Lasthold
History and Government
Lasthold is one of Eashavar's newer nations, arising in the late Age of War. It was the location where humans from the southern Kcalsbury Continent, who had fled the West March Wars, could finally settle in peace, as the peoples of Farholm and Norholm held the line, without need for the vast expanse of the Arberian desert to be crossed. It is also a nation which boasts a significant population of Arberians, including Desert Elves.From its beginning, Lasthold was a nation beset by ills. The people who settled here found it to have fewer resources than their southern compatriots had in their lands, and farming was near-impossible, as the dirt was hard and clumpy, and intermixed with arid sand. To make matters worse, predecessors to the The Crimson Aphorites had their influence mixed into the equation, and often came into conflict with various other religious sects, especially those that worshipped Ah'yelan. For the most part, Lasthold became organized into various local communities, which were often destitute and unable to subsist, and frequent targets for the Horse-Lords' raids. Only aid from the Border Kingdoms, from the The Protectorate-Commonwealth (until The War for Imperial Withdrawal), and from Norholm and Arberia kept the people who lived here afloat, though such aid was always shaky, and could waver at the worst of moments.
Centralization came to Lasthold in the Age of Enlightenment, when the nation first began to consider itself an independent entity. This was spurred by foreign intervention as much as a drive for streamlining industry, as those who had long aided its people began to exert power over their pseudo-subjects. The Crimson Aphorites, for instance, established official chapters within the nation's borders, while the Shavar of Arberia acted in secret, and even the TSS-GOR held a presence, seeking an ally near to Trinea for the Tieflings to rely on. The establishment of a central council to govern Lasthold's communities came as a direct result of Trinean influence, and permited more formal arrangements for Lasthold upon the world stage, resolving its food crises and beginning to stabilize its economics. Lasthold was still destitute - but trade of gemstones and fishing started to bring it afloat.
It also brought great political crises. The central council, known as the Council Congress, was an institution with firmly entrenched factional lines, with neighboring nations lobbying politicians, and internal struggles arising over this state of affairs. The Congress soon split into two factions: the Internationalists, largely bought by foreign powers, and the Isolationists, who viewed destitution preferable to subservience, and thought that the nation could continue its upward progress without outside aide. The Internationalists, by design, bickered amongst each other, but so did the Isolationists, among whom three trends formed: the Nationalists, the Unionists, and the Equalists. The Nationalists were hard-liners who believed in total isolation, militarization, and self-subsistence; that no nations abroad could be trusted by such a fledgeling state; and that only growth of power could respectably bring Lasthold to the global stage. Against them stood the Unionists, who believed that brother-nations such as Norholm and Farholm could be trusted, and that Lasthold had a duty to its citizens' well-being first and foremost, and lastly the Equalists, who were open to foreign involvement so long as laws were codified to prevent lobbying within the politics of the state.
These factions (and sub-factions) were constantly fighting, except for periods where a coalition could be met, which were the only times any progress in lawmaking was made. The bickering came to an end with The Crestfall Dominion, when Rodger Crestfall, Speaker of the Council Congress for four years prior at the head of an Isolationist coalition, secured absolute control of the nation. He immediately began a purge of Internationalist congressmen, as well as foreign institutions operating within Lasthold's borders, and completely dissolved the existing military, exiling all officers and generals. Such a power-grab sounds impressively difficult, but the Isolationists had a super-majority within the congress, and opinion within Lasthold had long turned against foreign actors. Most of the soldiers, as well as the guardsmen, aided by the people, were on Crestfall's side, and reprimands and threats on behalf of scorned neighbors never followed through.
With Crestfall in control, and Lasthold once again on its own, material conditions swiftly began to go downhill. The worst aspects of destitution returned to the nation, with food again becoming scarce, except for coastal villages where fishing was possible. Speaker Crestfall alleviated some of this through trade treaties with Farholm and Norholm, with whom the nation still had relatively good relations, and where Lasthold's gemstones were held in high regard for trade abroad. He also began an effort to dramatically expand fishing operations, even treading into Arberian waters. For a time, the nation enjoyed a unique prosperity, which was only interrupted when Crestfall diverted funds from food supplies to a magical university, a half-decade later.
In the time since then, Lasthold has undergone extreme changes. Crestfall's successors continued to empower the role of Speaker and to weaken the Council Congress, and they sought to centralize the nation within Telvea, a carefully-constructed capital where upwards of half the nation now lives in or around. They also continued in his obsession with magic - which is entirely unbridled in Lasthold, where even arcane or psionic spells are permitted with license. In some ways, this obsession with magic has transformed the nation positively: the previously-unfarmable soil has become fertile as a product of the Warp, and other industries thrive due to the swirling winds of magic within Lasthold's borders. The negative aspects, however, are resounding: much of the nation is in a state of destruction, except for the lands around Telvea itself, where a massive torrent of radiation is kept swirling by the city's docks, bound by the will of the city's Warp-Cult. The broader expanses of battered land in Lasthold have come to be known as the Spelling Sands" are common.
Perhaps most worrying to outsiders, however, is the nation's most recent turn. Speaker Archibald Banrheim, a staunch patriot aligned with the Nationalists, has succesfully erected a cult of personality about his character, as well as that of his predecessors, and holds an almost-religious reverance among the populace. His policies have led to the state cutting off all ties, even with the likes of Farholm and Norholm, and decades ago he succeeded in constructing a wall that wraps around the country's borders, a clear demarcation of its lands. Behind Banrheim stands the military with a fanatic devotion, as he has declared himself the Grand-Protector - the leader of the armed forces - and has weaponized their powers against Equalists and Unionists alike. Banrheim even has the respect of the Warp-Cult, giving him full influence over all of the nation's remaining major institutions, and all of the power he could ever desire to have over his people.
Cities
Telvea
Telvea is the capital of Lasthold, and its only major city. It is one of the largest cities in the world, housing around a million people if its outskirts are included in its demographics. The city is an imposing one, with massive walls that are said to tower as high as mountains keeping it contained. Within its docks also lies a massive, swirling tempest of raw arcana, which the Warp-Cult maintains and whose "safety" it assures. Over half of the nation lives in Telvea, and most of the populace has (or, at least, pretends to have) a fanatical devotion to the Speaker-Grand-Protector, who watches over all.Geography
Much of Telvea is ravaged alternately by the spellwild and spellblight, both affects being caused by the winding of the Warp. As such, they are ever-changing, but wholly uninhabitable and dangerous to tread upon. The region around Telvea is the only place safe from the Warp's effects, thanks to the efforts of the Warp-Cult, which has tamed the loose arcana and cast it into the vortex in Telvea. Still, even this region has been impacted by magic, and it seems extremely out-of-place given its adjacency to a literal desert. This region is highly fertile, flat, and even has sprouting forests of vibrant colors that are reminiscent of Faenor itself. Here, farms growing all manner of fragrant and eye-catching crops can be found, the likes of which cannot be seen anywhere else around the world.Resources
The natural resources of Lasthold remain scarce today, as they always have. Its primary export is gemstones and glass, though such exports have been dramatically reduced ever since Crestfall's ascent, and especially since Banrheim's increased pushes for isolation. Its imports are equally scarce due to this doctrine, and due to its increasing ability to be a self-subsistent state. Aside from the fishing industry, which feeds much of Telvea, Lasthold has begun "retaking" land through the uses of magic, making soil appropriate for farming. Farms have begun to sprawl, as a result, in the areas around Telvea, producing all manner of exotic and mutated crops.Ethnicities
The closest to what could be considered the natives of Lasthold are the Uzbari, the Horse-Lords of The Horse-Lord Lands, to which Lasthold once belonged. Most of its modern inhabitants stem from Gultic tribes, as well as Sygultaz and Ziva-Adaxa, Ziva-Cadir, or Ziva-Phrastrana.Diplomacy
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"The Battered Bastion"
Adjectives: Lastholder
National Animal: Devanian Bolter
National Instrument: Harmonium
Ethnicities: Warpers (Telvea), Scrappers (elsewhere)
Languages: Human Common (Holm Gultic)
Capital: Telvea
Ruler: Speaker-Grand-Protector Archibald Banrheim
Government: Personality Cult
Hallmarks: Police state, unrestricted magic, destitution, a colloquial insult ("if you don't like it here, go to Lasthold!")
Characteristics: Cautious, restrained, cooperative with authorities, academic
National Animal: Devanian Bolter
National Instrument: Harmonium
Ethnicities: Warpers (Telvea), Scrappers (elsewhere)
Languages: Human Common (Holm Gultic)
Capital: Telvea
Ruler: Speaker-Grand-Protector Archibald Banrheim
Government: Personality Cult
Hallmarks: Police state, unrestricted magic, destitution, a colloquial insult ("if you don't like it here, go to Lasthold!")
Characteristics: Cautious, restrained, cooperative with authorities, academic