Oyashima

Oyashima is a nation in northeastern Alshar entirely composed of the small northeastern portion of the continent - a region known as Danehong - as well as the majority of the Oyashima Archipelago on the edge of the Ocean of Cathay. In addition to its mainland portion, it covers seventeen major islands and approximately twenty smaller habitable islands (as well as numerous pseudo-islands) divided into seven States (Shū/州). The majority of people within Oyashima reside in the archipelago, which serves as the main economic and political center of the country.

Medieval period
The medieval period in Oyashima spanned from the 5th century to 612. It was characterized by the end of the dominance of the nomadic ancestors of the Danehonger peoples and their lifestyle and the rise of the ethnically Mutsutorine kingdoms and empires.

Shang colony
Upon arrival of the Emperor Cao Zhi’s trade navy in 697 a colony was established that lasted until 755. The area around the colonial port of Xiwan was quickly developed into the Shang court and a few thousand Shangese residents called the place home. There was an intentional and pervasive breeding effort by the Shang, importing only men and requiring that each man take three native wives and to proliferate their line abundantly. This led to a massive boom that required a huge investment in infrastructure. A second city was built for some of these large families and a series of roads were built between the two. When the boys were old enough to take wives they continued the practice of their fathers, whoever a massive job shortage led to lower tax revenues as the economic activity of the colony was needed internally to feed the inhabitants. This and the great distance led to the abandonment of the colonial effort of the Shang Imperial court in 755 meant that the Shangese needed to set their own path. Establishing massive farming operations the wealthier settlers established a hierarchical system like the one in Shang. The Xiwanese as they started to refer to themselves, expanded throughout modern day Oyashima bringing with them their language, their culture, and their farming practices. In 884, Daimyo Iwakura Matsumori overthrew his shogun and established the Matsumori imperial dynasty. His house would rule for 300 years and preside over the formation of Matsutorine culture.

Matsumori dynasty
Distant enough from their Shangese colonial neighbors to the south and deeply inbreed with the Mongolic natives, the Matsumori court established a unique cultural and ethnic identity. It was in this period that the became distinct from the. Their rule of the Kita-Hanto, (Eng: Northern Peninsula) was absolute. They established sedentary farming communities further and further east. By the 1160s they controlled the whole of the Kita-Hanto and had abolished the nomadic lifestyle. The family structure was very expansionist focused. The father would pass on his farm to the oldest son and the son’s family would support his siblings and their families until the sisters had been married off and the brothers had taken expeditions and established their own farms on the edge of the territory. This meant that first son’s wives were primarily matchmakers for their sisters-in-law and passed on sagas of adventure to their brothers-in-law as well as being tasked with childrearing. Because each man still took multiple wives it was normal for Musutorine families to arrange first marriages for political or financial gains. The second marriage was normally still to a native woman and was considered an act of charity by introducing civility into the native bloodlines. The third wife was arranged between the man himself and the parents of the bride, often between Musutorine families and was again to secure political or financial gains but this time determined by the man himself and not his parents.

Toshimochi dynasty
Shogun Hatakeyyama Toshimochi from the Yokkanai province in the southeastern part of modern Oyashima, rebelled and captured much of modern day Oyashima in 1204 creating a separate empire. The Matsumori dynasty collapsed in on itself as princes fought for the thrown. By 1238, Toshimochi had crushed the armies of the Matsumori and laid claim to their territory. Fearful of warring princes the Toshimochi banned multiple brides and established clearer rules around succession, these were revolutionary as they recognized daughters as potential royal successors in their own right. Actually appointing a daughter was not very common but its codification into law is amongst the earliest such decree.

Ai dynasty
The Toshimochi dynasty ruled from 1204 until 1367 when they passed without issue to the emperor’s cousin Empress Gamou Ai. The Ai period was a violent with its emperors and empresses promoting eastern culture over western. They spoke and eschewed some of the practices they saw as archaic and too Shangese.This was also the period when expansionism slowed and in some cases reversed. The Ai focused on building a meritocratic civil service of ethnically Kantonese administrators. They were constantly putting down revolts and fending off incursions from their neighbors. In 1367 Emperor Takaoka Ai was murdered by band of ninjas and a 250 year period of warring states ensued. Shoguns and daimyos were constantly at each other’s throats looking to find and advantage. The population, once over a million people, stagnated and started to decline. By the 1600s the average person was looking for anyone to provide stability and order.

Company rule
The region now known as Oyashima and its fragmented states came under the gradual sway of the Burgoignesc Kandahar-Kandara Trading Company. The entire area was reorganized as the "Far East Colony".

Late modern era
Following the abandonment of the colony in 1817 by the Burgoignesc Kandahar-Kandara Trading Company the shoguns and daimyos formed various factions and started fighting to control the territory. The Matsutorine traditionalists wanted an empire similar to those of the Toshimochi dynasty with an ethnically and culturally Matsutorine dominated government of the whole of the Kita-Hanto. The Danehonger imperial traditionalists sought a resurgence of the Ai dynasty with a dominant Danehonger court to rule over the whole expanse of the Burgoignesc colony. Oyashimi monarchists were looking to create an ethnically Oyashimi micro-state with a monarchy at its head, not inclusive of the Matsutorine or Danehonger lands or people. The Matsutorine modernists sought to maintain strong connections with Burgundie and to the Occidental world. They included 6 regiments of the army and a squadron of the navy with majority of the ships for the colony. Feeling that their role as arbitrator of state power was going to be taken advantage of by the ever changing claimants on sole power the modernists in the military broke from the “state” and fortified the colonial capital forming the Soldier’s Republic of Harimoto, in 1818. They expelled the various other factions and set up check-points into the city. In March, 1819 the Siege of Harimoto was laid by the Matsutori traditionalist forces. Lacking firearms and mostly consisting of peasant levies the siege was broken in a few weeks as the long range guns from the ships were brought to the city’s walls and pounded the undisciplined levy camps. They scattered and the remaining core of trained samurai had no means of breaching the walls. They fell back 20 kilometers and hoped to draw the republicans into open battle. An emissary was sent to invite the “cowardly westerners” to the field of battle. They ignored the request and set about creating a foreign mission to garner support. Their republican sentiments fell on deaf ears strongly entrenched in monarchism, but they did return with some Burgoignesc Grand Crona Trading Company troops and canons who hoped to further disrupt the monopoly of the Burgoignesc Kandahar-Kandara Trading Company in Alshar. The troops were led by Joan-Charles Marronet, a Burgoignesc captain of the 3rd Colonial Artillery Battery of the 5th Grand Crona Artillery Regiment. Joan-Charles set about training the army in combined warfare with the effective use of cavalry, line infantry (mixed musketeers and halbrediers), artillery, logistics trains. The following June, 1820, he led an expedition of two infantry regiments, a squadron of horse archers, a squadron of lancers, and a battery of artillery. They stuck to the rivers as they were followed by a train of barges. They made 60 kilometers a day until they reached the end of the river system and then had to switch to pack horses. They travelled for another three weeks until they met the traditionalists at their capital of Kydo. The palisaded city was guarded by its garrison of 2,000 soldiers plus an additional force of 250 samurai and 8,000 levy troops. Marronet’s troops set up camp about 4 kilometers from the city along its main road. They built up a Latinic earthen fort and entrenched their canons. Over the next week the traditionalist forces probed Marronet’s camp and attempted to disrupt the supply chain. On May 5th, 1821 Marronet’s decided to attack. His cannons fired heated cannonballs through the palisades and set the wooden buildings on fire. Under cover of the cannon fire the horse archers swarmed the distracted levy troops. They scattered as predicted but caught against the flood of city residents streaming out of the burning city. The lancers, close on the heels of the archers, plunged deep into the panicked crowd. Stabbing and crushing hundreds of the levy troops and the city’s fleeing masses the cavalry turned the field into a slaughterhouse. As the cannons quieted, the infantry advanced over the broken ground. Their slow approach made them easy pickings for the wall archers who stalwartly stood in defense as the city burned behind them. Pushing forward nonetheless, the infantry, under the personal command of Marronet, reached the splintered walls and the musketeers opened fire on the remaining defenders. After the first volley the halberdiers charged through the holes. Many were spooked when they reached the far side of the walls and found themselves face to face with an inferno. Many tried to fall back but were blocked by those behind them. Seeing the infantry bunch up Marronet assumed the halberdiers had come in contact with defenders. He withdrew a large portion of the musketeers and sent them to support the cavalry mopping up the levies. Many of the halberdiers caught in the crush were burned alive and the remainder were unable to capture the city’s battlements. By days end the city was practically undefended but Marronet was not the victor. He withdrew his troops to their base and learned of his fatal decision at the walls. He and his commanders decided to wait until the city had burned out and then to attempt to make an entrance. After another week of waiting he proposed to the officers to make another attempt. His combined arms tactics had lost credibility with the men so the attack would be just the infantry, unsupported by artillery or cavalry. The troops marched out again across the broken ground. Having been given a week to reorganize the traditionalist forces sent a swarm of cavalry troops to attack the slow moving infantry column. The halberdiers made a valiant effort, forming a tight square around the musketeers but the sheer number of cavalry overwhelmed them. By the time Marronet, who was with the infantry in the field, was able to signal to release his own cavalry, it was too late. The infantry square was crushed and Maronnet was stabbed in the left arm and his right leg was crushed under a horse hoof. The traditionalist cavalry returned to the city celebrating their total victory. The surviving infantry men and the wounded were brought back to the republican’s fort. Maronnet suffered the amputation of his whole left arm and the right leg below the knee. After coming too from his shock-coma, he ordered, in the following order: Kiravian whisky, his saddle be retrofitted to address his new condition, and that a combined attack be made to secure the city while the traditionalists were celebrating their victory. After a liberal application of the whisky, he was carried up to the ramparts to watch as his forces worked together in perfect unison to flush the celebrating enemy from the city and to take the walls.

Having crushed the main element of the traditionalist forces the Republic of Kydo was formed and joined with the Soldier’s Republic of Harimoto and the lands between them, creating the Republic of Matsumori. The elements of the Burgoignesc Grand Crona Trading Company returned with honors, but Maronnet resigned his post and elected to stay on as the Deputy Minister of War and Adjunct Assistant Foreign Minister.

Republic of Matsumori
The appeal of republicanism appealed to the fledgling middle class in the nascent and violent Empire of Kanto. In 1822, they appealed to now Lieutenant Colonel Joan-Charles Maronnet to lead a military takeover. Showing the letter to President Mitsimoto Hirambi, Maronnet proposed that he should led a force of government forces and incorporate Kanto into the republic. This was met with cautious support by the ministers, but the President and the Minister of War were very supportive and the measure passed. After a four year campaign the saw the total destruction of 15 cities and the loss of an estimated 280,000 Kanotonese lives, Marronet secured the whole of Kita-Hanto for the Republic. However, in so doing he was disgraced for his punishing methods. While he was given a variety of honors he was asked to retire from his ministerial posts. Being seen as a hero in Burgundie still, he returned and took a commission in the Great Prince’s army as an artillery colonel. Following the acquisition, the country underwent a series of censuses to best determine how to distribute the representation. Hawks supported under representation for the Kantonese and ultimately won the day. The 1826 Congress of Representatives featured representatives from 115 districts in Mutsutorine majority areas and only 94 from Danehonger majority areas, with a paltry 4 seats for Oyashimi areas. Conflicts resulted in a redraft of the districts in 1849 to 115 to 112 with an option to review in 20 years. For much of the next twenty years the underlying ethnic tension was quieted by slow but constant reform. In 1868, as the potential of a referendum became clear the Mutsutorine majority became fearful of losing control of the country. A spate of violence towards Danehongers living in the western part of the country was met with a backlash of Danehonger citizens against their politicians and the Mutsutorine in general. The Danehonger Revolution saw sectarian violence, government crackdowns, and eventually the reestablishment of the separate nation of the Kingdom of Danehong on November 19th, 1869.

The Republic limped along for another 5 years. Having lost half of its tax base and some of its most talented politicians the country focused inward and sought to find a new identity and unifying purpose.

Kingdoms reunited
In 1874 the parliament invited the head of the house of Toshimochi to reestablish a monarchy. Matsushita Toshimochi, of Oyashimi-descent, took on the reigns and established a constitutional monarchy. In the early 20th century, he peaceably reunited Matsumori and Danehong under the banner of the Dual Monarchic State of Oyashima with enshrined co-dominance of the Oyashimi and Danehong cultures in its new constitution of 1911.

In 1937 King Matsushita died without male issue. The throne was given to his older brother-in law Tanegashima Tadakage (Toshimochi), a hardliner who minimized the standing of the Danehongers and elevated the status of his fellow ethnic Musutorines. King Tanegashima ruled with an iron fist suppressing Danehonger culture, but he was a globalist and a modernist. He reestablished strong ties with Burgundie and its mechanisms of trade, specifically the Burgoignesc Kandahar-Kandara Trading Company. He poured money into the sleepy fishing village of Rumioshiro turning it into a major shipping hub and by the end of the Great Wars, the primary shipping terminal for the Merchant Marine of Burgundie in northern Alshar.

Democratic People's Republic
The Burgundie-aligned Royal Family was killed in the Coup of 1967 and the monarchy quickly overthrown, bringing about the revolutionary Democratic People's Republic of Oyashima (DPRO), a regime. The revolution triggered the so-called War of the Islands as part of Operation Kipling.

The coup lead to the rise of the Danehong Liberation Front, a paramilitary organization sponsored by Burgundie and Urcea in the Danehong region. While the group was effective in combat, Burgundie's withdrawal from the country in 1969 resulted in international support for the group coming to an end. It continued fighting until 1971 when it was destroyed. Danehong was subject to crimes against humanity by the DPRO forces, atrocities that have been since condemned by the League of Nations as genocide. In 1996, the Oyashima government issued an official acknowledgement of the crimes and convened a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Mustard Revolution
Following two and a half decades of single party communist rule, the Democratic People's Republic of Oyashima was deposed and the traditional line of monarchs was restored in the popular Mustard Revolution. A new constitution was inaugurated in 1992. As part of the constitution, the Danehong region was given some autonomy.

Politics
Oyashima is governed by the Constitution of 1992, which inaugurated the period of under the leadership of the Omo no Ryōshu.

Executive
The roles of head of state and head of government are consolidated in the position of the Omo no Ryōshu (Lord of Lords), who acts as Speaker for the Assembly and chief executive. The Ryōshu's power is checked by the Assembly of Lords, and the budget is primarily decided by the Assembly.

Assembly
The Assembly of Lords is a unicameral legislature of 147 representatives elected by local direct first past the post elections; administrative regions are organized partly along island lines, partly along clan lines, and partly along municipal lines. This results in a very unbalanced spread of political power that is concentrated in seven of the eleven major islands of the nation. Terms are six years with no limit to the number of terms, and every two years, roughly a third of the legislature is put up for elections.

Political Factions
Political allegiance in Oyashima is better reflected by faction than party, as there are 86 registered parties, the most relevant of which operate in three broad wings: the conservative, minarchist Homeland faction, the urbanite and centrist Five Islands faction, and the rural and clan-based All Isles faction. Each of these contains a fluctuating web of parties, with the Five Islands being the dominant faction and the Homeland faction being the predominant opposition.