History of Echain

The history of Echain is notably shorter than that of most of its neighbouring islands, since it was uninhabited until Portuguese colonisation in 16th century.

That was not, however, the only irregularity in Echain's development, as its history, although short, is rich and varied.

## Discovery and Colonisation (1521-1580)

Echain was first discovered by Ferdinand Magellan on March 11 1521, who landed in Galleon Bay, however, he swiftly left after discovering no human inhabitants on the islands, under the assumption they were dangerous and unsuitable for habitation.

This belief persisted in the West, and in 1532, a book called *Customs of Pacific Savages* was anonymously published, detailing supposed custom and myths of the cultures Magellan encountered on his journey. While the book was later proved to be largely fictional, one myth described therein, about an island of the dead called Echain, rose to such prominence that the name was assigned to the uninhabited islands Magellan discovered.

In 1565, Spain started the conquest of Phillipines, threatening portuguese dominance in trade with China through Macau. In response, Portugal decided to claim Echain and colonize it, establishing the settlement of Terceira. Colonization swiftly spread to fertile Tejo do Sul basin, and several small ports were established along the coast for Portuguese privateers hired to disrupt the "Manilla Galleon".

## First Kingdom of Echain (1580-1668)

After Portugal entered personal union with Spain, privateers of Echain, sponsored by England, established independent rule on the islands under elective monarchy, and transferred rights to settling all Echain north of the northernmost point of Dente Doce (including Northport and Versberg) to England.

In the following years, they became a major inconvenience to the Spanish, however, they never managed to capture Manilla Galleon, which was protected by a fleet of warships, and thus Spain never committed their forces to stopping piracy in the region, as it concentrated on the Caribbean.

However, in 1627, Welsh pirate, King Llewelyn Baines, succeeded in sinking the Galleon thanks to a storm which separated the Galleon from most of its company, however, he was only able to remove a portion of the treasure before it sunk in Galleon Bay, giving it its name.

After this incident, Spain moved swiftly to conquer Echain, which they managed in 1634 in Battle of Dente Doce, where they destroyed the fleet of Vice-King Birno Galenni and moved to blockade then-capital of Sandy. Their victory was not complete, as they never gained control of the interior; however, threat of piracy was quelled, even though the Kingdom of Echain still formally ruled Waltens, which swelled by ex-pirate refugees.

## Captaincy of Echain (1668-1734)

In 1668, Treaty of Lisbon ended the Portuguese Restoration War, and Portugal was awarded its independence and former colonies, including Echain. With the help of England and several assurances of autonomy, Kingdom of Echain agreed to its demotion to a Margraviate of Waltens and inclusion in the Captaincy of Echain.

The Captaincy was a largely peaceful era, during which Echain further developed. Lands under direct command of the colonial government eventually stretched from Sandy, through capital of the Captaincy, Plainsdale, to Southport, and the Margraviate of Waltens, attracting more settlers through its low taxation, grew to the Borderlands jungle and Mudbrook river in the east and to Big Brothers in the north.

## War of Independence (1734-1761)

In 1734, the Anglo-Hanoverian Society for East Indies established a chartered colony in Versberg, claiming their right to come from old treaty with Kingdom of Echain. The colony was settled by Hanoverians, who became subjects of English monarch through settling there; this was quite unusual, but the Hanoverian authorities did not protest this, fearing that George II would then assert his power in Kingdom of Hanover more.

As the islands were largely ignored by Portuguese central govenrment, they took no action against this colony, but they never formally recognized it, since they maintained the Kingdom of Echain had no legal standing.

However, Captain Luís Camoes, who started his captaincy by civilising what would later become Central, began talks with the East India Company, promising them basing rights. That would give Great Britain a proper base in the Far East, with which the EIC could weaken the Dutch, Spain and Portugal. These talks ultimately proved unsuccessful, as the EIC did not see enough profit in the opportunity.

That changed in 1739, when the War of Jenkin's Ear between Great Britain and Spain began. Camoes approached Governor of Versberg directly, and the British agreed to support Camoes in exchange for basing rights and the concession of Versberg, Neue Spiekeroog, Voros island and Isla del Estreito (novadays Northport). By 1740, Camoes stopped paying his tribute to Portugal.

Britain and Portugal then engaged in a proxy war on Echain, during which Camoes switched sides multiple times, until 1761, when the British planned to conquer Philippines as part of the Seven Years War, in response to Spain aligning itself with France. To aid them, they agreed to support Echain (including their original claims) independence, as long as Camoes helped them in the invasion of Philippines, and that they will be allowed port there.

Portugal, against joint pressure from Echaini colonists and Great Britain, agreed to cede the islands on the condition that they would too be granted fleet basing rights.

## Golden Age of Echain (1761-1794)

Thus the second Kingdom of Echain was established, with Luís Camoes becoming king Luís I at the age of 64. The nation was ordered into several semi-independent regions that would later form the League, with the Margraviate of Waltens ruled by the Galenni dynasty, Duchy of Plainsdale granted to king's son-in-law Walter Jackman, Free City of Southport ruled by a council of traders and County of Lurem formally emancipated from the Margraviate by its elevation to a Duchy under Bass dynasty, Versberg made a County under the rule of Bremners with the king directly controling the Central.

After Luis I died in 1766, his grandson Pedro Camoes-Jackman became the King, uniting Central and Plainsdale. Under his rule, Echain became an important trading spot, utilising the fact it has been left virtually untouched during the Seven Years War and its neutrality.

Using tariff income, King Pedro promoted immigration and further colonisation of Echain. It is widely believed that he was in fact responsible for the rumour of El Dorado being found in Echain, which attracted many settlers, especially from Latin America, Ireland and Germany.

## League War and the Summer That Never Was (1794-1821)

In the 1790's, the tariff income dwindled and the Crown, indebted by its expansionist and modernising expenditures, started taxing its subjects more and more, which was especially jarring as, up until then, no-one in Echain paid taxes to the King, who only took tariffs.

This, along with the monarchs hold on Plainsdale, then the richest region outside the Free City of Southport, sowed discontent amongst Echaini nobles. Eventually, they formed the League of Echain, and demanded recognition by the king, along with him giving up control of Plainsdale.

King Pedro refused and a prolonged conflict began. In 1801, the liberal Constitution Movement sprung up as a response to the French Revolution. Things came to a head in 1813 when Mount Tambora erupted on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia, the massive cloud of volcanic ash lowered global temperatures by 0.4–0.7 °C (0.7–1.3 °F). This devastated Echain's food crops and created a massive famine which was capitalized upon by the insurrection. Facing a much larger populist movement, King Pedro agreed to the Leagues demands in order to defeat popular insurrection. The fighting stopped in 1820, and king Pedro abdicated the throne and gave Plainsdale to his brother, and, in 1821, a formal treaty between the new king Alfonso and the League solidified the rights of the League.

## Years of King Alfonso (1821-1862)

Under king Alfonso, Echain once more became largely insignificant. The most notable event is the Great Sale, in which the Margrave of Waltens Robert Galleni sold land east of Borderlands Jungle and north of Clearspruit to Council of Eastport Traders, and the establishment of Macks on Isla del Estreito

## Silver Age of Echain (1862-1909)

After King Alfonso died, his son, Luís II (styling himself Lewis II), returned from England, where he had been schooled, and started modernising to Echain, starting with the establishment of National Theater. He immediately encountered problems funding his vision, and moved to establish Royal Monopolies for income.

The League was hessitant to grant these to him, and eventually only agreed that he can make monopolies on area north of Lurem City and east of Versberg, as Macks, then the only settlement in that area was quite poor.

Luís II, however, saw potential in Isla del Estreito, as he heard about rich metal deposits being found in similar regions of the Philippines. He made three prospector camps and a port. These would become Northport, WesPro, NorPro, and EasPro, and EasPro and NorPro soondiscovered rich veins of copper and silver in The Rocks.

Using this income, the king founded the city of Aberisk and the Royal Academy, but his monopoly was quickly disrupted by the League, which threatened the king with war if he wouldn't share his profits.

In 1885, count Karl Bremner bought Pará rubber seeds and started cultivating them on Versberg, which lead to further prosperity for Echain, especially since the original metal veins in Northport dried up in 1891.

Unfortunately, the drive for enlargening the rubber plantations lead count Bremner to buy saplings from South America in to grow them faster, however, these were diseased by *Microcyclus ulei,* a leaf blight. The disease quickly spread and, under international pressure, in 1909 Luís II had to burn all rubber trees in Echain, and vow not to cultivate them for twenty years. With rubber income gone and the mines of Northport dry, the Silver Age of Echain ended.