Melromarc

Melromarc (メルロマルク) is a matriarchal country under a monarchy system, where the current queen holds the true authority of the country. It is a human supremacist country, where slavery of demi-humans is legal.

Summary
With the capital situated in the centre of the country and referred to only as Castle Town, the country of Melromarc is a matriarchy ruled by the queen, Mirellia Q Melromarc. While the queen is away handling diplomatic relations, power and authority falls into the king's hands to rule as he sees fit. During one such diplomatic outing, the waves of calamity abruptly started, ravaging the kingdom and other regions of the world. Going against an international agreement, Melromarc's king summons all four heroes and asked them to fight the waves. Upon hearing that Melromarc had summoned all four heroes, the leaders at the international conference nearly go to war against Melromarc. Fortunately, Queen Mirellia is able to negotiate temporary peace at the cost of many weeks of peace talks.

Meanwhile, the king and first princess continued to use and abuse their temporary power. The Shield Hero was heavily discriminated against due to false charges. Other nations which worshipped the Shield Hero like Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden were greatly offended. Queen Mirellia eventually sent Melty in her place to try to repair their relations with the Shield Hero. Unfortunately, she is nearly killed in a scheme from her older sister and The Church of the Three Heroes.

Eventually, Mirellia is able to return from the negotiations and put everything back into order. She punished everyone who was involved and proved the innocence of the Shield Hero. She was even able to convince Naofumi to keep helping out Melromarc despite the persecution her had received. Throughout her reign, she had continued on working to improve relations with Naofumi, Demi-Humans and the other nations throughout the world.

History
In the ancient past, Melromarc was established in the Sword/Spear world before it was merged with the Bow/Shield world by the waves. Melromarc survived the fusing of the two worlds which had caused a chaotic introduction of new nations and peoples.

In more recent years, Melromarc has been in tension and eventually at war against the demi-human nation of Siltvelt due to religious and cultural differences. Both nations worship different Legendary Heroes and practice supremacy of their own peoples while enslaving the people of their opposing nation. Tyran led the Siltvelt army while Trash rose up the Melromarc ranks to eventually oppose him. After a grueling battle, Trash was able to slay Tyran and give Melromarc victory.

Customs
Due to the matriarchal nature of the kingdom, Melromarc practices the tradition of having the husband's name decided by the wife. Women typically hold higher social value and power than men. Any violence against women is considered to be an offence punishable by the death penalty.

Government
Melromarc is a matriarchal country under the rule of the queen, who holds the highest authority. Along with being a matriarchal country, Melromarc has an oligarchy power structure with powerful nobles bidding to keep in the favour with the monarchy for power and influence.

While the origins of the Melromarc bloodline is unknown, the Faubrey bloodline stemming from Trash originates from an ancient Spear hero.

Pre-Reconciliation
For many years, Melromarc's official religion and church was the Church of the Three Heroes. This church was a splinter faction which originates from the Church of the Four Heroes. However, instead of worshiping all four heroes, they worship the Sword, Spear and Bow Heroes while demonizing the Shield Hero. Melty hypothesizes the hatred against the shield may stem from Naofumi's actions in the ancient past aiding Mamoru.

They held incredible influence - retaining several shadows, secretly stealing the Legendary Weapon Replica, and influencing the royal family through Malty and Trash. However, after the pope was defeated and Queen Mirellia learned of their schemes to take over Melromarc, she stripped the church of their power and made the Church of the Four heroes the official religion of Melromarc.

Post-Reconciliation
The transition from the Church of the Three Heroes to the Church of the Four Heroes became a long and arduous process. Centuries of teachings and bad blood with countries like Siltvelt created a deep-rooted hate for both demi-humans and the Shield Hero. Demi-Humans were still widely used as slaves but the Queen started steps for reparations like the reconstruction of Lurolona Village - a safe haven. Several followers of the Three Heroes Church have tried to cause trouble in Melromarc but have been stopped by Naofumi or Motoyasu.

Military
In times of Trash's youth, Melromarc made its mark for its resourcefulness, as they were able to defeat the mighty Siltvelt. However, the era of peace and corruption from the church caused the nation to degrade swiftly. Melromarc's legendary "Wisest King of Wisdom" Aultcray Melromarc slowly became clouded and a puppet for the church and his daughter. By the time the heroes were summoned, it took all of their forces to prevent Naofumi from crossing their border. Many members of the military also became greedy and corrupt - fighting only for their own wealth and glory.

When Queen Mirellia returned to her station, she worked hard to remove the corruption within her forces. She also tried to train the Legendary Heroes so they could protect the world on its behalf. After Trash comes to his senses, he becomes again the "Wisest King of Wisdom" and commands Melromarc's army with genius tactics and cunning strategy. Thanks to his return, Melromarc was able to defeat Faubrey's army which had already easy defeated every nation between the two countries.

Economy
Melromarc uses a system of metals pieces as its legal tender. The smallest unit is the bronze piece. 100 bronze pieces are equivalent to a single silver piece. 100 silver pieces is worth a single gold piece. Within Castle Town, a room for a single person and the cheapest meal available at a tavern is worth 30 and 9 bronze pieces respectively. Outside of Castle Town, a room in Riyute village's inn is 1 silver per night.

Geography
Melromarc is on the main world continent surrounded by some of the most powerful kingdoms on the continent: Shieldfreeden, Siltvelt, and the Zeltoble kingdoms, etc. Melromarc is considered the largest nation in Raphtalia's World.

Melromarc itself is divided into several territories which are governed by noble families. Known territories include the Seaetto Territory, Reichnott Territory, Rabier Territory and Ivyred Territory. Castle Town is the capital of Melromarc near its center. are several villages and landmarks. Castle Town is the capital of Melromarc. Lurolona Village lies within the Seaetto Territory to the south, Lerno Village and Riyute Village lie to the south or south-west, and Mirso Village lies to the east. The nation of Melromarc also includes the Cal Mira Archipelago.

Faubrey
Though peaceful relations existed between the two nations, Faubrey almost went to war against Melromarc after Trash summoned the four heroes against the international agreement. However, the Queen negotiated peace with the king of Faubrey in exchange for Malty. Their relationship was again strained when Takt rose to power and killed the queen of Melromarc for no apparent reason. He invaded all the countries, including Melromarc, under the pretext of uniting the world under the true hero, himself. The original four heroes and Siltvelt followed Trash's plan to squash its army and took control of most of Faubrey, making Melromarc the most powerful nation.

Siltvelt
Melromarc and Siltvelt had centuries of bad blood mostly because of the treatment of racial differences and discrimination based on it. When Siltvelt desired for global domination, Luge of Melromarc (Trash) halted their way. The queen of Melromarc mended things with Siltvelt after decades of peace negotiation by setting up a protected demi-human village in Melromarc while Siltvelt followed her example and set up a human protected region in their land. This earned both nations a decade of peace. Unfortunately, this peace shattered when Melromarc summoned the four heroes against the international agreement, and to make the matter worse, the horrible treatment of the Shield Hero enraged Siltvelt to wage war. The Queen was able to diffuse the situation and things finally settled after she gained the trust of Shield Hero.

Siltvelt was upset with Takt's action and joined forces with Melromarc, surprising themselves for forming an alliance. Finally, they jointly put down their enemies. Their relationship was mostly mended except for the treatment of slavery under the pretext of fixing that in the future. They even gave their approval for the engagement of the Shield Hero and Melty under certain conditions.

Shieldfreeden
Nothing much is mentioned about the past relationship between Shieldfreeden and Melromarc. But they were infuriated by Melromarc for going against the international agreement. They were ready to wage war with Melromarc for their misdeeds against the Shield Hero. They allied with Takt when he claimed himself to be the real hero, even though he stole the weapon from Naofumi. This earned the ire from the allied forces and the heroes. After the defeat of Takt, they changed their stance. Trash called the world to join hands to fight against the waves and not petty squabbles like Shieldfreeden's actions. It was clear that the nation lost its stand and power in the world.

Zeltoble
They have a fairly decent relationship. Zeltoble also helped Melromarc behind the scenes during Takt's invasion.

Trivia

 * Despite Melromarc being a matriarchy, even the women born in the noble and royal families feared being sent to Faubrey to be the king’s playthings, implying that their mothers would send them to Faubrey if their crimes were to be serious.