Hasbachland
Hasbachland is a large nation in the northeast of Fennengath. It is north of Dunwichia and Durtalbachland, northeast of Erinia, and east of Yangjuguk.
Throughout much of Fennengathian history Hasbachland has been somewhat isolated, due solely to the dense forests that cover most of the country. The nation doesn't have heavily guarded borders, nor are there many legal restrictions on who can and cannot enter the country. However, most populated cities and towns, including the capital Hasenstall, are on the coast, while the heavily wooded interior is has little infrastructure and is populated sparsely. Because of the lack of good roads leading from the borders to the populated areas, most outsiders sail to the coastal cities unless they are hiding from something.
The interior forests are full streams, creeks, natural springs, rock formations, and wildlife, both flora and fauna, mundane and magical, though it isn’t uncommon to find a hermit's hut or small farmsteads carved out of clearings. Hasbachland is an easy place to disappear for those less social than the folks who look for refuge in Yangjuguk but who are still looking to escape their pasts.
Hasenstall, the capital city, has a population of 15,000 people. It sits on the Meerunhold, a bay deeper and colder than Yangjuguk's Goray Bay. Many small merchant vessels sail through the Meerunhold, connecting the other coastal towns to Hasenstall, and connecting Hasenstall to the rest of the continent.
Demographics
Dwarf: 4%
Elf: 7%
Gnome: 9%
Human: 47%
Mixed Race: 23%
The remaining 10% are mostly made up of Birdfolk, Firbolg, Halfling, Satyr, Tabaxi, Tiefling, and Triton. Most Halflings and Satyrs live in the valleys along the borders of Yangjuguk, while most Tieflings live in Hasenstall. Most of the recorded Triton population also lives in Hasenstall or other coastal towns.
Government
Hasbachland has a form of democracy. Every citizen gets a vote, but the lines between who is and isn’t a citizen of Hasbachland are blurred, and the census is not always accurate. Government appointed officials called Whallers are sent from Hasenstall to venture out to the various towns, villages, remote farms, and outlander huts in the forest to collect census information, votes, and taxes, though they often skip over areas they deem too dangerous.
The title that the leader of Hasbachland takes while they rule the nation is Regent, a tradition dating back to the fall of the Hasbach Kingdom at the end of the First Age. Each Regent rules for seven years, also a tradition related to the Hase Dynasty's fall, unless they die or step down prematurely. No Regent may run for a consecutive term, though some have returned many years later to run again. Anyone of Hasbach birth may run for the position of Regent, though only those of the aristocracy or the merchant class have ever won. Most Regents have been able to trace their lineage back to the Hase royal family.
Industry & Trade
Hasbachland provides itself with much of the food it needs, apart from grain traded from Yangjuguk and some luxury goods from Dunwichia. Towns of substantial size are usually fed by farmsteads dotting the forest nearby that bring meat, dairy, eggs, and forraged goods to market.
They export mostly foraged and preserved foods that aren’t easily cultivated, magical or medicinal ingredients, dyes, honey, furs, and hides.
History
Hasbachland was founded by people of various cultures, and many of Fennengath’s original population who did not find their way to Durtalbachland eventually fled to the Hasbach forests during the beginning of the First Age. Those new to the continent who landed in Hasbachland had great respect for those able to survive the Hasbach forests, and heeded their words during the formation of the nation.
During the First Age, the Hase family became the royal family of Hasbachland. Larysa Hase, the leader of Hasenstall, named for her grandparents who founded the city, became the first Queen of Hasbachland when she sent the first Whallers out into the forested country to seek the unification of Hasbachland’s many regions into one nation. Her son Sascha Hase succeeded her, establishing the Hase Dynasty and the Hasbach Kingdom on the Fennengathian political stage.
Nearly three hundred years later, as the First Age was coming to an end, the Hase Dynasty fell, leaving the Hasbach Kingdom in disarray for several years until a democracy was established as the Hasbach Republic. When the last King of the Hase Dynasty, King Leon II, died, his son and heir, Prince Ruslan, was less than a year old. The king’s wife, mother, younger brother, and two illegitimate twin children fought over who should rule the country until the infant prince came of age. They decided to put it to a vote, sending Whallers out into the countryside to collect the people’s opinions.
The people sided with the king’s wife, Iveta de Rege, and she sat the throne as Regent until her son was seven years old, at which time the boy’s uncle killed both the Queen Regent and young Prince Ruslan. Leon II’s mother, Queen Dowager Lenore, had her only living son arrested, and let the people of the city vote on his fate. She ruled the country for seven more years as Regent before dying of natural causes and passing the throne on to her two illegitimate grandchildren, Simon and Sofiya Sobol. Instead of fighting each other, the twins let the people vote which one of them would rule. Simon won, though he often asked for Sofiya’s council. While those seven years were peaceful and fruitful, the twins developed a distaste for the stress that came with the throne. They stepped away from government after seven years and let the role of Regent be forever decided upon by the people of Hasbachland. Several Regents since have been able to trace their families back to the Sobol twins or King Leon II’s sisters and aunts.
Geography
The border between Hasbachland and Yangjuguk is an ancient and weathered mountain range made of low, rolling peaks and wide, easily passible valleys of fertile farmland.
The border with Dunwichia sits along the Vroli River and Mumazaq Flux, a large estuary that rifts the Dunwichian desert apart from the rest of the continent.
The Vroli's source, the inland freshwater Aardeg Sea, is the border between Durtalbachland and Hasbachland.
Founding Date
The Tempest
Type
National Territory
Population
Approximately 1,000,000
Inhabitant Demonym
Hasbach
Location under
Included Locations
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