Duchy of Andurien

Founding Year	3075 (Reformation)
Controlled system(s):	34+
Official Currency	Andurien Dollar
Official Language(s)	Hegemony English, Italian, Mandarin

Head of State

Duke Ari Humphreys

Army	Andurien Defense Forces (ADF)
Navy	Andurien Black Water Navy (ABW)
Intelligence	Andurien Hawk Eyes

The Duchy of Andurien worked on keeping their independence from the Free Worlds League since it was reformed in 3075. Thankfully, the League had basically collapsed at that time. Both the Capellan state and the Magistracy of Canopus was happy to have a “buffer state”, and left Andurien alone at the time. Fiercely independent, the Andurien people want their nation to grow and prosper.

Duchy of Andurien Culture

“Andurien for Anduriens” was the motto of the Duchy for the longest time. The population of the Duchy is very proud of their origin. The Andurien Secession War is still an open wound for the Andurien people. The “average population” harbors resentment towards the Free Worlds League. With the recreation of the Marik realm, some people fear that expansionism might lead to attacks against them. While there are political agreements with the Capellan Confederation, people are also afraid that Daoshen Liao (internal) or Danai Liao (internal) could have desires to capture their rich province.

While a small realm in terms of number of worlds, the Duchy has a high population. This “metropolitan” attitude makes the locals better educated and treated than the average Inner Sphere citizen. The political elite in the Duchy is happy to try to improve the lot of their constituents through any means necessary. Massive investment in Clan-tech medical gear and training is common, with “exchange programs” with the Clan Sea Fox scientist caste having become common. This high standard of living makes many jealous in the “friendly” Magistracy of Canopus.

Individual rights

Individual rights for citizens and residents of the Duchy of Andurien are enshrined in the Andurien Constitution, which was signed and approved by Evelyn Humphreys. A citizen is defined as someone who was born on any Andurien worlds or naturalized. Residents are anyone who is living on a world in the Duchy but not having been naturalized, mainly immigrants and refugees. Voting rights in the Duchy is based on land ownership and not citizenship, however.

Military service in the Andurien Defense Forces is not a requirement for any citizen, but a 6-month military preparedness training is offered to any citizen or resident and is necessary for anyone seeking naturalization. After this training, the citizen is given the right to bear arms, all the way to BattleMechs. Refusing the military preparedness training is not uncommon, but many lower-class citizens love the payout which is also included in it.

Political system

The Duchy is a hereditary oligarchy, with planetary lords and ladies being from ancient families. They swear an oath of allegiance to House Humphreys the moment they take power. It is very rare that a lord or lady is removed from power, but it is not unheard of. For more local politics, elections are held every 4 years. Only “landed citizens” are allowed to vote, meaning that renters and immigrants are often not represented. While there was unrest related to this in the 3140s, the movement was quashed quickly through political measures increasing the rights of renters.

Ari Humphreys, at a charity concert — Duke Ari Humphreys, at a concert

A panel of 3 Supreme Court judges sit on Andurien, where they review any new legislation against the Andurien constitution. The first judge is appointed by the Humphreys family, while the second is selected by the peerage. The final judge is elected by the population every 10 years.

Duchy of Andurien Military Assets

The Andurien Defense Forces built up since Black Monday to resist threats from abroad. While the Andurien have an old agreement with the Capellan Confederation, Ari Humphreys has not trusted Daoshen Liao for quite some time. Andurien has expanded itself with major military operations (Operation TRIUMVIR and Operation REBOUND) in recent years as well.

The Andurien Defense Forces is under the command of General Yen Ju Simons of the Andurien Guards. Massive investment in defense allowed for expansion of many of the standard regiments of Guards, Rangers and Cavalry to upgrade with more BattleMech forces. Planetary militia, especially on newly acquired worlds, are also being upgraded to more modern equipment.

Production

The primary weapons manufacturer in the Duchy of Andurien is Irian Technologies. Their Shiro III facilities have been producing quality BattleMechs for internal use and export for centuries at this point. The lack of land and personnel is what limits this corporation from growing. The Irian leadership is also not willing to open a new facility in Andurien territory as to not alienate their FWLM customers.

The Andurien Defense Force has been investing in the Strider and Blackjack OmniMech as the core of their medium ‘mech force. The Hermes II, quite popular with the FWLM, is generally built for export or to replace losses of existing models. The ever popular Stalker is another staple of Irian engineering that is quite popular with the ADF.

New ‘mech design programs, a lot of it dedicated to new LAM projects, have sprung up from Andurien AeroTech. Using a similar design profile as the “Clan LAM projects”, these new machines have been produced in limited quantities to fill the ranks of specialized units. The very popular heir to the Andurien throne, David Humphreys, pilots one such machine.

Product Import

The rest of the Andurien equipment is generally imported from either the Magistracy of Canopus or Capellan Confederation. The ADF is picky about what equipment they buy and when they were tricked into buying sub-par equipment, they sued Ceres Metal Industries. The resulting settlement out of court included not only a cash payment for replacement parts, but also the setup of a Ceres plant on Furud. The facility came online in 3151, producing Rifleman, Marauders and Helios. The facility is closely monitored by the ADF for the quality of its products.

Navy

The Andurien Black Water Navy is a recent creation, with the facilities Xanthe III producing Eagle-class frigates at a slow rate. Xanthe ShipSystems also began production of other JumpShips to reinforce the Andurien military, namely Invaders and Merchants , which is their primary source of revenue. This new shipyard is heavily defended by orbital platforms. The loss of one of their ships to the Rimward Alliance during the War of the Reaches is a shame that the Navy wants to erase. To improve on their production capability, the Diplomatic Corps has reached out to Clan Snow Raven to commission some of their scientists and technicians.