Marsellia

The nation in which all the events of Tin Soldier have thus far happened. It has a generally European flavor, and lies on the sea, as its capital city, San Rosille, is a seaport. The adjective used to refer to people and things of an origin in the country is Marselline.

Marsellia was formerly an independent country, presumably an Empire, as it was ruled by an Emperor. At the time, the colors of its flag were purple, white, and green. Magic seems to have been officially tolerated at the time, as Barnaby Graham is described as having been a state augur - presumably, an official predictor of the future on behalf of the government.

At least eight years before the start of the serial (in 1375), the country was engaged in a war with one of its neighbors; the circumstances under which it started are unknown, but it went badly for them, resulting in the invasion of the country and San Rosille being under siege; this lasted from sometime in 1367 until January of 1369, when the city finally fell to the enemy. The capture of San Rosille did not immediately result in the end of the war, and parts of the country fought on until July of 1371. It is implied that the Emperor's conduct during the war was at least partially responsible for Marsellia's defeat; several characters express the opinion that the Emperor was timid or cowardly.

Marsellia was subsequently annexed by its neighbor, though since the former Emperor was allowed to become Prime Minister, it appears to have - at least on paper - some measure of autonomy. The motivations of the Emperor himself in accepting this position, and his previous "cowardly" conduct, are unclear; possibly he was indeed cowardly and self-serving, or possibly he felt that timidity and collusion were the best ways to minimize loss of life and maximize his ability to help his people.

In any event, the country is slowly returning to a semblance of normality, although the economy is still not as good as it once was and many people are still in dire straits. The heavy use of magic during the war, however, and its severe effects on the population, have left a lingering dislike of both magic and its users; the present government has made some effort to dissociate itself from Marsellia's own employment of magic-users during the war, going so far as to force the General to retire and to alter her paperwork to record her as a Master Sergeant. The public use of magic is, at best, likely to be frowned upon, if not actively protested against. Known magic-users tend to be the target of prejudicial treatment, both by government organs and by society at large; learned users can hide their abilities by simply not doing magic, but innates, being inherently visible magic-users, have no such recourse.