Norsmandy
| Norsmandy | |
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| Subdivision type: | Canton |
| Capital: | Bajoccas |
| Population: | 650,003 |
| Largest Cities: | Bajoccas |
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| Local Leadership Title: | Deputy |
| Local Government: | Grand Council |
| Current leader: | Beck David Ford |
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| Local language: | Lac Glaceian (official) |
| Local Religion: | The Alpine Temple |
Norsmandy, also called the Isles of Norsmandy, is a canton of the Grand Duchy of Lac Glacei. It is the only completely-maritime canton within the Grand Duchy and also one of the smallest. The islands, consisting of (clockwise, from west to east) Bajoccas, Jarnia and Magus, are sparsely populated and lie along the Strait of Pearls.
History
Originally a province of Arminy, Norsmandy was first settled by Crandish migrants moving eastward from the heartland of Anglien. The moniker of Norsman is attributed to Storish settlements in the area referring to the new arrivals, who hailed from further north than Stormark's homeland in Lyrica. The Norsmen were sea raiders and pirates who raided many Storish settlements along the Crandish coast, ranging from the Summer Isles in the far north, southward along the Strait of Pearls. They founded or conquered numerous villages, including Jorvik and Deorby, but their primary settlement was among the isles of Norsmandy. In its early days, Bajoccas was one of the largest settlements along the Strait of Pearls, and a major port for pirates conducting raids north and south.
Raids against Stormark were generally tolerated and secretly encouraged by Arminy, thus there was little to no conflict between the Norsmen and their Crandish lords. As a result, Norsmandy prospered and its people spread far and wide. Their power reached its height when Arminy collapsed and the Norsmen and their kin formed the Anglo-Saxon Commonwealth. While the commonwealth survived for about a century, it suffered without the logistical support of the vast Arminian state and soon went into decline. People began to migrate to more lucrative regions, and the population began to dwindle. A further blow brought on by the Crab Plague (Vanic herpes) caused the final collapse of the commonwealth and most of the Arminian successor states. The area would not be resettled until centuries later when Gralus occupied the region. As a frontier region on the outskirts of Gralan lands, the area was generally used as an outpost and remained rural up until Lac Glacei's annexation of the islands.
