Besoa

Besoa [BEH-sso-AH], or Bizoa (Hartraan), is the largest island in the southern reach of the Natorn Archipelago. Today it is synonymous with the United Kingdom of Besoa.

Historically it was divided amongst a number of city states which became the Four Kingdoms. These were resolved into two dominant powers, the Kingdom of Sann'al in the north, and the Alsaneth Republic to the south. In 1092 ME the island was annexed by Harthera following the Bizoan War. The war and thirty years of occupation devastated the island, leading to famine, ruin and mass emigration. in 1114 a force of Besoan exiles and mercenaries, led by Crown Prince Ralam Kenor Berill and tacitly supported by Ororr, reconquered the island creating the United Kingdom of Besoa.

The island forms the southern reach of the Natorn Archipelago, its southern coast being 1700km from the mainland of Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable HartheraOrorr. It is roughly 400 km north to south, and about 300 km wide.

Its geology is a mix of volcanic and sedimentary, with ancient shield volcanos forming mountain ranges particularly in the south.

During the much lower sea levels of the Emerald Epoch the landmass of the archipelago was much large. Parts of this former region were settled as colonies of the Realm of the Godmen. Although most settlements were coastal, a few artifacts remain from this ancient era, most particularly the Oracle at Welvér. Little is known about this period in history.

The third and second millennium BME saw an influx of Aralsic migration from the north and Iskeans from the south.

For more than a millennium the island was divided between four nations: Derailad, Alsan, Heronbar and Sann'al. Since few records of the period survive there was great debate about who were the original and “rightful” occupants of the island. The Derailish were certainly the last group of immigrants, Iskeans later rumoured to be from the wicked island of Keeyag. The Heronbaht were similarly demonised as other by historians of Alsan and Sann'al, who both had clear Aralsic ancestry.

After a long history of squabbles and skirmishes, the period came to an end with the Battle of Four Kingdoms. Heronbar and Derailad lost their main strength and were annexed by the two remaining nations.

After the Battle of Four Kingdoms the island was divided between the Kingdom of Sann'al in the north and the Alsaneth Republic in the south. Alsan's line of kings was overthrown and replaced with a Commonwealth inspired by the Hexact Doctrine.

Despite antagonism between the two nations, their rivalry spurred a golden age of discovery, exploration, art and trade, with Sann'ali merchant ships frequenting distant ports, bringing home a wealth of luxuries. After generations of profitable trips to the Eastern Isles for cargoes of exotic spices, in the ninth century Sann'al took control of the islands, establishing plantations and peaceful cooperation with the native jinnies.

After the Torthien Crisis which resolved an uneasy truce between Ororr and Harthera, Ororran port authorities began to give preferential trade contracts and shipping slots in the port of Toborr to Sann'ali merchantmen. Over time this seriously weakened Harthera's control over trade with it's neighbour, as well as bringing huge wealth to Sann'al. Tensions between the two nations steadily deteriorated, with several incidents of hostile action between Sann'ali merchants and the Hartheran Navy. In 1086, the Harthera military command launched a campaign to forever end this dispute by conquering the Besoa, in what is now called the Bizoan War.

After Bizoa was declared “pacified”, the Hartheran authorities officially seized ownership of all land, leasing it back to landowners who paid duty and swore loyalty to the new administration. Some conceded to this but many prominent noble landowners refused, were thrown of their land and many arrested for rebellion or malingering. In the aftermath of the war, the rural economy was devastated. Famine swept the land, and a third of the island's surviving population fled either north to the Spines and Anrel, or south to the Hartheran mainland.

With much of the island desolate, the government encouraged mainland Hartherans to settle the island, with offers of free land grants and trading and commodity concessions. This caused an initial land rush particularly by war veterans and the landless poor. However, few settlers were happy to remain in the bleak and benighted landscape the occupation left behind.

Many war veterans claimed stakes in the new land, but beset by ruined soil, poisoned water and creeping virid vegetation, many returned home within a few years.

Today the only significant Hartheran settlement is the district of Ronvarr, surrounding the new colonial capital, the former Sann'ali port of Famul.

For two decades the Sann'ali court-in-exile had attempted to raise funds and military support for a military reconquest, with little result. However in early 1113 ME, Prince Ralam Kenor Berill held secret negotiations with representatives of Ororr on the ruined outpost of Gres Rock. Ororr has been famously weak at sea, lacking Harthera's modern navy, so a deal was struck in which Ororr would construct a new fleet of ships in secret at Fa Cadal, under instruction from Sann'alese craftsmen. In a particularly bitter negotiation, the Prince also agreed to share seeds of the golden perian, the wood once so vital to Sann'ali naval success. Ororr also extracted a promise that the prince would accept instruction in their faith, and would allow Ororran missionaries free access to convert the Besoan people.

In addition, the Sann'ali met with the secretive vestiges of the Rasian Academy, who promised arcane assistance in return for establishing a new school of thaumaturgy in Perilth. Lastly the Prince married Princess Illieten of Narette.