Ostaria
The isle of Ostaria is, to those on the outside, a chaotic hellhole of backstabbing and murder rather like an anthill turning on itself over and over again until the end of time. For the Ostarians, though, the island is a verdant paradise of unparalleled opportunity.
Due to the island’s location in the world, they found themselves in pole position to control the sea trade of the Five Realms and did exactly that, with ruthless efficiency. Over several generations they made sure that they were the ones that everyone had to depend on for the finer things in life. Also the basic things in life, and most things in between.
Living up to the example set by their forefathers, Ostarian society as a whole have no compunctions about using murder, blackmail, fraud or even minor genocide to achieve their goals. If anything, they’re worryingly enthusiastic about the idea as part of the Great Game the merchant families play among themselves.
Blood and lineage are everything to these people, functionally replacing any religious belief the nation might once have held, and can be seen reflected in the importance they put on their naming conventions.
Structure
Ostaria is divided into twelve city states, each ruled over by a council of merchant guilds and independent traders and led by a family house, some major and some minor. These city states are then united under the Grand Duke as a merchant republic.
It is worth noting that who those houses, dukes and other nobles may be is something that is forever in flux as the various and sundry plots and schemes of the other houses will often cause rapid turnover in positions of power, or complete power vacuums waiting to be filled in by any soul enterprising, or foolish, enough to try.
Culture
The culture of Ostaria is very much based on the ties of family and the allure of financial power, and it can often be unclear which one is more important to the average Ostarian. What is certain, though, is that without the backing of one of the Houses of Ostaria, it is impossible to amass even the most minor financial power, so deeply are they entrenched in all aspects of society.
There are two things that tend to be most apparent to an outsider visiting the Republic, and those are the naming conventions of the Ostarian people and the way they organise a family. Firstly, their naming conventions.
Not unlike the people of Vemar, naming conventions in Ostaria exist to tell anyone that may be paying attention exactly what they need to know about a person - who one of their parents was, which House they belong to and which town or city they call home. They are as follows:
- For a male - [given name] af [father’s name] [family name] va [city/town name]
- For a female - [name] mei [mother’s name] [family name] va [city/town name]
History
Originally, Ostaria was settled by migrants from Nordrland generations before the formation of Vemar, not unlike Ladren. They liked that the island had everything their old island had to offer, only more of it and with considerably better weather and ability to farm and grow crops and made it their own.
Many wars between the fledgling city states would follow over the years, before the island settled down into a land of petty kings ruling over one or two settlements. In time, House Abolli rose to prominence in Ostaria and decided that enough was enough. Using gold and silver stockpiled from trade with the young nation of Ladren they were able to buy the services of several mercenary companies and swept aside the forces of the other petty kings to unite the island under one city and one Grand Duke.
Over time and thanks to their nautical prowess, the people of this small island turned their disadvantages into their greatest strengths and now the entire world, essentially, is reliant on Ostaria for the wealth of trade they provide.
Demography and Population
Due to the wide ranging reach and appeal of the nation, the population of Ostaria is made up of people from all of the Realms, squashed together in a roiling mass of living beings. The slums of the major cities are packed to breaking point, overcrowded in the extreme, and hives of all kinds of villainy. Meanwhile, the great and good live in their villas outside of the city, looking down on the masses while being insulated by their money.
Population centres tend to be, understandably, where most people live as there is always money to be made in these towns and cities. As a result many of the small farming communities, or other such communities, have been long since abandoned as those living there have moved to the cities looking for better employment or just to make some money. This has left the countryside of the interior scatted with ghost towns and abandoned logging camps and mines, giving the place a distinctly uneasy feel.
As a result, there are a large number of bandit clans that live in the hills and forests of the interior and ironically some of the largest populations centres outside of the cities and towns are actually technically abandoned mines that these criminal groups have made their headquarters and bases of operations.
Military
Simply put, Ostaria has no real military of its own because they have long since had any need for one. While each of the Great Houses and Minor Houses does maintain a personal guard of sorts, these are basically just glorified militias and, functionally, serve a ceremonial role despite their training. Due to the vast wealth of the nation in general and the ruling families in particular, when Ostaria feels pressed to military action they tend to hire mercenaries to do their fighting for them and, in fact, keep several mercenary companies on retainer for entirely this reason.
For the most part, these guards are used to nominally keep the roads of the interior safe from the various bandit clans that prey on domestic trade, but the sad reality is that a worrying proportion of these men and women are taking money from those same clans to give them advance notice of the best caravans to rob.
There has been no need to Ostaria to be involved in any war directly - whether that be defensive or offensive - for generations simply due to how reliant the other realms of the Five are on their trade. Any disruption to that trade is potentially devastating for these nations, and generally speaking anyone that seeks to conquer Ostaria would be strongly opposed by the others in what is the strongest display of soft power the world has ever seen.
Religion
There is no unified religion, really, in Ostaria due to the wide and varied nature of the people that live there. For native Ostarians, they follow a form of ancestor worship - known as L'antnati - centred around personal shrines kept in the home, lighting incense and leaving out small offerings of food in front of statues that represent their ancestors. It is also common practice to pour an extra glass of wine at meals that remains untouched for their ancestors to partake in.
Foreign Relations
Relations with the other nations of the Five are distinctly in the favour of Ostaria due to their sheer trading power. This does not mean that they cannot have friendly relations with these nations, though - notably, their relationship with Astril could be described in those terms. The others, though, know that they rely on Ostaria far more than they would like but are powerless to do anything about it.
For Ladren, for example, trade with Ostaria is the only way they can get their hands on Astrilese steel, iron and weaponry - things that are widely regarded as the best in the world and that Ladren's military need to function, let alone what their gold and silver smiths produce.
Motrein, too, feels the soft power of Ostaria through its food supply. While Zara produces a vast amount of food crops for the empire - and is growing every year - the majority of the grain and other food that is consumed in Motrein itself is bought from Ostarian traders who have shipped it from Astril or Ladren.
Vemar have a more neutral stance with Ostaria, and likewise Ostaria with them, as the Vemar don't actually really need Ostaria. While they absolutely will trade with them on a clan by clan basis, mostly the Vemar simply take what they want from whoever has it at the time. If they need weapons or grain, they raid South into Astril. If they want gold or jewels, they can raid Ostarian trade ships. For their part, they view Ostaria in a positive light due to their seamanship but ultimately view them as weak due to their reliance on mercenary companies. Ostarians, meanwhile, view them as an irritating that can reasonably be ignored as the value of trade that escapes their clutches is monumental, and what doesn't is simply the cost of doing business.
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Capital
Demonym
Ostarian
Leader Title
Head of State
Head of Government
Government System
Plutocracy
Power Structure
Thalassocracy
Economic System
Market economy
Legislative Body
Judicial Body
Official State Religion
Subsidiary Organizations
Location
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
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