Jorg: Metaphysical Alchemy
Prologue: Jorg and Zerg
The country of Jorg, currently governed by the thirty-third direct descendant of the Verwaltrauen family, Hadrian Adolford, was largely covered by dense woodlands all the way from its northernmost mountain ranges to the port area down south. Most of the forests are as old as time, and the government seemed hell bent in keeping them alive for all eternity.
Its seat of government, Jorghrad, was lying in a peculiar geography: the city itself being totally encircled by the great river, Rhine Gratt. From an aerial view, one may surmise that the city itself is an island in the midst of what should have been a big lake. In fact, Rhine Gratt was puzzling even for the best geologists since common theories about river sources somehow do not apply. Nonetheless, studies on the river as well as the other ancient forests are either not supported or totally opposed by the government.
The Jorgan government was very much secretive and the real reason for protecting the woodlands and Rhine Gratt is not entirely disclosed to the public. The government, ever since controlled by the past generations of Verwaltrauen lineage, had been keeping important information from everyone save the members of the Reichstag, a loose parliament that is in reality just a front for an unpopular military.
It was the growing unpopularity of
the Jorgan government that eventually led to the separation
of the port city of
Initially labeled Zerg insurgents by the Jorgan military, the founders of the Zergian government capitalized on the great dissatisfaction of Zergian businessmen following the infamous Ariah incident, commonly called incident 52-62-007. Taking place more than eight years previously, incident 52-62-007 involved the destruction of Jorgs research facility in Ariah (a colonial territory in the east), Erschaffung, that lead to the death of numerous researchers and an imminent economic collapse.
The economy was spared but the businessmen could no longer trust the government. Therefore, when one high-ranking official of Jorg called for the independence of the port city, almost all the citizens rallied behind him.
Thus, Zerg, which used to account for a large percentage of the Jorgan governments tax revenues, established itself as a nation first by securing its own economy before creating a rather formidable army. The Jorgan governments reaction was somehow not entirely violent; military clashes had been minimal.
Almost eight years after incident 52-62-007, the economies of both states were flourishing. At the moment, both governments stalled further confrontations with each other, adopting the principle of live and let live.
How the Jorgan government managed to compensate for the lost revenues, Zerg businessmen still wonder. Hadrian and the Reichstag, however, remained as secretive as ever.
Nonetheless, several skirmishes still occurred at random intervals; most of these conflicts arose out of territorial disputes. The Zergian government, asserting that it is a fully democratic state in contrast to Jorgs almost totalitarian regime, had nonetheless been the first to ignite the previous fighting due to its desire to expand its territory. Most of the time, Jorg yielded nonchalantly and allowed Zerg to claim several key cities and towns; there is of course the exception of several of the ancient forests particularly those that are close to the great river, Rhine Gratt.
In fact, the vast Arcanian forest, though stretching very close to Zerg itself, is one of the territories that Jorg refuses to relinquish to the city state. What secrets lay within the woods of the Arcania, as of the moment only several people knew; but many more are bound to know soon enough.