A treatise on Merian cultural dominance within the history of the Holy Celestine
Empire.
A treatise by The Reverend Celbina, Simimi Rakona, Matron of Deep Blue

I come before you in these times of uncertainty not as a religious figure but
as a scholar and a historian of our people. That people, so favored by
Divinity, are we, the Celestians. In order to understand our place in the world
of today, we must study our place in the world of the past; lest we be doomed to
repeat or mistakes therein. It is with this purpose in mind that I humbly
present this treatise for all eyes who would gaze upon its pages.

The Lusternia of today is nothing like the Lusternia of my childhood. Nay, the
Basin of Life was much different then than it is now. History however, hasn't
changed with the passing of time. History is still marked, by and large, by
events; events that shape our place within the Basin. My life was measured by
such events as; the twenty seven years war, New Celest's rise to dominance over
the entirety of the Basin under the rule of the noble Star sailor himself, or
the gradual decline of a culture within its own walls. It is for this reason
that this treatise was written. In the nearly one hundred years since I rose
from the Portal of Fate as so many of us have, I have stood by and witnessed
the casual decline of Merian culture within the walls of New Celest. Looking
back in reflection, I can see that I alone am responsible for this decline. By
not standing against a tide of cultural change, I am one of many responsible
for the loss that New Celest now faces in its near future. Before we get to the
present, let us look back into the past. It is in the past that the answers to
current problems will be found. In an effort to remove my own bias from this
piece, I will be sticking to objective historical evidence.

As far as back as recorded history exists in New Celest, we see one dominant
factor in anything we find. It is inextricably tied to the Merian race and
their culture. Evidence for this phenomenon can be found at any point in
recorded history. Granted, 'recorded history' is very much a subjective term,
since almost all written records existing prior to the fall of the Holy
Celestine Empire have been lost to us; there still exists historical and
cultural evidence that tell us of times gone by. Let us begin with the times of
the Vernal Wars.

During the time of the Holy Celestine Empire. What is now simply a Dutchy, was
an Empire whose reach and influence stretched to all corners of the First World.
All peoples lived under the protective eye of the Empire. During the Vernal
Wars, we are taught that the Empire sought to extend its power. Regardless of
the events that followed, there was an urgent need for us to protect ourselves.
The first mortal to ascend to the illustrious ranks of what would later be known
as a Vernal God, was who is now known to us as Lord D'varshna, himself, of the
Merian race. Skeptics would argue that clearly the first Vernal God would have
been a citizen of the Empire, due to their having the economic infrastructure
to raise an edifice of power. Indeed a skeptic would have you believe that the
only reason a Merian was the first Vernal God is nothing more than pure
economic advantage. This is simply historically inaccurate. A more precise
reason as to why a Merian was the first of the Vernal Gods is more likely that
the Empire, in all of its size and glory, posed the biggest target to the
enemy, and had the most to lose from such an encounter. Indeed because the
Empire had the largest area to defend, as well as the most lives to be lost,
their need to raise a defender was simply greater than that of the other races.
The fact that the Empire had the economic means is only an addendum to this
fact, and not a source in and of itself.

Later we are told that hundreds of Vernal Gods were raised. We are told that
of those hundreds of Vernal Gods, nine stood on the brink of destruction as the
remaining offensive force of the mortal races. It is written that of those
fateful nine, three of them were of the Merian race. One third of the remaining
mortal offensive forces was comprised of one race. These nine Vernal Gods rose
up to become Avechna the Avenger, who remains with us today as a voice of
reason amongst the chaos of war. One third of the Vernal Gods that rose to
create Avechna the Avenger were Merian. Avechna the Avenger is understandably
one third Merian! Along with D'varshna, we have Juliana (who became known to
us as The Even-Handed) and Dionamus, founder of Celestia. It is from these
noble Merians that we have in our possession today, then Seals of Life,
Justice, and Knowledge.

If we take into consideration the economic power that the Holy Celestine
Empire had at the time of the Vernal Wars, the state the Basin of Life was in,
and the supreme guilt undoubtedly felt by the Empire for its greed against the
First World; it would not be a stretch to assume that a majority, perhaps a
fairly extrapolated third, of the hundreds of Vernal Gods raised would have
come from the Empire, and of the Merian race therein. Considering the economic
power of the Empire alone, even if we exclude all subsidiary areas of the
Empire who tithed to the King, the Holy Celestine Empire was still the most
economically suited nation to raise the edifices of power needed to raise
Vernal Gods. It is safe to assume that this economic power was indeed
leveraged, and thus it follows that many Vernal Gods were raised within the
Empire as a whole.

While we are on the subject of the Holy Celestine Empire, let us look forth at
the historical evidence of the Merian cultural superiority that existed during
that time, more specifically, let us look at the 500 year period known as the
Golden Age of the Holy Celestine Empire. At this time, the Empire controlled
virtually the entire Basin of Life. It was the greatest of economic powers in
history. The position of the head of the empire, this being the royal family,
in a central location afforded the Holy Celestine Empire many advantages over
other less strategically planned nations. The empire's central positioning
within the area that is known today as the Inner Sea, allowed it expansive
trade with other nations, while simultaneously allowing it to keep its cultural
autonomy. This same position that allowed the empire to grow and expand over
time also allowed for the empire its own form of near immunity from the
harasses of outside influence. The Merian being a people of the water whom
built their empire upon the sea were afforded seclusion and anonymity by the
waves. The sea and surrounding land that protected the central authority of the
Holy Celestine Empire from military occupation and conflict, allowed the
centrally controlled region of the empire to grow virtually unhindered for many
years. It was these that are believed to be key factors in the historic economic
rise that led to the 500 year Golden Age of the Holy Celestine Empire.

It is within this time frame that we find the period where Merian culture is
most dominant. If we consider the historical importance of the central empire
as a whole it is not hard to imagine that the Merian people would have arisen
into power during this time of economic advancement. If we look at the current
layout of New Celest, as well as the ruins of Old Celest, we find a very
distinct connection between the two that has transgressed the boundaries of
time. Within the map layouts of the two we find the city subdivided into areas
by race; the Merian having their proper position within the city proper, while
the other races live elsewhere. This sort of racial sorting points to a long
forgotten culture where Merians were a proud race, who believed themselves
superior to the other lesser races of the day. This ideal was carried forth in
the construction of New Celest, and serves as evidence to the rise of a
socially and economically powerful Merian race throughout the Holy Celestine
Empire.

This evidence taken into account, it is not hard to imagine that in an empire
ruled by the Merian race, who held such power that they could decide upon the
outcomes of the lives of the lesser races living within the empire, the
language of daily life would have been Merian. Though historically we see that
there was a common tongue with which all peoples could communicate, I believe
that official Empire business with within the Empire proper as well as the
business of daily life would have been conducted in Merian. It is not hard to
imagine that such a proud race as the Merian who ruled over the entirety of the
Holy Celestine Empire, a race clearly favored by the very Divinities themselves,
would not wish to stoop to the level of communicating with the lesser races in
their own tongue. Rather, they would expect those lesser races to learn Merian,
as a trade-off for the protection offered by living within the confines of the
Empire proper. If we look at the modern day New Celest's use of the
Merian/Non-Merian quarter structure as any evidence of a previous architectural
system, it is safe to assume that the Non-Merians living within the Empire,
while well protected, did lead a sort of second-class life style when compared
to their Merian counterparts.

It is the opinion of the scholars of the Deep Blue Cathedral that religious
services of this time period would have been done in Merian as well. This sort
of language barrier to what would have undoubtedly been a common aspect of the
life of a citizen of the Holy Celestine Empire could have easily been used as a
way of further secluding the lesser races from their Merian counterparts. Indeed
the further into daily life we look, it seems that Merian cultural dominance
seemed to seethe from the very Empire itself. Life for the Merians must have
been pretty good during this time. St. Tresalyne, a prominent religious figure
in the history of New Celest as well as a Merian, was so revered for her life
of deed and duty that her body was entombed in a mausoleum within New Celest.
One finds no evidence of this sort of treatment being placed upon non-Merian
citizens of the Holy Celestine Empire, regardless of their servitude to the
empire as a whole.

With so much of one's daily life within the Holy Celestine Empire being
conducted in Merian, it is not difficult to foresee the use of the language
spreading outside of the Empire proper. Facades of a Merian culture long lost
can be seen all over New Celest and the surrounding territories still today. As
with any great rise of a culture there must also be a corresponding fall. It is
not in any way a shock to any of us what this fall was. The fall of the Holy
Celestine Empire is common knowledge to us all. Even though we all slant the
story one way or another, this is something we are all taught as young ones .
It is in no way difficult to imagine that the fall of the Holy Celestine Empire
brought down with it the Merian culture that had grown to such an extent within
the safety of its walls. As we step into our current time frame, let us examine
the effects this had on Merian cultural dominance over time.

The surprising thing about the fall of the Holy Celestine Empire is not that
the Merian culture fell along with it, it is that the Merian culture that fell
along with it did not rise again. No where else in modern recorded history do
we see such a dominance of the Merian culture. Even within New Celest, the
Merians as a race have not risen to such power at any point in the memory of
any of us here today. I daresay it is my scholarly opinion that the fall of the
Holy Celestine Empire marked the fall of the dominance of Merian culture
forever. In today's Basin of Life, the political and economic climate is such
that I do not think such a rise to power of any one race could ever been
organized again. The death bell has rung for the noble Merian people's of the
Holy Celestine Empire, never again will they rise above us all.

Though New Celest still has the city quartered off by race, the rise of the
various powers after the fall of the Holy Celestine Empire was the greatest
contributer to the Merian race not having the power to rise again. In the world
after the fall, no longer was one area able to solidify military or economical
power over any vast amount of land long enough to exert a great cultural change
therein. Furthermore, with the rise of Taint as a new factor in the equation, no
longer was it possible to enforce a static state of daily life that has once
existed for the citizens of the Empire. Further fallout from the fall of the
Holy Celestine Empire could have easily hindered the growth of the race as a
whole as well.

Consider that the Empire is completely at fault for it's actions, it is easy
to see why other nations would be hesitant to place faith within any new Empire
that would have tried to take its place during the scramble to rebuild all that
was lost. During said scramble, it would have been very difficult for any
number of Merians to rise up and try to reassert their cultural dominance on
any one. Over time, memories would have faded, and events of the past would
have surely become hazy. In the new world that became our modern era, a need to
communicate with other nations for survival during the early years of rebuilding
would have been crucial.

It is for this reason the common tongue became so prevalent while minority
racial languages became less so. It is also for this same reason that Merian
language ceased to dominate everyday life, as it was slowly phased out for the
more useful common tongue. Even in modern times we see Merian rarely used in
New Celest, even though it is the ancestral home of the Merian people, many opt
to use the common tongue for daily life. Even in religious services do we see
the common tongue having replaced Merian completely for all except the most die
hard of religious individuals. It could easily be said that for the same reasons
that the Merian culture was not able to rebuild its seat of power after the fall
of the Empire are the very same reasons it is still slipping away today. No
longer can any one race hold dominance over another, politically or
economically, as the winds of the political sea change far too rapidly for any
one people to sway the culture and daily lives of another. Really the only
surviving evidence of Merian cultural dominance in New Celest today is the
living quarters for the peoples of the Dutchy, and even this is rapidly
changing as peoples of other races move up through non-existent social ranks
that have long since died off. Speaking personally, I have not been spoken down
against for being a Dracnari living in what was once a noble Merian empire but
once in my entire life, and that was very long ago indeed.

One could argue that we as a people stand at a loss over the fall of a once
noble culture. The same person could argue that we are better off for it. Still
one could argue that non-Merian peoples like mine have been allowed to grow and
change with the flow of time in ways that perhaps would not have been feasible
in the Merian dominated world of the past. All things considered, time is time,
and as such the events of the past can not be changed. It is with this idea in
mind that we look to the present and near future of New Celest to see what may
happen in regards to a once noble people of a time forgotten. Perhaps the
Merian language will rise up again and become a part of our daily lives. I am
of the scholarly opinion that nothing can really undo what has been done
already, and that the Merian people have been culturally weakened after the
fall of the Holy Celestine Empire.

Recently we are seeing the beginnings of what could be a resurgence of Merian
cultural growth within New Celest. The population of Merian versus non-Merian
citizens is on the rise again after a 40 year low following the
Celest-Magnagora wars of the 130s and 40s. Demand for religious books written
specifically in Merian have been slowly trickling into the Deep Blue Cathedral.
I for one would love to be needing to append this document in the future, after
this new generation once again tries to succeed where so many have failed. The
question is, is history willing to change itself for the will of a few? Are we
ready to forgive the past? Are many of us willing to give a little to see the
preservation of a language and culture for fear that they might try to once
again lord over us all? Only time can tell this story, and I hope I am there to
scribe it down.

Yours Faithfully,
Simimi Rakona