Gorgogi

Gorgogi is many things: a center of culture and a den of thieves, a merchant's dream and nightmare all rolled into one entity. You are as likely to get rich off of the back of slaves as you are to become one yourself. Port Faldur, Gorgogi's most important port city, is a microcosm of the whole kingdom. There are slavers, free men, merchants, and beggars walking the streets together. It is a filthy city, full of pirates, yet with more wealth flowing through it than the combined remainder of the kingdom -- and while the port district of the city reeks of filth and poverty, the outskirts boast mansions and manors finer than any built elsewhere by men. The inequality displayed therein is but a taste of that which pervades Gorgog society.
Life in Gorgogi is hard. Most of the people there are peasants. Some are lucky enough to live on remote farms where they will not be enslaved or pressed into military service. Most live in small villages, and are impoverished. Gathering enough food to survive is often a struggle for the average Gorgog, and many turn to crime to provide for their families. Pirates inhabit the coasts, and highwaymen patrol the roads. The few cities that do manage to grow to any considerable size are rife with street thugs and gangs of armed criminals. The only thing holding the kingdom together is their unified hatred for their western neighbor.
War and suffering seems to be the only constant in this land. The frequent crusades against Kampura are oft justified on the basis that Gorgogs are the true heirs of Abbasynia since they hold the ancient capital at Abbasina as well as the hovel of Grafnir. Gorgog subjects are taught that the Kampurans are their natural enemy, and that Kampura seeks to steal Abbasynia for themselves. Every problem in the kingdom is blamed on Kampuran saboteurs and spies. Every grain shortage is because the Kampurans poisoned the crop, or sunk the ships carrying grain. Every epidemic starts in Kampura. Every thief has Kampuran ancestry. It is a pitiable thing, and disgusting.
Should you ever find yourself in the unfortunate position of having to go through this pitiful kingdom, I should warn you to learn how to wield a sword at least, or perhaps battle magic. There is no "if" you will be attacked, it is only a matter of time. The land is practically lawless, unless you happen to be in slaver territory, which is even worse than being in the lawless part. In my travels there, I was attacked no less than six times travelling from Port Faldur to Abbasina. I should recommend you avoid this region if at all possible.
King Faruk sits high in his tower, blaming Kampura for all. All while dangerous beasts and monsters roam his lands, slavers steal his people, and pirates steal his gold. He does nothing. He only finances war, but does nothing to help his own people. Famine is all too common in a land with plentiful resources to feed its people. Crops whither and die in royal storage while his subjects die. He is a monster, and I would eagerly await his death were I not afraid that his successor would be worse.

Assets

The main exports of the kingdom are raw iron, silver ores, and treasured yllurian. The raw ores are extracted by slaves in the vast network of mines that honeycomb the central forests and grasslands of the kingdom. While the king may claim dominion over the lands, the slavers and mine owners control everything. Often, competition between the The ores are moved to and shipped from Port Faldur, for the most part, where the crown taxes each shipment before sending it on its way. Though the mine foremen and their masters could easily avoid the crown's interference in their business, allowing the crown to tax them is seen as a mutually beneficial arrangement, whereby the merchants are free to sell their goods (however illicitly gained) as long as the king claims a portion of the profit for himself.

History

Gorgogi's long and troubled history really begins during the formation of the Abbasyniad Empire. During Abbas' relatively short reign, iron and silver mines were discovered in droves in the Karub Grasslands. The settlement of the area increased tenfold, as iron and silver were quite valuable at the time (and still relatively so today, though I doubt the discovery of iron today would amount to much). From that moment, the rule of the "minelords" began -- long before the kingdom of Gorgogi was even firmly established.
Following the mythical disappearance of Abbas in 470 AC, the region we know today as Gorgogi was plunged into 416 years of strife. The first 45 years of those 416 were part of the Succession Wars, where no clear borders were established between Kampura, Gorgogi, and Brött. At that time, Gorgogi was split into approximately five large states. The Gorgogs, who controlled the Faldur Stretch and the Hayit Mountains, the Burtahs, who controlled Abbasina and the Verdant Fields, the Sortas in the eastern Aljabal Desert, the Corbas, who held a tiny sliver of land in the northwestern Karub Grasslands, and the Nuuba, who held the Muqadas Forest. As you may guess, the Gorgogs eventually won out over the other four and established the kingdom of Gorgogi. It took 45 years for the Gorgogs to firmly establish control of the northeastern portion of Abbasynia and realize that they could expand no further. In fact, one of the last attempts at expansion was an attack on Brött which cost the Gorgogs the southwestern Baruqi Hills.
Just because the Gorgogs were firmly in control of the northeast of Abbasynia, however, didn't mean that they were united in cause. Having forcefully subjected at least four other distinct groups, the Gorgogs were not popular among the vast majority of their empire, and they spent a further 255 years crushing rebellions and hunting down resistance leaders. This time in Gorgog history is known locally as the Purification, and is known to the rest of the world as Alamak's Purge. Entire family lines were purged from the records, and those who have an ancestor who was purged is considered "stained." Stained individuals are often discriminated against, even today, and are forced to live in their own corner of society. They are much sought after as slaves, since nobody important will care if they disappear, but back to the topic at hand.
The Purification didn't end so much as disappear slowly from existence -- with less and less people disappearing over time. If any year could be given to mark the "end" of it, it would be 770 AC, the beginning of the Wars of Unification. Gorgogi would play a leading role in the Wars, and was the antagonist in more than a few of them. The vast majority of the wars that Gorgogi took part in were against Kampura since the Gorgog nobility saw the Kampurans as the greatest threat to their dominance in Abbasynia. The citizenry of both nations suffered horrible losses in the Wars, and as much as 30% of all the fighting men of Gorgogi died, leaving families behind who would often starve or be sold into slavery. Since the Wars of Unification, Gorgogi has engaged in several wars against Kampura, though none have been on the scale or with the frequency of the Wars of Unification.
The leader, presently, is Faruk Abbadi. He is a frail and hateful man who rules through fear rather than strength. It is said that he is susceptible to coughing fits and is not long for this world. He has preached an unwavering hatred of Kampura and Brött from the moment he took the throne 40 years ago. Never have I seen a kingdom in such a low place. His successor, following the family tradition, is his third son -- hardly a toddler. It is unknown who his regent would be -- and there will likely be much blood spilled to determine the answer.

Founding Date

472 AC

Type

Geopolitical, Kingdom

Demonym

Gorgog

Government System

Monarchy, Absolute

Power Structure

Autonomous area