Amber

Amberian National Flag

**Amber**, or the **Republic of Amber** is a small nation located on the western portion of Usea, wedged between both Erusea to its west, Usea to its east and San Salvicon covering its northern border. Amber is a picturesque nation with a strong tourism industry due to its fabled rolling yellow sunflower fields, crystal clear aquamarine waters and lush green rolling hills, it is a massive exporter of wines and sub-tropical fruits.

## History

### Foundation

Historians agree that the Repubblica de Amber was founded in around 1203 with the conjoining of major smaller duchies and mountain kingdoms closer to the edge of the Amber Mountains. Ambers foundation was relatively bloodless, the joint effort saw the modernization of the military and agricultural industry at the time, the great merchant city of Amerelio was also built and still stands to this day.

### Early History

Amber, whilst it was mainly a neutral nation and kept out of the foreign affairs of other, larger nations. It was wedged between two great powers which at the time, wielded considerable military clout, to protect itself Amber maintained large reserves of troops ready to call upon in the event of war, there were several documented clashes in the early 1500's between Amber and Usea over a belt of mountains separating the two regions, the military of Amber was heavily outmanned and outclassed by the more advanced enemy, but with the advantage of a well defended position and favorable terrain, they managed to repel several invasion attempts through the narrow mountain passes. The current borders of Amber have stayed the same since the late 1500's.

### Osean War (1905-1910)

Amber was detached from the affairs occurring a whole continent away and heard very little of the war. Amber did however strongly oppose the Belkans stance on merchant bombing, several Amberian merchant ships were sunk during the conflict and an Amberian escort frigate was involved in a battle off the coast of Osea where it assisted in the destruction of the Belkan Battleship, S.M.S Macken.

### Cold War (Circa 1950-1995)

Staying true to its nature, the people and government of Amber remained relatively neutral through the decades of tensions between the powers of Yuktobania and Osea. Amber maintained trade routes with both power blocs, not letting its government be tempted by various offers from either nation, such as Yuktobania offering to update the Amberian Air Force with a fleet of new MiG-29's or Osea offering to bulk up its navy by selling off pre-modern missile cruisers.

### Amber Islands Takeover (Sept-Oct 1987)

Amber at the time of 1987 had considerably warm relations with its neighbor, the Federation of Central Usea and because of Ambers small and under equipped military, they offered military aid in the form of updated equipment and logistical capacity, it was no secret that the FCU had a long standing hatred of Erusea to its west, Amber was situated inbetween the two nations which made it an effective buffer state and a vital strategic location to have on friendly terms. When a wave of Amberian patriotism swept the nation in 1987, many called for a reformation of the military and an end to reliance on what was considered an 'invasive' occupation by the FCU, in particular the outlying island group commonly dubbed 'Skully Islands' were quick to raise an insurrection force with the aid of two dozen Erusian foreign affair agents to bolster their intelligence, logistic and military capability, they declared Skully islands an independent nation separate from that of Amber. It wasn't a major cause for alarm, the militia was no threat to mainland Amber or any other nation, though still out of principle, action had to be taken.

Pilots both of Amberian and Usean nationality were mobilized to counter the threat, the first bombing raids carried out targeted the rebels radio infrastructure to eliminate means of communication and propaganda, the rebels however did possess a plethora of Amberian captured aircraft including three dozen Tornados previously leased by the FCU, Harriers and two dozen SU-24 Flankers. The Air force made quick work of the Tornados and Harriers, though the pilots at the helm of the Flankers were a more difficult opponent, raising concerns that foreign advisers or even pilots were involved. The invasion was a slow but steady affair, but the lack of quick action raised concerns about the Amberian competency and confidence in their armed forces waned even more so.

An unoffical entrance of a Seianese experimental squadron would quickly see an end to the war, the squadron of Ryusei was currently stationed in Usea to oversee the testing and R&D of new fighter strike aircraft to protect its northern borders against the Kingdom of Beiarusia, where tensions were beginning to rise. The squadron flew experimental EF-2000 Typhoons and secured a quick victory in the skies, forces on the ground made quick work of entrenched rebel positions and after island hopping to the main rebel stronghold, the war was quickly won. No official documentation exists of the Seianese involvement in the conflict, only a few know firsthand, Ryusei was quickly disbanded following the conflict.

### Modern Day (Post 2000's)

Amber to this day is still the nation of rolling yellow sunflower fields and warm aquamarine seas, a holiday resort for the wealthy elite and a major exporter of exotic foodstuffs. It's people are as warm and welcoming as the weather.

## Description

### Geography

Amber sees very contrasting climates across the nation and can be split into several 'biomes' where the climate stays relatively consistent all year round. Its southern, and only coastline has a very warm and sub-tropical climate, the terrain there is low lying and an ideal location for the majority of its agricultural industry and is the location of its iconic sunflower fields, progressing further north and the temperature steadily drops as the terrain climbs, fields quickly become rolling hills and in turn become fairly rugged and coarse, progressing west towards the Erusean border stays hilly where the north and north-east is where the climate drops to alpine temperatures, the high mountain peaks see regular snowfall and snowmelt from the mountain valleys are the source of both the River Amber and River Lomello, both of which stretch right down to the coast.

Amber also owns several outlying islands on the edge of the Spring Sea, these are fairly flat and also sub-tropical in temperature, the largest island of San Cobara is home to the 'Porta per l'inferno' or Deliguio Mud Pits, a 2 square mile patch of boiling mud, fed by underground magma tubes and is a major tourist attraction and scientific conservation area alike.

## Notable Locations

* Belvedere (Capital)
* Skully Island

## Trivia

* Amber is loosely based around sub-tropical, Mediterranean nations and is an amalgamation of Italy, Croatia, Greece and Southern France.