Bastia
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| Bastia |
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| Prime God: Hurte
Population: ?? Races: ??%H, ??%W, ??%G Climate: Temperate Capital: Florne Rulers: ?? Main University: ?? Currency: the concord |
The god of beauty, Hurte, is said to patronize the Kingdom of Bastia, and it is widely believed - for good reason. Bastia is a haven of art and intellect, with cities noted for their aesthetic design and impeccable upkeep. Florne, the capital city, is well-known for its stunning waterways, zoos and menageries, flower beds and butterfly gardens. It is a top travel destination for most of Anaxas and the surrounding countries. Many poems and songs are written in tribute to the kingdom, fondly remembering its beauty.
Religion
Bastia is religious in a way similar to Anaxas - with a great show of loyalty and adoration to the gods. The elegant temples outnumber the banks and marketplaces in Florne. The human population of Bastia generally pays tribute to the gods in the privacy of their own homes, but for galdori, the temple is an excellent place to see and be seen.
Death is handled by the Cadus Barr, the Gravekeepers, who inter bodies in phasmonias.
Society
The society of Bastia is almost entirely upper-class, as their economy is uniquely prosperous (they export most of their fuel to the mining kingdom of Hesse). The kingdom has been compared to Anaxas; the two kingdoms both have a wealthy upper class of galdori, similar cultures with a focus on intellectualism and discovery, and a similar taste for arts and leisure. In fact, the people of Bastia are mostly descendants of immigrants from Anaxas, and share many of their physical traits, though their accents differ considerably. (The Bastian accent is more flourished and pronounced.)
Social Issues
There is a dark side to the kingdom, however; to accommodate their rapidly spreading population, Bastians have been forced into deforestation, cutting down over 50% of the natural trees in their country. They export the rare wood and build with the rest. Still, the land has suffered from a loss of wildlife and the destruction of quite a lot of natural beauty.
Edelagne Farmer's Revolt
The process of deforestation and the growth of countryside factories began to take a particularly strong toll on certain human economies in the past 50 years. Countryside farmers, who desperately made their living from the land, found the grounds becoming polluted due to the establishment of nearby factories that were built to support the wood-export industry.
In Ophus, 2668 AT, conditions had reached a boiling point in Edelagne, and humans staged a revolt against their galdori neighbors and business owners. After months of trying to petition and complain to no avail, farmers attacked galdori estates and carriages, taking some of the residents hostage and demanding rights to land ownership and economic protection. The human operation was swift and systematic, and they employed the use of gags to keep the galdori from casting.
The Bastian government, in a sudden panic, responded by ignoring negotiations and sending in their armed forces to take care of the situation immediately. The operation was sloppy, and there was a heavy reliance on magic as a weapon to deal with the situation. As the galdori hostages were relatively few, there was little concern for casualties, although later reflections on the situation overwhelmingly agree that the government was far too rash and should have cared more for galdori lives. Two galdori died, but the rest were rescued. Almost all of the humans involved in the situation were killed, and the few survivors were imprisoned for life or executed.
The Edelagne incident inspired a few other uprisings around the country, but those were quickly quelled, and there were few galdori casualties. The government was careful not to let the information circulate too broadly, lest other humans be inspired, and by the end of the year the uprisings had ceased. There has been no major incident since.
The government later realized that the concerns of the human farmers had not been entirely irrelevant to the galdori, either; the growing lack of farmers, made worse by the revolt, and the lack fertile farming land forced Bastia to focus more heavily on international trade for food goods.
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Bastia is closed for play. |