Grand Duchy of Hartstone

The Grand Duchy of Hartstone lies west of most of the other Forbidden Isles. A large, mountainous island with valleys, it boasts superb national defenses that along with its stern and guarded people, make it nigh impossible to invade. Home to the world’s largest deposits of precious metals and gams by far, the Duchy gets rich off trade and uses this to build a formidable fleet to guard its coasts as its army does the land.

Structure

At the top of Hartstone’s society lies the Grand Duke and his family. Under him are a mixture of aristocrats, descendants of local chiefs who adopted Olmese technologies and improved upon them and bureaucratic bankers who grew rich from controlling the island’s mineral resources. Balancing these two factions hasn’t been easy for the Dukes, but they manage to put aside their differences and unite cohesively when faced with external threats, or dealing threats of their own.

Foreign Relations

A policy of armed neutrality is most common, with its main rival historically being the Dominion to the north and east. As the Dominion expanded into Gurd, Sandur and beyond, two invasion attempts were made of Hartstone, both of which ended in disaster. During the Treachery of the Six, the Hartish enacted retribution by raiding the western coast, attempting to besiege Unbroke, and even sailing up the river Ol and sacking Phoz itself! Over the years, no other nation has actively tried to be hostile to Hartstone, preferring to trade instead. This does not stop raids by pirates however, who are far easier to get away with and often have contacts and members within Hartstone itself.

Agriculture & Industry

The lowlands make good land to grow crops in outside the mountain barriers, and so can feed the hardier parts of the population alongside the farmers themselves. They can even sell excess food to fund their fleet and army.

Founding Date

237

Type

Geopolitical, Duchy

Capital

Grandston

Demonym

Hartlanders.

Government System

Monarchy, Constitutional

Power Structure

Feudal state

Economic System

Palace economy

Controlled Territories

• Grandston

Neighboring Nations

• The Phurzic Dominion