Korymbos

Korymbos
Capital	Nindara
Ruler	Judge-council
Government	Republic
Demonym	Korymban
Adjective	Korymban
Languages	Telan; Common; Hellean; many others
Religions	Chaskan pantheon; Hellean pantheon; Khapeshan pantheon; other pantheons and faiths

Korymbos (pronounced coh-RIM-bose) is a nation at the western gateway to the Chaskan whose bustling and vibrant emporiums are the crown jewel of the Bronze Sea, bringing together merchants and peoples from far and wide. The nation's navy, often called the Great Wall at Sea, has earned a reputation as unbeatable after defeating Tamkaranu, the Halakran League, and Viridia in relatively quick succession.

Geography, flora, and fauna

Korymbos encompasses the eastern half of the island of Nivaria at the westernmost edge of the Chaska Sea, as well as the islands of Ombrion, Planasia, and many smaller islands between these three. The eastern coast of the island enjoys much calmer weather than the western side, which is frequently battered by storms from the Sea of Khoros. Generally speaking the climate of Korymbos is characterized by fairly low seasonality and warm yet not hot weather year-round.

Most of the coastline of Nivaria consists of either sandy or rocky shores, but some beaches along the southern coast are instead made of high quality salt. Many islanders tell tales of brine dragons that make their lairs on the shore in these parts, yet these dragons have not been seen in many years, if they ever existed at all.

The interior of Nivaria is primarily scrub forest, full of evergreen shrubs and small trees along with taller pines and cedars. Tar seeps dot the inland hills, far more common in Nivaria than in almost anywhere else in the world. Cypress arboreals can be found in the inland hills of Nivaria, and more rarely closer to the Korymban settlements.

In addition to plentiful smaller animals, Nivaria is home to Nivarian sheep, moas, foxes, and more, in addition to many kinds of seals, whales, dolphins, and other marine life. There are relatively few natural predators on the island.

History

Prehistory

Long ago the Nivaria was an important part of the ancient cyclopean nations that once spanned much of the Chaska Sea. Still magnificent despite their ruin, many of their old palaces can be found across the island, clearly showing the heights of their wealth and power. Whatever significance Nivaria had that led to the construction of these palaces was lost long ago, even before the end of the city-builder period, and today it has been forgotten entirely, left as an enduring mystery for scholars, archeologists, and sages to puzzle.

Colonization

Centuries after the cyclopean realms declined and abandoned Nivaria, the island was settled once more by peoples of Hellea and Meklovian descent, who established a great many small seaside towns and villages. As they explored Nivaria and scouted the cyclopean ruins they found an oddity - the southeast of the island, though home to some advantageous natural harbors, was seemingly avoided by the cyclops. It was not until several hundred years later, however, that they discovered why. Underneath the small town of Ninmena an anchor site was unearthed, carefully warded by many layers of forgotten cyclopean magic. Unlike all others known at the time or now, this anchor site allowed for teleportation to many locations around the Chaska and even farther afield. Seeing the opportunity in such a discovery, these early settlers were joined by waves of new colonists, primarily out of Tamkaranu, merchants who sought their fortunes through the trade such an anchor site, and Korymbos' ideal location, would allow.

Ninmena grew rapidly into a bustling metropolis, but so too did many other cities up and down the coast, their prosperity tied even more than Ninmena's to merchant vessels plying the waves. Though Korymbos, as the region was now called by its inhabitants, was nominally independent, it retained extremely close ties with Tamkaranu in the eastern Chaska.

Under Tirione

As with other Tamkaranu colonies around the Chaska Sea, the rise of the necromancer Belet-Shuthnir in Y8031^* and the subsequent Eastern Crusade had a profound effect on Korymbos. As Tamkaranu attempted to fight back against her undead forces, the colonies were effectively cut loose from the metropole, forced to go their own way. Though most other colonies suffered during this time, their trade routes effectively vanishing, Korymbos continued to thrive, becoming a regional power in its own right.

This was not to last long, however, as the end of the crusade and the formation of the Kingdom of Tirione out of the ashes of Tamkaranu brought further changes. While the new monarchy cared little for the various small colonies on the western and southern coasts of the Chaska, Korymbos was a different matter entirely, as they saw Nivaria and its ports as too great a source of wealth, power, and prestige to let slip from their grasp. Their armies, battle-hardened from the long war against Belet-Shuthnir, were sent across the sea, where they brought Korymbos under their control, ruling it in a far more direct manner than it had enjoyed previously. While its cities were still the destination of many a merchant vessel, the monarchy imposed heavy taxes on the people of Korymbos, funneling the wealth from their trade back to the metropole to fund their own endeavors.

Independence and the rise of the Great Wall at Sea

When unrest in Tirione led to the collapse of the monarchy and the establishment of Tamkaranu as a unified republic in Y9360^*, the people of Korymbos saw opportunity and quickly declared themselves independent as well. Even while reeling from the upheaval at home, the new shufet of Tamkaranu were unwilling to let Korymbos go, seeing in it the same wealth as the previous kingdom so coveted. In Y9365^* A force was sent west across the Chaska Sea once again, but this time Korymbos was ready, having spent the last five years amassing a fleet of merchant vessels retrofitted into warships. This Great Wall at Sea, as the fleet became known, were successful in driving away the Tamkaranu fleet after a great battle off the coast of Planasia, sending their would-be subjugators fleeing back east.

This was not the end of Korymbos' troubles, however. Other powers around the Chaska Sea saw the still fledgling nation and wished to control it themselves - after all, while it may have repelled Tamkaranu, its war of independence was against a foe still weakened by decades of internal strife and finding its own footing. A coalition of Hellean city-states within the Halakran League, led by Hekaerge, amassed a navy of their own, which they sent forth to Korymbos in Y9392^*. This fleet too was defeated, chased back to Hellea by the victorious Great Wall following a series of limited skirmishes near Tarraco and Siga.

But even this attempted invasion was not the last one the nascent nation faced, for Viridia at the time too had ambitions in the Chaska. The Viridian monarch at the time, Avus IV, sought a new victory to bolster the his alliances within the senate following the challenges faced by the legions in holding Razgovir and Ishtar. The Viridian navy left its berths in the Phiora Sea and sailed south in Y9401^*, where they encountered the Great Wall over three hundred miles east of Nivaria, near the underwater city of Tritorei. Though the battle was terrible for all, the Great Wall ultimately held - further Viridian attempts at taking Korymbos were halted by the death of Avus IV the following year.

Having successfully defended Korymbos in three successive wars, the Great Wall at Sea attracted a reputation as unbeatable, a legacy they continue to foster in the present day.

Demographics

Even compared to other nations around the Chaska Sea, Korymbos is very cosmopolitan. Humans, dwarves, elves, [[tengu], orcs, half-elves, half-orcs, gnomes, and every other ancestry can be found there, hailing from places near and far. The forebears of most individuals in Korymbos arrived on the island nation from Tamkaranu, Hellea, Thadria, Meklaw, Khapesh, and even Rothurland, but it is not at all unusual to hear a language or see a traditional dress from regions much further afield than any of these.

Culture

Government

Korymbos continues to maintain a system of government inherited from Tamkaranu in which most power ultimately rests in figures called shufet, essentially elected judges. Two of these judges are elected by each city in Korymbos to serve one- or two- year terms. While these judges have expansive executive and judicial powers, they also preside over elected city-level assemblies who advise the shufet.

In this form of diarchy, any shufet can veto the actions of their peer, thus forcing them to negotiate and reach an agreement on any issue in which they hold differing views. On certain matters the shufet must defer to their assemblies, most notably on any question of military action, trade embargo, or other such diplomatic activity.

Above the shufet is the judge-council. Formed of all the shufet of each city of Korymbos, the judge-council is responsible for any decision that affects the nation as a whole rather than only a single city.

Korymbos has universal suffrage - any adult inhabitant of a city or its surrounding regions may vote, regardless of time of residency, occupation, social status, or other such factors. Unlike in Tamkaranu, shufet in Korymbos are given a salary as compensation, which has opened the role up to those who were not already in possession of wealth.

Economy

Korymbos' economy is firmly rooted in trade. Merchants from far away flock to the emporiums of its port cities, buying and selling all manner of goods, everything from raw resources to finished goods of the finest craftsmanship. Korymban fishers and farmers support local populations, and its craftspeople meet local needs, but the nation does not export great amounts, preferring instead to make its wealth through imposing tariffs on foreign merchants and visitors and providing them with goods and services while they visit the emporiums.

Relations

The emporiums of Korymbos are open to merchants and visitors from everywhere, even places like the Halakran League, Viridia, and Tamkaranu, all of whom previously waged war against the island nation. The Korymban people prefer to look towards future possibilities rather than towards past strife - after all, their prosperity only increases with more people drawn to their cities and ports.

In recent years the shufet of Korymbos have made efforts towards annexing the various small cities and towns on the western half of Nivaria, mostly independent areqalates, but these efforts have been largely rebuffed.