Dromosker Island

The Dromosker Island Territory is an island colony belonging to The Hexarchy that is situated in the Skerry Isles between the Captive Sea and the Sea of Storms. The island is known to be the home of tribes practicing anthropophagy, who are known as the Askerr of Dromosker Island. This practice, however, was greatly diminished following the natives' defeat at the hands of their new overlords in the Askerr War of 1690 AN. In times past, the 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 Askerr War with the natives over control over the island.

History

Occupation by Jingdao

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.

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.

Jing influences remain among subsets of natives to this day, and the worship of the Heavenly Light in the form of a cargo cult has been largely ignored by the island's new rulers.

Modern History

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 Hexarchial 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. The natives keep mostly to themselves, with the occasional dragon attack staged against those who have clearly forgotten what their rulers' wrath feels like. Trade does happen between House Tepesh and the local rulers, who have come to respect the lord of House Tepesh, now Eru Tepesh II, as the true master of Dromosker island. On occasion, the cannibals are given mana by their magnanimous masters in the form of some hapless prisoner convicted of a severe crime, as the Hexarchy itself cannot directly pass the death penalty on prisoners. The loophole with the Askerr is much the same as the one used with the mainland's practice of passing capital punishment by sending prisoners into exile directly to Ereshkigal Forest, on the mainland.

Due to the more quiet experience people now have within the environs of Imarru-Lugal, the island is now used as a proxy location for negotiations between the Hexarchy and faraway nations that aren't enamored with the mainland's diverse fauna and unique traditions. And, due to its far-off location from the mainland and the central government's lack of enthusiasm for a colonial empire, the island is usually left to its own devices, and as such local rule is extremely independent when it comes to internal affairs.