This thread is for discussing/developing the city-state of Kothra, a minor polity that sits on an island off the coast of Arvel.
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Geology
The Island of Kothra lies in the Central Sea, 100 leagues off the coast of Arvel. The island is primarly made of limestone, formed by a long-past subduction zone. Its soil is shallow and rocky. Significant agriculture is impossible. On its northern coast sits a deepwater harbor, and the waters around the island are rich in marine life.
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History
The City of Kothra was founded by Arvans. Exiles, criminals, ne’er-do-wells, and the spare younger children of families who practice primogeniture. Those whose lives are better outside the aegis of Arvel’s legal system. Over the centuries, the relationship between Kothra and the Arvan throne is a bellwether for the kingdom’s power. When Arvel’s power is waxing, Kothra is a tributary vassal, sending a treasure fleet once a year to the port of Vantith on the Noravar River Delta. When Arvel’s power is waning, Kothra becomes a corsair haven, preying on the lucrative shipping lanes that connect Vantith to the southern lands of Tophet and Yoba. In the present, Kothra sends its treasure ships. But many of its inhabitants eagerly await the day when the red daggar flag once again graces the waves of the Central Sea.
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Politics
There is only one law in Kothra: write no checks that your body or your treasury cannot cash. The Kothrans have no formal military or justice system. Every house enforces its desires with the power at its disposal. The dominant power on the island for generations has been House de Visillas. With its head styling themselves Grand Duke/Duchess of Kothra, the de Visillas lands occupy the southern half of the island, and contain some of the few parts of Kothra that are not thoroughly urbanized. Although Kothra has no formal taxes, anyone worth mentioning gives House de Visillas 10% of their income every month, a custom known as the Gratia that ensures the de Visillas House Lifeguard will aid them “during times they haven’t done anything stupid.” The Grand Duke or Duchess will also occasionally announce ‘preferences’ that smart denizens will align with. For their part, the de Visillas family values stability, order, and a friendly environment for trade.
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Military
While the Kothrans have no state forces, every family with the means possesses some capacity for violence. The most significant force on the island is the House de Visillas Lifeguard. This consists of a fleet of armed trading ships that en masse could defeat an Arvan Squadron and a ground force that by policy must be capable of matching the next three largest House forces on the island combined. Young Kothrans with a talent for violence usually find their way into its ranks, as do mercenaries from the mainland. When Kothra asserts its independence, all ships on the island fall under the authority of the Kothran Corsair’s Guild. While the Guild Force could not match the full naval might of any of the continental powers, it is strong enough to make the prospect of invading Kothra unappealing. As Lady Ellana As’kov, Tophet’s Minister of War, once said: “when they take up piracy, the Kothrans are an intelligent thorn in everyone’s side: sharp enough to prick, smart enough not to prick too hard.”
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Religion
The primary gods worshipped on Kothra are Genos and Nox. Unsurprising given its founding by Arvans and the generally chaotic nature of life on the island. Kothrans are religiously tolerant and fairly pragmatic in their devotion, with one exception: Devils and Modus worship are banned by longstanding ducal preferences. As the architect of House de Visillas’s power, Grand Duke Petran I put it: “we and Modus are in the same game, and we consider the divine power a cheat.” The most significant religious building on the island is the Cathedral of Nox, the personal chapel of the de Visillas, built by Arvan architects in a style somewhat alien to the typical sensibilities of Nox’s continental worshippers.
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Culture
Kothra is sufficiently isolated from the mainland that its culture developed largely in isolation from its influences. Kothran music is known for its syncopation and rhythms derived from the chants used to keep rowers in ancient ships on time. There are several major concert halls in the city, each sponsored by a great house. Kothran cuisine is heavily dependant on the sea, although the city imports large quantities of wheat from Arvel. It is typically very salty, and is set apart from other sea-based diets by heavy use of the herb Kothwart, which has a strong minty-spicy flavor.
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I like this sketch. Everybody loves a good semi-lawless pirate mafia city.
Given Kothra’s backdrop of lawlessness, perhaps they would have some tolerance (and use) for infernal contracts? This could even be a point of internal contention or hypocrisy. Forbid devil summoning and disallow the Church of Modus to have a presence, but use these contracts behind closed doors to ensure deals are honored.
I also think an officially lawless city full of scoundrel types would have some dark elements to its society. That can be assumed by what you’ve written, but most of what you’ve detailed sounds pretty cultured and respectable. But I imagine there might be a significant amount of activity that would be criminalized in other places: drug trades, fight clubs, extortion rackets, and a political process relying heavily on flattery and familial connections to houses. Various coalitions each with their own pecking order.
I think what would make this an interesting setting for a story is if the city is a surprising mix of things: a sophisticated culture with commerce, politics, art and music, AND it features an unstable mix of factions full of criminals.
Aside from that, I think we ought to add two main things:
- An economy. If it’s an island with no agriculture, how is it so prosperous it has concert halls and can send tributes to Arvel?
- Fantastical elements. Everything here so far could exist in a real historical city. Needs more wizards, etc.
I have some thoughts on combining the two, which I’ll post in a bit.
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Fantastical Economics: Lampfish Trade
Kothra’s biggest trade revolves around the hunting and processing of Great Horned Lamptail, a giant narwhal-like species of fish in the deep waters near the island. Its meat is a staple protein, and its blubber can be refined into fuel oils and waxes. What’s more, the bioluminescent liquid responsible for the glowing ball on the Lampfish’s tail seems to have hallucinogenic properties, and has recently become a recreational drug called Glimmer.
While the oil was always valuable, it was less desirable than Tash, the cleaner-burning oil made from refining the nuts of the Tash tree native to Yoba. With the invasion of Yoba and the future of trade with it uncertain, demand for the oil has increased. For this reason, Kothra is becoming harder to ignore as an economic power, despite its small size.
There are some troubles with with the Lamptail trade, however. As they are hunted more aggressively, some whalers swear they are becoming more organized, damaging and sometimes even sinking ships in what seems like coordinated attacks. This suggests they are more intelligent than once supposed. It almost seems, according to the furtive suggestions of veteran sailors, that they are becoming more intelligent every year.
And Glimmer, while not physically addictive, has become a focus of fringe groups – perhaps the term cults could be used – who study and contemplate the hallucinations caused by the drug, endowing them with something like religious significance.
The strangeness surrounding these Lampfish lends credence to a once obscure theory that the fish’s evolutionary path is the product of some Occult influence, and should be considered aberrations rather than natural creatures.
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I’m basically picturing these guys as a cross between Las Vegas and Port Royal. So I agree there should be a dark underbelly, and hypocrisy re: demon contracts seems plausible/reasonable. Economically, I think they’re basically reliant on the sea/their ships. They probably do a ton of smuggling, and would be the kind of place you’d go to find goods on the cheap.
I like the lampfish. I could see lampfish hunting techniques as prized knowledge on the island, and may one pillar of House de Visillas’s power.
Power in Kothra is wielded at the family level. At the moment, there are seven major crime families. A primary family we de facto rule the island, two secondary families that are clearly stronger than all of the other non-primaries, and four tertiary families who stand out among the others. Here is a graph showing their relationships and listing their key business interests and military strength. Red double arrows represent rivalries, and blue arrows represent defensive pacts. Percentages represent the percent of the island’s total industry that the family controls.
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House de Visillas
The de Visillas family has ruled Kothra for centuries, with the head of the family styling themselves ‘Archduke,’ despite the island lacking any formal government or constitution. The wealthiest of the Kothran crime families, House de Visillas has its base of power in the south of the island, although they also control Kothra’s deep water harbor, port facilities, and the few parcels of non-urban land on its southwestern peninsula. The pillar of their strength is the Great Horned Lamptail, large marine prey that is a source of meat, oil, and the hallucinogen glimmer. This provides both vast wealth for the family and work for its large fleet of 35 ships of the line plus dozens of smaller support craft. Although the de Visillas enforcers are numerous enough to take on the next three strongest houses, the family prefers diplomacy to brute force. They maintain scrupulous neutrality in the quarrel of the other houses, striking only when their interests are harmed or cheated. When they do strike they are utterly without mercy, annihilating numerous rivals during their rise to power. They stand for order, stability, and tradition on the island.
House Glien
The Gliens are one of a pair of Kothra’s “second families.” Their primary business is to feed the island. Because Kothra has poor soil and cannot grow much food on its own, they must harvest their food from the sea or important it from Arvel. House Glien has a monopoly on the vital wheat trade, which makes up the majority of their business, although they are also active in the alcohol, fishing, and salt trades. Because of how important their wheat imports are to the island, the other houses tend to leave them alone. Their base of power is in the island’s western districts. Traditionally, they maintain a defensive alliance with one of the tertiary houses so that they have an advantage should one of the other lesser families challenge them. They also maintain extensive offices in Arvel, with the head of the house often in Vantith to oversee the wheat imports.
House Vazquez
The Vazquez family are Kothra’s traditional vicelords and its other secondary crime family. With the exception of the western districts, which have recently fallen under the control of the aggressive, up-and-coming House Zossen, the Vazquez control Kothra’s casinos, brothels, and drug dens. They also export refined glimmer, a concentrated form of the natural Lamptail hallucinogen, and Sakin, a native herb that produces a chill, blissful state when smoked to the mainland. Because of the unsavory nature of their business, they are the least welcome on the mainland and family members rarely leave the island except to oversee drug smuggling. They consider the weaker House Zossen a rival and direct competitor, but because of the Zossen-Glien alliance, they coexist in an uneasy détente. For now.
House Elmworth
The Elmworths are explorers. With territory in the northeast quarters of the city with proximity to the main harbor, most of their business is conducted off-island. They specialize in hunting Naga artifacts, the most useful of which stay hidden in Kothran vaults but most of which are sold to the great powers of the mainland. Along with some clever forgeries. House Elmsworth also monopolizes the trade in St. Julia’s Gift, a rare plant that tends to grow near Naga sites. The plant has many medicinal uses, and is rumored to be effective at neutralizing even Nightmare contamination (although as with all things Nightmare related, no one knows for sure). They used to do a brisk business in precious metals, but recently lost most of their contracts to the Florr, who they bitterly resent.
House Variall
The Varialls also conduct their business mainly off-island. They specialize in weapons – both their production and distribution. From their territory in the island’s north, they control vast smithies where imported Dwarven smiths produce high quality weapons and armor. Business for Hosue Variall has boomed in the aftermath of the Tophen-Yobbani war, with Variall dealers supplying both the Tophen military and the Yobbani Resistance with whatever they need to conduct the war. The Varialls also control a group of rogue priests, who prepare holy water – supposed to be exclusive to the Knights of the Daystar – for sale to private individuals interested in Nightmare protection.
House Florr
House Florr, based in the southeast districts of the island, controls the trade in precious metals and gems. They have excellent relations with Nor and help bring their raw materials to eager buyers in the south. They have recently displaced the Elmworth as the island’s primary traders in precious metals, and while the Elmworth still have a monopoly on the trade in Naga antiquities, the rivalry between the two families has become quite fierce. The Florr fleet (10 ships of the line plus support craft) is notably stronger than those of the other tertiary houses.
House Zossen
The youngest of the great families, House Zossen began as a cadet branch of the Glien. They officially broke off when a love triangle went wrong, but managed to maintain friendly relations nonetheless. Unlike their cousins, who focus on feeding Kothra, the Zossens are in the vice business. They managed to seize the western casinos and brothels from House Vazquez, and now maintain an uneasy truce with a defensive pact with the Glien. Recently they have attempted to grow their business by selling luxury textiles imported from Amloth, where they are working to build rapport and potentially diversify their interests to ease the tensions with the Vazquez family.
This is neat. I like that all the houses have statblocks and that they specialize in different business interests.
If I were writing a story in this setting, I’d narrow it down to focusing on the top three houses, mostly because it’d be easy for the reader to remember and differentiate them all (Fire Emblem: Three Houses comes to mind). The top three are also quite distinct. It makes sense that the top dog is focused on the fantastical element (lampfish), and that the seafaring-oriented house would be the dominant one on an island nation.
As for the other two, I can imagine a significant cultural and moral value difference between Vazquez, which trades heavily in vices, and Glien which provides necessities.
St. Julia’s Gift is a nice callback to other things in the setting.