Estile
Island of Sweet Smoke
Estile is home to the Tobacco empires of the world. Many of the vast fields of the plant offer the world its staple economic output. The various tabacalera’s being the main job centers of the nation. Each company specializes in various different strains of the plants. Creating unique palets and mixtures.
The region is famous for its mild shade grown plants, their taste being well received by the citizens of Glaion. Whereas the denizens of Port De Renard are fans of the rich and heavy flavors of the Maduro process for Cigars and pipe smoke.
While Huron is a hotspot for a particular varietal called Corojo, its spicy and rich smoke appeals to the upper echelon of the Military as well as the Merchants of the city.
Geography
Eastern Half
This half of the Island is a rich tropical forest that is bordered by a mass of mills and small green mountains that call the center of the land home. The calm tropical seas that eddie as a cold southern current mixes with the warm current as it swings northward to the Bay of Swallows and back out along the Huronian coastline. This sea known as The Ythry is where many of the hurricanes form that batter the southern coastlines of both Huron and Galus. Though Estilie itself acts as a large block for these strong storms.
There are three distinct environments of the eastern side of the island.
- The Esti Jungle, which is home to many strange species not well known by many modern biologists. Though, there are rumors of darker things here. Monsters from a time forgotten, twisted, broken, and foolish to trifle with. This jungle has been home to a few of the human colonies for generations as the Island was first settled by distant ancestors of The Namoux.
- The Orchid forest, as the name suggests, this less densely packed jungle is home to many thousands of species of orchids. While not the only flower genus present here, there are also many different varieties of Bromeliads, Plumeria, and Passiflora, as well as the original environment to the predecessor of the Glowbell, called Cerulean Bells.
- There are also the coastal flats that ring the entire island. These are richly fertile lands as the consistent rhythm of storms washes up right next to the Orchid forest. This tends to dump massive quantities of mineral rich sands and decaying plant life.
Western Half
This half of the island holds much of the population, as they are far more protected from the Hurricane seasons due to the blockade of mountains. The island has a much more predictable environment here, and boasts much of the same climate as the mainland in this regard, that being a mediterranean coastal setting, without a winter.
There is not much to this half other than the rich soils from an extinct volcano that had deposited ash for a few hundred years. The westwardly winds of the southern equatorial zone had left the western half a vast grassland as the ash fell.
Ecosystem Cycles
There is an eb and flow to the island as the hurricanes come each Season of Waiting. Many of the human inhabitants migrate from the eastern half to the western half to wait out the storms as well as assist with the Tobacco production the western half is known for. With each Season of Life, the residents return to the eastern half and repair any damage done to their homes in quick succession.
The wildlife also follows this same eb and flow, though many of birds migrate to the Eastern shores of Galus and the bluffs on the southern coastal areas of Huron. The larger wildlife finds itself well suited to sequestering themselves away in the dense Esti Jungle, where the thick canopies spare them from the storms.
Natural Resources
The Esti Jungle is home to a rather restricted hardwood forestry industry. The jungles are held sacred by the island inhabitants, and thus only the sick and dead jungle trees are harvested. During the Annexation of the Island By Galus in the 900's, the Elder Farmers insisted on this practice not be stopped. They understood that to have an unrestricted harvesting of their forest would spell doom for the Orchid forest, thus this was one of the few pieces of the annexation that has held to this day.
The rich farmlands are a powerhouse in the economic sphere of the continent, to this date. Not one country has been able to produce more food, grain and cash crops than the island.
History
The History of the Island begins in the first few decades of theDawn of Truths. As the survivors of the calamity scattered throughout the world. One group of the Namoux had settled this island, not out of any intention. They rode a great wave from one of the tsunamis that racked the world at this time. The ship they crashed the shores of Estile on still exists. It is preserved in a cold water pocket just beyond the main City, Santa Cruz De Montique.
The massive metal clad ship has never been able to pulled from its watery grave, though many have tried to enter the ship by diving down to it. A few of the rune structures still glow with power and force anyone to stop from entering. It remains a matter of speculation as to how it ended up down there as many of the histories of the island are of an oral tradition.
In this time the inhabitants learned of the possibilities that the land provided them. They quickly settled the entire island over the course of a few generations, while no concrete date exists, it is safe to assume that happened during 500BHS(before hammer strike The Hammer fall) to 400BHS. During this period the inhabitants were able to cultivate many of the native plants into incredibly useful items of trade and commerce, as well as able to fulfill their needs and then some.
The Island remained largely uninterrupted as the world soldiered on around them. The first known accounts of the Council of Elder Farmers first appeared around 50BHS to 100. Where the council took hold in all three of the cities the island boasted as well as all the smaller settlements inside the jungle and mountains. These three main cities being the aforementioned Santa Cruz De Montique, Casa Del Tabk, and Moreoleo. The council had begun acting as a liaison to these three main settlements.
This was necessary as the three cities were not typically on equal terms. Though they all shared a plant in particular, that was held in the highest regards to the inhabitants. That plant being Tobacco. As their tradition holds, each head of household was required to maintain at least a small patch of the plant. This was used in many of their ceremonies, holidays, as well as just for enjoyment.
That being said, the Council was elected by each of the cities as the farmer with the largest farms of the plant. The issues that the islanders needed to sort out were as follows: Could this sacred plant be used casually as part of an everyday option? Was there a need to have a standing military in the wake of the recently established Gilion territory in the Bay of Swallows? Was there a need to have concrete boundaries between territories on the island?
The Council had sorted out the issues as requested from them by their cities, and brought forth the unified Estile in the year 93. This now unified entity had begun a much more prosperous expansion of their country. Opening trade with Gilion in the year 124, trade with Huron in the year 134, and the Bhthic Desert region in the year 201. More notably was the incredible influx of trade with Port De Renard in the year 621.
This had some unexpected consequences however. There was war between Huron and Glaion in the year 641. Where Glaion knowing that the island was a rich cornucopia of resources and tactile advantage, Galus pleaded their case, the Council to allow them to station a naval force on the northern shores between Santa Cruz De Montique and Moreoleo. They stated that they needed a safe haven to launch an attack on the Huronian forces that were slowly marching their way through their defenses.
The Council, in a move that was ill-advised, allowed them to do so. Glaion had prevailed in their flanking maneuver with the Huronian forces, eradicating their army from behind and to the south. However, when this conflict was over, the Galus forces didn't leave. They offered the people of Estile a choice, join the Galus kingdom. Or become part of the Galus kingdom by force.
The people rioted over this threat, many of the inhabitants pouring into the northern coast of the island as a vast angry mob. The Council however, was already there. Discussing more diplomatic options with the Galus forces, while the islanders began readying themselves for war. The outcome of the meeting was this, the Island would become an autonomous territory of the kingdom of Galus, be able to retain all their rights, and the existing government would continue to exist.
This Annexation by the Galus kingdom had eventually become a staple tactic to the nation. However, the Council of Elder Farmers were forced to pay an incredible sum to Galus. They knew they would not be able to stand a chance against the one: much larger naval force of the kingdom. Estile, while being an island, had only a large fleet of shipping vessels, with only a small coterie of warships to patrol the harbors. Two: The Galus military was nearly unparalleled in land invasions, the war with Huron had only started to become a losing battle after a plague had begun wiping out their armies. So the Council decided on a much more humiliating solution, though a much more survivable option.
In a magnanimous decision by the Council, they paid the sum themselves. They would not tax or reap the coin from their citizens, they funded the payment in full. This led to the population being so grateful to the Council, that it still exists to this day as the governing body of the territory.
Alternative Name(s)
Tabacalera, Isle of Flowers
Location under
Owner/Ruler
Owning Organization
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