History of Mistral

Mistral's first inhabitants found shelter from the Grimm in the high cliffs, and from there came to build towns and cities along the walls. The population grew and began to expand its territory by utilizing the land.

Around eighty years ago, a massive ten-year conflict known as the Great War came to an end. In this war, Mistral allied with Mantle against Vale and Vacuo. Prior to the beginning of this war, Mistral settled a large territory in Anima and established an alliance with Mantle. The two traded frequently, and Mantle taught them how to form settlements in Anima's snowy northern region. One prominent north coast city that takes elements from Atlas and Mistral is Argus which was created at the point where they first started trading with each other.

After an incident with the Grimm, Mantle came to believe that, if it controlled its citizens' emotions through the abolishment of the arts and self-expression, it would be safer from Grimm. Despite its strong artistic culture, Mistral followed suit so as not to lose the alliance. However, Mistral only placed the ban in the outer territories, allowing the central powers to continue living as they pleased. This contributed to the list of things Vale disliked about the two allied Kingdoms, among which was the treatment of their own citizens, their use of slavery and their insistence that their way of life was what was best for everyone.

Eventually, Mistral and Vale both set their sights on settling the small islands and peninsulas on the east coast of Sanus. Vale's king decided to share the land with Mistral's settlers, despite the cries of his people. However, a riot broke out between two bands of settlers, which devolved into the first battle of the Great War. Due to their alliance, Mantle quickly came to Mistral's aid, and together, they fought Vale on both Sanus and Anima soil. Having established a presence in Vacuo, the two allied Kingdoms were able to keep Vacuo out of the conflict, and some time into the war, they began pressuring the desert Kingdom to join the war on their side. Fearing that they would conquer Vacuo, should Vale fall, the citizens of Vacuo pushed Mistral and Mantle out of their territory and allied themselves with Vale.

During the war, Grimm attacks increased worldwide, and as a result, Mistral lost many of its settlements to the creatures, some of which were never reclaimed.

The Great War finally came to an end with the deadliest battle in the war's history. Mistral and Mantle attempted to take Vacuo's Dust mines to cut off their enemy's supply. There, they were met with the King of Vale personally leading his army alongside Vacuo. It is said that he laid waste to countless men, but historians claim that this feat was aided by the unusually violent weather and Mantle's inexperience in desert combat.

With the war over, the leaders of the four Kingdoms gathered on neutral ground on Vytal to form a treaty and plan the future of Remnant. There, the four Kingdoms' governments were restructured, their territories were redistributed, slavery was abolished, the tradition of the Vytal Festival was begun and the King of Vale founded the four Huntsman Academies.

Shortly after the Great War, Maria Calavera rose to notoriety under the alias of the Grimm Reaper, operating in the region of Mistral. The Grimm Reaper would ascend to the status of a legendary Huntress, inspiring many others Huntsmen, such as Qrow Branwen. However, the Huntress disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving many to wonder what her fate was.

At some point, Leonardo Lionheart became the Headmaster of Haven Academy at the request of Ozpin, due to Mistral being one of the most discriminatory Kingdoms towards the Faunus and wanted his role to help reduce that hatred.

Around 10 years ago, rich nobles that were sick of how the Mistral council did things left the main city and made their own settlements. They made the town's of Oniyuri and Kuroyuri with people like Li Ren and An Ren supporting the efforts.

A majorly undocumented matter is the rampant formations of criminal organizations, militia groups, and terrorist organizations that seem to run rampant without opposition with the government of Mistral. Many groups like the Spiders, The Hearth, and probably the most notorious group, the White Fang. These groups are able to thrive in the vast expanse of Mistral's land, but most groups achieve nothing more than local notoriety and quick deaths if they did not ally themselves with one of the larger factions or have a powerful and resourceful patron willing to fund their operations, so they are mostly left to fend on their own without any interruption from Mistral's or other kingdoms forces.