Querk

Rebuilt from the ground up

Citizens of this great Empire, now is the time to band together. Our colonies have faced great hardships, and if we do not work to save them, this age of prosperity we have enjoyed will surely come to an end. Ilysium has survived through the hard work of the colonists. Now, Iovia will only survive through our hard work.

— Emperor Avisong II

The Island

Pre-Storm

Post-Storm

Geography

Querk was forested and very hilly. Some of the hills had been flattened to make room for farms, but more of them used a tiered system that did not need much terraforming.

Querk is incredibly flat. It slopes very gradually towards the center, to make sure no water is lost, but otherwise has no hills or divets in the land.

Flora and Fauna

Querk's forests initially contained a large variety of plants and a small number of species of birds. Most details have been lost, but we do know that the Auiantum native to Querk possesed feathers with a deep green shine.

Querk's 'forests' are completely artificial, and function more as farming implements instead of a wild forest. Quercus trees make up almost every tree in the forests, as they hold the most water, and there are no birds to be found.

History

Early Colony

310 - circa 1300 CA
Querk was settled early in the Colonial era. It was named Iovia, but this document will use its current name for simplicity. It, like Mimsam to the north, was on the edge of the Dominion of Natura, and served as a staging ground for colonizations further east. By the time Ilysium's farms had started failing, Querk was well established as a farming colony. Its forests were mostly depleted from the construction of the town and other colonies, but not so much that they would never recover.

Trade Routes and Religion

Circa 1300 CA - 302 SA
After Sayles was settled, the colonies of Mimsam and Querk vied for the attention of the traders brining valuable resources back to Ilysium. Slowly, Mimsam won out, and became the more prosperous of the two islands. This culminated in the rise of the worship of the Fullblooded, whose main temple was constructed on Mimsam. Querk was overlooked by both traders and worshippers, but when this worship caused the Glesseal Revolutionary war, this benefitted Querk greatly. Trade switched to pass through Querk instead, as loyal citizens wanted nothing to do with the treasonous colony.

Breadbasket of the East

303 CA - 785 IA
Several things happened all at once that caused a shift in Querk's focus. Within a hundred years of the Glesseal War, not only had the Flameblood Bouyancy Pod been developed, but the Trade Union had been founded. This meant that trade was no longer a viable way for Querk to provide the Empire with resources, and so they slowly switched back to their original purpose: farming. The soil of Querk had barely been used due to its trading focus, and now earthblood and waterblood technology meant that the fairly medium-sized island could provide copious amounts of food for the more barren colonies further east.

The Great Storm

785 - 803 IA
This natural disaster stripped Querk completely bare. The only things left were those carved into the bedrock, and even the soil on top of the colony was ripped clean off. Unless the colony could repair the damage, there was nothing they could provide for the Empire any more, and they were facing becoming a slave colony. However, the food they had provided was too vital to the Empire, and so they spent a very large amount of effort carefully rebuilding the farms of Querk. During this repair period, there was a food shortage as the other farming colonies struggled to make up for the loss.

Revolution

804 IA - 1 RA
Querk was highly contested during the Revolution, with the very first battle being fought over its farms. Revolutionary sentiment was not very common on Querk, likely due to the fact that the Empire had kept them from being a slave colony. However, the farms were far more vital to the Trade Union. Several Clans rushed to claim it for themselves, and were beaten back by the more more coordinated 2nd Fleet of the Imperial Navy. After the 2nd Fleet's defeat at the Steel Sentinel's Defense, Querk was captured for the Trade Union, and the Empire was not able to recover it before the armastice was signed.

General Information

Founding Date: 134th Zenith, 310 CA
Population: 1,933
Part of: The Trade Union
Owned by:

• Silent Forest (26%)
• Sapshapers (19%)
• Greenthorns (16%)

Originally Named: Iovia
Location Under: Dominion of Natura

Ownership

Like all of the Free Worlds, the town is not owned by any one individual, but instead is owned by the various Clans. Like with Mimsam, ownership of Querk is too important for a monopoly, or ever for a Major Clan. Instead, the three most prominent clans must work together to govern and run the settlement.

Name

When freed of the Empire, all the former colonies chose a new name for themselves. There was a lot of debate over what Querk's new name should be, especially because the large pro-Imperial sentiment in the town wanted to keep the old name of Iovia. In the end, the name Querk was chosen, based on the Quercus forests the Empire had given the island.

It is almost impossible to think about the alternative. Had the Empire not repaired Querk, they certainly would have joined in the Revolution, but the food shortages would have continued, and the Free Worlds would likely not have been able to sustain themselves long-term. The situation would be drastically different.

— Cania Leon, Free Worlds historian

Pro-Empire

Mirroring the Imperial colony of Atlipopan, the people of Querk would still, even after a generation, prefer to be part of the Empire. Trade Union forces, as well as several independant military Clans, make sure that the Empire does not try and steal the vital farms from the Trade Union. Thankfully, unlike Atlipopan, dissenters are not killed, vanished, or jailed.

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