Editing Autia (section)

====Afrolia and Afrozil====

People:

The dominant race in these two nations are the Afzen Amazons, a dark skinned Amazon race believed to originated in the Emerald Isles before expanding to Autia and other continents. They make heavy use of other races as slaves, servants, and/or mates, including pretty much any race of human (but mostly Shaobon humans who make up a large portion of the population in Afrolia), orcs, goblins, ogres, hiisi, monkeymen, and even members of other Amazon races.

Afzen Amazons are organized in close knit clans, with the core of each clan living like nobility, while lesser members are sometimes quite poor but still very loyal to their clan. A notoriously decadent people, ports in Afrolia and Afrozil are extremely popular with foreign sailors, despite the risk of enslavement.

Religion:

Like most Amazon, the Afzen Amazons worship Gaelhalla in the form of Ayala, though they are much less religious than other Amazon cultures. Other races worship their own gods as long as it doesn't interfere with the interests of the Afzen Amazons. Some try to worship Ayala as a way of gaining favour among the Afzen, but quickly find that Afzen Amazons have little interest in spreading their religion to other cultures.

Magic:

The Afzen Amazons aren't particularly adept at magic, but pay handsome wages outsiders who are. They aren't picky about what types of mages they use, and are just as happy working with a gentle scholar from Falconbridge as they are working with the most cruel flesh molders and demon worshippers.

Military:

Afzen Amazons are more interested in banditry, slavery, and piracy than outright military action. Like other Amazon races, their feminine form conceals the fact they are stronger, faster, and tougher than the typical human. Afzen are particularly physically adept and are often described by seasoned veterans as having the strength and toughness of an orc, with the speed and stealth of an elf. Afzen Amazons use clubs, nets, and bolas while on slave raids, but also have no shortage of more advanced weapons purchased from other nations like firearms, magi-tech, wands, and staffs.

Despite their self-centered reputation, Afrolia and Afrozil have both fended off several large scale invasions from other nations, particularly Belkan, Soukos, and the Voluntas Pact. They also have to deal with raids from the Sparticians, Republic of Free Men, Fantal Island Tribes, the Puppet Clans, and the many monster races found in the vicinity of both Afrolia and Afrozil. Likewise, they sometimes assemble large armies for those who can afford them, typically Alkor. For such large scale operations, they rely on a patchwork force of seasoned militias and mercenaries, many of whom are hardened slavers or pirates. When faced with superior numbers, they will typically switch to guerilla warfare that relies heavily on the use of snipers and brutal night time close combat raids.

At sea, the Afzen are also quite dangerous, and are typically considered the foremost pirate race, rivaled only by the Puppet Clans, and to a lesser extent by the Gullet Pirates, Orkistan, the Bridge Tribes, Malsolia, and Utopia. They rarely build their own ships, but quickly learn to adapt a wide range of ocean vessels and air craft to piracy. They prefer to avoid confrontation when possible, one of their favorite strategies is to disguise themselves as civilian vessels. They are aided in this by the fact that many merchant fleets do in fact operate out of both Afrolia and Afrozil.

History:

The Afzen Amazons have lived in the Emerald Isles as far back as anyone can remember. In ancient times, they went to war with the crumbling Sorgos Empire which resulted in them forming the nation of Afrozil in western Autia. Afrozil was later made a vassal of the Nantic Empire, but freed itself following the collapse of the Nantic Empire and have been independent ever since, though large parts of it have been occupied by foreign powers at various points in history. The Afzen Amazons have a long standing friendship with Alkor that has existed as long as Alkor has, though the reasons for this alliance are shrouded in mystery. The alliance has benefitted both nations greatly, and has helped give Alkor an edge against rival naval powers like Soukos and the Sultanate. They are also close with the aquatic races like Aquatica and the Phinmin, which aids them in their piratical activities.

Economy:

The backbone of the economy of both Afrolia and Afrozil is slavery. Although some assume the Afzen Amazons only engage in slavery to find mates, they actually sell more than they use themselves. Both Afrolia and Afrozil have large numbers of hereditary slaves, and surplus slaves are typically sold anywhere where there is a profit to be made. The more populous nation of Afrolia sells lots of slaves to Afrozil, where frequent wars and raids provide lots of opportunities for slaves to escape, but slave routes are also set up going to or from parts of southern Autia and the Imperium when market conditions are right. Slaves captured on raids actually account for a relatively small percentage of the slave population. The Voluntas Pact, the Republic of Free Men, Sparticia, and the Fantal and Crescent Isles are the most popular targets, supplemented by slaves taken on occasional raids on Falconhead, the Eritroans, Ercaenmedi, southeast Autia, prisoners of war and slaves captured via piracy.

Aside from slavery, the rather dry and hilly nation of Afrozil relies on piracy, banditry, and mercenary work to supplement a struggling economy based on agriculture and mining. In contrast, Afrolia is very wealthy, though this wealth is mostly concentrated at the top. Ownership of slave routes and merchant firms, combined with the export of exotic spices, dyes, and gemstones, helps bring in plenty of gold coin for the elite.