Simbois

The Comté de Simbois, commonly known as Simbois, is an island state situated in the River Marne. The island is surrounded by Meow Island, with the Celtic Commonwealth being its closest neighbour to the north-west. The island is ruled absolutely by La Comtesse Marie, typically known as Queen Maria I outside of Simbois.

The only language spoken in Simbois is Casson French and the region is notable for having no official English translations of its names.

History

Settlement

Simbois was first settled by La Comtesse Marie, then known simply as Maria. Travelling from Greenhill, she founded the French-speaking town of Nouveau Vermont and built the now-iconic landmark manor le Château de Simbois.

Incorporation

Soon after the settlement of the island, the territory was incorporated into the Kingdom of Chicken Island, with Maria being given the title of Countess and the island, along with most of the Feathershire Peninsula, being given the status of a County (Chicken Island). Although Chicken Island is multilingual, Simbois was specifically kept as exclusively French-speaking and therefore the only recognised names for the region and titles for the nobility from the Simbois perspective were those in French.

Countess Conflict

Main article: Countess Conflict

Simbois was originally a part of the Kingdom of Chicken Island, ruled by Queen Kisinja I and largely governed in day-to-day affairs by Countess Maria. Countess Maria later went on to found the Holy Kingdom of Cassony, becoming Queen Maria I of Cassony. During this brief period, Kisinja I was unaware of Maria's status abroad, which would have been unconstitutional in the common law of Chicken Island at the time. The conflict that ensued from Kisinja I being made aware of this became known as the Countess Conflict and was finally resolved when Kisinja I granted independence to Simbois from Chicken Island. Since then, Countess Maria has been de facto monarch of Simbois, though her title remains Countess Maria within Simbois' borders.