Editing Autia (section)

====Free City States of Harlbourg====
''Nantic coalition of city states, mostly Nantic humans, but lots of minorities including goblins, harpies, snake people, and giants. Basically your typical D&D clusterfuck, but upgraded to Victorian/steampunk era.''

[[Free City States of Harlbourg]]

General:

Neighbour to the empire of Alkor, The Free City-States of Harlbourg put up a fierce resistance. Along with their technology and numbers in soldiers, they have teamed up with the tribes that live in the plains, deserts and forests for their magical potential and powerful beasts. They're not unlike revolutionary America if it were still fighting the war against Britain.

The Reconquista/Resistance war has involved many countries and is effectively the Land's first World War due to the amount of combatants. It is a known fact that while Belkan officially supports the Alkorian's reconquest, due to their highly militaristic and often battlelust-y nature, they have sent a chunk of their army to serve as mercenaries for the Harlbourgs to gain great honour.

People:

Harlbourg is primarily home to Nantic humans, but also includes many "monster races" such as goblins, harpies, snake people, and giants. The monster races mostly live in the southern barrens and in a number of large, untamed forests scattered throughout the nation.

Religion:

Harlbourg follows a fairly standard interpretation of the Nantic pantheon. Gaelhalla (magic, femininity, fertility, the moon, love), Weir (forests, agriculture - sometimes worshipped instead as Wyrn for hunters and some fey creatures), Gayin (industry, commerce, labor), Shomdar (oceans, fishing), Liik (collector of the dead), and Vanille (justice for common folk). Alcar and Grumm are occasionally worshipped, but have fallen out of favor as war gods with focus instead on Vanille and a group of demi-god revolutionary figures known as the Founding Fathers.

Magic:

Harlbourg follows standard Nantic magical traditions for the most part, but also sometimes relies on the strange magic of the forest fey and the southern monster tribes to give themselves the edge.

Military:

The primary enemy of Harlbourg and more recently Alkor's allies among the Aesanaerian tribes. Due to the massive land borders they must defend, plus the decentralized nature of the state, they rely heavily on volunteer militia bolstered by mercenaries from less civilized nations, and magi-tech equipped private armies from the wealthier towns, cities, and noble families. No standard uniform exists, but blue is seen as the national color, while purple is popular with those worshipping Vanille. Knightly orders dedicated to Vanille are particularly common in Harlbourg, but they prefer to keep out of politics and focus on vigilante actions against those that harm the common folk instead. The militias are surprisingly well equipped, almost every family has at least one privately owned firearm, usually several. Crossbows and magi-tech guns are sometimes used by militia members who are particularly rich and poor respectively. Swords are seen as archaic by militia members, but hatchets, clubs, and long knives are brought along in case fighting becomes up close and personal.

History:

Once a part of the Nantic Empire, and later the Alkor Empire, "East Alkor", as it was known at the time, was a prosperous, but politically overlooked region. Angry at constantly paying taxes for wars they didn't benefit from, and egged on by intellectuals making impossible promises, a widespread revolt swept through "East Alkor". Unable to decide on a new form of government, the leaders of the various rebel factions met in the small town of Harlbourg and signed a series of defense and trade treaties, leading to the formation of the Free City-States of Harlbourg. Despite its massive economy, Harlbourg has yet to emerge as a leading power in the region. It has alternated between fighting and allying itself with several nations in the region, particularly Belkan, Alkor, and Aesanaeria, though alliances with Alkor are rare. Harlbourg also frequently has to deal with internal fighting between different city states, as well as political factions like Utopia and Swabonze. Although internal power struggles are frequent, they rarely lead to open warfare, though assassinations and riots are common.

Economy:

Harlbourg is a wealthy nation, with rich farmlands, a large industrial base, and many merchant fleets. The lack of one central authority to direct the economy is sometimes a positive, sometimes a negative.

Miscellaneous:

The City-States are known for their secret military police mounted on mechanical horses assassinating those who want to rally the states into one power.

Each city-state have one or more order of knights, which are mostly if not entirely made of females.

One of the Burgomasters of Harlbourg was known to be a bit of an asshole. A travelling witch turned him into a giant cat to help correct his behavior.

Unfortunately the witch forgot that cats are also jerks. The Burgomaster in question retains both his position and his cat form to this day, and is notorious for knocking valuable objects off tables, shredding important documents with his teeth, and leaving dead fish, rats, and birds in random places around the council chamber.

Attempts to remove him from power have failed since he sparkles threateningly whenever someone reminds him his term ended years ago. Also his main rival was defenestrated by a pack of rabid cat lovers.