted to march around the Lake, and the army was finally destroyed at the Battle of Traverse. During this, the Tycoon had reformed his army and marched south, besieging Chicago until the armies of the Oligarch managed to entangle them in the Second Battle of Chicago. Upon gaining victory in this battle, Oligarch Walther of Michiana won the war and became known as Walther the Holy.

Turmoil in the lands of the Oligarch died down for a time after this war while he had his forces recover to the strength they held before the war. During this downtime, the Oligarch worked to build himself a stockpile of money for use in hiring mercenaries in case of an attack by the King Lamont the Prophet, or if the Papacy of St. Louis, after their Crusade for Louisiane failed, decided to try to attempt to wage one upon him for their holy site in Chicago. Neither of these events came to pass, and after two years, Oligarch Walther the Holy declared war upon the Tycoon of Indianapolis, Ralston the Fat of House Napton.

This war only had minor battles due to frequent minor skirmishes preventing the armies of Indianapolis from coalescing into a large enough force. The one truly notable event during the war was the siege of the capital of the Enterprise of Kenapocomoco. This is primarily a result of the enterprise being directly upon the border of three of the enterprises in the demesne of Oligarch Walther the Holy, and the closest siege ever performed to the capital holding of the nation, Fort Worth. This war was swiftly ended, and the Oligarchy of Michiana and West Michigan became the Oligarchy of Michiana, West Michigan, and Indianapolis.

With these all of these conquests achieved, the envy that had burned within the mind of Walther the Holy began to fade. His mind turned to more peaceful aims for the final three years of his life. During this time, he discovered a piece of Old World Machinery, a three feet long irregularly shaped item with a number of machined holes within it that had not rusted after the over six hundred years that it had been uncared for. Oligarch Walther the Holy died during an epidemic of Camp Fever on the Tenth of October in the year 2680, with his only son, Eisenslaus, becoming the Oligarch of Michiana, West Michigan, and Indianapolis.

Oligarch Einsenlaus was crowned after the Rust Cultist death ceremonies were completed, which had been performed after his arrival from the Station of Moshannon where he had been spending his time working as a scavenger for the Tech Priests. He soon was married to Sara of House Stahlbleche, whom he had met when he was scavenging in the Enterprise of Mahoning. His firstborn daughter, Grimhilt, named in honor of Sara's mother, was born soon after.

While not as envious as his father was, Oligarch Einsenlaus was far more zealous from his time at the Station of Moshannon. He had seen the lands of a second holy site of the Rust Cultist faith in Yohogania was under the control of the Catholic Count Ishmael of House Ashur, and desired to capture the land in the name of the Rust Cultist faith. However, the land was distant enough that there was no valid Causus Belli for his invasion, until it was conveniently discovered that he had a strong claim upon the land. After he had arranged a betrothal with the Tycoon of Ohio, Donovan "the Sword of Father Ford" of House Carter, between his daughter, Grimhilt, and the Tycoon's second son, Dean, the two nations allied to march in the Claim of Yohogania War.

The combined armies were able to rapidly crush resistance of the Count within the Battle of Mahoning, and the new Enterprise was annexed as the year was ending. Fresh off the war, the two allied nations then came to the decision to march upon the Tycoon of Miami Valley, Gelbin of House Musbach, in the Subjugation of Miami Valley War to annex the land into the lands of Oligarch Einsenlaus. In the battles of Urbana and Marion, the armies of the Miami Valley Tycoon were crushed by the combined might of the two nations. Seeing his loss imminent, Gelbin decided to accept defeat to protect his people, earning himself the title of "the Gracious."

In the midst of the celebration of victory from this war, news arrived from the north. The Consumerist King of Michigan, High Chairman Lamont the Prophet, had recently experienced disaster and much of their army had been decimated in a recent conflict, leaving them severely vulnerable to attack. Oligarch Einsenlaus spoke with Tycoon Donovan, and the two continued their alliance to conquer the lands of the High Chairman and recover the holy site of Detroit. The Holy War for Detroit had begun.

During the march, a disagreement broke out in the ranks. The Oligarch desired to reach the lands as quick as possible to prevent the High Chairman from recovering his forces, while the Tycoon desired to act more cautiously in case the information was false. This led to the Oligarch marching his forces forth at greater speed, separating the armies. As such, they arrived at the County of Detroit days before their allies, and faced the armies of Lamont the Prophet alone. When the armies clashed, despite outnumbering their foes, the Oligarch's forces nearly broke, with the Oligarch having appeared to have fallen to a Warhammer wielding opponent.

However, that was when the forces of the Sword of Father Ford arrived and the men rallied. Their morale was further strengthened by the Oligarch rising to command the forces for a time before he was forced back to a field hospital by his advisors. He had used his arm to block the potentially fatal blow. It had saved his life but his arm was mangled horrifically, causing enough pain to leave him dazed on the ground and preventing him from easily rising. His attempts to continue fighting in his dazed state afterwards complicated the damage further, and the arm had to be amputated just below the elbow. The common soldiery was not aware that he had continued to try to fight due to being unfocused, and gave him the epitaph "Stonewall," for his will to fight seeming to be as hard to break as a stone wall.

Any thoughts of his vassals that the now one-handed king was weak were soon dashed as he proceeded to lead four siege assaults after his recovery, the Siege of Ann Arbor, the Siege of Hell, the Siege of Chelsea, and the Siege of Ypsilanti. With his armies destroyed and his lands captured, High Chairman Lamont capitulated, leaving the full territory under the control of Michiana. Tensions spiked as Tycoon Donovan demanded wanting a portion of the land, but he was refused and returned to his lands angered, the betrothal between their children and the alliance broken.

Tensions would further mount between the two nations in the coming years, as Oligarch Einsenlaus Stonewall used his de facto control over many of the holy sites to declare himself High Fabricator of the Great Factory and distributed the Book of Rust in his efforts to reform the religion. All books found in the Tycoonship of Ohio were destroyed as the Sword of Father Ford declared favor to the Old Ways, becoming a bastion of the Old Rust Cultist faith as the Oligarchy became a bastion of the New Rust Cultist faith.

Noting war was likely soon to be coming, High Fabricator Einsenlaus Stonewall contacted the leader of the Grand Duchy of Kentuckiana, Grand Duke Tucker "the Sword of the Light" of House Scruggs, to divide the twin provinces of the Duke of Cincy Mathias II of House Ludlow, between their two nations, with the Oligarchy taking the eastern province of Cincinnati to connect their core to the Oligarchy of Blue Grass exclave, and the Grand Duchy of Kentuckiana taking the province of Versailles. The High Fabricator once more led the Sieges of Covington, Florence, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Miamitown, and Sharonville to wipe out the last persistent whispers of him not being as capable to wage war due to the loss of his hand. With victory in this war, he declared the formation of the Tycoonship of Michiana.

This victory was bittersweet, however, as when he had returned to his home, he had learned that his wife had passed in childbirth of their fourth daughter, Brunhilde. Sorrow gripped him for a time and his lands remained in peace for a time, but war was soon calling again. Tycoon Donovan had declared a war of subjugation upon the Oligarch of Transallegheny and Clinch, Tim of House Harris, a convert to the New Rust Cultist religion. Some of the vassal bishops of the High Fabricator began urging for the Tycoonship of Michiana to go to war with the Tycoonship of Ohio, possibly in their own form of the Catholic Crusades to crush the bastion of the heretical Old Rust Cultist religion.

Cultures

The Rostmann culture is the primary culture that unites the nation. Based upon a mixing of the pre-event American culture of the eastern Midwest with what knowledge remained of German culture and heavily influenced by the prevalent Rust Cultist faith. Skill and efficiency are major sources of pride for the population, and the many successful wars under House Rostenhauer have caused those of the Kingdom of Michiana to gain a love of war and martial prowess. As a result, the nation wields a great amount of economic power, nearly equal to the far larger Holy Columbian Confederacy despite their smaller size.

This culture is also that of two mercenary companies that are based within the borders of the nation. The first is the Steel Company, based in the exclave of Yohogania under the control of Chief Foreman Dodge of House Stahlbleche. In Pinkerton Company, Grand Headmaster Ladislaus the Holy of House Domschke within the city of Chicago. The former of these had recently left to work under contract with the Duke of Hudson Valley, Geoffrey of House Allen.

The conquests have caused a small number of other cultures to be integrated into the nation. The Enterprises of Chicago and St. Joseph are primarily the Laurentian subculture Chicagoan, closely related to the Lacustrine culture that is over most of the holdings held by Steppen of Holland. These areas hold a few traits of the Rostmann culture, as a result of their proximity, but are also heavily influenced by the Nordic religion of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the former state of Minnesota. A slight oddity exists between the two, as in the Enterprise of Holland the Hudsonian culture of the fairly distant Kingdom of Hudsonia has made itself dominant. Of these cultures, only the Chicagoan culture has a mercenary company, the Michigan Chartists based within the Enterprise of Gary under the control of Captain Viktor of House Gallagher.

Three more cultures exist within the Kingdom, the Motowner, Riverlander, and Valleyan cultures. The former of these are only present within the Enterprise of Detroit. Its traditions are a mixture of African and American traditions rather than any European culture. The Riverlanders have the greatest presence after the Rostmann culture, composing all of the conquered counties south of the Enterprise of Indianapolis and Dayton, with exception to an upward reach in Muncie. This culture is purely descended from the prewar American cultures along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio rivers. The third of these cultures, Valleyan, has its basis in Californian culture, only present within the Holy Order of the Rust Cultist faith, the Midwestern Brotherhood based in Chicago.

Religions

The primary faith of the region is the Rust Cultist religion, though while the nobility on a whole largely follow the New Rust Cultist religion itself, amongst the general populace there is a fairly even division on whether they follow the New Rust Cultist faith, or the Old Rust Cultist religion. Both religions have largely similar beliefs, but there are a few exceptions. Aside from the split upon recognition of the High Fabricator of the Great Factory as being the head of the religion by the New Rust Cultists and the antagonism towards the concept by the Old Rust Cultists, as well as the creation of the formal religious text, the Book of Rust, by the New Rust Cultists, the most noteworthy difference upon the two is how marriage is regarded.

Members of the priesthood who follow the tenants of the Old Rust Cultist faith are allowed to be married, while the priesthood of the New Rust Cultist religion are forbidden from marrying. However, this is not the only difference in marriage ideals between the religions, as the nobility experienced a shift as well. Specifically, nobles who follow the Old Rust Cultist religion are only allowed to marry one spouse, but those who follow the New Rust Cultist faith are allowed to take three concubines in addition to their spouse. It is believed that this particular shift was caused as a result of the only children of the ruling, living members of House Rostenhauer were all female, and the measure was made out of an effort to get a male heir, due to succession laws forbidding females from inheriting.

The priesthoods of the two faiths are quite similar. Temples, known as Machinery to New Rust Cultists and Stations to Old Rust Cultists, are populated by a priesthood formed of three castes, the Tech-Priests the Salvagers, and the Guardians. The Guardians have the holy task of protecting the temples from any harm that may befall the temples and the relics contained within, wearing heavy armor and equipped to the same degree as knights of the nobility, sporting the coats of arms of the Temple for the Old Rust Cultists and the Gold and Black Cogs and Winged Sword of the Great Factory upon their armor for the New Rust Cultists, rather than the sigil of a noble house. The Tech-Priests are garbed in dark green and black robes when they are preaching to most situations, in homage to the now unknown house of the long-lost first Prophet of the Rust Cultist religion, but when performing restoration work or direct study of artifacts, they switch to leather or steel armor in case of something going disastrously wrong when working upon the artifacts. The Scavengers are adorned in light leather armor that uses the same sigils as their Guardian counterparts, as well as carrying a small amount of equipment on belts used for aiding in navigation around, and preventing collapse of, the ruins they constantly search through for artifacts. Overseeing these temples are the individuals known as a Machinist in the New Rust Cultist religion, or a Stationmaster in the Old Rust Cultist faith. These high priests are in turn overseen by the Inspectors, for the New Rust Cultists, or the Julians, for the Old Rust Cultists. The former of these two in turn report to the High Fabricator, currently held by High Fabricator Eisenslaus of House Rostenhauer as it has been since the title's creation.

There does exist a further branch that the High Fabricator has nominal control over, in the form of the Holy Order of the Rust Cutlist faith, the Midwestern Brotherhood. This order was formed from a number of members having broken away from the still Old Rust Cultist Steel Brotherhood upon the reformation of the Rust Cultist faith. For having done so, the High Fabricator gifted this order with the Barony of Elmherst in Chicago to serve as a formal base of operations. While most of the forces of the Brotherhood are fighting under the banner of the Oligarch of Tranallegheny, Tim of House Harris, a small force of near five hundred maintain the Barony of Elmherst. It is possible their strength may grow over the years, as the High Fabricator reportedly wishes to gift them a barony in each corner of the nation to better defend the relics of the old world.

Aside from the Rust Cultist faiths, a small amount of minor religions exist around the nation. Within the Enterprises of Holland and St. Joseph, the Evangelical faith is the major religion of the region, formed of the churches of antediluvian Protestantism having set aside minor differences in order to establish the Evangelical Convention of Churches presided over by an ecumenical council. This action had been performed to protect the religion in the vast upheavals in the aftermath of the event, and to act as a counter to the Papacy of St. Louis.

A heresy of the Evangelical faith does exist within Cincinnati, the Charismatics. This name is not sourced from the Charm their priests display, but instead in their belief of the charismata of the Holy Spirit that allows for miracles to be performed simply thanks to baptism and their faith in the Holy Spirit. Strangely, they seem to possess seemingly supernatural gifts, with some able to speak in tongues, miraculous healing of cripples, and having gifts of prophecy.

The lands to the south of Cincinnati plays host to the strange Revelationist religion. The syncretic belief system of the religion has its origin in a branch of Christianity, but the trauma of the Event and centuries of isolation has made the religion hardly recognizable. It has been noted that their emphasis upon the supernatural and miraculous has in fact often caused their believers to forget the Holy Trinity all together in some locations.

Due to its importance as a Holy Site to many religions, a significant number of religions are present within the Enterprise of Chicago, enough that it is folly to attempt to list all of them. It is noted that the current dominant religion of the region is the Sedavacanist Catholic Heresy, which holds the belief that the Papacy of St. Louis does not have a right to exist when the Papacy of Rome might still hold power. Until such a time as it can be confirmed if the Papacy of Rome still exists, they believe that the Papal seat should remain vacant. Even if the Papacy of Rome is proven to have fallen, they do not believe the Papacy of St. Louis should hold any power due to their hasty actions and a new Papacy should be established elsewhere, preferably in Rome itself.

The final major faith within the Kingdom of Michiania is the quite young Consumerist faith that is prominent within the enterprises of Detroit and Washtenaw. Its youth and the recent crushing of their religious head has caused a full statement of its doctrines to be difficult to achieve, but the most basic beliefs have been determined. They believe that the Almighty Dollar had struck down Old America as the citizens were not spending enough money. As such, they seek to stop another disaster on the scale of the Event by spending as much as possible.

Many other faiths are present within the region besides these, such as the Atomicists, but none have a following to be as significant as the above faiths. As such, they will not be mentioned here at the current time.

That should cover everything. Next time, we get into the events of the ISOT event, and start in on the chaos it causes. I still need an idea of where to send the nation, so I am open to any thoughts on the topic. I should note that the concubinage aspect of the New Rust Cultist faith is not wish fulfillment for the religion being reformed. It actually happens when you reform the religion in the mod. I have no idea why, but since it happened in the mod, it needed inclusion since it is canon to the world.

Fun little aside: The High Fabricator was rendered a eunuch as a side effect of a medical treatment to cure Camp Fever. The treatment instantly cured him, but it can be certain that any monster girl that tries to seduce him will be severely disappointed.

Final thought to leave you on: How quickly will the world spiral out of control with the introduction of a nation focused on war?