Bomei Island
Bomei Island is a territory of the Imperial Federation. Settled some time near 1695 AN, Bomei (known to some locals as Rherci) is an island located off the south-east coast of Cibola, sharing maritime borders with the coast of the people of the Lanzerwald to the west and, much more distantly, to Western Natopia's territories in Mar Sara and Whales respectively. Originally settled as a way to provide a place for the exile-in-comfort of prominent politicians following the Ralgon War of Succession, the island swiftly became an important territory of the nascent Imperial Federation shortly after the way's conclusion. Due to wealthy and otherwise influential politicians settling the eastern portion of the island (many around the former port town of Rherci), the island's economy rapidly grew in size, especially after the construction of a large naval base on the north side of the island by the Imperial Federation.
History
Settlement
Bomei Island was originally founded as a way to provide a dignified exile for high Ralgonese nobility and other elites, as a way of avoiding potential backlashes that a more severe purge of the then Holy Ralgon Empire would unleash upon the public and population. As aristocratic individuals often came from bloodlines considered almost sacred to a great deal of the commonfolk, an alternative way was needed to dispose of moderately problematic individuals. Those whose presence was a nuisance in the homeland, but whose deaths would be problematic, were most suited for such an exile project. Billed as a merciful alternative to the far more severe Devil's Island, the settlements at Bomei Island were conceived as a much less severe form of penal colony.
Formerly settled by Calbion and subsequently abandoned after their pivot elsewhere, the island was populated by small numbers of Calbain left behind, as well as natives on the island. Additionally, the west side held significant fishing settlements, and emigrees from the Lanzerwald who came there to ply their trade, or else escape the periodic periods of upheaval in the late 1600's and early 1700's AN. On the east side, the Calbain left behind basic infrastructure, just enough for the Imperials to come in and gradually rebuild the port city of Rherci as a small trading post. The island rapidly developed several settlements revolving around two primary centers: the prosperous fishing industry on the western and central coastlines of Bomei, and the rapidly growing center of Ralgonese culture in the interior and centered near the eastern port of Rherci (as it was locally known). Periodic influxes of exiles, the increase in tourism, and settlement by affluent persons (exiled or otherwise) contributed greatly to the island's coming economic boom.
In the island's brief period in which its sole value in the central government's eyes was as a place of exile, only small monitoring posts served as hard proof of the island's formal colonization in its early years. In a bid to keep locals content in the absence of Ralgonese or later Imperial Federation garrisons, the central government encouraged investment by non-exile Ralgonese and local businesses on the island's western end, with a focus on internal infrastructure to ensure of the comfort of the island's new (and substantially wealthy) denizens and local access to economic opportunities.
The wealth of the exiles attracted their retinues, relatives, and cadres of servants and subordinates, most of who depended on these exiles for political or economic support. While such persons were free to come or go as they wished, there were few enough opportunities after their masters had lost the right to return to their respective homelands. Instead of contenting themselves on scratching a living off the ricks, however, the exiles used their still-substantial wealth to encourage their subordinates to stay around them. As a result of their desire to improve their gilded cage, they built up parts of the island's interior and eastern port infrastructure over time, with intermittent (albeit substantial) help from the Ralgonese government. Exiles were forbidden from settling the western ends of the island as a way of discouraging easy escape attempts by those exiles in close contact with the locals, the latter for the most part continuing to favor the rich western Bomei fishing grounds, the tranquil environment, and its proximity to the Lanzerwald on mainland Cibola. A naval base would eventually be built in the area, cementing it as one of the island's primary Ralgonese settlements.
Such locals would change their demographic over the course of time as the mainland Cibolan government changed hands, attracted by the island's bountiful fisheries, or the island's booming economy. Over the coming decades, more persons were similarly attracted from the nascent Imperial Federation due to the booming economy and mild climate, and the politically tranquil (and almost boring) environment. The island gradually attracted large numbers of permanent native or local immigrants in the midst of lax immigration restrictions on those from the Lanzwerwald coast, and further garnered a large Ralgonese settlement through economic incentives by the exiled elites, in a bid to provide the island with a sustainable, year-round work force.
1700 to 1720 AN
The island's strategic value rapidly displayed itself to the new government of the Imperial Federation, which realized that its powerful navy now had a base between allies in the Cibolan parts of the Mondosphere, and in close proximity to Natopia, in addition to its excellent placement as a trading hub for the southern end of the entire continent. Over those years, the beginnings of a large navy base were being built by 1739 AN, and increased greatly in size by 1710 AN. having been used as a waypoint for ships patrolling for hostile Valoran would-be blockade runners during the Ralgonese War of Succession. The island's population also saw a hefty increase in its exile population, and still other aristocrats came to the island, either as a show of solidarity with more prominent peers, or as a way to find themselves a politically peaceful environment which also supported the opulent lifestyles they might have enjoyed in places like Gondolin or Glacier City.
The island played an important role as a staging base for Raspur Pact forces during the Lanzerwaldian-Whaler War in 1709 AN, where the Imperial Federation allowed the use of the island's infrastructure to aid Western Natopia defend its territory in the area. Due to a "good neighbor" policy, however, the Imperial Federation itself played a limited role in the war, sending a small squadron of ships and personnel to defend territory already recognized as belonging to Raspur Pact forces in the region. Since the war, the island's strategic location and economic potential led the Imperial government to heavily ramp up its military protection over the island, as well as launch subsidy programs to aid the island's economic and infrastructure development.
After the war's conclusion with a peace between Western Natopia and Lanzerwald, the island began opening to outsiders from both countries, as the island's importance as a penal colony began to swiftly wane in the wake of amnesty laws passed by the post-war Imperial Government in 1720 AN, in an effort to lessen factional tensions that still lingered after the takeover of the Draconic Humanist government. One such effort was the Bomei Government's aid in the creation of the town of Statthalterrettichshafen, a town created by Lanzerwaldian fishermen and merchants hoping to gain access to a small portion of the large economy that was quickly ramping up on the island. Such efforts succeeded thanks to substantial funding from the Imperial government, which secretly hoped that it would encourage the greater part of the exiled elites to stay.
And it worked. The island quickly became largely a vacation destination by 1720 AN despite its continual (albeit decreased) inflow of new exiles. Ultimately, the island became such a place of wealth and comfort in the mild seas of Southern Cibola that many of the island's originally exiled denizens never bothered to leave. Knowing their influence and wealth there had built to a point that leaving was worth less than rebuilding their influence in the homeland back from scratch, they chose instead to redouble their respective households' investments in the island. This grew to a point where there are now a significant number of nobles now claiming to hail specifically from Bomei's various eastern and interior parts, notwithstanding their foreign names and titles. Additionally, any new arrival would quickly find the peaceful environment and strong naval protection a healthy departure from the court politics many of the new, wealthy dwellers wished to no longer subject themselves to. With the island's rapid growth and shift away from its roots as a glorified prison for the rich, the island looks ahead to an unusually peaceful future as it looks to reflect the Imperial Federation's model of good treatment towards neighbors (with, of course, humanist characteristics).
1720 AN to Present
The gradual wearing of the Raspur Pact and the lack of military incidents in the general area past the 1720's resulted in a decreased military interest in the island. Nonetheless, the area proved its worth in serving as a large trading entrepot between the Imperial Federation and both its Cibolan and Natopian neighbors. Thus, while the island's status as a Raspur Pact-specific military destination diminished significantly, prosperity continued due to the increased economic interest the Imperial Federation began to place specifically on the island, thanks in great part to the exiles' willingness to actively invest in the island, as well as its local and Ralgonese populations alike.
The island's population grew to nearly 275,000 in 1730 AN. With a rapid increase in both wealth and local population, the remote island was given the right of self-governance in 1735 AN by the Imperial government. The island developed a unicameral parliament drawing representation from both local and Ralgonese demographics, with affluent locals, wealthy Ralgonese exiles, and other permanent residents (Imperial Federation or otherwise) coming together to peacefully govern the island. While Bomei Island continues to serve as a gilded cage for its wealthy (and oft-pampered) exiles, it has effectively gained a life of its own under the auspices of the Emperor.
