Goldscape
Goldscape is an ancient greek inspired community of city states, organized crime, and outlandish creatures.
Ah, a place of both the gods and the godless. You can walk from a beautifully constructed temple, centuries old, to the seedy underbelly of smuggling ring run by a demonic cult in less then half a day.
Goldscape is a country forever in a cold war with itself due to complex, long running, political and criminal activities, often intermingling at all levels.
History
When Goldscape first joined Sinstram, it was a unexpected blessing. Formerly an island, Goldscape was rich in raw materials and artistic culture. It did however have vastly different political ideas, cultural norms, and senses of morality between the cities that dotted the small landmass. Constant small raids and skirmishes would break out among the major cities, with the simple goal of often claiming less then 5 miles of land due to it's ability to grow slightly more crops. Due to the low populations, caused by shortages of food that often plagued the acidic soil and monsters that once roamed their seas preventing fishing, all out war was unofficially agreed on to simply not be an option, lest Goldscape completely wipe itself out. After near a century of back and forth, borders shifting gradually, and more then one famine, Goldscape had to make a major change, lest it be whittled away.
By some political miracle, and near a decade of work, a council was created in the largest city, Haven, so that all the cities could have neutral ground to trade, discuss new laws, and make treaties. Each city, now inspired in different ways, agreed to be separate but equal, and to respect each others political structures, as long as that political structure could reasonably help contribute to the whole in times of emergency. Some kings dethroned, some religious leaders weakened, and the rich brought down by the slimmest of margins, democracy was born in Goldscape.
With the petty wars and skirmishes of the city states behind them, they turned inward, now each focusing on local issues and infrastructure. To all but the common citizens surprise, crime, poverty, and cult like organizations had slowly been growing in the less savory parts of cities. With each city state now attempting to do damage control, organized criminal factions and families snaked their way into positions of power, or bribed those with them already. With senators, congress folk, local leaders, and military officers in their pocket, a 3 decade long "golden age of crime" dominated all but the city of Haven itself.
Starting in History of Sinstram 6 FAE (First Arrival Era), a political activist, Cleon Cirillo, began an extremist faction called the "Well Cleaners", with the goal of literally burning the corruption out of it's city. After his death 8 months later, and the assassination of 4 politicians in response, Goldscape would finally begin to turn around it's crime problem by having all 8 city states vote in favor of the creation of the first Road Warden.
Geography
Goldscape has the 2nd highest elevation in Sinstram due to it's naturally hilly terrain, and the Wilterre Bluff mountains that sit in the center of the nation, and the Lanibel Highlands on it's eastern edge. Due to natural hills across Goldscape, the powerful rivers that wind across it's landscape have formed multiple large lakes, most notably "Olbicus" lake, which is what the city state is named after.
Besides natural hills and mountains, Goldscape is also home to some of the poorest soil in Sinstram. Which makes the diverse and healthy forests that sit around the edges of it's territories, and it's clusters of fruit bearing trees and massive oaks an surprising but pleasant feature.
Notably, after The Second Arrival, Shadow Lake and the Ideal Gulf both grew in size significantly. Shadow lake grew nearly 5 times as large, and is now considered a small sea, connected not by the southern ocean, but fed by the much further Yearning Sea and Winterbalt Tides through the Shield sea, which was also formally a freshwater lake. The Ideal Gulf quickly overtook the northern shores due to their low elevation, and has turned a once large crossing into a land bridge, connecting Goldscape with Go'danro. During the process, 3 villages where consumed, and now sit in ruins, if at all, below it.
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