Dromosker Island (Imperial Federation)

The Principality of Dromosker Island
Subdivision type:	Territory of the Imperial Federation
Capital:	Imarru-Lugal
Population:	~750,000 (1750 AN)
Largest Cities:	Imarru-Lugal
Local Leadership Title:	Prince
Local Government:	Semi-Tribal Monarchy (executive/judicial) Ruling Council (executive) National Senate (legislative)
Current leader:	Prince Vlad Tepesh (regnal name: Eru IV) 2nd Prince of Dromosker Island 5th Gal-Lugal of the Askerr
Local language:	Askerr, Common Tongue; Alexandrian (minority); Ralgonese (minority)
Local Religion:	Folk religions (majority); Umraism (minority); Draconic (minority)

The Principality of Dromosker is an island country newly situated in the Isles of Eriador. Formerly situated in the eastern fringe of the Skerry Isles, the island and nearly its entire population were relocated to a fertile but uninhabited island deep in Imperial Federation territory in 1757 AN in the aftermath of the island's anarchy, devastation, and subsequent relocation to a far-off area that was completed before the end of the following year. The area left behind, devoid of its original features, was annexed by Constancia in the aftermath while reverting to an older name.

Despite the relocation, the new island is still known to be the traditional home of tribes historically practicing anthropophagy, who are collectively known as the Askerr of Dromosker Island. On the old island, this practice was greatly diminished and carefully managed following the natives' defeat at the hands of their new overlords in the Askerr War of 1690 AN. Life on the island transformed under the House Tepesh, which declared the island a Principality in 1730 AN. Nominal Hexarchy rule lasted for nearly 68 years before the island fell into anarchy and relocated in 1758 AN to its present location, following a series of apocalyptic disasters that essentially destroyed the island.

In times past, the old island played host to Walter Poldark, renowned pirate and alleged captain of the Ergonian navy until the island went to Jingdao as a gift by the same man in 1629 AN. It remained in Jing hands until 1686 AN, and was then briefly held by Barbary until it collapsed in 1688 AN. After that, it was occupied by colonists from The Hexarchy, who fought the brutal, two-year long Askerr War in 1690 AN with the natives over control over the island before establishing the city of Imarru-Lugal (itself also the capital of the new island). The island's government was dependent on military support for its continued rule over the next 68 years, although it this ended the same way it began: blood, fire, and mass movement to an unfamiliar place.

Post-relocation, the new island's government, having kept the same name, now fell under the authority of the Isles of Eriador. Although loss of life in the immediate months before the relocation was cataclysmic, both the Askerr and settler community managed to survive mostly intact, and saw greater mingling in subsequent years. Many traditionally-minded Askerr still practice their old ways on the new Dromosker Island's wild, inaccessible interior, well away from prying eyes. Occasionally, some of the better-integrated Askerr warrior bands are sent to far-off places in search of mana and glory, under the auspices of Emperor Anarion, who turns a blind eye to these practices so long as stringent protocol are enforced by their captains.

(Also see Imarru-Lugal for the island's capital and primate city.)

History

Occupation by Jingdao (1629 AN-1690 AN

Maritime Republic Era 1629 AN-1688 AN

The Maritime Free Republic, also known as Hexiehaizei (Jingdaoese for: harmonious pirate), or Dromosker Island is a formerly independent island nation that has been part of the Jingdaoese Empire from 1629 until the 1680's AN. There was also very little imperial oversight during the Jingdao occupation era. It was previously the home of Walter Poldark, renowned pirate and alleged captain of the Ergonian navy until the island's subjugation by The Hexarchy in 1690 AN as a result of the Askerr War. Captain Poldark was also the person who gifted the nation to Jingdao in 1629, after having received support from the Jingdaoese Empire for some time.

In 1635 Emperor Heinrich of Jingdao, the Kattei Emperor ordered the Maritime Free Republic to build an educational institute for the troubled youth on the island. In turn Captain-General Walter Poldark promised to build the Emperor Heinrich Naval School for the Disadvantaged Youth. Reports on what happened to the children, and their suspected encounters with the Askerr have always been suppressed by Jingdaoese censors and to this day nothing is known for certain about what happened to them.

Barbary Occupation 1688 AN-1689 AN

In 1688 the Maritime Free Republic was transferred into the hand of the Barbarian Republic as part of a land trade between Jingdao and Barbary, where it became known as the island of the Gezellige Piraten (cosy pirates'). By the first month of 1690 the last of the Barbary traders had disappeared into the cooking pots of the Askerr and the natives were most recently observed to have assembled on the northern shore of the island, making beckoning gestures to the crew of a barque from the Hexarchy, inviting them to come ashore - which they, somewhat incautiously, some settlers of duly did. This incident in turn led to the Askerr War, in which the Hexarchy conquered the island by way of soldiers of fortune led by one Eru Tepesh, contrary to much of his home government's wishes.

Despite the considerable cultural changes on the island since the 1690's AN during the Hexarchy's often-violent takeover, Jing influences remain among subsets of natives to this day. For instance, the worship of the Heavenly Light in the form of a cargo cult has been largely ignored by the island's new rulers, and many of these cultural aspects have been subverted by the island's rulers to cement their control over the island's large population. Due to the relative independence of the island under both the Jing and Hexarchy, the island's local culture retained its own character for well over a century of nominal foreign rule.

Occupation by The Hexarchy (1690 AN-1756 AN)

Pacification & Settlement 1690 AN-1730 AN

The modern history of the island is characterized by the occupation of The Hexarchy, and the course of the island's modern politics is mostly based on the new government based out of Imarru-Lugal, the city which also bears the name of the territory. Most trade between the new Imperial Federation and Hexarchian merchants passes through the island, which is used as a stopover during the long voyage from the eastern territories of Keltia to the Hexarchy proper.

Since the end of the Askerr War, events on the island are usually confined to a strictly local nature, with the status quo remaining mostly unchanged since 1691. For the first three decades of Hexarchian rule, the natives kept almost entirely to themselves. However, the occasional dragon attack was staged during the early years of the occupation against those who had clearly forgotten what their rulers' wrath feels like in the midst of localized rebellions or, more commonly, organized attacks on shipping deep in the island's interior. The scale of rebellions decreased over time, thanks to intelligently designed arrangements to turn the mana system into a source of extensive profit and long-lasting legal control by the central government.

Due to the more quiet experience people now have within the environs of Imarru-Lugal, the well-provisioned and strongly defended island was then used for at least the following two decades as a proxy location for negotiations between the Hexarchy and faraway nations that aren't enamored with the mainland's unique fauna and the traditions associated with them. Due to its far-off location from the mainland and the central government's long-lasting lack of enthusiasm for a colonial empire, the island was gradually left to its own devices. Eventually, local rule became extremely independent with internal affairs.

The island increasingly asserted its independence to the degree where The Hexarchy, nominally the island's suzerain, was nothing more than a rubber stamp in local affairs by the time the House of Tepesh signed the Treaty of Portpur with Çakaristan in 1726 AN. The following assertions of "autonomous rule" (independence in all but name) persisted from that point. This coincided with the decline of The Hexarchy from the late 1720's onwards. The island's near-total political independence near this point resulted in Eru Tepesh III declaring himself Prince of Dromosker Island on his ascension to the island's leadership in 1730 AN.

Principality (1731 AN-1756 AN)

However, the problem of keeping the entire island pacified persisted, and worsened with the near-cutoff of Hexarchy military and financial support during its political turbulence. The island's leadership already had established partnerships with Çakaristan in keeping the surrounding waters clear of piracy. The Imperial Federation joined from 1728 AN during one of its own periods of ascendancy, during which Prince Eru III (as the new Prince styled himself) allowed an Imperial Federation navy base to be built to host a large trading entrepot, bringing further defensiveness and prosperity to the capital at Imarru-Lugal.

During this time, the Prince continued the family tradition of styling himself separately to the natives as "Gal-Lugal" (lit. the chief of chiefs) over the island's interior. However, the 17 years of his rule saw a slow decline in hard authority over the island's interior, while control over the coastlines accelerated thanks to domestic and foreign infrastructure. Tourism and maritime industry flourished on the island, and Dromosker became a destination for further waves of settlers seeking opportunity on the rapidly developing coastlines. Troubles with the natives of the interior persisted, however, and by 1745 AN there were, once again, bands of Askerr reverting to their more bellicose nature and indiscriminately attacking people to steal their mana. A series of punitive expeditions with local forces with Ralgonese naval support temporarily pacified the island, but it was clear that House Tepesh would need further military support to exercise control over the island. These continued until Eru III's death in 1747 AN, and his 38-year-old successor Prince Eru IV took over, inheriting the problems arising late in his father's reign. The first nine years of Eru IV's reign were the most challenging since his ancestor conquered the island nearly sixty years before.

With its limited force of local dragons, the strategy of dealing with rebellions from the air and keeping loyalist casualties close to zero became untenable. A series of costly campaigns were fought in the interior to punish the rebellious natives and supply loyalist Askerr with more mana. This was hardly a permanent solution, though, and the steady (and noticeable) lapse in direct support and oversight from the mainland made sustainable mana both at home and abroad more difficult to obtain, as the island gradually grew politically isolated and access to military contracts gradually dried up. When the final vestiges of authority from The Hexarchy lapsed in 1756 AN, it hadn't followed some announcement from the central government. Silence was the only order of the day, and forces loyal to the central government either left the island with their dragons for the mainland, or pledged loyalty to House Tepesh.

Fall of Dromosker Island (1756 AN-1758 AN)

Following confirmation that The Hexarchy had lapsed into crisis after 1756 AN, assistance was requested from local Imperial Federation forces. Prince Eru IV was worried that Çakaristan would rapidly subsume his country and home-grown culture, being in proximity to other Çakari holdings in the other Skerry Isles, specifically the Beneluccas. The ruling elite of the island valued Çakari partnerships, and considered the surrounding people as more-or-less friendly to their own. As economic partners, they brought prosperity to the island and the customs union under the Treaty of Portpur was highly beneficial to both sides. However, as political partners, House Tepesh feared a Çakari takeover due to both their proximity and huge disparity in size next to the island. Hindsight proved Eru IV right, although his preparations were woefully inadequate to the resulting crises that followed.

As such, an agreement was struck in late 1756 AN that instead named Anarion the new overlord of Dromosker, with a title to reflect his new (nominal) dominion over the island. In exchange for ceding certain port facilities and external political rights, the island could continue as a dependency of the Imperial Federation. A Viceroy was also sent to represent the Emperor, but they never reached the island in time for further events to play out. The more excitable Askerr warriors were, furthermore, given the opportunity to join Ralgonese detachments in active zones abroad. While their mana wouldn't necessarily be supplied by humans during every fight (such as in the Great Swamp or the Badlands), the warriors would continually win honor and glory... and continue to fill the treasuries of House Tepesh beyond anything they'd ever managed while ruling the island by themselves.

Confusion followed, however. The transfer was interrupted due to lack of MCS recognition, so the Pact of Schaarlecht was struck between the Imperial Federation, Çakaristan, and the Dromosker Island government to salvage the situation. As soon as Ralgonese forces had left, however, the Cakari immediately repudiated the treaty. This threw the central government into a panic while, for the first time, supporting forces were absent from the island during an impending crisis. Relations between the Imperial Federation and Cakari were, for a time, completely ruptured over the incident as the Ralgonese Emperor was apocalyptic over this betrayal. The consequences for Dromosker were far more severe than a mere lover's spat between two distant rulers. Sensing the coming anarchy, much of the Raskol population erupted, killing any moving thing they saw in their path. While the population of Imarru-Lugal (Settler and Askerr alike) was generally safe, the countryside experienced a bloodbath like the island had never seen.

The scenes of death and complete anarchy in the countryside forced Prince Eru Tepesh into a campaign of annihilation against much of the interior to save Imarru-Lugal from its own destruction. While he lost nearly half his remaining dragons, the resistance was, for a time, suppressed. Large chunks of the entire island were reduced to cinders, with nothing larger than a cat able to survive in the blasted countryside. Having expended his military power to thwart both external and internal threats, the island was left scorched, and no longer able to fend for itself against the remaining populations of the island. Having lost control of the situation, he called to the Imperial Federation once more for assistance.

Post-Disaster (1758 AN-)

What followed was a subject of intense debate. Prevailing accounts claim the Imperial Federation sending every available ship in the region to rescue the situation. Other, more outlandish accounts suggest a complete upending of the island done by the Prince solely to spite his betrayers. Whatever happened, what is known is that the island was the subject of resulting apocalyptic disasters that demanded the island's complete evacuation and the relocation of its entire population, livestock, and few remaining dragons. The chosen location sat on a large island in the Isles of Eriador, which was hitherto uninhabited despite its soil's fertility and excellent location for settlement.

The resulting move took roughly a year and a half. Its capital city was quickly rebuilt, an its people were located on a large, dormant volcanic island in the Isles of Eriador. The population of Imarru-Lugal emerged relatively unscathed, as did most of the Askerr loyal to the Prince. The population outside the capital, however, experienced extreme loss of life, and few that had risen amid the killing spree survived to see themselves evacuated off their old burning rocks. The new island, possessing a similar topography with its many lakes, ravines, and rivers, was a match made in heaven for settler and native alike, and they rebuilt swiftly on the new island. The more traditionally minded Askerr retreated into the deep, inaccessible areas of the island's caldera region to resume their ancient customs -- which they could more fully indulge in whenever sent abroad by their new Emperor. The deep interior was given to them as a reservation, with visits by tourists strictly forbidden (and solely at their own risk of being dumped into a cooking pot). The island's fertility and varied terrain allowed the Askerr people to gradually recover their prosperity, despite the loss of life and sudden relocation so far from home.

In the immediate aftermath of the Disaster (as these events came to be locally known), the Imperial Federation quickly came to assert a greater degree of control over their strategic territory in the middle of the Sunfire Sea. Long uninhabited, the island's new location in the Isles of Eriador proved a double-edged sword. While the island's government lost much of its autonomy to the government at Gondolin and the neighboring Eriadoran capital at Arkadi'os, that very proximity brought prosperity to the island after it recovered from its disaster. However, the Prince lost much of his power to the Ruling Council, and was also subject to a so-called "emergency council" consisting of representatives from neighboring Al Hamra as well as the Imperial Government, along with Askerr chieftains who were customarily unrepresented in such affairs. On the other hand, the Imperial Federation now needed to deal with the recurrent problem of cannibals freshly located in their midst. Thankfully, however, they tended to keep to themselves. The only exceptions were some tribesmen picking off some random tourist that ignored the plethora of warning signs telling them to KEEP OUT because they were in DANGEROUS TERRITORY.

Economy

Foreign Trade

Military Services

Thanks to the very high amount of political and military autonomy enjoyed by the island, House Tepesh has been able to raise mercenaries of its own among its military ranks to gain experience abroad. While the policy under Eru Tepesh I was to merely contain the natives, his eldest son and successor in Eru Tepesh II saw fit to harness the considerable fighting spirit of the island's large native population for more constructive purposes. Since Eru II's ascension as ruler of Dromosker (r. 1702 AN - 1730 AN), he instituted a military policy that employed a corps of Hexarchian officers and Dromosker natives from trusted tribes (including Askerr) as a forward-deployed force, constantly employing its forces to retain a cadre of highly experienced officers while reinforcing their dominance over the island and its native peoples (which still outnumber the so-called Outlanders by several times). This policy continued under the (self-declared) ascension of Eru III as Prince of Dromosker Island in 1730 AN.

In the early years of House Tepesh rule, the most-honored natives are usually rewarded with mana gained from the wholesale destruction of regional pirates, and placement on such expeditions is still considered the source of great honor by individual warriors and the tribes which send them. This partly engineered cultural facet, combined with the extent of the island's autonomy since 1720 AN, allowed Eru Tepesh II to send a fully armed regiment of Dromosker merceneries to work for the Benacian Union in a bid to bring in additional income to the island, on condition the regiment see consistent (if light) action and access to proper rewards for both its Hexarchian officer corps and their Dromosker subordinates. (Rumor also held that the central government accepted this arrangement when the offer was sweetened by the addition of certain exotic animals to the menagerie of death at Ereshkigal Forest.)

This policy continued under the Principality, and the Tepesh family was allowed to be the guarantor of Askerr mercenaries serving under Imperial Federation operations during such events as the Corum War and in policing the far places of the world. After the 1750's, mixed units consisting of Askerr warriors and Dromosker settlers (as they now called themselves) were a common sight, especially among more disciplined companies assigned more sensitive missions.

Interior Trade

Trade does happen between House Tepesh and the local rulers, who have come to respect the lord of House Tepesh, (always reigning under the name "Eru"), as the true master of Dromosker island with a quasi-religious status as undisputed lord of the island and all who live on it. From 1725 AN, the Tepesh family cemented its dominance over the island, allowing for naval and economic development along much of the island's shoreline. Since the declaration of the Principality in 1730 AN, the growing peace in the island's interior has allowed industry to develop outside of the capital, and the resulting infrastructure and mass-produced items have encouraged a more sedentary lifestyle among the less warlike of the native tribes. With the firmer establishment of local rule and tighter control of the island, an industrial economy has come to complement the agrarian economy the natives employ (outside of cannibalistic purposes). The deep interior of the island saw disruptions with the wane of The Hexarchy during the ensuring decades, but was restored to normal operations after the relocation under Imperial Federation assistance.

Mana Rights

On special occasions, the most loyal of the local cannibal chiefs are given mana by their magnanimous masters in the form of some hapless prisoner convicted of an especially severe crime, as the central government of the Hexarchy cannot directly pass the death penalty on prisoners. During the long period of Hexarchy rule from 1690 AN to 1755 AN, this prohibition extended to a great degree to the Dromosker Island government. House Tepesh was therefore obliged to follow this law while still exercising its own brutish brand of justice on the island's deep interior. The loophole with the Askerr is much the same as the one used with the Hexarchy mainland's practice of passing capital punishment by sending prisoners into exile directly to Ereshkigal Forest, on the mainland.

As such, an aspect of the island's economy now involves the purchasing of mana by more wealthy tribes. Since the Askerr War, natives are no longer allowed to "steal mana" with impunity (aka murdering people without the permission of House Tepesh) lest the offender be subject to being cannibalized, or worse, thrown to the dragons. However, there is a workaround for the many native tribes that still participate in cannibalistic rituals. The natives bid for rights to mana replenishments by offering part of their industrial produce and precious items over a set period of time. When it comes time for condemned criminals to be sent to the tribes, tribute is delivered to the Lord of Dromosker and the natives gain access to the condemned. In those cases where victims are lacking, the natives are instead granted more lenient rights during recruiting efforts for pirate-hunting expeditions sanctioned by the Tepesh government, with some being granted guaranteed places in the outgoing regiments for their finest, most experienced warriors.

This arrangement has resulted in law and order being upheld throughout the island, mostly through self-enforcement. Native policy eventually changed to favoring the bidding system to keep the peace, and tribes engaged in stealing mana were harshly punished by their peers, before they went on to be punished again by the central government as part of punitive expeditions, in which the stolen mana was recovered and distributed several-fold to well-behaved factions that aided in law enforcement. It was thanks in great part to this arrangement that by 1718 AN that the islands were declared completely pacified by the Tepesh government in a report to the central government.

When the mana thefts came to a gradual end, the natives instead focused on aggressively cooperating with the government in its desire to venture into conflict zones, especially for pirate hunting expeditions. In these, the government would (ironically) be the one who was paid by the island's denizens for the honor of joining these expeditions, to the degree that bidding wars eventually took place over these as well, due to limited capacity for recruiting and controlling over-eager warriors. By 1723 AN, these expeditions were extremely profitable, forming a lynchpin of the island's now-booming interior economy. This continued in a more centrally managed fashion after the island's relocation in 1758 AN, being partly managed by the Imperial Federation instead of just locally.