Corscia

Corscia has a long history of being ruled ostensibly by other powers, but bending knee to none of them. The interior of the island is dominated by an active volcano. A thick jungle surrounds it, full of gigantic reptiles and invertebrates. Its economy is based on sea faring adventures, shipbuilding, the trading of obsidian and resources from the sprawling jungle, and piracy. In the Second Age, Corscia was an island district of Armonda. It is uncertain if the people who live on Corscia today are descended from natives of the island or from Armondan settlers. The two people, with their olive-coloured skin and dark hair, are certainly similar in appearance. Historical documents describe Corscia as a dangerous island rich with obsidian (called blackglass by Corscians), exotic flora and gigantic, terrible monsters. The dinosaurs on the island were once thought to be descendants of dragons, but discussions with dragons themselves have since refuted this theory.
Estico's first territorial expansion brought Corscia under the control of the Estic throne for some time. The ruins of several Estic fortresses still dot the north-western coast of the island, and one of the inland fortresses has been reduced to ruined rubble after several volcanic eruptions and reclaimed by the jungle. Armonda reclaimed the island after several decades of unsteady peace and several uprisings by the Corscian people, who were treated as disobedient slaves under the Estic rule. Armonda found the Corscians more jaded and rebellious, unwilling to entirely return to the fold. Armonda's navy had not, after all, intervened when Estico had begun to sack the island's towns. Nonetheless, Armondan rule was preferable to the tyranny of the Estics. Armonda still relied on the Corscians for the supply of blackglass and exotic fruits and reagents from the jungle (along with exotic skins of dinosaurs and their bones), but at least Armonda paid for it. It was some time during the Estic occupation that Corscia's reputation for piracy began to grow, and the rough men and women that raided ships continued to do so even after the Estics left the land, plundering the Armondan ships and selling them back the blackglass. Eventually, a system of magically marking shards of obsidian was developed by a few enterprising Ordon magicians.
Missionaries from Padraigia, ostensibly hoping to ease the suffering of the hard-working and underprivileged men and women of Corscia, arrived on the island at some point in the early Third Age. Seeding rebellion obliquely, the missionaries found that, instead of creating an ingress through which their own country could seize the island, they led to the uprising that led to the island's independence. Known variously as The Obsidian Battles, The Last Rebellion and The Trouble of the Colonies, these battles transpired approximately 130 years ago, but are not forgotten by the islanders, some of whom were alive at the time.

Government

The government of Corscia is based on the structure of unions that formed as workers banded together. Settlements are largely self-governing, with an elected Chief in a position similar to mayor. Chiefs will meet once a season on the slopes of Mount Fieras to discuss various issues affecting the entirety of the island.