Free Kingdoms

The Free Kingdoms are a loose alliance of agricultural and maritime states on the northern coast of Suto. Shielded from the full heat of the midday sun by the central highlands and their cloud forests, the region has a more temperate climate than the south, allowing for a greater degree of arable cultivation. They take their collective name from their foundation by refugee slaves from the Ophionic Empire who fled along the Shining Trail, a route that took the refugees west to the coast, then south via Coronaea and on to the largely unpopulated coast of Suto.
The bulk of the population are human, and to a lesser extent, Petari, descendants of the original refugees, with a smaller number of Orcs and Empty Quarter goliath, sea Elves and Tritons. There are ten member states in the alliance, and despite the name, most of these 'Free Kingdoms' are not, in fact, kingdoms. While many of the inland states are locked in a tense detente with the Fire Nests, their coastal allies trade with the pyranoi for weapons to resist Ophionic aggression.
Amnesty is the oldest of the ten, founded when the first refugees made landfall in the shelter of the peninsula called the Taimonhead. It maintains strong naval, mercantile and fishing fleets, operating out of Port Defiance, a harbour town initially constructed from the hulls of the refugee ships. The Amnestic population maintain a fierce antipathy for pirates and buccaneers, especially Ophionic slavers.
Shadowbay was the second settlement, established at the first open harbour on the far side of Taimonhead. Eastharbour is a mirror of Port Defence, down to the civic hall built into the hull of a Yuan-ti slave galleon. It is named Shadowbay. because the harbour lies in the shade of high cliffs throughout the afternoon. Shadowbay is, like Amnesty, a maritime society led by a court of captains, including ship's captains as well as business- and land-owners.
Taimonhead is an agricultural society located on the peninsula of the same name. It is notable for its great lighthouse, one of the continent's leading universities, and a thriving kobold population thanks to the rocky ground of the peninsula. It is governed by the Academic council of the University in the capital city of Meyda.
The founding fleet of Sorrows were less fortunate than others, reaching the sheer cliffs west of Amnesty in a driving storm. Their stolen ships were wrecked and the survivors forced to shelter in flooded cares until the weather cleared. The capital of Cliffward now occupies both those caves and the clifftop above. The people of the region formed a partnership with the sea drakes of the upper caverns, training them as riding animals for fishing instead of using boats. Clifftop fields provide a strong agricultural base. The region has an aristocratic government, with the drake riders forming an elite and ruling over the boat-fishers of the cliff base and the farmers of the wider region.
East of Shadowbay, the rocky shore gives way to beaches and dunes of silver-grey sand. and the sea walls and moles of Port Charos. Founded by petari families from Eastharbour, it has grown into a mercantile power, trading the botanical wealth of the forest behind the beaches. Still largely tropical, but sheltered from the afternoon sun, the forests of Akizzan are unique. The territory is ruled by the Council of Pharmacists. Kiyfa's Field was originally an extension of the agricultural district of Sorrows, before the fieldhands rebelled against the increasingly distant rule of the drakeriders. Kiyfa was the name of the first fieldhand killed in the rebellion. Now ruled by an elected council of fieldwardens in its capital at Grenwash, Kiyfa's Field uses its status as an agricultural powerhouse to influence their neighbours.
After the founding of Akizzan, the growing coastal population moved further east. Finding a deep water anchorage sheltered by an avenue of rocky banks, an exploratory party founded a harbour as a mercantile base. Bluewater now controls most of the trade with the Darklands and Kyuzh-magh, enriching the city and the wider domain of Fairwind. The founding families established a mercantile aristocracy, calling themselves the Salt Captains, which still governs the region.
Umbazha grew out of an indigenous bofyrn culture at the parting of the East and West Conda rivers. Originally a client state of the pyranoi, an alliance with the refugees allowed them to break those age-old bonds. The original village of Umbazha grew into the city of Breakwater, and the tribal council developed into a civic and state gerontocracy. Breakwater also become the rallying point for the establishment of the last two states of the alliance, founded to contain the threat of pyranoi - or anurin - oppression.
Of the two upland domains, Highgate was founded largely by the descendants of refugees. Established around the garrison town of Overlook, the domain is a largely dependent state, supported by the agricultural wealth of Umbazha's fertile delta. It is ruled by the Lord-General of Overlook and a Council of Earls-Martial.
While Highgate protects the Lowlands of the central mountains, Kitamuna was founded on the slopes of the volcanic Firestone Range. Like Overlook, Firewatch was founded as a garrison, but through the development of geothermal arcane mills, the Karpet dynasty of bofyrn monarchs has created an industrial base unrivalled in the north of Suto.

Type

Alliance, Generic