The Inner Sphere: Illyrian Palatinate

The Illyrian Palatinate is a collection of four worlds lying between the Circinus Federation and the Lothian League. Ruled by an oligarchy of rich trading families, the Palatinate survives through modest trade with the Free Worlds League, primarily in iron ore and processed steel. The Scandinavian descendants of the original 24th-century colonists maintain a precarious hold on their star systems against continued depredations by the Circinus Federation. At present, their military consists of a miniscule trading fleet and several companies of BattleMechs, mostly mercenaries and officers who have fled the Inner Sphere for one reason or another. Supplementing the Palatinate's revenues are large sums of cash earned from staging annual MechWarrior games, in which contestants battle to the death for salvaged BattleMechs and spare parts.

3056 Update

Over the nexts even years the Circinian president continued to plot the Palatinate's downfall, but domestic troubles fortunately prevented "Little Bob" McIntyre from making good on his threats. Unwilling to trust indefinitely in their enemy's ongoing bad luck, however, the Palatinate took steps to safeguard against invasion. In order to earn funds with which to hire more mercenary troops and finance small local militias, Administrator Ernest Wick expanded his pnation's trade with the Free Worlds League. He also forged stronger ties with the Palatinate's closest neighbor, the Lothian League, in hope of using Lothian scientific expertise to bolster his planets' defenses. As the 3040s went by and the Circinus Federation launched no assault, the Illyrian people cautiously began to hope that the threatened invasion might not occur.

Trouble came soon enough, but from an unexpected source - a sudden, vast influx of refugees fleeing the Clan invasion. Between 3049 and 3051, the Clan war machine devastated the Free Rasalhague Republic. Throughout those years, and especially after the battle of Tukayyid, the Palatinate became the favored destination of thousands of Rasalhagian refugees. Drawn to the Palatinate as much by its predominantly Scandinavian culture as its prosperity, the refugees arrived in droves. Throughout the latter half of 3052, cargo ships carrying fleeing Rasalhagians arrived almost daily. This sudden population increase nearly overwhelmed the tiny Palatinate; housing and food shortages became commonplace even among Illyrian natives. Desperate for revenues, Administrator Wick increased trade shipments of processed steel to the Free Worlds League beginning in 3051. The League gladly obliged its trading partner, needing as much steel as it could get in order to meet the Inner Sphere demand for BattleMechs and refit kits. The trade revenues, however, were insufficient to meet the refugees' growing needs. In addition, Marian Hegemony raids on the Lothian League in 3052 and 3053 came close to crippling the Lothian economy threby depriving the Palatinate of its only other major market.

In early 3054, Administrator Wick appealed to the Successor States to send refugee aid, pointing out that Rasalhagian citizens unable to find homes in the Palatinate would surely move on to the Inner Sphere. The Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine took the hint; each of them sent sizable grants, earmarked for refugee aid, to the Illyrian government. The influx of new monies enabled Administrator Wick to set aside and even larger portion of general revenues to continue beefing up his realm's military security, a particularly pressing problem in light of the Marian Hegemony's conquest of the Lothian League in early 3055.

Illyrian Palatinate Force Listing

Unit Name                        Experience   Regiments  Homeworld    
Right Arm of Thor (1 Batt)       Regular       0.33      Illyria
     (CO: Overcaptain Gustaf Narder)
Left Arm of Thor (1 Batt)        Regular       0.33      Illyria
     (CO: Overcaptain Hassie Menker)

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