Marlon

Marlon, founded as the Kingdom of Marlon or the Blue Country, is a state in the Bolganio continent's Evillious region. Over the course of its history, it grew to become one of largest imperial powers in the region and, centuries later, became part of the Union State of Evillious.

Early History
Following its foundation, the Kingdom of Marlon grew into a respectable power and was often at odds with the Lioness country controlling the western half of the island. To strengthen ties with the Beelzenian Empire in an attempt to overcome Lioness, the country married Princess Yufina Marlon to Martius Beelzenia and adopted him into the Marlon Royal Family. Following the sudden death of the reigning monarch, Martius ascended the throne with Yufina as his queen.

In EC 136, the Beelzenian Empire asked one of Marlon's counts, Kachess Crim, to investigate the inexplicable string of disappearances plaguing its Asmodean region. Later on, Queen Yufina Marlon also went missing after visiting the Empire as part of her husband's homecoming; following Kachess' assassination of Duke Sateriasis Venomania, Yufina and Kachess were hunted down by Marlon. In EC 138, Kachess returned and staged a coup to found the "legitimate" Marlon country with Yufina as the true heir of the royal family. Gaining the support of the surrounding nobles, the movement was successful and Kachess and Yufina became the reigning monarchs.

Strained Relations
In June of EC 311, Carlos Marlon, the third prince of Marlon was engaged to Beelzenia's Banica Conchita, daughter of Warlord Muzuri. In February of the following year, meetings between the two families lead to the engagement's cancellation for unknown circumstances. Rumor spread that the meetings took place in case of problems caused by Banica's behavior. At some point, the Kingdom of Marlon was successful in wrestling control over Lioness, gaining supremecy over the entire island.

Marlon Imperialism
In the years following the Kingdom of Lucifenia's ascension as an imperial power, the Kingdom of Marlon became its ally, receiving several large sums of money as gifts from the Yellow Country. In EC 494, Kyle was crowned king and ascended the throne. Towards the end of the 5th century EC, an engagement was arranged between Kyle and Princess Riliane, set to be married when the Lucifenian princess turned fifteen. In EC 500, Marlon sent aid to help alleviate the Kingdom of Lucifenia's famine.

Later that year, King Kyle cancelled the engagement and Marlon publicly avoided taking sides during the succeeding Green War between Lucifenia and Elphegort. During the Lucifenian Revolution, the island nation denied Lucifenia's request for reinforcements as the riots got out of control. As a result of the peace talks with the Lucifenian Resistance, the Kingdom of Marlon settled itself into the new Lucifenian government to help guide the rebuilding nation.

The following year, King Kyle incorporated Lucifenia as a Marlon principality and declared a Witch Hunt order for resistance leader Germaine Avadonia and later, Elluka Clockworker and Gumillia. They fought skirmishes with the resistance members before finally pushing them back out of Lucifenia in EC 503. Rejecting Marlon's demands, the Beelzenian Empire refused to relinquish the revolutionaries it harbored. In EC 505, the Kingdom of Marlon invaded Beelzenia and Asmodean but were repelled. Later that year, Queen Dowager Prim was murdered and King Kyle reinstated Lucifenia's independence before abdicating the throne to his brother, Arkatoir. Marlon was later incorporated into the Union State of Evillious as part of the Aishikeru Treaty in EC 878.

Power Structure
The Marlon government was ruled by a single absolute monarch who held a majority of the power within the government. Below the monarch were the dukes, lords who managed their individual province. Below the dukes were the counts, aristocrats charged with ruling the monarch's territories in his or her stead. Each position within the government was subject to a hereditary line-of-succession with the firstborn male usually inheriting the position and title; in cases where no legitimate heir existed, the closest female heir was selected instead.

Military
The Marlon military was well supplied, armed with elitely crafted swords, and had expertly trained soldiers. The army corp was divided into several branches. One specific branch, the female-only Espionage Task Force, focused on intelligence and espionage and acted largely independently of other military activies for the needs of the crown. Marlon soldiers were also moderately adaptive, able to disguise their forces and successively coordinate ambush tactics to cripple an opposing army.

Their uniform consisted of blue armor with military commanders wearing blue coats with black lining; in some cases, they wore plated steel-grey cloaks over their uniform. After annexing Lucifenia, several of its commanders continued to wear portions of the fallen kingdom's uniform rather than switching to the standard Marlon military attire. The Marlon military also had a powerful navy and remained unrivaled in its control of the Hawk Sea; around the turn of the sixth century EC, Marlon's military invented the cannon and mounted the new technology on their warships to inflict massive damage upon enemy vessels.

Economy
As an island nation, the Marlon economy emphasized its fishing industry. Despite this, it also shared some agricultural elements but otherwise relied on trade with other nations, allowing businesses to thrive. After annexing Lucifenia, the former kingdom's economic resources were garnered as well, though later loss with the state's sovereignty being restored.

Society and Culture
A common trait found in Marlon men is a strong addiction for collecting things. Despite being referred to as the "Blue Country", Marlons had no common traits or characteristics of "blue" distinguishing them from other ethnicities. Instead, its name derived from the water surrounding them as an island nation. However, within the Marlon Royal Family, male members sharing a lineage with Kachess Crim often had blue hair, contrasting with the common black or brown hair found in Marlons.

The people of Marlon have a deep hatred with the country of Lioness and the nation was constantly at odds with its neighbor for island supremacy. Their distaste was so strong that the nobles preferred to be a vassal to Beelzenia than be taken over by Lioness. Due to being surrounded by water, Marlon society held a stronger emphasis on its coastal surroundings. In one instance, fisherman would often net a rare breed of octopi found in their waters but was universally considered inedible due to its odd appearance. Also, their cooking in general was not very good. Levin became the primary religion practiced in the Kingdom of Marlon, with the Levia sect practiced by many of its political officials.

Geography and Climate
Marlon is located on the island off the west coast of the Evillious region, located directly west of Lucifenia. Originally, the nation only controlled the eastern half of Marlon Island but eventually gained hegemony over the half controlled by the Lioness country. During its height, the Kingdom of Marlon controlled the entire territory of Lucifenia, granting itself a foothold across the center of the main continent.

Due to its unique location, Marlon has a natural barrier protecting its borders, as well as a mountain range along its east coast. Its three major rivers stretched from its western shores inland and produced a viable areas for settlement and had a diverse enough land for growing food and maintaining sizeable forests. Marlon has a cooler climate when compared to Beelzenia.

Bariti Royal Metropolis
The capital city of Marlon in the south. The Meshisu River divides the town. Its most important locations included the Marlon Royal Palace, located in the western half of the city, and the Freesis Mansion located in the northern area. The Column Forest lies directly north of the city.

Column Forest
A forest in southern Marlon, directly north of Bariti Royal Metropolis. Bears are among the wildlife living in the forest.

Lioness
A town on the western side of the Marlon island. It was been part of the country of Lioness before being taken over by the Kingdom of Marlon. The city planted beautiful potted flowers. It is adjacent to the central river on the Marlon island.

Jamet Mountains
The mountain range along the eastern coast of Marlon. The port town of Jamet lies directly south of them.

Jamet
A south-eastern port town. The port was the main transit to and from the Evillious mainland and closest harbor to the capital. When traveling to the old Beelzenian capital of Rockbane, the boatride from Jamet would take a week. The Jamet Mountains lie directly north of the town.

Blood Pool Region
A string of spring pools lying in the North of Marlon, near the end of the northern-most river on the Marlon island.

Castle Hedgehog
A castle in the north-western area of the Marlon island. It was part of the country of Lioness before being taken over by the Kingdom of Marlon. The castle maintained a clocktower with a room at the top of its spire; it also had a dungeon. Just below it is the northern-most river on the Marlon Island, near its mouth. In EC 505, it was used as the residence of Queen Dowager Prim and was the battlefield for the clash between the queen and her son, King Kyle.

Lucifenia
The eastern territory of the Kingdom of Marlon on the Bolganio mainland. It acted as a foothold to conquer the rest of Evillious. Less than a decade after it was incorporated as part of Marlon, the former country's sovereignty was restored to its people by King Kyle. '' Main Article: Lucifenia''

Conceptualization and Origin

 * Marlon is inspired by the real world nation of Great Britain; the Kingdom of Marlon bears many similarities and influences with that of the British Empire.
 * Its name is based on Mammon, the patron demon of Greed.

Curiosities

 * The odd looking breed of octopi fished in Marlon are dubbed by Elluka as "Very Amazing" Octopi, referencing Tako Luka and Elluka's Vocaloid counterpart in its appearance.
 * The tendency for Marlon men to collect things references the patron of Greed, Mammon, from whom the name of the country is derived.

Gallery
VG Apparitions=