Geumsog

Language
 Currency
 Form of Government

Geumsog is a large island off the west coast of Nysdra. Famous for its advanced technology and steel it is incredibly hard to reach due to its status as a far away island. It's Capital is Poji located at the center of the island. Neighboring it is the Cinnabar Islands collectively named Palgan Jiog (Red Hell).

Home of the Psurgans.

## Government

Geumsog uses an
Oligarchy, a group of nobles judge and choose the best blacksmith on the
 island as religion states that the best blacksmiths are the closest to
the gods and the patience required for the art is a favourable trait to
begin with.

While it is rare, the leader chosen could also be a species other than the native Psurgans.

The current leader of Geumsog is the "Drunken Princess" Hwajae Mul.

## History

Due to the generally isolated nature of the island (not so
much for the Psurgan inhabitants due to their amphibious nature) the history
has been based around civil conflicts. Before the island was unified under an
Oligarchy there were four territories competing for supremacy. Baeggeum was
based in Economy, Pogtan was based in military, Dogso was located closest to
the Cinnabar islands and so dealt with poisons, and Jeongkeu was based in a
slightly different kind of religion commonly practiced in Geumsog. The first to
go was Jeongkeu, unlike the rest of the nation they believed that the use of
the meteorite was an insult to the gods and so used more primitive stone and
wooden weapons (They didn’t last long). Earlier on it seemed that Dogso was
going to rule, that is until their liberal use of the toxin mercury caught up
with them. The built up mercury poisoned the people, plants and animals of the
territory killing them. Eventually the battle for supremacy came between Baeggeum
and Pogtan with Baeggeum coming on top, while not having as strong of a
military as Pogtan they were still able to last and more importantly manage
their funds, Pogtan eventually ran out of funds to support their military
allowing Baeggeum to defeat them.

Knowing that the skills showed by Pogtan and Dogso would be
needed to keep Geumsog protected from invaders, the leaders of Baeggeum round
up the survivors and allowed them to continue their practices under the new
government (under supervision of course).

To
keep the skills and innovations of the land’s blacksmith’s sharp there is an
annual fair and competition where everyone showcases their works and competes
with others in challenges such as speed forging and quality tests (all against
the current leader of Geumsog).

## Religion

Geumsog's religion
surrounds its meteorite. The people believe it to be a gift from the
gods so that they could have the chance to reach the same heights as the
 gods, thus those with the best metal techniques and recipes are held in
 the highest regard. To mark one as a true blacksmith one must create a
ceremonial sword that must be judged by the nobles of the island, said
sword, if it passes the test is placed on top of the meteorite to
"return purity to its source".

The meteorite is so
important that only highly skilled and authorized miners are allowed to
even go near it, trespassers are evicted from the premise and repeated
offenders are killed on sight. Getting to use the iron from the holy
meteor is considered the greatest of honours and only the most elite
among the upper class are ever given the chance.

## Imports/Exports

### Imports

Metals from foreign
lands are nearly worthless to those in Geumsog due to the meteorite.
Instead borax is prized due to how important it is in the forging
process but due to it being found only in seasonal lakes (which Geumsog
lacks). Acids are also fairly prized for similar reasons, though not to
the same extent as it is optional.

### Exports

Naturally the
primary exports from Geumsog are metal goods such as tools, weapons and
armours. The people of Geumsog have created a number of variations of
these. They include folding/hidden blades and even folding armour which
aids in travel.

Certain blacksmiths
even specialize in metallic poison, namely mercury which they extract
from the cinnabar stones on the adjacent islands. However due to the
difficulty in processing it is a rare commodity

## Annual Hammer Strike Competition

Competition gives motivation to bring out one’s best.
Knowing this the first ruler of Geumsog had this competition made to keep
morals high (or low), the blacksmiths innovative and the status of the country renown
throughout the world.

The categories are:

·
Metal strength: metal suppliers and blacksmiths
test their raw metal and blended metal recipes

·
Weapon strength: different categories of weapons
by different blacksmiths are pitted against each other

·
Innovations tests: blacksmiths compete to see
who has the most unique and **practical**
tools and weapons.

·
Speed Runs: Blacksmiths compete to see who can
make a certain weapon of acceptable quality the fastest.

·
Ceremonial Blades: The best of the best compete
to see who can make the best sword to potentially catch the eye of the
oligarchy. This is the hardest challenge as the ruler himself/herself will also
join this competition.