Tok Bara

Tok Bara, officially the Overseas Crown Territory of Tok Bara, is a treaty port of Liotain on Zakiristan's northern coast.

### History

Tok Bara was founded in the late 1700s as the primary northern port of Zakiristan (matching Tok Zakir, the southern port and capital of Zakiristan). Although established by the government as a way to increase control over a lawless region, the city itself soon became a center for small-scale piracy. Local corsairs, equipped with small and innocent-looking boats, preyed primarily on fishermen, sealing ships, and coastal villages, sailing as far north as Kanqaamiut and ranging south to raid the coasts of Prem-Bol and Joseon. The Zakiri government eventually came to wink at the practice of piracy, so long as they got a reasonable cut from raids.

Naval patrols, largely by Joseon and secondarily by Aukustia, kept piracy from becoming a major problem until 1885, when the Kangwon War pitted Aukustia and Joseon against each other. With both of these navies fully-occupied (and economic realities in Zakiristan itself encouraging the practice), piracy rapidly grew out of control, tripling between 1885 and 1887, and doubling again between 1887 and 1890. Increased patrols by the navy of Prem-Bol kept the problem from expanding too far south, but antagonistic relations nearly resulted in war between Prem-Bol and Zakiristan.

By 1889, a group of eight successful pirate leaders, equipped with increasingly sophisticated arms captured or smuggled from abroad, organized as a "pirate republic" in Tok Bara. Although the Zakiri government made paltry attempts to redress the situation, it became increasingly obvious to foreign observers that Tok Bara was a problem beyond the government's control.

In 1890, Zakiri pirates seized a Liotainian-flagged sealing ship, the *Margarita*, participating in an Arctic survey. The expedition leader secured the *Margarita'*s release with a small ransom, but the Liotainians did not forget or forgive the attack. During the summer of 1891, the Royal Liotainian Navy's protected cruiser *Mituva* paid a formal visit to the port, using the opportunity to update the hydrographic charts of the harbour mouth and study the harbour defenses.

On the 3rd of May, 1892, a Liotainian squadron with three protected cruisers, three gunboats, and three transports with eight hundred troops used the cover of darkness and morning fog to approach Tok Bara and enter the sheltered anchorage. Resistance, both by shore batteries and Zakiri gunboats, was crushed; the Liotainian troops secured the town by evening after a cursory fight. The Occupation of Tok Bara followed, with the RLN using Tok Bara as a base for further anti-piracy campaigns over the next two years.

Political considerations thereafter resulted in the port remaining, somewhat permanently, in Liotainian hands. The Liotainian annexation of Kanqaamiut to the north made Tok Bara a useful basing location. As a result, in the 1895 Treaty of Tok Bara, the Liotainian government bought Tok Bara from Zakiristan for a rather paltry sum, adding it to their small chain of treaty ports.

### Government and Politics

As of 1895, Tok Bara is officially an Overseas Crown Territory. Unlike the other Liotainian treaty ports, Tok Bara does not possess local autonomy in local matters, although a plan to slowly phase in autonomy by 1918 has been adopted.

The monarch of Liotain serves as the Territory's official head-of-state. The Governor-General, who acts as the territorial head-of-government, is chosen by direct election (as due to Tok Bara's small size, the Governor-General essentially acts as a city mayor). The election of a Governor-General can be vetoed by the monarch or by a supermajority of the Liotainian parliament.

A unicameral Territorial Parliament is elected for purposes of setting municipal policy. As of 1907, Tok Bara is organized into five districts, each of which sends one Representative to the Territorial Parliament.

The Liotainian monarch also appoints a viceroy (or vicereine) to serve as the monarch's direct representative in the territory. This position is basically ceremonial, being bestowed to senior officials as a reward for a long career of public service. The viceroy's duties often resemble an ambassadorship in most respects, being accorded a seat on the Governor-General's executive council but having no binding power.

The Territorial Parliament also elects two representatives to the Liotainian Teismas (Parliament) in Neris.

* **Head of State / Monarch**: Queen Kotryna Urmana
* **Governor-General**: His Excellency Aibek Panosyan

### Geography and Landmarks

Tok Bara is built on a good natural harbour, with a sheltered bay. The ground is fairly rocky and mixed with peat bogs.

The Royal Liotainian Navy maintains a naval base at Tok Bara, which is the town's largest single employer. A wireless station (completed 1904) and a coal stockpile (10,000 tons) is available. The RLN took control of the damaged harbour fortifications and built a complex of barracks and storehouses, all interconnected by an indoor 600mm tramway.

One of the more noteworthy locations in Tok Bara is Kant Street, where Zakiri pirate crews usually celebrated and partied after successful raids. Kant Street was cleaned up during the early months of the Liotainian occupation and some of the more illegal establishments shuttered; but the street still retains a fairly rough reputation.

### Demographics

The majority of Tok Bara's inhabitants are ethnic Zakiri who continue to live in the town. Due to the improvements made in the town's infrastructure, they are more wealthy than Zakiri outside the municipal borders. A large majority practice traditional Zakiri shamanism.

### Economy

Due to the climate, most economic activity is seasonal, ranging between mid-March and October. Between November and March (sometimes as late as April), the sea is largely frozen, and temperatures are too cold for outside work.

Seasonal fishing serves as one of the main economic draws for Tok Bara.

Seal-catching was once a major economic activity, but over-hunting has significantly harmed seal numbers, and foreign markets don't support it any more.

Work at the naval base has largely replaced piracy as one of the more steady streams of income.

In summer months, the port is extremely busy handling both import and export of goods. Tok Bara's largest export is lumber, which is sold in exchange for finished goods and resources.

### Infrastructure

#### Transport

The 600mm narrow gauge Tok Bara Tramway, at 10.4 kilometers in length, runs through central Tok Bara on an elevated causeway, crossing major streets on wood or iron bridges. There are four passenger stations, served by a single train (an 0-4-0 tank engine pushing a single carriage). The tramway also carries peat and wood across the border from Zakiristan into Tok Bara.

During the summer, automobiles and dogcarts are used normally on city streets. However, during winter, most inhabitants also own sledges or sleighs. Reindeer and dogs are more commonly-used than horses as draft animals.

Prior to 1893, the poorly-constructed dirt roads usually defaulted to mud - often ankle-deep. Sewage was usually dumped directly in the roads with the expectation it would just wash away. Instead of improving these roads, Tok Bara natives built inter-connected porches and boardwalks on the first or second floors of their houses and businesses, and then built bridges that ran across the streets. In 1892, arriving Liotainian troops quickly discovered that natives could cross virtually the entire city without using the roads. Many of the boardwalks and bridges, unusually, were funded by pedestrian tolls.

Beginning in 1893, the Liotainian occupation forces began rebuilding Tok Bara's main streets, laying stone or brick pavers and introducing drainage schemes. The change substantially increased the usability of the streets and the health of the population. The occupation forces also eliminated tolls on the boardwalks.

#### Utilities

In the immediate vicinity of the Navy Base, sewer and water lines have been installed. Electricity has also been available since 1904 in select areas, with modest improvements being made over time.

### Culture

Tok Bara's culture largely represents Zakiristan's native beliefs, modified relatively mildly by the recent Liotainian influence.

Tok Bara natives did not have ready access to cloth until the 1890s, outside of looted clothing (largely wool) taken from foreign sources. The majority of locals still wear clothing made of native furs (seal-skin and reindeer pelts). Cloth garments generally denote relative affluence.

#### Sport

Due to the cold winters, most sports are played indoors, which has traditionally limited what activities are available. Very few sports were recorded as part of public life prior to the Liotainian occupation, although natives adopted sports quickly after 1892.

Imtynes, or Liotainian-style wrestling, has become extremely popular in Tok Bara since the 1892 occupation, being one of the most apparent elements of Liotainian culture to make its appearance.

Another popular sport, again arriving early during the occupation, is roller-skating. Two roller-skating rinks have been built in Tok Bara.

### Trivia

* Tok Bara is the only Liotainian territory that does not have a registered sritije club or field.