Hothro

The **Republic of Hothro** is a desert nation located at southern Randros. It is located to the east of Verucci, to the south and east of Ardesch, and to the west of Kalambour.

Both the Hothrovian Norse majority and the Andetil natives call this country as "**Remia**" or "**Antollia**" in poetic speech.

Its capital is the decadent metropolis of Grand Eptirláss.

## Flag

The national flag of the desert Republic of Hothro is a rectangular banner divided between layers of dark blue and red, with a turquoise band between the two layers and a small white Mjolnir above. The dark blue layer represents adversity; the red layer for the desert; the cyan band for water (known locally as *rán*, after Rán, the unpredictable goddess of the sea to the west and south); and the white Mjolnir for their cultural connection with their Baesorthar relatives to the northwest beyond the Dunomin Ocean.

## Geography

Much of Hothro consists of desert, alternating between golden mesas and reddish dunes. The southern shores have a humid subtropical climate, blocked from the north by a mountain range.

## Features

* Grand Eptirláss (capital)
	+ A seaport, known as the City of Grapes or the City of Wine and Song.
	+ Became the capital of Hothro after its liberation from Thralondian oppression.
	+ In the 2190s, it has become notorious for its extravagant parties, making it the laughingstock of the rest of the republic. It later got the derisive nickname, "City of Spilled Wine", or "Palace of Drunks".
* Luna Bay
	+ Riunar
	+ Galactic Rim
		- Amusement park west of Riunar on an island.
		- Made Ragnvald a VIP due to his popularity by the park and its visitors. He also liked to go there, and even entertain the fans with some performances as his characters, because they respected his wishes to not behave like annoying fans.
* Makrend Province (near the Kalambouri border)
	+ Mahranz 13 Racecourse
		- One of the most dangerous racecourses in all of Hothro.
	+ Needle Graves
		- A series of outcroppings.
	+ Jötunn’s Ribs
		- A hollowed-out cave-network
	+ Kyrvotins' Hof
		- A ruined Kyrvotin tomb.
* Ahmaklar Plains (eastern Hothro)
* Mylangard Province (northern Hothro, near Ardesch)
	+ Akesurr, Axeura
		- Provinicial capital, a bustling headquarters of the National Post.
		- Known for its red and white post office headquarters and a statue of a bugle. Unfortunately, notorious for sandstorms that break out every two decades.
	+ Benzinkur
		- A trading post town. In 2190, this town has become a backwater, a far cry from its heyday as a railroad hub.
		- Though it seemed like an idyllic home for Ragnvald and his family, it was notorious for frequent drunken brawls in the streets
* Vré Province (northeastern Hothro)

## History

Hothro's ancient name during the Fifteenth Age was Antollia or Atollia. One notorious war, preserved by skalds in a festive song and a nursery rhyme, condemned a wasteful war between two wealthy kings, Kroinsol and Meindans, of the kingdoms of Sfaralish and Jazilfosh. Both kingdoms were ruined by the wasteful act of their rulers, who killed each other in battle and plunged the southern parts into chaos under sixteen warlords. The land was reunited by Ardulno Astrikonlj, who took on nine of those warlords as his dukes to restore order. The epic became known as Marivda (Hothrovian: Soga Mavrida's), later adapted into a Norse saga by the Hothrovian Norse who were invited into the country. It was named after the month in a traditional calendar when the unification took place, or when the epic was composed.

The arid land of Hothro was once the realm of Remia, founded by the quarrelsome, piratical successors of an ancient conqueror of the late Fifteenth Age known as "Alexandros III Megas" whose armies spread east into Zarijana and raided the island-dwelling Ellurids and the western coasts of the continent of Darros. After the Sarnarid and the Gosarid royal houses fought over that land they were displaced by the warlord Pompejus, who set up his own realm against his Romulian rival Julinus and the golden chariots of Rexorii Kingdom to the north. The Remians later established a camel-lined trade route, the Silver Line, to the Zaerenid Empire and the Ellurid island kingdoms for their precious metals. While other kingdoms succeeded them, they left behind many ancient ruins and inscriptions that were treasured by various archaeologists in modern times. Remian kings and emperors were known as "Pombeii", in contrast to the Caisars of the west.

Many ages later, Hothro became one of the theatres of the Randrosian powers' struggle for continental supremacy known as "the Great Game", and it was also settled by the nomadic Arnadjanai raiders who landed from their crude spaceships. After the Kyrvotins' EMP disabled much of Jerde's technology and plunged it into chaos, Hothro became inhabited by runaways and dissidents from Baesorja who set up their own republic. Although they had failed to stop the rampaging Thralondian Empire from enslaving them, some Hothrovians hid in groups to fight back against the oppressive rule of the Minotaur Emperors. One of those groups was among the biggest rebellions against Thralondian rule, mostly composed of a sect of Trismegists who sheltered other rebels and dissidents from the Thralondian authorities.

While modern Hothro tries to keep up with advanced machinery, and more so to cultivate more crops in their desert home, many Hothrovians are proud of their cowboy-like image.

One black-haired, irritable Hothrovian, Ragnvald Bergson, later became a world-renowned film actor for his dedicated performance as Duke Rhossondri in the historical drama film *The Fox of Verucci*. With his friend, Rembartin Einarbrandr, they track down a Wannaenid raiding party to retrieve several artifacts. The Kyrvotin ruins in eastern Hothro became the main cause for the Wannaenid attacks against the country and neighbouring Kalambour.

## Demographics

The two main races of Hothro are the majority Norse and the indigenous Andetil. Both of them are as "White" as the Ardeschens and Veruccians to the west.

Communities of Heronoi and Greyfolk live at the northwest, near the border to Ardesch and Harolan. Kalambouris mostly live in the east.

## Society

See also: Hothrovian glossary

Hothrovians are fiercely proud of their love of freedom and individualism, but they also dislike total anarchy and chaos.

In modern times, Hothro is one of only three nations where dangerous and lethal sports (such as dune-sailing along canyons and death duels -- the latter reserved for criminals on death row) remain legalised.

## Religion

See also: Norse mythology

Hothro's patron deities are Viðarr and Forseti, the Gods of justice who were worshipped as the founders' clans built a more united society in the chaotic aftermath of the Great Game. They also revered Bragi as their patron god of art and song.

The Remian farming god Atys is also revered by the Hothrovians.

Apelljon, associated with Memajon of Rukania and Bragi of the Norse, is another deity venerated in Hothro to this day as another patron of music and the Great Muse. In Hothrovian folklore, Apelljon and Bragi went on hunting trips together on their horses, slaying monsters and demons with their fiddle-bows. Statues of the two gods riding on their steeds were built everywhere in Hothro, where aspiring musicians pray and lay offerings of flowers for their blessings.

Trismegism, a philosophical religion, is mostly practiced in the northwest. Although some of Hothro's freedom fighters were Trismegists, they are sometimes stereotyped as mad scientists, cowboys, and daredevils due to their association with the independence movement and science.

## Foreign relations

Among Hothro's allies are the neighbouring republic of Kalambour, Harolan, and the distant realms of Sevraeja and Rukania. Traders, businesspeople, sportsmen, and artists from the four realms visit Hothro for holidays.

Modern Hothro has a rivalry with Ardesch and Harolan in the west, especially on jousting and racing championships. Fans of the three countries tend to curse at each other with loud profanity when they do meet.

## Trivia

* Hothro was inspired by the podracers of Tatooine, Turkey, post-apocalyptic settings like Mad Max and Fallout, the cowboys of Texas, and the bushrangers and farmers of the Australian bush and outback. He also based on ancient Anatolia if its people and culture had Norse influences.
	+ The author imagined that Hothrovians would speak in an Australian accent.