Enshaw

Enshaw, also known as the Republic of Enshaw, is and island nation in  the Totus Ocean, with holdings on the continent of Propeterram. It lies between Shirudo to its West, Mabuting to its East and the subcontinent of Chapultapec to its south. Climates between Enshawdian Islands vary greatly, but temperate rain-forests are most common. Enshaw is a founding member of the Union of Lanzarote and regarded as one of the worlds foremost emerging powers, and an economic as well as technological juggernaut.

History
Enshaw was originally inhabited by the Termedi, a sea faring people from Chapultapec some time before 1000 PRT. While no writing from this time remains, much has been learned about these early settlers of the Enshawdian from ruins and grave sites. This early era was dominated by mythic kings and a pantheon of gods whom the people believed directly influenced day to day life. Massive shrines were built to these characters, impressive feats of engineering for the limited resources available to these peoples.

Early Colonisation and the Four Tribes
Around 300-150 PRT, the Hijjian Empire collapsed, leading to a mass exodus of Hijjian peoples to the seas. These Hijjian's who arrived on Enshaw began to refer to themselves as the Bae sometime after. Initial encounters between the Bae and Termedi were immediately hostile, the Termedi fearing the new settlers. However, they were ill equipped and were ravaged by both disease and the superior technology of their colonisers. By 500 RT, all of the Enshawdian islands were under Bae control.

However, the Bae were far from unified. Warfare between the islands was a constant as city states and small kingdoms vied for the islands few resources and its precious fishing spots. After centuries of fighting, in approximately 715 RT, the Enshaw was written. This document created the Four Tribes, who, in theory, would all have enough to live together in their collection of islands. These tribes were the Nala who would have the eastern islands, Bada who would have the three central islands, Gong-Gi who would control the largest island and the Byeol would would own the islands in the east; the Termedi people were not a part of this agreement, but were too few in number to mount any significant resistance.

Following the creation of the Four Tribes, they would occasionally ally to fight foreign powers. Wars over the fertile Al Este Kalpala islands were regularly fought with the Hokurikan and Gosuman kingdoms. However, rivalry remained; the islands of Mabuting served as an arena as the Four Tribes vied for favour and control amongst local warlords and small kingdoms. The rivalry between the Four Tribes made unity at the time impossible, but the sense of being different from the other Hijjian exiles grew with each passing generation and century.

Creation of Enshaw, Kingdom of the Eclipse
The system of four came to an end in 1491 RT with the arrival of the Hoffnung. While contact with the continent has been normal for centuries to that point, and foreign navies had landed on the islands from time to time, never had a foreign power attempted to take control of a city within the island chain. The Nala fought a desperate war against the Hoffnung, but their capitol Sorsogon fell in 1492. Fearing for further Hoffnung expansion, Yi Jung-bu, the King of the Nala pleaded to the other signatories of the Enshaw to come together and fight the foreign invaders. With constant promises from the Hoffnung of peace and better trade, initially only the Byeol agreed with this. However, after the winter of 1492-1493, with reinforcements from the mainland, the Hoffnung push forward yet again. With promises broken, the Enshaw was revised. Munmu, King of Bada and the most powerful of the four, became the leader of a new Kingdom, that of Enshaw.

Initial battles against the Hoffnung went poorly. The Four Tribes had always been modern within the context of the island nations. But against a force from the continent they were woefully outdated. T'Boli, the capitol of Bada was lost in 1494. The major part of Panglao was lost soon after. Slowly the Hoffnung crept, city by city, defeating Army after Army. Bada promised Lanzarote would be were the Hoffnung would finally be stopped.

The Battle of Lanzarote has become a thing of myths in Enshawdian history. Bada, personally leading his troops, allowed the Hoffnung into the city without much resistance. Then an eclipse turned day to night. Believing this to be an omen of good luck from the moon god, Bada attacked the horrified, confused and distraught Hoffnung forces. In close quarters, the Hoffnung muskets and rifles were easily out matched by the Enshawdian swords and bows. The Hoffnung would never recover from the defeat, and by 1501, had left Enshaw for good.

Creation of modern Enshaw and the Republic
The Kingdom of Enshaw would last after the Hoffnung's defeat. Bada moved his capitol to Lanzarote, the site of his greatest victory and the source of his almost god like power. However, the Enshawdian's slowly fell into the shadow of their more powerful Shirudan neighbours. Al Este Kalpala would be lost in 1639 and Enshawdian power in Mabuting was removed entirely in the 1745 Mabuting War of Unification. Throughout the 18th century, evermore Enshawdians began to turn to the continent for education, and many returned with radical new ideas.

This would all culminate in the Talisman movement, a group of Arcean and Hoffnung educated students inspired by Angela Marcuse and Acard, who would lead the 1785 Enshawdian Rebellion. Starting humbly as striking fish packing plant workers, it spread from T'Boli to Clan like wildfire, lead on by the Talismen and backed by Arcean Section 0 and Hoffnung National Labour Union (HNLU) organisers. King Monino, his court in chaos, was unable to mount an effective resistance. Instead, the supporters of the monarchy turned to his Nalan wife Shindeok. Shindeok was able to bring control back to T'Boli, but this only inspired direct intervention from the Arceans. Facing annihilation at the hands of the Arcean Republic, Shindeok instead negotiated a peace with the rebels instead of drawing out what she viewed as inevitable defeat. The Enshawdian Republic was formed, and the monarchy was exiled, Monino living out the rest of his life in North Ghurrka, Shindeok going on to be a famous Karelian painter.

Enshaw would enter the Great War still recovering from its own Civil War and struggling to industrialise. However, with the aid of the Arceans, the country would leave it stronger than it had ever been before and one of the leading powers during the signing of the Treaty of Phyber.

Organisation
The Enshawdian government is based around six sectors: Executive and Diplomatic, Judicial, Legislative, Military, Internal Affairs and Police. Every six years, elections are held for the leader of the executive branch, the Prime Director. The Prime Director can appoint a Vice-Prime director after two years in office, the previous Vice-Prime Director serving during these initial two years. The position of Vice-Prime Director is responsible for all diplomatic posts.

Each sector has a special office in charge of monitoring the integrity of the other sectors. This is meant to ensure a high level of scrutiny of the government.

Only full citizens are allowed to vote. Full citizenship can be attained through either higher education or military service.

Demographics
The majority of Enshawdians are ethnically Bae, the differentiation between the Four Tribes stopped officially after the creation of the Republic, and modern Enshawdians often don't know which Tribe they descend from. Termedi peoples make up the countries largest minority. The differences between the two in terms of income, prison population and representation within the government are immense, with the Bae making more than double a year on average per person, making up only a minority of the prison and having control of every Enshawdian government Administration and major corporations.

Military
Since the Battle of Lanzarote, Enshaw as both a Kingdom and as a Republic has struggled to man a sizeable army due to what is known as the Brilliance Myth. Many Enshawdians believe that through the superior intelligence of their people and culture, invasions can be thwarted through tactics. Many often cite the victory of the Talisman, a small group of intelligentsia, over the monarchy and the Enshawdian victory in the Great War, as proof of the validity of this world view. Despite military leaderships disagreements with this sentiment, the people strongly believe it. As such, military spending has generally been directed towards R&D and mercenaries to act as Enshaw's commitment to Union initiatives.