The Avesian Islands

Located to the west of the Southern Continent, Avesia is a volcanic island about a hundred and fifty kilometers from end to end, which dominates the Avesian Island chain. It's name stems from the fact that while it possesses no native mammals beyond seals and a species of bats it is home to a wide variety of birds, many of which are distinct to this island. Tropical forests dominate everything save the tips of the mountains while coral reefs. The islands have rich volcanic soil, experiences regular rainfall, the surrounding oceans are rich with fish and there are some significant phosphate deposits from seabird excrement. Even so the landmass lacks for natural resources, isolation and a lower level of background magic and have generally made it a low priority.

The first known explorers to this Island were High Elves some 16 to 15,000 years ago who charted the island but gave them little consideration. Between 11,000 to 10,000 BIA they maintained a supply depot and repair station in what is now known as Despair Bay for their exploration fleets. Even so this was never intended as a permanent settlement and the artisans and workers who operated it never stayed for more than a decade before returning to the High Kingdom. It would be until the time of the Student Men that permanent settlement would begin of that region. Around 5,300 to 5,000 BIA fishermen began to harvest the waters around the island and set up small camps to weather storms, make repairs, dry fish and store supplies. Bit by bit these camps got larger, tents gave way to shacks, then cabins and eventually, workplaces slowly had workshops built around them, vegetable gardens were planted and eventually grew into farms and people began to live on the island permanently. Camps became villages, villages became towns and two of those towns would eventually reckoned by the standards of the day to be small city states. Even so during the war of Four centuries the islands were reaped by Drow forces. In the subsequent times the islands were home to small herding populations and the occasional group of refugees or outlaws, though the Drow did periodically reap it every few centuries once it's population had grown. For a time it was a Colony of the Third Empire (who gave the islands their name) who used it primarily as a naval base and an agricultural settlement which was strong enough to repel two Drow incursions before, after being cut off from reinforcements for ten years, falling to a third.

Between 1400 and 513 BIA the islands remained sparsely populated until the pirate/privateer captain Tilsio del'Tivro (latter Tilsio-I of House del'Liberium) decided to establish a small base of operation for storage and repair. Over the next few decades the small base he'd established was expanded as his small fleet and fighting force grew, some of his men elected for a life on shore and captives that he could not ransom were kept as slaves, either to be sold off or to toil in his fields and shipyards or to be auctioned off to his men who followed his example.  Unbound by most of the constraining laws imposed by lords and guilds and with minimal tariffs and taxes, their camp grew into a town named Porta Liberium. As it grew more and more people went through this port, in particular an increasing number of pirates and slavers. The previously established pastoral peoples (a smattering of pastoral herding clans and a few farming villages inland) were mostly hunted down to feed the growing slave markets. Other industries such as taverns, brothels, rope-walks, saltpeter mines, farms and large scale cash crop producing plantations grew as well, regardless the fencing of stolen ships and merchandise, the training of naval mercenaries and the slave trade remained critical parts of the local economy.

As of 37 IA permanent population of Avesia in it's entirety is some 380,000 people, of which 70,000 were free. The remainder were slaves. In addition a large transient population exists, most of which being pirates and slaves awaiting export. Porta Liberium remains the largest urban center (and the only one seen as a city) with a total permanent population of 44,000 and is also the seat of government as well as the center of several cottage industries, a fairly well developed financial sector and shipbuilding and repair. In addition there are eight towns across the islands with populations between 2,500 to 6,000 which exist as local administrative hubs, distribution hubs, bases for local low end manufacturing, workshops and garrisons. Beyond that most of of the island is divided into a hundred an two plantation estates manned by workforces of slaves. Some of these provide yams and rice to feed the population while others provide cotton, tea, raw silk, sugar and citrus for export. As is the case with the Black Ports local industries help support the slave trade as trained and broken slaves command higher prices. Among the biggest buyers at the slave markets of Porta Liberium are Drow merchants.

The government of the Islands was an oligarchy which over time evolved into a feudal monarchy in practice. A hundred and thirty eight prominent families form the established nobility and is ultimately led by the Del'Liberium Dynasty who holds the title of King of Avesia. Each noble house has a seat at the Royal Assembly, which has more influence over issues than most such legislative bodies even thought the Crown is still an active force in politics. The majority of the nobility descends from Tilsio's original crew from some degree or another. It was once the case that one could buy one's way into the ruling class and this is technically still true, but the Royal Assembly reserves the right to refuse membership if more than fifty percent vote against it. The last time they've approved a new member of the nobility was  in 61 BIA after the destruction of a house that attempted to cease power by coup d'tate, the members of said house were sold into slavery. The military of Avesia is composed of a fleet of sloops and frigates at sea, a subsidized militia (every Avesian Freeman is required to keep weapons and to be trained in their use) augmented by household guards, a force of 3,000 Avesian Janissaries (modeled after drow slave soldiers) and a collection of pirates and mercenaries who frequent the slaver state.