Protectorate of Menoth
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The Protectorate of Menoth is one of the eponymous Iron Kingdoms and one of the main factions in Warmachine. They serve the role of religious fanatics/terrorists, combining elements of the Catholic Church and Islamic extremists.
History of the Protectorate (and also the Church)
Menoth is the original god of mankind and civilization. However, he's also kind of an asshole, with all kinds of obscure laws that must be followed to the letter to get into the City of Man (the Menite equivalent of heaven). The organized church in Cygnar began to lose power and influence after the (maybe) apotheosis of Morrow and Thamar, who were much nicer. Eventually, the Menites were relegated to a relatively minor role in society, persecuted by King Vinter Raelthorne IV (who was also an asshole). Eventually, Raelthorne was such an asshole that the Cygnarans kicked him out via military coup. The resultant chaos allowed the Menite church to wander out to the desert to the east of Cygnar. They have actually been the Protectorate of Menoth for about 200 years at this point after Sul's rebellion against the Cygnarans for their unlawful actions. The rebellion succeeded somewhat with half of the Cygnars capital being split and the land east of the river given to the Menites.
Eventually, the church seceded from Cygnar entirely, becoming the Protectorate of Menoth. The Protectorate is just that; technically speaking, they still fall under Cygnaran jurisdiction, they can only trade with Cygnar, and they are not allowed to have men under arms (The Exception of this rule is some men to fight bandits and Defenders of the Temples. The Protectorate used this loophole to have an army built to protect the temples). The Protectorate largely ignores all three of these rules.
Life in the Protectorate
The nation is strictly ruled by a theocracy. The hierarch (read: Pope) of the church is also the political leader of the nation, although most of the time the day-to-day operation of the nation is done by the Synod of visgoths (read: cardinals).
According to Cygnaran propaganda, life is shit in the Protectorate. This is only partially true. Yes, citizens of the Protectorate live in an extremely-hot desert, they're regularly conscripted to become terrorist fanatic meatshields holy warriors, and they follow a religion that demands total obedience (public flogging is the best thing that can happen to you if you break a crime). However, if you labor for a short portion of the day, follow the commands of the priests, and, of course, you're Menite, you'll do very well, especially as the nation is growing richer and richer. (Some Specific labors can get you out of the forced conscription, also most of the time it isn't a forced conscription since most volunteer for service especially if a priest is particularly charismatic, and the priest's also make sure that the town can function as well which is a lot better than such nations as Kahdor)
For Menites outside the Protectorate, things are... not well. Members of the "Old Faith" in Khador are treated fairly well, but Khador isn't exactly an amazing country to live in. The Cygnarans are occasionally quite religionist, throwing Cygnaran Menites into a terrible prison (although they released most of them after the civil war). And yes, they are the Mary Sue good guys of the setting. And the wilderness is all run by the Devourer Worm, who's the mortal enemy of Menoth, so... yeah, that's not really an option. In short, for a devout Menite, the Protectorate is probably the best place to be. Doesn't help that the Protectorate been sending High Executioner Servath Reznik to hunt down and murder Menites on the Visgoth's shitlist. While some do have it coming most are normal folk who are simply helping the Protectorate's enemies.
Even the church isn't as bad as is sometimes said. Refusing to worship Menoth makes him weaker, which is bad for everyone, as he's the only one that can fight the Devourer Worm. Also, the church of Morrow broke its promise of honoring Menoth aside Morrow, although Morrows point out Menoth did nothing during the Orgoth invasion even wend at the point the Twin worship was still fairly small. It should also be noted the Twins are fighting the Worm as well and they have a dozen mini-gods each.
Also, with the fight against Cryx ramping up, the protectorate is one of the few nations armies that can count for their souls not to be consumed by the Cryx necromancers. This is mainly brought on by the Reclaimers who literally channel the faithful's souls through their body before releasing them to the City of Man. Just with that you know that your soul will not be drained to power a bonejack or make zombies.
The Protectorate & Non-Humans
That said, if you're not a Menite or, even worse, if you're non-human, watch the fuck out. (There are plenty of cases where non humans can not be harmed by Menites specifically Dwarves and Elves can work with the Menites on many occasions. Menoths main deal is you worship Menoth above all other gods. If you faithful that then you can not be human. However there are some extremists who do not even do this. The Harbinger can also check to see if you follow the Menoth and will allow other races) Bullshit! Menoth is the God of Humans he doesn't care about any of the non-humans at all, in fact Menoth is the main reason why gobbers, trollkin and ogrun were killed on sight back when the church was in charge. (This is mainly true there is an exception mainly with mercs since other races do work for the protectorate and can be healed by the priests. The protectorate will always honor their agreements to the letter because if they do not then the priests lose their divine power. Gobbers, Trollkin and ogrun worshiped the devourer worm which is the main reason they were killed off. They have only recently changed worship to Darha Menoth does not view the Wurm and Darha as two different gods. Ogruns also worship the Ancestor gods of the Dwarves as well as morrow. The two main races that tend to work well with the protectorate are the Dwarves and the Elves.) Although the Dwarves were on good terms with the Orgoth and the Elves only because they're also anti-human mages.
Cannon of the True Law
- There is no god above Menoth.
- There is no labour unendurable in the name of Menoth.
- There is no pain unendurable in the name of Menoth.
- There is no fear unassailable with faith in Menoth.
- There is no object that cannot be given up for Menoth.
- There is no word other than the Word of Menoth.
- There is no end. There is a place for us all at the feet of Menoth.
- The Canon of the True Law