Ashnan (pronounced AHSH-nahn) is a Tamkaranu colony on the western coast of the Chaska Sea. The breadbasket of Tamkaranu, the colonial situation in Ashnan has been complicated by unrest - simmering tensions have recently given way to outright rebellion.
Geography, flora, and fauna
The climate and ecology of Ashnan is heavily driven by the Chaska Sea. Like most other regions around the Chaska, Ashnan sees quite mild weather - warm summers and mild winters are characteristic of most years.
Most of Ashnan was originally covered by expansive grasslands and plains, and much still is. Dotted by groves of trees, and more substantial forests in some places, these grasslands are habitats to animals both large and small. A significant proportion of these plains have since been converted to farm- or pasture-land.
One major river, the Adeban, runs through Ashnan. Tributaries of the Adeban converge before the river eventually flows out into the Chaska Sea.
Farther inland, Ashnan includes the northern-most extent of the Sagaritian Uplands. Home to a number of unfriendly giants and dangerous creatures, the colonists have generally considered expanding into the region of buttes and mesas to be not worth the risks.
The two-headed amphisbaena is an unfortunately common threat within Ashnan - some communities have skilled snake-catchers that have honed their abilities in hunting these creatures.
History
Early history
The town of Kition was the first modern settlement in what is now Ashnan. Founded by settlers from southern Hellea, Kition and its outlying region grew slowly over the centuries. Many other communities had been established in the area over the centuries, inhabited by peoples originating from across the Chaska, including from Tamkaranu prior to its period as a kingdom and its turn away from the sea. Most of these, however, had not lasted the ages, fading into the patchwork of the Western Coast.
Beginning of Tamkaranu colonization
By Y9600* Tamkaranu began to take a renewed active interest in the area. By providing large amounts of raw material, the colonial efforts in Ellu had proven immensely successful and profitable for Tamkaranu merchants and craftspeople, and next Tamkaranu leaders sought to reduce their reliance on food imported from Khapesh or Dalbanu. Towards these aims the colony of Ashnan was established in the fertile lands of the western coast of the Chaska Sea. As was the case in Ellu, existing inhabitants of the region were largely strong-armed under the government of the new colony.
The Long Ten Years
Though Ashnan and the food its farmers produced had been greatly beneficial for Tamkaranu for almost four centuries, mismanagement and a lack of concern for local issues frayed the once good relations between the influential trade coalitions and the ordinary people. When a drought from Y9958* to Y9968* rendered Tamkaranu farmers completely unable to support the cities of the nation, the trade coalitions saw opportunity in Ashnan, and began to demand increased quotas from farmers in the colony in order to profit from selling their foodstuffs in the markets of the metropole. While this made the merchants of the coalitions immensely wealthy, and ensured Tamkaranu did not starve, it came at a coast in Ashnan as so much food was shipped overseas that local populations were unable to feed themselves. Tamkaranu recovered in the years since, but the actions of the trade coalitions still remain fresh in the minds of the people of Ashnan.
During the Long Ten Years, as it is known to the inhabitants of Ashnan, the agricultural output shipped from the colony to Tamkaranu well outstripped what was actually capable of being provided when considering local needs. The people of the colony were left with little food of their own. Famine was mitigated only through the services of a great number of sympathetic clerics, but Ashnan suffered greatly nonetheless.
Unrest and the Lamplighter Rebellion
As a result of the Long Ten Years, the social and political situation in Ashnan has deteriorated greatly, and various dissident groups have formed in the years since. Many have close ties to the clergy of a number of deities, though the largest and most influential, the Lamplighters, are officially secular. While some of these organizations prefer political solutions, others are not afraid to shy away from violence. All have one shared goal - the dissolution of the colony and independence for Ashnan, away from the influence of Tamkaranu and the trade coalitions. This new period in Ashnan's history is commonly referred to as the Lamplighter Rebellion.
The rebellion has been low in intensity and scale so far. Phoenix Crest has been functionally autonomous since Y9965*, the first settlement to be loosed from colonial control, and in Y9972* the town of Soluntum quickly fell to an alliance between the Lamplighters and the local centaurs, almost without a fight. In most of Ashnan the rebellion is more of an insurgency, with underground groups sabotaging the forces of the colony. Some of the religiously-affiliated organizations keep a more public profile - temple grounds are de facto neutral territory, something the rebels use well to their advantage.
Demographics
The inhabitants of Ashnan include individuals of many ancestries, though with a human plurality. Half-elves, half-orcs, gnomes, planar scions, and others accord for much of the rest of the population.
Within inland Ashnan, near Soluntum, live one of the few remaining groups of centaurs outside Hellea. Though isolationist and suspicious of the colonists for much of Ashnan's history, their assistance during the Long Ten Years built much closer ties between the centaurs and the people of Ashnan.
Culture
Religion
The gods of the Chaskan pantheon are the most typically worshiped in Ashnan, though the Hellean pantheon has significant influence as well. Temples and clerics to Marya, Aduntarri, and Hasamel have long been widespread in the colony. Though her traditional role was as an agricultural goddess, worship of Marya in Ashnan has begun to take on a much more revolutionary aspect. A very new arrival to Ashnan religious life, the local Cult of the Phoenix has spread quickly through the colony since its beginnings around Y9965*. Members of this cult worship a semi-mythical phoenix seen as the embodiment of the Ashnan people that some claim appeared just before a successful uprising in Phoenix Crest. The cult is intrinsically tied to the political situation in Ashnan, as the faith advocates for their independence from Tamkaranu as one of its core tenets.
Languages
The people of Ashnan primarily speak Telan and Common, though other languages are not unknown.
Architecture and urbanization
The architecture of Ashnan is broadly similar to that of Tamkaranu. Towns and cities in Ashnan have generally remained relatively small - Kition, the largest city, is home to less than 30,000 individuals.
The Lamplighter Rebellion
There are many factions that are involved in the struggle for Ashnan independence, though most have aligned themselves with the Lamplighters. The largest of the pro-independence groups, the Lamplighters are a motley alliance of Ashnan commoners, independent merchants, religious zealots, and centaurs. Though they have managed to work together thus far, the lack of central leadership and sometimes wildly diverging methods have posed a continual issue in their rebellion.
The Lamplighters acquired their name through their use of lanterns to send coded messages. Despite their best attempts, the ever-changing meaning of the patterns in the light have confounded the colonials' attempts at decryption.
Along with the Lamplighters, a number of religious factions are active in the insurgency. Ashnan clerics of Aduntarri have made clear their support for independence, but refrain from any action further than supporting the rebels with healing, food, and shelter. A subset of the Cult of the Phoenix that calls themselves the Ashnan Phoenixes are far more active in their role, working closely with the Lamplighters. The faithful of Marya involved themselves relatively late in the conflict, but their influence has steadily grown.
Together, these factions are opposed to the forces of the trade coalitions and the colonial administration of Tamkaranu. For most of the colony's history the coalitions maintained only a token guard force, more to protect against wild creatures than to pacify the colony. Since the beginning of the Lamplighter Rebellion, however, they have rapidly and hastily militarized. Most of the colonial soldiers are under the employ of the Balanos Consortium or the Macaria Colonial Guild, supported by a small and relatively ill-trained detachment from the Tamkaranu navy. The Balanos Consortium has recently bought clockworks from the workshops of Peremoun. These clockworks, and more uncommonly golems as well, are deployed as part of squads of flesh and blood soldiers. The Macaria Colonial Guild, meanwhile, has hired mercenaries from far and wide. The mercenaries have earned themselves something of a reputation as effective if sometimes difficult to control.
Government
Similar to other Tamkaranu colonies like Ellu, in Ashnan various trade coalitions are granted broad latitude to pursue their own interests, effectively charters over regions of the colony. Though there are others, the major coalitions in Ashnan are the Balanos Consortium, the Macaria Colonial Guild, and the Bronze Sea Navigator's Guild. This triad exercises significant political authority in the colony, though officially they remain subordinate to the colonial administration and shufets appointed by the judge-council of Tamkaranu.