Northern Bight

Northern Bight, officially the Overseas Crown Territory of the Northern Bight, is a colony of Liotain located in the eastern portion of the Cerulean Sea.

### History

The islands have been known since antiquity and have been inhabited on and off since the 5th Century BCE.

In the 1600s, the island's small native population was decimated by a plague, as well as the 1673 Eruption of Kareiviu Kalnas. The islands were uninhabited from 1673 to 1704, although they were noted as hideout for pirates and smugglers.

In 1704, during the Firocco-Liotain War a group of Liotainian privateers funded an expedition to the Cerulean Sea. The group sought a semi-permanent base to operate out of, set up a fort, and hired some foreign mercenaries to guard the islands. At the end of the war, the Liotainians remained, establishing plantations and slowly building settlements.

Between 1706 and 1772, Northern Bight technically remained independent of Liotainian authority. The islanders flew the Liotainian flag, spoke primarily Liotainian, and claimed to be part of Liotain - but the mother country never specifically recognized them as part of their overseas territories, since the islands had been settled as part of a business venture and never specifically annexed by the crown. This changed in 1772 following an incident involving some pirates who sought refuge in Port Peregrine.

During the late 1800s, Northern Bight received a surge of refugees from Kijana. They were supposed to remain only on a temporary basis, but sought more permanent residency. The surge of refugees severely altered the demographics of the islands, and massively lowered the per capita GDP of the archipelago.

### Government and Politics

Since the adoption of the 1900 Constitution, Northern Bight is officially an Overseas Crown Territory. It has local autonomy in domestic matters, with Liotain being responsible solely for foreign affairs and defense.

The monarch of Liotain serves as the Territory's official head-of-state. The viceroy (or vicereine), who acts as the territorial head-of-government, is appointed directly by the monarch.

A unicameral Territorial Parliament is elected for purposes of setting policy for the region. As of 1907, Northern Bight is organized into seven provinces, each of which sends three Representatives 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.

* **Monarch / Head of state**: Kotryna Urmana
* **Chief of government**: Governor-General

### Demographics

Only a small portion of the island's population is composed of registered citizens with voting rights. This is due to the influx of political refugees during the latter half of the 19th century. The refugees are primarily Mercians, Vissentians, and mixed-heritage Laotaosian-Firoccans, numbering approximately fifty thousand strong.

The long-term inhabitants of the islands, called "Salos Gyventojai" (Islanders) or "*Siaurieciai*" (Northerners) in local slang, are primarily descended from Liotainians, but also include a smattering of Celticans, Hokulanders, and Mercians, who came to the islands in the 1700s as part of the force of hired mercenaries, and stayed afterward to build their personal fortunes.

The capital city and primary settlement of Northern Bight is *Niukaslas*.

### Economy

Northern Bight is one of the world's premier coffee producers.

The islands also produce cocoa beans, which are turned into chocolate, and vanilla beans, for processing into flavoring.

The islands have a number of fruit orchards, but most of these are oriented almost exclusively toward local production, rather than export.

### Infrastructure

The 14-kilometer long Kareiviu Kalnas Coffee Cableway is an aerial cableway system that transports enclosed buckets of coffee beans from plantations on the slopes of Kareiviu Kalnas down to Niukaslas.

### Culture

A large portion of local custom is derived from Liotain, with most local holidays being of Liotainian origin. In mid-April, the islanders celebrate Carnival in much the same fashion as in Svyturys.

The Siaurieciai can be fairly easily distinguished by their unusual and traditional dress. Men usually wear a Breizhoned-style kilt, a loose button-up shirt, leather sandals, and a white turban. Women often wear a colorful *apvalkalas*, a tube-like garment originating from the Erisieciai subculture of mainland Liotain. Women also occasionally wear a turban, although it is more usual to wear a simple head-scarf.