Kingdom of Ohun (Oh-huun)
Overdosed by Iron
Kingdom of Ohun was the independence state located on the northeast of South Estisia. It was well known for having the largest iron production on the mainland, as well as the primary culture based around it. The capital city of Ohun was Ohugas.
The kingdom controlled the entire Hunan River, some part of downhill of Grand Range and some oversea territories. Recently, the country lost their sovereign after the war against the Valonia Empire, and therefore all territories will be converted to imprerial provinces.
Structure
Prior to the war, Ohun was ruled by the King who descended from the last local governer, Marcus Prisca, who's also responsible to the independence movement(203 - 200 BVE). The king had the power to command his army and has to loyal with peasants. However, it's the Smith Guild that was actually in charge of all the assets.
The Smith Guild was found way before anything else. Before the kingdom time. Operated by chosen blacksmiths in Ohugas, the guild functions as both council and workshop.
In council, each member are elected by Ohunas. They are the main discussion for all the thing in the kingdom, with the supreme councillor internally elected by the council as their leader with the term of 5 years.
In workshop, along with the forge, is the large steel mill with an innovative Blast Furnace producing valuable materials for their people to spend.
Culture
Ohun was famous from their metalworking, as a result of the mountain range riched of shallow iron veins near the capital, considered the most strategic landscape in the east. Unlike any other state nearby, they chose to adapt it into their culture rather than military.
The people valued it as the everyday life objects; Rituals, buildings, artisans and clothes decorated or replaced with precious metalworks can be seen usually, making the landscape a mix of rough dark-orange and shinny grey.
History
Origin
A long time ago, Ohuna ancestors immigrated from unknown region in the south looking for fertile soil to live. They chose to settle down beside the Hunan River which became Ohugas. They had bronze-age smithing knowledge however, none of them could be used here due to lack of materials. They had to brought from far away which was very expensive and thus causing those knowledges to fade away.
This was until the discovery of magnet at the nearby sloppy mountain. With this they were able to get ores wherever it hid, especially on the same mountain.
Therefore the knowledge of smithing was recovered. The smith guild was formed, and that man became the first leader.
Forging into their blood
The more iron mined and forged, the better tools, the better life. Ohugas had grown and so the territory. However, the production was too slow; They needed more.
With years of trials and errors, the first Blast Furnace was finally operated in an early 9th centuries BVE. They were able to smelt ores as much as they wished, resulting in better ingots with greater quantity.
The society became even more obsessed with iron, and to protect this knowledge from the outsiders, the guild agreed to fund many defensive project such as the wall fortified with steels.
Annexed by the Empire
In 785 BVE, Ohun lost the war to the Empire of Kritus from the south. The republic had been converted into one of many imperial provinces, replacing the guild with their own government. For the next five hundred years Ohun was served as military equipment production for the empire. More slaves were brought in to work on iron mines and more steel mills were constructed in Knirk, the capital.
As one of the empire's most valuable provinces, Ohun was being treated as well as possible. As such, when the internal political conflict hit them too hard, those supplies to Knirk were forced to cut by the order of Marcus Prisca, the governor of Ohun. It then turned into three years war of seperation, and Ohun became independence in 200 BVE. However, it wasn't the smith guild who took control the state; the Krins did.
Sort of.
Post-independence
Instead of going back to the same monarch, he decided to be the king himself and also the leader of the smith guild which became the main council.
With the knowledge of organized army combined with the traditional metallurgy, the royal iron army was created. They used it to patrol the territory and fought against the weaken Kritus which invade them constantly until the end of the empire.
The Kingdom of Ohun became the most powerful in the east, mining, processing and selling their iron products to nearby countries like the Taestic Republic.
The Second Annexation
However, the sneak attack by Valonia Empire, also former province of Kritus, in 31 VE caused them to be capituated almost immediately, with no comparable gears to resist their legion of guns.
As such, the sovereign of Ohun had come to an end in the late 32 VE. Ironically, it's about 200 years since seperating from the old lord, as to be back again to the new but relatable one.
Military
Despite the good quality material, the Ohuna army used the swords, plate armors, crossbow, and torsion-based artillery as the main equipments; Most of them were using for defensive reasons. In post-independence era, they adapted the formation of Krin legionary to be more offensive due to a majority of the land they owned.
Technological Level
Ohun is well-known for metallury expert. They know how to turn irons into various type of daily basis. The nation's proudest invention is Blast Furnace: the superheat metal smelter, which help them become who they are.
Foreign Relations
The kingdom had the conflict against Durin, the forestry-based state, on the Hunua Canal. The canal decreased the flow of Hunan River as to be increase in the Durin's, which Ohun wanted to bury it.
200 BVE - 32 VE
They have very special way to write a code of law; By stamping words made of steel types into the soft steel tablet known as The Forger's Commandment.
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