The Maritime Republic of Ostor

> This is a modern history written by historians of the Maritime Republic and financed by the Guilds of Ostor, it should not be understood as an objective account of history, but rather a gathering of information presented in books and legends which survived centuries of troubles. *-04 Atomaton*
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## The Maritime Republic of Ostor

### Leader

Koto Vuthejir (yay) & Krosol von Niedenhof (NotaKiwi)

### Founding

The Maritime Republic of Ostor was founded my human settlers, who came to the island of *C'ten*, from the mainland. These early settlers came to the island with the intention to create farms and mines, but they quickly started to trade with cities around the Glossanian sea, when they were introduced to the sailing technology of the local beast folk. By using beast folk manpower, the human settlers were able to terraform much of the island, so it became much more habitable for large amounts of people. At the time the society of the island was feudal, with a human king at the top, however exploitation of the beast folk caused unrest to rise over time. After the island was raided and converted to (a new religion) this unrest boiled over to the Ostor liberation war. In this short conflict merchants and beast folk banded together to overthrow the monarchy and establish a more equal society. The kings’ guards refused to fight, and the king surrendered his authority to the new republican government.

> This section is based on the book "Republic of Glass", written by Krosol von Niedenhof, as well as various letters from early settlers.
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### History and Society

*Long before the arrival of Humans onto the Isle of C'ten, Society existed in basic forms. Firstly, C'ten held a (now almost entirely extinct) native population of primitive kobolds, who served under a dragon as it's servants, living in an expansive cave system within the mountains. According to* *ancient carvings and oral tradition dating back to that period, that same dragon held a long-standing isolationist "policy" to any outsiders, so a relative (yet forceful) peace reined over the island for an age. However, once the dragon "passed" (it is unsure on whether they simply left, or perished) A mass exodus of life happened, with most abandoning their homelands in place of greener pastures. soon after, a short era of almost no intelligent life on C'ten came, with little contact from the outside world, due to the island's previous stigma. Though, that was soon to end. In mass, hundreds, if not thousands, of beastfolk came to the island. It is unknown why so many came, or how they learnt of the islands, but the island was suddenly filled with vibrant, tribal life. Because of this sudden influx of ostracised beastfolk, surrounding civilisations dubbed C'ten the "Beast's Den", as it was known to be extremely dangerous to step foot on the island, simply because many of the settlers did not enjoy the presence of "outsiders" (oftentimes humans).*

*There was quite a large diversity of beastfolk across the island during its earlier years, as many of the tribes that were formed generously left space for others arrivals to grow. With the population steadily growing, complex hierarchies were made, settlements were build, deals were brokered and broken, and wars were unfortunately waged. It was said that wars across the peaks of C'ten were quite common in the early days, as a collective thought was in the mind of every leader. Whoever ruled those central peaks would rule the island. With the passage of time, certain tribes grew less and more powerful, and the allegiance of the centre constantly changed seemingly as frequently as the tides. Many written accounts from this time point to a tribe of Bullywugs on the south-eastern edge having a lot of power, though they seem to have lost their footing in later years.*

*With time, many tribes on the island came to the growing realisation that a loop of war was in many ways, fruitless. It hampered trade and maimed their best warriors from protecting more important things. "What if an invader comes to our beaches, and finds nothing to stop him but the corpses of our men?" remarked one chieftain. So, meeting for one final time at those bloodied peaks, almost every group came to the agreement of a mutual peace, and a merging of each others populace into a greater tribe. Only two, small, tribes refused to deign, that of the remnants of the Kobold people, and a nearby group of monkey folk, who instead chose to seal themselves off in the southwest.*

### Cities

Ostor: The capital of the republic is a diverse city on the island of *C'ten.* It has a large port and rich history, its markets are visited by people from all around the region. You can always see boats arriving and leaving in Ostor.

Sudburg: Used to be a small fort to guarantee the claim the republic had on the island. However, the owner of the claim, Krosol von Niedenhof, quickly turned the island into the centre of operation for the Seafahrer guild and built a palace for the Niedenhof family.

Nordstadt: A large colonial city without strict building codes or limitations. All who feel they cannot achieve their goals in Ostor migrate to the north to achieve their destiny in the vast and empty land. It has become a centre of industry for Ostor and is quickly expanding.

Adatal: A small northern outpost to guarantee the Frontier

### Noble Families of Ostor

Using guilds and merchants’ rules to their advantage, some families have gained quite a lot of influence in the republic. The Vornals and Vuthejir run the country, both also poses significant influence over the economy and colonies of the republic. The Vornals especially have gotten a hold of multiple settlements and founded the enforcers guild. Below these there are less influential noble families, namely the Niedenhof and Ostor families. While the Ostor’s have recently lost most of their influence with the resignation of Ludwig Ostor from his position as Landesherr, the Niedenhof's still poses Sudburg, the Seafahrer guild, and are the largest and wealthiest family in Ostor. Also, noteworthy are, the Rigopoulos, who control islands to the north of Ostor. They're the only noble family of Ostor who control a whole nation.

### Guilds

Guilds are interest groups formed by citizens of the republic, they usually focus their affords on some particular industries, and some get involved in the politics of the republic. Guilds were first formed because the government of Ostor was weak, it was busy with the issues of the beast folk, so merchants banded together to organise themselves and represent their own interests both at home and abroad. Eventually this system of organisation spread to all parts of the economy and society in Ostor and survived until today. Even when the government became more powerful the guilds only grew stronger, the Seafahrer guild now even controls almost the entire city of Sudburg.